rustedtusks.com

I see the overall train of thought here is "You're over here because you want to be here??"

Heh, Tony said Snurk.... that's never a good sign.

Uncle

_________________
Emoticons are the wheelchair ramps for the humor impaired.

Well he snurked because he's annoyed at another minigun bein' all FUBAR. He'll have to use an M-60 if they have to send it out for repair and don't have a spare.

...which is what a human door gunner would be using anyway, if I remember correctly. Manhandling a minigun? Tony is STRONG.

It's nothing about anything, I guess, but... "They all blend together after a while." Given what we know about Tony Ray, that sounds like the theme song for his life.

It doesn't surprise me that people get trained for the military, go through hells they could never describe, come home, and fall into crime and murder. When I stop and think about it, it amazes me that most people can go through all that and NOT come back completely ruined. Turning on that killing side, turning it off again when the battle is over, turning it on the next day, going home and turning it off forever, with the killer-training still inside. What strength of spirit that must take.

Of course, in Tony's case, there's a problem with that "forever" part.

a) You're right abou tthe minigun. The few 'slicks' which were made into impromptu gunships with the gatling guns normally had 'inhibitor' cards fitted to the electronics which slowed the rate of fire down substantially. The problem was the amount of ammunition they burn through - the helicopter has a p[roblem with the sheer weight of it. The gunships - DC-3s and AC-130s - were capable of hauling a lot more weight.

b) Actually, most people who went and got shot at came home pure pacifists. Once is usually sufficient. The Billy - Bad - Asses tend to be rear echelon folks, not grunts from the jungles/swamps/whatever. Mauldin addressed this syndrome in an excellent cartoon, which he included in Up Front. Willie and Joe are sitting in a trattoria with a bottle and an obnviously angry troop is rushing past them. The caption is "Hell, that can't be no combat men. He's lookin' for a fight!". Mauldin remarks on the circumstance in the accompanying text.
True, some few brought their demons home with them, but most o fthem took them there to begin with. They tend to be the ones we hear about.

--lj

The old Huey could carry a good sized load.
6 men with full battle load was heavy.
So leave out the troops and their gear, you have lots of capacity for gun and ammo.
Also who's to say that the 'coptes of the Slop universe couldn't lift more.


(Ramseys rummages around on Mulefoot's desk.... "Here it is: Yep, his artistic license is currant.)

Yeah, Youze Guys is right, of course. People I know who were actually in combat never wanted to see anything like that ever again.

I should rephrase my point to say that in my ignorance I would think learning to fight and kill on command would be something hard to turn off again. Alternatively, I'd think it might simply break you. I am gratified, and almost worshipful in my attitude toward the combat veterans that I have known, that they were neither brutalized nor broken. Maybe because, as they put it, the big thing wasn't to kill the enemy; the big thing was to take care of your friends.

Because of the setting of this story I've been assuming that whatever happened to Tony Ray to set him on his downhill slide happened while he was in the military. I presume not BECAUSE he was in the military, except incidentally, since joining the military put him at the Scene of the Crime.

But of course we don't know that yet. Perhaps the Scene of the Crime was back before he joined. Perhaps it's why he joined? That seems a bit unlikely, but the possibility is still open. Perhaps Tony Ray did something before he joined up, and the consequences haven't caught him yet.

Or perhaps, at the Scene of the Crime of the story title, Tony Ray was the victim? That seems unlikely too.

On and on I blather. Because, Mulefoot sir, you often write plots that lead us along obvious paths that are a little TOO obvious. And one of Murphy's Laws of Combat is "If the going is easy, it's an ambush."

Do keep in mind that a person who does a thing that elicits queries into dark deeds might actually have done those deeds. Don't forget that Tony has a clear memory of a crumpled cheerleader associated with the word "tease." I have a feeling that this arc will tie a few things together in Muley's story.

_________________
"Y'know, if nothing else, living here has incredibly sharpened my 'Hey, there's someone coming for my dick!' defense skills." -

WOW!!! Here we have a thread in which everyone has so wonderfully and completely commented, that I actually have nothing to add to it except to say...... "Great Job Mulefoot!!!" This page was excellent!!

Thanks!!!

