Concepts: Today's similarities and differences to the HV

Scenario: This is originally a job for a Ghost. In fact, 25 Ghosts were sent out into the wild to surveil a number of targets for the maiden voyages of the LDs.

But! Intel came down the pipeline about two juicy targets that MAY be showing up in System A. The Intel isn’t from a 100% reliable source all of the time, but the source has been correct enough of the time. So you send a Shark in lieu of the Ghost.

If the window of opportunity never presents itself, the Shark can still do the Ghost's job and return with the surveillance the LDs need for later. No harm no foul no missed opportunity had it presented itself. The Ghost that was pulled off the mission is re-tasked, shoring up someone else’s operation.

A commander must be flexible. In his tactics. In his strategy. In his thinking. If he is going to win wars.

penny wrote:Scenario: This is originally a job for a Ghost. In fact, 25 Ghosts were sent out into the wild to surveil a number of targets for the maiden voyages of the LDs.

But! Intel came down the pipeline about two juicy targets that MAY be showing up in System A. The Intel isn’t from a 100% reliable source all of the time, but the source has been correct enough of the time. So you send a Shark in lieu of the Ghost.

If the window of opportunity never presents itself, the Shark can still do the Ghost's job and return with the surveillance the LDs need for later. No harm no foul no missed opportunity had it presented itself. The Ghost that was pulled off the mission is re-tasked, shoring up someone else’s operation.

A commander must be flexible. In his tactics. In his strategy. In his thinking. If he is going to win wars.

Again, if a system was worthy of an LD attack, then it had more than just two targets of opportunity that were suitable to be attacked. If the two visitors were the only worthwhile targets, then a Shark is appropriate; but that is something that would be known in the planning of the operation. It is not as though absolutely nothing is known before the ships are sent out.

If a major LD attack is being planned then only Ghosts are sent to reconnoiter, because the strategy board does not want some trigger happy Shark commander messing up the surprise.

So Sharks might be sent to scout systems that are expected to be never worth an LD attack. But if they discover the preliminary reports were wrong and an LD is needed, then they better behave as Ghosts and not do anything to raise the alarm.

ThinksMarkedly wrote:The Enola Gay is more like a LAC than a Shark. The reward required to sacrifice a full ship needs to be really big. And as I’ve said before, while Alphas might be hyper-rational and logical, they are also hyper-arrogant and think they are the ones to rule, leading to their not willingly sacrifice themselves.

Do you remember who is at the top of the CAASAP list?

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10595

Both Shannon and Sonja are going to be in one basket. I know. I know. The GA would never allow both of those eggs to travel in one basket. The MAN cannot believe the Intel either! Apparently they are traveling first class in an unmarked vehicle. So as not to call attention to themselves.

That is a lot of elite blood in the water. It will certainly draw a Shark or two.

Alpha's might not want to sacrifice themselves. Life wants to find a way to go on living; after all, that is my entire argument against accepting a duel with a known duelist. So I suspect they sent one of their best. The best will complete the mission plus find a way to survive. But the MAN in the hot seat may know he has nanites and will die anyway if he refuses the bait.

However, I’m not so sure such a cultist specimen won’t be willing to sacrifice himself. Especially after Albrecht mimicked Edward Saganami’s performance to begin a tradition and made himself a martyr.

@tlb,

It is simply a matter of the targets in the gift basket being much juicier than the original targets.

They're also succulent. LOL

penny wrote:Alpha's might not want to sacrifice themselves. Life wants to find a way to go on living; after all, that is my entire argument against accepting a duel with a known duelist. So I suspect they sent one of their best. The best will complete the mission plus find a way to survive. But the MAN in the hot seat may know he has nanites and will die anyway if he refuses the bait.

We're told naval personnel do not have nanites. See Commander Jessica Milliken, for an example. And nanites do not appear to be intelligent enough to make the decision you've called on them above.

If a target of opportunity presents itself and is worth the risk, then sure, go for. All I'm saying this is going to be incredibly rare and the risk is huge, because the ship must escape leaving behind little to no debris behind.

And it must also be something that it can't do without torpedoes or other stand-off weapons. Sharks can carry torpedoes externally. So this situation would only happen after it has expended all its torpedoes, which presumably only happened in this very system because if it had been empty the Shark would have returned to a base for resupply. Therefore, this implies either the torpedoes have struck and the juicy target presented itself after the attack, or the torpedoes have not but cannot be retasked.

However, I’m not so sure such a cultist specimen won’t be willing to sacrifice himself. Especially after Albrecht mimicked Edward Saganami’s performance to begin a tradition and made himself a martyr.

The average Alpha does not know of Albrecht's existence, let alone the circumstances of his death. The 95-percentile Alpha doesn't know.

penny wrote:It is simply a matter of the targets in the gift basket being much juicier than the original targets.

But what you are saying is that you would rather send out Sharks than Ghosts, because there is a chance that a Shark might encounter something to destroy now, which could be more valuable than the results of a reconnaissance mission. So what happens when one of the Ghosts that you did send out, reports that it found an golden opportunity for a Shark, provided that it goes out now? But all of your Sharks are dispersed looking for hypothetical targets. In the calculus of war, a certainty is better than a possibility and a possibility is better than a hypothetical.

A good planner sends out all of their recon scouts and retains enough offensive capabilities to act on their results. This does not mean that there is never a reconnaissance in force. But in the case of Sharks, it means they are only sent where the enemy might have gathered, but not in enough force to require an LD. If the force does require an LD, then the Shark quietly redraws and hurries back so an LD can be dispatched.