Page 223: Most Fortunate!

[QuakeIV]

Seems everything is going good!

[Krulle]

I love how Beryl sees everything so positive.

Not really the way I see soldiers react, who are often very cynical....

But then, cynical minds might not be the ones you'd want to telepathically connect with, a positive mindset is much nicer to connect with... So Loroi might go for friendship with positives more because of the telepathical connection, so the positive/optimistic mindsets might get reinforced that way.


And yes, that sounds good. But I wonder what will happen if one of the umiak is able to send a distress signal that they have been (successfully) boarded. Will the other ships in the platoon turn and shoot at the boarded ship?
Are there other fail-safes? Like a command-structure feedback loop, this ship won't reply to due to lack of command officers?
How will the other ships react once the answers of this ship are missing?

[hmm, this seems like I am by far not as optimistic as Beryl radiates.... - Sorry]

Time to turn a bit:

will they be able to use this ship to shoot at the other ships, and thus disrupt the invasion a bit?

[QuakeIV]

Seems kindof like they intend on blending in with the rest of the fleet instead?

[Moon Moth]

This almost makes me wonder whether Beryl is deliberately avoiding talking about Tempo's abilities, and whether she's a bit creeped out by them, too.

[Krulle]

Or just doesn't want to tell Alex HOW MUCH they can read minds.
(Tempo did not get all codes, which sounds like a "less than optimal")


BTW: how will the other ships react to the blowout this ship had?
Did their sensors not see what happened, or are they that uninterested?
Or is Tempo already mindcontrolling an officer to talk about a late combat related failure via the comms?

[QuakeIV]

They are afaik in a lone ship sent to investigate their wrecked shuttle, so they may not be in range for other ships to clearly see whats going on.

[gaerzi]

will they be able to use this ship to shoot at the other ships, and thus disrupt the invasion a bit?

If they're not sure they can open back a door if they close it, they're probably even less sure about being able to use Umiak weapon systems.

[raistlin34]

Suddenly I have the image of Tempo as Lelouch, using her Geas to order Shells: "execute each other!"

[D-503]

will they be able to use this ship to shoot at the other ships, and thus disrupt the invasion a bit?

That would be suicide an thus not very smart imo.

They are afaik in a lone ship sent to investigate their wrecked shuttle, so they may not be in range for other ships to clearly see whats going on.

On p199 there a lot of other Umiak ships in the background. Maybe this one fell back a little while recovering the shuttle, but imo it depends upon where its entry-point is after the jump relative to the rest of their fleet.

[Krulle]

will they be able to use this ship to shoot at the other ships, and thus disrupt the invasion a bit?

That would be suicide an thus not very smart imo. ;)

True. But if Nezel gets overrun, rescue will still be far away.

[Jagged]

I love how Beryl sees everything so positive.

Not really the way I see soldiers react, who are often very cynical....

I see Beryl's job as being very close to Marketing

[QuakeIV]

On p199 there a lot of other Umiak ships in the background. Maybe this one fell back a little while recovering the shuttle, but imo it depends upon where its entry-point is after the jump relative to the rest of their fleet.

Ah yeah good point, I was thinking of 195 but that one ship is just a depiction of the entire group that attacked the station they were at. Honestly that does seem like it makes them a bit screwed, they are awfully close aren't they.

[Demarquis]

I think the very best thing they could do is transmit advance intelligence on the Umiak fleet deployment before they get to the battle space. Might give themselves away, but it would be worth it. If the shuttle's com system has a mode that the Umiak can't monitor, then they might not even risk that.

[Bamax]

Loroi speech is so amusing since the word choice is a bit odd and basic... which is no doubt reflects their heavy reliance on telepathy.

In all my life I have never heard any human I have ever spoken with use the term "That is not even the most fortunate part" with regard to themselves or those they were with. I have heard humans say "That's not even the best part!"

Complements to Arioch... you did good there with the alien way of speech... a far cry from the embarassing Picard series where even the Romulans curse and use F-bomb swear words.

I know Loroi won't say lucky because I doubt they believe in luck (and their Delad is like a twisted sacrificial inverse of luck anyway)

I think Beryl uses very specific language rather than generalalities because she is used to telepathy and you cannot possibly be more clear in communication than that.

[Bamax]

Now they only have to make sure the Loroi don't kill them with friendly fire.

So much fun (interesting times) ahead!

[Demarquis]

Fun for us, the audience. I wonder what Tempo's plan is.

[Arioch]

Loroi speech is so amusing since the word choice is a bit odd and basic... which is no doubt reflects their heavy reliance on telepathy.

In all my life I have never heard any human I have ever spoken with use the term "That is not even the most fortunate part" with regard to themselves or those they were with. I have heard humans say "That's not even the best part!"

Complements to Arioch... you did good there with the alien way of speech... a far cry from the embarassing Picard series where even the Romulans curse and use F-bomb swear words.

Thanks. One of the (many) problems with the "lazy" writing so common in today's mainstream media is that all the characters speak the same way, and that they use colloquial language even if the setting is exotic. Dialogue is such an important tool both for characterization and immersion.

I think part of it is just laziness, but I think they may also be chasing the goal of making media "more accessible to 'modern audiences.'" Which is one of the other chief problems with today's shows.

[Demarquis]

There's also the ease with which the audience can find out what characters have been depicted realistically, and which have not. I once wrote a novella featuring a Japanese female protagonist, and boy was it hard to satisfy the beta readers. One of them had lived in Japan for a number of years, and I got everything wrong, starting with her name.

[Bamax]

There's also the ease with which the audience can find out what characters have been depicted realistically, and which have not. I once wrote a novella featuring a Japanese female protagonist, and boy was it hard to satisfy the beta readers. One of them had lived in Japan for a number of years, and I got everything wrong, starting with her name.

That is one pure advantage scifi has if you make your own aliens. Nobody can fact check you because they don't even know what your inspiration for them is unless you tell them.

[Moon Moth]

Complements to Arioch... you did good there with the alien way of speech...

Yes. 114 is one of my favourite pages, both for the dialogue and the art. It wouldn't work nearly as well if Talon spoke standard English.