Aww, Cent, no need to be sorry! Thanks for the heads up!
Love you right back. HUGS! :D
Also I wanted to mention the nice touch in flavoring Ophelia's speech, (senny) and plausibly informing readers (me) who didn't pick up right away what it meant. Good one Rose.
Yeah, the sergeant comes across as a new transfer who (understandably) isn't happy about it. Give him credit for being brave / stupid enough to mouth off to a Cassian, but he'd better temper that attitude. It'll improve his life expectancy.
Hope they all stay alert. Who / whatever took the gutters out could still be there, or left a lethal surprise. The latter is even more likely if this was someone tidying up loose threads.
I tend to think that NCO has been under her command for some time. Only troops that have served together a while would talk to each other like that in most cases.
This comment took a while to percolate through slowly. Apologies for the delay in response.
We had a real knockdown-drag-out comment fest about whether Cassians are in or out of the Roma Defense Force chain of command. My understanding of it, when all is said and done, is that Cassians are not in the chain of command -- having their own command structure instead. So, theoretically, even if Feelie is embedded with that NCO's squad, neither can be "under the other's command".
I had to think about this for a bit. I'll start by saying that I agree that they are separate and distinct chains of command. There are extenuating circumstances which could occur, though. At this point in time no one could create such a circumstance, because the stewardship of New Rome is in flux, however, consider this: Someone properly seated on the Throne decides they want to do something like keeping gutter operations in check. To that end, (he or she who rules) decides they want dedicated teams whose function is to patrol and do whatever they do with them. Further, they decide that these patrols are to employ Cassians. By whatever mechanism, Noctis is given intstructions from he or she who rules, that the assigned Cassians would act under orders from each corresponding patrol's commander. This would have Cassians taking orders from non-Cassians. Similar circumstances could be envisioned for the reverse, having the Cassians as acting commanders of the patrols. Unusual? Yes. Possible? I think so, if I am not too far off base.
Isn't it kinda normal, in joint operations involving several distinct arms of the military, to have someone command the entire operation, including those forces that are otherwise not in their chain of command?...
(DISCLAIMER: I am not and have never been a serving member of any military force, nor am I a serious student of military laws and protocols.)
As far as I know, @antrik, joint operations are, as a rule, either arranged at a point sufficiently high up that the respective chains of command dovetail (e.g., at the level of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or their duly appointed delegates) or negotiated specifically by the cognizant heads of command (as, for example, in the case of a multi-national task force where actual treaties get involved as negotiated by heads of state). The Cassians (apparently) still lack anyone able to fill that role for them. If Noctis doesn't consider herself under Maxus' orders, why would she place Ophelia under a lower-level Defense Force officer. Similarly, why would Maxus place Defense Forces under the command of the Secret Police? I suppose either scenario is possible, but it seems unlikely. More likely Ophelia is 'embedded' like a civilian contractor would be -- with certain restrictions on her activities which she will undoubtedly feel free to disregard if circumstances warrant it, but otherwise along to offer specialized assistance and technical support while leaving overall command to the designated officer.
@Gilrandir: I agree about the "Embedded, like a civilian contractor" part, but I don't think she's out here under orders from Maxus (or Noctis).
I think she was out here on Decimus's orders (for whatever reason), mostly because she was complaining about not being in the city for the big party!
That being said, Maxus tasked Tennyo to set up the raiding squads to deal with the gutters, and Tennyo specifically asked if Cassians could be included in them.
In this case, I would guess that "Chawley" is the Officer in Charge, and Ophelia is the equivalent of a "contractor" much like a CIA observer (Or KGB, Or Gestapo, etc), but based on their banter, I feel confident that they've known each other and have worked together for a while.
edit: Come to think of it, I would probably put money on Decimus sending her out here because she discovered that her accent annoyed the crap out of him, and decided to crank it up to an 11!
I agree that it certainly seems like Ophelia and Charley have a long-established and generally positive rapport. One which probably considerably predates the current mission.
Also, as one of the commenteers brought to my attention some time ago, you can vote here and on the TWC page. Not sure if you need to sign up for TWC or not.
@megados: Comic Fury calls it "rating". If you're logged into Comic Fury when you are posting, your first post on a new page will give you the ability to rate it 1 through 5. If you don't feel like commenting for whatever reason though, you can still rate the page.
Ohhhh. I was wondering how you voted with comic fury. Have an acct but was looking for a TWC style button on their site. This is a stupid way to vote. Forces you to comment regardless of if you want to if you want to vote. That's bollocks. But I did this time. I just don't like commenting unless I really have something to say. I don't talk to be making noise, or type.
