The drilling platform..

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

is a unique place. I mean... wow!

It has enough energy within to drill through the crust. The chain that hooks it up to the mother ship isn't smooth and at times looks as thin as the links between larger modules... so...

Here's my question: Where did the Romulan pirates come from ( and I call them pirates because they look like rejects from Pirates of the Caribbean). Was their living quarters and a bathroom located next to the energy cells spilling out waves of energy down to the planet?

 

[Jeri]

They're miners. Their ship is a mining vessel.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I guess he missed that part.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I got it, actually.

But..

How can anyone hang out in the platform? Look at it!

 

[M'Sharak]

Here's my question: Where did the Romulan pirates come from ( and I call them pirates because they look like rejects from Pirates of the Caribbean). Was their living quarters and a bathroom located next to the energy cells spilling out waves of energy down to the planet?

Never stated, but I figure the platform is strictly a workplace and would have no living quarters. Heavily-shielded rest room? Maybe. A small room or booth containing basic on-site controls or adjustments? Possibly. We just aren't shown what's inside the hatch, but there seems to be some requirement that the platform be manned when deployed (this was shown in the Countdown comic, too)

You'll want to hold off starting any more new threads in this forum today, though, FSM -- that's four in the space of a few hours, when we ask folks to limit it to three new threads per day per forum, as a general rule.

 

[Jeri]

They don't live down there any more than tank drivers live in tanks, is my guess. And it should be about that roomy, too.

Edit: oh, yeah -- they pull the drill up inside the Narada. So the guys can get out when they retract it into the ship.

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

Here's my question: Where did the Romulan pirates come from ( and I call them pirates because they look like rejects from Pirates of the Caribbean). Was their living quarters and a bathroom located next to the energy cells spilling out waves of energy down to the planet?

Never stated, but I figure the platform is strictly a workplace and would have no living quarters. Heavily-shielded rest room? Maybe. A small room or booth containing basic on-site controls or adjustments? Possibly. We just aren't shown what's inside the hatch, but there seems to be some requirement that the platform be manned when deployed (this was shown in the Countdown comic, too)

You'll want to hold off starting any more new threads in this forum today, though, FSM -- that's four in the space of a few hours, when we ask folks to limit it to three new threads per day per forum, as a general rule.

No problem. Just keeping the mods on their toes!

 

[startrekrcks]

I thought the drilling platform was very cool and the scene when Kirk, Sulu were on it was great.

 

[Myasishchev]

I got it, actually.

But..

How can anyone hang out in the platform? Look at it!

I noticed the same thing. Like, why are these guys there at all? I could see it if they had like beamed down (maybe their 24thC transporters were better able to cut through the interference, maybe they just turned off the jamming for a second, whatever), or if they'd jumped themselves. But they were just kind of hanging out down there, weren't they?

 

[Flying Spaghetti Monster]

I got it, actually.

But..

How can anyone hang out in the platform? Look at it!

I noticed the same thing. Like, why are these guys there at all? I could see it if they had like beamed down (maybe their 24thC transporters were better able to cut through the interference, maybe they just turned off the jamming for a second, whatever), or if they'd jumped themselves. But they were just kind of hanging out down there, weren't they?

True. They read the script. it needed to have guys to fight.

 

[Plecostomus]

That drill is blasting a huge amount of plasma downwards in a tight beam. I'd wager those guys in the drill platform were there to adjust the power-source and beam controls in real-time. They are hanging quite a ways down from the ship and as there was quite a bit of interference there could be some control lagging issues... hence the need for workers to make the adjustments.

 

[Myasishchev]

All right, Nero doesn't let them goof off much, so the drilling platform was the only place no one would think to look while they were playing Romulan ale-pong or whatever. Of course, joke's on them, because they weren't paying attention during the Narada's red alert (or green alert or what-have-you), and wound up getting thrown out of the bottom of the ship in what was rapidly becoming a really hot room. They were actually just looking for some fresh air, and wound up getting attacked by some random humans they'd never even seen.

(Being drunk also explains why Sulu was able to juke a guy, whose apparent sole job was to defend this one thing, onto a dangerous part of it. You'd think it'd be the other way around.)

 

[Cryogenic]

Interesting thread, FSM. This was one aspect of the film I hadn't given much thought to, but I feel you're right. The loss of those Romulans, as a result of them taking on, and losing to, Kirk and Sulu, also presents another awkward scenario: nobody on board the Narada comments on, or reacts to, their loss. That's kind of grating given the emergent psychological connections made between the same people in a shared living space. The crew of the Narada could have been together for a very long time before coming through the black hole, and afterwards, they're meant to have tolerated almost three years on a Klingon prison planet, and then been led to freedom by Nero, who, despite his extreme geonocidal tendencies, presumably still cared for his ship mates, and they for each other, so why does no-one express any sadness or anger for the sudden deaths of some of their own guys? Clearly, the script wanted those skinheads be rote action bad guys -- i.e. cannon fodder -- and nothing more.

