Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

What was the initial plan of the bellermine ? Once they found one of the sides what was there plan if they weren't attacked? Did they have a diplomat or was that the captain? Did they an honor guard? Or we're they just supost to bring aliens to a pre determined location? Or a bit of both?
Captain Hamilton's orders (which now fall on Alex) were to make contact, handle appropriate introductions, and open negotiations. Ideally, this would mean getting word back to the ACM HQ at Esperanza via the relay vessel Prabhu and arranging a meeting with high-level Terran diplomats, but the captains were given substantial authority to negotiate on their own, if necessary. Any agreement would have to be communicated to and agreed to by the appropriate TCA authorities (also standing by at Esperanza). Bellarmine had diplomatic advisors on board, but Hamilton was ultimately in charge of the diplomatic mission.
fredgiblet wrote:What about an Ion Cannon Frigate type design? Would that be feasible for the tech?
Structurally, yes, but the power requirements would still be a problem. For the heavy cruiser, the Mjolnir operates a bit like the Wave Loom, in that its power requirements are greater than the ship's power generation capacity, and so it must have a capacitor that's charged over several minutes. A ~200m "Mjolnir Frigate" with a destroyer-class powerplant would have to charge for a longer time, during which it would have limited ability to use its engines for anything else. It's an interesting idea, though.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Jakelope13 »

How were the extra-solar planets colonized? Were the survey vessels equipped with an FTL drive, and the following (initial) colony expedition made the trip via sublight speeds (with some form of cryostasis to cut down on lifesupport) or were the colony ships also equipped with an FTL drive?

And how large are the Terran Jump Drives? Could you significantly reduce the power requirements, and potentially increase the armaments, by stripping it out? Or is it roughly the same size as the reactor itself, where adding/removing it would pose no actual reduction in power usage?

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Absalom »

Arioch wrote:
Jakelope13 wrote:Exactly how large are the weapon mounts on these ships? And would it be possible to see larger weapons mounted on the smaller classes? I'd imagine that having a small, fast vessel equipped with only a spinal Mjolnir Cannon (and some point defense turrets) would serve well as a force multiplier.
The Mjolnir module is almost 100m long. Even if it could fit on one of the smaller ships (which I doubt), there would be problems with supplying enough power to operate the weapon; it's taxing on even the heavy cruiser's power system.
How large of a strap-on reactor would it take to counter-act this problem? I ask, mostly because the future ambassador from the Loroi advising that the Emperor not extend pulse cannon technology to humanity because "They'll try to stick it on a fighter, and if that won't work, they'll stick a fighter on it" amuses me for some reason.

Edit: Well, that and certain brain-bleach -inducing jokes.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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Jakelope13 wrote:How were the extra-solar planets colonized? Were the survey vessels equipped with an FTL drive, and the following (initial) colony expedition made the trip via sublight speeds (with some form of cryostasis to cut down on lifesupport) or were the colony ships also equipped with an FTL drive?
The colonies were set up by many sorties of ordinary FTL freighters and transports. I don't know why folks seem to imagine some mammoth colony ship that does it in one shot. 4X space games, perhaps?

Sublight starships take centuries to get anywhere. The story is set only 150 years in the future.
Jakelope13 wrote:And how large are the Terran Jump Drives? Could you significantly reduce the power requirements, and potentially increase the armaments, by stripping it out?
The jump drive doesn't draw power unless you're using it. Omitting the jump drive saves you some cost and weight, but then the vessel is limited to defending the system it's built at (Sol).
Absalom wrote:How large of a strap-on reactor would it take to counter-act this problem?
If you take a destroyer hull and outfit it with cruiser engines, then you haven't really got a destroyer any more... you've got something that's nearly as expensive as a cruiser. That kind of defeats the whole appeal of the Mjolnir-Destroyer idea, which is that you can make more of the things because they're cheaper.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Jakelope13 »

Arioch wrote:The colonies were set up by many sorties of ordinary FTL freighters and transports. I don't know why folks seem to imagine some mammoth colony ship that does it in one shot. 4X space games, perhaps?

