Strike Witches Fan Creations/Ideas Thread

[Tk3997]

*TK runs in and grabs the spotlight from Xena*
"Mine!"

Spoiler for The Other Girls Chapter 2:

When the shore line finally crept into view on the horizon there was much rejoicing across the entire ship, and the vast majority of the passengers crowded about the bow to try and get a look at the first land they’d seen in weeks. While the voyage from India might not have been particularly long on a fast ship the junk heap they were currently aboard was not such a vessel and it seemed a minor miracle it had made the trip at all. For several of the ships passengers the end of their journey was even more eagerly awaited for they’d been forced to endure the cramped conditions on the vessel even longer then most aboard.

“Finally!” Tai exclaimed enthusiastically as she stood up on one of the rungs of the ships railing hanging out over the side in order to get a look at the approaching shore over the many other taller passengers crowding the deck.

“Will you get down from there before you fall over the side?” Kagerou, a girl of the same age as Tai but seemingly not nearly as excited by the approaching land chided her friend wearily. It would be just like the other girl to fall overboard and drown with there goal in sight due to reckless enthusiasm.

“I’ve never been so far away from home! I wonder what Africa will be like?” Kha a shorter blond haired girl added cheerfully. She’d joined them later during a short stopover at Australia which was where the other two had first met her. She’d been nice enough, if a tad air headed and almost annoyingly enthusiastic at times. She always seemed to be a ray of sunshine even when you’d rather have some clouds or a starry sky instead…

“I’m sure it’ll be lovely.” Kagerou responded flatly clearly not overly enthusiastic about this deployment, and the week’s long sea voyage had done little to improve her mood.

“Really?” Kha asked cheerfully.

“No not really.”

“Oh. They’ll be elephants though right? I wanna see an Elephant!”

“Maybe.”

“Oh, oh what about Tigers!?”

“Tigers don’t live in Africa...”

”Are you sure?”

“Yes I’m pretty sure.”

“What about---“ The blond continued on for sometime rambling off a long list of various animals. Some of them did indeed live in Africa; although many most assuredly did not. By the time she got to Penguins Kagerou found herself not for the first time searching her jacket for cigarettes, only to recall they’d been confiscated on boarding due to the fire hazard.

Deprived of her desperately needed nic-fix she sighed and slumped forward lazily supporting herself on the railing as she glanced over at the growing coast line. The most striking thing about it was how very brown it was it certainly lacked much else in terms of distinguishing characteristics. She glanced down at her watch trying to make a rough guess as to when they’d make land fall. Glancing back at Kha, who was now assailing Tai with idle chit-chat, she mused it really couldn’t be soon enough as she scarcely thought the squadron she’d been assigned to could be worse company then those two…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh crap!”

“What?!”

“The fresh meat’s supposed to be showing up today!”

“I’m not sure ‘fresh meat’ is really a very nice way to refer to new squadron members…” Lowe winced slightly at Thomasina lack of tact.

“Bah the commander’s going to be annoyed if she finds out I forgot about them and showed up late…” Thomasina might not have been very enthusiastic over the new blood, but she was even less eager to get scolded. Bitchy or not she prided herself on getting results. A quick glance at her watch showed she might still be able to arrive on time, but only if they left now. “If we haul ass we might still make it.”

“Err are you planning on taking the spare jeep?” Lowe asked her sheepishly not moving to follow her toward the door.

“No I was thinking it would be a nice day to walk 20 miles there and bac-” She suddenly paused at door and turned to glare at the other girl. “What did you do?”

“Well you know there was gonna be this race this weekend and Me and Shou got some new parts so…”

“Out with it!” Thomasina demanded.


“The jeep’s engine is kind of sitting on the floor of a hanger in five pieces.” Lowe finally came clean.

“Damn it Lowe!”

“Well I didn’t think it would matter, but then the commander got called away with the other jeep! It would have been done by tomorrow!” She defended herself lamely.

“We don’t need to tomorrow we need it now! Where the hell are we gonna get another car on such short—“ She stopped in mid stream her face lighting up with an idea.

“Dude she’ll kill us.” Lowe gawked when she realized what she was planning.

“No she’ll kill you since you’ll be driving it.”

“That’s cold.” Lowe replied sourly.

“March, soldier!” Thomasina showed no mercy.

They quickly headed off in search of their target quickly locating it at the barracks not long after; a small utility vehicle parked out back. It looked much the worse for wear quite honestly: Its olive drab paint badly beaten, the canvas roof sporting several small holes, and patches of rust could be seen in several areas near the ground. It was a GAZ-64 belonging to Alexandria, no one was quite sure why she was so attached to it, but she was, and woe to anyone that so much as touched it without her permission. Indeed her odd obsession with the vehicle had earned her, her nickname.

And now Lowe was being ordered to more or less steal it… “After she gruesomely murders me I’m going to come back and haunt you.” She made her displeasure evident.

“Duly noted, now get in!” Thomasina made her lack of caring evident as well.

With more then a little reticence Lowe climbed into the driver’s seat. The dash and gauges were, as you’d expect, all in Orussia, but by and large a car is a car and it was not hard to get it started and in gear. As they headed out Lowe handled the vehicle with a rather uncharacteristic softness hoping that if she brought it back unscathed and topped off the gas tank its owner might not notice they’d taken it…

This slow poke pace annoyed Thomasina who was more concerned about looking good herself by arriving on time then her drivers future, and needless to say she made this fact quite clear: multiple times... Lowe countered that if she wanted to go faster she could always drive, but Thomasina quickly declined that offer and instead opted to continue grumbling as they “slowly”, as in actually obeying the posted speed limits, meandered on toward their goal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Grr where are they! They where supposed to be here ten minutes ago!” Tai growled as she stood up on a bench scanning the bustling port area for any sign of there ride.

”I’m sure they just hit traffic or something besides why are you in such a hurry look at all this neat stuff around here!” Kha tired to clam the girl in between taking in the various sights and sounds of the busy harbor.

Safaga had grown greatly in size in the last year or so as it became the primary entry point for supplies and troops coming from the Pacific and Indian oceans into North Africa. It was safely out of range of artillery from the front, but still close enough that supplies and troops could be brought there quickly once unloaded. This made it a prime target for air raids though; hence why it had its own squadron of witches based nearby. Its increasing importance was also why the three of them had been sent here to reinforce that unit.

“I didn’t come here for sight seeing I came here to kill aliens!” Tai responded with her usual enthusiasm for all things violent and lack of patience.

Kagerou meanwhile was dead to both of her companion’s ramblings, and the world in general at this point as she happily puffed on her first cigarette in weeks. It had cost her a small fortune to buy the pack and a lighter off a passing soldier, and frankly the quality of them was crap, but it had been totally worth it anyway…

Luckily it wasn’t much longer before a beat up looking utility vehicle pulled up in front of the trio. A short red haired girl leaned out of the passenger side and looked them over for a moment making little effort to hide her distaste. “You three supposed to be stationed at D-15?” She finally asked grumpily it was rather unlikely that three other random girls in military uniforms would be hanging around near the offloading ships, but stranger things had happened.

“Last we checked yes.” Kagerou confirmed there identities passively.

“You’re late!” Tai was considerably less civil.

“And you’re an ungrateful ass.” Thomasina shot back. “Now shut up and get in.”

Tai glared at her, but then glanced at the back seat of the vehicle and noted something. “There are only two seats back there!”

“No there’s a bench.” Thomasina corrected her. “I sure hope you’re not blind that would be a problem for a pilot…”

Now Tai was getting annoyed. “Fine it’s a bench, but it’s still only big enough for two people idiot!”

“You sure complain allot don’t you? I thought all you Asian valued politeness?” Thomasina was getting annoyed now too and turned up the snark while adding a dash of racism for that extra kick. Lowe felt that she should perhaps warn the newcomer against her current course, but she felt even more like she wanted to stay the hell out of this and so remained silent… The girl would learn the error of her ways soon enough at this rate.

Kagerou sighed wearily as she watching the escalating argument; she could already see where this was going. She nodded to Kha to pick up her bag and quietly follow her which the other girl did after a moment of confusion.

“What did you just say?!” Tai balked at the red heads last comment.

“Listen you stupid FNG this is your last chance get in the damn car.”

“I’ve already told you there’s no room idiot!” She countered now pissed and more or less arguing in circles.

“Fine whatever, looks like this one wants to walk.” Thomasina announced dismissively leaning back into the vehicle.

“What are you talking about…” It was only then that Tai noticed Kagerou and Kha had circled around and gotten in the back of the car while she’d been arguing with Thomasina. She recovered quickly though and put on a condescending air as she turned her back to the vehicle. “Yeah right, you’re not gonna take off without m— HEY!!!” She screamed in angry as she suddenly heard the cars engine rev and spun around to see it pulling away from the curb. She quickly ran after it screaming in rage…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Comfy back there?” Thomasina asked as they rumbled off the city streets and onto the dirt road leading toward the airbase. While it was technically addressed to all of the passengers it was in truth really aimed at one of them…

“As much so as can be expected.” Kagerou replied indifferently working on her fifth cigarette in 30 minutes.

