Heh, the next pages will be Dolly and CeCi getting lost in the palace and be all like, "To hell with it" and then start walking through the walls to get to Lynn. :D
Ofcourse, any security guard that comes by the long string of holes in the wall will be all like,
"Aw hell no, I'm not being paid enough to fight whatever did THAT!". :D
Dolly wouldn't announce herself. She'd wait until Lynn was in range to grab. She might or might not kill Democlus as her initial move. She likely knows enough about the situation to avoid harming Acantha and would probably leave Arianna alone at first too.
Also author post in Friday's comic mentioned Democlus would get a chance to shine. So it's pretty well gotta' be a hostile. If not Nox then a squad of Price's blue guys.
Dolly's concern is Lynn and that's it. It's hard to see a scenario where announcing herself would assist in Lynn's safe recovery. About the only thing I could think of is if she were trying to distract to let someone else get in position, but that makes little sense with either Ceci or Miraiko (who are the two most likely people to be cooperating with Dolly).
Actually Haegan, I'm not sure it is the LAST thing you want to hear. The whirring noise as the gatling cannon spins up is up there too (since it likely would be the LAST thing you ever heard). Still it has to be in the top ten of things you wouldn't want to hear. :-D
I can actually speak to the worst thing to hear coming out of a lift in sci-fi.
You see, as an Alternity combat spec heavy weapons player, one of the worst sounds to hear stepping out of an elevator, followed shortly by your impending death, is the steady thump of a 25mm autocannon.
How do I know this? I have bottlenecked soooo many enemies at lifts with my beloved autocannon. When said autocannon kills in one hit within the blast radius reliably, you know you've got a good gun.
They even gave the speech bubble a neutral color to make us guess who it is! Which means it is time to guess!
-Arianna caught up with them from behind, they just went forward through a security door (which is currently *not* locked down...). The Cassian was in their quarters, which means she would most likely be following Arianna's path if she made a straight line to intercept them.
-Team TLIM (Three Ladies and Iron Man) is currently making a beeline to the tram on the lower levels of the palace. Dolly is in the lower levels of the palace, heading UP to get to Lynn. Again, they just passed a security door, which means they've gone in to a lower security area (won't be going higher, because the only higher security area has the Prince in it).
-Team Half Dozen New Troy People and their Riotous Legion of Cohorts (HDNTPRLC does not roll off the tongue) are still outside.
So my guess is on Dolly, as we were told soon(tm) for their grouping up. Runners up are the Prince's Smurf Guard without Cassians, mainly so our guardsman gets to fight someone that isn't Nox.
- Cassians are androids, and I think I've been consistent in using colored bubbles and/or a particular font for androids. (Dolly's Model Five body, and the extra mods made to Ada and Teedee, have created exceptions.)
- Dolly was in a VIP guest suite, and so were Lynn and Acantha, eight minutes ago. They were actually on the same level, but not all that close to each other. (Side note: that's an elevator, not a security door.)
CentComm tries to think about him as LITTLE as possible, Sheela. And even then it is more about what HORRIBLE things she can do to him than really about him.
Centcomm, we, your adoring fans, could help you come up with new and exciting ways to off Kyle! :D
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please!
Really you still want him dead just because he's a social invalid. err.. teenager thinking with his d**k? Hell as things stand Kyle getting Aeneas working correctly is kind of important to Roma's future.
Miraiko! that was it. The name was slipping my mind.
I'll guess it's her or possibly some resistance personnel, maybe security guards. Not an android if the colors are any hint... buuuut, didn't Dolly leave just a little bit earlier?
hmm... I wish I had a map and departure times.
That would make this easier.
Well, Acantha and Lynn both know Miraiko - so, no, that is not her - except if that corridor were booby trapped - which I do not believe - and she would not say it that hostile...
hmmm... So we have figured out they're not an android, not a comm unit, and not an AI. That probably means human. The manner suggests hostile or unaware. Dolly or possibly Miraiko may not be aware that anyone other than Lynn and possibly Acantha are friendlies.
It may be hostile lobsters or bluebs, but I suspect by now any Bluebs would be rushing to the prince's side and lobsters would have bigger fish to fry.
