Star Power IV: Boldly Bolding Where No Man Has Bolded Before!

[Oracle_Hunter]

Welcome to the fourth thread discussing Star Power!

What is Star Power, you ask? Shut up! I'm the one asking the questions here!

Now, would you like me to tell you about Star Power? Star Power is a collaborative effort between Michael "Mookie" Terracciano and Garth "Delectable Eye-Organ Fruits" Graham. According to the website, it merges the majesty of hard sci-fi with the wonder of the Silver Age. If you have no idea how anyone could reconcile such disparate elements, don't worry: Neither do Garth and Mookie.

Features a rich, diverse cast of characters:

Spoiler: Characters

Show

Danica - Antisocial girl who gains superpowers. Sorry, super Star Powers. That is literally her entire character.

Mitch - A surprisingly perceptive voicemail recording stuck in Danica's supersuit.

Doctor Brightman - Danica's boss. She claims to be a scientist, but she's clearly lost sight of the joys of science with her obsessions with "protocol" and "data" and "repeatable results published in peer-reviewed journals."

Da Chief - Surly (but lovable!) security chief who's actually picked the right week to quit smoking. Namely, five weeks after the entropic heat-death of the universe.

The Countess - EVIL!

Void Archon - ALSO EVIL!

The Void Angels - An elite mercenary organization that is apparently so powerful entire governments flee before them. Famed for their ruthless tactics, unbreakable stealth tech, and high turnover rate because Void Archon keeps killing his own men. They've always got open positions!

Black Hole Bill - You know what? I'd rather not talk about this guy.

Larry, Curly, and Moe - A comedy trio whose bumbling attempts to kill Danica endeared them to us readers. Currently on the run from their boss, who wants to kill them.

Froggy McNotkrogan - A brave soul who nobly volunteered to risk his life disarming a bomb. It was a solemn moment; I remember it as if it were yesterday. I remembered all the good times we had together, like that time he volunteered to risk his life disarming a bomb, and that time when he was just about to volunteer to risk his life disarming a bomb (or would that be "her" life? Someone probably should have asked; guess we'll never know, now). Farewell, whatever your real name was! Your sacrifice will not be forgotten!

Previous threads!

Spoiler

Show

Star Power III: Fail to the Void
The second thread!
The first thread!

[Welf]

Obviously his ship has a powerful AI which, for reasons, a useless outlaw has while elite military forces do not.]

maybe it's some Ancient AI? Bill found it in a Space Temple he once robbed. And the goddess the temple was built for was - the Countess! Dun dun dun!

Honestly I would be okay if it was something ancient that gave him some connection to the wormhole people

[MReav]

BHB is smart enough to have a contingency to break him out of prison, but he's not smart enough to not get caught by acting like a reckless idiot in the first place.

[Traab]

God, the federation military SUCKS. They cant even handle a single damn merc and his automatic ship of doom. Ok, so they have all been "stunned" Now what? Is Bill immune to stuns through years of self infliction? HOW WILL HE GET OFF THE SHIP?! The controls are frozen, how will he open the bay doors? Is his ship going to blow up everyone else first then deactivate the jammer? Im assuming someone will get off a message to super sentai space station sinister six senpai sedition satellite syndrome about the attack. Im also assuming danica will of course be there to hear it. My guess is her freakout will power up mitch again somehow. Possibly it will be greatly weakened. "I am at 23% power Sentinel, we cannot take too many hits or I will deactivate again." etc.

[Mewtarthio]

So, Bill's ship has... a giant vibrator that instantly knocks out everyone on the ship without hurting him?

[MReav]

I'm guessing BHB's knocked out, he's just shackled to his seat so he can't fall over. And I'm guessing on board his ship there's a robot that can recover him.

[Kwatsu]

[QUOTE=Mewtarthio;18116070]So, Bill's ship has... a giant vibrator that instantly knocks out everyone on the ship without hurting him?[\QUOTE]

One that somehow works at a distance when they're in vacuum, no less. Because this is a hard-science comic, remember?

[Zaq]

I still don't see how this is possibly going to get Bill off the ship he's on and onto his own ship. There's still no sensible way that can happen.

