Good 'ole Battleship Cove. I vaguely remember those programs, it's been so long. Lot of fun from what I remember. "No, South Dakota, I didn't mean it like t---!"
Crimson Aria (Arpeggio of Blue Steel)
- Thread starter Dragontrapper
- Start date
DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You Only Live Once...
Basically Ryder is deciding if he is going to die that death by trying to make a harem of sexy sentient warships is a good way to die.
Over protective ( slighty yandrer..) big sister SoDak.... what have i done!!!
Itsune
Eldritch horror, Ship's Cat, Emergency Gunner.
- Location
- Somewhere in King County Washington
YOLO
- Motto
...
Recorded. Cataloged. Saved.
Last edited:
- Location
- Vancouver, Washington
But be careful... You only live twice Mr. Bond.
Snip 19
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
a snip in a reasonable time? Inconceivable!
---------------
The drive back to the ship was, thankful, less eventful. Two gates, a long turn and a near run-in with a park ranger later Richardson brought the pilfered vehicle to a stop a dozen yards from the ship. Augusta hopped out, nonchalantly grabbing their entire trip's worth of goods and started toward her ship before pausing and glancing back at Richardson. "You going to stay in the car all day?"
"Maybe," Richardson replied somewhat absently. He was busy watching the swarm of mini-Augusta's running about as they unloaded crates from the strangest assortment of carts and unpowered vehicles that were now scattered across the beach, transferring the cargo onto the partially beached cruiser. "...did you send your minions shopping?"
"One, they aren't minions," Augusta corrected him, "And two - yes. I was worried we wouldn't be able to procure enough stores."
Richardson stared at her as she walked off before finally blurting "Then why the hell did you bring me!?"
Augusta shrugged. "I didn't know where your apartment was."
Richardson stared at her as she walked toward the ship and up the gangway to the main deck before slumping against the steering wheel. The horn let out a long blare as he sat there until something jostled the car beneath him. "What the-?" He looked around quickly before sticking his head out the window and glancing downward. A swarm of mini-Augusta's, all in the same black cloaks, glanced back up at him as they continued to carry the SUV toward the cruiser. "Hey! No grand theft auto! Take this back to one of the roads!"
The minions complied, quickly changing direction.
"Let me out first!"
Twenty minutes later, all of their semi-ill gotten gains were loaded onboard and Augusta was prodding Richardson lightly as he sulked near one of the railings. "Are you still angry about the car thing?"
"You realize now that I'm going to be wanted, right?" Richardson said glumly. "Not just because I went missing - I attacked federal agents. I helped you escape from them - that's technically treason, for christ sake. They could hang me for that. As in, like, actually hang me."
"So why'd you run?"
"What?" Richardson asked, caught off-guard.
"Why'd you run?" Augusta repeated as she started unbeaching the ship. "There were at least three good moments for you to turn yourself in back there - more if you didn't mind some road rash. Given the pursuit, I would have never been able to stop you and you know that. So, why didn't you run when you had the chance?"
Richardson was silent for a few minutes before he let out a sigh. "Because something is up with the Fleet. I've spent my whole professional career - as short as that might be - trying to understand your kind. I don't think I could just give up on an opportunity like this." He shrugged, "Besides - you all got blacklisted saving my hide. Bailing now would be a dick move."
Augusta quirked an eyebrow. "Indeed. Though the circumstances of that still worry me..."
"You mean the power play?" Richardson asked.
Augusta blinked. "Pardon?"
"What happened before the french ships showed up." Richardson replied. "Wait, you guys haven't work that out yet?"
Augusta frowned. "Worked out what?"
Richardson turned around, leaned back against the railing as he explained. "It was a setup - somebody in the fleet needed you to be discredited to clear the way for their own agenda."
"Fog ships do not have 'agendas'," Augusta defended, "We might have opinions, but the ruling of leadership is absolute."
"Which is why somebody did this," Richardson replied. "They needed something to justify whatever their position is to command, so they made one."
"A Casus Belli," Augusta murmured.
"Made to order," Richardson said with a nod. "What's current Fog Fleet position on humans?"
"Keep them off the oceans," Augusta replied, "And take out any threats to the Fog."
"Containment and preemptive defense." Richardson summarized. "I noticed you don't shoot down all of our SSTO's."
"Most of them are foodstuffs or terrestrial systems," Augusta replied. "We have no reason to shoot them down."
Richardson shrugged. "If I was trying to wipe out my enemy, starving them seems like a good start."
"Acts of aggression beyond sea access denial are almost universally forbidden." Augusta replied. "Its generally viewed as a bad idea - your species tends to get disturbingly inventive when its survival is at stake."
