If you have them, yes.
Ground attack vehicles.
Shepard Quest Mk VI, Technological Revolution
- Thread starter Hoyr
- Start date
If you have them, yes.
Ground attack vehicles.
Ivan the Not-so-Terrible
AH MEW CHEEKI BREEKI I V DAMKE
- Location
- Mikonyan’s USSR
There is an argument for limbs on space vehicles as a way of moving thrusters around to switch between, say, "all thrusters pointing one way" and "thrusters in all directions" to get "speed" and "agility" modes, giving you the bastard child of a Starfury and the Crossbone Gundam('s backpack, really, not so much the rest of the suit). But then again, you could get similar results with thrust vectoring and/or gimbaled engines.
- Location
- Somewhere over the rainbow
Just finished reading this up to the latest chapter and began reading the omakes.
I was wondering, there were quite a few of them, and now that I've read them I've noticed some of them are cannon (The Kasumi omake explained why there was suddenly mentions of Kasumi in this story, as initially I didn't even make the connection and was somewhat bemused afterwards).
So, again, I was wondering- could someone please mark which ones are fluffy side-stories and which ones are just what-ifs both potential or humorous? Silencio did it, which is why I even bothered to bring it up.
I was wondering, there were quite a few of them, and now that I've read them I've noticed some of them are cannon (The Kasumi omake explained why there was suddenly mentions of Kasumi in this story, as initially I didn't even make the connection and was somewhat bemused afterwards).
So, again, I was wondering- could someone please mark which ones are fluffy side-stories and which ones are just what-ifs both potential or humorous? Silencio did it, which is why I even bothered to bring it up.
Lord Death
The ignored one.... This was meant to be a joke
- Location
- RULE BRITANNIA!!!!!
The main problem i have with our current heavy relience on drones is when it comes down to it they are RC units. They can and will be hacked at some point and cause devistation in our 'lines'. With a little bit of research we could probably fit Guardian tech on smaller things (Take a Mech for example) and the drones become a near moot point when the Guardian fire is mixed with whatever weapon the unit is holding. Unless the numbers are just stupid...like it's our home base kind of situation. Yea for basic Defence and small ambushes drones are nice. But in larger scale extended and/or sudden combat anywere that's not one of our bases they become a little obsolete......were was i going with this?
- Location
- America
- Location
- Terror Australis
Hacking does not work like that at all. Pretty much the only way to take over someone elses competentley designed miltary stuff in a combat enviroment is to have sabotaged it in advance, which is completely conventional covert ops (like in nBSG).
Don't forget that ME has canonical magic hacking beams that can be fired from omni-tools, though before you take this to mean ME is soft sci-fi I should note that reading electronics from a distance has been possible since the 1970s, and writing should mostly be a matter of creating a sufficiently dense array of EM field emitters.
- Location
- The word mines
We've scienced the shit out of mass-effect physics, we ought to be able to handwave some explanation for the hacking abilities of your average combat technician.
Lord Death
The ignored one.... This was meant to be a joke
- Location
- RULE BRITANNIA!!!!!
One of the only ways i can think of to make the drones 80% safe from hackers is to have an off site server with Q.I. nodes linked to each drone and a single node linked to the 'drone commander guy' or V/AI. This massively limits the number of 'safe' drones we can use at a time and the price to build them would probably skyrocket but i guess safety from ze hakz beats cost.
Another thing to have a look at if we want to go heavily down this route is dedicated Drone deployment and construction Carriers for our space fleets. IF we manage to boost the weapons/size we could in theory have fighters that are smaller than average because they don't need all that pesky life support or the same size but with a bigger punch for the same reason. On top of that they could still be pilioted by people using the above Q.I. system. Hell we could have entire ships or armys run off that system with people in safe zones hooked upto there shipside 'avatars' so we in theory never have true casualtys....wow my mind is running with this.
Q.I. = That "Quatem Intanglement" system if i'm understanding how it works correctly.
