Okay , this is going to be a bit pointless .

I haven't really watched that many ST movies , just a few , but
when a friend who had nothing to do on a weekend and wanted to
watch Insurrection and asked me what , knowing that I had
just recently caught it somewhere on TV recently (I go into rant
mode after almost every movie , can't stop it , usually get odd
looks for that)was the thing's plot , and if it was worth
watching ,weirdness struck .

Now , my mind wasn't really up to speed at the moment he asked ,
it being the middle of the night (for me , between 4 and 10 AM)
and me not having gotten much sleep prior , so I told him the
first thing that came to me ... it went something like

'Well , the UFP had this little project going , and
Data went berserk , and Picard decided to visit ...
no , wait a minute, that can't be right , since when did the UFP
have Sovereign Class Ships ... did the IPO finally give one to Picard...
hmm , but he was still in Starfleet...'

By then my brain went on and stopped the rant , leaving my friend a little puzzled , and me to explain where that had come from .

That sort of thing just tends to happen to me .

And damn me, if I don't think of UF first when seeing a
Frederation ship .

-Griever
"No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be; Am an attendant lord, one that will do To swell a progress, start a scene or two, Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool, Deferential, glad to be of use, Politic, cautious, and meticulous; Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse; At times, indeed, almost ridiculous-- Almost, at times, the Fool."

I had a similar experience just a few days ago. At a party I and a few others started talking about Star Wars. Well suddenly this guy asks me what I like best about the Millenium Falcon (sp?) and I answer, "Hhmmm tough choice, it's either the Reflex Cannon or the Fold Drive." Needles to say that everyone went "WTF!??"
Well it was sometime about 2am and I was drunk (just like everybody else).

----------------
"And what _are_ we dealing with? Little green men!?"
"No. Little green blobs in bonded polycarbite-armor!"

Gryphon, what were you thinking, putting ::counts:: 4 different drives into Daggerdisc?

Fold
Metaspace
Ion thrusters
Hyperspace

Did you also put warp in there?

I guess you're going for redundundundancy.

>Gryphon, what were you thinking, putting ::counts:: 4 different drives
>into Daggerdisc?
>
>Fold
>Metaspace
>Ion thrusters
>Hyperspace

Well, first of all, Daggerdisc doesn't have a metaspace drive. Second, the ion thrusters are for sublight travel. How would you recommend that be done, with oars? As for the other two, the hyperdrive was there already, and there seemed no reason to tear it out; it's still the most compact, low-maintenance, low-power-consumption drive system available, and it makes a good backup.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>Well, first of all, Daggerdisc doesn't have a metaspace drive.

I was thinking of OHW, then.

>Second, the ion thrusters are for sublight travel. How would you
>recommend that be done, with oars? As for the other two, the

No, but it is a drive.

Okay, 3 drives, one for sub-light. No problem.

>>Well, first of all, Daggerdisc doesn't have a metaspace drive.
>
>I was thinking of OHW, then.

That's interesting, since the Wonder only has one FTL drive system, a hyperspace motivator.

Perhaps you're actually thinking of Challenger, which has warp drive, a hyperspace motivator and a metaspace point generator. In which case the answer to your original question is that it's often militarily advantageous for a warship to have more than one means of FTL travel. This is far from uncommon; a great many capital starships have a primary drive system (usually warp) and a hyperspace motivator as backup, and many of those which have an adaptable enough configuration are being fitted with metapoint generators now that the drive method is catching on and the navigational beacon network is more than 70% operational.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>That's interesting, since the Wonder only has one FTL drive
>system, a hyperspace motivator.

Hmm. I thought the first time Corwin took Utena to New Avalon, they went by metaspace. There was the Lecture Of The Four Ways To Get past Light Speed.

>which case the answer to your original question is that it's often
>militarily advantageous for a warship to have more than one means of
>FTL travel. This is far from uncommon; a great many capital starships

Oh, of course. I was wondering how all that fit into a YT-1300 (or the model number for Daggerdisc).

