Enterprise arriving after the main battle over Vulcan

[EJA]

When the Enterprise drops out of warp at Vulcan, they find that the rest of the fleet they travelled with has apparently gotten there way ahead of them and already been obliterated. But the other ships went to warp about a minute before the Enterprise did, so shouldn't Enterprise have been able to catch up with them?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

The obliteration happened really quickly.

 

[KobayashiMaru13]

Well, it is possible that the other ships were at a higher warp speed. And anyways, if the Narada had the full intent of destroying them, it would hardly have taken long.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Alot can happen in 45 seconds, especially if your ships drop out of warp one at a time with their shields down in orbit of what they believe is a peaceful world with no hostile presence, experiencing an unusual natural disaster.

Reminds me of a (semi-urban) legend of the Air Force F-111 Advark. Seems in the 1970s there was a flight of four aircraft on maneuvers in Hawaii, flying in a line. Poor weather forced them to use terrain-following radar to find their way to the airfield; unfortunately, the F-111's radar couldn't register porous volcanic rock (three guesses as to what Hawaii is primarily composed of). According to legend, all four them crashed into the same mountain, one after another, simply because they didn't have time to radio a warning to the plane behind them.

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Basically our heroes survived because Sulu was a fucking nincompoop.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

When the Enterprise drops out of warp at Vulcan, they find that the rest of the fleet they travelled with has apparently gotten there way ahead of them and already been obliterated. But the other ships went to warp about a minute before the Enterprise did, so shouldn't Enterprise have been able to catch up with them?

The Narada probably took less than a minute to destroy those ships.

 

[Pauln6]

Whatever happened to not using warp while in a solar system (per TMP)? I do realise that a lot of writers forget about that for the sake of speeding up the plot, but it makes sense given the number of obstacles within a solar system. They should have warped to the outer edge of the system and then used impulse power to navigate the system and had plenty of time to see what was happening and formulate a plan. Sure we can reason our way around it but I don't see seismic activity as a big enough threat that would justify 7 ships using warp within a solar system given the risks. That's like firemen rushing into a burning building without taking precautions.

 

[Withers]

I agree that it wouldn't have taken very long to eliminate Starfleet's "armada" (that's hardly what constitutes an armada if you ask me) but I'm in agreement that it happened a little too fast. The Kelvin (an older ship one presumes) was caught almost equally off guard. Even after their Captain had been terminated and the Narada had no reason to hold back the Kelvin managed to stay in one piece at the very least.

The fleet above Vulcan was utterly destroyed. Those ships were unrecognizably blown to bits. I'm not saying Narada wasn't capable of inflicting that sort of damage... just that it's on the 'unreasonable' side that it did it to six ships, simultaneously, in at most two minutes.


-Withers-​

 

[Phily B]

I think the Narada was a bit messed up after going through the black hole which is why it didn't manage to destroy the Kelvin in 10 seconds.

 

[Withers]

Their weapons systems were clearly on-line after coming out of the black hole. It isn't like they didn't completely own the Kelvin... I mean, obviously, they did. They fired a mass ton of missiles at the Kelvin and, as we saw, they tore open the hull but they weren't breaking the ship apart into chunks. Unless the trip through the black hole took their good missiles off line and left their weaker ones functioning (c'mon...) I don't think that logic holds much water.


-Withers-​

 

[Jeyl]

Here's my question. Why didn't the Narada see the Enterprise coming? If the Narada could see ships coming into the system that are still ways away, why was the Enterprise any different? It's not like the debris field somehow managed to block the Narada's sensor readings for the whole solar system. And even when the Enterprise exited warp, they still didn't detect them for a whole minute before they finally open fired on the Enterprise.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

The Narada was probably parked in Vulcan orbit just waiting for any ships to come out of warp.

And even when the Enterprise exited warp, they still didn't detect them for a whole minute before they finally open fired on the Enterprise.

That time, though, there was a lot of debris floating around.

 

[Jeyl]

And even when the Enterprise exited warp, they still didn't detect them for a whole minute before they finally open fired on the Enterprise.

That time, though, there was a lot of debris floating around.

Well, in that case, the Enterprise was in no direct danger for a whole minute when it came out of warp. The shields didn't do crap against the debris field and I highly doubt Pike would be in shock for that entire time before calling red alert.

