Scenario: ISD Mary Celeste

Hammer · Post by **Hammer** » 2002-12-12 05:33pm

The Imperator-II class Star Destroyer Mary Celeste has engaged Rebels near a rim world, when a wormhole appears and sucks it in. It depesits it in the Milky Way, in the late DS9 era, about 1,000 lightyears from the Sol system.

Unfortunately for the crew, the wormhole emmitted a technobabble radiation which penetrated the sheilds by technobabble means and killed every living thing on board. Maintainence droids onboard disposed of the corpses, but it just happened that there were no droids capable of taking command present, nor were there any combat droids.

The Mary Celeste stopped a short distance from the wormhole. Its hypermatter reactor and all internal systems remained online, however the engines and shields powered off. The wormhole itself destabilised and collapsed within a few more hours.

It took 36 hours for anyone to discover her, but the next evening (San Francisco, Earth time reckoning) the USS Enterprise-E, while on routine patrol in the sector, stumbled accross the mighty dagger shaped vessel resting silent in space. Scans revealed that the majority of systems were powered. There was no apparent damage to the ship. But not a soul aboard.

Anyway: That's the premise out of the way. The question is: In the aftermath of this discovery, what would happen?

Acclamator · Post by **Acclamator** » 2002-12-12 05:52pm

What happens?

What happens will depend on whether the Federation can reverse engineer the wealth of advanced technology within this find.

If they can, then the United Federation of Planets will very quickly become the most powerful nation/state in the ST galaxy.

If they can't... well, it's unlikely that the can't - they probably will eventually (even if that means years, decades or centuries), but in the meantime if word of it gets out they're going to have a lot of races trying to grab the ISD for themselves. (Of course if the Feds can figure out how to operate the ISD's systems, (much easier than figuring out how they work in the engineering sense) particularly the weapons, then it will be easily able to defend itself from any such attacks)

Crayz9000 · Post by **Crayz9000** » 2002-12-12 05:54pm

What the hell? Both posts came from the same IP, and were within a half-hour of each other.

Deimos, is that you?

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2002-12-12 06:10pm

The Federation, once it realizes what it has on it's hands, will do one of do things

1) Crash-course as many officers and crewmen as possible in empirical field usage of the craft, while doing as much as is humanly possible to eventually reproduce the technology, while using the ship, even before they have finished crewing it, as an ace to hold off any potentional enemies they might have.

2) Set it up as a public museum and science lab.

Guess which one is more likely...

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2002-12-12 06:41pm

Why on Earth would an Imperator Star Destroyer be named Mary Celeste?

Zaku-chan · Post by **Zaku-chan** » 2002-12-12 06:47pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Why on Earth would an Imperator Star Destroyer be named Mary Celeste?

Haven't you ever heard of theMary Celeste? It was a sailing ship that turned up on the US coast with all crew and passengers gone without a trace. They've never figured out what happened to them.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2002-12-12 06:55pm

Yes, I've heard of the Mary Celeste. I just don't know why you would name a Star Destroyer Mary Celeste.

(this nitpick brought to you by the letters C, H, and the number 9).

Zaku-chan · Post by **Zaku-chan** » 2002-12-12 06:57pm

.................someone's been watching too much Roger Ebert and Sesame Street......

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2002-12-12 07:00pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Why on Earth would an Imperator Star Destroyer be named Mary Celeste?

The Mary Celeste was a cargo ship that ended up abandoned withno clue as to why.

on subject, This one ISD would be the most powerful thing in the Galaxy. If the Federtion was smart they would imidiatally begin an extensive research project into the workings of this jewel. It wld take a while, but sinceit is entirely intact that would include all of the operating manuals these wold explain basically how thetechnology worked and would alow them a starting point to work from in revearse engineering the ship' systems. I would assume any good collection of manuals would incude emergency instructions for procuring new fuel and supplies in remote locations.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2002-12-12 07:03pm

Of course, they'd have to translate the manuals from Basic first, and Basic uses a completely differant alphabet.