"Still, some ships must not agree with that," Richardson suggested, "think you should be more pro-active."
"Some like myself think more in-depth research will improve the results of the Mental Model concept," Augusta said, "While others think too much human influence is...dangerous. But the fleet does not disobey commands."
Richardson didn't look convinced. "So, Dakota telling frenchy off was...?"
"Disagreement between peers," Augusta replied, "South Dakota and her Task Force operate independently of the fleet hierarchy. When such a disagreement occurs, aggressive action is permitted in certain circumstances."
"It proves the point though," Richardson said. "If Dakota and Richelieu could disagree, then any two Mental Model ships could. Your point about how they can't argue with a superior's order just means that they need to convince the command that they should go with their idea."
Augusta's eyes narrowed. "That seems...hideously complex."
"Welcome to politics," Richardson replied, "Now, the real question is who's trying to convince who of what?"
"They convinced Richelieu and her fleet that we had gone rogue," Augusta replied. "Would that not be their aim?"
Richardson shook his head. "Not unless you managed to royal piss somebody off in the past. No - this is just the first step."
"Out of how many?" Augusta asked as she arched an eyebrow.
"Well, you learned everything from our popular culture, right?" Richardson replied. "So probably six hundred."
Augusta's eyes narrowed. "...I assume you're joking."
Richardson shrugged. "Only mostly - generally speaking schemes tend to become more complicated the greater the stakes."
"And if they are attempting to influence the entire Fog Fleet, then the stakes are great indeed," Augusta said gravely. "Though we still have no idea why."
"Considering they came at you the first time right after you found me, it may have to do with me." Richardson replied. "How they knew I would be out there though, I have no idea..."
"Why were you out there?" Augusta asked. "You told me it was to set up a sensor array, but why that day?"
"UAV intel we had gotten the day before," Richardson replied with a shrug. "Some stuff from the pacific - I thought it showed some eccentric behavior in the Fog."
"Define 'eccentric'," Augusta asked.
"Lab coats and monocles," Richardson replied. "I think it was the Hyuuga..."
"Unlikely," Augusta replied. "Given your surveillance schedule."
"Ah, well," Richardson replied with a shrug. "Unless our mystery enemy has somebody inside my command, I doubt they knew I was coming. They must have been patrolling the coast."
"What if they did?" Augusta asked.
Richardson turned to the Mental Model. "If what?"
"What if they did have somebody in your command?" Augusta replied. "It is, at least theoretically, possible right?"
"Well... Richardson started, "...besides being highly unsettling? Then they'd have access to pretty much everything. Our entire methodology of dealing with the Fog is predicated on the fact that you guys don't have spies. Impressive ELINT and COMINT capacity, sure, based on your ability to identify the more sensitive SSTO launches but no HUMINT. The entirety of the NMIC's security measures are built on that - access controls and screening to prevent data leaks, completely isolated data networks, the works. We aren't expecting anybody to just try walking in."
"Well, if access is controlled, then it seems it is not as easy as you make it sound." Augusta replied.
"That's mostly to prevent publicity leaks," Richardson replied. "the sort more interested being famous then anything. Most of that is just controlling who gets in in the first place and reacting when anything goes public. We aren't expecting anybody to be covertly sending data out."
"So, what would they have, exactly?" Augusta replied.
Richardson mulled over the best way to explain without accidentally becoming the exact sort of person he was talking about. "Our protocol for dealing with Fog Ships, all of our intel operations concerning the Fog. Weapons development programs, defense measures at the fortified ports, asset movements - and incident reports."
"Like a petty officer going missing," Augusta finished. "I could see how that would be useful..."
"And horrifying," Richardson added, "But that's not the scariest implication."
Augusta quirked an eyebrow. "What is?"
"It means somebody basically betrayed their whole species." Richardson replied. "Which is either the act of the suicidal-"
"Or somebody trying to buy their own survival," Augusta finished for him. "I'm familiar with the concept. You think a human might have decided their own survival was more important then that of your species?"
"Or that it was the best way to ensure it," Richardson suggested, "Peace in our time and that sort of thing - wouldn't be the first time thought a fight was a lost cause. though I imagine that's not much of a problem in the Fog." Silence in response. Richardson turned to Augusta. "What?"
"Its nothing," Augusta replied, waving a hand dismissively, "Its just...Mental Models were created to address a short coming in our operational capabilities. Emulating our primary foe in order to match the creative capacity of your species." She glanced down at her own hands, "Obviously, there were unintended consequences, but none of them have been major enough to warrant any concern. However, based on what you've said I worry that the effects might be far deeper then mere personality quirks."
