Yuuzhun Vong vs. Star Trek

[SeaTrooper]

My conclusion is that the Planet is protected by a shield to prevent beaming only. That is not the only one that can be reached and a planetary deflector shield is possible but given the weight of evidence it is less probable “according to my analysis of the information provided.” Indeed the technology used to create a shield to prevent beaming might also be used to make one that prevents damage.

I agree, with the caveat that this is suggested rather than proven. We've have seen multiple times that transporters can and are disrupted by just about anything up to and including funny ores, so a dedicated anti-transporter field makes considerable sense. That this is also strong enough to completely cover the entire world also makes sense, since this is a Prison Planet we're talking about.

With that removed Bones could be talking about:

1) It is also possible that the Asylum has a self-destruct device to prevent escape or “rescue” of the prisoners. Ergo the “shield” may only be a net designed to detect unauthorized landing and activate the self-destruct. That being said Bones wants Scotty to uses only the power need to accomplish his goals but not enough to activate self-destruct.

A self-destruct linked to the anti-transporter shield is highly unlikely, since even the TOS Fed would not be willing to condemn an entire prison population to death solely on the escape attempt of individuals. More ruthless and determined than TNG they may be, but the TOS still had very high ethical standards with regards the treatment of prisoners. This option may be worth mentioning, but only so we can get it out of the way.

2) It has also been put forth that the shield generator may over load casing it to explode, if it is knocked down. This too however would not support the “defector field” option as we never see a failed defector cause massive damage, and the Enterprise fields seen to fail every other episode.

Somewhat less unlikely, if only because (as you've noted) we haven't seen failed shield generators explode with excessive force before. Nonetheless, we are discussing a generator powerfull enough to cover an entire planet here, no matter whether its moon-sized or earth-sized. That represents considerably greater coverage than any starship, and suggests a far greater energy budget and through-put. Some of the novels mention shield generators that have melted due to over-loading (though they are of debatable canonicity), thereby suggesting that much larger and more powerfull models may pose a danger in themselves.

3) He wants the “hole” in the shield to be close enough that the rescue team can arrive as fast as possible.

Point 3 seems the most likely to me. In the weight of that evidence I don’t fined conclusive proof for planetary shields as everything said has other more reasonable explanations.
But I am sure I missed a few points both for and against, so lets hear them. (please list episode, time index and dialog that support your conclusions.) (and yes I am sure that my spelling and grammar can be corrected. )

I am certainly happy with the suggestion of planetary anti-transporter shields, and the inherent requirement here that some form of anti-shuttle defences must exist to deny that option. Such AAA would not need to be powerfull enough to threaten full sized starships, but then what are the odds that a TOS-modern warship would be sent to break out a prisoner.

I'd suspect that the bureaucrats who organised and funded the prisons construction very well could have listed a break-out by a full-sized warship as a possibility, but that their own cost benefits calculations didn't support defending against such an attack. Corrective Services Administrations, like most Defence Forces, don't plan and equip their facilities for the absolute worst case scenarios, but for the most probable threat they are likely to face. Please remember that the Warden was supposed to be able to send for help in the event of an attack or escape attempt, and how surprised the Enterprise were to find that the prisoners had already taken the place over. This prison fell from the inside, not due to any failings in its external defences.

[Kythnos]

Note on size: the circumference of Earth is about 25,000 miles. From the far side, the most you'd travel is half that: ~13,000 miles.

So "tens of thousand" is too big. Ten thousand works, and so does McCoy's "thousands". First, consider that 13k is the worst case - it is probably less. Second, consider that 13k is still small enough that 'thousands' is a good description. And finally, I'm sure Bones just didn't give a crap if he was using the best possible word: the point was simply that it would be a long trip in a nasty environment. Whether 1000 or 10000 miles, it's still too long to be practical.

Well I thought that when you count the extra miles from walking up and down mountains, valleys and hill in addition to walking around lakes and oceans it would add enough miles to make it much closer to 20K miles so that the average person would estimate it that way. But like I said Bones is a Doctor, and would not be fluent in such things and being from so far in the future that he would not necessarily factor in such things.

[SeaTrooper]

Well I thought that when you count the extra miles from walking up and down mountains, valleys and hill in addition to walking around lakes and oceans it would add enough miles to make it much closer to 20K miles so that the average person would estimate it that way. But like I said Bones is a Doctor, and would not be fluent in such things and being from so far in the future that he would not necessarily factor in such things.

So'd I, frankly. Except for a one-off dune buggy-like vehicle in a late TNG movie, Trek seems to have largely done away with ground vehicles entirely. Sure, they have lots of shuttles, but these aren't always the best way to get around a planetary surface. Out of universe, this was no doubt a budget argument that the producers apparently won, but in-universe? Can anyone remember an episode (of any season) where a ground vehicle was not only seen, but extensively used?

In the example of the Prison Planet, we may need to further assume that the anti-transporter field also had some affect on small aerial craft, otherwise they should have been able to fly in under the shield once the gap on the far side of the planet had been breached. Although we have seen cases where shuttles and runabouts could be disabled through use of a handwavium-field, they do tend to be more robust than the transporter. So why was this option not taken?

The DS9 episode I'm thinking of for disabling a runabout is 'Paradise', where the neo-luddite colony founder had set up an anti-tech device in order to enforce her views on the remainder of her people.

[Kythnos]

A self-destruct linked to the anti-transporter shield is highly unlikely, since even the TOS Fed would not be willing to condemn an entire prison population to death solely on the escape attempt of individuals. More ruthless and determined than TNG they may be, but the TOS still had very high ethical standards with regards the treatment of prisoners. This option may be worth mentioning, but only so we can get it out of the way.

Kind of yes, but remember this is the "age" general order 7, sorry if the number is wrong it is from memory, a death penalty for anyone landing on Talos IV. I personally put Garth's ability of Cellular Metamorphosis which could be taught to others but seemed to cause insanity to be in the same boat as the Talosian's powers which could also be learned but caused the death of their race. But then again you do raise valid points thanks.

Nonetheless, we are discussing a generator powerfull enough to cover an entire planet here, no matter whether its moon-sized or earth-sized. That represents considerably greater coverage than any starship, and suggests a far greater energy budget and through-put. Some of the novels mention shield generators that have melted due to over-loading (though they are of debatable canonicity), thereby suggesting that much larger and more powerfull models may pose a danger in themselves.

Good point there I did not think about that.