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	Archive through January 15, 2024	25		01/16 09:45pm

Sounds like a juicy idea, Guillaume!

Federation, like everyone else, has hospital freighters. They also have their CL based Hospital Ship.

IIRC, there is a scenario where a plague breaks out among a landing team investigating a world and it's up to, I wanna say, the crew of a CA to solve it before it spreads.

My guess is that planets CAN be put into quarantine, but that once it is in place, there will be certain exceptions; notably the various dedicated Hospital ships and possibly the medical specialists aboard a survey vessel, if dedicated medical ships are not convenient (i.e.: deep in the coreward exploration zone).

As far as how a quarantine is handled, it might be left to the Police to make sure nobody crosses a certain line in either direction. Perhaps the military might get involved as well, but again, this is really just a guess.

It does make me wonder if this is yet ANOTHER mission that may be assigned to FLGs (I do LOVE those ships ).

By Ryan Opel (Ryan) on Monday, January 15, 2024 - 11:32 pm: Edit

The Prime Directive books list a couple of planets that are under permanent quarantine.

Not just Talos IV.

Some are for biological reasons (poinsed planets), some for xenophobic natives, one for the native HUGE insects that see humonoids as food.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 - 06:25 am: Edit

It might be phased response to a pandemic of a planetary outbreak.

For example, the first response of a highly contagious disease could be a Planetary quarantine ordered by the planet’s indigenous medical system. Such a initial response could consist of (in the case of the Federation) Police provincial detachment consisting of the assigned FLG, and other units (consisting of POL, Security Skiffs, Auxiliary ships such as APT or Auxiliary Free Trader or Prime trader variants.)

If there isn’t an immediate cure or treatment available, a second Response Phase may be necessary. Since the local constabulary can’t be permanently diverted from its normal duties other ships may be deployed to relieve those first deployed.

The ships composing such a second response phase would likely be a flagship such as a FEM (Federation Destroyer variant activated from the nearest Star base.) and a Federation Hospital ship (likely a Freight based hull of either Large or Small type.). If there are not enough Federation Police POLs available, the other ships of the second response would probably be freighter variants of armed Large or small frieghters.

If the whole population of a Major or Minor planet needs a fast large scale admission of a injection vaccine, a troopship of some sort with one or more battalions of hazmat suited personnel would be required to administer said injections.

If the vaccine was found to be not entirely effective, a third wave of responding ships might be necessary.

Rather than get into the unpleasant details, let us just refer to it as the grave digger detachment. If only 50% or 75% of the infected population survived, the planetary authorities would be unable to bury all of the deceased in a timely manner.

Pleasant thought, isn’t it…

I also had once considered submitting a fiction piece of a contagious disease outbreak, but while I was writing it, COVID happened. Just didn’t seem like the right time for it.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 - 11:40 am: Edit

I might suggest taking a look at the 2011 version of the Omega Master Rulebook, so as to read up on the Sigvirions.

The Sigs are a species of intelligent virii, who are able to infect and take over a wide variety of host bodies. Once they do this, the original "consciousness" is lost: "disinfecting" the host body results in reducing it to a vegetative state. It is possible to develop anti-Sig inoculations, though the Sigs are liable to evolve new strains which can overcome them.

Initially, the Sigs operated as a more or less "traditional" empire, with their own saucer-shaped starships. However, once their home worlds were conquered and bombarded from orbit by the Mæsron Alliance, the surviving exiles spread across the Omega Octant and sought to resurface at various points in time. Perhaps the most surprising way this happened was when they offered to take over the organic control systems used by the Alunda Host to operate their "space whales": the resulting "Sig-Tech" is reported to be functionally equivalent to a "metal-hull" navy's first-generation X-technology.

Of course, no-one in the Alpha Octant or in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud need worry about Sig infection... until Y219, when the Star Fleet advanced Galactic Survey Cruiser NCC-1821 USS Sakharov returns from Omega with samples of anti-Sig inoculations. Thus far, no known Sig outbreaks have been recorded in Alpha or in the LMC - though in this instance, it's better to be safe than sorry.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, January 16, 2024 - 09:45 pm: Edit

A pandemic situation isn't normal SFU fiction fare, but could be a good story nonetheless. It could even include starships and space combat. Perhaps a smallish colony (a million people on a small planet that has important mines and metal refineries). The planet might have a centrifugal launcher for metal ingots which are then snagged in orbit by cargo ships. The Pandemic is only in some of the colony domes but there is a concern that it will spread or may have already spread. Somebody tries to use the centrifugal system to get himself off the planet. Police, industrial types, pirates, all have a reason to be there.

By Alan De Salvio (Alandwork) on Thursday, February 15, 2024 - 06:21 pm: Edit

Set it on an asteroid or provide a stasis box. Spinlaunch (from Earth) will subject their craft to 10,000 Gs - a human would become nutty yogurt.