Page: 119

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novius
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Re: Page: 119

Post by novius »

Excellion wrote:If the 6 divisions hit Sala-128 without being weakened by interdiction fleets (And perhaps unexpected!) it might just be possible to break through it before reinforcements can arrive. The heavy defence fleet is likely only stationed at the perimeter so 6 divisions heading into the hinterlands may be a very tough nut to crack by the likely "weaker" system defence forces. Keep in mind that space superiority is all that's needed to turn a planet to slag if so desired so this may end up being quite damaging. That said, this is mostly conjuncture so who knows what the next pages will bring us!
Unsure. Umiak combat doctrine is to throw everything and the kitchen sink at an opposing force, but the location of the attack makes me suspicious. It is close to the Bellarmine wreck - only about three or four jumps away. If the Umiak really think the Loroi salvaged something important out of it or that there is still something to be found, they may have pulled together a larger force to counter any heightened Loroi activity.

Or, the Umiak try to move in between the Union core systems and Naam and its neighboring systems, hoping that the Bellarmine might not have been a unique case and they could bag one or two more of the things the Loroi had been interested in. Preferably without any pesky blueskin interfering.

Remember. Ellen Kirkland is still unaccounted for. It's very much possible that the Umiak did pick up something of value, and they're back for more.

Jayngfet
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Re: Page: 119

Post by Jayngfet »

Arioch wrote:[
Just jump-capable ships. The division that attacked SG-51 on pp.68-84 was a pretty typical medium Umiak division: 8 heavies, 64 medium vessels, and about 50 light vessels and gunboats.
So that averages out to just under 750 battleships total.

Jeez.

Highlord
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Re: Page: 119

Post by Highlord »

raistlin34 wrote:
Arioch wrote:
CrimsonFALKE wrote:How large is a bug's division?
It varies, but a typical Umiak division is around 75 vessels.
Quoting Captain Obvious, "this is bad, isn´t"? :?
Only so-so. They're attacking over a broad front with, in all honestly, a force too small to seize and hold territory. They can cause a shitload of damage, but no way in hell is this a main push. It's a big attack, yeah, but only in the number of ships. Smart space elf officers will focus fire on individual battle groups to break off sections of the Unimak flotillas, then surround and destroy with smaller and faster vessels.

Six divisions sounds huge. But in military parlance, it's just enough combat power to pick a fight you can't win, or get stuck in too far.

Krulle
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Re: Page: 119

Post by Krulle »

Yet, very few atomic missiles breaching the defenses will suffice to rob the Union an important C&C centre, therefore impairing the Unions' ability to coordinate the fight in that sector until the new structure is fully in place and the uninhabitable planets and stations in that system evacuated and salvaged.
The attack force is large enough to possibly overwhelm the defenses.
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

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GeoModder
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Re: Page: 119

Post by GeoModder »

You all seem to ignore Beryl's comment in page 119.
"Enemy attacks on the front are common."

Tallon nor Beryl appear too worried. Concerned, yes, but nothing more.
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Krulle
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Re: Page: 119

Post by Krulle »

That may be militaristic professionalism.
Even if front attacks are common, a larger non-attrition attack breaking through the steppes, together with a flash message recalling ALL available crafts, is surely not common.
But they are non-weaponized, on a special diplomatic mission and in another direction, they cannot interfere or help, so they lean back and wait for news, what else could they do?
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

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icekatze
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Re: Page: 119

Post by icekatze »

hi hi

I'm not ignoring Beryl's comment. I am, in fact, starting to notice a pattern. Like I said, Beryl is an optimist. :P

"But this is nothing for you to be concerned about. All will be well!"

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dragoongfa
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Re: Page: 119

Post by dragoongfa »

I think that it has a lot to do with Loroi mentality in general. The Loroi are into the 'come what may' mindset, like Julius Caesar put it when crossing the Rubicon river: The die is cast/Alea iacta est.

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Fireblade
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Re: Page: 119

Post by Fireblade »

"The All-Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing."
- Herger, The 13th Warrior

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CF2
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Re: Page: 119

Post by CF2 »

icekatze wrote:I think I've got Beryl figured out now, she's an optimist!
She might also be trying to keep the sensitive male Envoy from worrying his pretty little head, which is less optimistic and more female-chauvinistic I guess?
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White
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Re: Page: 119

Post by White »

I'm just wondering why Beryl and Spiral would be talking in such a situation. Perhaps they see it as an opportunity to "inform" alex of things.

Perhaps the whole system alert is a fabrication? (It's a stretch, I know. I'm not thinking of too many other options, though. [Courtesy? No way!])

Also, does anyone else think that "Naam" is a humorous reference to Vietnam?

JQBogus
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Re: Page: 119

Post by JQBogus »

"Naam" was one of the system names in Master of Orion II, IIRC.

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icekatze
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Re: Page: 119

Post by icekatze »

hi hi

It was Tempo's hope that, once Alex knew more about the Loroi situation, he'd be in a better position to help. Perhaps this is all part of that hope?