Another thing to have a look at if we want to go heavily down this route is dedicated Drone deployment and construction Carriers for our space fleets. IF we manage to boost the weapons/size we could in theory have fighters that are smaller than average because they don't need all that pesky life support or the same size but with a bigger punch for the same reason. On top of that they could still be pilioted by people using the above Q.I. system. Hell we could have entire ships or armys run off that system with people in safe zones hooked upto there shipside 'avatars' so we in theory never have true casualtys....wow my mind is running with this.
Q.I. = That "Quatem Intanglement" system if i'm understanding how it works correctly.
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- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Use one-time encryption with petabyte-size randomized keys. That should suffice if the drones just need general directions and not micromanaging.
Lord Death
The ignored one.... This was meant to be a joke
- Location
- RULE BRITANNIA!!!!!
My mind is running away with the 'Drone' carrier with Quatem linked robot crew idea. It would be amazing for intel gathering since the only real loss if it goes down is having to build a new one (Unless it costs something stupid).
Since you don't need Life support on it you could have construction bays for new 'drones' if one of them is destroyed or just have a massive stock of them. Possabably have Dread or at least Battleship level guns because there would be the extra space by not having to house and care about organics in it's construction.
Think about repelling borders or controlling the drones/'fighters'. The 'pilots' wouldent need to care if they 'died' they just link into a new body and for hostiles it would be hell. Facing an enemy with the fearlessnes and near strength of the Geth but able to think like true organics because they more or less are...my god. Hell there could be emergency V.I.s in the spare bodys or a sort of command station that somone could command to swarm hostiles if need be.
Since you don't need Life support on it you could have construction bays for new 'drones' if one of them is destroyed or just have a massive stock of them. Possabably have Dread or at least Battleship level guns because there would be the extra space by not having to house and care about organics in it's construction.
Think about repelling borders or controlling the drones/'fighters'. The 'pilots' wouldent need to care if they 'died' they just link into a new body and for hostiles it would be hell. Facing an enemy with the fearlessnes and near strength of the Geth but able to think like true organics because they more or less are...my god. Hell there could be emergency V.I.s in the spare bodys or a sort of command station that somone could command to swarm hostiles if need be.
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- Location
- Spain
Since we may get to fight with AI enemies (Reapers, Geth or both) that can process ludicrous amounts of data in an instant, I have my doubts if any amounts of encryption could work.
The use of quantum communication to control the drones could prevent this, but I doubt that something like that is viable.
Tranquil Zebra
Equid of Peerless Tranquility
- Location
- Norway
When it comes to hacking, Geth are networked, and one could feasably spoof consensus. Loki and Fenrir mechs are cheap crap, and can probably be 'hacked' with DOS and creative applications of stack overflow, or attacks on similar known vulnerabilities. Most computers can't ever be brute forced, though. No matter how fast the AI on the other end is, a 50GHz CPU can't recieve and reply to 1E16 requests per second. One would assume our blackboxing ensured no code was leaked, and no vulnerabilities known. If I wanted to make something completely hack-proof, I could, nevermind Shepard. The reason things can be hacked at all is mostly stupidity, vulnerabilities being overlooked, and people figuring the utility of a machine that will accept changes to its code from external sources is worth the added risk.
To give some perspective, my parents are civilians working for the military of my country, and while most of their data can be hacked, everthing that's really, seriously classified is either on physical, eyes only copies in huge ass vaults, or on modified flashdrives that will physically destroy the data if you can't get a long-ass password right on the second try. It's tiresome as all hell, but with strict procedures and failsafes, it's possible to make things unhackable remotely. Every count of intrusion in their non-vital systems has been some schmuck opening attachements in emails, and VIs are not prone to such stupidity.
To give some perspective, my parents are civilians working for the military of my country, and while most of their data can be hacked, everthing that's really, seriously classified is either on physical, eyes only copies in huge ass vaults, or on modified flashdrives that will physically destroy the data if you can't get a long-ass password right on the second try. It's tiresome as all hell, but with strict procedures and failsafes, it's possible to make things unhackable remotely. Every count of intrusion in their non-vital systems has been some schmuck opening attachements in emails, and VIs are not prone to such stupidity.
