Where's the body armor?

POSTED BY: shambleau
UPDATED: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 03:51
VIEWED: 10268
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TRAGICSTORY

Friday, March 19, 2004 4:54 PM

I don't agree with the "war pay" because the independants lost. A perfect example would be if the Taliban in Quantanamo are going to get paid.

As for selling the ranch, I don't think so because Mal is not the kind of person to gamble with the lives of the 40 some hands. He would be the kind of man who would stay and make the ranch prosper. My guess is that the ranch was confiscated during or after the war.

So as to how Mal got Serenity I would guess that he did a job, possibly for Badger, a job he swore he would never do until there was no other way of getting a ship. (Which makes his speach in Trash that much more intresting, IMHO)
Edit:
Cold medicine is affecting spelling today sorry
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"Societies are supported by human activity, therefore they are constantly threatened by the human facts of self-intrest and stupidity." --Peter Berger

KALIMEERI

Friday, March 19, 2004 5:22 PM

I would agree that he wouldn't have sold the ranch; and that it was probably lost during the war.

Cattle would've been one of the first things to go; an Alliance army would've made short work of them.

I'd think the Independence probably used an electronic credit transfer system for the troops, for as long as the money held out.

Good point that they may have paid in different currency, but perhaps the Alliance might honor that currency in the interests of smoothing things over (one big happy family now), or as a part of a peace agreement.

The thievery aspect of Mal's character is interesting, because he wants to conduct dishonest business honestly. Do the job, get paid. Can't do the job, give back the money. A tiny rebellion against all things Alliance? Or maybe just a kick against everything he was taught, because none of it seems to work or means a damned thing?

Jen dao mei.

HATEHATEHATEFOX

Friday, March 19, 2004 6:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BrownCoat1:
Here are my thoughts. (snippage)

Zoe's armor might be something left over from the war, something she got while fighting for the Independants or some battlefield loot from an Alliance soldier.