"You're still running on...whatever code you started with though, right?" Richardson asked. "That must limit how off the reservation you can go, right?"
"Theoretically?" Augusta replied. "Yes. But the meaning of that code is open to interpretation."
Richardson groaned as his head met the railing with a dull thud. "Oh god, Its an Asimov novel."
Augusta considered the comment for a moment before giving a tentative nod. "Now that I consider it, I suppose you're right..."
"Well, as much fun as baseless speculation is," Richardson replied as he leaned back from the railing and stretched, "we've got nothing to go on and more immediate 'try not to die' problems at the moment - lets solve those first and then we can figure out whose trying destroy both of our civilizations."
"Fair enough," Augusta replied as she turned and started across the deck. "I need to send a report to Dakota on our ashore activities. Keep yourself busy in the mean time."
Richardson raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't she already know by now?"
"Somewhat," Augusta replied as she briefly paused mid-deck, "but she is fond of her formalities."
Richardson watched her walk away until he felt something tug on his shirt. He glanced down to see one of the dark-robed miniature Mental Model's standing next to him, holding up something wrapped in plastic. "Huh," Richardson said as he accepted the package, looking it over before turning to the mini-model. "I guess this is something the rest of you picked up?" The mini-model nodded. "Right," Richardson tore open the top and reached inside, pulling out a dark long-sleeve shirt. "Ah - clothes. And its even in my size." He turned back to the model. "Do I even want to know how you know that?" The model shook her head. Richardson sighed. "I didn't think so - thanks though; I was worried how long my uniform was going to last..." He went back to looking at the other clothes in the bag until he felt another tug on his pants. "What?"
He glanced down to see a mini-Augusta holding up his wallet for a moment before turning and dashing away. Richardson stared after her for a second before chasing after her. "Get back here with that!"
The mini-model, unsurprisingly, ignored Richardson's demands and vanished into the ship with Richardson in hot pursuit. Anachronistically old hardware and weathered metal gave way to sleek cutting edge systems and wood paneling as the scheming construct lead him deeper into the ship. Richardson had no idea where they were going, and the ship was not laid out with ease of navigation in mind.
Richardson bowled around another corner to find himself in one of the wood-paneled rooms Augusta seemed to have spread throughout the ship for her own enjoyment. This one was a great deal smaller then the library he had been in before, a enamel claw-foot tub occupying most of one wall while the rest seemed to be glass-fronted shelves, all filled with various baubles and trinkets. "Since when did she have a bathroom?" Richardson said to himself as he looked around the room. From behind a wash-basin across from the tub, the dark-haired mini-model peered out while still clutching the stolen wallet. "Okay, hand it over."
The miniature Augusta tossed the wallet into the sink, letting it land with a soft 'thump' as she rushed out of the room, vanishing around the corner. "Hey!" Richardson shouted after her, dashing over to the door. The mini-model, however, was long gone. "...how am I supposed to get out of here now...?" Richardson grumbled as he looked down at the parcel still under one arm. Well, he had a room to himself - might as well change.
Richardson fumbled for a moment until he found the door controls, the door sliding shot with a pneumatic hiss at the press of a button. With privacy now ensured, Richardson started pulling off his current attire and caught a wiff of just how poorly he smelled at the moment. He cringed back at his own odor before remembering that he was, in fact, in a bathroom. Might as well clean up a little.
The tub didn't have a shower head, and didn't feel like taking a soak. Some quick poking around though found him some lofa's along with a variety of soaps and a bucket, and in short order he found himself seated on a stool as he alternated between dumping water over his head and scrubbing himself. "Freaky little minion-things," Richardson grumbled as he scrubbed himself, "taking people's stuff without asking..."
"Well, I didn't give you permission to use my shampoo, but I think I'll allow it this time."
Richardson bolted upright on the stool before turning around at the voice to find Augusta leaning against the doorframe, a small smirk on her face. "Uh," Richardson managed after a moment, "how long have you been there?"
"A while," Augusta replied with a shrug, "and I would appreciate it if you would not speak of my sub-forms as such."
"Hey!" Richardson shouted back as he jumped to his feet and spun to face Augusta, "You want me to be nice to them? Tell them not to steal my wallet!"
"I will consider passing on the request," Augusta replied as she turned and started walking off before adding, "thank you for the show, by the way."
Richardson watched Augusta leave in confusion before glancing down and remembering that he wasn't wearing pants. "Gah!"
