Expert: Justin Case - 12/15/2009

Question
QUESTION: What is the most difficult or intriguing question that you've received from another person?

What about from me? (Just kidding.)

The energy "hand" from Apollo could've crushed the Enterprise, had he desired to do so.

How would a battle between Apollo's energy hand and the following play out (with Apollo out of sight)?

A) Calamarain
B) Armus
C) Caretaker
D) Paxan energy field
E) Gary Mitchell
F) Borg Cube
G) Enterprise-E
H) Enterprise-D
I) Crystalline Entity
J) Nomad
K) Trelane
L) Tin Man

Given a random energy blast, which entity is more likely to survive?
A) Armus
B) Nomad (shields up)

Which kinds of energy blasts would totally obliterate Nomad and Armus (photons, quantum torpedoes, antimatter, etc.)?

I'm not talking after 50 hits, I'm saying after only 1 or at most a few hits.

ANSWER: Hi John -

Probably the most difficult ones are when the questioner wants the answer to a very detailed question, but doesn't provide a lot of detail themselves.

I got one where the individual asked "What was the song Picard played in his office?"

Hello!  Not even an episode?  Picard played a lot of songs in his ready room at different times!

The most intriguing one hmmmmmm, probably the ones about the franchise itself rather than the specific 'world' of Star Trek, stuff like "What do you think should be done to save the franchise?"

Other difficult ones are the ones that involve time travel (particularly as how it relates to the 2009 movie) because they are highly speculative and technical and require the ability to understand some pretty out there concepts involving multiple universes, convergent timelines and varying theories about casualty and the impact of linear time.

From you, hmmmmmmm I guess the ones involving the Edo God are so hard because the idea of a multi-dimensional creature takes some thought to get my head around and then extrapolating how such an entity would react to stimulus from this dimension.

A) Calamarain - If Apollo can control energy in the vacuum of space (meaning that he somehow generated it himself and could sustain it in a vacuum without drawing a power or fuel source) then he must be able to affect, generate and sustain energy on a fantastic level.  As creatures of energy themselves the Calamarain might be particularly vulnerable to Apollo and his abilities.  My guess is he might be able to destroy them with a thought if he can control energy to that extent.

B)  Armus - Again, if Apollo can control an energized hand in the vacuum of space his abilities are pretty impressive.  Since Armus somehow metabolizes energy, he might be particularly vulnerable to Apollo. At the very least Apollo should be able to give Armus one heck of a case of 'indigestion' by affecting the energy he metabolizes.

C)  Caretaker - My feeling was that the Caretaker was from an extremely intelligent race and had extensive knowledge of physics, energy dynamics and engineering.  Apollo's abilities seemed more instinctual and natural, meaning he didn't need to think about them much.  In that instance I think any being that could bring starships from all over the galaxy to the Delta Quadrant in the blink of an eye should be able to engineer a method to compensate for Apollo's abilities using technology.  I think in a conflict between the two the Caretaker would probably pretty quickly figure out a means to circumvent Apollo's powers.

D)  Paxan energy field - I would be surprised if Apollo's abilities could affect an alien form of energy like the Paxan.  My guess is they would bypass his powers and take possession of him.

E)  Mitchell - Mitchell was still a neophyte with his abilities and (I think) somewhat afraid of them and what he had become. Apollo didn't show any compunction about using his powers against others and had practiced using them for centuries so, I think he'd be able to beat Mitchell in a conflict after some back and forth.

F)  Borg Cube - The Borg seem to be able to adapt to energy pretty quickly and have millions of minds with millennia of combat experience to draw upon.  As powerful as he is Apollo is just one guy and, I think, he'd give the Borg a hard time at first, but within minutes they would adapt to his energy abilities and be able to defeat him.

G)  Enterprise-E - Picard is a tactical genius and with Riker, Geordi, Data and Worf supporting him I'd imagine they could come up with a means to circumvent Apollo's energy and/or outsmart him somehow.

H)  Enterprise-D - Same crew as the E so I'd bet they could find a means to defeat Apollo.

I)  Entity - I didn't get the impression the Entity was more intelligent than Apollo, and bet he could trick it and/or overcome it some other way using his own skills and abilities.

J)  Nomad - Wow that's a tough one.  If Apollo could surprise the probe I'd think he could do it some damage, though if he could inflict enough to incapacitate it for a significant period of time I doubt.  Ultimately I think Apollo would run out of energy before he could do much to Nomad and at that point the probe would strike.

