[Freespace Freak]

If the Shivans first were encountered in Ross128, which is only two jumps from Sol, how the heck did they miss Earth????!!!!

[Goober5000]

The Shivans work in mysterious ways.

[Freespace Freak]

The Shivans work in mysterious ways.

More like throws crap together without checking it twice. 

[Snail]

They used an unstable node and jumped straight to Ikeya, or that's what I thought...

[Freespace Freak]

I think that's just speculation, at least that was my speculation.  I certainly don't see any canon evidence of that, but it does seem plausible, seeing as they would have to pass right by Sol to get to Ikeya or any of the other systems they were present in during the main Freespace campaign.

[Colonol Dekker]

Earth was out to lunch. : so the Shivans left a note and went for a wander.

[BlackDove]

If the Shivans first were encountered in Ross128, which is only two jumps from Sol, how the heck did they miss Earth????!!!!

Vasuda Prime was first on the menu. After all, the Vasudans were slightly better than us, so it can be argued that they had the most subspace use signatures over there. After they eliminated the chance of overuse there, they headed for the #2 spot, which was Earth.

Not that I really believe that, but it's plausable.

[Colonol Dekker]

They werent better, there were just more of em...

[BlackDove]

No, they were probably earlier advanced than us. Meaning earlier subspace jumps, meaning more resonance eminating from that area.

[Freespace Freak]

Not plausIble.  Even if the Shivans used a jump node too unstable for Alliance forces to use, they'd still have to backtrack to find Earth.  The FS1 campaign mkes you believe the Shivans marched from one area of space (Ikeya/Ross 128) to Vasuda then to Earth.  The only plausible explanation for their not attacking Eartb early on is if the jump node from Ross 128 to Delta Serpentis didn't exist during the time of FS1 and stabilized after the events of FS1 and prior to the FS2 campaign. 

However, that theory is so non-canon that I'll probably get flamed just for suggesting it.

[Mad Bomber]

The Delta-Ross node had to have existed at the time, since as per the Command briefing fluff for the Flail, GTA explored Laramis after Ross 128. There is simply no other way for there to be a GTA military contingent, complete with an Arcadia station, in system.

Back on topic, though...

Ross 128 was a backwater, you realize. Since Laramis had not been officially explored by GTA cartographers yet (which says nothing about unofficial groups), few people had any reason to go through Ross 128 apart from supplying an insignificant rearguard operation (Riviera). So it's only natural that the Shivans would say "Huh, this must not be anywhere near this species' homeworld."

[Freespace Freak]

Yes, but by going through Delta Serpentis, they would have to know they're near somebody's home world.  Also, there appears to be no evidence or at least no mention of the Lucifer fleet even passing through Delta Serpentis until they were making their way through Earth. 

For them to jump from Ross 128 to Ikeya would contradict the command briefing cutscene where he said "there's only one jump node out of Ikeya and we intend to blockade it."  Perhaps they instead went from Ross 128 to Betelgeuse.

[Mad Bomber]

Yes, but by going through Delta Serpentis, they would have to know they're near somebody's home world.  Also, there appears to be no evidence or at least no mention of the Lucifer fleet even passing through Delta Serpentis until they were making their way through Earth. 

Er, right... I wasn't talking about Shivans going through Delta Serpentis to get to Ross 128, I was talking about the GTA using the node.

For them to jump from Ross 128 to Ikeya would contradict the command briefing cutscene where he said "there's only one jump node out of Ikeya and we intend to blockade it."  Perhaps they instead went from Ross 128 to Betelgeuse.

The Shivans can use jump nodes that the GTA (or GTVA) never bothered putting on the map, but that are definitely there in game. Such as, the Delta Serpentis-Sirius node (Clash of the Titans), the Sol-Deneb node (Playing Judas), and whatever node the Lucifer took to get from Ribos to Vega while skipping Antares completely (perhaps there was an intermediate jump, we don't know).

So it's entirely plausible that there is another Ikeya node that either wasn't on the GTA charts, or is too weak to put on the map. Remember, the nodes that are on the map are the ones that the government in charge has certified will be there for hundreds of years to come. That doesn't necessarily have to be all the nodes there are, though.

[Freespace Freak]

The thing about Sol is that there were at least three nodes going to and from Sol that the GTVA definately used.  So the only explanation for that one is that the Lucifer explosion destroyed all three pathways, which is possible if all three of them shared a single node terminus in the Sol system.

And I wasn't necessarily talking about the Lucifer going through Delta Serpentis to get to Ross 128 either, instead I was asking about was is it canon that the Lucifer traveled from Ross 128 to the Ribos/Antares/Ikeya area without traveling through Delta Serpentis and Beta Aquilae first.

[Depth_Charge]

Thats whats keep getting in my head, why the lucifer didn't go to the D.S. jumpnode to teh Sol.  when they were first sited in Rose128.

[Snail]

How do you know that they started at Ross 128? There could've been a whole series of attacks on Laramis, Barnards Star and all those systems, Ross 128 might've been just the first sighting of the Lucifer..... (stupid theory)

[Freespace Freak]

It's definite they obliterated Ross 128 and Ikeya first, two systems that, according to the FS2 nodechart at least, are very, very distant.  The strange thing is, the Lucifer fleet moved as more or less one unit, not as several independant fleets.  So, either they started in Ikeya and went to Ross 128, or vice versa.  Either way, they had to either go right by Earth, or they took some other path that the nodechart doesn't show.

[Blue Haired Maniac]

It's definite they obliterated Ross 128 and Ikeya first, two systems that, according to the FS2 nodechart at least, are very, very distant.  The strange thing is, the Lucifer fleet moved as more or less one unit, not as several independant fleets.  So, either they started in Ikeya and went to Ross 128, or vice versa.  Either way, they had to either go right by Earth, or they took some other path that the nodechart doesn't show.

The Shivans were noted for using jump nodes that were too unstable for GTN and PVN ships. So perhaps there is a unstable jump node from Ikeya to Ross 128 that is not on the node chart.

It's the only thing that would make sense, because as far as canon goes, the Lucifer fleet never showed up in Delta Serpentis until their assault on Sol.

[Freespace Freak]

My thoughts exactly.  I guess it would have been too much to ask to have had come out and say "Hey!  This is what really happened!"

[Mars]

Thus destroying the entire FS community