Sublight starships take centuries to get anywhere. The story is set only 150 years in the future.
It's probably something harking back to the Age of Sail, or the old Viking years, where it took months (sometimes, even years) to get anywhere, fraught with peril and adventure. There's a certain poetry in those kinds of stories. Not to mention which, it's not that much of a stretch to imagine that the very earliest FTL drives weren't exactly reliable. So, when launching a ship with the capability to land a self-sustaining colony on a new world, it probably didn't hurt to send it the one way that was cost-effective/safe.
Arioch wrote:The jump drive doesn't draw power unless you're using it. Omitting the jump drive saves you some cost and weight, but then the vessel is limited to defending the system it's built at (Sol).
Extremely true... unless you built some kind of supercarrier to ferry those ships from system to system.

I'm drawing from David Weber's LAC idea (LACs, or Light Attack Craft, were too small to effectively mount an FTL drive, but were perfect for patrolling star systems; in his later novels, however, the LAC went from being a smaller starship to being akin to a very large fighter, the first new flight wrapped around a superheavy laser cannon, designed for puncturing battlecruiser armor, and were ferried in dreadnaught/superdreadnaught carriers)

Plus, if someone on one on Aldea wanted a starship, but without a jump drive, wouldn't they need a very large freighter (possibly capable of delivering multiple of these single-system vessels) to be able to transport it from Sol?

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Murica »

If I remember correctly humans make use of drones for small craft like fighters and bombers. How would these compete with their umiak and lorii counterparts?

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by GeoModder »

Murica wrote:
GeoModder wrote:
Murica wrote:Just how rare is the type of person you can teach to operate a space ship? I mean how rare is it to find someone with the skills to be on the crew of a human spaceship are we talking 1 out of 100 or 1 out of a million
Even if it was only one in a million, that's still a pool of over twenty thousand people to draw your volunteers from. ;)
Yes but I don't think you want conscripts running such systems
Since when are volunteers considered conscripts? :o
Murica wrote:If I remember correctly humans make use of drones for small craft like fighters and bombers. How would these compete with their umiak and lorii counterparts?
Poorly?
I can imagine Loroi/Umiak drones (if even they use those) have a significant better propulsion system, increasing their perfomance by at least a magnitude.
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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Arioch »

Murica wrote:If I remember correctly humans make use of drones for small craft like fighters and bombers. How would these compete with their umiak and lorii counterparts?
The defense drones are armed with lasers, so they have similar basic characteristics to a Loroi fighter, but the human version would be inferior in firepower, acceleration and endurance (as you would expect). The Umiak do not have an equivalent.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Murica »

Out of 25000 people 100% aren't going to volenteer actually people who volenteer for military service are a very small minority of the population

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Charlie »

Murica wrote:Out of 25000 people 100% aren't going to volenteer actually people who volenteer for military service are a very small minority of the population
I give my left arm to be able to serve in a western Army, all the better if I could do so in an air-force.

I'd wager all most every person of that time would feel the samel;
Join the TCA, see the universe.
No sorcery lies beyond my grasp. - Rubick, the Grand Magus

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Jakelope13 »

Murica wrote:Out of 25000 people 100% aren't going to volenteer actually people who volenteer for military service are a very small minority of the population
True, however the TCA can draw on the entire combined population of humanity, including that of Earth. Even if only a small fraction of a percent chooses to volunteer, that's still a very, very large number in absolute terms. For example, if only a tenth of a percent of the people living on Aldea decided to join up with the TCA, that'd means there would be 125,000 applicants.

On that note, how many people are currently living on Earth? Over 10 Billion? And how long have the other worlds been inhabited by humans?
Charlie wrote:I give my left arm to be able to serve in a western Army, all the better if I could do so in an air-force.

I'd wager all most every person of that time would feel the samel;
Join the TCA, see the universe.
"Join the Scout Corps, Expanding our Frontiers!"
"Fleet up, Defending our worlds from within and without!"

Wait, would that mean the Scout Corps could, in fact, run marathons of Star Trek (TOS, TNG, and Voyager) as recruitment programming?

