Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Suederwind]

Just a few random questions:
I noticed that the smaller Loroi ships have no shuttles. Do they have some kind of escape pods for emergency situations aboard or how would they evacuate the crew of such a small ship in case of an emergency?
Are there any Loroi sweets or candies?

[Arioch]

This popped up over in dragoongfa's story thread and a search of the forum didn't turn up anything. What exactly are the glowing blue panels we see on Loroi ships? Suggestions I've seen over there include heat dissipation panels; sensors; windows; or fake, painted-on windows.

Sorry that I didn't respond to this earlier. The glowing blue panels are field projection outlets; the ones on the prongs are related to the forward deflector screens, and the ones on the engines and vanes are related to the fields generated by the drive system.

Just a few random questions:
I noticed that the smaller Loroi ships have no shuttles. Do they have some kind of escape pods for emergency situations aboard or how would they evacuate the crew of such a small ship in case of an emergency?

There are three that don't have entries for small craft (the tanker, scout and courier); that may be an oversight, but I'm guessing that I omitted them because I didn't think they would have a full-size Standard shuttle. I think any vessel 150m or larger is probably going to need some kind of small craft for maintenance work or moving crew in a pinch.

Spacecraft generally don't "sink," so I don't think lifeboats are quite as critical as they are aboard naval vessels; whether you get in a capsule or stay aboard the stricken vessel, your survival will probably still depend on timely rescue. Star Wars-style escape pods with re-entry capability might make sense for ships that operate in close proximity to planets, but most warships will often be at too great a distance from, or at too high a relative velocity to, a habitable planet such that the small fuel supply of an escape pod could deliver the occupants safely to the ground.

Are there any Loroi sweets or candies?

Sure, lots.

[Sweforce]

Does Loroi respond well to gifts or do they consider such to be bribes? Let's say an Loroi officer where to visit an regiment on earth, would an old weapon, like some kind of museum piece have a chance to be well received. Let's assume the weapon comes with background story of use in some heroic action.

[Suederwind]

I think any vessel 150m or larger is probably going to need some kind of small craft for maintenance work or moving crew in a pinch.

I assumed something like that, hence the question. So, maybe some kind of "minishuttle" or, to use a nautical term, a "dinghy"? Maybe something in the line of those very small maintenace shuttles in Star Trek?

Star Wars-style escape pods with re-entry capability might make sense for ships that operate in close proximity to planets, but most warships will often be at too great a distance from, or at too high a relative velocity to, a habitable planet such that the small fuel supply of an escape pod could deliver the occupants safely to the ground.

Thats a good point. But if there is a problem aboard a Starship, such a pod could be usefull to get yourself (and a few other crewmembers as well) away from the ship and provide you with supplies, as well as protection, that goes beyond that of a normal spacesuit. Or is the Loroi policy to better kill yourself, than being captured by the enemy?

Edit: Is ritual suicide (like the japanese seppuku for example) among memebers of the Loroi warrior casts a common thing? Or is that totaly unusual?

[icekatze]

hi hi

I don't think there is any matter of policy about it. I suspect that it will be, if nothing else, a matter of personal choice for anyone involved to prefer death over whatever horrors undoubtedly await after being captured.

[Sweforce]

The Wintertide exploded when one of it's reactors went critical. With a bit warning before such a catastrophical event escepe pods are an good option to get non essential crew of the ship while damage control try to handle the situation. Just in case.

[Arioch]

Does Loroi respond well to gifts or do they consider such to be bribes? Let's say an Loroi officer where to visit an regiment on earth, would an old weapon, like some kind of museum piece have a chance to be well received. Let's assume the weapon comes with background story of use in some heroic action.

Any government or military organization that is not completely corrupt will have strict rules regarding the acceptance of gifts. Whether a gift is legal will depend on the value of the gift, who it is given to, from whom, and for what purpose. A warrior may accept an expensive gift from a family member or close friend (if the reason for giving is clearly due to personal relationship, and not the recipient's position), but she may not accept an expensive gift from a subordinate or from a lobbyist. There will be a variety of exemptions (such as gifts under about $20 in value -- you can give a co-worker a birthday card, if you want), and museum pieces might be exempt depending on the situation (especially if the gift is to a unit rather than an individual), but all gifts over a certain value must be declared and registered. Gifts over the legal limit must either be returned, paid for by the recipient, or donated to the government or some other appropriate organization.

For an example of real-life regulations regarding gifts, check out PART 2635—STANDARDS OF ETHICAL CONDUCT FOR EMPLOYEES OF THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH of the US Federal Government, subparts B and C.

So, maybe some kind of "minishuttle" or, to use a nautical term, a "dinghy"? Maybe something in the line of those very small maintenace shuttles in Star Trek?

Yes, things like the "workbee" or the very small shuttle that Kirk & co. used to come aboard Enterprise in the opening moments of the first two movies.

