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Re: ?
Post by penny   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 11:49 am

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tlb wrote:
penny wrote:The GA cannot simply hyper in-system guns blaring without proof. And the MA has been very paranoid about losing pieces of their puzzle. And what can the GA legally do? Can a navy simply hyper in someone else's system and demand anything? Even if that anything is simply cooperation? Does even galactic law say that a navy must be given admittance to your system even in a time of peace? Why should a system have to allow another navy to trespass; to possibly see classified emplacements, mines, etc. The Andermani didn't seem to be under any obligation of allowing Honor access to space it controlled. So, not only must Darius be found, but certain undeniable proof of many things must also be uncovered. So, the legality of attacking Darius alone because of the logistics involved in gathering certain proof might give Darius the warning of an impending attack.

Consider what happened with Galton. No mission was sent to see if Galton was peaceful; it was the logical source of munitions used in the war against the Grand Alliance and so a fleet was sent to end the threat. Exactly as the SLN thought they were doing when the fleet was sent to demand Manticore's surrender.

So doesn't it all depend on the circumstances of how Darius is found? If it were found because bad things are happening and evidence points to a certain section of the galaxy, then Darius has the choice of cooperating or being treated as part of the problem. However that is extremely unlikely without other things happening first.

It is difficult (at least for me) to think of any way Darius could be found that does not include finding evidence of collusion by Mannerheim. If the wormhole to Darius were blockaded, then Darius could only exert influence by making the journey through hyperspace. This would open the possibility of triangulating Darius, the same way that Galton was found and Darius will be treated in the same way.


Well … I thought the attack on Galton was arrogant in the way it was carried out and totally unlike… Manticore, at least. I don't think the evidence they had was incontrovertible. And you hit the nail on the head that the entire attack reeked of the stink excreted by the SL when their ‘logic’ accused Manticore of certain crimes that led to the MBS being attacked. And if you recall, the GA didn't really have incontrovertible proof.

The GA still does not have that proof. The GA needs to review data dumps, weapons and etc. to get that proof. I am afraid that Galton (by the same logic that will apply to Darius when it is attacked) has plausible deniability. After all, who better than Manticore knows without a shadow of a doubt about a secret entity who has been framing other navies! All of the tech used at Oyster Bay (any information regarding tech suggested by Simoes is still circumstantial) could have been carried out utilizing the current technology of the time since none of the wreckage has been recovered. How can the the RMN be complicit with an alliance that may have done to another system what the SL did to them? Without having that incontrovertible proof?

If the GA does not find that proof, will the GA be on the hook for reparations to Galton? Reparations that could be massive.


BTW, is it legal to launch probes in another system in general? Probes allow someone to snoop; to reveal classified Intel. It just doesn't seem to be lawful to launch probes in someone else's system. It should be an act of war. Of course, if war is what is sought anyway, then it is a moot point.

Question, even if a wormhole is being guarded that leads to Darius, can another navy legally force entry without it being an act of war? Surely admittance does not have to be given, no? And per our current discussion about inaccessibility – because there may exist a certain wave and a certain wave only that leads to a specific region of space – it isn't a given that the region of space behind the wormhole can be triangulated and the wormhole bypassed. So a journey through hyperspace isn't a given.
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Re: ?
Post by tlb   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:15 pm

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penny wrote:Well … I thought the attack on Galton was arrogant in the way it was carried out and totally unlike… Manticore, at least. I don't think the evidence they had was incontrovertible. And you hit the nail on the head that the entire attack reeked of the stink excreted by the SL when their ‘logic’ accused Manticore of certain crimes that led to the MBS being attacked. And if you recall, the GA didn't really have incontrovertible proof.

The GA still does not have that proof. The GA needs to review data dumps, weapons and etc. to get that proof. I am afraid that Galton (by the same logic that will apply to Darius when it is attacked) has plausible deniability. After all, who better than Manticore knows without a shadow of a doubt about a secret entity who has been framing other navies! All of the tech used at Oyster Bay (any information regarding tech suggested by Simoes is still circumstantial) could have been carried out utilizing the current technology of the time since none of the wreckage has been recovered. How can the the RMN be complicit with an alliance that may have done to another system what the SL did to them? Without having that incontrovertible proof?