[Traab]

I still don't see how this is possibly going to get Bill off the ship he's on and onto his own ship. There's still no sensible way that can happen.

I know, right? At first I was thinking, "Well maybe its like iocaine powder and he has a resistance built up to the stunner." But then i thought, "how the heck is he going to free himself? Was he relying on a guard with the key falling in a perfect position for him to free himself?" His plans, they keep skipping steps! I said it before and I will say it again, Black Hole Bill is the descendant of the freaking underpants gnomes, because his plans are always missing a crucial step in the middle!

[Kwatsu]

I know, right? At first I was thinking, "Well maybe its like iocaine powder and he has a resistance built up to the stunner."

I think I just found the only Star Power story I would happily pay to see. :)

[random11]

I know, right? At first I was thinking, "Well maybe its like iocaine powder and he has a resistance built up to the stunner." But then i thought, "how the heck is he going to free himself? Was he relying on a guard with the key falling in a perfect position for him to free himself?" His plans, they keep skipping steps! I said it before and I will say it again, Black Hole Bill is the descendant of the freaking underpants gnomes, because his plans are always missing a crucial step in the middle!

You got your Iocaine powder scenario you wanted.
As for how he got out? Obviously it was the fnsk ose dflf wwl

[Shogo]

. . . I wonder what contrivance is going to keep him from executing her.

[Kato]

I know, right? At first I was thinking, "Well maybe its like iocaine powder and he has a resistance built up to the stunner." But then i thought, "how the heck is he going to free himself? Was he relying on a guard with the key falling in a perfect position for him to free himself?"

I'm not exactly sure what happened... At first I thought the handcuffs opened because of the jammer destroying the Tech inside but it seems he really just like that freed himself by... finding a key or whatever. Surely you wouldn't design them to, I don't know, need a code or a finger print scan or something. Well, I guess fingerprint he could manage. Also, idiots securing Bill like idiots. Geez, this comic...

I guess he's going to take her hostage instead of killing he? Along with the other guy? Because... well, she is of the sex symbol race and he is evil and probably lonely.. No, I don't think that would fit the tone of the story.

[Mr. McGician]

So this "stunner" thing is a weapon that you can build up a resistance to? I guess it makes perfect sense that some random thug spent the time building a resistance, but it's not part of standard training for elite Federation guards, right? It also makes sense that Bill would use this weapon on them knowing that it's possible that one of them has a resistance to it, right?

[Kornaki]

So this "stunner" thing is a weapon that you can build up a resistance to? I guess it makes perfect sense that some random thug spent the time building a resistance, but it's not part of standard training for elite Federation guards, right? It also makes sense that Bill would use this weapon on them knowing that it's possible that one of them has a resistance to it, right?

I don't think it's that ridiculous. The stunner is probably more expensive and less effective in almost any lethal combat situation. The police would be the only ones using it because they are the only ones who typically care about minimizing casualties.

[random11]

Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I'm curious: How many times did BHB use "his steed" to escape before this one?

If the answer is "at least once", this is not a low-tech setting, so every escape should be well documented.
How come the guards didn't expect this?

[Traab]

Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I'm curious: How many times did BHB use "his steed" to escape before this one?

If the answer is "at least once", this is not a low-tech setting, so every escape should be well documented.
How come the guards didn't expect this?

If you kill everyone involved, how would anyone find out? And dammit, I have never been so depressed to be right in my life. He managed to free himself OFF CAMERA so mookie doesnt have to explain how he freed himself. Thats just ducky. Seriously, the rules for prisoner transport are simple. Noone ever gets within a body length of him so he cant grab you and no accident will bring you in reach. In a rational world this escape plan would have ended with everyone on the ground out of his reach and him going, "Well... shoot, that didnt work out very well." Of course, in a rational world he wouldnt have been sitting in an open air bench with a long chain connecting him to the floor either. He would be locked in a damn cage, handcuffed to the floor.

[EvilRoeSlade]

So we're supposed to take on faith that he managed to escape his cuffs and retrieve a side-arm due to all the bad-ass cred he's so far received.

wat. no.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Maybe I'm nitpicking, but I'm curious: How many times did BHB use "his steed" to escape before this one?

If the answer is "at least once", this is not a low-tech setting, so every escape should be well documented.
How come the guards didn't expect this?

