Paymasters of 2183

3 posts ยท Oct 3 2001 to Oct 3 2001

From: Thomas Barclay <Thomas.Barclay@s...>

Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 10:24:13 -0400

Subject: Paymasters of 2183

Laserlight said, in reply to me:
> Correspondingly, you'd think it would make you

Why? You're all frozen. You're only bonding if you're doing things together.

[Tomb replies]:
You are going to be sharing adversity (and casualties) far from home, you know
the home you go back to (if you ever get there) is going to be
very different due to time dilation (family dead/gone or older, etc),
and the only people on exactly the same timeline as you (in terms of knowing
events on the homeworld, having the same sports heroes, etc) are the guys n
gals who are in deep sleep with you.

The bonding won't happen _while_ you are asleep, but when you are up
because of the dislocation and dissociation even from former peers who've been
unfrozen while you've been a Troopsicle(TM).

From: Laserlight <laserlight@q...>

Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 10:38:30 -0400

Subject: Re: Paymasters of 2183

> [Tomb replies]:
are
> the guys n gals who are in deep sleep with you.

Ah, you're assuming long-term coldsleep--multiple years.  Being a
troopsicle for a few months wouldn't have as pronounced an effect, I wouldn't
think.

Is there a scenario which would require long-term coldsleep and does not
involve slower-than-light interstellar travel?  (Other than, perhaps,
ESU troops who're assigned to "the Reserves")

From: Laserlight <laserlight@q...>

Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2001 11:36:36 -0400

Subject: Re: Paymasters of 2183

I said:
> Is there a scenario which would require long-term coldsleep and does

Actually, that last might make a good SG scenario. If an enemy is planning an
offensive war in a couple of years, he might train new troops and then freeze
them (as an economy measure) until he's ready to attack. If you find out about
the attack, you could send in commandos to to disrupt their plans,
eg blowing up the freezers before the troops arrive--that way the enemy
has the troops (which he has to maintain) and has lost the investment he put
into the freezer. If you're really ambitious, you could wait until the troops
are frozen, then capture the base and take the troopers with you when you
leave. Wake them up and explain "You can enlist with our Foreign Legion, or
you can go to a POW asteroid."