The Battle of Darius - What would you say?

cthia wrote:That's my point. Every body that is any body is going to want a formal invitation to this particular dinner party.

Somebody, not just any body, needs to remain at home--no, needs to be left at home ( ), because no one is going to want to volunteer the boring D'Orville like job) to mind the store.

Sure, everyone is going to want to be in on that battle. But not everyone it going to be there. Home Fleet will stay at home. Haven's Home Fleet will stay at home. Grayson's Home Fleet will stay at home. Various forces guarding Silesia, the Talbot Sector, Havenite systems, and the various wormholes Manticore has seized will stay in place. Just because everyone wants to be at the Battle of Darius does not mean that everyone gets to be there. Home Fleet will stay at home.

SWM wrote:

cthia wrote:That's my point. Every body that is any body is going to want a formal invitation to this particular dinner party.

Somebody, not just any body, needs to remain at home--no, needs to be left at home ( ), because no one is going to want to volunteer the boring D'Orville like job) to mind the store.

Sure, everyone is going to want to be in on that battle. But not everyone it going to be there. Home Fleet will stay at home. Haven's Home Fleet will stay at home. Grayson's Home Fleet will stay at home. Various forces guarding Silesia, the Talbot Sector, Havenite systems, and the various wormholes Manticore has seized will stay in place. Just because everyone wants to be at the Battle of Darius does not mean that everyone gets to be there. Home Fleet will stay at home.

Of course. That goes without saying, but you missed the subtle direction of my thoughts.

'Who will be left at home commanding each of those Home fleets, perhaps temporarily, until the official commanders return?'

Someone that shouldn't be in command because no one thought the SLN would roll the dice some particular way?

Just a concern.

cthia wrote:

SWM wrote:Sure, everyone is going to want to be in on that battle. But not everyone it going to be there. Home Fleet will stay at home. Haven's Home Fleet will stay at home. Grayson's Home Fleet will stay at home. Various forces guarding Silesia, the Talbot Sector, Havenite systems, and the various wormholes Manticore has seized will stay in place. Just because everyone wants to be at the Battle of Darius does not mean that everyone gets to be there. Home Fleet will stay at home.

Of course. That goes without saying, but you missed the subtle direction of my thoughts.

'Who will be left at home commanding each of those Home fleets, perhaps temporarily, until the official commanders return?'

Someone that shouldn't be in command because no one thought the SLN would roll the dice some particular way?

Just a concern.

No, I didn't miss it. I'm saying that it won't be a temporary commander--it will be the official permanent commander of Home Fleet. I am saying that Manticore won't shuffle people around just because they want to be at Darius. People will stay at their posts.

cthia wrote:*Which is what leads me to believe that Darius is somewhere in the Haven system, because everyone in the Haven system has heard of the Salamander, and only some place relatively nearby, intuitively, can the MALign have kept an eagle eye, a shark's radar(pun intended) and an *Emperor penguin's ear to things.

The location of Darius is a bee in my bonnet, so to speak. The books are so frustrating in that they give description of planets and wormhole jumps and other things but the only concrete information about an actual location of Darius is that the wormhole in Torch leads there. But even that is at least 2 wormhole jumps away from where Darius actually is and 2 jump can take you almost anywhere. But I think it is somewhere on the far side of the Maya sector from Haven. Besides, Terra Haute and the Phoenix Cluser have to be on the map for more reason than has been given so far. Maya I think is a cog in the Mesan wheel to bring down the SL and I think they would have wanted to be close by to help that happen.


Also I have read Detwiler(?) ( I think it was him) talking about using the Torch wormhole as a way to launch a back door attack on Haven. Which suggests that Darius would be quite a distance from Haven. Which also suggests to me that Haven's “eyes” and attention would have been focused more toward the Manticore wormhole junction as part of Haven's war with the SL. The wormhole junction at Manticore, whether or not it is controlled by Haven or Manticore, is going to be a focal point of any war in that volume of space, therefore Haven's “eyes” would have been focused in that direction making the Torch wormhole a back door into Haven. Especially if they had managed to retain control of it.

cthia wrote:

StealthSeeker wrote:Admiral Thomas Theisman:


I have dreamed of peace all my life and today I shall achieve a measure of that peace through either your surrender or your death. You have 5 minutes to choose which.

I like this, and the idea of it chokes me up.

However, we cannot discount or underestimate the psychological ramifications of the MALign hearing the Salamander at the end of the opening two-way communication. *Remember, they've been following her career, and they know exactly what she's capable of.

I guess I missed the idea that it had to be something said by Honor. And I am also trying to come up with something that is more of a communication with the enemy, not so much a battle cry among the fleet. So how about this.

Admiral Honor Harrington:

For centuries you have murdered and led others to acts of murder and war on your behalf. Today an accounting for those acts has arrived at your door. The atonement we are prepared to accept for those crimes is either your immediate and total surrender or your summary execution. You have 5 minutes to make your choice.

SWM wrote:No, I didn't miss it. I'm saying that it won't be a temporary commander--it will be the official permanent commander of Home Fleet. I am saying that Manticore won't shuffle people around just because they want to be at Darius. People will stay at their posts.

