Not kinetic: 3 panels show them instantly turned into skeletons when hit; a kinetic weapon would not do that (would not leave a skeleton, but flesh and bone fragments).
More likely a microwave or high energy weapon, which would evaporate soft tissues.
Not a fire based weapon (that would also incinerate the skeleton).
I'm actually seeing more of a plasma type thing because whatever is doing it it's totally incinerating all of The Flesh and just leaving the skeletons behind. The armor is being destroyed and the skeletons look like they're just shy of cremation. There may be a kinetic aspect to it but it's mostly hot.
@CHK While you are at it, see if they have a picture of a nanogram anti-matter weapon discharging in air. That blue glow looks like Cherenkov radiation.
More likely radiation spillage from a particle beam weapon...or maybe a laser directed electron beam weapon [fire laser, ionize path through air, dump lighting bolt...bright blue white beam, maybe with enough wattage to do what we're seeing]
@Carnifex well, the destructive power of this thing certainly qualifies it as "anti-shipping"... Though it's more of a death ray than a missile weapon :-)
From the "shiny armor" comment and that looks to be some form of a laser beam, I'm guessin' it's a robot, Droid or Cyborg attacking them. Something that would dissolve flesh and disintegrated body armor would need some serious power behind it like a nuclear power pack. Who this beastie belongs to and why it was hunting Cutters I'm sure will be determined later.
Remember how Centcomm initially *Wanted* to level Roma with the ground, but held herself back ?
Well, there's always Plan B, and she could have hid it here.
@Sheela admittedly, it's been a while since I last read through the whole thing: but I don't remember Commie ever making such a suggestion? I only remember Calliope demanding that this is to be done, in case "anything irreparable happens to Lynn"... (See "Seven of Swords", currently at http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/1147 )
Is it Gort from The Day the Earth Stood Still? Its armour wasn't shiny, but maybe it stopped off there for a polish, and the gutters added too many rip-off surcharges to the bill. Whatever it is, what will happen when it hits Ophelia? Is it going to hit Ophelia? Why hasn't it hit Ophelia already? Is it saving her for last? Or is it...?
?????: +Ophelia! Feely! What did you think of that?! Impressive, huh?!+
Ophelia: What the flamin' hell!?
?????: +I've always been a fan of you, ever since I viewed you in that old Australian soap opera I downloaded.+
Ophelia: What?? I've never appeared in any damn soap, you nong! And you nuked my whole squad thinking it'd get my gears oiled?!!?? Nox, maybe - but ME?!?!?!!!?
?????: +But, but, you were there! With your blue Japanese friend! Rampaging through that suburb of Melbourne! Ramsay Street never stood a chance! *approaches her* Where is she, by the way? I thought we could make a nice three- +
Ophelia: YOU BLUDGER!! YOU- *gets long-range scanner blip* ...Alright, mate, I'll think about it. But if you really want to impress me, you'll catch that thing that's coming over the horizon on a ballistic path just there. See if you can get it intact.
?????: +Of course! Just watch me!+
Ophelia: Good luck, mate... *slips away behind nearest solid wall, ducks and covers*
?????: +It's splitting into lots of little bits. That's not fair!+ *is hit by penetrator core of heavy anti-shipping missile, followed by multiple individually-targeted explosive and incendiary sub-munitions* *is destroyed*
Ophelia: Ha! Good one, Rosie!
And, at some indeterminate time in the past...
Kusanagi: *cut* *cut* *sever* I shouldn't be enjoying this pointless VR fantasy, but I am! *cut* *slay* These people are just so annoying!
Yasakani: I just like to see you smile, Kusanagi-chan! And this was all based on a real place, just as your virtual companion is based on a real cassian.
Virtual!Ophelia: *torches barbie party*
Kusanagi: She's certainly good at mopping up. I can barely understand a word she says, though - she has the same dialect as the targets here. And we keep quiet about this waste of processing resources... and you'd better not let any footage leak out!
I just assumed that it was a self-contained moving apparatus that was accidentally left on. They have a-grav bikes, this is the same tech on the bottom of a large mass container to make it easier to move.
Shipping or no shipping, whatever’s shooting at them just killed a Cassian’s *friend*. Not many Cassians can say they have any friends at this point (most of the Cassians probably aren’t worried about it).
Whatever it is, it just made its last mistake, I’m guessing :)
But really, there should be some armor left long after the skeleton is completely gone. Nice look, of course, but anything able to completely vaporize armor worth wearing in a futuristic era like this isn't even going to notice bones.
