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SNARC Swarm on the OBS

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SNARC Swarm on the OBS
Post by TheOneLogician   » Mon Sep 28, 2015 4:53 pm

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I was just re-reading OAR, and I noticed that Merlin sent a couple of SNARCs to investigate the OBS, but they got blown out of existence by the laser systems installed on the OBS. But nothing down in the Temple activated. So, if the OBS is completely automated and self-sufficient, doesn't that seem like nothing short of actually destroying it would awaken the "thing" under the temple?
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Re: SNARC Swarm on the OBS
Post by Expert snuggler   » Mon Sep 28, 2015 5:30 pm

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Not if it has a watchdog/heartbeat/dead man switch that would wake up the Temple Basement Thing if the OBS ceases operation. That's the way a good engineer would design it even without the kind of paranoia the Langhorneites had.
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Re: SNARC Swarm on the OBS
Post by n7axw   » Mon Sep 28, 2015 9:29 pm

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There are only a limited number of snarcs. I doubt that Merlin would expend them that way.

Don
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Re: SNARC Swarm on the OBS
Post by TheOneLogician   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 1:14 am

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n7axw wrote:There are only a limited number of snarcs. I doubt that Merlin would expend them that way.

Don



Why not make more? I think it was in LMF that RFC mentioned Owl frantically producing more. Why not just make a heck ton of them and say, "Be free!"
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Re: SNARC Swarm on the OBS
Post by Duckk   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 7:52 am

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That presumes that Owl has an unlimited supply of raw and potentially rare materials. Given how Merlin blew quite a bit on making a second PICA, and that SNARCs are nearly as advanced as it, manufacturing SNARCs ad infinitum strikes me as unlikely.
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Re: SNARC Swarm on the OBS
Post by n7axw   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:39 am

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Duckk wrote:That presumes that Owl has an unlimited supply of raw and potentially rare materials. Given how Merlin blew quite a bit on making a second PICA, and that SNARCs are nearly as advanced as it, manufacturing SNARCs ad infinitum strikes me as unlikely.


This was my point. There are limits on all things, including what Owl can accomplish in the cave.

Don
When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: SNARC Swarm on the OBS
Post by doug941   » Tue Sep 29, 2015 10:41 am

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TheOneLogician wrote:I was just re-reading OAR, and I noticed that Merlin sent a couple of SNARCs to investigate the OBS, but they got blown out of existence by the laser systems installed on the OBS. But nothing down in the Temple activated. So, if the OBS is completely automated and self-sufficient, doesn't that seem like nothing short of actually destroying it would awaken the "thing" under the temple?


A couple of points you seem to be overlooking. What if some of the defensive platforms are just that? If you take out those without hitting the main bombardment platforms, you've just shot yourself in the foot, the ankle, the calf, etc. Second, a responsive against the recon SNARCs is probably low enough level to not contact the Temple machinery. Any shotgun style attack strong enough to work would result in a message of "Hey boss, what do I do now" if nothing else. And at this point anything that wakes up the Temple is to be avoided.
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