The Battle ( episode ) When a group of Ferengi present Captain Picard with the derelict remains of his old starship , he begins to lose himself in the past . Summary . Teaser . In response to an order from Starfleet , the has been sent to the Xendi Sabu system to rendezvous with a Ferengi Alliance vessel . For three days there has been no message from the Ferengi except " " Stand by , " Enterprise . " Dr . Crusher comes to see Picard in his quarters , where he complains of feeling fatigued and having a bad headache . She examines him and can find nothing wrong , but tells him to come to sickbay all the same . Just then the Ferengi hail the " Enterprise " . Picard returns to the bridge and talks with the Ferengi captain , DaiMon Bok over the " Enterprise " s viewscreen . Bok claims to know Picard , but Picard doesn ' t recognize Bok at all . He wants to meet Picard in person , so despite being wary of his intentions , Picard agrees to meet him aboard the " Enterprise " . Act One . Picard goes to sickbay where Crusher examines him again , but fails to find any medical reason for his headaches . She gives him a painkiller for the time being . He returns to the bridge , where Wesley Crusher arrives and tells Geordi La Forge that when he was boosting the range of the long - range sensors , he detected a ship approaching . Then La Forge detects it as well . It ' s an unidentified starship , which is not responding to hail s , nor sending out call letters . The time arrives for the Ferengi to beam over , and three of them materialize on the bridge : Bok and two of his officers , Kazago and Rata . Bok tells Picard that the starship is under their control and is a gift to honor the " hero of Maxia " , Captain Picard . Picard realizes they are referring to an incident that took place nine years prior while he commanded the . Traveling through the Maxia Zeta system , they were attacked by an unknown vessel , which Picard was forced to destroy . It turns out that the vessel was Ferengi . Picard is then hit by another headache , before ordering La Forge to zoom in on the approaching starship . It is the " Stargazer " , which the Ferengi found adrift , and are now giving to Picard . Bok says it will be a gift , free of charge , which his subordinates don ' t like . Act Two . Later in the observation lounge , Picard tells the crew about the battle . They had been traveling at warp 2 through the Maxia Zeta system when they were fired upon by an unidentified starship , damaging their shields . In the confusion , the Stargazer was hit again . Suddenly , Picard asks the " Stargazer " s weapons officer , Vigo , to identify the the attacking ship . This surprises the " Enterprise " crew , and Picard then realizes what he ' s said . He continues with the story , saying he ordered a sensor bearing on the enemy vessel and as it came around for another pass . He then performed what is now known as the Picard Maneuver : he ordered a jump to high warp , making it appear to the Ferengi for a second that the " Stargazer " was in two places at once . The Ferengi vessel fired at the Stargazer ' s former position while the actual ship pulled out of warp right next to it . He was then able to destroy the Ferengi vessel , but was forced to abandon ship and he and his crew drifted around space in shuttlecrafts for weeks . Data , Natasha Yar , Worf , and La Forge beam over to inspect the " Stargazer " . La Forge gets the emergency power going , and as everything looks all right , Picard then beams over . He affectionately acknowledges his old ship ( " Hello old friend . " ) , then goes to look at his old cabin , and is going through his things when he suddenly gets another headache . He grabs his head and falls back in agony . Amongst his things in an old , a pink sphere glows . Bok is controlling it aboard the Ferengi vessel . Dr . Crusher passes by and sees Picard in pain . She brings him back to the " Enterprise " , telling him that his belongings will be beamed over later . The " Enterprise " tractors the " Stargazer " . Data tells Picard that Starfleet is sending a tug to bring it to Xendi Starbase 9 , before Picard goes to his quarters for a rest . When he starts to dream , he dreams about the battle . Meanwhile in the ready room , Data shows Riker a personal log that Picard supposedly recorded , claiming that he attacked the Ferengi vessel without provocation and that the Ferengi ship was under a flag of truce . Act Three . When Riker shows Picard the log , Picard denies making the entry , but tells him he has to report his findings to Starfleet . Then Picard ' s headache returns . He goes back to his quarters , before Riker contacts Kazago , Bok ' s first officer , asking if he finds it odd that Bok is returning the " Stargazer " to Starfleet . Picard is in his quarters when Crusher arrives . He tells her the headache is worsening , and he is worrying about the battle and whether he did the right thing . Crusher gives him a sedative and puts him to bed . He starts to dream about the battle again and relives it , seeing the crew and the bridge . Bok laughs aboard his own ship as he manipulates a matching sphere to the one in Picard ' s chest . Act Four . In Picard ' s ready room , Data is informing Riker that the log is a forgery , when Picard enters . Crusher follows soon after and is surprised to see the captain up and about . He dismisses everyone except