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[Riess]

God... Dammit Jardin.

[TrashMan]

WTF???

This is the best you could come up wiht Alex? Really? REALLY?

I though he was supposed to be among the best and brightest humanity had to offer??? I am dissapoint man...

[Drek]

Not what I was expecting either BUT I think we're okay. If Beryl asks, Alex can pass it off as a reference to a human cultural hero (not really a lie) and be covered. Cultural references are always going to be difficult to translate ("Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra!") so she won't be expecting to really "get it". It only becomes an issue when the Loroi learn enough about humans to understand but by that point we're either (a) allies, so it can be passed off as the faux pas of a low ranking, inexperienced officer in over his head or (b) under Loroi control, at which point Alex's flippancy is really the last of our problems. I'm not even worrying about (c) we're allied to/occupied by the Umiak because, in that scenario, Alex's comments won't matter at all.

[sunphoenix]

{Sigh}. In all honesty... I must admit... I was expecting something ...more... more.

Well at least something a little more appropriate and... serious.

I understand Irony... but this came off as flippant. Maybe thats just me.

"It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it's not for the timid."
- STNG, Q

"...or the inappropriately irreverent."
- Me.

[icekatze]

hi hi

I'm gonna stand by my earlier comment that he hasn't eaten in at least two days, so his brain might not be firing on all cylinders. I mean, his narration on the previous page even seems to be the truth. He could just say that to Beryl and she'd probably understand, so I don't think it will end up being as embarrassing as it seems at first glance.

On the other hand, it could be used later as a good lead in to a part of human culture that, if I remember correctly, the Loroi share at all.

Beryl: "What were those words you spoke."
Alex: "Well, its a little embarrassing, but it was an old song, one that children would sing."
Beryl: "What is a song?"

----
Whether the remark comes off as heartfelt or flippant probably depends on how the reader imagines his tone and inflection. Personally, I doubt that he sang it with a chipper attitude.

[Razor One]

I thought it was great. If it comes up again once Beryl learns some English he can easily pass it off as a cultural reference that requires a fairly significant amount of context. Assuming he was riffing Full Metal Jacket, it'd require some knowledge of Mickey Mouse proper, the Vietnam War and the background that permeated that war as well as a knowledge of human measures and mores with regards to irony.

The former would be patently ridiculous to the Loroi mindset, while the latter two would be relatively alien mindsets to the Loroi that they would generally not have the patience to understand fully. Alex is safe from any repercussions thanks to his ability to play the culture card.

[BeNoble]

This reminds me of B5 where G'kar asks about Garibaldi's Daffy Duck poster.
G'kar: Is that one of your house-hold gods.
Zack: It's Daff- That's the Eqyptian God of Frustration

[Trantor]

WTF???

Exactly my thoughts.

[Mjolnir]

I wounder is the Umiak hammer is coming in to hits the 51st fan; given kilk-27 reaction. but does these mean he was telling the truth ?

They appear to be at a near relative halt, at least in combat terms...they don't have the acceleration to force an engagement if the Loroi decide to just go home.

[Ktrain]

hi hi

I'm gonna stand by my earlier comment that he hasn't eaten in at least two days, so his brain might not be firing on all cylinders. I mean, his narration on the previous page even seems to be the truth. He could just say that to Beryl and she'd probably understand, so I don't think it will end up being as embarrassing as it seems at first glance.

Well, that raises a very important question: When is Beryl going to get Alex his sandwich?

[Solemn]

SpoilerShow

After three grueling months of negotiation and the forging of multiple treaties and pacts, the Loroi delegation at last arrived at Earth itself to fulfill an obligation.

The luxury shuttle touched down in Arlington, Virginia, and out stepped the delegates and their escorts, in military dress. The human delegates sharply saluted the Loroi delegation, and they, somewhat awkwardly, reciprocated. The human ambassador spoke in meticulously enunciated Historian Trade to express gratitude for this gesture on behalf of mankind. A tall, blue-haired Loroi wearing a crimson uniform responded in rasping Trade that it was their duty. "To him, not you. He proved a good warrior, though a strange one."

The Loroi stepped aside as Terran Scout Corps personnel moved in to act as pallbearers. Captain Alexander Jardin's procession moved slowly, under the watchful gaze of news networks relaying events to all the worlds of Humanity. The Loroi had been briefed on human funeral customs to avoid incident, and had agreed to adhere to Humanity's ways, asking only that they have the honor of "speaking the words at the end."

As his casket was lowered to the grave, a pale-haired Loroi began a slow and mournful chant which spread to all the other Loroi:

"Now it's time
To say goodbye
To all our company;

M-I-C..."


It was two hundred years before the conspiracy theorists finally quieted down, and the History Channel still runs features which point to the video as irrefutable evidence of ancient alien involvement in the Disney corporation.

So, it looks to me like Stillstorm's decided to rush straight to the super-secret location of the super-secret reserve fleet mentioned in Insider, rather than try to rally system defenses or play catch-up with the assault force or anything else. That's the biggest reason I can think of to rush Alex off the bridge with such urgency. Wouldn't want the Umiak infiltrator to catch your jump points, after all, and Beryl didn't seem to try to soften the urgency of this command up at all, even though she managed to say "you could be tortured or killed if you don't cooperate" without that sense of urgency earlier in the comic, so it's not like Stillstorm's just a mite peeved here.

Though I do wonder why Tempo didn't close the comm channel before Alex spoke. It's not like he spoke up without warning or anything. Looks kinda like she just gave intel to the Umiak without the possibility of receiving any in return.

