Schlock Mercenary III: One million years of crowdsourced kitten videos

[Cikomyr]

The ship may be gone, but it's spirit lives on and on!

You couldn't be more right, literally

[Chronos]

I haven't read the whole thread, so I'm sure that this has been brought up before, but who else expects that Tagii is going to end up as the operating mind of the Can of Sky?

[tonberrian]

I haven't read the whole thread, so I'm sure that this has been brought up before, but who else expects that Tagii is going to end up as the operating mind of the Can of Sky?

*raises hand*

I have hopes that the Toughs teraport the Can of Sky to Sol System and extort blackmail with a "ship" that has an entry port bigger than the UNS Battleplate fleet.

[Landis963]

*raises hand*

I have hopes that the Toughs teraport the Can of Sky to Sol System and extort blackmail with a "ship" that has an entry port bigger than the UNS Battleplate fleet.

Is the entry port bigger than Earth itself? I wonder.

[tonberrian]

Is the entry port bigger than Earth itself? I wonder.

No, though they said you could fit Mars inside, so the whole can is comparable in size to a planet.

[Wayson]

I haven't read the whole thread, so I'm sure that this has been brought up before, but who else expects that Tagii is going to end up as the operating mind of the Can of Sky?

I could see that happening, but I thought the era of the Toughs having incredibly overpowered ships was over.

Regardless of the outcome, I highly doubt that sending Tagii was the best idea. She is very unstable and we have no idea if she's still vindictive.

[Chronos]

I never said that the Toughs would have her. I mean, it's not like they exactly "have" Lota any more, either.

[The Glyphstone]

I could see that happening, but I thought the era of the Toughs having incredibly overpowered ships was over.

Regardless of the outcome, I highly doubt that sending Tagii was the best idea. She is very unstable and we have no idea if she's still vindictive.

Probably, but the Can In The Sky isn't really that overpowered offensively - keep in mind that their current ship was capable of fending off the initial few missile salvos it launched against them. It's just absurdly big, and thus probably absurdly difficult to destroy beyond any conceivable value of 'difficult'.

But I agree that a planet-sized mobile base would be too much for the Toughs. More likely Tagii will suicide it somehow to stop terrible doom, or else she will join the ranks of AI-controlled super-warships that Tagon+Co. have accidentally unleashed upon the galaxy, next to Petey and Lota.

[John Campbell]

How stupid am I that it took your post for me to realise that "Tagii" is basically just "Tag 2"?

Would it completely blow your mind if I pointed out that "Ennesby" == "N.S.B."... originally, as we've recently been reminded, the New Sync Boys?

(It took me way longer than it should have to notice that one.)

[factotum]

Would it completely blow your mind if I pointed out that "Ennesby" == "N.S.B."... originally, as we've recently been reminded, the New Sync Boys?

Oh no, I spotted that one right away, mainly because I've read through the entire archive...

I agree with those saying the can of sky isn't overpowered. I reckon one battleplate could just blow a massive hole in the outer hull and then it's game over for everyone inside. There's also rather a lot of unresolved hostility between Tagii and the Toughs, so we have no idea if she's actually going to help them out here--this is presumably why Para is looking so worried now she's realised what Ennesby has done!

[tonberrian]

Actually, I think that mobile planet-fortress is probably right up the Tough's alley right about now. Petey's having trouble in Andromeda with the new core generator. The Can probably was built at a time when the Pa'anuri were last relevant. Someone has to deal with their unknown baryonic allies, and it's about time for the Toughs to do something galactically relevant again.

Mostly, though, Bristlecone is wholly inadequate as a ship for the Toughs. They are getting at least a new ship this arc.

[NEO|Phyte]

Mostly, though, Bristlecone is wholly inadequate as a ship for the Toughs.

Well yeah, most ships would be inadequate after getting their annie plants shot out.

[Cikomyr]

Well, that was an interesting development.

What could possibly go wrong?

[TheLoneCleric]

Careful what you wish for. We know that Petey is slowly losing the war against the Pa'anuri, so sooner or later he'll be pushed back to the Milky Way. Guess what happens then?

Wonderful. I loved Petey was struggling with the crew. Not lording over them.

[tonberrian]

I hope Shep and Tino come back. It'd be nice to have another couple of grunts.

[Rockphed]

I am loving the Tagons conversing about leadership.

[Cikomyr]

I am loving the Tagons conversing about leadership.

But Capt Tagon summed up perfectly the situation. In better terms than I could ever imagine.

[Loreweaver15]

This is my favorite strip in a long while :D

[Rockphed]

But Capt Tagon summed up perfectly the situation. In better terms than I could ever imagine.

Precisely! While Kaff may have a flimsy grasp of the english language as a whole, he uses what he has like he uses all his weapons: viciously, precisely, and without fear.

[FLHerne]

Well yeah, most ships would be inadequate after getting their annie plants shot out.

Any ship that could 'get its annie plants shot out' without being able to do anything about it would be inadequate beforehand.

[Cikomyr]

Do Gnl Tagon's remark qualify in some measure as a dirty old man?

[Rockphed]

Do Gnl Tagon's remark qualify in some measure as a dirty old man?

I am fairly certain that it is more "desperate patriarch in search of descendents".

[NEO|Phyte]

Any ship that could 'get its annie plants shot out' without being able to do anything about it would be inadequate beforehand.

Even a Tausennigan Ob'Enn Thunderhead Superfortress?

[EnragedFilia]

Even a Tausennigan Ob'Enn Thunderhead Superfortress?

Well certainly, in the same way that a main battle tank is totally inadequate against a concealed sniper with an anti-tank weapon. Or perhaps the more appropriate analogy would be a naval destroyer against carrier-borne strike fighters armed with anti-ship missiles...

[Cikomyr]

Well certainly, in the same way that a main battle tank is totally inadequate against a concealed sniper with an anti-tank weapon. Or perhaps the more appropriate analogy would be a naval destroyer against carrier-borne strike fighters armed with anti-ship missiles...

In other words, Rock beat Scissors

[NEO|Phyte]

Thinking about it, unless those powered armors come with a personal-scale TAD (Which the station could likely simply brute force right past, much like Petey used to be able to before he had to concentrate on his war), why haven't they been scooped up along with Bristlecone, unless the station isn't aware of them?

[factotum]

Thinking about it, unless those powered armors come with a personal-scale TAD (Which the station could likely simply brute force right past, much like Petey used to be able to before he had to concentrate on his war), why haven't they been scooped up along with Bristlecone, unless the station isn't aware of them?

I think it's pretty likely the station isn't aware of their presence. They're much smaller than a ship like Bristlecone and travelling much slower, so they'll tend to just merge into the general buzz of life around the station. In fact, I'd say the station probably doesn't have an enormous amount of control outside the spindle--would it have let the place revert to nature in the way it has if it had perfect control over everything?

[EnragedFilia]

I was under the impression that the mission of the station-AI was to let the place revert to nature (for whatever reason). Even so, it took quite a while for it to respond to Bristlecone's incursion, which could mean that's how long it took to notice a ship-scale power source, which would in turn imply that noticing a suit-scale power source might take significantly longer.

[Guancyto]

It might also assume that the incursion was dealt with, unless the stray Toughs make their presence known in some dramatic way.

Bristlecone had the advantage of starting a continent-sized fire, if I remember right.

[factotum]

I was under the impression that the mission of the station-AI was to let the place revert to nature (for whatever reason).

So it was programmed to *intentionally* let the people who built it die? Not really convinced by that one...