Page 218: The Volunteer

[SVlad]

it would make sense that Fireblade might "volunteer," knowing 1.) that Tempo would never choose her because of her value, and 2.) that to not volunteer while everyone else did might signal that she puts her own interests above those of the rest of the team.

Firebladee doesn't seem like a person who would have such way of thoughts. And it's against warrior honour.

[SVlad]

@Arioch, do background on last frame rendered or hand drawn?

[Arioch]

@Arioch, do background on last frame rendered or hand drawn?

It's a rough 3D model overpainted by hand.

[G. Janssen]

But are the life support systems really so easy to sabotage?

Turned out there were a lot of bugs, which made it easy for the systems to be hacked.

There should be multiple redundancies,

Those ships are made by the bug version of the Soviet Union, which probably means that the crews may be glad if there's even a single working life support system aboard. I mean: most Shell ships that are sent to fight the Loroi are on a one way trip. Why would they build them durable?

and the hardtroops won't be affected even by vacuum, anyway.

Fireblade is on the job.
To make their heads go crack and pop.
"It's Halloween" said many a Shell.
Before being send straight to hell.

[Cthulhu]

Turned out there were a lot of bugs, which made it easy for the systems to be hacked.

Yes, it seems that opening Windows on a spaceship was a really bad idea. Who would've thought? They should've installed Linux instead.

Those ships are made by the bug version of the Soviet Union, which probably means that the crews may be glad if there's even a single working life support system aboard.

When my grandfather, together with my grandmother, moved into a new flat they had finally all for themselves, he bought a Soviet-made refrigerator. Well, it was the GDR, and it was the only one available at that moment, post probably. The funny thing is, it still works, more than half a century later. It outlived them both, and it will probably outlive my grandchildren as well. Possibly even the nuclear apocalypse.

I mean: most Shell ships that are sent to fight the Loroi are on a one way trip. Why would they build them durable?

The Umiak are not religious, but deliberately producing subpar equipment is their one and only anathema.

Fireblade is on the job.
To make their heads go crack and pop.
"It's Halloween" said many a Shell.
Before being send straight to hell.

Seek&Destroy!Show

[SVlad]

It's a rough 3D model overpainted by hand.

New style? I hope it would make work on backgrounds easier.

[Arioch]

It's a rough 3D model overpainted by hand.

New style? I hope it would make work on backgrounds easier.

I've used hand-painted backgrounds before, on things like the hangar shot on p.102, viewscreen backgrounds on pages 86 & 124, and the various landscapes in the flashbacks and Alex's dream sequence. It's very labor intensive, so it only makes sense to do when a background only appears once, or it's impractical to build as a model (like with the landscapes).

[G. Janssen]

When my grandfather, together with my grandmother, moved into a new flat they had finally all for themselves, he bought a Soviet-made refrigerator. Well, it was the GDR, and it was the only one available at that moment, post probably. The funny thing is, it still works, more than half a century later. It outlived them both, and it will probably outlive my grandchildren as well. Possibly even the nuclear apocalypse.

Back in the 70s and 80s when they were still sold in the Netherlands, we owned a couple of Ladas. A Lada 1200 and a Lada 1300. I still have the heavy steel bicycle pump that came with the first one. The toolset was utter cr*p and rusted while you looked at it, but that pump has the durability of a steam engine from the Victorian age.

You were right about the bugs not building crappy ships. I forgot that they are obsessed, monomaniacal creatures.

[Voitan]

The Umiak are not religious, but deliberately producing subpar equipment is their one and only anathema.

Also using their people as cannon fodder doesn't create tactical genius' or skilled crews.

[CrimsonFALKE]

If a warrior caste servant does this, do they get some kind of posthumous award, perhaps a bump up in the caste system?

[RedDwarfIV]

Its interesting to me that the hangar seems fairly not-crazy looking and incorporates things like fairly run of the mill girders.