Minor Details + Interlude
Minor Details + Interlude
[X] Minor details
-[X] All enemy tech to be placed in an isolated sealed vault with full radiological, EM shielding and whatever else we can think of until it can be verified as safe.
The technology you developed to contain AI is quite suitable for this purpose as well. It as safe as you can possibly make it.
-[X] Our drones are to put towards search and rescue while our forces conduct a sweep of our facility, Afterwards any spare staff are asked to aid the planetary government.
Your forces sweep your facilities and find nothing. Paranoia begs the question, "Is that because there was nothing there or because what was there wasn't found?"
Afterward, they join your drones in cleaning up after the battle.
-[X] Any serviceable building will be used for humanitarian aid unless it's a critical security risk.
The Mindoirian government has prepared well enough for this that you don't have much to offer. Good thing to, almost every building is a high-security site or in one.
-[X] Personally provide remote assistance to the recovery efforts however possible.
You quickly find yourself helping by IDing dangerous equipment and helping to dispose of it. Including the carrier's damaged and slowly failing AM pods.
-[X] Once security and S&R efforts are complete, secure salvage rights and concentrate on salvage of eezo cores. We're going to need a lot of eezo soon, and most of the battlefield salvage is ours by right of conquest.
Most of the ship's drive cores were reduced to dust in Mindoirian orbit by the power of the weapons used to destroy the ships that housed them. You do recover a fused mass of eezo and metal that probably contains 500 billion credits of eezo. However, without a refining plant, it's not very useful. You could divert factory resources to refining it or sell it for a fraction of that amount.
Options added to next quarter
Refine salvaged eezo in factories, 1,000,000 production for 500 billion credits of eezo.
Sell salvaged eezo, 50 billion credits
Salvaging the rest would require a dedicated effort and maybe some specialized space sweeping machinery.
-[X] Divert our VI development company to hack what remains of the Sol invasion fleet's computers, and whatever other resources it takes (even RP from next quarter if necessary) to find out how the hell the Batarians managed to bypass Arcturus and invade Sol. This is a huge priority!
The Hegemony Fleet at Sol barely engaged the SA fleet before pulling out. None of the few ships that died there had salvageable computers. Many of the ships destroyed at Arcturus died to direct spinal shots from the three SA dreadnoughts there fresh from being refitted with new equipment. The SA commanders focused on making sure their targets were very dead, not wanting to risk the seat of the SA's government. However, one frigate that was mission killed by GARDIAN laser fire from a frigate wolf-pack has intact systems.
After attempting to access it on their own the SA intelligence service accepts your aid. The information has incredibly strong encryption which denies all of the common shortcuts to decrypt. It may devolve to pure brute force at this rate. Or maybe later spy work my reveal the key.
Research Project:
Hegemony Cryptography 200 (PI) + 50 (SA Intellegence) = 250/?
GM Note: I stopped the RP spent at 200 because that represents a significant investment and anymore would probably warp the next turn plans. You can still invest more during the research phase.
[X] STG-SPECTRE Joint Report concerning Rebecca Shepard
Citadel Sealed Archives Dossier (Brief with Highlights) updated 2174
Name: Rebecca "Revy" Shepard, Dr.
Species: Human
Age: 20
Residence: Landing, Mindoir
Affiliations: Systems Alliance (Citizen), Systems Alliance Military, Paragon Industries (Owner) Paragon Security (Owner)
History: Rebecca Shepard was born in the capital city of the Systems Alliance world of Mindior to Walter and Hannah Shepard. She founded Paragon Industries (PI) after the 2170 slaver attack on Mindoir. Before that Shepard showed signs of high intelligence in scholastic testing, however, no major signs of her current technological and scientific prowess can be noted in the public record.
