Re: [GZG] Long Range Scanning - Ixx Psychology & behaviour?

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gotta throw my two cents in.  :-)

Sure, technology is going to advance for long range scanning, detecting
for incoming K'V.....  but what if the Ixx are already here?

If you're assuming large, asteroid sized ships, non FTL capable, perhaps
they could be disguised in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter?	
Or perhaps they ARE the belt?

Imagine the belt being seeded with Ixx hive ships (or, perhaps, hive
eggs would be a better description.)  and only recently are they coming
to maturation and activating/awakening.

Perhaps this is why the K'V are actually pushing toward the core worlds.
 (Haven't followed the history much, but if they've invaded to Mars,
that shoots some big holes in my theory.....)  To stop the Ixx
infestation  (Giving it a sort of Aliens/Predator flavor..... or
probably more accurately, a Zerg flavor for the Ixx)  Or maybe they're
joining the Ixx.  Who knows?  :-)

So all the early detector sensors are pointing too far away..........

________________________________
From: gzg-l-bounces@vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu
[mailto:gzg-l-bounces@vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu] On Behalf Of Indy
Sent: Thursday, December 11, 2008 8:12 AM
To: gzg-l@vermouth.csua.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: [GZG] Ixx Psychology & behaviour?

Okay, I know we're all having good fun with speculations on the Ixx, but
I've got some semi-real world based thoughts to set some parameters
about.

If the Ixx have these huge hive ships, how large are we speculating them
to be? Size of one of our largest asteroids (~500 miles), size of the
Moon, size of a dwarf planet, size of a terrestrial planet, or...? 
Given a size, it is going to put out heat from the energies generated
within. While some of that can be PSB'd into being being fed into the
drives that propel this hive/world ship through space (FTL or sublight),
there's still going to be detectable heat generated (unless you want to
PSB some sort of mascing or shielding, but nothing is perfect in every
spectrum; it'll be detectable somehow)

Earth, present day. Technology marches on. 18 years ago we made our
first actual detection of an extrasolar planet around a main sequence
star. In the past 18 years we have now detected over 300 of these
things, and recent evidence suggests that we have hit the cusp of
actually *imaging* planets around other stars (see also the recent
Hubble images of a planet around Fomalhaut:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2008/39/).

All this in 18 years. Pretty damned impressive, if you ask me.

So, given that we'd probably run into the Ixx in the FTVerse after the
2190s (probably after 2194, Siege of Sol), the technologies that
astronomy science will have developed by this point, accelerated by the
need to detect enemy/alien (i.e., K'V) *fleets* at some incredible
distances, would mean that there will be some subset of astronomers who
are maintaining sky surveys, very likely cooperative sky surveys between
different solar systems (really nailing down parallax and distances to
things, though these measurements would take months or more, not done
overnight). This would then lend credence to the fact that we would be
able to detect these hive/world ships at some level. These may never
enter a main human system, but we should be able to track them at the
very least. And being able to track them....well, I'll let you take it
from here.

Mk

On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 3:27 PM, Ground Zero Games
<jon@gzg.com<mailto:jon@gzg.com>> wrote:
>aye - I thought having different strands of Ixx would be fun, almost
>Ixx nationalities, which could then fight alongside or against
>existing forces...

Caveat: the following is NOT CANON in any way, just some thoughts I'd
been having that may or may not end up being used (I may still decide
to go off in another direction entirely...):

I'd mentioned some time earlier about the idea that the Ixx are
possibly a nomadic race, travelling around in HUUUUUGE generation
ships (OK, "Hiveships" for want of a better term) - these might have
FTL, or might just be travelling sublight and have just begun to
enter the fringes of the Human/Kra'Vak/Phalon spheres. The hiveships
would be very, very big, planetoid sized, with many millions of Ixx
and fleets of combat ships aboard each one. Now, maybe each hiveship
is a separate nest/nation/tribe/whatever, which will co-operate at
times for the good of the whole Ixx race, but at other times will
squabble and fight among themselves over resources, rivalries, power
and such.... ?

Jon (GZG)