Dead Sea Dig 2013-03-25

[TheDOCTOR]

OK First off, Who first called PTSD on Katherine? I know it was a while back.
Second, ...WOW! Bye-Bye 'Becky look-a-like', Vaporized. This is like a scene from a Bruce Willis movie.

[Julie]

Yeah...the people who called the PTSD were way more on target than I'd have guessed. It took me several minutes to get to the point where my head was wrapepd around today's page well enough that I could comment on it.

This sequence will probably take a week or more, and it is going to get much worse. Kathryn is not reverting to this prior happy student personality, but to someone much harder and confident in her capabilities, and that will take time to develop. The Kathryn we have just been seeing does not panic or freeze no matter how bad the situation is, probably because she has already survived much worse.

And then something will have to suppress that tough personality to produce the timid Kathryn we knew. I suppose it is possible that just the removal of the stress of living in a survival-at-all-cost mode for so long could trigger it. But I am going to bet she ends up hiding in a cave at some point, which turns out to be a connection to the Library. Phix seems to like scholars, and especially archeologists, so life will become very messy, and short, for Kathryn’s pursuers. And Kathryn gets to watch it happen.

While this makes sense, I hope to God you're not right. I don't know if I could handle two more days of this kind of page only to have to wait for another week before I can check back for the resolution (I'm flying overseas, so I'll miss all of the updates starting Thursday until probably two weeks from today).

[Wdot]

Did you hear what about what happened with Amy?
It makes sense that something triggered Kath's reclusiveness. She has a doctorate and would have had to have done field-work as part of that. Of course, stuff like this happens infrequently, but it does happen. Kudos to all that called it.

[jwhouk]

Well, there are these two little problems with doing any digs in the Middle East...

1. People still live there, and
2. They don't like each other.

[zachariah]

This is a flashback but what kind? Is this a trip into the past to see what happened back then? Or is it a flashback in her head from PTSD? I lean more towards in her head. While there are weapons who could blow up a person like that the collateral damage would have messed Kathy up as well, or literally covered her in blood and bits of her friend. She isn't so in her mind the flashback is replaying the nightmares she has of it. She probably did not see her friend die, just heard the bullets impacting. Next we find out how she survived. S

Since this was a dead sea dig they could have been attacked by any one of a number of groups who resented their presence in the area. It has never been that safe an area off the tourist paths. Kathy is probably an undergrad, or grad student working to finish her degree. They often become cheap skilled labor for digs. They work for room and board and credit with the professor.

[kingklash]

Well, there are these two little problems with doing any digs in the Middle East...

1. People still live there, and
2. They don't like each other.

In Biblical proportions.

[Jabberwonky]

Not to mention the famous furthest sniper-shot on Youtube, wher a Taliban fighter literally explodes when hit by a .50 sniperrifle. (only for really strong stomachs)

B'lieve i'll pass on that one.

I had a Marine, the third man of a sniper team in Afghanistan, tell me the .50 could "...significantly alter your silhouette."

[DilyV]

Dead Sea dig... in that part of the world, the indiginous people aren't to fond of outsiders digging up the past. One slight misstep can cause the reaction we see in today's strip.

Also, in "that part of the world" there are forces who have been fighting each other of milennia... Jordan to the east and Israel to the west. I'm not thinking Israelis would react to violently to a perceived wrong (the breaking of the pot), nor the Jordanians for that matter as they usually get along pretty good with Israel. Possibly a band of marauding bedouins might react so, not to mention terrorist bands, whose hatred of anyone not of their specific outlook would be capable of reacting this way.

Either way, it's going to be a rather gory, revealing time in Kath's past that's revealed to us this week.

[Boxilar]

From the " thock, thock, thock" I'd say Jared was hit at long range with a high powered rifle. A light anti armor gun, maybe 20 or 30mm would probably explain the effect on the woman. Come to think of it, machine gun fire from a coaxial gun on Jared with the girl getting hit by the main gun from a light armored fighting vehicle would produce similar effects. Not trying to make light of this. Just trying to puzzle it out.

Several hits from a Cal 50 could possibly do something similar.

There's a LOT of energy in a round half-an-inch in diameter, weighing 46 grams (almost two ounces), and with a muzzle velocity in excess of 2800 feet/sec.

Used as a sniper rifle in semi-automatic mode, a Marine sniper in Viet Nam made a confirmed kill at 2,250 yards with a Cal 50.

==================

"Dead Sea Dig" suggests all sorts of possibilities ... and "bronze calf" suggests more.

