VOY - Alice

[Yukaphile]

Did I dispute anything about numbers? Seems you may be misunderstanding me. I am speaking purely to the large-scale "cube" mobilizations we see in Voyager. I think even in the Delta Quadrant, one cube, maybe two would be enough to assimilate most planets. And that along the way, they were laying down transwarp conduits.

Well, movie is too damned quick to elaborate on that. Even Moore himself calls it just a "popcorn movie." I mean, the original script had them say the new quantum torpedoes are working like how the transphasic torpedoes did later, as a specific anti-Borg weapon. Then it was removed. And the Defiant is just reduced merely down to the level of "cameo."

[Yukaphile]

In effect, I think their "space," as is, would be nothing like all those unicomplexes we see everywhere.

[Kendrakirai]

Did I dispute anything about numbers? Seems you may be misunderstanding me. I am speaking purely to the large-scale "cube" mobilizations we see in Voyager. I think even in the Delta Quadrant, one cube, maybe two would be enough to assimilate most planets. And that along the way, they were laying down transwarp conduits.

Well, movie is too damned quick to elaborate on that. Even Moore himself calls it just a "popcorn movie." I mean, the original script had them say the new quantum torpedoes are working like how the transphasic torpedoes did later, as a specific anti-Borg weapon. Then it was removed. And the Defiant is just reduced merely down to the level of "cameo."

Quantum torpedoes are just photon torpedoes using a zero-point energy payload instead of a standard matter/antimatter reaction. They’re much more powerful, while transphasic torpedoes are *probably* designed to phase past shields and hull for a fraction of a second before detonating behind defensive systems.

In other words, a photon torpedo is like a regular missile. A quantum torpedo is a low-yield tactical nuke, while a transphasic is a bunker buster.

To explain it a bit better:
A regular missile won’t do much to, say, a hardened bunker in a mountain.
A tactical nuke can *seriously* mess that mountain up, stripping away a huge amount of the bunker’s protection, and possibly even seriously damage the bunker.
The bunker buster will push through the mountain and deliver its payload *past* the thousands of tons of rock that the bunker is relying on for most of its armor, probably seriously damaging or even outright destroying the bunker, even though it’s payload is almost certainly far smaller than the tactical nuke.

[Yukaphile]

I could accept quantum torpedoes being their ace in the hole. But it never made it into the final cut, and then Voyager just disregarded it. What a surprise.

[Kendrakirai]

I could accept quantum torpedoes being their ace in the hole. But it never made it into the final cut, and then Voyager just disregarded it. What a surprise.

Quantum Torpedoes were developed after Voyager left, and the manufacture of them is a lot more delicate than a photon torpedo. You need to create as close to an absolute vacuum as possible for the torpedo to actually have the necessary zero point power generation. It’s not possible for Voyager to build them onboard.

Their development and introduction came during the Dominion War, which Voyager completely missed.

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Quantum_torpedo

The only time Voyager encountered quantum torpedoes was in Dreadnought, and that was destroyed before they could be salvaged.

Edit: Oh I see, the first draft of the script. Yeah, first drafts are very, very rarely any good. That’s where you put all your crazy ideas before you pare things down to relative rationality. Revenge of the Fallen was largely a first draft script, when they had a script at all, and look how *that* turned out.

[Yukaphile]

Didn't Voyager use 'em on occasion?

Yeah, that's what I meant.

[Kendrakirai]

Didn't Voyager use 'em on occasion?

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Nope, never got to. They’d have had to modify the torpedoes or the launchers to use them.

[Madner Kami]

Didn't Voyager use 'em on occasion?

Yeah, that's what I meant.

No. Voyager's superhigh-yield-only-once device were the Tri-Cobalt Devices.

[MightyDavidson]

Didn't Voyager use 'em on occasion?

Yeah, that's what I meant.

No. Voyager's superhigh-yield-only-once device were the Tri-Cobalt Devices.

Refresh my memory, is that what they used to blow up the array in Caretaker?

[clearspira]

Didn't Voyager use 'em on occasion?

Yeah, that's what I meant.

No. Voyager's superhigh-yield-only-once device were the Tri-Cobalt Devices.

Refresh my memory, is that what they used to blow up the array in Caretaker?

Yep. They're illegal subspace weapons - a plot point in ''The Voyager Conspiracy'' that gets conveniently dropped. This is what TvTropes calls ''Strawman Has A Point''. Seven of Nine was off her nut, but at the same time, why ''is'' Voyager carrying these weapons on what was nothing more than a pursuit and rescue mission through the Badlands? It never comes up again despite being spectacularly fishy.

Voyager. Where potential goes to die.