'here' is the TWC link at the bottom of this page. You can vote here and then go to the actual TWC page, via this link http://topwebcomics.com/ and vote again.
Thanks, chk! Less confusion does make things easier! :D
That part of it, I think, was what Dragonrider once posted about, being that you can vote on TWC without being logged in, then log into TWC. Also, you can vote from different devices/computers. :D
Does voting on TWC anonymously as well as with an account, while using the same IP, really count both votes? If so, I'd assume it would also count if you created dozens of accounts and voted from each?...
Or you could just hire a bot-net to vote from thousands of IPs. Or if you have a provider that assigns random IPs on each connection, you could run a script that constantly reconnects and votes...
In short, there are many ways to game the system, if that's what you want to do. I'm not sure why people here keep bringing up these exploits as if they were perfectly legitimate things to do...
The TWC site specifically states you can vote once per machine per day. That isn't untoward, as the site specifically states that it is okay. It is not an exploit. I also mentioned what Dragonrider had said earlier. I had stated at that time that I did not want to do anything that would reflect badly on the comic, it's creators or staff. Setting up botnets is definitely against their policy, and I don't think anyone here would, or is doing that, nor setting up rotating IP workarounds. To my knowledge, no *people* brought up *these exploits* before.
I did not suggest that anyone is, or should be gaming the system. I'd appreciate it if you didn't put words in my mouth, or suggest that I am instructing people to take improper actions.
Your guess is as good as mine; I have said, twice, no, make that three times now, that it was something that someone had mentioned.
*edit*
I find it odd that you take issue with logged in versus non logged in voting, but have no problem with TWCs once per machine policy. If someone has a hundred PCs and mobile devices, they are within their rights to vote one hundred times, yet someone would be gaming the system if they would vote logged in and not logged in. SMH XD
Quite frankly, both seem wrong to me. I read the "once per machine" policy more as a clarification that if two people share a machine, they can't both vote individually... (For technical reasons.)
You're not alone, Rashala. I'm Thinking that this is like a Hitchcock Movie so far... We know something's happening, but we don't know what it is... (do we, Mr. Jones)
Since there is a skeleton outside, iirc, that covers a couple of possibilities.
The gutters left already.
The bodies of the gutters were collected and fed to the local wild life.
The bodies of the gutters were collected in one of the buildings for other gutters to find and see that their buddies had been made an example. Kinda like the old Roman method of putting bodies up on crosses every couple of miles. It keeps you thinking...
I thought about a trap, but that would require someone warning them. And that warning would go out to all the gutter groups. However, the Gutter psychology would not be to face trained and supplied troops head on. Unless someone is high on chems and no longer in their right mind.
So far the impression of most gutters that we have been given is that they are well armed street gangs, Civilians with guns. Soldiers will suffer some casualties, but I have no real doubt who is going to with in a close up fight like this.
The alternative for a trap is a big remote detonated bomb, which fits the gutter psychology better I think.
I don't think of gangs in general a "Civilians with guns". Gang members in general, and gutters in particular, aren't going to freak out when the shooting starts (because this is not their first time). Moreover, their strategies are likely to be somewhat evolved. Gutters, though, have a couple of things that gangs lack. Gutters appear to be operating at the fringe, or even outside, territorial claims of the cities. That gives them some freedom of action. Furthermore, these have been acting with the support of an established state--practically as privateers. So they might well have access to weapons that are distinctly military grade. Not the good stuff, of course...
Yes, expect the regulars to beat irregulars regularly. But, as the American & Maccabean revolutions demonstrated, don't rely on it...
A bomb (attached to a trip wire or motion sensor or something else equally innocuous) that would blow the building up along with the intruders sounds like a trap to me!
My Guess is that the Gutters have left, and are practicing Scorched Earth here... with a trap that's kind of a "Farewell Kiss" to the new Regime.
A recent Grauniad article may furnish some amusement to datachasers fans in the context of this universe...
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2018/mar/05/thou-shalt-not-always-beat-us-at-chess-an-alternative-10-commandments-for-robots
?an glasses on Feelie,, are jus to protect from sand??
I wonder if they were raided, or tipped off. Whatever the cause, Ophelia isn't happy to have missed the party!
*hugs Cent* <3
Yeah, I was wondering about that, Cent =) thank you for clarifying =D
And that's assuming no foul play...
