Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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Mr.Tucker
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Arioch wrote: The departure point was Esperanza at 82 Eridani. They would have left in multiple groups, the first including the lead scouts Pellew and Utsumi and the support ship Cavadini, which set up a supply base at the halfway point. The second group included Bellarmine, Matveyev, the transport Prabhu and the frigate Hampton. Both groups rendezvoused at the halfway point to refuel; Hampton returned toward human space to deliver a progress report, and Prabhu and the four scouts continued to the relay point located near Loroi/Umiak space. From the relay point, each of the four scouts took separate paths. The plan called for a third group including Tartakovsky, Galvin and Russell to be sent out for resupply and relay.

The TCA maintains a few buoys in systems they control (for navigational aids and as communication relays); there are not many beyond Esperanza as no regular traffic goes that way, but you would run into a few exploration buoys as you approached 82 Eridani from Loroi/Umiak space.
Well, that was more info than I expected. Might I ask what those exploration buoys do? Are they basically automated telescopes that gather astronomical data on a system, that gets periodically downloaded by a service ship?
Are there any more stations/outposts in the Eridani system (apart from the planet itself)?
One more question would be whether asteroid mining is prevalent (it would not seem so in the setting)?
I must say, the expedition seems to have been quite a serious undertaking from a logistics standpoint.

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Arioch
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Mr.Tucker wrote:Might I ask what those exploration buoys do? Are they basically automated telescopes that gather astronomical data on a system, that gets periodically downloaded by a service ship?
Essentially, in addition to the standard navigational features.
Mr.Tucker wrote:Are there any more stations/outposts in the Eridani system (apart from the planet itself)?
I don't know. The planet would have several orbital stations at least.
Mr.Tucker wrote:One more question would be whether asteroid mining is prevalent (it would not seem so in the setting)?
It probably is, though I would imagine it's mostly done by mining vessels, rather than "bases". Unless you were mining a really huge asteroid, like Ceres... which is essentially a small planet.

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Mr.Tucker
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Another question: why does the Colonial fleet operate both the Hayes and the Yorktown class of frigates? Seems like the Hayes is more heavily armed. The York seems strange, an upgunned scout frigate, which means it neither has the firepower of a police frigate (the Hayes), nor does it have the range of a Scout frigate (the Bennet).

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by folti »

Mr.Tucker wrote:Another question: why does the Colonial fleet operate both the Hayes and the Yorktown class of frigates? Seems like the Hayes is more heavily armed. The York seems strange, an upgunned scout frigate, which means it neither has the firepower of a police frigate (the Hayes), nor does it have the range of a Scout frigate (the Bennet).
Hayes are reserve ships, which normally operated by the various colonial administrations, with the provision, that they'll be handed back to the TCA in case of war.

Yorktown is still a scout ship, which traded extra range for more weapons and armor, but it still have a more powerful sensor equipment (Specials: Scanner), and more than likely still have better interstellar range than the Hayes.

IMO, they are two designs, which, while similarly armed, and roughly have the same size and crewing, are optimized to two very different roles.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

The Yorktown is an up-gunned scout; it still has long range.

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Mr.Tucker
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Mr.Tucker »

Are there still Crusher-type vessels being built or operated, or were they banned following the TCA charter?
Another thing I've just realised looking at a map of TCA space is that about half of it is WAY outside the trade lanes to Aldeea and Esperanza (the half accessible through Alpha Centauri). What gives?

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Mr.Tucker wrote:Are there still Crusher-type vessels being built or operated, or were they banned following the TCA charter?
Large, fast civilian vessels still exist, and it's still illegal to arm them, but now there is a military fleet to enforce this rule that outclasses them, instead of just smaller police frigates that couldn't do much more than yell "Stop! Or I'll shout 'stop' again!"
Mr.Tucker wrote:Another thing I've just realised looking at a map of TCA space is that about half of it is WAY outside the trade lanes to Aldeea and Esperanza (the half accessible through Alpha Centauri). What gives?
I don't think I understand the question. The map represents a region that humanity has explored, and can sometimes be found operating in. Only six worlds in four of these systems have planetary colonies, but numerous others have small outposts, both temporary and permanent. Some will be TCA listening posts to monitor the frontier, some will be scientific expeditions to study different types of stars and planets, and a few will be commercial operations (probably most involved in resource gathering).

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by GeoModder »

I noticed in the ECS ship list that there was a jump from ECS 212 to ECS 214. Does it mean the TCA doesn't build ships with a '13' in their tag? Neither ECS 13 or ECS 113 seem to be in use as well.

