Information I'd love to know

cthia wrote:

kzt wrote:There is apparently some sort of treaty (which maticore has not signed) that you couldn't fortify WH.

Thanks so much for that tidbit. I knew something was off.
But answers create questions.
Why the hell would someone want to propose something so assinine unless you are a small navy. Unless it was the Leagues way of guaranteeing access to other terminus.

Is that stated in a particular book or somewhere in the pearls?

I remember a treaty that prohibited restrictions on access to wormholes; but not one that prohibited their fortification.

I suspect SL wormholes aren't fortified for the same reason US ports and rivers aren't fortified (anymore). If no one in their right mind would launch a military attack it's a waste of money to build and maintain fortifications. And if someone is crazy enough to attack the normal military can respond quickly enough (and still be far cheaper than fortifying every spot a lunatic could attack)

Too bad the League didn't realize their assumptions had become incorrect.

cthia wrote:

roseandheather wrote:I want to know what Rachel Mayhew is up to! Presumably she's close to finishing her time at Saganami Island... could we perhaps get a "Miss Midshipwoman Mayhew" story soon??

I assumed Rachel was already out of Saganami island. That we just haven't heard anything yet. Isn't the first time I missed something.

Rachel only entered the Academy in 1920 (presumably in the autumn of that year), so she wouldn't graduate until the spring of '23 at the earliest. And that's if Saganami Island hasn't gone back to four- or five-year training programs. (My gut tells me we're looking at four, so Rachel would then probably graduate in the spring of '24.)

That said, I think we will get a "Miss Midshipwoman Mayhew" at some point - she seems to be part of the "up and coming" generation of naval captains (like Helen Zilwicki and Abby Hearns) that will be the ones going out and pulling "Honor death rides" now that Honor herself - not to mention Michelle, Aivars, and Michael - is too senior to do so.

cthia wrote:

kzt wrote:There is apparently some sort of treaty (which maticore has not signed) that you couldn't fortify WH.

Thanks so much for that tidbit. I knew something was off.
But answers create questions.
Why the hell would someone want to propose something so asinine unless you are a small navy. Unless it was the Leagues way of guaranteeing access to other terminus.

Is that stated in a particular book or somewhere in the pearls?

Jonathan_S wrote:I remember a treaty that prohibited restrictions on access to wormholes; but not one that prohibited their fortification.

I suspect SL wormholes aren't fortified for the same reason US ports and rivers aren't fortified (anymore). If no one in their right mind would launch a military attack it's a waste of money to build and maintain fortifications. And if someone is crazy enough to attack the normal military can respond quickly enough (and still be far cheaper than fortifying every spot a lunatic could attack)

Too bad the League didn't realize their assumptions had become incorrect.

I have the same opinion as you, Jonathan; the Shingaine Convention was to allow 'free and open access' to wormholes (free and open being defined by the SL, of course), but nothing about fortifications that I remember.

As you are undoubtedly correct--if you are the 800lb gorilla, you don't worry about fortifying wormholes; anyone rash enough to attack them will be completely crushed by the Invincible Solarian League Navy....

Or not....

That's what I didn't understand about the Shingaine Convention. It wasn't like Manticore refused trade with anyone. In fact, trade is what made Manticore so wealthy, trade made possible via its terminii.

So I don't see any need for a Convention demanding something always available. Except perhaps in time of war.

One thing that helped make Star Trek so popular was the graphics and the animation. When the ships went to warp was one aspect that pulled many non-viewers into the series. The wow factor.

Enter Honorverse and the opening HoQ. The rigging of the Warshawski sails is going to be something I will watch for closely. We're talking over 600km of sail, bleeding transit energy. Please get it right!

cthia wrote:That's what I didn't understand about the Shingaine Convention. It wasn't like Manticore refused trade with anyone. In fact, trade is what made Manticore so wealthy, trade made possible via its terminii.

So I don't see any need for a Convention demanding something always available. Except perhaps in time of war.

Perhaps it was simply another form of control that the League wanted to impose on those weaker than itself. Also, it could be something they whip out when they need to showcase how egalitarian the League is, a sort of "look how enlightened we are, now do what we say, neo-barb".

cthia wrote:

kzt wrote:There is apparently some sort of treaty (which maticore has not signed) that you couldn't fortify WH.

Thanks so much for that tidbit. I knew something was off.
But answers create questions.
Why the hell would someone want to propose something so assinine unless you are a small navy. Unless it was the Leagues way of guaranteeing access to other terminus.

Is that stated in a particular book or somewhere in the pearls?

Yes, in passing in a book. But I have no idea where. It was in the last 3 or 4 books, either mainline or shadows.

cthia wrote:One thing that helped make Star Trek so popular was the graphics and the animation. When the ships went to warp was one aspect that pulled many non-viewers into the series. The wow factor.

Enter Honorverse and the opening HoQ. The rigging of the Warshawski sails is going to be something I will watch for closely. We're talking over 600km of sail, bleeding transit energy. Please get it right!

Minor nit: The sail discs are 300km in diameter, not radius.

Unless you meant *both* sails combined

cthia wrote:One thing that helped make Star Trek so popular was the graphics and the animation. When the ships went to warp was one aspect that pulled many non-viewers into the series. The wow factor.

Enter Honorverse and the opening HoQ. The rigging of the Warshawski sails is going to be something I will watch for closely. We're talking over 600km of sail, bleeding transit energy. Please get it right!

The sails probably won't be that big in the movie. If the camera point of view is far enough back to see the sails, the ship will be too small to see. So expect that wedges and sails will be much smaller than in the books.

cthia wrote:That's what I didn't understand about the Shingaine Convention. It wasn't like Manticore refused trade with anyone. In fact, trade is what made Manticore so wealthy, trade made possible via its terminii.

So I don't see any need for a Convention demanding something always available. Except perhaps in time of war.

What makes you think that every owner of a wormhole was allowing full access? It seems to me that some owners probably tried restricting access to only their own ships or restricted access to specific groups. Just because Manticore has been fair about access to the wormhole does not mean that everyone was.