“I’m fine.” Kha added happily.

“This sucks.” Goose chimed in last form her position crammed on the floor between her companion’s feet; Thomasina smirked and faced back forward ignoring the glare Tai was putting on the back of her head.

”So where are you all from anyway?” Lowe asked trying to improve the atmosphere a bit.

“Australia!” Kha answered first and enthusiastically.

“Where exactly?” Lowe responded curious as she knew a bit about that country.

“Sydney!”

”Oh I spent a few days there on a stopover it was nice.” Lowe replied amiably.

“I found a spider as big as my fucking hand in my boot…” Thomasina was less enthusiastic.

“So how about you? Though I can kinda guess.” Lowe pressed addressing Kagerou.

“Fuso, I doubt my towns name would mean anything to you.” She responded evenly.

“Probably not.” Lowe admitted. “I hear it’s a very pretty country though.”

Kagerou shrugged in response. “It’s alright I suppose.”

Lowe realized she wasn’t going to get much out of her and moved on. “So how about you?” He questioned

“Sinae.” Was the more growled then spoken response and she quickly realized that would be a dry well too.

“So umm?” Lowe groped for the name of the only person that had given her much of any response.

“Kha!” The girl in question replied happily.

“So Kha why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself?”

Having been handed an excuse to talk Kha quickly launched into a rendition of her life’s story. Unlike most would be in this situation though Lowe was actually listening to her, and offering occasional comments to prove as much. Even as they pulled up to the base Kha stuck close to the older girl quite to have found someone that apparently to talk too. However thus distracted Lowe made a critical mistake that could come back to bite her later…

As the group exited the vehicle and headed toward the squadrons offices noise overhead drew there attention upward, and they glanced up to see four witches coming into the base to land. “Hmm a bit late.” Thomasina remarked glancing down at her watch; she’d been late, but she’d still beaten them back so she’d succeeded in the end. “Lowe take care of them, I’m going to go meet the boss.”

Lowe nodded in response, and Thomasina headed off towards the hanger arriving just as the group was finishing up dismounting. She casually meandered up and met Clare as the other girl was exiting the building. “You get the new recruits alright?” Clare asked eyeing her XO a tad suspiciously.

“Of course I did.” Thomasina huffed defensively.

“And they’re not traumatized already?” She continued pointedly.

“I’ll have you know I was very well behaved.” Thomasina replied indignantly “Although one of them might be walking a little funny.” She added off hand.

“Tom…” Clare fixed her with a disapproving look.

“Hey there were three of them and only two seats; someone had to take the floor.” She shot back unapologetic glancing away from her superiors gaze.

“I get the feeling you’re not all that sorry about that.” Clare commented off hand dropping the scolding look for the moment.

“Floor girl’s big mouth saved me having to bother with straws.” Thomasina informed her casually.

“I see you’ve taken a liking to one of them already.” Clare observed flatly.

“Quite, I’m looking forward to training with her…” Thomasina answered with rather poorly concealed malice.

“Training and brutal hazing is not the same thing.” Clare informed her sternly.

“Oh sure take all the fun out of it.” Thomasina frowned at the older girl.

Clare just shook her head and moved on. “Well let’s meet the new blood shall we?” She announced aloud to all present as they arrived at the squadrons offices.

I couldn't find anyone to beta this so it might not be great mechanically I tried to be more careful this time though, but since once more I sat down and wrote like 90% of it in a marathon it hard to say if it'll really be any better.

[Kha]

Originally Posted by Keroko

*snort* I love it when people point at the bugs in WAR, even though WoW was no different. The decision to wait for a bit is a smart one though, and it wouldn't surprise me if many more people are doing so. There's a big patch coming in December that should iron out a lot of bugs, make it more playable on lower-end systems, and re-introduce two of the previously dropped classes.

As for me, I'm a WoW launch-vet, so WoW has long since lost most of its appeal to me, I played it, but I was playing it for my friends. When WAR came out, all of my friends living close by sat around the table and decided to jump ship. With all my close friends going for WAR, there was little reason for me to stay behind.

WAR was a fresh wind that came exactly at the time I needed it.

Ah... With most of my friends staying put, and no extra funds to make the leap (40K took up what's left. ), no reason for me to jump over seriously just yet.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Fangirl? Nah, Alexis is the token ever stubborn, cheerful hyperactive member of the Squadron.

Considering that she's biting at Momoko's heels, who is also that said token chara, because from day one the lieutenant shows up addressing Kirby by name and is practically stuck to him but not because of her personality, I guess Antoinette might accommodate Alexis' whims to some point before facepalming when it gets extreme?

Why am I answering this for you Anita... >.>

Originally Posted by Keroko

Try making a group of engineers and go play a few scenarios.

No friends on Order...

Originally Posted by Keroko

I've been digging a bit deeper in Little Busters! Last night, and oh do I love Rin. <3 She's so similar to the Keroko template, cool, but cute at the same time.

I think a change in Avatar and Sig is coming soon. <3

I noticed.

Originally Posted by Keroko

She's still a battle maniac... just with a lot less Ork.

Good enough.

Originally Posted by Keroko

You think? The Bastion is lazy... it needs more work to look like a real fortress.

Look at mine; I was just recolored from something else. Your's is much more original than mine.

Originally Posted by Sheba

The time you are using up for an overrated MMO could be used to widen your horizon and broaden your culture, something you could inject later in your own creations.

But- but- We need more alts!

Originally Posted by Keroko

Like eagerly anticipating The Old Republic?

...

*cough* Or maybe watching more History Channel online, if you want to learn something relevant to Strike Witches. Heck, the history channel website itself hosts free episodes for anyone to watch!

...egads not another one.

Make a 40K MMO and I will drop everything and run.

Duly noted.

Originally Posted by kct

Karlslander.

Spoiler for Leutnant Justine “Club” Schroeder:

Name: Justine “Club” Schroeder

Spoiler for Author's note:

You can call her one of Erica's students.

Oooh, a 1972 ace trained by a war vet. Nice. And noticibly harsh.

Originally Posted by XenahortCharybdis

Heh.

Alright, it's been a while, but I've finished cracking.

Hopefully it turns out fine, because I can't seem to remember that I wrote some of this stuff, which is bad

I don't what I'm getting into, doing two stories at one time, but here goes nothing anyway!

Spoiler for I, Witch - Sands of Afrika I:

Rommel, Usov and Janis.

And then the second....

Spoiler for Winter War - Road to Alamein I:

3 nights without sleep, and the 7th battle since.

Normal life resumes.

And Normal Life Resumes...
Kha, put this on my tab if you can, as "SWOC Version 1.0.1.1 Update"

Xena, out

Don't bite off more than you can chew.

That said, these 2 chaps turned out fine. I like the narration, and the way you handle dialogue is waaay beyond mine.

So this is the famous Commander AKA harem leader Rommel?

And more songs... Bleah I know none of the past. ><

Originally Posted by Tk3997

*TK runs in and grabs the spotlight from Xena*
"Mine!"

Spoiler for The Other Girls Chapter 2:

Recruits

I couldn't find anyone to beta this so it might not be great mechanically I tried to be more careful this time though, but since once more I sat down and wrote like 90% of it in a marathon it hard to say if it'll really be any better.

Nah its good enough.

...and Kha is really like O'Hare.

[Tk3997]

Originally Posted by XenahortCharybdis

Heh.

Alright, it's been a while, but I've finished cracking.

Hopefully it turns out fine, because I can't seem to remember that I wrote some of this stuff, which is bad

I don't what I'm getting into, doing two stories at one time, but here goes nothing anyway!

I had something like that in mind myself with one story set during the squadrons official formation (this one) and another sometime later roughly around the same time as the anime.

Spoiler for I, Witch - Sands of Afrika I:

snippy

And then the second....

Spoiler for Winter War - Road to Alamein I:

Snippy 2

And Normal Life Resumes...
Kha, put this on my tab if you can, as "SWOC Version 1.0.1.1 Update"

Xena, out

That was pretty good although frankly at some points the text was so purple I found it bordering on painful.

I mean really, do we NEED over a paragraph of flowery prose about how the desert is very sandy and this is irritating? I was seriously at some points was having some trouble telling what exactly was going on amidst the storm of verbiage, pretty adjectives, and overblown metaphors… I don’t think we really need to see that you own a totally bitchin’ thesaurus in every paragraph. This is of course to some extent a style preference though, so take it or leave it, but I personally felt it was overdone in some areas.

I also found quite a bit of the first conversation among the witches at the end of the second fic rather confusing as it was hard to tell who exactly was talking quite a bit of the time.

These are mostly quibbles though and more content is never bad.

Originally Posted by Kha

Ah... With most of my friends staying put, and no extra funds to make the leap (40K took up what's left. ), no reason for me to jump over seriously just yet.

MMO have never done much for me myself, and I'm way to poor for them anyway.

