— Just sayin' maybe it's possible to order general surrender from dalatrass' (code phrase or secret password).... oh, who am I kidding cult's are dumb
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Dalatrass
could order a stand-down of Lystheni forces. But given how daft she just proved, I'm not sure she
would.
Anyway, how certain are we that this is the real Dalatrass, and not some sort of decoy?
I am fairly confident, if only because the woman we were talking to
behaved like the real Dalatrass earlier on. She made statements as if she had legitimate power to bind and to loose, to commit to decisions and have those decisions be carried out.
Furthermore, salarians are short-lived and we have no reason to think the current Dalatrass is anything other than a very old woman. There is little reason for her to send a decoy to negotiations that
might end favorably, just on the off chance that circumstance and opportunity will give her a chance to kidnap her Virmirean opposite number.
It's more likely that she would have duly appointed a younger successor as second-in-command before she left, and said "if anything happens to me, she's in charge."
There's also the fact that the only one who isn't dead would have no reason to know the command codes due to having a pilot.
It's entirely possible that she'd know the passwords
and her pilot wouldn't. But you're not wrong.
So the Lysenthi know that their Dalatrass wanted to take us hostage. So they're ready for an attack. If we try to leave in the shuttles, they will open fire. Let's get these shields up, and order our navy to attack.
Edit: and get a fucking warship in here to get us off this rock.
I think it's more complicated than that.
The Lystheni almost certainly
didn't come here specifically planning to take Mira hostage, or they would have done so at a time of their choosing, rather than waiting until Mira plunked down a steamrollery list of demands,
then complaining about it, and then and only then trying to take us hostage.
To me, it's pretty clear that "take the Virmirean prime minister hostage" was, like, their Plan D or so. We already sunk their Plans A, B, and C by not just folding up and giving in as soon as they revealed they had other hostages, and then by making a harsh list of demands their dalatrass wasn't willing to concede.
...
What this means is that the Lystheni captains were almost certainly
briefed and prepared for the scenario "we've taken the Virmirean prime minister hostage, now get us aboard the flagship and leg it!" And maybe even for the scenario "we tried to take the prime minister hostage and failed, OH CRAP!"
However, they do not know that this plan is exactly what is going on
right now. As long as they don't get a clue, they'll assume negotiations are proceeding as normal until given reason to think otherwise. Once they do have a clue, they're likely to react competently(ish) and decisively (for sure).
However, this still basically supports the 'alpha strike' conclusion. If we can knock out some of their ships very quickly and put the remaining ships on the defensive, forcing them to flee or be destroyed,
without leaving them reason to think the Dalatrass is dead aboard the defense platform, it is fairly likely that they will react chaotically and be easy prey, as the Dalatress expected that kidnapping Mira would do to Virmire.
We may need to be ready for one or more Lystheni warships trying to board the platform in a desperate attempt to rescue the Dalatrass, though.
huh.. Just thought up a potintialy interesting option. and possibly the only way I can see to get her and her polity to surrender peacefully.
Shove the entire truth down her throat. show here exactly how outclassed her fleet is by ours. the recording of previous battles where both sides lost more tonnage then she currently has. of the fact that our government is set up that a single decapitations strike (which she failed miserably at) would not even cause it to stumble, and only serve to enrage our population.
I'd give it about a 20% chance of working.
It's not a bad idea, but I'd strongly suggest trying it
AFTER we kick the ass of the Lystheni squadron in this particular star system.
I mean, personally i'm just a tad insulted that their "plan" to kidnap the leader of their stronger neighbor (not even going into the fact that our collapse just means they get to fight the Rachni) was limited to thinking a handful of small-arms would be equal to the task of not only handling a highly trained military leader who is member of a species notable for its strength in biotics, but also her bodyguards and the fleet hovering nearby who unlike them has actually been involved in space warfare.
There is overconfidence and then there is a lack of tactical insight that would make even a Krogan flinch.
I honestly think the Lystheni had no comprehension of how effective Mira and Kirai's biotics would be at neutralizing their gunfire, having been out of contact with just about everyone who uses biotics in combat for several generations.
I also honestly don't think they comprehend just how significant combat experience is for a military force because, so far as we know... they don't have any. Nor do any living members of their culture, nor did the
grandparents of any living member of their culture, nor their grandparents.