Well, he has a "jammer" that blocks all communication -- so if he kills all witnesses (and blows up all ships) each time, all they would know is he has a record of mysterious escapes.

Which is why they sent along a small fleet of Space Fighters to escort him this time.

I'm mostly annoyed by how competent his Ship is at rescuing him while BHB is incredibly incompetent at executing missions.

[Kornaki]

So BHB's shackles have a blue something on them. Maybe they're magnetically sealed and when the power was cut his shackles stopped working?

[Wayson]

Am I the only one who wonders if Bill occupies his spare time by stunning himself repeatedly in order to build up resistance? I've got a theory regarding this. Bill was once the galaxy's premier mercenary, with absolute integrity and personal honor, but his repeated self-induced exposure to stunners has created permanent brain damage that has reduced him to a shell of his former self, unable to make long-term plans and reliant on his ship's AI to bail himself out of bad situations. He continues to get employment by trading on his reputation, but any successes he experiences can be chalked up to luck or the utter ineptitude of his targets.

[MReav]

Am I the only one who wonders if Bill occupies his spare time by stunning himself repeatedly in order to build up resistance? I've got a theory regarding this. Bill was once the galaxy's premier mercenary, with absolute integrity and personal honor, but his repeated self-induced exposure to stunners has created permanent brain damage that has reduced him to a shell of his former self, unable to make long-term plans and reliant on his ship's AI to bail himself out of bad situations. He continues to get employment by trading on his reputation, but any successes he experiences can be chalked up to luck or the utter ineptitude of his targets.

I'm good with this.

[Oracle_Hunter]

So BHB's shackles have a blue something on them. Maybe they're magnetically sealed and when the power was cut his shackles stopped working?

I'm not going to think too hard about this. Rougish characters effortlessly escaping bonds is something we see a lot. Basically, BHB could have escaped any time he wanted to -- but he didn't want to until his Ship was around to actually get him out of the system.

[Mr. McGician]

I'm not going to think too hard about this. Rougish characters effortlessly escaping bonds is something we see a lot. Basically, BHB could have escaped any time he wanted to -- but he didn't want to until his Ship was around to actually get him out of the system.

The difference is that there, it was pointed out, whereas here, the handcuffs just mysteriously disappeared with no mention, which leaves the impression that Mookie either forgot about them or just doesn't care.

[Traab]

The difference is that there, it was pointed out, whereas here, the handcuffs just mysteriously disappeared with no mention, which leaves the impression that Mookie either forgot about them or just doesn't care.

Nah, we see a blue glowing hand/wrist pad near his feet on one of the downed guards, we can assume those are controls for his handcuffs. Its still stupid, the entire setup required so much fail on the part of the federation to have any hope of being pulled off. Seriously, leave him in a locked room with the guards staying OUTSIDE and this whole rescue attempt would have been a total failure. Yay, they got stunned. Now they are waking up nauseous and pissed and Bill is still cuffed to the floor of his cell. Whats your next trick houdini? You never, EVER have the keys anywhere near the prisoner unless you are in the act of transferring him from one cell to another or something.

[random11]

I've been thinking, maybe we're being a bit too hard on Mookie here?

Lex Luthor escaped from jail so many times it's embarrassing, and considering how many reoccurring villains batman faces I think Arkham has a revolving door installed as a security gate.
But in most cases, no one minds so much because how the Joker escaped is not really the focus of the story, the main thing is how batman intends to deal with him (again...)

So maybe it's the same thing here.
Let's just finish the stupid excuse of an escape and see if the story moves somewhere.

Then again, you can skip the escape tale entirely and just replace it with a report that the captain got about BHB's escape.
But if you DO write an escape story, make it a decent one.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I've been thinking, maybe we're being a bit too hard on Mookie here?

Lex Luthor escaped from jail so many times it's embarrassing, and considering how many reoccurring villains batman faces I think Arkham has a revolving door installed as a security gate.
But in most cases, no one minds so much because how the Joker escaped is not really the focus of the story, the main thing is how batman intends to deal with him (again...)

So maybe it's the same thing here.
Let's just finish the stupid excuse of an escape and see if the story moves somewhere.