If the GA does not find that proof, will the GA be on the hook for reparations to Galton? Reparations that could be massive.


BTW, is it legal to launch probes in another system in general? Probes allow someone to snoop; to reveal classified Intel. It just doesn't seem to be lawful to launch probes in someone else's system. It should be an act of war. Of course, if war is what is sought anyway, then it is a moot point.

Question, even if a wormhole is being guarded that leads to Darius, can another navy legally force entry without it being an act of war? Surely admittance does not have to be given, no? And per our current discussion about inaccessibility – because there may exist a certain wave and a certain wave only that leads to a specific region of space – it isn't a given that the region of space behind the wormhole can be triangulated and the wormhole bypassed. So a journey through hyperspace isn't a given.

I agree that the GA does not currently have proof about Darius (even to whether something like it exists), we may be several books away from that stage. But I do not agree that the GA was being arrogant in its treatment of Galton; they stopped outside the hyper-limit and talked with the system commander, who agreed that they had found the culprit and then launched missiles before the fleet did (both sides had already launched probes). So the GA will be spending time and money there, just never as reparations.

It might be considered impolite to launch recon drones, and if found the offended system might choose to make it a cause for war or just ignore it; depending on the circumstances.

No one with any brains is going force entry into a guarded wormhole, the author has made it clear that is suicidal.

I do not accept your speculation about waves, we will just wait and see how the author approaches the problem.
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Re: ?
Post by Theemile   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:18 pm

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ThinksMarkedly wrote:
Theemile wrote:Why would Mannerheim even have to be involved? - they are picketing Felix. If Darius was found via hyper, there is no reason the scout would even know they have a wormhole - wormholes are usually 7+ light hours away from the primary, so a scout probably would not even see active defenses at a wormhole without a VERY extensive mapping of the system.


That depends on where Maxwell is located in the galaxy. It would be too much of a coincidence if a neighbour found Darius via hyper and then Mannerheim found a wormhole there. The earlier books seemed to imply that the RF members were spread over a chunk of the Known Galaxy, but TEiF retconned that to their all being in the same region (except for Visigoth, whose membership will need to be explained).

For a medium-wealthy Verge system to start a colony elsewhere via hyper, it would have to be reasonably nearby. So if Maxwell has a believable paper trail leading to founding Darius, then Maxwell is within 100 light-years of Darius, which means there are other systems nearby too. Assuming that Darius has such neighbours anyway, would the MAlign infiltrate them and bring them into the RF? I think the answers are "yes" to infiltration, but no to bringing them into the RF.

My point being that they could just claim to be someone else's colony - not necessarily Mesa's. Other, "hidden" Colonies are out there all over the place - mining planets, lost colonies, new colonies, trading posts, pirate bases, lone cranks trying to get away from "the system", etc, etc - and they are not on the normal maps. Just because you run into something unexpected, doesn't mean it's a Mesan base.


That I can agree with. I don't think it'll be that of an RF member, though; the only likely would be Mannerheim and I doubt those would have had the means to start the colony without outside help.

Maybe we'll get the Free Duchy of Barca will get involved again.

As for the spider drive ships - remember, the RMN has never SEEN a spider drive ship - if it's not moving, they wouldn't necessarily know what that shape construction is intended for.


That's still my point: they know what their sensors were capable of seeing, so the fact that they couldn't see them but could see / could have seen what Galton had, it can't be what Galton had. Yes, the Hastas were detected by their bowshocks from several million km away, but would they have been detected closer if they had been moving slower? Within a million km, which is about from where the g-torp fired, would the RMN sensors from 1922 have picked the Hastas up?


Visigoth was at the other end of Mesa's warp bridge, so entangling them into any long term plans makes sense... and would be "easy" to do.

