Page 207: Tempo showing off

[Werra]

There is no way this will affect how much Alex trusts the Loroi.
Maybe he'll stop offering his man-bits to every Loroi he's just met.

Do we know whether Tempo is currently amplified?

[Krulle]

SpoilerShow

https://well-of-souls.com/outsider/outsider207.html

Firepower unpacking....


And Alex recognised what kind of mind control these witches are able to commit.
And how lucky he can consider himself, that he has a Lotai, albeit an involuntary one.

[orion1836]

Not shown: the oil check Beryl is giving Alex in panel 3.

Seriously though, great work. Wonder if Tempo is going to have this trooper shoot up his pals or just make sure he leaves peacefully? How will she keep the other Umiak from seeing her?

[Luge]

Panel 4: Smug mode engaged.

[bunnyboy]

It is going to be either

Outsider version of Independence Day (1996) Virus

or

KTZK (=raporting back. only one witch i killed. put some mines inside so whoever come to resque will explode themselves)

[GeoModder]

"These are not the Loroi you're looking for."

[orion1836]

It is going to be either

Outsider version of Independence Day (1996)

Makes you wonder how vulnerable the Umiak are to viruses. Given that power-off intrusion is a thing for the historians, I wonder what a construct could do if loose in Umiak hardware?

[CrimsonFALKE]

They can literally just mind meld and send that bugger back to his mother unharmed Christ that is terrifying. In all though is that Hard trooper floating or just walking?

[Cthulhu]

I still don't get this. The Umiak know of the "witch-elves" trickeries, but they still send just a single trooper in? There are multiple shadows in the first panel and it's not like a couple of them would not fit in there. So why not send three? Or one and a couple of remote-controlled probes? With their advanced tech such a drone could be bug-sized (pun intended).
Or maybe something like that was already implemented and they will be contacted by the Stray on the next page? It can then commend them for their bravery, thank them for their demonstration and then politely ask for the handover of the "assets".

[Ithekro]

Maybe encountering Loroi of this skill level is rare.

[Cthulhu]

Maybe encountering Loroi of this skill level is rare.

Even then, if the countermeasures are easy to implement, like going in pairs or/and have non-biological or remote backups double-check everything, there's no reason not to use them every single time.
I mean if the only possible counter would be lugging around a cage with a psi-jamming creature the size of a polar bear, then it might not be realistic to do that in every boarding action scenario. But simply having off-duty marines double and triple check all the sensor feeds from every active boarder would be rather easy, at least for the monomaniacal Umiak.
It's a web comic, yes, but so far it was rater logical and close enough to hard-sci-fi. This mind-hacking would be effective if it was unexpected (a non-Loroi shuttle) or on a tactical level where it's an additional kind of attack beyond common electronic warfare. The Loroi were wildly overreacting at the mere assumption that Alex was some kind of Umiak ploy, why would the Umiak not do the same, given how unique and mysterious telepathy is?

[dragoongfa]

I think that Tempo may have a pocket Historian of her own (or a high level electronic warfare suite in her armor/luggage).

The best counter to telepathic shenanigans is electronic surveillance and if the Loroi in turn want to counter that, then they in turn would invest heavily in electronic warfare.

[Werra]

Even then, if the countermeasures are easy to implement, like going in pairs or/and have non-biological or remote backups double-check everything, there's no reason not to use them every single time.

The counter measures seem very difficult to implement. What good is a sensor that detects Loroi if the signal is send to a compromised decision maker? If a Mizol can make you believe she isn't there, she can also either make you believe in a malfunction or force you to ignore your sensor feed. The same applies to whatever warning a remote supervisor could give. Short of sending more troops or assuming direct control, he can't do anything either.

[DCR]

Panel 4: Smug mode engaged.

Think the only time it toggled off was when Jardin first woke up and yelled, startling her. She's been getting revenge ever since.

[boldilocks]

Umiak: "I heard there was an underage boy flying alone?"
Tempo: "Why don't we have a seat over here."

[Deacon Fr3y]

So much for "the pointman is never wrong".

[orion1836]

Even then, if the countermeasures are easy to implement, like going in pairs or/and have non-biological or remote backups double-check everything, there's no reason not to use them every single time.

The counter measures seem very difficult to implement. What good is a sensor that detects Loroi if the signal is send to a compromised decision maker? If a Mizol can make you believe she isn't there, she can also either make you believe in a malfunction or force you to ignore your sensor feed. The same applies to whatever warning a remote supervisor could give. Short of sending more troops or assuming direct control, he can't do anything either.

I think it's a reasonable assumption that the sort of scenario leading to this feat is either extremely rare or perhaps has never occurred before during this conflict.

First, you need a Mizol with Tempo's skillset. While we don't have an indication of how rare that is, given her rank and skill, it's unlikely that such a Loroi would be embedded with the sort of forces that regularly make physical contact with the Umiak.

