treecats who bond with Marines

kzt wrote:

ldwechsler wrote:OK, they do have one. But I have no idea how it could work in terms of combat. The treecat would have to wait until the fighting is over to rejoin Cognasso. Either that or there was tech to handle it that the author didn't mention...which would be a surprise since we know that Tankersley did design a special outfit for Nimitz. Since that time, the treecat could have gone along but might well have been limited.

Tech suitable for a multi-millionaire to afford to indulge in.

Initially yes but those that can afford it will be devoting time and money to acquire one. People like ADM Georgides and Odysseus. There are also things like payment plans. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if the RMN assisted a service member to acquire one.

saber964 wrote:Plus I wouldn't be surprised if the RMN assisted a service member to acquire one.

The RMMC might simply issue a 'cat skinsuit the same way they issue marine skinsuits. It would have to be turned in when the Marine separates or retires, but it would make sense to provide the maximum mobility to bonded treecats.

Weird Harold wrote:

saber964 wrote:Plus I wouldn't be surprised if the RMN assisted a service member to acquire one.

The RMMC might simply issue a 'cat skinsuit the same way they issue marine skinsuits. It would have to be turned in when the Marine separates or retires, but it would make sense to provide the maximum mobility to bonded treecats.

Yes and no on that. The RMMC might offer a deal serve x number of years and your treecat skinsuit is yours. Also the RMN/RMMC might consider it part of the standard issued equipment. They might consider buying a standard life support module and basic skinsuit a basic requirement and any added bells and whistles to be at the service members expense.

saber964 wrote:Yes and no on that. The RMMC might offer a deal serve x number of years and your treecat skinsuit is yours. Also the RMN/RMMC might consider it part of the standard issued equipment. They might consider buying a standard life support module and basic skinsuit a basic requirement and any added bells and whistles to be at the service members expense.

No, the RMN could have done that. They chose to not. It took someone with virtually unlimited funds to do it as a custom one-off. Which means the second one will only cost 80% as much, but the 5th will still be 80% of the first. If you build full production line for say 100x the cost of one suit and start buying parts in quantities of hundreds then the cost will drop significantly.

So, how many tree cats are there in the RMN and RMMC?,

kzt wrote:No, the RMN could have done that. They chose to not. It took someone with virtually unlimited funds to do it as a custom one-off.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that the RMN or RMMC should have designed and issued skinsuits. Now that they are available commercially adapting the design to match the durability and capabilities of Marine skinsuits. With the 'cats newfound ability to communicate with sign, it might be worth the RMMC's time and expense to equip 'cats so they an work with their bond-mates in any number of scenarios.

I don't think the RMN needs or wants to take on the expense of issuing skinsuits to bonded 'cats. They've been somewhat stingy about providing protective devices for 'cats -- I think a "survival bubble" is about all they'd offer before 'cats learned to sign. That might change now; it might not.

kzt wrote:So, how many tree cats are there in the RMN and RMMC?,

Unknown. But the RMN and RMMC aren't the only market for environmental modules and 'cat skinsuits. When he presented Honor with Nimitz' first suit, Paul mentioned his relatives jumped on the idea since they foresaw a (relatively) huge market for 'cat skinsuits -- every bonded person off Sphinx would want one and many who stayed local to sphinx if they had occasion to spend any time in space.

They're undoubtedly still very expensive on the civilian market, but the RMN/RMMC could undoubtedly get a volume discount and/or license to build "ruggedized" military models from off-the-shelf skinsuit parts.

Weird Harold wrote:They're undoubtedly still very expensive on the civilian market, but the RMN/RMMC could undoubtedly get a volume discount and/or license to build "ruggedized" military models from off-the-shelf skinsuit parts.

Yeah, but like personal jets are cheap compared to big highly capable jets.

It's only $1.7 to $4.5 million vs $15 to 70 million, but they somehow still lack mass market appeal.

The total number of bonded treecats is in the high hundreds to low thousands, and the number of bonded humans who own or are issued fitted skin suits is probably in the dozens. Not exactly much mass market appeal there either.

kzt wrote:The total number of bonded treecats is in the high hundreds to low thousands, and the number of bonded humans who own or are issued fitted skin suits is probably in the dozens. Not exactly much mass market appeal there either.

Enough market appeal to make the Tankersly clan ecstatic.

Weird Harold wrote:

kzt wrote:The total number of bonded treecats is in the high hundreds to low thousands, and the number of bonded humans who own or are issued fitted skin suits is probably in the dozens. Not exactly much mass market appeal there either.

Enough market appeal to make the Tankersly clan ecstatic.

Well, at a million per suit, the RMN and RMMC buying suits and them having all the needed patents, why wouldn't they be? Why yes, it is good to have friends on the Naval Procurement committee and the board of the "Friends of the Treecats" NGO.

kzt wrote:Well, at a million per suit, the RMN and RMMC buying suits and them having all the needed patents, why wouldn't they be? Why yes, it is good to have friends on the Naval Procurement committee and the board of the "Friends of the Treecats" NGO.

(since we're on the second page.... )

Then there's the unanticipated bonus of equipping a regiment of Treecat Marines and all of the independently wealthy treecats that find lucrative employment of some sort. HAving a customized skinsuit and an off-planet job could become treecat status symbols.

Most of the responses here are from the wrong angle. That is how will a treecat bond affect the marine's previous MOS? It would seem to me that there would be every reason for the command structure to create an MOS that employs treecat bonded marines in mission relevant ways.

This is true enough in today's analogue where one handler-one dog is the general rule in the MWD (military working dog) area. Further, in the army, at least, there is a specific regulation that dog handlers cannot be given extra duties like other enlisted personnel often are which will interfere with his/her dog handling responsibilities with that animal.

Interestingly, the selection criteria for dog handling include the phrase that the handler must exhibit "a high degree of affection for the MWD". Seems like Manticore wouldn't have to edit things too much to cover treecat bonds.

And no, such treecats are not mistreated slaves. It is hard to imagine a treecat bonding with a human and not wanting to share that human's actual life. Certainly no treecat has put up the slightest resistance to being "used" by its human that I've seen. They appear to enjoy the collusion, instead. This has been so since the earliest days where treecat-bonded personnel have served with the Palace Guard.