4: Additional Ship Observations
Transporters:
Matter transporters over a range of at least 30,000km. This figure is based on reports from STG soldiers on Virmire of their wounded being 'beamed up' to the Normandy via the transporters aboard a small shuttle stored in the Normandy's main hold.
A shorter range was used to evacuate Councillors Sparatus and Valern from the Destiny Ascension during the Battle of the Citadel.
All individuals who were 'beamed' have been thoroughly checked by medical personnel with no signs of genetic damage or alteration detected.
How they work is currently unknown.
Power Requirements: Unknown, believed incredibly high and only possible using the energy release of controlled matter/anti-matter reactions and an incredibly complex computer on the quantum level.
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Simply put, this technology is just overwhelming. Honestly, the concept of breaking someone down to their constituent atoms, transporting those atoms to another place, and then re-assembling them into the same person without causing any genetic damage or degradation is just incredible.
[That is our only working theory of how the technology works as no other idea that we considered was even remotely plausible.]
The only piece of definitive information we have is concerning the effects of Element Zero and transporters, which could best be described as 'explosive', though given to the nature of Element Zero, this in not unexpected.
I do postulate however, that the transporters are in some way linked to the next piece of technology.
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Replicators:
Matter-conversion technology for the creation of food and supplies from other substances.
Again, we have no understanding of this technology at all.
Speculated to be based of transporter technology, as light effect is similar, but no evidence currently exists to prove or disprove this theory.
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The ability to replicate food from thin air is the stuff of entertainment, but these people have had this technology for over a hundred years.
Ships with this system do not need supply lines or to return to a shipyard for minor repairs or upgrades, making Starfleet very mobile and capable of multi-year long-range missions without a corresponding drop in crew performance.
Please note the comments from Spectre T'Thon.
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"These replicators are almost like magic. While they only have foods from their universe, the Human foods are the same as I have tasted on the few Human worlds I have visited, or restaurants I have dined at on the Citadel.
The taste is as good as, if not better than, anything I have ever had before."
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Also, these comments from Spectre Shepard;
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"The meal on-board the USS Vanguard was incredible! Roast duck in white wine sauce! I cannot remember the last time I tasted such a succulent meal.
"The other interesting thing was the drinking of alcoholic drinks which do not contain alcohol, but a substitute called synthahol. This gives all the tastes of alcohol, but none of the nasty after effects."
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I recommend making a trade offer for this 'synthahol', as the market for in and on military ships and bases would be immense.
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Subspace Scanners/Communications:
The USS Vanguard is capable of detecting, tracking and communicating with ships during FTL travel without the need for expensive quantum entanglement systems.
The downside is that subspace communications are only capable of being real-time over a distance believed to be around 10 light-years. However, this communication can be of a higher quality than that of our own QED's.
Research into this theoretical field has been started based on the initial report of Doctor Morroth.
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Again, see the attached list of scientists and companies involved in this previously discredited field.
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Stellar Cartography:
This technology is believed to use subspace scanning to allow them to scan systems up to 150 light years away with only a slight drop in scanning quality at maximum range
This would greatly increase our ability to scan new areas of space before we activate the nearest Primary relays.
We cannot stress how important it is that we gain an understanding about subspace as soon as we can.
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If you have not already examined the aforementioned list, please do so before continuing.
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Starfleet Policy:
The rules that restrict the interaction and behaviour of Starfleet vessels are both impressive and intriguing.
By their most senior directive - General Order 1, or The Prime Directive - what the Council did in uplifting the Krogan to fight the Rachni would be considered punishable by life imprisonment, if not outright banishment from Federation space.
That Starfleet managed to uphold this and other directives during a war of conquest which they seemed to be losing until the very end, suggests a population-wide character trait of being morally correct, even if it costs lives.
This is very naïve, but they seem to have survived even so.
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While the ideal of many of these General Orders are noble, they could be conceivably exploited to allow us access to their technology. One possible scenario is creating a trap using their willingness to respond to all distress calls.
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Starfleet will never shoot first, except under extraordinary conditions, like being at war, and as such, the appearance of the Vanguard, while conceivably the most dangerous ship in the galaxy, should not be met with a hostile response. To do so would only result in annoying or angering the Vanguard and the highly likely destruction of the aggressors.
Even if fired upon, Starfleet is meant to go to great lengths to prevent the outright destruction of the enemy vessels however Captain MacLeod has shown a willingness to use lethal force when dealing with certain enemy forces – Geth, Sovereign and slavers – and as such should not be underestimated.
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Even during the Battle of the Citadel, after the massive destruction carried out by the super-dreadnought Sovereign, Captain MacLeod still tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender with it.
Even though he has shown a willingness to be brutal in combat, he is still bound by those very directives. However, I suspect that given time, he will be less disciplined in following them without the oversight of some kind of fleet command.
Indeed, the way in which Captain MacLeod ended the Battle of the Citadel, would lend credence to this belief. On a side note, I believe that an Alliance military representative may be able to explain what MacLeod meant when he said 'Alpha Mike Foxtrot' at the destruction of Sovereign.
It also served as very clear indicator that engaging this vessel head-on is paramount to suicide.
[If this is still not fully understood by this point in the report, I advise you to re-watch the final moments of the Battle of the Citadel and then submit yourself for physiological evaluation.]