Spinward Flow's treatise is timely, but it's happenstance as I've been thinking of this recently, tangentially related to what SF was writing about.
Specifically, I'm curious about the naval Scout Train that I have to assume follows every fleet movement.
Simply, there has to be a way for the fleets to inform command of what they're doing, where they are, and where they're going in order for command to have better "eyes" on the battle front, coordinate forces, and keep the lines of communication open.
The ubiquitous Scout/Courier (in the Courier role here) is (probably) the mechanic for this. They seem to be everywhere, they're small, they're cheap, but they're only Jump-2. I don't know if there's a canon fleet courier with a higher jump or not.
The question is how this is manifest. I visualize several of these escorting every major fleet, with several more constantly in flight, like runners at the front. Anytime anything of consequence happens, one (or more for redundancy) are dispatched to a forward command post. Ostensibly, the command posts would be part of the J6 linked systems.
Meanwhile, we have to deal with the Scouts themselves. Their travels, hooking up with the fleet, finding their way. Having them navigate along a Gas Giant trail in order to keep up with the major fleets.
It's easy to see Scouts jumping in to systems blind, told "this is where the fleet will be" without knowing whether it's true or not. Would they, indeed, jump blind? Pop in tanks dry in hopes that the fleet is, indeed, there, or that, at least, the enemy has not taken control of the system?
The Scout have no real mandate initially to join the fleet, just pop in, seek out if the fleet is there, trade messages, get orders, and, naturally, firstly, refuel.
Do you think that a fleet would leave behind encrypted beacons letting someone know that they were there, and left?
These beacons would simply sit dark, listening for an encrypted command signal to transfer the message. After several weeks or months, it can self destruct, or simply wipe it's memory and go cold. I think they would be very difficult to detect by an alien fleet, can have proximity sensors to self destruct on discovery, etc. I think it would be "perfectly safe" to leave these behind and not reveal even that the fleet had passed through.
Mind, there can always be passive enemy listening posts, doing the same things as these beacons. Listening for broadcasts, energy sources, gathering data, but if you have just microbursts of white noise, dunno how telling that might be.
How effective do you think these could be? Knowing Something jumped in, hovered around a gas giant for a couple of days and jumped out could be valuable information.
The worst situation is a Scout arriving tanks dry in a system with an enemy fleet. They have nowhere to run. I would guess that Scout ships would arrive near one of the system gas giants in the hopes to expedite fueling (which is, of course, a popular place for an enemy fleet to hang out, especially one simply transiting the system).
In the end, they'd like end up with a POW. They could destroy the Scout outright, or seize the ship. I don't think there's any reason the Scout should suicide to elude capture -- the pilot knows somethings (I just left Gamma Hydra and there were all these ships there). But the actual messages would be encrypted or destroyed. Or, "Dude, that's part of the job. See an enemy fleet? See them trying to capture you? Press the big, red "DO NOT PRESS ME" button."
I think the Scout train can survive fleet destruction. Sit back, watch from afar, jump out if it's not going well. I don't think the Scout train would need to be specifically managed. That (barring something really unforeseen) there's "always enough". They can ad hoc tender with the normal fleet train, crews are small, they can be traded if necessary.
I just see a buzz of Scouts flitting about, basically keeping the fleet on top of its 2 week delay.
Specifically, I'm curious about the naval Scout Train that I have to assume follows every fleet movement.
Simply, there has to be a way for the fleets to inform command of what they're doing, where they are, and where they're going in order for command to have better "eyes" on the battle front, coordinate forces, and keep the lines of communication open.
The ubiquitous Scout/Courier (in the Courier role here) is (probably) the mechanic for this. They seem to be everywhere, they're small, they're cheap, but they're only Jump-2. I don't know if there's a canon fleet courier with a higher jump or not.
The question is how this is manifest. I visualize several of these escorting every major fleet, with several more constantly in flight, like runners at the front. Anytime anything of consequence happens, one (or more for redundancy) are dispatched to a forward command post. Ostensibly, the command posts would be part of the J6 linked systems.
Meanwhile, we have to deal with the Scouts themselves. Their travels, hooking up with the fleet, finding their way. Having them navigate along a Gas Giant trail in order to keep up with the major fleets.
It's easy to see Scouts jumping in to systems blind, told "this is where the fleet will be" without knowing whether it's true or not. Would they, indeed, jump blind? Pop in tanks dry in hopes that the fleet is, indeed, there, or that, at least, the enemy has not taken control of the system?
The Scout have no real mandate initially to join the fleet, just pop in, seek out if the fleet is there, trade messages, get orders, and, naturally, firstly, refuel.
Do you think that a fleet would leave behind encrypted beacons letting someone know that they were there, and left?
These beacons would simply sit dark, listening for an encrypted command signal to transfer the message. After several weeks or months, it can self destruct, or simply wipe it's memory and go cold. I think they would be very difficult to detect by an alien fleet, can have proximity sensors to self destruct on discovery, etc. I think it would be "perfectly safe" to leave these behind and not reveal even that the fleet had passed through.
Mind, there can always be passive enemy listening posts, doing the same things as these beacons. Listening for broadcasts, energy sources, gathering data, but if you have just microbursts of white noise, dunno how telling that might be.
How effective do you think these could be? Knowing Something jumped in, hovered around a gas giant for a couple of days and jumped out could be valuable information.
The worst situation is a Scout arriving tanks dry in a system with an enemy fleet. They have nowhere to run. I would guess that Scout ships would arrive near one of the system gas giants in the hopes to expedite fueling (which is, of course, a popular place for an enemy fleet to hang out, especially one simply transiting the system).
In the end, they'd like end up with a POW. They could destroy the Scout outright, or seize the ship. I don't think there's any reason the Scout should suicide to elude capture -- the pilot knows somethings (I just left Gamma Hydra and there were all these ships there). But the actual messages would be encrypted or destroyed. Or, "Dude, that's part of the job. See an enemy fleet? See them trying to capture you? Press the big, red "DO NOT PRESS ME" button."
I think the Scout train can survive fleet destruction. Sit back, watch from afar, jump out if it's not going well. I don't think the Scout train would need to be specifically managed. That (barring something really unforeseen) there's "always enough". They can ad hoc tender with the normal fleet train, crews are small, they can be traded if necessary.
I just see a buzz of Scouts flitting about, basically keeping the fleet on top of its 2 week delay.
