VOY "Act of contrition" bets. HEAVY SPOILERS FROM OTHER BOOKS!

[Enterprise1701]

Also, what about other members of Unimatrix Zero? Wouldn't someone like Korok want to go home and rejoin the KDF?

I'm hoping if/when Axum is up and about again, he'll give us an update on Unimatrix Zero.

Some of the liberated Borg from UX-0 joined Hugh's Independent Nation of Borg. (TNG: Greater than the Sum)

I hope there are some other members of Unimatrix Zero who didn't join the Caeliar like Seven. Plus, Rebekah Grabowski seemed determined to fulfill Hugh's legacy. I hope the fate of Hugh's group will be addressed.

Say, are there any reptilian crewmembers in Project Full Circle? I would think that they would be useful in dealing with the Voth (like what Riker did with the Gorn in Typhon Pact - Seize the Fire).

 

[Markonian]

Say, are there any reptilian crewmembers in Project Full Circle? I would think that they would be useful in dealing with the Voth (like what Riker did with the Gorn in Typhon Pact - Seize the Fire).

Are Tamarians reptilian? They're certainly hairless. Also, the species of Demeter's Ensign Url Lask has yet to be established, iirc.

 

[Enterpriserules]

Kirsten, your post here just exemplifies why we all love you!

 

[Kirsten Beyer]

I mean to come in here last night and answer these...

And something else not strictly related to Acts of Contrition, Kirsten, why is it that the "Tarkans" from "Darkling" and Myriad Universes - Infinity's Prism - Places of Exile are spelled "Tarkons" in The Eternal Tide?

Obviously because I can not add, or spell.

Whenever I write these, I always look up the species I use, and I'm sure I did here and then when I started writing the scenes, just messed up. This isn't the first time it has happened to me, but with some of the others, they've been caught by copyediting before the manuscript was finalized.

This time...not so much.

It's weird what my brain does sometimes. I mean, I know how to spell all kinds of alien species off the top of my head and then I double check and look them up and still manage to spell them wrong in an entire book. When you are writing this many words, your brain just betrays you and goes blind to certain things.

So...yeah....another author error.

Say, are there any reptilian crewmembers in Project Full Circle? I would think that they would be useful in dealing with the Voth (like what Riker did with the Gorn in Typhon Pact - Seize the Fire).

The only ones I've indicated so far are some of the Special Security Holograms on the Galen. We saw some of them briefly in action during the hunt for Meegan in Unworthy. But I don't think I've referenced them since then.

Best,
Kirsten

 

[Christopher]

Honestly, I don't think the Voth would be any more sympathetic to a species just because it happened to be reptilian. Their pride as a civilization isn't rooted in their taxonomy, but in their maturity -- they're the most ancient civilization in the quadrant, 20 million years old, and they think they know better than everyone else as a result. They'd be equally contemptuous of any younger race regardless of whether it was mammalian, reptilian, avian, or whatever -- at least if that race got uppity rather than showing them proper deference. In Places of Exile, I treated the Voth basically as Imperial China -- a civilization that takes it for granted that it's the center of the universe, that has no ambitions to expand because it already has everything anyone could want, and that's willing to deal benevolently with other cultures so long as they show it proper tribute and submission. It doesn't even have to be actual political submission, just the show of it to let the Voth save face and remain secure in their sense of superiority.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Maybe not more sympathetic, but perhaps less quick to become angered or threaten violence? With an exothermic race, they'd only be dealing with an impetuous youngster beneath their notice, without the added racist element to their distaste? The Voth did show a strong aversion to the idea of an endothermic species in particular claiming equal bearing with them, and there was a definite anti-mammalian prejudice on display. Mammals as a lower form of life. It isn't their primary criterion for dismissing other species, but it is in there.

That said, maybe they'd be even more contemptuous of reptilians or exotherms that were working with the uppity endotherms? Barbarian fur-lovers! That, or the Voth are obviously smart enough to see what the aliens are trying to do, and such pathetic and insulting efforts to gain the Voths' favour do not please them...

 

[Christopher]

^The problem, of course, being that dinosaurs were not actually cold-blooded. Granted, the Voth's ancestral species (plural) had plenty of time to evolve back to an ectothermic form, but it's hard to see what the evolutionary advantage would be to giving up endothermy.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

^The problem, of course, being that dinosaurs were not actually cold-blooded. Granted, the Voth's ancestral species (plural) had plenty of time to evolve back to an ectothermic form, but it's hard to see what the evolutionary advantage would be to giving up endothermy.