Zaku-chan · Post by **Zaku-chan** » 2002-12-12 07:07pm

But if they happen to stumble onto a verbal recording (blind luck, I know) then it would probably make figuring things out a lot easier.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2002-12-12 07:08pm

HemlockGrey wrote:Of course, they'd have to translate the manuals from Basic first, and Basic uses a completely differant alphabet.

Yes but one should also assume that there is at least one protacol droid on board as well. and working out a written language is alot easier task tha reverse engineeing something of complete unkowoperating principles. i didn't say they would beable to read these manuals instantally. I just pointed out that they are there.

Kamakazie Sith · Post by **Kamakazie Sith** » 2002-12-12 07:18pm

Assuming the Sol system is in the center of UFP controlled space, than the UFP will have no problems securing the technology. After an unknown amount of time passes and they have unlocked it's secrets and understand it the UFP will grow to control the entire galaxy within the next year. The other races will probably still be allowed to keep their own territories but they will no longer be considered a threat.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2002-12-12 08:57pm

Probably true. There is a distinct possibility of the Federation letting this newfound power go to their heads, though. Such things usually happen when somebody has such an incredible advantage.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2002-12-12 09:36pm

Here's a question: how are they getting around the ultra-paranoid level of security aboard an ISD? The New Republic only had them initially because several ships defected in the aftermath of Endor... the Feds don't have any surviving crew to give them important things like security codes and authentification to run the ship. See the "Black Fleet Crisis" novels for some comments on what the security surrounding an ISD's computer core is like.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-12-12 09:58pm

The codes are probably all in there because the systems never shut off. So why would the ship's systems require people to punch in codes if the ship "thinks" the original crew is still running it? Not only that, but if the operating manuals are on the ship, they could figure out how to bypass those codes and all of that stuff considering the codes are already entered. And so what if they can't operate the ship's systems? They could just shut down systems, take apart all of the technology, and fit it to their own computers to run them. That is what reverse engineering is all about. Figuring out ways of taking someone else's technology to make it your own. Once they figure out how the turbolasers and shields and sensors and communications and all of that equipment works, they can make their own.

IRG CommandoJoe · Post by **IRG CommandoJoe** » 2002-12-12 10:02pm

Not to mention they could just rip off some armor plating and such and analyze the super-strong alloys.

data_link · Post by **data_link** » 2002-12-13 12:27am

They can analyze all they want, but they aren't going to be able to figure out technology 25,000 years more advanced than their own with any great speed. More likely, unless they can figure out how to operate it and bypass the security codes, they'll be left with a useless hunk of metal until such time as the romulans/klingons/cardassians/ferengi/borg find out about it, and then they will be left with a useless hunk of metal that everyone is fighting over. Simply put, unless the Federation can get the original working, it would be in their best interests to dump it into the hands of someone they don't like (cardassians, anyone?) and let them fight five empires at once.

beyond hope · Post by **beyond hope** » 2002-12-13 07:03am

Having worked in several offices with moderate security, I can tell you that it's not that easy: where I've worked (both for Department of Defense contractors and for financial institutions) any computer terminal in the building requires password access and sounds an alert through the central security system if you get your password wrong after more than a few tries. There, you'd have to get your terminal unlocked afterwards while some security person *tsk tsked* at you for having capslock on when you tried typing your password. You also have banks of cameras watching anything important (and even *unimportant,*) and more cameras watching the people watching the cameras...

Now, imagine what it's like on a Star Destroyer. Sabotage and data theft are both serious concerns in the Empire. I'd fully expect security to be at least as strict with unauthorized attempts at access dealt with much more harshly. The intruder control systems on a Star Destroyer are capable of a lethal response, in the form of nerve gas and automated blaster cannons. There's an incident mentioned in "Before the Storm" where a New Republic salvage ship was lost attempting to salvage an abandoned Imperial cruiser when the salvage crew accidently tripped the automatic defenses: the ship blasted them. It also makes mention of booby traps within the ship and automated internal defenses. The Empire can afford to do that because an Imperial team would have the proper codes to get past the automated defenses and gain access to the ship if something had gone wrong: given the power of a Star Destroyer, though, it's in the Empire's best interests not to make it easy for just anyone to come aboard and do so.

