Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thread

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saint of m
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by saint of m »

Given that Umiak have to reproduce artificially, it seems they altered themselves greatly. Were they the ones that modified themselves originally, or were a higher level civilization the ones that pushed their evolution forward?

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by GeoModder »

saint of m wrote:Given that Umiak have to reproduce artificially, it seems they altered themselves greatly. Were they the ones that modified themselves originally, or were a higher level civilization the ones that pushed their evolution forward?
IIRC, a bit of both.
The Hal-Tik (nomadic) Umiak were engaged in a millennia-long war with their advanced Tizik-Tik 'cousins' on their homeworld after the Soia collapse. At last, and through assimilation of Tizik-Tik technology, they gained the upper hand at the price of changing their society beyond recognition.
Check the Umiak article for a more complete review. :)
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

There is some debate as to whether the Dreiman and Soia pushed various species in the region towards higher intelligence, but in the specific case of recent Umiak genetic modifications, it's the Umiak modifying themselves.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Jakelope13 »

How much modification can a Umiak withstand? Are we talking ocular implants, prosthetic arms, maybe a built-in weapon, or Borg-level of modification, where the Umiak might as well be a machine with Umiak components grafted on in odd places?

Exactly how ravaged were the planets in the Charred Steppes? Is it that, due to the fighting between the Union and the Hierarchy, the planets' inhabitants fled before they were invaded by an occupation force seeking to establish forward bases in the Steppes, or were the planets actually bombarded into an uninhabitable state?

Also, have there been any situations wherein either side used privateer forces (made of refugees, mercenaries, or something else) to engage the rearguard forces, and slow their fleet movements?

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

Jakelope13 wrote:How much modification can a Umiak withstand? Are we talking ocular implants, prosthetic arms, maybe a built-in weapon, or Borg-level of modification, where the Umiak might as well be a machine with Umiak components grafted on in odd places?
The extreme example would be the hardtroopers, most of which are "full replacement cyborgs"; that is, the entire body except for brains and guts has been replaced with an armored combat chassis. Think along the lines of Robocop, Briareos from Appleseed, or the Dreadnoughts from Warhammer 40K. Some hardtroops look more like armored vehicles than Umiak.
Jakelope13 wrote:Exactly how ravaged were the planets in the Charred Steppes? Is it that, due to the fighting between the Union and the Hierarchy, the planets' inhabitants fled before they were invaded by an occupation force seeking to establish forward bases in the Steppes, or were the planets actually bombarded into an uninhabitable state?
The latter.
Jakelope13 wrote:Also, have there been any situations wherein either side used privateer forces (made of refugees, mercenaries, or something else) to engage the rearguard forces, and slow their fleet movements?
Each side has almost no access to enemy territory and no way to communicate with potential traitors on the other side. And since almost any starship has the capability to raze a planet, such forces could do a lot more damage than harassing shipping. If one side could somehow get armed privateers into the other side's territory, that would be game over.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by saint of m »

If given the opportunity, what is the likelihood they would or could use a biological weapon, such as a engineered virus, on a target planet?

I thinking is it will probably not be killed by this disease themselves, unless it crosses over to them, and they can have it dispersed swiftly (such as by touch or by birds). Let the disease kill of the target population, and you can sift through the rest at your leisure.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

saint of m wrote:If given the opportunity, what is the likelihood they would or could use a biological weapon, such as a engineered virus, on a target planet? I thinking is it will probably not be killed by this disease themselves, unless it crosses over to them, and they can have it dispersed swiftly (such as by touch or by birds). Let the disease kill of the target population, and you can sift through the rest at your leisure.
I think that biological weapons are hard to deliver with precision, hard to control (viruses mutate rapidly), and relatively straightforward to counter (if you can engineer a virus, they can engineer a vaccine).

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Absalom »

Jakelope13 wrote:If the Umiak are believed to be created via an artificial process (and, since they're akin to insects, and therefore have a natural exoskeleton) does that mean that the Umiak don't have to wear a space suit, just some kind of breathing apparatus?
Just for reference, were it not for "the bends", humans would fit this description.

Jakelope13 wrote:Also, have there been any situations wherein either side used privateer forces (made of refugees, mercenaries, or something else) to engage the rearguard forces, and slow their fleet movements?
Privateers basically work best when the defenses around the targets of the privateers are loose, and the distances are easily covered by the ships in question. "Space is big" with "refueling is done from raw resources" is the type of setting you're looking for. Outsider mostly has "space is big" in ship-to-ship combat mechanics, for a privateer-friendly setting you'd be looking for merchant vessels with much longer effective range (even if only because they were equipped to restock their fuel reserves with an onboard fusion generator), combined with a good, long, unpatrolled (or at least lightly patrolled) distance between trading partners. The Orgus side of non-Umiak space might have those traits (the most important is lack of patrols, since that provides the opportunity), but we don't know much about it.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Siber »

Absalom wrote:
Jakelope13 wrote:If the Umiak are believed to be created via an artificial process (and, since they're akin to insects, and therefore have a natural exoskeleton) does that mean that the Umiak don't have to wear a space suit, just some kind of breathing apparatus?
Just for reference, were it not for "the bends", humans would fit this description.
My past research on the subject indicated the contrary. The bends are one problem, swelling of soft tissue is another, and the lack of pressure on the torso should lead to issues with the lungs being unable to contain pressurized air and being damaged as a result.
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Absalom »

