I doubt the Jung would care if the population gets radiated. They are all about rule and what they can TAKE from the place. Care about native population, never.
I doubt the Jung would care if the population gets radiated. They are all about rule and what they can TAKE from the place. Care about native population, never.
Except with the Earth, what with it's central location and significance.
The only thing they wanted from Earth was the data arc. The rest is irrelevant. And the data arc is only significant for tech they can get from it, not history.
I dont think they only wanted the data arc, i think it was important to them, but i think more important to them is the symbol of holding Earth, they do not deny that Humans come from earth like the Takkarns did. And we have pretty much heard that in most cases they pretty much bombard the planets they capture back into the stone age then clean up and bring in most of their people, the only reason they didn't in Earth's case was because of the data arc and the need to move fast to avoid the jump drive from getting out... though i still wonder why they just didn't bomb the population to nothing and then just wait for their reinforcements to come, after they realized the ark was not on the planet anymore.
A question. Page 352 contact Charlie 1. Badly damaged & limping away. Did they ever finish it off? I don't recall it being hunted & destroyed.
So what's the plan there? Capture for Intel or let it escape to let the fall of Jung forces on Earth be heard by galaxy.
Wow! #11 "Born of The Ashes" sure didn't disappoint; people in this forum wanted action/battles and Ryk you delivered. I liked it so much I have read it 3+ times. Here are my take-aways;
A. Ending to "Born of The Ashes":
1. There are still 11 bombers and a significant number of the 140 Jung fighter escorts launched still in earth orbit. Besides the Celestia that was vectored to engage, there are 16 402's/Falcons, at most 14 Talons and 20 Eagles. Obviously, the Celestia can handle the bombers but depending on the number of Jung fighters still alive 50(max) Alliance fighters would be hard pressed to kill them all. Not just the bombers but the Jung fighters could make kamikaze attacks on the Celestia as well.
2. The loss of the Jar-Keurog is significant. The vessel housed at least 12 fabricators, the Aurora's airwing had moved on to her flight decks (ie. maintenance/flight support personnel, weapons etc), the Ghatazhak had also transferred their operations/equipment to the ship, some 20 Jung fighters and possibly the massive jump equipped cargo shuttles. As mentioned in other posts losses include Garret, ~500 Tannan technicians, Lt Montgomery (BIG loss IMO) and any number of Takaran technicians (with jump drive expertise) and finally 36 Ghatazhak were lost (BIGGER loss IMO).
3. As mentioned in posts above there are still 3 gunboats and a crippled cruiser unaccounted for between SOL and Alpha Centauri as well as the 2nd battle platform in AC. The Jung should know what happened in the SOL system.
4. The earth has now been attacked 4 separate times. In Episode #8 - Celestia: CV-02 the Jung used conventional weapons only. The last three attacks, starting with Gen Bacca (aka Chicken Little), have employed nucs from city busters (think megaton warheads) to tactical-nucs (kiloton warheads), nuc EMP and conventional ordnance. It doesn't take a nuc engineer to know that the earths infrastructure, society, government structure, and environment is 2-3 levels south of what the Mad Max movies depicted! Above posts discuss technology that should be available to clean up such devastation. Maybe, but where is the equipment coming from and who has the expertise to see it through. Only 8 Fabricators on Earth in the Data Ark complex survived - they are going to need a gazillion more.
5. The damage to both the Aurora and Celestia is rather extensive. In a word they both need additional fabricators. With the amount of valuable debris in the SOL system they should be able to repair the ships and complete the Celestia's fitting out fairly rapidly. With the installation of plasma cannons in the spacecraft launch tubes both ships have essentially become cruisers with a robust flight operations capability. They should still carry fighters, combat and cargo shuttles using the large transfer air locks and flight apron for launch and recoveries. The missile launcher could be upgraded to handle KKV's and Tilly's mini-jump drive missiles/torpedoes. Re-gun each ship with 4 quad rail guns. Just never know when good'ole projectile ordnance might be useful. Depending on what the Karuzari Nation has sent maybe each ship can have shields powered by mini-zpeds.
