UC Snippet 15

Nameless Fly is that you?

TFLYTSNBN wrote:Now if only this epic battle that upholds the legacy of THE HONOR OF THE QUEEN can be followed up by an after battle scene where the exhausted, studily built RMN Captain retires to her cabin to take a shower.

evilauthor wrote:

Bill Woods wrote:She's giving away more bits of information than is necessary. She could have left the Sollies with the impression that Kotouč really had nine ships with him.

She may be assuming (wrongly) that the Sollies figured out that the decoys were actually decoys.

If anything, it would arguably be worse to say that nine ships had destroyed the Solly BCs if the Sollies had figured out that four ships had been decoys. Because then she'd be caught lying, which would undercut the threat she's trying to present.

The Sollies might still think she's lying by saying there were five Manty ships destroyed when they saw nine, but they couldn't be SURE she's lying, especially after the dazzling display of ECM they just saw.

It also adds to the threat her single ship poses if the Sollies suddenly realize that it only took less than half the platforms they thought they saw to kick their butts the first time around. OTOH, she knows that they saw additional very convincing decoys when the other Loreleis lit up in the face of Hajdu's missiles. So she knows the Sollies already know some of the first nine ships they saw could have been decoys and convincing them that they were will --- as I say --- make the threat her single ship poses even more compelling.

runsforcelery wrote:
(Snip by RAW re: concerning Peterson's message)

It also adds to the threat her single ship poses if the Sollies suddenly realize that it only took less than half the platforms they thought they saw to kick their butts the first time around. OTOH, she knows that they saw additional very convincing decoys when the other Loreleis lit up in the face of Hajdu's missiles. So she knows the Sollies already know some of the first nine ships they saw could have been decoys and convincing them that they were will --- as I say --- make the threat her single ship poses even more compelling.

Several days ago, you referred to her bluff. There are two parts to her statement. The first part, where she basically Requested and Required Yountz, on the pain of death, to vamoose was not a bluff. The 2nd part where she didn't mention that she could only launch an attack 4 more times was a bluff.

runsforcelery wrote: “I can’t compel you to do anything without killing more of your ships, Admiral,” she said flatly, “and between the two of us, I think enough people have already died today. So here’s my proposition. You take your surviving ships, and you get the hell out of Hypatia.

On the bright side, Yountz can report that Buccaneer was a complete success. Without firing a single shot at them, Hajdu and Gogunov have convinced the Hypatians of how far the League is willing to go. And the word will quickly spread to nearby systems.

Of course, whether they'll actually be cowed -- or will decide the League needs to be put down like a rabid dog -- remains to be seen....

Not having read further, I wonder if Gogunov will survive, be tried, and swing?
No doubt an answer would be a spoiler.

Robert_A_Woodward wrote:

runsforcelery wrote:
(Snip by RAW re: concerning Peterson's message)

It also adds to the threat her single ship poses if the Sollies suddenly realize that it only took less than half the platforms they thought they saw to kick their butts the first time around. OTOH, she knows that they saw additional very convincing decoys when the other Loreleis lit up in the face of Hajdu's missiles. So she knows the Sollies already know some of the first nine ships they saw could have been decoys and convincing them that they were will --- as I say --- make the threat her single ship poses even more compelling.

Several days ago, you referred to her bluff. There are two parts to her statement. The first part, where she basically Requested and Required Yountz, on the pain of death, to vamoose was not a bluff. The 2nd part where she didn't mention that she could only launch an attack 4 more times was a bluff.

She does not need to pretend that she has enough missiles to destroy the entire SLN task force. By targeting the ship with the current CO and ONLY the ship with the current CO, she is making the threat personal. By killing the current SLN task force CO, she puts a new SLN officer in command of the task force.

There are three possible characteristics of the new Tssk force CO:
The new CO might be a raving lunatic eager to kill millions of people.
The new CO might have the moral courage to not kill millions of people.
The new CO might be a moral coward who will decline to kill millions of people so they can run away.

I figure that by making the threat so personal, Megyn just doubled the odds that she will get the desired results.

She has enough ammo to kill how many more SLN COs? What are the odds that she rolls box cars before runs out of ammo?

TFLYTSNBN wrote: She does not need to pretend that she has enough missiles to destroy the entire SLN task force. By targeting the ship with the current CO and ONLY the ship with the current CO, she is making the threat personal. By killing the current SLN task force CO, she puts a new SLN officer in command of the task force.

One problem: she's already down to the rear admiral who was the screen commander. The pecking order among the surviving squadron leaders probably isn't clear enough for her to pick out the next senior officer before he could order the attack on Hypatia.

Perhaps she will not be able to figure out the pecking order before the stike on the planet. However; she will ge able to figure out the pecking order sometime after the strike. The new CO understsnds this reality. If he orders the strike on the planet, he will die. More importantly, the crew of the ship that the CO is on understand that if they allow the CO to order the strike on the planet, they will die.

The CO is about to suffer a very sudden and lethal case of Pulsar Dart poisening.

Bill Woods wrote:

TFLYTSNBN wrote: She does not need to pretend that she has enough missiles to destroy the entire SLN task force. By targeting the ship with the current CO and ONLY the ship with the current CO, she is making the threat personal. By killing the current SLN task force CO, she puts a new SLN officer in command of the task force.

One problem: she's already down to the rear admiral who was the screen commander. The pecking order among the surviving squadron leaders probably isn't clear enough for her to pick out the next senior officer before he could order the attack on Hypatia.

Bill Woods wrote:

TFLYTSNBN wrote: She does not need to pretend that she has enough missiles to destroy the entire SLN task force. By targeting the ship with the current CO and ONLY the ship with the current CO, she is making the threat personal. By killing the current SLN task force CO, she puts a new SLN officer in command of the task force.

One problem: she's already down to the rear admiral who was the screen commander. The pecking order among the surviving squadron leaders probably isn't clear enough for her to pick out the next senior officer before he could order the attack on Hypatia.

Hypatia's President could keep contacting the SLN force to plead for more time and identifying the new flagship each time...

And relay the identity to the RMN destroyer via FTL comm?

munroburton wrote:One problem: she's already down to the rear admiral who was the screen commander. The pecking order among the surviving squadron leaders probably isn't clear enough for her to pick out the next senior officer before he could order the attack on Hypatia.

Hypatia's President could keep contacting the SLN force to plead for more time and identifying the new flagship each time...[/quote]