Stories you wish were told?

cthia wrote:What about a chapter or two chronicling the (RHN and Andermani)'s first attempts at passing the Crusher and the hilarious laughter discreetly permeating RMN staff and officers.

Shannon would have just pulled a Kirk and reprogrammed the darn thing...

Late note to StateSec goons -- Shannon also does not believe in a no win scenario. Think Shannon's somehow related to Kirk?

Laughter? Perhaps from any treecats present. At the RMN staff running the course, when their chins hit the floor. After the Havenite officer saunters out of the simulator and said, "You think that was difficult? Try fighting you guys with technological inferiority all the time! Crusher? More like Cuddler."

munroburton wrote:

cthia wrote:What about a chapter or two chronicling the (RHN and Andermani)'s first attempts at passing the Crusher and the hilarious laughter discreetly permeating RMN staff and officers.

Shannon would have just pulled a Kirk and reprogrammed the darn thing...

Late note to StateSec goons -- Shannon also does not believe in a no win scenario. Think Shannon's somehow related to Kirk?

Laughter? Perhaps from any treecats present. At the RMN staff running the course, when their chins hit the floor. After the Havenite officer saunters out of the simulator and said, "You think that was difficult? Try fighting you guys with technological inferiority all the time! Crusher? More like Cuddler."

I am LMAO. Very funny. Made more funny because it's probably true!

Trust me when I say that I'm gesturing towards you that you've won a point in the salle.

cthia wrote:

bunyipbelle wrote:I would like to read more about the adventures of the misfit agents John Mullins and Charles Gonzalvez that we read about in "Lets Go To Prague". I particularly liked the bit where Admiral Givens asks them " What in the ever living hells was going through what might, with leniency,be referred to as your mind?"

That sounds like a good story and a worthy one-liner to boot.


****** *


What about a chapter or two chronicling the (RHN and Andermani)'s first attempts at passing the Crusher and the hilarious laughter discreetly permeating RMN staff and officers.

Shannon would have just pulled a Kirk and reprogrammed the darn thing...

Late note to StateSec goons -- Shannon also does not believe in a no win scenario. Think Shannon's somehow related to Kirk?

Roguevictory wrote:Two problems I see with the last part.

1: The Crusher is not the Kobyashi Maru, It is a training course with multiple simulations and I'm not certain there is a no-win scenario among them.

2: I think you are drastically underestimating the skill levels of any RHN and Andermani officers who are for whatever reason sent to the Crusher instead of their own service's counterpart programs, assuming that RHN and Andermani command training involves such a course.

I wasn't casting aspersions on their skillsets but on the ability to apply those skillsets to the Crusher.

Knowledge and exam performance don't always go hand in hand.

Besides, we know we can count on the Peeps to miss one question on the written exam...

2. ...or do you:

a) wait for them to destroy you
b) spread your fire over the entire enemy force
c) concentrate fire on a few ships
d) none of the above

The Peeps can be counted on to always miss that question. So if the written part of the exam is only two questions and is 25 % of the overall grade... O well.

Remember, a score of "70" cannot be considered a passing grade on something as profound as the Crusher. You wouldn't want a neurosurgeon that passed with a "C" operating on your brain would you? lol

Where in the galaxy is Elaine Kormondorsky?

Are we even sure there is a written portion to the Crusher, much less what value is assigned to it, and to each question?

IMO the kinds of skills the Crusher is looking for, or looking for a lack of aren't really the kind of things a written exam can test for very well.

Roguevictory wrote:Are we even sure there is a written portion to the Crusher, much less what value is assigned to it, and to each question?

IMO the kinds of skills the Crusher is looking for, or looking for a lack of aren't really the kind of things a written exam can test for very well.

There should be. Written parts of the exam are normally structured to flesh out other areas of competence or lack thereof. In the case of the Crusher, it could possibly identify -- psychological imbalance, extreme prejudice, moral incompetence, nepotism, the Santino complex or the scrupulously bankrupt and etc.

Graduation with strings notwithstanding.

I'd really really like a short story of Honor and Mike as roommates. Including their first meeting and any rough edges ironed out. And the ensuing mischief.

