Schlock Mercenary

See, this is what confused me about the Gav's project to transcribe all the data off of Oisiri. Where were they storing it all?

I think the Gavs were transmitting the data to other locations as they were obtaining it. Also, if that arc made anything clear, it was that the Gavs Didn't Think This Through.

Reminder: Offscreen Villainy does not count towards Complete Monster.

So, is Urtheep (the company responsible for that failed uprising on Earth) doing this with Petey's permission or (at least in their own minds), behind his back?

I find it highly amusing how Toughs have all these elaborately threatening wordplay names for some of their weaker ships.

If this thing gets in close its not going to be a 'weaker' ship for long with that gun.

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It is still on the lower end. Hell, even Ennesby's corvette had bigger annies and thus more power in its main cannon even beside the hyperspace cheat.

It's still on the small end of their ships. Stuff lower would be Serial Peacemaker (another overly threatening case), Bristlecone and the original Kitesfar.

edited 11th Feb '17 3:10:51 AM by Adannor

I think Cindy is trying way too hard with the wordplay here. It'll definitely go over the heads of most of the people they need to impress.

Serial Peacemaker was definitely the "best" ship name they've come up with so far, since it captures the "scary implications" goal while still sounding menacing at first glance. But Post Dated Check Loan was much more amusing.

I was partial to Touch and Go, myself.

It was also bigger, the Dragon class (of which the Kitesfear was) was only 70m long, the Serial Peacemaker was 100m. OTOH, the Kitesfear was a (well-worn) proper warship, while the Serial Peacemaker was a converted troop transport, so the Kitesfear probably packed more armour and firepower.

edited 14th Feb '17 10:15:08 PM by MattII

So, in the last few comics, it appears that things are not as they seem! So, par for the course. My guess is the people who hired them are actually trying to sabotage the "thieves" and steal the research for themselves.

Well of course the guys don't want Toughs to find out what is it Jozagle's Purse crew discovered and wants to keep to themselves, out of fear that they'll want it too. Its par for the course in this business.

Alternate theory- the Purse crew got possessed/taken over by whatever they found.

What I meant is that they're trying to steal it from the other faction by making it look like their rivals turned traitor, and sending a bunch of thugs after them. Of course, plans like that often don't go as predicted when the thugs are the Toughs. They're only bound to do what you actually told them you wanted done, after all.

edited 16th Feb '17 8:16:08 PM by Brickman

New strip. I kinda have to agree with Tagon here, after the last book I would NOT be happy with an Espee anywhere near my ship. Though the question remains, is this one a heretic like the Espee pirates Ebby talked about, or aligned with the ones they just had dealings with? My guess is the latter.

edited 19th Feb '17 7:29:57 PM by Brickman

On Friday and Saturday's strips. Would anyone even know about Lord of the Rings that far into the future? I'd think it would be an extremely obscure reference, like if someone today told a joke referencing the Aeneid or something. Also, would each member of the hive mind draw individual checks or just one collective one?

I think it's safe to say that, from a cultural standpoint, the Lord of the Rings will always be regarded as classic literature. Given how much influence it has had on so much fantasy literature since then. Of course, that doesn't mean that most people will have read it, just like most people haven't read the Aeneid or the Epic of Gligamesh or a bunch of other things. Anyone making references to those things is a huge nerd who had better be talking to other huge nerds in the same field.

Then again, it could also end up more like the Illiad and the Odyssey. Most people haven't read that either, but if you make references to stuff like the sirens or the cyclops or even th Trojan Horse they're going to get it. Even if they don't know the source. Actually Tolkein is almost sure to end up like that, given how the genre's molded itself around him. Tailor's reference was still probably too specific though.

"It may surprise some readers to learn how well-read Captain Tagon is. After all, while some images may be part of the collective 'common knowledge,' not everybody knows what a koala looks like."

The most likely explanation is that Howard forgot he made that joke, but if we have to come up with an in-universe explanation, it's possible that Lord of the Rings is still remembered, but The Hobbit has been forgotten.

It's just the hobbits that are persistent knowledge, through their many reflections. Specific plot of just one book with them is less notable than the whole.

edited 26th Feb '17 11:27:11 AM by Adannor

I'm not complaining, but is it really confusing right now, with what, four? six? more? different story-lines all going on at the same time, and only a couple days being spent on each one at a time?

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

Breya what did you do?

"You can reply to this Message!"

Apparently something extremely stupid, although from her tone it probably wasn't her that did it.

This law makes no sense though—the long gun doesn't need to be IN a system to fire on that system. A blockade accomplishes literally nothing.

Yeah, she either had to do it to try mollify them or it was directly demanded from her.

Alternatively, he's played D&D (He does make a joke about it once), and in first edition, what later were called halflings were there called hobbits.

It wasn't entirely her decision, as the Thursday strip suggests with its "I will be pressured to expand the ban" in the second panel.

As for not making sense, see the last panel of the previous strip. "Collective freak-out."

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