Schlock Mercenary III: One million years of crowdsourced kitten videos

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

What do y'all think?

Needs fatter arms. See this: http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0777.html

[Rockphed]

What do y'all think?

I think his gun is too small.

[ChowGuy]

I think his gun is too small.

Schlock would probably agree.

Also, the eyes are inexplicably the same size.

[Cuthalion]

Schlock would probably agree.

Also, the eyes are inexplicably the same size.

I couldn't change that without compromising oots style.

[ChowGuy]

I couldn't change that without compromising oots style.

It was meant to be facitious (given that in OotS style, they usually aren't )

[factotum]

Oopsies. Methinks General Tagon has just realised that being anywhere in UNS space with the name "Tagon" is not a great place to be right now...

[Gnoman]

That face in the last panel certainly nailed the "Oh Crap" look.

[teratorn]

Oopsies. Methinks General Tagon has just realised that being anywhere in UNS space with the name "Tagon" is not a great place to be right now...

But the other Tagon didn't think it was worth telling his father to keep a low profile. They talked just after the whole mess.

[factotum]

But the other Tagon didn't think it was worth telling his father to keep a low profile. They talked just after the whole mess.

It probably didn't occur to him, for two reasons: firstly, as far as Tagon is concerned it was his insane AI who took down the Morokweng, not him, and secondly, he doesn't know his father is in UNS space right now. Also, that whole conversation was a "make up" over the things that happened 20 years earlier, I suspect current events were not high on their list of priorities while they were speaking!

[Bulldog Psion]

Destroying a battleplate seems like a pretty big thing to forget, though. Especially when it happened 5 minutes before.

[John Campbell]

It's not like they haven't done it before.

[Bulldog Psion]

True, very true. Wrecking battleplates is pretty much "old hat" by now.

"Picked up milk, got the mail, what else did I do today? Oh, yeah, I destroyed a battleplate. Or did that happen yesterday? Dang, it gets hard to keep it all straight."

[factotum]

There's got to be another shoe due to drop at some point here--we wouldn't be concentrating so much on their escape from Mall-One if it all went smoothly and without a hitch, would we?

[teratorn]

There's got to be another shoe due to drop at some point here--we wouldn't be concentrating so much on their escape from Mall-One if it all went smoothly and without a hitch, would we?

It drop. It seems like they just lost their ship, guess they'll need to accept that job if they want to get out.

[memnarch]

It drop. It seems like they just lost their ship, guess they'll need to accept that job if they want to get out.

No, they didn't lose their ship. That person would be the likely jobless Mrs. Murtaugh.

[BRC]

So...we have a General, a bunch of Former UNS analysts turned Ninjas, a Warship, a former Mercenary, a Former (Rather Competent) Rent-A-Cop Commander, and a fry cook.

[factotum]

No, they didn't lose their ship. That person would be the likely jobless Mrs. Murtaugh.

Thank you for the link--I was thinking it was going to be the ex-Major myself, but I couldn't find a picture of her while skimming the archives. Is her turning up here and now a coincidence, though?

[Lizard Lord]

So...we have a Retired General, a bunch of Former UNS analysts turned Ninjas, a Warship, a former Mercenary, a Former (Rather Competent) Rent-A-Cop Commander, and a fry cook.

Since you mentioned former for most everyone else, I thought I would add the bold part in for you. Hope you don't mind.

[TaRix]

Re: Sunday's comic:

Spoiler

Show

The ship is dead. Long live the new ship.
What would they call the new one? The Hit and Run? (HAR)

[factotum]

The ship churn rate of the Toughs is pretty impressive, really...and I wonder if this is the moment that the good ship Bristlecone turns up and neatly solves their problem? I think their next ship needs to be something smaller in any case--the whole point of the Toughs is about what happens on the ground, and having an enormously powerful warship hovering overhead providing instant rescue and supporting fire means Howard has to invent increasingly over-the-top situations to present tension.

[Rockphed]

The ship churn rate of the Toughs is pretty impressive, really...and I wonder if this is the moment that the good ship Bristlecone turns up and neatly solves their problem? I think their next ship needs to be something smaller in any case--the whole point of the Toughs is about what happens on the ground, and having an enormously powerful warship hovering overhead providing instant rescue and supporting fire means Howard has to invent increasingly over-the-top situations to present tension.

Well, considering how they got the Touch-and-Go, I think it has outlived its comedic lifespan. Then again, Schlock hasn't shot down any other ships lately, so I don't know what their next ship will be.

[BRC]

Well, considering how they got the Touch-and-Go, I think it has outlived its comedic lifespan. Then again, Schlock hasn't shot down any other ships lately, so I don't know what their next ship will be.

The Bristlecone sounds about right, bringing with it Katheryn, her Ninja Analyst Team, Major Murtagh, Karl, Nick, and Liz. The Bristlecone is big enough to serve as a base of operations, but it's not so powerful that the Grunts don't get to have fun.

The whole "Spotting Targets for Tagii" thing on Osiri made the grunts a little obsolete, as they could have been replaced by a cloud of nanny cams and a fast connection.

Katheryn and the Ninja Analysts join the Toughs as a new Intelligence group, since despite being hired guns, the Toughs consistently seem to run into complex situations that require more thinking than shooting (insert jokes about "Yes, Captain Tagon could use some Ingelligence.)

The Bristlecone becomes a new Base of Operations.
Karl holds no official rank, but is there to be a crotchety old advisor to annoy his son.
Major Murtagh gets folded in to the chain of command. She's a good officer, but she's used to police work, not being a gun for hire, so the sociopathic tendencies of the Toughs may not sit well with her.

[tonberrian]

I love the expressions in the last panel of today's comic.

[teratorn]

Why would they bring Major Murtagh, a possible agent for a UNS faction? I'd expect them to be paranoid about spies.

[factotum]

Why would they bring Major Murtagh, a possible agent for a UNS faction? I'd expect them to be paranoid about spies.

She was employed by Sanctum Adroit, who I'm pretty sure are not a UNS faction--they wouldn't be flying around in antiquated stuff like Bristlecone if they were.

[HandofShadows]

She was employed by Sanctum Adroit, who I'm pretty sure are not a UNS faction--they wouldn't be flying around in antiquated stuff like Bristlecone if they were.

Bristlecone may be old, but it has been continualy upgraded throught it's life and it very much up to spec.

[teratorn]

She was employed by Sanctum Adroit, who I'm pretty sure are not a UNS faction--they wouldn't be flying around in antiquated stuff like Bristlecone if they were.

But she isn't working for them now... the question is who is she working for.

[factotum]

But she isn't working for them now... the question is who is she working for.

She doesn't have to be working for anyone but herself. Given she lost her job over the theft of the Bristlecone I imagine she's been rather interested in tracking the ship down and seeing what happened to it.

[teratorn]

She doesn't have to be working for anyone but herself.

You're clearly not paranoid enough.

[Gnoman]

The whole "Spotting Targets for Tagii" thing on Osiri made the grunts a little obsolete, as they could have been replaced by a cloud of nanny cams and a fast connection.

Not really. As already shown in the comic, there aren't all that many situations where they really can use warship guns against surface targets, either for political reasons, or for the potential for collateral damage. Osiri was a rare case in which neither applied.