Comic for Thursday, December 21st
The dragon can probably fly a little faster than you’d expect from a winged creature. Notably it does not really seem to use wings when going at high speed. Red constructs play better with physics than other kinds, but that doesn’t mean they don’t occasionally just ignore them. Case in point, it’s, ah, still a dragon, in case you hadn’t noticed… 😛
Kally is pretty good at shooting down things, really. Most mages suffer from a great of limited range – this, for example, would be a problem for Tyler. His power is quite useful, but the effective area is relatively small – even if he was able to stop something like an H.V.W. in principle, the time between something like that entering his range and it being too late is far less than the blink of an eye, let alone having to be within range in the first place. This is a problem for weapons designed against mages – which, lets face it, most of them are – as they typically a) move very fast and/or detonate outside of the mages range. Not insurmountable problems, but problems.
One thinks that Arron and Karov might have jumped on a call earlier, things could have been avoided. Communication being key and all. Of course, it’s not like there’s not consequences to that either. Karov technically outranks Arron be quite a bit in military structure, but there are… complications, and certainly a reason that both would be reluctant to call the other. Notably, the color of uniform Kally is wearing is not a mistake, and while it may beg the question why Kally has a grey uniform, anyone that’d have to ask that is not familiar with Kally… 🙂 She is a stickler for dressing the part.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Step One, but last time it was Miko that said it. I think we’ll see Step Two before too long though.
Ah, and the Very Important Poll is complete, results are:
- Naomi (25%)
- Ila (22%)
- Kally (20%)
- Rovak (16%)
- Miko (16%)
All things considered, it was a pretty close poll. Maybe the most even split we’ve had yet. Congratulations to Naomi!
I think she maintains a perfect record in the polling, though Ila has come pretty close a few times now. I wonder if I should do preferential voting somehow, see if Naomi would still win, or if Miko or Rovak voters would have picked Ila or Kally as their second choice over Naomi? After all, she only got 25% of the total votes, so her lead really isn’t ironclad presumably… going to have to experiment with this voting stuff, but I don’t think my poll-widget supports much complexity… 😀 Or I could just exile Naomi again after she wins a few on row 😉
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I hope that Peter’s plan with Mirum and Summer’s plan with the dragon don’t wind up interfering with each other when the H.V.W. launches.
Peter provoked Biana because seeing the attack coming is the only chance they have to stop it. If Biana decided to go “covert ops” with it, like Otte implied she would, given the chance, then there’d be no damn way to stop it, and bye, bye city.
I would suggest removing Naomi next time. The difference between first and last place is only 8 points or 7 people; less than half of her number. I still expect Ila to win, simply for the cluelessly cute factor. Alas, eventually Kally (my vote) will win. :p
Or you could just assume Naomi would win and throw in a second place list for a dual character sketch. Though the Naomi-Illa duo would probably win just because they are so cute together. But still, it is an option and the suggestion might help you think of others.
On that panel, would that be Mium, outdoors while he’s indoors?
The wonderful part of having two bodies and the ability to switch between them.
Mium is an artificial intiligence with multiple “boddies” that he controls at the same time. The one indoors is the F8 model while the one outdoors is probably the F5 model that joined more recently. That is where the “Effate” that Mium uses as his last name in school comes from. We know that Mium is running on at least a couple other machines as well, but no other humanoid ones (that we have seen).
PS: Illa is the F10 model. The models only refer to the boddies, as the programming is completely different and MIUM doesn’t actually need the body to exist or to run.
This should be interesting. The last time there was a HVW strike (2015-11-13), Peter did say (later) that Mium might be able to blow up the projectile IF he could see it launch… and Peter is clearly aware of Sky Hammer… so I’m guessing Mium is watching it closely.
Kally of course has previously shown her dragon’s fire obliterates projectiles… I’m guessing her dragon’s ability to do so to a HVW relies on breathing fire soon enough so by the time the HVW reaches her dragon, it is vapourized.
I guess theoretically Mium COULD just hack Sky Hammer and stop the launch… but I’m guessing Peter needs Malsa to feel like they are under attack from a HVW to get his plan moving forward. And it would seem he need Kally (and thus Arron) to be the heroes. Mium, as usual, is just there to make sure things go to plan.
Step 3: Profit!?!
Ah, that… makes way too much sense.
Peter is purposefully targeting the consul’s office so not only is there a direct attack, which he has phone evidence for who launched it, but its aimed at the head of state and the government. A more obvious declaration of war is not possible. At the exact same time, Kally, whom he likes, will get to block it (either on her own or due to Mium) and her boss, Arron, gets the credit for his quick thiunking stopping a clearly deranged leader from doing something the IDS would regret. There will be problems, but at the end of the day the IDS is at war with itself and Malsa will be backing the one that seems to be rational and trying to help them. All Arron has to do is not be a dick, which I think he can do.
