Howling:Would the Sontarans really annhilate the Rutans?

In "The Gunpowder Plot", the Rutans and the Sontarans both race to 1600s England to retrieve two doomsday weapons that would completely wipe out an entire race. At the end, both have one weapon, but the Doctor has meddled with them so they would be dangerous to use. But would the Sontarans really have used the weapon to destroy all the Rutans in the first place? With no Rutans there would be no war and with no war the Sontarans would have no purpose in life. With no enemy, they would either be forced to wage war on their own or another race to ensure they died in battle, because to them it was a disgrace not to. I think in TGP they only came to make sure the weapons didn't fall into Rutan tentacles and never intended to use them. Any thoughts? 87.102.117.106talk to me 11:28, January 7, 2012 (UTC)

I'm sure the Sontarans could and would find other enemies. They seem quite good at provoking hostile reactions. --89.241.75.207talk to me 17:25, January 7, 2012 (UTC)

What puzzles the Hell out of me is what actually started the war. Discrimination between two obviously different races probably comes into it, but I'd expect the Sontarans to go to war with an enemy that posed a real threat, like the Cybermen, who want to take over the universe, not a bunch of green jellyfish. 87.102.117.106talk to me 17:54, January 7, 2012 (UTC)

Well based on the fact that the Sontaran-Rutan War has been going on for practically forever with no sign of ending, I would say that both sides seem pretty evenly matched. Who knows how the war started anymore? I doubt that the Sontarans and Rutans even know what they're fighting about at this point. For all we know, the Sontarans only became the cloned war-based race they are today because they've been fighting the Rutans for so long. Or maybe before the Rutan war, they tried to earn honor and die in combat by attacking every planet they found, but the Rutans fought back a bit more than they expected. Anyway, I'm sure the Sontarans would be more than happy to finish the Rutans off if given the chance. I'm not sure exactly how the Sontaran's system of honor works, but I should imagine that there is more honor in killing your enemies and winning a war than there is in dying in battle. If they were ever to defeat the Rutans, then I have no doubt that they would find a new enemy to fight in no time.Icecreamdif talk to me 20:56, January 7, 2012 (UTC)

Which leaves only one question: which race is the most likely candidate for them to go to war against, if they ever annhilate the Rutan Host? 87.102.117.106talk to me 21:53, January 7, 2012 (UTC)

The Daleks are probably the only race that enjoys war even more than the Sontarans do, but the Sontarans would probably rather fight against an enemy that they actually have a chance of killing. The universe is a very large place, filled with countless species of which we've only seen a tiny fraction of. It probably doesn't matter anyway, because it doesn't look like the Sontaran-Rutan war will end any time soon.Icecreamdif talk to me 23:35, January 7, 2012 (UTC)

As Sarah Jane told Kaagh in 2008 (SJA: The Last Sontaran), the Sontaran-Rutan War will still be going in 10,000 years. She was (I think) referring to The Sontaran Experiment, and there was no sign then that the war was nearing its end. Finding a new enemy doesn't seem like a matter of urgency, right now. --89.242.67.48talk to me 00:42, January 8, 2012 (UTC)