Riker , whom he tells to disengage the tractor beam . In sickbay , Dr . Crusher is discussing the headaches with Deanna Troi when Wesley enters . He tells her that he noticed the captain ' s brain patterns were exactly the same as low intensity transmissions detected coming from the Ferengi ship . They report this to Riker , who checks on Picard ' s location and finds out he has beamed onto the " Stargazer " . Aboard the " Stargazer " , Bok meets Picard and raises the ship ' s shields . He is carrying his pink sphere , and tells Picard that the ship the " Stargazer " destroyed was his son ' s first command as a DaiMon . Bok has spent years devising a suitable revenge , and bought the two spheres with his life savings . He leaves the sphere on the bridge and beams back onto his own vessel , leaving Picard to relive the battle . Act Five . Aboard the " Enterprise " , the sphere in Picard ' s quarters has been found , and as the " Stargazer " turns to attack them , Riker realizes that the sphere is being used to influence the captain ' s thoughts . He hails Kazago , who recognizes the sphere as a " thought maker " , a device that is forbidden . Then Captain Picard comes on the viewscreen . Riker realizes that he is going to use the Picard Maneuver , so he orders Data to come up with a suitable defense . Then Kazago hails , and tells Riker that Bok has been removed from command for his part in this " unprofitable venture " . Data comes up with a defense which involves detecting the correct ship by noting the compression of gas in space and then immobilizing the " Stargazer " with the tractor beam . The defense works , and Riker hails Picard . He manages to convince Picard to destroy the sphere with his phaser , at which point Picard returns to normal . He then beams over to the " Enterprise " , leaving the dead to rest in peace and letting the past remain the past . Memorable quotes . " " Let the dead rest and the past remain the past . " " " " I can ' t believe they ' re coming here ! " " " " As you hew - mons say , I ' m all ears . " " " " Yes ! Who the hell is it ? ! " " " " Not now , Kazago ! " " " " You transferred some of his belongings from the " Stargazer " ? " " " " Yes . . . including a fairly heavy chest ! " " " " Captain , he may refer to an encounter which occurred nine years ago in the Maxia Zeta star system , in which an unidentified starship . . . " " " " UNIDENTIFIED ? ! That fine vessel was Ferengi ! " " " " Which . . . you destroyed , sir . " " " " The [ Stargazer ' s ] logs will be downloaded into the " Enterprise " s records . . . " . . . at a pri – . . . " " " " NO PRICE . " " " " No price ? " " " " With the enemy vessel coming in for the kill , I . . . ordered a sensor bearing , and when it came into the return arc . . . " " " " You performed what Starfleet textbooks now refer to as the ' Picard Maneuver ' . . . " " " " Well , I did what any . . . good helmsman would ' ve done – I dropped into high warp , stopped right off the enemy vessel ' s bow , and . . . fired with everything I had . " " " " And blowing into maximum warp speed , you appeared , for an instant , to be in two places at once ! " " " " And our attacker fired on the wrong one ! " " " " Hello , old friend . " " " " You ' re welcome , ladies . Adults . . . " " " " This is a confession , given by me , Jean - Luc Picard , commanding U . S . S . " Stargazer " , in the hopes that my . . . belated honesty will be taken into account by Starfleet when judging my actions during a confrontation with an unidentified vessel . I admit , I must have mistaken their subspace antenna for a weapons cluster – unfortunately , I fired our main phasers , and the . . . direct hits destroyed the unknown vessel . " " " " What is wrong with me ? ! " " " " I wish to Hell I knew , captain , but something unusual has " definitely " been happening to you ! " " " " Why do doctors always say the obvious , as though it ' s a revelation ? " " " " Why do captains always act like they ' re immortal ? " " " " I hope you ' re right , Mr . Data . " " " " No question of it , sir . " " " " Where is Bok ? ! ? ! " " " " Removed from command , sir , and placed under guard for his act of personal vengeance - seems there was no . . . profit in it . " " " " In revenge , there never is . " " Links and references . References . 2355 ; " Annotated Shakespeare , The " ; Battle of Maxia ; bearing ; Betazoid ; Bok ' s son ; bridge ; call letters ; captain ' s log ; checksum ; ; chief engineer ; common cold ; computer science ; ; DaiMon ; dedication plaque ; desktop monitor ; ; Earth ; emergency power ; Federation tug ; Ferengi ; fire ; fire control party ; fish ; flashlight ; fusion generator ; headache ; helm ; hypospray ; impulse reactor ; kilometer ; Livingston ; Maxia Zeta system ; medical tricorder ; " Merchant of Venice , The " ; model ; moon ; murder ; neural scan ; number one ; observation lounge ; painting ; Picard Maneuver ; planet ; power cell ; ready room ; " Richard III " ; scan ; scanning device ; sensor ; sextant ; sickbay ; starbase ; stardate ; Starfleet Academy ; " Stargazer " captain ; " Stargazer " chief engineer ; " Stargazer " shuttlecraft ; ; statue ; tactical station ; tattoo ; textbook ; thought maker ; Transporter Room 3 ; tricorder ; turbolift ; type I phaser ; unnamed medical tools ; unnamed plants ; viewscreen ; Vigo ; VISOR ; warp ; Xendi Sabu system ; Xendi Starbase 9