MALIGN WEAPONRY THAT SHOULD NOT BE NAMED (MWTSNBN)
cthia wrote:Scale up accordingly what Sonja can stuff into something that size.
Weird Harold wrote:Not even close. being VERY generous, comparable to what Shannon Forracker could manage before the GA was formed. The MAlign isn't close to what Manticore can manage for miniaturization and power budgets, and probably not up to HAven or the IAN pre-alliance with Manticore.
cthia wrote:I'm thinking that the missiles are capable of long distance strikes. Being able to stuff lots of the same advanced tech as Apollo -- with much more mass to play with are able to set and forget autonomous deployment. My guess.
Weird Harold wrote:Most of the "same advanced tech as Apollo" is Manticore/Ghostrider tech and the MAlign has nothing close.
Now, if you're talking about what Manticore could stuff into a Spider Drive chassis (as soon as they get a working example) the the sky's the limit. With Ghost Rider tech, they would have the power budget for truly amazing offensive and defensive toys.
The MAlign managed three seconds of operation from a medium sized graser. With Ghost Rider power budgets, improved Grav Lensing, and GR Miniaturization Manticore/GA could probably manage at least a Shrike-class Graser and possibly even a SD-class Graser. That's for an offensive version.
For a Defensive version, imagine the entire ECM Suite from a modern BC automated and stuffed into a spider drive chassis... You wouldn't even need much of the stealth features in that suite, because you would have no wedge to cover.
A Recon version could replace a lot of the wedge-covering of a GR-drone with more FTL Comm or more sensors...
But...
The MAlign can't do any of that until they crack Manticore's miniaturization tech and FTL/comm tech.
A lot of interesting stuff here.
I've a thought. RFC could take things in a whole nother direction ripe with potential "tum te tums."
What if the MAlign chose to tackle the problem from another angle - well within their capabilities which is also in keeping with who they are. Instead of trying to crack Manticore's miniaturization tech and bridge the gap in capabilities, they could just as easily close the gap or even surpass the capabilities of Apollo by developing the next generation in smart missiles by developing the "truly intelligent" missile.
What if the MAlign, with their superior intellect, develop a completely new paradigm in computer capability which comes from the programming language itself coupled with a twist. What if their tech is based around a completely new and advanced computer system that itself is capable of more advanced thought.
Present day Earth is experimenting with genetic programming and genetic algorithms. From wiki...
Genetic programming
In artificial intelligence, genetic programming (GP) is a technique whereby computer programs are encoded as a set of genes that are then modified (evolved) using an evolutionary algorithm (often a genetic algorithm). The result is a computer program able to perform well in a predefined task.
Yes, I'm going there.
Where we are barely scratching the surface and getting our toes wet presently, the MAlign has cornered the market on genetic research. What if they've found a way to defeat the problem of Godel and his Incompleteness Theorems and the halting problem to boot? By supplanting the restrictive vector with one that isn't prone to the limitation - the human mind. What if the MAlign are able to enslave the human brain itself and make it subservient to a computer system? The human brain is not governed by Gödel's Incompleteness Theorems or the halting problem. And the power budget needed to run a computer as this would be greatly decreased, as the complexity of the system would decrease. Yet the specialized computing power would be astronomical.
Alphas. What is possible for them to accomplish with a near infinitely powerful computer? What of one with the advantage of truly-human thinking? One which has solved the limitations of Godel and the halting problem by incorporating truly thinking genetic DNA micro chips - interfaced with the human mind. Truly a slave. What if the MAlign goes to the other not so subtle extreme and just enslaves the human mind?
Would you diehards still not think that is an aberration of science? An abortion? An over stepping of the boundaries of immorality? Each missile is a one time use only of a human mind. And the mainframe is a similar design used in CIC. Think of the TDC (Torpedo Data Computer) which revolutionized US submarine warfare installed aboard the USS Pompanito naval sub.
What is possible when your tech is not limited by moral constraint, or mercy? Constraint and mercy
for yourself and your own people as well as constraint and mercy for other peoples outside of your own. I've asked the question several times and briefly discussed it with another poster. What are some of the more subtle as well as extreme uses of MAlign tech that was brought back with Alice from Wonderland? What is really down the rabbit hole?
I don't know what they've found on the other side of the bridge. The MAlign are working beyond a certain/specified point on the genetic line.
It could truly be an aberration. The MAign's own WTSNBN.
At any rate, I'm excited about the Lenny's. There is a thread in Free Range titled "Favorite Ships." Mine is the USS Virginia (SSN-774) nuclear sub. But it has always been the Uboats. The German Type VII is a very interestingly historical piece of navy hardware. Their tactics as well. The wolfpacks.
Jonathan_S mentioned that the Lenny's may be used as the submarines from WWII to present.
Those subs were a dangerous force for both the US in their Silent Service campaign against the Japanese and also a hammer in German hands who very nearly starved Her Majesty's Navy.