I highly doubt that it's resistance, they've not had the time to get in.
We're left mostly with independent parties, not aligned with either major team on the field.
It could be Dari the gutter, but I doubt it, it could be Dolly (provided my belief that she indeed left before the others) if that more hostile tone is directed more at everyone BUT Lynn (and Lynn wouldn't recognize her of course, given the whole 'new body' thing), it could be Miraiko again responding to the people in the group who are the wildcards, namely our lovely friendly lobster. It may well be the prince and his retinue, but I suspect he would have been more snide.
It could also be a lockdown position of lobsters getting ready to hold the fort. Some fast talking and word on evacuating the princess and her friend to a safer location would probably get them past that.
It may also be part of team Black Hat but I don't think they've had time to get in.
Oooohh I can't wait for the next page.
Honestly if I had maps and departure times I think I could figure this out, but that would also ruin the suspense.
I don't think you can take as given that blue guards would rush to the prince.
Previous comics have shown "obedience first and don't even think about using your own better judgement" to be the way people seem to find safest in dealing with him. If he told some blue boys to do something else, they are going to follow orders with at most a radio'd question back to see if they've changed due to new circumstances and they wouldn't budge from old orders until receiving confirmation.
Wicked good work as usual. my net has been spotty for the last 4 days and might be down after tomorrow for a while.
I'm thinking it another Praetorian trying to figure out what is going on and who is moving through the palace when they are supposed to be locked down.
THEN Dolly will come up from behind and render the nosy person un-nosy.
AT&T got me fixed up today. The sent out 1 tech yesterday who fixed the no dial tone problem but I had no DSL, so today they sent out TWO tech's and I"m back up.
It can't be Noctis, she'd just attack for 'shock and awe' and to inflict 'collateral damage'. I'm guessin' it's some of Prince Douchebag's bully boys bucking for a pay raise and a medal by bringing the princess and his captive to him.
And Nox would, yes. Noctis would probably just spirit Lynn and Acantha back into the elevator and close the doors before Demo had a chance to react. Disarm Acantha and the situation would be pretty much under her control.
I suspect Noctis would hide above the lift, wait for them to get in and gas them once the doors closed. From there she'd disarm the unconscious Acantha and take her and Lynn where she wanted them and either leave the other two where the fell or put them out of the way in a side room or something (she's not one to waste resources and is one to work for betterment of New Rome, and a guard Maxus trusts and that the Cassians were at least a little impressed with wouldn't be someone she'd waste if an easy opportunity to avoid it was available).
Excuse me, I need to go rent a winch and see if I can haul the action back fom the cliff-edge it seems to be hanging down off of. That's really an unstable arrangement, shouldn't do that: It's risky, dangerous, and not compliant with the safety guidelines.
Entertaining interpretations aside, "protoscripts" is how Cent and I refer to the rough-draft version of the script that Cent provides. I get two copies of a page--one is the blank, with all the panels laid out, and the other is the "protoscript". It not only clues me in on the direction Cent's taking the dialogue, but it's also useful in figuring out where the speech bubbles ought to go. I don't always use Cent's version of the dialogue or layout, but it's very rare that Cent complains about the results :D
not quite - protoscripts are reeeealy tiny little things that you need a microscope to see, they just float around for a while and then when you're not looking they split in two, which is why you always seem to have too many of them floating around.
I'm sorry, but I live my life by Murphy's 3 laws...
Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"
Murphy's Law of Thermodynamics: "Things get worse under pressure"
Murphy's law of Proportion: "the chance of the bread falling buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet"
"Stop Right There!" sounds like a command to me. So between that and Democlus' reaction, I surmise it is NOT someone they want to see. Guessing guards and not any that Maxus would trust. Probably some of the Prince's 'finest'. So this is going to get ugly, especially if there are a bunch of them.
True velvet; however, Dolly does KNOW Lynn. Somehow I can't see Dolly responding with a challenge like that. Dolly's greeting when she finds Lynn will have her name in it, GUARANTEED. And the color says it isn't CeCi either.
Sounds like something a guard, and not a friendly one would call out.