Since founding PI Shepard has deployed advanced power technology in the form of arc-reactors which now dominate the market (see file Power Market Instabilities (2173)), and has created numerous military technologies which have been sold to the Systems Alliance Military. The tendency to produce military technology is most likely influenced by the 2170 slaver attack on Mindoir and Shepard's parent's military history. The military technologies produced strongly affect the current balance of power and are being produced at a high rate. Investigation shows that the technologies are not primarily derived from limited outside sources (Xeno-archaeological artifacts); thus it must be concluded that new technologies may continue to appear at a similar rate. [Addendum, see file Warfare Paradigm Shift 2174]
Threat Level: On a personal level Rebecca Shepard is a competent combatant with access to cutting edge technology. Her PMC Paragon Security (ParSec) is planetary level combat force and is a significant factor in cluster operations. [Update: Paragon Industries' laser frigates up rate this: cluster level combat force, national level major factor]. However, the largest possible threat comes from the technologies released by PI, noted possible future research includes AI work, anti-laser defenses, biotech work, improved starship technologies. These technologies may produce galactic level effects. Ideally, steps should be taken to mitigate the negative effects of a technological powerhouse being in a nation so new to the galactic stage.
Suggested Actions: PI's Technologies are beneficial in many ways despite short term disruption. This discourages the use of assassination to counter further technological development. Most technologies so far have been shared with the wider Citadel community which allows all Citadel members to maintain some form of parity. However, recent technological developments have been restricted by the Systems Alliance. Considering the strong possibility of further technological advances, efforts should be made by the Citadel to obtain access to these advances.
The most viable method would be a military alliance of some form. The negative history between the Hierarchy and the Systems Alliance and a strong Xenophobic tendency in the Systems Alliance population make an alliance between the Systems Alliance and Hierarchy untenable. The common Salarian reputation for espionage also makes an alliance unlikely to work. The Asari Republics offer a viable option. Humans have a noted tendency to view Asari as being less threatening and underestimate them. Along with similarities in both species, this should help to lower tensions caused by xenophobic factions. Furthermore, an alliance should help to discourage action from the Hegemony, as well as allowing Asari influence on Systems Alliance to help de-escalate the situation developing in the Traverse. [Update: to late for that, we'll need to re-evaluate, though the new laser frigates prove the need for such efforts, our first gen large laser weapons are expected to be out of testing in 5 months and they are inferior to PI products]
-----
GM's Notes: Here have an update. It's shorter then I would have liked, but covers the key points without turning into a massive document. Will read through backlog and post second update a soon as I finish reading and see if anyone changes my mind about what in it .
Also life's a pain in the ass, my computer is also a pain in the ass and that's general not fun.
[X] Minor details
-[X] All enemy tech to be placed in an isolated sealed vault with full radiological, EM shielding and whatever else we can think of until it can be verified as safe.
The technology you developed to contain AI is quite suitable for this purpose as well. It as safe as you can possibly make it.
-[X] Our drones are to put towards search and rescue while our forces conduct a sweep of our facility, Afterwards any spare staff are asked to aid the planetary government.
Your forces sweep your facilities and find nothing. Paranoia begs the question, "Is that because there was nothing there or because what was there wasn't found?"
Afterward, they join your drones in cleaning up after the battle.
-[X] Any serviceable building will be used for humanitarian aid unless it's a critical security risk.
The Mindoirian government has prepared well enough for this that you don't have much to offer. Good thing to, almost every building is a high-security site or in one.
-[X] Personally provide remote assistance to the recovery efforts however possible.
You quickly find yourself helping by IDing dangerous equipment and helping to dispose of it. Including the carrier's damaged and slowly failing AM pods.
-[X] Once security and S&R efforts are complete, secure salvage rights and concentrate on salvage of eezo cores. We're going to need a lot of eezo soon, and most of the battlefield salvage is ours by right of conquest.
Most of the ship's drive cores were reduced to dust in Mindoirian orbit by the power of the weapons used to destroy the ships that housed them. You do recover a fused mass of eezo and metal that probably contains 500 billion credits of eezo. However, without a refining plant, it's not very useful. You could divert factory resources to refining it or sell it for a fraction of that amount.
Options added to next quarter
Refine salvaged eezo in factories, 1,000,000 production for 500 billion credits of eezo.
Sell salvaged eezo, 50 billion credits
Salvaging the rest would require a dedicated effort and maybe some specialized space sweeping machinery.
