Schlock Mercenary V: You're Missing Something Wonderful

[HandofShadows]

[QUOTE=halfeye;19761230I liked Mako, I thought she should have been saved somehow. Kowalski wasn't a convicted criminal, until Emm was discharged he was following orders (bad orders that he shouldn't have been following, but orders).
[/QUOTE]

The line "I was just following orders" was tossed out as a defense for committing atrocities and genocide decades ago.

[halfeye]

The line "I was just following orders" was tossed out as a defense for committing atrocities and genocide decades ago.

Yeah, but it was IMHO tossed a lot harder than it should have been to make an anti-nazi point that didn't necessarily need to be made quite that way. If not following orders is going to for certain get you shot, then it ought to be a valid defence, IMO.

[NEO|Phyte]

Kowalski wasn't a convicted criminal

Convicted, no, but he was very much a criminal, unless the government got rid of that whole 'illegal orders are still illegal' thing.

[halfeye]

Convicted, no, but he was very much a criminal, unless the government got rid of that whole 'illegal orders are still illegal' thing.

Well yeah, but what about Mako? Was she all Kowalski?

[Bulldog Psion]

I posted something along similar lines a while ago. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who has felt the strip has been 'off' fro quite a while now. And not seeing the cool, climatic, and interesting stuff is a good part of it. I still like it, and like Howard's work, but yeah... something has been and is missing.

Yes -- kind of no energy, no adventure, no "spark." The most interesting thing that's happened in a long time has been the Planet Mercenary playtest.

That sounds like something I'd like to see as a comic story -- not another week of Karl Tagon standing there, trading limp jibes with a couple of other officers and maundering on and on about a mission that he hasn't managed to define yet, rather than giving a crisp summary and rolling out.

[HandofShadows]

Well yeah, but what about Mako? Was she all Kowalski?

I seem to recall that she thought she was a monster and needed to be put to death. If there was a part of her that wasn't Kowalski, it was that part that realized that the rest of her was a monster.

[halfeye]

I seem to recall that she thought she was a monster and needed to be put to death. If there was a part of her that wasn't Kowalski, it was that part that realized that the rest of her was a monster.

Being suicidal doesn't make you a bad person, being a bad person makes you a bad person. Mako seemed to me to have done a lot more good than bad.

[eschmenk]

There are a lot of galaxies out there, maybe some exploration is in order?

IIRC, Kevyn burned out the wormgate to Andromeda. I guess the teraport doesn't work for distances that far away? Petey might know how to send them, but I'm pretty certain that he's trying to devote most of his resources to saving the one that his already in.

I seem to recall that she thought she was a monster and needed to be put to death. If there was a part of her that wasn't Kowalski, it was that part that realized that the rest of her was a monster.

But how did that happen? Were there any remnants of her original personality? Did Bunni's treatment restore part of the original personality? Did Kowalksky's download not quite work right? Did Kowalsky's personality develop a bit of empathy once his personality was nearly taken over by a third one?

Personally, I think the above set of questions were interesting questions. It's too bad the only explanation was, "It was probably the freckles." So much more could have been done with Maco. What a waste.

To be fair, I want to give Howard Taylor credit for making the page as large as a Sunday page, since that's what the conversation required. I get the feeling that he's not putting as much effort into the plot as he used to do, but he's still doing more than the minimum, at least.

Convicted, no, but he was very much a criminal, unless the government got rid of that whole 'illegal orders are still illegal' thing.

That's actually kind of irrelevant, anyway. The whole thing is being handled extralegally. No one wants the information about what really happened to come out. Kowalski was kidnapped and was probably delivered to Petey by now.

[halfeye]

IIRC, Kevyn burned out the wormgate to Andromeda. I guess the teraport doesn't work for distances that far away? Petey might know how to send them, but I'm pretty certain that he's trying to devote most of his resources to saving the one that his already in.

The Milky Way and Andromeda are the biggest in the local group, but the Triangulum is third, before any of the dwarfs. Once you get out of the local group, it's mostly spirals and elipticals, because dwarfs are too dim to see at long range, and there are still billions.

