Breen shooting through shields, how?

[JesterFace]

Towards the end of the war the Breen were able to fire through shields making things tough for Federation and chums.
Was it ever explained how that was possible? The shields are there for that reason, to protect the ship from enemy fire and suddenly that goes out the window. It was kind of.... weird?

There was this Klingon ship that had adjusted something before the fight and its shields worked fine.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Every defensive system ever invented has invariably been outdone by some counter-measure (the opposite is also true). Early cloaks were figured out, so they made better ones. No doubt 24th century shields are different than 23rd century ones because some enemy made a better phaser or photon torpedo. (no matter what Geordi told Scotty about systems being "basically the same")

Janeway's future anti-Borg tech is an obvious example.

I think as far as the Klingons being unaffected, that was related to the energy draining aspect of the weapon.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Small effects budget--> Can't shoot through shields
Large effects budget--> One shot all ships!

 

[fireproof78]

Generations had the Klingon Bird of Prey match frequencies and could blow through shields.

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Towards the end of the war the Breen were able to fire through shields making things tough for Federation and chums.
Was it ever explained how that was possible? The shields are there for that reason, to protect the ship from enemy fire and suddenly that goes out the window. It was kind of.... weird?

There was this Klingon ship that had adjusted something before the fight and its shields worked fine.

The Breen were using an energy dampening weapon which dissipated the shield and impacted the ship and then drained the ships energy. The Klingon vessel's chief engineer adjusted the tritium intermix of the ships warp core as part of routine maintenance which incidentally had the effect of neutralising the Breen weapon. It was stated that while Klingon ships could be retrofitted to be resistant to the Breen weapon, Romulan and Federation ships could not be.

 

[kkt]

It's just technobabble. Try not to worry about fitting it in with real physics, for that way madness lies.

 

[Timo]

It was stated that while Klingon ships could be retrofitted to be resistant to the Breen weapon, Romulan and Federation ships could not be.

Or more like the Klingon ships could all easily be given the cargo-cult treatment of fidgeting the frammistats in the manner that had accidentally protected that one ship, while actually understanding the threat and using that understanding for devising a defense for all types of ship would take time.

No doubt Romulan and Federation ships could be given an analogous defense by detuning their doodads or wanking their whatnots, once the scientists figured out which of those were analogous to the serendipity of the Klingon frammistat thing. But this would be leaving a lot to chance; a proper defensive move would involve preparing for any adjustments the Breen might make to their attack, and preferably creating an overwhelmingly good armor against a broad spectrum of blows.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Or more like the Klingon ships could all easily be given the cargo-cult treatment of fidgeting the frammistats in the manner that had accidentally protected that one ship, while actually understanding the threat and using that understanding for devising a defense for all types of ship would take time.

No doubt Romulan and Federation ships could be given an analogous defense by detuning their doodads or wanking their whatnots, once the scientists figured out which of those were analogous to the serendipity of the Klingon frammistat thing. But this would be leaving a lot to chance; a proper defensive move would involve preparing for any adjustments the Breen might make to their attack, and preferably creating an overwhelmingly good armor against a broad spectrum of blows.

Timo Saloniemi

Ok sure. I'm just telling it how it was in the actual episode.

 

[Timo]

Well, the dialogue is sorta relevant.

O'Brien: "Basically we stumbled onto it by accident. At Chin'toka, our entire fleet was disabled when the Breen engaged their energy dampening weapon. 311 ships, Federation, Romulan, and Klingon, all lost power."
Sisko: "But one didn't. A Bird of Prey called the Ki'tang."
Ross: "Why? What was different about the Ki'tang?"
O'Brien: "We're not really sure. The only thing we can figure is that just prior to the engagement, their Chief Engineer adjusted the tritium intermix to compensate for a containment problem in the warp core."
Martok: "I've ordered every ship in the Klingon fleet to adjust its reactor the same way."
Romulan: "Our vessels are of a different design. Can this technique be adapted to protect them as well?"
Sisko: "Unfortunately, no. Your ships are still vulnerable, and so are ours."

