M-Bot backstory

[cremling]

At the end of the book, we get the full backstory for the Defiant and the universe they are in, but any theories on the backstory of M-Bot?  It is far more capable than the defiant tech and much better than any of the Krell tech (including hacking them, stopping cyto-attacks, etc), but the pilot just left it there?  Makes me wonder if the humans in some part of the galaxy are doing much better in their fight (assuming that M-Bot was not some fancy super-high-tech fighter that just happened to be left abandoned on some random world)

[junior]

M-Bot predates the Defiant fleet crashing on Derelict.  Defiant tech is essentially a hodge-podge of stuff that they've been able to piece together using half-understood production facilities, whereas M-Bot is a ship that was designed by a civilization and culture that actually understood how the technology worked.  M-Bot likely was a standard vessel for its assigned role (either fighting, or scouting) at the time it was abandoned on Detritus.  The Pocos and other fighters that are being constructed by the Apparatus are based on the mishmash of poorly understood technologies that the humans have been able to figure out.

 

As for the Krell, DE established that the alien races in the setting are just flat out not very good at technological innovation (at least where warfare is concerned (though I'd guess that it likely extends to *all* technological advances).  It's possible that the aliens have been stuck in technological stasis since the war with humanity began.

[kmosiman]

I would guess that M-Bot wasn't just left behind. Any number of things could have killed the Pilot when he was exploring the planet.

M-Bot was then damaged by debris which corrupted some of his memory. Judging by his communication technology it is doubtful that the recording he displayed was the last time time they spoke. M-bot has a significant memory gap after that moment, but he was most likely in constant communication with his Pilot until he died.

[ReaderAt2046]

On ‎11‎/‎8‎/‎2018 at 2:17 PM, junior said:

M-Bot predates the Defiant fleet crashing on Derelict.  Defiant tech is essentially a hodge-podge of stuff that they've been able to piece together using half-understood production facilities, whereas M-Bot is a ship that was designed by a civilization and culture that actually understood how the technology worked.  M-Bot likely was a standard vessel for its assigned role (either fighting, or scouting) at the time it was abandoned on Detritus.  The Pocos and other fighters that are being constructed by the Apparatus are based on the mishmash of poorly understood technologies that the humans have been able to figure out.

 

As for the Krell, DE established that the alien races in the setting are just flat out not very good at technological innovation (at least where warfare is concerned (though I'd guess that it likely extends to *all* technological advances).  It's possible that the aliens have been stuck in technological stasis since the war with humanity began.

Also, I believe it's mentioned by Gran-Gran that Detreitus had been abandoned for centuries by the time the Defiant fled to it. So the Defiant fighters are using tech that is several centuries older than what the Krell have.

 

[Kingsdaughter613]

Worth noting here that atmospheric scoops are also in HARRE story, so that may be part of this universe too.

[king of nowhere]

On 8/11/2018 at 8:17 PM, junior said:

As for the Krell, DE established that the alien races in the setting are just flat out not very good at technological innovation (at least where warfare is concerned (though I'd guess that it likely extends to *all* technological advances).  It's possible that the aliens have been stuck in technological stasis since the war with humanity began.

it's also established that they were intentionally not trying to kill the humans, just keep them busy. It's also possible the krell are intentionally using what for them is sub-par technology.

After all, M-bot has nothing that seems too advanced to me. the krell station was able to repel the hacking pretty fast. And the capacity to protect a pilot against what amount to possession is a fundamental prerequisite if you are a fighting ship designed for a pilot with the hole in him. the shield is three times stronger than standard DDF, placing it about even with krell shields. m-bot superior technology is nothing but what gave humankind an even playing field.

[uncas]

On 11/11/2018 at 2:53 AM, Kingsdaughter613 said:

Worth noting here that atmospheric scoops are also in HARRE story, so that may be part of this universe too.

I hadn't read that yet, so thanks for mentioning it. Having read it now, I'm skeptical it's the same universe.

Spoiler

The atmospheric scoops don't seem to work the same. The AI is the closest connection I see, but HARRE can fight and move without a pilot, which is not the case for M-Bot. Also, the boilers are an advanced self-replicating technology, which doesn't fit what we know of the aliens from Defending Elysium being bad at technology. 

With that and the fact that it's a co-written short story, rather than solo Sanderson, I guess I would be surprised if it's the same universe. Someone should ask!