Good point.

Who knows.

Also, am I using incorrect terminology here? Ectothermic and not exothermic?

 

[Christopher]

"Exothermic" refers to a chemical reaction that gives off heat, e.g. fire. "Ectothermic" refers to a creature that generates little or no internal heat and relies on external heat sources.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

"Exothermic" refers to a chemical reaction that gives off heat, e.g. fire. "Ectothermic" refers to a creature that generates little or no internal heat and relies on external heat sources.

Oops. Well, as I'm sure you gathered, I meant the latter. Curse my scientific illiteracy.

Voth firebenders would be quite impressive, though.

I guess the Scarrans from Farscape are exotherms.

 

[Christopher]

^Again, it's not a name for living things, but for a type of chemical reaction. Although endothermic life forms like us do use an exothermic reaction (the metabolizing of food) to generate our body heat.

 

[Markonian]

As far as I know, the current position is that dinosaurs were either endothermic or in the middle between warm- and cold-blooded. As usual with dinosaurs, our knowledge is not definite and may change with any new pertinent finding.

In our favorite MMO, the Voth refer to the species of the Alpha Quadrant Alliance as "mammals". The sympathetic archaeologist Dr. Nelen Exil secretly contacts the AQA, greeting them as "the mammalian occupation force" (of the Solanae Dyson Sphere).

In the upcoming Delta Rising expansion,

Spoiler: Spoiler about STO: Delta Rising

the Voth regard the Turei with sympathy, sacrifcing their ships and lives to defend the Turei homeworld against vicious attackers. So far it's not known why the Voth care for the Turei.
However, this alliance can explain why they Turei fly around in Voth-made Palisade-class ships in "Dragon's Teeth".

 

[Enterprise1701]

^Does Delta Rising utilize Underspace? It's the only (albeit lazy) explanation I can think of for how species and organizations from all seven years of Voyager's original Delta Quadrant journey can be featured as mainstays in the Delta Rising story. I mean really, from what I've seen, the Talaxians of New Talax are working with the Ocampa of Ocampa. Year 1 and Year 7? As much as I like the follow-ups to canon,

 

[Marika]

for me STO is not canon ! My canon is the lit trek .. besides Perfect Craptyc World throws everything at the players only to make them shut up lol.. seriously? VA mining dilithium? fed officers having breen or tholian ships???? And what about ZEN credits? ZEN!

 

[Markonian]

^Does Delta Rising utilize Underspace? It's the only (albeit lazy) explanation I can think of for how species and organizations from all seven years of Voyager's original Delta Quadrant journey can be featured as mainstays in the Delta Rising story. I mean really, from what I've seen, the Talaxians of New Talax are working with the Ocampa of Ocampa. Year 1 and Year 7? As much as I like the follow-ups to canon,

Don't worry. The developers were careful about that.
The New Talax in-game is a Class-M planet. In the storyline, Neelix and his cohort gave up their first asteroid home.

There are two sector blocks, one stretching from the Nekrit Expanse to The Void, the next from The Void to Vaadwaur. Alliance ships cross these distances easily - every shuttle has a QSD by now, and there are transwarp shortcuts as well. The Vaadwaur Supremacy is using Underspace to attack all species of the Delta Quadrant. The Cooperative has transwarp. The Turei use Underspace, and their Voth benefactors and the Octanti transwarp.

 

[Markonian]

for me STO is not canon ! My canon is the lit trek .. besides Perfect Craptyc World throws everything at the players only to make them shut up lol.. seriously? VA mining dilithium? fed officers having breen or tholian ships???? And what about ZEN credits? ZEN!

STO is not canon, and neither is TrekLit. Canon is irrelevant - every Trekkie can accept into their personal continuity whatever they like. You exclude STO, and that's perfectly fine.

The in-game currency are energy credits. Players use ZEN - the characters aren't aware of ZEN.

Every medium has its strengths and shortcomings. As a game, STO requires suspension of disbelief in regards of game mechanics and even content (the dilithium mining included). Again, nobody forces you to mine, so ignore that aspect simply. The game has theme-park qualities and they're explained in-game - we've got the Lobi Consortium selling captured enemy ships-

Moreover, Starfleet has been using species-specific ships throughout its history, beginning with the formation as multi-species service (ENT: Tower of Babel) and continuing through the Dominion War (e.g. Vulcan cruiser in TNG: A Time To Die).