It always annoyed me when basic strong geometric shapes were not used by aliens and they instead went for weird organic shapes that would be either impossible or incredibly difficult to fabricate/machine, especially for insect aliens, so this is kindof nice from my perspective.

This is true, though I'd argue that based on the exterior of Umiak ships, they're a lot more likely to have weird interiors than to look like a modern day warehouse or factory building (complete with flourescent strips). I feel like the triangles could be incorporated into structures made of alien materials, using future production methods.

Maybe it's just me being weird, but I'm looking at the girders in the picture and thinking the way they're oriented is to resist a single direction of force (such as with surface gravity) while using a minumum of materials. But this is a spacecraft. Ideally, structural components should be designed to resist force from all directions (though they may need to be stronger on the direction of thrust.) Since a spacecraft can maneuver in all directions, and must resist forces while pitching, yawing and rolling, I would expect structural girders to be triangular in cross-section and laid out as tesselating triangles.

Something like this:


...I imagine that would be a right pain in the backside to model, though, especially since it'd just be in the background of a single frame.

[Snoofman]

"Immortality" for a Loroi generally means performing feats of heroism and valor worthy of remembrance via telepathic stories, which then become immortalized in legends. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone volunteered for the job that fell to Cloud after some "persuasion" from Tempo illustrating just how very important the mission is and the profound and momentous impacts their success will have on the course of the war.
Somehow, I have a difficult time imagining Fireblade -- the Red-Haired Iceberg -- saying, <<Pick me! Pick me!>>

I think it is quite possible that Fireblade volunteered like the others, as Beryl claims. But she was tactically and combatively more valuable. Wouldn’t surprise me if Tempo persuaded Cloud to be the final choice. She is a Mizol after all.

There is also the possibility that Beryl stretched the truth so as not to frighten Alex or shatter his faith in the loroi. After all, not all aliens can appreciate warrior honor!

Cloud was the obvious choice all along, so I guess it would make sense that Fireblade might "volunteer," knowing 1.) that Tempo would never choose her because of her value, and 2.) that to not volunteer while everyone else did might signal that she puts her own interests above those of the rest of the team. The latter I can see being a major faux pas in Loroi warrior society. So it's possible, and maybe even probable that Fireblade et al. "volunteered" because it was culturally obligatory, not much more than ceremonial in this situation, but reaffirming of their allegiance to one another.
In short, "I will do it...should it come to that."

But the fact that all of them volunteered in a situation where most humans would, at best, be exceedingly reluctant to do so illustrates a difference between Human and Loroi culture.

Since sanzai is direct and truthful, wouldn't the other loroi detect the hesitation and fear that comes along with volunteering to sacrifice oneself? Or pick up on a loroi's reluctance to be a sacrifice?

For example:

Loroi (speech): I volunteer. It is my duty.

Loroi (sanzai): I am reluctant to to volunteer but am prepared to fulfill my duty. Though I cannot deny my fear and hesitation of death.

I know certain loroi like Talon and Spiral seem unafraid of death (on the surface), but clearly Cloud's expression before she did the deed clearly shows that she did not want to die but understood her duty (as imposed by warrior honor and the overbearing authority of her comrades).

[QuakeIV]

Maybe it's just me being weird, but I'm looking at the girders in the picture and thinking the way they're oriented is to resist a single direction of force ... I would expect structural girders to be triangular in cross-section and laid out as tesselating triangles.

Something like this:

SpoilerShow

...I imagine that would be a right pain in the backside to model, though, especially since it'd just be in the background of a single frame.

In general the spacecraft appear to feature a main axis of thrust that accounts for the vast majority of their potential acceleration and additionally some seem to feature artificial gravity, which in either case could produce a reason for a structure like that.

[RedDwarfIV]

Maybe it's just me being weird, but I'm looking at the girders in the picture and thinking the way they're oriented is to resist a single direction of force ... I would expect structural girders to be triangular in cross-section and laid out as tesselating triangles.

Something like this:

SpoilerShow

...I imagine that would be a right pain in the backside to model, though, especially since it'd just be in the background of a single frame.

