Conviction, chapter 6 (spoiler so)

[SYED]

So to keep ahead of the curve, they will attempt to make an indictor that affect translight engines. So they would also need to create their own version which allows them to by pass their own security efforts. Failing that, they could invest in developing other alternative. That mass altering catapult that was to be used on the attack on Karis. If a jump engine can be developed into a catapult, then this catapult could be made into an engine. The basis for the system, is an energy field that eventually breaks down, that alter their mass.

The tactics Jason used to force house trillane off earth will be great against these consortiums. His attacks had solutions, the enemy house would never do as they viewed it as too expensive. Since they have yet fully upgraded all their tech, this aspect could be used against them. It could be a case of financial warfare. What is better is the kimdori could come in and offer solutions? Which only last long enough to let Jason send in something new. The kimdori could introDuce all sort of lesser but useful technology, to build up their own business. We know they have a slave market, will there be an Underground Railroad to rescue some of them?

If fighters and similar small craft will be used against the enemy, their survival needs to be increased. If they can't be targeted or tracked, they won't be hit. I can see the translight real space FTL ability being useful. They could rapidly deploy and redeployment thier carriers, those heavy hitting battle ships. They swoop in and strike, then move before they deal with return fire.

[calista241]

I was surprised the Syndicate didn't capture one of the bionoids. I was sure they were going to be able to interrupt or interfere with the merge. Fel is always full of surprises though.

I think the Karinnes only option is to spread the CBIM's out. Put a couple on other Karinne planets, maybe put one on Kimdori prime. Maybe colonize a planet in another galaxy and put one there as the new disaster recovery CBIM.

[kyli]

Five habitable moons inside a natural fortress. Not only that, but I gather that all five moons have an established ecosystem in an environment that, I assume, has as much or more radiation then Kimdori Prime since the system is also close to the galactic core. All that makes me think that a Karinnes won't claim that system. No, I have a feeling they won't have a chance. I think that the Kimdori will claim the system for themselves. If their ever was a system made for the them, I think this is it. As Zaa said, "it's perfect!" Of course the system would still be the staging point for he war in Andromeda but I think it will be a Kimdori owned system.

I wonder what could make such a huge hole in one of the Syndicate moons-sized ships. A one hundred kathra hole all the way through sounds almost unbelievable, especially if the Consortium were the ones who did it. I wonder if the computer core survived and if any logs can be recovered. It said that a battleship could dock with it but if the hole is as big as they say, then shouldn't the Tianne also fit easily?

And speaking of that ship, I recall mentioning in a previous topic, the possibly of capturing a Syndicate moon-sized ship a turn it into a mobile shipyard. Turns out I was half right. It will be interesting to see how it works out.

[SYED]

I am betting there might be a lot of corporate espionage about to happen. The tech that the academy freely shares would be invaluable to the syndicate, look at how it has improved the efforts of the confederation.

While creating the Cybi computers or simply those super computers that potentially can become sentient, seen on that command ship, are time and resource consuming, their abilities are truly invaluable. The only disadvantage is they all need extreme security. The only safe places a parts from a warship, out side of the Karis system would be terra. It would greatly aid the confederation, having even listed access to it would make the confederation a powerhouse.
The Karrines have gates, catapults and indicators in nearly every confederation system. They are likely to have biogenic systems, so have allowed to secure those sites with their military forces. If they can out fit those units with biogenic relays and system, to allow the Cybi and coma systems to work at a distance. Their own secure network, to allow them access to all the confederation.

So there dozens of places outside of the syndicate sensor grid, I wonder how many locations deny hyperspace jumping.

What if the kimdori set up a secret shipyard in andromeda? They can use it to salvage, wreak after wreak. They could create a cover of being a junk yard.

[GBLW]

I wonder what could make such a huge hole in one of the Syndicate moons-sized ships. A one hundred kathra hole all the way through sounds almost unbelievable, especially if the Consortium were the ones who did it. I wonder if the computer core survived and if any logs can be recovered. It said that a battleship could dock with it but if the hole is as big as they say, then shouldn't the Tianne also fit easily?

A 'small' black hole, wandering through space?

[lapland]

Wonder if that damage could be from a 100 kathra wide ship dropping out of subspace in front of a moon sized ship. Mass would be unstoppable and the engine being ripped apart would cause significant damage once core was breached. Remember when the exomech exploded on earth. The damage reached far beyond the device that held it.

