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[GreatWyrmGold]

I feel like those ideas were wavering between serious and joking?  I also missed the reference.

Completely serious.  And it's a sci-fi book set in the time leading up to WWI, where the allies use genetic engineering to create some genuinely awesome shit.  Such as giant flying whales for airships, that use bees to collect food, has hawks trailing razor wire to fuck up planes, and bats that shit flechettes over a target when they see red light.  They also have Kraken, and large wooly mammoths for tanks.  And that's just scratching the surface.

None of those sound practical, and few sound possible.

Think of the bees as miners gathering oil for feeding an engine, the kraken would actually be pretty effective against ships, since they could just pull them under if they were made strong enough, or just be strong enough to crush the ship, the hawks served the same purpose as barrage balloons, which were very effective against planes, by the way, and the bats would be an effective delivery system, since they could function with great effect both day and night, and if one goes down, it's no big deal, since they only carry one of two flechettes anyways.  And the whales were about as practical as an airship, which is to say incredibly practical.

The bees sound useful for field operatives perhaps, the kraken might if it wasn't for issues like feeding or torpedoes, barrage balloons don't need to breathe, how would one get a bat to excrete flechettes pointy-side-out and without harming the bat, and how would you get a whale to fly.

[Origami_Psycho]

I feel like those ideas were wavering between serious and joking?  I also missed the reference.

Completely serious.  And it's a sci-fi book set in the time leading up to WWI, where the allies use genetic engineering to create some genuinely awesome shit.  Such as giant flying whales for airships, that use bees to collect food, has hawks trailing razor wire to fuck up planes, and bats that shit flechettes over a target when they see red light.  They also have Kraken, and large wooly mammoths for tanks.  And that's just scratching the surface.

None of those sound practical, and few sound possible.

Think of the bees as miners gathering oil for feeding an engine, the kraken would actually be pretty effective against ships, since they could just pull them under if they were made strong enough, or just be strong enough to crush the ship, the hawks served the same purpose as barrage balloons, which were very effective against planes, by the way, and the bats would be an effective delivery system, since they could function with great effect both day and night, and if one goes down, it's no big deal, since they only carry one of two flechettes anyways.  And the whales were about as practical as an airship, which is to say incredibly practical.

The bees sound useful for field operatives perhaps, the kraken might if it wasn't for issues like feeding or torpedoes, barrage balloons don't need to breathe, how would one get a bat to excrete flechettes pointy-side-out and without harming the bat, and how would you get a whale to fly.

1) No torps

2) True, but barrage balloons also can't move

3) I. We're fucking magical II. We can have them grow in a tract separate from the digestive tract

4) I. We're fucking magical II. We have a fucking air magical friend III. Hydrogen can be excreted from the digestive tract, or possibly methane, if we wish for less processing.

[gman8181]

Alright like I said before, a lot of these ideas are cool but maybe short term can we just stick with the admittedly simpler but likely more easy to achieve and practical air troop transport design I suggested?

[Origami_Psycho]

Alright like I said before, a lot of these ideas are cool but maybe short term can we just stick with the admittedly simpler but likely more easy to achieve and practical air troop transport design I suggested?

Oh, I wasn't talking transport, I meant attack ship, hence why I wanted the bats.  Sorry that I didn't make that clear.

[gman8181]

No problem; I do like a lot of those suggestions, no doubt in part because of my fascination with biological engineering but a lot of it does seem like it might be hard to make until our mana income increases or we save up a lot.

[Origami_Psycho]

No problem; I do like a lot of those suggestions, no doubt in part because of my fascination with biological engineering but a lot of it does seem like it might be hard to make until our mana income increases or we save up a lot.

Fair enough.

[racnor]

Also, for our ships we can use the firejackets to replace the bees, and the Leviathan's greatest weakness; eg, being constantly on the verge of exploding throughout the series, to the point where one of the protagonists nearly blew it up with a pistol, can be nullified through fire magic.

[Origami_Psycho]

Also, for our ships we can use the firejackets to replace the bees, and the Leviathan's greatest weakness; eg, being constantly on the verge of exploding throughout the series, to the point where one of the protagonists nearly blew it up with a pistol, can be nullified through fire magic.