-[X] Divert our VI development company to hack what remains of the Sol invasion fleet's computers, and whatever other resources it takes (even RP from next quarter if necessary) to find out how the hell the Batarians managed to bypass Arcturus and invade Sol. This is a huge priority!
The Hegemony Fleet at Sol barely engaged the SA fleet before pulling out. None of the few ships that died there had salvageable computers. Many of the ships destroyed at Arcturus died to direct spinal shots from the three SA dreadnoughts there fresh from being refitted with new equipment. The SA commanders focused on making sure their targets were very dead, not wanting to risk the seat of the SA's government. However, one frigate that was mission killed by GARDIAN laser fire from a frigate wolf-pack has intact systems.
After attempting to access it on their own the SA intelligence service accepts your aid. The information has incredibly strong encryption which denies all of the common shortcuts to decrypt. It may devolve to pure brute force at this rate. Or maybe later spy work my reveal the key.
Research Project:
Hegemony Cryptography 200 (PI) + 50 (SA Intellegence) = 250/?
GM Note: I stopped the RP spent at 200 because that represents a significant investment and anymore would probably warp the next turn plans. You can still invest more during the research phase.
[X] STG-SPECTRE Joint Report concerning Rebecca Shepard
Citadel Sealed Archives Dossier (Brief with Highlights) updated 2174
Name: Rebecca "Revy" Shepard, Dr.
Species: Human
Age: 20
Residence: Landing, Mindoir
Affiliations: Systems Alliance (Citizen), Systems Alliance Military, Paragon Industries (Owner) Paragon Security (Owner)
History: Rebecca Shepard was born in the capital city of the Systems Alliance world of Mindior to Walter and Hannah Shepard. She founded Paragon Industries (PI) after the 2170 slaver attack on Mindoir. Before that Shepard showed signs of high intelligence in scholastic testing, however, no major signs of her current technological and scientific prowess can be noted in the public record.
Since founding PI Shepard has deployed advanced power technology in the form of arc-reactors which now dominate the market (see file Power Market Instabilities (2173)), and has created numerous military technologies which have been sold to the Systems Alliance Military. The tendency to produce military technology is most likely influenced by the 2170 slaver attack on Mindoir and Shepard's parent's military history. The military technologies produced strongly affect the current balance of power and are being produced at a high rate. Investigation shows that the technologies are not primarily derived from limited outside sources (Xeno-archaeological artifacts); thus it must be concluded that new technologies may continue to appear at a similar rate. [Addendum, see file Warfare Paradigm Shift 2174]
Threat Level: On a personal level Rebecca Shepard is a competent combatant with access to cutting edge technology. Her PMC Paragon Security (ParSec) is planetary level combat force and is a significant factor in cluster operations. [Update: Paragon Industries' laser frigates up rate this: cluster level combat force, national level major factor]. However, the largest possible threat comes from the technologies released by PI, noted possible future research includes AI work, anti-laser defenses, biotech work, improved starship technologies. These technologies may produce galactic level effects. Ideally, steps should be taken to mitigate the negative effects of a technological powerhouse being in a nation so new to the galactic stage.
Suggested Actions: PI's Technologies are beneficial in many ways despite short term disruption. This discourages the use of assassination to counter further technological development. Most technologies so far have been shared with the wider Citadel community which allows all Citadel members to maintain some form of parity. However, recent technological developments have been restricted by the Systems Alliance. Considering the strong possibility of further technological advances, efforts should be made by the Citadel to obtain access to these advances.
