The prefix number

Discussion in 'Star Trek Movies I-X' started by xvicente, Jun 25, 2013.

  1. DaleC76

    DaleC76 Captain Captain

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    After being modified by Mr. Scott. And even then it was useless in combat.
    They had surrendered. They weren't expecting to fight their way to the bridge or anything.
     
  2. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

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    300 seems a fair estimation, based on the Enterprise having about 430, and the Reliant appearing to have a slightly smaller overall mass than her.

    Scotty automated the ship. A chimpanzee and two trainees could probably fly her from A to B, but there's no chance to repair any damage anywhere on the ship apart from the bridge, do any routine maintenance, or even operate the thing effectively for anything above about 36 hrs tops! ;)

    As for 12 Klingons capturing the Enterprise, firstly Kirk had surrendered, secondly they had hostages to ensure compliance, and thirdly Kruge was a complete whacko!

    "We are Klingons!" hardly guarantees victory when facing 30-1 odds and fighting on the enemy's home turf. Had Kirk had a full crew and intended fighting them, the Klingons would have not even got out of the transporter room.

    A moot point though, as a fully-crewed Enterprise would have been able to raise shields and simply blown the Bird of Prey into scrap anyway.
     
  3. xvicente

    xvicente Captain Captain

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    That's what Starfleet wants you to believe. Exactly that should have happened in Generations. And that was a Galaxy-class, no less.

    Grissom took one shot to destroy and the Klingons weren't even wanting to blow it up. Valkris ship too. The Enterprise hit the Klingon ship with two torpedoes, the same amount of firepower that tore Reliant in two, and only barely scratched the paint (ok, they killed the dog too).

    Birds of Prey are fucking dangerous.

    That he was.
     
    Last edited: Jun 29, 2013
  4. R. Star

    R. Star Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    This movie was made in the early 80's so dated security measures can be forgiven. At the time that seemed like a highly advanced security precaution. Really the only thing that surprised me is, what's the point of having these security prefix codes if any ship can look them up?
     
  5. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I thought TWOK demonstrated precisely what the point of having them was...
     
  6. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

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    That's the problem as the writers keep "adjusting the tech to fit the plot".

    Sometimes, a ship will take a severe pounding and hold together, like the Enterprise in Undiscovered Country, the Enterprise-D in Generations and the Odyssey in DS9 - okay, the latter two were destroyed, but they spent the entire engagements effectively unshielded. As you said, Reliant only took two photons and was completely wrecked.
     
  7. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I've always assumed that in TUC and GEN the antagonists were essentially toying with their prey, deliberately avoiding hitting anything they thought might destroy the ship they were targeting.
     
  8. Captain Clark Terrell

    Captain Clark Terrell Commodore Commodore

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    Well, Starfleet never planned on any of their vessels being hijacked. The prefix codes were probably intended for use in an emergency. It worked out that Kirk used the code to save the Enterprise, but that's probably not why they existed in the first place.

    --Sran
     
  9. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Actually I think that's exactly why they existed. For situations where one Starfleet vessel would need to take control of another.
     
  10. Solariabsg25

    Solariabsg25 Commodore Commodore

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    Kirk's line was "To prevent an enemy from doing what we're attempting."

    That would men there was a danger, real or perceived, that someone could hack into a starship's command systems.
     
  11. DonIago

    DonIago Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Hm. I'm thinking of a Driver's Ed car where the student has full functionality, but the instructor can apply the brakes with no warning if they feel it's necessary.
     
  12. CorporalClegg

    CorporalClegg Admiral Admiral

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    I think the prefix code would have served so much better had it been Khan who used it on the Enterprise. In fact, say it was how Kirk hacked the Kobayashi Maru--he rewrote the Klingon ships to have one. Khan remembers this from reading Kirk's bio during "Space Seed."

    Otherwise, it's just a silly deus ex machine. It is quite literally God mode from the machine.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2013