Genesis device vs. Species 8472

[buck rogers]

What would happen to Species 8472 if genesis "torpedoes" were employed as weapons to attack the bioships? I think they would be quite effective at destroying their ships.

[Lt Cmdr Matt]

One minor problem, the Gensis device would probably not be mass produced quickly enough to destroy all of the bioships that would be invading?

Theoretically it would be since it would kill every living thing, and then rewrite it, sort of speak.

I can't remember but is Fluidic space living? If it is then that would be an extremely effective weapon. You could "eat" up all of fluidic space.

[buck rogers]

This is what I was thinking it would be used as a last ditch effort to stop the "Incursion" the name of an adventure I'm coming up with. It would be the miracle the characters need after they go through a disaster war of the worlds type adventure.

[StyroFoam Man]

This message has been removed on request by the
poster

[Argyle]

Originally posted by StyroFoam Man
'sides... what are you going to turn it into? Coffee?

Sounds like a plan!

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

I can think of a number of people that would love to have that large of a supply of coffee. *grin*

Regards,
CKV.

[buck rogers]

Well even if it would. I wouldn't do that for dramatic plot reasons. After all it you destroyed all of fluidic space you'd pretty much close the door to Species 8472 as a bad guy. I mean there would no doubt be survivors but the intimidation factor would certianly be gone. No instead I think "genesis" protomatter torpedoes could be used to takeout say an area 1 AU across. Enough to scare the piss outa species 8472, but not wipe them out completly. Also it would be good as an anti-bioship weapon. I figure they one torpedo could at least take one ship. As far mass producing them at first they would be rare for dramatic storytelling but as the war gets more intense Starfleet would most likely refine its manufacturing process.

[Sea Tyger]

Not to mention that the ship that fires the torpedo better get the hell out of there quickly. The Genesis effect seemed to be a subspace shockwave that reached out a few dozen light-seconds, nearly catching the crippled Enterprise as she fled the scene.

An AU is effectively 500 light-seconds across (499.28 something...remember, a light-second is just short of 300 thousand kilometers); the subspace shockwave didn't seem (of course, this is just going by what I watched on screen ) to travel that far. Maybe it absorbs everything within a 0.2 AU (about 100 light-seconds) radius, when not fired at a planet (which would absorb most of the energy output as the Genesis matrix takes effect...in the simulation, the Genesis effect is limited to the surface of the planetoid, which seems to indicate that much of the explosion that we saw in space isn't present when applied to a significant celestial body).

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

Sounds like the Star Trek version of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which could lead to some interesting attempts at peace talks while keeping Species 8472 around.

I have to agree with SeaTyger here, the massive explosion we see in WoK has more to do with the device needing to absorb x amount of material and expanding outward to get it then an actual fixed area of effect. Given the mass of a planet, it would not have to go that far to obtain the needed material.

Regards,
CKV.

[Capt. Anderson]

The effect had to be large enough to absorb the nebula in it's matrix. My theory as to why it failed was becasue of the type of matter used to create the Genesis planet.

[Capt. K. Vaughn]

The effect though does not have to be based upon area as a need to absorb x amount of material. A planet will have far more material then a nebula, hence the reason we see the Genesis effect spread over such a large area.

After all, the proposal does seem to indicate that the effect would be limited to the planet being terraformed with the device.

As to why it failed, it could be any number of reasons, I tend to use both the instability in protomatter and the material absorbed during the detonation myself.

Regards,
CKV.

[Sarge]

I'm guessing proto-matter would be the worst bottleneck in the manufacturing process. Anybody know it there's any scientific basis for proto-matter, or is it just classic Treknobabble? In my mind, it's much rarer and more expensive than anti-matter.

[Owen E Oulton]

Protomatter is the theoretical step between matter and energy in the first nanoseconds of the Big Bang. There is at least one reference to protomatter research in TNG.

IMSHO, Genesis research didn't completely stop with the Genesis Planet incident. If you recall, the first stage was in a lab, and the second stage in a cave on Regula. Both were apparently stable. It wasn't until the third, planetary-scale, experiment that Dr. David Marcus introduced protomatter into the equation.

The first-stage, laboratory level experiments proceeded and (to get Biblical) bore fruit. Lessee, on a desktop level, you dematerialise matter and reconstitute it in the form you desire. Sound familiar?

"Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

[Sea Tyger]

Oh, very good, Owen. Nice tie-in!

[tmutant]

I think the primary reason for the failure of the Genesis device is obvious. It was never designed or intended to be used in a nebula. It could not be considered a failure until it was tested under the conditions for which it was designed.