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Ok, so maybe this thing is the last survivor of a wave assault that got past another Loroi/team, which managed to stop the others and damage this one. Any guesses who that was?

If Beryl has lost mental communication with the other Loroi, then she can no longer see through walls (if she ever could), and so has no way of knowing what is going on outside the room. Once this one is disposed of, they will need to secure the entryway anyway, so maybe poke around a little.

Not mentioned yet? Alex reaction: Drill kicking in, no fliching, determined expression. Go, man!!

D-503 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 28, 2023 12:57 am

Not mentioned yet? Alex reaction: Drill kicking in, no fliching, determined expression. Go, man!!

He's making Humanity proud, one dead-bug and blushing-Beryl at a time!

"Natural" Umiak have their brains in their heads, but a full-replacement cyborg like a Hardtrooper could have its brain anywhere. I think it's very unlikely that the delay of a few nanoseconds for the data from sensors on the head to travel down a wire half a meter into the torso is going to have a measurable effect on the reaction time of an organism. I think the fastest reaction time of a human to a stimulus is about 100 milliseconds.

Afaik over half of that is network delay as the signal moves around your body, so you could definitely cut down on that by making everything electronic.

QuakeIV wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 28, 2023 3:01 am

Afaik over half of that is network delay as the signal moves around your body, so you could definitely cut down on that by making everything electronic.

Even if you improved reaction time by several orders of magnitude, the lag from an electronic signal traveling about a meter would still not be significant.

Not what I’m saying.

do the hard troopers choose their design or do they come off an assembly line?

CrimsonFALKE wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:07 am

do the hard troopers choose their design or do they come off an assembly line?

As has been established with the Umiak ship designs.. I expect each hard trooper is custom crafted following the local Administration 'pattern' plan based upon local resources and tactical needs. There is no 'uniform' design by the Umiak... merely performance standards that are to be met for satisfactory deployment in the Expansion and Resource Exploitation quotas..

So hard trooper under one subsector or even system administration will be similar... but not uniform with those of another sub-sector or system production Admin with respect to cyber-upgrading resources which may be completely different. But likely they all perform to a similar standard for armor, and firepower performance standards as deemed adequate by the Hierarchy Military Standards.

Umiak do not care How a deployed Unit achieves the accepted standards.., just so long as it does.

sunphoenix wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:39 am

CrimsonFALKE wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:07 am

do the hard troopers choose their design or do they come off an assembly line?

As has been established with the Umiak ship designs.. I expect each hard trooper is custom crafted following the local Administration 'pattern' plan based upon local resources and tactical needs. There is no 'uniform' design by the Umiak... merely performance standards that are to be met for satisfactory deployment in the Expansion and Resource Exploitation quotas..

If there is no intent to repair or maintain them, that's great! Still, you have to wonder if they ever improve on things themselves with the help of a local tech.

CrimsonFALKE wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:45 am

sunphoenix wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:39 am

CrimsonFALKE wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:07 am

do the hard troopers choose their design or do they come off an assembly line?

As has been established with the Umiak ship designs.. I expect each hard trooper is custom crafted following the local Administration 'pattern' plan based upon local resources and tactical needs. There is no 'uniform' design by the Umiak... merely performance standards that are to be met for satisfactory deployment in the Expansion and Resource Exploitation quotas..

If there is no intent to repair or maintain them, that's great! Still, you have to wonder if they ever improve on things themselves with the help of a local tech.

Considering how things are administrated in the Hierarchy... I'd say they likely have an entire research division in a centralized location that all new tech discoveries are shipped to for processing an research rather than waste resources duplicating research efforts on multiple worlds when they can just assign some planets as research centers..preferably far behind front line where they would not be subject to attack... and leave all fringe world to the more important tack of resource reclamation and shipping quotas.

sunphoenix wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:49 am

CrimsonFALKE wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:45 am

sunphoenix wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 1:39 am

As has been established with the Umiak ship designs.. I expect each hard trooper is custom crafted following the local Administration 'pattern' plan based upon local resources and tactical needs. There is no 'uniform' design by the Umiak... merely performance standards that are to be met for satisfactory deployment in the Expansion and Resource Exploitation quotas..

If there is no intent to repair or maintain them, that's great! Still, you have to wonder if they ever improve on things themselves with the help of a local tech.

Considering how things are administrated in the Hierarchy... I'd say they likely have an entire research division in a centralized location that all new tech discoveries are shipped to for processing an research rather than waste resources duplicating research efforts on multiple worlds when they can just assign some planets as research centers..preferably far behind front line where they would not be subject to attack... and leave all fringe world to the more important tack of resource reclamation and shipping quotas.

I meant the local technician who likely feeds and maintains a hardtrooper. It's not that front-line worlds have R&D to make these guys. Sort of like how I make mods to my rifle. A hardtrooper is like a gun that they play with when able to for optimal effectiveness.

CrimsonFALKE wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 2:43 am

A hardtrooper is like a gun that they play with when able to for optimal effectiveness.

Oh God, Umiak tacticool-enthusiasts.

Umiak 63-215: "clack-clack-clicky-clack" (translation: "Check out my new high-speed low-drag Hardtroop mod! It's got TWO tactical flashlights and a bayonet lug on the forehead! It also has a reflex sight built into the #2 and #4 eyes!")

Umiak 63-108: "clack-clack-click" (translation: "That's a gimmick, younger one! Two blaster cannons on one arm and a clawed fist on the other are all you need! It got me through two years on the Steppes! We really gave those Witches Hell!")

(Reference to this lovely video: https://youtu.be/YUGu0hYXweY?si=cQPJ2HypBbyPIR94)

Can I buy one at the mall?

hi hi

I wonder if any Loroi have mastered the art of telekinetically knocking themselves out of the way of an attack while making it look like they got hit?

icekatze wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:31 am

hi hi

I wonder if any Loroi have mastered the art of telekinetically knocking themselves out of the way of an attack while making it look like they got hit?

According to the GURPS-sheets: Fireblade most likely, Tempo probably, Beryl almost not.

icekatze wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 30, 2023 7:31 am

I wonder if any Loroi have mastered the art of telekinetically knocking themselves out of the way of an attack while making it look like they got hit?

A PK with appropriate power and skill could apply an appropriate force to both herself and a tackler to fling herself away and provide the appropriate sense of impact to the tackler, but... the effect would be pretty much exactly the same as if she'd just let the tackler hit her.

This is a little like the movie trope where a falling hero snags a rope just before he hits the ground... the sudden stop from the rope would do just as much damage as the ground would have. (Unless the rope had a lot of stretch to it... but that's usually not the case.)

It occurs to me that if the umiaks are using some kind of psionic detection equipment, they might not know that Alex is even there.

grixit wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 01, 2024 2:28 am

It occurs to me that if the umiaks are using some kind of psionic detection equipment, they might not know that Alex is even there.

"Loroi head in a jar" anyone?

D-503 wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 28, 2023 12:57 am

Not mentioned yet? Alex reaction: Drill kicking in, no fliching, determined expression. Go, man!!

It's a bit trope-y, but I would be highly amused if humans turned out to be stupid good at in dismounted combat at baseline just because they don't rely on cybernetics or psionics. Just hand them a gun and they go full Doom Guy. Gun becomes increasingly optional with increased anger levels.