Honorverse ramblings and musings

In Camp Charon, residents were forced to make their own hand-weapons from white, milky-looking stone to fend off local wildlife. Teams performing tasks outside the fence were frequently guarded by a group of spearmen, and most residents carried knives. —Wiki

saber964 wrote:Y'all forgot Hell's Canyon Idaho.

The Eugenics Wars (or the Great Wars) were a series of conflicts fought on Earth between 1992 and 1996. The result of a scientific attempt to improve the Human race through selective breeding and genetic engineering, the wars devastated parts of Earth, by some estimates officially causing some thirty million deaths, and nearly plunging the planet into a new Dark Age. (TOS: "Space Seed"; ENT: "Borderland")
The script of "Borderland" stated forthrightly, "The Eugenics Wars are a dark subject."

Contents

Prelude

Records from this period are fragmented, but what is known is that the wars' roots lie in a group of Human scientists' ambitious attempt to improve the race through selective breeding and genetic engineering. They created a race of "supermen," popularly known as the Augments, who were mentally and physically superior to ordinary men and women. They were five times stronger than the average person, their lung efficiency was fifty percent better than normal, and their intelligence was double that of normal Humans. They also had enhanced senses, including an ability to hear beyond that of Human capabilities.

The Augments were created by the scientists in the 1950s cold war era in the hopes that they would lead Humanity into an era of peace in a world that had only known war. (Star Trek Into Darkness) One aspect these scientists overlooked was the personality of the Augments. Along with their superior abilities, the Augments were aggressive and arrogant, flaws which the scientists were unable to correct at the time due to the infancy of the science. One of the Augments' creators realized this, writing that "superior ability breeds superior ambition." That same scientist was ultimately killed by one of his own creations...

Ch. 35 A Rising Thunder wrote:“I’ve been hearing from a lot of people who aren’t any too happy about the invasion highway Beowulf offers if the Manties decide to come after us right here. For that matter, I’m not too crazy about it either!”

“The worst thing the Manties could possibly do—from their perspective, not ours—is to attack the Sol System.” Kolokoltsov barked a laugh. “In fact, I wish they would! It’s the one thing I can think of practically guaranteed to get all the Core Worlds lined up to back us!”

“You really think so?” Agatá Wodoslawski sounded doubtful. “I mean, if they—and the Havenites, too; let’s not forget them—were to take out Old Terra, you don’t think that would terrify the rest of the League into throwing in the towel?”

“Only in the shortest possible term,” Kolokoltsov said positively. “Personally, I think it would convince most of the other Core Worlds that the Manties and their friends are just as expansionist and arrogant as we’ve been telling them they were all along. It would sure as hell knock any notion of distant, plucky little neobarbs defending themselves against Solarian aggression on the head and turn them into cynical imperialists striking at the very heart of the greatest star nation in human history! The most likely thing for the rest of the Core Worlds to do in that case would be to sue for a cease-fire just long enough to figure out how to build matching missiles of their own, then hammer this ‘Grand Alliance’ flat, and the Manties have to know it.”

He shook his head and looked straight at MacArtney even as he spoke to Wodoslawski. “I don’t see the Manties wanting to pump that kind of hydrogen into the fire, Agatá. Not unless we drive them to it. For that matter , I don’t see Beowulf wanting to piss off so many of its neighbors by allowing that sort of attack. Whatever happens to the League, eventually Beowulf’s going to have to live with the star systems around it again. If the Beowulfers stick that kind of knife into the League’s back, most of those star systems are going to be gunning for them once the smoke clears and the tech imbalance has leveled out again.”

“Assuming the damned Beowulfers are smart enough to figure that out,” MacArtney grumbled.

“I think they are,” Kolokoltsov said with just a bit more confidence than he actually felt. “Maybe so,” Wodoslawski said, “but there are other factors to consider . Like what’s going to happen if someone else decides to follow Beowulf’s example on this one. It could turn out Beowulf’s only the first drop of rain, and if that happens, we may find out just
how badly screwed we really are.”

Kolokoltsov grimaced and decided—again—not to mention his agents’ reports about Beowulf’s neighbors. There’d be time for that once he’d been able to confirm the accuracy of those reports. But the permanent senior undersecretary of the treasury had a point, and he nodded as he was forced to concede it.

cthia wrote:I never thought to put the shoe on the other foot. Should — and would — Beowulf also deny the RMN transit through their termini into League space, in the event they do decide — or are forced — to attack the League?

Weird Harold wrote:

cthia wrote:I never thought to put the shoe on the other foot. Should — and would — Beowulf also deny the RMN transit through their termini into League space, in the event they do decide — or are forced — to attack the League?

Depends. Before or after they secede?

Before secession, they do have a responsibility to oppose invasion of the Solarian League by a hostile power, no matter who it might be. Given the close cooperation and friendship between Beowulf and the SKM, the question is unlikely to arise without at least consideration of secession arising first.

After secession, they are more likely to aid invasion than hinder it. They would have no legal reason to protect the Solarian League after they secede.

Weird Harold wrote:

cthia wrote:I never thought to put the shoe on the other foot. Should — and would — Beowulf also deny the RMN transit through their termini into League space, in the event they do decide — or are forced — to attack the League?

Depends. Before or after they secede?

Before secession, they do have a responsibility to oppose invasion of the Solarian League by a hostile power, no matter who it might be. Given the close cooperation and friendship between Beowulf and the SKM, the question is unlikely to arise without at least consideration of secession arising first.

After secession, they are more likely to aid invasion than hinder it. They would have no legal reason to protect the Solarian League after they secede.

munroburton wrote:It's a bit late for that. They already let 60 RMN SD(P)s transit before Filareta arrived. After scaring Tsang away, another 100-150 went through to make it ~200 SD(P)s total parked at Beowulf's terminus.

Beowulf can't stop them now. But the GA are nice guys. They're waiting for Beowulf's secession to finish before using Beowulf as an avenue of attack.