In conclusion, the Feddies had best hope they can reverse-engineer the systems about that ship, because the odds of them making any use of it are pretty slim otherwise. That's even assuming that the first ship to find it gets off a message before investigating and getting blown to hell by the automatic defenses.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2002-12-13 07:55am

What's worse the Holocron for Jedi Master "Rosetta Stone" would be found in the cargo hold.

Isolder74 · Post by **Isolder74** » 2002-12-13 12:36pm

Zaku-chan wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Why on Earth would an Imperator Star Destroyer be named Mary Celeste?
Haven't you ever heard of theMary Celeste? It was a sailing ship that turned up on the US coast with all crew and passengers gone without a trace. They've never figured out what happened to them.

The ship was NOT FOUND off of the coast of the US!!!!!!!! It was NOT found in the Bermuda Triangle!!!!!!!!!! It was found north of the Azores. If you don't where they are, they are just west of northern Africa. This is the bigest mistake that has been perpetuated about the ship.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2002-12-13 01:42pm

Isolder74 wrote:
Zaku-chan wrote:
Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Why on Earth would an Imperator Star Destroyer be named Mary Celeste?
Haven't you ever heard of theMary Celeste? It was a sailing ship that turned up on the US coast with all crew and passengers gone without a trace. They've never figured out what happened to them.
The ship was NOT FOUND off of the coast of the US!!!!!!!! It was NOT found in the Bermuda Triangle!!!!!!!!!! It was found north of the Azores. If you don't where they are, they are just west of northern Africa. This is the bigest mistake that has been perpetuated about the ship.

Mary Celeste is also a brand of frozen pizza. mmmmmm turbolaser pizza! ahhhhhhhh

Andras · Post by **Andras** » 2002-12-13 03:18pm

If the rank cylinders were disposed of along with the crew, SF might be out of luck. I'd like to see them try to program a hyperjump with no clue as to the data in the nav-puter

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2002-12-13 06:55pm

Nah it's the new buffet line.

To encourage the comparrisons, the driods have disposed of the bodies, including codes, rank cylenders etc. as per programming. ANd have continued to set a nice Admirial's Mess each night.

CNS Sarajevo · Post by **CNS Sarajevo** » 2002-12-13 07:22pm

I'm thinking about Beyond Hope's question regarding the internal defenses.

First the Feds have to tow the ship somewhere safe. Assuming the ship doesn't automatically open fire on anything tractoring it, they do.

OK, the shields are off, so that's the first stroke of luck the Feds have. They'll probably try sensor probes of the ship to figure out where everything is. Even if they can't penetrate the hull, the conning tower design can give them a good guess of where the bridge is.

Assuming they can beam aboard, they send in an away team. The team dies in a grotesque Imperial manner, blasters and nerve gas everywhere.

Next, if they can mass-produce the holodoc's mobile emitters, I'm sending THOSE aboard. They may not be as capable as real troops, but crunch all you want, we'll make more.

Next, try to hack into the ship's computer system. I'm guessing if the whole crew is dead, the ship's in full defense mode and will only respond to Imperial codes.

Hmm.

Maybe try to disable the reactors--or, not the reactors themselves, but the fuel storage. You'd need to beam in commandoes, bombs--the shields being off is a real godsend--or try to slice through the hull with phasers. Without fuel the reactors shut off, the ship powers down and the automated defenses are shut off. You also don't risk a meltdown or losing engineering tech from the reactors. You'd need to get all the backup reactors, too. If any of the automated defenses have their own power supplies, well, they're screwed on that one. It wouldn't stop droids either.

Anyway.