Star Trek: 10 Most Overused Plot Tropes
6. "We're The Only Ship In The Sector!"
The Federation is one of the largest space empires in the galaxy with hundreds of member systems spanning across eight thousand lightyears, yet somehow no Starfleet ship is ever able to get backup when they need it.
"We're the only ship in the sector!" has become the ultimate excuse for why the hero ship has to go in alone rather than calling on even one of the thousands of allied vessels nearby. In Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan is the only ship in range of Regula I, a research station experimenting on the top secret Project Genesis. One would think that the Federation's most valuable scientific research would be better guarded.
Plenty of times the hero ship will be the only ship in range even when in orbit of Earth, a hub of interstellar travel, as was the case with the Enterprise-B in Star Trek: Generations and the refit Enterprise in Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Despite being in the heart of Federation space, there's apparently only one ship at a time capable of defending Earth.
Of course the writers use this as a way of making the story more difficult for the characters but it's still funny to see how many times they use this explanation, even when it really makes no sense.