Nomad vs The Doomsday Machine

[Vandervecken]

Who wins?

I give it to Nomad. I'm assuming his energy weapon would be unable to get through the neutronium outer hull of the Doomsday machine. But Nomad has a lot more thinking power than the DM, which is a pretty uncomplicated robot. No doubt Nomad would soon try shooting its weapon down the DM's "throat," and that would be that (frankly I always thought that it was way too easy to destroy the DM, but that's canon).

On the other hand, we don't know what the DM's anti-proton weapon, which can slice up planets, would do to Nomad, so one hit might be all it takes for the DM to take out Nomad.

Another possibility is that Nomad might be able to find an access port to the DM, and take control of it, maybe "merge" with it the same way the original Nomad merged with Tan-ru. But, IMO, the Doomsday machine, BECAUSE it's a Doomsday machine, was probably built without any access port.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I'd give it to Nomad.

P.S. This is the sort of thread that needs a poll.

 

[Garrovick]

Gonna go with Nomad, as well. Nomad is faster, smarter, and pound-for-pound more powerful than the DM. With its greater speed and maneuverability it wouldn't be too hard for Nomad to avoid the DM's anti-proton beam (which can only fire forward after all). I suspect that Nomad's weaponry, which was far in advance of a starship's, could eventually batter its way through the DM's hull. Failing that, Nomad could probably vaporize planetary chunks before the DM could eat them, thus "starving" the DM to the point of impotence.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

My take:

The two machines would not target each other if their paths crossed. Nomad was going after lifeforms and the DM was just out to blow up planets.

If some programming change induced them to fight, I think it would be a draw. The DM's thick neutronium hull would shrug off Nomad's energy bolts, and when Nomad got in front of the DM to try for a kill shot, the DM would be pretty fast on the draw and probably keep Nomad at bay.

Plus, it's not at all clear that an energy bolt worth "90 of our photon torpedoes" would pack the punch that the Constellation's 990-megaton explosion did. In "Balance of Terror," the Romulans' old nuclear warhead, the one they ejected with decoy debris, was vastly more powerful than a photon torpedo. It seemed like a lot more than 90 times more powerful.

 

[CrazyMatt]

What an interesting question....

 

[paudemge]

Would Nomad be effected by the DM's energy dampening field?

 

[Vandervecken]

Would Nomad be effected by the DM's energy dampening field?

Oh wow! I completely forgot about that.

I also forgot that Nomad could potentially starve the DM, which was one of Garrovick's points.

This ain't as cut and dried as I thought it might be.

I would suggest that possibly the energy weapon Nomad used against the Enterprise might not have been set at Nomad's maximum power output.

 

[Noname Given]

IMO - NOMAD wins in the end. Why?

- While we don't know the strength of NOMAD's full shields, the tech was more advanced then Frd Tech (Basis: The Federation didn't have weapons that could propel energy bolts at Warp 15.)

- The Doomsday Machine's weapon, while effective, was able to be defflected multiple times by the 1701's shields, thus, NOMAD would survive shots from the DM's weapon as well.

- The DM's hull being pure Neutronium, probably could't be blasted through by NOMAD's energy bolts, and the 1701's shields (per Spock could take 5 of those bolts before collapsing,

So, given the above, why do I say NOMAD wins, as opposed to a stalemate of some sort?

Because, as shown in the TOS episode "The Changeling" NOMAD has the ability to interface with, and change/program/improve alien technology (as seen in the 1701 engine room when he alters the matter/anti-matter reactor to produce a speed of Warp 14 for the 1701.) Thus NOMAD could fly in range of the Doomsday Machine, and reprogram/repair/improve and TAKE CONTROL of the automated DM.

 

[DonIago]

A Nomad-improved DM is an unappealling tho...

...oh wait, TMP. Right.

 

[Vandervecken]

A Nomad-improved DM is an unappealling tho...

...oh wait, TMP. Right.

You mean throwing V'ger into the mix?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

IMO - NOMAD wins in the end. Why?

- While we don't know the strength of NOMAD's full shields, the tech was more advanced then Frd Tech (Basis: The Federation didn't have weapons that could propel energy bolts at Warp 15.)

- The Doomsday Machine's weapon, while effective, was able to be defflected multiple times by the 1701's shields, thus, NOMAD would survive shots from the DM's weapon as well.

- The DM's hull being pure Neutronium, probably could't be blasted through by NOMAD's energy bolts, and the 1701's shields (per Spock could take 5 of those bolts before collapsing,

So, given the above, why do I say NOMAD wins, as opposed to a stalemate of some sort?