But how did that happen? Were there any remnants of her original personality? Did Bunni's treatment restore part of the original personality? Did Kowalksky's download not quite work right? Did Kowalsky's personality develop a bit of empathy once his personality was nearly taken over by a third one?

Personally, I think the above set of questions were interesting questions. It's too bad the only explanation was, "It was probably the freckles." So much more could have been done with Maco. What a waste.

To be fair, I want to give Howard Taylor credit for making the page as large as a Sunday page, since that's what the conversation required. I get the feeling that he's not putting as much effort into the plot as he used to do, but he's still doing more than the minimum, at least.

Yeah, sort of sad.

[Kantaki]

New comic.

I like this comic.
„We aren't mobile.” „My ship says otherwise.”
It could have been done a little bit more subtle, but impressing the hirelings can't hurt.

[Rockphed]

New comic.

I like this comic.
„We aren't mobile.” „My ship says otherwise.”
It could have been done a little bit more subtle, but impressing the hirelings can't hurt.

I like how Lt Reynstein is treating the Sanctum Adroit people. It is just the right mix of condescension and confusion to keep the lackeys honest.

[Lizard Lord]

New comic.

I like this comic.
„We aren't mobile.” „My ship says otherwise.”
It could have been done a little bit more subtle, but impressing the hirelings can't hurt.

How exactly do you subtly put someone's space station inside your ship?

To even try and be subtle about it would garner far more mistrust.

[Kantaki]

How exactly do you subtly put someone's space station inside your ship?

To even try and be subtle about it would garner far more mistrust.

You tell them about it before the space station transporting "ship"* shows up. Maybe subtle was the wrong word, let's say less blunt.

But as I said impressing the hirelings is important and from that perspective Massey did everything right.

*Is ship even the right word for something that can carry space stations and battleplates?

[Lizard Lord]

*Is ship even the right word for something that can carry space stations and battleplates?

Why not? My understanding of the definition of the word "ship" is that size has nothing to do with it. Are battleplates not ships? Where exactly is the line drawn?

[Kantaki]

Why not? My understanding of the definition of the word "ship" is that size has nothing to do with it. Are battleplates not ships? Where exactly is the line drawn?

All I'm saying is that the word "ship" seems a bit small to describe something that can carry entire space-stations.

[Lizard Lord]

All I'm saying is that the word "ship" seems a bit small to describe something that can carry entire space-stations.

I still don't understand. Is it because it is a small word? So is huge.

At any rate, Eina-Afa was called a mothership way back when the Toughs first arrived there, and Cindercone doesn't hold a candle to the can full of sky.

[Kantaki]

That was supposed to be the joke. No, it's just that many of the Oafaan "ships" are of a size that makes it ridicoulous to call them that. The same goes for battleplates the cloak-thing of the Koalas. Something like "Flying City" seems appropiate.

And the right word for Eina-afa is "artificial world" not "space station"

I mean Pluto isn't a planet any more because it is too small. The reverse should be true as well.

Aunt Edith says: I think you are mixing something up there. Eina-afa is the ridiulous oversized space Station. Mothership is the Mialhoua-ua the ship the Thoughs got their mission-briefing on.

[eschmenk]

I mean Pluto isn't a planet any more because it is too small.

That's not really correct. The International Astronomical Union decided that to be a planet, an object had to pass three tests:

Be in orbit around the Sun
Have enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape
Clear the neighborhood of its orbit

Pluto fails the third test. That's a functional test that involves size, but it's not about size directly. There isn't any arbitrary lower size limit for a planet.

I wonder how much this announcement about six months earlier had to do with that. It's as if Howard has gotten tired of having the Toughs shoot stuff up and wants to explore big ideas (and big places) before ending things...

And so we get yet another joke about size. Yes, Cindercone is big. Eina-afa is big. The galaxy is big. Infinite lifespans are long. Longcats are long. Yes, Howard, we undersand. You don't need to keep repeating yourself.

