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Honorverse ramblings and musings

Join us in talking discussing all things Honor, including (but not limited to) tactics, favorite characters, and book discussions.
Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by MaxxQ   » Thu May 29, 2014 1:43 pm

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roseandheather wrote:
"I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is called a disgrace; that two are called a law firm; and that three or more become a Congress - and by God I have had it with this Congress!!"
~ John Adams, 1776, aka possibly the best musical ever


I have to give the musical crown to Jesus Christ Superstar (this coming from an atheist - But I *like* the music!!!), or Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds (it depends on my mood).

However, since neither of those have any lines worth quoting for the current thread subject matter, I'll let them slide.
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by cthia   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 2:43 am

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Is there anyone but me worried that the MA will approach Masada with the same offer as pre-GA Haven, and with the spider driver the heathens shall be healed?

Son, your mother says I have to hang you. Personally I don't think this is a capital offense. But if I don't hang you, she's gonna hang me and frankly, I'm not the one in trouble. —cthia's father. Incident in ? Axiom of Common Sense
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by Yow   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:32 am

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cthia wrote:Is there anyone but me worried that the MA will approach Masada with the same offer as pre-GA Haven, and with the spider driver the heathens shall be healed?


:shock: narcissistically blatantly tinkering with God's holy universe MA? Holier than thou, look at pious me or I'll have you stoned while I eat my lunch on this pile of ashes in a humble sack cloth Masada?

:cry: Is there anyone worried? There is now.

Cthia's father ~ "Son, do not cater to the common belief that a person has to earn respect. That is not true. You should give every person respect right from the start. What a person has to earn is your continued respect!"
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by kzt   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 3:44 am

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Umm, why would they want to do that? They hardly need a horde of anti-technology religious nuts who have demonstrated a talent for both treachery and failure. They certainly are not going to give them their most important secrets. If the MA wanted to blow up Grayson they would have done it already, they don't need a bunch of neo-barbs to do it for them.
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by cthia   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 4:18 am

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kzt wrote:Umm, why would they want to do that? They hardly need a horde of anti-technology religious nuts who have demonstrated a talent for both treachery and failure. They certainly are not going to give them their most important secrets. If the MA wanted to blow up Grayson they would have done it already, they don't need a bunch of neo-barbs to do it for them.

Why would they do that other than to irk the GA and eliminate a powerful Alliance member you mean?

I don't know, some Machiavellian plan that escapes me. I find it difficult to think like a mass of Hitlers, Hades bent on universal domination. Perhaps it's to gain the trust of the Masadans. Perhaps it would be a chance to infect many Masadans with kamikaze nanotech. The MA will have to recruit from somewhere, won't they? They need warm bodies just as everyone else.

And remember, Haven didn't intend on giving the Masadans their technology. It was acquired in an unfriendly mutinous takeover.

Besides, it's just a thought and Masada is still an en passant.

Son, your mother says I have to hang you. Personally I don't think this is a capital offense. But if I don't hang you, she's gonna hang me and frankly, I'm not the one in trouble. —cthia's father. Incident in ? Axiom of Common Sense
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by Weird Harold   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 9:24 am

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kzt wrote: Umm, why would they want to do that? ...

cthia wrote:Why would they do that other than to irk the GA and eliminate a powerful Alliance member you mean? ...


Because Masada would be easy to talk into one or more EE violations and general outrage would ensure that Masada was destroyed after their rampage.

It's the same logic that ensures their nanotech programmed assassins are suicidal.
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Answers! I got lots of answers!

(Now if I could just find the right questions.)
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by SWM   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 10:35 am

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cthia wrote:
kzt wrote:Umm, why would they want to do that? They hardly need a horde of anti-technology religious nuts who have demonstrated a talent for both treachery and failure. They certainly are not going to give them their most important secrets. If the MA wanted to blow up Grayson they would have done it already, they don't need a bunch of neo-barbs to do it for them.

Why would they do that other than to irk the GA and eliminate a powerful Alliance member you mean?

In order for Masada to take advantage of these spider ships and technology, the Alignment would first have to get rid of the Manticoran naval and marine forces stationed there.
I don't know, some Machiavellian plan that escapes me. I find it difficult to think like a mass of Hitlers, Hades bent on universal domination. Perhaps it's to gain the trust of the Masadans. Perhaps it would be a chance to infect many Masadans with kamikaze nanotech. The MA will have to recruit from somewhere, won't they? They need warm bodies just as everyone else.

