08-27-2026, 03:07 AM
<<< Bridge.<<<
Jez took a seat across from Commander Talion; she truly admired him. She was fascinated by his presentation and she sat silently absorbing his information.
Jez had been quiet throughout Alex's presentation, her eyes following the demonstrations on the viewer. She had seen enough battlefield technology to know that the most dangerous weapons weren't always the ones that made the biggest explosions. Sometimes, the most effective weapon was the one that made an enemy wonder what the hell was happening to them.
When Alex finally asked for questions, Jez leaned forward slightly.
" Commander, I've got one," she said. "Actually, several."
She glanced toward the image of the micro-bots attached to the simulated hull.
"First, I like the concept. A lot. You're not trying to overpower their defenses; you're convincing their defenses to work against themselves. That's exactly the kind of asymmetric advantage we need against an enemy who thinks they know how we're going to fight."
Jez pointed toward the display.
"But from a Security perspective, I'm interested in what happens after we deploy these. You said we can deactivate them remotely. How secure is that control signal? Because if the Cardassians figure out what we're doing, I don't want them hijacking the signal and turning our little surprise against us."
She paused, considering the possibilities.
"Second, identification. Once these things are on a ship, how do we make sure they're attaching themselves to the right system? Shield generators, structural integrity systems, nacelles, impulse engines—I understand the theory. But in a real combat environment, things aren't going to be as neat as they are in a test chamber. I want to know what happens if the bots encounter multiple compatible energy fields."
Jez leaned back, folding her arms.
"And third..." A faint smile crossed her face. "You called Cardassians paranoid. You're absolutely right. But that's also where I think this could become really useful."
She looked around the room.
"We don't necessarily have to destroy anything. If they start seeing unexplained shield failures, localized structural-field disruptions, impulse engines dropping offline, and torpedoes suddenly finding vulnerabilities that weren't there thirty seconds earlier, they're going to start looking for an explanation."
Her expression became more serious.
"And if they can't find one, they'll invent one."
Jez looked back at Alex.
"That's where the psychological effect becomes important. Cardassians like having explanations. They like knowing who did something, why they did it, and what they're going to do next. Take that away from them, and you've created uncertainty."
She nodded toward the viewer.
"So, yes. I think this could be useful. Very useful. But I'd recommend we don't use it just as another weapon. Use it as a tool for controlling the battlefield. Disable one system here. Disrupt another there. Force them to change course, drop shields, redistribute power, or break formation. Make every decision they make a response to something we did."
Jez's smile returned.
"And if they start believing we're using cloaked ships, invisible weapons, or some new technology they don't understand?"
She shrugged.
"Let them believe it."
She looked toward the commanding officer.
"From a security standpoint, I'd support testing it. But before we take it into combat, I want Thorn and Alex working with Security and Tactical to develop safeguards for the control system, identification protocols, and a reliable way to recover or deactivate the bots if something goes wrong."
Jez glanced once more at the image of the tiny machines crawling across the simulated hull.
"Because the last thing we need is to invent a weapon so clever that we forget to ask what happens when it doesn't do what we expect."
She settled back into her chair.
"Other than that? I think Alex may have just handed us a way to make the Cardassians question everything they think they know about us."
== Tag All.=
Jez took a seat across from Commander Talion; she truly admired him. She was fascinated by his presentation and she sat silently absorbing his information.
Jez had been quiet throughout Alex's presentation, her eyes following the demonstrations on the viewer. She had seen enough battlefield technology to know that the most dangerous weapons weren't always the ones that made the biggest explosions. Sometimes, the most effective weapon was the one that made an enemy wonder what the hell was happening to them.
When Alex finally asked for questions, Jez leaned forward slightly.
" Commander, I've got one," she said. "Actually, several."
She glanced toward the image of the micro-bots attached to the simulated hull.
"First, I like the concept. A lot. You're not trying to overpower their defenses; you're convincing their defenses to work against themselves. That's exactly the kind of asymmetric advantage we need against an enemy who thinks they know how we're going to fight."
Jez pointed toward the display.
"But from a Security perspective, I'm interested in what happens after we deploy these. You said we can deactivate them remotely. How secure is that control signal? Because if the Cardassians figure out what we're doing, I don't want them hijacking the signal and turning our little surprise against us."
She paused, considering the possibilities.
"Second, identification. Once these things are on a ship, how do we make sure they're attaching themselves to the right system? Shield generators, structural integrity systems, nacelles, impulse engines—I understand the theory. But in a real combat environment, things aren't going to be as neat as they are in a test chamber. I want to know what happens if the bots encounter multiple compatible energy fields."
Jez leaned back, folding her arms.
"And third..." A faint smile crossed her face. "You called Cardassians paranoid. You're absolutely right. But that's also where I think this could become really useful."
She looked around the room.
"We don't necessarily have to destroy anything. If they start seeing unexplained shield failures, localized structural-field disruptions, impulse engines dropping offline, and torpedoes suddenly finding vulnerabilities that weren't there thirty seconds earlier, they're going to start looking for an explanation."
Her expression became more serious.
"And if they can't find one, they'll invent one."
Jez looked back at Alex.
"That's where the psychological effect becomes important. Cardassians like having explanations. They like knowing who did something, why they did it, and what they're going to do next. Take that away from them, and you've created uncertainty."
She nodded toward the viewer.
"So, yes. I think this could be useful. Very useful. But I'd recommend we don't use it just as another weapon. Use it as a tool for controlling the battlefield. Disable one system here. Disrupt another there. Force them to change course, drop shields, redistribute power, or break formation. Make every decision they make a response to something we did."
Jez's smile returned.
"And if they start believing we're using cloaked ships, invisible weapons, or some new technology they don't understand?"
She shrugged.
"Let them believe it."
She looked toward the commanding officer.
"From a security standpoint, I'd support testing it. But before we take it into combat, I want Thorn and Alex working with Security and Tactical to develop safeguards for the control system, identification protocols, and a reliable way to recover or deactivate the bots if something goes wrong."
Jez glanced once more at the image of the tiny machines crawling across the simulated hull.
"Because the last thing we need is to invent a weapon so clever that we forget to ask what happens when it doesn't do what we expect."
She settled back into her chair.
"Other than that? I think Alex may have just handed us a way to make the Cardassians question everything they think they know about us."
== Tag All.=