[factotum]

Pluto fails the third test. That's a functional test that involves size, but it's not about size directly. There isn't any arbitrary lower size limit for a planet.

The only problem is, the same applies to Earth and even Jupiter--there are thousands of asteroids that cross the orbits of these planets which have not been "cleared" by them. I can see why Pluto was removed as a planet--because it's not even the largest object in the Kuiper belt, and if we call it a planet, there are many other bodies out there which would qualify--but the definition the IAU used to strip it of its "planet" status is rather suspect, unfortunately.

[halfeye]

The only problem is, the same applies to Earth and even Jupiter--there are thousands of asteroids that cross the orbits of these planets which have not been "cleared" by them. I can see why Pluto was removed as a planet--because it's not even the largest object in the Kuiper belt, and if we call it a planet, there are many other bodies out there which would qualify--but the definition the IAU used to strip it of its "planet" status is rather suspect, unfortunately.

I agree. It's not the changed status that's silly, though I don't much like it I understand it, but the rules they've used to implement it are not very sensible.

[Ibrinar]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleari..._neighbourhood Look at the difference in Soter's planetary discriminant, I would say the difference is large enough to use it to split them into clear categories.

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact...-not-count-pl/ But yeah that even an altered definition is dependant on the distance to the sun (because it gets harder to clear it with higher distances) is maybe a bit awkward.

[halfeye]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleari..._neighbourhood Look at the difference in Soter's planetary discriminant, I would say the difference is large enough to use it to split them into clear categories.

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact...-not-count-pl/ But yeah that even an altered definition is dependant on the distance to the sun (because it gets harder to clear it with higher distances) is maybe a bit awkward.

I don't like it.

The main factors seem to be closeness to the Sun and mass. Earth and Venus are close to the Sun and heavy, Jupiter is heavier but further out, Saturn is further out than jupiter but next heaviest, Mars is nearer the sun than either of those, Mercury is really light but nearest the sun of all, then Uranus and Neptune are further out, Neptune is heavier than Uranus, but Uranus wins by being nearer the sun. Except Ceres, which is relatively tiny, the rest are further from the sun. What bothers me, is that a Jupiter mass object at say eight times the distance of Pluto from the sun would also be a Dwarf planet, and with that mass that would be very silly indeed.

[eschmenk]

What bothers me, is that a Jupiter mass object at say eight times the distance of Pluto from the sun would also be a Dwarf planet, and with that mass that would be very silly indeed.

But is it realistic to expect that such a thing would exist? How would it have formed?

[Kantaki]

New comic.

Sanctum Adroit has a formula to determinate how much crime there is without law-enforcement? Massey is right the sooner they get to Eina-afa the better... and the sooner the Thoughs start to their good will mission the more time the new sheriffs will have before something requires their presence.

[Discus-Spinner]

... the Thoughs start ...

It's Toughs. "The Thoughs" sounds like an indie band who are trying too hard.

[Kantaki]

It's Toughs. "The Thoughs" sounds like an indie band who are trying too hard.

No, no, no, had I wroten "The sooner (the) Tagons Thoughs start..." you would have a point. The the would be unnecessary and look silly. But if I shorten the name to Thoughs the the is necessary - if only to make it look less wrong to me.

[BannedInSchool]

No, no, no, had I wroten "The sooner (the) Tagons Thoughs start..." you would have a point.

No, no, no. You're spelling their name whrong.

[Kantaki]

No, no, no. You're spelling their name whrong.

Oopps. Never mind then. Ignore what I said. I have no idea how that happened.

[Bulldog Psion]

Unless I missed something, we still don't know whose good will the good will mission is supposed to be cultivating?

[eschmenk]

Unless I missed something, we still don't know whose good will the good will mission is supposed to be cultivating?

We just cut away from the meeting, so we don't know. It was as if Karl's briefing was so disorganized that even Howard gave up on it. I don't know if there is a plan or anything. I assume the mission is still a go, but I'm not even sure of that.