---------------
The drive back to the ship was, thankful, less eventful. Two gates, a long turn and a near run-in with a park ranger later Richardson brought the pilfered vehicle to a stop a dozen yards from the ship. Augusta hopped out, nonchalantly grabbing their entire trip's worth of goods and started toward her ship before pausing and glancing back at Richardson. "You going to stay in the car all day?"
"Maybe," Richardson replied somewhat absently. He was busy watching the swarm of mini-Augusta's running about as they unloaded crates from the strangest assortment of carts and unpowered vehicles that were now scattered across the beach, transferring the cargo onto the partially beached cruiser. "...did you send your minions shopping?"
"One, they aren't minions," Augusta corrected him, "And two - yes. I was worried we wouldn't be able to procure enough stores."
Richardson stared at her as she walked off before finally blurting "Then why the hell did you bring me!?"
Augusta shrugged. "I didn't know where your apartment was."
Richardson stared at her as she walked toward the ship and up the gangway to the main deck before slumping against the steering wheel. The horn let out a long blare as he sat there until something jostled the car beneath him. "What the-?" He looked around quickly before sticking his head out the window and glancing downward. A swarm of mini-Augusta's, all in the same black cloaks, glanced back up at him as they continued to carry the SUV toward the cruiser. "Hey! No grand theft auto! Take this back to one of the roads!"
The minions complied, quickly changing direction.
"Let me out first!"
Twenty minutes later, all of their semi-ill gotten gains were loaded onboard and Augusta was prodding Richardson lightly as he sulked near one of the railings. "Are you still angry about the car thing?"
"You realize now that I'm going to be wanted, right?" Richardson said glumly. "Not just because I went missing - I attacked federal agents. I helped you escape from them - that's technically treason, for christ sake. They could hang me for that. As in, like, actually hang me."
"So why'd you run?"
"What?" Richardson asked, caught off-guard.
"Why'd you run?" Augusta repeated as she started unbeaching the ship. "There were at least three good moments for you to turn yourself in back there - more if you didn't mind some road rash. Given the pursuit, I would have never been able to stop you and you know that. So, why didn't you run when you had the chance?"
Richardson was silent for a few minutes before he let out a sigh. "Because something is up with the Fleet. I've spent my whole professional career - as short as that might be - trying to understand your kind. I don't think I could just give up on an opportunity like this." He shrugged, "Besides - you all got blacklisted saving my hide. Bailing now would be a dick move."
Augusta quirked an eyebrow. "Indeed. Though the circumstances of that still worry me..."
"You mean the power play?" Richardson asked.
Augusta blinked. "Pardon?"
"What happened before the french ships showed up." Richardson replied. "Wait, you guys haven't work that out yet?"
Augusta frowned. "Worked out what?"
Richardson turned around, leaned back against the railing as he explained. "It was a setup - somebody in the fleet needed you to be discredited to clear the way for their own agenda."
"Fog ships do not have 'agendas'," Augusta defended, "We might have opinions, but the ruling of leadership is absolute."
"Which is why somebody did this," Richardson replied. "They needed something to justify whatever their position is to command, so they made one."
"A Casus Belli," Augusta murmured.
"Made to order," Richardson said with a nod. "What's current Fog Fleet position on humans?"
"Keep them off the oceans," Augusta replied, "And take out any threats to the Fog."
"Containment and preemptive defense." Richardson summarized. "I noticed you don't shoot down all of our SSTO's."
"Most of them are foodstuffs or terrestrial systems," Augusta replied. "We have no reason to shoot them down."
Richardson shrugged. "If I was trying to wipe out my enemy, starving them seems like a good start."
"Acts of aggression beyond sea access denial are almost universally forbidden." Augusta replied. "Its generally viewed as a bad idea - your species tends to get disturbingly inventive when its survival is at stake."
"Still, some ships must not agree with that," Richardson suggested, "think you should be more pro-active."
"Some like myself think more in-depth research will improve the results of the Mental Model concept," Augusta said, "While others think too much human influence is...dangerous. But the fleet does not disobey commands."
Richardson didn't look convinced. "So, Dakota telling frenchy off was...?"
"Disagreement between peers," Augusta replied, "South Dakota and her Task Force operate independently of the fleet hierarchy. When such a disagreement occurs, aggressive action is permitted in certain circumstances."
"It proves the point though," Richardson said. "If Dakota and Richelieu could disagree, then any two Mental Model ships could. Your point about how they can't argue with a superior's order just means that they need to convince the command that they should go with their idea."
Augusta's eyes narrowed. "That seems...hideously complex."
"Welcome to politics," Richardson replied, "Now, the real question is who's trying to convince who of what?"
