• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

The Death of Captain Robau

Federation telegram to Captain Rabau's parents: "Mr. and Mrs. Rabau: We regret to inform you that your son was killed because he was stupid." (Ducks) If it's a real-life situation, as soon as Rabau sees that huge unknown ship appear right in front of him. Rabau should have told the helm officer "Any heading, maximum warp NOW!" Instead he lets the Narada pound the crap out of his ship.
 
Hmh? It was his job to explore things like that. He wouldn't get much of a professional reputation if he fled from his subjects of study every time...

Timo Saloniemi
 
Do we know for SURE that Robau is dead?;) Okay. I'll shut up. But it kind of sucks that it took a somewhat non-canon graphic novel to explain more of what happened to him. Even in the deleted scenes of the Narada being surrounded by Klingon battle cruisers and Nero's crew being taken prisoner we get no more references to Robau or see his dead body on the ship.
 
What happened to him?

Nero charges at him with a pointy weapon, and the crew of the Kelvin gets an indication that his lifesigns have terminated just as the Narada starts working to terminate the rest of the crew's lifesigns.

I'm pretty sure what happened was that he took a pointy weapon in the chest and shortly thereafter his heart stopped beating.
 
Hmh? It was his job to explore things like that. He wouldn't get much of a professional reputation if he fled from his subjects of study every time...

Timo Saloniemi

Rabau didn't have to run away from the Narada. It would have been the prudent thing to warp out to a safe distance and launch a probe or two. you don't study potentially dangerous unknown animals by jumping in the middle of them. You first observe them safely from a good distance. Otherwise you might find yourself eaten.
 
In TOS they were able to scan entire solar systems from outside. They were right next to a star apparently. So just jump to the edge of the system or at least out of weapons range. Since we don't know the Narada's weapons range I'd just jump to a nearby planet in the system and do Riker's hide over the magnetic pole trick. Warp capable weapons would be a bitch though.
 
You first observe them safely from a good distance.

That has never been the Starfleet way, though. And Nero didn't really give Robau any time for such a decision: he fired at Robau's ship right after emerging from the interdimensional weirdness.

In TOS they were able to scan entire solar systems from outside.

Not in any particular detail, though. Only by entering a system could they verify that it was lacking planets in "The Doomsday Machine"; spotting an enemy ship in orbit of a planet was not practical even after settling in orbit in "Friday's Child". When outside a star system, our heroes could at most pick up emissions, or deliberately scan for a particular planet to establish its coarse physical characteristics.

Any study of a poorly understood phenomenon did seem to involve getting close and personal with the phenomenon - say, in "Symbiosis". Probes were seldom launched from a great distance. Indeed, long range probe launches seemed to be performed only when the ship had some operational reason to remain stationary or on course (e.g. "Inner Light", "Lower Decks"), not when it seemed "it's too dangerous there".

Since we don't know the Narada's weapons range

Why would this strange astronomical phenomenon even have a "weapons range"? How could Robau identify it as a threat force? And what message would he send by running away from what he rather loosely suspected to be a threat force?

Timo Saloniemi
 
I'm sure that Starfleet's number one commandment to it's captains is to protect the crew and onboard civilians, even unborn civilians. At the beginning of the scene we see the Narada emerging from the lightning storm with the Kelvin passing by. The Kelvin turns towards the disturbance and approaches. The proper thing to do at a minimum would be to turn the other way and put some distance between them. This would give Rabau some time to react to the Narada firing at them.
 
I'm sure that Starfleet's number one commandment to it's captains is to protect the crew and onboard civilians, even unborn civilians. At the beginning of the scene we see the Narada emerging from the lightning storm with the Kelvin passing by. The Kelvin turns towards the disturbance and approaches. The proper thing to do at a minimum would be to turn the other way and put some distance between them. This would give Rabau some time to react to the Narada firing at them.

And in 40 years of Trek, how many times have we seen our heroes observe a phenomenon or encounter a ship that was previously not there nearly up close and personal? I'd say several times in any given season. Heck, the first Kirk episode in all of Trek had the Enterprise flying through a dangerous, lightning-filled barrier that before had destroyed nearly everything that went near it. Danger is a proven and reliable storytelling device.

I think you're thinking with a luxury that Robau never had: the gift of hindsight. Really, the Kelvin was operating normally, flying smoothly, all systems intact before the scant few seconds between observation and the Narada coming through. What problem would there be?

(likewise, let's say Robau somehow has precognition and turns the ship around; what's to prevent the 24th Century Narada from catching up and then doing the same thing anyway?)
 
Okay, we'll make that Starfleet's number one suggestion. God knows how many times prudent decision-making and tastical skills have been ignored to forward the plot in Star Trek and other shows. Maybe in this new timeline Starfleet should have changed the Koybayashi Maru test to the "Big giant unknown ship emerging from a lightning storm" test. And since Rabau was on his way to the bridge when the situation began; we can blame it on his second-in-command.
 
