Waiting For The Other Shoe To Footfall
To find solutions to the Murgatroid's current problem, 
Mib Khan convened a quick meeting of the ship's "best and brightest" experts in a holographic conference room. Of course, this being the Murgatroid's crew that we're talking about, it could just as easily have been held in a broom closet.Problem: There was no way to get the Murgatroid out of the blast radius of an Intrepid-class¹ warp core breach in any feasible amount of time.
Challenge: Maximize the odds of survival within the blast radius.
Defining the "challenge" was relatively quick and easy; especially since it was defined by
Ifix, who tended to use less words than more fluent speakers of English. Coming up with solutions took a little longer, but not by much - they were all aware of the projected time constraints.Problem: In order to "surf" on the blast wave, the Murgatroid would need to be re-aligned in relation to the blast (facing away, at an angle), and already be in motion along carefully-calculated initial vector. All standard propulsion systems were down, and could not be brought on-line within a sufficient period of time.
Solution #1: Repeating an earlier successful strategem, the Murgatroid could be rotated by the release of air from the hull breach on the bridge, the docking port, and emergency airlocks.
Solution #2: To set the Murgatroid in motion, it would require a larger action/reaction than vented gases. The shields would not survive close proximity to a warp core breach, but with marginal effort they would be able to protect the ship from a couple of photon torpedos. The explosion of two carefully-placed² torpedos near the Murgatroid would provide motivation in the proper direction, especially if the shields between the ship and the explosion were specially shaped.
The idea to use the shields to move the ship came after Khan demanded, "Stop telling me what doesn't work, and tell me what does work!" Unfortunately, there were only two answers to that demand. Ifix had made shields his first priority for repairs - and even though "Evil" Janeway had brought them back down temporarily, they were still operative. The only system on the Murgatroid which was fully-functional, however, was the system of holoemitters throughout the ship - KROM had not damaged them during its attack, since it had used holograms to attack the rest of the ship, and the crew.Problem: Even with the proper speed and velocity to "surf" the leading edge of the blast, the odds of the Murgatroid's survival were still less than 30%.³ The ship's hull simply wasn't thick enough to withstand the forces that would be acting upon it.
Solution: Make the hull thicker. The inside of the Murgatroid was lined with holoemitters (most of the volume of the ship was hollow, with various rooms and crew areas temporarily generated by holograms as needed). If the entire crew were to gather together in the center of the ship, the inside of the hull could be reinforced with holographic "matter" simulating armor a full fifty meters thick.
"This plan is insane," summarized Khan, "but insanity is all we have, and it's served us so well in the past. Lets get moving!"
¹Not knowing the exact specifications of the ISS Voyager, they used those of the USS Voyager as estimates.
²Two of Khan's clones, in space suits, would have to position the torpedos in space outside of the Murgatroid, and manually detonate them simultaneously. This would leave only one Khan remaining to command the ship.
³It was impossible to be more precise without knowing exactly when the presumed warp core breach would occur.
Mib Khan convened a quick meeting of the ship's "best and brightest" experts in a holographic conference room. Of course, this being the Murgatroid's crew that we're talking about, it could just as easily have been held in a broom closet.Problem: There was no way to get the Murgatroid out of the blast radius of an Intrepid-class¹ warp core breach in any feasible amount of time.
Challenge: Maximize the odds of survival within the blast radius.
Defining the "challenge" was relatively quick and easy; especially since it was defined by
Ifix, who tended to use less words than more fluent speakers of English. Coming up with solutions took a little longer, but not by much - they were all aware of the projected time constraints.Problem: In order to "surf" on the blast wave, the Murgatroid would need to be re-aligned in relation to the blast (facing away, at an angle), and already be in motion along carefully-calculated initial vector. All standard propulsion systems were down, and could not be brought on-line within a sufficient period of time.
Solution #1: Repeating an earlier successful strategem, the Murgatroid could be rotated by the release of air from the hull breach on the bridge, the docking port, and emergency airlocks.
Solution #2: To set the Murgatroid in motion, it would require a larger action/reaction than vented gases. The shields would not survive close proximity to a warp core breach, but with marginal effort they would be able to protect the ship from a couple of photon torpedos. The explosion of two carefully-placed² torpedos near the Murgatroid would provide motivation in the proper direction, especially if the shields between the ship and the explosion were specially shaped.
The idea to use the shields to move the ship came after Khan demanded, "Stop telling me what doesn't work, and tell me what does work!" Unfortunately, there were only two answers to that demand. Ifix had made shields his first priority for repairs - and even though "Evil" Janeway had brought them back down temporarily, they were still operative. The only system on the Murgatroid which was fully-functional, however, was the system of holoemitters throughout the ship - KROM had not damaged them during its attack, since it had used holograms to attack the rest of the ship, and the crew.Problem: Even with the proper speed and velocity to "surf" the leading edge of the blast, the odds of the Murgatroid's survival were still less than 30%.³ The ship's hull simply wasn't thick enough to withstand the forces that would be acting upon it.
Solution: Make the hull thicker. The inside of the Murgatroid was lined with holoemitters (most of the volume of the ship was hollow, with various rooms and crew areas temporarily generated by holograms as needed). If the entire crew were to gather together in the center of the ship, the inside of the hull could be reinforced with holographic "matter" simulating armor a full fifty meters thick.
"This plan is insane," summarized Khan, "but insanity is all we have, and it's served us so well in the past. Lets get moving!"
¹Not knowing the exact specifications of the ISS Voyager, they used those of the USS Voyager as estimates.
²Two of Khan's clones, in space suits, would have to position the torpedos in space outside of the Murgatroid, and manually detonate them simultaneously. This would leave only one Khan remaining to command the ship.
³It was impossible to be more precise without knowing exactly when the presumed warp core breach would occur.