Love you right back. HUGS! :D
Also I wanted to mention the nice touch in flavoring Ophelia's speech, (senny) and plausibly informing readers (me) who didn't pick up right away what it meant. Good one Rose.
Hope they all stay alert. Who / whatever took the gutters out could still be there, or left a lethal surprise. The latter is even more likely if this was someone tidying up loose threads.
We had a real knockdown-drag-out comment fest about whether Cassians are in or out of the Roma Defense Force chain of command. My understanding of it, when all is said and done, is that Cassians are not in the chain of command -- having their own command structure instead. So, theoretically, even if Feelie is embedded with that NCO's squad, neither can be "under the other's command".
Of course, I may be wrong.
As far as I know, @antrik, joint operations are, as a rule, either arranged at a point sufficiently high up that the respective chains of command dovetail (e.g., at the level of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, or their duly appointed delegates) or negotiated specifically by the cognizant heads of command (as, for example, in the case of a multi-national task force where actual treaties get involved as negotiated by heads of state). The Cassians (apparently) still lack anyone able to fill that role for them. If Noctis doesn't consider herself under Maxus' orders, why would she place Ophelia under a lower-level Defense Force officer. Similarly, why would Maxus place Defense Forces under the command of the Secret Police? I suppose either scenario is possible, but it seems unlikely. More likely Ophelia is 'embedded' like a civilian contractor would be -- with certain restrictions on her activities which she will undoubtedly feel free to disregard if circumstances warrant it, but otherwise along to offer specialized assistance and technical support while leaving overall command to the designated officer.
The above is just my opinion, of course.
I think she was out here on Decimus's orders (for whatever reason), mostly because she was complaining about not being in the city for the big party!
That being said, Maxus tasked Tennyo to set up the raiding squads to deal with the gutters, and Tennyo specifically asked if Cassians could be included in them.
In this case, I would guess that "Chawley" is the Officer in Charge, and Ophelia is the equivalent of a "contractor" much like a CIA observer (Or KGB, Or Gestapo, etc), but based on their banter, I feel confident that they've known each other and have worked together for a while.
edit: Come to think of it, I would probably put money on Decimus sending her out here because she discovered that her accent annoyed the crap out of him, and decided to crank it up to an 11!
That part of it, I think, was what Dragonrider once posted about, being that you can vote on TWC without being logged in, then log into TWC. Also, you can vote from different devices/computers. :D
Or you could just hire a bot-net to vote from thousands of IPs. Or if you have a provider that assigns random IPs on each connection, you could run a script that constantly reconnects and votes...
In short, there are many ways to game the system, if that's what you want to do. I'm not sure why people here keep bringing up these exploits as if they were perfectly legitimate things to do...
I did not suggest that anyone is, or should be gaming the system. I'd appreciate it if you didn't put words in my mouth, or suggest that I am instructing people to take improper actions.
*edit*
I find it odd that you take issue with logged in versus non logged in voting, but have no problem with TWCs once per machine policy. If someone has a hundred PCs and mobile devices, they are within their rights to vote one hundred times, yet someone would be gaming the system if they would vote logged in and not logged in. SMH XD
And yeah, I always rate the comic on the first comment in make on a page.
And if I miss it, I aim better on the second try ! :D
Pack those anti-shipping missiles away Rose, and embrace the Ohelia//Chawley ship ! >_<
Feelie//Chawley ! :D
Can we get that on a T-shirt? XD
The gutters left already.
The bodies of the gutters were collected and fed to the local wild life.
The bodies of the gutters were collected in one of the buildings for other gutters to find and see that their buddies had been made an example. Kinda like the old Roman method of putting bodies up on crosses every couple of miles. It keeps you thinking...
So far the impression of most gutters that we have been given is that they are well armed street gangs, Civilians with guns. Soldiers will suffer some casualties, but I have no real doubt who is going to with in a close up fight like this.
The alternative for a trap is a big remote detonated bomb, which fits the gutter psychology better I think.
Yes, expect the regulars to beat irregulars regularly. But, as the American & Maccabean revolutions demonstrated, don't rely on it...
Could be someone else's trap though, in which case setting a gutter base on fire is just plain fun. :)
My Guess is that the Gutters have left, and are practicing Scorched Earth here... with a trap that's kind of a "Farewell Kiss" to the new Regime.
Of course, I may be way off base here too...
The problem with simple trigger traps is that they go off on anyone who triggers them. Guilty and innocent alike.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2018/mar/05/thou-shalt-not-always-beat-us-at-chess-an-alternative-10-commandments-for-robots