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[Karst45]

and the choices of a torpedo is simple, beam weapon then to pierce and scatter wreckage. a torpedo could actually vaporize or destroy in so small pieces that it would make it hard for anyone to analyses the remain.

That may be the only time we see a torpedo actually make a direct hit on a target.

[Solemn]

...did you forget the big battle we just saw with all the beams going back and forth?

But Alex didn't see a battle.
Alex saw the color of a beam with his own two eyes, and described the beam to the Loroi in sufficient detail for them to be able to identify it, in conjunction with their sensor records. Beryl looked a bit uncomfortable while describing said identification.
Alex then saw an artificial representation of a battle thrown up on some imaging devices that he did not understand and has no experience with, akin to a man from the 1800s watching a modern 3d movie like Avatar.
If the Loroi were the Romulans, that would be reason enough to suspect shenanigans. Especially since all their diplomacy is apparently handled by their Tal Shiar. Were the Loroi Romulans, I would suspect that the entire battle never actually happened, or at least that the beams had been artificially recolored on the viewscreen. Especially since in Star Trek that could be done with a few simple commands. "Computer, make the plasma focus look like a pulse cannon, and make our pulse cannons look like plasma focus bursts. Also create a holodeck character who can take over the ship again, that's always fun."

But then come the economics of lying. The difficulty and level of finesse required to create such an elaborate fiction for Alex on such short notice and with so many moving parts makes it implausible at best, the motives for creating and engaging in such an elaborate deception when a simpler one would have worked just as well, the (non-immediate but inevitable) falsifiability of such a lie, and the potential for catastrophic failure make it rather ridiculous. Part of the reason the Tal Shiar would do such a thing is because the Romulans are supposed to lose at the end of the episode.

I really don't think the Umiak are lying because I wouldn't lie in their shoe-equivalents, and I like to think I'm a pretty decent liar. I don't think the Loroi are lying either. But either way is possible, if they decide to behave in the manner of mustache-twirling melodrama villains.

[Tash]

But Alex didn't see a battle.

Err.
I assume Fred means the current one, in which case, Alex has been on the bridge watching the whole time.
I rather assume any magnification system that can clearly pick up enemy vessels at those ranges are going to give Alex an excellent opportunity to see the weaponry of both sides.

[Solemn]

But Alex didn't see a battle.

Err.
I assume Fred means the current one, in which case, Alex has been on the bridge watching the whole time.
I rather assume any magnification system that can clearly pick up enemy vessels at those ranges are going to give Alex an excellent opportunity to see the weaponry of both sides.

What I meant was Alex saw the bridge representation of that battle.
And the bridge representation could have been doctored.
It makes no sense to doctor it, and it's highly improbable that said doctoring could have been achieved so well in so little time with so few cues, but it's within the realm of possibility within science fiction stories.

[TrashMan]

'Lo, there do I see my father. 'Lo, there do I see...
My mother, and my sisters, and my brothers.
'Lo, there do I see...
The line of my people...
Back to the beginning.
'Lo, they do call to me.
They bid me take my place among them.
In the halls of Valhalla...
Where the brave...
May live...
...forever.

[Karst45]

What I meant was Alex saw the bridge representation of that battle.
And the bridge representation could have been doctored.
It makes no sense to doctor it, and it's highly improbable that said doctoring could have been achieved so well in so little time with so few cues, but it's within the realm of possibility within science fiction stories.

Well i say a day is quite enough to actually plan this. Remember, Alex was unconscious for about 2-3 day. From the time he got knocked out in his space suite to the moment he wake up in his cell, excluding the infirmary even that lasted what 5 minutes? we can assume about at least 8h passed since the interrogation. That enough time to plan something.

[Trantor]

ite enough to actually plan this. Remember, Alex was unconscious for about 2-3 day. From the time he got knocked out in his space suite to the moment he wake up in his cell, excluding the infirmary even that lasted what 5 minutes? we can assume about at least 8h passed since the interrogation. That enough time to plan something.

Sounds plausible. And it means that the Loroi consider him valuable, otherwise they wouldn´t care.

[Karst45]

ite enough to actually plan this. Remember, Alex was unconscious for about 2-3 day. From the time he got knocked out in his space suite to the moment he wake up in his cell, excluding the infirmary even that lasted what 5 minutes? we can assume about at least 8h passed since the interrogation. That enough time to plan something.

Sounds plausible. And it means that the Loroi consider him valuable, otherwise they wouldn´t care.

maybe they are just brats/bully who like to mess with people mind.

And maybe their physical appearance is only a trick of their mind, they may look like giant blob, or maybe alex didnt wake up and they are still messing with his head.

[Ktrain]

maybe they are just brats/bully who like to mess with people mind.