The real question now is why and how does this factor into his main plan?
I think the answer to “Why?” is, “Because Biana is stupidly obsessed with her idea of what her job entails, and she’d probably do it anyway at some point, so let’s make the most of it.” And what he gets out of it is something along the lines of “The game pieces I need look good, and more-than-potential problems get removed from play.”
“Wait . . . You wanted them to use that on us‽”
“Of course. It would be a waste for them to use it to shoot us in the back. Much better to get ahead of it and let them try to shoot us in the face.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That’s fine. That isn’t why you’re here.”
Panel 1: “Ash’s of Akkad” … “Ash’s” is either the possessive, which makes no sense, or is contraction, which also makes no sense; probably should be “Ashes of Akkad”
I hope Naomi doesn’t read your comment section.
She would be like, “so why does the dragon get to ignore gravity, and I don’t?”
Gravity seems quite fickle.
LOL. But it IS a dragon. Last time I checked with physics, something the size and shape of a dragon CAN’T fly by flapping its wings… which means IF a dragon existed, and IF it was able to fly, then the way it achieves flight would be… well magical.
If you wanted to overthink it (i.e. want a physical way for a dragon to fly), then it would probably fly the same way jet aeroplanes fly (thus can move quite fast through the air)… and would hover the same way a jump jet can… but can also move slowly through the air with a combination of wing flapping & jet propulsion (remember it’s like a jump jet, so can AIM its jets)… just don’t ask me where a dragon’s jet engines go.
Naomi I am pretty sure doesn’t have jet propulsion as an ability… (jetpack abs anyone?) (tee hee… Dr McNinja reference… try chapter 3 page 28).
Since the dragon is a magical construct anyway, she can make it a lot lighter than a physical dragon would be. She wouldn’t even need to sacrifice thrust.
There are several factors involved in deciding whether or not it would be physically possible for something like a dragon to fly (without magic). For one, it depends on how big the dragon is. I don’t believe that there is a consensus on the precise measurements of an adult dragon in mythology and folklore. (Dragons are not exclusively European. There are accounts of large flying creatures in other cultures, too.)
For another, it depends on exactly how the dragon is built. Again, there is not much consensus in mythology. Consider that, today, many scientists believe that a lot of dinosaurs were bird-like and had bird-like features, such a feathers. Consider, too, that we believe that some absolutely enormous dinosaurs did actually fly, such as the pterodactyl, pteranodon and other pterosaurs (winged prehistoric creatures). I could be mistaken, but I believe some of them even had light, hollow bones like modern birds. How can someone argue that it’s impossible for creatures resembling small dragons to have existed yet agree that pterosaurs actually did?
Also, what about creatures with large flaps of skin that are not capable of true flight but can glide for great distance – creatures such as the flying squirrel?
For the record: I do not believe that real, flesh and blood dragons ever existed as depicted in mythology. But I’m not so confident that huge as-yet-undiscovered flying creatures did not exist, perhaps even existing in the time of modern humans. Scientists are still discovering new fossils and new species all the time.
The easiest way to make it so that creatures like the Peradactyl could fly (within the realm of modern physics) is to increase air pressure. More air pressure means more to push against when they flap their wings, which means more lift, which means larger possible flying creatures. Nobody is sure why this might be, though some ideas have been put out. All we really know is that when land creatures are exposed to the types of conditions that are theorized (greater pressure, reduced radiation, etc.) they grow in sometimes unusual ways, often reflecting certain fossile records of extinct cretures within a single generation (so too fast for the gradual change of evolution). It is still treated as an alternate theory by the scientific community (ie: they think it is too silly to even look at, even with evidence) but that doesn’t make the results any less interesting.
As for Kally’s dragon: wizard did it. And she is quite a bit better at the calculations than Naomi is. Maybe it will motivate her to work harder on those calculations. :p
I forget where I read it, but I think there’s a fantasy world where dragons fly like blimps or submarines, taking in lighter gas and letting it out (by breathing fire).
Hmm.
Will Kally get a shot at saving the day, or will Mium take care of it first?
Or will Kally try (and fail) but then Mium makes it look like she succeeded?
I have a strong suspicion (and now I am deeply suspicious seeing as I spelled that right and it is something I am terrible at) Ms Summers never says she can do something she can’t. Probably a defense mechanism for enduring caring about Peter she is adorably literal.