I'm not entirely sure. Each energy burst carries a finite amount of power. In the future where energy weapons are common, one would expect that armor would be designed to absorb, and/or reflect, (think Faraday cage) as well as having the ability to dissipate kinetic energy. Reflecting, and especially absorbing energy is going to make the armor heat up. The body is over 90% water which has to be all vaporized before the interior (where the bones are) can rise above 100° C. If the finite energy is expended in destroying the armor, and vaporizing the water, there may be insufficient energy remaining to destroy the bones.
To me it looks like the armour isn't vaporized, but rather shattered to pieces? (Or maybe liquidized -- hard to tell whether these are shards or drops...)
That was my take on it to. Some sort of thermal / plasma / ??? weapon that's sufficiently hot that it's flashing the body's water to steam. The steam pressure then causing the body to explode from the inside out. Rather like microwaving a potato without poking holes in the skin first - "Spaff" indeed (just much faster). Bone is different, and so wouldn't explode as such but could be incinerated, as Centcomm has already confirmed.
..hence the "Ion Distruptor".. a High energy localized beam of charged ions.. (the ones we have today are only good for bout 30 inches..)
the effect is over charging the ionic bonds(or covalent bonds), causing disruption,, or the Spaff..
the one thing I am so TRULY grateful for is that the skeletons are a nice carbonized black/grey instead of bright green and red and there isn't a maniacal "ot-ot, ot-ot-OT" in the mouseover background.....
hmmm maybe, watched it more than a few times and I always heard it as 'OT' not 'AK'....must be a regional accent thing. That or my hearing is worse than I thought ;)
I love Alistair! He's hilariously sarcastic in much of his dialogue, and the best interactions for it are definitely with Morrigan. Those two make me laugh endlessly. :D Seriously, Steve Valentine (Alistair) and Claudia Black (Morrigan) should have been nominated and won some sort of awards for their work.
Also, sucks losing Chawley, he was a good match for Ophelia. I hope she gets sweet revenge on his killer.
So a professional question- how do you get the 'energy blossom' effect surrounding the characters as they're getting vaporized? Not to mention there's a lot of shrapnel in those pics.
It looks like several different composites loaded in a single frame? Very cool effect, but there's a ton of detail in there.
it uses a multi-layer set of props ( 2d planes ) along with a ball shaped model of shrapnel - bits and pieces that I had. then added additional effects in Photoshop. The skeleton is a figure thats posed - and mirrored the figures pose in most of the shots "reacting to the agony of being zapped. also several point lights make the whole thing glow.
The off-the-charts power of this Thing, along with the remark about it being shiny, makes me think it might be of Lunarian origin... Though I have a hard time coming up with any plausible reason why something of Lunarian origin would be shooting up Roman soldiers?
Dunno what kind of weapon that is. Just guessing but that beam looks to be delivering enough energy that it causes a body to literally vaporize and explode. Which makes one wonder if it has power limitations. This is probably a very close representation of what a Star Trek phaser would actually do to a person instead of just making them disappear all nice and neat.
actually Star Trek has this weapon.. it's called the "Varon - T disruptor" it is illegal, because it causes death over a few seconds,, instead of quick an painless...
Yeah that particular disruptor is excessively painful (which is why it's outlawed), but still, the effect is a slower, but 'sanitized' demise, not the explosive vaporization we see here.
The target selection algorithm for our mystery guest is pretty interesting. It seems that it really doesn't like armor, since it starts with the closest targets, but then skips the apparently "soft" target (Ophelia) to shoot Charlie. Even though Ophelia seems to have the superior weapon and be more exposed. Hmmmm. (In fact, Ophelia appears to be the only one managing to get shots off at all.)
I wonder if the phaser-like beam is somehow more effective on metal than flesh and bone -- which is why we see skeletal shadows when the armor-encased meat gets hit, whereas, if Ophelia ever got hit (not going to happen) we'd see a detonation of a skeleton-shaped explosive charge inside a bag of organic shroud? Probably not, though.
Or maybe it is a political statement, and it is 'rescuing' Ophelia from her hated Nova Roma oppressors?
Judging by the angles, my guess would be that he/she/it saw Charlie first as he/she/it emerged from the doorway? Or maybe he/she/it just doesn't like Redshirts? Ophelia being the only one to get shots off doesn't seem to be all that surprising, what with Cassian reflexes and all. This all seems to have taken place in a very short time window.
