Page 131: The one in which we learn how Loroi swear

[Random Person]

While Talon is understandably upset at her decision, the Clearbrook's captain is making the right call here. Her options here are to make a run for it and probably escape or to pick up Highland-7 and in all likelihood get intercepted and destroyed. Picking up the shuttle carrying a VIP is pointless if you can't escape afterwards, it just results in the VIP dying on your ship when it gets caught rather than dying on the shuttle. At least this way the shuttle has a chance to find an alternate way out of the system.

Anyway, it's not like all the fun folks on the Highland-7 are in danger. Arioch has revealed enough of his plans for the story that, unless what he revealed was quite misleading or his plans changed, what is going to happen is that the shuttle is just going to get picked up by some other Loroi-friendly ship. My guess is the Courier Corvette sitting at the Gora Relay if it hasn't left offscreen (it's presence does kinda undercut the Clearbrook's captain's point about needing to get word of the offensive out).

Maybe Talon will get some cold comfort when one of the deep jump divisions do catch up with the Clearbrook on its way out. The captain did admit they have to make a run for it since said division is hot on their tail.

The fly in the ointment would be no warning coming to Seren, but I'd be sure people would rejoice on that hag getting her desserts

Clearbrook getting intercepted and destroyed would just be proving her captain right. If she couldn't escape while fleeing at top speed, she sure as hell wouldn't have been able to escape after making a detour.

[CrimsonFALKE]

So why is she swearing like eh cockney bint? Most unbecoming of young ladies hmm must have her governess do something about that swearing.

[Darroth]

So much for the theory of a mental attack.

Considering what characters get focused on in Insider, I predict Talon and Spiral (best girl) will get killed and Ashrain will save the main four. This will also give Alex a meeting with Greywind since Ashrain is related to her.

[NOMAD]

Oh the Talon's using the full vernacular now, still not waiting for an incoming allied ship . . . reminds me space: above and beyond when the 51st squad gets left behind under an invasion.

Great to see that Loroi can be very emotional.

I predict in next pages Tempo will enter the cabin (maybe even drag Alex to camera) and... "persuaded" Clearbrook.
"Follow your goddamn orders. This is your final warning."
"Oh sh- okey, my bad."

I suspect they will either end up on the white haired girl's cruiser or there are some other factions lurking around (historians, the blue thingies oder even some cloaked Darlok ) that will come to their rescue.

Isn't their a Barsam or Neridi courier ships in system, could they not RV with that ships.

and I really hope the gang ends up on Ashrains ship, I think your suspecting is right on the money. Ashrain battle cruiser is racing for Enedd point (closest to Highland-7)

[icekatze]

hi hi

My guess is the Courier Corvette sitting at the Gora Relay if it hasn't left offscreen

If I'm reading the trade script correctly, that courier is labelled "14". Possibly courier number 14?

The amount of time that has passed is a little bit unclear, but perhaps the courier was caught during refueling or something and isn't going to be able to make the jump before the Umiak arrive. Perhaps it jumped at the first sign of the Umiak and doesn't have any of the intel concerning the deep jump fleets. Maybe courier 14 is going to head Azimol while Clearbrook is going down the line to Seren to spread the alarm to multiple systems. Hard to say yet.

Isn't their a Barsam or Neridi courier ships in system

I didn't see any non-loroi ships on the map, but considering the Barsam's reaction to Alex, they might be one of the only ships motivated enough to jump into the system to attempt a rescue. Although I suspect that it would require some highly unlikely circumstances for them to be in such a position in the first place.

[Turrosh Mak]

Clearbrook: Look at the bright side kid, you get to keep all the money.

Haha! I had the same thought as you. MechWarrior 2 Mercenaries rocked, and so does the latest Battletech from Harebrained Schemes/Paradox. Here is some gameplay from The Mighty Jingles. It's a lot like the old box set I got in the 90's.

[Sweforce]

Don't you think that the Hierarchy forces seem to have better Intel then they should have? Well maybe not necessarily. A massive fleet jumps in from Rallis leaving behind a reserve force. Once awakened from their jumpsickness they notice a loroi fleet undergoing replenishment. By this time the loroi have yet to notice them due to the finite speed of light. The Hierarchy commander want to capture the loroi fleet in a trap and orders one ship to return with orders to the reserve fleet to make the deep jump to cut the loroi of. A common sci go mistake is to forget about the speed of light limitations on observations. The same goes with communications. I have one more then one occasion in Sci fi seen close to our time expeditions to Mars communicate with Earth in real time. Even communications with the Moon should have a noticeable (but short) delay.

[icekatze]

hi hi

Don't you think that the Hierarchy forces seem to have better Intel then they should have?

I don't think that they do. It looks to me that the Umiak are covering all their bases by sending divisions to every possible jump point, and not just toward the Loroi fleets. It says to me that they planned all the maneuvers in advance, having no specific intel on current fleet positions.

Once awakened from their jumpsickness...

I don't think the Umiak are through their jump sickness yet. According to the insider, the Umiak's jump sickness lasts up to an hour, and I don't think that much time has elapsed. When Talon makes the emergency burn, immediately after the first Umiak divisions enter the system, she states that they will rendezvous with the Clearbrook in 58.24 minutes. If the Umiak waited an hour to come out of jump sickness, the Highland Seven would have already caught up with the Clearbrook.

By this time the loroi have yet to notice them due to the finite speed of light.

The light-speed lag from one end of the system to the other is about 4-5 minutes. 8 minutes, actually. Oops. So the Loroi have almost certainly noticed them before they are out of their jump sickness.

I think the Umiak used the Deep Jump maneuver as part of their standing strategy, maybe to catch couriers trying to send warning, but maybe not. (If they could force couriers to attempt a deep jump just to stay ahead of them, then there's a chance the courier will miss jump and fail to relay warning.)