Look at mine; I was just recolored from something else. Your's is much more original than mine.

Look at mi... wait I don't HAVE any art.

Don't bite off more than you can chew.

Nonsense doing so is a long and proud tradition among us.

So this is the famous Commander AKA harem leader Rommel?

Rommel Harem, yup definitely one of my better ideas...

Nah its good enough.

...and Kha is really like O'Hare.

It’s your own damn fault for comparing yourself to her in the chat. Although really there was no possible way a character based on you WASN'T going to end up as a good natured air head.

[Tk3997]

Originally Posted by Kha

Now for ATX-4!

Spoiler for Tessa-chaaaaan~~~:

Name: Francesca Testarossa
Alias: Fran-chan
Age: 10
Birthday: Feb 8
Height: Petite, DFC and "loli"
Rank: Captain (OF-2)
Hair: Long flowing blonde, tied into 2 giant pigtails by the sides of her head.
Usual wear: Brown Liberian Army Air Corps uniform, Barrier Jacket
Likes: Singing
VA: Nana Mizuki (and her songs! <3)

Country: Romagna-Liberion dual citizenship
Striker Unit: Neuroi Fighter-class "Rallos"
Armanents: Warscythe "Bardiche", Thompson NEPMOD rifle, signal set
Stratagem: Signals, ECM, ECCM. Fast Attack.
Anima features: Pointed canine ears and bushy tail
Familiar: Arf, the "fox-colored" wolf.

Basis: Enforcer Fate T.Hallaoun

Background

Francesca Testarossa is a young Witch of the second generation of rookies taken up by the ATX team. She is also the younger sister of twin Alicia, and both girls were in the care of their mother Precia. Mrs Testarossa was one of Romagna’s top brains in high-energy research prior to the 2nd Neuroi War, with papers earning accolades from many geniuses, including Karsland’s Alberta Einstein. While Alicia demonstrated tremendous aptitude in mathematics and the sciences in her age, Fran herself was much more musically-inclined, and prior to the war was attending the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi while Alicia was mentored by her mother.

The Testarossas fled from Romagna during the height of the Neuroi blitz to Liberion. They made the choice as Liberion was the country of origin of the widower's husband, and had been in and out of the nation for scientific symposiums.

Unfortunately, mother and sister became separated from the older sibling in the midst of the evacuation chaos. It traumatized Precia greatly and for a period of time she and Fran were searching the streets of New York for signs of their lost daughter. As the fruitless efforts came to pass, Precia sunk deeper and deeper into depression, and Fran even more desperate to help her mother through.

A friend recommended Precia to a research fellow in hope of getting her to meet people and get some air, and the word, backed by her renown, bounced around until Project-X offered her a job on the newly-opened Super Robot Project X (SRX) Team. At first Precia was hesitant of leaving New York for the new post, but Fran convinced her to try going back to doing what she loved as Precia’s dark moods were becoming worse and worse. Fran would continue to search for Alicia in her stead.

While the family was being settled in in Washington, project chief Rakshata Chawla noticed that Fran’s voice had a special quality to it, and had the girl tested. It was then that Fran’s magical abilities were discovered, and the girl recruited into the project’s list of test witches. Rakshata promised to scour Liberion for any signs of Alicia and did her best to shore up support for Precia and Fran. While they remained worried about Alicia, the way Rakshata integrated the distraught family into the Project-X network and the friendship she gave afforded them some peace of mind.

No matter where she was, Fran would call the SRX institute often or at least send a telegram to her mother. Hence if she's not to be found in the base, she's probably at Signals.

Taking Flight

One of Fran's first magical feats was to summon her own familiar. Arf, a wolf with the fur color of a fox, was born and the strange creature puzzled Fran's caretakers when they tried to figure out what it was based on, if not a chimaera. It was a cuddly and hyperactive creature, in much contrast to it's refined and introverted mistress, and would be Fran's faithful companion. Arf was very special, the amount of magic in her allowed her to attain incredible feats like being able to speak out loud and, one day, transforming into a vivacious werewolf. The SRX research team lapped it all up, proud of their little girl becoming such a powerful mage.

To let her remain close to her mother, Francesca was first a test witch for the secret SRX division. As such, she was given equipment engineered from the ground up with technology gleaned from Neuroi studies. Underneath her Liberion Army Air Corps uniform, Fran wears a special protective armor called a Barrier Jacket, a smart garment based off Neuroidermis. Her Striker Unit was built around the Neuroi drive (as opposed to ATX’s Striker Unit modifications to include the drive), and her transforming warscythe dubbed “Bardiche” was fashioned out of artificial Neuroichondrosis. All of her gear had no human equivalent, even her Thompson SMG lookalike is actually a gauss weapon carried by some humanoid Neuroi.

All this was possible as Neuroi power does not come from the Core alone. It has a fully compliment energy system used to run the entire craft, with the Core forming only the "intelligence" and stablization system so that the energies don't tear itself apart. Liberion, Karsland, Fuso and Britainnia jointly worked on WARLOCK, but each had different takes on how the findings could be applied. Britainnia, eager to charge ahead, built a remotely-controlled Neuroi drone, using the system lock, stock and barrel, hence having vulnerabilities like loss of control. For Liberion, they were patient, and Rakshata eventually managed to reverse engineer only the advanced stabilization system and not the intelligence. Together with knowledge from WARLOCK, the SRX created "dumb" but functional Neuroi organ systems like Neuroidermis and Neuroichondrosis that could be harnessed for human use simply by making the human the "brain".

For all her advanced gear, Fran lacked experience, and when pressure from above finally pried the girl from Rakshata's grasp, the chief maneuvered her into the frontline (yet not so frontline) ATX team for training.

The ATX team found their new Strike Witch to be a very quiet but likeable girl who has a surprisingly strong singing voice. Having been used to clinging to an older sibling, she eventually came to stick to Antoinette on and off the field. Whether the older girl noticed or not, Anita is often seen doting on the small girl, possibly from her background as the eldest of the Saint-Exupery brood. Fran also lacks confidence in her own combat abilities, and it would be something the ATX is still trying to get her to overcome.

Magical Ability: Acoustica Nightingale

While she emphasizes speed and striking power, Fran is best with her voice. Boosted by her Striker, she can effortlessly project her song across an entire battlefield with an enchanted soundwave that is resistant to dying off. It has remarkable effects based on her mood; it can inspire the hopeless, rouse the despaired, calm the frightened and give the quagmired land forces below the bravado to do many feats.

Another effect of ability is to project what she hears to others on the same radio network and hence she is the signals node of the ATX team.

The most prized effect of her song is that it causes the Neuroi to become disorganized; the researchers hypothesized that the song possibly inferferes with their links to the Hive Mind and forces them to rely on their own, simpler and defeatable intelligences. Under the cover of her revolutionary music, the ATX team can sweep in and decimate a superior force.

By 1945, with the retiring of their wing leader Illya, Kirby and Antoinette were moved up to 1 and 2ICs, and Fran was permanently rostered into ATX's wing.



Random Images


Fran testing the Barrier Jacket


No explanation has been given by the SRX project for having managed to take this photograph.

Hey she's based off an Ace too ya know.

Quick rundown of things I see:
Rank:
Captain is an OF-3 in the US Army and Air Force an OF-2 would be a Lieutenant First Class.

Romagna:
From canon it seems Romagna never actually fell, but I could see them evacuating some of there most valued people to a safer area, particularly scientist to allow them to work unmolested. Still given that this would be small scale thing it seems HIGHLY unlikely that a child would simply be lost during this process. A better option would seem to simply have her killed (or assumed so perhaps) in one of the early Neuroi raids, same effect with allot less silliness.

Arf:
Arf talking… I have issues with that despite some signs of noticeable intelligence familiars still appear to be animals and wolves do not have vocal cords. I’d consider Making it some kind of mental link that perhaps unusually many normal people can hear, still a stretch in my view, but more palatable. The transforming thing seems both totally unneeded and totally against the setting. Again ADAPT, don’t copy and paste. Using Arf as a base for a familiar is fine, but just trying to port her wholesale with almost no changes is not going to work. Much as we bemoan the shafting of Zaf in StrikerS I’d use how he acts there as a model, aside from the talking thing at least, well that and the crazy magic spells.

The Entire Neuroi Tech Nonsense:
I’d ditch the jacket. It has no canon support, and is you ask me is too far outside what seems possible in my view. Maybe in some future setting it might be more allowable (since “future” in many animes seems to involve skin tight cat suits for battledress), but in the current WWII setting it looks extremely out of place. It also seems to be based of something you just invented wholesale in most sources the Neuroi are simply made of metal, not some mysterious crap that seems vaguely based around what Necrons are made of… The scythe is the same deal and totally unneeded to boot as using magic witches can already slice up Neuroi with normal steel weapons, so good work wasting a million dollars to produce a mono-molecular butter knife, never mind that the OLD butter knife worked just fine.

