Page 202: WHY?

[CrimsonFALKE]

Why are we focused on Fireblade's hair? I mean cloud has no hard suit in a likely boarding action and she has a pistol. A single pistol against what a giant cyborg bug like being the size of a tank? She is a sacrifice and we are fine with that oh well...

Noooo, not Cloud! And also not Spiral! And Beryl, Fireblade, Tempo, Alex & the others (in that order).

I'll boycott the comic if anything happens to any character

A tad extreme but I agree we must not lose them in that order!

[Snoofman]

Why are we focused on Fireblade's hair? I mean cloud has no hard suit in a likely boarding action and she has a pistol. A single pistol against what a giant cyborg bug like being the size of a tank? She is a sacrifice and we are fine with that oh well...

Noooo, not Cloud! And also not Spiral! And Beryl, Fireblade, Tempo, Alex & the others (in that order).

I'll boycott the comic if anything happens to any character

A tad extreme but I agree we must not lose them in that order!

It would be sad to see Cloud go. Or any character go. Even if they're just products of fiction, they've stuck with us for so long. But sadly that's life sometimes. We grow attached to people (and fictional characters) and when misfortune strikes, we are forced to say adjö.

But maybe Cloud will live. Remember any story can have twists.

[Krulle]

Cloud pulls Alex, who follows her, into a pressure-secure cupboard, while the Loroi and the Umiak kill each other.
Then the Historians come and pick up Alex, and bring him to the Historian territory, and with his help finally turn to a more active role in this war.

"There will be no history to record if you let the Umiak win. They will come for you, in ever increasing numbers.
Make the calculation! How long will you be able to defend against them?"

Then the Historians bring Alex to Earth, Earth's diplomats are able to convince that Humanity will never become conquering sapients, and will only curb any aggression against others.
Thus the Historians help Earth with Tech. Earth runs for another industrial revolution, and then breaks down the Umiak forces from their flank, just in time to save the Loroi (although too late to prevent the Loroi from become one of the weaker Union races),....
And: Fuck yeah, Humanity! [Tropes: Humans Are Special, Humanity is Superior!, and other such tropes]

[Bamax]

If it is any consolation Alex is in relatively good hands if Fireblade chooses to protect him.

According to Arioch, Fireblade has survived her ship being destroyed TWICE in the past. And she can even FLY via her telekinesis. Not to mention mess up stuff she is affronted by. She is basically a superheroine more or less given her sheer power. She just keeps it reserved until she feels the need to use it.

Fireblade has been through this before and survived, the ones most at risk are the ones who have'nt.

[boldilocks]

If it is any consolation Alex is in relatively good hands if Fireblade chooses to protect him.

According to Arioch, Fireblade has survived her ship being destroyed TWICE in the past. And she can even FLY via her telekinesis. Not to mention mess up stuff she is affronted by. She is basically a superheroine more or less given her sheer power. She just keeps it reserved until she feels the need to use it.

Fireblade has been through this before and survived, the ones most at risk are the ones who have'nt.

On the other hand, she's usually the sole survivor.

[Bamax]

If it is any consolation Alex is in relatively good hands if Fireblade chooses to protect him.

According to Arioch, Fireblade has survived her ship being destroyed TWICE in the past. And she can even FLY via her telekinesis. Not to mention mess up stuff she is affronted by. She is basically a superheroine more or less given her sheer power. She just keeps it reserved until she feels the need to use it.

Fireblade has been through this before and survived, the ones most at risk are the ones who have'nt.

On the other hand, she's usually the sole survivor.

True....not sure if Stillstorm was a sole survivor but I know she also survived her ship being destroyed at Semoset back in the day.

It's all quite weird to me really.

Maybe the Umiak are not that thorough? Because you would think they would target escape pods to kill.

Or maybe Loroi are a lot tougher to kill in vacuum than humans are?

I dunno.

Or maybe their medical tech for reviving people is that good?

Like a ship may be blown to pieced and that SHOULD be good enough.

But Loroi come a few hours later and revive a few bodies?

Incredible...but who knows?


