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Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
Hello everyone. This is my second post. I�ve been lurking in the shadows for the past few weeks but have decided to step forward to ask the membership for their opinions on pre-TOS history. I�m preparing some designs and commentaries for ships used in the Earth-Romulan war. You may have seen some of my earlier designs in the Starfleet Museum on Bernd�s website. (By the way, thank you to whoever pointed out the missing nacelle on my Wasp-class cruiser. You are the first person in 2 years to point that out!) I want my article and designs to be as consistent as possible with canon, as defined by material appearing on screen or in the �official� factual literature (ST Chronology and ST Encyclopedia). Since canon sources describe this era rather incompletely or are contradictory, I have several political and technological questions that I hope you all could help me with.

1. Did the Romulans have warp drive during the war? The Chronology says they didn't. But if this is true, how did they ever hope to win a war against a power (Earth) that did?

2. If we accept the fact that the Romulans didn�t have warp drive during the war, when did they get it? The Romulan ship in �Balance of Terror� didn�t seem to have warp drive but did have large outboard structures that look like warp nacelles. Is it possible that the Romulans didn�t have warp drive until they started using Klingon ships?

3. How did the Romulans get so far away from Vulcan after the Vulcan-Romulan Schism if they didn�t have warp drive? Supposedly, Vulcan is only about 10 light years from Earth. The Encyclopedia suggests that the diameter of the Federation is about 10,000 ly, and therefore, that the Romulan Neutral Zone might be as far as 5000 ly from Earth. If the Schism occurred about 2000 years earlier, the Romulans couldn�t have gotten that far without warp drive. One possibility is that the Romulans had warp drive 2000 years ago, settled the Romulan homeworlds and established the empire, then somehow �lost� the technology through civil war, a dark age, or disuse. The ST Dimensions website suggests that the Federation is only 1,000 ly in diameter, not the �official� 10,000 ly, which would make things easier to explain and might permit establishment of an empire at speeds less than light speed.

4. Where was the front line at the start of the War? Was it near the present Neutral Zone, which is only a few light years from the Romulan homeworlds, or was it closer to Earth? Were there other Romulan worlds between Earth and the present neutral zone that fell to Earth forces during the war?

5. Was Earth ever attacked during the war? DS9's "Homefront" suggests that it was, but the actual dialogue is not really clear about this. But how can Earth have been attacked if the Romulans didn't have warp drive? Maybe they bought or stole or developed it during the war, or hired mercenaries or agents to attack Earth for them?

6. Were the Earthlings good guys during the war? If the Romulans didn�t have warp drive but the Federation did, the Federation must have been the aggressors.

7. According to canon, Earth alone fought the Romulans. But what did the Vulcans and other known races (Tellarites, Andorians, et al) do during the war? Were they Earth�s allies, were they neutral, did they sell arms to the Romulans, did they try to make peace? In particular, what did the Vulcans, who are related to the Romulans, do during the war? Were they willing to stand by while the Earth stomped on Romulus and killed a few billion relatives? What were the Klingons up to? Could they, unknown to Earth, have been simultaneously fighting the Romulans?

8. Why was the Federation established? DC Fontana suggests it was to guard against Romulan aggression, but this doesn't make sense if Earth was the aggressor. Could the UFP been formed to prevent further aggression by Earth?

9. Can a ship traveling at warp speed be detected by a stationary observer before the ship gets there? For example, if I'm a Romulan sitting on some planet minding my own business, can I detect an Earth attack ship before it arrives and kills me? How about if some sort of warp "pressure wave" preceded the ship and could be sensed before the ship itself? Could the Romulans have subspace sensors (allowing near instaneous remote viewing) but did not have warp drive themselves?

10. Did the Romulans have subspace radio during the war? Supposedly the Earth didn't have subspace until sometime after 2168, but the treaty ending the war was supposedly negotiated by subspace radio. Also, how can you hold together an interstellar empire without either warp speed or subspace radio?

If anyone has an opinion about any of these problems I would be glad to hear it.

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Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
Wow. You couldn't start off with something simple, like "What is the meaning of life?", could you?

Anyway, these questions are pretty much all up for interpretation. But I might as well toss my ideas out there.

1.) While we do have statements that seem to indicate that the Romulans had no warp drive, it seems very hard to construct a scenerio in which they would provide a plausible threat to an FTL civilization. Hence, I'd have to say that they did have one. Now, it might have been vastly different from warp drives now. No ability to change course or take sensor readings while in flight...etc.

2.) That ship has to travel faster than light in order to cross the Neutral Zone and hit multiple targets on the other side. It's a case of the dialouge being at odds with what is actually seen. I lean towards FTL.

