I think the writers of ST just don't know **** about warp physics, unlike you, obviously... :mrgreen:
Since I've seen ST shows wherein torpedoes were launched from a ship at warp, hitting another ship at warp - It would appear that this "warp field" you speak of has no effect whatsoever on either torpedoes or phasers - seeing as there was no distortion in the phaser fire when it passed outside the "warp field" of the ship, and no apparent change in flight characteristics when the torpedoes passed through this "warp field"...
So that would seem to indicate that either:
- ST weaponry can be either sub-light or FTL when necessary, instantly switching between the two, or.
- ST weaponry is not FTL, but somehow is unaffected when it leaves or enters a ship's warp field, or.
- ST weaponry is fully FTL, and any seemingly slow speeds are simply due to perspective, or.
- The animators/writers of ST are far too lazy to try and research what actual physics would or would not affect imaginary ST weaponry, and thus wrote them as being both sub-light and unaffected by the warp field.
Personally, I'm leaning towards
D.
But really, judging from the shows I’ve seen of ST, it would seem that either
A or
B is the case – if you ignore all possible writing errors and assume the ST universe is real, that is.