 

[OneBuckFilms]

One explanation for having personnel on a drilling platform might be maintenance and some manual adjustments as they drill.

As for crew reactions, they've seen their home planet destroyed, and are in constant fear of Nero.

In addition, mining is presumably a difficult, dirty and dangerous job, just as it is in the 21st century.

 

[Jeri]

The three-year period only referred to Kirk's years at the academy. There were 25 years between the occasion the Narada came through the wormhole, destroyed the Kelvin and were captured by Klingons and the attack on Vulcan. The report Uhura intercepted the previous evening was of Nero breaking out of Rura Penthe, getting the Narada back, and annhilating all those Klingon ships.

The miners were a tight group and loyal to Nero; but they had all witnessed the destruction of their planet and spent 25 years at hard labor, which could result in a feeling of fatalism. Romulans have a hard culture to begin with. They do express their sadness: the tattoos they wear are a badge of mourning for their loved ones.

As for crew reactions, they've seen their home planet destroyed, and are in constant fear of Nero.

Not in fear; the crew is devoted to Nero.

 

[Cryogenic]

The three-year period only referred to Kirk's years at the academy. There were 25 years between the occasion the Narada came through the wormhole, destroyed the Kelvin and were captured by Klingons and the attack on Vulcan. The report Uhura intercepted the previous evening was of Nero breaking out of Rura Penthe, getting the Narada back, and annhilating all those Klingon ships.

Sorry, you're totally right! What was I thinking? Please excuse me . . .

The hour is late.

(And Gandalf The Grey rides to Isengard, seeking my counsel).

I knew something wasn't right when I wrote that! I only forgot about the USS Kelvin and the whole opening sequence. Whoops.

Still, that only makes my point even stronger. A lot stronger. All those years the crew of the Narada spent together, essentially alone in a strange century, and set to work for the better part of a quarter of a century on a prison planet. Enduring all that, even getting their ship back, successfully capturing Spock who emerges where and when predicted, and then losing comrades to a couple of snotty-nosed Starfleet brats.

The miners were a tight group and loyal to Nero; but they had all witnessed the destruction of their planet and spent 25 years at hard labor, which could result in a feeling of fatalism. Romulans have a hard culture to begin with. They do express their sadness: the tattoos they wear are a badge of mourning for their loved ones.

That's an interesting perspective, Jeri. I do believe that that helps ameliorate the issue I discussed, though whether it completely negates it is a trickier -- and, I guess, very academic -- matter. Thanks for shedding some light on the situation and addressing the matter in an intelligent way.

 

[Jeri]

Cryogenic, I know how it is. I saw the movie 21 times in the theater, and I still say ridiculous things without thinking; like the other day, I told my husband it was interesting that Kirk still had Cupcake's nuckle marks on his eye socket. He looked at me and said -- that was three years ago! The marks were from the drill-platform fight.

We read the prequel comic, "Countdown," and also read the novelization, both of which give interesting background, IMO. I would recommend them to any fan.

 

[Yeoman Randi]

^ OMG Jeri. All this time i was thinking the same thing. And i was amazed at how good the continuity was on his wounds.........

*banging head on keyboard*

 

[Jeri]

We were experiencing a red-matter time warp, where a few minutes for us was three years for Kirk.

 

[Yug]

Clearly, the script wanted those skinheads be rote action bad guys -- i.e. cannon fodder -- and nothing more.

While I don't think those Rommies were cannon fodder, it was a nice action scene, with some cool hand to hand combat. And in a sci-fi laser gun movie, it's neat to find a reason to have a bit of that. And the hazards of not only completeing such a mission, but volunteering for it, demonstarted how Starfleet is a go for broke, no guts no glory type of operation, and it's members are a brave and adventurous group of thrill seekers living for the danger...exciting stuff. Plus the homage to Sulu's fencing skills was just good fun to watch.

This drill rig is pretty big, it's hanging from a giant ship in geosync orbit over a planet about several miles down from the Narada, I got to think that there is a reason for some dudes to be inside the thing for whatever reason, maybe to make adjustments to the drill output, maybe to keep it steady with small thrusters in the face of high altitude winds, who really cares... my point is, I don't think it's out of the question to have those guys stationed in the platform for whatever reason.

The crew of the Narada could have been together for a very long time before coming through the black hole, and afterwards, they're meant to have tolerated years on a Klingon prison planet, and then been led to freedom by Nero, who, despite his extreme geonocidal tendencies, presumably still cared for his ship mates, and they for each other, so why does no-one express any sadness or anger for the sudden deaths of some of their own guys?

I'm sure all of Nero's crew knew the consequences that possibly await them in declaring war on the Federation, and in a very "300" kind of way, live to die in the name of their valiant leader and their cause. These are hard men ready to war glorious rage on their perceived enemy. They died in battle and I'm sure Nero respected their sacrifice, but the battle is far from over, he will honor their names when they dine together in hell !!