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

[halfeye]

We have no idea what was destroyed. Maybe a small asteroid?

It looks like the same object, the author could be pulling a funny, but then if he is, that's a fault in my view.

How would hydrostatic equilibrium be relevant?

Hydrostatic equilibrium is the current distinguishing criterion between dwarf planets and small Solar System bodies, and has other roles in astrophysics and planetary geology. This qualification typically means that the object is symmetrically rounded into a spheroid or ellipsoid shape, where any irregular surface features are due to a relatively thin solid crust.

From:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrostatic_equilibrium

[The Glyphstone]

The background stars are different, and you can't see the planet/moon in panel two. Jupiter is in the left shot, another location is on the right where a long gun beam is emerging from its hyperspace tunnel and obliterating something. Besides, why would the 'Firing' dialogue come from Jupiter if Jupiter was the target of the beam? Jupiter is one of the UNS's major shipyards, it'd be stupidly wasteful to ruin all that infrastructure just for a weapons test.

[halfeye]

The narator says that they are trying to make a light in the sky, it is theoretically barely possible to ignite Jupiter into a small star, so it probably is Jupiter being ignited.

[The Glyphstone]

The narrator is probably using metaphor. A big explosion also makes a light in the sky, just not one as bright or enduring as a new star. For the reasons I mentioned, the UNS blowing up Jupiter would be an incredibly stupid, wasteful, and by the positioning of the speech bubbles suicidal thing for them to do, the odds of that are essentially null.

[halfeye]

The narrator is probably using metaphor. A big explosion also makes a light in the sky, just not one as bright or enduring as a new star. For the reasons I mentioned, the UNS blowing up Jupiter would be an incredibly stupid thing for them to do, the odds of that are essentially null.

Maybe so, maybe tomorrow we'll find out.

Maybe it's a hostile action.

Jupiter would be a pretty dim star, it's too light in mass to ignite on it's own, so maybe it's survivable for the surrounding gear.

[eschmenk]

Maybe it's a hostile action.

My guess is that Zeus-Alpha is the first of a planned series of "Zeus" long guns and it was being fired in order to test it. Lota did something similar with Credomar when it became operational as a long gun.

[smuchmuch]

If In read the comic well particulary the orientation of the pannels I'm pretty sure Jupiter is where the shot is originating from
Which make sense given the name of the canon
(Zeus/Jupiter. And as a bonus therfe'sd the whole Zess' lightning metaphor.)

[halfeye]

Sadly, no explanation today.

[eschmenk]

If In read the comic well particulary the orientation of the pannels I'm pretty sure Jupiter is where the shot is originating from

What indicates the long gun is at the location of the person firing it? I wouldn't be surprised if it is since this is the first long gun and it's probably just being fired as a test, but I think the idea is that the long guns would be scattered around the galaxy so they can't be easily located and destroyed. Chinook's long guns aren't near Chinook.

[Kantaki]

Schlock is awesome at planning dates.
He should totally plan weddings too.
Maybe that will be his new job.
They could even turn it into a TV show.
I would watch it.

[Rockphed]

Schlock is awesome at planning dates.
He should totally plan weddings too.
Maybe that will be his new job.
They could even turn it into a TV show.
I would watch it.

Amorph Date: like blind date, but with an amorph along. Includes the possiblity that the Amorph will have the couple's baby at the end of the episode.

Yeah, Amorphs are pretty much lovecraftian horrors.

[The Glyphstone]

And it looks like Howard is doing the 'bounce around between five different scenes before getting to explain how they are related' thing again.

[factotum]

And it looks like Howard is doing the 'bounce around between five different scenes before getting to explain how they are related' thing again.

Let's hope he gets to the point a bit quicker than usual...

[EDIT] OK, what the heck is Howard playing at? This is Admiral Chu as he appeared two years ago:

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2014-12-21

And now he looks like this:

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-12-16

It barely looks like someone of the same gender!

[Kantaki]

To be fair to the general, I would do more or less the same if I got my hands on a superweapon.
Then I would laugh diabolically crazily and proclaim myself emperor of the known universe.
So... I guess we should congratulate him for showing this much restraint.

Edit: @factotum: The only difference I can spot is that his uniform looks a bit different. The pauldrons and the shirt.

Of course it could be a different Chu. I think they had quite a few of those.

[smuchmuch]

It's the same' guy, i'm prettys sure, Howard just tweaked his design a little between his first apparence by changing the chin shape to make it easier to draw and less proeminenet cheekbones but they're still pretty recognizable as the same person.

[Knaight]

The eye size changed a fair bit, but Admiral Chu is pretty recognizable. Take away hair style, hair color, and the distinctive uniform and he's a lot less recognizable, but that's just how the art style works.

[HandofShadows]

Somebody built themselves a.. er body.

[keybounce]

Hmm ...

The Fellows of the Ship
The Two Teracages
The Return of the Captain

[eschmenk]

Hmm ...

The Fellows of the Ship
The Two Teracages
The Return of the Captain

The Hobbled
or
Dead and Back Again?

