[Blue Lion]

So we go with what we see.

We open the door, Shivans pop in and say hi. We fight.

They bring in the big guns. We go "Oh noes!" and try to close the doors. They blow up a star and go... somewhere.

Since this happens many years after the first time we fought them, this does not look like "they're coming to get us cause we're dangerous"

Maybe the 3rd would have wrapped it up.

[Bob-san]

Here's a thought that just popped up...

What if the Shivans were on the run as well form a common enemy that used shields on all capships? As they didn't/couldn't communicate directly, what better way to teach than to emulate a possible common foe's tactics? IF you can't hit their caps and they're just pushing through... it wouldn't really explain why to nuke Vasuda Prime instead of some other planet though. Eh--just a thought. Would also explain why they took so "warmly" to Bosch in FS2--when they could talk, they took him with them.

[Blue Lion]

If I'm being chased by a bear, I don't stop and beat up a fox because that's what the bear would do.

[Locutus of Borg]

Wow...that's weird...I'd beat up the fox every time

[Droid803]

Well, I'd kick it out of the way if it was in my path so I don't trip over it or something...

[Bob-san]

But if they (the Shivans) had a head start (say, 30 years) and a small but strong force, it would be an interesting idea to basically hop around and teach others to defend themselves so to slow the pursuers. Who knows really--I just think it would be an interesting concept, as though the Lucy fleet was a rogue element of the great Shivan race and was racing around making other civilizations learn to defend themselves, so to eventually topple the non-rebelling empire or whatever (after all, who wants to fight through dozens of civilizations to get a rogue fleet?)

[Roanoke]

Given the Shivans destroyed the Ancient's empire, and given GTVA space occupies only a small portion of that empire, it's clear the Shivans could appear from any border of the GTVA. I don't think blocking Capella stopped the Shivans specifically but clearly disrupted their overall goal(s).

Not that any of this matters as we'll never know what V had in mind for FS3.

[Mobius]

Very good point indeed, but we know from canon sources that the Shivans slaughetered the Ancients starting from one system. They did not jump in simultaneously to, let's say, 50 Ancient systems - they spread their forces starting from that system. The already present network of Knossos devices did the rest.

[admiral_wolf]

Don't forget that the first Knossos that we know of was missed in a scan of the system...It's plausible that other Knossos' may have also existed in other systems that had been missed...

[Mobius]

Good and bad point, at the same time.

Good point, because Knossos portals might be extremely difficult to detect if they're not activated and/or there's no activity near them.

Bad point, because Gamma Draconis was a recently discovered and poor system...with no tactical importance. The Erikson never found the Knossos but this might have happened because of the Erikson's detection systems and not because of the Knossos itself.

[Blue Lion]

But did we let the Shivans in by opening the door or were they coming after us from the first time and it took them this long to get around?

I think the former.

[sgtBandaid]

But did we let the Shivans in by opening the door or were they coming after us from the first time and it took them this long to get around?

I think the former.

I agree, if the shivans were coming after us from the first time I think they would have sent a larger force than lucy and friends to destroy the GTA and the PVN. they would have slaughtered the them in FS1 when anti cap-ship warfare consisted of light torpedos and blowing green snot on each other.

[Bob-san]

Good and bad point, at the same time.

Good point, because Knossos portals might be extremely difficult to detect if they're not activated and/or there's no activity near them.

Bad point, because Gamma Draconis was a recently discovered and poor system...with no tactical importance. The Erikson never found the Knossos but this might have happened because of the Erikson's detection systems and not because of the Knossos itself.

For all we'd know, there could be a dozen Knossos in T/V space, waiting to be activated. My question is why node-exploration takes so long. I'd think that, at least on the Human side, they'd send disposable probes on unstable nodes just to get a better grip on what's what.

[S-99]

For all we'd know, there could be a dozen Knossos in T/V space, waiting to be activated. My question is why node-exploration takes so long. I'd think that, at least on the Human side, they'd send disposable probes on unstable nodes just to get a better grip on what's what.

I think the gtva should definitely poor over more ancient sites to figure out which parts of the ancient empire gtva space currently occupies, and you may find some knossoses at the regions where gtva space stops and the ancient empire boundaries go on. Definitely put a high priority on ancient artifact excavation and studying in the mean time, you're bound to learn many things about the shivans and the ancients that way.

[Aardwolf]

Question: what do those lines off the edge of the nodemap mean? (I've always wondered)

[Bob-san]

Question: what do those lines off the edge of the nodemap mean? (I've always wondered)

Somewhere that nobody knows? I'm actually wondering why there aren't more pirate factions. Perhaps those "uncharted" areas are occupied by pirates? What I am thinking is that you'd be able to get enough dissenters to try to map out the nodes and do deep-space trade... get materials unavailable inside GTVA space.

[Blue Lion]

I'm sure there are pirate factions. I would think they would operate closer to civilian populations though.

[Bob-san]

I'm sure there are pirate factions. I would think they would operate closer to civilian populations though.

Eh. Humans have always wanted to explore and get away from authority. I wouldn't be surprised if there were hundreds of thousands of humans away from Sol and T/V space.

[Dilmah G]

I'm sure there are pirate factions. I would think they would operate closer to civilian populations though.

Eh. Humans have always wanted to explore and get away from authority. I wouldn't be surprised if there were hundreds of thousands of humans away from Sol and T/V space.

Hmm, that'd be interesting. Where would they go? Or would they live on the "Fringe" on their Ships until they found something..

[Retsof]

Ohhh!  Campaign Idea!