Second, you need this sort of cloak-and-dagger situation. Arioch has said that boarding actions are rare, and that ground combat really isn't a factor in this conflict, given you can glass a planet from orbit. On the off chance you do have the combatants eye-to-eye, they're going to be shooting at each other, and likely not have the opportunity to get in close enough to do this, even assuming they have a soldier with the capability.

So, even if this has happened to the Umiak before, I doubt they would invest resources into developing a countermeasure, or even expect it to happen on a regular basis.

[SVlad]

70. When my guards split up to search for intruders, they will always travel in groups of at least two. They will be trained so that if one of them disappears mysteriously while on patrol, the other will immediately initiate an alert and call for backup, instead of quizzically peering around a corner.

Umiak should have read this.

Or, another variant, written by anonymous Russian reader:

The elite Umiak marine, having more than a dozen boardings and battles with psykers behind him, immediately realized who fate had brought him together with. Fortunately, he has been traveling around the galaxy with his cruiser for more than two decades - he has seen and suffered everything. And the difficulty is not great - the Loroi paint the spacesuits almost like clowns, so that any opponent could accurately identify the rank and type of troops of each particular blue-eared. Even in this Umiak surpassed their opponents - nothing gave away the very high rank of the marine. The enemy does not need to know about this.
He successfully rolled a saving throw on the "Will", the benefit of direct contact with the psyker did not work out. The metal of an artificial exoskeleton is not a living organism for you, and the Loroi witchcraft conducts poorly. Only the "good word" of the psykers was supplemented by plasma rifles in the hands of two other Loroi. Many years of experience suggested that in this situation it is better to simply deceive the blue-eared, pretending that they really managed to fool his brain. Fortunately, to understand their desire - you do not need to be bright. Yes, yes, now we will turn around, go out and cheerfully stomp down the corridor. And then we'll come back... With a repairman. Some green recruit would have rushed to the assault, but the marine was not a recruit. The door to the vestibule will simply be welded and barricaded, after which the vestibule will be depressurized by several shots from the outside. After that, it will just have to wait until the breathing mixture runs out in the blue-eared spacesuits. Maybe then some of Loroi will even be able to be resuscitated. This happens in war... It's called "unlucky".
That's how the next Loroi once again failed to pass on a terrible military secret to their own - Umiak also has an elite on the front line.

[Cthulhu]

The counter measures seem very difficult to implement. What good is a sensor that detects Loroi if the signal is send to a compromised decision maker? If a Mizol can make you believe she isn't there, she can also either make you believe in a malfunction or force you to ignore your sensor feed. The same applies to whatever warning a remote supervisor could give. Short of sending more troops or assuming direct control, he can't do anything either.

1. The decision maker is not compromised, because this suggestion thing needs close contact with the target and only works on one target at a time. They cannot fool an operator on the other end of a cruiser, especially if they do not know which one of the 200 Umiaks sees this.
2. Even if they can fool the brain, a simple AI subroutine running in the background on every hardtrooper can recognize if there's a Loroi nearby doing something suspicious and then trigger an alarm. Nothing fancy, just an addition to the standard package that uses pattern recognition on the incoming sensor data to spot targets, mines and threat vectors. Human militaries already have such prototype AR helmets.

I think it's a reasonable assumption that the sort of scenario leading to this feat is either extremely rare or perhaps has never occurred before during this conflict.

First, you need a Mizol with Tempo's skillset. While we don't have an indication of how rare that is, given her rank and skill, it's unlikely that such a Loroi would be embedded with the sort of forces that regularly make physical contact with the Umiak.

Second, you need this sort of cloak-and-dagger situation. Arioch has said that boarding actions are rare, and that ground combat really isn't a factor in this conflict, given you can glass a planet from orbit. On the off chance you do have the combatants eye-to-eye, they're going to be shooting at each other, and likely not have the opportunity to get in close enough to do this, even assuming they have a soldier with the capability.

So, even if this has happened to the Umiak before, I doubt they would invest resources into developing a countermeasure, or even expect it to happen on a regular basis.

As I said, with the monomaniacal nature of the Umiak it's doubtful that there would be no safety measures. Mostly because those safety measures are not that difficult to implement, but the potential gain in a critical situation is quite significant. I mean even a simple microdrone going first would invalidate it all. Boarding actions happened before, as well as ground combat engagements. The Umiak also had enough captives to experiment upon and at least get an understanding of what's possible and be wary of it.

[Dahak]

There is no way this will affect how much Alex trusts the Loroi.
Maybe he'll stop offering his man-bits to every Loroi he's just met.

Do we know whether Tempo is currently amplified?

She's apparently the hatchet woman the Empress trusts to run herd on a highly competent but politically unreliable Admiral.

If she needed an amplifier and can use one she's got one. Her GURPS character sheet doesn't have one but since those add to Power rather than skill and she's heavily invested in Telepathic skills and almost matches Fireblades amplified Telepathic Power without an Amplifier she apparently doesn't need one.