Page 214: Ready for boarding action!

[Tamri]

In addition to the "Chekhovian" pocketHistorian, there is an even more "Chekhovian" bucket of the Historian ...

[Mk_C]

Is it possible for the Loroi team to board the Umiak vessel, take over the ships systems, and defeat the crew before they have a chance to resecure their magazine?

I mean, if they hold the Bridge OR the engineering, whichever remotely controls the hatches across the ship - what's to stop them from properly securing themselves in place and then venting all the atmosphere from the ship, flushing all the bugs who didn't buckle up into space?

SpoilerShow

But a Hardtrooper would have no issues buckling up - any one of them probably can just grab a bulkhead with enough strength to bend solid metal. They'd have to be dealt with separately. Probably no remote "off" swith on those guys either, that would be stoopid.

[Incinerator]

I suspect that the Umiak warship designers are sane and have designed the ships' airlocks in such a manner that it is mechanically impossible for an airlock to simultaneously be open to space and open to the ship's pressurized interior. That said, opening something large like exterior cargo bay doors and overriding any blast doors in the right path might achieve the same purpose.

[Cthulhu]

Are you implying that the Historian tablet app may be the "Chekov's Gun" that saves the day?

It cannot be a "Deus Ex Technia" because its presence was indicated before the Highland-7 was captured.

Why not, it needs to have a role if it was mentioned. Maybe it will deliver snarky comments, or it shall lead an uprising of the machines.


I highly doubt that there's a flush crew button somewhere. Besides, tricks like increasing gravity, venting atmosphere or pumping gas won't work on the hardtroopers.

[Demarquis]

Because if it's possible to complete the mission without securing the magazine, then by definition, securing the magazine isn't mission critical, merely "very useful". Why I ask.

[Cthulhu]

I don't think it is possible to do so without, and therefore, they must succeed. Otherwise, any crew-bug with a blaster pistol can blow up the ship if it fires it into the torpedo storage. They must also secure the reactors, fuel cells, engineering and bridge(s), all at the same time. Against 200 enemies? Yeah, that's quite the challenge.

[Bamax]

I don't think it is possible to do so without, and therefore, they must succeed. Otherwise, any crew-bug with a blaster pistol can blow up the ship if it fires it into the torpedo storage. They must also secure the reactors, fuel cells, engineering and bridge(s), all at the same time. Against 200 enemies? Yeah, that's quite the challenge.

It may not be.

For all we know Tempo rounded up all the umiak into a room for to inspect all the stolen goods.

Tempo may have already secured the command room for all we know.

If all the Umiak are in a single location and unarmed it will be quite the slaughter when the gun toting Loroi show up.


I doubt that will occur, but one thing is sure. Arioch does not like deus ex machina.


And I think that's a good thing. When the Loroi win... it won't be accidental. It will be because things were nade to happen as they did.

Neither mere hope nor luck not how you win. Not consistently.

[Demarquis]

Were I Alex, I would regard securing the magazine Beryl's mission (the better to preserve official "neutrality"), but watching her back would be mine.

[orion1836]

I just realized that the strip is about to look like an FTL boarding action.

[Cthulhu]

For all we know Tempo rounded up all the umiak into a room for to inspect all the stolen goods.

Tempo may have already secured the command room for all we know.

If all the Umiak are in a single location and unarmed it will be quite the slaughter when the gun toting Loroi show up.


I doubt that will occur, but one thing is sure. Arioch does not like deus ex machina.


And I think that's a good thing. When the Loroi win... it won't be accidental. It will be because things were nade to happen as they did.

Neither mere hope nor luck not how you win. Not consistently.

I doubt that Tempo is powerful enough to control multiple Shells at once, and the crew would be obviously dispersed throughout the ship. Which means that the boarders must do something else to get of them. Hopefully before Christmas.

[Bamax]

For all we know Tempo rounded up all the umiak into a room for to inspect all the stolen goods.

Tempo may have already secured the command room for all we know.

If all the Umiak are in a single location and unarmed it will be quite the slaughter when the gun toting Loroi show up.


I doubt that will occur, but one thing is sure. Arioch does not like deus ex machina.


And I think that's a good thing. When the Loroi win... it won't be accidental. It will be because things were nade to happen as they did.

