OK, I think we have evidence that the Romulans did indeed have warp drive in this episode. The Enterprise was ordered to mirror every EXACT move the romulan ship made, to make out as if they were just a sensor echo. The Enterprise was also (as ordered by Kirk) to proceed at warp 1. So the Romulans HAD to be doing warp. Unless they only had low Warp. It took them a while to get over the Neutral Zone (they didn't actually make it).
We notice that the ship doesn't blow up in this episode... but hangs in space. Does anyone thing that the Enterprise tractored her back?
------------------ Homer: I'm gonna miss Springfield. This town's been awfully good to us. Bart: No, it hasn't, Dad. That's why we're leaving. Homer: Oh, yeah. [pokes his head out the window] So long, Stinktown!
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
I'm pretty sure after the Romulan ship is disabled, the Commander says something about having a final duty to perform and blows up his ship.
Good call on the warp 1.
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Posted by Daniel (Member # 453) on :
Um, why wouldn't the ship have warp capability? Didn't they have primitive warp capabilities during the Earth-Romulan wars a hundred years earlier?
And I could have sworn the Romulan Commander self-destructed his ship. I remember seeing a pretty little fireball and Spock making a comment on it.
Posted by Masao (Member # 232) on :
Well, the infallible (!) Encyclopedia says that the Romulans didn't have warp capability, based on that "simple impulse" line in "Balance of Terror" (BOT). People who only read the Encyclopedia without having ever watched BOT believe the Bird of Prey was sublight only. Of course, all sentient, right-thinking treknologists know that the Romulans must have had warp drive (or other type of FTL technology) as far back as the war.
------------------ When you're in the Sol system, come visit the Starfleet Museum
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Not to mention the annoying statement by Picard in "Insurrection" about Romulans getting Warp Drive only 100 years ago...
OK, that's right, he blew up his ship - but I thought the next shot we saw on the viewscreen was of the ship just listing in space.
------------------ Homer: I'm gonna miss Springfield. This town's been awfully good to us. Bart: No, it hasn't, Dad. That's why we're leaving. Homer: Oh, yeah. [pokes his head out the window] So long, Stinktown!
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Picard didn't say that. He said that someone else had said something about the Romulans being (trustworthy? harmless?) a hundred years ago.
I liked the Last Unicorn Games version of the early Romulans FTL ability. They stated that Romulan ships had a "magnetic bubble" which allowed one faster than light "jump" to reach a destination. Only a resupply base could refuel a magnetic bubble, so setting up such a base in war would be of high importance to them.
From their technology exchange with the Klingon Empire they gained conventional warp drive technology.
Non-canon of course, but a nice mix of what has been said on-screen and what makes sense.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Well from the dialogue in BoT, that doesn't work. Enterprise told Sulu to go to warp 1 and to match/parallel the Romulan's course and heading... to make out that they were a sensor reflection.
------------------ Homer: I'm gonna miss Springfield. This town's been awfully good to us. Bart: No, it hasn't, Dad. That's why we're leaving. Homer: Oh, yeah. [pokes his head out the window] So long, Stinktown!
Posted by Treknophyle (Member # 509) on :
Ergo: They had a primitive warp drive system parallel in capability to that shown in FC - capable of jumps to c+. Let's face it - if they hadn't had some FTL capability during the first war (and we know Earth did) - it would have been a short, victorious war (for Earth(.
Interesting postulate: Assuming that the Romulan warp drive was indeed primitive until approx TOS - the Romulan Star Empire cannot be all that far from Earth or Vulcan. Assuming that the Neutral One is a bubble surrounding it, The Federation should have long since expanded past it - engulfing it - unless by treaty the Federation agreed not to expand in that direction (vector) - which seems a tad restrictive to scientific exploration. Or the Romulans were deeded a large "sphere of influence" - whose edge coincidentally comes close to the Klingon Empire.
------------------ Faster than light - no left or right.
Posted by PsyLiam (Member # 73) on :
If I recall correctly, at the end of the episode, the Enterprise gets a good hit with her (cough) "phaser", disabling the Romulan ship. On the Enterprise's viewscreen, we then see it hanging at an akward angle (with stars showing through it. The Enterprise obviously got in a really good hit ). Kirk then has a chat with the Mr Lenard. He explains that, as a Romulan, he has one final duty to perform. He hits buttons. The bridge stars shaking. We get explosion effects. Back to an external view on the viewscreen, and the BOP self-desturcts in that charming 60s way (ie, it dissapears).
------------------ You know, when Comedy Central asked us to do a Thanksgiving episode, the first thought that went through my mind was, "Boy, I'd like to have sex with Jennifer Aniston." -Trey Parker, co-creator of South Park
). Kirk then has a chat with the Mr Lenard. He explains that, as a Romulan, he has one final duty to perform. He hits buttons. The bridge stars shaking. We get explosion effects. Back to an external view on the viewscreen, and the BOP self-desturcts in that charming 60s way (ie, it dissapears).