And I was speaking specifically about the Spider Ship construction - the chances of a GA scout spotting an active spider ship being remote (and a GLARING RED FLAG if indeed seen). However, spotting construction would be easy - but identifying what those big-a$$ things are would be something else, because no one has actually seen what a spider ship looks like.
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RFC said "refitting a Beowulfan SD to Manticoran standards would be just as difficult as refitting a standard SLN SD to those standards. In other words, it would be cheaper and faster to build new ships."
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Re: ?
Post by Theemile   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:27 pm

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penny wrote:<snip>

Question, even if a wormhole is being guarded that leads to Darius, can another navy legally force entry without it being an act of war? Surely admittance does not have to be given, no? And per our current discussion about inaccessibility – because there may exist a certain wave and a certain wave only that leads to a specific region of space – it isn't a given that the region of space behind the wormhole can be triangulated and the wormhole bypassed. So a journey through hyperspace isn't a given.


The longest pull in this scenario is using the Wormhole - a wormhole that you don't have specs on needs to be studied and surveyed before use - that means you need to hold the space for months while the survey is completed. And only then can you transit and see what is on the other side.

Look at the Harvest Joy's activities at Congo - The Wormhole was a Known fact, but Manpower burned all their local documentation about the wormhole and had never publicized the transit info. So the Harvest Joy had to spend months refinding that data.

That would need to be done at Felix, all the while under the threat of the Mannerheim Navy jumping out of hyper, taking a couple of pot shots, then disappearing into the black of space.

And that can only be done after :
1) you realize that there is a wormhole at Felix - a system that has no known population, or whifs of a wormhole
and
2) You fight off the Mannerheim contigent.
******
RFC said "refitting a Beowulfan SD to Manticoran standards would be just as difficult as refitting a standard SLN SD to those standards. In other words, it would be cheaper and faster to build new ships."
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Re: ?
Post by penny   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:40 pm

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Theemile wrote:
penny wrote:<snip>

Question, even if a wormhole is being guarded that leads to Darius, can another navy legally force entry without it being an act of war? Surely admittance does not have to be given, no? And per our current discussion about inaccessibility – because there may exist a certain wave and a certain wave only that leads to a specific region of space – it isn't a given that the region of space behind the wormhole can be triangulated and the wormhole bypassed. So a journey through hyperspace isn't a given.


The longest pull in this scenario is using the Wormhole - a wormhole that you don't have specs on needs to be studied and surveyed before use - that means you need to hold the space for months while the survey is completed. And only then can you transit and see what is on the other side.

Look at the Harvest Joy's activities at Congo - The Wormhole was a Known fact, but Manpower burned all their local documentation about the wormhole and had never publicized the transit info. So the Harvest Joy had to spend months refinding that data.

That would need to be done at Felix, all the while under the threat of the Mannerheim Navy jumping out of hyper, taking a couple of pot shots, then disappearing into the black of space.

And that can only be done after :
1) you realize that there is a wormhole at Felix - a system that has no known population, or whifs of a wormhole
and
2) You fight off the Mannerheim contigent.

But if another entity is claiming the wormhole shouldn't it be an act of war to attempt to take it over? Regardless of whether or not said navy intends to transit it. I know that textev states that a navy only has rights to a wormhole if said navy can hold onto it. However, should the GA exercise that option, it would speak volumes about their integrity and expansionist tendencies.
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Re: ?
Post by penny   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:50 pm

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tlb wrote:
penny wrote:Well … I thought the attack on Galton was arrogant in the way it was carried out and totally unlike… Manticore, at least. I don't think the evidence they had was incontrovertible. And you hit the nail on the head that the entire attack reeked of the stink excreted by the SL when their ‘logic’ accused Manticore of certain crimes that led to the MBS being attacked. And if you recall, the GA didn't really have incontrovertible proof.

The GA still does not have that proof. The GA needs to review data dumps, weapons and etc. to get that proof. I am afraid that Galton (by the same logic that will apply to Darius when it is attacked) has plausible deniability. After all, who better than Manticore knows without a shadow of a doubt about a secret entity who has been framing other navies! All of the tech used at Oyster Bay (any information regarding tech suggested by Simoes is still circumstantial) could have been carried out utilizing the current technology of the time since none of the wreckage has been recovered. How can the the RMN be complicit with an alliance that may have done to another system what the SL did to them? Without having that incontrovertible proof?