Thats a good point. But if there is a problem aboard a Starship, such a pod could be usefull to get yourself (and a few other crewmembers as well) away from the ship and provide you with supplies, as well as protection, that goes beyond that of a normal spacesuit. Or is the Loroi policy to better kill yourself, than being captured by the enemy?

Edit: Is ritual suicide (like the japanese seppuku for example) among memebers of the Loroi warrior casts a common thing? Or is that totaly unusual?

Most Loroi do not worship death the way the Japanese in WWII did, but they are warriors and so there must be some unspoken acceptance that personal safety must sometimes take a back seat to military practicality. If you look at our civilian ocean liners, you'll see a large number of lifeboats stowed along the sides, but if you look at an aircraft carrier (which carries a similar number of people), you'll see very few lifeboats. Part of that equation is that civilian liners operate solo while military fleet vessels will usually have numerous other warships available to aid them if an evacuation becomes necessary, but I think the main part is that military vessels must make concessions to functionality over personal safety that would not be considered acceptable to civilian passengers. The operation of an aircraft carrier would probably be hindered if it had to carry enough lifeboats to carry all 5,500 people on board.

Also, if there is still combat going on in the vicinity of the stricken vessel, then floating about in a small, vulnerable life-pod is probably not a very safe place to be.

[dragoongfa]

From my experience military ships tend to carry inflatable life boats, smaller and thus more practical on a warship. Civilian ships carry those as well but passengers like to see the classic lifeboat instead of a large inflatable raft.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I would think that an old weapon of historical significance might not be given as a gift, but passed on as a responsibility.

I can't imagine that the military doesn't take anything from civilians, but there's got to be Loroi in charge of assigning resources to various divisions within the military. With their form of government though, I wonder does the Emperor has the final say? Is the anger of her subordinates the thing that keeps her honest?

[Arioch]

From my experience military ships tend to carry inflatable life boats, smaller and thus more practical on a warship. Civilian ships carry those as well but passengers like to see the classic lifeboat instead of a large inflatable raft.

This is a good point. I was wondering why modern liners had so few visible boats when compared with their early twentieth century counterparts, whose decks were literally crammed with them -- and that's obviously the answer.

I can't imagine that the military doesn't take anything from civilians, but there's got to be Loroi in charge of assigning resources to various divisions within the military.

The people who allocate resources within the military are themselves military. Civilians pay taxes that support the warrior class, but they don't have any say in how it's spent. There is no civilian oversight of the military.

With their form of government though, I wonder does the Emperor has the final say? Is the anger of her subordinates the thing that keeps her honest?

The Emperor's power is not absolute, but since she's commander in chief of the armed forces, it's pretty close. The military is a powerful constituency, but it's also a dangerous one; the Emperor may be able to resolve issues by force, but so can her enemies. The Second Emperor was removed from power after a brief civil war because she had displeased a large enough portion of her subordinates.

[dragoongfa]

Minor question:

What is the room with the red lighting that the group passes through at pages 37 and 38?

[cacambo43]

In page 49 there's the star map overhead, and I noticed (not for the first time) many of the "constellations" are similar to or fragments of our "modern" constellations. Is this significant or just window dressing?

CJSF

[Sweforce]

In page 49 there's the star map overhead, and I noticed (not for the first time) many of the "constellations" are similar to or fragments of our "modern" constellations. Is this significant or just window dressing?

CJSF

I cannot remember the details but I think I read an Sci Fi story where the protagonist figured out where he was due to the similarly in the visible constellations. Imagine travel through a "Stargate" and then try to figure where you arrived. Some constellations are bound to the same, others distorted but recognisable. It is not like they are on the other side of the galaxy. Time will do the same if you wait long enough. Astrologists tend to not take this into account. A few thousand years ago when astrology was "invented" so or so planet may really have been in constellation whatever but no longer go there due to stellar drift.

[cacambo43]

In page 49 there's the star map overhead, and I noticed (not for the first time) many of the "constellations" are similar to or fragments of our "modern" constellations. Is this significant or just window dressing?

CJSF

I cannot remember the details but I think I read an Sci Fi story where the protagonist figured out where he was due to the similarly in the visible constellations. Imagine travel through a "Stargate" and then try to figure where you arrived. Some constellations are bound to the same, others distorted but recognisable. It is not like they are on the other side of the galaxy. Time will do the same if you wait long enough. Astrologists tend to not take this into account. A few thousand years ago when astrology was "invented" so or so planet may really have been in constellation whatever but no longer go there due to stellar drift.

Yes, but these constellations are connected with the same "lines" - even the "double arm" of Orion. I realize that's not out of the realm of possiblilty (though how probable an exact "connect the dots" would be is another matter), I was just wondering how much of it was deliberate on Arioch's part.

CJSF

P.S. Looking at a current sky map, I see that Arioch drew the constellations on page 49's sky map as a mirror image... So window dressing/convenience, Arioch?

[Arioch]

What is the room with the red lighting that the group passes through at pages 37 and 38?

It's a "kill zone" that separates the brig from the rest of the ship. It has reinforced airlock doors at each end, and the interior can be depressurized or flooded with a variety of lethal agents.

