SDN Worlds 4 Commentary Thread II

[MKSheppard]

Yes. Space beasts!

Previously on Battlestar Calvert Cliffs

"Our port hangar is full of alien space beast jizz after it tried to mate with us, sir."

"What do we do?"

"Eh, send the Feeleeepino Stewards to lick it up."

[PeZook]

You've actually managed to disgust me.

And I sometimes amuse myself with pictures of nasty and strange medical conditions.

You're a bastard.

[Shroom Man 777]

Oh man. So that is what the Feelipeeni stewards use to dress and sauce the food they serve at the mess hall!

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

You've actually managed to disgust me.

And I sometimes amuse myself with pictures of nasty and strange medical conditions.

You're a bastard.

*writes it down into a list of things that disgust PeZook*

[Simon_Jester]

Rapidly approaching the end of my current Glowworm arc; should be able to get the last bit done today.

[Shroom Man 777]

Then we can have a TRAIN JOB with BRAGYLYD NYZKA. And Krow. He likes to stand and go boo! Reputation is solid!

[Magister Militum]

Contrary to popular belief, I am not dead. The start of the school year at my university has kept me busy. I should have something out by this week, though.

[Simon_Jester]

Then we can have a TRAIN JOB with BRAGYLYD NYZKA. And Krow. He likes to stand and go boo! Reputation is solid!

Maybe some time, but I'm a bit exhausted with Glowworm material, and would like to try to get a few other things under my belt before I tackle any more of that.

[Shroom Man 777]

To be fair, that last Glowworm was pretty nice. Yeah let's go have some inter-nation international dickery.

[Force Lord]

The Centrality is fucked. The Black Berets fired off the first shots, and there's nothing Forg and his superiors can do.

EDIT: Well Steve, here's your pretext for war.

[Simon_Jester]

Well, Shroom, you asked for dickery and you got it.

Force Lord, I have serious issues with the proposition that "there's nothing Forg and his superiors can do." For one, because there's really nothing stopping Challenger's marines from shooting their way in and finding out that a special operations group went rogue, especially if Forg orders his crew to stand down.

Unless you go far, far out of your way to make the Centralists really idiotic insane idiots, much farther than you have to date, this situation is perfectly salvageable. All the Centralists not involved in the rogue Black Beret actions have to do is, you know, not decide that the commandos' actions compel them to make some kind of suicidal last stand.

Also:

Good. We always prefer rational neighbors, but when dealing with someone bound and determined to behave as if they are our enemy, suicidal overconfidence is such a charming form of psychosis. It makes for short, victorious wars, you see.

Ooooo Scary.

Good. If your ambitions are strongly expansionist, it would hardly serve my purposes for you to be alarmed enough to grow a sense of caution at this stage.

[Force Lord]

I was thinking more about diplomatic consequences, Simon. And the EMP had Forg stuck in his room, while all the comm units he has are long-range models, incapable of short-range contact. His comlinks are busted, so he's incommunicado. Sorge may tell the crew to stand down, but he doesn't know who fired first, since he, unlike Forg, can't tell the differences in sound between Black Beret assault rifles and Marine ones. Same for the rest of the crew, so if they resist, it'll be because of an misunderstanding.

EDIT: And I doubt they'll resist to the bitter end: Centralist ship crews are not as fanatical as the Black Berets. So they'll be more likely to surrender. They might even ask their captors not to deport them back home, since it means instant execution for them.

EDIT 2: Actually, now that I think about it, Vilyn Corbas could tell Sorge that the BB shot first. However, she's nearly as fanatical as them, so she's not reliable.

[Force Lord]

Sorry for the double post, but I have to shut down for today. I may be able to respond tomorrow.

[Simon_Jester]

While I see that FL can't respond, it does seem to me that it's perfectly reasonable for a large fraction of the crew to surrender, either on their own or on orders from their officers via surviving communication systems. The Black Berets are hopelessly outnumbered by Challenger's Marine detachment, and will probably go down fairly quickly, unless their plan is some kind of bizarre defense in depth.

But really, all this does from an operational point of view is

Now, the Centrality may be "screwed" in the sense that it's revealed that their internal security forces are frothing lunatics, but a skirmish on this scale isn't an automatic act of war. From the point of view of someone in Parliament who knows all the available facts, the reaction is just as liable to be "OK, that was... special."

[PeZook]

Feh. Worse things have happened in history and didn't lead to war, and the Anglians are pretty laid back, lily-livered liberals they are

[Simon_Jester]

To be fair, that last Glowworm was pretty nice...

But wait! There's more!

Aaand that's the last of it; I am now finished with the Glowworm arc, at just over 29000 words!

[Shroom Man 777]

In communist Umeria Book reads YOU!

[Shroom Man 777]

Attaboy Fin!

Oh man. Oh man.

[Steve]

Sorry I was incommunicado yesterday, the internet went kerplunk. Turned out to be a wire too old to maintain a good signal and faulty connections.

A tech visit and an hour of work later, everything's up and running.

[Shroom Man 777]

Poor, poor SchromKorp. JINGO Act!

[Siege]

Ah, 'Zook, that's excellent. AIs hiding out on a moon. I already know what the name for the next chapter'll be .

[Force Lord]

Awaiting Steve's response.

[Steve]

Awaiting Steve's response.

Sorry, gimme a bit.

How many of these Black Berets are there on the ship anyway?

[Force Lord]

How many of these Black Berets are there on the ship anyway?

Hmm, between 50 and 100. Tell me if it's too high.

[Steve]

How many of these Black Berets are there on the ship anyway?

Hmm, between 50 and 100. Tell me if it's too high.

Well, on a stealth ship of Light hull size, 50-100 would be 25-50% of a logical crew (DDs typically equal about 200 crew. Though i suppose different paradigms of ship design might change this).

It's not too much, since even at 100 they're outnumbered by about 20 to 1 or more by the Marines still on Challenger. But I honestly think 50 should be the max. Since the ship has to be able to operate with them on top of the normal crew and necessary passengers.

Anyway, got a bit up, your turn.