Okay, we'll make that Starfleet's number one suggestion. God knows how many times prudent decision-making and tastical skills have been ignored to forward the plot in Star Trek and other shows. Maybe in this new timeline Starfleet should have changed the Koybayashi Maru test to the "Big giant unknown ship emerging from a lightning storm" test. And since Rabau was on his way to the bridge when the situation began; we can blame it on his second-in-command.

Well, if you want to think that everyone is psychic and has superspeed reflexes, let's apply your method of thinking to the TOS movies:

TMP: The Klingons should have refused orders to combat V'Ger. The crew of that space station should have fled at the first sign of trouble; Likewise, the Enterprise should have turned away rather than communicate with V'Ger. Spock should have known better than to try a mind meld. Chekov should have kept his hands off the controls to prevent his burn.

TWOK: Terrell should have noticed that there was a planet missing; Terrell should have turned around the instant he and Chekov saw a mysterious bunker in the middle of a desert. Kirk should have raised shields in the first encounter with Reliant. Kirk should have turned left/right/up/down to avoid the phaser blasts in the nebula. Spock should have put on a full radiation suit.

TSFS: Those smugglers should never have dealt with Kruge. The agent should never have watched the tape. Esteban should have put guards up all over the Excelsior and Starfleet command. The Grissom should have turned tail and run the instant they saw any sign of a cloaked ship. Kirk should have similarly run. Kirk should have made Scotty sure the Enterprise was battle-ready. Kirk should have fired even more torpedoes.

TVH: Chekov should have turned the other way instead of falling. Kirk should have remembered the whale probe upon return to the 24th Century. Kirk and crew should have run away from Earth instead of face their court martial.

TFF: Starfleet should have had more ships nearby. Scotty should know to fix the Enterprise. Spock should have fired on Sybok. Scotty should have been faster in beaming up Kirk.

TUC: Sulu should have turned the other way to escape the wave. No one should have had that Romulan Ale. There should have been posted watchmen by the windows underneath the Enterprise to see where the torpedo came from. Kirk and McCoy should not have beamed aboard Kronos-1. Excelsior should have been guarding Khitomer. Enterprise should have entered battle with that special homing torpedo already armed. Chang should have decloaked and raised the shields the instant he saw the torpedo.

Heck, Excelsior vs. the shockwave in TUC is virtually no different than the Kelvin and the Narada, with similar dramatic pacing as well.

All those "mistakes" on the part of commanding offiers helped churn out some fantastic and critically acclaimed movies. Likewise, there *are* such things as surprises! That's why they're called surprises!
 
Really? I'm just saying that all of these tactical errors and mistakes are just part of the plot. Well, ST5 was just stupid.(my opinion) Maybe in another timeline Rabau did turn away. Or in another one immediately opened fire and destroyed the Narada before it's weapons could appear through the wormhole. Make for a short movie though. Hey, that would be the future reset. After the events of Star Trek XI old Spock goes further back in time using the Guardian of Forever and gives Rabau and George Kirk a warning. I just hope that any future Starfleet in OUR timeline would give it's future captains alot more mission simulations and training ops other that Koybayashi Maru. Kind of like Starfleet Top Gun. (Top Phaser?) Hey, there's your next movie.
Besides; aren't we all here to analyze, discuss, and nitpick?
 
Last edited:
People who join Starfleet know what they are signing up for. Space exploration is dangerous and at any time you are seconds away from death due to space anomalies, hostile aliens, or simple accidents. The benefits outweigh the risks and risk is part of the game. Sure, all humans in the 23rd century could just stay on Earth and never leave their houses to live a safe life, but then they wouldn't be making incredible discoveries in space. The "lightning storm in space" seemed to be highly unusual and never seen before. It was Captain Robau's prerogative to investigate this new phenomenon, but not haphazardly: Remember the base officer voice in the background saying, "Advise Captain Robau to proceed with caution." So exploration and investigation are fundamental to Starfleet, but are also done with a degree of caution.

Also, once a giant ship emerged from this phenomenon, Robau raised shields but had no reason to assume they were hostile yet, so he didn't immediately start shooting or run away. Who knew? They could be a new species to make first contact with or could be wounded travelers. Hostile intent was not indicated until their missiles were inbound.
 
Federation telegram to Captain Rabau's parents: "Mr. and Mrs. Rabau: We regret to inform you that your son was killed because he was stupid." (Ducks)
I don't think the Federation would be so insensitive as to intentionally misspell the family name in such a telegram. :p
 
Oops, sorry. I've been misspelling his name in every posting. Man that's nitpicking. Besides I was just paraphrasing a line from "Top Gun".
I know that they did the shot of the Kelvin next to the Narada to emphasize how giant the Narada is. But that was almost rock-throwing range. I'm just saying that James T. Kirk would have done things a little differently. That's why he survived so many situations where other captains would have died.
 
I think the sarcasm question was intended to apply to the "pretty subtle" part, not the "crazy" part. :)
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top