Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by PTTG

I suppose the big advantage is that if nobody else makes use of space on a parachronic level, it's a good place to hang out. If Centrum ever manages to nuke Homeline, having orbital stations would allow you to keep the parachronic high ground.

Yeah, but that's a pretty extreme case.

Plus Infinity could more easily have parachronic stations on a Quantum 5 world that could be used to make strikes on Homeline.

And any orbital stations on Homeline would be open to attack from off-world. If Centrum's at the point where they can nuke Homeline, they're advanced enough to reach Earth orbit.

[ericthered]

In my version of IW Infinity makes heavy use of parachronic satellites: on most worlds orbit is completely empty, and having one in the air lets you spy from the sky and communicate with your agents. That's the main use in my settings.

[(E)]

Originally Posted by ericthered

In my version of IW Infinity makes heavy use of parachronic satellites: on most worlds orbit is completely empty, and having one in the air lets you spy from the sky and communicate with your agents. That's the main use in my settings.

Kinetic energy weapons with last microsecond parachronic travel? Even small ones might make for interesting "called in artillery"

[PTTG]

The fact you're using the tool a hell world used to kill itself might give even fairly dedicated tacticians pause...

[ericthered]

The parachronic KKV has its uses, primarily that its a WMD that can't fail. Or at least can't be reverse engineered when it fails. Operation Firefall (the plan to attack Reich-5) was tabled because they calculated that at least one conveyor would be captured. With a KKV, you might miss, but even on a miss it will impact the earth and be totally destroyed, not turn into a dud waiting for the enemy to capture and analyze it. Even the worst disasters either send it into orbit at impossible to follow speeds or hit the wrong alternate (you're doing this on an empty world, right?).

Its not an option you take lightly, but you do occasionally find worlds like Steel, where it actually looks like a decent option, and the only safe one.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Ransom

I can't remember exactly how IW parachronics works, but it seems to me that a major downside of this kind of weapon is that if your world jump misfires you anhilliate the earth of the worldline you are launching it from.

Thus the usefulness of firing it on a timeline where the earth is already dead...

You probably don't do a last minute jump. You jump as early as you can get away with without sacrificing accuracy so you can abort properly. KKV's are hard enough to respond to when they don't appear in your skies with 10 minutes to spare: you won't see them coming either way.

Jumping requires 10 minutes of calculation immediately before it. If you don't have multiple power sources sitting around to be used, it takes longer. Its also requires knowing exactly where and when you are, so I'd make the first attempt at a relativistic speed jump fail because of time dilation effects.

Another major limiter is that to change quanta you have to go to homeline. And While I can see ways to refine the process somewhat safely, good luck getting it approved. so your weapon only works on one quanta.

[Jasonft]

Potential problem. Does the velocity and rapidly changing position of the KKV, not to mention minor relativistic effects if fast enough, change the difficulty of the jump equations?

Unknown variables like precise mass and speed (to as many decimals as possible) will give your computers all kinds of headaches. Some of them inevitably fatal. Perhaps a penalty to Jump equations that scales upward with the yield of the impactor will make yields over a certain level impractical.

Edit: There might even be a limit on how fast something can be moving and still safely Jump.

[Dalillama]

Originally Posted by ericthered

In my version of IW Infinity makes heavy use of parachronic satellites: on most worlds orbit is completely empty, and having one in the air lets you spy from the sky and communicate with your agents. That's the main use in my settings.

For that matter, it would be a good standard practice to pop a couple satellites through before human agents ever visit, just to et the lay of the land, make sure that the planet is actually habitable/ inhabited on this timeline, local tech level, etc.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by Dalillama

For that matter, it would be a good standard practice to pop a couple satellites through before human agents ever visit, just to et the lay of the land, make sure that the planet is actually habitable/ inhabited on this timeline, local tech level, etc.

Yep. You don't want to do this very first though: the standard openings are in the middle of an ocean and in a high and isolated desert. Less risk or being discovered and cheaper than a satellite should you loose it.

Once you're sure they aren't technologically advanced, you start sending in the satellites. They'll find the inhabited areas for you quickly, identify odd geological features, and do all sorts of nifty spying. It can also show you where its safe to land a conveyor out of sight but near to the political heart of things.

Once you've figured out what cities are worth visting, which are backwaters, and which don't even exist, then you can send in your agents to do the stuff only people can do -- in the cities that matter, instead of randomly checking all of Alexandria, Cairo, and Memphis only to find out Egpyt is ruled from Thebes around here and its a backwater anyways.

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by ericthered

Its not an option you take lightly, but you do occasionally find worlds like Steel, where it actually looks like a decent option, and the only safe one.

On Steel, orbital space very much is occupied - by its own AI. It would be hard to get all of your KKVs through Orbital. And even if you destroyed all the AIs on Earth, there would still be Orbital (and Luna), who would be very aware of off-world enemy, and could likely guess that it's human.