CRC wrote:
I'm not convinced that the OBS is the only "arrow in the quiver" of the temple.
It seems rather odd that the Stone of Schuler contains large exe files, and that the activation point is under the temple, and add to that you keep having Shan-Wei's alternative strategies popping up everywhere, Chohiro was not an idiot.
The point being, there is undoubtedly a whole of bunch of tech stashed somewhere for the 1000 year visit. And there is no proof that the Hamilcar was actually destroyed. Remember the fab facilities on the Hamilcar is what overwhelmed the "Fallen" and the little fabbers that they stashed around the planet.
While Merlin's cave and resources might seem to be a lot right now, compared to to what was used against the Fallen, its not even close. If the temple has access to the resources used against the Fallen, Charis doesn't stand a chance it.
First, I'm not sure that the resources available against the fallen were as substantial as you suggest. The war did go on for quite some time, with significant losses on both sides. I have wondered if a hypothetical someone or something had woken Nimue up, then would using the cave's resources have been enough to change the outcome?
I also have no insight into when the Hamilcar was no longer available, be it destroyed, sent into a very long elliptical orbit, or buried in an ice moon (call it Hoth for lack of a better name :^). I would tend to think it was still around when the war against the fallen began, because that was immediately after Armageddon Reef, and a very short time later when Langhorn was vaporized.
Methinks Charis' monopoly on high tech is about to get trumped.
Of course, if Nimue's command access was not disabled (since she wasn't around to need to have it disabled), and she
is the only surviving Naval Officer...
-- Bob G
SF & Fantasy: The only things better than Chocolate.