(Edit to correct a mistake on the system jump diameter.)

[orion1836]

The light-speed lag from one end of the system to the other is about 4-5 minutes. So the Loroi have almost certainly noticed them before they are out of their jump sickness.

Wow, considering the lag from the sun to the earth is ~8:20, that system is tiny.

[icekatze]

hi hi

We don't know the mass of Leido primary. Currently, we've observed white dwarfs as light as .15 solar masses, so it is possible that the gravity well is both deep and very narrow. This may provide some navigational hazard, but would also make systems like the Leido crossroads very desirable routes for moving ships quickly from one end to the other.

[Zarya]

I think the Umiak used the Deep Jump maneuver as part of their standing strategy, maybe to catch couriers trying to send warning, but maybe not. (If they could force couriers to attempt a deep jump just to stay ahead of them, then there's a chance the courier will miss jump and fail to relay warning.)

I don’t fully understand in what way a deep jump provides an advantage over ships that try to get away via regular jump points. From a regular outbound jump point, which will always be reached later by the Umiak forces, they would have to do deep jump again into the next system in order to be able to intercept. Is that how it works?

Because of jump-sickness, a huge drawback for the Umiak, I would think that any attempts to intercept the escapees would have to be managed by fully automated systems, or by Umiak allies that are not as severely affected by a jump.

Jumpsickness as a handicap factor will also mean that Stillstorm won’t loose a minute to start messing with the Umiak that have just arrived in the Leido system.

[fredgiblet]

I think the Umiak used the Deep Jump maneuver as part of their standing strategy, maybe to catch couriers trying to send warning, but maybe not. (If they could force couriers to attempt a deep jump just to stay ahead of them, then there's a chance the courier will miss jump and fail to relay warning.)

I think it may be an attempt to encircle the Loroi fleets. It seems to me that the current offensive is more than a raid, it's a breakthrough attempt. If you give your opponents and out then they can pull back, regroup and fight again, if you encircle and annihilate them then you have a clear path forward.

[dragoongfa]

Deep jumping offers a significant positional advantage, space if big and it takes a while for a ship to travel within a star system, even one as small as Leido. All things considered deep jumping cut off a significant amount of in system travel time and put the deep jumping force in a great position to act in the developing situation.
Sure the crew will be jump sick but the auto-pilots should be advanced enough to keep in formation and automatically fire their weapons if an enemy ship gets into their firing envelops. It's a risk but it is a guaranteed pay off provided that enough ships survive the jump itself.

[Arioch]

The light-speed lag from one end of the system to the other is about 4-5 minutes.

That's not quite what I said. The Leido system (as defined by nominal jump distance) is about 1 AU across, so lag from one end of the system to the other is about 8 minutes. The lag between Highland-7 and the action at the Rallis and Sala jump points (which is what I was asked in that quote) is 4-5 minutes.

[Sweforce]

Just how severly are the umiak effected by jump sickness? Are they totally knocked out or are they still capable to perform basic ship functions while more or less severely nusiated? They may not be capable to fight a proper battle but maybe they are capable to give an on-board computer some basic orders.

[wedgekree]

The Umiak don't have to blockade 100% of system traffic. They just need to get there quickly enough before large numbers of ships can fall back. I presume they aren't expecting to cmopletely close off the jump point before anyone can jump - but other than the occasional leaker/courier, they can at least make anyone going for it have to run the gauntlet. Presumably the only way a ship can make it through is if they go on near maximum sublight speed to try and get through before the Umiak can get to blockade position on the far end or they have to engage in a running battle with the Umiak fleet coming through the main jump gate - and it's a lot harder to flee from a running firefight.

And even for anyone making an immediate run for the jump point, they still have at least a minimally responsive blockade to run through that's going on automated systems, what few crew are functinoal, etc to harry them. That will make it rough for -anyone- trying to run. The intent seems to not be to completely block it off - just make it so that a fleet can't disengage and withdraw. I'm guessing going from one end of the system to the other, even at near maximum speed, takes longer htan the normal period for jump sickness.

It kind of reminds me tactically of Wing Commander.

[novius]

Just how severly are the umiak effected by jump sickness? Are they totally knocked out or are they still capable to perform basic ship functions while more or less severely nusiated? They may not be capable to fight a proper battle but maybe they are capable to give an on-board computer some basic orders.

The captain of the Clearbrook said it best - the Umiak themselves may suffer from jump sickness, but their torpedoes do not. That implies that the Umiak are still able to get their ships on course (and they do, as seen on the tactical overview) and send off a volley when needed.

[novius]

So much for the theory of a mental attack.

Considering what characters get focused on in Insider, I predict Talon and Spiral (best girl) will get killed and Ashrain will save the main four. This will also give Alex a meeting with Greywind since Ashrain is related to her.

If you mean the cast of characters, Talon is listed. Spiral... is not. And given how little screen time she got, I do suspect that she would be the one buying the others time for their escape or act as a distraction.

[orion1836]

So much for the theory of a mental attack.

Considering what characters get focused on in Insider, I predict Talon and Spiral (best girl) will get killed and Ashrain will save the main four. This will also give Alex a meeting with Greywind since Ashrain is related to her.

If you mean the cast of characters, Talon is listed. Spiral... is not. And given how little screen time she got, I do suspect that she would be the one buying the others time for their escape or act as a distraction.

RIP Spiral Make sure you pass on the knife before you go.

[icekatze]

hi hi

That's not quite what I said.

Crud, sorry. I'm guessing that even at 8 minutes, the Umiak aren't going to be out of their jump sickness, but still my bad.