Thank you for the kind explanation, Aria.
I’m glad that my tube-child status is nothing more than an eccentricity - it was always funny to me during my 24th IC service that it seemed to be a social detriment, whilst back in the State there’s a slight social cachet to it - since it means my genetics are optimised.
Do you remember the Battle of Caldari Prime?
I was in my Navy Megathron, less than ten clicks away from the Shiigeru when its core reached critical entropy. I’ve seen ships explode thousands of times. I’ve seen hundreds of capital ships go off, and even a few Titans. But I’ve never seen anything quite like that.
It happened in slow motion, and I’m not talking adrenaline. I could literally feel the gravitational effect of her jump drive imploding in my stomach, more than ten seconds before the ship started to break apart. I could see parts of the ship buckling inwards under the strain, just before the secondary reactor blew them out again.
But do you know what else I saw?
Just before the core detonated, along with all the escape pods, I saw munitions bays opening all across the ship. Missiles and torpedoes of every single variety just spilled out of her into space. Even the Oblivion launch coils were being tossed out.
There was enough ordinance in that ship to glass a continent, let alone a spacefleet. If that had all detonated at once, it probably would’ve taken out my ship. I was definitely close enough. If even half of that stuff had gone up on the ground, Caldari Prime would be utterly uninhabitable. There’d be nothing left, not even bacteria. Instead, she tossed it all out into space. Even the largest munitions would’ve burnt up in the atmosphere. Most probably self-detonated before losing orbit.
Admiral Visera Yanala’s very last act in this world before drinking the Tea was to save people, in the only way she could. And ever since, that thought has given me hope.
I have a somewhat hazy recollection of that battle. I was flying a fast attack cruiser and we were proceeding in line of battle on regular sweeps across the melee, targetting support vessels, stealth bombers and that sort of thing.
I didn’t really get any time for introspection until the mopping up phase of the battle, when the only real targets on the field were the Gallente Navy dreadnaughts. You have a lot of time to think when you’re pounding a dreadnaught with rapid lights.
Tickling. Tickling a Dread with rapid lights. Don’t get me wrong, RLML support on grid is never a bad thing in fleet fights, but you weren’t ‘pounding’ anything larger than a cruiser.
It’s this sort of talk that gets you visits from HR.
Oh, completely. Would never waste my ammo, usually, but I really remember little about that period of the battle beyond the taste of blood and bile. I’d have probably ejected and tried to punch one, if the missile magazines hadn’t held out.
As I was saying earlier, about the possibility of cloned Ealurians replacing Minmatar slave labour.
Our experimental research has shown that mass-cloned individuals perform slightly worse than the average citizen in most roles, but considerably better than condemned criminals, or untreatable psychopaths.
With some refinements to the process, I am certain that this situation would improve - after all, with the MCD, then one can eliminate genetic deficiencies quite easily, which leaves only environmental factors at play.
Rather than clones, you should consider artificially gestated individuals from proven gene-lines. More reliable than clones, more productive than prisoners. Heck, we’re more productive than your average natural-born.
It’s cheaper then genengineering natural born people, because you do a certain amount of selecting in-vitro in any case, and for the most part any possible genetic weaknesses and the counters to them are already known.
Well, the Takmahl MCD can produce cloned individuals from a few cubic metres of planktonic soup, within a few hours or so.
So it’s kind of a lot faster than artificial gestation and all that malarkey. I mean like, you weren’t born with the physical maturity of an 18-year old, were you ?
I still don’t have the emotional maturity of an eighteen year old.
Funny, but not even a little bit true.
For one thing, you wouldn’t be making that joke. …
In any case, a solution to the Minmatar Question is needed, as if we look at demographics, we see that the Minmatar are growing faster than any other group, with the logical result being that eventually the entire cluster will be a monoculture of Minmatar swarming over every planet of every star. Which in itself will cause a collapse and the ultimate end of human civilisation in New Eden.
"This is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but a Minmatar singularity."
Technically I guess with many, multiple bangs, eh? Eh?
I have to admit, I’m struggling to see the downside here.
I can’t tell if that sounds pretty bangin’ to me… or just baller.
Not the fastest growing population in my neighbourhood.
Desiderya is pregnant again? Congratulations.
I’m trying to talk her into laying down thirty or so mini-Tuulinen’s. I’ve always wanted a family Splinterz tournament.
All at Once ?
That would be the most efficient way…