The most viable method would be a military alliance of some form. The negative history between the Hierarchy and the Systems Alliance and a strong Xenophobic tendency in the Systems Alliance population make an alliance between the Systems Alliance and Hierarchy untenable. The common Salarian reputation for espionage also makes an alliance unlikely to work. The Asari Republics offer a viable option. Humans have a noted tendency to view Asari as being less threatening and underestimate them. Along with similarities in both species, this should help to lower tensions caused by xenophobic factions. Furthermore, an alliance should help to discourage action from the Hegemony, as well as allowing Asari influence on Systems Alliance to help de-escalate the situation developing in the Traverse. [Update: to late for that, we'll need to re-evaluate, though the new laser frigates prove the need for such efforts, our first gen large laser weapons are expected to be out of testing in 5 months and they are inferior to PI products]
-----
GM's Notes: Here have an update. It's shorter then I would have liked, but covers the key points without turning into a massive document. Will read through backlog and post second update a soon as I finish reading and see if anyone changes my mind about what in it .
Also life's a pain in the ass, my computer is also a pain in the ass and that's general not fun.
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backgroundnoise
Getting Too Old For This...
- Location
- The Shadowlands
*sigh* We don't underestimate the Asari, we like the Asari. We see them as being exotic, but in a pleasant way, and human-like in a way other species just aren't. We also see them as a sort of goal to reach; species-wide space-magic powers, a lifespan measured in millenia, a strong dedication to culture and diplomacy, not to mention a seat at the very top of the Citadel government. When humans think of 'aliens' what they're hoping for is something like the Asari. If we knew just how fucked up they were beneath the pleasant-seeming surface... well, let's just say we'd have a drastically different opinion of them.
- Location
- Aus
Gosh this is such a cool quest, just putting that out there.
And of course the Batarians have reapertech encryption, its going to be a pain in the ass, but the rewards of cracking it should be amazing.
And of course the Batarians have reapertech encryption, its going to be a pain in the ass, but the rewards of cracking it should be amazing.
Which is how we're underestimating them.
Nix's Warden
Welcome to Hades
- Location
- United States
So a general question for the thread. Since we have Flawless Blackboxing now are their any plans for the Iron Man Mark 2 to make an appearance soon?
Aranfan
Team Plasma Grunt
On mecha:
So, if you want to give your powered armour dudes some sort of heavy support unit that's almost as manoeuvrable as them, but capable of carrying heavier weapons and armour, one option is to take the basic powered armour design and scale it up just enough so the pilot's entire body fits into the chest, thus freeing the limbs to be scaled however you like. The result is effectively a mini-mecha - emphasis on 'mini'; one of the challenges here will be to scale it down as much as possible to avoid running into the issues that plague full-sized mecha. We have an advantage there, since the mind-machine interface tech means we don't need to leave enough room in the cockpit for the pilot to move their real limbs to control the unit by motion-capture.
- Can we build mecha?
- Yes, absolutely. People have built small ones in real life (treaded rather than bipedal, but we're still working on that whole 'walking without falling down' thing).
- Can we make mecha combat-effective?
- Almost certainly. Revy is a genius, and there's more than enough super-materials and tech around already to overcome the known issues with building a combat mecha.
- Can we make combat mecha a viable warfare platform?
- No. Not outside a few very specialized fields. The problem is that basically any tech that makes them viable provides as much or more benefit if applied to a conventional platform of the same purpose (i.e. tanks for heavy ground combat, fighters for air and space combat, powered armour for light ground combat).
So, if you want to give your powered armour dudes some sort of heavy support unit that's almost as manoeuvrable as them, but capable of carrying heavier weapons and armour, one option is to take the basic powered armour design and scale it up just enough so the pilot's entire body fits into the chest, thus freeing the limbs to be scaled however you like. The result is effectively a mini-mecha - emphasis on 'mini'; one of the challenges here will be to scale it down as much as possible to avoid running into the issues that plague full-sized mecha. We have an advantage there, since the mind-machine interface tech means we don't need to leave enough room in the cockpit for the pilot to move their real limbs to control the unit by motion-capture.
One-time pads are literally unbreakable. Not just 'effectively' unbreakable, not just impractical to break, but literally, mathematically unbreakable. If you intercept a one-time encrypted message, and somebody claims to know what it says, you cannot even tell if they are right, because, for every possible message of the right length, there is a key that such that encrypting it results in the message you received.
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So I assume that a mech like yours would be perfect in urban warfare?
Especially in the cities of mass effect were tanks can not go? And when you need something heavier than power armor?