3.) Well, first of all, we don't know that Romulus is all that far away from Vulcan at all. In fact, if we assume that the primitive warp drives of the day were much slower than "modern" ones, the distances would have to be short. It seems to me that the Romulan Empire is quite close to Vulcan, and hence to Earth. On a side note, this, to my way of thinking, explains why the Federation was willing to give up cloaking technology for a treaty with the Empire. The Romulans are a threat because of their proximity.

7.) If I recall correctly, "Balance of Terror" specifically mentioned "Earth and her allies". It has been my impression, and I believe the fandom interpretation in general, that the Romulans were at war with a sort of strategic military alliance made up of Earth, Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, etc. It was out of this alliance that the Federation was born.

The subspace radio thing is harder to figure out. I explain it thusly: Primitive subspace radios did exist, but they required huge facilities to run and maintain, and were only marginally faster than light. Hence, Earth and Romulus could communicate via subspace, but a starship could not.

I hope this helps. I'm trying to work this out too, in the hopes that one day I can get around to my Federation Constitution project.

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"Quadrilateral I was, now I warp like a smile."
--
Soul Coughing
 


Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
 
Agrees with Sol System. I don't think you could have a war without some type of FTL drive.

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"One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor". George Carlin


 


Posted by Bernd (Member # 6) on :
 
Masao,

Here is what I already discussed with you, maybe a few more arguments:

Theory: The Romulans didn't have warp drive in the Earth-Romulan War

Contra:
A) This would mean that Earth forces first attacked outposts in the Romulus/Romii(Remus) star system, or the planets themselves. They would have no reason to do so, unless Earth followed an aggressive doctrine. I don't like this idea.
B) The theory that the Romulans first had warp drive when they left Vulcan and then abandoned it, sounds a bit too complicated. Why should they lose this key technology, while their civilization must have been thriving for most of the time?
C) If the NZ is very close to Romulus, then its size must have changed from TOS to TNG. TOS doesn't explicitly mention planets in the NZ, but TNG does several times. Why should the Federation abandon part of their territory?
D) Moreover, who should have hindered Earth to occupy all star systems around Romulus after the war in 2161? There would have been no chance to establish a Romulan Empire, if Earth/the Federation already holds all the key planets.
E) If Earth was attacked during the war, it was most likely done by the Romulan space forces and not by someone else. Moreover, the war must have been fought mostly in ship-against-ship battles, for either side didn't know anything about the other side.
F) While superluminal sensors and subspace radio may exist without warp drive, it is unlikely that the Romulans did have both above subspace technologies, but no warp drive. The Federation seems to have developed subspace radio much later (the Horizon still had a light speed radio beacon), while the Ferengi obviously didn't have FTL sensing capability in the 2330's (Picard Maneuver).
G) I wonder why all the other founder planets of the UFP, most of all the Vulcans, should join with an aggressor, unless they have been allies already during the war.

Pro:
A) The NZ seems to be rather close to the planet Romulus. It is not excluded that it's in the same star system.
B) The fact that the Romulans kept calm until 2161 can be easily explained by the fact they just couldn't come close to the NZ that - for some reason - was drawn in favor of them.
C) The revelation that Vulcans are related to Romulans seems to be surprising in BoT. Maybe the Romulans are unknown outside their star system, for they don't have the technology to leave it.

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Get your free signature at Ex Astris Scientia
 


Posted by TerraZ on :
 
Well, here are my thought on the subject...

1) I remember reading a possible story by a fan in which an Earth spaceship crossed inside Romulan territory for peace talks or something. However, the Romulans probably panicked (xenophobia and all) and killed the crew and reverse-enginereed the warp drive to equip there own ships. Hence they did not have it before the war but quickly catched up. It might explain why they lost, since their own warp drive would still have been primitive due to lack of understanding.

2) It probably had warp drive since those definitely look like warp nacelles and it couldn't have crossed the neutral zone without it.

3) I'd probably go with a small Federation (1000 ly) and the fact that maybe they had primitave warp technology but during the settlement on their new worlds, they probably used all the technology they had to survive and build a suitable colony.

4) Probably close to the Romulan Homeworlds since without warp drive, they couldn't have had a vast empire at the time. When they did get it, they must have moved quickly toward Earth, hence the reference in "Homefront".

5) I don't think the Romulans would have mounted a full scale assault on Earth. They probably came quite close and caused heavy damage to a few cities or to orbital installations before being destroyed or pushed back.

6) I prefer to think that Humans weren't the agressors. Please see 1).

7) I think an alliance of all "reasonable" races in almost certain. As for the Vulcans, in "Balance of Terror", they did not know the Romulans were the exiled ones. So, there probably were no real face-to-face contact during the war, hence more a war in space.

8) Like I said, it was the Romulans who started the war out of fear so the Federation was probably founded to guard against further Romulans xenophobia.

9) If they (both Earth and Romulans) didn't have subspace radio, I'm pretty sure they didn't have subspace sensors as well.

