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how are R-Bombs prevented?

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how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by captinjoehenry   » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:23 pm

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i am curious if there is some sort of terrorist who steal a very large freighter and set it up to be unmanned so it can accelerate at maximum speed take it out to about a light month from a planet accelerate it too .99c and then turn off its impeller how would people be able to detect it in time to stop it?

also what is to stop the SLN from taking some of their SD and doing the exact same thing except with the ai on board set up to turn on its wedge and sidewall when it is about to be attacked?
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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by Duckk   » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:28 pm

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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by SWM   » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:28 pm

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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by kzt   » Thu Feb 12, 2015 4:30 pm

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captinjoehenry wrote:i am curious if there is some sort of terrorist who steal a very large freighter and set it up to be unmanned so it can accelerate at maximum speed take it out to about a light month from a planet accelerate it too .99c and then turn off its impeller how would people be able to detect it in time to stop it?

also what is to stop the SLN from taking some of their SD and doing the exact same thing except with the ai on board set up to turn on its wedge and sidewall when it is about to be attacked?

Everyone dies from radiation long before it hits, along with, in all likelihood, the computer system running the ship. If the ship hits anything, like a grain of sand, it will miss the planet even if it really was aimed that accurately. Which it probably won't be.
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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by Dafmeister   » Fri Feb 13, 2015 8:46 am

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TL;DR The fundamental protection against this kind of attack is reciprocity - you ram a 9mt freighter into my planet and I'll ram one into yours, so don't start anything you aren't willing to finish.

For centuries there has also been the threat of the Eridani Edict hanging over everyone - do something stupid like this and the SLN will come crashing down on your head. Of course, the threat of war with the Solarian League has lost much of its deterrent value for the SEM, RoH and Grayson lately, since they're already in one. Now, we all know that Manticore, Haven and Grayson aren't going to go around committing Eridani violations on League worlds, but it will be interesting to see if some people in the League don't fear they might. After all, they are a bunch of neobarbs, they can't be expected to behave like civilised people if there's no-one to beat them back into line if they don't.

Finally, of course, you've got to find enough people to set up the attack who are willing to incinerate billions of defenceless civilians. In spite of what some people on this forum think, I think this could be harder than it sounds.
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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by CLA   » Sun Feb 15, 2015 5:51 pm

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Last edited by CLA on Tue Feb 17, 2015 11:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
It's sad when the only words out of people's mouths our "I/we can't" or "it won't work" instead of trying to find ways to do things.
But then, what do I know - I'm nobody. :(
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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by The E   » Sun Feb 15, 2015 6:22 pm

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CLA wrote:Mesan Alignment... They've already shown that they'll do whatever they please.


No, they haven't. While they may have no moral qualms of inflicting megadeaths (and there is scant evidence for that), there are strong tactical and strategical considerations against performing such an act. The mesan alignment isn't evil, at least not in the mustache-twirling megalomaniac sense that would lead them to use RKVs against civilian targets.
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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by JeffEngel   » Sun Feb 15, 2015 6:46 pm

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Dafmeister wrote:Finally, of course, you've got to find enough people to set up the attack who are willing to incinerate billions of defenceless civilians. In spite of what some people on this forum think, I think this could be harder than it sounds.

Granted, and kudos to humanity for being like that. On the other hand, it doesn't take many people, and humanity is really, really extensive in the Honorverse.

That it hasn't happened much since Epsilon Eridani may argue less for fear of retaliation or for timeless human decency than for the examples of an era of far more civilized warfare than we're familiar with here and now.
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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by HB of CJ   » Sun Feb 15, 2015 7:19 pm

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We must remember and understand that all of this is fictional and not real. The greater reality is that there will remain all sorts of ways and methods of inflicting mega death upon an entire planet.

Or said another way ... "The more complicated you make the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes". What would happen to a typical G2 STAR stuck by multiple 7 million ton impacts at .8 cee?

Nothing? Would the star just burp and say thank you? Or would such result in a series of nasty solar flares wiping all life from the system out to about 2 AU? Dunno. Yikes. HB of CJ (old coot) Just me.
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Re: how are R-Bombs prevented?
Post by SWM   » Mon Feb 16, 2015 2:43 pm

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CLA wrote:Mesan Alignment... They've already shown that they'll do whatever they please.

Not exactly true. See David Weber's response to a similar suggestion about the Alignment: http://infodump.thefifthimperium.com/en ... gton/271/1
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