Siber wrote:
Absalom wrote:
Jakelope13 wrote:If the Umiak are believed to be created via an artificial process (and, since they're akin to insects, and therefore have a natural exoskeleton) does that mean that the Umiak don't have to wear a space suit, just some kind of breathing apparatus?
Just for reference, were it not for "the bends", humans would fit this description.
My past research on the subject indicated the contrary. The bends are one problem, swelling of soft tissue is another, and the lack of pressure on the torso should lead to issues with the lungs being unable to contain pressurized air and being damaged as a result.
Possible point on the lungs issue (though this might be countered by skin), but the soft tissue issue likely is the bends. "The bends" is when liquids turn to gasses within the body, so unless there's been a fluid shift from somewhere else (in which case, where? the low pressure should be mostly evenly distibuted), soft tissue swelling suggests that a case of the bends is at fault.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Jakelope13 »

Are Umiak warships clearly identifiable by class, or are their ships as unique and varied as their gunboats, and the only way to class them is by size/combat maneuvers?

And, since the crew of Umiak ships are often permanently assigned, has there been any cases where, in lieu of automation or in order to improve crew reaction times, some of the crew were integrated into the ship's systems? For example, into turrets or possibly into the Jump Drive assembly?

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Hālian »

Jakelope13 wrote:into the Jump Drive assembly
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Absalom »

Repair equipment I can maybe see in some cases (e.g. a small on-board tow-truck might be the Hard-trooper version of a civilian vehicle), but I suspect that jump drives and weapons would be considered better with swappable crews, rather than merged-in crews.

Unless they had plug-n-play crews, of course. And even then, I doubt that the jump drive would be used enough to justify the dedicated crew.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

Jakelope13 wrote:Are Umiak warships clearly identifiable by class, or are their ships as unique and varied as their gunboats, and the only way to class them is by size/combat maneuvers?
Umiak do not have ship "classes" in the conventional sense, as nearly every Umiak vessel is unique in some way, and so warships are mainly classified by size.
Jakelope13 wrote:And, since the crew of Umiak ships are often permanently assigned, has there been any cases where, in lieu of automation or in order to improve crew reaction times, some of the crew were integrated into the ship's systems? For example, into turrets or possibly into the Jump Drive assembly?
Weapon turrets are targeted and fired by computers; no crewman (Umiak or human) could fire them manually with any accuracy. The crews manage these systems and make decisions, but physical reaction time is not really a factor. And I have no idea what benefit there would be to wiring someone into the Jump Drive.
Jakelope13 wrote:
Arioch wrote:The Umiak as occupiers do not appear to interfere with the internal affairs of subject nations, as long as they are able to meet their tribute demands.
So, the Umiak don't even alter the industrious sections of planets for creating Umiak technology? Or is Umiak tech more of a conglomeration of all of the species they've taken over?
Each agreement is specific to the individual client state. The Umiak offer tech assistance where it's appropriate, but you don't have to be able to manufacture whole Umiak ships to be able to contribute to the war effort. Raw materials, intermediate manufactured goods (like whatever the 2160 version of ball bearings might be), food, fuels, etc... all will satisfy an important logistical need for the Umiak.
Jakelope13 wrote:Or, do the Umiak have mobile stations that, after conquering a species, they fly it in, set it up, and start pumping out Umiak ships/troops?
No. The long pole in the tent of starship production is the fabrication of components (which is usually done planetside), not the actual orbital assembly site.
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by GeoModder »

Arioch wrote:And I have no idea what benefit there would be to wiring someone into the Jump Drive.
Mmm... to Hyper Mind? :lol:
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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by cacambo43 »

Arioch,

Some clarification, if you can:

In panel 1, it says:
Panel 1 wrote: The Orgus were a peripheral race that had tried to stay out of the conflict, but this attempt failed when the Umiak devastated and occupied their homeworld.
(emphasis is mine)

In the Insider notes you say:
Arioch wrote: What they would have in common is that none would have much information on what diplomacy (if any) preceded the Umiak military action, nor many details about the invasion itself, once it had taken place, as no information left a system once the Umiak had taken control of it. The Orgus refugees did not know what the Umiak had in store for them, be it genocide, oppressive occupation, reorganization, or merely some more benign form of control.
(again, emphasis is mine)

These seem somewhat contradictory, at least on the surface. How do you reconcile the two statements?

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Arioch »

I don't see how the two are contradictory. One statement says that the Umiak occupied the Orgus homeworld, and the other says that the refugees don't know exactly what happened. But the narrator evidently does.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by cacambo43 »

That makes sense. I was thinking that even the narrator, at that point, only knew what the Orgus refugee's told them, but in the bigger context, I can see what you mean. Thanks for clearing that up.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by junk »

I've been wondering, if there's any specific reason why the Umiak client races seem to all not be Soia-Lindon. If there's some sort of selective destruction of those that are, or if some are, but it just isn't mentioned on the races of the hierarchy page.

Compared to the loroi alliance which does seem to include quite a few.

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Re: Miscellaneous Umiak/misc. races question-and-answer thre

Post by Absalom »

junk wrote:I've been wondering, if there's any specific reason why the Umiak client races seem to all not be Soia-Lindon. If there's some sort of selective destruction of those that are, or if some are, but it just isn't mentioned on the races of the hierarchy page.

Compared to the loroi alliance which does seem to include quite a few.
It appears to be random chance. Out of the known sentient Soia-Liron races, one is under the "protection" (which I'm going to assume is basically inside of Sea World-analogues, since at this point, why not?) of the Historians, two are extinct from the calamity that destroyed the Soia empire, and the rest are part of the Loroi Union. Might as well ask if the very soil of the Asian continent rises up to destroy any Germanic tribes that take up residence on it.

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