10) Like Sol System said, they probably had a few big subspace communication arrays with huge antennas and the like, meaning Earth planets probably had subspace radio but starship had not.

Hope that helps. Nice work on your Starfeet Museum page. It's really great but I just have a comment to make. You seem to include elements that have never been canon like Starfleet Marines, combat suits and the like. It expands the Star Trek Universe, but it loses some authenticity. Great work nevertheless. I really admire your work. Keep adding to it. That's an order!

------------------
-Doctor: We'll defend ourselves! They won't get what they're after!
-Aliens: Huh?
-Doctor: I mean, you won't get what you're after!
ECH to Hierarchy vessel in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"

-Seven: *Kissing the doctor* It was a platonic gesture. Don't espect me to pose for you.
-Doctor: *Embarassed* Understood.
Seven to the Doctor in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"



 


Posted by colin (Member # 217) on :
 
In the movie "Insurrection", the Admiral when speaking to Captain Picard about the Baku situation in the USS Enterprise E's ready room mentions the Romulans. Admiral calls them thugs who didn't have warp drive until a hundred years before. This places the introduction of warp drive into Romulan society in the late 2200's.

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takeoffs are optional; landings are mandatory
 


Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
Actually, I think he merely said "Warp drive turned a bunch of Romulan thugs into an empire." Then he said something about "a century ago" and the Romulans. This doesn't mean they only got warp capability a hundred years before.

I'll give my answers to the questions. I'm sure I'll be repeating what people have already said, but it's easier not to try to filter out all that. Bear in mind, some of this is just my conjecture...

1. They must have had it. The idea that they didn't is from "Balance of Terror" when Scotty says that the Romulan ship has "impulse power only" (or something to that effect). Considering that the thing seemed to have warp nacelles, I think what this meant was that their warp drive was powered by a fusion reactor (like impulse drives). Therefore, they had warp; it just wasn't very good, since they didn't use a M/A reaction and couldn't generate enough power to get high warp speeds.

2. (see #1)

3. I see two possibilities here. One is that they had primitive warp drive when they left Vulcan. Once they settled on Romulus/Romii, wars and other struggles kept scientific advance to a minimum, so they still had approximately the same level of technology at the time of the Terro-Romulan War. The other possibility is that they didn't have warp drive when they left Vulcan and, due to war etc., they didn't develop it until just before the T-R War. This, of course, means the Romulan homeworlds would be rather close to Vulcan. A while back, I was trying to find a star that would meet the conditions for being Romulus, and I settled on 107 Piscium. It's in the right direction, about 24ly from Earth, and a little less than 18ly from Vulcan. It's also of the same spectral class as Vulcan. It would make sense that, when looking for a new home, the Romulans would look for a star similar to their old one.

4. I never really thought about this one...

5. I don't rercall the dialogue you mention from "Homefront". I'd be interested to know what they said.

6. Well, this is completely speculatory on my part, but here's the story I came up with. During an exploratory mission, an Earth ship comes across Romulus. They land and find a bunch of Vulcans (so they think). The leader of the landing party, in an attempt to show that they are friendly, flashes the Vulcan salute. The Romulans realizes they're dealing w/ allies of the Vulcans (w/ whom they are just concluding the war mentioned in Voyager's "Death Wish"), so they kill them and everyone on the ship. They manage to translate the information in the ship well enough to figure out where it came from and they go attack Earth.

7. Continuing from my previous answer... I thik the Vulcans are just finishing up their war w/ the Romulans, the one started by "Quinn", as mentioned in "Death Wish". Of course, the Romulans know who they're fighting, but the Vulcans never see the Romulans, so they don't realize that these are their long-lost cousins. Anyway, the Vulcans opt out of Earth's war w/ the Romulans (if you were just about to come to peace w/ someone, would you want to rile them up again by allying w/ their newest enemies?). I think the Andorians, being a self-described aggressive race probably lent a hand, but no doubt they were involved a few conflicts of their own at the time and couldn't do a whole lot to help Earth. The Tellarites... well, we don't really know enough about them to guess what they might do. I'm going to conjecture that they just sat back and watched, just to keep it a war mainly between Earth and Romulus.

8. Well, considering that Earth is the "capital" of the Federation, I think the formation of the UFP was probably the doing of the Terran leaders. They probably formed the alliance so that, if they ever got in another war, the other races would have to help them. Of course, they didn't tell anyone that that was their plan, so everyone thought that the UFP was formed for the greater good of all these groups. Eventually, this became the ideal behind the Federation. Sort of ironic, eh? :-)

9. Well, if you have subspace sensors, you can see a warp ship coming. If not, you won't see it 'til it gets there. Since they had warp drive (see above) and subspace "radio" (see below), I'd say they also had FTL sensors. And I know someone will argue against this w/ the Ferengi thing. Well, I don't think the Ferengi at Maxia Zeta didn't have FTL sensors. I think they just weren't operational. Perhaps they were knocked out earlier in the battle.

