Size of the Dominion

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:51 pm

well do we know for sure, that founders cannot be assimilate due to their physiology or is this conjecture?

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:53 pm

Captain Peabody wrote:
People said the borg can not assimilate a founder... is that known for sure? That would seem to be a MAJOR biological distinction to add to the collective.
I don't see how they could. The Borg nanoprobes rely on cells to attach themselves to, and DNA to rewrite, to do their job, and Founders have neither. But I can definitely see the Borg being very interested in the Dominion; not only for the Dominion's technology (which seems to be quite nice), but also for the Founders themselves, which would represent a major, major jump ahead in evolution for the Borg... And the Founders would definitely not take this lightly. So, really, it's only a matter of time before the Dominion and Borg start duking it out for control of the Galaxy....

Sorry, I am just showing my ignorance to the specifics of the ST universe... but if they do not have cells or DNA, how did the founders catch a virus?

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:56 pm

agreed

Captain Peabody · Post by **Captain Peabody** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:57 pm

Sorry, I am just showing my ignorance to the specifics of the ST universe... but if they do not have cells or DNA, how did the founders catch a virus?

Well....uh....see, it...

Hmm.

You got me there...

Jim · Post by **Jim** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:58 pm

Captain Peabody wrote:
Sorry, I am just showing my ignorance to the specifics of the ST universe... but if they do not have cells or DNA, how did the founders catch a virus?
Well....uh....see, it...

Hmm.

You got me there...

Please note that I was not being a JO there, it was a real question. I figured that maybe it was explained in an episode and I just do not remember.

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 8:59 pm

founders will have dna etc, they may have mimicing properties more profound than the lyre bird, but they still are living,breathing beings, i'd love a game where the dominion head off against the borg....it'd be like the kursk salient, except with spaceships

DarkOmen · Post by **DarkOmen** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:00 pm

Well, its a biological morphogenic material, so i would imagine it could still be susceptible to virii

Deepcrush · Post by **Deepcrush** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:04 pm

The borg would win against the Dominion, hands down.

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:06 pm

still...........think of the waves of jem'hadar ships, the armadas and flotillas............victory is life

Deepcrush · Post by **Deepcrush** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:08 pm

Even so, they would need to build at 8X's the rate of the Alpha quadrant war to have an 'Equal' ship count. I just don't see that happening.

Captain Peabody · Post by **Captain Peabody** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:09 pm

founders will have dna etc, they may have mimicing properties more profound than the lyre bird, but they still are living,breathing beings, i'd love a game where the dominion head off against the borg....it'd be like the kursk salient, except with spaceships

Actually, Founders clearly don't breathe...

Really, the question of how the virus affected the Founders is a very interesting one....I'm pretty sure they don't have a conventional cell structure (correct me if I'm wrong on this), as they are able to mimic other life-forms down to the cellular level...or at least their cells can change to mimic other species...and even things without cells altogether.

Anyone have any ideas?

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:13 pm

sorry peabody, my bad, i assumed that being an organism that they would respire somehow or utilise some sort of gaseous exchange like active diffusion etc perhaps using sulpher in lieu of oxygen like certain organisms today, even if not in the conventional sense

Captain Peabody · Post by **Captain Peabody** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:18 pm

The borg would win against the Dominion, hands down.

I'm not so sure; the Dominion seems to be a much more flexible group than the Borg, and they also have the ability to produce troops much, much faster. They've also shown the ability to create feats of engineering at Borg-scale or larger (the conjectural Dreadnought from What You Leave Behind). At any rate, it would be quite a contest; just imagine, Female Changeling versus Borg Queen. Quite epic, methinks...

Even so, they would need to build at 8X's the rate of the Alpha quadrant war to have an 'Equal' ship count. I just don't see that happening.

Well, the Alpha Quadrant war was carried out by a group of Dominion troops totally cut off from their manufacturing base, and reliant upon Cardassian facilities and supplies. If they had had access to the wormhole, they would have overwhelmed the Federation in weeks....We've never really seen the full might of the Dominion on display.

sorry peabody, my bad, i assumed that being an organism that they would respire somehow or utilise some sort of gaseous exchange like active diffusion etc perhaps using sulpher in lieu of oxygen like certain organisms today, even if not in the conventional sense

Well, for all we know about the Founders, that could be true. Though I doubt it.

Post by **Captain Seafort** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:36 pm

I'd say it's highly unlikely that Founders have a typical celular structure, given that that they can operate both in a human-inhabitable atmosphere (ref: every episode of DS9) and in interstellar space (ref:"Chimera"). They can also morph into gases (again:"Chimera") - impossible for any cellular lifeform.

As for a Borg vs Dominion fight I'd bet on the Dominion. Their weapons initially passed through Fed shields without resistance, so it's possible the Borg would have more trouble than usual. They also have an impressive GQ industrial base, and their soldiers are not only armed for something other than a melee but also demonstrate tactical competence (most of the time).

Granitehewer · Post by **Granitehewer** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 9:38 pm

true but they still could contain dna, and some sort of biochemistry that could be susceptible to the borg