Page 202: WHY?

[dragoongfa]

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Why?

[Incinerator]

...hoo boy. This reeks of 'suicide mission' to me. Leave one crewman out for the boarders to find while everyone else hides. The boarders shoot her, then don't immediately find anyone else aboard and leave.

Pragmatic, but callous (to Cloud) all the same. A low chance of success by virtue of it relying on the boarders not being thorough, but better than going out in a blaze of glory and trying to fight the ship's entire security detachment. Or getting blown to bits when the Umiak skipper decides to cut their losses and just fire on the shuttle.

[kiwi]

I have a bad feeling about this...

[dragoongfa]

Unless telepathic techniques affect personnel in great distances I don't see how a sacrifice ploy could work since the boarders would also have ship personnel looking through them (I expect hard troop visual sensors to be network capable) and as such an Umiak that would be hundreds of meters away would immediately point out any and all discrepencies.

My pet theory is that Cloud is to be act as a rangefinder for Fireblade and Tempo to properly aim their telepathic and telekinetic techniques. If Cloud hides at the locked cockpit and draws attention to herself then the boarders would turn their attention to the locked cockpit and show their backs at Fireblade/Tempo. With the Lotai in place Fireblade cannot aim her powers without line of sight and as such she has to look at the boarders who will be between her and the mental signature of Cloud thus setting up a reference point.

With the distraction and some telepathic help from Tempo (provided that the Umiak are detectable even in a limited fashion from close) she could take them out quickly enough and perhaps rush forward in a counter boarding action before the Umiak become aware of the danger they are in.

Cloud not having a pressure suit is probably down to Alex wearing the helmet that was allocated to her (notice the green highlight of his helmet, that's a Soroin helmet); if she is to survive at all she is to remain on the shuttle, stranded in a still pressurized cockpit, hoping that the Umiak don't shoot it up out of spite should the plan work and the Loroi ending up aboard the Umiak ship.

Once aboard the Umiak ship, things get dicy, they would be not in the immediate danger of the Umiak vaporizing the shuttle but they are still aboard a hostile warship. Immediate survival would hinge on how capable Fireblade and Tempo are; how tenacious Reed, Flint, Talon and Spiral would be in close quarters fight and how lucky all of them would be. Beryl is probably under orders to shoot Alex if things look lost. A hidden ace in the hole is the Historian construct that the Loroi don't know about, perhaps it will help along and allow them to claim control of certain parts of the ship.

This all hinges on the Loroi having full belief that this offensive will soon falter and as thus the ship itself will soon face Loroi warships in combat which would allow the boarding team to do something to help along and knock it out of the fight, allowing a retrieval by friendly forces.

Its a far flung hail mary of a desperate plan but they are in an extremely desperate situation.

[chanman]

How does Fireblade's helmet maintain pressure integrity while allowing her hair out?

[dragoongfa]

How does Fireblade's helmet maintain pressure integrity while allowing her hair out?

Word of God is that the helmet has a specialized hair mesh that allows it to maintain pressure integrity.

[Krulle]

I fear Alex wears Cloud's suit.
And she has none else fitting.


Or she is a placed agent.
And Alex finds out about her.
Because the last panels seems like she's trying to hide something now.

[Quickdraw101]

Her facial expression is just heartbreaking. She's being sent to die, there's no two ways about it.

[Mk_C]

Unless telepathic techniques affect personnel in great distances I don't see how a sacrifice ploy could work since the boarders would also have ship personnel looking through them (I expect hard troop visual sensors to be network capable)

For what purpose?

My pet theory is that Cloud is to be act as a rangefinder for Fireblade and Tempo to properly aim their telepathic and telekinetic techniques. If Cloud hides at the locked cockpit and draws attention to herself then the boarders would turn their attention to the locked cockpit and show their backs at Fireblade/Tempo. With the Lotai in place Fireblade cannot aim her powers without line of sight and as such she has to look at the boarders who will be between her and the mental signature of Cloud thus setting up a reference point. With the distraction and some telepathic help from Tempo (provided that the Umiak are detectable even in a limited fashion from close) she could take them out quickly enough and perhaps rush forward in a counter boarding action before the Umiak become aware of the danger they are in.

That's kinda stupidly convoluted.

Cloud not having a pressure suit is probably down to Alex wearing the helmet that was allocated to her (notice the green highlight of his helmet, that's a Soroin helmet);

Everyone else has their suits. Doesn't make sense for the shuttle's standard equipment to have exactly [gang minus Alex] helmets. And it being a Soroin helmet implies that she brought it in with her. Why would they bother to get suits, without making sure that Alex has one, be it an extra or the shuttle's emergency spare (which is exactly what Talon presents it as on page 149)?

