Uncompromising Honor, snippet #1

kzt wrote:

JohnRoth wrote:
The big difference here is that, as you point out, the wormhole does not go to Calvin because there's no way the Legislaturalists would have not immediately put a terminus just outside the Core into use. The wormhole either goes directly to Bolthole or another system near it.

It's kind of hard to move several hundred LY is a STL ship that is already worn out.

Was it the legisturists or the revolutionary government that found them?

Jonathan_S wrote:

JohnRoth wrote:
Um, no. Calvin has moved. The obvious continuation is that they're going to reconstruct the ship somehow and continue on since the Calvin system is uninhabitable. Sanctuary/Refuge/Bolthole is somewhere farther on, possibly where the first set of snippets puts it.

The big difference here is that, as you point out, the wormhole does not go to Calvin because there's no way the Legislaturalists would have not immediately put a terminus just outside the Core into use. The wormhole either goes directly to Bolthole or another system near it.

They made it "just over 201 LY" in "four hundred and two years" at "fifty percent of light-speed" to get from Sol to KCR-126-04 (aka Calvin). [Not the 105 LY you originally said]

Their deceleration is such that they apparently slow down from 50% c in something over 1.5 years. That implies an average deceleration of about 0.35g - though I assume the rocket equation applies so it took them longer to build up to cruise than it takes them to stop. (Even with insane efficiency figure at least twice as long)

Though there's still a minor discrepancy in the numbers.
201 LY in 402 years at 50% c doesn't allow time for boost and counter boost after turnover; that should have added 4-5 years to that 402.
Still it's minor enough mismatch, maybe they were a hair faster than 0.5 c. (Or maybe RFC will tweak the time to just approximately 400 years)



Figuring out how much further they could make it requires some assumptions. Because I don't have data to calculate otherwise I'll assume that they can refuel back to what they had leaving Sol, that the 'hotel' load for 400 years was a negligible consumption of fuel, and so they wouldn't be able to boost to much, if any, higher cruise velocity (and still have the fuel to stop). Further I'll assume that the average speed is still exactly 50% c (despite the shorter flight).

If all that is true then with the remaining 75 years of operational life the most they can extend their range from Sol is another 43.1 LY (continue straight line outwards) for a max possibly of 244.1 LY away [75 years shiptime = 86.25 Earth time] (But we're still far short of the 395 LY of the problematic 1st draft)

If the updated novella keeps the terminus in the KCR-126-04 system then even 201 LY from Sol is too close to expect that Haven wouldn't have grabbed the economic benefits. (Manticore is IIRC out around 500 LY from Sol)

JohnRoth wrote:

Jonathan_S wrote:They made it "just over 201 LY" in "four hundred and two years" at "fifty percent of light-speed" to get from Sol to KCR-126-04 (aka Calvin). [Not the 105 LY you originally said]

Not quite. They left in 135 PD, the snippet is 402 PD, giving 267 years for the voyage. On the other hand, Snippet 2 does say 201 ly, which isn't possible at 50% light speed for 267 years. There's another continuity glitch here somewhere.

cthia wrote:

munroburton wrote:I wonder why Honor/Shannon thinks it might be necessary to upgrade defences against wormhole-based assaults. Ten thousand Chekhov's cannons, eh?

Because she thinks the answer to this would be a resounding yes, in their mind.

cthia wrote:If the MA found out where Bolthole is and had plans to attack it, wouldn't it be smarter to leak the info to the League and let the League soften up their defenses before they foray into the mix of unweakened defenses, much as what the SLN thought they were doing to Manticore, post Oyster Bay?

drothgery wrote:

cthia wrote:If the MA found out where Bolthole is and had plans to attack it, wouldn't it be smarter to leak the info to the League and let the League soften up their defenses before they foray into the mix of unweakened defenses, much as what the SLN thought they were doing to Manticore, post Oyster Bay?

Not if the discovery was made any time "soon"; an attack by the entire SLN on Bolthole would still be easily defeated, and now the Grand Alliance would know the Alignment knows where Bolthole is (because they certainly don't believe the SLN has any secrets from the Alignment).

drothgery wrote:Not if the discovery was made any time "soon"; an attack by the entire SLN on Bolthole would still be easily defeated, and now the Grand Alliance would know the Alignment knows where Bolthole is (because they certainly don't believe the SLN has any secrets from the Alignment).

Weird Harold wrote:

drothgery wrote:Not if the discovery was made any time "soon"; an attack by the entire SLN on Bolthole would still be easily defeated, and now the Grand Alliance would know the Alignment knows where Bolthole is (because they certainly don't believe the SLN has any secrets from the Alignment).

The MAlign's spider drive ships are slow and have to drop out of hyper at a good distance to avoid detection. IIRC, the Yawata Strike took something like six months to develop, AFTER the ships were deployed in the Manticore system.

It would make far more sense to tip the SLN to Bolthole's location and let the SLN do whatever damage it can. If the SLN should happen to take over Bolthole, it could have the technology game-changer it needs.

Ain't going to happen, but the SLN needs some glimmer of hope.

Loren Pechtel wrote:

drothgery wrote:Not if the discovery was made any time "soon"; an attack by the entire SLN on Bolthole would still be easily defeated, and now the Grand Alliance would know the Alignment knows where Bolthole is (because they certainly don't believe the SLN has any secrets from the Alignment).

Depends on how dirty they'll play it. The planets could still be bombarded.

cthia wrote:
==========================================
SPECIAL COMMUNIQUE FROM THE ADMIRALTY
==========================================

Alright. This is the time to check the gut and fess up. I became very aware of all of you die hard captured Solly junk fans and I studied and tracked your behavior across many threads and I know, I KNOW, that many of you are fanatic in your love for all things captured. Which leads me to the meaning of this emergency communique. I know that there are many of you still holding on and holding out. You simply can't let go of those captured Solly ships, those floating, hulking, mindless, spiritless pieces of junk. Therefore, I hardly believe that all of you have given up every single ghost. SO! I'll give you exactly 24 hours! That should afford you plenty moments of silence to reflect and forget. Then, remove the — stolen is such a strong word — misappropriated captured Solly ships from under your beds, closets, basements and from under your very special hand-sewn fluffy pink pillows and send them to the breakers, now! BECAUSE GODDAMMIT!...

IF ANOTHER SOB COMES IN HERE WITH SOME LAME ASS IDEA ABOUT HOW TO USE A SOLLY SD I'M GONNA BEND HIM OVER PULL DOWN HIS LITTLE PINK PANTIES TAKE ME ONE OF THOSE WORTHLESS PIECES OF JUNK AND GREASE HER UP REAL GOOD WITH SOME WD-40 STAND HER UP ON END AND SHOVE IT UP HIS CANDY ASS!"

Admiralty out!