If the GA does not find that proof, will the GA be on the hook for reparations to Galton? Reparations that could be massive.


BTW, is it legal to launch probes in another system in general? Probes allow someone to snoop; to reveal classified Intel. It just doesn't seem to be lawful to launch probes in someone else's system. It should be an act of war. Of course, if war is what is sought anyway, then it is a moot point.

Question, even if a wormhole is being guarded that leads to Darius, can another navy legally force entry without it being an act of war? Surely admittance does not have to be given, no? And per our current discussion about inaccessibility – because there may exist a certain wave and a certain wave only that leads to a specific region of space – it isn't a given that the region of space behind the wormhole can be triangulated and the wormhole bypassed. So a journey through hyperspace isn't a given.

I agree that the GA does not currently have proof about Darius (even to whether something like it exists), we may be several books away from that stage. But I do not agree that the GA was being arrogant in its treatment of Galton; they stopped outside the hyper-limit and talked with the system commander, who agreed that they had found the culprit and then launched missiles before the fleet did (both sides had already launched probes). So the GA will be spending time and money there, just never as reparations.

It might be considered impolite to launch recon drones, and if found the offended system might choose to make it a cause for war or just ignore it; depending on the circumstances.

No one with any brains is going force entry into a guarded wormhole, the author has made it clear that is suicidal.

I do not accept your speculation about waves, we will just wait and see how the author approaches the problem.

If you do not have proof that a particular navy is guilty, then showing up in a system with an entire triple alliance of warships loaded, cocked and locked with an attitude plus foaming at the mouth isn't exactly the way things should go. That itself is an act of war!

Consider the SL doing the same thing. Showing up in the MBS without stating any prior gripes or diplomatic talks or correspondence at all.

I rejected starting a thread about this way back when. It fits the bill of my many controversial threads. I won't pursue this thought because I do not have the time , or motivation, to be buried knee deep in excrement.
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Re: ?
Post by ThinksMarkedly   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:52 pm

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penny wrote:Well … I thought the attack on Galton was arrogant in the way it was carried out and totally unlike… Manticore, at least. I don't think the evidence they had was incontrovertible. And you hit the nail on the head that the entire attack reeked of the stink excreted by the SL when their ‘logic’ accused Manticore of certain crimes that led to the MBS being attacked. And if you recall, the GA didn't really have incontrovertible proof.


And yet Honor refused to fire as soon as she dropped out of hyper. She initiated communications and let the Galtonians talk. At which point Adm. Adebayo confessed being part of the Mesan Alignment and fired on the Grand Fleet.

Even if that isn't evidence of their being the perpetrators of the Yawata and Bewoulf Strikes (it actually isn't!) and the nanites, they fired on the GF, so the GF had the right to fire back. Unlike both Crandall and Filareta, the GF didn't cross the hyperlimit. Remember that during Operation Raging Justice, Honor contacted Filareta to tell him that Manticore was not going to surrender, did not accept the argument that Mike Henke was in the wrong in firing on Byng and Crandall, and especially that Manticore was innocent of the destruction of the Giselle Station in orbit of New Tuscany. The combined RMN and RHN forces did not fire on Filareta until he'd crossed the hyperlimit and committed himself to an attack, despite Manticore's protestations.

And despite his OpSec having been clearly blown because he had been contacted by name and as "Eleventh Fleet Actual," and knowing quite clearly that someone was supplying him with missiles that wasn't the usual source.

So, no, I disagree that it is the SLN style. "Reek of," maybe. I'm sure some newsies will make that comparison to the old SLN way of doing things. But there were significant differences.

The GA still does not have that proof. The GA needs to review data dumps, weapons and etc. to get that proof. I am afraid that Galton (by the same logic that will apply to Darius when it is attacked) has plausible deniability. After all, who better than Manticore knows without a shadow of a doubt about a secret entity who has been framing other navies! All of the tech used at Oyster Bay (any information regarding tech suggested by Simoes is still circumstantial) could have been carried out utilizing the current technology of the time since none of the wreckage has been recovered. How can the the RMN be complicit with an alliance that may have done to another system what the SL did to them? Without having that incontrovertible proof?


