Grrl Power IV: Constantly Expanded Universe

[lord_khaine]

Welcome to the fourth installment of the thread discussing the still quite popular webcomic GrrlPower.
After a brief lul in the action mainly spend discussion important things like Deus's sex drive or the importance of nuklear self defence we begin at the destruction of an evil empire.


Links to the past
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...-Filler-Comics
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...on-Super-Power
http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showt...414-Grrl-Power

[BannedInSchool]

Well, there's a target bigger than a tank to test maximum blowey-up power.

[lord_khaine]

Yes.. yes there is.. im just worried this is to much for even Max to blow up.

[DataNinja]

I'd be more concerned about the part where the portal's apparently sucking parts of Earth in. ...and also now, I guess, potentially leading that thing to Earth.

[Forum Explorer]

So it summoned a giant ship? That's interesting. Not much to say other then that portal is moving fast if they can't trivially catch up to it.

[lord_khaine]

I dont think the portal is moving at all. It just dumped them a bit from its entrance.

[Keltest]

I dont think the portal is moving at all. It just dumped them a bit from its entrance.

That was my take as well. And it may or may not be throwing obstacles at them.

[Rogar Demonblud]

I suspect the portal isn't locked on specific coordinates thanks to Dabbler's screwing up the ritual, so it is moving as the two planets move relative to each other.

[halfeye]

I suspect the portal isn't locked on specific coordinates thanks to Dabbler's screwing up the ritual, so it is moving as the two planets move relative to each other.

That wouldn't work, orbital speeds are kilometres per second, the odds of two different orbits being synchronised enough that something stayed more or less static are negligible.

[Rogar Demonblud]

It's not staying static. It's moving fast enough that it may be a question of if they can get back.

Also, we don't know how much of the anchoring portion of the spell got enacted and/or activated.

[Keltest]

It's not staying static. It's moving fast enough that it may be a question of if they can get back.

Also, we don't know how much of the anchoring portion of the spell got enacted and/or activated.

At the scale planets move at, that might as well be static. Since their top speeds have never been explicitly defined, its not completely inconceivable that Sydney and Max could still keep pace with it, though im sure somebody would call BS, but Hiro is definitely not catching it.

[halfeye]

Since their top speeds have never been explicitly defined, its not completely inconceivable that Sydney and Max could still keep pace with it, though im sure somebody would call BS, but Hiro is definitely not catching it.

Calling BS : Sydney is barely a maybe, Max with a top speed of mach 4 is a definite no.

[Traab]

Calling BS : Sydney is barely a maybe, Max with a top speed of mach 4 is a definite no.

Max is currently faster than sydney, we dont know by how much. But sydney is currently like 4x faster than hiro even with gravity assist and everyone else is way slower. If the portal is moving at a constant rate of speed based on planetary orbits, then chances are good they are all screwed and it might be better to have dabbler do super alien math to figure out the best angle to go at to intercept it. As for blowing up the ship, even if she COULD, I doubt max would want to try, for all we know, these are good guys. Remember the civilization that got wiped out wasnt exactly peaches and cream. They need to get out of here and shut the portal down before things get even worse. Not fight alien motherships from who knows where. But with the scan of halo im thinking its already too late, I bet they will be tracking her down for some reason. Like vilgax just discovered the location of the omnitrix. "THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND! SEIZE THE ORBS!"

[Keltest]

Is anybody else expecting a huge anticlimax here? Theres too much buildup for this to possible be dealt with completely seriously.

[40kenthusiast]

Did the screw ship in a panels 2-3:
1: Jump away.
2: Blow everything up.
3: Disembark somebody.
?

I *think* it is letting someone off and jumping away, but the way they are running away in the last panel sort of suggests a huge disaster is trailing them, rather than a pursuer.

[BannedInSchool]

3: Disembark somebody.

The commentary and the alt-text point to this.

[Rogar Demonblud]

You mean "Maxima secretly wants to try and beat that thing up"? Yeah, signposting again that Maxima is more than a bit of a thug.

[HandofShadows]

Well, there could be another reason. If Max is fighting, she doesn't have to carry Dabbler around.

[Ibrinar]

You mean "Maxima secretly wants to try and beat that thing up"? Yeah, signposting again that Maxima is more than a bit of a thug.

Eh, honestly if I was among the strongest combat supers* and some giant thing appeared I would be tempted to find out whether I can take it.


*Any good stories where they use their random superpowers for non combat purposes?

[Lapak]

*Any good stories where they use their random superpowers for non combat purposes?

It is apparently tough for people to do those stories well. The setting of the Wearing the Cape novels has as background that almost all supers work as disaster first-responders most of the time - fighting fires, doing search and rescue, helping find and extract survivors after hurricanes and earthquakes, and so on - but the books themselves mostly revolve around super-threats and hero brawls. It is easier to write compelling man-vs.-man conflict than man-vs.-nature when the man is actually Superman, it would seem.

[Traab]

They did briefly work on repairing the highway maxima demolished.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Actually, they've had to do that twice.

[lord_khaine]

Yeah.. its not like Arcswat is not also at least helping clear up after themselves.
But im not certain if they are meant to do disaster relief stuff or not.
I mean.. the unfeeling part of me says "thats a weakness in the organisation. If i were a super villain then i could use it to draw the team away to the opposite coast while i steal New York.

[Traab]

Yeah.. its not like Arcswat is not also at least helping clear up after themselves.
But im not certain if they are meant to do disaster relief stuff or not.
I mean.. the unfeeling part of me says "thats a weakness in the organisation. If i were a super villain then i could use it to draw the team away to the opposite coast while i steal New York.

Thats why there are several teams worth of arcswat members. Remember we dont have heatwave, amorphus, achilles, math, anvil, peggy, or the other harems here right now. Also, arcswat was formed under the assumption that there arent a ton of combat capable supers out there, even fewer who actually want to be bad guys. So a few confrontations a year at most, since there will presumably not be easily escapable jails in this setting (or afterlifes) means they will have plenty of time to help with earthquakes, forest fires, etc etc etc.

[Keltest]

Yeah.. its not like Arcswat is not also at least helping clear up after themselves.
But im not certain if they are meant to do disaster relief stuff or not.
I mean.. the unfeeling part of me says "thats a weakness in the organisation. If i were a super villain then i could use it to draw the team away to the opposite coast while i steal New York.

I thought their primary purpose was in controlling things like disasters? At least nominally.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Sydney's saving everyone's bacon again.

[Keltest]

Sydney's saving everyone's bacon again.

In fairness, Dave does admit that her intervention might not have been necessary, and that they probably could have made it back through the portal in time, she was just reacting to not knowing what was going on.

[BannedInSchool]

Sydney's saving everyone's bacon again.

Is this the end of our heroes? Did they survive? Has the comic ended?

Spoiler

Show

But seriously, if they had known the attack would have had further induction they could have made it through the portal. But not knowing that, it's reasonable to not take the gamble that at least some of them would immediately get atomized by whatever attack was coming. Worst case of TPK is the same with either choice, but if Sydney's shield can block the attack then we're weighing them all being stranded together versus at least a couple fatalities (and the survivors still being stranded if the instant attack also closes the portal). Now...did the portal get shut by that?

[Rogar Demonblud]

In fairness, Dave does admit that her intervention might not have been necessary, and that they probably could have made it back through the portal in time, she was just reacting to not knowing what was going on.

Actually, if she'd timed it right, she could maybe have gotten the portal in the shield too.

[Keltest]

Actually, if she'd timed it right, she could maybe have gotten the portal in the shield too.

It remains to be seen if that would have been a good thing or not.