Questor

Entering Assistani Airspace - Earlier that evening The dark, batwinged aircraft was almost invisible against the night sky, and just as invisible on the remaining radars in Assistan. That, however, was about to change. “Approaching detection threshold,†announced the Defensive Systems Operator from the rear of the cockpit, “recommend termination of target radars.†“Weapons free,†ordered Captain John Barans, the Mission Commander. “Bay doors cycling,†the DSO stated, just as a red light appeared on the MC’s panel and a tone started to sound. “Firing eight… One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Six… Seven… Eight… Closing bay doors.†The tone ended, and the light extinguished Assistani Air Defense Radar Station “The whole country’s been destroyed, who would even want to attack us now?†asked the radar tech. He had been staring at an empty screen for over an hour now, and he really didn’t see the point today. “Vultures, looking to settle scores, or pick over the bones,†replied his commander, “and be careful what you say, the political officer is still here.†Suddenly, a return appeared on the tech’s screen, not at the edges – where one would expect a contact to appear – but within 50 miles of the radar. Even as the tech moved to alert his commander, his radar picture went blank. A hypersonic missile had just shredded the radar. “Sir! Something’s going on!†he managed to yell before the last missile in the group penetrated the wall above his head and exploded. It killed everyone in the command center. Far inland, at the command center for the remaining air defense systems, this was noted, but ignored. The officers simply thought that another crew had abandoned their posts after stealing what they could. Surely, nothing else would happen tonight, they thought. The officers could not have been more wrong. Assistani Airspace Captain Barans brought his aircraft into formation with the other six. He assumed they had been performing similar missions, but he would never know. You never did in the Silent 7th. When the public thought of 7th Air Force, they thought of the beautiful female personnel of the Executive Transport and Security Division, or possibly of the flight demonstration squadrons of the Airshow Division. They thought the nickname “Silent 7th†came from the fact that the Executive Transport Division would never talk to reporters about what happened aboard their planes or at the Palace of Sanity – which they protected. Very few people who hadn’t served in them knew about the Special Air Divisions. Entire divisions - and their airbases – so secret that even revealing their names would earn a death sentence. The Batwings were a part of one of those divisions, and they had no idea why they had been ordered to destroy their targets tonight. They did know, though, that it meant bad news for someone. None of the crews in the bombers noticed the equally dark shapes of transports entering Assistani Airspace below them.

That would be a first.

Good luck!

I think I may be the one doing it. Very little reciprocation going on though...

The sad part is that you probably believe that. We are exactly on target, and now are at least talking about things that are relevant to the debate over grand strategy. Damn, I spoke too soon. Until you prove that the photon torpedo is more effective than a disrupter bolt, that doesn't mean much. BTW, I notice that no one has taken the time to try to refute my analysis of photon torpedo yield... So you are at least as ignorant of history as you are of science. Good to know. A rapidly advancing force has never outrun its supports before. I refuse to read the link until you can do something other than copy and paste it. I have several times wasted my valuable time following your links to pathetic irrelevant sites that do not even come close to proving your point. In one case, it actually disproved it. So the burden is on you to show that the link is relevant with quoting. (Do it right please) As for the inferiority of Klingon medicine, you have latched onto that like an infant onto a tit. You do realize that I was using that as an example of the fact that you aren't capable of doing research, right? There's not a single person on this webforum, SDNet, HPCA, Spacebattles, ASVS, or RAST, - now, in the past, or in the future - that actually thinks Klingons have superior medical technology to the UFP. Even giving you that much of an advantage, you are still unable to construct a coherent, logical argument. I would also note that no one has come to your aid either. As a side note, what exactly are you hoping to accomplish with this debate? You have already proven yourself so incapable of learning that I would put you with such ironheaded idiots as TOWNMNBS and mike3. You are either incapable or unwilling to do even the slightest work to support your own argument, and you cannot seem to keep track of multi-issue debates. Did you look at any of the history of ASVS before you stumbled into the registration window? You came to an area with a history of freewheeling, multi-threaded debates without the ability to track even a single one. What the hell did you expect to happen?

No, no, you wouldn't be. I demand you take it back,

Quit dodging and answer the four questions that have been posed to you.

Not to mention the utter failure to accomplish the mission. Today's assignment for the class (once again, it is in multiple parts) 1. Discuss the aims and functions of the "continental blockade," since the Napoleonic war. Also discuss the origins of the terms "blockade runner" and "commerce raider," and their functions in each war that a continental blockade was used. 2. Compare and contrast the U-Boat campaigns from WWI, and WWII. Pay particular attention to the differences between the two theaters of WWII. Also pay attention to the U-Boat on surface ship attacks. 3. Provide evidence that the situation is analogous. Please identify the power occupying the position of the UK in this situation.

Are you just that stupid? You are trying to make this ASYMMETRICAL WARFARE? Seriously, I have a patagonian conure who gets this better. For today's assignment, class, we have two prompts. Please answer them both. 1. Please explain why you do not believe this is a war between empires. Provide at least two pieces of supporting evidence from history and an explanation of why they are relevant. Also please provide the class with a definition of asymmetrical warfare that you intend to work from. 2. Please discuss the history of the indochinese wars, beginning with Mao and continuing on through the US involvement in Vietnam. Please also discuss how you view the US as winning the Vietnam War. Extra credit will be given for discussion of the historical and political imperatives involved on the French, American, and Vietnamese sides.