 

[Captain MAJ]

Their weapons systems were clearly on-line after coming out of the black hole. It isn't like they didn't completely own the Kelvin... I mean, obviously, they did. They fired a mass ton of missiles at the Kelvin and, as we saw, they tore open the hull but they weren't breaking the ship apart into chunks. Unless the trip through the black hole took their good missiles off line and left their weaker ones functioning (c'mon...) I don't think that logic holds much water.​

-Withers-​

When the Narada really opened up on the Kelvin, the Kelvin was somewhat ready. Point defense was ready and weapons were online. Plus there was a Kirk in command.

The six ships over Vulcan had no idea they were flying into a combat situation. It's entirely different.

 

[BurntSynapse]

Basically our heroes survived because Sulu was a fucking nincompoop.

Another miracle!

It seems a bit like the previous miracle: Starfleet puts the least experienced kids and older drunks on their best ships, saving bridge positions for pairing children who have speech impediments with voice controlled computers, relegating the most experienced and decorated veterans who have proven abilities and competence in crises to lesser vessels.

Good thing the new Starfleet is military, otherwise it might have to make some kind of sense.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Basically our heroes survived because Sulu was a fucking nincompoop.

Another miracle!

It seems a bit like the previous miracle: Starfleet puts the least experienced kids and older drunks on their best ships, saving bridge positions for pairing children who have speech impediments with voice controlled computers, relegating the most experienced and decorated veterans who have proven abilities and competence in crises to lesser vessels.

Good thing the new Starfleet is military, otherwise it might have to make some kind of sense.

Huh?

 

[Withers]

Plus there was a Kirk in command.

That's really all the explanation I'd need for really anything related.

"Why did-" "There was a Kirk in command." "How come they-" "There was a Kirk in command." "What was the point in-" "There was a Kirk in command!"

It just works. Seriously, try it with any of the TOS movies too.


-Withers-​

 

[Captain MAJ]

Plus there was a Kirk in command.

That's really all the explanation I'd need for really anything related.​

"Why did-" "There was a Kirk in command." "How come they-" "There was a Kirk in command." "What was the point in-" "There was a Kirk in command!"​

It just works. Seriously, try it with any of the TOS movies too.​

-Withers-​

This.

 

[BolianAuthor]

The fleet that arrived at Vulcan was not destroyed THAT quickly... to the viewer watching the film, yeah, it was like "commercial break" fast, but you have to remember that in the time between the fleet (and the Enterprise) warping to Vulcan, Bones was treating Kirk while Kirk was trying to establish what was going on, AND also running through the ship trying to find Uhura, to tell her that the fleet was warping into a trap. When he finally does locate Uhura, they then all go to the Bridge, where more time is spent by Kirk convincing Captain Pike that it is indeed a Romulan trap. Captain Pike then tries to contact the fleet, only to find silence. Only THEN does the Enterprise arrive at Vulcan, amidst the carnage of the fleet's remains.

So a lot actually happened in that interval from warp-out to arrival. The Narada could have totally done that much damage to the fleet in that amount of time... especially considering that the Narada had late 24th century weapons.

 

[Pauln6]

So a lot actually happened in that interval from warp-out to arrival. The Narada could have totally done that much damage to the fleet in that amount of time... especially considering that the Narada had late 24th century weapons.

That is probably true. However, there is no reason why it SHOULD be true. I think the point that the OP was making was that the Enterprise went to warp a very short period of time after the fleet. If Pike followed the same procedure i.e. speed as the others, he would have arrived the same amount of time behind the fleet.

However, given the short amount of time after the fleet he left, he could easily have teased a bit more out of the engines to catch up. If he didn't, it was because the emergency wasn't considered that much of an emergency. If it wasn't that much of an emergency, why did the fleet take the risk of warping all the way inside a planetary system.

1. Even at high TNG warp it should have taken the fleet between a day and a week to reach Vulcan.

2. The fleet should have warped to the outer edge of the system and then used maximum impulse to reach the planet in a matter of minutes. Thus their scans should have been able to warn them what was going on.

3. It isn't clear what the jamming range of the Narada was but the fleet should then have been able to send a signal to Earth, Pike, and the Laurentian system or send one of the ships out of jamming range to do so.

4. None of the ships should have engaged without shields up (it would also be insanity to warp inside a planetary system at warp speed without shields up).

5. Pike would have arrived at most before the rest of the fleet engaged the Narada.

Overall, the set up was a bit dumb but luckily most people just take the scene at face value. Examine it too closely and it is ridiculous.