"They convinced Richelieu and her fleet that we had gone rogue," Augusta replied. "Would that not be their aim?"
Richardson shook his head. "Not unless you managed to royal piss somebody off in the past. No - this is just the first step."
"Out of how many?" Augusta asked as she arched an eyebrow.
"Well, you learned everything from our popular culture, right?" Richardson replied. "So probably six hundred."
Augusta's eyes narrowed. "...I assume you're joking."
Richardson shrugged. "Only mostly - generally speaking schemes tend to become more complicated the greater the stakes."
"And if they are attempting to influence the entire Fog Fleet, then the stakes are great indeed," Augusta said gravely. "Though we still have no idea why."
"Considering they came at you the first time right after you found me, it may have to do with me." Richardson replied. "How they knew I would be out there though, I have no idea..."
"Why were you out there?" Augusta asked. "You told me it was to set up a sensor array, but why that day?"
"UAV intel we had gotten the day before," Richardson replied with a shrug. "Some stuff from the pacific - I thought it showed some eccentric behavior in the Fog."
"Define 'eccentric'," Augusta asked.
"Lab coats and monocles," Richardson replied. "I think it was the Hyuuga..."
"Unlikely," Augusta replied. "Given your surveillance schedule."
"Ah, well," Richardson replied with a shrug. "Unless our mystery enemy has somebody inside my command, I doubt they knew I was coming. They must have been patrolling the coast."
"What if they did?" Augusta asked.
Richardson turned to the Mental Model. "If what?"
"What if they did have somebody in your command?" Augusta replied. "It is, at least theoretically, possible right?"
"Well... Richardson started, "...besides being highly unsettling? Then they'd have access to pretty much everything. Our entire methodology of dealing with the Fog is predicated on the fact that you guys don't have spies. Impressive ELINT and COMINT capacity, sure, based on your ability to identify the more sensitive SSTO launches but no HUMINT. The entirety of the NMIC's security measures are built on that - access controls and screening to prevent data leaks, completely isolated data networks, the works. We aren't expecting anybody to just try walking in."
"Well, if access is controlled, then it seems it is not as easy as you make it sound." Augusta replied.
"That's mostly to prevent publicity leaks," Richardson replied. "the sort more interested being famous then anything. Most of that is just controlling who gets in in the first place and reacting when anything goes public. We aren't expecting anybody to be covertly sending data out."
"So, what would they have, exactly?" Augusta replied.
Richardson mulled over the best way to explain without accidentally becoming the exact sort of person he was talking about. "Our protocol for dealing with Fog Ships, all of our intel operations concerning the Fog. Weapons development programs, defense measures at the fortified ports, asset movements - and incident reports."
"Like a petty officer going missing," Augusta finished. "I could see how that would be useful..."
"And horrifying," Richardson added, "But that's not the scariest implication."
Augusta quirked an eyebrow. "What is?"
"It means somebody basically betrayed their whole species." Richardson replied. "Which is either the act of the suicidal-"
"Or somebody trying to buy their own survival," Augusta finished for him. "I'm familiar with the concept. You think a human might have decided their own survival was more important then that of your species?"
"Or that it was the best way to ensure it," Richardson suggested, "Peace in our time and that sort of thing - wouldn't be the first time thought a fight was a lost cause. though I imagine that's not much of a problem in the Fog." Silence in response. Richardson turned to Augusta. "What?"
"Its nothing," Augusta replied, waving a hand dismissively, "Its just...Mental Models were created to address a short coming in our operational capabilities. Emulating our primary foe in order to match the creative capacity of your species." She glanced down at her own hands, "Obviously, there were unintended consequences, but none of them have been major enough to warrant any concern. However, based on what you've said I worry that the effects might be far deeper then mere personality quirks."
"You're still running on...whatever code you started with though, right?" Richardson asked. "That must limit how off the reservation you can go, right?"
"Theoretically?" Augusta replied. "Yes. But the meaning of that code is open to interpretation."
Richardson groaned as his head met the railing with a dull thud. "Oh god, Its an Asimov novel."
Augusta considered the comment for a moment before giving a tentative nod. "Now that I consider it, I suppose you're right..."
"Well, as much fun as baseless speculation is," Richardson replied as he leaned back from the railing and stretched, "we've got nothing to go on and more immediate 'try not to die' problems at the moment - lets solve those first and then we can figure out whose trying destroy both of our civilizations."
"Fair enough," Augusta replied as she turned and started across the deck. "I need to send a report to Dakota on our ashore activities. Keep yourself busy in the mean time."
