Scotty vs. Geordi vs. O'Brien vs. Torres vs. Tucker vs. R2D2

[Drooling Iguana]

The chief engineers of each Star Trek series are each given identical damaged ships. The ships use technology significantly different from what's used is Star Trek and Star Wars, however each competitor is fully briefed on their operation, and given all the tools necessary to get the ships up and running. First one to get their engines up and running and reach a planet 1ly away wins.

[Lord Poe]

The chief engineers of each Star Trek series are each given identical damaged ships. The ships use technology significantly different from what's used is Star Trek and Star Wars, however each competitor is fully briefed on their operation, and given all the tools necessary to get the ships up and running. First one to get their engines up and running and reach a planet 1ly away wins.

R2 will win first. He'll go straight to the task, and won't tire, and can evaluate millions of alternative fixes to the problem near-instantly.

Followed by Scotty, who will finish next only because of the idiocy of the other three. Scotty would get to it, but piss and moan the whole time.

Torres and Geordie tie. They'll spend a better part of a week telling everyone what the PLAN to do, down to the last detail, hold soliloqies with themselves about what to do, then go into the holodeck to practice it before they do it.

Trip? "Goo-aaleee! Loookit, I say, Loookit this!"

[Darth Wong]

R2D2 analyzed the DS computer network in seconds. Given an unfamiliar piece of technology but full briefing materials, it's obvious that R2D2 will chew through the docs before the others have even picked up their jaws from the floor at the magnitude of their learning task.

[Macross]

R2 might have trouble repairing an alien ship because of his design, and Treks fondness of placing critical access points in small crawlspaces. If that is not a problem, then R2 will win.

Scotty and O'Brien will follow close behind. They would get the ship up and running and make it the planet.

Geordi will come up with some grand technobabble solution to get the ship working and eventually make it to the planet.

Torres would be lost without Janeway micromanaging her through the repair.

[Darth Wong]

R2 might have trouble repairing an alien ship because of his design, and Treks fondness of placing critical access points in small crawlspaces. If that is not a problem, then R2 will win.

Scotty and O'Brien will follow close behind. They would get the ship up and running and make it the planet.

Geordi will come up with some grand technobabble solution to get the ship working and eventually make it to the planet.

Torres would be lost without Janeway micromanaging her through the repair.

Have you ever tried to understand a new piece of technology? In order to know enough about an unfamiliar piece of technology to repair it, you must study for days or weeks, not hours or minutes. The scenario specifies that it's alien technology, which means it's not the same cookie-cutter closely related Trek-standard technology that Trek characters are used to. This means that the Trek characters and R2D2 must both start from ground zero in terms of technical knowledge. But R2D2 can analyze schematics a lot faster than any human, which gives him the clear advantage.

PS. Trying to win by assuming the layout of the ship is impassable by R2D2 is a ridiculous copout. I might as well counter by assuming that the ship was designed by an avian species, so you need to fly in order to access anything important.

[Connor MacLeod]

That's something thats always bugged me about Trek. I mean, I doubt humans from the 40's could construct a stealth Bomber or Fighter, and that involves a timeframe of mere decades. Reverse-engineering advanced technology centuries or millenia more advanced seems just plain ridiculous.

Would this not simply suggest the technology gap is alot smaller than one might believe? Just because someone's group has been around for centuries does not mean the technology is going to progress rapidly - technological stagnation can always exist, or maybe there just isn't anyhting else to discover (like in SW)

[Darth Wong]

That's something thats always bugged me about Trek. I mean, I doubt humans from the 40's could construct a stealth Bomber or Fighter, and that involves a timeframe of mere decades. Reverse-engineering advanced technology centuries or millenia more advanced seems just plain ridiculous.

Unless all of the technology in the Trek universe is closely related by massive technological and cultural pollution over the past thousand years, which seems to be the case since everyone uses compatible technology. Voyager bartered for USABLE spare parts in the fucking Delta Quadrant, for fuck's sake!

Would this not simply suggest the technology gap is alot smaller than one might believe? Just because someone's group has been around for centuries does not mean the technology is going to progress rapidly - technological stagnation can always exist, or maybe there just isn't anyhting else to discover (like in SW)

I would say that any group which enters the galactic mainstream in Trek is rapidly brought up to standard, and then they sort of stay there.

[Connor MacLeod]

Unless all of the technology in the Trek universe is closely related by massive technological and cultural pollution over the past thousand years, which seems to be the case since everyone uses compatible technology. Voyager bartered for USABLE spare parts in the fucking Delta Quadrant, for fuck's sake!