They’re “Drive” also normally seems consists of propellers albeit rather too small to likely be able to support there weight, so some kind of mass lightening or such might be argued. Even so the humans just stealing and slapping this into a striker seems a big stretch to me. It also seems of questionable use as Witches are already faster and more maneuverable then most Neuroi indicating that there normal propulsion systems are of comparable or superior power. As such the logical avenue would be continue improving those not going off on a wild tangent trying to adapt an alien system that doesn’t produce noticeably superior results in most circumstances.

The Gauss rifle is just right out, Neuroi have never used ANYTHING vaguely like an EM gun. They used fairly normal cannons and machine guns, and then later in something of a jarring disconnect suddenly spammed beams, but no where in there did they have rail or gauss weapons.

I don’t like all this reverse engineering in general though for a simple reason: reverse engineering is fucking hard. WAY harder then most people seem to think, it’s one thing to build something when you have a guy sitting there telling you how it works, and what you’re doing wrong, but it’s another to just grab some alien shit you found in a ditch and suddenly produce a working copy in a matter of a few years AT MOST. Warlock was most jarring in that aspect and indeed quite a few people seem to wish it had never happened… I am to some extent one of them and would rather like to reduce the damage it did, not use it as an excuse to jam the knife in deeper and turn the tear in the universes tone and tech level into a gaping sucking chest wound, used to justify random crack that totally goes against the setting.

I also find this entire theory this stuff is based on rather suspect as frankly the evidence that the power DOES come from the core is rather great. For one what was clearly the Warlocks power source was rather blatantly either a salvaged core or a copy, and the rest of it looked to be more or less human built. If the core was merely the brain you’d also rather expect that when destroyed Neuroi units would simply crash, not EXPLODE.

So yeah I short I’m rather down on more or less everything to do with this reversed engineered shit. I have no problem with an experimental unit, but I’d rather that experimental unit being experimenting with stuff that would make sense liked advanced new model strikers and weapons. Not random alien shit, it’s not like there some shortage of things to test World War II is FULL of random experimental craft and systems that never quite got off the ground, and they’d almost all be much less objectionable then all this Neuroi tech. Or if you must make stuff up maybe consider some kinds of other slightly out there tech that at least somewhat fits the setting I'd be thinking steampunk more then sci-fi though.

The Singing:
The song thing I actually have no issues with I think you made it well balanced.

[Keroko]

On the subject of familiars, first of, familiars do have the ability to communicate. In the first chapter of the novel, Tomoko's familiar talks to her telepathically, though we don't know if they can communicate verbally but considering they are spirits rather then normal animals, its not at all outside of the realm of possibility.

Also, familiars are contracted rather then created according to the manga, which shows Yoshika's familiar escaping from a shrine, drawn to her by her magic. Familiars transforming I've seen no support of whatsoever.

On the subject of what makes a Striker fly, while selkirk has the booklets and can give a better answer on this, according to the older scans they 'use the ether in the atmosphere to power propeller style magic foci to produce thrust' which could explaining the size-to-weight issue (though it's really just another way of saying 'it's magic'), while it doesn't really step outside of regular aerodynamics either.

On Warlock, there's a simple way to negate Warlock. Considering it went berserk, you could easily say it was 'taken over by the Neuroi' now, if your most powerful weaponry was already taken over by the Neuroi once, do you really want to risk mass-producing them just so the Neuroi can do it again? After all, the next time they might take it over before it destroys an entire hive, rather then after.

[Tk3997]

Originally Posted by Keroko

On the subject of familiars, first of, familiars do have the ability to communicate. In the first chapter of the novel, Tomoko's familiar talks to her telepathically, though we don't know if they can communicate verbally but considering they are spirits rather then normal animals, its not at all outside of the realm of possibility.

Actually I should have been a bit clearer I don't doubt that witches could talk to them; although I did forget that example. I'm just not sure other people can. Actually the reason you just mentioned is better then my own: If normal people might not even be able to see them judging by the manga how could they hear them? I always felt that the familiar's communications should be limited basically to witch it's attached too, but then again this aspect of the verse is poorly explained, among what us English fans can find, so there is wiggle room.

Still I don't like the idea of a Familiar that can just wander around holding casual conversations, that seems against the setting in some way. Then we have some parts of the verse that just seem to ignore the entire thing, which is more or less what I've been doing. Messing with the familiars seems like allot of work for minimal pay off, which I suspect is why they seem to fade away with time even in the works that start off including them. Really allot of the point of them just seems to be to give the girls cutesy little pets...

Also, familiars are contracted rather then created according to the manga, which shows Yoshika's familiar escaping from a shrine, drawn to her by her magic. Familiars transforming I've seen no support of whatsoever.

Well her's was blundered upon like that, but I'm not sure if that's the ONLY way (I could be wrong). It seems seems somewhat improbable that there are thousands and thousands of random spirit animals running around for witches to blunder upon. So even if maybe they don't "create" them persay I'd say that most of them still probably summon and then bind the familiar to themselves.

On the subject of what makes a Striker fly, while selkirk has the booklets and can give a better answer on this, according to the older scans they 'use the ether in the atmosphere to power propeller style magic foci to produce thrust' which could explaining the size-to-weight issue (though it's really just another way of saying 'it's magic'), while it doesn't really step outside of regular aerodynamics either.

Acutally if I'm recalling it right and as he's explained it to me and others in IRC (yes he shows up there now and again) the process is pretty simple the "magic engine" basically just burns the magic provided by the witch instead of gas and turns it into mechanical energy which is then transferred into the air via the little propeller things at which point normal rules apply.

On Warlock, there's a simple way to negate Warlock. Considering it went berserk, you could easily say it was 'taken over by the Neuroi' now, if your most powerful weaponry was already taken over by the Neuroi once, do you really want to risk mass-producing them just so the Neuroi can do it again? After all, the next time they might take it over before it destroys an entire hive, rather then after.

That would be the most logical way, to just say it was judged too dangerous to keep tampering with such things; at least in a combat unit.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Actually I should have been a bit clearer I don't doubt that witches could talk to them; although I did forget that example. I'm just not sure other people can. Actually the reason you just mentioned is better then my own: If normal people might not even be able to see them judging by the manga how could they hear them? I always felt that the familiar's communications should be limited basically to witch it's attached too, but then again this aspect of the verse is poorly explained, among what us English fans can find, so there is wiggle room.

Still I don't like the idea of a Familiar that can just wander around holding casual conversations, that seems against the setting in some way. Then we have some parts of the verse that just seem to ignore the entire thing, which is more or less what I've been doing. Messing with the familiars seems like allot of work for minimal pay off, which I suspect is why they seem to fade away with time even in the works that start off including them. Really allot of the point of them just seems to be to give the girls cutesy little pets...

Well, naturally familiars will have a hard time conversation with people who can't even see them, but other powerful Witches could be possible. Takei was able to see Yoshika's familiar as well, after all.

Though I agree messing with the familiars is a lot of work, even the novels have only mentioned them as far as I've read, and don't really seem to do a lot of things with them.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Well her's was blundered upon like that, but I'm not sure if that's the ONLY way (I could be wrong). It seems seems somewhat improbable that there are thousands and thousands of random spirit animals running around for witches to blunder upon. So even if maybe they don't "create" them persay I'd say that most of them still probably summon and then bind the familiar to themselves.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not disagreeing that familiars can't be summoned, however Kha puts the summoning of Arf as Fransesca creating Arf, and while I have no doubt the summoning of familiars is a norm rather then an exception, creating a spirit is something I can't see done in the Strike Witches scene.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Acutally if I'm recalling it right and as he's explained it to me and others in IRC (yes he shows up there now and again) the process is pretty simple the "magic engine" basically just burns the magic provided by the witch instead of gas and turns it into mechanical energy which is then transferred into the air via the little propeller things at which point normal rules apply.

That settles that then.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

That would be the most logical way, to just say it was judged too dangerous to keep tampering with such things; at least in a combat unit.

Pretty much anything would be risky using Neuroi technology.

[selkirk]

Originally Posted by Keroko

On the subject of familiars, first of, familiars do have the ability to communicate. In the first chapter of the novel, Tomoko's familiar talks to her telepathically, though we don't know if they can communicate verbally but considering they are spirits rather then normal animals, its not at all outside of the realm of possibility.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Actually I should have been a bit clearer I don't doubt that witches could talk to them; although I did forget that example. I'm just not sure other people can. Actually the reason you just mentioned is better then my own: If normal people might not even be able to see them judging by the manga how could they hear them? I always felt that the familiar's communications should be limited basically to witch it's attached too, but then again this aspect of the verse is poorly explained, among what us English fans can find, so there is wiggle room.

Still I don't like the idea of a Familiar that can just wander around holding casual conversations, that seems against the setting in some way. Then we have some parts of the verse that just seem to ignore the entire thing, which is more or less what I've been doing. Messing with the familiars seems like allot of work for minimal pay off, which I suspect is why they seem to fade away with time even in the works that start off including them. Really allot of the point of them just seems to be to give the girls cutesy little pets...

