Re: [FT] Fleet design (Was Re: Alarishi Home Page)

>On a more serious note, it is entirely possible that smaller
governments
>are willing to take chances on research that the Big Guys would never
even
>consider; well-developed bureacracies cause nearly as many problems as
they
>solve.  The Alarishi Empire would be a likely candidate for developing
new
>tech: they probably have plenty of zero-G research facilities, and they
>seem to have a higher than normal collection of cranks and eccentrics.

We're all perfectly normal, sane, and reasonable people.  Well, not the
Radical Lesbian Collective, of course.	And the New Los Angeles mob is
clearly a few control rods short of a power plant.  And you have to
wonder
about the Knights Templar, although not while they're around to hear. 
And
the Geek Squad is more than a little eccentric.  But aside from them,
we're
all normal.  Except for the Forward Power Consortium.  And Jack Old Ron.

 But yes, I did plan the Empire as a place where research is a
necessity,
and having a batch of people with, shall we say, widely varying
viewpoints
was a planned factor in this.  We specialize in naval architecture,
environmental support systems, and anti-matter technology, all of which
follow from our space-based lifestyle.	However, I'm sure that the
latest
NAC designs would be slightly better than the latest Alarishi designs in
most areas, simply because the NAC have a lot more money to throw.  So
rather than claiming that we're "ultra-high tech, with the latest in
stealth, sensors, and advanced weapons", I'd say that we have a small
navy
with dedicated and experienced crew, designs that are well suited for
our
particular needs, and a slight edge in wave gun (anti-matter)
technology.