Something along the lines of the rationalization used to explain how half vulcans and half klingons can exist as well? (that TNG ep that had the whole "seeding the galaxy" thing?) I suppose if they did arise from the same genetic origins they probably could have gotten their technology from the same common source, too.

I would say that any group which enters the galactic mainstream in Trek is rapidly brought up to standard, and then they sort of stay there.

Wouldn't that be a violation of the Prime Directive, though? Maybe if one of the mainstream galactic powers "annexes" them as a protectorate or some such reason might avoid that loophole. Or maybe they "bribe" potential new members into joining by mention of new, advanced technology.

The whole age thing I brought up mostly because I was thinking of B5 and how everyone can easily reverse-engineer Shadow/Vorlon/Minbari/Centauri technology with a few years or decades of effort. That never struck me as being possible if these beings have been constantly developing their technology for millenia.

[Sarevok]

Wouldn't that be a violation of the Prime Directive, though? Maybe if one of the mainstream galactic powers "annexes" them as a protectorate or some such reason might avoid that loophole. Or maybe they "bribe" potential new members into joining by mention of new, advanced technology.

There was one TNG episode where a planet was trying to join the UFP. They had primitive FTL and their own homeplanet was divided between two political factions. Both factions were interested in joining the UFP so they could gain access to advanced Federation technology. Picard used this as a bargaining tool so there is reason to believe that the Federation does bribe potential members.

[Darth Wong]

Wouldn't that be a violation of the Prime Directive, though? Maybe if one of the mainstream galactic powers "annexes" them as a protectorate or some such reason might avoid that loophole. Or maybe they "bribe" potential new members into joining by mention of new, advanced technology.

There was one TNG episode where a planet was trying to join the UFP. They had primitive FTL and their own homeplanet was divided between two political factions. Both factions were interested in joining the UFP so they could gain access to advanced Federation technology. Picard used this as a bargaining tool so there is reason to believe that the Federation does bribe potential members.

Once you are aware of warp travel and the existence of sentient life outside your own star system, the Prime Directive goes out the window. It only applies to prewarp civilizations. Mind you, they've fucked with that principle in Trek as well; continuity was never a big priority in the writers' brainstorming sessions. Too much storm, not enough brain.

[CorSec]

At first blush, I was going to give it to Scotty. After reading the actual challenge, not much has changed. As smart and capable as the human engineers are, I seriously doubt that they could work only from the knowledge given in the briefing. They'd eventually have to read manuals or track schematics to make sure they understand it right. (It's anecdotal, but I've worked on the C-5 Galaxy. While it is quite standard in most repsects, I doubt one person could intimately know all of the systems enough to repair it without ever referencing a T.O.) The edge is given to R2 simply because it can remember everything it needs to, and has perfect recall. Plus R2 doesn't have the need to explain itself when devising theories on how to repair something. Oddly enough, that's almost the same reason why the good Mr. Scott is hotly in second place.

Final:

• R2-D2 - Single minded miniature juggernaut.
• Mr. Scott - Best damn engineer, ever.
• Geordi - Loquatious, but a damn good engineer.
• Mr. O'Brien - Not as talky as Geordi, but never impressed me with his ability either. If Geordi doesn't shut up, Miles is good enough to best him.
• Torres-Paris - Spends too much time worrying about how much her Klingon insticts are interfering with her Human duties.
• Tucker - While has good down-home charm (Just like blasting womp rats in my T-16 back home!), he is the least impressive of all engineers.

[Embracer Of Darkness]

What about exocomps? They were pretty damn good, and quite alot smaller than R2.

[Darth Fanboy]

What about exocomps? They were pretty damn good, and quite alot smaller than R2.

AhahahaHahahaha

[Macross]

R2 might have trouble repairing an alien ship because of his design, and Treks fondness of placing critical access points in small crawlspaces. If that is not a problem, then R2 will win.

Scotty and O'Brien will follow close behind. They would get the ship up and running and make it the planet.

Geordi will come up with some grand technobabble solution to get the ship working and eventually make it to the planet.

Torres would be lost without Janeway micromanaging her through the repair.

Have you ever tried to understand a new piece of technology? In order to know enough about an unfamiliar piece of technology to repair it, you must study for days or weeks, not hours or minutes. The scenario specifies that it's alien technology, which means it's not the same cookie-cutter closely related Trek-standard technology that Trek characters are used to. This means that the Trek characters and R2D2 must both start from ground zero in terms of technical knowledge. But R2D2 can analyze schematics a lot faster than any human, which gives him the clear advantage.