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SVlad
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Re: Page: 119

Post by SVlad »

"Stray" fleet
Does Talon refer to the Kikitik's fleet from previous chapter? Or does she just mean a random straying fleet, that strayed in wrong direction?
In first case shouldn't it be spelled as "Stray's fleet"?
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Krulle
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Re: Page: 119

Post by Krulle »

I didn't remember Kikitik-27 was nicked "The Stray". Then, yes. Yes, you're right.
It is Stray his fleet, Stray's fleet. (This is how I remember where the apostrophe goes.)

[Edit] just looked up Talon's precise wording:
Talon wrote:Not so likely. Six divisions is more than twice the size of that [S/s]tray fleet, and much too large for an attrition attack.
Since the font does not allow for knowing if Talon used capital "S" or not, we also do not know if she referred to "the Stray's fleet". She also said "that stray fleet", which seems to refer to a specfic straying fleet, and she does not say "twice of Stray's fleet", which would unambiguously refer to The Stray's fleet. Or does "the Stray" (Kikitik-27) have more fleets under his command? (How would he do that?)
But then, translating Trade to Standard may cause grammatical ambiguities.

Summing up, I think the grammar is correct, and she refers to a straying fleet, and not to the Stray's fleet.[/Edit]
Vote for Outsider on TWC: Image
charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

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cacambo43
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Re: Page: 119

Post by cacambo43 »

Except that in the context of the comic, the stray fleet IS "the Stray's" fleet. What other fleet would she possibly be referring to?

Regarding the earlier comment and observation: why are they speaking aloud? Even allowing for Alex's presence, "sanzaiing" should be as automatic as speaking is for us, right? I think it comes down to "us" needing to know what's going on, so there has to be verbalizing. If Arioch had the Loroi characters always expositing everything for Alex's benefit (as opposed to "normal" sounding conversation), the comic would become almost comically unreadable as a space opera.

CJSF

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dragoongfa
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Re: Page: 119

Post by dragoongfa »

My guess is that during training Loroi warriors were made to communicate only verbally in order to make themselves somewhat fluent with talking.

The limited time available to them obviously didn't let the young ones master the art of talking but it could leave them with the quirk of being able to talk mainly vocally once the mental switch is flipped.

Talon and Beryl could be talking both for Alex's shake and because they haven't 'turned' that mental switch off since they are paying attention for processing Alex's words.

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Arioch
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Re: Page: 119

Post by Arioch »

SVlad wrote:"Stray" fleet
Does Talon refer to the Kikitik's fleet from previous chapter? Or does she just mean a random straying fleet, that strayed in wrong direction?
In first case shouldn't it be spelled as "Stray's fleet"?
She's referring to Kikitik-27's fleet, alluding to his nickname "The Stray." This term hasn't been introduced in the comic yet (Alex will later ask about it), so it's meant to be slightly ambiguous to the reader.

Talon's speech is deliberately irregular, which is why she said "that stray fleet" instead of "the Stray's fleet". I'm sure it's difficult to replicate Talon and Spiral's speech patterns when translating.
cacambo43 wrote:Regarding the earlier comment and observation: why are they speaking aloud? Even allowing for Alex's presence, "sanzaiing" should be as automatic as speaking is for us, right? I think it comes down to "us" needing to know what's going on, so there has to be verbalizing. If Arioch had the Loroi characters always expositing everything for Alex's benefit (as opposed to "normal" sounding conversation), the comic would become almost comically unreadable as a space opera.
Beryl and Talon are speaking to Alex, informing him of what's going on. Even in the cases where it seems like the Loroi are speaking directly to each other, they're technically speaking to Alex. Beryl would do this without being prompted, but Tempo gave specific orders to the pilots to do the same. They also occasionally make announcements for the benefit of the flight recorder (as telepathy cannot be recorded), and they speak to each other over the comm between ships.

Anyone who has to communicate over the comm must regularly use speech, and so the pilots are accustomed to using spoken language (even if they don't always use it very well).

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SVlad
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Re: Page: 119

Post by SVlad »

I know, why this war has begun: Umiaks are local grammar nazi, who was deeply offended by Loroi abuse of spoken language. :lol:
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CrimsonFALKE
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Re: Page: 119

Post by CrimsonFALKE »

Arioch wrote:
SVlad wrote:"Stray" fleet
Does Talon refer to the Kikitik's fleet from previous chapter? Or does she just mean a random straying fleet, that strayed in wrong direction?
In first case shouldn't it be spelled as "Stray's fleet"?
She's referring to Kikitik-27's fleet, alluding to his nickname "The Stray." This term hasn't been introduced in the comic yet (Alex will later ask about it), so it's meant to be slightly ambiguous to the reader.
So would Kikitik be given a battalion to command in battle? I mean he is lucky and skilled given his tactics have probably contributed to his battle group.

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