Omega

[Teaos]

I dont think a major power would ever do it, it would be a rouge fraction.

Although coem to think of it a major power might do it as a scorched earth policy.

Think, if someone unstoppable was taking you over like the borg or the Dominion, driving you back and taking system after system at a rapid pace. You know you cant win and are going to lose everything. You detonate a few omega bombs and you have esentially saved yourself.

They may still come, but very slowly, decades, centuries. Hell they might give up totally.

It would be a defencive weapon of last resort.

[Graham Kennedy]

Which would be interesting as even though the UFP would still exist. Independent systems would be forced to take care of themselves rather then waiting on Sol to come to the rescue. It would lead to a much more practical and militaristic Federation.

They wouldn't have anything to defend against, though. No interstellar threat, and since planets are generally at peace with themselves no domestic wars either. If anything each planet would be even less militarist.

[Deepcrush]

You would also have to worry about races that are willing to travel the distance over time to attack. Borg being the biggest example. Another issue piracy or regional and internal conflicts. Its not that there aren't threats, its that the threats have changed.

[Graham Kennedy]

I doubt many would be able to. Journey times jumping up by many thousandfold would deter most.

[Captain Seafort]

Another issue piracy or regional and internal conflicts. Its not that there aren't threats, its that the threats have changed.

What piracy? While it exists, it's set up on an interstellar scale, raiding their targets and then retreating to areas like the Briar Patch or the Badlands. That means that instead of being a few hours away, the pirates are now decades or centuries away, in ships that simply aren't designed for those sorts of voyages. Ditto with "regional" threats. Internal conflict is a possibility, but when have we ever seen individual Fed colonies with serious internal problems?

I'd say the biggest potential problem is the breakdown of society if a given colony's technological base isn't self sufficient (which is a near-certainty).

[Teaos]

People like to fight, if they have interstella travel they fight other systems, take that away from them they will fight internally.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

It'd be the end of interstellar civilization in that area of space, that's close to sure.

[Captain Seafort]

Not close to but certainly. The entire civilisation is designed around inter-system travel times of days or weeks. It would be impossible to sustain if travel times suddenly extended to years or decades, just as modern civilisation would collapse if all fossil fuel and nuclear powered forms of transport and the internet ceased working.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Yeah, feeds the plot bunnies something fierce.

[Deepcrush]

@Seafort, Yar's home system and Acher IV fell apart even with the UFP present. Or, take a look at the DMZ, the whole region fell into conflict even though both sides were confronting larger governments.

The other matter is that those guilty of "intersellar" piracy will simply find themselves stuck. Meaning that their piracy will still exist, it just will end up being more local.

@GK, while most won't bother, there are groups and races that may or are willing to stick out the time in transit for their goals. It would in fact be a very profitable action as we've seen often that the Ent-D was the only ship in range at warp. Without warp those systems, that do not build up their own military, would be defenseless to whoever got stuck in their system or suffered out the transit.

[SomosFuga]

Which would be interesting as even though the UFP would still exist. Independent systems would be forced to take care of themselves rather then waiting on Sol to come to the rescue. It would lead to a much more practical and militaristic Federation.

They wouldn't have anything to defend against, though. No interstellar threat, and since planets are generally at peace with themselves no domestic wars either. If anything each planet would be even less militarist.

Without subspace there wouldn't be FTL travel or comunications so it wouldn't be UFP or any multi system organization.

The borg are the only ST power i can think of willing to travel decades or centuries for conquer and probably the only one able to doing so.

[colmquinn]

Does the Borg neural link use subspace?

[Graham Kennedy]

Yes.

[colmquinn]

Well if thats so then the thing is would any Borg vessel that travels into Omega 'infected' space be cut off from the subspace signal and hence no longer part of the collective? No subspace signal then no link to the collective.

(maybe its been stated before but I haven't re-read the whole thread)

[Jim]

Where does the link generate from?