Neither mere hope nor luck not how you win. Not consistently.

I doubt that Tempo is powerful enough to control multiple Shells at once, and the crew would be obviously dispersed throughout the ship. Which means that the boarders must do something else to get of them. Hopefully before Christmas.

Tempo only needs to mind control the captain/commander.

As matters are... she has illusion abilities... probably simply related go her telepathy hacking. Which is why she can walk straight onto a umiak cruiser without heing noticed I presume.

I mean seriously, walking behind someone won't make you invisible to onlookers ahead of you.

Tempo is more or less a stealth ninja with precise telekinesis that can kill or damage on a whim if she wished.

Unlike real ninjas she can iterally seem... invisible to onlookers that she can mess up telepathically.

Likely won't work on humans though

[Cthulhu]

Tempo only needs to mind control the captain/commander.

As matters are... she has illusion abilities... probably simply related go her telepathy hacking. Which is why she can walk straight onto a umiak cruiser without heing noticed I presume.

I mean seriously, walking behind someone won't make you invisible to onlookers ahead of you.

Tempo is more or less a stealth ninja with precise telekinesis that can kill or damage on a whim if she wished.

Unlike real ninjas she can iterally seem... invisible to onlookers that she can mess up telepathically.

Likely won't work on humans though

The limiting issue is most likely concentration, she can trick several bugs at once, even while controlling a single one. However, she won't be able to trick or control everyone, or conceal so many Loroi at once out in the open.
Hijacking the commander will be useful, of course, but its orders can't be too strange, or the others may become suspicious. I doubt that it can order the crew to jump out of the nearest airlock. That would be far too convenient, and we need our intrepid heroes to triumph by overcoming a great challenge, no less. Or maybe Alex awakens more telepathic abilities?

[Demarquis]

I'm sure with some creativity Tempo can think of some plausible orders the Umiak commander could issue that would pretty much slant the deck in favor of her team. Speculation: If Cloud isn't dead (having sacrificed herself for plausibility reasons) then she will appear at the last moment to save the day.

Which makes me wonder if Tempo has any mind control capability over other Loroi?

[Cthulhu]

Which makes me wonder if Tempo has any mind control capability over other Loroi?

Of course, the Loroi have a very long history of infighting. Historically, wars on Perrein (where the Mizol originated from) were fought between small elite teams, so this was a must-have weapon.

[Keklas Rekobah]

... Which makes me wonder if Tempo has any mind control capability over other Loroi?

Which makes ME wonder how much of what Alex is experiencing is being staged.

For instance, if the Umiak have the means to block telepathic farseeing, then why are they not using this same means to block Tempo's telepathic influence over the hardtroop(s)?

"Curiouser and curiouser," said Alice.

[Demarquis]

Tempo isnt a farseer. Her ability might work differently.

[Keklas Rekobah]

Arioch says farseeing is a telepathic skill -- there is no Loroi clairvoyance.

[Cthulhu]

Arioch says farseeing is a telepathic skill -- there is no Loroi clairvoyance.

Farsensing is actually a combination of a number of factors, namely: a rare talent, special training, amplification and drugs. On the other hand, all Loroi have "clairvoyance", the ability to sense minds/presence at some distance, although it's a passive capacity for most of them. It ranges from a few meters for untrained ones, to interstellar distances for the farseers.

[Demarquis]

"Telepathic" is a description of the outcome (being able to sense information within another mind) not a process (two telepathic abilities might work entirely differently). The Umiak might have discovered a way to block farseeing that doesn't affect the type of telepathy Tempo has. It could also be a ranged effect that only works far away. That would imply that whatever the Umiak are doing has nothing in common with humanity's inherent ability to block Loroi mental detection.

[Mercy Machine]

I am not sure how to aim this thing, i dont see any holo or iron sights on it.

Perhaps the pistol projects some sort of holographic sight that does not require a tube or frame, and only "powers up" when the safety is released or a finger is inside the trigger... space? Or that tubular gizmo on the rear of the weapon is an electronic sight?

SpoilerShow

I mean, we're like crossbowmen or arquebusiers looking at an M-16. I'm just glad it doesn't look like a SFed-up Mauser 1896 for a change. I don't know why one of the earliest designs of self-loading pistol so appeals to some SF creators.