My quote above from the MT Imperial enciclopedia says use or possesion, if discovered. Of course, is quite easier to discover the use than the possesion, mostly if you don't look hard for them...
Gamma Ray Lasers a possibility?
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My quote above from the MT Imperial enciclopedia says use or possesion, if discovered. Of course, is quite easier to discover the use than the possesion, mostly if you don't look hard for them...
The Imperial Encyclopedia is wievpoint writing. It's about as likely to be 100% accurate and cover all aspects of the subject as any present-day encyclopedia article is. That is, fairly likely to be reasonably accurate but not guaranteed not to have an error here or there.
Traditionally, Traveller worldbuilders have tended to accept library data as completely reliable (known examples to the contrary notwithstanding), but "it's a mistake" IS a valid possibility. (Not to mention "it's deliberate misinformation", which I tend to be more wary of).
Hans
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
Presumably there is an unwritten postscript to the nuke ban that says "unless sanctioned by Imperial authority." I could see colonial fleets being issued with, or even licensed to produce, nukes for the defence of the realm.
But not your local tramp trader or merc unit...
In short, they're not available to PCs, only to the Referee...
Let's face it, that's what the ban is really for!
But not your local tramp trader or merc unit...
In short, they're not available to PCs, only to the Referee...
Let's face it, that's what the ban is really for!
I see colonial forces as part of Imperial ones (more or less like US National Guard today is part of the US armed forces), and so, I agree they can probably have (and even use) nukes.
I also agree last part of your post.
It's like carry laws. Here in NM, we have CCW permits (concealed carried weapon), and the older law---open carry. You can strap on your 6-shooter and walk the streets just like the old west.
So it's perfectly legal to do that, but you will get hassled by the police if they see you, I imagine, in spite of your rights. Conversely, you can carry a concealed weapon your entire life and never have a problem. If you USE the weapon, then the police will likely become involved, and only then will you have a problem. None the less, that hassle only comes about when you need to use that weapon, and assuming you are law-abiding, that situation will only appear when the alternative is probable death. You'll be prosecuted, perhaps, but you'll be alive to be prosecuted.
I imagine such prohibitions working that same way. You keep nukes, but avoid using them unless you really need to. You might get into some trouble if the use happens in view of authorities or someone who might report the use, but if you do get in trouble, you are still alive to be in trouble. And such laws are there to use as the Imperium sees fit to further their own aims, not universally.
Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6 as they say, though perhaps even on a planetary scale
So it's perfectly legal to do that, but you will get hassled by the police if they see you, I imagine, in spite of your rights. Conversely, you can carry a concealed weapon your entire life and never have a problem. If you USE the weapon, then the police will likely become involved, and only then will you have a problem. None the less, that hassle only comes about when you need to use that weapon, and assuming you are law-abiding, that situation will only appear when the alternative is probable death. You'll be prosecuted, perhaps, but you'll be alive to be prosecuted.
I imagine such prohibitions working that same way. You keep nukes, but avoid using them unless you really need to. You might get into some trouble if the use happens in view of authorities or someone who might report the use, but if you do get in trouble, you are still alive to be in trouble. And such laws are there to use as the Imperium sees fit to further their own aims, not universally.
Better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6 as they say, though perhaps even on a planetary scale
There are probably a lot of options that would work.
For frontier states on the Zhodani border (for example) one option would be a dual-key approach similar to that used by the United States with regard to NATO allies. The weapons are "owned" by Colonial navies or major-world planetary armies, and likely even manufactured by them, but there is some degree of Imperial permission and liaison involved as a prerequisite for actual release, perhaps in consort with the ranking noble on the planet.
The situation need not be perfect. Any TL 7+ world can probably manufacture nukes themselves; any TL 8+ world can likely do it with ease. Restricting ownership is probably impossible, so the Imperium would work to ensure severe punishment for use combined with a system that lets worlds possess them for self-defense in event of "bad war" (Zho invasion, Solomani invasion, Aslan invasion, massive Vargr raid, etc.) under some form of control.
A local nuclear war is a problem, but the Imperium has many thousands of world and loss of a city or two, or even a planet, is tragic but not disastrous. Robust after-the-fact deterrence by the Marines and Navy, punishment of all surviving individuals, combined with protections such as nuclear dampers on major worlds and detection systems in starports to prevent smuggling of devices by terrorists should maintain the Imperium's rule of law.
We know that nuclear war within the Imperium's borders occasionally occurs (Xiwa in the Solomani Rim). My own theory is that the latter was the result of hiddenr planetary WMD from Solomani Rim War era stockpiles, but occasional breakdowns of the system keep the Marines hopping.
The idea of Free Traders using nukes for self defense is probably unlikely though perhaps not necessarily out of the bounds. Heinlein's CITIZEN OF THE GALAXY makes a good case for larger trading vessels carrying a few nuclear weapons for self-defense against pirates when operating in neutral space beyond the law. In practice, I expect no starport would be willing to allow traders to dock if they had reason to believe they would be carrying nukes. The loss of a starport or highport would be devastating.
It is probably wise not to worry too much about this, though, as the potential lethality of free traders gets into the whole c+ rocks debate.
In practice I would say the nuclear weapon ban in the Rules of War are primarily one intended to regulate the use of *tactical* nuclear weapons on the battlefield in internecine wars the Imperium permits as a safety valve. If nukes were allowed these would not be a safe way to blow off steam and the Imperium would be forced to ban all wars involving high-tech states that might have nukes to avoid escalation.
If the Imperium had to ban all wars, it would cease to be the Imperium as we know it, and become a more interventionist state like the Zhodani.
The nuclear weapon ban, therefore, exists less to protect the Imperium's monopoly on nuclear violence and more to allow the Imperiuim to maintain its "hands free" policy over planetary states and the trouble they get into.
