I get why the others on Garion’s panel are there but I cannot for
the life of me understand why Tenshi – or ANYONE like Tenshi – had
to be there. What is her function in this panel, Catman? Help me
here cause I totally do not understand.
Ditto. I can only think she is there to help determine punishment.
Will she want the pin pulled, button pushed or whatever method used?
There is no appeal. Maybe lifetime slavery on a mining planet or
something that is forever punishing similar?
I wouldn’t recommend a mining planet or anything like that… desperate
men with access to mining tools stuck on a planet that has a rare cargo
ship show up to collect? Recipe for disaster there more so if there’s
dynamite. Or if any of them paid attention in chemistry class,
coal+sulfur+saltpeter = boom.
As I wrote a day or so back, some men just need killing. You don’t
try to reason with a rabid dog. You cannot rehabilitate it nor can
you cure it. Like a rabid dog, Ryder represents a significant threat
to civilized society. Killing him and his cohorts nullifies that
threat permanently. As a wise man once wrote, “The recidivism rate
among executed murderers approaches zero. Those folks almost never
reoffend.”
My wife and I taught both our sons about stranger danger at length
and it paid off I was working night shift at the time so I would get
the boys up for school before going to bed they hadn’t been at the
bus stop for 5 minutes when a couple of very frightend and upset
boys (6-8 y/o)came home and told me about a unmarked white van and
the guy inside trying to get them to get in I called the cops and
ran to the stop trying to spot the van and wait for the cops in my
bathrobe and house shoes. They caught the guy about 6 months later.
That poster should have both genders on it!
AS I have said the panel is to gauge the political/social
reaction to the sentence the courts have imposed.
Because of its nature it was obviously a closed trial so
the public know very little about the evidence.
If they release as much as possible, will they traumatize many young
females so they are afraid to go out on their own; especially at night?
Hence Tenshi’s presence.
If they release practically nothing will the SJW cry foul, rigged,
cover up? Hence Big Red’s presence.
I suspect the male to follow Tenshi has done so to comfort her, not
because he was too traumatized to continue. I wonder if he
(and perhaps Tenshi) will return?
“If they release practically nothing will the SJW cry foul, rigged, cover up?”
SJWs will cry foul no matter what. Unless the victim was their close kin in
which case they will be the one hollering loudest for execution.
Amazing how having skin in the game can alter one’s perception.
Two of the members are against the death penalty outright and another is a news reporter
that has some credibility with her viewers if they all agree in the end then the King did the
right thing I just feel for Tenshi that’s a hard thing to see and forgetting impossible. I know.
I expect that the Crimson Corpulence, her apparent reaction in TGW-931 panels 3 & 4 not withstanding, to object to execution. She is a complete ideologue and in my experience ideologues do not let mere facts interfere with their belief system. I would expect her to offer a “Yes, but” response and then go on to assert that however horrific Ryder et al’s actions were that still does not justify the death penalty. As for the other person, I would expect him to agree with the necessity of putting Ryder and his friends down like the rabid dogs they are. Actually, it is unfair to rabid dogs to equate Ryder with one of the. A rabid dog is sick. Ryder and company are just flat out evil!
I would of have done the same thing no one should go through that but
sometimes it can’t be avoided King Garion needed a sampling from all
walks of life from the experienced to the victims peers to make sure
that everyone would be satisfied with his decision. They can’t release
the videos it would harm anyone watching and devastate the families
of the victims. I for one would not want the last memory of
my daughter to be of that!
Yes Ambassador Markin, things have changed –
dramatically – from last you heard.
With the aid of the Terrains the Catians are no longer slaves and
now control their own planet and were the first off Earth group to
join the Wolf Empire.
They have taken part in a raid on the human planet to release those
held in slavery there and (partially due to luck) disabled their
home fleet and successfully fought off an attack inadvertently
causing a revolution leading to a significant change of leadership
more friendly to them.
The Catians now build most Earth Star ships, but Earth builds the
gravity drives on them, a technological advance few know even exist.
Cathan’s pride is one of the ships that the Catians have built not
just terrian’s ships while some are on earth’s asteroid belt there’s
quite a few terrian’s there too.
Even then the drives were said to be easy to make it’s the control
panels are very tricky and few can successfully make them so it’s a
bottle-neck. Much easier to refit ships with them and the missiles
with over-clocked drives on the noses only. Only a large enough
object in the way could deflect them. A very simple and almost
undetectable homing missile. The grav-guns can shoot through
glass or metal as well.
We saw that with the booth incident on the Bushear
slave ship when Chirk & Co freed it.
A gravity drive and a control head on a piece of rock,
aim at enemy flagship and let go…
– “What happened to our flagship?”
– “They got struck by a meteor, no reason to cry foul.”
Very true an overclocked grav drive and a basic on switch with enough distance could
reach 0.01% of light speed that would be fast enough to make it look like an atomic
blast! if you’re wondering that’s 186,000(per second) x 0.0001 x 60 x 60 which is a
blistering 66,960 mph! That would turn tungsten into a vapor! Yeah I doubt anyone
or thing made could survive the g-forces. A meteor could turn into a shotgun-like blast
before it would reach the target.
There is a detail that took a long time to sink in. Ship classes are
a pain in the… neck. Many science fiction stories use them
arbitrarily, even major franchises do so.
The Gentle Wolf does not and it’s still very difficult to understand
sometimes. The dreadnought and the two heavy cruisers from the Core
World we saw before were ‘only’ armed transport ships, not true warships.