--
http://satya.virtualave.net/

>>That's interesting, since the Wonder only has one FTL drive
>>system, a hyperspace motivator.
>
>Hmm. I thought the first time Corwin took Utena to New Avalon, they
>went by metaspace. There was the Lecture Of The Four Ways To Get past
>Light Speed.

Earth would have a metaspace gate, its a major hub nowadays. So, probably, would Zeta Cygni. Thus,one of the primary selling points of metaspace comes into play: sublight drives required. All else is optional.

Blessed be.
Nathan Baxter

>>That's interesting, since the Wonder only has one FTL drive
>>system, a hyperspace motivator.
>
>Hmm. I thought the first time Corwin took Utena to New Avalon, they
>went by metaspace. There was the Lecture Of The Four Ways To Get past
>Light Speed.

That's true - but as Nathan points out, no special drive equipment is required for a starship to travel in metaspace. If your point of origin and your destination both have stationary metagates, all you need is a standard sublight propulsion method (ion thrusters, fusion turbines, whatever) and a communications/navigation system capable of locking onto the metaspace beacon network.

The military value in having a metaspace point generator is that you are then not dependent on the presence of metagates or the goodwill of the gates' operators.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor in Chief, Netadmin
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/

>That's true - but as Nathan points out, no special drive equipment is
>required for a starship to travel in metaspace. If your point of

Ah, that's it. I forgot that point.

>Well, first of all, Daggerdisc doesn't have a metaspace drive.
>Second, the ion thrusters are for sublight travel. How would you
>recommend that be done, with oars?

Well, when Corwin's driving... and maybe a carved dragon's head sticking off the forward loading mandibles...

Mr. Fnord, Viking jokes are the lowest of the low.
--
"'Explain all that,' said the Mock Turtle.
'No, no! The adventures first,' said the Gryphon in an impatient tone: 'explanations take such a dreadful time.'"
-- Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

>Second, the ion thrusters are for sublight travel. How would you
>recommend that be done, with oars?
>--G.

PROPULSION SYSTEM: Alfheim Great Cat Dragon (unrated)

- #79.
It's not a question of where he _grips_ it... :)

>Second, the ion thrusters are for sublight travel. How would you
>recommend that be done, with oars

Now I don't get the the mental image of a Sovereign Class ship with oars, and the vikings at the oars singing the Spam Song, out of my head!!

----------------
"And what _are_ we dealing with? Little green men!?"
"No. Little green blobs in bonded polycarbite-armor!"

>I had a similar experience just a few days ago. At a party I and a few
>others started talking about Star Wars. Well suddenly this guy asks me
>what I like best about the Millenium Falcon (sp?) and I answer, "Hhmmm
>tough choice, it's either the Reflex Cannon or the Fold Drive."
>Needles to say that everyone went "WTF!??"
>Well it was sometime about 2am and I was drunk (just like everybody
>else).

(Proceeds to shatter at the mental image)

Actually, I've had similar problems. These days I seem to be react to most fiction in regards to UF. Star Trek IV was on the other week, and my response was along to lines of 'Hang on, Kirks meant to be in the WDF now? And where's the Enterprise?'

Return of the Jedi was even worse. I think I'm doing this because the UF universe actually makes sense, unlike a lot of the series it steals/borrows from. Don't believe me? Read the expanded Star Wars universe, if you dare.

Matrix Dragon
"Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger." --J.R.R. Tolkien
"Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for obvious reasons." -Matrix Dragon

>Return of the Jedi was even worse. I think I'm doing this because the
>UF universe actually makes sense, unlike a lot of the series it
>steals/borrows from. Don't believe me? Read the expanded Star Wars
>universe, if you dare.

UF makes sense becouse Gryphon avoids the expanded SW universe.

Pangaro, As do I
Member of the Narn Bat Squad