The Culture explores 40K II: Now With 100% more Fanfiction

[Gavinfoxx]

I'll try on the Necrons.

Do pirate yards even exist? Shipyards are kind of a big affair and would certainly require some extensive mining operations to support. Seems unlikely that the IoM wouldn't spot something like that and wouldn't get rid of it.

??? How does that even work?

You can't possibly hide something like a ship under construction. At least not from anything else in the same system.

This makes more sense, but all it takes is one scout frigate to jump into the system and jump out before anyone else can catch it. (not difficult since they certainly can't picket an entire star system)

Hey there. Quit. You're thinking realistically. You're thinking that asteroid belts are really non-dense, and that any ship can just come in to a system, do a visual scan of the place, and have a good idea of anything big or hot or whatever, and then leave... and that stealth doesn't work in space.

This is a realistic view of things.

It also isn't how this setting works. Have you played Wing Commander? Or most any of the 'ships in space' science fiction games? Homeword, Nexus, Privateer, Freelancer, Freespace, various Star Wars games, etc.? Where Asteroid Belts are really really dense, and huuuuuge pirate bases can most DEFINITELY hide in asteroid belts (as long as they are built out of the rocks themselves? And that space sensors are REALLY short range and tend to kind of suck? And you have to actually send craft into a pirate owned asteroid field, and they have to get REALLY CLOSE to the base, scan it, and have them get out alive, and then back to a place where they can jump out for them to successfully have intel on the base? Yea, it's like that.


So, yes, it's plausible to consider that everyone in the setting has sensors worse than late 20th century telescopes plugged into late 20th century computers, doing visual and infrared scans of the area around them... however you want to make that out, I suppose. Anyone want to take a shot at why this is?