[SYED]

Say when he attacks the syndicate in their home Galaxy, does he want them to know straight away it was him? He could do a lot of damage secretly before the corpArations become aware of a threat. From the impression I got, there is in fighting and heavy competition, so any thing done could easily be hidden as a move from known parties. Remember those epic marbles that had that took out an entire space station, imagine hundreds of them spread across the galaxcy, sat waiting in every high value station then let loose. His happy puppies, my little ponies and hello kittens would unleash havok and destruction amongst their enemy.
We know they can jam their long distance communications, if done at the same time as a series of attacks. The chaos and trouble could be devastating. I doubt the enemy would be defeated in a single operation, but the sheer scale of the effort would be enough for change to occur.
If they undermined the war capability of the syndicate, allowing the consortium to resist better and possibly hold out longer. It also might mean they can evacuate more.

The syndicate are staging just outside of our galaxy, so why not find a similar location near andromeda. There they could place a stargate, and simply use catapults and bridges to differing secure locations in the galaxy itself.

Those giant mirrors Jason uses as disposable weapons, what happens if he places translight engines on it?

Those planet killers, can they be rigged to do something other than burn a planet?

[kyli]

The hyperspace shockwave from ships traveling in mode three sounds like it could be useful. If there isn't time to set up an interdictor, it sounds like a single ship passing a group of enemy ships in mode three every couple minutes can prevent them from entering hyperspace.

And this idea might be a bit wild but if the shockwave is really wide, like say, a few light days or wider, then a couple ships traveling around the perimeter of the galaxy in mode three could prevent any ship from entering or leaving the galaxy, unless those ships cross the effect in real space which would take a while and they would be vulnerable to attack, or unless they have access to FTL tech. This depends entirely on how wide the shockwave is. Though with more ships, it might be possible to create multiple layers of shockwaves and widen the effect but it might just take too many ships to work. The ships could be fully automated and would really only need a hyperspace engine and FTL drive and whatever basic equipment it needs to operate. And if possible, the ships could go just fast enough to knock other ships out but not fast enough to stop Karinne or Kimdori ships. Its a pretty wild idea anyways and would likely require the Karinnes to reveal Project F but I think that will anyways happen very soon.

[lapland]

Block all communication across Andromeda, or at least to and from the hq planet, and then let loose with chaos. They don't know what to expect from Jason's toy chest and they've never seen a technically superior race who can dismantle their technology with relative ease and safety from another galaxy. Jason has so many toys. He could set up catapults in the safe zone and just shoot at their occupied planets if he wants. A rail gun can shoot a round that travels until it hits something. Throw a few big engines around to cause damage. Can he take out stars? Planet killers? Just blocking all communication inside the galaxy will throw them into distress. Destroying subspace or at least making it unusable for a while will do them in. Self replicating spiders like Stargate SG1 had to contend with would be fun. What about the monkeys? Have their engines self destruct across the galaxy. Or to really cause problems. Send a lone scout ship with a bionoid using the almost developed shields directly to their hq to personally assassinate the leadership. When the only way to kill off the robot is to blow up the planet, you've pretty much lost the war.

[expedient]

The syndicate are staging just outside of our galaxy, so why not find a similar location near andromeda. There they could place a stargate, and simply use catapults and bridges to differing secure locations in the galaxy itself.

This is good idea for later if the Confederation were to launch combat missions. Or as a misdirection, if the Syndicate recognise that they are under attack, the KMS and Kimdori could build a base for them to find a few months journey from Andromeda and thus lure them into a trap.

The hyperspace shockwave from ships traveling in mode three sounds like it could be useful. If there isn't time to set up an interdictor, it sounds like a single ship passing a group of enemy ships in mode three every couple minutes can prevent them from entering hyperspace.

Utilising the hyperspace shockwave in this way or as some kind of way to isolate individual ships for ambushes could be very useful. Ships going missing with no explanation sounds like a 3D or Kimdori tactic.

Can he take out stars? Planet killers? Just blocking all communication inside the galaxy will throw them into distress.

I don't think that Jason is at the destroying planets stage yet. Killing off huge numbers of civilians doesn't seem to be his style.

