Intercept course

An intercept course, also known as an interception course or intercept vector, was a navigational path by which one vessel journeyed toward another, typically with the intent of engaging the target in combat. It was a concept known to several space faring cultures. Often, a commanding officer would initiate the procedure by requiring his or her helmsperson to "plot an intercept course."
In 2151, Matthew Ryan ordered to lay in an intercept course when the Nausicaan ship he followed detected the Earth Cargo Service freighter . ()
In 2267, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, while helming the , plotted an interception course towards a Federation ship under Klingon attack. He did so under Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott's orders, even though it meant leaving behind an Enterprise landing party on the planet Capella. ()
During her Kobayashi Maru training, Lieutenant Saavik ordered Sulu to plot an intercept course inside the Romulan Neutral Zone to rescue the ailing Kobayashi Maru. ()
In 2366, while the prepared detailed exospheric charts of the Hayashi system, Lieutenant Commander Data noted to Captain Jean-Luc Picard that sensors reported the was closing at an intercept course at high warp. Later, during a mission briefing in the observation lounge, Data noted that Starbase 123 detected two cruisers on an intercept course, though the top speed of that class cruiser was known to be less than the Enterprise. Picard ordered the Enterprise to intercept a Romulan vessel after Tam Elbrun informed him that the Romulans were to destroy Gomtuu if they could not secure it for themselves. After Gomtuu destroyed the Romulan vessel, a second one appeared as an echo on the port sensor array, and was confirmed by Worf to be on an intercept course. ()
Perhaps the most infamous series of intercept courses in Starfleet history occurred in 2367. In that year, Admiral Hanson ordered dozens of vessels, Starfleet and Klingon alike, to intercept the Borg at Wolf 359. His hope was that by making a stand there, Earth could be better defended. Unfortunately, the plan failed. Almost none of Hanson's fleet survived the encounter. ()
In 2374, Romulans who had taken over the noted that Starfleet vessels were on an incercept course that was materially created by the Prometheus un-masked warp trail. () Later that year, an Hirogen hunter made the point of an intercept course entirely explicit when he remarked to a colleague, "The prey's course has become erratic. I will intercept to kill." ()
Category:Maneuvers