The Heiress and the Commoner

cthia wrote:There should be. Written parts of the exam are normally structured to flesh out other areas of competence or lack thereof. In the case of the Crusher, it could possibly identify -- psychological imbalance, extreme prejudice, moral incompetence, nepotism, the Santino complex or the scrupulously bankrupt and etc.

Graduation with strings notwithstanding.

Things like doctrine, ROE, weapon capabilities, etc are obvious candidates.

cthia wrote:

Roguevictory wrote:Are we even sure there is a written portion to the Crusher, much less what value is assigned to it, and to each question?

IMO the kinds of skills the Crusher is looking for, or looking for a lack of aren't really the kind of things a written exam can test for very well.

There should be. Written parts of the exam are normally structured to flesh out other areas of competence or lack thereof. In the case of the Crusher, it could possibly identify -- psychological imbalance, extreme prejudice, moral incompetence, nepotism, the Santino complex or the scrupulously bankrupt and etc.

Graduation with strings notwithstanding.

Perhaps but it seems like most of these would come up in the sims as well as they would in a written test. And testing for prejudice or morals is very tricky under any test form. Ditto for courage unless you can make the students think a sim or test is real rather then a test. Something like what Wesley went through in Star Trek TNG. He's waiting for a test then an accident happens and then after the accident is over he is told the accident was the test because they wanted to see how he would react if put in a situation where he had to leave someone to die in order to save another.

For the Honorverse the closest idea I can come up with is putting the cadet as watch officer on a training cruise then having an unscheduled war game start to see how they react when they think the missiles and graser fire are real.

cthia wrote:

Roguevictory wrote:Are we even sure there is a written portion to the Crusher, much less what value is assigned to it, and to each question?

IMO the kinds of skills the Crusher is looking for, or looking for a lack of aren't really the kind of things a written exam can test for very well.

There should be. Written parts of the exam are normally structured to flesh out other areas of competence or lack thereof. In the case of the Crusher, it could possibly identify -- psychological imbalance, extreme prejudice, moral incompetence, nepotism, the Santino complex or the scrupulously bankrupt and etc.

Graduation with strings notwithstanding.

Roguevictory wrote:Perhaps but it seems like most of these would come up in the sims as well as they would in a written test. And testing for prejudice or morals is very tricky under any test form. Ditto for courage unless you can make the students think a sim or test is real rather then a test. Something like what Wesley went through in Star Trek TNG. He's waiting for a test then an accident happens and then after the accident is over he is told the accident was the test because they wanted to see how he would react if put in a situation where he had to leave someone to die in order to save another.

For the Honorverse the closest idea I can come up with is putting the cadet as watch officer on a training cruise then having an unscheduled war game start to see how they react when they think the missiles and graser fire are real.

Your points are well taken.

OTOH...

The operative idea here is "balance". You want your exams to be balanced. I'm remembering a High School teacher who opined that same thought. "My exams are going to be a mixture of multiple choice, written (and essay), fill-in the blanks, matching. Forget about what you are accustomed to up to this point. I want to know if you truly know the material rather than if you're adept at Cliff note cramming." And she was right. With that variety in format, you had to truly know the material.

Sims and written exams engage different areas of the brain. Just as real life battles would engage your entire brain. The Crusher is the time to flesh out certain inadequacies, not when the enemy comes over the hyper wall. Besides, can you really imagine that the Crusher is as difficult as it is and it NOT incorporate a written section? Heck, this far into the future, I can imagine that AI's verbally administer an oral session as well -- time response sensitive. *Sort of a Sam Kinison type engaging A.I. personality, "Say it! Say it!! SAAAAY ITTTT! AHHHHHH!!! AHHHHH!!!" -- to simulate the pressure of decision.

This is an important reason and proof of why I feel RHN officers might have a problem with the Crusher -- first time around. We as readers can't even imagine its scope. First timers of an exam are often thwarted by mechanical unfamiliarity. Alienation of testing methods -- similar to what used to happen to lots of students when first exposed to the mechanics of standardized tests -- its formality and all of the blackening of circles -- the not knowing what to expect. And remember, the RMN training standards are unequaled -- as an extension to its education and its training technology, methods and hardware.

And remember, the Crusher isn't easy to pass by well trained and educated RMN personnel.

I'd like to witness firsthand how Haven's version "of", stands up to the "Pit".

* https://youtu.be/9Hn9xAaKUbw