Basically, there is no protection against the Breen weapon. The Klingons are betting their lives on their magic mumbo-jumbo being helpful, but even they don't really know whether that's true.

Eventually, a defense appears to be devised, as the Breen no longer manage to turn off starships, any starships, and don't even try. Whether the Klingon trick was relevant to this is left untold.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Agony_Boothb]

Well, the dialogue is sorta relevant.



Basically, there is no protection against the Breen weapon. The Klingons are betting their lives on their magic mumbo-jumbo being helpful, but even they don't really know whether that's true.

Eventually, a defense appears to be devised, as the Breen no longer manage to turn off starships, any starships, and don't even try. Whether the Klingon trick was relevant to this is left untold.

Timo Saloniemi

ok sure.

 

[Oddish]

The Dominion were initially able to shoot and beam through shields, and the Federation found a way to adjust to that. Every now and then, someone comes up with a new trick that shields won't work against. But, once an analysis has been done, shield technology can often be adapted. As was the case with the Dominion.

 

[Crewman6]

It's just technobabble. Try not to worry about fitting it in with real physics, for that way madness lies.

Seriously. You're asking how the entirely made up science is supposed to "work?" This way lies madness. It works because it was essential to the story.

 

[at Quark's]

I always assumed this was simply because Breen technology was different (not necessarily more advanced), and this weapon required a defense unanticipated by Starfleet. It just took a while to adapt their defenses. After all, no technology will be absolutely impervious to anything.

 

[Farscape One]

I think it can be explained like this.

Shields are produced by energy. The Breen weapon basically absorbs energy, which is why it cut through shields, and then the ship itself, so quickly.

After that, the Breen can fire conventional weapons and blow them up without risk of being shot at.

 

[STEPhon IT]

Towards the end of the war the Breen were able to fire through shields making things tough for Federation and chums.
Was it ever explained how that was possible? The shields are there for that reason, to protect the ship from enemy fire and suddenly that goes out the window. It was kind of.... weird?

There was this Klingon ship that had adjusted something before the fight and its shields worked fine.

Could Star Trek VII: Generations be a clue? Like the Duras' figuring out shield frequencies. Hard to know through bad writing.

 

[JesterFace]

Generations had the Klingon Bird of Prey match frequencies and could blow through shields.

Could Star Trek VII: Generations be a clue? Like the Duras' figuring out shield frequencies. Hard to know through bad writing.

That's one possibility but then the question is how did the Breen know the shield frequency?
Well, there must be some tech explanation for that. The weapon recognized the shield frequency and [enter tech talk here]

I wonder, did 'Generations' or that DS9 episode have that bad writing mentioned....

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I think it can be explained like this.

Shields are produced by energy. The Breen weapon basically absorbs energy, which is why it cut through shields, and then the ship itself, so quickly.

After that, the Breen can fire conventional weapons and blow them up without risk of being shot at.

And there's no such thing as an absolutely impenetrable shield. The Breen figured out how to shoot through Starfleet shields; it doesn't really matter how or why. It's got to happen someday.

 

[fireproof78]

That's one possibility but then the question is how did the Breen know the shield frequency?
Well, there must be some tech explanation for that. The weapon recognized the shield frequency and [enter tech talk here]

I wonder, did 'Generations' or that DS9 episode have that bad writing mentioned....

I mean, I imagine there is a way to detect it but it either takes too much time or is inaccurate at best. The Breen were just more patient and able to assess and attack.

 

[STEPhon IT]

In other words, the Breen's weapons penetrated Starfleet's shields because the writing said so.

 

[Farscape One]

I never said there was an impenetrable shield. I said the Breen weapon seemed to eat the shield energy, for lack of a better term. It then kept eating all the energy on the ship... no power for weapons, propulsion, force fields for hull breaches, etc.

At that point, a ship is completely vulnerable to conventional weapons, which even with the Defiant's ablative armor, would destroy a ship easily.

 

[Charles Phipps]

SCIENCE!