Shapeshifting ship

[C5]

This idea has been nagging me for some time, so I'm gonna share it here to spark some comments, ideas, or flames . Maybe this has been done before too ?

A species a bit more advanced than the Federation could have invented a shapeshifting ship. In fact, the ship would consist in a very advanced replicator, along with a powerful generator and computer, and a vast amount of "replicator matter" (I don't remember the correct technobabble name).

Thanks to the data stored into the computer, the replicator would then be able to replicate a whole ship around it with the matter, down to the interiors if needed, with all the according equipment (transporter, phasers, consoles... down to the decorations in the crew quarters if the computer has the data or the programmation to do so). With this ship, it'd then be possible to replicate the appearance and performance of virtually every existing ship in a minimal amount of time (something like a few minutes or less - after all, replicators are very fast), save for the smallest ones (runabouts), or the biggest ones (Borg Cube). The replicator could also nearly instantly repair the ship when damaged.
The ship could also come equipped with a advanced sensor that'd allow it to scan other ships in order to reproduce them.

Now I don't really know how this ship could be used - for one thing, it could be the ship equivalent of a Founder, used for infiltration or various similar schemes. Or this technology could belong to a new hostile race - in wich case, they'd be more dangerous than the Borg (let a Sovereign be captured and next time there's an army of them waiting for you ). Of course, speaking of Borg, we don't really want this technology to be assimilated...

[wolfe]

you mean like the particle synthesis system ( similar to federation replicator tech)used on the "NX01A dauntless"?

[C5]

I'm not up to date with Enterprise... they did something like this ?

[AslanC]

Actually wolfe is referring to a Voyager episode, not Enterprise. Not quite the same idea, but similar aspects.

[Capt.Hunter]

Oh, yes - I'd forgotten the Dauntless had the same registry number as the Enterprise (Sheesh, you'd have thought Janeway and Co. would have spotted that...)

How about a ship which is effectively one big holoprojector? Objects in a holodeck are as "real" as they need to be, after all. The main power source would have to be real though (since IMHO it would take as much energy to create a working holographic warp core as the core would produce).

[KillerWhale]

Just for nitpicking: Enterprise and Dauntless have different registry numbers, Enterprise being NX-01 and Dauntless being NX-01-A.

What an amazing case of NON-violation of the Trek continuum!!!!

[Dan Gurden]

Oh jeez, another round of this... Better get used to this annual occurance.

OR STOP WATCHING THE DAMN SHOW IF IT ANNOYS YOU THAT MUCH! GET OVER IT!

Sorry, rant over. Back to the scheduled subjet... As in Shapeshifting ships, NOT NX-registries...

[Capt.Hunter]

Sorry, Dan - I was just joking. I don't watch Enterprise at all (not that you can turn on to Channel 4 at the moment without seeing it...).

[KillerWhale]

Hey Dan, what's the rant about?!? I wasn't bitching against Enterprise, in fact I find the show quite nice. I was merely reminding nitpickers that, contrary to common knowledge, it looks like B&B are not always screwing up the continuity, and sometimes seem to know where they are going. There was a smiley in my post. Since it's way OT, I consider the subject closed...

Now, for the matter at hand: personnally, I'd rather go the "organic" way. I think if you aim to do something new in Trek with this ship, you may want to tackle a rather non-classical approach, with bio-technology. My feeling is that it would make the thing a lot more alien than using good ol' Treknology. Moreover, I feel that replicating ship parts would be waayyy too long for effective shapeshifting.

Just my two cents...

[Setvenharis]

Someone said "would the ship be better with a huge external holo-projector, so it can mimic the external configuration of vessels?"

This idea is used in the computer game "Away Team" where the starship was the "USS Incursion", a small stealth/covert operations vessel roughly the same size as the Defiant and used by Starfleet Intelligence operatives. The Incursion also joined in the final scenario of Armada 2.

I'm sure someone will have more info on it.

Lars

[Erik Filean]

Rick Sternbach actually did something akin to the "shapeshifting ship" concept in the old Starfleet Chronology (way back when the first movie came out). It was presented as a concept design for a ship that used configurable forcefields in place of standard hull components for the ultimate in modular mission-specific design. This was back before replicators, of course, but with the replicator-based retractable armor Voyager brought back in "Endgame," a replicator-based version of the concept might not be far from reality.

Personally, I'd make it an alien technology (if I ever run a post-"Endgame" series, I fully intend to establish that DTI confiscated the replicator armor and transphasic torpedoes and stowed them in the same warehouse with the Ark of the Covenant), but it has some fun possibilities.

[SIR SIG]

Or you could just take the whole Transformer line.

The ship is robotic and built to to transformer between various custom mission ship styles.

[Capt.Hunter]

"Metamorphosis complete! Spaceball 1 has now become.... MEGA-MAID!!!"

[SIR SIG]

Originally posted by Capt.Hunter
"Metamorphosis complete! Spaceball 1 has now become.... MEGA-MAID!!!"

ROTFLMAO

And the follow up line:

"MegaMaid has switched from suck to blow!"

Still I was serious about the transforming part. Take Robotech for instances.

SIG: A very hardcore Transformer Fanatic

[Capt. Chris]

Actually the first start Trek TNG episodes had a shape shifting alien/ship. It could be that another race has a relationionship with an alien being that would conform itself into a ship suitable for the other race. a kind of mutual interation, the alien ship supplies itself to be used by the other race while the other supplies the ship with somehting it needs.