Subject: 72:8 Various
72:8/7304 K'kree in TNE
TS::>KFC: The K'kreer Freedom Coalition.
Stop reaching! I refuse to allow bad puns to become part of the
background of my universe! :)
TS::>Some folks have asked what the K'kree might be up to in The New
::>Era. Here's my idea. I don't own Path of Tears, so I don't know
::>the RC time line very well, but this'll get the idea across in a
::>nutshell.
TS::>The Hive Confederation fell to the Virus in the 1130s. The K'Kree
::>2000 worlds fell soon afterward, but their destruction was more
::>swift. The Hivers were more capable of resistence against the
::>Virus than the less electronically adept K'Kree.
So far, I agree with you. The destruction of the 2KW would have
_had_ to be as swift as (or swifter than - see later) that of the
Imperium, Confederation, and Hierate, and the Trailing Extents.
Remember, the Deyo-based transponder was in virtually universal
use by the time Virus was born. The Hivers weren't really less
susceptible, though; they were just able to identify and take
countermeasures faster due to their advanced computer knowledge.
Even today, in 1201/NE1, they're still cleaning up the damage.
But the important thing was that they were able to maintain
continuity of culture and of communication.
TS::>K'Kree electronics and robotics was far behind the Hivers and The
::>Imperium. At their height, the best K'Kree robots were TL13.
::>Oddly, their starships were totally dependent on robotics. All
::>K'Kree ships had robotic engineering crews just ripe for the Virus.
::>As such, the TL 16 Virus swept through the TL 13 K'Kree fleets like
::>wildfire.
When you look at the design of K'kree starships, and the psych
profile of most K'kree, it's not so odd. It's fairly easy for
even a human to get claustrophobic in an area where there's a lot
of machinery, and space is a consideration. And it certainly
would make their systems highly susceptible to Virus. Possibly
more susceptible than the other empires.
TS::>Further, as the 2000 Worlds of the K'Kree empire were farther from
::>the site of release of the Virus, a greater proportion of the more
::>advanced breeds of the Virus struck the K'Kree. Also, as the
::>K'Kree ships did have robotic engineers, the K'Kree vampire ships
::>are now in far better shape than the vampires than Imperial ships
::>where robots were more rare and so have less access to
::>maintainence. (Just where have all the Imperial Vampires gotten
::>their annual maintenance done for the last 70 years?)
TS::>The K'Kree worlds are full of Vampire fleets. It is an incredibly
::>dangerous place to go.
Yes, I can easily go along with this. I'd suspect that there was
comparatively _less_ actual destruction in the 2KW than in any of
the other empires, because the various strains of Virus have had
the time to learn how to be more survival-oriented. (Assuming
that you accept an unwritten premise in your argument. I
address this later.) The questions that come up here are:
(1) How fast did Virus really spread?
The XBoat network in the Imperium was an essentially zero-layover
system with an average point-to-point distance of between J2 and
J3. Thus, we can suggest that within the Imperium, the spread
speed was J2.5/week. Outside the Imperium, the jump rate would
be lower, as there was no continuous zero-layover network in
place, and "tramp traffic" density would likely be lower, as the
economies of the minor states in the area would likely not be
able to support the level of trade that the Imperium could.
Assume, for argument, that this reduces spread to J2/week at
best; we could probably cut that a little bit, and say that it
will cross three sectors (spin to trail) in one year. Thus, from
the release in 1129, we can estimate that Virus made it to the
2KW by 1131 or 1132 at the absolute latest.
(2) How fast did Virus evolve?
This question we have no useful data on. If evolution was fast
enough, then the characterization above is accurate. However, if
it took five years for the first strains of "survive as long as
possible while infecting others with quick suicide strains" to
appear, then the destruction of the K'kree worlds will be as
widespread and as serious as the destruction of the Imperium.
TS::>The main worlds are in ruins. However, K'Kree claustrophobia paid
::>off handsomely for the Militant Vegitarian Centaurs. Nearly all of
::>their high population worlds were habitable without special life
::>support. Few K'Kree would settle on a world were they could not
::>roam freely on the plains. Indeed, any K'Kree who did settle in
::>shelters on inhospitable worlds was looked at as something of a
::>weirdo. Many of these worlds have survived despite the Vampire
::>ships raging overhead. Their technology has been blasted back to
::>the stone age in most cases, however, K'Kree with their out doors
::>culture and vegitarian appetites are in some ways better suited for
::>this than other species.
