1) Are you suggesting that the Umiak have no weaknesses that an Ender character could exploit?
2) Why do you think that the Umiak are "steamrolling" the Loroi outside of the frontier area? In Enders Game, humanity was down to our home system, the aliens had many systems, and an invasion was considered immanent. That actually seems more challenging than the situation that currently confronts our protagonists.
I really have no need to keep going back and forth with this... so I will leave you with pertinent questions that you do not need to answer... but the answers will speak for themselves.
.
1. Just how likely are the Loroi to give Ender Wiggen, an alien boy outsider to them, command of ANY vessel in the fleet?
2. In the unlikely scenario they DO give Ender his own command... what do you think it would be? A single vessel or a strike group?
3. Let's take this farfetched narrative to where it would likely go first. Let's assume the Loroi give Ender command of a single Loroi warship. If so he will be assigned to follow orders from the lead command vessel... unless lead vessel and all other vessels are too damaged or destroyed outright, that's the ONLY way he will be able to take command of a strike group that the Loroi would initially even accept.
It would be a crippled strike group, what remains of it, so Ender's offense options would be less favorable than oh I dunno..... running for his life back to safe space.
4. Have you read the full Outsider comic so far? Have you seen Umiak vessels in battle? Have you seen their weapon specific ranges and accelerations...not to mention that of their spaceships?
5. Did you know Loroi commanders who have survived the decades long war fighting the whole way through are rare? Did you know at one point the Loroi emperor and her flagship were blown up?
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Tue Nov 02, 2021 11:18 pm
by Kage Sama
I was thinking it could be worse. The first contact with the Loroi could have been Slippery Jim DiGriz.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2021 2:46 pm
by Demarquis
I can tell you didn't read the book. Substitute "ship" for "army" and this was precisely the situation the freshman cadet Wiggins faced as he entered the battleschool. He ended up the youngest army commander in the school, and lead a team of misfits to the top ranking. The way in which he was depicted doing it was pretty plausible for a fictional narrative. It wasn't so much tactical brilliance as leadership and the ability to reason with people and collect followers and allies. Those types of skills tend to transfer well across technologies and operational circumstances.
To answer your question, there are many possibilities that would fit within the story. Alex was in a perfect position to offer Stillstorm some insightful advice (after all, they allowed him to sit on the bridge) that could have turned out to be decisive, leading to an improved relationship between them. Or he could have been working with Talon and Spiral as they fled from the attacking Umiak. By now, were it Ender, they could be trusting him to take a lead role in attacking the Umiak ship they are docked within, and after that, who knows, they could give him a commanding role when they take off with the new ship. From there, "Captain Wiggen" just works his way into a partnership with higher and higher ranking Loroi, until he's side by side with the Empress. There are other ways it could work out, but that's one semi-plausible scenario.
The first contact with the Loroi could have been Slippery Jim DiGriz.
OMG!! I remember him! He would run circles around them!
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 7:44 pm
by Clockwork Ninja
Ciaphas Cain
Identical story up to this point. Once on the Umiak ship, he is discovered and attacked by an armored trooper. While fleeing for his life, he accidentally trips over a cord, unplugging the anti-telepathy machine and causing a feedback loop that reveals the entire Umiak fleet.
Hailed as a hero and remarkable warrior, he is thanked by the Loroi Empress in an elaborate ceremony. However, he misunderstands local customs and inadvertently volunteers for a front line assignment assaulting an Umiak world.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2021 9:19 pm
by Tamri
Already mentioned, it seems.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:53 pm
by Keklas Rekobah
Klaatu (Michael Rennie, in "The Day the Earth Stood Still", 1951)
Klaatu gave the following ultimatum: Earth can either join other spacefaring worlds, wherein peace is ensured, or be reduced to a burned-out cinder.
I think the Loroi might like him!
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2021 3:57 pm
by boldilocks
Gentlemen, gentlemen.
This is a story of a great war. What is needed is a master strategist.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2021 4:57 am
by Sweforce
Just for the fun of it I suggest James Bond as played by Sean Connery.
Gtg, got a bus to catch.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:57 pm
by gigachad
Replacing it with Commissar Cain, in my opinion, would be the beginning of an extremely interesting story.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Posted: Thu Jan 20, 2022 5:07 pm
by Demarquis
Sargent Schlock.
I wonder how Loroi taste?
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Kirk with:
Beryl: sex, followed by a forced full bodyscan and subsequent analysis.
Fireblade: broken spine, crushed ribcage.
Tempo: made to wear a tutu while thinking he's wearing his uniform.
Stillstorm: strapped to a torpedo and used as target practice.
Spiral: Spiral is pure and innocent and only 13.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
Kirk with:
Beryl: sex, followed by a forced full bodyscan and subsequent analysis.
Fireblade: broken spine, crushed ribcage.
Tempo: made to wear a tutu while thinking he's wearing his uniform.
Stillstorm: strapped to a torpedo and used as target practice.
Spiral: Spiral is pure and innocent and only 13.
What about Kirk and Talon?
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
She would ride him cowboy style, but only in exchange for being allowed to do a barrel roll with the Enterprise at an altitude of 2000 feet over San Fransisco.
Re: Substitute Alex For Other Well Known Scifi Human Characters... Do They Do Better Or Worse?
She'd probably get along great with Tempo, and be bar-wrecking gal-pals with Fireblade. Their friendship starting when Susan doesn't hesitate a bit before folding Fireblade up on her fist in response to Fireblade's equally undiplomatic TK push.
