The Economics of Piracy

Here's how ridiculous the scenario sounds:

As the Department of the Treasury, I've decided to move the entire contents of Fort Knox, the British Crown Jewels, and the yearly contents of Antwerp's diamond district in one big rig. Apparently, despite this literally being their jobs, the highly trained and highly motivated people in the Treasury department are so loose lipped that it finds its way to some mob boss. Likewise, said highly trained and highly motivated people decide they've all got better things to do on a Saturday. Instead they call up the NYPD and ask them to send a couple of squad cars to oversee this incredibly important activity.

Meanwhile, said mob boss decides to steal it because it's just so tempting. Having made that decision, he's able to easily acquire a fully armed infantry fighting vehicle in time for the job. He runs over said squad cars (figuratively and/or literally), steals the loot, and everyone just kinds of shrugs shoulders.

You don't see any problem with this? That instead, maybe the Treasury guys would sic the Secret Service on the job, get the FBI for support, and have the National Guard on speed dial just in case? That said mob boss is somehow simultaneously brilliant enough to reach the top of the underworld, yet also so stupid not to recognize that this puts him on the top of the world's most wanted for the rest of his life? That he's somehow able to acquire a relatively expensive, high end military vehicle - which don't exactly grow on trees - in time for this job?

Duckk wrote:

cthia wrote:Shit happens, sir! Especially during a state of war, a visit by Murphy and an idiot as lackadaisical as Santino or Young ordered to escort it and Young buggered out to save his own ass. Think Young'll die for a freighter of some other system's booty, even at infinite times the value?

Besides, I haven't seen implausible as a limit in the Honorverse.

Your scenario is that someone is so terminally stupid not to recognize the value of said cargo that they don't even take quarter-assed measures to protect their cargo commensurate to the value of that cargo. It's so faultily constructed, so fundamentally idiotic that you might as well have said that everyone forgot to breathe one day and left the door unlocked for anyone to grab the ship. It's not. Goint. To. Happen.

Shit, doesn't always "just happen," sir.

Some, is given a stool softener, to help it along.

Murphy and war is the stool softener. Murphy brings to the table Pavel Young, who was tasked to escort the convoy.

The powers that be, did know the value of the cargo AND took great pains to ensure its safety. Detaching their most important tactical commander, Harrington and Fearless, to babysit a freighter is great pains for a navy at war. But guess what, the ball was dropped by a common idiot w/ loads of common "cents." Maybe even enough to make a dollar.

Young was ordered to take Warlock and Heavy Cruiser Squadron 17 to sector 8 and grab Harrington and Fearless then proceed to port A to await the escort. Guess what, the royal fumbler dropped the ball in the light that he'd be sailing with Harrington who would certainly draw trouble and death.

It's a once in a lifetime score. The intel came across the "desks" of some very reliable and very corrupt key government officials. The BC is known to be on the market. You don't have to find the crew. They'll find you for that payout. You only pick from the cream of the "wasn't long ago in the navy" pool. And you run simulations around the clock for months.


Plot device cuts both ways ya know.

Nothing is impossible in war, just unlikely. Yet, unlikely that anything is impossible.

I give up.

Duckk wrote:Here's how ridiculous the scenario sounds:

As the Department of the Treasury, I've decided to move the entire contents of Fort Knox, the British Crown Jewels, and the yearly contents of Antwerp's diamond district in one big rig. Apparently, despite this literally being their jobs, the highly trained and highly motivated people in the Treasury department are so loose lipped that it finds its way to some mob boss. Likewise, said highly trained and highly motivated people decide they've all got better things to do on a Saturday. Instead they call up the NYPD and ask them to send a couple of squad cars to oversee this incredibly important activity.

Meanwhile, said mob boss decides to steal it because it's just so tempting. Having made that decision, he's able to easily acquire a fully armed infantry fighting vehicle in time for the job. He runs over said squad cars (figuratively and/or literally), steals the loot, and everyone just kinds of shrugs shoulders.

You don't see any problem with this? That instead, maybe the Treasury guys would sic the Secret Service on the job, get the FBI for support, and have the National Guard on speed dial just in case? That said mob boss is somehow simultaneously brilliant enough to reach the top of the underworld, yet also so stupid not to recognize that this puts him on the top of the world's most wanted for the rest of his life? That he's somehow able to acquire a relatively expensive, high end military vehicle - which don't exactly grow on trees - in time for this job?

It's not fair I assumed that everyone was intimately aware of one of the most common ingredients in existence — a promiscuous trophy girl, an aging old man and "pillow talk."

We are familiar with the concept. We take exception with your certainty that somehow this information is magically transmitted to the right ears.

Potato wrote:We are familiar with the concept. We take exception with your certainty that somehow this information is magically transmitted to the right ears.