PS. Trying to win by assuming the layout of the ship is impassable by R2D2 is a ridiculous copout. I might as well counter by assuming that the ship was designed by an avian species, so you need to fly in order to access anything important.

I agree with you on the difficulty of the task and of R2s abilities, but since this is an alien ship, accesability to ships systems is a valid concern, all of R2s analytical and technical abilites wont mean anything if he cant reach any critical areas. The same goes for the Trek crew.

[Embracer Of Darkness]

What about exocomps? They were pretty damn good, and quite alot smaller than R2.

AhahahaHahahaha

They were small, could hover, and they could replicate any tool necessary. They even became intelligent... I ask you, what the fuck is so funny?

[Typhonis 1]

R2 is a whole other creature At one point in ANH He carried not only the plans for a 100 mile wide starship but also a message hologram not to mention the tech info he has to do his job .He is fully sentient to the point where he can outright LIE to someone to get the job done and is fully capable of accessing the computer system of said 100 mile starship to the point of turning off parts of it .

[Lord Poe]

What about exocomps? They were pretty damn good, and quite alot smaller than R2.

AhahahaHahahaha

They were small, could hover, and they could replicate any tool necessary. They even became intelligent... I ask you, what the fuck is so funny?

http://h4h.com/louis/droids.html

Read the Exocomp section.

[Embracer Of Darkness]

AhahahaHahahaha

They were small, could hover, and they could replicate any tool necessary. They even became intelligent... I ask you, what the fuck is so funny?

http://h4h.com/louis/droids.html

Read the Exocomp section.

I was completely aware that R2 is far more advanced than an exocomp because ST droid tech is basically none-existant. I was simply saying that exocomps should've been included, they're not all that bad (especially in size), and they'd probably do better than most of the engineers.

I was just reading through that link you gave me, and it doesn't say anything about R2 almost pushing C3PO to his "death" in AOTC. I think it should be mentioned as it was a very, very stupid maneuver.

[darthdavid]

It was required to save his masters life. He needed to go asap and if he waited for 3pl he would've been too late. Duh.

[Embracer Of Darkness]

It was required to save his masters life. He needed to go asap and if he waited for 3pl he would've been too late. Duh.

If I recall, Anakin got captured (not to mention sentanced to death and having to bail himself out) and 3PO ended up getting his head replaced with a battle droid... Genius plan.

[Darth Fanboy]

It was required to save his masters life. He needed to go asap and if he waited for 3pl he would've been too late. Duh.

If I recall, Anakin got captured (not to mention sentanced to death and having to bail himself out) and 3PO ended up getting his head replaced with a battle droid... Genius plan.

And if I recall R2D2 saved Amidala's ass.

[Kerneth]

And let's face it, saving Amidala's quite fine ass is FAR more important than the preservation of C3PO *or* Anakin Skywalker.

[Darth Fanboy]

And let's face it, saving Amidala's quite fine ass is FAR more important than the preservation of C3PO *or* Anakin Skywalker.

and the 3p0 mistake was actually an improvement, (but still not a scene I cared for in the movie itself.)

[Embracer Of Darkness]

I just read the last couple of replies to my point about R2's fuck-up and I can't see why people won't just drop the fan-wank for a second and realise that it was pathetic.

I love R2, I love the cute little machine that bleeps, and we all know he's superior to any droid in Star Trek, but he purely and simply fucked-up. No matter how anyone makes it out, R2 is not infallible. He just about saved Amidala (who was still taken prisoner and almost put to death), but it almost costed C3PO and Anakin, his master.

R2 rocks, but just admit that he made a mistake. Oh, and this post probably made absolutely no sense, I'm really tired, but you get my point.

[Darth Fanboy]

I just read the last couple of replies to my point about R2's fuck-up and I can't see why people won't just drop the fan-wank for a second and realise that it was pathetic.

I love R2, I love the cute little machine that bleeps, and we all know he's superior to any droid in Star Trek, but he purely and simply fucked-up. No matter how anyone makes it out, R2 is not infallible. He just about saved Amidala (who was still taken prisoner and almost put to death), but it almost costed C3PO and Anakin, his master.

R2 rocks, but just admit that he made a mistake. Oh, and this post probably made absolutely no sense, I'm really tired, but you get my point.

So were you born this stupid or was it a gradual process?

R2 d2 Saved Amidala from death on the Droid Assembly Line, risks his neck in a hazardous environment, and you're faulting him for what? Not grabbing a lightsaber and helping Anakin beat the entire droid army?