Page 169: The most messed up!

[sunphoenix]

Did Arioch reveal that 'Enzin' or Ensign, to us humans, sounds ironically like a specific word in Loroi Trade Tongue? And what was that word/meaning?

[orion1836]

IIRC, it translates to the given name he provided Stillstorm, Guardian of the Garden. Alex being guardian and Jardin being garden.

[icekatze]

hi hi

Even if the Loroi from Taben have somewhat different customs due to proximity on seafaring vessels, I think that Talon and Spiral's physical closeness is almost certainly a result of how close they are personally.

"I don't need luck, I make my own luck. With a luck machine."

[SVlad]

Did Arioch reveal that 'Enzin' or Ensign, to us humans, sounds ironically like a specific word in Loroi Trade Tongue? And what was that word/meaning?

Talon at that moment thought that Alex wants to be on first name. And from Alex's point of view it was Talon who initiated the first name basis.

[Arioch]

Did Arioch reveal that 'Enzin' or Ensign, to us humans, sounds ironically like a specific word in Loroi Trade Tongue? And what was that word/meaning?

Enzin means "guardian."

[SaintofM]

Did Arioch reveal that 'Enzin' or Ensign, to us humans, sounds ironically like a specific word in Loroi Trade Tongue? And what was that word/meaning?

Enzin means "guardian."

So he is double Guardian of the Gardin? Enzin Alex Jardin!

[Arioch]

Did Arioch reveal that 'Enzin' or Ensign, to us humans, sounds ironically like a specific word in Loroi Trade Tongue? And what was that word/meaning?

Enzin means "guardian."

So he is double Guardian of the Gardin? Enzin Alex Jardin!

In case it's not clear:

When Alex asked to be called "Ensign" instead of "Captain," Talon mistakenly assumed that he was asking to be called by the Trade translation of his personal name (Ristan Enzin, "Garden Guardian") instead of his title. In Loroi culture as in ours, to ask to be addressed informally is considered a friendly, humble gesture.

This is a minor detail that will be explicitly spelled out at some point. But it should probably be pretty obvious by then.

[Turrosh Mak]

Of the people on the shuttle, who has children and how many? Do any have a male child?

[Arioch]

Of the people on the shuttle, who has children and how many? Do any have a male child?

The majority of Loroi warriors in this period will have at least one child, conceived during the mating time allotted as part of the reward for graduation. Most Loroi over the age of 35 will be old enough to have had a second child when, after the start of the war, essentially all off-duty warriors were granted mating privileges (resulting in the "Semoset boom" in population). Beyond that, additional mating rights are granted with achievements, such as decoration, certain levels of promotion, or certain service length milestones. You may also be awarded mating time if one of your offspring dies in the line of duty.

Of the characters on the shuttle whose backstories extend that far:
Fireblade, Talon and Spiral are childless. Talon & Spiral's post-graduation leave was cut short due to the need to rapidly deploy their unit into action; Spiral did not conceive in the shortened time available, and Talon's leave was suspended pending disciplinary action. The reasons behind Fireblade's childlessness will be addressed in the story.

Tempo has two daughters and a number of grand- and great-granddaughters (as her older daughter was old enough to have also had a second child in the "Semoset boom" -- Tempo's sister, second daughter, and second granddaughter are all about the same age). Beryl has a single child: a son, named Silver Moon. He is currently about four years old.

[asaenvolk]

This is only sporting my theory that Talon and Spiral are looking to mate (well have sex at least) before they are soon fated to die (from their perspective). This is not uncommon with people who have been in wars for extended periods of time, and in this case nether really got their normal socially expected time to mater before, to the pressure is even more so on now.

I get that this is not that kind of story, but that doesn't necessarily change the subconscious reasons for some of their actions.

[GeoModder]

Of the people on the shuttle, who has children and how many? Do any have a male child?

Talon & Spiral's post-graduation leave was cut short due to the need to rapidly deploy their unit into action; Spiral did not conceive in the shortened time available, and Talon's leave was suspended pending disciplinary action.

Funny that, now Talon is the ranking Tenoin of the two of them.

So, this means Tempest is their first deployment?
And did the ambush of 'the Stray' in Naam caused the most casualties in their squadron since their Diral's transfer to Tempest?

[orion1836]

Talon's leave was suspended pending disciplinary action.

Because of course it was

[SVlad]

By the way, when we meet Spiral first time, she didn't wear the diral-seii. Does it mean the previous seii-bearer was killed during battle we saw at 73+?