When they are talking about the ships the Empire gave to the Dogishuans
they call them a battle squadron. These are real warships. That
dreadnought alone can probably fight and win against several current
Core World Dreadnoughts.
Core Worlds, largest to smallest:
Dreadnought
Heavy Cruiser
Light Cruiser
Destroyer
Frigate
The Wolf Empire has only Destroyer and Frigate/carriers for now, for reasons explained here: http://thegentlewolf.net/comic/tgw-887/
They do have plans for a larger fleet carrier, but even that will be only
slightly larger than a Core Destroyer.
Of course, both fleets have scouts, supply ships, repair ships, etc. But the
Imperial Navy has a higher percentage of those than the Core fleet.
Because the Wolf is preparing for war, and the Core isn’t. Yet.
And all Wolf ships, military and civilian, rely much more on automation to
lessen the manpower strain, which is an ongoing problem.
Thank you for the clarification.
Considering the Wolf Empire’s stealth systems and the Frigates due their automation either being smaller or carrying more weapons than their Core Worlds counterparts makes them more dangerous.
The manpower strain is an interesting factor.
This will change for the Wolf Empire in the long run. Their new members can expand their population while at the same time Earth gets more and more unified. And all of them will be ready to defend the freedom their parents did not have.
Meanwhile the Core Worlds may have a different problem. After the first skirmishes, which they will probably loose and they either bring mothballed ships back into service or build new ones they have to get their people to sign up to fight in a deadly war. This could be rather difficult. If I go by usual reactions, there will probably be an outcry to put town these interlopers and protect their luxurious way of living. Though the question is how many of them are ready to die themselves.
BTW, me guessing like this just shows how interested I am in the story. I don’t really care if I’m right or not 🙂 I’m just enjoying the ride.
Some things for you to speculate on: (Help me out, here)
What sort of government do the Core worlds have?
How much power do the commercial interests have?
What does their social/educational system look like?
What effect would that have on military recruiting? What
effect would any government information or propaganda
have on recruiting? On support for a war?
If imports from the Fringe Worlds are cut off, what effect
would that have on the various social levels of the Core worlds?
What effect will free, fair and open trade have on the various
Imperial worlds and societies? On the Fringe worlds that are
not (yet) a part of the Empire?
The Empire’s GOAL, while it will probably be impossible to reach,
is to have every Fringe world willingly join the Empire. Some,
such as dictatorships, will not want to, and will not be forced
or otherwise interfered with.
As far as manpower within the Empire, the problem is not finding
willing bodies, the problem is the training facilities. Not just the numbers,
either. Some species require severely different shipboard environments
to operate at maximum. The Aquatanes, for example, require almost
100% humidity and a much higher environmental temperature. The
Lizards, no more than 15% humidity and an even higher temperatures,
while the Trolls can’t stand space travel at all and must be tranked for
any trip, like the Ambassador to Earth.
The Imperial Navy will not have forced diversity, so while their ships
will train together, many of the species will have to build or expand their
own training facilities. Ships will have to be built for their needs and
fighting styles.
Any speculation and suggestions on my readers’ part will be most
welcome and helpful. Thanks in advance.
Government I’d say a system similar to Russia/China communistic: leaders chosen by peers for life etc…
I noticed some of the core troops were complaining about it.
Commercial I’d say a LOT simply because money talks etc… I don’t doubt they have a say in the
government leaders decisions and may even force disagreeable ones ousted.
Social/educational may be similar to ours but heavy on the propaganda and nonhuman racism.
Military recruiting depends on how much the general population buys into the propaganda and
if not then maybe a system of draft or every family has to give one member to the military?
War support depends on the propaganda as well.
Imports would have a more severe effect than sanctions that is used here many core worlds
would suffer a resource shortage in a short time forcing a conflict before they were ready. The social
effects would could be serious and hit the poor and the working class first (propaganda machine would kick in).
Free and fair trade is a double-edged sword many of the benign races would flourish and grow strong
but the aggressive ones could use the “wealth” to build a war machine they’ve always wanted etc…
(ooooh pretty! LOL)
The one thing I have noticed and I highly approve of is you write about aged or disabled experienced
workers while cannot work anymore have knowledge and skills to help train and teach the skills the
empire lacks I myself was a factory mechanic for 15 years only reason I left was a lost argument
with a 10,000 lbs (4550kgm) piece of a machine I was working on I lost 3 inch of height and the most
of the feeling in my legs in your universe I’d be a teacher for budding machinists, welders, pipe fitters,
sheet metal workers, and basic electricians. Now I feed farm animals and annoy people on the internet LOL!
Yes I can walk (slowly) took a while but I learned how.
I suspect that it would be unlikely the more diverse races could not comfortably mix on board ships because
of the environmental issues as you say that has been addressed many times in the sci-fi genre even as
early as the Star Trek TOS era cannon you can’t put a human on a “Tolian” ship they’d be a crispy mess.
I suggest a trainer training for each race on how to use the new tech through safe interaction like a video
classroom setting and hands on training with a panic override just in case. Some things the races will have
to figure things out on their own I’m afraid. Tools and equipment adjusted to fit their hands/claws/graspers/hoofs
and conversion tables for measurements etc…
As I’m sure you’ve noticed I used to write sci-fi short stories in school some were pretty popular just never got anywhere
with it as I grew up and yea I did spend too much time thinking about these things ;).
The type of governments in the Core Worlds might not matter too much.
While their was the British Empire, the East India Trading Company was a military force in it’s own right and and surpassed many non-European powers at the time in strength.
Even in our current times some corporations could do that if they wanted to, but often enough it’s not profitable.