Because, as shown in the TOS episode "The Changeling" NOMAD has the ability to interface with, and change/program/improve alien technology (as seen in the 1701 engine room when he alters the matter/anti-matter reactor to produce a speed of Warp 14 for the 1701.) Thus NOMAD could fly in range of the Doomsday Machine, and reprogram/repair/improve and TAKE CONTROL of the automated DM.

You make some good points, but the DM emits a large amount of subspace interference, and presumably radio interference. That might jam any attempt to reprogram it remotely. It might even be the purpose of the DM's jamming field.

 

[DonIago]

A Nomad-improved DM is an unappealling tho...

...oh wait, TMP. Right.

You mean throwing V'ger into the mix?

If you want, but I figure V'ger's already sort of a hybrid of the two. It's got both smarts and sheer power.

 

[Noname Given]

IMO - NOMAD wins in the end. Why?

- While we don't know the strength of NOMAD's full shields, the tech was more advanced then Frd Tech (Basis: The Federation didn't have weapons that could propel energy bolts at Warp 15.)

- The Doomsday Machine's weapon, while effective, was able to be defflected multiple times by the 1701's shields, thus, NOMAD would survive shots from the DM's weapon as well.

- The DM's hull being pure Neutronium, probably could't be blasted through by NOMAD's energy bolts, and the 1701's shields (per Spock could take 5 of those bolts before collapsing,

So, given the above, why do I say NOMAD wins, as opposed to a stalemate of some sort?

Because, as shown in the TOS episode "The Changeling" NOMAD has the ability to interface with, and change/program/improve alien technology (as seen in the 1701 engine room when he alters the matter/anti-matter reactor to produce a speed of Warp 14 for the 1701.) Thus NOMAD could fly in range of the Doomsday Machine, and reprogram/repair/improve and TAKE CONTROL of the automated DM.

You make some good points, but the DM emits a large amount of subspace interference, and presumably radio interference. That might jam any attempt to reprogram it remotely. It might even be the purpose of the DM's jamming field.

Possibly, but remember, the 1701 was able to clean up the interference locally (one BM shot damaged their subspace comm ); so, again, with NOMAD being of a higher tech then the 1701; unles the DM got a lucky shot on it, it should have no issues with short rage comms. VS the DM.

 

[feek61]

Interesting thought; I'm not sure since Nomads weapons were energy weapons they may well indeed have been rendered inert by the DM. A scarier thought for the Federation is if Nomad MERGED with the DM (like it did with the alien probe). That would cause some problems!!!

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Granted that it's up to the author how it goes down, but for me, given what Nomad did to the Enterprise's engines with a wave of its wand, Nomad seems quite subspace field capable, and I would not consider him seriously impeded by the DM's energy dampening field.

 

[T'Girl]

NOMAD would decide that the DM was a "perfect lifeform" and pass it by.

 

[publiusr]

A scarier thought for the Federation is if Nomad MERGED with the DM (like it did with the alien probe). That would cause some problems!!!

There is a fan story to be told, splicing voice work over the maw of the DM

 

[Metryq]

The space amoeba from "The Immunity Syndrome" would swallow them both without a burp. Nomad destroyed all life on planets, leaving behind the planets. The DM destroyed the planets, leaving behind the stars. The space amoeba swallowed whole star systems, and had its own energy damping/subspace interfering field, as well.

Yet the Enterprise took out all of them. Don't pick a fight with Kirk and company. (Actually, Nomad, Norman, Landru and the M5 all met the same end—Kirk talked them under the table.)

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

Another possibility is that Nomad might be able to find an access port to the DM, and take control of it, maybe "merge" with it the same way the original Nomad merged with Tan-ru.

Wow, nomad seizing control of the Doomsday Machine: talk about the ultimate cliffhanger ending!

 

[Timo]

The DDM damping field seemed to do zip against the phasers of the two starships, yet for some reason neither of the ships was seen attempting to use their photon torpedoes. It was also told the DDM "neutralized antimatter" in some manner that was a mystery even to Scotty. This would nicely account for the inability to use photon torpedoes and the difficulty of using warp to defeat the clumsy opponent.

Now, should we assume that the NOMAD weapon was comparable to photon torpedoes and therefore especially susceptible to DDM jamming? Our heroes did seem to want to compare the weapon to photon torpedoes specifically, rather than, say, to phasers or some abstract unit of power output. Obviously, this was for reasons of drama (counting photon torpedoes is audience-friendly, speaking of terawatts is not), but still...

As for the ability of NOMAD to assimilate DDM, I think that train already sailed. Tan Ru must have been something special to be able to merge with a stupid old Earth probe in a "collision" situation; NOMAD itself did not look like a good candidate for such special powers. Sure, it's nice to be able to interface wirelessly with alien computers and all, but Tan Ru appeared capable of more "physical" manipulation - it somehow fundamentally altered the appearance of NOMAD, after all.

Timo Saloniemi