Yes, I'll buy this. Also, as K'kree did not build as densely as
other races did, the damage in terms of lives lost was probably
lower among the K'kree than among other races. Even if the
material damage was as high or higher.
TS::>Still, this was the chance their ancient enemies had been waiting
::>for for centuries.
TS::>The Hivers, when they recovered from their fall, saw their chance.
::>The K'Kree are now utterly powerless. Immediately, the Hivers
::>dusted off their old manipulation-invasion plans, and took aim at
::>the K'Kree culture!
I have a problem with this. The Hivers only created this plan as
a response to K'kree aggression. Militarily, the Hive Federation
was taking a beating; this is why they resorted to the
psychological warfare of manipulating the K'kree culture. Once
the K'kree realized that they valued their cultural uniformity
more than they valued their mission of spreading vegetarianism
through the cosmos, they backed off. That's why the Hivers never
actually put their full-scale plan into effect. Even given the
opportunity, I don't see that the Hivers would necessarily feel a
need to do anything about the K'kree. This, of course, could
change down the road.
TS::>Traveller Historians may recall the first Hiver-K'Kree war. The
::>aggressive and militarily superior K'Kree backed off when the
::>Hivers unveiled their secret manipulations of a few of their
::>worlds. Hiver Master Manipulators had socially engineered events
::>to make a few K'Kree planets turn away from the monolithic backbone
::>of K'Kree culture. K'Kree were actually using *MEAT* to sauce
::>their vegitables! K'Kree were going into isolation for
::>*RECREATION*. These abominations against the K'Kree frightened
::>them so that they immediately sued for peace when the Hivers
::>threatened to launch their manipulation across the whole of the
::>K'Kree 2000 worlds! The K'Kree quietly nuked some of their own
::>planets to stop the abomination.
Yes. This is what I was referring to above. The Hivers have no
_need_ to be proactive; they already have the best defense that
they can against the K'kree.
TS::>The Hivers have now contacted a few K'Kree worlds and have
::>manipulated their culture to conform with the ideals of the old
::>Hiver Confederation. However, you don't turn a species of fanatics
::>onto tolerence of other life in just a few years. These K'Kree are
::>the missionaries of the Hivers to the rest of their race. Just as
::>they have in the Imperium, the Hivers have given the K'Kree the
::>technology and mission to clean up their entire region of space.
::>They have formed the KFC: K'Kreer Freedom Coalition.
I told you: you may not make bad puns! :)
TS::>You thought RCES was bad with their Smash And Grab tactics? The
::>KFC's forces are happy to wipe out any K'Kree not of their herd who
::>might stand in their way. You want ground combat "Star Vikings"?
::>It's much easier to nuke a planet and clean it up with a nuclear
::>damper than it is to land troops anyway...
Remember that the other "unreconstructed" K'kree will see these
K'kree as aberrant/perverted. Any fights would likely be to the
death of every last K'kree on one side or the other, civilians
and foals not excepted. This is not what I would consider ideal
territory for "missionary" work. The only way I see this helping
the Hivers is that it keeps the K'kree busy with their own
internal battles, thus they are not causing trouble for their
neighbors. But I don't see the Hivers forming an RC-like
alliance with any K'kree.
TS::>Why? The other K'Kree are intolerant! They have no regard for the
::>lives of aliens and other sentient life. Thus, they must be
::>converted or destroyed. [RL note: You may at some point in your
::>life have met up with some of the "Good" skinheads? The ones who
::>beat up the "Bad" skinheads? And the graffiti they spray over cars
::>is stuff like "JUST SAY NO!" or "BE KIND: REWIND!" Perhaps you've
::>met the people who attack anyone if they aren't perfectly PC? The
::>ones who think all the white males in the world should be lynched?
::>Picture those guys armed with Grav Tanks, Fusion Guns, Nukes and a
::>mission from GOD!]
As above, strike "converted or". K'kree are not likely to
convert. Especially when the evangelists are perverts.
TS::>No, the KFC does not eat meat. (Not usually anyway, as it's not
::>very good for a K'Kree's digestion) And no, they don't *usually*
::>enjoy isolation. Psychologically, they are just about the same as
::>they always were, but they are on a different mission now!
