Destiny auto-defenses?

[Infy]

Question: It has been proposed that Destiny's auto defenses have in the past repelled the advances of the aliens right?
Then how is it that the aliens are able to land two shuttles onto her hull? And if they were able to land on her hull, then whats to stop them from simply cutting through and entering Destiny as shown in the attack phase?

[blackluster]

I think on the part of their little ships, they have figured out how to synchronize their shields with the ship such that they can land on it. I think they have been on board destiny as well but as we know the ship is on some sort of system lock down, though the Destiny crew are getting around it bit by bit. What I suspect happened previously is that they got on board but because they couldn't read Ancient they had trouble with the systems (perhaps inadvertently causing the lock out). Since they mind melded with Rush though, they now have language data as well as quite a bit of info about the ship systems. I think this will make them more keen than ever to get on board.

[FallenAngelII]

We haven't seen any of these magical auto-defenses, whether due to budgets problems or laziness.

[Wayston]

I dunno. I assume Destiny would use it's laserweapons if its autopilot deems it necessary and safe. Since the aliens are quite strong Destiny would quickly have to stop firing and divert all power to the shields though.

I think the reason why the shuttle that abducted chloe got through is that destiny was under manual control and young didn't divert enough power to the shields. I got the impression that the other shuttles that got through were unmanned (more like tracking shuttles than boarding shuttles), maybe they were able to pierce destiny's shields in a weakened state because they don't have a crew to keep alive or something.

[hiro]

Rush said that the aliens tryed to take the ship before but then the ship didn't have any life form on board so all the energy was going directly to the shields and the propulsion. Since they got there the ship is using power to keep the life support and with all the scientists arround exploring we have to assume that a lot of power is used so the shield is weak. That's why the aliens can land cut the shield and get into (mmm ... well not get into ... they only take Chloe )

I guess that the other defense systems are offline because the same thing or maybe they're broken.

[Jper]

Question: It has been proposed that Destiny's auto defenses have in the past repelled the advances of the aliens right?
Then how is it that the aliens are able to land two shuttles onto her hull? And if they were able to land on her hull, then whats to stop them from simply cutting through and entering Destiny as shown in the attack phase?

The aliens are unable to penetrate Destiny's shields. They were only able to abduct Chloe 'cause Lt. James cut the power after which they were able to cut a hole in the hull. Otherwise the shield would prevent this. That doesn't mean that the alien pods can't clamp on to the outside of the hull though.

[FallenAngelII]

The aliens are unable to penetrate Destiny's shields. They were only able to abduct Chloe 'cause Lt. James cut the power after which they were able to cut a whole in the hull. Otherwise the shield would prevent this. That doesn't mean that the aliens pods can't clamp on to the outside of the hull though.

Umm... no... that was not a master switch to the entire ship. It just cut the power off in that quadron of the ship... which was nowhere near Chloe's room, seeing as how the lamps in Chloe's room were still on. Also, the shield was clearly still operational. How else do you explain the shields holding up against enemy fire? They didn't stop shooting until after Chloe got abducted.

This is this and that is that. You cannot turn off the shield by turning a switch in a random corridor. >_>'

[Jper]

Umm... no... that was not a master switch to the entire ship. It just cut the power off in that quadron of the ship... which was nowhere near Chloe's room, seeing as how the lamps in Chloe's room were still on. Also, the shield was clearly still operational. How else do you explain the shields holding up against enemy fire? They didn't stop shooting until after Chloe got abducted.

This is this and that is that. You cannot turn off the shield by turning a switch in a random corridor. >_>'

That's what you say, RCC said that the aliens were only able to cut a hole in the hull and abduct Chloe 'cause Lt. James cut the power to a section of the ship.

And no need to imply that I said that it was a master switch, 'cause I didn't say that, and it isn't.

[Stormtrooper]

I agree that Destiny has been boarded before. That said, maybe the ship has internal defense systems in place to contain/eliminate invaders such as establishing lockdowns, cutting life support, unleashing an army of kino assassins against them, etc. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if smurf corpses were found inside the sealed sections of the vessel. Maybe the ship tolerates the Tau'ri because it detects traces of commonality between them and the Alterans, which would explain why the smurfs were interested in studying Rush and Chloe?

[Jper]

I agree that Destiny has been boarded before. That said, maybe the ship has internal defense systems in place to contain/eliminate invaders such as establishing lockdowns, cutting life support, unleashing an army of kino assassins against them, etc. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if smurf corpses were found inside the sealed sections of the vessel. Maybe the ship tolerates the Tau'ri because it detects traces of commonality between them and the Alterans, which would explain why the smurfs were interested in studying Rush and Chloe?

The Destiny hasn't been boarded by the aliens before, unless they were able to enter Destiny through the gate, which is extremely unlikely. Destiny's shields prevent the aliens from entering. I don't see any evidence or indications to say that the aliens actually were inside Destiny, on the contrary, there's only indication to say the opposite.

[Mike.]

From Mallozzi's blog:

Answer: The shield is alike a second skin covering the hull, but just like the hull is weak in some areas (and actually exposed to space), there are certain areas of the shield that are weak. In certain instances, there are areas in which both the hull and the shield are weak – like we saw in the premiere (ie. that second shuttle). As for how the alien ship was able to penetrate the shield to capture Chloe – prior to our arrival, Destiny’s automated defenses repulsed attacks but since we came aboard, we’ve been using power for everything from life support to weapons. This results in less energy available to ship’s defenses, resulting in weaker shield strength, particularly in already damaged sections of the ship. As for how the ship deals with decompressed sections – see my answer above.

Personally I would have liked something like blackluster's answer.

[Jper]

From Mallozzi's blog:


Personally I would have liked something like blackluster's answer.

Actually that is not entirely correct, JM (or better: RCC) poster a new entry later on to correct himself on Chloe's abduction:

Also ran into Exec. Producer Robert Cooper who took me to task for not providing the correct answer to the question: “How were the aliens able to penetrate the shield?” in episode 11, Space. The correct answer: They were able to penetrate the shield because the area they land on is unshielded. Moments earlier, Lieutenant James cuts power to that section in order to save the lives of those trapped in the corridor, unwittingly giving the aliens their opening. So there ya go.

http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/...s-we-go-vegan/

[Mike.]

That makes more sense. Slightly. It doesn't account for the fact that the lights in Chloe's quarters/and the tiny ones on the walls were still on (which was right next to the hole). I guess the writers are only human.

/Or those lights are connected to a different power line.

[FallenAngelII]

That's what you say, RCC said that the aliens were only able to cut a hole in the hull and abduct Chloe 'cause Lt. James cut the power to a section of the ship.

Who in the world is RCC and why should it matter what s/he says?

Also, what exactly did that switch cut off power to then? The shield was still active. Did that section host the power for all of the "automated defenses"?

[thekillman]

30% of the guns were operational. that means 70% of the ship did NOT have full coverage. well, at 30% of all guns operational, it's pretty easy to find a gap, and land. besides, previously nearly 100% of power went to the shields, nowadays a lot goes elsewhere as well.

That makes more sense. Slightly. It doesn't account for the fact that the lights in Chloe's quarters/and the tiny ones on the walls were still on (which was right next to the hole). I guess the writers are only human.

actually, cutting power instantly is impossible. self-induction causes "residual" power. when you see power cut in a city, the lights do not go dark instantly. first off, there's still electricity in the lines, so it takes a while, and self-induction ensures the rest. also, it's why it's bad to pull the plug on an active device: the sudden spike in magnetic flux causes a powerspike.


to provide emergency lighting, it's possible the ancients ensured self-induction would keep the lights on for a while. or all lights have small batteries in them.