In general the spacecraft appear to feature a main axis of thrust that accounts for the vast majority of their potential acceleration and additionally some seem to feature artificial gravity, which in either case could produce a reason for a structure like that.

I wouldn't want to rely on artificial gravity if the ship was damaged. It's only the last system to fail in Star Trek because zero-G effects are expensive.

It did seen to be working on the Bellarmine though, even in the unpowered corridor. Magnetic boots weren't mentioned.

[CrimsonFALKE]

"Immortality" for a Loroi generally means performing feats of heroism and valor worthy of remembrance via telepathic stories, which then become immortalized in legends. I wouldn't be surprised if everyone volunteered for the job that fell to Cloud after some "persuasion" from Tempo illustrating just how very important the mission is and the profound and momentous impacts their success will have on the course of the war.
Somehow, I have a difficult time imagining Fireblade -- the Red-Haired Iceberg -- saying, <<Pick me! Pick me!>>

I think it is quite possible that Fireblade volunteered like the others, as Beryl claims. But she was tactically and combatively more valuable. Wouldn’t surprise me if Tempo persuaded Cloud to be the final choice. She is a Mizol after all.

There is also the possibility that Beryl stretched the truth so as not to frighten Alex or shatter his faith in the loroi. After all, not all aliens can appreciate warrior honor!

Cloud was the obvious choice all along, so I guess it would make sense that Fireblade might "volunteer," knowing 1.) that Tempo would never choose her because of her value, and 2.) that to not volunteer while everyone else did might signal that she puts her own interests above those of the rest of the team. The latter I can see being a major faux pas in Loroi warrior society. So it's possible, and maybe even probable that Fireblade et al. "volunteered" because it was culturally obligatory, not much more than ceremonial in this situation, but reaffirming of their allegiance to one another.
In short, "I will do it...should it come to that."

But the fact that all of them volunteered in a situation where most humans would, at best, be exceedingly reluctant to do so illustrates a difference between Human and Loroi culture.

yeah she was pretty low ranking and had very minimal screen time never once even speaking so she basically got the short straw

[bunnyboy]

I would like to add my word about sabotaging of the lifesupport.

Imagine being responsible of such a system and you find out that someone flushed space-ink-cassette from toilet.
- If you can stop the filter inflow within 10 minutes, the ship can survive without water 2 days when you scrub the pipes clean.
- Failing do that you lose filters, but finishing the rerouting within 20 minutes, everyone drink piss until your the new ones are delivered.
- Failing that your hydroponds are contamined, but stopping the water in 30 minutes results that in month you must salvage other ships and try cannibalism until hydroponds are cleaned and new biosphere is settled.
- Failing that the air fumidifiers will spread the ink into air, and within days the whole ship became umbreathable and also firehazard.

Now, how long you can ignore this to fight against alien intruders?

[Arioch]

• Tempo arranges a series of cascading failures which culminates in a blowout
• Before triggering it, she rushes through the crew quarters messing up all their beds
• 50% of the crew lose consciousness and die from hypoxia while manically trying to make their beds

[Demarquis]

I still suspect that she could have surrendered, and then been rescued before the Umiak could remove her from the ship... assuming the current operation goes successfully.

[Arioch]

I still suspect that she could have surrendered, and then been rescued before the Umiak could remove her from the ship... assuming the current operation goes successfully.

I think you underestimate both the effectiveness and the brutality of Umiak interrogation techniques.

And perhaps overestimate the Loroi estimation of their own chances of success.

[Bamax]

• Tempo arranges a series of cascading failures which culminates in a blowout
• Before triggering it, she rushes through the crew quarters messing up all their beds
• 50% of the crew lose consciousness and die from hypoxia while manically trying to make their beds

If you are not joking at all this is actually kind of hilarious.

Who knew that knew that the Umiak attention to detail wiuld be their undoing lol?

Against a bunch of teen humans without strict discipline Tempo would have to adapt... but know your enemy and the battle is already in your favor before it begins.