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Memory Alpha
Multiple realities
(covers information from several alternate timelines)
Temporal shields

Temporal shielding protecting Voyager from a chroniton torpedo

Temporal shielding was a type of deflector shield technology developed by the crew of the USS Voyager in an alternate timeline in 2374 in order to defend themselves against Krenim chroniton torpedoes, which had the ability to penetrate conventional shields due to being in a constant state of temporal flux.

In this timeline, Voyager came under near-constant attack upon entering a region of space in the Delta Quadrant which the Krenim controlled. Determining the exact temporal variance of the torpedoes, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok and Seven of Nine were able to remodulate the ship's defenses to provide temporal shielding by matching Voyager's shields to the variance, and matching their deflector array to the inverse of the variance. The newly-modified shields were effective in defending against the chroniton torpedoes, as well as insulating Voyager from the changes to the timeline initiated by Annorax, a Krenim scientist who was using a massive weapon ship to erase objects from history.

Voyager's temporal shields produced a level-9 temporal disruption, which threw off Annorax's calculations, causing him to inadvertently revert the Krenim Imperium to a pre-warp state. Intercepting them to investigate, Annorax attempted to erase Voyager from history, but was unable to penetrate their temporal shielding before Voyager managed to escape. Later, forming an alliance with the Nihydron and the Mawasi, the Voyager crew provided them with temporal shields as well, allowing them to assemble a fighting force to take on Annorax. Engaging the weapon ship in battle, two Mawasi ships were erased from history when their temporal shields were overwhelmed. Captain Janeway subsequently ordered all ships to take their temporal shielding offline, and used Voyager to collide with the weapon ship. The weapon ship's temporal core ultimately destabilized and initiated a temporal incursion within the ship itself, erasing it and all of the damage done to the timeline by Annorax from history. (VOY: "Year of Hell", "Year of Hell, Part II")

Prior to the final battle, Chakotay mentions that the Mawasi and Nihydron would have disseminated the temporal shielding technology to protect their homeworlds against Annorax's weapon. It is unclear what happened to these homeworlds after the final temporal incursion caused by the Krenim weapon ship's erasure from the timeline, or if the temporal shielding was functioning during the event.

In 2384, the Infinity was equipped with temporal shields designed withstand the temporal paradoxes in a wormhole linking to the future. (PRO: "Into the Breach, Part II", "Temporal Mechanics 101")

In 2436, after being rescued by the crew of the Infinity, Chakotay had the USS Protostar remodulate its temporal shielding before entering the wormhole. As a result of the ship being piloted instead of on autopilot, the Protostar did not go back in time to Tars Lamora, changing history. (PRO: "Who Saves the Saviors") Instead, it landed in 2374 on Ysida. (PRO: "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part I")

After history was altered, Janeway suggested that the Infinity's temporal shields, as they were designed to withstand the paradoxes in the wormhole, were preserving their reality for now. However, that would only delay the inevitable. (PRO: "Temporal Mechanics 101")

In 2385, the Protostar used its temporal shields with variance matching the wormhole that it was entering as protection from the Loom. (PRO: "Ouroboros, Part II")

The Krenim time bugs used temporal shields to prevent their removal from the vessels that they were attacking. Anything that entered the shield would age to dust in a matter of seconds. In order to remove a time bug from the USS Discovery, Commander Paul Stamets was able to devise a way to use relativity to overcome this by having the Discovery taken to maximum warp where the ship's warp bubble would then be broken. This would give the crew a window in which to remove the bug while time inside of the shield struggled to catch up. The maneuver proved to be successful, allowing Commander Rayner to use a chroniton stabilizer to neutralize the time bug. Although Rayner's hand was slightly aged in the process, Doctor Hugh Culber was later able to reverse the effects. (DIS: "Face the Strange")

See also[]

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