Richardson raised an eyebrow, "Wouldn't she already know by now?"
"Somewhat," Augusta replied as she briefly paused mid-deck, "but she is fond of her formalities."
Richardson watched her walk away until he felt something tug on his shirt. He glanced down to see one of the dark-robed miniature Mental Model's standing next to him, holding up something wrapped in plastic. "Huh," Richardson said as he accepted the package, looking it over before turning to the mini-model. "I guess this is something the rest of you picked up?" The mini-model nodded. "Right," Richardson tore open the top and reached inside, pulling out a dark long-sleeve shirt. "Ah - clothes. And its even in my size." He turned back to the model. "Do I even want to know how you know that?" The model shook her head. Richardson sighed. "I didn't think so - thanks though; I was worried how long my uniform was going to last..." He went back to looking at the other clothes in the bag until he felt another tug on his pants. "What?"
He glanced down to see a mini-Augusta holding up his wallet for a moment before turning and dashing away. Richardson stared after her for a second before chasing after her. "Get back here with that!"
The mini-model, unsurprisingly, ignored Richardson's demands and vanished into the ship with Richardson in hot pursuit. Anachronistically old hardware and weathered metal gave way to sleek cutting edge systems and wood paneling as the scheming construct lead him deeper into the ship. Richardson had no idea where they were going, and the ship was not laid out with ease of navigation in mind.
Richardson bowled around another corner to find himself in one of the wood-paneled rooms Augusta seemed to have spread throughout the ship for her own enjoyment. This one was a great deal smaller then the library he had been in before, a enamel claw-foot tub occupying most of one wall while the rest seemed to be glass-fronted shelves, all filled with various baubles and trinkets. "Since when did she have a bathroom?" Richardson said to himself as he looked around the room. From behind a wash-basin across from the tub, the dark-haired mini-model peered out while still clutching the stolen wallet. "Okay, hand it over."
The miniature Augusta tossed the wallet into the sink, letting it land with a soft 'thump' as she rushed out of the room, vanishing around the corner. "Hey!" Richardson shouted after her, dashing over to the door. The mini-model, however, was long gone. "...how am I supposed to get out of here now...?" Richardson grumbled as he looked down at the parcel still under one arm. Well, he had a room to himself - might as well change.
Richardson fumbled for a moment until he found the door controls, the door sliding shot with a pneumatic hiss at the press of a button. With privacy now ensured, Richardson started pulling off his current attire and caught a wiff of just how poorly he smelled at the moment. He cringed back at his own odor before remembering that he was, in fact, in a bathroom. Might as well clean up a little.
The tub didn't have a shower head, and didn't feel like taking a soak. Some quick poking around though found him some lofa's along with a variety of soaps and a bucket, and in short order he found himself seated on a stool as he alternated between dumping water over his head and scrubbing himself. "Freaky little minion-things," Richardson grumbled as he scrubbed himself, "taking people's stuff without asking..."
"Well, I didn't give you permission to use my shampoo, but I think I'll allow it this time."
Richardson bolted upright on the stool before turning around at the voice to find Augusta leaning against the doorframe, a small smirk on her face. "Uh," Richardson managed after a moment, "how long have you been there?"
"A while," Augusta replied with a shrug, "and I would appreciate it if you would not speak of my sub-forms as such."
"Hey!" Richardson shouted back as he jumped to his feet and spun to face Augusta, "You want me to be nice to them? Tell them not to steal my wallet!"
"I will consider passing on the request," Augusta replied as she turned and started walking off before adding, "thank you for the show, by the way."
Richardson watched Augusta leave in confusion before glancing down and remembering that he wasn't wearing pants. "Gah!"
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
either 1) trying to lure him to the bath 2) its a little Clepto or 3) both
SV5195R
C-Weapon
- Location
- Russian Federation
Richardson and Augusta's interactions are hilarious.
This reminds me that I must re-read Arpeggio. I binge-read it once (about forty or fifty chapters or so), then, due to the glacial pace of the manga (and slow updating speed) and some characters simply being... well, uninteresting (I'm looking at you, human characters and *a couple or two* Fog ships), I simply lost interest and stopped following it one day. However, this fic rekindled my interest to this franchise, so I'll probably give it a
This reminds me that I must re-read Arpeggio. I binge-read it once (about forty or fifty chapters or so), then, due to the glacial pace of the manga (and slow updating speed) and some characters simply being... well, uninteresting (I'm looking at you, human characters and *a couple or two* Fog ships), I simply lost interest and stopped following it one day. However, this fic rekindled my interest to this franchise, so I'll probably give it a
Which characters are you referring to?