10. If the treaty was negotiated over subspace radio, they must have had subspace radio. Otherwise, they couldn't have negotiated the treaty over subspace radio. Simple. :-)

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"I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music� and have nothing but fun and music."
-Max Yasgur; Woodstock, NY; August, 1969
 


Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
Thanks to you all for your lengthy replies. The consensus seems to be that the Romulans must have had warp drive. I must admit that this is the only reasonable possibility.

Also to TerraZ, thanks for your comments about the Starfleet Museum. I'm glad you liked it. As for non-canon material, almost everything in my articles is non-canon. One of the reasons I chose to work in this era is that very little has been established by canon. I have greater freedom to make things up. For the Marines, I just thought that if Starfleet were to land troops on planets they would have a group of specially trained soldiers based on ships, not just redshirts. I figured that they would be called Marines. And if you were sending troops into battle on planets that weren't always M class, they would likely have pressure suits or respirators helmets. If you did that, you would probably also provide some armor to protect against small arms fire and shrapnel. I wasn't thinking about some big battletech mechanical monsters, just some personal shielding with a bit of force augmentation in the arms and legs. Nothing too radical. (A related question: does Imperial stormtrooper armor do any good at all?) As far as more articles: I hope so too!
 


Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
 
1: I like the theory that their warp drives ran off fusion reactors. They had to have warp, and that fits with the "impulse power only" line. Earth's warp drives might have been operated on similar principles at the time of the war, so the fleets would have been more evenly matched.

2: They probably just got a workable warp (one with a M/ARA) from the Klingons.

3: Oddly enough, Romulus and Earth are rather close together (along with Qo'noS and Cardassia, with Bajor right in the middle. Shadow of things to come? Maybe the Romulans, Klingons, Bajor, and what's left of Cardassia should join the Federation in the next movie, and move the capital to Bajor. Just a thought...), so bad warp drives would be good enough to fight a war with.

4: There's no way to know. If I were writing the story, I'd say that the Romulans attacked first, and nearly defeated Earth very quickly, but then Tellar, Andor, and Vulcan joined the war and just as quickly beat back the Romulan fleet to their homeworlds. The Romulans then surrendered, to protect Romulus and Remus (Romii?). But that's just me. Something just occured to me. Remember the anomalous "Romii" on the viewer in BoT? That may just have been a major star system, leaving Romulus and Remus as planets in another system.

5: I think they just got really close. Martok said in "The Changing Face of Evil" (IIRC) that not even the Klingons had tried to attack Earth directly.

6: I think that both sides probably thought the other was the agressor. An Earth ship enters Romulan space, the Romulans try to commandeer it, and the Earth ship fights back. The Rommies return fire, destroying the ship. All Earth knows is that one of their ships was destroyed, and all Romulus knows is that there is an unknown power now invading their space (good enough reason to start a war, given their mentality).

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"I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground: That "all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States or to the people . . ." To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress is to take possession of a boundless field of power, no longer susceptible of any definition."
- Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1791


 


Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
Romii a completely separate system...? Hm... Whyd didn't I think of that? I thought a while back that maybe the homeworlds actually orbited different stars, but I never thought that Romii and Remus weren't the same thing. But now I agree w/ that...

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"I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music� and have nothing but fun and music."
-Max Yasgur; Woodstock, NY; August, 1969
 


Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
Since we're sharing theories about the cause of the war, I might as well share mine.

2063: First contact between Earth and Vulcan. Despite great differences between the two species, they find themselves drawn together. Vulcan logic provides a much-needed calming influence on humanity's more self-destructive tendancies, while raw human energy accelerates the sleepy pace of Vulcan technology.

2063-mid 2100's: Inspired by the great success of the Earth/Vulcan alliance, Vulcans make contact with several more species, including the Andorians and the Tellarites. The area around Sector 001 experiences a "golden age".

Meanwhile, some light years distance, the Romulans begin to learn that Vulcan is forming a number of alliances in regions of space quite near to Romulus itself. Fearing that Vulcan is attempting to surround itself with an empire that will ultimately be used against them, as well as the alarming number of ships active in the area, the Romulans decide their best chance is to make a quick preemptive strike against Vulcan's new allies.

2156: Romulan ships attack targets throughout the area. Earth quickly responds, though the source of the attacks is initially unknown. Other worlds follow suit, eventually leading to the establishment of a military alliance. Vulcan turns down membership, stating that they will seek a logical and diplomatic resolution. Vulcan contributes large amounts of aid to the alliance, however.