Disrupting communications is a good idea (even if we all know it can only lead to one thing... Trade negotiations )

[SYED]

The thing is when attacking the syndicate in their home Galaxy, do they really want them to be aware it is house Karrines? If they know it is an foreign enemy, they will react differently than if it is unknown. Do they even want them aware they are under attack?
Is the the goal to keep them occupied or eliminate them? While these operations are on going, it allow them to develop and expand their own fleet and other military units.so by the time the syndicate and consortium fleets are dealt with at the home Galaxy, they can easily launch large scale expeditions to andromeda and cause untold damage.

There could be two projects over there, kimdori and karine. The kimdori could keep their activities completely covert, while Karrines would be openly attacking. While the kimdori are keeper of secrets, in this case I could see them acquiring the full technical and scientific database available to both the syndicate and consortium. Lots of the low level tech could simply be passed on to the confederation via the academy, while the more useful and unique items could be kept and researched, giving that extra edge for the house.

I had mentioned the idea of an Underground Railroad for slaves, what if the kimdori sell low level tech that weakens or replaces the slave economy? Then use that to purchase the slaves and funnel them into the either.

[lapland]

The problem that arises in trying to be covert is the energy beings. Some can see a great distance and others are clairvoyant. Both would pose significant problems. They don't need to keep totally hidden, because their secret nest is so far removed that significant damage can be mustered before a retreat would be necessary. By then the Kimdori would be every where in the galaxy causing untold damage along with self replicating spiders.

[SYED]

I still wonder just how the syndicate countered the consortium. They had a generally lower tech level, even with their high level of telepathy. The wide range of abilities the energy beings posses seem to make it impossible to truly counter. We have suspicions that they have some kind of future sight. Who knows what Estoic abilities are in their repertoire?

[calista241]

I think the Karrines and Kimdori will have the advantage over the Syndicate. The Consortium energy being(s) with the clairvoyant power could not sense ships in hyperspace, only when they dropped into real space for a fight. The Kimdori have the ability to actively monitor hyperspace and will know force levels long before the Syndicate gets anywhere.

[kyli]

Sorry but this will be a long post.

I still wonder just how the syndicate countered the consortium. They had a generally lower tech level, even with their high level of telepathy. The wide range of abilities the energy beings posses seem to make it impossible to truly counter. We have suspicions that they have some kind of future sight. Who knows what Estoic abilities are in their repertoire?

I don’t find it surprising that the Syndicate is winning the war in Andromeda, despite the Consortium’s technological advantage and the energy beings abilities for three reasons. One, you assume that the Consortium always had the technological advantage. That may be true for the last few hundred years after the Consortium reverse engineered Karinne tech taken from Exile, but before that they were probably closer to equals technologically. And this war has been ongoing for about six thousand years. Two, Fel basically confirmed that the Syndicate has precogs. And for example, the ability to know where a ship is right now, as the Consortium energy beings may be capable of, is by far less useful as the ability to know where it’s going to be, as the Syndicate precogs may be capable of. Or another example, would you rather want to know where the market prices are right now or would you rather want to know where they will be. Now we don’t know exactly how those precog powers work but from the Syndicate actions, I assume that a precog can weigh different options in his mind and know which option would be best for whatever he’s trying to accomplish. There is probably more to it than that but that is an insane advantage on the battle field. I’m honestly scared of the damage the Syndicate would do to the Confederation if they attack before the Kimdori discover the Precogs. And three, the torsion diffusers are a huge advantage against any empire that primarily uses torsion weapons.

So, another far out idea I had, and I mean that both literally and figuratively, while rereading the Conviction chapters is the possible advantage of a base deep in flat space. Time dilation always confuses me a bit because I often get confused about rather time should go slower for this person or faster. But I’m just going to pick a number and say that if two days go by deep in flat space while only one day passes on Karis, then an automated factory deep in flat space could produce twice as much as a factory on Karis. Of course, the disadvantage is that any workers on that base would also age twice as fast. They would still live as long from their own point of view but if they spent extended periods in flat space, they would age faster from their friends and family on Karis point of view. Of course, this won’t matter as much to a Kimdori since they live so long. The truth is, I’ve always hated time dilation for some reason but I like its possible advantages. This could almost be like the magical time dilation field in book three of the Firestaff Chronicles except of course that time will probably not be slowed down by such a huge degree in flat space.