Possibly. But the Alignment has been extremely careful about who they give their secrets to. They don't recruit randomly, and they away secrets like spider ships. Cataphracts, yes, but those had been intended to be spread around anyway, so that the League could counter Manticore. But spider ships are a direct link to Oyster Bay, which they don't want anyone to see.
And remember, Haven didn't intend on giving the Masadans their technology. It was acquired in an unfriendly mutinous takeover.

Besides, it's just a thought and Masada is still an en passant.

Actually, Haven was selling the technology to Masada. They had already sold the ships themselves. This whole thing was an attempt to get an ally on Manticore's doorstep and prevent Manticore from getting an ally of their own. These were two-bit worlds; no one knew they would become so important. They sold the ships to cement their secret alliance. If the Masadans had enough people trained well enough to run the new ships, Haven would not have sent the "technical advisors".
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by cthia   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 11:34 am

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SWM wrote:In order for Masada to take advantage of these spider ships and technology, the Alignment would first have to get rid of the Manticoran naval and marine forces stationed there.

I am probably in error, but I was under the impression that the MA only wanted to keep their technology secret until they were far enough along that it wouldn't make any difference who knew, in the same spirit of Haven with its Bolthole. Am I wrong there? Evenso, the MA would still be protective of the technology, but I get the impression that a crew of Masadans 'conditioned' wouldn't pose much of a threat to security. If the MA is to have any chance at all of not getting Salamandered they have to pull out all the stops. We've talked of an SLN all-in response. There has been a Haven all-in response. I think it high-time the MA show their hole card, and go all-in. That would include Cataphracts, Spider Ships, newly developed hardware, and fully unleashing nanotech warfare. The Masadans can be used as a diversion, grist for the mill. If the MA could use its technology to land forces on Grayson setting off another civil war of sorts with prodigal Graysons...

I am sure my thinking is flawed. My problem is the inability to bracket the fact that an untapped resource of warm Masadan bodies are just spinning on its axis in the Endicott system.
SWM wrote:
Actually, Haven was selling the technology to Masada. They had already sold the ships themselves. This whole thing was an attempt to get an ally on Manticore's doorstep and prevent Manticore from getting an ally of their own. These were two-bit worlds; no one knew they would become so important. They sold the ships to cement their secret alliance. If the Masadans had enough people trained well enough to run the new ships, Haven would not have sent the "technical advisors".

Thanks for reminding me of that. I had forgotten that 'not so minor' detail.

Son, your mother says I have to hang you. Personally I don't think this is a capital offense. But if I don't hang you, she's gonna hang me and frankly, I'm not the one in trouble. —cthia's father. Incident in ? Axiom of Common Sense
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by cthia   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 2:29 pm

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The Australian killer Cassowary bird. Is this a chicken treecat, a bird that knows chicken coup_de_vitesse?

Look at the talons on that thing. And its kick can kill a horse. One kick! Six feet tall 150 lbs!! Who's the turkey now?

Perhaps treecats should be taught Coup De Vitesse or Neue-Stil Handgemengen. Not that they need it, but how much more deadly would a kung fu treecat be?
http://youtu.be/YA58sS3x2Oo

Son, your mother says I have to hang you. Personally I don't think this is a capital offense. But if I don't hang you, she's gonna hang me and frankly, I'm not the one in trouble. —cthia's father. Incident in ? Axiom of Common Sense
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Re: Honorverse ramblings and musings
Post by TheMonster   » Sun Jun 01, 2014 4:51 pm

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cthia wrote:I am sure my thinking is flawed. My problem is the inability to bracket the fact that an untapped resource of warm Masadan bodies are just spinning on its axis in the Endicott system.
The Endicott system is a protectorate of the SEM, so there's an RMN and RMA presence. We don't have a lot of textev about it, but it's reasonable to assume that it has decent sensor array coverage to protect against the Peeps mounting such an operation. Granted, this was before Theisman shot Saint-Just and ended any possibility that a Havenite would work with those crazy bastards again, but it's unlikely that those arrays would have been redeployed elsewhere due to a changing threat assessment. (It's more likely that some sensor platforms that needed repair were instead cannibalized for parts to keep others going, and the remaining functional systems rearranged to maintain good coverage with their reduced numbers, but that wouldn't represent a massive draw-down.)

So the question is whether the MAlign really thinks they could get graser torps and/or stealthed missile pods into position and take out the RMN ships before demanding the surrender of the RMA forces holding Masada. Then could they work with the Faithful?

I'd wonder whether the MAlign had sleeper agents there, like the RA leaders, but Masada is not exactly the sort of place you'd think you could just slip a foreigner into.
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