So, once upon a time there were these two Chinese officials during the (not-at-all coincidentally) last days of the Qin Dynasty, and they had found themselves (and their troops) delayed on a official military callup, thanks to a flood.
One of them goes to the other, “Hey. What’s the punishment for being late?”
The other replies, “Death.”
The first one nods. “Right. And what’s the penalty for armed rebellion?”
Again, the other replies, “Death.”
The first official thinks about it for a moment. “So, it just occurred to me: *we’re late*.”
Or the story of Liu Bang. He was a local constable transporting some penal laborers to a building project when some escaped. Knowing the penalty for allowing prisoners to escape was death, he released the other prisoners and joined them as a bandit chief, which eventually led to him overthrowing the Qin Dynasty and founding the Han Dynasty.
Agarn: The captain wants the money by nine-thirty?
O’Rourke: Right.
Agarn: We leave town at nine.
O’Rourke: Ahh! For desertion you get twenty years.
Agarn: So what? For embezzling army funds you get twenty-five. I just saved us five years.
I render my affection for “F-Troop” here, because the Reply function goes only so deep on this site, it seems.
ANyways – I deeply loved that series! A great set of characters. Though, alas, it would probably never pass muster (and that’s NOT “pass Custer”…) these days!
Loved it when I was a kid, loved it when I was an adult and could regret it ran just two seasons. And it may be the ultimate source of the famous line, “I didn’t inhale.”
The trouble with sending your least competent cannon fodder to be wiped out by enemy forces is that it doesn’t actually do much about the enemy forces.
Since they’ll be facing constructs, cryptids, and mad science, there’s almost certain to be some serious surprises in store. Under the circumstances, finding out what they are before you send in the _valuable_ troops is really quite important.
Well, that answers one of my questions from yesterday. Now how can Sweetheart turn this to their advantage? (I don’t trust E.B. And A.A. to think that quickly.)
These guys wanting to impress Central. Extirpation is close to essential. They’re the least trusted troops, on the front line—what stupes! It can’t be coincidental.
“So how would you like to avoid extirpation by joining a Secret Rebel Force that doesn’t care what your shoes look like?”. 🙂
Hey! I wasted twenty hours learning to tie the laces! Oh, never mind; that’s about what I spent learning how to play slot machines.
If you’re that close to extirpation, why not just…defect?
I don’t know, why did they join on the first place?
Good dental plan?
Presumably for the same reasons one might hesitate to defect from the mob
from what I’ve seen of A-Sig, it’s not that they’re afraid, it’s that they’re simply too stupid to consider the possibility.
So, once upon a time there were these two Chinese officials during the (not-at-all coincidentally) last days of the Qin Dynasty, and they had found themselves (and their troops) delayed on a official military callup, thanks to a flood.
One of them goes to the other, “Hey. What’s the punishment for being late?”
The other replies, “Death.”
The first one nods. “Right. And what’s the penalty for armed rebellion?”
Again, the other replies, “Death.”
The first official thinks about it for a moment. “So, it just occurred to me: *we’re late*.”
Or the story of Liu Bang. He was a local constable transporting some penal laborers to a building project when some escaped. Knowing the penalty for allowing prisoners to escape was death, he released the other prisoners and joined them as a bandit chief, which eventually led to him overthrowing the Qin Dynasty and founding the Han Dynasty.
The Qin Dynasty did not make friends easily.
It’s hardly unique to the Qin. There’s a reason for the English saying “May as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb”.
“Hang for a penny, hang for a pound.”
If you’re going to steal, go big.
Agarn: The captain wants the money by nine-thirty?
O’Rourke: Right.
Agarn: We leave town at nine.
O’Rourke: Ahh! For desertion you get twenty years.
Agarn: So what? For embezzling army funds you get twenty-five. I just saved us five years.
Only lasted two generations iirc. Not surprising.
I came here to tell this story, but alas ninjas have beaten me to the punch.
…I’m late :p
How do you guys feel about shelling walnuts?
After the first twenty hours it gets kinda tedious.
I render my affection for “F-Troop” here, because the Reply function goes only so deep on this site, it seems.
ANyways – I deeply loved that series! A great set of characters. Though, alas, it would probably never pass muster (and that’s NOT “pass Custer”…) these days!
Loved it when I was a kid, loved it when I was an adult and could regret it ran just two seasons. And it may be the ultimate source of the famous line, “I didn’t inhale.”
Better than shelling our new friends’ position….
The trouble with sending your least competent cannon fodder to be wiped out by enemy forces is that it doesn’t actually do much about the enemy forces.
You do learn something about the enemy firepower and location of the weapons…
Plus, you save on loyalty bucks.
Since they’ll be facing constructs, cryptids, and mad science, there’s almost certain to be some serious surprises in store. Under the circumstances, finding out what they are before you send in the _valuable_ troops is really quite important.
If you have enough fodder, your enemy can be frightened enough to open fire recklessly and injure themselves.
Well, that answers one of my questions from yesterday. Now how can Sweetheart turn this to their advantage? (I don’t trust E.B. And A.A. to think that quickly.)
I don’t trust E.B. And A.A. to think that well.
I don’t trust E.B. and A.A. to think much at all.
These guys wanting to impress Central. Extirpation is close to essential. They’re the least trusted troops, on the front line—what stupes! It can’t be coincidental.
If desired, a “Cannon Fodder, and Loving it” T-shirt can be substituted for the loyalty bucks.
You can tell them it’s made of a special, experimental ballistic cloth that feels like cotton/polyester!
[joins the market with a competitively-priced “BALLET PROOF” shirt]