Also, has there been a development in the way of holographic projection technology? It looked like the bridge crew of the Bellarmine were using display panels with a touch-based interface.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Murica »

Charlie wrote:
Murica wrote:Out of 25000 people 100% aren't going to volenteer actually people who volenteer for military service are a very small minority of the population
I give my left arm to be able to serve in a western Army, all the better if I could do so in an air-force.

I'd wager all most every person of that time would feel the samel;
Join the TCA, see the universe.
Really? Course at the point in human history outsider is space will be a lot less exiting right now in 2013 it's awesome but it's pretty much a fact that humans get bored easily and with space becoming less and less exiting soon they will stop getting so many new recruits

And trust me I know from experience western militaries are not something to get exited about also if you give up anything make sure it's your writing arm :lol:

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

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Murica wrote:Really? Course at the point in human history outsider is space will be a lot less exiting right now in 2013 it's awesome but it's pretty much a fact that humans get bored easily and with space becoming less and less exiting soon they will stop getting so many new recruits
True, sooner or later, space will become somewhat boring. And, sure, there's going to be a percentage of the population that stops caring about space. Usually, those are the people who are so busy, who have so much going on, that what happens in space doesn't matter to them. That's true of today. Sea-bound vessels have been around for upwards of tens of thousands of years. By now, taking a boat has become a matter of convenience, rather than a matter of adventure.

But the thing that is so wonderful about space, and especially colonizing new worlds, is that there's just so much of it, there's always that sense of discovery, of wonder, when people find something they didn't know about. I mean, take a look at Outsider. There is a massive amount of information, numerous races, political intrigue, the animalistic thrill of war, and the push and pull of territorial disputes... and this is all taking place in just one arm of the Milky Way. No one knows everything within just that region of space, and there's even more just beyond the borders.

So, as you noted, space is exciting right now, in 2013. Imagine that same feeling, except repeated on the other five planets that we inhabit. There is going to be a lot of people lining up who want to find out more about the space we live in, and I can practically guarantee that the TCA, when the Six Worlds of Humanity finally shift from domestic expansion into total war, there'll be a line at every recruiting station in every city.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Charlie »

Murica wrote:
Charlie wrote:
Murica wrote:
I give my left arm to be able to serve in a western Army, all the better if I could do so in an air-force.

I'd wager all most every person of that time would feel the samel;
Join the TCA, see the universe.
Really? Course at the point in human history outsider is space will be a lot less exiting right now in 2013 it's awesome but it's pretty much a fact that humans get bored easily and with space becoming less and less exiting soon they will stop getting so many new recruits

And trust me I know from experience western militaries are not something to get exited about also if you give up anything make sure it's your writing arm :lol:
I think it would be more like Pilots today, an incredibly cool job that requires hard work and metal faculties it achieve, it still would be very cool not at all boring.

I have some small understanding of military life, National Service was mandatory here in my fathers day. In my family, as I believe, there has been a soldier in every generation since the First Boer War. Regardless of perceived military blood, I know well war isn`t 'glorious'. To sum it, I'd say it feels like I must join an Army, but I also want to join an Army. I wouldn`t mind being Infantry, but I wanted to learn Air-Frames and Engines like my dad did. Unfortunately, as I am white, I cannot join my own countries Armed Forces. The British Common Wealth Regular Army was impressed with my schooling and BRAB scores, but as they have had a massive job cut recently they don`t have the space for me. The French Foreign Legion is only an option really if you have had previous military experience. All of the American branches don`t accept any sort of non-citizen, I checked; them all.

But setting aside my own woes, I would speculate that any position in TCA would be quite a personal honor.
No sorcery lies beyond my grasp. - Rubick, the Grand Magus

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Murica »

I have some small understanding of military life, National Service was mandatory here in my fathers day. In my family, as I believe, there has been a soldier in every generation since the First Boer War. Regardless of perceived military blood, I know well war isn`t 'glorious'. To sum it, I'd say it feels like I must join an Army, but I also want to join an Army. I wouldn`t mind being Infantry, but I wanted to learn Air-Frames and Engines like my dad did. Unfortunately, as I am white, I cannot join my own countries Armed Forces. The British Common Wealth Regular Army was impressed with my schooling and BRAB scores, but as they have had a massive job cut recently they don`t have the space for me. The French Foreign Legion is only an option really if you have had previous military experience. All of the American branches don`t accept any sort of non-citizen, I checked; them all.

