From: Eli Arndt <emu2020@c...>
Date: Mon, 7 May 2001 08:59:09 -0700
Subject: Somethign cool I read (LONG)
Hey everyone,
I was reading through an old favorite of mine, a comic called Albedo
Anthropomorphics. It came out back in the 80's during the whole talkign animal
craze, but it was slightly different than most. It had great art, and even
more important, deep, detailed stories. It also had a really cool attention to
technical detail within the setting.
The setting is in a far away grouping of systems where humanoid animals live
in a society that they just sort of seem dropped into. They have technology
that they themselves didn't develope but know how to use (the reasons for this
are revealed later in the series). There are two major factions, the EDF
(Extraplanetary Defense Force) the military arm of the socialist good guys and
the ILR (Interstellar Lepine Republic) an 'evil' Republic comprised mostly of
rabbits, thus the name.
Now silly as this seems, the animals are only a tool for telling a rivetting
story of a young female flight officer named Erma Felna (a cat). The stories
include terrorism, combat, government plots and ploys (especially in a society
where they still have all male military bases.
The reson I bring this up is because in Issue Vol. 1 #1, they have a great
breakdown of how a reactionary force is deployed when a sudden hotspot flares
up on a frontier world.
The following is a breakdown of the narrative from the panels in that comic.
It reads pretty much as it was written except where it was necisary to alter
text to read without pictures:
In orbit waits a huge Command Support Vessel (VLCSV). It serves not only as a
carrier and command and control center, but as an orbital factory as well,
providing total support for any foreseeable action. The large ship breaks out
of orbit. It will take more than a week of heavy acceleration to get to a
favorable jump point.
The twelve light-year jump to Derzon, is an instant flash.
Immediately, a swarm of fighters and defense weapons form an expanding
protective screen for tens of thousands of kilometers around the command ship.
Momentarily unopposed, the elements of the task force disengage and begin
independant rates of deceleration, spreading the formation across millions of
kilometers of space.
While Republican Forces are quick to note the main force, they do not see the
swarms of various small robots undecelerated. They streak toward their targets
at thousands of kilometers per second. It takes only a few days to span the
billions of kilimeters. There, some serve as reconnaissance probes. Others are
merely guided masses of metal. At their enormous velocity the kinetic energy
makes warheads superfluous as they seek out defenses and impact them.
It takes many more days of ever varying deceleration before the various strike
and landing forces are released for the final assault. Approaching the planet.
Erma's craft seems almost alone. The Republican defenses include nuclear
weapons and each ship keeps seperated, least a single blast endanger several
vessels at once.
As the formation nears, the few point defense units open fire, only
to be pin-pointed and destroyed by orbitting supressive fire ships. So
supported, the gunships and assault craft come in virtually unopposed.
The objective - the city of Andis. The gunship begin to circle,
drawing fire away from the assault craft, and at the same time returnign fire,
destroying each defending position as it reveals itself. Each assault craft
finds its landing point as directed by orbital controllers, adjusting exact
placement to match the immediate needs of the battlefield.
From each craft, assault teams advance to neutralize and control their areas.
Accurate, concentrated fire quickly eliminates the opposition. The squads move
on, cautiously searching every building for possible pockets of resistence. If
they find more than they can handle, they again call in air support.
> From there it falls back into a traditional image and dialog driven
Thanks,
Eli