Are we going to be seeing any carriers? Their lack of presence in the manga has always bugged me, though we are finally seeing one in battle in recent chapters.
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
A soon as I know 1) what they do and 2) have an idea for what to have them doing. Remember that I'm making this up as I go - so, if you have ideas, please share them*
* - In a calm manner
We don't actually have to have the carrier DO anything. Note that they cut out as soon as Lexington began to go into action. You can have Augusta not knowing what a carrier does (Takao didn't), and have it be a running joke that whenever she tries to explain her abilities, someone or something interrupts. And for some reason, she never gets a chance to fight.
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
Supposedly, and I can't remember which chapter it was in, the carriers had full compliments of aircraft, but they were too small to mount Klien fields, so all Fog aircraft were shot down in the Big Climatic Battle from before the story 'began' and the carriers reassigned as 'assault suppression vessels'... which is BS in many ways.
If I may make a suggestion:
The US Navy ran experiments in 1945 on carrier-operations equipped B-25s on the long-hull Essex class carrier USS Shangri-la, and they were a complete success. When the War ended, they were dismissed due to the Navy's near total self-disarmament. So, if a Fighter or Torpedo Bomber is too small for a Klien Field Generator, A B-25 should be big enough, and you can go wild with the potential armaments, like Anti-ship missiles, Laser Lightshow machine guns, or a railgun ala the B-25J.
Just give every aircraft a very small Klien field and explore how Fog aircraft like the TBF Avenger or the A6M Zero compare/contrast to their inspirational primogenitors.
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Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
well, if I give carrier aircraft a buff, it'll be based on what Haruna could do at the mansion - she could take on tanks and everything.
Itsune
Eldritch horror, Ship's Cat, Emergency Gunner.
- Location
- Somewhere in King County Washington
I think the main reason that there are so few Carrier's in the Fog Fleet, is that they would have to be processor hogs. What use is a carrier without fighters? Other than as an Intel, signal, and strategic command center. A carrier would have little use without fightercraft.
You would need a boatload of processing cores. Even if they were kept fairly simple. And we do not know how many the Fog have.
You would need a boatload of processing cores. Even if they were kept fairly simple. And we do not know how many the Fog have.
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
So a carrier would have to micro-manage its fighters to be effective - and could only afford to run a few.
but those few would be effectively invulnerable.
It's not a matter of individual cores. Each core has enough power run a whole ship on its own. Each carrier would only need one (specialized) core. And I imagine that the Fog started the war with as many cores as they have ships. There should be enough cores to go around, easily.
And you are (barely) going to be able to slip a single torpedo boat core into a B-25. Anything smaller is going to be unable to generate a Klein Field unless a Mental Model from another ship is onboard. Without a mental model directly onboard, you are not going to be able to generate Klien Field at all.
A carrier can launch and command a full wing of planes. It cannot, however, give more than one (MAYBE two if its as powerful as Nagato) a Klein Field. And then it would be impeding the performance of the ship-body.
You could also have some of the larger flying boats or the USN dirigibles.
The question is why would you bother? Fog ships control the ocean, so flying across the seas is unnecessary unless you want to transfer between ships. You don't need fire support if you have a heavy cruiser. Transport inland is going to need to be stealthier than a plane can provide.
My impression of carriers in the manga is that their initial failure had more to do with unimaginative tactics than the actual power of the Fog aircraft replicas. However, the initial failure of the carrier strikes during the initial battles left a false impression of incapability that hasn't been revised since the development of Mental Models.
The one aircraft replica we've seen so far didn't have propellers, just some kind of field coming from the propeller housing, so I would suspect their actual capabilities aren't that different from modern fighter craft. Their failure was - I believe - a tactical one due to the Fog's lack of experience with actual battle.
At the very least I would expect a Fog carrier to use it's planes to extend it's sensor range - modern carriers spend a lot of time hunting subs and launching recon flights after all. A Fog carrier could be an unparalleled spymaster, it's planes allowing it to communicate and gather information on a global scale.
The one aircraft replica we've seen so far didn't have propellers, just some kind of field coming from the propeller housing, so I would suspect their actual capabilities aren't that different from modern fighter craft. Their failure was - I believe - a tactical one due to the Fog's lack of experience with actual battle.
At the very least I would expect a Fog carrier to use it's planes to extend it's sensor range - modern carriers spend a lot of time hunting subs and launching recon flights after all. A Fog carrier could be an unparalleled spymaster, it's planes allowing it to communicate and gather information on a global scale.