But setting aside my own woes, I would speculate that any position in TCA would be quite a personal honor.[/quote]
Yes I have heard about the massive cuts in the British military I personally am speaking out of my experience as a cadet (which I am still a member) but I respect another patriot even if your from another nation I am also intersted in infantry. But back on topic the TCA might be to much of an honor since they must have such a high flunk out rate they might scare away other recruits and it might breed hazing by an elitist old guard from the less elite new recruits

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Murica »

Why didn't it quote you?

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Charlie »

Murica wrote:
Charlie wrote:I have some small understanding of military life, National Service was mandatory here in my fathers day. In my family, as I believe, there has been a soldier in every generation since the First Boer War. Regardless of perceived military blood, I know well war isn`t 'glorious'. To sum it, I'd say it feels like I must join an Army, but I also want to join an Army. I wouldn`t mind being Infantry, but I wanted to learn Air-Frames and Engines like my dad did. Unfortunately, as I am white, I cannot join my own countries Armed Forces. The British Common Wealth Regular Army was impressed with my schooling and BRAB scores, but as they have had a massive job cut recently they don`t have the space for me. The French Foreign Legion is only an option really if you have had previous military experience. All of the American branches don`t accept any sort of non-citizen, I checked; them all.

But setting aside my own woes, I would speculate that any position in TCA would be quite a personal honor.
Yes I have heard about the massive cuts in the British military I personally am speaking out of my experience as a cadet (which I am still a member) but I respect another patriot even if your from another nation I am also intersted in infantry. But back on topic the TCA might be to much of an honor since they must have such a high flunk out rate they might scare away other recruits and it might breed hazing by an elitist old guard from the less elite new recruits
Honestly, I'd have been happy with any position in a relatively upstanding military, I don`t think it`s a life for everybody, but I suspect it would have made for a decent life for myself.

Consider NASA, knowing that it`s a long shot for anybody, how many hundreds or thousands still apply every time a spot opens; any spot.

I don`t even think the eiltest hazing would even constitute a problem really, as I know, everyone starts at the very bottom of the totem pole. It takes time to work ones way up, every company I have ever worked at operated like that.

Mechanic Shops have; Indicator Fluid
Offices have; The Long Weight
Armys have; Chem Light Batteries

Elite/Veteran have earned their place, they know it, most new guys know it. Banal hazing would be expected anywhere anyway. Take the hazing, pay your dues, and it goes away. Resist and it gets worse. There`s a Japanese proverb about something similar;
The nail that sticks out gets hammered down.
No sorcery lies beyond my grasp. - Rubick, the Grand Magus

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Gudo »

Charlie wrote:
Murica wrote:I give my left arm to be able to serve in a western Army, all the better if I could do so in an air-force.
And trust me I know from experience western militaries are not something to get exited about also if you give up anything make sure it's your writing arm :lol:
Currently deployed myself, and I can assure that it's not worth giving up an arm too.
All of the American branches don`t accept any sort of non-citizen, I checked; them all.
All of the services do in fact accept non-citizens. I'm actually serving with a few currently (one from Africa, though I'm not sure which country.) However, they don't accept citizens of certain other countries, i.e. Cuba, Iran, Russia, etc.
But setting aside my own woes, I would speculate that any position in TCA would be quite a personal honor.
There is a certian type of person who finds honor in service, but by and large, western soceity doesn't feel that way. It might be brave and patriotic to join the military, but not particularly honorable. But not more so than most other professions. In the future, I anticipate nationalist trends will continue to fade, particularly as humans escape the earth. By the time we get to the Outsider time frame, I expect nationalism to be largely extintic. Without any concept of a warrior caste and with very little national identity, I would guess that military service in the future wouldn't be any more honorable than say, teaching. Certianly far braver, but not more honorable.
But back on topic the TCA might be to much of an honor since they must have such a high flunk out rate they might scare away other recruits and it might breed hazing by an elitist old guard from the less elite new recruits
Ah, I think I might not be using "honor" in the same sense as you. Regardless, simply serving in the TCA wouldn't be particularly prestigious. Cheifly because, unlike the Loroi, Terrans do have enlisted ranks. The vast majority of service members would be enlisted and in support billets. Routing requestion requests are no more prestigious if you do it beyond the solar system or in some corporate office in Colorado. Only the most visible of billets would have any prestige. I'm thinking Scout Corps, Admirals and special warfare billets. And even then, only a few of those billets.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Emcha »

