ncwolf wrote:
Well, I'm not sure how much heavy industry Beowulf has left. There were an awful lot of explosions. On the other hand, with the war with the League over, missile production may be the only need.
The SLN attacked basically the missile line section which was protected by an almost impenetrable wedge formed by RMMM ships set on automatic pilot so no crew was in jeopardy. some missiles did tale out some auxilliary production. The MAlign attack targeted the habitat rings, a definite EEE violation. BTW also a reprise of New Tuscany.
And I think Harrington was restrained. I think she was told (they decided together) what terms to give to Old Terra before she left Manticore, although the text doesn't state it. She didn't kill Sollies by the scores nor thousands; those first cruisers were a near thing. That may have done her some good; I think she came out of her fury (her red funk), a little bit, enough.
Yes she was restrained -by Mercedes Brigham. again reminiscent of HoTQ. She does manage to find very strong people to surround herself with.
As far as did the Alignment get everything they wanted; definitely not. The Grand Alliance--Solarian League War is over. Now the hunt for the "rabbits" can go forward without distractions (maybe); they lost a big coupe when Anton Zilwicki figured out what was going on with the "Ballroom" explosions on Mesa. On the other hand, the Solarian Union is dissolved, in that it's shorn of the Protectorates, en masse. That alone gives the Renaissance Factor lots of room to work in.
The MAlign got ... pretty much nothing. Manticore is not destroyed, indeed their clever ploy ended the war between Haven and Manticore. Basically, Manticore is 18 months ahead of its recovery from the Yawata Strike. Quite possibly Grayson is somewhat farther along in its recovery too.
There is no war between the SL & RoH, destroying one and leaving the other considerably weakened. Beowulf is not isolated. The league may or may not lose core membership, much beyond what has already occurred, of course it may do. Better governance may make whatever rises from the ashes of the old constitution, even healthier if not as large. It will still remain a powerful bloc economically, and have the potential for a formidable navy, one not directed toward the GA.
The SL may be shorn of its verge and protectorates but there is no great sequence of mass uprisings against the OFS/FF. Some chaos, indeed, will ensue mostly transstellars trying to prevent their sweetheart deals from shredding. But without the FF to intervene, they had best put on their best negotiating hat, There is not near the sense of fear generated for the RF to step in and provide a port in the great storm of uncertainty.
Of course, the GA's decision to not rescue the universe, but to let them learn to fight their own battles will play somewhat into the plans of the RF.
It boils down to how long it takes the Grand Alliance to find "the hole" (Darius) into which the rabbits have fled. How many pieces of the puzzle do they have? How many pieces does Zilwicki have? Traffic leaving Mesa in a (slightly) unusual pattern. Does Zilwicki have records of the ships? Does he (or Torch) have records of the two ships that were / were almost intercepted by the Torch Navy when they attacked the slave depot station? I remember the mission commander made a special note of them. If Zilwicki (or someone else) knows when those ships left Mesa and also knows about one them blowing up (basically suicide by Torch Navy, as it were), then they might have an idea of how far they have to look. See, I don't think Darius is that far away from Mesa. I don't think we're told, but Rufino Chernyshev did go by a more direct route to Darius, and something in the conversation with his gal pal (as I recall, natch) left me with the impression that it didn't take that long--one week or two. Still, two weeks in hyper, with streak drive, does cover a lot of territory so just brute force astronomy surveys from the Mesa system probably (assuming someone were to try that) won't give a practical number of star systems to check out. (Didn't someone say this months ago? Was it I?)
Will the Grand Alliance keep looking long enough to find Darius? It could take generations, unless they stick their heads up. The Renaissance Factor has been announced, so there is that. Nothing ties them to Mesa, so far as the galaxy at large knows.
ldwechsler wrote:You are assuming that the Alignment really expected a total collapse. Chances are they realized there would just be a shrinking. And that would work for them because they probably have other people who can work their way into positions of power.
They expected the near complete military destruction of the league as it battled first against the SEM, then the RoH, and yes losing the 20 -25% of the systems that voted against the Mandarins' resolution. and the FF battling lots of protectorate and verge systems in their rebellions. Again something that is not happening. There will be some chaos but not nearly what the RF was anticipating.
And having a League will hold at least some of the GA's attention. I don't know whether the RF will stay in the League or quit.
Textev says the RF has already declared itself. Right around the time Barrregos took off with Maya.
It might not be that easy to track down Darius and the rest. Houdini was obviously planned with keeping people hidden in mind.
Darius might not even be part of the "known galaxy." We know it, but does the League? Remember the destruction of the Manty explorer ship.
Also, even if someone came to Darius, would they know that Mesa's people were there? It would be easy to hide them and easier to simply have records that said that the ships involved in taking the people had moved on.
Very good points, There are more crumbs and hints than actual puzzle parts. Ships can file flight plans when they leave a system, they do not have to follow them. Actually putting boots to the ground chasing these crumbs can be a daunting task. No way of knowing where in the universe Carmen Sandiego slipped off to. Chasing a thousand ships, most legitimate, to their destinations. Finding people who actually found those few ships interesting or suspicious to even recall them? Crazy making at best. Unless Anton Zilwicki can create some magic algorithm to trace this stuff to a narrow window.
I think it will be an act of serendipity to actually discover DArius. Of course seeing all those Lenny Ds in orbit may make identifying it a bit easier.
