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Subject: The Problem of the Regency Blockade
Since it has been posed as a question, just how does one blockade
against the Virus? What kind of fleet do you build? Without getting
into the heavy specifics of weapons (I'll leave that to those more
talented, interested and experienced in ship design), I'll discuss the
military issues faced by such a defensive blockade and the most economic
means of resolving such issues.
First, let's consider the problems imposed by Vampire ships:
1. Scope of task: You need to produce a complete blockade in systems at
least six parsecs deep all along the perimeter. Based on the map in TNE,
this is a line some 62 parsecs long in 1200. Sorry that I don't have a
Deneb map, but assuming that the density of systems is the same as the
Spinward Marches, that's some 70 systems total that the Regency needs to
garrison. This does not include systems that the Zhodani watch in Chronor
and Jewell. Nor does it include anything on the Spinward edge of the
Regency - as if the Regency would not fear infection from any Virus ships
having crept across the J5 route from Aslani space or through Zhodani
space having made the trip around the Windhorn. Nor does it include
naval forces arrayed against piracy or other external threats - like the
Aslan ihatei from the Trojan Reach or the Zhodani Consulate.
Nor does it include guarding the dark between the stars. Vessels must
patrol these places, but bases in all the empty hexes is simply too
expensive.
Why must you guard 6 parsecs in depth? To stop penetration by a J6 ves
sel. Why must you patrol the empty parsecs? Its too easy for a
squadron of vessels to piggyback fuel to deep space jumps and pierce
the blockade.
The final threat, of course, cannot be effectievly guarded against:
misjump. Given a few hundred ships attenpting to misjump, a few will
pop in the middle of the Regency. You know, those "safe" areas without
excessive impediment to travel so life can pretend its still the 3rd
Imperium.
All it takes is one to get through and plant its eggs.
Note: if you examine the maps in Survival Margin, the safe area of the
Regency was a much smaller area that did not include the Deneb Sector! If
that map was accurate (why else would GDW print it? :-), the Regency p
ulled out of areas too large for it to defend and left them to the tende
r mercies of the Virus! That must have been delightful PR for
Norris's administration!)
2. Location: Given the enormity of space, with the only limit on entry into
a system being the 100-diameter limit, there is an awful lot of space
in any star system that a Vampire can appear in. I'm not that up on the
technical end of MT, but from FF&S, you will need a fair number of
3. Identification: Vampire ships can be of any class, from a 100-ton
Scout vessel to a 1,000,000-ton battle rider (complete with Batron
attached!). They do not appear or act different than a human-run
ship. Since TL8 computers can do decent voice synthesis, I'll
assume higher TLs have no such problems. So, how do you tell a
Vampire (or worse yet in the beginning a mere Virus carrier) from
an uninfected ship? Every ship entering a system must be interrogated,
investigated, and determined if it is safe or not - and quickly.
(in fact TNE says "the first thing a ship sees when it comes out of jump
space in Regency space is a naval vessel").
4. Defense: Full defense is just about impossible. Consider - at least
in the beginning of the "infection" period when the number of Vampires is
thickest and defenses against infection are nil, a Vampire simply needs t
o enter the system and broadcast (download) eggs to any number of
computer-linked communications systems. A 1000AU radio is the most
dangerous weapon aboard a Vampire - it can start broadcasting as soon
as it arrives in system to any number of accidental listeners!
Certainly, it can begin broadcasting before it can be detected.
(Ah, three cheers for Imperial standardization. Mr Virus can easily
enough write and quickly down load small programs to locate one of
the few popular imperial comm systems, issue the (well-known)
commands to have the comm system point an ear up to the sky, and
let out a "ready" peep. While the inspector ships are still closing in
on the new ship, it is already down-loading itself to awaiting, open
systems on the planet.)
Defense must be prepared to destroy ANY and every ship that enters the
system. And any ship that may be in the system before it can leave in
the event of infection.
Now, for the defenders, there are a few advantages:
1. Most infected vessels are not military; they should be defeatable by
light military forces.
2. The effect of Viral infection is not immediate. by the late 1130s, the
Regency scientists should have figured out a bit about how the Virus
works - enough to have figured out how to detect it dormant in a
computer system. Shutting down the system and removing Mr. Virus at
that point may be annoying and inconvenient, but it will beat the hell
out of genocide and mass destruction!
3. After the first ten years or so, the threat should thin out enormously
as Vampires wear out and become non-functional.
Next, How do you defend a planetary system?
Ted7