Yeah, a .50 BMG would do it. You're refering to Carlos Hathcock, I presume. He mounted a scope on a M2 heavy machine gun and set it to semiautomatic fire.

We don't know if the dig is on the Isreali or Jordanian side of the Dead Sea but I'm gonna assume they're in Jordan. I was speculating about a possible armored vehicle since the Soviets flooded the area with armored fighting vehicles up until the end of the Cold War. Some mercenaries might have gotten wind of a valuable find (the bronze calf) and shown up in something like BRDM armored car. They have a 12.7 mm (roughly .50cal) machine gun as a main armament and a pair of 7.62x54R machine guns as secondary coaxial guns. The comic generaly stays close to the real world calander by skipping unimportant events and concentrating on what Paul feels is important to the plot or character development. Katherine has been working at the museum since Monica started there, or even possibly before, so this likely happed some time in the 90s between Desert Storm and the invasion of Iraq. There was a lot of cheap former Warsaw Pact hardware floating around as former Soviet client states started selling off equipment the USSR was no longer supporting. At one point in the mid 1990s, MiG21 supersonic interceptors could be had for under $10,000. They were practically giving away armored vehicles.

[Opus the Poet]

I had a Marine, the third man of a sniper team in Afghanistan, tell me the .50 could "...significantly alter your silhouette."

The .50 is the largest caliber that can be used against soldiers not riding in armored vehicles and not be considered a war crime. I would say the Becky look-alike was hit by a 20mm shell that did not have enough resistance to explode (if it even had explosives). From what I understand a 20 or larger shell would produce that kind of an explosion on hitting what is euphemistically called a "soft target". The shooting wars I was in didn't actually have any shooting going around where I was, so I don't have any personal experience with terminal ballistics aside from watching the bullets hit ballistic gelatine. When the 20mm hit the ballistic gelatine there was just a smear left on the table...

[as363]

I was up late last night - watching an "NCIS" marathon - and almost turned on my 'puter to get the new issue of Wapsi. Kinda glad I decided I was too sleepy and went to bed. This scene while a bit disturbing - is so much easier to handle in daylight.

Read the comments on the main page - what a bunch of whiners . Why Paul lets them exist is beyond me. Oh well - freedom of spech does come with its own set to problems.

[Boxilar]

This is a flashback but what kind? Is this a trip into the past to see what happened back then? Or is it a flashback in her head from PTSD? I lean more towards in her head. While there are weapons who could blow up a person like that the collateral damage would have messed Kathy up as well, or literally covered her in blood and bits of her friend. She isn't so in her mind the flashback is replaying the nightmares she has of it. She probably did not see her friend die, just heard the bullets impacting. Next we find out how she survived. S

Since this was a dead sea dig they could have been attacked by any one of a number of groups who resented their presence in the area. It has never been that safe an area off the tourist paths. Kathy is probably an undergrad, or grad student working to finish her degree. They often become cheap skilled labor for digs. They work for room and board and credit with the professor.

A 20mm antiarmor round will do that kind of damage to a human body with very little collateral damage.

[RunningBull]

Very intense. On the last panel with the Becky look alike, there is no sound effect. To me it looks like an explosion, much more powerful than the one where the guy gets hit. Looks like the first one is gun fire and the second, I dunno I'm no expert but it looks like something explodes right at the other girls feet, the blast blows Kat's hair sideways. You guys are right though, this little episode would explain a lot about Kat.

[Fairportfan]

Yeah, a .50 BMG would do it. You're refering to Carlos Hathcock, I presume. He mounted a scope on a M2 heavy machine gun and set it to semiautomatic fire.

Yeah.

When i went through Navy Counter-Insurgency School preparatory to going to That Place in 1969, we were given the impression that, while not exactly the most common thing, such use was not uncommon, either. The instructor said that a scope sight for the 50 was in the catalogs.

Two other things that used to be in the ordnance catalogs:

A shoulder stock for the Browning Cal 30.



(Granted, it's for use with a bipod, but...)



and

A curved barrel extension for the M2 "Grease Gun" that allowed suppressive fire around corner without exposing yourself, and allowed tank crews to chase infantry off the outside of the vehicle without having to completely emerge from the hatch.



(As long as the radius of the curve is at least twice the length of the round fired - .45 ACP, i think, in the M2 - there's no problem.)

[Geezer]

Are we seeing here the genesis of a new species of archaeologist - the Warrior Archaeologist? Tested under fire, resilient under pressure, and able to deal with what comes at her. I think I'm seeing an echo of Lara Croft...