Hydrogen won't actually detonate due to a gunshot.  The aggressor would have to be packing incendiary bullets.  But since we're in a world with gods of fire, maybe we would want to do just that.  Also, +1 to the firejackets if the firenectar also contains enough nutrients for the ship to survive.  Although bees may be preferable since they're a little more innocuous than the firejackets, but then again, we can start colonies of the fire jackets along the way, for some added firepower, right?

[GreatWyrmGold]

I feel like those ideas were wavering between serious and joking?  I also missed the reference.

Completely serious.  And it's a sci-fi book set in the time leading up to WWI, where the allies use genetic engineering to create some genuinely awesome shit.  Such as giant flying whales for airships, that use bees to collect food, has hawks trailing razor wire to fuck up planes, and bats that shit flechettes over a target when they see red light.  They also have Kraken, and large wooly mammoths for tanks.  And that's just scratching the surface.

None of those sound practical, and few sound possible.

Think of the bees as miners gathering oil for feeding an engine, the kraken would actually be pretty effective against ships, since they could just pull them under if they were made strong enough, or just be strong enough to crush the ship, the hawks served the same purpose as barrage balloons, which were very effective against planes, by the way, and the bats would be an effective delivery system, since they could function with great effect both day and night, and if one goes down, it's no big deal, since they only carry one of two flechettes anyways.  And the whales were about as practical as an airship, which is to say incredibly practical.

The bees sound useful for field operatives perhaps, the kraken might if it wasn't for issues like feeding or torpedoes, barrage balloons don't need to breathe, how would one get a bat to excrete flechettes pointy-side-out and without harming the bat, and how would you get a whale to fly.

1) No torps
2) True, but barrage balloons also can't move
3) I. We're fucking magical II. We can have them grow in a tract separate from the digestive tract
4) I. We're fucking magical II. We have a fucking air magical friend III. Hydrogen can be excreted from the digestive tract, or possibly methane, if we wish for less processing.

1,3,4: We were--well, I was talking about the original book.
2: I can more easily imagine a mobile balloon than a hawk big enough to carry substantial amounts of razor wire and also capable of flying at 30-40,000 feet.

Also, for our ships we can use the firejackets to replace the bees, and the Leviathan's greatest weakness; eg, being constantly on the verge of exploding throughout the series, to the point where one of the protagonists nearly blew it up with a pistol, can be nullified through fire magic.

Hydrogen won't actually detonate due to a gunshot.  The aggressor would have to be packing incendiary bullets.  But since we're in a world with gods of fire, maybe we would want to do just that.  Also, +1 to the firejackets if the firenectar also contains enough nutrients for the ship to survive.  Although bees may be preferable since they're a little more innocuous than the firejackets, but then again, we can start colonies of the fire jackets along the way, for some added firepower, right?

Firejackets also have simpler metabolic requirements (heat rather than flowers of the right kinds), produce a useful good, and can be used for combat purposes.

[Origami_Psycho]

I feel like those ideas were wavering between serious and joking?  I also missed the reference.

Completely serious.  And it's a sci-fi book set in the time leading up to WWI, where the allies use genetic engineering to create some genuinely awesome shit.  Such as giant flying whales for airships, that use bees to collect food, has hawks trailing razor wire to fuck up planes, and bats that shit flechettes over a target when they see red light.  They also have Kraken, and large wooly mammoths for tanks.  And that's just scratching the surface.

None of those sound practical, and few sound possible.

Think of the bees as miners gathering oil for feeding an engine, the kraken would actually be pretty effective against ships, since they could just pull them under if they were made strong enough, or just be strong enough to crush the ship, the hawks served the same purpose as barrage balloons, which were very effective against planes, by the way, and the bats would be an effective delivery system, since they could function with great effect both day and night, and if one goes down, it's no big deal, since they only carry one of two flechettes anyways.  And the whales were about as practical as an airship, which is to say incredibly practical.

The bees sound useful for field operatives perhaps, the kraken might if it wasn't for issues like feeding or torpedoes, barrage balloons don't need to breathe, how would one get a bat to excrete flechettes pointy-side-out and without harming the bat, and how would you get a whale to fly.

1) No torps
2) True, but barrage balloons also can't move
3) I. We're fucking magical II. We can have them grow in a tract separate from the digestive tract
4) I. We're fucking magical II. We have a fucking air magical friend III. Hydrogen can be excreted from the digestive tract, or possibly methane, if we wish for less processing.