The power of the commercial interests depend on how dependent the Core Worlds are on resources from the Fringe Worlds and how many jobs are tied into those.
Though I liked the system we had once (it got a bit out of balance) compared to that of the US, which in my opinion is too much focused on the college.
We had a basic school for the first 4 to 6 years. Four years were the absolute minimum, but the 5th and 6th year depended on the talents of the student. Then they switched to 3 different school types.
Hauptschule, which focused on more practical skills which were necessary for vocational jobs. These jobs had their own training for 2-3 years which is mixed between school studies and practical training in a business. Employers can be sure that people with the degree for this job had a minimum of skill for everything that the Job entailed. Some even taught everything necessary to open their own business. It’s like an apprenticeship which doesn’t pay as much as a full job as incentive for the employer to train them, which still nets them a partial worker. Of course some trained their own new permanent workers.
More importantly these days is that the trainees get thoroughly introduced to the current technology being used. After all, even cash registers change (until the cashier gets automated).
Next was Realschule, a more middling school type between practical and higher skills. Some do vocational training and afterwards get the Gymnasium degree and go to college. They tend to do rather well in studies that match their vocational training. Like having the vocational training to run a business and getting a business degree.
Last was the Gymnasium which prepared the student for college.
It is possible to get a higher degree later in life.
This system ensures that everyone has the necessary qualifications for the jobs suited for their skills.
I suspect that propaganda will have a major impact on recruiting and support of the war. From the looks of it the Core Worlds are very comfortable with the status quo they are enforcing. As it is, the population of the Core Worlds would probably ask why they even need recruits when they have mercenaries and so on. It depends on how comfy they have become in the current lifestyle. The people in power will probably have to paint the Fringe Worlds as ungrateful barbarians or worse. They might have to put the fault of the war on the Fringe Worlds.
It’s a point many don’t like to hear, but most people in the USA wanted to stay out of international conflicts before WWII. It took Pearl Harbor and the declarations of war from Imperial Japan and the 3rd Reich to rouse them despite what was going on in Europe and Asia.
The effect of imports from the Fringe Worlds cut off depends on how dependent they are on them. By what we have seen the Fringe Worlds can’t even increase their population that much because of the Core Worlds pressure. If they could develop their entire star system they would (will?) be much more independent. Most of them look like they are limited to their home planet.
That said, even if the Core Worlds are not that dependent on the imports from the Fringe Worlds, it could mean a major disruption of their supply chain at least until they have adapted. It also will cost jobs which will trickle down to every social level. And that does not include the need for materials and personal for building and crewing new ships.
Despite the war and from what we have seen so far, the Imperial Worlds Worlds will fare much better on most levels as part of the Empire. With a stellar industry they won’t be polluting their planets and even growing populations won’t be a problems thanks to orbital farming. Overpopulation can be redirected to orbital colonies if no one wants to introduce limits to reproduction.
The only thing that is difficult to predict is the impact of Artificial Intelligence.
One universe I knew has a huge computer on the moon that at the height of the nation allowed them to keep an overview of about 1,500 member worlds. Once they found a station belonging to an intergalactic transport network. It was inactive, but they tried to learn what they could. When the station activated and an invasion force came through the moon computer had combat robots arriving within minutes (they have a transport similar to the Star Trek transporter) and only a little later combat troops joined them.
The same universe had a robot civilization that was enslaved by an outside force (to put it simply). One of the relatively immortal main characters managed to eliminate that mechanism. the entire civilization has been trusty allies to the Terrans ever since and has been ready to sacrifice themselves to save biological life in general. Despite them being completely sentient by now. They do realize that the freedom to make your own choices is important, so they don’t try to take over the galaxy in order to save lives.
While some Fringe Worlds might not want to join the Wolf Empire, if they are dependent on trade with the Core Worlds they might be forced to at least trade with the Empire after the war starts. The Empire can’t let ships pass the border. They can’t risk any information they don’t want to pass to the Core Worlds, especially not about the defenses. Only systems that don’t need trade can afford not to trade with the Empire. And there are quite a few advantages of joining.
About this universe I mentioned. It’s the longest running Science Fiction series in the word which started in 1961 and is still running, Perry Rhodan. I learned a lot about Science Fiction and how to write a big story in smaller chapters just by reading it and I haven’t read all of them. They do a good job considering the have been able to keep people interested for over 60 years now. Sadly translations into English did not work out for various reasons.
In 2011 they started a new series, Perry Rhodan Neo. It’s essentially a complete restart of the series while the main series goes on. It’s meant to give new readers a new start without the baggage of 60 years of canon. It also begins closer to our time. I mention this because I had to look something up and discovered that Perry Rhodan Neo is being translated into English. It is written by many of the experienced writers of the main series. So the techniques they have developed over 60 years are still being used. They work with ‘cycles’ which in the main series go over 100 issues and tell a large story. The starting issues are written so that new readers have an easier entrance into the series. Sometimes they jump forwards in time between cycles so they don’t have to write the boring parts. And with the starting issues written for new readers, they also go over the changes in the time jump for the old readers. The cycles in Perry Rhodan Neo are a little shorter, but the technique is the same. While only 8 issues of Neo have been published in English, the original has already 276 issues, so if profitable there is a lot to come.
For an overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
As we currently see in known Franchises, Science Fiction can be complicated, very complicated.
I thought what you were describing sounded like Perry Rhodan. I only read it in the English
translations as they were coming out (and losing ground with the German originals that were
published more often) through the first 70 or so. Then I took a course in college that taught a
bit of German history, and I came to understand the concept called Fuhrerprincip (leader principle).