In the second manga, Yoshika's and Goshiki's familiars speak to the entire group, vocally. It should be noted that the second manga really departs from the tone of the project as a whole though, and all the other media has a huge de-emphasis on familiars. The second manga also got unbelievably stupid with the most recent chapter (yes, that's the only way I can think of to describe it <_<), though there's a new chapter coming out in a few days...

Originally Posted by Keroko

On the subject of what makes a Striker fly, while selkirk has the booklets and can give a better answer on this, according to the older scans they 'use the ether in the atmosphere to power propeller style magic foci to produce thrust' which could explaining the size-to-weight issue (though it's really just another way of saying 'it's magic'), while it doesn't really step outside of regular aerodynamics either.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Acutally if I'm recalling it right and as he's explained it to me and others in IRC (yes he shows up there now and again) the process is pretty simple the "magic engine" basically just burns the magic provided by the witch instead of gas and turns it into mechanical energy which is then transferred into the air via the little propeller things at which point normal rules apply.

A magic engine uses (supposedly) mechanical principles to amplify a witch's innate magical powers. Without a magic engine, a witch is generally reduced to things like moving objects slightly, or raising a protective field (temperature/miasma/physical are all mentioned in canon). Prior to the invention of the magic engine, witches were already used in armies to provide protection for VIPs, though their other abilities were of less practical use. However, with a magic engine, they can use magic to perform more complex mechanical work.

The magic engine amplifies magic mechanically, it doesn't do any work itself. A Striker unit consists of a magic engine, "spell activation machinery" (呪符発生機), some cooling equipment, and probably other things. The booklet for DVD2 has an article on the Striker Lift-off Unit, the thing the Strikers are stored on, and it mentions that the lift-off unit supplies the Striker with electricity and compressed air, which helps in starting up the magic engine, and reduces the magic expenditure of the witch as she takes off. Anyway, after amplification via the magic engine, the magic power is directed to the spell activators, which form and rotate (usually 3-4) propellers, which then push on ether in the atmosphere, providing lift and thrust. The magic arrays formed on a base or carrier also help during lift-off.
(Underlined line is from DVD booklet 1, which is the newest canon info provided.)

(Booklet 2 also has very important and informative articles on Sanya's Pillow, Lucchini's Blanket, Teacup, Teapot, and Miyafuji's Photo Stand, among others. Such as many pages-long articles on the geo-politics and logistics in Britannia and Gallia, but what's that compared to knowing all about the teacups the Witches use? Right? Right?)

[Kha]

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Rank:
Captain is an OF-3 in the US Army and Air Force an OF-2 would be a Lieutenant First Class.

Wiki has it otherwise. Major being OF-3, Captain OF-2, and 1st, 2nd LTs are both OF-1. Is that correct? or am I looking at it wrong again?

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Romagna:
From canon it seems Romagna never actually fell, but I could see them evacuating some of there most valued people to a safer area, particularly scientist to allow them to work unmolested. Still given that this would be small scale thing it seems HIGHLY unlikely that a child would simply be lost during this process. A better option would seem to simply have her killed (or assumed so perhaps) in one of the early Neuroi raids, same effect with allot less silliness.

Changed to assumed missing after a raid, since I thot Romagna fell. Also, the Testarossas have been living in Liberion ever since the raid killed her husband as well.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Arf: Arf talking… I have issues with that despite some signs of noticeable intelligence familiars still appear to be animals and wolves do not have vocal cords. I’d consider Making it some kind of mental link that perhaps unusually many normal people can hear, still a stretch in my view, but more palatable. The transforming thing seems both totally unneeded and totally against the setting. Again ADAPT, don’t copy and paste. Using Arf as a base for a familiar is fine, but just trying to port her wholesale with almost no changes is not going to work. Much as we bemoan the shafting of Zaf in StrikerS I’d use how he acts there as a model, aside from the talking thing at least, well that and the crazy magic spells.

There goes my attempt to pull a Zero no Tsukaima 3 ref. I thot familiars were like Nanoha in that aspect. Removed transformation, nerfed speech to only mental link with Fran, and when near Fran can use her ability to communicate via radio.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

The Entire Neuroi Tech Nonsense:
I’d ditch the jacket. It has no canon support, and is you ask me is too far outside what seems possible in my view. Maybe in some future setting it might be more allowable (since “future” in many animes seems to involve skin tight cat suits for battledress), but in the current WWII setting it looks extremely out of place. It also seems to be based of something you just invented wholesale in most sources the Neuroi are simply made of metal, not some mysterious crap that seems vaguely based around what Necrons are made of… The scythe is the same deal and totally unneeded to boot as using magic witches can already slice up Neuroi with normal steel weapons, so good work wasting a million dollars to produce a mono-molecular butter knife, never mind that the OLD butter knife worked just fine.

I had a mental image of Neuroi flapping, then realized it was a misfiled memory. Barrier Jacket filed away for future use, in its stead is a "shark skin" fabric to reduce drag.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

They’re “Drive” also normally seems consists of propellers albeit rather too small to likely be able to support there weight, so some kind of mass lightening or such might be argued. Even so the humans just stealing and slapping this into a striker seems a big stretch to me. It also seems of questionable use as Witches are already faster and more maneuverable then most Neuroi indicating that there normal propulsion systems are of comparable or superior power. As such the logical avenue would be continue improving those not going off on a wild tangent trying to adapt an alien system that doesn’t produce noticeably superior results in most circumstances.

It's not so much a propulsion issue; it's a power plant to power the Neuroi beam weapons. I assumed this from the fact that Neuroi can regenerate anything outside their Core meaning a extra-crystallic power plant would be cellular in organization, and max power output is dependent on the number of cells. There's a lot of power in humanoid Neuroi, and that itself proves the power able to be derived by a cellular power plant supplementing the magic engine.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

The Gauss rifle is just right out, Neuroi have never used ANYTHING vaguely like an EM gun. They used fairly normal cannons and machine guns, and then later in something of a jarring disconnect suddenly spammed beams, but no where in there did they have rail or gauss weapons.

I simply chose the word Gauss as the final nail of the Necron refs I've been pulling. A more accurate description would be again Neuroi beam weapons, and it has been changed to that.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

I don’t like all this reverse engineering shit in general though for a simple reason: reverse engineering is fucking hard. WAY harder then most people seem to think, it’s one thing to build something when you have a guy sitting there telling you how it works, and what you’re doing wrong, but it’s another to just grab some alien shit you found in a ditch and suddenly produce a working copy in a matter of a few years AT MOST. Warlock was most jarring in that aspect and indeed quite a few people seem to wish it had never happened… I am to some extent one of them and would rather like to reduce the damage it did, not use it as an excuse to jam the knife in deeper and turn the tear in the universes tone and tech level in a gapping sucking chest wound, used to justify random crack that totally goes against the setting.

In that case, objection denied. The Warlock exists as far as I can tell, and I am going to use it. Furthermore, that commander went and blew so many safeguards. Whoever built the Warlock would've been shaking his head in disbelief. Anyway, I've removed all possible means of losing control on the Neuroi machines, just whether you agree it works or not.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

I also find this entire theory this stuff is based on rather suspect as frankly the evidence that the power DOES come from the core is rather great. For one what was clearly the Warlocks power source was rather blatantly either a salvaged core or a copy, and the rest of it looked to be more or less human built. If the core was merely the brain you’d also rather expect that when destroyed Neuroi units would simply crash, not EXPLODE.

If you think that way, of core being brain and power, then you'll understand why Britainnia built the Warlock that way. But Rakshata turned that notion on its head with this theory, and after some analysis, was vindicated.

The core functions as the Neuroi's mid-brain. Like in humans. destruction is lethal even though it only has a control role.

She also discovered that the core regulates the high energies flowing through the being like a heart, and destroying that removes all limits on energy flow. This energy escapes rapidly into the parallel dimension of magic (same one as where the Witches' leg go) and it rips the Neuroi to pieces. As the energy leaves, the neuroichondrosis depower and lose color, creating the illusion of flying shards of glass.

With this, all they needed then was the replicate that stabilization system and insert it into the WARLOCK, then have the Witch as the brain, suddenly, it works without any possibility of control loss.

And that's for a full WARLOCK suit. Smaller caliber weapons can use that Neuroi energy plus mana supplied by a Witch, making beam weaponry possible under a Witch's hands.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

So yeah I short I’m rather down on more or less everything to do with this reversed engineered shit. I have no problem with an experimental unit, but I’d rather that experimental unit being experimenting with stuff that would make sense liked advanced new model strikers and weapons. Not random alien shit, it’s not like there some shortage of things to test World War II is FULL of random experimental craft and systems that never quite got off the ground, and they’d almost all be much less objectionable then all this Neuroi shit.

They do never run out of things to test. The N-pak power plant, the WARLOCK-derived technology are just a small part of the giant pletora of tests that the ATX, SRX, and other still-classified teams are working on.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

The Singing:
The song thing I actually have no issues with I think you made it well balanced.

