003 - Not That Kind Of Dogfight

[mech_and_mutt]

[There's still room on the page for Starfallen discussion...]

Comments

[mech_and_mutt]

Didn't you read? She's not done yet

But I accept your challenge in advance, Velo

[lizardtits]

I'll still have to some by and watch, if only to see what I'll be up against.

[air_raider]

Whoever wins, we'll be happy to have more faces in the ring. More ways to bring in the sol.

[lizardtits]

If it's sol you're after, I'll make you a deal. Let me in for free, I can start a betting pool. Winner gets a cut of it.

[mech_and_mutt]

How much of a cut?

[lizardtits]

Let's see... assuming an even split of bets, most of it will have to go back to the betters, so...

[What follows is a quick series of calculations in probability, statistics, and tests of the outcomes of different cuts. If anyone's scrutinizing the math, they might be able to see that Velo's factoring in a small cut for herself, as well.]

I could probably get 6% of the winnings to you and still have it be an enticing bet. Might not sound like much, but if it takes off it'll add up quickly. Besides, you're also getting all the ticket sales, too.

[mech_and_mutt]

6? That's it?

[Fortunately for her, Red's not the best with math and doesn't catch the cut.]

I guess you're right though, we are getting the ticket money

Alright, I'll buy you yours. But what'll you do if you end up fighting in the next one? You can't hold the money if you're being bet on, can you?

[lizardtits]

I'm sure someone else can pull bookie duty. If not, might be for the best; I don't play fair when money is on the line.

[mech_and_mutt]

You don't play fair when it isn't, either!

But at least it'd make things interesting

Speaking of interesting, you had any other big projects lately? Other than the robot thing

[lizardtits]

That's been my main focus, but I've been playing around with some potions more.

Wait no

There's the flamethrower

I figure if alchemist's fire burns when exposed to air, I can aerosolize it and fire it out of a pressurized chamber. Reduces the effective range as opposed to throwing the flask, but if you're dealing with a crowd... fwoosh.

[mech_and_mutt]

That sounds terrifying

I've faced mecha-mounted versions of that but are you sure you could make something handheld? Because it sounds like an accident waiting to happen

Not that I doubt your skills but




y'know?

[lizardtits]

So long as I can keep it airtight until after it exits the barrel, it should be okay. There might still be some heat blowback, though. If it gets too much, I can scale it up to mount on my mech.

I was also experimenting with a thicker substance that was a lot harder to extinguish that would work really well with a thrower, but the Mage Tower called it a 'war crime' and didn't give me the materials I needed to build it.

[mech_and_mutt]

That's probably a good idea

A handheld flamethrower is cool enough and dangerous enough as it is, does it really need to be even harder to put out the fire?

[lizardtits]

The biggest downside to fire is that once its on the target, they can take measures to put it out. Plus, it's useless in wet areas. So I thought, if the reaction is exothermic enough with its own oxidizer, it can burn even underwater or while completely smothered.

But, like I said, they refused to give me clearance for that stuff.

[mech_and_mutt]

I think you're the first person I've ever heard say that the biggest downside to fire is that it's POSSIBLE TO PUT IT OUT

[lizardtits]

If you're using it as a weapon, you want it to be as effective as possible, right? If you set a target on fire and they put it out, you have to spend time and resources to set them on fire again.

[mech_and_mutt]

Okay but what if you miss

[lizardtits]

Then you call it 'area denial' and work with it.

[mech_and_mutt]

Well I guess we're just stuck with boring old regular fire in your flamethrower, thank Dog