As far as weapon efficacy goes, I can't even guess, since I have only seen three examples of it on the same type of target. Scientifically speaking, "the results for this type of target seem to be repeatable", is about all one can say.
If he/she/it actually IS rescuing Ophelia, then it is a grievous mistake not to have asked her first, I'm guessing. :D
I'm not at all surprised that Ophelia got shots off first and in greater quantity than any other troops. However, after getting the door gang and Sarge, it very definitely chooses to shoot Charlie (who hasn't fired yet), rather than Ophelia (who has already gotten off three rounds at least). If it doesn't have LOS to Ophelia, what is she firing at? And if it does, why target Charlie first? So, we shall see, as the story unfolds. Is it possible that Cassian IFF is at work?
Maybe I'm seeing it wrong, but it seemed to me that coming out of the doorway, Charlie comes into view, and he is targeted. Moving further, whatever it is, comes also into Ophelia's view as well, and she begins to fire, and yells to Charlie to get in the tank, just before Charlie is hit. Since Charlie is already targeted that shot is taken, as Ophelia continues firing. (I do think it is possible that Ophelia could get a glimpse of him/her/it before she is seen.)
I could have misread the situation; that is always possible, and there could well be other factors involved, including that Cassians might be designated 'friend'.
Thinking about it, the choice might be intentional: spaffing a meatbag seems to produce enough of a pressure wave and debris that it might actually knock out other hostiles in their direct vicinity; while we don't know whether zapping an android -- with no water in their body -- would produce a similar effect...
I had the impression that the androids include a significant amount of artificial pseudoflesh with most of the same qualities as human tissue -- only just better in all sorts of ways, but still possessed of significant moisture content and requiring nutrients, etc. only their skeletons, structural members and reinforcing cross-braces would seem to be made of Metallo-ceramic alloys. But again, I could easily be wrong.
That is pretty much how I understand it as well, @Gilrandir. Less electromechanical, and somewhat more organic constructs. The combat models have the hardened skeletons, and more shielding, etc. At one time, Rose likened them to be more like the androids in Westworld (the newer series).
*edit*
@antrik, I wanted to mention that a lot of it is pretty well covered in the tech pages! :D
A lot of *what* is covered on the tech pages? If you are referring to the presence of biological matter in Androids, the Tech page is actually very vague on this (and somewhat contradicting in-story canon), since it's ANCIENT. However, throughout the story it has been made pretty clear that the extent of a "bio-package" varies a lot between models -- ranging from none at all as far as I can tell (combat droids etc.), to largely organic (New Dolly).
Cassians mostly seem to be falling more on the "none" side of things -- with Malati possibly being the only exception... (At least the only one that has been disclosed so far.)
The idea that I wanted to convey, was that the DC androids are evolved beyond the Noonian Soong type androids. In the tech page description, you get an idea of the basic structure of some of the model types. My guess is that Ophelia is like a late Model 3, or early Model 4. I would think that she would contain significant biologicals, and thus contain a significant amount of moisture. Water, however, isn't the only thing that can be vaporized. Even metal vaporizes at a high enough temperature. If you have ever seen the results of a contact or component failure in high energy circuits, or may have seen the results of an arc flash, you already know this to be true. Plastics and organic materials can be vaporized as well.
I might guess that her skeleton possibly could survive, unlike the human ones. (Centcomm mentioned that what we see there, is a fleeting glimpse of what remains as an ashen outline, just before it blows away.)
It has been mentioned that aside from distinctions between the generations, there is also a lot of variation within each series: with 4E for example having a lot of biologicals, but 4A having very few. (If any?)
At any rate, Noctis described herself as "the equivalent of a Model Three" when talking to Ceci ("Curiosity....", presently at http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/1088/ ); and on top of that, explicitly confirmed that she has no biologicals at all.
Noctis does say that, but she also points out they are unnecessary for her work, which I took to mean biologicals such as functional sexual details. Her muscles, etc., for instance, would have to contain a certain amount of moisture to remain supple, even if they are not technically considered to fit a strict biological definition. Maybe I should not have used the term biological. Moisture doesn't necessarily have to be water, either.
Coming full circle, however, I do believe there is a significant water content. I also believe that water isn't necessarily an essential component to explosive vaporization, given the apparent energy level of this weapon. It might not, in the strictest sense make the exact spaff sound, but I don't think she would just melt. :D
Well cited, @antrik. I have two very minor points to make.
