[gurps] Starship Troopers, Ch. 2-5

[Jeff Wilson]

> From: "Onno Meyer" <Onno.Meyer at gmx.de>

> The next four chapters contained character development (i.e. 
> propaganda). One interesting bit is the oath, with the language
> about non-humans in the chain of command below but apparently
> not above a human private - are those K-9 canines or aliens?

It could be either the genetically and surgically enhanced "Calebs" that 
are dog-descended, or extraterrestrial ally races.

> * Sentries get H-bombs, and that predates the bug war.

	That's not correct, it's a mistaken assumption by one of the recruits 
who is dressed down for his ignorance. Hydrogen bombs are (were) 
strategic weapons and would be fratricidal in the extreme at the scale 
of MI operations.

>> * The suits have "jump jets". They are sufficient to start a jump
>>  from empty air, i.e. to fly for a short time.
>> * They have sufficient power for two suits to carry a third.
>> * It is implied that even full power does not allow sustained flight.
>>  How that meshes with the previous point remains to be seen.

It is emphasized that the MI suits amplify normal physical activities 
rather than give new ones. This lets squaddies qualify and perform 
effectively after a few hundred hours of advanced training after boot, 
instead of the thousands of hours in the air it takes to train a 
top-notch aviator. Ergo, the suits just mimic the trooper's jump, and 
the gyros keep him righted during his trajectory so he can make use of 
the many seconds of amplified hang time. There's not a great deal of 
detail given how this is implemented, but Heinlein mentions enough about 
feedback mechanisms and such to guess that the suit provides what we 
today would call haptic interfaces including a virtual floor that the 
operator can stand on or leap from while still aloft.

>> * A trooper carries several hundred pounds of ordnance, including
>>  up to four kiloton-range missiles and an "Y-Rack" grenade
>>  launcher. The flamer is only a sidearm.

There is both a hand flamer and "flamers" mentioned, presumably the 
other one is longer range like a conventional flame thrower.

>> * Suits have radiation shielding, unless that is "duck and cover"
>>  propaganda.

Radiation shielding or at least anti-contamination seal is confirmed 
later in the book when an Esper has to shuck his gear and cop some 
exposure to dowse for bug tunnels.

-- 
Jeff Wilson - jwilson at io.com
< http://www.io.com/~jwilson >