Morhek's board-to-board with The All-knowing Sith'ari
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Looks like we've got our stealth in space back. :-D
You forgot the Rookie. We seriously need to see more of the Rookie. He may have been the player character in ODST but the game is basically the story of the other troopers and Buck and Dare in particular.
I can see it now, the tale of the ODSTs, the SPARTAN-IV squad, and a badass Naval crew aboard the UNSC Infinity on the big screen...
Probably the necessity of space travel. Interplanetary, and interstellar, transportation would present a huge threat - crashing an FTL ship at a target would be a comparatively cheap and effective way to devastate large populations. I would expect the military to heavily police and regulate this - we don't see many privately-owned spacecraft in the Haloverse, or at least no large freight or passenger craft. We know that the flow of traffic must be significant, with inter-colonial trade being a major industry. Proportionally, then, the military must be large enough to staff and maintain these ships. These ships would also be targets for piracy, so they must be large enough to protect these trade routes. So we see, even in the pre-Insurrection era the potential for military control is significant. The CMA and the UNSC were distinct entities, so I imagine the CMA mostly ran the Outer Colonies semi-distinctly from Earth control, but with Earth oversight - without having a toe in the water, so to speak, the CAA would have little clue about how its policies would really affect the colonists. So we see the potential for resentment directed at Earth and the relatively closer Inner Colonies, who benefit from better infrastructure and familiarity to the CAA. And then, as the Insurrection spreads through the colonies and the CMA proves utterly inadequate, the UNSC has to expand and consume its former sister-branch to cope. By at least the end of the Human-Covenant War, humanity has lost so many colonies and so much infrastructure that the military is forced to take control of things to stop it falling apart.
Frankly, I think the use of the UNSC as the outward face of the government is a gesture of honesty on their part. We all know that humanity is under a military dictatorship during the Great War, even if it is a relatively benevolent one under Hood. We see in places in Asia and Africa, and formerly in Eastern Europe, that military governments try to present the face of a civilian government to cement their legitimacy, but that doesn't stop resentment. It just paints the military as a target, and promises a true democracy if it is overthrown. Why present its populace with the illusion of democracy? By refusing to present the illusion, Hood doesn't look to be consolidating his own power. And we see in Glasslands, whatever we think of the novel or the writer, that Hood is actually transitioning power back to the civilian government. So I think that while the Insurrectionists were justified in their concern over military control, that in practice they vastly overreacted, forcing the UNSC to react to them.
It reminds me of foreign attitudes to America, in a way. You never see protests in the streets condemning the US Military for whatever scandal has them up in arms - they blame the entire nation, and its entire population, because they refuse to differentiate between the actions of a few and the intentions of a nation. The Libya incident, for example, was set off by one idiot director's bad dub of an originally harmless movie. Because the US refused to force Youtube to remove it, they decided that it was yet another American conspiracy against them. They simply did not see the difference, because in their own way of life there is no difference. I can see cultural filters playing a part in the colonies' perceptions of Earth and the UNSC - they would have to deal with UNSC ships, personnel, officials and regulations a lot more than those of the UEG, so the UNSC would become the public face of Earth-controlled government.
My last message to you was 117 days ago. Oddly fitting.
Sorry I never got back to you. I've had a lot of stuff happening in recent months that have drawn my attention - I've gotten into the Homestuck fandom, which has been a huge amount of fun. Not to mention school work, which has been another drain of attention! That idea you proposed sounds very interesting! Using planetary phenomena to channel the enemy into a tight, vulnerable formation - it sounds very HOT GATES! :D
It reminded me of the Genesis Ark in season 2 of Doctor Who - a perfect sphere with alien properties, that was infinitely large on the inside and held its makers' greatest enemies. I could imagine it being a final measure of the Forerunners, storing samples or individuals for eventual repopulation, but being hijacked by someone with different intentions. Or perhaps it's just a Sentinel variant we haven't seen before?
A Forerunner-like, if not Forerunner, faction returning to take back what they regard as theirs by right. It's definitely the core idea behind the Sovereigns.
I really like the look of how Halo 4 is shaping up - Cortana is back and madder than ever, in both senses of the term "mad", the Chief gets more lines (Steve Downes' voice is always a plus), and the new enemies look like Forerunner versions of Mass Effect's husks, which is absolutely not a bad thing. Plus you have a whole UNSC supercarrier(?) with thousands of personnel, and maybe dozens of SPARTAN-IVs to back the Chief up. I'm especially looking forward to the catching up he has to do - five years in cryo isn't so long, but things have changed quite a bit since he went in. And, of course, the Infinity itself looks appropriately cool! I remember seeing large, Elephant-like vehicles in its cargo bay - I hope, for once, we get them in campaign, and in forge. And, as I thought, Spartan Ops looks to be a retooled and recontextualised Firefight, which I like the sound of.
Overall, I applaud 343i. Halo 4 feels appropriately "Halo", while still going in its own direction.
I recently discovered the concept of "Strong AI vs. Weak AI". While I don't fully understand it, do you think it can be applied to the idea of "Smart" and "Dumb" AIs?
Well, Insurrectionists claimed their scientists had Borens syndrome in Ghosts of Onyx. If it's a fictional disease, I'd think it would be a clear signal to ONI that the base on Victoria was a trap. I think it much more likely that the S-I augmentations gave Johnson long-term symptoms similar to Borens syndrome and that, working with limited resources and under pressure, Halsey just misdiagnosed him.