Which point? I keep get led down the side alleys while he ignores my main point. BTW: Main Ppint: Why did the war last so long if the Federation is as overpowering as Jason says?

Where do you get a year from that video? WHY WOULD THEY BUILD A FUCKED UP SHIP LIKE THE GALAXY CLASS??? My guess is that they build six Galaxies and then start building more Connies, Excelsiors, and Mirandas (of all sub-types) because the only Galaxy left is Enterprise. Remember, early Galaxies blow up if you look at them funny. That's a bad thing in a war. In war you don't have time to debug the design, you just admit failure. Not to mention that the above classes are the mainstay of the Federation fleet during DS9 (well except for the Connies, which are probably behind the scenes, as there is no reason to assume that the design is more obsolete than they Miranda.)

How about the old axiom "Don't be sneaky if you don't have to?" They were going to kick the E-D's ass either way, so why waste the time and energy to cloak?

To be fair, the people who complain about technobabble on Trek generally bitch about that, too.

I have roamed this earth for 26 years today.

I'm enjoying it.

A: How many years did the british and germans spend fighting over Ypres? B: What does that have to do with my point? Are you trying to combine the fights with me and enigma? C: That only holds if, like the Galaxy, the Vor'cha was a prewar program. D: I'm really, really, tired of your "Read this" attitude. Paraphrase and cite please. Prove you understand the material and cite it.

I see nothing relevant in that passage. The war started due to the destruction of the colony that the Enterprise-C should have saved. That happened in 2344. (By the way, the Galaxy class development project began in 2343, showing that it was a project that could have been accelerated.) TNG begins in 2363. So at least a 19 year war. I see you have conceded all other points. Thank you.

The sad part is that it'll probably still end up safer per passenger mile than driving a car.

Ohh, I get it. You're still drawing the analogy between the DS9 war and Yesterday's Enterprise war. You don't seem to acknowledge the difference between a limited war fought at the end of a long supply line and a total war fought between two empires. I will acknowledge that the Klingons fleet in 2354 was the same size in both universes if you will acknowledge that for a war to be 20 years long, both sides need to be evenly matched. As for your clip, you don't seem to understand that I was saying "different, not better." A visual spectrum more centered in the reds than ours would make Federation starships look darker to Klingons. If you want to approximate what it would look like, turn up the blue brightness on your monitor while you watch a clip. You still keep bringing up minutia while ignoring the big overriding point. The war had lasted 20 years! How is that possible if the combatants were not evenly matched? How much history have you studied? Is it even worth me pulling out historical analogies, or do those just go over your head?

No, I'm suggesting that an aggressively expansionistic race would build shipyards during any lull in the fighting. You do realize that between the peace treaty in ST6 and the beginning of this war, 51 years pass, right? As for the rest of the comment, the vocabulary appears to be english, but the grammar is decidedly not and I have no idea what you are saying. I honestly have no idea what was said in this passage. As I said above, the vocabulary is english, but the grammar isn't. Also, when you introduce clips from Nemesis of all things into this discussion, you really should EXPLAIN HOW THEY ARE RELEVANT!

Are you two seriously arguing about turn rates? Both the Galaxy and Star Destroyer have off axis main thrusters. That's going to be a big deal with turn rates. Roll and pitch rates might be a bit relevant in the discussion of pure maneuverability (i.e. when the ship is using maneuvering thrusters only.)

Am I to take it that you have conceded all points but the medical ones, and that you have conceded my point about a field medic? If so, lets finish this quickly so I can mount your bloody head on my trophy wall. If you have not conceded those points, I would like a rebuttal of a few more in your next post. Shock! Horror! The sickbay of a small ship with a crew of less than 50 has a cramped sickbay! Seriously, ships that size in real world militaries don't HAVE sickbays. Edit to add: You will now provide evidence that Klingons do not see further into the infrared range than humans. Do you really not understand the difference between culture and knowledge? Also: Holy unsourced statements, Batman! That article is amazingly ignorant. Although I guess I should expect the misuse of the word evolution, the only people who know less about it than creationists being trekies after all.

I love how you ignore anything that you can't refute. A) A medic is not a doctor, and in most cases only has relatively basic medical training. Think EMT rather than surgeon. The Klingon Military, as far as we know, is made up of only Klingons. Why would a field medic be given any training in the medical treatment of someone that they are unlikely to have to treat. My main point was not that the Section 31 agent could have been lying, but that it had nothing to do with the situation at hand.

I guess they should be wished a happy birthday!

You do realize that pessimistic calculations (the explosion inside the E-A in STIV) have a yield of less than 10 KT, right? There's no way the internal decks could stop the radiation, and the radiation would create the fireball in the ships atmosphere. 10 KT gives a 30 m radius. That's giving a huge wiggle-room for the bulkheads to stop the radiation. If we go with a straight ship, and no radiation shielding in the bulkheads, to get the 2.5 meter radius hole it blew in the ship, your talking about a 10 ton blast. I would also argue that the proven vulnerability of ST ships to the gamma radiation from stars is another argument for dramatically lower yields than the ones quoted. Note: I am not a nuclear physicist, and I could have fucked up the math, but I think I'm within an order of magnitude on the fireball radiuses. ETA: Clarification on fireball location.