Here comes Mike again… and he looks like he’s had the once-over from a pretty competent repair crew. Wonder what THAT’S all about. But we’ll go into that later. I was originally going to have him come out of the bay head-first, until I realized that back in Chapter 3, I made the mistake of sending him into the hangar head-first. So, instead, I’m treating you to a Mike’s Ass View, a rarely-seen side of America’s Favorite Sapient Superheavy Tank, right here.
Here in New England, it’s been a wild and hairy week, with a bizarre action movie-style finish. I live quite close to Boston, and so it was with some uneasiness that I watched the entire criminal situation up there play out. I have to admit that it feels, recently, as though people in the Northeastern U.S.A. are starting to go radically off the rails in a very unfunny way, and the answer people seem to have to it is more repression, more laws, more violence. I don’t get it. I don’t understand how “not killing people” became such a difficult thing to do. I don’t understand how “passing the toughest laws in the country” became a thing to be proud of. I don’t understand how declaring that you aren’t giving a criminal suspect the benefit of his constitutional rights became something meritorious, or at the very least, acceptable. I don’t understand any of it. The conversion of conscience our world desperately needs is just not happening, and it doesn’t seem to be getting much closer.
Before he died, my dad told me, I think prophetically, that God was going to send my country a great test, and that we may not be up to the task it sets before us. I sometimes wonder whether this is it, or if there’s something even worse yet to come. All I can say is that so far, we haven’t been up to the task, and we all need to start shaping up, and stop killing each other. This is just crazy.
Anyhow, I’m off to another week in paradise. Next weekend, I’m going to be occupied at the wedding, actually that of my oldest friend; we’ve known each other for over twenty-five years. In the midst of the chaos and violence of this week, it will be a welcome relief, and a hopeful moment amidst so much bizarre and pointless tragedy. I’ll see about getting a page done for next time, but if I don’t you’ll know where I am. Until next week, then… well, just be safe, be happy and be kind to each other. God bless.
man, is it just me or is the perspective on mike’s front most track way off
Probably. I’ll try to do better next time.
–M
Habemus Mikeam! And the sun rises…!
White smoke for the Mechapope? They could do worse than Mike-One-Echo!
–M
No white smoke, but post-atmoic war dust clouds will suffice.
In the confusion, we’ve lost sight of the A-2 mine…. Haven’t seen it in the last few pages, I hope some of the UNA soldiers still take care of it, it would be a shame if Mike accidentaly roll on a nuclear explosive…^^
I also note that Mike is doing is maneuver without watching for other vehicules or pedestrians… I assume he don’t have his driving license for Superheavy Tanks xD
Oh, the A-2 mine… That could be trouble, couldn’t it? Hmmmmmm…
😀
–M
well, it depends on who manipulate it…. nervous soldiers, russian killbots or psychotic robot tank ?
10€ on Mike picking up the bomb ^^
“sir.. we had a mine… didn’t we?”
“…holy shizzlesticks… Johny’s ran off again… here, wave this ‘magazine’ around, I’m sure he’ll be here in a jiffy.”
“…Can I assume you know this from experience, sir?…”
“Yup… he generally runs away when there’s something sudden, albeit russian kill-bots without weapons coming out of nowhere wanting to talk to our rogue AI tank or tiny little kittens.”
What, no DAT ASS comments? 6-commando fans, I am disappoint.
When one is a superheavy tank powered by a mobile atomic reactor, toting theater-range tactical missiles, anti-aircraft lasers and a 220mm rail gun, one’s friends discuss one’s ass only at serious personal risk.
😉
–M
Dat ass!
Is that more mysterious landscape “inside the hangar?”
It is indeed. Very much so.
–M
Would it make sense for Mike to have a camera in the back so he could see 360?
Mike has better ways of seeing than with cameras. His LIDAR and NID systems are all-around viewing. His video is just for person to person interaction.
–M
Maybe he just does that “tuuut-tuuut-tuuut”-warning sound trucks and heavy machines do when moving backwards?
I think tanks do it too.
Hm… no its the Mayan Calender’s “End of an Era” great change. Every time a cycle of the Long Count Calender ends, a great change happens. The ‘Mayan’ Cycle had the destruction of their civilization by some currently unseen cataclysm as the ‘Great Change’.
