Well, it seems I got something right at least… But that IS a good point.
Slavery economics are pretty much self defeating.
‘Power Triping’ is still not a good reason.
Perhaps some sort of life extension, or immunological enhancement?
Or worse… Laboratory test subjects?
I would see Lab Rats, or in this case, Cats, as a fairly limited resource.
The Empire would have a problem with not welled matched DNA, so you don’t need to many Cats to test, as they are the wrong species.
The equivalent would be like current Medical Technology where we use Pigs and Rats to grow Minor Human Organs, while impressive, the use and head count is limited.
Also, bear in mind that Bio Nano technology based on something like Stem Cell technology would be more useful to the Empire.
For this you only need a few Hundred Empire Criminals a year to volunteer, or be nominated.
I give you Organ harvesting China as the current example.
As for any useful Medical based biological use, the Cats would be too long lived.
Put Bluntly, to be useful as Lab Cats, they would need a lifespan of a decade, or less.
The biggest and most logical reason to go to the trouble of mass transporting “third world” citizens is for a Mercenary Army.
Whether they are used as a private paramilitary style fighting force, or State based standing Military units, there roles would be much the same.
In this case, you only need to bring the Cats up to a minimal infantry level combat skill set.
Your not really worried about their long term welfare, them voting, there families complaining about their Fathers, Sons and Daughters never returning home, or even having to repatriate them.
Given that the Empire also have more advanced Medical technology, the Cats could be recycled until they are no longer Combat worthy or medically viable.
As far as deployment goes, you wouldn’t want to trust the Cats with too much in the way of Heavy Armaments and/or Ordance, but even then, they would make a perfect solution for Civil Pacification, Shock Troops, Forward Infantry, and any other dirty Job that required Full Platoon strength light Infantry, or greater.
The Cats would also probably be useful as the Muscle for Army Engineers, once their unfit for front line and/or Combat related duties.
Given their natural talents and strength, the Cats would also be quite useful for clearing rubble, building simple fortifications, building and maintaining Landing Area’s, Water facilities, loading vehicles, etc.
The other “high body count” labor alternative is something like simple Underground mining. Whether Planetary or Large Asteroid based.
Once again, the Cats would be perfect for dirty dangerous jobs where large numbers of slaves make sense.
This historically is where large numbers of slaves have been used and would be useful.
The comparison and Benchmark would be any Slave based Empire from Ancient Rome onwards.
As for domestic use, House slaves become spoilt, as do Sex Slaves.
They can also be high maintenance. Also as pointed out, they are only worthwhile for the wealthy, and aren’t useful in great numbers.
Bear in mind that Slave Labor for Commercial use is also problematic, requiring a lot of guards and facilities.
Given a Technologically advanced society, any Slave Labor usage particularly by Cats, would also be a minor component, as the slaves would likely be trained in and using simple machinery.
The other consideration is that any position where the Cats can be deployed in large groups with minimal supervision, would mean that punishment for non compliance to their duties would be harsh.
However, as that may be, whatever use large numbers of non Empire citizens the Cats would be used for, it ain’t going to be pleasant.
If their medicine/genetics is advanced enough to create an entire subspecies,
growing “spare parts” from stem-cells or something shouldn’t be a real issue.
(Unless the creator of the Cattians was just a single mad scientist genius and
no-one alive has similar skills)
Their creator was an egomaniacal, twisted genius who insured
that all of his research was destroyed when he died. He also
kept much of it in his head. (Also, if I made them able to grow
spare parts, then the story wouldn’t be as much fun! Or as
interesting)
Well, it seems I got something right at least… But that IS a good point.
Slavery economics are pretty much self defeating.
‘Power Triping’ is still not a good reason.
Perhaps some sort of life extension, or immunological enhancement?
Or worse… Laboratory test subjects?
Charles,
I would see Lab Rats, or in this case, Cats, as a fairly limited resource.
The Empire would have a problem with not welled matched DNA, so you don’t need to many Cats to test, as they are the wrong species.
The equivalent would be like current Medical Technology where we use Pigs and Rats to grow Minor Human Organs, while impressive, the use and head count is limited.
Also, bear in mind that Bio Nano technology based on something like Stem Cell technology would be more useful to the Empire.
For this you only need a few Hundred Empire Criminals a year to volunteer, or be nominated.
I give you Organ harvesting China as the current example.
As for any useful Medical based biological use, the Cats would be too long lived.
Put Bluntly, to be useful as Lab Cats, they would need a lifespan of a decade, or less.
The biggest and most logical reason to go to the trouble of mass transporting “third world” citizens is for a Mercenary Army.
Whether they are used as a private paramilitary style fighting force, or State based standing Military units, there roles would be much the same.
In this case, you only need to bring the Cats up to a minimal infantry level combat skill set.
Your not really worried about their long term welfare, them voting, there families complaining about their Fathers, Sons and Daughters never returning home, or even having to repatriate them.
Given that the Empire also have more advanced Medical technology, the Cats could be recycled until they are no longer Combat worthy or medically viable.
As far as deployment goes, you wouldn’t want to trust the Cats with too much in the way of Heavy Armaments and/or Ordance, but even then, they would make a perfect solution for Civil Pacification, Shock Troops, Forward Infantry, and any other dirty Job that required Full Platoon strength light Infantry, or greater.
The Cats would also probably be useful as the Muscle for Army Engineers, once their unfit for front line and/or Combat related duties.
Given their natural talents and strength, the Cats would also be quite useful for clearing rubble, building simple fortifications, building and maintaining Landing Area’s, Water facilities, loading vehicles, etc.
The other “high body count” labor alternative is something like simple Underground mining. Whether Planetary or Large Asteroid based.
Once again, the Cats would be perfect for dirty dangerous jobs where large numbers of slaves make sense.
This historically is where large numbers of slaves have been used and would be useful.
The comparison and Benchmark would be any Slave based Empire from Ancient Rome onwards.
As for domestic use, House slaves become spoilt, as do Sex Slaves.
They can also be high maintenance. Also as pointed out, they are only worthwhile for the wealthy, and aren’t useful in great numbers.
Bear in mind that Slave Labor for Commercial use is also problematic, requiring a lot of guards and facilities.
Given a Technologically advanced society, any Slave Labor usage particularly by Cats, would also be a minor component, as the slaves would likely be trained in and using simple machinery.
The other consideration is that any position where the Cats can be deployed in large groups with minimal supervision, would mean that punishment for non compliance to their duties would be harsh.
However, as that may be, whatever use large numbers of non Empire citizens the Cats would be used for, it ain’t going to be pleasant.
If their medicine/genetics is advanced enough to create an entire subspecies,
growing “spare parts” from stem-cells or something shouldn’t be a real issue.
(Unless the creator of the Cattians was just a single mad scientist genius and
no-one alive has similar skills)
Their creator was an egomaniacal, twisted genius who insured
that all of his research was destroyed when he died. He also
kept much of it in his head. (Also, if I made them able to grow
spare parts, then the story wouldn’t be as much fun! Or as
interesting)
Yeah. There’s always that 😉