At first I thought that the fact that GG needs a new thread title and Erfworld will need one soon had inspired you to come up with ideas for new thread titles for SM.

[HandofShadows]

And

Spoiler

Show

We have had a time jump. Weeks at least, but maybe months.

[Imgran]

Followed by a blast from the past. It's bee a long, long, long time since the Partnership Collective destroyed Tagon's first ship.

[smuchmuch]

Take away hair style, hair color, and the distinctive uniform and he's a lot less recognizable, but that's just how the art style works.

... You know considering which webcomic were on the forums of, I'm not sure this criticism is fully allowed


So uh is that a reproduction of the first ship the Toughs ever had ? ... Isn't that kiind of a downgrade on every front ?

[Rockphed]

... You know considering which webcomic were on the forums of, I'm not sure this criticism is fully allowed


So uh is that a reproduction of the first ship the Toughs ever had ? ... Isn't that kiind of a downgrade on every front ?

I think it is based on the first ship the Toughs had. It is not a reproduction of the Kitesfear. It probably has all sorts of nifty upgrades.

Also, the company has more than a single ship. Kitesfear II might get used to do some of the things that Kitesfear did, but I suspect it will see more variety of action.

[eschmenk]

So uh is that a reproduction of the first ship the Toughs ever had ? ... Isn't that kiind of a downgrade on every front ?

No, it's the opposite!

http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2001-03-21:

Tagon's last ship, the Kitesfear, was truly a great warship. It had an oversized gravitic drive for hundreds or even thousands of gees of acceleration, and a solid set of unifield shields. From any angle of approach it could face you with no fewer than four multifunction weapon blisters, which bristled with goodies like relativistic railguns, plasma cannons, smartmissiles, multiband lasers, and gravy guns. Tagon once referred to it as a "Dragon class" cruiser. Basically she could fly like the wind, and spit fire beyond the wildest fever dreams of Dante...

Secondly, as I have repeatedly said, the ships the Toughs have been using were terrible for them as mercenaries. It wouldn't have taken much for a ship to be an upgrade for them, especially in the case of Cindercone, which may as well have had "STEAL ME" painted on it.

[factotum]

Yeah, classing it as a "downgrade" is maybe true if you're talking about the Post-Dated Check Loan, which was a massive Tausennigan warship, but something relatively small which can put out a lot of firepower is actually something the Toughs have been missing--although it's not clear what firepower Broken Wind has, since they've only ever repelled boarders on that ship.

[Kantaki]

So uh is that a reproduction of the first ship the Toughs ever had ? ... Isn't that kiind of a downgrade on every front ?

Nah, I don't think so.
Even if it is a exact replica it still had a lot of firepower in a much more practical size.
Assuming the Toughs have the ship rebuild with the kind of technology they have access to now it should be even better than Cindercone and Broken Wind. At least Kitesfear II can fight back when someone tries to steal her.

[eschmenk]

...although it's not clear what firepower Broken Wind has, since they've only ever repelled boarders on that ship.

We do know that most of Broken Wind's boats don't have much firepower. The two that Foxworthy and Ventura built are supposed to be improvements. The problem is that Broken Wind and its boats were built when DMEs were the major threat. They weren't designed for the sorts of battles that the Toughs would likely find themselves in. Kitesfear was. OTOH, if DMEs start to become a problem again, they might be glad to have Broken Wind.

The other problem that Broken Wind has is that it's such a tempting target since it constructed out of PTUs. With the PTU world being divided up, maybe the price of PTUs will go down. If so, that might not be such a problem anymore.

BTW, I assume that Cindercone's AI will transfer to the new warship? Chinook controlled Cindercone's twin herself.

[Imgran]

Yeah, classing it as a "downgrade" is maybe true if you're talking about the Post-Dated Check Loan, which was a massive Tausennigan warship, but something relatively small which can put out a lot of firepower is actually something the Toughs have been missing--although it's not clear what firepower Broken Wind has, since they've only ever repelled boarders on that ship.

Integrity/TAG and Pedey were both way too big for what they needed, their numbers were never big enough to maximize the value of such powerful ships, and the ships themselves (especially Pedey) painted a large target on their backs that they only survived by a combination of ingenuity, can-do attitude and dumb luck.

The last ship they had that really suited the needs of a small mercenary company was Serial Peacemaker. Every other ship they've had you kept seeing occasional consequences of just how badly they were understaffing the thing. KFII will be a huge upgrade over Serial Peacemaker in ship-to-ship fights and can probably do nearly everything else the SP did for the company reasonably well, without being so oversized for the company that they can't get maximum value out of it. And unlike these oversized cruisers they have been tooling around in, they can fully man all stations with crew to spare.

[Gnoman]

They're remaking Tagon's original ship? That makes more sense, I thought they were making a baby battleplate.

[factotum]

It's interesting that Karl is clearly making a distinction between his dead son and the resurrected Kaff who he's talking to at the moment. Is that going to be a general attitude, or is it just because he's set in his ways?