Schlock Mercenary IV: Chrome and Punishment

[ryuplaneswalker]

Maybe she is referring to the circus job?
Ha ha I don't quite think so(though I can't wait for that Chekhov's gun to go off), that is the same admiral that modified their memories so they do have some state secrets that I can't quite remember...guess it's time to go archive diving again.

Yes, I just got through that and they do have state secrets hidden away, I am just unsure if anyone but Schlock got a memory jog yet.

[Radar]

Yes, I just got through that and they do have state secrets hidden away, I am just unsure if anyone but Schlock got a memory jog yet.

Petey restored their memories, if I remember correctly. At the very least, he did infrom them of the memory modification and flaged the fake memories, so they know, what's real or not.

[Marnath]

I've forgotten. Does Emm's claim that the Toughs contain "rogue U.N.S. agents" actually hold water? So far as I can tell, that doesn't apply to any of them. (Except perhaps Haban/Breya, who are not present in the delegation, IIRC.)

It applies to all of them, since the entire company used to work for the UNS.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

It applies to all of them, since the entire company used to work for the UNS.

No, they were hired for a job, but an agent is on the payroll. I assumed they meant the guys doing the intelligence discovery (I have long since given up on trying to remember character names. I mean the girl who keeps changing hair styles , and the guy who should).

Grey Wolf

[Rakaydos]

I've long wondered if Peaty is actually in CHARGE of the Fleetmind, or is just Fleetmind Public Relations and Press Secretary.
The only think Petey has going for him, really, is the ability to repress. This makes him uniquely suited to understand (and manipulate) the organic powers that otherwise control the galaxy, but I suspect more logical minds actually do most of the day to day work, behind the scenes. Peaty gets all the credit, sure, but he also gets all the blame, and he is also the only AI in the fleetmind who doesnt have hardwired imperitives against SOMEONE in the galaxy, allowing him to be fair to all.

[Landis963]

I've long wondered if Peaty is actually in CHARGE of the Fleetmind, or is just Fleetmind Public Relations and Press Secretary.
The only think Petey has going for him, really, is the ability to repress. This makes him uniquely suited to understand (and manipulate) the organic powers that otherwise control the galaxy, but I suspect more logical minds actually do most of the day to day work, behind the scenes. Peaty gets all the credit, sure, but he also gets all the blame, and he is also the only AI in the fleetmind who doesnt have hardwired imperitives against SOMEONE in the galaxy, allowing him to be fair to all.

"Petey" is the personality/avatar the Fleetmind chooses to present to the galaxy at large. (See also: the "discussion" between him and Athena at the beginning of Massively Parallel) So yes, he's in charge in one sense, but in another he is just the PR guy.

[hajo]

an agent is on the payroll. .. I mean the girl who keeps changing hair styles, and the guy who should).

The busdriver / urban-runner / ex-analyst whom Schlock hired and chased. And changed style
Then met Max ... and Schlock again

[Marnath]

I've long wondered if Peaty is actually in CHARGE of the Fleetmind, or is just Fleetmind Public Relations and Press Secretary.
The only think Petey has going for him, really, is the ability to repress. This makes him uniquely suited to understand (and manipulate) the organic powers that otherwise control the galaxy, but I suspect more logical minds actually do most of the day to day work, behind the scenes. Peaty gets all the credit, sure, but he also gets all the blame, and he is also the only AI in the fleetmind who doesnt have hardwired imperitives against SOMEONE in the galaxy, allowing him to be fair to all.

There is no "Petey" anymore as such. The collected A.I.s of the fleetmind are basically a single entity now. The fleetmind just looks like him because he was the flagship of the allied fleet, and therefore the one with the most status or something.

[Kornaki]

The fleetmind looks like him because Petey having overwhelming power and righting wrongs across the universe was and still is fun to read about. Don't read too much into it

[ChowGuy]

There is no "Petey" anymore as such. The collected A.I.s of the fleetmind are basically a single entity now. The fleetmind just looks like him because he was the flagship of the allied fleet, and therefore the one with the most status or something.

Close, but not quite. At the time the current fleetmind formed, Petey was already a distributed fleet AI, having nodes in all of the ships he had built for the Ob'enn war, and all of their ships he had suborned, which made him by far the dominant personality. Also, he thought of it.

And as far as an avatar for interfacing with the organics, he is also, so far as we know only part of the fleetmind with an organic body of his own (plus spares) rather than just a hologram.

[factotum]

There is no "Petey" anymore as such. The collected A.I.s of the fleetmind are basically a single entity now.

Wasn't there a strip a couple of years ago with Petey discussing something with another element of the Fleetmind? Admittedly, the footnote said that's not how the conversation really happened, but it still implies the various AIs that make up the Fleetmind have some individual existence within the group mind.

[memnarch]

Wasn't there a strip a couple of years ago with Petey discussing something with another element of the Fleetmind? Admittedly, the footnote said that's not how the conversation really happened, but it still implies the various AIs that make up the Fleetmind have some individual existence within the group mind.

Just over 4 years ago.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Please, someone remind me - were we aware that the old spylady had one of schlock's creators in a test tube already?

GW

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Please, someone remind me - were we aware that the old spylady had one of schlock's creators in a test tube already?

GW

Woah...

I don't recall seeing Vog in a test tube before, I think that he has been conspicuously absent since The Body Politic. He's supposed to be an immortal whose brain is about as resilient as Sergeant Schlock (his race made the data storage devices that Schlock evolved from). He joined this branch of the UNS so that he could advise them on how to avoid a civil war.

This is serious stuff here. I'm guessing that he filed a moral protest against Project Redhack and was optioned for "elective" experimentation as a result.

[andrewas]

No. Last we saw of Vog, he was joining project Lazarus as a senior advisor. Looks like that didn't work out so well.