At least something passed on first try.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Kyral

At least she won't get hit on the head with thrown stuff whenever she barges into the locker room.
Even thou she acts like a guy, she will still be more accepted in all-girl environments then a real guy.

Yes, but whether being accepted as a girl is a good thing is up for debate, as it means they'll treat her like a girl as well, thus increasing the awkwardness.

Originally Posted by Kyral

You may want to add battlements and give it a more gray stoneish look.

At the moment it reminds me of... cake

Cake, I didn't think of that yet...

Originally Posted by Kyral

I sooo hope this won't be another Galaxies.
Well... It sounds pretty cool so far. And playing a Sith is always a big bonus!

They're planning to follow the KotoR style: Even as a Sith you can do good things, and even as a Jedi you can do bad things. I hope this means they'll give us something MMO's rarely give us: Choice.

Do I let this guy live, or do I kill him? Do I pay for this man, or do I butcher the one demanding payment? Do I side with A or with B?

Choices like that are too rare in MMO's.

Originally Posted by XenahortCharybdis

Heh.

Alright, it's been a while, but I've finished cracking.

Hopefully it turns out fine, because I can't seem to remember that I wrote some of this stuff, which is bad

I don't what I'm getting into, doing two stories at one time, but here goes nothing anyway!

Spoiler for I, Witch - Sands of Afrika I:

-snip-
[/I]

And Normal Life Resumes...
Kha, put this on my tab if you can, as "SWOC Version 1.0.1.1 Update"

Xena, out

Blar, too much text for busy me. >_<

Well, it looks like you have quite the battle-scarred OC there. Now I'm curious as to what has happened.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

*TK runs in and grabs the spotlight from Xena*
"Mine!"

Spoiler for The Other Girls Chapter 2:

-snip-

I couldn't find anyone to beta this so it might not be great mechanically I tried to be more careful this time though, but since once more I sat down and wrote like 90% of it in a marathon it hard to say if it'll really be any better.

Brutal Thomasina is brutal. No remorse in that girl, is there?

Originally Posted by selkirk

In the second manga, Yoshika's and Goshiki's familiars speak to the entire group, vocally. It should be noted that the second manga really departs from the tone of the project as a whole though, and all the other media has a huge de-emphasis on familiars. The second manga also got unbelievably stupid with the most recent chapter (yes, that's the only way I can think of to describe it <_<), though there's a new chapter coming out in a few days...

Emotional tone or the setting itself? I mean, I can see how they depart on the emotional tone considering the setting up to chapter 4 is more like a high-school setting rather then a military one, but the setting itself (Neuroi design, Neuroi background, familiars) seems to be much closer to the novels then the anime, which basically altered the first, never did much with the second but altered what they did, and never mentioned the third. Not to mention the anime made it seem as if Brittania was the only front, and the 501st was the only Witch squadron.

Originally Posted by selkirk

A magic engine uses (supposedly) mechanical principles to amplify a witch's innate magical powers. Without a magic engine, a witch is generally reduced to things like moving objects slightly, or raising a protective field (temperature/miasma/physical are all mentioned in canon). Prior to the invention of the magic engine, witches were already used in armies to provide protection for VIPs, though their other abilities were of less practical use. However, with a magic engine, they can use magic to perform more complex mechanical work.

The magic engine amplifies magic mechanically, it doesn't do any work itself. A Striker unit consists of a magic engine, "spell activation machinery" (呪符発生機), some cooling equipment, and probably other things. The booklet for DVD2 has an article on the Striker Lift-off Unit, the thing the Strikers are stored on, and it mentions that the lift-off unit supplies the Striker with electricity and compressed air, which helps in starting up the magic engine, and reduces the magic expenditure of the witch as she takes off. Anyway, after amplification via the magic engine, the magic power is directed to the spell activators, which form and rotate (usually 3-4) propellers, which then push on ether in the atmosphere, providing lift and thrust. The magic arrays formed on a base or carrier also help during lift-off.
(Underlined line is from DVD booklet 1, which is the newest canon info provided.)

Ah, so those standards do serve a purpose other then ease of access, that's good to know.

Originally Posted by selkirk

(Booklet 2 also has very important and informative articles on Sanya's Pillow, Lucchini's Blanket, Teacup, Teapot, and Miyafuji's Photo Stand, among others. Such as many pages-long articles on the geo-politics and logistics in Britannia and Gallia, but what's that compared to knowing all about the teacups the Witches use? Right? Right?)

Yes, we must know about those teacups! Even though the chances of many of us actually using the 501st Witches are low, and the political and logistical information on Brittania and Gallia would be much more useful, we must know about those teacups!

... Okay, maybe that was a bit too much sarcasm. <_<

Thanks for the translations, Selkirk.

Originally Posted by Kha

It's not so much a propulsion issue; it's a power plant to power the Neuroi beam weapons. I assumed this from the fact that Neuroi can regenerate anything outside their Core meaning a extra-crystallic power plant would be cellular in organization, and max power output is dependent on the number of cells. There's a lot of power in humanoid Neuroi, and that itself proves the power able to be derived by a cellular power plant supplementing the magic engine.

Considering Neuroi are made out of metal, a human powering a Neuroi core seems really unlikely.

Originally Posted by Kha

In that case, objection denied. The Warlock exists as far as I can tell, and I am going to use it. Furthermore, that commander went and blew so many safeguards. Whoever built the Warlock would've been shaking his head in disbelief. Anyway, I've removed all possible means of losing control on the Neuroi machines, just whether you agree it works or not.

You're missing the point, we've already seen that using the Neuroi's own technology against them doesn't work just like that, as they'll just take over whatever technology you create. What would happen if Neuroi took over your beam weapon, or even the entire suit, and made you fire at your own comrades?

Originally Posted by Kha

With this, all they needed then was the replicate that stabilization system and insert it into the WARLOCK, then have the Witch as the brain, suddenly, it works without any possibility of control loss.

Doubtful. Assuming the hive-mind theory, it's still Neuroi in origin, so a Neuroi mind would override the human mind in the hierarchy, allowing the Neuroi to take control.

[Tk3997]

Originally Posted by Kha

Wiki has it otherwise. Major being OF-3, Captain OF-2, and 1st, 2nd LTs are both OF-1. Is that correct? or am I looking at it wrong again?

Many NATO nations have a different standards so Captain is Standardized among them as O-2, but for the US armed forces a Captain is O-3.

There goes my attempt to pull a Zero no Tsukaima 3 ref. I thot familiars were like Nanoha in that aspect. Removed transformation, nerfed speech to only mental link with Fran, and when near Fran can use her ability to communicate via radio.

Acutally the speech was canon it turns out; although in an as yet unreleased source.

Most of the rest of this has been thoroughly trashed in IRC so I'm not going to repeat it all. Though on that note I would like to say sorry for maybe coming down a little hard some of the ideas purposed where pretty awful, but some of them might be able to work with some modification… some of them at least. Can talk about it later though...

Originally Posted by Keroko

Yes, but whether being accepted as a girl is a good thing is up for debate, as it means they'll treat her like a girl as well, thus increasing the awkwardness.

To turn all this on its ear think about it this, gender roles are learned. They're learned from many sources but your peers and the culture you're in are very big ones, and your early teens are a key time in developing many of those roles. Now consider who the peers are and what the culture would be like among the witches of that age in WWII. It would likely be a culture about violence, a definite social hierarchy, and that values physical prowess and toughness as well aggression. Now given that what sort of behavior do you think would predominate? I think you'd quickly find most of the "girls" are suddenly starting to act very much like teenage boys, and it seems quite unlikely many of them would fit into our current definitions of “girly” at all.

There would also probably be a very large disconnect from the female population at large again due to culture. The witches would likely act very different then there more normal peers, due to there experience (even excluding combat). They would likely be noticeably more assertive, belligerent, and less willing to assent to men’s wishes then average girls of there age at that time. They might well be regarded by many as rather bitchy and impudent by there elders, and intimidating by male peers. This could likewise go along way to explaining why they chose mainly to associate with each other by the looks of it, and have minimal contact with outsiders for the most part.

But this is just me showing off that I've taken sociology classes so ignore my ramblings.

They're planning to follow the KotoR style: Even as a Sith you can do good things, and even as a Jedi you can do bad things. I hope this means they'll give us something MMO's rarely give us: Choice.

Do I let this guy live, or do I kill him? Do I pay for this man, or do I butcher the one demanding payment? Do I side with A or with B?

Choices like that are too rare in MMO's.

"I'm sick of games that claim to have choice, but that only come down to Mother Teresa or baby eating, all I'm saying is that a little middle ground is nice now and then."

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...ion/4-BioShock

Brutal Thomasina is brutal. No remorse in that girl, is there?

You know who she's based on right... Side’s she’s just Tsundere only without the dere and the Tsun replaced with vitriolic hate.