I'm willing to cut Mookie a bunch of slack here. Proper escapes are hard enough to write and sticking close to established Tropes stands him in better stead here than elsewhere.

What I'm not going to cut him slack on:

(1) BHB's Magical Mystery Ship -- aside from a complete lack of foreshadowing, this would be the second case of Sentient AI we've seen in the story and the first one was Phlebotinum. Having it being completely unknown (no rumors of BHB's "weird ship" even!) and incredibly competent makes it about as close to a literal Deus Ex Machina as Mookie has used to date.

(2) BHB's Stunning Incompetence -- he's really, really bad at his job. He's worse at carrying out a simple hit than his subordinate ship is at carrying out a complicated extraction. If BHB hadn't gotten knocked over like a bowling pin and instead had failed due to underestimating his opponent (people always shoot Superman before they know what he is) or even cunning subterfuge on someone's part (e.g. Da Chief detected BHB's infiltration and was letting him roam to figure out what he was after) then I'd be fine. He was unlucky once, but surely he's actually a threat. But I just don't care if BHB escapes -- Mookie hasn't convinced me he's a threat to anyone but random civilians that wander into the path of his gun (which is bad, but a job for cops, not superheroes).

[Kato]

So BHB's shackles have a blue something on them. Maybe they're magnetically sealed and when the power was cut his shackles stopped working?

I considered the possibility. The problem is we see him still properly tied when the stunner hits. The jammer was already working then and the stunner seems to only affect living beings, so the cuffs should have been off.

Am I the only one who wonders if Bill occupies his spare time by stunning himself repeatedly in order to build up resistance? I've got a theory regarding this. Bill was once the galaxy's premier mercenary, with absolute integrity and personal honor, but his repeated self-induced exposure to stunners has created permanent brain damage that has reduced him to a shell of his former self, unable to make long-term plans and reliant on his ship's AI to bail himself out of bad situations. He continues to get employment by trading on his reputation, but any successes he experiences can be chalked up to luck or the utter ineptitude of his targets.

Heh, I like it. Though, I guess he's not totally incompetent. He's not very competent but he can possibly get stuff done. He almost killed a man, at least.

I've been thinking, maybe we're being a bit too hard on Mookie here?

Lex Luthor escaped from jail so many times it's embarrassing, and considering how many reoccurring villains batman faces I think Arkham has a revolving door installed as a security gate.
But in most cases, no one minds so much because how the Joker escaped is not really the focus of the story, the main thing is how batman intends to deal with him (again...)

Well, maybe DC comics aren't that great No, I'm aware of the difficulties of a good escape but what Mookie presents here is still too convenient. And the guards too incompetent.

[Traab]

I'm willing to cut Mookie a bunch of slack here. Proper escapes are hard enough to write and sticking close to established Tropes stands him in better stead here than elsewhere.

What I'm not going to cut him slack on:

(1) BHB's Magical Mystery Ship -- aside from a complete lack of foreshadowing, this would be the second case of Sentient AI we've seen in the story and the first one was Phlebotinum. Having it being completely unknown (no rumors of BHB's "weird ship" even!) and incredibly competent makes it about as close to a literal Deus Ex Machina as Mookie has used to date.

(2) BHB's Stunning Incompetence -- he's really, really bad at his job. He's worse at carrying out a simple hit than his subordinate ship is at carrying out a complicated extraction. If BHB hadn't gotten knocked over like a bowling pin and instead had failed due to underestimating his opponent (people always shoot Superman before they know what he is) or even cunning subterfuge on someone's part (e.g. Da Chief detected BHB's infiltration and was letting him roam to figure out what he was after) then I'd be fine. He was unlucky once, but surely he's actually a threat. But I just don't care if BHB escapes -- Mookie hasn't convinced me he's a threat to anyone but random civilians that wander into the path of his gun (which is bad, but a job for cops, not superheroes).

As far as 1) goes, we dont have all the info yet. For all we know, he is like the punisher. He does all the shooting, while some guy hangs back in the van ship to talk to him or help him out of a jam.

As for 2) Yeah, he sucks.

[Oracle_Hunter]

And this is why you need helmets.

Well, slowly getting to the point when BHB escapes. I'm sure we'll get there before the issue is over... right?