Want a totally baseless theory?

Fireblade did not survive. Neither did Stillstorm. They are clones with implanted memories of war heroes competent for the war.

The Umiak do not know this because when a ship blows up good bodies may be hard to find. Neither do most Loroi except the powers that be know this.

So if Fireblade dies this time it will be for tge third time LOL.

While none of it may be true, it could easily fit storywise since the Loroi have tight reins on their society.

[raistlin34]

Noooo, not Cloud! And also not Spiral! And Beryl, Fireblade, Tempo, Alex & the others (in that order).

I'll boycott the comic if anything happens to any character

A tad extreme but I agree we must not lose them in that order!

It would be sad to see Cloud go. Or any character go. Even if they're just products of fiction, they've stuck with us for so long. But sadly that's life sometimes. We grow attached to people (and fictional characters) and when misfortune strikes, we are forced to say adjö.

But maybe Cloud will live. Remember any story can have twists.

I prefer not. This is war; killing off named characters is a good way to drive this point home.

[grixit]

This is war; killing off named characters is a good way to drive this point home.

Thank you for that stark reminder.

[Arioch]

Anyone with sufficient PK power to lift her own weight can "fly" after a fashion in a gravity well, but in a microgravity environment any PK at all can be used as a meaningful thrust to take you where you want to go. Also, dead starships don't sink, so unless they explode outright, a ship can be dead and still have survivors on board. You don't need a lifeboat, just a vacc suit, but if you want to get to friendly rescue you'll need something with enough delta-V to get you into friendly hands

It's true though that in order to recover those survivors, you need to either hold the system or have friendly ships in the area taking on survivors before the retreat. So in both the cases of Stillstorm and Fireblade, they had to leave their dead ships while there were still friendly ships in the system to receive them. In Fireblade's case she had her PK to help her reach safety, and in the case of Stillstorm, she had subordinates loyal enough to make sure that she got off her ship still alive. Stillstorm was not the sole survivor of the loss of Silver Cloud, but Fireblade was the sole survivor in both of the occasions when her ship was lost.

Want a totally baseless theory?

Fireblade did not survive. Neither did Stillstorm. They are clones with implanted memories of war heroes competent for the war.

Wow, that's dark.

[Bamax]

Anyone with sufficient PK power to lift her own weight can "fly" after a fashion in a gravity well, but in a microgravity environment any PK at all can be used as a meaningful thrust to take you where you want to go. Also, dead starships don't sink, so unless they explode outright, a ship can be dead and still have survivors on board. You don't need a lifeboat, just a vacc suit, but if you want to get to friendly rescue you'll need something with enough delta-V to get you into friendly hands

It's true though that in order to recover those survivors, you need to either hold the system or have friendly ships in the area taking on survivors before the retreat. So in both the cases of Stillstorm and Fireblade, they had to leave their dead ships while there were still friendly ships in the system to receive them. In Fireblade's case she had her PK to help her reach safety, and in the case of Stillstorm, she had subordinates loyal enough to make sure that she got off her ship still alive. Stillstorm was not the sole survivor of the loss of Silver Cloud, but Fireblade was the sole survivor in both of the occasions when her ship was lost.

Want a totally baseless theory?

Fireblade did not survive. Neither did Stillstorm. They are clones with implanted memories of war heroes competent for the war.

Wow, that's dark.

Yeah I guess so....still, I do think the Loroi would do that if they could.

Both Stillstorm and Fireblade are major assets.

[DCR]

CLOUD! NOOOOOOO!

You make me sad.
- King Arthur, Monty Python and The Holy Grail

Your hair better be perfect, Jardin. Perfect. Well, this probably explains the heartbreaking expression in 201. From the purely playing chess viewpoint of a commander, a successful pawn sacrifice is worth it.

[QuakeIV]

Voidsuits imply they kindof expect the ship is going to get exposed to the void. e2: or at least, there is some danger thereof

Someone not having a voidsuit I suppose implies they aren't as woried about that for this particular person.

They also highlighted that Alex needs to not move or make any noises.