So… prepare for the worst, hope for the best and don’t let religion get into it.
OK?
Fighting for a change
or working for a change
so far many have fighted for a brighter future and just accomplished to make it darker
the ones who have worked for it havent changed much if anything
It requires great sacrifice the thing is, which is the right approach.
…yeah, dat shinny armoured ass is crazy 😛
“Bite my shiny metal ass!”
Oh, I couldn’t resist…
–M
XD Just what I was thinking about.
…
That phrase…Not in bitting the shiny metal ass.
I cant help but think how GDI’s Mammoth tank would compare to mike. distant cousin? Lil brother?
Mike would be about twice the size and eight times the mass of a Mammoth Tank. Gun for gun, I’m not sure how they’d measure up. But in any event I think the UNA and GDI would be on the same side in a stand-up fight, ideologically.
–M
Think the GDI, UNA and the Soviets would all be on the same side considering how crazy paints the Nod Brotherhood seems to be and thats before we get to the aliens…
If I remember correctly, both Russia and China were GDI member states, and they being the principal component nations of the FSR, I think you’re quite right.
–M
To tell you the truth, this looks bad! 😀
8′
–M
For some reason “russ-bot plushies” popped into my head. . . very odd.
Genius. I’ll add it to the pipeline. I had a suggestion for a Mike-One-Echo plushie a while back, but have never figured out how to make one practical. But I AM still trying!
–M
“America’s Favorite Sapient Superheavy Tank”? Not yet. Still prefer John Bravis from Keith Laumer’s /Plague of Demons/.
I would expect Mike to be 360 degrees mobile and accessible. Regardless of which way he is pointed.
I agree, also even if he wasn’t. there appears to be gobs of room in that bay for a multi point turn. Or the UNA could have taken a idea from 19th century train engine factories, and put in a turn table.
Of course I almost always back into parking spaces because I’m in more of a hurry to leave than I am to arrive.
I prefer backing in as well, in part of the same reason, and in part for the fact that there are much fewer moving obstacles, like cars and people, when you are backing into a parking space than there are when you are backing out. (I still have to keep an eye out though. I for sure wouldn’t want to hit a kid.)
” I don’t understand how “not killing people” became such a difficult thing to do. I don’t understand how “passing the toughest laws in the country” became a thing to be proud of. I don’t understand how declaring that you aren’t giving a criminal suspect the benefit of his constitutional rights became something meritorious, or at the very least, acceptable. I don’t understand any of it. The conversion of conscience our world desperately needs is just not happening, and it doesn’t seem to be getting much closer.”
The whole era of “not killing people” has been a anomoly of blessedly absent person on person violence in an otherwise bloodstained timeline for our species, and even then only constant mollification and distraction seems to have kept it at bay. “Tough on crime” has always been one of those things concerned parents in suburbs go for. As for gun export and registration laws, there’s a reason most arms in the Maghreb, South America and India can be traced back to the US. As much noise as certain interest groups make, our weapons control laws are half-hearted and designed more to support Western arms manufacturers citizens themselves. And denying the lad habeus corpus never became acceptable or meritous, we just had the PATRIOT act shoved down our throats by a single group of gentlemen being a hard spot waiting for a rock of a disaster to mash the entire USA between to advance their permanent war, and the result is an executive branch that has largely stopped responding to non-violent petitions of greivences; people not having as much of the time, ability, inclination, community and clout in numbers as they used to has made descending on DC in the hundreds of thousands mean almost nothing in the Great Game as well.
At least, that’s my theory. Viewing recent history through the lens of power psychology and being up to date on the interest groups who would benefit most from discord makes it make more sense. But I am dissapoint, too.
Mike-1-Echo and the Skynet party for 2016!
Also, I meant to put “relatively” in that “blessedly absent” part; also, it may have more to do with the USA having large amounts of tetraethyl lead and metallic lead contamination than a simple failure of conscience: http://www.ldonline.org/xarbb/topic/11696?theme=print
Considering Mike’s size he could make whatever turn he wants regardless of most situations except where people may be. (Depending on his programming of course since he is an engine of war and war is very messy.)
Mike is Moe, confirmed