Murica wrote:I have some small understanding of military life, National Service was mandatory here in my fathers day. In my family, as I believe, there has been a soldier in every generation since the First Boer War. Regardless of perceived military blood, I know well war isn`t 'glorious'. To sum it, I'd say it feels like I must join an Army, but I also want to join an Army. I wouldn`t mind being Infantry, but I wanted to learn Air-Frames and Engines like my dad did. Unfortunately, as I am white, I cannot join my own countries Armed Forces. The British Common Wealth Regular Army was impressed with my schooling and BRAB scores, but as they have had a massive job cut recently they don`t have the space for me. The French Foreign Legion is only an option really if you have had previous military experience. All of the American branches don`t accept any sort of non-citizen, I checked; them all.
that's pretty messed up as I've known at least a couple dozen US soldiers who are foreign nationals that enlisted to fast-track their citizenship paperwork. most of them canadians, many from various african countries, and one from germany who enlisted in my NG regiment at 17, and after he came home from a deployment found that the Bundswehr was looking for him due to their mandatory service, lol.

Yes I have heard about the massive cuts in the British military I personally am speaking out of my experience as a cadet (which I am still a member) but I respect another patriot even if your from another nation I am also intersted in infantry. But back on topic the TCA might be to much of an honor since they must have such a high flunk out rate they might scare away other recruits and it might breed hazing by an elitist old guard from the less elite new recruits
in my eight years of service, i've found that the ones who go combat arms are usually the ones with something to prove. in that regard, there will always be a steady stream of volunteers willing to go off to the far end of the universe to punch space hitler in his big stupid cloaca. hazing is generally solved by punishing it when it happens and making it clear to new screwheads that it's not tolerated. a good example to look to might be the german army between the armistice and the buildup to WW2: back then they fully intended to expand their army almost overnight, so they required every soldier to be able to assume the responsibilities of two stations above their own. this meant that when they expanded their ranks like three fold they already had a huge corps of leaders for them.

that might be what the TCA is going for; getting the best in first so they have a solid foundation of experienced personnel so that when they do start expanding they can bring in as many wrench turners and boiler room techs as they want without degrading their leadership.

you build a military from the bottom up, and train it from the top down.
Ah, I think I might not be using "honor" in the same sense as you. Regardless, simply serving in the TCA wouldn't be particularly prestigious. Cheifly because, unlike the Loroi, Terrans do have enlisted ranks. The vast majority of service members would be enlisted and in support billets. Routing requestion requests are no more prestigious if you do it beyond the solar system or in some corporate office in Colorado. Only the most visible of billets would have any prestige. I'm thinking Scout Corps, Admirals and special warfare billets. And even then, only a few of those billets.
maybe within the TCA, but the average citizen doesn't know what a soldier's job is. don't know about elsewhere but I don't particularly like going out to eat when i'm in uniform because no matter where I go I've got people thanking me and trying to pay for my meal. I know, first_world_problems.jpg, but i'd imagine just walking through a spaceport in dress uniform would generate a perception of "there he goes, homeboy's gonna fight aelyums" in the onlooking civilians, even if the dressed-up yahoo in question is just a water purification tech who'll never see combat.

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Re: Miscellaneous Terran question-and-answer thread

Post by Murica »

For those of you that don't get it the writing arm thing was referencing paper work

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