K) Trelane - Trelane is hard to judge since there are indications his abilities were generated from some type of machine like Apollo's.  In a conflict between the two my guess is Apollo's greater age would give him a leg up in terms of experience, but since we really don't know Trelane's age or background, its hard to say.

L) Tin Man - Tin Man didn't seem to have any real tactical skill, only to react much like an animal.  If Apollo were careful, I think he could find a means to beat the space borne creature.

Well it depends on the type of energy -

Armus didn't seem to be the least bit affected by phaser blasts and Nomad might suffer some minor degradation of his shield, but I think that would be the extent of the effect.

Anti-matter should pretty much do it for Nomad, Armus it's hard to say as the exact make-up of his physiology is unique and unusual.  Since photon and quantum torpedos make use of anti-matter it stands to reason that a sufficient enough blast from them should do it as well.

One hit they would both probably survive though as we've seen starships shields survive multiple hits from photon torpedoes and keep going so it's hard to say.

Thanks!

Deran


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: You wrote that Apollo can generate energy without drawing from a power or fuel source. But doesn't Apollo draw his energy from his temple?

Also, why did you write that Apollo would be able to defeat the Calamarain, but not the energy-based Paxans? I assume therefore that you believe that the Paxans are more powerful?

Could the Admiral Quinn symbiont affect the Founders?

What effect would the energy blast from Tin Man (the one which destroyed the Romulan Warbird) have on the following?

A) Armus
B) Borg Cube
C) Enterprise-E
D) Darmok beast
E) Great Link
F) Calamarain Cloud
G) 8472 bioship
H) Crystalline Entity
I) Nagilum
J) Organian
K) Metron
L) Data x 1000

Answer
Hi John -

Yeah I guess he does, I dunno, its been about 20 years or more since I saw that episode, and that was back when there was just TOS and TNG to keep up with!

My thought was that the Paxans were some exotic form of alien energy that might be harder for Apollo to affect than forms of energy he is familiar with like electro-magnetic.

Wow, good question on the symbiont.  It's hard to say since the only individuals we saw the symbionts affect were human beings.  I'm tempted to say that the biological systems that a Changeling utilizes are probably so radically different that the symbiont would have a hard time operating them efficiently.

It would be like someone who can drive a car suddenly finding themselves in the cockpit of a 747.  Sure, most of the readouts feature similar information, but that doesn't mean they could necessarily fly the plane.

A) Armus - Given his ability to 'eat' energy I doubt it would kill him, but I think he'd have a hard time digesting that much raw energy at once.  He probably wouldn't suffer any tissue damage, but I doubt he could metabolize all of it.

B) Borg Cube - I'd imagine the Cube would suffer massive structural damage and that the attack might set off chain reactions that would ultimately result in the destruction of the vessel.  It probably wouldn't be destroyed outright, but I doubt it would last very long.

C) Enterprise-E - If the blast were powerful enough to destroy a Warbird, a larger vessel then, even with its shields up, the E probably wouldn't stand much of a chance.

D) Darmok Beast - Complete and utter TOAST!

E) Great Link - My guess is, with that much directed energy and radiation, all but a few members of the Link would be vaporized.  I supposed one or two might survive, but their cellular structures would probably be irradiated.

F) Calamarain - Given their status as a cloud of ionized gas there is a very real chance the blast could pass harmlessly through them.  If however the energy of the blast interacted with the electrical fields of the Calamarain themselves, it could very well destroy them.

G) 8472 - Boy they are hard to gauge.  My guess is that their ships are probably constructed of some material native to their dimension, and that they probably have very powerful shields that help their ships withstand the rigors of navigation through Fluidic Space.  My guess is one of their vessels would survive the Tin Man blast with some damage, but their ship would remain intact.

H) Entity - I think he'd be wounded pretty badly, possibly even to the point of death.

I) Nagilum - Any being that can affect an entire sector of space, time, matter and energy probably wouldn't suffer much from Tin Man.

J) Organian - Given that their natural form is one of energy, its hard to say, it would depend on how the energy of the Organian reacted with the energy of the blast.  I doubt it would kill an Organian, but I don't think it would do them much good either.  Probably something like throwing a bucket of ice water on one of us, an unpleasant experience, but not life threatening usually.

K) Metron - My guess is the Metron's reaction would be very similar to that of the Organian.

L) Data x 1000 - If the Tin Man blast was enough to take out a Romulan Warbird without initiating a point singularity through the detonation of the black hole power source that Romulans use in their ships, then even 1000 Data's wouldn't stand a chance.

Thanks!

D.-