The reason for Vulcan reluctance is unknown at the time, despite some wild claims that they are "in on it" somehow. Relations with Vulcan sour to the point that, while Vulcan will become a founding an influential member of the United Federation of Planets, no Vulcans will serve in Starfleet for some time.

The real reason, of course, is that the Vulcan government knew exactly who these aggressors were. They feared that if the knowledge of what the Romulans represented was known, it would not be long until their new allies turned on them as well.

2160: The Romulan War ends with a decisive alliance victory, destroying much of the Romulan fleet.

2161: The United Federation of Planets is founded.

On Romulus, a political decision of equal weight is made. Fearing that the new Federation intends to finish what the alliance started, the Romulans begin a program of expansion into the Beta Quadrant. The Romulan Star Empire begins to grow into the interstellar power it is today.

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"Quadrilateral I was, now I warp like a smile."
--
Soul Coughing
 


Posted by TerraZ on :
 
Sol: Actually, I think your theory's my favorite. I really like the "Vulcan hypocrisy" thing. I greatly enjoy Vulcan bashing since they're always portrayed as perfect wisemen.

Masao: I wasn't critizising your work, I was merely making an observation since you said you tried to remain as close to canon as possible. I actually prefer to think that Starfleet as a kind of ground force other than our average Starfleet officers and better weapons than simple type 2 and 3 phasers (by the way, the "Insurrection bazooka", no matter how ugly, was a nice touch in that regard).

Just a little nitpicking before finishing ... You said the old starships had, for the most part, an ejectable warp core. Well, I certainly don't think the Constitution (and its refit) has one...

------------------
-Doctor: We'll defend ourselves! They won't get what they're after!
-Aliens: Huh?
-Doctor: I mean, you won't get what you're after!
ECH to Hierarchy vessel in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"

-Seven: *Kissing the doctor* It was a platonic gesture. Don't espect me to pose for you.
-Doctor: *Embarassed* Understood.
Seven to the Doctor in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"



 


Posted by TerraZ on :
 
To anyone who saw the above (and you can't really miss it), I'm having some problems with my Netscape (well, the one at school but you get the idea). After posting, when it brought me back, I couldn't see my posts. I tried coming back to the page, posting again and again.

After I got back at the topics forum, I saw that the number of posts had increased dramatically... I hate Microsoft with all my heart, but I'm beginning to hate Nescape 4.0 even more!!! It's full of bugs and it crashes every half hour. Die Netscape Navigator!!!

[This message has been edited by TerraZ (edited October 22, 1999).]
 


Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
 
Any time your reply doesn't show up, hit Reload/Refresh before posting again. I was haveing the same problem a couple of days ago. but I was two page threads then.

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"One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor". George Carlin


 


Posted by TerraZ on :
 
Kosh: Thanks, but I already learned the hard way...

------------------
-Doctor: We'll defend ourselves! They won't get what they're after!
-Aliens: Huh?
-Doctor: I mean, you won't get what you're after!
ECH to Hierarchy vessel in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"

-Seven: *Kissing the doctor* It was a platonic gesture. Don't espect me to pose for you.
-Doctor: *Embarassed* Understood.
Seven to the Doctor in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"



 


Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :
 
Took care of the extras. . .
 
Posted by jh on :
 
A quick sidenote re: the Vulcan-Romulan split

We've gone over this one before but I think that it's worth pointing out that in Balance of Terror Spock was surprised by the Romulan claim of kinship to the Vulcans. This suggests that the V-R split happened a WAY long time before (which, IMHO, lends creedence to the theory that both civs had FTL travel but lost it in the great war that split them - probably over Surak's philosophies) and that the Vulcans and other 'alliance' planets were not involved in the Earth Romulan wars.

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Proverbs for Paranoids, 3: If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about answers.
 


Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
The Vulcan/Romulan split happened about two millenia before the current Trek era. They said so on screen. Data said it in "The Neutral Zone", IIRC...

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"I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music� and have nothing but fun and music."
-Max Yasgur; Woodstock, NY; August, 1969
 


Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
To TerraZ: All comments are welcome. It's better than working without any feedback.

As with the existence of Starfleet Marines, I think that the possibility of ejectable warp cores is a reasonable conjecture based on the canon. As far as I know, the absence of ejectable warp cores has not been established. It's the same thing with lifeboats: although none are visible on the hull of the Constitution class or the refit or on models of Daedalus, they are likely to be somewhere on board. True, this principle that "if something has not been shown to not exist, its existence is possible" can be carried to extremes. For example, it's never been established that Mr. Scott does not have three nipples, so I write in my conjectural article that he does have three nipples. But since ejectable warp cores certainly exist at a later time, they might have existed earlier than we know.
 


Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
I don't know if I'd call my theory Vulcan "bashing". I just happen to think that Vulcans would consider it logical to keep track of what the anti-Surakian renegades were up to, and they would consider it illogical (or at least rather unwise) to inform their allies of the connection at that time. Whether they judged humans correctly or not is a matter of historical debate.