I compared it to the series’ coterie of “relatively immortal” characters, especially the eponymous
always wise, benevolent, all-powerful President For Life That Cannot Die, and I was done. Still,
there’s a lot of good in that series. I’ve been told it gets even better, but I can’t say either way.
Yes, they ditched that a while ago. While Perry and his friend Bully have been in and out of office several times, it’s more like that they get invited to join the election these days. They have taken other positions when asked. But when a crises arises you usually want people that are experienced in dealing with them, so they are often called back, even if it’s ‘just’ in a supporting role.
Though being the elected leader of a star nation with over 1,000 members is quite stressful. And that’s without a crises that threatens the entire galaxy or more.
Also, the coterie had some losses over the 3 millennia. Right now there are only 6 left in the milky way galaxy. Some have wandered off and have enough to do elsewhere while others have been killed.
The characters have also gotten a more introspective and admitted about their mistakes in the past.
Like I said, the writers know how to keep people interested and they manage to sneak in some ‘sense of wonder’ from time to time.
Which is probably why the Neo series I mentioned worked out well. It’s not bogged down with writing styles and themes of the past or that huge amount of canon.
I hear you there! My stories were 110-150 pages tops I love well thought out and far reaching
plots like how PC has been doing with good twists mixed in so we are always guessing and
discussing them 🙂
With the grav tech and the low power usage even a frigate could handle a core dreadnought.
If they detect a launch by the enemy raise shields, then lower to return fire in many cases I’ve
seen the grav “missiles” get a one-hit kill/disable and the grav guns can turn flesh into a slurry
if need be. If I were you I’d introduce a self-destruct on all terrian/catian ships so the core can’t
steal that tech! Or at least in the control console/emitters.
From the Core Worlds’ point of view, are the Human worlds (Lamia and the other Northern Worlds, Catia, the Southern Worlds together) part of the “Fringe Worlds” or are they considered even more isolated from Civilization than that? Are the “Horned Ones” (daemonic or gazelle-like, except for the hands) and the “Goblins” the only Core species that have appeared “on camera” so far? (We don’t know much about the Arachnians of course, and less about whatever the receptionist with the eye-tentacles is, of course. They might be “Core”.)
The Human worlds are in a class of their own, maybe “Forbidden Worlds”?
They are members of the Council, but everyone pretty much ignores them.
The Human ambassador’s wife hates the situation, but hopes it will improve
as the Catians provide (she hopes) more of a social life.
It’s… Complicated. There is regular communication between Humans and Catia,
so the Humans are aware of Catia’s economic growth. There is also the growing
romantic friendship between the Human President and the Catian Planetary
manager, which is mutual.
I bet it is! and it’ll get worse I’m sure racism and bad opinions will play a factor as well
with such a diverse group of races there is going to be both ends of the spectrum as
far as interactions and relationships go I don’t envy the story outlines you’re going to
have to make!
Who’s supposed to be “after” children? Knowing you, you think it’s LGBT people and “libs” even though both are more against pedophilia than anyone, and most child molestation comes from right wing christian mutants.
Hey, Fuck. Welcome.
In this scene, the people who are after children are the actual predators like
those who were tried and convicted. You’re reading too much into it.
It’s funny that you draw those lines. My readers range from left to right, and
no one here really cares about your dividing lines.
No one here cares about race, sexual preferences, gender or
anything else of a divisive nature. My readers care about character and actions,
just as in real life.
Informal rules:
Mostly, the only politics we discuss here are those within the webcomic. This
site is a refuge, not a battleground.
Everyone is welcome, as long as courtesy is observed. Feel free to call me an
asshole, as long as you do it politely. You get points for style.
If I make an error, correct me. I want to write the best story I can, and I can’t
do that without your help and advice. I am not the smartest person in this room.
Thanks for reading.
Please! You’re making us left wingers look bad.
Yes, I’m a Democrat. I even collected signatures to
get Bernie on the ballot. You’ll win no arguments
with screaming insults in this manner. Starting with your screen name:
It alone is an attempt to start a metaphorical bar fight.
It will irritate the most sanguine reader.
I would classify this story with Utopian literature.
Differences in sexual orientation are accepted as I
a norm.
Religion – “it aint nobody’s business’ if I do or if I don’t”.
The story as well as the readers and comments
on here take a dim view of pedophilia.
“but if you want money for minds that hate
all I can say is you’ll have to wait”
They weren’t talking just about money.
Read the whole comic. Change your screen name.
If you then have something constructive to say
Come back and comment.
I know I’m late on this comment, but..
Curtis, I think I would much rather have Bernie running again, rather than the
current candidate and her VP choice.
To be honest, I think he would do far less damage than she would.
Just using her current record up until now as a measuring tape.
I hope this doesn’t offend, but I just can’t envision her as a leader of
the USA.
That woman is a “Karen” that managed to get actual power
and is willing to do anything to keep it. She never did
anything she was asked to do by the pres, and has the
nerve to claim that she wasn’t ever given those jobs in
the first place. She’s just a puppet.
I get why the others on Garion’s panel are there but I cannot for
the life of me understand why Tenshi – or ANYONE like Tenshi – had
to be there. What is her function in this panel, Catman? Help me
here cause I totally do not understand.
I’m afraid you’ll have to wait.
King Garion gets asked the same question soon.
Can/will do.
Ditto. I can only think she is there to help determine punishment.
Will she want the pin pulled, button pushed or whatever method used?
