Gremlins on the Enterprise

[Srelex]

The Enterprise-D stops off at a trading post to allow its crew some brief leave, at which point Wesley purchases a curious creature called a Mogwai from an odd trader. When the Enteprise departs, Wesley decides to wash the Mogwai in water and then feed it after midnight per the onboard clock. He is called to the bridge, and soon the meaner, vicious Mogwai that we all know are spawning. What sort of havoc will they raise, and how will the Enterprise crew react?

And as bonus scenarios, how would Mogwai breakouts on the TOS Enterprise and the Death Star look like?

[Balrog]

A Gremlin reverses polarity on the Oscillating Temporal Plasma Induction Amplifier, and the E-D goes boom.

But really, wtf? Gremlins were vicious little fuckers, but there wasn't anything special about them that Security couldn't eventually round them up. Kirk might have a problem, since his supercharge libido requires him to bone any alien-looking woman he sees, and I recall that Gremlins had penchant for drag. The Death Star is so freaking big they could just spend their lives living in the underbelly with the Dianoga and no one would really notice.

[Batman]

Except Gremlins aren't exactly known for trying to keep a low profile. They WANT to cause havoc while the diagona, however it got aboard the Death Star, will essentially be interested in being left alone.
How much havoc they CAN cause is pretty much up for grabs, though they showed an uncanny ability to mess up, and make use of, technology they by all rights should have no fucking clue about.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

According to the novelization, the Mogwai Menace brought down the civilization that created it. I think they also had some sort of genetic memory, so that might explain their penchant for using and abusing technology.

[Stofsk]

This is the best versus/match-up idea I have ever heard. I am not even joking.

[Temujin]

I can see Vader getting pretty exasperated dealing with them.

Corners one in the gym: "I have you now!"

Gremlin jumps into the swimming pool: "Oh Fuck!"

[Old Plympto]

Coincidentally I was watching Gremlins 2 earlier.

There's no way they could create so much chaos without being overtly meta. Props and costume appear out of nowhere. They are privy to human pop culture from birth. They just need other genetic material to catalyse a physiological transformation. Heck, they could even go meta and screw with the film getting Hulk Hogan to appear out of nowhere to threaten them.

In spite of it all, I would pay good money to see a movie where the Ent-D (with all their idiosyncratic character and storytelling tropes) go up against a Gremlin infestation in all their metatextual madness.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

Oh man, I thought we were limited to the Gremlins in Gremlins I. If we include the properties they have in Gremlins 2, then it's all over the second they get to a replicator, transporter or medlab. Still, it would be hilarious.

Now, what would happen if a Gremlin jumped into a pool on the holodeck? Would all of his spawn disappear when they tried to leave?

[Srelex]

Well, it's not real water, so...nothing happens, I'd guess. Just a very confused and annoyed Gremlin.

[Batman]

That's debatable. At least once Wesley REMAINED dripping wet after getting soaked on the holodeck.

[Srelex]

That...makes...no...sense...did Worf remain wet after being thrown into a holographic sea in Insurrection, or whichever film it was?

[Temujin]

Wesley also threw snow that exited the holodeck and hit Picard in the Naked Now.

Yet other crap like the gangsters in the Big Goodbye disappeared.

[Gaidin]

That...makes...no...sense...did Worf remain wet after being thrown into a holographic sea in Insurrection, or whichever film it was?

Probably has something to do with the safety protcols? They probably don't care about water, but bullets require an override?

[Lord of the Abyss]

The usual explanation is that some of what appears is real, replicated matter and some is just those solid holograms. The holograms vanish out of the holodeck, but the matter persists like anything else.

[Batman]

Which is probably the closest we'll ever get to making it work really.

[LadyTevar]

Why would they have to worry about Holodeck pools, when the gyms and the individual quarters have SHOWERS. KISS, people, KISS. It will be the Tribbles with more Trouble, and no handy Klingons to inflict them upon.

Now, all StarTrek vessels have those wonderful inventions called Jeffreys Tubes, which allow access to the various wiring and other necessary piping needed to run the ship. Gremlins have shown they know how wiring works, and love watching what happens when they 'play' with the wiring. Then you have Shiny Objects like the Dilithium Crystals and little card-shaped programing chips that can be pulled out (See Data replacing them in Naked Now)

Besides Jeffreys Tubes, there are countless ventilation shafts, elevator wells, and other small crawlspaces that the Gremlins would have a field day exploring, while the humanoids would have a hell of a time catching up. I pity Data's Cat, as well as any other pet onboard ... unless they were a species that would find Gremlins similar to a prey species on their planet.

As Bob the Gunslinger said, the novelization of the first movie had Mogwai as one of few survivors of a genetically created race. The Rules came about after the Gremlins destroyed the civilization that created the Mogwai. Mogwai himself is shown as able to mediate and see galaxies he(?) had traveled on his way to Earth. His age is unknown, but the novel implies centuries or more. Thus there is a good chance that the Federation or other races may run into remnants of that civilization and/or one of the surviving Mogwai.

By the novel, only 1 out of every 1000 Mogwai "born" are peaceful. The rest are like "Stripe", a Gremlin in Mogwai clothing, eager to assume the more 'powerful' form. However, the Gremlin love of destruction and lack of self-preservation (other than bright light/sunlight) may lead to a much shorter lifespan. Their rapid reproduction offsets this, as well as the fact wet Gremlins seem to produce only more Gremlins, not Mogwai.

[Lord of the Abyss]

Why would they have to worry about Holodeck pools, when the gyms and the individual quarters have SHOWERS. KISS, people, KISS.

They have "sonic showers", not water ones.

The Gremlins will have great fun screwing with the wiring, but at least most of the controls are either voice operated or DNA locked, which will limited their directed sabotage.

[Vendetta]

Now, what would happen if a Gremlin jumped into a pool on the holodeck? Would all of his spawn disappear when they tried to leave?

Probably, that's exactly the sort of fourth wall interaction that the Gremlins get up to.

[Eternal_Freedom]

They'll go scampering around the Jefferies Tube and start pulling out what they think is wiring. Of course, Star Trek ships dont seem to use wiring, they use high explosive EPS conduits instead.

So, the oficers on the bridge will be sitting there bored when suddenly they start to hear a fusilade of BOOMs echoing through the ship. But at least it fries the gremlins...

[Srelex]

That depends--didn't a Gremlin merely laugh when zapping itself with wiring in the first film?

[Majin Gojira]

Depends on the voltage, really. In the second film, one Gremlin was turned into electricity by a potion (no, really) and later, with water as a catalyst, used to electrify and kill all the other Gremlins.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Yeah, but like i said. TNG ships use high-temperature gas conduits instead of wires. Kinda hard to laugh that off if it ruptures in your face, as shown by the countless Redshirts on the show

[Srelex]

Which reminds me, what's the higher-end examples of Mogwai durability? And what would happen if they got their hands on the weapons caches--they have shown the ability to handle firearms, and in number 2 they were (somehow) constructing minaturized bazookas...

[LadyTevar]

As I recall, Mogwai could be cut by knives and otherwise banged about, but seemed to heal rather fast. Lights/Sunlight seemed to be the only killer.

[Batman]

Of course they were never EXPOSED to anything beyond knife cuts/being banged about a bit. In fact I don't even recall them being cut but it's a while since I saw the movies.