- Location
- Vancouver, Washington
The main problem is that while a B-25 could take off from a carrier and land back aboard but from what I've read, the elevators on an Essex class can't handle a B-25. (Edge elevator might fit but are rated for 18,000 pounds maximum. The center elevators might hold the weight but are physically too small.) Certainly the Fog could fudge around the size and weight restrictions though
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
I wasn't suggesting giving the planes cores - but size isn't an issue. you can have Mental Models running around that are person sized with BS cores. its just not cost-effective. The core's main job is data-processing. If the planes are not running Klein Fields but some other counter-measure means, that probably reduces the costs massively.
My main question is were the shields Haruna was throwing around in the mansion Klein fields or something else?
Always Late
Lacking in coffee, sleep, and brains
- Location
- Ohio
That, that's my main problem with Blue Steel. The biggest decisive factor in Naval Combat since the Pacific war onward, the carrier, gets sidelined due to 'nope, we can't make a nano-machine derived generator any smaller' and unimaginative application by the producers. A carrier's strength is Force Projection: it can hit a target en-mass from a far longer range than almost any other ship afloat. And your best idea is reconnaissance? How about the best ship for patrolling the land blockade for runners and destroying them?
This I agree with. But the US Navy aircraft carrier of WWII and beyond was not just the Taskforce Flagship, but the main strike element. Everything else, from Battleships to Destroyers, were escorts. Unless you're from the INJ, in which case you're murderously divided over the superiority of battleships or carriers. That in mind, what would you say an aircraft carrier's offensive role/capabilities would be?
Indeed. If a Fog cruiser can go underwater and have borderline mass-shifting weapon bays, why would elevator capacity be a problem?
To my understanding, AKA re-reading and watching the manga/anime, yes those were Klein fields on a small/reduced scale.
- Location
- Vancouver, Washington
Oh quite! My main musing was on the Navy's actual tests.
Dragontrapper
Homeless Draconis
- Location
- A Tower in the middle of nowhere
If I have Carriers, I'd probably have the aircraft working as extensions of the carrier and thus piggy-backing off its klein field or something similar. Depends on how the carrier fight in the manga goes (IE if it gives me a better idea)
PS - the reminds me, I should probably re-read the manga...
PS - the reminds me, I should probably re-read the manga...
Itsune
Eldritch horror, Ship's Cat, Emergency Gunner.
- Location
- Somewhere in King County Washington
The Fog is all nanotechnology for the most part. Individual aircraft could be spawned, and absorbed through the deck as needed. The Fog aircraft wouldn't worry about g-stress killing its pilots before destroying the craft itself. Situational awareness especially in combat needs processing power in line with a picket boat as a minimum however.
The biggest problem with a single entity running remote fighters would be maintaining signal integrity at range. You could program a fighter/bomber for point to point strikes, but at the beginning, the Fog was straight brute force, with no finesse.
My thought, someone or something needed to train their AI's. Humanity was available, and still naive about their place in the universe. Thus the Admirality Code was set to have humanity live long enough to teach the Fog tactics, and strategy.
The biggest problem with a single entity running remote fighters would be maintaining signal integrity at range. You could program a fighter/bomber for point to point strikes, but at the beginning, the Fog was straight brute force, with no finesse.
My thought, someone or something needed to train their AI's. Humanity was available, and still naive about their place in the universe. Thus the Admirality Code was set to have humanity live long enough to teach the Fog tactics, and strategy.
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The problem is that you need cores to generate Klein Fields. Without a core, you don't have a Klein Field.
Haruna can generate Klein Fields even as just a mental model because she has a battleship core (Takao can also generate them, but we haven't seen to what degree). As planes don't have their own cores, they basically are stuck without Klein Fields.
Also note that this impacts their aerial performance. The Fog seem to use Klein Fields to improve the agility of their craft-note the Klein Fields flaring when we see Repulse and Vampire diving. Without Klein Fields, the airplanes are stuck with the maximum possible performance from their original aerodynamics. While the improved engines and the like help, they are still limited to the transonic regions, and relatively limited maneuverability.
Haruna can generate Klein Fields even as just a mental model because she has a battleship core (Takao can also generate them, but we haven't seen to what degree). As planes don't have their own cores, they basically are stuck without Klein Fields.
Also note that this impacts their aerial performance. The Fog seem to use Klein Fields to improve the agility of their craft-note the Klein Fields flaring when we see Repulse and Vampire diving. Without Klein Fields, the airplanes are stuck with the maximum possible performance from their original aerodynamics. While the improved engines and the like help, they are still limited to the transonic regions, and relatively limited maneuverability.