Just because STO is thematically different from TrekLit, it's not something of lesser worth. It's all Trek, whether it's written or on screen, or an audiobook. A Trekkie would embrace such a sentiment as IDIC.

 

[Enterprise1701]

^Does Delta Rising utilize Underspace? It's the only (albeit lazy) explanation I can think of for how species and organizations from all seven years of Voyager's original Delta Quadrant journey can be featured as mainstays in the Delta Rising story. I mean really, from what I've seen, the Talaxians of New Talax are working with the Ocampa of Ocampa. Year 1 and Year 7? As much as I like the follow-ups to canon,

Don't worry. The developers were careful about that.
The New Talax in-game is a Class-M planet. In the storyline, Neelix and his cohort gave up their first asteroid home.

There are two sector blocks, one stretching from the Nekrit Expanse to The Void, the next from The Void to Vaadwaur. Alliance ships cross these distances easily - every shuttle has a QSD by now, and there are transwarp shortcuts as well. The Vaadwaur Supremacy is using Underspace to attack all species of the Delta Quadrant. The Cooperative has transwarp. The Turei use Underspace, and their Voth benefactors and the Octanti transwarp.

And of course there's nothing about anyone who lives in the 9,500 light years that Kes propelled Voyager ("The Gift"), the 10,000 light years traveled with a momentarily successful quantum slipstream ("Timeless"), the 15 years worth with a stolen Borg transwarp coil ("Dark Frontier"), etc?

And obviously the Borg have made no significant advancements in their home quadrant. How convenient.

 

[Enterprise1701]

^Again, it's not a name for living things, but for a type of chemical reaction. Although endothermic life forms like us do use an exothermic reaction (the metabolizing of food) to generate our body heat.

Hey Christopher, I just watched a YouTube video of the mission "Revelations", part of the new expansion Delta Rising of Star Trek Online. It involves

Spoiler: plot of "Revelations"

the player's ship helping save the Turei homeworld from an invasion by the Vaadwaur.

You're never going to guess how some lines of dialogue go.

Spoiler: scientific mistake

Mysterious Ship: Your defense of the Turei thieves will be your undoing!

Voth Commander: The Turei and the Voth have a long standing allegiance.

The Turei's exothermic nature makes them superior to the other feeble races of the quadrant.

Mysterious Ship: Then you will be loyal to the death.

 

[Markonian]

And of course there's nothing about anyone who lives in the 9,500 light years that Kes propelled Voyager ("The Gift"), the 10,000 light years traveled with a momentarily successful quantum slipstream ("Timeless"), the 15 years worth with a stolen Borg transwarp coil ("Dark Frontier"), etc?

And obviously the Borg have made no significant advancements in their home quadrant. How convenient.

The Malon were widespread across the DQ even without advanced propulsion technologies. The Talaxians and Hirogen are nomadic and have been for periods of time. Where's the problem with the distances in the 25th century?

The Borg have not fully recovered from the 2377 event. In the meantime, the Collective has been weakened by Undine (8472) assaults, and has overstretched itself with its disastrous attempt of an invasion of local space.

By 2410, the Queen no longer has the luxury to blow up ships of discontents. Meanwhile, the Borg Cooperative is disconnecting drones by the thousands and can easily grab Collective starships. In one mission, they gain dozens of Collective vessels when the AQA and The Liberator (Cooperative flagship, captained by Hugh) join forces. (STO: Friends in Unlikely Places, Borg Disconnected) To the Alpha Quadrant Alliance and the Delta Alliance, the Collective isn't a threat anymore, just a hive-minded nuisance with big ships. Plus, the the Undine and the Voth continue to pummel whatever remains of the unimatrices.

 

[Idran]

And of course there's nothing about anyone who lives in the 9,500 light years that Kes propelled Voyager ("The Gift"), the 10,000 light years traveled with a momentarily successful quantum slipstream ("Timeless"), the 15 years worth with a stolen Borg transwarp coil ("Dark Frontier"), etc?

And obviously the Borg have made no significant advancements in their home quadrant. How convenient.

The Malon were widespread across the DQ even without advanced propulsion technologies. The Talaxians and Hirogen are nomadic and have been for periods of time. Where's the problem with the distances in the 25th century?

No, they're not objecting to the distances in that quote. They're saying that the STO plotline is acting as though no civilizations of any significance live in those gaps. That the only civilizations that matter along Voyager's route home are the ones that we actually saw on Voyager, and because Voyager managed to skip over some vast regions of the DQ, that nothing of importance must exist in those regions.