I can see her initiating contact like that, actually. Followed by a 'Lynn, get over here right now!' After all, she doesn't know them, and Lynn's in the middle of the group.
@Sheela - Sure he could, see my comment in the above chain.
@Sevian (below) - The song I suggested is much more irritating, and has a longer playtime, so if you only get Sheela's song stuck in your head then you're coming out ahead.
Okay so let's do the whole logical calculation thing here.
1. The off screen speaker is human or synth human
2. The speaker was in the palace or right at the door when the attack started
3. Our friendly neighborhood red shirt seems to recognize the speaker
So with these clues we can narrow the suspect list down quite a ways although still not quite guess who, if I'm missing something everyone feel free to add on to the list
The Prince's blue guards are most likely, with new/unintroduced character being next most likely, and Prince himself as distant third. No one introduced but Prince, Cassian, or Prince's bully boys would be a worry or try to interfere. Cent & Rose both said that Cassian would have different speech bubbles and Nox wouldn't have announced herself anyway.
Evidence of another hunter is probably Miraiko's trail o' corpses.
Dirty secret: It's not the first language of many nominal English speakers either thanks to our mess of many dialects which disagree with each other on what the vocabulary and rules of usage are. Speaking as a nominal native user (professional writer and editor) of the language though, you should know that as long as you are speaking any of the dialects correctly (and many times when you aren't) often the culturally correct response is to make a joke about it or disagree. For instance, you could've talked about time travel, the mathematical uncertainty in the nature of awesome, or some other wisecrack downplaying the usage error into a joke. That technique is sometimes known as retreat forward, or retreat into audacity, and when accomplished adroitly it can turn errors into achievements and even new usage trends sometimes.
Well, I did consider doing that, but I don't mind admitting to not being absolutely perfect in every single way!
I mean, how many doggies do you know of that not only knows how to read and write, but can also use a computer to post on the internet ? Not many, I suspect! :D
Frankly, a few typos every now and then should be expected, since paws aren't good for typing on keyboards. :)
Hey, at least you have more than one language.
I have english and just enough spanish to ask if someone wants cheese on their Whopper and a large fry to go with it.
Heh, I'm actually horrible at learning languages.
So I only know Danish, swedish, norwegian, german and english.
I used to know a few lines in Polish, spanish and french, but I've forgotten those by now.
And really, out of all those languages, it's only Danish and English I have any real proficience in. Well, mostly just Danish. XD
Not really, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian are very similar.
English is mandatory in school, and so is german, as both are our neighboring countries that we trade a lot with.
Really, I only use Danish and English often enough to use them properly.
Sheela considering how often you make comments that are informative, thought provoking and sometimes flat out hilarious, I don't care if you make a few misspellings.
While a long shot, it could be a palace housekeeper who just finished mopping the floor and doesn't want them to walk on the wet tiles until they dry. (A surprisingly common phobia among floor cleaners in the housekeeping trade.)
The Inner Childish in me is breaking out! I love the Acantha's nickname of the Prince's own... the "Bluebs"... cause they are all a bunch of Bluebies!!!!
What if it's Dari, escaping her fate with the intent of getting revenge on Lynn? That would certainly give Democlus a perfect opportunity to shine...assuming he hasn't eliminated the threat too quickly for shining to occur.
I think Dari's jaw may still be broken.
Of course if it isn't, she may decide that it's time to turn over a new leaf in life in favor of not being down range of one of the better soldiers in the entirety of Nova Roma
Well, with a wired-up jaw, it would probably sound more like "SHTAH RIHH ERRH". Actually, Dari trying to rant in gape-speak would probably be HILARIOUS.
and mistakenly I hit edit instead of reply so now I find myself trying to remember what I had said...
Okay, so I suspect that Dari is going to
A. die horribly
B. get liberated and fade into obscurity
C. survive and go out for revenge (how significant of a threat she is largely depends on how well she prepared)
D. survive and turn over a new leaf.
The last one could be interesting in later plot arcs. Team Goodguy hires a guide to the wasteland or some other thing to that effect, they meet the guide and there is this mutual exchange of "You!" "YOU!!!"