Galton having plausible deniability goes counter to it being the patsy for Darius. If Galton was going to play that card, Adebayo wouldn't have said:
To End in Fire, pg 798 (~93%) wrote:"I am Generalfeldmarshall Karoline Adebayo, the governor of this star system. In, as I assume your presence here indicates you already know, the name of the Mesan Alignment."


No, the plan all along (or for the past 20 or so T-years) was for Galton to take the blame should it be necessary.

If the GA does not find that proof, will the GA be on the hook for reparations to Galton? Reparations that could be massive.


No, there are and will be more incontrovertible proof that Galton was involved. I think they'll also find that Galton was not wholly responsible for two strikes, one of which was a clear and intentional violation of the Eridani Edict, but that will not absolve Galton of complicity. They're clearly the source of the Cataphracts, which were given to both the SLN and the PNiE. They have received a lot of people out of Mesa through Operation Houdini, who think they are members of the Alignment and are of a deep-enough level of the Onion. And they were founded by the Mesan Alignment, through slaving efforts of Manpower and Jessyk. They will have supplied streak-drive freighters and couriers, including the one that Firebrand used to move around in the then-Talbott Cluster.

They may even have supplied the freighter that took the Silver Bullets to the Sigma Draconis system for Operation Fabius. Though if true, then the GA had better not capture the crews! Those would know they took payloads from somewhere else, even if they don't know what the payloads are.

BTW, is it legal to launch probes in another system in general? Probes allow someone to snoop; to reveal classified Intel. It just doesn't seem to be lawful to launch probes in someone else's system. It should be an act of war. Of course, if war is what is sought anyway, then it is a moot point.


Spying is not illegal. And it's also legal to execute captured spies.

You're right that doing so may be an act of war, though I doubt it rises that high. If the probes reveal that you're wrong, it's easy to apologise and go away, leaving the problem for the diplomats. But I think people would agree that it's better to know that you're right than to risk being wrong and then attacking the wrong system. Especially those who may be on the receiving end of that attack.

Question, even if a wormhole is being guarded that leads to Darius, can another navy legally force entry without it being an act of war? Surely admittance does not have to be given, no? And per our current discussion about inaccessibility – because there may exist a certain wave and a certain wave only that leads to a specific region of space – it isn't a given that the region of space behind the wormhole can be triangulated and the wormhole bypassed. So a journey through hyperspace isn't a given.


No, I don't think you can force entry through a wormhole. In particular, Manticore doesn't agree on the right to free transit of wormholes, an idea that the SL had come up with. Even if that were the case, it wouldn't apply to warships: we already know warships are only allowed inside a system's hyperlimit with the express permission of the local government.

I don't think you can be right about Darius being inaccessible through hyperspace. First, because of the technical discussions above. Second, because it would be too much of a coincidence that the MAlign did find a system accessible through a wormhole and via streak drive, but nothing else. David doesn't do this type of coincidences. It could apply to a Plan C system, but as I said before, the more likely use of the streak drive would be to place if very far away.

And third, because the MAlign didn't have the streak drive when it started Darius. If they had surveyed the Darius system and noticed their only way out was via that one wormhole, they wouldn't have cornered themselves like that.
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Re: ?
Post by tlb   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 12:58 pm

tlb
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penny wrote:But if another entity is claiming the wormhole shouldn't it be an act of war to attempt to take it over? Regardless of whether or not said navy intends to transit it. I know that textev states that a navy only has rights to a wormhole if said navy can hold onto it.

The following is based on memory and might be incorrect:

Mannerheim may has current possession, but they do NOT have a legal claim on the wormhole (the ownership of the system is disputed and Mannerheim is not one of the claimants). Note that there are two wormholes involved at Felix and if the GA goes through the other one and finds themselves at Torch, then there are going to be serious questions demanded from Mannerheim.

