Preston of the Space Ways

munroburton wrote:I always thought RFC's Preston was simply a nod to Captain Proton from Star Trek Voyager. It's a long lineage indeed, going back through Flash Gordon to the 1930s' matinee shorts.

The closest thing to a 'real' Preston in the Honorverse has to be Victor Cachat.

munroburton wrote:I always thought RFC's Preston was simply a nod to Captain Proton from Star Trek Voyager. It's a long lineage indeed, going back through Flash Gordon to the 1930s' matinee shorts.

The closest thing to a 'real' Preston in the Honorverse has to be Victor Cachat.

penny wrote:

Jonathan_S wrote:I'd assume that basically every government would have rules restricting, regulating, or outright banning privately owned armed ships in their territorial space -- so that wouldn't just be a Silesia thing.

Pirates' Bane and Ambuscade were technically considered vessels of the (Silesian) Confederate Navy, as Bachfisch had gotten a "had gotten his hands on the warrant as a naval auxiliary which let him evade the Confederacy's prohibition against privately owned armed vessels" [WoH]. Warrants which are, practically speaking, "nothing but ways around the prohibition against armed merchantmen which are available to those with sufficiently well-placed government patrons. Everyone knows the auxiliaries will never be called upon in their naval capacity" [WoH]

Other systems, with less concerns that their citizens might turn pirate, might have less convoluted ways to legally own an armed privately owned vessel -- but being armed might limit where such a ship could travel as it would have to follow to local rules about privately armed ships in whatever systems it wanted to visit.


However while Admiral Givens might have provided some surreptitious financial assistance to Bachfisch in setting or operating up his little shipping empire I'd assume that in order to maintain his cover his ships would have to at least appear profitable enough to look like a going business concern. (Hence the higher prices he demanded in exchange for the higher security his armed shipped offered)

But we're talking about a Preston of the Space Ways. Or the female version. Like a retired Honor Harrington whose exploits have likewise become more political in nature. Friendlier systems should welcome having the likes of a Preston in their midst. The system probably owes Preston for some past deed(s) done several times over. You might not mind them operating in your backyard armed. You do not want them assassinated in your system. If possible, the vessel would be armed but not obvious. Rather, its defensive capabilities are not readily made out. As hidden as possible. A tricked out vessel that systems are turning a blind eye to. At any rate, a Preston has a good reputation, not that of a troublemaker or a pirate. Unless you are one of the systems whose illegal ways have been exposed by such a person. No?

Honor Harrington might someday become the female version of Preston.

Jonathan_S wrote:
(And even in the Star Empire and Grayson where Honor presumably could get permission quite easily we know her runabout is unarmed and there's zero indication her hyper-capable yacht is either)

Theemile wrote:

Jonathan_S wrote:
(And even in the Star Empire and Grayson where Honor presumably could get permission quite easily we know her runabout is unarmed and there's zero indication her hyper-capable yacht is either)

Her Yacht is ~48K tons iirc. A DB, the smallest possible hypership, is usually 35-40Ktons (The Fracture, a Havenite dispatch boat is ~37 Ktons). If Honor's yacht was armed, it would be a very minimal installation.

Which brings the point, on warships, if a navigational hazard is encountered that particle shields cannot handle, the forward lasers are engaged to handle the hazard. Shouldn't all ships have a forward mounted hazard laser? Obviously it wouldn't be a large emplacement, like a old DD PDLC or Pinnance laser, but shouldn't EVERY ship be slightly armed?

Jonathan_S wrote:

Theemile wrote:

Which brings the point, on warships, if a navigational hazard is encountered that particle shields cannot handle, the forward lasers are engaged to handle the hazard. Shouldn't all ships have a forward mounted hazard laser? Obviously it wouldn't be a large emplacement, like a old DD PDLC or Pinnance laser, but shouldn't EVERY ship be slightly armed?

My first thought was maybe they didn't need it because their top speed is lower -

But then, quite quickly, my second thought was 'oh wait; it's lower because their commercial grade particle shielding is weaker'; so it's probably no better at shunting aside larger hazards at its top speed than a warship's is at its (higher) top speed.

Maybe merchant ships are less likely to approach their top speed in normal space? (I wouldn't expect hyperspace to have that kind of navigational hazard) They do tend to accelerate so slowly that normally (outside of hyper) they'd never get close to their top speed.
At 250g they just have room to approach 0.5c at turnover on the 7 LH run out to the Junction (though that's still below their 0.6c top speed for normal space; and 250g seems to be on bit of the high side for most merchants -- the few in Jaynes vary from 190g to 215g)

If being armed at all was an issue for them they might just self-limit their velocity to something low enough their particle shielding alone was sufficient.

(But this was an interesting topic; and one I hadn't thought about before)

Theemile wrote:I would think any ship beyond orbital shuttles would require a forward spinal laser as safety equipment. It's one of those things where you don't need it until you really need it, and once a ship with 300 children is lost on a "bus ride" because it didn't have a cheap defensive laser, every ship will have one.

tlb wrote:

Theemile wrote:I would think any ship beyond orbital shuttles would require a forward spinal laser as safety equipment. It's one of those things where you don't need it until you really need it, and once a ship with 300 children is lost on a "bus ride" because it didn't have a cheap defensive laser, every ship will have one.

Spinal or a forward mounted computer controlled laser cluster? Can a spinal weapon react quickly enough to a group of objects?

Theemile wrote:Which brings the point, on warships, if a navigational hazard is encountered that particle shields cannot handle, the forward lasers are engaged to handle the hazard. Shouldn't all ships have a forward mounted hazard laser? Obviously it wouldn't be a large emplacement, like a old DD PDLC or Pinnance laser, but shouldn't EVERY ship be slightly armed?

Jonathan_S wrote:Nations don't tend to have laws that include "except for ones of good reputation".

At best they have bureaucratic and annoying licensing and registration paperwork for armed private ships which includes consideration for good reputation -- but that doesn't making getting prior permission from each and every star nation any less of a pain.