Also, looking at their ECS tags, the heavy tug (Cavadini class) seem to be a recent addition to the Fleet and Scout Corps. Was/is there an older class of (less capable/smaller) tug vessels both services could/can use?
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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GeoModder wrote:I noticed in the ECS ship list that there was a jump from ECS 212 to ECS 214. Does it mean the TCA doesn't build ships with a '13' in their tag? Neither ECS 13 or ECS 113 seem to be in use as well.
Nah, ECS-213 Njeri is a Vance-class torpedo frigate, under construction. The other gaps are not with any intention in mind.
GeoModder wrote:Also, looking at their ECS tags, the heavy tug (Cavadini class) seem to be a recent addition to the Fleet and Scout Corps. Was/is there an older class of (less capable/smaller) tug vessels both services could/can use?
Probably, although they may just have used converted vessels of other classes. I think tugs in this setting function more like tank recovery vehicles than our harbor tugs, which are probably not necessary (as all ships have maneuvering thrusters of some sort).

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Sweforce »

Arioch wrote:Probably, although they may just have used converted vessels of other classes. I think tugs in this setting function more like tank recovery vehicles than our harbor tugs, which are probably not necessary (as all ships have maneuvering thrusters of some sort).
I guess a variant of this could be to drag cargo that is to large to fit inside a cargo bay. It may not be a good idea for FTL but within a system it should work. Let's say you want to change the orbit of a small space station more then it is advisable to use the thrusters for. An example of this could be that let's say a new station has been built orbiting Mars but the old one it replaces work just fine and would be an excellent fif it orbited Jupiter instead.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by GeoModder »

Ah, totally forgot to update my ECS list with the one you posted at IceKatze's fanart thread, Arioch.

Looks like the ECS is going on a one-off building spree. Fire Support Destroyers with a Mjolnir particle beam cannon. Torpedo Frigates...
Can't imagine these kind of vessels to have much else in the way of weaponry, so they seem to be meant mobile fire-and-forget weapon platforms.
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

GeoModder wrote:Looks like the ECS is going on a one-off building spree. Fire Support Destroyers with a Mjolnir particle beam cannon. Torpedo Frigates...
Can't imagine these kind of vessels to have much else in the way of weaponry, so they seem to be meant mobile fire-and-forget weapon platforms.
Somewhat analogous to the WWII PT boats: minimal-cost torpedo platforms.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Zorg56 »

Why not just... like... Turn surface on evry usable planet between loroi, umiak and humanity into a radioactive hell with nuclear weapons (cobalt bombs or somthing like that), so they wont look in this direction?

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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"Wow, someone out this way was able to build and deploy a lot of nuclear weapons! That amount of industry could be useful."
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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If there is no usable planets then it is 2 month to travel there, far from communications. ( And there is not gonna be any communication in the future, planets broken)
Completly uselles just because it is too far.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Siber »

I think it's a safe bet that the radius out to which humanity can irradiate every useful thing into uselessness in a timely fashion is a much smaller distance than what is feasible for Loroi or Umiak scouts or couriers to cross if they get the idea that there in that direction is doing something very noticable and weird. This depends a little on just how tightly their industry is tied to having a habitable planet, which is not a detail I'm super clear on, but it's unreasonable to me to think that there is absolutely no room for habitat-based industry.
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

I have the feeling that encountering deliberately irradiated worlds would raise just the kind of interest that you don't want if you're trying to avoid attention.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by boldilocks »

Just build a series of fake civilizations on every useful planet, then make it look like they killed themselves through self-irradiation that renders the planets useless.


Of course, if you've got the resources to build up whole fake civilizations on that kind of scale, I'm not sure why you'd be that worried about umiak and loroi incursions.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by boldilocks »

Arioch wrote:I have the feeling that encountering deliberately irradiated worlds would raise just the kind of interest that you don't want if you're trying to avoid attention.
Just send out loads of diplomats that you've recruited from psych-wards and insane asylums, induced to be suicidal, and loaded up with suicide pills, bombs and stowaway single shot pistols.

After the first dozen or so lunatics shoot themselves in the head in loroi and umiak foreign offices I'm guessing they'd write off the human sector of the galaxy as unnecessarily volatile, maybe publish up some interesting treatises on the matter and then put yellow tape around their nearest jump points.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

"We're insane and run around destroying worlds; please come annihilate us!" ?

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