There is no appeal. Maybe lifetime slavery on a mining planet or
something that is forever punishing similar?
Sorry I was trying to reply to Bill.
I wouldn’t recommend a mining planet or anything like that… desperate
men with access to mining tools stuck on a planet that has a rare cargo
ship show up to collect? Recipe for disaster there more so if there’s
dynamite. Or if any of them paid attention in chemistry class,
coal+sulfur+saltpeter = boom.
As I wrote a day or so back, some men just need killing. You don’t
try to reason with a rabid dog. You cannot rehabilitate it nor can
you cure it. Like a rabid dog, Ryder represents a significant threat
to civilized society. Killing him and his cohorts nullifies that
threat permanently. As a wise man once wrote, “The recidivism rate
among executed murderers approaches zero. Those folks almost never
reoffend.”
That poster your work, PC? It looks (and sounds) like it.
My wife and I taught both our sons about stranger danger at length
and it paid off I was working night shift at the time so I would get
the boys up for school before going to bed they hadn’t been at the
bus stop for 5 minutes when a couple of very frightend and upset
boys (6-8 y/o)came home and told me about a unmarked white van and
the guy inside trying to get them to get in I called the cops and
ran to the stop trying to spot the van and wait for the cops in my
bathrobe and house shoes. They caught the guy about 6 months later.
That poster should have both genders on it!
Using just one child gave it some punch.
It is a very strong statement in that poster.
I agree just my personal opinion.
The concept isn’t mine, the rest is.
AS I have said the panel is to gauge the political/social
reaction to the sentence the courts have imposed.
Because of its nature it was obviously a closed trial so
the public know very little about the evidence.
If they release as much as possible, will they traumatize many young
females so they are afraid to go out on their own; especially at night?
Hence Tenshi’s presence.
If they release practically nothing will the SJW cry foul, rigged,
cover up? Hence Big Red’s presence.
I suspect the male to follow Tenshi has done so to comfort her, not
because he was too traumatized to continue. I wonder if he
(and perhaps Tenshi) will return?
‘male to follow’ = Carl,. Carl lost his son to war….
Her reaction could be from several things…
Overwhelmed by the ‘gross-ness’ of what she is watching OR
she saw a victim she either knew or recognised…
“If they release practically nothing will the SJW cry foul, rigged, cover up?”
SJWs will cry foul no matter what. Unless the victim was their close kin in
which case they will be the one hollering loudest for execution.
Amazing how having skin in the game can alter one’s perception.
An old quote I am likely mangling a bit:
A Democrat is a Republican Who Hasn’t Been Mugged Yet
I can get behind that.
Two of the members are against the death penalty outright and another is a news reporter
that has some credibility with her viewers if they all agree in the end then the King did the
right thing I just feel for Tenshi that’s a hard thing to see and forgetting impossible. I know.
I expect that the Crimson Corpulence, her apparent reaction in TGW-931 panels 3 & 4 not withstanding, to object to execution. She is a complete ideologue and in my experience ideologues do not let mere facts interfere with their belief system. I would expect her to offer a “Yes, but” response and then go on to assert that however horrific Ryder et al’s actions were that still does not justify the death penalty. As for the other person, I would expect him to agree with the necessity of putting Ryder and his friends down like the rabid dogs they are. Actually, it is unfair to rabid dogs to equate Ryder with one of the. A rabid dog is sick. Ryder and company are just flat out evil!
I would of have done the same thing no one should go through that but
sometimes it can’t be avoided King Garion needed a sampling from all
walks of life from the experienced to the victims peers to make sure
that everyone would be satisfied with his decision. They can’t release
the videos it would harm anyone watching and devastate the families
of the victims. I for one would not want the last memory of
my daughter to be of that!
Yes Ambassador Markin, things have changed –
dramatically – from last you heard.
With the aid of the Terrains the Catians are no longer slaves and
now control their own planet and were the first off Earth group to
join the Wolf Empire.
They have taken part in a raid on the human planet to release those
held in slavery there and (partially due to luck) disabled their
home fleet and successfully fought off an attack inadvertently
causing a revolution leading to a significant change of leadership
more friendly to them.
The Catians now build most Earth Star ships, but Earth builds the
gravity drives on them, a technological advance few know even exist.
Cathan’s pride is one of the ships that the Catians have built not
just terrian’s ships while some are on earth’s asteroid belt there’s
quite a few terrian’s there too.
Even then the drives were said to be easy to make it’s the control
panels are very tricky and few can successfully make them so it’s a
bottle-neck. Much easier to refit ships with them and the missiles
with over-clocked drives on the noses only. Only a large enough
object in the way could deflect them. A very simple and almost
undetectable homing missile. The grav-guns can shoot through
glass or metal as well.
We saw that with the booth incident on the Bushear
slave ship when Chirk & Co freed it.
A gravity drive and a control head on a piece of rock,
aim at enemy flagship and let go…
– “What happened to our flagship?”
– “They got struck by a meteor, no reason to cry foul.”
Very true an overclocked grav drive and a basic on switch with enough distance could
reach 0.01% of light speed that would be fast enough to make it look like an atomic
blast! if you’re wondering that’s 186,000(per second) x 0.0001 x 60 x 60 which is a
blistering 66,960 mph! That would turn tungsten into a vapor! Yeah I doubt anyone
or thing made could survive the g-forces. A meteor could turn into a shotgun-like blast
before it would reach the target.
There is a detail that took a long time to sink in. Ship classes are
a pain in the… neck. Many science fiction stories use them
arbitrarily, even major franchises do so.