But the mentality that would allow for this kind of mission is
itself a sign of major perversion! Remember that no K'kree,
anywhere, has a loyalty to other than the Steppelord of the 2KW,
through the normal chain of command. Since all K'kree have this
loyalty, it is unthinkable to fight against other K'kree unless
they are diseased (perverts). And since one does not voluntarily
become a pervert, it is useless to try to convince a pervert to
drop their perversion. They are therefore not fit to survive,
and must be destroyed, to prevent the spread of the infection.
TS::>Scott 2G Kellogg
::>BTW, Most KFC ships, because of their difficult maintenance and
::>dome shape are referred to as "Buckets"
TS::>"Sir! There's a KFC Bucket closing in on us!" :-)
<smack!> I warned you!
72:8/7305 Space Colonies; OSA; Regency
TS::>About the current (1201) First Regent: it's probably Seldrian. We
I could actually see Norris handing it over to Branj, his
seneschal. Remember, Branj was psionic, and would have known
intimately what Norris wanted to accomplish as Regent and with
the Regency; he also would be intimately acquainted with Norris's
methods. He'd be the ideal choice. If it was impractical for
political reasons, I'd go second with Seldrian, with an
admonishment from Norris to "listen well to Branj; I have always
found his advice valuable."
::>know Avery Aledon has a ministerial/cabinet-level post. We know
::>the First Regent's position is hereditary in the same way noble
::>titles are hereditary. (I.e., heirs can be chosen by the title holder.)
::>Avery is most probably Seldrian's direct heir if she adopted him
::>after _Arrival Vengeance_. And the players' ages in 1201:
::> Strephon Alkhalikoi born 1049, in 1201 aged 152. (likely dead)
Not necessarily. If the Alkhalikoi line had a lot of Vilani
blood in it, he could still be alive, as lifespans of 200
standard years are not surprising among the pure Vilani.
::> Norris Aledon born 1063, in 1201 aged 138. (probably dead)
Ditto, though I would tend to agree with you here. Somehow, the
drawings of Strephon had him looking "more Vilani" than the (IMO)
very definitely ethnically Solomani Norris.
::> Seldrian Aledon born 1097, in 1201 aged 104.
::> Avery Aledon born 1118, in 1201 aged 83.
TS::>Regency buffs may be interested to note that according to an old TNS
::>news brief I saw again the other day, "the Duke of Regina's seneschal",
::>i.e. the now-famed Branj Dilgaadin, announced the beginning of the
::>Fifth Frontier War to the Marches in 1107, not Norris himself!
72:8/7306 Why Regency v. Imperium
TS::>It's actually a pretty responsible step. As regent, Norris or Seldrian
::>can't assume the office of Emperor without approval of a quorum of the
::>Imperial Moot, Lucan notwithstanding. Somehow I doubt that the nobles
::>left in the Regency constitute a quorum of votes. Now, conceivably
::>this could be circumvented by declaring that the Regency is all that is
::>left of the Imperium (but this is a questionable call, at best). The
::>only other option is for the Regency to technically secede, which it
::>never did during the Rebellion, unlike Daibei, Vland, and Antares.
Yes, this fits in nicely with my own theory. In fact, it appears
to be just another perspective on it.
TS::>Furthermore, by maintaining the fiction of an imperial regency, the
::>Regency asserts the continued existence of the Imperium. It's a
::>hedge against the future. The Regency seems to be protecting the
::>legal rights of the worlds in the Wilds to be in the Imperium, if
::>anyone still wants to be in one with Deneb. Otherwise, the possible
::>lack of any government claiming to be the "Third Imperium" could
::>cause problems with the other old governments moving in on the
::>ungoverned territory. It's a legal fiction. Undoubtedly, once
::>the Regency is able to recontact the other worlds of the old
::>Imperium and assess the situation, a more permanent decision can
::>be made. (In a sense, the Regency is in a semi-permanent state of
::>"crisis management" until then.)
Again, this fits in with my discussion on the legitimacy of the
Regency. You carry it farther into the future, and in a
slightly different direction, but it's scary to see someone read
your mind so accurately! :)
TS::>Of course, none of this stops anyone from doing anything out there
::>in the Wilds. The Regency is only betting that someday, someone
::>might set up a bargaining table, maybe even they themselves, and
::>they know they'll want to be in a good bargaining position at that
::>table. After all, there's no doubt that someone will have to
::>negotiate with a lot of *very* angry neighbors about this whole
::>Virus business....
...but how much of that anger will be along the lines of "Of
course we were researching it! But you don't think we would have
actually _released_ it, do you!?"?
==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin [email removed]
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