There goes the prime directive

This edited composite meme image features the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 starship from the Star Trek franchise flying over an urban/industrial area under an overcast sky. The Enterprise is shown firing a bright orange energy beam directly at the ground, which has caused a large explosion with multiple plumes of thick dark smoke rising from the impact site. The joke of the meme references Star Trek's core Prime Directive rule, which prohibits Starfleet personnel from interfering with the internal development of less advanced civilizations; the ship openly attacking a populated area is a direct, extreme violation of this rule, which aligns with the given title.

This meme was obtained from the Reddit:Meme RSS feed. It is a digitally edited work that combines existing imagery of the USS Enterprise from the Star Trek media franchise with a real photograph of an industrial or urban explosion, created to deliver a humorous joke referencing Star Trek lore about the Prime Directive.