And for what it's worth - the reaction of some of those commenting from FB is reflective of the reason I left that steaming pile. Color me anti-social. A little non-linearity in storytelling hurts no one who's engaged with the author in the conversation as the story is unfolded. I am more than a passive consumer of these things - I am involved in teasing out what's happening. If it's not explicitly portrayed, then I have to develop patience and some perseverance to discover what's going on.

[Aed]

Very intense. On the last panel with the Becky look alike, there is no sound effect. To me it looks like an explosion, much more powerful than the one where the guy gets hit. Looks like the first one is gun fire and the second, I dunno I'm no expert but it looks like something explodes right at the other girls feet, the blast blows Kat's hair sideways. You guys are right though, this little episode would explain a lot about Kat.

If memory serves me, one of the more experienced soldiers once told me something to the effect that 'you only hear the ones that miss you.' *shrugs*

[illiad]

I was up late last night - watching an "NCIS" marathon - and almost turned on my 'puter to get the new issue of Wapsi. Kinda glad I decided I was too sleepy and went to bed. This scene while a bit disturbing - is so much easier to handle in daylight.

Read the comments on the main page - what a bunch of whiners . Why Paul lets them exist is beyond me. Oh well - freedom of spech does come with its own set to problems.

.. you haven't seen the comments that were removed... this is the main reason it is filtered through face book, due to the level of idiocy rising..

just goto any 'latest mobile phone' forum for the totally brainless awful comments...

[KnightDelight]

So ... it would seem Kath must be fast on her feet to have survived this, or ... could it be she took the shooters down? Is it here she metamorphosed into some sort of super spider form due to the very high stress of the situation? It could be she already knows she can become a literal monster if provoked and has been keeping a steady and low profile ever since because she was terrified and disgusted by the monster she became. Might also explain the nudity. Does she sometimes change in the night because of a bad dream and doesn't want to ruin her clothes like Shelly did? Or even if she happens to doze off on the couch for that matter. Of course all that leaves the question of why she didn't change when she was falling to her death recently.

Then again, she may have been spared for some other reason entirely (most likely). We'll see.

[My2Cents]

OK First off, Who first called PTSD on Katherine? I know it was a while back.
Second, ...WOW! Bye-Bye 'Becky look-a-like', Vaporized. This is like a scene from a Bruce Willis movie.

I think that was me.
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=750&start=20

[sheik]

From the " thock, thock, thock" I'd say Jared was hit at long range with a high powered rifle. A light anti armor gun, maybe 20 or 30mm would probably explain the effect on the woman. Come to think of it, machine gun fire from a coaxial gun on Jared with the girl getting hit by the main gun from a light armored fighting vehicle would produce similar effects. Not trying to make light of this. Just trying to puzzle it out.

Several hits from a Cal 50 could possibly do something similar.

There's a LOT of energy in a round half-an-inch in diameter, weighing 46 grams (almost two ounces), and with a muzzle velocity in excess of 2800 feet/sec.

Used as a sniper rifle in semi-automatic mode, a Marine sniper in Viet Nam made a confirmed kill at 2,250 yards with a Cal 50.

==================

"Dead Sea Dig" suggests all sorts of possibilities ... and "bronze calf" suggests more.

Yeah, a .50 BMG would do it. You're refering to Carlos Hathcock, I presume. He mounted a scope on a M2 heavy machine gun and set it to semiautomatic fire.

We don't know if the dig is on the Isreali or Jordanian side of the Dead Sea but I'm gonna assume they're in Jordan. I was speculating about a possible armored vehicle since the Soviets flooded the area with armored fighting vehicles up until the end of the Cold War. Some mercenaries might have gotten wind of a valuable find (the bronze calf) and shown up in something like BRDM armored car. They have a 12.7 mm (roughly .50cal) machine gun as a main armament and a pair of 7.62x54R machine guns as secondary coaxial guns. The comic generaly stays close to the real world calander by skipping unimportant events and concentrating on what Paul feels is important to the plot or character development. Katherine has been working at the museum since Monica started there, or even possibly before, so this likely happed some time in the 90s between Desert Storm and the invasion of Iraq. There was a lot of cheap former Warsaw Pact hardware floating around as former Soviet client states started selling off equipment the USSR was no longer supporting. At one point in the mid 1990s, MiG21 supersonic interceptors could be had for under $10,000. They were practically giving away armored vehicles.

Yeah, best bet is a DShk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DShK
But there are a few M2s floating around that part of the world as well.
Anything smaller would not have nearly enough power to do that to poor Jared.
What I want to know is; what the hell blew Ms Glasses to smithereens?
An RPG maybe?