Emotional tone or the setting itself? I mean, I can see how they depart on the emotional tone considering the setting up to chapter 4 is more like a high-school setting rather then a military one, but the setting itself (Neuroi design, Neuroi background, familiars) seems to be much closer to the novels then the anime, which basically altered the first, never did much with the second but altered what they did, and never mentioned the third. Not to mention the anime made it seem as if Brittania was the only front, and the 501st was the only Witch squadron.

Sel is a huge tease he drops all these hints and tidbits and then leaves us hanging and bumbling around in the dark like a bunch of blind mentally handicapped two year old's...

Yes, we must know about those teacups! Even though the chances of many of us actually using the 501st Witches are low, and the political and logistical information on Brittania and Gallia would be much more useful, we must know about those teacups!

I have some ideas for them myself some less cracky then others, but none of them really hinge upon intimate knowledge of there table settings...

... Okay, maybe that was a bit too much sarcasm. <_<

Na! There is after all, as we all full well know, no way there couldn't possibly ever be such a thing as too much sarcasm!

Thanks for the translations, Selkirk.

Yes thanks... now work faster slave!
No seriously please don't stop if you do we'll all go emo and dress in dark wigs, put on lots of eye liner, and mope around all day composing bad poetry and trust me you don't want THAT.

Considering Neuroi are made out of metal, a human powering a Neuroi core seems really unlikely.

Hey metal is good for you we could all use more iron in our diet! (and magnesium, and zinc, but not so much lead though that stuffs not so good, and it's particularity bad for you if administered hot and at several hundred meters per second...)

[Kha]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Considering Neuroi are made out of metal, a human powering a Neuroi core seems really unlikely.

The core is powering the system, the human is controlling the systems powered by the core, and the Liberian core itself has been altered such that it is akin to a retarded child-- It's not going to respond to hive signals. However, this comes at a price, the power output is less than a fully formed core and hence no stacking of beams from 1 panel, but firing large single shots or rapidfiring several smaller ones.

Originally Posted by Keroko

You're missing the point, we've already seen that using the Neuroi's own technology against them doesn't work just like that, as they'll just take over whatever technology you create. What would happen if Neuroi took over your beam weapon, or even the entire suit, and made you fire at your own comrades?

I do believe you are missing it. 2 safeguards were in place before the Warlock was lost:

- Remote control with HQ.
- 5 Warlock to form a self-conscious network.

All points to lost of control instead of being taken over. Also, if Miyafugi's words were to be taken seriously (we all know that it was wrong to not do so), "the Warlock was different from Neuroi." It had become something more sinister. That to me looks like the Lock itself turned on the world like a spoiled brat and threw one heck of a tantrum probably in revenge of the suffering it endured from birth. Retard that child, use it for power alone, and you're safe.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Doubtful. Assuming the hive-mind theory, it's still Neuroi in origin, so a Neuroi mind would override the human mind in the hierarchy, allowing the Neuroi to take control.

If everything is centered on the core, know how to change the core and you have a pet Neuroi. How? Rakshata is not telling... yet.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Many NATO nations have a different standards so Captain is Standardized among them as O-2, but for the US armed forces a Captain is O-3.

So Col, LtC, Mjr ranks are OF- what?

Originally Posted by Tk3997

Acutally the speech was canon it turns out; although in an as yet unreleased source.

Yeah, gave Arf back her speech.




All said though, I am working on a new theory, and it covers how a South Liberion ancient civilization dealt with Neuroi that also hints at the neuroi's origins. Less mental stretching, and... had a bit of WALL-E in it, so I'm not quite sure what is this new idea trying to tell me. Gimme some more time.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Tk3997

To turn all this on its ear think about it this, gender roles are learned. They're learned from many sources but your peers and the culture you're in are very big ones, and your early teens are a key time in developing many of those roles. Now consider who the peers are and what the culture would be like among the witches of that age in WWII. It would likely be a culture about violence, a definite social hierarchy, and that values physical prowess and toughness as well aggression. Now given that what sort of behavior do you think would predominate? I think you'd quickly find most of the "girls" are suddenly starting to act very much like teenage boys, and it seems quite unlikely many of them would fit into our current definitions of “girly” at all.

There would also probably be a very large disconnect from the female population at large again due to culture. The witches would likely act very different then there more normal peers, due to there experience (even excluding combat). They would likely be noticeably more assertive, belligerent, and less willing to assent to men’s wishes then average girls of there age at that time. They might well be regarded by many as rather bitchy and impudent by there elders, and intimidating by male peers. This could likewise go along way to explaining why they chose mainly to associate with each other by the looks of it, and have minimal contact with outsiders for the most part.

But this is just me showing off that I've taken sociology classes so ignore my ramblings.

Noted, filed away, and ignored as requested.

Originally Posted by Tk3997

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/4-BioShock"I'm sick of games that claim to have choice, but that only come down to Mother Teresa or baby eating, all I'm saying is that a little middle ground is nice now and then."

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/vide...ion/4-BioShock

KotoR 2 managed to do that, where in the first part it was just 'here, have some money' or 'rawr! I kill you!' the second part manages to blur the lines between good and evil. Yes, you can still play the holy saint or the evil overlord, but there are also tons of middle ground options that really aren't as good as they are evil. The plot also progresses to the point where even as a good guy there are times when you do 'evil' stuff and are entirely justified.

Originally Posted by Kha

The core is powering the system, the human is controlling the systems powered by the core, and the Liberian core itself has been altered such that it is akin to a retarded child-- It's not going to respond to hive signals. However, this comes at a price, the power output is less than a fully formed core and hence no stacking of beams from 1 panel, but firing large single shots or rapidfiring several smaller ones.

This assumes that a human mind is even able to power and control Neuroi technology at all. It's a complete alien body, and even if you are able to do what you described, having the core act like a retarded child would hardly make it more difficult for a Neuroi mind to re-take control. It's far more familiar with its own body-type then a human, so its far easier for a Neuroi to override the human mind controlling a Neuroi body.

Originally Posted by Kha

I do believe you are missing it. 2 safeguards were in place before the Warlock was lost:

- Remote control with HQ.
- 5 Warlock to form a self-conscious network.

All points to lost of control instead of being taken over. Also, if Miyafugi's words were to be taken seriously (we all know that it was wrong to not do so), "the Warlock was different from Neuroi." It had become something more sinister. That to me looks like the Lock itself turned on the world like a spoiled brat and threw one heck of a tantrum probably in revenge of the suffering it endured from birth.Retard that child, use it for power alone, and you're safe.

Loss of control, and there you hammer the crux of the issue.

You see, the Warlock is pictured as an advanced and highly mobile fighter platform, but did you see anyone in the control room behind a joystick controlling the thing? All we saw was some guys staring at a few computer screens.

Where does this lead? Well, this means that the Warlock was flying on its own, with the control center only sending basic commands. This means that the Warlock would have had a very advanced AI that not only could target, aim and fire at enemy Neuroi, but also move and maneuver at the same time! The former 3 were far from available with technology of that era, and the later 2 are only beginning to be touched upon with todays AI technology.

So the Neuroi has an AI that is decades ahead of itself? Hardly, considering Strike Witches follows that era's technology, that would be a forward assumption, especially when we have a second option: The Warlock's core.

The Warlock's core was derived from a Neuroi, and by all accounts it looks as if that core was what was responsible for the Warlock's motions, rather then base control. The fact that the Warlock ditched base control and made choices of its prove that the base was hardly in control of this core.

In other words: The Warlock was still Neuroi in origin.

Then there is the final straw: The fact that when Warlock died, so did the hive. This blatantly shows that the Warlock was linked to the Neuroi when it went berserk. Amusing to note is that it went berserk after it turned into a Neuroi.

Conclusion: Yes, the good General lost control of the Warlock, it lost control to the Neuroi.

Now, if one were to 'dumb down' the core, so that any Neuroi probing it finds zero resistance from the cores own mind, what is stopping them from simply taking it over? It would be like having to enter a password, only to find that no matter what you'd enter, you'll always get in. What would stop them? The human mind controlling it? The Neuroi will be far more familiar with he workings of the core then the human is.

Originally Posted by Kha

If everything is centered on the core, know how to change the core and you have a pet Neuroi. How? Rakshata is not telling... yet.

Ah, but while Rakshata won't be telling yet, you will. Using Neuroi technology has already been shown to be a bad move by canon, if you want to use it, you need a very good explanation. You haven't even begun explaining just how they 'dumbed down' the core to begin with.

[Kha]

Originally Posted by Keroko

This assumes that a human mind is even able to power and control Neuroi technology at all. It's a complete alien body, and even if you are able to do what you described, having the core act like a retarded child would hardly make it more difficult for a Neuroi mind to re-take control. It's far more familiar with its own body-type then a human, so its far easier for a Neuroi to override the human mind controlling a Neuroi body.

I'm looking at it biologically. An ancephalic child has no possible intelligence or conscious, and might not even survive, but those who have a developed midbrain often can survive indefinitely as long as the feeding tube remains in place. This is what I am proposing, a still-born Neuroi core.

