worldbuilding
So today I was catching up on another work Iâve been following on another site, and one of the chapters reminded me of some of the discussions we (all, collectively) have had about the UBI / Citizenâs Dividend here. (Click through to read and scroll down to the bit
military
Cirys superzorcher (n.): A hypothetical weapons system in which the various elements of a Cirys swarm (q.v.) are equipped to function as the radiative elements of a phased-array laser. Such an array, with an effective aperture equal to the diameter of the swarm, would theoretically be able to deliver
worldbuilding
Yes, itâs that time again. Before I get started on the actual Qs and As, though, I said to myself that I was going to link to this:Â Current Affairsâ âSome Puzzles For Libertariansâ, Treated As Writing Prompts For Short Stories, over on Slate Star Codex, in which Scott
military
So, I gather moreân a few laser fans are coming to visit these days, so just to save time, hereâs the canonical reason that lasers are the âverseâs secondary weapons system, not its primary one: (It turns out that this is really a recapitulation of points raised
laser
âYou will hear it said that lasers have âa pathetically low rangeâ and are âsuitable only for point defense and the inner engagement envelopeâ. To put this statement into its proper context, one must understand the proper scale of starship engagements; i.e., that the pathetically low range in question
Eye-in-the-Flame Arms
The MMR-144 Parasol rockets launcher. No, itâs not a rocket launcher. Itâs a rockets launcher. Thatâs because the MMR-144 fires a single unguided projectile which acts as a bus for twelve smart missiles, which deploy at the apex of its trajectory and hunt target areas according to
military
This one goes out to all my readers who have spent time deployed somewhere really, really, exquisitely tedious⌠From: Master-at-Arms, CS Ablator To: All Personnel, Task Group SPIKY POTATO Subject: Prohibitions That Should Not Have To Be Explicit It has come to my attention that due to the less than
trope-a-day
Human Weapon:Â In some ways (and inserting obligatory not-human disclaimer), many members of the sentinel daressĂŤf would count, what with the various military-basic upgrades and then the possibility of various special upgrades on top of those. On the other hand, strongly averted because the Imperials are smart enough to treat
trope-a-day
Academician Sesca Galith stepped up behind the podium, and tapped it gently to begin. The audience quieted rapidly as she held up a wickedly-pointed poniard, of oddly-textured metal, with lights gleaming white and amber in its hilt, whose image was repeated on the displayed behind her. âPresenting, gentlesophs, the latest
trope-a-day
Drop Pod: The Piton-class drop pod and Fist-class triple drop pods, specifically, the former of which drops a single heavy legionary from orbit to ground, and the latter of which drops three light legionaries likewise. A modified Fist is also used to drop equipment packages. (Unlike many variants on this
trope-a-day
Detachment Combat: A staple of modular technology â certainly any morphmech or modubot that is equipped for combat may well be equipped for this technique, as are legionaries with their carried drones and swarms. In starships, some models of AKV and other small starships (multivector attacks being handy in the furball)
trope-a-day
Clone Army: Just⌠donât. In its simplest form, where youâre just using cloning technology to replicate military-grade bodies as quickly as you can, it may be valuable. It wonât help you with absolute growth rates, since the expensive part is growing the minds to put in the