Page 205: What does kKt mean?

[dragoongfa]

And the plan springs into motion

SpoilerShow

Seriously though, what does kKt mean?

[entity2636]

Seriously though, what does kKt mean?

My guess - "Oooff!", "Damn" or "WTF", or any similar sound one makes when tripping or getting shoved

[Arioch]

Seriously though, what does kKt mean?

My guess - "Oooff!", "Damn" or "WTF", or any similar sound one makes when tripping or getting shoved

urk!

[Bamax]

Well gotta complement the bug for at least trying to peek around the corner instead of barging in like a fool.

Of course Teidar won't have any of that, and depending on how prepped he is for fighting them and whether or not he has backup will decide his life....which I reckon he should relish whatever precious seconds of it he has left.

Scratch that. He probably should have wished to get blown up in the Naam space battle.

Since vaporization I reckon may be less painful than whatever Teidar, Mizol, and rifile toting Teonin do to bugs.

[boldilocks]

"This is KKtKrt for the 9 o'clock news, reporting live on the scene from inside a damaged loroi shutt- OH SHI-"

[Bamax]

"This is KKtKrt for the 9 o'clock news, reporting live on the scene from inside a damaged loroi shutt- OH SHI-"

That was hillarious. I am sure Teidar and Mizol are the kind of Loroi they fear most.

The fact that Talon calls Umiak shells and not by their name is telling.

Since in war it is known that enemies do refer to each other with nicknames, which sometimes serve to further dehumanize them and in a way justify killing or doing whatever else to them.


For example, I can assure you that American soldiers had names other than German or Japanesefortheir enemies in WW2.

It's no different for the this alien war.

Loroi say: Shells!

Umiak say: Stormwitch!

Well to be honest, they probably see all Teidar and Mizol as witches of a sort for defying physics in a way neither they nor Loroi can explain LOL.

[gaerzi]

That's a camera + flashlight combo on that arm? Clever way to take a look without getting hurt too much if enemies are there.

Unless the enemies just telekinetically pull the rest of your body in, of course. Then you should rather use remote probes.

[Bamax]

That's a camera + flashlight combo on that arm? Clever way to take a look without getting hurt too much if enemies are there.

Unless the enemies just telekinetically pull the rest of your body in, of course. Then you should rather use remote probes.

Well yeah...but where is the drama in that?

Story man!

Cannot afford to be like real life always. For example if the Deathstar ACTUALLY used security cameras I doubt Luke, Han, Chewie and the bots would ever have escaped off it.

[Ithekro]

These soldiers are as good as drones for the Umiak. Breed to do this and probably only this. Why build a mechanical robot when you can grow your own genetic drones.

[Overkill Engine]

These soldiers are as good as drones for the Umiak. Breed to do this and probably only this. Why build a mechanical robot when you can grow your own genetic drones.

True, wetware is somewhat more difficult to hack than software too. Meat-drones also self repair and self supply to an extent too "out of the box" compared to mechanical ones. Fewer issues with EMP, etc.

[CrimsonFALKE]

What's Krik mean

[Werra]

Cheese

[Krulle]

I wonder if the story ever progresses to a point to indicate that the Umiak are also genetically uplifted to become fighting servants for a Precursor empire, like the Loroi may have been for the Soia.
Different factions within the Soia empire?

[Cthulhu]

True, wetware is somewhat more difficult to hack than software too. Meat-drones also self repair and self supply to an extent too "out of the box" compared to mechanical ones. Fewer issues with EMP, etc.

But we are seeing wetware being "hacked" right on this page!? Assuming Fireblade is bending minds and not light.

However, if the Umiak know of such Teidar tactics or at least suspect them of such "witchcraft", do they really have no counter against that? Even today, we have pattern recognition software that can drive a car or steer a missile. I guess the Umiak equivalent, hooked up to that probe, would at least be able to recognize the Loroi and fire a flashbang at them, disrupting their concentration. The probe could be even smaller and use multiple sensors like IR, radar, lidar, etc., there's no need for visible light that can forewarn the enemy.

