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• Mazian's Fleet during and after the Company Wars

>Date: Tue, 6 Oct 92 10:55:16 EDT
>From: ott@ansoft.com (nancy ott)
>Subject: cherryhlist



>> 	Which brings me on to a favourite topic: The Fleet. I wouldn't
>> dismiss them quite as readily as people seem to. OK they aren't mentioned
>> much in Cyteen but I don't see them being totally out of the picture.
>> They have been pushed back into the hinder stars but if they are running
>> and stringing their jumps they are going to be around for a *long* time.

>	By the time of _Cyteen_ it is certainly implied the Fleet are no
> more. They need a place in real space to lick their wounds real-time, and
> that's what was denied them. Unless they find a nice new world for themselves..


I think attrition takes care of the Fleet by the time of _Cyteen_.
Remember, they have limited resources to start with, and they can't
easily get more.  First of all, destroyed riders and carriers can't be
replaced.  After Downbelow Station, Mazian only has 4 or 5 carriers.
(Australia, Africa, India, Europe ...  was there another one that
survived Pell?  I can't rememember!)  He also has a few "spook" ships
(converted merchanters used as spies/supply sources).  Union, at
least, has the resources to keep throwing ships at Mazian until it
wears him down to nothing.  One carrier (India?) appears to be
destroyed by Alliance at the end of _Rimrunners_.

Food can be produced by hydroponics rigged up on the carriers or a
captured station (good point!) or stolen from the merchanters;
personnel can be impressed from merchanters or mining operations at
star systems; fuel can be stolen from stations or other ships; but the
Fleet has no reliable way to get spare parts.  Mazian probably took 
over one of the mothballed STL stations, but the equipment left on it
would be *old*, and most of the usuable stuff would have been taken.
Parts/material could be pirated from merchant ships, but my guess is
that many of the available components would not be compatible with the
Fleet, especially if they were taken from Union-built ships.  Things
like seals for body armor, filters and the like would also be in short
supply.  A secret supply dump at Alpha Centauri station was referred
to in _Rimrunners_ (or was it _Cyteen_?), but how long could this
resource last?  Especially if all the carriers came there to refit
after Pell?

A carrier that sustained a lot of damage and was able to limp back to
the supply base would probably be "grounded" simply because there
would be no way to repair it.  It could be cannibalized for parts for
the other carriers and its crew used to augment other crews -- but it
would be permanently out of operation.  A more likely scenario is
that a damaged carrier would be destroyed by Union, Alliance or Earth
ships before it could get away.

Mazian could also lose ships simply because of equipment failure.
Without a reliable way to get repairs, most of the Fleet would be
running on backups -- and if the backup blows at a critical time, like
when the carrier is stringing a jump ...


>> What would you do if you were Mazian?

If I were Mazian, I'd be out for serious vengeance.  I would consider
giving Cyteen and Pell the proverbial c-speed rock that was referred
to in _Heavy Time_ and _Hellburner_.  This would eliminate Alliance
and cripple Union.  Obviously, though, he didn't do it.

- nancy