19chickens wrote:So new book soon!
Firstly, what's happening with the Alignment's plans? At the end of SoF they'd executed Houdini, evacuating everyone important in the Alignment to Darius (I think). So:
What is the general astrography associated with the Alignment? As in, the Torch wormhole goes to [long alphanumeric string], but how does that connect to the other systems?
What is the endgame of the Mesan Alignment's plan? I know it's the Renaissance Factor seceding from the Solarian League, but what after that? Conquer the Solly remnants and impose their genetic uplift on everyone?
Yes, the plan was to conquer the SL remnants and impose the idea of genetic uplift on everyone. But it seems to me that plan has already run aground. As I understand it, they were envisioning a complete collapse of the SL *AND*
an absence of powerful outside star nations to fill the void. This would result in chaos which would lead to other worlds voluntarily aligning themselves with the Renaissance Factor. Because they would be the only powerful, multi-system entity left. They would represent security in a universe gone mad. They were planning on many of the former SL worlds voluntarily joining them. Which is why they have gone to such pains to keep the Manticore-Haven war going in previous books. They wanted Manticore and Haven to either wipe each other or for the survivor of the war to be seriously weakened.
Obviously, this did not happen. Now the SEM and the RH are ALLIED. This creates an immensely powerful block of power which should work as counter balance to the Renaissance Factor. Even worse, Beowulf has joined to form the Grand Alliance. In military terms, Beowulf probably does not add much to what SEM and RH have. But they do add immense prestige. Beowulf is one of the oldest, best known, most highly respected worlds in the SL. I think the presence of Beowulf in the Grand Alliance is going to be extremely significant in diplomacy once the SL starts to break up. Systems might dismiss Manticore or Haven as neo-barbs. But they will respect Beowulf.
There is also a second, independent powerblock forming in the Maya sector. As we all know, Governor Barregos and Admiral Rozsak are conspiring to break the entire Maya Sector away from the SL. And they have Erewhon building them a fleet of fairly good ships (not cutting edge by Manticore standards, but way better than anything the SL has) plus an alliance with Torch. I guarantee the MAlign did not anticipate this. I'd bet that once the SL starts breaking up, nearby systems might start signing on with Maya and they might grow.
Anyhow, my main point is that the MAlign planned for the RF to be the only game in town once the SL broke up. And I think the breakup of the SL is now inevitable. Even if they stopped trying to subvert it, things are too far gone. But instead of being the only strong, organized rallying point after the breakup of the SL, now the RF is going to be 1 of 3. And that is not counting how the GA is going to react once they figure out the RF is associated with the MAlign. So it seems to me that their initial political strategy is FUBAR'd.