And maybe their physical appearance is only a trick of their mind, they may look like giant blob, or maybe alex didnt wake up and they are still messing with his head.

Maybe they are just doing very sordid things to Alex's body

[NOMAD]

ite enough to actually plan this. Remember, Alex was unconscious for about 2-3 day. From the time he got knocked out in his space suite to the moment he wake up in his cell, excluding the infirmary even that lasted what 5 minutes? we can assume about at least 8h passed since the interrogation. That enough time to plan something.

Sounds plausible. And it means that the Loroi consider him valuable, otherwise they wouldn´t care.

maybe they are just brats/bully who like to mess with people mind.

And maybe their physical appearance is only a trick of their mind, they may look like giant blob, or maybe Alex didn't wake up and they are still messing with his head.

Well I wouldn't put it past the Loroi to make up a very real simulation in order to learn more about what he knows. (hell human did a lot of camouflage operation in the run-up to D-day landings), but to go that length in order to learn what Alex knows, doesn't make sense to me especially since the 51st is on the front lines and could be engagged combat at moment.

as well, how do we know how long Alex was out ? I couldn't find a lenght of time when I ran a search.

[fredgiblet]

as well, how do we know how long Alex was out ? I couldn't find a lenght of time when I ran a search.

We don't have an exact time but we know this:

Loroi salvage teams have been searching the hulk and the surrounding debris for between 24-48 hours.

[NOMAD]

as well, how do we know how long Alex was out ? I couldn't find a lenght of time when I ran a search.

We don't have an exact time but we know this:

Loroi salvage teams have been searching the hulk and the surrounding debris for between 24-48 hours.

thxs fred and thx for the info on Alex not being able to read teh Loroi trade ( another idea cut in its prime . . . oh well there will be other ideas ).

[Cy83r]

Oh, I just remembered this; one of my favorites.

"Life is too short,
"The art long,
"Opportunity fleeting,
"Experiment fallible,
"Judgment difficult.

"We will remember you."

Or perhaps, "Sit tibi terra levis", 'May the earth rest lightly upon you'.

Captain Jardin seems to be knowledgeable enough about the old meanings of words to have taken some tutoring or classes in the older tongues of Earth, though he does seem to be more of a novice if he is indeed educated in the subject at all so anything he translates could end up mildly incorrect or a bit doggish depending on which language he translates the epitaph into/from.

[Tyris]

Hi, folks. Saying something at last - as long as people are making unlikely suggestions for Alexander's speech, might as well pitch a few in (some even more unlikely than others):

• "We commit these bodies to the void... with a glad heart. For within each seed, there is the promise of a flower. And within each death, no matter how big or small, there's always a new life. A new beginning." (source: Alien 3)
• "There will be more of us. We'll keep coming, and coming... until you're history." (source: himself, page 16)
• "There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods." (source: Warhammer 40,000)
• "I'm gonna say it! Number 8 on the list of Lines I Want To Shout At Least Once In My Life! Fire main cannon!" (source: Mahou Sensei Negima)
• "Of course, you realise, this means war." (source: Groucho Marx)
• "Now we are all sons of bitches." (source: Kenneth Bainbridge, early atomic bomb developer and tester)
• Pick a Shakespearean soliloquy. Any of them, really.
• "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the iniquities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee." (source: Pulp Fiction, because let's face it, it's not a very accurate rendition of the Biblical words)

[icekatze]

hi hi

One of the things that I want to be able to shout in context at least once in my life is: "Fire the missiles!" but alas, I will probably only be able to shout it out of context.

Another thing to think about. If Alex has indeed been out for several days, he could stand up to say something and promptly fall over from hunger. When I was little, I had a few instances where I was so hungry that I got dizzy and had to sit down.

[Ktrain]

"To the last, I will grapple with thee... from Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!"

http://khaaan.com/

[Suttrjac]

Damn the torpedos woman, full speed ahead

Edit- Also just to comment on the postulation that the battle to which Alex was witness was in some way forged or counterfeit; it seems rather unlikely to me based on Alex's own observations (pg.79) during the battle in which the Loroi, presumably in some semblance of unison, reacted in realtime to the skirmish. A systemic response which if in fact artificial would undermine their assumed racial traits, i.e that the species values forthrightness and culturally disapproves of subterfuge.

[Karst45]

hi hi

One of the things that I want to be able to shout in context at least once in my life is: "Fire the missiles!" but alas, I will probably only be able to shout it out of context.

Funny, me it "Off with their head!" lets hope i never will be able to shout it in context

[Markward]

I know what NOTto say:

"Steve, you owed me $5, darn it!"

But in all honesty, I think Alex has it covered...

[Karst45]

What will really happen:

Alex: i wish to sa....

Still storm: Boom! too late! better luck next time, punk!
*tactless moment*