[boldilocks]

By the way, when we meet Spiral first time, she didn't wear the diral-seii. Does it mean the previous seii-bearer was killed during battle we saw at 73+?

That, or it demonstrates that they don't take it into battle.

[GeoModder]

By the way, when we meet Spiral first time, she didn't wear the diral-seii. Does it mean the previous seii-bearer was killed during battle we saw at 73+?

Did someone just angle for a Retroactive Page Edit?

[dragoongfa]

Considering that the Diral-seii needs to be passed along then carrying it on a fighter which may or may not be obliterated in a plasma blast or an antimatter explosion is counter productive. Also there are bound to be safety regulations in place for carrying a dangling object while doing maneuvers with stress forces of a couple of dozen g. Spiral probably left it somewhere safe in order for it to be picked up should the worst come to pass.

The shuttle ride was supposed to be safe so she took it with her.

[Arioch]

Funny that, now Talon is the ranking Tenoin of the two of them.

So, this means Tempest is their first deployment?
And did the ambush of 'the Stray' in Naam caused the most casualties in their squadron since their Diral's transfer to Tempest?

Yes, this is Talon & Spiral's first deployment. Taben Tenoin dirals usually graduate at about age 9 (Talon is almost a year older than the mean for her group); they then did a short stint at the Tenoin Academy on Taben, but most of the group was then transferred to Azimol for the rest of their training and deployment workups (which was why there was no further access to males). They were deployed as two new/reconstituted squadrons along with some more experienced officers; Talon and Spiral along with the former diral leader and 12 other band mates (plus 3 officers and 2 pilots from other dirals) in Squadron 440 to Strike Group 51, and another 18 diral mates in Squadron 515 to a reserve unit which is currently at Nezel.

Unlike 515, Squadron 440 saw pretty regular action and suffered heavy early casualties as an inexperienced new unit. Before the first battle at Naam (the ambush), 440 only had 7 of the original 15 diral-mates left, and 5 of them were killed on that one day. Spiral didn't receive the seii until after the second Naam battle. So no, there is no requirement for a retcon to page 41, because she didn't have it then.

Strike Group 51 still fielded 19 interceptors in the second battle, but almost half were cobbled together from the other two strike groups that had been ambushed in the system, and only 9 were from Squadron 440. This was Talon's first and only battle as squadron leader, though she's been a flight leader for a while.

The diral-mates in Squadron 515, meanwhile, haven't suffered any casualties.

Considering that the Diral-seii needs to be passed along then carrying it on a fighter which may or may not be obliterated in a plasma blast or an antimatter explosion is counter productive. Also there are bound to be safety regulations in place for carrying a dangling object while doing maneuvers with stress forces of a couple of dozen g. Spiral probably left it somewhere safe in order for it to be picked up should the worst come to pass.

The shuttle ride was supposed to be safe so she took it with her.

I am working under the assumption that warriors do take the diral-seii into combat with them. In the case of small craft pilots this does make recovery in the event of death less than certain, but that's all just part of the mystique. Spiral is the fourth bearer of the seii, so there have "only" been 3 recoveries thus far.

But yeah, I think they would need to take specific steps to secure the seii in the cockpit. You don't want loose objects bouncing around in a ~40g environment.

[SVlad]

Really, I hardly imagine a way to destroy that kind of space interceptor that doesn't lead to its complete annihilation or disintegration with all diral-seies on board.

[Werra]

Fighters could be fought by using shockwaves. Like fighting submarines with depth charges. Doesn't take that much to jelly a pilot that's already going at 40g. Alternatively, the large scale weapons can be supplemented with very weak guns as to save the big guns for targets where they're economic to use.

[Arioch]

Really, I hardly imagine a way to destroy that kind of space interceptor that doesn't lead to its complete annihilation or disintegration with all diral-seies on board.

It may strain credibility a bit, but exercise your imagination.

The fighters are being shot at mainly by point-defense versions of particle beams and plasma foci, so unless there's a critical hit that blows up one of the engines, we can expect there to be wreckage left behind similar to what we see for Bellarmine. And in cases where the Loroi "hold the field" so to speak and have adequate time, I think it makes sense to search the wreckage for survivors and useful salvage.

Still, I think only the most recent instance (post ambush) was one in which the seii had to be policed up from the battlefield. I imagine that the first bearer (the former band leader) had her shot-up fighter return to the hangar on autopilot with her dead inside, and the second died of some more mundane cause while still on board Tempest.