I also object to your preconceptions of the Arbiter's purpose and targetting of it. Had you been at war with the Black Dragon Empire for years and had seen the device employed on a regular basis for that time, I would have no such objection, bust as this is your first, perhaps second exposure to it I do wonder how you know it's purpose and target it so efficently. I don't see that as possible, practical, or really, legal.
Is it that hard to figure out? The first Arbiter we saw vanish into a portal. The portal reappears and an Arbiter appears to keep it open. It wouldn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that these little guys are the ones making the portal.
Anyways, another question - with the arbiter out of the picture, in theory, what would happen to a ship if the conduit exit closed on it? Then would it be cut in half? And if this thing closes in a couple minutes, would it therefore begin closing shortly afterwards, perhaps slicing off a layer of decks from the Dread as it squeezes out?
To be honest, I'm really just testing possible ways whereby the collapse of that which is stabalizing your transport medium could cause your revision to normal space to be damaging. I mean, you'd think there'd be something.
How does the Arbiter appear to keep it open? There's no visible signs of an arbiters work, it's done with invisible manipulation of gravity. Even if it's the first ship out of the conduit, there's no reason to suggest it is at all responsible. It could be created by a station on the other side of the galaxy for all you know. It could be a natural tunneling phenomena that BDE is harnesing. Jumping to conclusions because OOC you know what an arbiter does is something I find myself taking objection to.
I still think my actions were well-backed-up - We saw the Arbiter make the portal (even if it doesn't do anything, if its' the only ship there and a portal appears...) and an Arbiter was the first ship to come out again. We also saw that second arbiter hover in front of the portal while other ships came out and went past it, indicating it was somehow a part of process. If I saw that, I'd be able to work out that these little guys must be the ones generating the portals.
Also, although there is a second arbiter, surely that one would only be holding up his end of the portal? Why even send a second arbiter to stabalize the portal if the one you've got on the other end is holding it just fine? The Arbiter on our side must have been doing something, would it really cause no damage at all for a portal to lose that which was required to keep it open? I read the R&D, and found it to be a little vague to say the least, are there any other sources I could consult?
The way I see it this technology has no drawbacks. Sure you need the Arbiter but if as you said there just needs to be an arbiter somewhere in the conduit or the hole stays open for several minutes thats not really a drawback.
Got a point there surely, to say destroying an Arbiter wouldn't make any difference at all whatsoever seems a bit , much... really.
No damage at all?
If it was me, I would have to ask why you would need two in the first place if this was the case.
I mean, creating portals / conduits / wormholes regardless of how advanced you are is no small thing , specially considering the powers of these things, and of course the powers needed to create them.
Even wormholes themselves aren't supposed to be that stable, (but then again I suppose thats what you would account for in the design).
er...Sorry , don't mind me, just thinking aloud, I'm finding this fascinating.
It would be kind of stupid to substitute hyperspace technology for a method that offers you the ability to destroy my entire fleets with a small starfighter's worth of weapons.
Well, you need one to open up the portal in the first place when it enters the system I believe. But once it's established inside of the system, a second arbiter in the conduit can keep it open.
Well, to offer such an effective mode of transportation sans drawbacks always seemed against the rules - I tried to R&D a hyperdrive that went faster, far less fast than the alternate transport you guys have, and was told it was too powerful to be allowable. I thought it must surely have SOME sort of drawback, and reasoned that it must be the vulnerability of its' harbringers.
This is dangerous ground to tread... but as it is Ahnk's technology, I'm not sure that makes him (er, you) completely unbiased for the purpose of adjudicating its' effectiveness. Heir Raktus is obviously not unbiased, and I'm both mostly ignorant and actively seeking a type of result. Thus I would request that the issue perhaps be resolved by some other staff member? It's simply that I'm a mod, and I wouldn't rule on this because it would be a conflict of interest as I have a stake in the fight. As this would be a test of the effectivness of the technology that could seriously influence Ahnk's power in the future, perhaps it would not be best for him to decide it either?
I mean no offence to you, Ahnk, it's just that being able to judge in an official capacity what a weapon you designed would do when conflict arises as to its' operation seems a little off, and I still have serious doubts as to the suggested outcome of destroying the stabalizing element of a massive undertaking as cutting a hole through existance itself.
I have heard that such an issue was threshed out before, during the Opening Doors thing, but I don't know just how that would be properly interpreted here, and as it could have an obviously massive influence on the battle, and indeed the war (the potential loss of a command vessel) I think I'd preffer to wait for a judgement, if that's all right.
