Schlock Mercenary VII: A T.A.D. Too Much Dialogue These Days

[HandofShadows]

I think someone with a Long Gun is trying to start wars. Almost certainly it's not one of the main players we know have them. So that means it's someone we have not seen yet. Or it is someone we have seen and who we don't know has a Long Gun. I suspect the a faction of the kitties is responsible and the destruction of the station that brought the Toughs to this system was an attempt to hide evidence of the Long Gun.

[halfeye]

Would you be willing to explain the logic behind that statement? I must have missed something.

The Milky way is big. These explosions are all close (in galactic terms) to the toughs current position. We're pretty sure it's being done by somebody that Petey doesn't know has long guns. Petey doesn't know that this lot have long guns. It could be some random we've not heard of, but whoever it is they have to be close (not for the long guns, but it wouldn't make sense to attack people who'd have no interest in you anyway), so for plot it's probably the current antagonists.

<edit> I don't feel right calling these kitties, they look more like small dogs to me, and they really oughtn't to be either. I don't mind other people calling them kitties, so long as it's not misogenistically.

[factotum]

The Milky way is big. These explosions are all close (in galactic terms) to the toughs current position. We're pretty sure it's being done by somebody that Petey doesn't know has long guns. Petey doesn't know that this lot have long guns. It could be some random we've not heard of, but whoever it is they have to be close (not for the long guns, but it wouldn't make sense to attack people who'd have no interest in you anyway), so for plot it's probably the current antagonists.

Given the strip's history I wouldn't bet on that. How many times have we been confident that X is the antagonist and it turns out to be Y instead? There'd need to be an actual link between the destroyed ships and the little kitties that goes beyond "Not very far away in galactic terms". Especially since long guns, by their very nature, can be fired from anywhere to hit anywhere else.

[eschmenk]

Yes and the most of the targets so far don't seem to have much military or symbolic significance, so I doubt it's an attempt to start or win a war.

[PraetorDragoon]

My bet: A pet that keeps jumping on the red "Shoot" button.

[keybounce]

Maybe these aliens are more like foxes than kittens?

[Onyavar]

re: thread title - I dont mind too much dialogue, but I hate dialogue that has no point. The 'god-AIs vs. concerned citizens' sequenzes are breathing redundancy and obscurity, so far. As a reader, I'd like to know what the concerned citizens are concerned about, what the god-AIs are thinking about the deployed long guns and why this scene is so important that we have to endure un-witty banter for days in a row.

[Max_Killjoy]

The comic occasionally hits these sequences that will be fine when read in succession (archive binge, printed book), but appear a bit "OK, get to the point already" when read one strip a day.

SM is however hardly the worst offender when it comes to this.

And then there are comics that rush so hard to get to each important or witty instance that it feels like you're missing a load of context or reading every other strip, even if you've read the entire archive from start to current twice.

[Onyavar]

Oh sure. I just never before thought the current thread title was this appropriate before, and I follow SchM for eight or nine years now.
The comic has had its lenghts before, and more frequently in the last couple years, but most times, there was some new information even when there was only dialogue bubbles.

Or, like today, a great recap of old information. Though my questions are still unanswered, at least it gave me a bit to think about shinooks sanity - a goddess ruling about millions of people.

[Kantaki]

I'm kinda with the green guy there.
Sure, it all turned out well so far and Chinook is nice enough, but installing Tagii in the Can was a desperation move at best.
One I seriously hope the galaxy survives.

And „I survived worse plans” is definitely not reassuring.

[Spamotron]

Oh sure. I just never before thought the current thread title was this appropriate before, and I follow SchM for eight or nine years now.
The comic has had its lenghts before, and more frequently in the last couple years, but most times, there was some new information even when there was only dialogue bubbles.

Or, like today, a great recap of old information. Though my questions are still unanswered, at least it gave me a bit to think about shinooks sanity - a goddess ruling about millions of people.

One of Howard's policies is that he plans for the eventual physical books to end up in comic shops and he wants a new reader picking up any book for the first time to be able to understand it without needing to read any other books. So if something from previous books is going to be relevant it gets recapped. What this tells us is that Chinook's origins are going to somehow be important in the current book.

