SPOILER end of the MA

Loren Pechtel wrote:

PeterZ wrote:The SLN attack on Beowulf was defeated with very little civilian harm. That was already established fact. The bombs went off well after the last SLN ship hype red out. They went off with a metronomic precision designed to let Beowulf's leadership know Alpha was going to blow and there would be nothing, NOTHING, anyone could do about it. The maliciousness of that calculation confirms just how little they regard the objects of their plans. They don't care how hard mundanes will work to prevent their ascendency. They don't care just how well they motivate the mundanes. Mundanes simply cannot be a threat in their worldview. There are a few outliers who must be watched, but there aren't enough of them to make a difference.

If they did see mundanes as a serious potential threat, they would never have been so blatant in their FU gesture against Beowulf. Attacking the moral champion of the Old Solarian League in such a hateful way is guaranteed to motivate deep seated hatred. So much hatred that all of the mundanes will never forget and never stop looking for the culprits. Heck, "Who nuked the Beowulf habitats" will rise to the top of the list of privately researched galactic mysteries. Sort of like who was DB Cooper?

Seconded. The nuking of the habitats ensured the GA will keep hunting them until the stars grow cold.

And they're going to fall. The RF knows of the wormhole even if they don't know Darius. Eventually the spies will find that.

ywing14 wrote:Honestly, I would call what happened a mistake but I don't agree that it had to do with what happened to at Beowulf. They got what they wanted which was the GA to begin offensive operations against the SL. The GA destroyed most of Earth's space driven resources and seized it's naval bases and navy.

The Detweilers mistake was that it never saw the Ghost Hunters/Gaddis coming. Additionally, I would say they miscalculated their ability to direct Kingsford's decisions. Without Gaddis and Kingsford, it is very likely the war would have gone on. We know this from the discussion the Mandrins were having when they got arrested by Gaddis. If they hadn't stopped there at earth it is likely the GA would have gone around smashing Core World economies and building up resentment within the SL that would make a true peace difficult/impossible. This was essentially what the MAlign wanted.

The real heroes in this book were the Ghost Hunters/Gaddis but most especially Kingsford. Who made an extremely difficult decision especially given the fact the GA could argue he's responsible for some of the atrocities that occurred.

George J. Smith wrote:With the timing of the Beowulf orbitals destruction being all to pot, it should be obvious to all & sundry that the SLN did not carry out that destruction. How many of the RF planets that did not declare their association with the RF held back because they suddenly realised just how ruthless the MA really is? ISTR there was mention of at least 2 systems whose "loyalty" to the RF was questionable at the meeting with Albrecht.

Of course, only rfc knows the answer, but wouldn't it be nice if some, or even just one, of those planets decided to jump ship and spill the beans on the RF.

Joat42 wrote:

George J. Smith wrote:With the timing of the Beowulf orbitals destruction being all to pot, it should be obvious to all & sundry that the SLN did not carry out that destruction. How many of the RF planets that did not declare their association with the RF held back because they suddenly realised just how ruthless the MA really is? ISTR there was mention of at least 2 systems whose "loyalty" to the RF was questionable at the meeting with Albrecht.

Of course, only rfc knows the answer, but wouldn't it be nice if some, or even just one, of those planets decided to jump ship and spill the beans on the RF.

As if that's not going to be spindoctored within the RF as "Look how far the Solarian League has fallen, they destroyed civilian habitats in Beowulf - one of the League's founding members."

ywing14 wrote:Honestly, I would call what happened a mistake but I don't agree that it had to do with what happened to at Beowulf. They got what they wanted which was the GA to begin offensive operations against the SL. The GA destroyed most of Earth's space driven resources and seized it's naval bases and navy.

ywing14 wrote:The Detweilers mistake was that it never saw the Ghost Hunters/Gaddis coming.

ywing14 wrote:Additionally, I would say they miscalculated their ability to direct Kingsford's decisions. Without Gaddis and Kingsford, it is very likely the war would have gone on. We know this from the discussion the Mandrins were having when they got arrested by Gaddis. If they hadn't stopped there at earth it is likely the GA would have gone around smashing Core World economies and building up resentment within the SL that would make a true peace difficult/impossible. This was essentially what the MAlign wanted.

ywing14 wrote:The real heroes in this book were the Ghost Hunters/Gaddis but most especially Kingsford. Who made an extremely difficult decision especially given the fact the GA could argue he's responsible for some of the atrocities that occurred.

George J. Smith wrote:With the timing of the Beowulf orbitals destruction being all to pot, it should be obvious to all & sundry that the SLN did not carry out that destruction. How many of the RF planets that did not declare their association with the RF held back because they suddenly realised just how ruthless the MA really is? ISTR there was mention of at least 2 systems whose "loyalty" to the RF was questionable at the meeting with Albrecht.

Of course, only rfc knows the answer, but wouldn't it be nice if some, or even just one, of those planets decided to jump ship and spill the beans on the RF.

PeterZ wrote:The SLN attack on Beowulf was defeated with very little civilian harm. That was already established fact. The bombs went off well after the last SLN ship hype red out. They went off with a metronomic precision designed to let Beowulf's leadership know Alpha was going to blow and there would be nothing, NOTHING, anyone could do about it. The maliciousness of that calculation confirms just how little they regard the objects of their plans. They don't care how hard mundanes will work to prevent their ascendency. They don't care just how well they motivate the mundanes. Mundanes simply cannot be a threat in their worldview. There are a few outliers who must be watched, but there aren't enough of them to make a difference.

If they did see mundanes as a serious potential threat, they would never have been so blatant in their FU gesture against Beowulf. Attacking the moral champion of the Old Solarian League in such a hateful way is guaranteed to motivate deep seated hatred. So much hatred that all of the mundanes will never forget and never stop looking for the culprits. Heck, "Who nuked the Beowulf habitats" will rise to the top of the list of privately researched galactic mysteries. Sort of like who was DB Cooper?