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"Quadrilateral I was, now I warp like a smile."
--
Soul Coughing
 


Posted by TerraZ on :
 
Masao: I agree with you all the way. If it's not on screen, it's not canon, but do I really give a d*mn? As long as it's not contradicted specifically, I'm ok with it.

I personally think that lifeboats (or at least escape pods) would have to be present on older ships, unless they didn't and eventually had a "Titanic" kind of situation which woke up everyone.

*Another nit-pick*: I also think ejectable warp core are logical but given their (poor) reliability on something as modern as a Galaxy class starship, I wonder just how effective they were in the old days...

Sol: Well, I wouldn't really say Vulcan "bashing", but I kind of think that it would have been more beneficial to the Earth Alliance (temporary name) to know just who they ware up against. It might have given them an advantage in the war and hiding that particular info kind of seems selfish to me. On the subject of weither they should have trusted us at the time, I'd like to say yes, but given the nature of man, they probably made the right choice.

Don't take everything I say to the letter, I'm always trying to find something to critizise on but that's because I enjoy nitpicking. I'm seldom serious.

------------------
-Doctor: We'll defend ourselves! They won't get what they're after!
-Aliens: Huh?
-Doctor: I mean, YOU won't get what you're after!
ECH to Hierarchy vessel in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"

-Seven: *Kissing the doctor* It was a platonic gesture. Don't espect me to pose for you.
-Doctor: *Embarassed* Understood.
Seven to the Doctor in VOY "Tinker, Tenor, Doctor Spy"


 


Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
TerraZ: Yes, I agree with your suggestion that warp cores were probably extremely unreliable. In fact, in my first article for the Starfleet Museum (http://www.uni-siegen.de/~ihe/bs/startrek/sfmuseum/wasp.htm) (shameless plug) I write that primary hulls with impulse drives served as separable life boats in the Wasp class because warp cores kept destroying Daedalus-class ships and their crews. At that time I think that warp cores were too integrated with the rest of the ship to be easily ejectable. They probably needed to be cut out of the ship. After all, aside from the environmental effects, nuclear subs don't have ejectable reactors.

Also, I'm trying a new signature. Excuse me if it's unintelligable or inoperative

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the [http://www.uni-siegen.de/~ihe/bs/startrek/sfmuseum/]Starfleet
Museum[/URL]
 


Posted by Warped1701 (Member # 40) on :
 
I really like the ideas that you've come up with for your site, Masao. No one has ever really done anything for the period between the end of the Romulan War, and "The Cage". Nice to see that someone is finally going to start exploring that area of the Trek universe. Personally speaking, I think that Sol has the best theory about the war. So far. Someone might come up with something better.

BTW, to make your link functional, all you need to do is put url= before the http in the address. That should make the link work. Hope that helps.

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"I see you have the ring. And that your Schwartz is as big as mine!
-Dark Helmet, Spaceballs



 


Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
Thanks for the kind word, Warped. Well, the reason I decided to work in this era is that few other people were. Basically, I'm antisocial and try to avoid human contact. In truth, other than a few birthdays of TOS crew, there are few established events from 2160 to 2260, and even those are poorly described. I didn't want to work in the movie era because I felt that there were few further possible variations on the Constitution refit hulls. Also, I think TNG and DS9 era ships are too big and too complex. They require a lot more surface detail work for your illustrations to look good. Since these shows were recently in production, everywhere you try to go (in terms of conjecture) you run into an established canon fact. It's too restictive.

PS: I rearranged my signature per your advice. I'll see if it works now.

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet
Museum [url=http://www.uni-siegen.de/~ihe/bs/startrek/sfmuseum/]


 


Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
Masao: Regarding your signature... Take what you have there in brackets and put it before "Starfleet Museum". Then, after "Starfleet Museum", put the [/url], like you had before.

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"I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music� and have nothing but fun and music."
-Max Yasgur; Woodstock, NY; August, 1969
 


Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
Okay, this is a test of my signature. Stand back.

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum



 


Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
Success!

Though I would advise that the only people I allow inside me have to go through a rather intensive screening process.

Ok, that sounds rather dirty, doesn't it?

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"And I can't approach myself, skating over this perdition."
--
Soul Coughing
 


Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
 
Kinky at best.

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"One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor". George Carlin


 


Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
 
I have heard a lot of theories regarding whether the Romulans actually had warp drives prior to BoT. It makes sense to me that the Bird-of-Prey we see in that episode was warp-capable, but was running at impulse power because the cloaking device drew so much power that they could not go into warp.

It's possible that they were hoping to withdraw from the sensor range of the Enterprise before disengaging the cloak and using the warp drives. If their primary power source was a fusion generator, rather than a matter/antimatter reactor, this lends credence to the theory that there was just not enough power to operate both at the same time.

