RE: UN Ship Nomenclature

You wrote: 

>Or you're on a colony world whose host government has done something 
>very wrong to - hence sparking a revolution. Perhaps you need the 
>ambassadors as hostages? Bargaining chips? Perhaps you just don't 
>want diplomatic ties anymore while you are being trodden under the 
>boot of the major power? Revolutionaries ain't always the most 

Perhaps you want to completely destroy any chance whatever of ever 
being recognized as a real nation?  Perhaps you wish to garuntee that 
your host government will have a free hand in supressing the revolution 
in order to "rescue" these diplomats?  Perhaps you've got your cranium 
inserted somewhere so firmly you can't see the light of day?  Without 
outside support revolutions don't suceed (except Eritrea, which is a 
hell of an exception to a lot of rules).  Imagine if the US had, as our 
first act as an independant nation, rounded up a bunch of Frenchmen, 
kidnapped them, and abused them.  Would we have had de Grasse whupping 
a French fleet and 4,000 French Marines assisting in the siege of 
Yorktown, thus garunteeing our independance?  Somehow I doubt it.

>sensible folk. If it were a FCT colony, it might well be that if the 
>NAC stuck its nose in, the FCT colonists would give their embassy a 
>thrashing (since everyone knows its full a spies, assassins, and even 
>worse - lawyers!). It might not be a 'kill the diplomats' thing - it 
>might just be 'capture them', but even so, the troops defending may 
>have to fight a force of regulars. 

Oooh. . . that's brilliant.  If you were a FCT colony breaking off of 
FCT, seems to me you'd WANT NAC interference to prevent FCT regulars 
from recapturing the planet.  And revolutions tend not to involve 
really organized troops--like I said, rate them as leadership 3 since 
they are holding debates on how to fight "OK, that's three votes to 
call for fire support, 2 votes for fixing bayonets and letting the 
indomitable will of the People carry us forward, and 3 votes to hold 
hands and sing songs of Revolutionary Solidarity. . . "  Also you're 
going to be understrength, and especially short on commanders.

>Or what if someone at an embassy had conducted some espionage or 
>spying and the 'object' in question (badly wanted by planetary 
>forces) was in the embassy. You might send in disguised regs amidst a 
>crowd or on their own in a 'deniable' mission. The embassy might be a 
>long long way from help or investigators.....

Somehow I doubt you'd get deniability out an operation like that.  
Legal standards of proof aren't necessary when something like that 
occours.

John M. Atkinson