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theatrical_muse] 248 - Would you make a good spy? Why or why
Sep. 17th, 2008 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
arrow_of_apollo248 - Would you make a good spy? Why or why not?
I doubt it. That's not the kind of battle I prefer to fight.
I might not be a pilot anymore, and I might ultimately not have been born to be one, but that is the kind of combat I'm familiar with, and it's the way I've learned to think and strategize.
When you're flying a Viper, all the tactics and maneuvers and fancy flying all boil down to a single, easy to understand imperative: gun down the other guy before he does the same to you. Sometimes you can see him, and sometimes you can't-- visual contact is the best way to fight, but between DRADIS and a good missile guidance system, you and your opponent can be kilometers apart and you can still take them out.
More importantly, you know that your opponent is going through the same thing, trying to find you, trying to keep out of your crosshairs, trying to come around on your six and turn you into dust. You know who your enemy is, and you know what you have to do.
Espionage is the opposite. It's all about making deals with one side and then deals with the other side, and then playing them both against the middle. You make alliances and break them in the next breath, and almost every shot is taken without the person on the other end even knowing that the gun's been drawn. It's too gray, too ambiguous.
Hell, it's like politics. Every day I watch the Quorum members grin and shake hands like they're the best of friends, but then the whispers start and notes are passed between aides and meetings are scheduled for off hours or on different ships. Everyone's got a knife aimed at their back, but it matches the one they're holding behind someone else.
I'd rather face someone who wants to do me in: in the boxing ring, in a Viper, whatever, instead of wondering whether they're going to shake my hand or punch me in the gut.
(335)
I doubt it. That's not the kind of battle I prefer to fight.
I might not be a pilot anymore, and I might ultimately not have been born to be one, but that is the kind of combat I'm familiar with, and it's the way I've learned to think and strategize.
When you're flying a Viper, all the tactics and maneuvers and fancy flying all boil down to a single, easy to understand imperative: gun down the other guy before he does the same to you. Sometimes you can see him, and sometimes you can't-- visual contact is the best way to fight, but between DRADIS and a good missile guidance system, you and your opponent can be kilometers apart and you can still take them out.
More importantly, you know that your opponent is going through the same thing, trying to find you, trying to keep out of your crosshairs, trying to come around on your six and turn you into dust. You know who your enemy is, and you know what you have to do.
Espionage is the opposite. It's all about making deals with one side and then deals with the other side, and then playing them both against the middle. You make alliances and break them in the next breath, and almost every shot is taken without the person on the other end even knowing that the gun's been drawn. It's too gray, too ambiguous.
Hell, it's like politics. Every day I watch the Quorum members grin and shake hands like they're the best of friends, but then the whispers start and notes are passed between aides and meetings are scheduled for off hours or on different ships. Everyone's got a knife aimed at their back, but it matches the one they're holding behind someone else.
I'd rather face someone who wants to do me in: in the boxing ring, in a Viper, whatever, instead of wondering whether they're going to shake my hand or punch me in the gut.
(335)