In page 49 there's the star map overhead, and I noticed (not for the first time) many of the "constellations" are similar to or fragments of our "modern" constellations. Is this significant or just window dressing?

It's a rather lazy placeholder. I wanted to do some rather ornate stylized figures, but ran out of time. It's still on my list of things to fix.

[GeoModder]

From my experience military ships tend to carry inflatable life boats, smaller and thus more practical on a warship. Civilian ships carry those as well but passengers like to see the classic lifeboat instead of a large inflatable raft.

If the one time I was on a cruiseship counts, the 'classic' boats were used to put passengers on shore when the harbor isn't big/deep enough to handle the cruiseship.

[RedDwarfIV]

My spacecraft designs tend to have the forward section of a spacecraft be where the Flight Deck (but not neccesarily CIC or Aux Con) is, along with at least temporary life support systems (permenant ones being in the centre 'utility' section). The nose section can be jettisoned with most of the crew to abandon the rest of the spacecraft.

It's considered a surrender, at least of that section. The rest of the vessel can continue to fight under computer control, or self-destruct, or even warp away (this option might be taken if damage was such that a successful warp wasn't likely.) Having it fighter under computer control can give the enemy an excuse to destroy it guilt-free, while still keeping it out of enemy hands. The section is big enough to hold all the crew, has enough life support for all of them, and usually has no weapons larger than a point-defence laser. In effect, it is a life pod writ large.

The vessels carry no conventional life pods at all. Instead, they carry an excess of shuttles (they're more versatile. Shuttles aren't dead weight any time besides an emergency.) Shuttles broadcasting a help beacon are similarly considered to be non-combatants.


Basically, if the USS Enterprise D seperated its saucer, then the EAMS Aries or the ISHCAV Pankat would assume it had surrendered and go after its stardrive section instead.

[JQBogus]

Star Fleet Battles had ship separation for Federation saucers and Klingon booms. The problem one generally ran into was that, by the time you were in bad enough shape to want to abandon ship, the saucer/boom wasn't really in good enough shape to make it a viable escape method. They did have a special 'catastrophic damage' rule that let you separate after receiving damage, but before allocating it, I seem to recall, but it was seldom used as one rarely took enough damage all at once to go from 'saucer/boom is in good shape' to 'gonna blow up, separate!' On the other hand, that was pretty much an artifact of how SFB did combat damage. Very much cumulative, rather than critical.

[Sweforce]

Does Loroi respond well to gifts or do they consider such to be bribes? Let's say an Loroi officer where to visit an regiment on earth, would an old weapon, like some kind of museum piece have a chance to be well received. Let's assume the weapon comes with background story of use in some heroic action.

Any government or military organization that is not completely corrupt will have strict rules regarding the acceptance of gifts. Whether a gift is legal will depend on the value of the gift, who it is given to, from whom, and for what purpose. A warrior may accept an expensive gift from a family member or close friend (if the reason for giving is clearly due to personal relationship, and not the recipient's position), but she may not accept an expensive gift from a subordinate or from a lobbyist. There will be a variety of exemptions (such as gifts under about $20 in value -- you can give a co-worker a birthday card, if you want), and museum pieces might be exempt depending on the situation (especially if the gift is to a unit rather than an individual), but all gifts over a certain value must be declared and registered. Gifts over the legal limit must either be returned, paid for by the recipient, or donated to the government or some other appropriate organization.

My question by was inspired by "Letters from Iwo Jima". General Kuribayashis flashbacks from his prewar visit to the United States. He made friends there and was presented with a pistol that carries even when fighting the very people that gave it to him. Now let's combine this with a bit of history and, let's say a visiting officer to an earth regiment could be presented with let's say a actual officers sword carried into combat by an member of the regiment during the US civil war. It could be an museum surplus. When we still had conscription in Sweden and I made my then mandatory tour of duty (nine months training and cheap labor) we had a regiment museum with artifacts like that.

Regarding bribes, NOT accepting a gift can sometimes have diplomatic consequences. In such cases we have the general rule in Sweden that gifts, apart from minor ones becomes gifts to the OFFICE, not the person receiving it. I am not an expert of the details here but if a similar rule was used by the Loroi such an officer could accept the gift but it would be the property of the state, and belong to her caste. They could choose to be nice to let her keep possession of it thou and let her hang it as a decoration in her office. Once she leave that service, it would be relocated. Maybe it end up in a museum.

[Arioch]

Formal gifts would rarely be refused -- that would be rude -- but after being accepted, the recipient would still need to go through the process of declaring the gift, trying to get it authorized, or else giving it up or paying compensation to keep it. An antique weapon would probably not be of spectacular monetary value, and so it probably wouldn't be too much of a problem to arrange for some kind of waiver.

Authorizations for more expensive gifts might be arranged if it becomes the property of the government or of a certain unit, etc., but making it the property of the office of the recipient can be problematic, since Loroi can live a very long time and under some circumstances might hold that same office for what we would consider a lifetime.