cthia wrote:crewdude48 wrote:There is no way to do what you want and still leave Manticore a Star nation. Considering the level of technology and record keeping they have had since the formation of the Kingdom, they would be able to track down that accountant on Beowoulf who is Elizabeth's 14th cousin twice removed. (Ever seen King Ralph?)
Furthermore, considering that they have been at war, or preparing for war, for as long as they have been, they most likely fallow something similar to the "designated survivor" protocols that the US government fallows.
Assuming that Honor is the only survivor of every title of nobility, she could probably assert a claim of Queen, but the level of devastation required to get to that means that her subjects would be only a few thousand battered and dying people.
My bold to call attention.I don't recall Detweiler requesting that that be a prerequisite, nor can I ever imagine — even in
my wildest meanderings — that Detty'd even care.
crewdude48 wrote:You were the one who requested that prerequisite. In order for Honor to become Queen, there needs to be something for her to be queen of.
Why wouldn't there
be something for Honor to be Queen of, in at least
the least sense? (MAlign humor.) Again, this was a precision strike at
the coronary artery of
the government's. Only!
The planet will still be there, along with its infrastructure. And 99.9999 percent of
the population will still be there.
The only people killed were
the only people targeted — military targets. This was a humane EE violation,
if there really is such a thing. It was certainly one that was metered. What do you know, in a strange turn of events, innocent bystanders were not a part of some piss-ant explanation of collateral damage for a change. And just perhaps, just maybe, these are MAlign seeds of goodwill sown towards its enemies. It is
the same message that Honor sent Theisman, that Theisman accepted and reciprocated...
"We are willing to exercise restraint. But we don't have to."
Yet in this case,
the message and example goes out as a warning to
the rest of
the galaxy.
The lesson is too late for Manticore. You don't survive a direct lesson in "Advanced MA EE Strikes" - Anisimovna.
You should preorder her
book. And
the companion "Leveraging
the Kill." (Available for preorder on
the "Honorverse Bestseller List" soon). Manticore should have read their reading assignment. And just like
the Havenites' own disadvantage of not being able to conceptually read
the obvious implications of Apollo, so too it is with
the Manticorans and MAlign technology.
"We rewrote
the book on EEV."
****** *
I understand some of you being appalled. Contemplation of such a complete and utter loss of key figures is like a blow to
the stomach. I think what offends, if we're honest with ourselves and strip away all of
the fake ablative armor, is
the mere sobering of
the very reality that it could happen.
It is like being caught in
the deer-lights of possibility. Stuck, frozen. Immobile. Maybe even gripped with fear. And
the anger that occurs along with simply a natural, yet illogical reflex action.
No one thought that
the Battle of Manticore would happen, let alone
the Second Battle. This thing I've laid out could happen.
The implication of
the "balance of power tipping technology" invites this scenario to
the party. Anisimova is
the Salamander's counterpart, and just like
the Salamander, she also doesn't think that
the surface of
the strategic possibilities of their technology has even been scratched.
The development of Apollo hasn't cornered
the market on that.
The complete and utter stealth of MAlign tech moves EE violation capability into a new realm. Gone are
the need for
the crude and rude swarmings of a planet with saturating projectiles.
The MA has designed weaponry to complement this new turn in warfare -- completely scientific, specialized computer controlled planetary bombardments offering optimum rewards meted out in precise surgical strikes. One of
the bottlenecks in this "precision strike" MAlign tech was, surprisingly,
the computer's software. They've got state of
the art computers but software designers had fallen behind writing code for these beasts. Whose job is to accomplish only one thing. Completely Surgical and Precision Planetary Strikes. (CSAPPS)
These computers would analyze every ship in space, TVs (Threat Vectors) and their programmed reaction times and ability to intercept. (
The MAlign have been sitting and watching.) These powerful computers would produce
the vectors of optimum launch, producing this (CSAPPS) acronym for
the named strike — as a factor of
the hot, tree-like sap that is found from
the melted debris at
the sites of these strikes prompting them to become humorously known in MAlign parlance as Sap Suckers.
Edit: good will, goodwill
.