6. Speaking of the Karuzari Nation they certainly had to have sent more then just 20 (-4) jump capable 402's. With the PC being close to 1000 light year from SOL it makes sense to have a jump capable transport to carry the 402s, and provide a base of operations for support personnel/equipment, maintenance and rearming. It could also carry fabricators and former Corinair technicians and mechanics to make additional 402s space-worthy from the 107 (28 were somewhat space-worthy) that Cdr. Dumar purchased. Another forum thread discusses what Prince Cashmir holographically showed Cdr. Dumar in the Darvano System. Since the Ta'Akar Nobles have specifically denied Prince Cashmir the use of any Takaran equipment/capabilities/personnel any thing he does send to SOL has to come from other systems. Hence the 402's from Palee, the manning by Corinairians and the use of the Karuzara astroid facilities. My two-cents is that Prince Cashmir located an old fairly large vessel used as a mobil support ship to maintain the long range patrols that he and Dumar flew in the 402s. Re-fitted with jump drives it transported the re-manufactured 402s to SOL and will provide them a base of operations.
7. Tanna lost a high profile leader in Garrett, is now home to `100k 'earthlings' including the only surviving jump drive creator, has an industrial capacity and is somewhat off the beaten Jung path. They are also home to Mr. Dubnyk who I suspect is one of the sons of the sons of Capt Crispin Jung.
From episode-to-episode in the Frontiers Saga, Ryk has used the very effective literary technique of leaving his readers with story lines and various threads that are incomplete. Episode #11 is no exception. I am looking forward to episode #12 "Rise of the Alliance" (now due in late August) to complete the battle from #11, provide fidelity on the devastation earth has suffered (still have Jung embeded on earth), answer the Darvano mystery, introduce new technologies, find new ways to use the Aurora/Celestia and Ghatazak, and possibly develop additional threads involving the Jung, Tanna, Prince Cashmir/Cdr. Dumar/Karazura support and AC.
@ Tomcat: I gotta tell you, I print your summaries and stick them on my wall as I'm writing the next episode. They are more complete than my own!
Ryk
Ryk,
Thanks for the kind words. As long as you keep writing them, I'll keep reading them.
My thought about the Karuzari is that they outfitted the asteroid with a jump drive, they had discussed mining it to decrease its mass, and possibly with the size and shape they may be able to use the ZPM to power the jump-drive if they can shield the ZPM inside the rock... That would provide a mobile Shipyard, Space Station, Defensive platform, and hopefully have significant technology and manpower to help out, my bet is on a cavern full of Ghatazhak, but that may just be hopeful thinking...
Ryk what happened? I thought it was supposed to be July? any ways you do what you have to. Just keep writting em and I will keep buying em.
Only problem with jumping the asteroid base to Sol is that it's a huge target (all be jumpable one). The OAP & Kar Jourag both show how easily stationary targets can go down.
They will need to hide it & ensure it can generate the vast amount of power req'd to jump if needs be. If found it would be a huge target for the Jung to capture.
Only problem with jumping the asteroid base to Sol is that it’s a huge target (all be jumpable one). The OAP & Kar Jourag both show how easily stationary targets can go down.
They will need to hide it & ensure it can generate the vast amount of power req’d to jump if needs be. If found it would be a huge target for the Jung to capture.
Hide it indeed. If one presumes that all ships going to it will have a jump drive (not unreasonable) then it the base could be placed pretty much anywhere within about a light year of Sol and it'll be just as convenient to get to. Actually, probably best to place it somewhere in deep space so it's far away from any direct route between any two stars within about 300 light years of Sol to make it unlikely that a passing Jung Fleet will stumble across it. Though a warning net of drones could be placed around it to get it some warning of incoming FTL ships.
Falcon recon of the Barnard system, full of asteroids and nothing else. key points are plenty of material, and without planets no jung .
close jump location. makes it perfect for a base.
Yep, I think Chris has it. An uninhabited Barnard System. Great to build the industrial base, as long as you can supply organics (food) to the crews. Those ships alone could reveal the location, but hey, you have to start somewhere...
Yeah I guess the jump drive does change what it means to be nearby... with a quick dispatch they could jump the asteroid back to earth space to disgorge its complements of fighters and jump to a safe distance to support the battle, bet you could out real big guns on an asteroid too...