Are you familiar with it? A promiscous trophy girl gets around. She certainly comes into contact with the ears of many. She whispers much and she sells all. This particular genetic Picasso of beauty, is a well paid, key element in the operation and has been for years. Her tongue has the magic to transmit all kinds of things to men and women. Even unto an unwilling partner and his ears. It's called "nipping at the ear lobes and pulling at the heartstrings." Very effective in a bedroom's heat of battle. And she's a very special employ of the man at the top - through cutouts of course.

Listen, you may as well give up if you think that you'll convince me for a minute that fate, fact and fiction didn't deliver once in a lifetime superprizes to pirates in the Honorverse. Especially during the Golden Era of piracy. Perhaps my particular scenario wouldn't happen, but many other related cousins of unbelievable one-score opportunities certainly would.

Many corrupt systems and governments in an Honorverse as huge as she, are probably founded on such sea shanty.

And in Pavel Young's sphere of influence, nothing is impossible. Half of the excrement excremented by Young I didn't think could happen. The guy had, and gave all who came in contact with him, the worst case of diarrhea.

If the world worked even remotely the way you think it does, then we should have fallen into anarchy centuries ago. Since we have not, I think it is safe to say that you are wrong and people have a damn clue about operational security.

Duckk wrote:Here's how ridiculous the scenario sounds:

As the Department of the Treasury, I've decided to move the entire contents of Fort Knox, the British Crown Jewels, and the yearly contents of Antwerp's diamond district in one big rig. Apparently, despite this literally being their jobs, the highly trained and highly motivated people in the Treasury department are so loose lipped that it finds its way to some mob boss. Likewise, said highly trained and highly motivated people decide they've all got better things to do on a Saturday. Instead they call up the NYPD and ask them to send a couple of squad cars to oversee this incredibly important activity.

Meanwhile, said mob boss decides to steal it because it's just so tempting. Having made that decision, he's able to easily acquire a fully armed infantry fighting vehicle in time for the job. He runs over said squad cars (figuratively and/or literally), steals the loot, and everyone just kinds of shrugs shoulders.

You don't see any problem with this? That instead, maybe the Treasury guys would sic the Secret Service on the job, get the FBI for support, and have the National Guard on speed dial just in case? That said mob boss is somehow simultaneously brilliant enough to reach the top of the underworld, yet also so stupid not to recognize that this puts him on the top of the world's most wanted for the rest of his life? That he's somehow able to acquire a relatively expensive, high end military vehicle - which don't exactly grow on trees - in time for this job?

Highend military vehicle? Duckk don't sugar coat it. A BC is something 90% of Honorverse navies dream they can afford. This is the equivalent of buying a nuc sub or a strategic bomber. This has more the making of a Bond Film than a realistic plot.

Theemile wrote:

Duckk wrote:Here's how ridiculous the scenario sounds:

As the Department of the Treasury, I've decided to move the entire contents of Fort Knox, the British Crown Jewels, and the yearly contents of Antwerp's diamond district in one big rig. Apparently, despite this literally being their jobs, the highly trained and highly motivated people in the Treasury department are so loose lipped that it finds its way to some mob boss. Likewise, said highly trained and highly motivated people decide they've all got better things to do on a Saturday. Instead they call up the NYPD and ask them to send a couple of squad cars to oversee this incredibly important activity.

Meanwhile, said mob boss decides to steal it because it's just so tempting. Having made that decision, he's able to easily acquire a fully armed infantry fighting vehicle in time for the job. He runs over said squad cars (figuratively and/or literally), steals the loot, and everyone just kinds of shrugs shoulders.

You don't see any problem with this? That instead, maybe the Treasury guys would sic the Secret Service on the job, get the FBI for support, and have the National Guard on speed dial just in case? That said mob boss is somehow simultaneously brilliant enough to reach the top of the underworld, yet also so stupid not to recognize that this puts him on the top of the world's most wanted for the rest of his life? That he's somehow able to acquire a relatively expensive, high end military vehicle - which don't exactly grow on trees - in time for this job?

Highend military vehicle? Duckk don't sugar coat it. A BC is something 90% of Honorverse navies dream they can afford. This is the equivalent of buying a nuc sub or a strategic bomber. This has more the making of a Bond Film than a realistic plot.

To put it bluntly, any pirate successful enough to even think of buying a BC has long since convinced his crew that there are more profitable and safer way to pursue their interests. Said pirate is now addressed as your Majesty and his crew all have titles of nobility. See Anderman, Gustav I for an extreme example.

Technically, Gustav Anderman was a mercenary, not a pirate. He had more legitimacy in setting up as an actual nation than, say, Andre Warnecke.