I prefer to think Cortana used nanofabrication units aboard the Dawn to whip it up herself. We know the UNSC have some nanotechnology, and I'm pretty sure a frigate would have repair bays of some sophistication for its vehicles and spacecraft. It's not too hard to imagine Cortana putting her formidable intellect on crafting the Chief a successor to his Mark VII.
I know the feeling!
It's analogous to the CIA propping up dictatorships in South America , rather than let democratically elected governments ally with the Soviet Union - in the short term, it benefits the US, but in the long run these are people who are going to do terrible things, and become problems for the guy after the next guy, and build resentment towards them. I suppose that's the point of it, though - the UNSC/Sangheili issue is going to be a cold war, until something hits (or, if you've finished Glasslands, has hit) that forces them to finally put aside their differences to face a common foe. It's kind of my reasoning for the War of Vengeance - without a common enemy, they're likely to just fight each other. ANd I like the Elites! I don't want to have to wipe them out!
Can I ask, though, did Vegerot's post seem combative to you? I'm worried I misinterpreted the sentiment, and overreacted.
I like the concept of slipspace highways, and I think there are remarks in the novels that support the idea - beacons monitoring quantum conditions inside slipspace, the SSEPs, and its overall unpredictability. It makes sense that ships would stick to safe, established routes, both to protect themselves against the quantum effects, and to conserve energy - presumably, a route well-travelled would be stabilised by the traffic, at least more so than an entirely unused path. It also gives the UNSC Astrophysics and Astronavigation departments something to do that isn't theoretical! I also like the idea of slipspace highways being used to measure a planet's "distance" from Earth - a system like Epsilon Eridani might take a single short jump because of the sheer volume of traffic going back and forth between it and Sol, while getting to Harvest, a system marginally further from Earth, would take numerous long jumps to take a stable route, not necessarily the shortest.
I think the key lies in capability and survivability, the two major drawbacks. In space combat, it's an unfortunate fact that human reflexes and capabilities just aren't fast enough to react to the kinds of threats that spacecraft deal with, or fast enough to deal with how quickly situations can change. This is the biggest plus on the side of automation. At the same time, however, there is a technology that the UNSC has that can mitigate this - the neural interface. Physical reaction is no longer necessary - if a pilot is linked up to the aerospace craft directly, manual control may be rendered unnecessary except as an emergency backup or to save on pilot stamina.
Survivability is tied more directly to role. Longswords seem to be bad fighters - they're huge, bulky, have big flat wings and large crews, when conventional science fiction seems to be heading the other way - small, sleek, minimal surfaces and one-man. But I think it's very important as a product of its time - the most a Longsword had to face in its early days in the ways of targets were makeshift kamikaze space taxis and crudely converted freighters, not ideal for the tasks they were fielded for - easy prey for Longswords, which could intercept the smaller spacecraft and missiles. They're also more like bombers, launching large payloads at long range, evading enemy CIWS - think of three-dimensional flak cannons. They obviously weren't designed for laser fire, but at extreme long range, with a refractive/diffractive armour layer, damage can be mitigated. The fact that they are also able to operate in atmosphere also makes them ideal fighters - space combat, I think, would mostly be between capital ships, but having them able to deploy in planetary theatres makes them invaluable. The wings also have an unexpected bonus - heat radiation. Accelerating and decelerating will produce a lot of radiation or heat, which will need to be lost, and the huge wings can also serve this purpose.
I like to think the Covenant use the same tactics they would have during their early history - you can see a definite medieval or 18th century attitude in the use of large numbers of troops in formation, supported by short-range vehicle or aircraft support. Banshees remind me more of WWI Biplanes than anything else, and Wraiths seem to have taken the place of limited rocket or cannon installations. Ghosts/Choppers are direct analogues to cavalry. Covenant officers even persist in carrying ceremonial melee weapons when firearms are more effective and practical - a sword for Sangheili and a war hammer for Jiralhanae. Not quite modern, but hardly Dark Ages stuff. The transition period right between the two doctrines.
I had a long series of conversations with CMSH myself, on the Covenant talk page. to my mind, UNSC/human battle doctrine seems far more effective overall than that of the Covenant, based on small-unit cooperation and communication, maximising limited numbers and resources. It forces innovation and creativity, leading to an ever-increasing rate of effectiveness. The Covenant have never had to innovate - they've taken almost everything they have from reverse-engineered Forerunner technology, and what little creativity they have used has been by the Prophets, who jealously guard their secrets. The tactics they use have been good enough for millennia, and changing them would seem heretical to the Prophets. At the same time, the Sangheili themselves, even though they seem to be the guiltiest party, seem to be outgrowing their previous doctrines. They've started to use the tactics of their enemy - small units of stealthy warriors used in precision strikes. The Jiralhanae seem to be trying to imitate that, but they're also failing.
I imagine the Sangheili of the future (ie; the SAF of our Labyrinthverse) adopting such tactics more and more, reforming their military to improve its flexibility and adaptability, using more special forces units. The Jiralhanae, however, will probably veer off in another direction entirely, not necessarily worse, but different. Probably greater use of rapid advance - using Choppers, Prowlers, and dropship support. Not as precise, but they've never needed precision - the metaphorical hammer to the Sangheili's sword.
"If they came to year you beg, they will be disappointed."
Good luck, and see you soon!
So, i hear we're making this hapen.
Anything I need to know about Battlegroup King Arthur? Are there, for example, EXCALIBUR assets involved? Perhaps the sister ship of the Aeneas, the Ajax, is present as orbital fire support? The statistics would generally be identical to the Aeneas, with the notable exception of not being destroyed.
I seem to have a fixation on the name Ajax. It's certainly not intentional - it just keeps cropping up. It has a proud history in my family, so that's probably it.