As for control of the body, the Warlock's body was man-made, only the core was Neuroi, and possibly, from Miyafuji's words, man made as well. It won't be too hard to wire all that into controls, and I would like to point out that the SU does support post-synaptic skin-to-machine control with regards to throttle.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Loss of control, and there you hammer the crux of the issue.

You see, the Warlock is pictured as an advanced and highly mobile fighter platform, but did you see anyone in the control room behind a joystick controlling the thing? All we saw was some guys staring at a few computer screens.

Where does this lead? Well, this means that the Warlock was flying on its own, with the control center only sending basic commands. This means that the Warlock would have had a very advanced AI that not only could target, aim and fire at enemy Neuroi, but also move and maneuver at the same time! The former 3 were far from available with technology of that era, and the later 2 are only beginning to be touched upon with todays AI technology.

So the Neuroi has an AI that is decades ahead of itself? Hardly, considering Strike Witches follows that era's technology, that would be a forward assumption, especially when we have a second option: The Warlock's core.

The Warlock's core was derived from a Neuroi, and by all accounts it looks as if that core was what was responsible for the Warlock's motions, rather then base control. The fact that the Warlock ditched base control and made choices of its prove that the base was hardly in control of this core.

In other words: The Warlock was still Neuroi in origin.

Then there is the final straw: The fact that when Warlock died, so did the hive. This blatantly shows that the Warlock was linked to the Neuroi when it went berserk. Amusing to note is that it went berserk after it turned into a Neuroi.

Conclusion: Yes, the good General lost control of the Warlock, it lost control to the Neuroi.

Now, if one were to 'dumb down' the core, so that any Neuroi probing it finds zero resistance from the cores own mind, what is stopping them from simply taking it over? It would be like having to enter a password, only to find that no matter what you'd enter, you'll always get in. What would stop them? The human mind controlling it? The Neuroi will be far more familiar with he workings of the core then the human is.

I agree on all points, and so with an ancephalic core, there would be no influence exerted by the core. As I said, the core is only able to produce power, every other system has been knocked out and removed. They can send signals to the unit, but there's no receiver circuit, and the core will not respond. It's like sending radio signals to a nuclear power plant not connected to a remote signal integration system to blow up. Nothing will happen.

The only way to take over the Warlock would be to directly grab the lock and interface on contact IS infiltrate the nuclear plant and screw the coolant pump controls. By then, the Lock or weapon is meant to be jettisoned and destroyed, or the pilot killed outright from the collision.

Originally Posted by Keroko

Ah, but while Rakshata won't be telling yet, you will. Using Neuroi technology has already been shown to be a bad move by canon, if you want to use it, you need a very good explanation. You haven't even begun explaining just how they 'dumbed down' the core to begin with.

Yes I will, but it ties in with my theories regarding the Neuroi's origins, hence why I can't mention it now.





But given all this resistance, it's rather discouraging, since I am no match for Tk's analytical mind. Choosing to save the Warlock, I knew was going to run into a tremendous headwind, but with all my RL commitments, I can't afford to spend time to make it work flawlessly. You know how conspiracy theories all die in the face of a good cynic, so it's gonna take a lot of effort, but I have no time for that.

Even my attempts to turn the Power Core trope around has only been met with non-plussed attitudes, jeers and taunts like in NanOC, frustrating myself without gain.

I couldn't sleep last night trying to work an alternative, and today has been really dreadful trying to focus on revision while my brain is just buzzing with thoughts...

As I said in the IRC, I do not share the same love for planes as everyone here. I'm here because everyone's here. My interest in SW only perked up later when I was beginning to see patterns, and the conspiracy theory enthusiast took over. But since the theory's so alienating, I might as well forget it. I give up; I cannot afford the time to make it work and it's just not what I'm here for.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Kha

I'm looking at it biologically. An ancephalic child has no possible intelligence or conscious, and might not even survive, but those who have a developed midbrain often can survive indefinitely as long as the feeding tube remains in place. This is what I am proposing, a still-born Neuroi core.

The problem here is that Neuroi hardly follow regular biology. They're more mechanical, if anything.

Originally Posted by Kha

As for control of the body, the Warlock's body was man-made, only the core was Neuroi, and possibly, from Miyafuji's words, man made as well. It won't be too hard to wire all that into controls, and I would like to point out that the SU does support post-synaptic skin-to-machine control with regards to throttle.

I'm not arguing skin-to-machine controls, I'm arguing Witches controling Neuroi technollogy. This is an alien technollogy we're talking about, how does a Witch go about controlling it?

Originally Posted by Kha

I agree on all points, and so with an ancephalic core, there would be no influence exerted by the core. As I said, the core is only able to produce power, every other system has been knocked out and removed. They can send signals to the unit, but there's no receiver circuit, and the core will not respond. It's like sending radio signals to a nuclear power plant not connected to a remote signal integration system to blow up. Nothing will happen.

The only way to take over the Warlock would be to directly grab the lock and interface on contact IS infiltrate the nuclear plant and screw the coolant pump controls. By then, the Lock or weapon is meant to be jettisoned and destroyed, or the pilot killed outright from the collision.

This is throwing in a lot of assumptions on the workings of the Neuroi core, most glaringly the one that you can just 'take out' several functions and still expect it to operate. You can't just trash certain parts of an OS and expect it to function.

Second, the Akagi already showed that Neuroi can take over technollogy that isn't even Neuroi, what's to say the Neuroi can't just re-activate the dumbed down parts of the core?

Originally Posted by Kha

Yes I will, but it ties in with my theories regarding the Neuroi's origins, hence why I can't mention it now.

But given all this resistance, it's rather discouraging, since I am no match for Tk's analytical mind. Choosing to save the Warlock, I knew was going to run into a tremendous headwind, but with all my RL commitments, I can't afford to spend time to make it work flawlessly. You know how conspiracy theories all die in the face of a good cynic, so it's gonna take a lot of effort, but I have no time for that.

Even my attempts to turn the Power Core trope around has only been met with non-plussed attitudes, jeers and taunts like in NanOC, frustrating myself without gain.

I couldn't sleep last night trying to work an alternative, and today has been really dreadful trying to focus on revision while my brain is just buzzing with thoughts...

As I said in the IRC, I do not share the same love for planes as everyone here. I'm here because everyone's here. My interest in SW only perked up later when I was beginning to see patterns, and the conspiracy theory enthusiast took over. But since the theory's so alienating, I might as well forget it. I give up; I cannot afford the time to make it work and it's just not what I'm here for.

It's not the planes, at least not in my case. It's the setting. The setting of Strike Witches is WWII era, and even with the magic engines, the technollogy still appears WWII era. Implementing Neuroi technology is already bordering on the sci-fi, and will give many people an excuse to go full sci-fi and turn Strike Witches into a war fought with beamswords and beamguns. There's a reason why the Warlock was the bad guy, and why he was shot down.

It's like mecha's in Nanoha, it just doesn't fit into the setting.

[Kha]

But the Warlock exists, and is my favorite part of the universe! In fact, it was the only part that I found familiar; everything else, including the setting, was borderline alien!

*cries in the corner*

Revamping the ATX's gear with lessons from Liberion Red Indians, the Aztecs and Inca, the so called "mysterious tech" when it's right under their noses. Liberion's Warlock is now just a defanged (core-removed, replaced with giant magic engines and a witch pilot) scientific curiosity pressed into service since SRX couldn't bear to let it go to waste after Brit's mishap with their's.

All that's left is that I need to explain why Fran's SU has an unrecognizable paint job and form, and an unrecognizable CC weapon, which I have no fucking idea. ><

[Keroko]

Oh, that's simple, custom paint job solves the problem, you could go with a 'matches my uniform' explanation, and just pick an aircraft it resembles as its origin, and the close combat weapon is a Bardiche, and if Fuso witches can use their home weapons, why can't a half-romangan witch use a medieval European weapon?

[selkirk]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Oh, that's simple, custom paint job solves the problem, you could go with a 'matches my uniform' explanation, and just pick an aircraft it resembles as its origin, and the close combat weapon is a Bardiche, and if Fuso witches can use their home weapons, why can't a half-romangan witch use a medieval European weapon?

Not saying they can't, but a bardiche isn't exactly a convenient weapon to lug around. Nor were bardiches or other medieval European weapons issued to any troops in WW2 for actual use as far as I know... Japan on the other hand did issue their troops with swords. Most other armies issued utility knives, shovels, or bayonets afaik (Beurling has a khukuri, Perrine supposedly has a rapier, Charlotte has a knife, but other than that, no melee weapons on non-Fuso witches that I can recall).

[Kha]

K going custom paint, but that unit is... Japanese is it?

Na not using Bardiche. But still, from that picture... Battle axe? Is there such a thing?

[ghazghkull]

Originally Posted by Kha

K going custom paint, but that unit is... Japanese is it?

Na not using Bardiche. But still, from that picture... Battle axe? Is there such a thing?

Slightly impractical, but a lot better than using an actual bardiche, which weighs something fearsome to a smaller hand-held axe.