1) This is Noctis. Note that she neither confirms nor denies whether she has any biologicals. She merely does not correct CeCi when the assumption is made. She does say that her function does not require biologicals.
2) It may be splitting hairs to distinguish between 'organics' and 'biologicals'. We don't know if 'pseudoflesh' or whatever it is called and is used by androids without the fancy upgrade packages, might be considered one, but not the other. In any case, that is much more of a semantic nit. My own personal belief is that nearly all androids contain pseudo-organic tissue of some flavor, with the term 'biological' reserved for tissues and organs which very closely mimic the characteristics of natural flesh. (In fact, I suspect the tissue of the synthbrain, itself, probably falls into this category.) But obviously there is plenty of room in the canon for many different beliefs, all of which would be consistent with what we have seen so far.
As for the effect on biologicals-free androids, I explicitly said that we *don't know* what the weapon would do to them.
Sure, it could have a similar explosive result -- but just as well, it might simply fry them, or melt them, or even have no effect whatsoever... We just don't know.
I do have to agree that we don't know in the sense that we don't have empirical data. Judging from the effect of the weapon on an armored human, in such a short time, I'd give a conservative guesstimate of power over a time period ranging from a few milliseconds to a tenth of a second. That level of power would vaporize most pliable materials, I would guess. The sound or effect would be determined mostly by expansion ratio and duration. The expansion ratio of water, for instance, is around 1500:1.
The difficulty with which is is removed from said armor, relates directly to what the material(s) is/are, and the temperature of vaporization and condensation. ;)
Believe it or not, I did actually think about this aspect for a while before posting :-) I concluded that I can't think on any substances in the body that would seem prone to condensate to a film upon contact with another surface, thus leaving stains...
I guess the armour might contain such substances though, which would be relevant in case it was partially vaporized too... So you would be on point, if talking *literally* about the red "shirts" ;-)
Well, we're in nitpicky mode, so in addition to his red underwear, in the DC universe he could also have all kinds of augmentations, implants, and synthetic organs! ;)
The US Defence Advanced Research Agency built some prototype laser and plasma weapons. The main problem was that they lit the air on fire and then most of the weapon's energy was absorbed by the fireball that was closer to the weapon than the target.
That about sums it up, alt text and all. Damn! And we still don't know just what this is, besides an abrupt end. Sad, really. :(
Great job ramping up the excitement, and now we have a real cliffhanger on our hands.
Get 'em, Feelie!!
More likely a microwave or high energy weapon, which would evaporate soft tissues.
Not a fire based weapon (that would also incinerate the skeleton).
an where do i get such wonderful toys.!!!
But, don't worry. At least now you know what it's like to get kissed by a star.
Note to self - add the creatrixes to the list of people to never ever piss off.
Poor Feelie//Chawley, I will miss them. :´(
Well, there's always Plan B, and she could have hid it here.
No one good we all know the redshirt law!
?????: +Ophelia! Feely! What did you think of that?! Impressive, huh?!+
Ophelia: What the flamin' hell!?
?????: +I've always been a fan of you, ever since I viewed you in that old Australian soap opera I downloaded.+
Ophelia: What?? I've never appeared in any damn soap, you nong! And you nuked my whole squad thinking it'd get my gears oiled?!!?? Nox, maybe - but ME?!?!?!!!?
?????: +But, but, you were there! With your blue Japanese friend! Rampaging through that suburb of Melbourne! Ramsay Street never stood a chance! *approaches her* Where is she, by the way? I thought we could make a nice three- +
Ophelia: YOU BLUDGER!! YOU- *gets long-range scanner blip* ...Alright, mate, I'll think about it. But if you really want to impress me, you'll catch that thing that's coming over the horizon on a ballistic path just there. See if you can get it intact.
?????: +Of course! Just watch me!+
Ophelia: Good luck, mate... *slips away behind nearest solid wall, ducks and covers*
?????: +It's splitting into lots of little bits. That's not fair!+ *is hit by penetrator core of heavy anti-shipping missile, followed by multiple individually-targeted explosive and incendiary sub-munitions* *is destroyed*
Ophelia: Ha! Good one, Rosie!
And, at some indeterminate time in the past...
Kusanagi: *cut* *cut* *sever* I shouldn't be enjoying this pointless VR fantasy, but I am! *cut* *slay* These people are just so annoying!
Yasakani: I just like to see you smile, Kusanagi-chan! And this was all based on a real place, just as your virtual companion is based on a real cassian.