PS: With regards to recon drone surveillance: if you want you could consider it the same as spying, but note that spying (for us) is a crime and NOT an act of war. A civilian spy in peacetime is jailed (unless exchanged) and a diplomat is just sent home. I think ThinksMarkedly misstated the point about spies, which are normally only shot in wartime (since there is no possibility then of an exchange).
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Re: ?
Post by penny   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 1:28 pm

penny
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Posts: 881
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tlb wrote:
penny wrote:But if another entity is claiming the wormhole shouldn't it be an act of war to attempt to take it over? Regardless of whether or not said navy intends to transit it. I know that textev states that a navy only has rights to a wormhole if said navy can hold onto it.

The following is based on memory and might be incorrect:

Mannerheim may has current possession, but they do NOT have a legal claim on the wormhole (the ownership of the system is disputed and Mannerheim is not one of the claimants). Note that there are two wormholes involved at Felix and if the GA goes through the other one and finds themselves at Torch, then there are going to be serious questions demanded from Mannerheim.

PS: With regards to recon drone surveillance: if you want you could consider it the same as spying, but note that spying (for us) is a crime and NOT an act of war. A civilian spy in peacetime is jailed (unless exchanged) and a diplomat is just sent home. I think ThinksMarkedly misstated the point about spies, which are normally only shot in wartime (since there is no possibility then of an exchange).


I was thinking about China's own use of a balloon that was shot down by the US that was used for spying. It communicated via a US carrier that transmitted data back to Beijing. If nothing else, I thought it bordered on a de facto state of war. Breaching someone's airspace is not lawful. Nobody knows what technology or weaponry is being carried aboard.

I shouldn't have said transiting a wormhole that has been claimed or is in the act of being claimed by someone else, but taking possession of that end.
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Re: ?
Post by penny   » Wed Jun 26, 2024 1:46 pm

penny
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Posts: 881
Joined: Tue Apr 25, 2023 11:55 am

ThinksMarkedly wrote:
penny wrote:Well … I thought the attack on Galton was arrogant in the way it was carried out and totally unlike… Manticore, at least. I don't think the evidence they had was incontrovertible. And you hit the nail on the head that the entire attack reeked of the stink excreted by the SL when their ‘logic’ accused Manticore of certain crimes that led to the MBS being attacked. And if you recall, the GA didn't really have incontrovertible proof.


And yet Honor refused to fire as soon as she dropped out of hyper. She initiated communications and let the Galtonians talk. At which point Adm. Adebayo confessed being part of the Mesan Alignment and fired on the Grand Fleet.

Even if that isn't evidence of their being the perpetrators of the Yawata and Bewoulf Strikes (it actually isn't!) and the nanites, they fired on the GF, so the GF had the right to fire back. Unlike both Crandall and Filareta, the GF didn't cross the hyperlimit. Remember that during Operation Raging Justice, Honor contacted Filareta to tell him that Manticore was not going to surrender, did not accept the argument that Mike Henke was in the wrong in firing on Byng and Crandall, and especially that Manticore was innocent of the destruction of the Giselle Station in orbit of New Tuscany. The combined RMN and RHN forces did not fire on Filareta until he'd crossed the hyperlimit and committed himself to an attack, despite Manticore's protestations.

And despite his OpSec having been clearly blown because he had been contacted by name and as "Eleventh Fleet Actual," and knowing quite clearly that someone was supplying him with missiles that wasn't the usual source.

So, no, I disagree that it is the SLN style. "Reek of," maybe. I'm sure some newsies will make that comparison to the old SLN way of doing things. But there were significant differences.

The GA still does not have that proof. The GA needs to review data dumps, weapons and etc. to get that proof. I am afraid that Galton (by the same logic that will apply to Darius when it is attacked) has plausible deniability. After all, who better than Manticore knows without a shadow of a doubt about a secret entity who has been framing other navies! All of the tech used at Oyster Bay (any information regarding tech suggested by Simoes is still circumstantial) could have been carried out utilizing the current technology of the time since none of the wreckage has been recovered. How can the the RMN be complicit with an alliance that may have done to another system what the SL did to them? Without having that incontrovertible proof?


Galton having plausible deniability goes counter to it being the patsy for Darius. If Galton was going to play that card, Adebayo wouldn't have said:
To End in Fire, pg 798 (~93%) wrote:"I am Generalfeldmarshall Karoline Adebayo, the governor of this star system. In, as I assume your presence here indicates you already know, the name of the Mesan Alignment."


