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Yo know me Dot

Amethyst's picture

I love me a good cliffhanger. As for how crazy these guys are, that depends what weapons they fired and at whom.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

an attack full barrage of 50 megaton nuclear missiles is stupid

Hello Amethyst:
An attack full barrage of 50 megaton nuclear missiles is stupid; and would most likely destroy the planet would and all the natural resources and minerals on the planet. also the may destroy the planet itself.
It would make the whole trip to planet unity worthless and a wested of money and resources.
Thank You
fish0029

Yes it would be stupid

Amethyst's picture

Roosevelt is a blustering fool who's used to getting his way and trying to intimidate someone who he sees as beneath him. But if it came down to it they would wipe out the colony, probably not the full barrage of missiles, but one would be enough to get rid of the problem once and for all. Unity isn't much smaller than Earth and, while a 50 megaton warhead may do significant damage to the area surrounding So-Phar (roughly the size of the state of Conneticut), on a planetary scale there's plenty more planet to mine resources from, not to mention the debris field as well.

Third is their main goal in this and the other goals would be nice, but they would rather have nobody have Third if it's clear they can't have it for themselves. The android gives whoever possesses it a huge technological edge in the future and they've shown their hand too early by trying to assault the planet to take it. They've committed open war on Unity and one that's going badly so far, so it's either go all-in or surrender and try to salvage something from it, and he won't surrender to someone he sees as inferior. In his mind it's better to take out the enemy, take the android off the board for everyone, and be content with what resources they can get out of the whole mess.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

Lack of imagination on Roosevelt’s part

Why use a 46 teragram atomic weapon, anyway? Orbital bombardment using a big enough rock would probably do the job and with no radioactive residue to deal with.

Yup

Amethyst's picture

And there's lots of rocks up there. He didn't get where he is by being imaginative though. He got where he is by following orders, being willing to kiss the right asses, and not caring who gets hurt as long as the job gets done. His orders are basically to get the android and the other things on their wish list if possible, but if they can't get Third, he's to make sure that no one else has it either.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

probably not as damaging as you think

50 megatons is roughly the yield from the Tsar Bomba which is the largest recorded nuclear explosion we have on record. That one explosion didn't do much of anything to the Earth at large. It wouldn't have done any good at the test location, of course, but the Earth was in no danger from that explosion. A full barrage would, of course, be a multiple of that. However, consider an asteroid impact on the scale of the one that is thought to have wiped out the dinosaurs clocks in at 50 *million* megatons, and the Earth is still here after at least one of those impacts with its mineral wealth intact, it seems unlikely a full barrage of nuclear ordinance is going to come close to that. Yes, it wouldn't do much good for the atmosphere or the ecosystem as a whole. It could well be an extinction level event (but I doubt a full barrage comes close to even a fraction of the million 50 megaton warheads that would be required to get on par with the dinosaur extinction asteroid). But it almost certainly wouldn't destroy the planet or make its mineral wealth unexploitable, especially given the level of technology available to the characters in the story. It wouldn't even eject any significant amount of mass into orbit.

Remember that it doesn't matter where the energy of an explosion or impact comes from, it still does the same level of damage. The nuclear fallout from nuclear explosions could be problematic, but that can be dealt with and would likely settle out of the atmosphere after a long enough while and no longer be a significant risk. Heck, we have the technology to shield against that sort of radiation now, so mining operations wouldn't be all that much of a problem.

Exactly

Amethyst's picture

I actually researched the Tsar Bomba when I was writing this chapter to get a feel for the type of damage such warheads could do. There would be plenty of planet left to mine from and still be out of the fallout zone as long as the damage was properly contained and, despite his threat, Roosevelt wouldn't use a whole barrage when one missile would easily do the job. That would be overkill and a huge waste of resources. He's a blustering bully but not a complete idiot.

ChibiMaker1.jpg

Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

They have no idea...

Hate to repeat myself... The invaders need to be dealt with on a Genetic level... Perhaps the whole of Earth? Maybe Earth's Sun just makes humans crazy?

The use of the term "Half Breed" was inflaming to me. I'm half Native American (Navajo or Apache) and the only reason I was spared the hatred was that my parents warned me to never speak of it.

Nice

Gwen

Inflaming

Amethyst's picture

Sadly derogative terms like "half-breed" have long been used by humans to dehumanize others and attempt to make them feel inferior. I find that those who use such terms are usually arrogant and self-serving, or trying to cover up their own inadequacies. It's not the kind of thing I approve of, but people like that do exist and his general attitude shows just how elitist Earth has become.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3

I have to ask

Sammi's picture

Roosevelt may be gung ho and a yes man, also may actually be a good military mind to have got to where he is

But I have to ask did those "Above His Pay Grade" use the same under handed tactics on him as they used on others that were on Xia's colony ship?

By that I am referring to the C&C chips (Communication & Control) that were found attached to the brains of those SPYs, and that if Roosevelt was 75% of the mind of those "Above His Pay Grade" one of those chips would have an easier job to keep him in line.

The "Powers that Be" on Earth, to me, seem to have made the ultimate miscalculation on the part of the Saer’kah, as when they introduced themselves to the peoples of Earth they did so as Kind and Benevolent albeit technologically advanced spacefaring species.

They (the "Powers that Be" on Earth) seem to have not even considered how the Saer’kah are able to be the Kind and Benevolent albeit technologically advanced spacefaring species, after all the Saer’kah in the early chapters were described as having a Bee like social structure.

As I read the aforementioned earlier chapters, I remember mention of Worker, Science\Medical, and maybe High classes that visited Earth, I don't remember any mention of Soldier\Military Classes.


"REMEMBER, No matter where you go, There you are."

Sammi xxx

It's possible

Amethyst's picture

He's a yes man for sure, but it wouldn't be the first time that those in charge have used such tactics to keep even those loyal to them under their thumb. Just look how loyal the first spy they discovered was, and *poof* death by brainchip.

The Saer'khi did come as benefactors and would have gladly helped humanity reach their level, in fact they gave them all the information and a good deal of the technology that they would need to do so with diligent research, but Earth, or at least several of it's governments want it all and they want it now. They don't want to be equal to anyone, they want to come out ahead.

They also completely mistrust aliens for the most part, and they're more than willing to take advantage of people who give of themselves so freely. They think that all the Saer'khi must be like the ones they met, the diplomats, workers, and scientists, and a few of the Ji'turi.

The Saer'khi are not a violent race unless provoked in fact they have mentioned never having wars among their own kind because they are all connected telepathically and to hurt another would be like hurting themselves, so they don't really have a soldier class in and of itself, but if their people are in danger, being screwed with, or the Ji'turi order it for some reason then the Saer'khi will all rally to take up arms. Ever disturb a bees nest? Yeah, just like that, they'll keep on attacking even the biggest or most dangerous target until either they're all dead or their target is. Also look at the type of bee they evolved from, I think I described them as 'perpetually pissed off and highly territorial'. The Saer'khi may not be like that now, but the potential is there when they're screwed with.

*big hugs*

Amethyst

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Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3