@Sheela - So many people forget that death isn't the worst thing that can happen to a person, and Setorius is just the kind of guy to offer reminders of some of those worse fates.
"Remember kids, when someone yells any variation of 'Halt!' or 'Stop right there', immediately pull either your pants down or take off your shoes. This will confused your opponents for a short time thus giving you a 'sneak attack' advantage! Just do not throw your shoe! Because honestly, who throws a shoe?!"
Ofcourse, any security guard that comes by the long string of holes in the wall will be all like,
"Aw hell no, I'm not being paid enough to fight whatever did THAT!". :D
Also author post in Friday's comic mentioned Democlus would get a chance to shine. So it's pretty well gotta' be a hostile. If not Nox then a squad of Price's blue guys.
I am pretty sure that this is not Dolly. dollies first words would be something along the lines of "Lynn..."
He could be rattling off his laundry list, and still manage to be scary!
You see, as an Alternity combat spec heavy weapons player, one of the worst sounds to hear stepping out of an elevator, followed shortly by your impending death, is the steady thump of a 25mm autocannon.
How do I know this? I have bottlenecked soooo many enemies at lifts with my beloved autocannon. When said autocannon kills in one hit within the blast radius reliably, you know you've got a good gun.
-Arianna caught up with them from behind, they just went forward through a security door (which is currently *not* locked down...). The Cassian was in their quarters, which means she would most likely be following Arianna's path if she made a straight line to intercept them.
-Team TLIM (Three Ladies and Iron Man) is currently making a beeline to the tram on the lower levels of the palace. Dolly is in the lower levels of the palace, heading UP to get to Lynn. Again, they just passed a security door, which means they've gone in to a lower security area (won't be going higher, because the only higher security area has the Prince in it).
-Team Half Dozen New Troy People and their Riotous Legion of Cohorts (HDNTPRLC does not roll off the tongue) are still outside.
So my guess is on Dolly, as we were told soon(tm) for their grouping up. Runners up are the Prince's Smurf Guard without Cassians, mainly so our guardsman gets to fight someone that isn't Nox.
- Cassians are androids, and I think I've been consistent in using colored bubbles and/or a particular font for androids. (Dolly's Model Five body, and the extra mods made to Ada and Teedee, have created exceptions.)
- Dolly was in a VIP guest suite, and so were Lynn and Acantha, eight minutes ago. They were actually on the same level, but not all that close to each other. (Side note: that's an elevator, not a security door.)
Centcomm, we, your adoring fans, could help you come up with new and exciting ways to off Kyle! :D
Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please!
I'll guess it's her or possibly some resistance personnel, maybe security guards. Not an android if the colors are any hint... buuuut, didn't Dolly leave just a little bit earlier?
hmm... I wish I had a map and departure times.
That would make this easier.
It may be hostile lobsters or bluebs, but I suspect by now any Bluebs would be rushing to the prince's side and lobsters would have bigger fish to fry.
I highly doubt that it's resistance, they've not had the time to get in.
We're left mostly with independent parties, not aligned with either major team on the field.
It could be Dari the gutter, but I doubt it, it could be Dolly (provided my belief that she indeed left before the others) if that more hostile tone is directed more at everyone BUT Lynn (and Lynn wouldn't recognize her of course, given the whole 'new body' thing), it could be Miraiko again responding to the people in the group who are the wildcards, namely our lovely friendly lobster. It may well be the prince and his retinue, but I suspect he would have been more snide.
It could also be a lockdown position of lobsters getting ready to hold the fort. Some fast talking and word on evacuating the princess and her friend to a safer location would probably get them past that.
It may also be part of team Black Hat but I don't think they've had time to get in.
Oooohh I can't wait for the next page.
Honestly if I had maps and departure times I think I could figure this out, but that would also ruin the suspense.
Previous comics have shown "obedience first and don't even think about using your own better judgement" to be the way people seem to find safest in dealing with him. If he told some blue boys to do something else, they are going to follow orders with at most a radio'd question back to see if they've changed due to new circumstances and they wouldn't budge from old orders until receiving confirmation.
I'm thinking it another Praetorian trying to figure out what is going on and who is moving through the palace when they are supposed to be locked down.