No, the plan all along (or for the past 20 or so T-years) was for Galton to take the blame should it be necessary.

If the GA does not find that proof, will the GA be on the hook for reparations to Galton? Reparations that could be massive.


No, there are and will be more incontrovertible proof that Galton was involved. I think they'll also find that Galton was not wholly responsible for two strikes, one of which was a clear and intentional violation of the Eridani Edict, but that will not absolve Galton of complicity. They're clearly the source of the Cataphracts, which were given to both the SLN and the PNiE. They have received a lot of people out of Mesa through Operation Houdini, who think they are members of the Alignment and are of a deep-enough level of the Onion. And they were founded by the Mesan Alignment, through slaving efforts of Manpower and Jessyk. They will have supplied streak-drive freighters and couriers, including the one that Firebrand used to move around in the then-Talbott Cluster.

They may even have supplied the freighter that took the Silver Bullets to the Sigma Draconis system for Operation Fabius. Though if true, then the GA had better not capture the crews! Those would know they took payloads from somewhere else, even if they don't know what the payloads are.

BTW, is it legal to launch probes in another system in general? Probes allow someone to snoop; to reveal classified Intel. It just doesn't seem to be lawful to launch probes in someone else's system. It should be an act of war. Of course, if war is what is sought anyway, then it is a moot point.


Spying is not illegal. And it's also legal to execute captured spies.

You're right that doing so may be an act of war, though I doubt it rises that high. If the probes reveal that you're wrong, it's easy to apologise and go away, leaving the problem for the diplomats. But I think people would agree that it's better to know that you're right than to risk being wrong and then attacking the wrong system. Especially those who may be on the receiving end of that attack.

Question, even if a wormhole is being guarded that leads to Darius, can another navy legally force entry without it being an act of war? Surely admittance does not have to be given, no? And per our current discussion about inaccessibility – because there may exist a certain wave and a certain wave only that leads to a specific region of space – it isn't a given that the region of space behind the wormhole can be triangulated and the wormhole bypassed. So a journey through hyperspace isn't a given.


No, I don't think you can force entry through a wormhole. In particular, Manticore doesn't agree on the right to free transit of wormholes, an idea that the SL had come up with. Even if that were the case, it wouldn't apply to warships: we already know warships are only allowed inside a system's hyperlimit with the express permission of the local government.

I don't think you can be right about Darius being inaccessible through hyperspace. First, because of the technical discussions above. Second, because it would be too much of a coincidence that the MAlign did find a system accessible through a wormhole and via streak drive, but nothing else. David doesn't do this type of coincidences. It could apply to a Plan C system, but as I said before, the more likely use of the streak drive would be to place if very far away.

And third, because the MAlign didn't have the streak drive when it started Darius. If they had surveyed the Darius system and noticed their only way out was via that one wormhole, they wouldn't have cornered themselves like that.


Maybe someone can steer me straight. I was never clear whether Galton itself was aware that it was going to be the scapegoat and thrown under the bus. I am not sure if Galton proper was actually told the whole truth. And I certainly am not sure whether top brass in charge at Galton were not all MAlign plants or whatever top brass at Galton were. Adebayo could have had only Darius' wellbeing in mind. The fact that it was simple for the MA to insert all of its own people in all key positions at Galton does not mean that Galton was guilty of any crimes. And that speech by Adebayo could have been scripted and well rehearsed. Of course Adebayo had to deliver a speech that placed Galton under the bus. Do you actually believe that Galton was told everything? Seems to me there is a good possibility that Galton was double crossed.


At any rate, with the GA posse that was foaming at the mouth at the edge of the hyper limit, of course Galton was pissed!

And again, someone already disputed it in another thread, but I was almost certain that Honor had to be discouraged from firing as soon as she entered the system. I thought Honor wanted to engage the Stations immediately. Someone certainly wanted to. So, the mission cannot claim to be a peaceful one.
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The artist formerly known as cthia.

Now I can talk in the third person.
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