Just like submarines during WW II were (usually) much faster on the surface than they were when submerged, the Romulans may have felt that their best strategy for escape lay in remaining concealed until they could decloak and make a run for it. Judging by the events of the episode, that makes sense.

Since the romulans' ancestors left Vulcan approximately 2 millennia ago, they could very well have used sleeper ships (as in "Space Seed") that accelerated to high sublight velocities, then coasted to their destination. It is also possible that the (eventual) Romulans ran into one of those mysterious plot twists that allowed so many human colonists to arrive at destinations far beyond their projected range and well ahead of schedule.

One theory that has been proposed is that the Romulans did not originally possess warp drives, but had a good theoretical knowledge of how they might work. Perhaps they already used something that harnessed warp fields to enable them to travel at extremely high sublight velocities without incurring excessive time dilation effects, and only needed a working model of a warp drive to examine, to realize that their theoretical faster-than-light drive might actually work. I expanded upon this theory myself in the Fourth Report in VIVA LAS VEGAS.

As far as the peace treaty being negotiated by subspace radio, I am uncertain. I haven't seen BoT in a long while, and thought they negotiated the peace treaty by ordinary radio. The theory that subspace radio technology was present, but too bulky and power-consuming for installation aboard starships makes sense. Otherwise, why didn't the Archon or Horizon have it aboard?

--Baloo

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Carpe Canem (Translation: Damn! The dog pooped on the carpet! AGAIN!!!)
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/


 


Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
Baloo: Your suggestion about standard radio vs subspace radio is interesting. However, a possible problem is that radio travels at only light speed. Interstellar communication would take years, and the war lasted only about 5 years. Although the peace treaty was supposedly signed by radio (or, more likely some combination of voice and picture), we don't know at what distance. Maybe the representatives of Earth and Romulus were in separate ships only a few meters away from each other. They were too pissed off to meet face to face. In such a situation, standard radio could have been used.

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum



 


Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
 
From what I remember of BoT, they mentioned that the only communications with the Romulans were voice-only. Otherwise it would be absurd that they had no idea that the Romulans looked like Vulcans. If they had communicated by video, just how stupid would Earth/Starfleet have to be not to notice the similarity? If they had already seen Romulans before, why should anyone be surprised when the Enterprise managed to get video of the Romulan BoP and the occupants appeared to be Vulcanoid? The episode implies that no-one from Starfleet or Earth had ever seen a Romulan prior to this.

If someone has BoT in their video collection, could they check up on this and get back to up please?

--Baloo

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Carpe Canem (Translation: Damn! The dog pooped on the carpet! AGAIN!!!)
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/

[This message has been edited by Baloo (edited October 27, 1999).]
 


Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
 
I have it and will check to make sure, but I believe that it was stated in the episode, that Humans had never seen Romulans.

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"One Tequila, Two Tequila, Three Tequila, Floor". George Carlin


 


Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
Not just humans...nobody had seen the Romulans during the war.

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"Like I told you, you are concentric in your form. When it's cold you've got yourself to keep you warm."
--
John Linnell
 


Posted by TSN (Member # 31) on :
 
Well... except the Romulans... :-)

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"I think you people have proven something to the world: that a half a million kids can get together and have three days of fun and music� and have nothing but fun and music."
-Max Yasgur; Woodstock, NY; August, 1969
 


Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
 
*lol*

Yes, except the Romulans.

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"Like I told you, you are concentric in your form. When it's cold you've got yourself to keep you warm."
--
John Linnell
 


Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :
 
Going back to TSN;s comment about "impulse power only," I think it's an excellent idea that the line means they didn't have a M/A power system. After all, in later years they still don't have one but instead use quantum singularities for power. Perhaps for certain reasons they never got 'into' antimatter. . .
 
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
 
No dilithium in the Romulan empire, maybe?

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Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons; for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
 


Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
 
Perhaps it is so rare that they went ahead and developed alternative power generation systems that did not require it. By the time they might have discovered large deposits of Dilithium, their infrastructure was already geared to the way they had been doing things and it would be impractical (and wasteful of resources) to change over by that time. Of course, that might prove to be a source of revenue, if only they could risk selling dilithium to someone who would not turn around and use it to power weapons that could be used against them.

--Baloo

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"Some students try to hold the Rock up, instead of letting the Rock hold them up"
--Anonymous divinity professor
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/



 


Posted by Kosh (Member # 167) on :
 
And the Romulans are as noidy a people as you will find anywhere.

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Fool of a Took, throw yourself in next time!!
Gandalf



 


Posted by The First One (Member # 35) on :
 
For all we know it could be some sort of taboo against antimatter. They've been Romulans for a long time, which means they've had technology for a long time. Maybe they suffered some sort of catastrophic accident in experiments with the stuff, which long after still causes horrible memories.
 