27 appears to have turned his translator off, for his part. If he didn't turn off his translator, though, that would mean that his statement either could not be translated under any circumstances at all, or that it was a reference to an item on a stack that is not stored on the translator. Like how in Star Trek instead of saying "turn left" they say Maneuver Riker Alpha Seven, only unlike Star Trek, this time there'd be a decent reason to do that, that being that the enemy are on the line. He was probably just saying [cut transmittion] or something like that, but, other items on an untranslated stack that I can think of are things like [attack pattern 1] or [the alien language from the transmission], things that they would have talked about earlier amongst themselves with relevance to current events but without any foreseeable need to communicate the reference to the Loroi.

[Karst45]

The Loroi have no way of knowing who Mickey Mouse is, so even if they learn English, I don't see how they could regard this missive as anything other than a heartfelt ceremonial recitation.

Well they dont know Mickey mouse but am sure the translated word for mouse would give them a hint that something is weird here.

This reminds me of B5 where G'kar asks about Garibaldi's Daffy Duck poster.
G'kar: Is that one of your house-hold gods.
Zack: It's Daff- That's the Eqyptian God of Frustration

Right next to him is the god of misfortune

[osmium]

I think Alex is still running on fumes as he hasn't eaten in quite a while no? As one whose brain turns off with lack of calories, I can understand even if I agree it seems like one of the least relevant things to quote (that might somehow still be construed as relevant if only through some choice words therein).

I figure he could have come up with *something* off the cuff like: "rest in peace, you will not be forgotten".

-O

[bunnyboy]

Well, that raises a very important question: When is Beryl going to get Alex his sandwich?

I think now, if she is going to keep her promise

[Suttrjac]

Seems more to me Alex doesn't particularly understand the context of the song, which is (if you take a stretch) understandable considering there's more than a hundred years between himself and the original disgruntled, that being a mockery of the current world of shit one inhabits ala FMJ. His mission is to ensure the survival of his species, not a police action against communists. Even still I imagine he sang it rather bitterly which would at least make it more appropiate to the moment but that's just me.

Probably there wouldn't be any reprecussions, at least not anything immediate, the nice thing about humanity is that we've perfected the science, nay art, of lying through our teeth

[NOMAD]

I wounder is the Umiak hammer is coming in to hits the 51st fan; given kilk-27 reaction. but does these mean he was telling the truth ?

They appear to be at a near relative halt, at least in combat terms...they don't have the acceleration to force an engagement if the Loroi decide to just go home.

Ops forgot that. but it appears to me that Kilk-27 wouldn't be laughing if he didn't have: A) an advantage we don't know about or B) he laughing because he know the loroi are doomed either way, regardless of the lose of the bell.

[fredgiblet]

SpoilerShow

After three grueling months of negotiation and the forging of multiple treaties and pacts, the Loroi delegation at last arrived at Earth itself to fulfill an obligation.

The luxury shuttle touched down in Arlington, Virginia, and out stepped the delegates and their escorts, in military dress. The human delegates sharply saluted the Loroi delegation, and they, somewhat awkwardly, reciprocated. The human ambassador spoke in meticulously enunciated Historian Trade to express gratitude for this gesture on behalf of mankind. A tall, blue-haired Loroi wearing a crimson uniform responded in rasping Trade that it was their duty. "To him, not you. He proved a good warrior, though a strange one."

The Loroi stepped aside as Terran Scout Corps personnel moved in to act as pallbearers. Captain Alexander Jardin's procession moved slowly, under the watchful gaze of news networks relaying events to all the worlds of Humanity. The Loroi had been briefed on human funeral customs to avoid incident, and had agreed to adhere to Humanity's ways, asking only that they have the honor of "speaking the words at the end."

As his casket was lowered to the grave, a pale-haired Loroi began a slow and mournful chant which spread to all the other Loroi:

"Now it's time
To say goodbye
To all our company;

M-I-C..."


It was two hundred years before the conspiracy theorists finally quieted down, and the History Channel still runs features which point to the video as irrefutable evidence of ancient alien involvement in the Disney corporation.

I loled

So, it looks to me like Stillstorm's decided to rush straight to the super-secret location of the super-secret reserve fleet mentioned in Insider, rather than try to rally system defenses or play catch-up with the assault force or anything else. That's the biggest reason I can think of to rush Alex off the bridge with such urgency. Wouldn't want the Umiak infiltrator to catch your jump points, after all, and Beryl didn't seem to try to soften the urgency of this command up at all, even though she managed to say "you could be tortured or killed if you don't cooperate" without that sense of urgency earlier in the comic, so it's not like Stillstorm's just a mite peeved here.

I think you're jumping the gun by several days there. If they were running for something secret where they go NOW literally doesn't matter since the Umiak are aware of the jump points in this area and it will be a couple days before they get to friendly lines, much less anything hidden. Remember why Alex was allowed to stay on the bridge, he asked to be allowed to view the final blow to the 'Bell, Stillstorm didn't even want him to see that but Tempo won that battle. Now that it's over Stillstorm is likely simply saying "It saw what it was here to see now get it off my bridge."

[dfacto]

Didn't expect that, but it fits the bill perfectly. Stupid, but just not stupid enough to avoid real trouble later.

And for his next magic trick, Alex grosses out an entire cafeteria of Loroi with his nasty human face-stuffing.

[anticarrot]

You have got to be fracking kidding me...

Still, it's not like the uligy served any real purpose. IIRC Alex wanted to see the Loroi and Umiak in action and to witness the complete destruction of the Bellermine. First will serve as some kind of context, while the second reflects his duty to destroy state secrets if he can no longer protect or control them.

Of course since everything he saw was effectively Loroi CGI, it's not like he can trust it completely...

[Grayhome]

I look forward to how ALex will convince the Loroi that he is in fact, NOT a spy.