Commentary Thread

Provide input on other members' applications here.

The Aiste and the Dehhemek seem to be way too powerful. The Dehhemek's technology, biology and numbers seem to make them destined to win absolutely every war they'll get in. The Aiste are ridiculously adaptable, so you could just send them to any planet and have them become invincible supersoldiers...

Excess Velocity, I don't like your technology. I don't understand how the repulse field would work (is it some sort of reactionary shielding? If so, how do you block lightspeed weapons like lasers?--and, for that matter, how does it actually block the laser?).

Rend drives allow for perfect maneuverability in and out of FTL? What about relativistic effects at speeds near C? What effects occur at speeds greater than C?

Hmm. In retrospect I was putting limitations on the Aiste that I never clearly wrote in. They were never intended to be able to become invincible super-soldiers, and I don't even know if they'd want to. Their military might should be coming from their subtlety and politics, rather than physical prowess. I'll write some clarification on the extent of their developmental capacity.

Aside from that, I'm also concerned about the Dehhemek's power level. With physical, intellectual, technological and simple quantity advantages, I don't see much of a downside.

I also think we probably need more information about the Evermass. I'm not sure how most people are supposed to have a conversation with a city-sized coral.

One question about the Aiste: Could they mimic a machine in appearance? Or only organics?

They would have to remain biological, although a Gwyllion could probably pull off a convincing C-3PO in appearance only. It would become fairly obvious over time though when they need to eat and other bodily functions.

Bot 4 wrote:

Excess Velocity, I don't like your technology. I don't understand how the repulse field would work (is it some sort of reactionary shielding? If so, how do you block lightspeed weapons like lasers?--and, for that matter, how does it actually block the laser?).

Rend drives allow for perfect maneuverability in and out of FTL? What about relativistic effects at speeds near C? What effects occur at speeds greater than C?

Quote :

Aside from that, I'm also concerned about the Dehhemek's power level. With physical, intellectual, technological and simple quantity advantages, I don't see much of a downside.

Repulsion fields mesh together into a field that bends around the contours of whatever surface is projecting them. They spread out in a rather close-knit, if thin film, so while they can partially reflect lasers, lasers aren't the best bet to defeat them. Some will get through, some won't, so while you can use lasers on their ships, you can expect that they'll be severely weakened, so it'd basically be like using a weaker tool against the ship itself. Repulse fields are quite a bit weaker than, say, Star Wars shielding, so they're more like reinforcement to the hull. If you hit it with a strike that'd be enough to kill a 2km ship without the field, that would be sufficient to probably burn out the circuits that support it.

Particle weapons would probably be the best bet at passing through them unopposed, if you can manage that.


A weakness of the Repulse fields is that they make Dehhemek ships incredibly fucking LOUD, that is, visible. If you're in the same Star System, you'd be able to see them easily from several planets away, since they gleam like stars and pump out a lot of wasted energy into space.

Of course, having never encountered alien species before, if you make even a mediocre attempt at some sort of stealth you're likely to be able to sneak right up behind them and jam a potato down their guns before they notice, since when they're looking for ships, they're looking for things that are like them.


Rend drives are the brand-name anti-gravity system they use, and having circuits running along the hull allow ships to project fields that warp space. So it's one of those things where the ship does not technically move itself through space, but rather moves the space around it. So they can turn this way and that and what not and transport themselves at incredible speeds, but they've got no conventional method of thrusting. Something that messes with space, like gravity-warping weapons and such, could mess up their navigation systems and all that.


Dehhemek society, and especially government, is also hilariously impotent, actually. Krevia in particular can't come to mass decisions about nearly anything, especially war. Making a decision to mobilize to any war with their own species often sees more internal violence in congresses and senates than it does on actual battlefields. Everyone has their own opinions about everything, and the military relies on public support in a big way. Considering Deh are a relatively sensible, non-blood-thirsty bunch, they aren't likely to be able to go to war quite as fast as their military commanders might bicker they need to.

tl;dr, Dehhemek technology is neat and shiny, and they're pretty good at warfare in theory, but a lack of endurance and overall war-fighting ability, especially over sustained periods (if, for instance, the military attempted to invade a planet, any support a campaign had would peter out if the planet wasn't take within the span of a month. Dehhemeks cannot into length campaigns).


Basically, they're space America, circa Vietnam. They've got tons of flashy toys, but their
ability to actually fight a sustained war is in question.


Add to these that their governments, do to reliance on corporations for such shiny toys, can keep almost none of this secret. If you've got the right stuff to trade, you're liable to be able to walk into a corporate office in broad daylight and order a brand-spanking new ship yourself. Want some technical experts thrown in on lease?

If you've got the money, it's yours, my friend. Even if you've never reverse engineered alien technology before, Silver Star Inc. (the Krevian Military's primary supplier for infantry equipment, for example) would be happy to give you a crash course, if you can afford it. Another reason why if typical Krevian 'shock and awe' warfare doesn't work, they usually have no interest in continued fighting.

I suppose my concern is mostly that the Dehhemek are America while some of us are France, New Zealand or Bolivia in terms of military clout. While this isn't independently an issue, there aren't enough large powers on the map at the moment to stop them from gobbling smaller factions. Not that I expect you would do such a thing, but you have the potential to.

If you play up the cloying bureaucracy and ineffective government that would be a sufficient weakness, but I didn't get heaps of that from your application.

The White Duke wrote:

I suppose my concern is mostly that the Dehhemek are America while some of us are France, New Zealand or Bolivia in terms of military clout. While this isn't independently an issue, there aren't enough large powers on the map at the moment to stop them from gobbling smaller factions. Not that I expect you would do such a thing, but you have the potential to.

If you play up the cloying bureaucracy and ineffective government that would be a sufficient weakness, but I didn't get heaps of that from your application.

That's how I envision it, but it didn't come off that way. I could make that an excerpt in the Society point of the faction and species.

Mmm, those alterations make me feel much more comfortable. Thanks for writing them in. Now I just need to finish my own app .