[PraetorDragoon]

Just face it kitty, you haven't been in control for a long while.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

And „I survived worse plans” is definitely not reassuring.

Coming from another ones crazy suicidal manipulative AI restored from what counts as a gestalt at best.

[factotum]

Nice to see that the experience of having his arms ripped off and re-attached has not taught the shiplord any manner of humility.

[PraetorDragoon]

Nice to see that the experience of having his arms ripped off and re-attached has not taught the shiplord any manner of humility.

In an odd way I do quite like Shipless Straben.

[Max_Killjoy]

Nice to see that the experience of having his arms ripped off and re-attached has not taught the shiplord any manner of humility.

He has some sort of mental or ego dysfunction.

[Rockphed]

In an odd way I do quite like Shipless Straben.

I at least enjoy watching him get his comeuppance.

[Gez]

There are interesting plot threads to pick here. The biggest is: Who are the Galactic Michael Bays and what are their motives? As a secondary, there's: what exactly is the deal with the isolationists and their pirate militias. But instead, we are given Recap Time with AIs, and Slapstick Comedy Hour with Schlock's ill-adapted armor upgrade.

[Thomas Cardew]

There are interesting plot threads to pick here. The biggest is: Who are the Galactic Michael Bays and what are their motives? As a secondary, there's: what exactly is the deal with the isolationists and their pirate militias. But instead, we are given Recap Time with AIs, and Slapstick Comedy Hour with Schlock's ill-adapted armor upgrade.

Honestly this has been my problem for awhile. HT seems to avoid the plot threads or stories I would find interesting. I first noticed it at the end of Delegates and Delegation. We have a MASSIVE attempted fake coup and civil war and then the thread is just... dropped... The total resolution of that plot was the arms dealers leaking the ostensible perpetrators identities for lack of payment. And no one follows up on it. That should have been the start of a MASSIVE war. A true full conventional war. Heck even if not a conventional war, a pretty hectic covert one between intelligence force should be going on. Plenty of room for well paying already deeply involved mercenary group there. Instead, we shift to focus on Iana-Eifa and big dumb objects in what was to me a long and tedious arc. And every time it started to get potentially interesting, the story would be summarily wrapped up, ignored, or toss aside in favor of something less interesting.

The long term stuff on the back burner about the long guns and potential collapse of galactic civilization is interesting but being drowned out by this current disaster relief story and dribbled out in tiny pieces. Even parts of the relief story are interesting, but instead we're watching schlock learning how to control a new suit of armor. Something which was already done and in better fashion with Tailor during the Gav story line. At least, I found schlock accidentally grabbing his own eyeball to be a funnier joke, both visually and in the written format, then accidentally splitting his mass apart in the current one.

[HandofShadows]

Aaaand we have the connection between the two plotlines. Just as I expected.

[Xanyo]

Well, I hope everybody's Laz 5 gestalts are up to date.

[Max_Killjoy]

Well that's not a good sign.

[geoduck]

I've lost track here, whose ship just got long-gunned?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

I've lost track here, whose ship just got long-gunned?

I believe that the Maxim 39 was Kevyn's ship. Who else was aboard it, I'm not sure.

GW

[factotum]

Does that make the Maxim 39 one of the shortest-lived ships the Toughs have had? From introduction to destruction in around a year of real time is pretty fast!

[Lizard Lord]

Well this scene takes place in Maxim 39, as does this one.

If we are to assume that none of those characters have left the ship then by my count that makes the Kittenlord, Thurl, Ennesby, Para, Neeka, Aardman, Tarpaulin, and Buni plus a likely possibility of Kevyn since he is the captain of the Maxim 39.

[Kantaki]

Oh well, the cast was getting too large anyway...

[guttering flame]

The bear-god figured it out a few seconds before they exploded. Backups of everyone were surely saved.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Just two more ships and captain Tagon is the senior officer with the biggest ship in the company again.

What, those are the rules now right? Dying means demotion.

I just hope Tagii or someone can run the reviving machine, because if the doc was on board of the Maxim 39 she ain't gonna be doing it.

The ship itself may be a loss for the comic though, it looked pretty cool.

[Max_Killjoy]

Evacuation by teraport cage or restorations from backups might come into play at this point.

If not, and this is where we start losing a lot of the Toughs... I'm not sure if I can keep going.