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
Regarding the suggestion of BoT that Earth had no idea that vulcans were related to romulans. How likely is this? Earth had fought a war with the Romulans. It would be in the interest of Earth during the war to find out as much as they could about their enemy. In addition to the usual spying and interception of messages, this might involve examination of captured weapons and bases, physical examination of biological specimens (prisoners or dead bodies or tissue samples), and gathering intelligence from other races that had any contact with the Romulans. I suppose it's possible that the Romulans were so paranoid that they never showed themselves or had any contact with other races. I suppose that the war could have been fought only at long range, using missiles, and that no Romulan ship was ever captured (they all completely self destructed without a trace when heavily damaged), no Romulan base was ever taken, and no ground combat ever occurred. If I were a Earth or Federation scientist, I would have been looking very hard for some physical evidence of Romulan biology. Even a few cells could tell you a lot, such as genetic relationships to other races.
Also, the romulans in their exodus from Vulcan, must have left some trail of artifacts all the way to Romulus. Maybe even buried bodies. Maybe they burned all the bodies and cleaned up after themselves very well.
Finally, the Vulcans are supposed to be pretty close allies of Earth. In more than 200 years from first contact, after a war with an off-shoot race, after establishment of the Federation, they didn't mention anything about their relationship with the Romulans? Did the Vulcans think we would never find out? Or did they think we already knew? If they didn't tell us and we didn't know, did they think we would not be upset that they didn't tell us earlier? We they trying to protect a fragile alliance by not revealing a relationship with the enemy? Are there sections in Vulcans libraries that have signs saying "off-limits to Earthlings"? Is their relationship to the Romulans (and their uncontrolled emotions) something they are so ashamed of they never mention it?

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum



 


Posted by Baloo (Member # 5) on :
 
I suspect that you have touched on one reason the Vulcans did not know that the Romulans were expatriate Vulcans. Perhaps they were so ashamed of the "heretics" who would not embrace logic, that they purged all records of them and banned any mention of these "failures".

As far as I know, the end of BoT shows (perhaps) one reason that the Federation was unable to collect any captives. The Romulans are (were?) so paranoid that their ships may have been rigged to self-destruct either on command or when the ship had sustained certain types and/or amounts of damage.

Since the Romulans presumably know that biological information would be of potential military use to an enemy, it seems likely that their destruct systems were designed to ensure whatever remained was incinerated so completely that there would be no useful evidence left.

"Captain! I have some sensor readings on the wreckage!"

"Anything useful?"

"Nah. Just some more highly radioactive lumps of metal interspersed with traces of carbon residue."

"Rats!"

--Baloo

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"Some students try to hold the Rock up, instead of letting the Rock hold them up"
--Anonymous divinity professor
www.geocities.com/Area51/Shire/8641/



 


Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
 
The Vulcans may never have even known what happened to the offshoots. Spock was as surprised (or the Vulcan equivalent) as everyone else. Maybe just a few thousand left the planet, and weren't considered significant enough in number to make a big deal about. Then, when the Rommies were met a couple millenia later, they looked up all mass migrations prior to Surak's philosophy taking hold, and decided that this group of a few thousand was probably the ancestors of the Romulans.

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Meddle not in the affairs of Dragons; for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.
 


Posted by Warped1701 (Member # 40) on :
 
Baloo's got a pretty good point. The Romulans could be so paranoid about getting genetic information on their species for a reason. Biological weapons tailored to wreak havoc on Romulan physiology. It's a nasty way to fight a war, but we have the technology to do something like that right now, so in the 22nd century, who knows what would be possible?

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"I see you have the ring. And that your Schwartz is as big as mine!
-Dark Helmet, Spaceballs



 


Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
 
Yes, that's a good suggestion. Earth scientists could get a few Romulan cells and culture them in the lab. Genetic analysis would probably reveal the similarity to Vulcan DNA. (But maybe the Vulcans are also paranoid about genetic info. In that case, follow a Vulcan around until one of his hairs fell out.) They could then test all sorts different chemicals on cultured cells to find what killed them. They could possibly devise agents that killed only Romulans and not humans. If they really wanted to be ambitious, them might try to actually clone an entire Romulan too see what killed him and what kept him alive. They'd also find it looks like a Vulcan.

Of course in Star Trek, no one would ever do anything so nasty. Such bad things only happen on our real Earth.

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When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum



 


Posted by Lt. Tom on :
 
To go back to the ejectable warp cores for a moment...
IIRC, ships in the time of Kirk (and presumably beforehand) didn't have a warp core per se, and instead had the M/A reaction going on directly in the nacelles. Wasn't there some TOS episode where Kirk ordered the nacelles to be jettisoned?
 


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