The Gentle Wolf does not and it’s still very difficult to understand
sometimes. The dreadnought and the two heavy cruisers from the Core
World we saw before were ‘only’ armed transport ships, not true warships.
When they are talking about the ships the Empire gave to the Dogishuans
they call them a battle squadron. These are real warships. That
dreadnought alone can probably fight and win against several current
Core World Dreadnoughts.
Core Worlds, largest to smallest:
Dreadnought
Heavy Cruiser
Light Cruiser
Destroyer
Frigate
The Wolf Empire has only Destroyer and Frigate/carriers for now, for reasons explained here:
http://thegentlewolf.net/comic/tgw-887/
They do have plans for a larger fleet carrier, but even that will be only
slightly larger than a Core Destroyer.
Of course, both fleets have scouts, supply ships, repair ships, etc. But the
Imperial Navy has a higher percentage of those than the Core fleet.
Because the Wolf is preparing for war, and the Core isn’t. Yet.
And all Wolf ships, military and civilian, rely much more on automation to
lessen the manpower strain, which is an ongoing problem.
Thank you for the clarification.
Considering the Wolf Empire’s stealth systems and the Frigates due their automation either being smaller or carrying more weapons than their Core Worlds counterparts makes them more dangerous.
The manpower strain is an interesting factor.
This will change for the Wolf Empire in the long run. Their new members can expand their population while at the same time Earth gets more and more unified. And all of them will be ready to defend the freedom their parents did not have.
Meanwhile the Core Worlds may have a different problem. After the first skirmishes, which they will probably loose and they either bring mothballed ships back into service or build new ones they have to get their people to sign up to fight in a deadly war. This could be rather difficult. If I go by usual reactions, there will probably be an outcry to put town these interlopers and protect their luxurious way of living. Though the question is how many of them are ready to die themselves.
BTW, me guessing like this just shows how interested I am in the story. I don’t really care if I’m right or not 🙂 I’m just enjoying the ride.
Some things for you to speculate on: (Help me out, here)
What sort of government do the Core worlds have?
How much power do the commercial interests have?
What does their social/educational system look like?
What effect would that have on military recruiting? What
effect would any government information or propaganda
have on recruiting? On support for a war?
If imports from the Fringe Worlds are cut off, what effect
would that have on the various social levels of the Core worlds?
What effect will free, fair and open trade have on the various
Imperial worlds and societies? On the Fringe worlds that are
not (yet) a part of the Empire?
The Empire’s GOAL, while it will probably be impossible to reach,
is to have every Fringe world willingly join the Empire. Some,
such as dictatorships, will not want to, and will not be forced
or otherwise interfered with.
As far as manpower within the Empire, the problem is not finding
willing bodies, the problem is the training facilities. Not just the numbers,
either. Some species require severely different shipboard environments
to operate at maximum. The Aquatanes, for example, require almost
100% humidity and a much higher environmental temperature. The
Lizards, no more than 15% humidity and an even higher temperatures,
while the Trolls can’t stand space travel at all and must be tranked for
any trip, like the Ambassador to Earth.
The Imperial Navy will not have forced diversity, so while their ships
will train together, many of the species will have to build or expand their
own training facilities. Ships will have to be built for their needs and
fighting styles.
Any speculation and suggestions on my readers’ part will be most
welcome and helpful. Thanks in advance.
Government I’d say a system similar to Russia/China communistic: leaders chosen by peers for life etc…
I noticed some of the core troops were complaining about it.
Commercial I’d say a LOT simply because money talks etc… I don’t doubt they have a say in the
government leaders decisions and may even force disagreeable ones ousted.
Social/educational may be similar to ours but heavy on the propaganda and nonhuman racism.
Military recruiting depends on how much the general population buys into the propaganda and
if not then maybe a system of draft or every family has to give one member to the military?
War support depends on the propaganda as well.
Imports would have a more severe effect than sanctions that is used here many core worlds
would suffer a resource shortage in a short time forcing a conflict before they were ready. The social
effects would could be serious and hit the poor and the working class first (propaganda machine would kick in).
Free and fair trade is a double-edged sword many of the benign races would flourish and grow strong
but the aggressive ones could use the “wealth” to build a war machine they’ve always wanted etc…
(ooooh pretty! LOL)
The one thing I have noticed and I highly approve of is you write about aged or disabled experienced
workers while cannot work anymore have knowledge and skills to help train and teach the skills the
empire lacks I myself was a factory mechanic for 15 years only reason I left was a lost argument
with a 10,000 lbs (4550kgm) piece of a machine I was working on I lost 3 inch of height and the most
of the feeling in my legs in your universe I’d be a teacher for budding machinists, welders, pipe fitters,
sheet metal workers, and basic electricians. Now I feed farm animals and annoy people on the internet LOL!
Yes I can walk (slowly) took a while but I learned how.
I suspect that it would be unlikely the more diverse races could not comfortably mix on board ships because
of the environmental issues as you say that has been addressed many times in the sci-fi genre even as
early as the Star Trek TOS era cannon you can’t put a human on a “Tolian” ship they’d be a crispy mess.
I suggest a trainer training for each race on how to use the new tech through safe interaction like a video
classroom setting and hands on training with a panic override just in case. Some things the races will have
to figure things out on their own I’m afraid. Tools and equipment adjusted to fit their hands/claws/graspers/hoofs
and conversion tables for measurements etc…
As I’m sure you’ve noticed I used to write sci-fi short stories in school some were pretty popular just never got anywhere
with it as I grew up and yea I did spend too much time thinking about these things ;).