Still, I doubt very much that, if Honor Harrington wants someone in her fleet -- like Allen Higgins, for instance -- the Admiralty will tell her, "no, you can't have him/her."

Someone has to stay home and mind the store, but there are no guarantees that Darius will be a blowout in favor of the GA. I suspect Honor will stack her deck as thoroughly as possible while still not leaving vulnerable areas uncovered.

I also have to wonder about two people who will almost certainly be dying to make that trip, and their names both start with "E". Now, if Eloise were my President - shut up and let me pretend she's not for a minute, okay? - I wouldn't want her within a hundred lightyears of Darius when the excrement hits the fan. In fact, I'd prefer to park her in a ceramacrete bunker somewhere about two miles beneath Nouveau Paris. But this is Eloise Pritchart... and she is in cahoots with Elizabeth Winton, you can bet your arses she is - and after all, "If the two of us can agree on anything, it's going to happen."

roseandheather wrote:

SWM wrote:No, I didn't miss it. I'm saying that it won't be a temporary commander--it will be the official permanent commander of Home Fleet. I am saying that Manticore won't shuffle people around just because they want to be at Darius. People will stay at their posts.

Still, I doubt very much that, if Honor Harrington wants someone in her fleet -- like Allen Higgins, for instance -- the Admiralty will tell her, "no, you can't have him/her."

Someone has to stay home and mind the store, but there are no guarantees that Darius will be a blowout in favor of the GA. I suspect Honor will stack her deck as thoroughly as possible while still not leaving vulnerable areas uncovered.

I also have to wonder about two people who will almost certainly be dying to make that trip, and their names both start with "E". Now, if Eloise were my President - shut up and let me pretend she's not for a minute, okay? - I wouldn't want her within a hundred lightyears of Darius when the excrement hits the fan. In fact, I'd prefer to park her in a ceramacrete bunker somewhere about two miles beneath Nouveau Paris. But this is Eloise Pritchart... and she is in cahoots with Elizabeth Winton, you can bet your arses she is - and after all, "If the two of us can agree on anything, it's going to happen."

I'm trying to stamp this with a "Second that motion," but my ink ran out. Same thing I was pondering for a while as well. Who will make the trip and who will be left at home to mind the store. Because, at least, I am not expecting Darius to turn into a turkey shoot and business as usual either, and Honor will definitely need to be the commander, because Darius will require the GA's first string, and the GA's commander will not only want to have its first stringers along for the ride, but will need them.

I predict it is going to be a very thin line between who should go and stay.

Excellent revelation Rose. You have been hanging out with Eloise haven't you? Who says pillow talk is benign?!

StealthSeeker wrote:I guess I missed the idea that it had to be something said by Honor. And I am also trying to come up with something that is more of a communication with the enemy, not so much a battle cry among the fleet. So how about this.

Not so much has to be Honor, as much as should be Honor.

For more reasons than several essays can contain.

roseandheather wrote:"SWM"]
No, I didn't miss it. I'm saying that it won't be a temporary commander--it will be the official permanent commander of Home Fleet. I am saying that Manticore won't shuffle people around just because they want to be at Darius. People will stay at their posts.

Still, I doubt very much that, if Honor Harrington wants someone in her fleet -- like Allen Higgins, for instance -- the Admiralty will tell her, "no, you can't have him/her."

Someone has to stay home and mind the store, but there are no guarantees that Darius will be a blowout in favor of the GA. I suspect Honor will stack her deck as thoroughly as possible while still not leaving vulnerable areas uncovered.

I also have to wonder about two people who will almost certainly be dying to make that trip, and their names both start with "E". Now, if Eloise were my President - shut up and let me pretend she's not for a minute, okay? - I wouldn't want her within a hundred lightyears of Darius when the excrement hits the fan. In fact, I'd prefer to park her in a ceramacrete bunker somewhere about two miles beneath Nouveau Paris. But this is Eloise Pritchart... and she is in cahoots with Elizabeth Winton, you can bet your arses she is - and after all, "If the two of us can agree on anything, it's going to happen." [/quote]


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I agree Eloise and Elizabeth both would "want" to be there, just as Chairman Benton-Ramirez of Beowulf would "want" to be there; however all three also understand (1) their other responsibilities and (2) the need for delegation.
Honor can use an effective shield, but she and Tourville are better as swords.

If Mike has conquered Mesa, she will likely find evidence that Darius exists -- maybe not where it is, but that it IS.
Remember Honor's vow in MOH
""I'll miss them," she told him again, still with that dreadful softness, "but I won't forget. I'll never forget, and one day— one day, Hamish—we're going to find the people who did this, you and I. And when we do, the only thing I'll ask of God is that He let them live long enough to know who's killing them." "

-- Stewart

roseandheather wrote:Last we heard, it was the love of my life - I mean, Allen Higgins. But I don't mind telling you, I very much hope Allen is not the one left home to mind the store when they make their final attack run. After everything that man has been through, he deserves to be on the business end of the missiles that take down the MAlign for good.

"On the business end of the missiles" sounds a little Dr. Strangelove - like riding the bomb down

(I completely agree that I'd love to see him in command of at least part of the fleet that finally assaults Darius. It's only that phrasing that struck me as odd)