Energy matrix

An energy matrix, or power matrix, is a term used to describe the primary source of energy for a system. This system can be either organic or technological, and the matrix is responsible for the distribution of energy throughout. On a Federation starship, the engineering section, being the main source of power for the vessel, is considered the primary energy matrix. 

Overview
In 1647, the anaphasic lifeform known only as "Ronin" took up residence with a woman named Jessel Howard, upon realizing that her biochemistry was compatible with his energy matrix. Using Jessel as an organic host in order to maintain molecular cohesion, he stayed with her until her death. He would continue this act with all of Jessel's descendants, until he was destroyed by Beverly Crusher in 2370. 

In 2151, in exchange for their release from custody, the crew of a Xyrillian starship arranged for their holographic technology to be adapted to the power matrix of a Klingon battle cruiser. 

In 2152, Commander Charles Tucker, chief engineer of the, began the process of reconfiguring the power matrix of a Suliban cell ship, in an effort to bring the ship up to operational standards so as to use it to rescue Captain Archer and Lieutenant Reed from a pre-warp civilization. However, as Archer and Reed were scheduled to be executed in less than two hours, Tucker was forced to reconfigure the matrix en route to the planet's surface. 

Romulan power matrices utilized boridium cells. In 2154, Commander T'Pol and Captain Archer utilized this information to identify a marauder vessel which had been attacking various ships as being Romulan in origin. 

The Saltah'na preserved their memories in energy spheres with self-sustaining energy matrices. In 2369, these spheres acted to alter the behavior patterns of the crew of Deep Space 9, causing them to act out the same power struggle which led to the destruction of the Saltah'na. 

Later that year, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) became briefly caught in an energy matrix, created as a byproduct of the opening of a transwarp conduit, before themselves being pulled inside. 

In 2370, after an encounter with a magnascopic storm, the Enterprise began forming a rudimentary intelligence, whose purpose was the creation of a new, emergent lifeform. The lifeform began to materialize in one of the cargo bays, forming a coherent energy matrix. The lifeform, once fully developed, left the Enterprise for open space. 

In 2371, shortly after having become stranded in the Delta Quadrant, the crew of the USS Voyager attempted to supplement the ship's energy reserves by hooking the holodeck reactors into the ship's power grid. This experiment ended in failure, however, when half of the relays were blown out due to the holodeck energy matrix's incompatibility with the rest of the power systems. 

In 2372, B'Elanna Torres, Voyagers chief engineer, modified a series of anodyne relays to make Voyagers warp plasma compatible with the energy matrix of Pralor Automated Unit 3947. 

During their war with the Borg Collective in 2373, it was a common tactic for Species 8472 to, upon boarding a Borg vessel, go directly to the ship's primary energy matrix and disable it. 

In 2374, Seven of Nine designed an energy matrix designed to produce large quantities of thorium, upon which all Caatati technology was dependant. As the Borg had previously decimated the Caatati civilization, their ability to replicate thorium isotopes became nonexistent. With the matrix, however, the Caatati retained the ability to begin the process of rebuilding their society. 

That same year, the crew of the USS Defiant (2370) used the ship's deflector array to imprint a Federation warp signature onto the energy matrix of a power generator supplying energy to the orbital weapon platforms defending the Chin'toka system. Doing so fooled the platforms' sensors into viewing the generator as a threat, and they immediately began firing upon the generator. After the platforms' power source was destroyed, Federation and Klingon forces were successfully able to take the system from the Dominion. 

In 2375, Lieutenant Torres managed to feed enough energy into the power matrix of a damaged Malon export vessel to reinitialize the emergency systems. However, the energy was only sufficient to bring one containment grid back online, which was not enough to handle two unstable tanks. This forced Torres to seal the tanks one-at-a-time. 

Later that year, Harry Kim conceived of the idea of beaming a photon torpedo onto an attacking Borg probe, in an attempt to disable the vessel for a salvage operation. However, the torpedo materialized near the probe's power matrix, resulting in a chain reaction which destroyed the entire Borg vessel. 

The Druoda series 5 long-range tactical armor unit was equipped with an advanced, extremely dense power matrix, which the merchant Onquanii claimed was capable of powering a fleet of starships, and that it was worth a thousand dilithium crystals. When such an armor unit threatened to detonate aboard Voyager in 2375, Captain Janeway ordered Lieutenant Torres to send an EM pulse through the warhead's power matrix in an attempt to short it out. Although the plan worked, the warhead's artificial intelligence hijacked The Doctor's program. Later, when Onquanii attempted to negotiate with the Voyager crew for the warhead, Janeway agreed, but refused to hand over the energy matrix, as she felt it would be too dangerous. 

In 2377, in an attempt to disable a Lokirrim warship, Captain Janeway ordered Lieutenant Commander Tuvok to target ship's phasers at the warship's power matrix. The tactic was successful, and Voyager was able to leave the area without Lokirrim interference.