The type of governments in the Core Worlds might not matter too much.
While their was the British Empire, the East India Trading Company was a military force in it’s own right and and surpassed many non-European powers at the time in strength.
Even in our current times some corporations could do that if they wanted to, but often enough it’s not profitable.
The power of the commercial interests depend on how dependent the Core Worlds are on resources from the Fringe Worlds and how many jobs are tied into those.
Though I liked the system we had once (it got a bit out of balance) compared to that of the US, which in my opinion is too much focused on the college.
We had a basic school for the first 4 to 6 years. Four years were the absolute minimum, but the 5th and 6th year depended on the talents of the student. Then they switched to 3 different school types.
Hauptschule, which focused on more practical skills which were necessary for vocational jobs. These jobs had their own training for 2-3 years which is mixed between school studies and practical training in a business. Employers can be sure that people with the degree for this job had a minimum of skill for everything that the Job entailed. Some even taught everything necessary to open their own business. It’s like an apprenticeship which doesn’t pay as much as a full job as incentive for the employer to train them, which still nets them a partial worker. Of course some trained their own new permanent workers.
More importantly these days is that the trainees get thoroughly introduced to the current technology being used. After all, even cash registers change (until the cashier gets automated).
Next was Realschule, a more middling school type between practical and higher skills. Some do vocational training and afterwards get the Gymnasium degree and go to college. They tend to do rather well in studies that match their vocational training. Like having the vocational training to run a business and getting a business degree.
Last was the Gymnasium which prepared the student for college.
It is possible to get a higher degree later in life.
This system ensures that everyone has the necessary qualifications for the jobs suited for their skills.
I suspect that propaganda will have a major impact on recruiting and support of the war. From the looks of it the Core Worlds are very comfortable with the status quo they are enforcing. As it is, the population of the Core Worlds would probably ask why they even need recruits when they have mercenaries and so on. It depends on how comfy they have become in the current lifestyle. The people in power will probably have to paint the Fringe Worlds as ungrateful barbarians or worse. They might have to put the fault of the war on the Fringe Worlds.
It’s a point many don’t like to hear, but most people in the USA wanted to stay out of international conflicts before WWII. It took Pearl Harbor and the declarations of war from Imperial Japan and the 3rd Reich to rouse them despite what was going on in Europe and Asia.
The effect of imports from the Fringe Worlds cut off depends on how dependent they are on them. By what we have seen the Fringe Worlds can’t even increase their population that much because of the Core Worlds pressure. If they could develop their entire star system they would (will?) be much more independent. Most of them look like they are limited to their home planet.
That said, even if the Core Worlds are not that dependent on the imports from the Fringe Worlds, it could mean a major disruption of their supply chain at least until they have adapted. It also will cost jobs which will trickle down to every social level. And that does not include the need for materials and personal for building and crewing new ships.
Despite the war and from what we have seen so far, the Imperial Worlds Worlds will fare much better on most levels as part of the Empire. With a stellar industry they won’t be polluting their planets and even growing populations won’t be a problems thanks to orbital farming. Overpopulation can be redirected to orbital colonies if no one wants to introduce limits to reproduction.
The only thing that is difficult to predict is the impact of Artificial Intelligence.
One universe I knew has a huge computer on the moon that at the height of the nation allowed them to keep an overview of about 1,500 member worlds. Once they found a station belonging to an intergalactic transport network. It was inactive, but they tried to learn what they could. When the station activated and an invasion force came through the moon computer had combat robots arriving within minutes (they have a transport similar to the Star Trek transporter) and only a little later combat troops joined them.
The same universe had a robot civilization that was enslaved by an outside force (to put it simply). One of the relatively immortal main characters managed to eliminate that mechanism. the entire civilization has been trusty allies to the Terrans ever since and has been ready to sacrifice themselves to save biological life in general. Despite them being completely sentient by now. They do realize that the freedom to make your own choices is important, so they don’t try to take over the galaxy in order to save lives.
While some Fringe Worlds might not want to join the Wolf Empire, if they are dependent on trade with the Core Worlds they might be forced to at least trade with the Empire after the war starts. The Empire can’t let ships pass the border. They can’t risk any information they don’t want to pass to the Core Worlds, especially not about the defenses. Only systems that don’t need trade can afford not to trade with the Empire. And there are quite a few advantages of joining.
About this universe I mentioned. It’s the longest running Science Fiction series in the word which started in 1961 and is still running, Perry Rhodan. I learned a lot about Science Fiction and how to write a big story in smaller chapters just by reading it and I haven’t read all of them. They do a good job considering the have been able to keep people interested for over 60 years now. Sadly translations into English did not work out for various reasons.
In 2011 they started a new series, Perry Rhodan Neo. It’s essentially a complete restart of the series while the main series goes on. It’s meant to give new readers a new start without the baggage of 60 years of canon. It also begins closer to our time. I mention this because I had to look something up and discovered that Perry Rhodan Neo is being translated into English. It is written by many of the experienced writers of the main series. So the techniques they have developed over 60 years are still being used. They work with ‘cycles’ which in the main series go over 100 issues and tell a large story. The starting issues are written so that new readers have an easier entrance into the series. Sometimes they jump forwards in time between cycles so they don’t have to write the boring parts. And with the starting issues written for new readers, they also go over the changes in the time jump for the old readers. The cycles in Perry Rhodan Neo are a little shorter, but the technique is the same. While only 8 issues of Neo have been published in English, the original has already 276 issues, so if profitable there is a lot to come.