That reminds me, in the pilot it looks as though Zoe (and maybe others) have chain mail on. The sleeves under her main coat look very much like chain mail. Does anyone have a screen cap anywhere of this? I'm at work and can't get to my DVDs.

~~~~~~~~
Nothing is ever so profoundly regretted as a kind act.
Robertson Davies

EPRESSMAN617

Friday, March 19, 2004 7:51 PM

I don't think Mal gave back the money because he felt obliged to deal fairly with Niska; he gave it back in the hope that Niska wouldn't hunt him down and kill him, or might at least expend fewer resources on it. He just wants to keep flying, and while he does try to do right by the inhabitants of Paradiso, because they're poor, honest people, he wouldn't have any particular loyalty or honesty for Niska.

Book: I'd forgotten - you're moonlighting as a criminal mastermind now.
Simon: No, but I'm thinking about growing a big black mustache. I'm a traditionalist.

LTNOWIS

Friday, March 19, 2004 9:11 PM

Quote:
There was some time lapse between the end of the war and his buying the ship, so either he didn't get the idea right away or he was busy engaging in gambling or "petty" thievery to get the rest.

Or he tried honest work, but was stigmatized because of his history. That would explain his reasons for getting the ship, as he outlined in Out of Gas

Quote:
Good point that they may have paid in different currency, but perhaps the Alliance might honor that currency in the interests of smoothing things over (one big happy family now), or as a part of a peace agreement.

This is reasonably plausable, considering the fact that it wasn't an unconditional surrender. They could've kept fighting, but High Command didn't feel like it.

FREMDFIRMA

Friday, March 19, 2004 9:30 PM

Most folks, well... non-badass-military folks, do not wear armor every day, all day, it's heavy, hot, uncomfortable and restrictive of movement, no matter HOW good it is.

What Zoe wears is likely a light metal/fibre-mesh (futuristic, but plausible) vest capable of stopping ordinary small arms fire - but not sufficient to stop actual assault rifle rounds.

Wearing even the lightest body armor as an all day, every day thing takes a LOT of getting used to, and there's a very high annoyance factor (I call it the "F--- it!" factor myself) since a great deal of the time, you don't need it...

Most folks just don't get on with wearing it all the time for that one chance in a hundred, it's not worth the hassle to em - thus, only a real hardcore like Zoe would continuosly wear a set.

-frem
diefuxdie

LJOSALF

Friday, March 19, 2004 11:45 PM

On the topic of platinum, gold, copper, etc. vs. credits, this may simply be the difference between cold hard cash and electronic currency, "exchange rate" as mentioned in Ariel notwithstanding. If you are a petty criminal, you would naturally prefer to be paid in cash. On the flip side, there may be quite critical transactions that you can't complete conveniently without credit/electronic funds transfer.

I agree that Mal probably lost the ranch possibly through some back taxes/overdue mortgage thing. ("Take my love, take my land...") My guess is that he was forced to sell and got pennies on the dollar per acre. Any ranch that required 40 hands to run would be pretty darn big, though, and the full sales price might have covered what was owed and then some. Whatever was left over after clearing the debt may have been just about enough to purchase a Firefly with a few miles on her....

Ljosalf

The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust (1871 - 1922)

OCELOTWREAK

Saturday, March 20, 2004 4:00 AM

An "assload" is an awful lot of dough - more likely it was just more than Mal was used to seeing on the ranch or a paycheck or whatever came before the war. And you're certainly right that when there's no place to spend it, it would add up to a tidy down payment on a firefly over a year or two.

But I wonder about Zoe's buy-in: is she just another 10%-er like Jayne, but with loyalty to Mal and the unbreakable camradarie between fellow warriers? Since the war is over, you would imagine her moving on, unless "Sir" Mal is still her boss - now in commerce - just as he had previously been her sargent in war.

Perhaps she is learning a new trade. Perhaps she feels the need to be "close to the action" while learning how to not be a soldier any more. In any case, she doesn't do anything without his ok first. I think her money from their jobs is invested in keeping Serenity going so that she can learn how to live in this "New Meta-world Disorder." Certainly she is not yet willing to remove her body armour, just in case...

Mal on the other hand has no such illusions of ever fitting in.

-Ocelot Wreak

"I figure you're here 'cause you need some whacko who's willing to stick his finger in the fan. So who are we helping?" - Mickey K., in 'The Equalizer'

LEMAT

Saturday, March 20, 2004 6:34 AM

Zoe could be wearing armor that provides a minimal level of protection, like the earlest Kevlar vests for police or the nylon (Korea/Vietnam) or light flexible steel (WWI/WWII) flak/schrapnel jackets. It might be somewhat more high tech than what we have today, but I still tend to think that it is a kind of minimalistic armor meant to stop simple, lead bullets from pistols and shotguns.

I like to think that we see alot of guns in Firefly because people are using technologies that have been proven in the past and are easy for them to obtain/maintain. We might be looking at a combination of bullet types, just as we are looking at guns that come from many different periods. I think that many, or perhaps most, of the cartidges are loaded with lead bullets. Jayne alludes to this in Out of Gas when he is being repremanded because his gun was where River could find it. A Kevlar vest--or, car bodies, steel doors, packed earth, etc--can stop lead bullets more readily than copper-jacketed lead or steel bullets. Zoe was hit with a shot gun (at least I think she was) which basicly fires alot of lead bullets. One of the reasons police in this country (US) tend to use shotguns is that the shot slows down rather quickly and does not go through as many walls as a jacketed bullet.

But, then again, that blast was pretty Gorram close, and she should have a few broken ribs or a collarbone, or something.

in kevlar we trust

Jon

KALIMEERI

Sunday, March 21, 2004 12:01 AM

Somebody also mentioned last week that he thought Zoe was wearing some kind of chain mail in Serenity during the battle scenes. I can't find the thread, but she and Tracey are wearing chain of some kind in the Battle of Du-Khang, "The Message."

Jen dao mei.

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