Its a far flung hail mary of a desperate plan but they are in an extremely desperate situation.

Or they might be planning something different.

[boldilocks]

Goodbye bait-girl.

[dragoongfa]

For what purpose?

Because they are boarding a Loroi vessel, after decades of total war the Umiak are bound to know what both the Mizol and Teidar castes are capable of. Having a few extra eyes on watch from far enough away to be unaffected by telepathy should be standard practice.

That's kinda stupidly convoluted.

It's simple in its basic premise. Cloud makes noise at the cockpit and draws the attention of the Umiak, Fireblade does what she does best while their attention is elsewhere. They all hope that they are quick enough to bum rush and counter board with Fireblade wreaking havoc as they go. Finally, survive until relieved. Kill the alien if all goes to hell.

Everyone else has their suits. Doesn't make sense for the shuttle's standard equipment to have exactly [gang minus Alex] helmets. And it being a Soroin helmet implies that she brought it in with her. Why would they bother to get suits, without making sure that Alex has one, be it an extra or the shuttle's emergency spare (which is exactly what Talon presents it as on page 149)?

It is a Soroin helmet though and the spare Talon gave him is a Tenoin one which means that they ain't paired. Both Tempo and Cloud came aboard with some luggage, Tempo's helmet has the Mizol highlights; perhaps the helmets are fold-able somewhat.

Now that I think about it...

Cloud is a Passet, she doesn't have an armor set which means that she needed a spare pressure suit to go with her personal helmet. Alex is wearing the shuttle's spare pressure suit and all others are wearing the armors they came with which have pressure suit capabilities. The two Soroin guards didn't have any luggage and as such they don't have their normal armor and helmets with them to lend them to Cloud.

Or they might be planning something different.

Perhaps.

[GeoModder]

Why is everyone thinking Cloud is heading into the cockpit? Its one of the airlocks she's entering.

[Jagged]

How does Fireblade's helmet maintain pressure integrity while allowing her hair out?

Style!

[Krulle]

The Loroi are the real heirs of the Romans.
She's wearing a helmet with a giant red wig on it.

[Dan Wyatt]

They expect one of us in the wreckage, Sister!

[Voitan]

RIP Shoegirl.

[Voitan]

How does Fireblade's helmet maintain pressure integrity while allowing her hair out?

Amazing hair gel.

[CrimsonFALKE]

Why are we focused on Fireblade's hair? I mean cloud has no hard suit in a likely boarding action and she has a pistol. A single pistol against what a giant cyborg bug like being the size of a tank? She is a sacrifice and we are fine with that oh well...

[Arent]

Why are we focused on Fireblade's hair? I mean cloud has no hard suit in a likely boarding action and she has a pistol. A single pistol against what a giant cyborg bug like being the size of a tank? She is a sacrifice and we are fine with that oh well...

Noooo, not Cloud! And also not Spiral! And Beryl, Fireblade, Tempo, Alex & the others (in that order).

I'll boycott the comic if anything happens to any character

[gaerzi]

How does Fireblade's helmet maintain pressure integrity while allowing her hair out?

This was addressed in a Q&A thread, basically: it's not supposed to really make sense but you can figure it's probably good enough at least for a short duration. (It may leak a bit, but slowly enough that it wouldn't be a problem in circumstances that don't involve drifting aimlessly in space in a disabled shuttle with life support turned off.)

Fireblade's helmet is a different case, as it's strictly unrealistic and is really just a visual character design choice, so that the character is instantly recognizable even in full armor. We can comfort ourselves with the thought that it's combat armor and not an EVA suit, and that the helmet is sufficiently sophisticated such that it can form a decent seal against a mane of hair.

I think a flight suit can be minimal, as it needs to be sealed against vacuum, and sometimes for extended periods, but the pilot is usually going to be working in the cockpit (where excessive bulk is not desirable) and probably not so much out on the exterior of a ship or station and doing work that might breach it. Space marine combat armor needs to be able to operate in vacuum and to seal against chemical or biological agents, and to be able to take some punishment, but there's probably a small upper limit on how long one would expect a marine to have to operate in a sealed state.

A proper EVA suit, I think, would need to be designed for extended use, with a user possibly in it for days at a time, which means extensive life support capacity including built-in waste facilities, and to have adequate protection against suit puncture from everyday work. So it would be pretty bulky and not as desirable to fly in.