by Robert Gore, Straight Line Logic:

There has to be a return to first principles.

Imagine you are the leader of an extraterrestrial force sent to conquer planet earth. Your force orbits the earth in a gigantic starship. You do not know what defenses earth has, but back on your planet a strategy was devised to maximize your chances of conquest. Although your starship has powerful weapons, it will not attack the earth directly. That would give its position away, and if it goes down the mission is over. However, your ship will serve as a mother ship for thousands of smaller daughter ships. The daughter ships have surveillance and attack capabilities, but they are coordinated from the mother ship and are of little use if it’s destroyed. Remarkably, the daughter ships propagate, sending out their own daughter ships, who in turn can send out their own daughter ships, ceaselessly multiplying the earth’s attackers.