For an overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Rhodan
As we currently see in known Franchises, Science Fiction can be complicated, very complicated.
I thought what you were describing sounded like Perry Rhodan. I only read it in the English
translations as they were coming out (and losing ground with the German originals that were
published more often) through the first 70 or so. Then I took a course in college that taught a
bit of German history, and I came to understand the concept called Fuhrerprincip (leader principle).
I compared it to the series’ coterie of “relatively immortal” characters, especially the eponymous
always wise, benevolent, all-powerful President For Life That Cannot Die, and I was done. Still,
there’s a lot of good in that series. I’ve been told it gets even better, but I can’t say either way.
Yes, they ditched that a while ago. While Perry and his friend Bully have been in and out of office several times, it’s more like that they get invited to join the election these days. They have taken other positions when asked. But when a crises arises you usually want people that are experienced in dealing with them, so they are often called back, even if it’s ‘just’ in a supporting role.
Though being the elected leader of a star nation with over 1,000 members is quite stressful. And that’s without a crises that threatens the entire galaxy or more.
Also, the coterie had some losses over the 3 millennia. Right now there are only 6 left in the milky way galaxy. Some have wandered off and have enough to do elsewhere while others have been killed.
The characters have also gotten a more introspective and admitted about their mistakes in the past.
Like I said, the writers know how to keep people interested and they manage to sneak in some ‘sense of wonder’ from time to time.
Which is probably why the Neo series I mentioned worked out well. It’s not bogged down with writing styles and themes of the past or that huge amount of canon.
I hear you there! My stories were 110-150 pages tops I love well thought out and far reaching
plots like how PC has been doing with good twists mixed in so we are always guessing and
discussing them 🙂
With the grav tech and the low power usage even a frigate could handle a core dreadnought.
If they detect a launch by the enemy raise shields, then lower to return fire in many cases I’ve
seen the grav “missiles” get a one-hit kill/disable and the grav guns can turn flesh into a slurry
if need be. If I were you I’d introduce a self-destruct on all terrian/catian ships so the core can’t
steal that tech! Or at least in the control console/emitters.
From the Core Worlds’ point of view, are the Human worlds (Lamia and the other Northern Worlds, Catia, the Southern Worlds together) part of the “Fringe Worlds” or are they considered even more isolated from Civilization than that? Are the “Horned Ones” (daemonic or gazelle-like, except for the hands) and the “Goblins” the only Core species that have appeared “on camera” so far? (We don’t know much about the Arachnians of course, and less about whatever the receptionist with the eye-tentacles is, of course. They might be “Core”.)
The Human worlds are in a class of their own, maybe “Forbidden Worlds”?
They are members of the Council, but everyone pretty much ignores them.
The Human ambassador’s wife hates the situation, but hopes it will improve
as the Catians provide (she hopes) more of a social life.
So, in short, the Humans are hoping to ride on the Catians coat tails for a bit more recognition and control. Typical power broker mentality
It’s… Complicated. There is regular communication between Humans and Catia,
so the Humans are aware of Catia’s economic growth. There is also the growing
romantic friendship between the Human President and the Catian Planetary
manager, which is mutual.
I bet it is! and it’ll get worse I’m sure racism and bad opinions will play a factor as well
with such a diverse group of races there is going to be both ends of the spectrum as
far as interactions and relationships go I don’t envy the story outlines you’re going to
have to make!
Who’s supposed to be “after” children? Knowing you, you think it’s LGBT people and “libs” even though both are more against pedophilia than anyone, and most child molestation comes from right wing christian mutants.
Hey, Fuck. Welcome.
In this scene, the people who are after children are the actual predators like
those who were tried and convicted. You’re reading too much into it.
It’s funny that you draw those lines. My readers range from left to right, and
no one here really cares about your dividing lines.
No one here cares about race, sexual preferences, gender or
anything else of a divisive nature. My readers care about character and actions,
just as in real life.
Informal rules:
Mostly, the only politics we discuss here are those within the webcomic. This
site is a refuge, not a battleground.
Everyone is welcome, as long as courtesy is observed. Feel free to call me an
asshole, as long as you do it politely. You get points for style.
If I make an error, correct me. I want to write the best story I can, and I can’t
do that without your help and advice. I am not the smartest person in this room.
Thanks for reading.
Have you even _read_ the comic? You are as far from truth with your assumptions as you can be…
Please! You’re making us left wingers look bad.
Yes, I’m a Democrat. I even collected signatures to
get Bernie on the ballot. You’ll win no arguments
with screaming insults in this manner. Starting with your screen name:
It alone is an attempt to start a metaphorical bar fight.
It will irritate the most sanguine reader.
I would classify this story with Utopian literature.
Differences in sexual orientation are accepted as I
a norm.
Religion – “it aint nobody’s business’ if I do or if I don’t”.
The story as well as the readers and comments
on here take a dim view of pedophilia.
“but if you want money for minds that hate
all I can say is you’ll have to wait”
They weren’t talking just about money.
Read the whole comic. Change your screen name.
If you then have something constructive to say
Come back and comment.
I know I’m late on this comment, but..
Curtis, I think I would much rather have Bernie running again, rather than the
current candidate and her VP choice.
To be honest, I think he would do far less damage than she would.
Just using her current record up until now as a measuring tape.
I hope this doesn’t offend, but I just can’t envision her as a leader of
the USA.
That woman is a “Karen” that managed to get actual power
and is willing to do anything to keep it. She never did
anything she was asked to do by the pres, and has the
nerve to claim that she wasn’t ever given those jobs in
the first place. She’s just a puppet.