THEN Dolly will come up from behind and render the nosy person un-nosy.
In fact, you shouldn't even look over here.
Not that I'm looting the palace while everyone is running around .. nooooo.
So why did you type Noctis, dummy?
I'm fuzzy on names, alright. Shut your pie hole!
And Nox would, yes. Noctis would probably just spirit Lynn and Acantha back into the elevator and close the doors before Demo had a chance to react. Disarm Acantha and the situation would be pretty much under her control.
for this party of four
to find out that the tram
left without them.
[Miraiko is out settling scores
at this point.]
Would you like express delivery?
Agreed Lukkal. That is a scenario pregnant with latent potential struggling to be realized, undoing much work.
I like that. Is it original, or is it an idiom i was previously unfamiliar with?
Are those the kind of scripts that grow up, takes up a weird hobby, then go missing for days and come back home pregnant with new ideas ?
Man, those suck!
Noxwrong speech bubble - it is not Miraiko - they know her - nor Kyle...Yup, he had to say it... :P
Edited.
http://murphys-laws.com/murphy/murphy-war.html
"Dammit Murphy, stop dying all the time!" >:(
"They killed Murphy, those bastards!"
Murphy's Law: "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong"
Murphy's Law of Thermodynamics: "Things get worse under pressure"
Murphy's law of Proportion: "the chance of the bread falling buttered side down is directly proportional to the cost of the carpet"
Sounds like something a guard, and not a friendly one would call out.
No, I don't think that's what's happening, but I do think it's the type of thing that might happen if Wednesday were 01 April.
"STOP!!"
"In the naaame of loove-, before you break my heart!" :D
@Sevian (below) - The song I suggested is much more irritating, and has a longer playtime, so if you only get Sheela's song stuck in your head then you're coming out ahead.
1. The off screen speaker is human or synth human
2. The speaker was in the palace or right at the door when the attack started
3. Our friendly neighborhood red shirt seems to recognize the speaker
So with these clues we can narrow the suspect list down quite a ways although still not quite guess who, if I'm missing something everyone feel free to add on to the list
Evidence of another hunter is probably Miraiko's trail o' corpses.
Sorry, english isn't my main language.
I mean, how many doggies do you know of that not only knows how to read and write, but can also use a computer to post on the internet ? Not many, I suspect! :D
Frankly, a few typos every now and then should be expected, since paws aren't good for typing on keyboards. :)
I knew it!
I have english and just enough spanish to ask if someone wants cheese on their Whopper and a large fry to go with it.
So I only know Danish, swedish, norwegian, german and english.
I used to know a few lines in Polish, spanish and french, but I've forgotten those by now.
And really, out of all those languages, it's only Danish and English I have any real proficience in. Well, mostly just Danish. XD
English is mandatory in school, and so is german, as both are our neighboring countries that we trade a lot with.
Really, I only use Danish and English often enough to use them properly.
Your input is too good to miss.
That'll teach them to mess with your nice clean floor!
Oh hell, how could I forget this one : "Wax on, wax off!" :D
Don't judge me....
Of course if it isn't, she may decide that it's time to turn over a new leaf in life in favor of not being down range of one of the better soldiers in the entirety of Nova Roma
This has to happen Rose. :D
Preferredly at someone who enjoys trolling Dari. :)
Okay, so I suspect that Dari is going to
A. die horribly
B. get liberated and fade into obscurity
C. survive and go out for revenge (how significant of a threat she is largely depends on how well she prepared)
D. survive and turn over a new leaf.
The last one could be interesting in later plot arcs. Team Goodguy hires a guide to the wasteland or some other thing to that effect, they meet the guide and there is this mutual exchange of "You!" "YOU!!!"
"Remember kids, when someone yells any variation of 'Halt!' or 'Stop right there', immediately pull either your pants down or take off your shoes. This will confused your opponents for a short time thus giving you a 'sneak attack' advantage! Just do not throw your shoe! Because honestly, who throws a shoe?!"
This has been a UTSA
I still have PTSD flashbacks to my childhood....
It is the very basis for the Ti Kwan Leap martial arts!
Anxiously waiting to see just who turned up now...