Perhaps they have some way of using their elf powers to camoflage themselves from the bugs, but someone needs to die in order to sell the idea that the shuttle is now truly empty? Perhaps mainly visual in nature since they mentioned movement/noise as if it was a significant factor. Its not completely crazy that there would be one pilot only in a small shuttle type thingy if it just didn't happen to be carrying a load of people at the time.

I suppose there is a decent chance the ship will be exposed to the void as part of this individual dying in order to sell their camoflage (bug decides to just light them up with a huge autocannon or something and that overpenetrates the elf and then the wall behind them), so that might be the reason for suiting up.

e: Conceivably this could just be a 'taken prisoner' type thing but that would probably be more inhumane than just getting murdered in a shootout in this case I think.

[Arioch]

I think that any spacecraft can be reasonably assumed to have the technological equivalent of life preservers. The issue is with how effective those emergency those systems will be in extreme and long-term use.

SpoilerShow

Whatever is going to happen to Cloud has nothing to do with whether or not Alex is wearing her helmet.

[GeoModder]

A little reminder: dalid is dalid. Now the question is, who carries the daril-seii again?

[raistlin34]

CLOUD! NOOOOOOO!

You make me sad.
- King Arthur, Monty Python and The Holy Grail

Your hair better be perfect, Jardin. Perfect. Well, this probably explains the heartbreaking expression in 201. From the purely playing chess viewpoint of a commander, a successful pawn sacrifice is worth it.

That's the thing about chess: regardless how good player you are, no matter victory or defeat, there will always be less pieces at the table than the number you started with.

[Mercy Machine]

Cloud and Beryl are both left-handed? Come to think of it, I noticed that before of Beryl Cf.157

[Quickdraw101]

Cloud and Beryl are both left-handed? Come to think of it, I noticed that before of Beryl Cf.157

Most Loroi are left handed.

[Dan Wyatt]

Cloud pulls Alex, who follows her, into a pressure-secure cupboard, while the Loroi and the Umiak kill each other.
Then the Historians come and pick up Alex, and bring him to the Historian territory, and with his help finally turn to a more active role in this war.

"There will be no history to record if you let the Umiak win. They will come for you, in ever increasing numbers.
Make the calculation! How long will you be able to defend against them?"

Then the Historians bring Alex to Earth, Earth's diplomats are able to convince that Humanity will never become conquering sapients, and will only curb any aggression against others.
Thus the Historians help Earth with Tech. Earth runs for another industrial revolution, and then breaks down the Umiak forces from their flank, just in time to save the Loroi (although too late to prevent the Loroi from become one of the weaker Union races),....
And: Fuck yeah, Humanity! [Tropes: Humans Are Special, Humanity is Superior!, and other such tropes]

lol, what is this vanilla stuff?
I want gore and despair!

[Krin]

Anyone with sufficient PK power to lift her own weight can "fly" after a fashion in a gravity well, but in a microgravity environment any PK at all can be used as a meaningful thrust to take you where you want to go. Also, dead starships don't sink, so unless they explode outright, a ship can be dead and still have survivors on board. You don't need a lifeboat, just a vacc suit, but if you want to get to friendly rescue you'll need something with enough delta-V to get you into friendly hands

It's true though that in order to recover those survivors, you need to either hold the system or have friendly ships in the area taking on survivors before the retreat. So in both the cases of Stillstorm and Fireblade, they had to leave their dead ships while there were still friendly ships in the system to receive them. In Fireblade's case she had her PK to help her reach safety, and in the case of Stillstorm, she had subordinates loyal enough to make sure that she got off her ship still alive. Stillstorm was not the sole survivor of the loss of Silver Cloud, but Fireblade was the sole survivor in both of the occasions when her ship was lost.

Interesting, I was not aware of those details about their backstories. Perhaps I haven't done enough digging to find it.
This information I'm assuming is buried in the forums?

[icekatze]

hi hi

Oh no... why do I always get attached to side characters?

There's really no way Cloud's gonna survive is there? If they had medical supplies, maybe they could revive her, but... I don't see any route that leads to survival.