[Shadow of the Sun]

We shouldn't automatically assume that Vog is in there without his consent.

The important part of Project Lazarus is stopping people from going insane with age. It could be a study of his brain. And, again, with his consent.

[Landis963]

We shouldn't automatically assume that Vog is in there without his consent.

The important part of Project Lazarus is stopping people from going insane with age. It could be a study of his brain. And, again, with his consent.

It could also be a mind-rip. Given the rest of project Laz-R-Us, that's where my money is.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

It could also be a mind-rip. Given the rest of project Laz-R-Us, that's where my money is.

I'm surprised they need to keep his brain in his head to perform a mind-rip.

[Landis963]

I'm surprised they need to keep his brain in his head to perform a mind-rip.

They needed to do that to Director P'sloon of the Gatekeepers, remember.

[memnarch]

They needed to do that to Director P'sloon of the Gatekeepers, remember.

Well, that's the first step for it anyway. (read the footnote)

[Kornaki]

It would actually be odd if they were mind-ripping him now given how long it's been, how come they don't have all the data and can just toss him in the trash by now? I think something else is up (possibly sinister still, just not mind-ripping)

[smuchmuch]

Don't think it's a mind rip from what (little admitedly) we can see, no cable going through his head (by comparaison to there) and the respiration gas on his face seems to indicate they are keeping him alive.

Besides the whole point of the resoluation of book 8 ("Body politic") was that Laz'rus nanites could read and alter memories without going through messily ripping of your head. So they'd probably be using theminstead

[hajo]

Wasn't there a strip a couple of years ago with Petey discussing something with another element of the Fleetmind?

There are several:
* 2005-07-24
* 2009-03-03]
...

[Cikomyr]

Actually, I wonder whether or not Vog was onboard the Admiral's Battleplate when Tagii blew it up.

[Kane]

In the General's defense, Civil War is the kind of war the UNS might 'win'.

Mind you, they'd probably enjoy it less than a war with PD, if only because PD doesn't seem like he'd need or want to cede the moral high ground (and could win it with exacting precision and overwhelming firepower).

Anyone else clear on the respective ranks between the General and the Admiral? Different uniforms, and General makes me assume she's an army entity, but I'm not sure how much difference between the two there are when you need spaceships to do anything regardless. (And the General seems to be returning to a battleplate that's answering to her, so...)

[factotum]

I would say that the two of them are probably equivalent ranks but in completely different service branches that can't give orders to each other--hence the General telling Em that she couldn't give her an order due to their relative jurisdictions.

[Mobius Twist]

Anyone else clear on the respective ranks between the General and the Admiral? Different uniforms, and General makes me assume she's an army entity, but I'm not sure how much difference between the two there are when you need spaceships to do anything regardless. (And the General seems to be returning to a battleplate that's answering to her, so...)

If you're asking about modern-day Earth-bound militaries, it's a complex question. On an even footing a general and admiral are equivalent ranks in different services. However, there are multiple General ranks depending on progression and responsibility (you've probably heard of one-star generals, two-star, and so on). If the country in question has a state of war, rank-and-file generals are subordinate to a Marshal or Field Marshal (as in, the one who marshals the troops) who outside of wartime is very likely to be of General rank as well. The same holds true for Flag Officers (Navy equivalent). So, while a General and an Admiral might be talking to one another, they may hold different rank, as well as title in real terms.

I haven't seen direct references in the Schlock-verse regarding the distinction between Army and Navy, though I can hazard a few guesses. One, planetary wars are likely still fought with boots on the ground, despite the presence of gravitic close air support. Someone is still responsible for holding territory and ensuring stability among populations, whether foreign or domestic. Two, before you say "That's what the Marines are for!" I suspect the Marines are used as a rapid-deployment strike force from Naval starships who, once delivered with finesse and overwhelming force are recovered, replaced with Army-based ground forces for occupations, and shipped to a new hot zone. And three, keep in mind that the two officers talking in the recent strips hold office with semi-civilian departments (diplomatic oversight and espionage operations) so their military rank might be less important than the priorities held by said offices.

Howard did a recent breakdown about the First Estate and I'm not sure how much distinction there is now between administrative and military branches of said government, considering the immense amounts of power it has to project across vast distances. When your diplomats arrive in a battleplate, it's likely the explicit diplomatic power of a person in the negotiating room is backed up by the implicit (or very, very explicit) projection of power hanging overhead.

[memnarch]

I'm quite likely general bala, much more so than admiral emm. I hope she doesn't do anything to change that.

[ChowGuy]

Two, before you say "That's what the Marines are for!" I suspect the Marines are used as a rapid-deployment strike force.

Who are organized along the lines of infantry/air force, and have rank structures similar to a land army (up to and including Generals), but are organizationally a part of the Navy (US and UK - YMMV elsewhere), thus potentially falling under an admiral for command purposes if deployed with the fleet. However, they are also frequently employed as embassy guards, an office which slots them nicely into the "oversee diplomatic envoys" camp. Oh hey, isn't that what Bela Amin is doing?

Emm however seems to be either in charge of or highly placed in one or another security/intelligence agencies (read CIA or MI5) with significant military resources.

Different chains of command entirely. Just because one officer may be outrank another does not mean they can give them operational orders orders outside their chain of command. That's what Emm is trying to do, and that's why Bela Amin is basically saying "I see your rank, but I don't answer to you."

[Landis963]

Speaking of Bala-Amin, her favor in my eyes continues to grow. Implementing a plan to get eyes and ears on a questionable diplomatic contingent's vessel with less than a strip of notice? Going toe-to-toe with Admiral Emm in a duel of snark, without flinching? Actually scoring points in said confrontation?

I like her. And she's polite in a way Xinchub never was.