Jadúgara ^_^

Bell lists the D model at 9499 gross weight, 4939 emoty weight. plus a thou for guns anmd crewmen and 1200 for kerosene. Gonna leave what - maybe a bit under a ton for load, depending how how it is. Compared to the Spooky at a bit over 30,000 gross, or the Spectre at WAY higher, is why the gunships could haul so much more ammo.

Here's a comment from a guy who rode in them:

History looks back at the UH-1D "Slick" and omits the numerous combat roles we were involved in. My ship, UH-1D, serial number 65-19657 was one of two "slicks" assigned to the main "gun company" of the 25th Infantry, 1966, 1967, 1968, and (?) for I left in 1968 after TET. My ship was a "decoy" for the "guns"....they always flew above me and to the rear.....blacked out....and when I drew fire....the other gunner and I "marked" with our doorguns.....climbed...and the "guns" rolled in. We were also the ship that laid the "smoke screen" to cover retreats of our own people....extraction of the dead and wounded (usually by us, for the LZ was too "hot" for the "Dustoffs"....and we flew "People Sniffer" missions, and "Firefly" missions.......all with the intent of drawing fire...so the "guns" on our tail could locate and "neutralize" the enemy......but then.....we were just a "Slick".......all done in a days work.......


Now, that gentleman's simple story certainly makes for some fun mental pictures, doesn't it?

--lj

Okay, looks like Mulefoot isn't in trouble with the law. I haven't been to war myself, so I won't hazzard to guess how it would affect someone's outlook on life.

Pigpatch?

PS: "No T. C.! No T. C.!"

_________________
Gas burns fast. Liquor burns quicker.

Just because Muley has learned to say 'nope' he doesn't necessarily tell the truth either

So, here we meet one of the folks from the old photograph in Muley's wallet: the Fitch. The backstory unfolds.

_________________
A lone figure sits still by a pool - he's been stamped human bacon by some butchering tool - he is you...
Social Security took care of this lad - we watch in reverence - as Narcissus is turned to a flower

Actually, I find the idea of using a minigun impossible even for an anthro. The same reason it's never been done with a real one by a human in real life.

The typical minigun weighs over 400lbs, and fires with at least a half-ton of kickback, some in excess of 4 tons for heavy vulcans.

Accuracy would dictate he be launched backwards like being hit with a train.

The crap you see on TV aren't even firing blanks, they're specially built stage props, and typically 'fire' with rapid bursts of blown and ignited propane to appear as if they're actually shooting. Others are supported with cables and only fire blanks, as the mass-propulsion is exponentially greater with real bullets.

http://world.guns.ru/machine/minigun-e.htm

A good site to read.


Also, if you'll notice in the comic, it appears he IS using a mount, albeit a flimsy looking one.

He is indeed using it on a mount. Miniguns need those. You can see when he's carrying it that its even got the bolt holes for the mount.

I'm not sure about the main part of the gun(on the page) itself weighing 400 pounds though. Scroll on down.

http://www.mindfully.org/Technology/200 ... 3feb06.htm

Those are MUCH smaller miniguns than most, though.

Generally anything 7.62 and down are completely useless against anti-air, air-to-air, or even most anti-vehicle situations.

I don't think there was a lot of air-to-air use of the m134 in Vietnam. For the record, that's what the gun Muley is using is supposed to be, for the most part. I'm not sure how anything larger comes into the picture...or for that matter, operating it strictly hand-held like Jesse Ventura did in the movie Predator. Did I miss something?

Well.. Mulefoot is using it on it's mount, so recoil isn't an issue...
The gun itself weights about 66 pounds, so Tony could easily carry it.
And the gun was use as an anti-personal weapon.

What's your point?

Whoa, hit a nerve there, eh?

I wasn't criticizing. I'm just stating that a minigun WOULD need to be mounted for use, and that most miniguns are larger than the AP-designed one Muley's using.

It'd still be three bitches and a whore to carry around, though. =D Thank god for helicopters.



In other news, i'd like to see a GAU-9 'Avenger' somewhere in SLOP, just for shits and giggles.

Your info-dump on the minigun seemed rather non-sequitour. You didn't hit a nerve. You did, however, get on my nerves. There's an important difference.

_________________
Gas burns fast. Liquor burns quicker.

_________________
"Y'know, if nothing else, living here has incredibly sharpened my 'Hey, there's someone coming for my dick!' defense skills." -

_________________
Emoticons are the wheelchair ramps for the humor impaired.

_________________
Gas burns fast. Liquor burns quicker.