Ryk - love this series!! You have been using hollowed out asteroids through out the series. what about using them as battle platforms? Put propulsion and jump drives in them. A hollow asteroid with a .5 km thick skin should stand up to take a beating. Incorporate a the improved power source to add screens. The huge size of the asteroid could hold massive weapons!
Richard, there is a series of books where they do something similar. They drill a hole in an asteroid. They fill the hole with water from captured comets. They plug the hole. Then they heat the whole kit'n kaboodle up. It expands to about 9 km diameter with 1.5 km walls. When it cools, you put in everything. It is a battle platform.
The series is called Troy Rising by John Ringo. There are three books in the series. The books are, Live Free or Die, Citadel, and Hot Gate
I know the series. I kept thinking of it while reading this series. I keep waiting for a 4th book in that series from john - no response and it's been over a year. The concept of a cheap set of focused sunbeam's to use as a super melting device seemed brilliant.
Ryk's series holds more promise as he has been cranking them out at a regular pace. He has a plan for 5 more books in this series. I can't wait for the next one. I love the characters and the great story line. My only objection is the number of times his uses the phrase "great thinking".
What is waiting in the Data Ark do you think?