Virtual!Ophelia: *torches barbie party*
Kusanagi: She's certainly good at mopping up. I can barely understand a word she says, though - she has the same dialect as the targets here. And we keep quiet about this waste of processing resources... and you'd better not let any footage leak out!
Yasakani: *innocent face* Hai!
>:=)>
I guess we shouldn't make any more comments about BBQ ribs.
http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Targ
The benefit of (or problem with?) letting someone get under your skin is that a piece of them will be with you always, long after they're gone.
... oh, it's your face on her butt ?
... never mind then, as you were.
Whatever it is, it just made its last mistake, I’m guessing :)
But really, there should be some armor left long after the skeleton is completely gone. Nice look, of course, but anything able to completely vaporize armor worth wearing in a futuristic era like this isn't even going to notice bones.
the effect is over charging the ionic bonds(or covalent bonds), causing disruption,, or the Spaff..
Also, sucks losing Chawley, he was a good match for Ophelia. I hope she gets sweet revenge on his killer.
It looks like several different composites loaded in a single frame? Very cool effect, but there's a ton of detail in there.
Well, that's what you get for being rash like that ;-)
Totaly grabbing that for our Shadowrun game.
Working on electronic circuits, this is actually a common sound when some components suffer catastrophic failure. It's an accurate onomatopoeia. XD
SPAFFF has a little bit of a sizzle on the front end. :)
I wonder if the phaser-like beam is somehow more effective on metal than flesh and bone -- which is why we see skeletal shadows when the armor-encased meat gets hit, whereas, if Ophelia ever got hit (not going to happen) we'd see a detonation of a skeleton-shaped explosive charge inside a bag of organic shroud? Probably not, though.
Or maybe it is a political statement, and it is 'rescuing' Ophelia from her hated Nova Roma oppressors?
As far as weapon efficacy goes, I can't even guess, since I have only seen three examples of it on the same type of target. Scientifically speaking, "the results for this type of target seem to be repeatable", is about all one can say.
If he/she/it actually IS rescuing Ophelia, then it is a grievous mistake not to have asked her first, I'm guessing. :D
*wrings hands and drools in anticipation*
I could have misread the situation; that is always possible, and there could well be other factors involved, including that Cassians might be designated 'friend'.
*edit*
@antrik, I wanted to mention that a lot of it is pretty well covered in the tech pages! :D
Cassians mostly seem to be falling more on the "none" side of things -- with Malati possibly being the only exception... (At least the only one that has been disclosed so far.)
I might guess that her skeleton possibly could survive, unlike the human ones. (Centcomm mentioned that what we see there, is a fleeting glimpse of what remains as an ashen outline, just before it blows away.)
At any rate, Noctis described herself as "the equivalent of a Model Three" when talking to Ceci ("Curiosity....", presently at http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/1088/ ); and on top of that, explicitly confirmed that she has no biologicals at all.
Coming full circle, however, I do believe there is a significant water content. I also believe that water isn't necessarily an essential component to explosive vaporization, given the apparent energy level of this weapon. It might not, in the strictest sense make the exact spaff sound, but I don't think she would just melt. :D
1) This is Noctis. Note that she neither confirms nor denies whether she has any biologicals. She merely does not correct CeCi when the assumption is made. She does say that her function does not require biologicals.
2) It may be splitting hairs to distinguish between 'organics' and 'biologicals'. We don't know if 'pseudoflesh' or whatever it is called and is used by androids without the fancy upgrade packages, might be considered one, but not the other. In any case, that is much more of a semantic nit. My own personal belief is that nearly all androids contain pseudo-organic tissue of some flavor, with the term 'biological' reserved for tissues and organs which very closely mimic the characteristics of natural flesh. (In fact, I suspect the tissue of the synthbrain, itself, probably falls into this category.) But obviously there is plenty of room in the canon for many different beliefs, all of which would be consistent with what we have seen so far.
Sure, it could have a similar explosive result -- but just as well, it might simply fry them, or melt them, or even have no effect whatsoever... We just don't know.
The difficulty with which is is removed from said armor, relates directly to what the material(s) is/are, and the temperature of vaporization and condensation. ;)
I guess the armour might contain such substances though, which would be relevant in case it was partially vaporized too... So you would be on point, if talking *literally* about the red "shirts" ;-)
Perhaps it did not engage the Cassian because Androids are not within it's threat parameters? (Does not see them as a "live" threat.)
Though somehow I don't think this will be much of a consolation for Feelie ;-)