Now that I think about it, why not trow a flashbang right away? Even if they are in a vacuum and Loroi helmets can adjust to the flash, they would still be momentarily blinded. Enough time for the Umiak cyborgs to storm in and shoot relying on sensors that are unaffected by the flash, like radar.

[Arioch]

Now that I think about it, why not trow a flashbang right away? Even if they are in a vacuum and Loroi helmets can adjust to the flash, they would still be momentarily blinded. Enough time for the Umiak cyborgs to storm in and shoot relying on sensors that are unaffected by the flash, like radar.

Because it would be a standard feature of TL10 military helmet faceplates to restrict brightness exceeding a certain level (as the shuttle cockpit canopy is, which is why Alex and Beryl are not currently blind).

[Cthulhu]

Because it would be a standard feature of TL10 military helmet faceplates to restrict brightness exceeding a certain level (as the shuttle cockpit canopy is, which is why Alex and Beryl are not currently blind).

Are even the helmet visors poweful enough not to be overloaded or is that a property of the material itself?

I also recall an idea for a "vision-impairing" bomb for such a situation from a sci-fi story I've read. A container releasing compressed and now rapidly expanding (due to a memory effect or a chemical reaction) ultra-low density "fluff" particles made from something like aerogels, quickly filling up the field of vision, yet still being transparent for radar. Or do the Loroi helmets have additional sensors?

[Arioch]

Because it would be a standard feature of TL10 military helmet faceplates to restrict brightness exceeding a certain level (as the shuttle cockpit canopy is, which is why Alex and Beryl are not currently blind).

Are even the helmet visors poweful enough not to be overloaded or is that a property of the material itself?

I also recall an idea for a "vision-impairing" bomb for such a situation from a sci-fi story I've read. A container releasing compressed and now rapidly expanding (due to a memory effect or a chemical reaction) ultra-low density "fluff" particles made from something like aerogels, quickly filling up the field of vision, yet still being transparent for radar. Or do the Loroi helmets have additional sensors?

My thought is that the "glass" material would automatically dim in response to off-limit light sources, but would "fail" when overloaded by becoming permanently opaque, which is what happened to the shuttle canopy. Which is why there are no stars visible in pp.195-199. Which might result in the wearer being blinded anyway, but at least not permanently blind (or dead).

Anyhow, I try to proceed from the assumption that tactical "tricks" in use today probably have technological countermeasures, where feasible.

[Mk_C]

Now that I think about it, why not trow a flashbang right away? Even if they are in a vacuum and Loroi helmets can adjust to the flash, they would still be momentarily blinded. Enough time for the Umiak cyborgs to storm in and shoot relying on sensors that are unaffected by the flash, like radar.

Fun fact - engineering meaty human eyes and ears to make them completely immune to anything we might still consider a "flashbang" is orders of magnitude easier than cooking up their hyperefficient cold metabolism. Or brain powers.

And we already know that they are much better than humans at taking shifting gee-forces, jump sickness and deep water pressure. Which means that a Loroi inner ear is definitely way cooler than a human one.

Like, of all things in an engineered species optimized for battle, why would anyone not immediately patch out "gets startled, disoriented and stunned by bright flashes and loud noises"? Those would be quite an issue even in void combat, as Alex discovered in the prologue.

[EdwardSteed]

Given what we know about Umiak cybernetics and their many eyes - is it possible that the "probe" is actually an extension of one of its real eyes rather than just a mundane camera linked to a display inside the "helmet" (Indeed is the helmet even removable or fused directly to the skull)?

By which I mean it could be a cyborg eye attached to the optic nerve as a replacement for the original, but instead of the camera part being set into the eye socket like normal the cable is made long enough that it can be placed on the end of that little movable arm?

[RedDwarfIV]

Cannot afford to be like real life always. For example if the Deathstar ACTUALLY used security cameras I doubt Luke, Han, Chewie and the bots would ever have escaped off it.

Darth Vader wanted them to escape, because he'd put a tracking device on the Millenium Falcon in order to find the Rebel base. Even if it had functioning cameras, the people running them would just be telling Vader where Luke and co were so he could plan their escape better.

... Sorry about the pedantry.