1,3,4: We were--well, I was talking about the original book.
2: I can more easily imagine a mobile balloon than a hawk big enough to carry substantial amounts of razor wire and also capable of flying at 30-40,000 feet.

Also, for our ships we can use the firejackets to replace the bees, and the Leviathan's greatest weakness; eg, being constantly on the verge of exploding throughout the series, to the point where one of the protagonists nearly blew it up with a pistol, can be nullified through fire magic.

Hydrogen won't actually detonate due to a gunshot.  The aggressor would have to be packing incendiary bullets.  But since we're in a world with gods of fire, maybe we would want to do just that.  Also, +1 to the firejackets if the firenectar also contains enough nutrients for the ship to survive.  Although bees may be preferable since they're a little more innocuous than the firejackets, but then again, we can start colonies of the fire jackets along the way, for some added firepower, right?

Firejackets also have simpler metabolic requirements (heat rather than flowers of the right kinds), produce a useful good, and can be used for combat purposes.

As far as the firejackets, that's sorta what I was getting at with the end there, I know I wasn't very clear in that.

As for the hawks, I also doubt that there are very many planes, and for the quick flyers our opponents may have the idea would be to have multiple of the eagles/hawks carrying a net to cut them to shreds, instead of fouling propellers, since I doubt very many flyers in this 'verse will have propellers.

(cue arrival of Strategic Bomber Command)

[Remuthra]

+1 to the firejackets. I lean more towards the beetles or plants for the base. And it should at least have a nose and probably a tail gun.
In addition, (orchestra sting)
Nobody expects the Strategic Air Command!

[racnor]

The hawks in leviathan didn't us razor wire, they used modified spider silk.
The whale excreted hydrogen, and was sorta hollowed out.

The character didn't threaten the ship by shooting it, Leviathan had already taken plenty of machine gun fire. The danger was that the character was standing right next to a massive hydrogen leak.

[Origami_Psycho]

The hawks in leviathan didn't us razor wire, they used modified spider silk.
The whale excreted hydrogen, and was sorta hollowed out.

The character didn't threaten the ship by shooting it, Leviathan had already taken plenty of machine gun fire. The danger was that the character was standing right next to a massive hydrogen leak.

And a gunshot will not ignite hydrogen, especially when there isn't even the proper fuel/air mixture floating about, so there was never any danger, and all they were doing was perpetuating a stupid myth.

[GreatWyrmGold]

The hawks in leviathan didn't us razor wire, they used modified spider silk.
The whale excreted hydrogen, and was sorta hollowed out.

Yeah, neither of those seems like it would work...Certainly whales aren't the best choice for a bioairship.

The hawks in leviathan didn't us razor wire, they used modified spider silk.
The whale excreted hydrogen, and was sorta hollowed out.
The character didn't threaten the ship by shooting it, Leviathan had already taken plenty of machine gun fire. The danger was that the character was standing right next to a massive hydrogen leak.

And a gunshot will not ignite hydrogen, especially when there isn't even the proper fuel/air mixture floating about, so there was never any danger, and all they were doing was perpetuating a stupid myth.

Oh, and unrealistic explosions are such a rare, heinous crime.

[Origami_Psycho]

The hawks in leviathan didn't us razor wire, they used modified spider silk.
The whale excreted hydrogen, and was sorta hollowed out.

Yeah, neither of those seems like it would work...Certainly whales aren't the best choice for a bioairship.

The hawks in leviathan didn't us razor wire, they used modified spider silk.
The whale excreted hydrogen, and was sorta hollowed out.
The character didn't threaten the ship by shooting it, Leviathan had already taken plenty of machine gun fire. The danger was that the character was standing right next to a massive hydrogen leak.

And a gunshot will not ignite hydrogen, especially when there isn't even the proper fuel/air mixture floating about, so there was never any danger, and all they were doing was perpetuating a stupid myth.

Oh, and unrealistic explosions are such a rare, heinous crime.

No, and yes.  Chickens are not explosive.  Not unless they've been marinading in nitroglycerin.
Fortunately, there are no guns to cause such events in this 'verse.  At least, not yet/that we know of.