ST5 attack on Paradise city question

[Lance]

Yeah, the entire "storming the city" mission is really just a plot device to get Kirk and crew in a position where they're at Sybok's mercy.

I suppose if we really want to find some kind of rationale for the entire escapade, then the presence of hostages covers it. With the transporters non-functional, then maybe Kirk thought that a covert assault on the facility was the best way to ensure they actually retrieve the hostages alive. Using the shuttle or the Enterprise herself to do a ground bombardment, even with phasers set on a low-level stun setting, might be too risky for the potential health of the hostages.

Of course, then Kirk just... kind of forgets the 'covert' part of his plan, and storms the fortress directly.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I love it when Sybok hears LASER blasts and goes to Chekov, on the monitor, "I didn't want bloodshed!" Well, Mr. Sybok, see ... it's like this ... when you kidnap people and hold them prisoner with a bunch of Low Lifers holding pebble rifles a'pointed at 'em, you're pretty much inviting bloodshed. Despite Spock's brotherly appraisal of Sybok's supposedly "keen" intellect, everything in this movie indicates the complete opposite of that. He's an idiot. A moron. And not entirely sane. You would've thought after Sybok, Sarek would've found it illogical to father anymore children. Lucky for STAR TREK that he's a fairly randy Vulcan, despite his veneer of stoicism.

 

[Lance]

Despite Spock's brotherly appraisal of Sybok's supposedly "keen" intellect, everything in this movie indicates the complete opposite of that. He's an idiot. A moron. And not entirely sane. You would've thought after Sybok, Sarek would've found it illogical to father anymore children. Lucky for STAR TREK that he's a fairly randy Vulcan, despite his veneer of stoicism.

Ah, maybe that's why fornicating with a human was "the logical thing to do"? He knew that all Vulcan's are assholes, and so a half-Vulcan was only half as likely to turn out to be an asshole, unlike Sybok who as a full Vulcan had turned out to be a full asshole.

 

[Timo]

Using stun beams from orbit or from a hovering shuttle would achieve next to nothing, as stun beams apparently don't go through walls or roofs. You need to get under the roof to fire an effective stun beam. (Or then ramp up the beam, but then it becomes lethal to anybody not under a roof.)

Frontal attack sounds like an idiotic tactic in a hostage situation in general. If you do that, you have to make sure the enemy will be totally paralyzed by the shock of the attack, and remain so until the hostages are secured. How would you achieve that against a force that knows that three powerful star empires are sending their own forces to end the situation one way or another?

Infiltrating the facility first and opening fire from inside is at least a good step towards gaining the surprise and shock vital for the operation. Given how Starfleet troops were essentially bulletproof, it wouldn't matter much from that point on how the operation proceeded, as long as the point men got to the hostages and secured them. Starfleet could then withdraw at its leisure, I guess - perhaps by landing the shuttlecraft through the roof as suggested.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[2takesfrakes]

You would've thought after Sybok, Sarek would've found it illogical to father anymore children.

Ah, maybe that's why fornicating with a human was "the logical thing to do"? He knew that all Vulcan's are assholes, and so a half-Vulcan was only half as likely to turn out to be an asshole, unlike Sybok who as a full Vulcan had turned out to be a full asshole.

Yeah, that would explain Perin, too. There is an ancient proverb on Vulcan: Once you go Human ... you never go back!