Grrl Power #649 – The long way back
Whoops. That reflexive grab of the shield orb is 99% of the time going to be a good thing, but this time, not so much probably.
Now if Sydney had completed her Apex Superheroine in Training training, she’d know exactly what to do. Okay, no, Arc-SWAT doesn’t take into account exo-planetary shenanigans. At least not yet. There will probably be a bumper course developed in the near future.
I’m not really sure what that course would entail actually. Probably just advice on what to do if you get super lost, and a little booklet with major galactic landmarks, plus $100 in astro-bucks and a homing beacon supplied by Dabbler. Only she wouldn’t do that because that’d require tech that humans don’t have yet, and she’s not about to hand over a FTL communicator and a generator capable of powering it.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like.
heh, we all are having fun trying to figure out how to get syd out of this latest scooby trap.
I hope dave does not pull a “*snap* HEY! that was not how it went Halo! (Dabbler)” followed by a scene of them at ARC chatting around lunch or something.
Hah hah, no, that’s shitty storytelling. Well, unless it’s played as a joke, but no.
My favourite version of that trope is from Monkey’s Island. The game starts out with the main character telling how he got into his current mess so anytime you die it goes back to the person listening saying “you died?”.
In other words it was a game mechanic rather than a storytelling one.
btw, have some of the comments given you ideas for story items?
Way back I recall someone coming up with a bunch of puns based on “Arc”, which tickled Dave, so he asked if it was OK to make use of them. I think some got used (but my brain randomly swaps names around, so I can’t tell you which ones).
That could be a cool feature. A submission pun-ishment jar. eg submit your puns for possible inclusion in future eps, and inclusion in books with a disclaimer that you give DaveB the rights to use them in in web/book form + a shout out/credit note) Kinda similar to what Piers Anthony does with the ones of ones he gets for the Xanth books.
Maybe get a credit for a free double sized page
maybe have the pre-selected by fans for the most ‘groan-worthy’ eg make it work by itself with a little help from the friends
I bet a few volunteers would step up to help continue this awesome content.
The suggestions went on for pages, even without an incentive.
Mine was Arc-Hive. The records department. Which, of course, would be stored in hexagonal cells.
Mind you, now that we know about the presence of the supernatural, it could actually be staffed by intelligent giant bees!
Don’t complain about the noise though. They will tell you to buzz off!
Halo: …UUUUUUCK!!!!! [ Nearby structures take damage ] [ Grabs the shield and flight orbs and looks around for something that could help her situation. Finds Sciona and lands beside her. ] What are you still doing here? I thought you were part of the group that just stormed the Stargate before it collapsed.
Sciona: [ Leaning against the remains of the soul jar ] I am a blood mage; I have been using my own blood for power, which has left me weakened too much to do much else. Surviving the side-effects of that shot on you didn’t make me any healthier, even at this distance. At least I get to die on my native soil. By the looks of things, so do you. *Wheeze*
Halo: I am going to die on Earth? How do you figure that?
Sciona: No, you get to die on my native soil. I figure that ship is going to blast you again as soon as their big weapon is charged again.
Halo: Hmm. I wonder. [ Grabs the shield and Brown orbs. Looks up at the warship above them, then around them, then back to Sciona. ] Have you seen a towel around here?
Sciona: A towel?! What has that got to do with anything?
Halo: I figure that ship might be my way home. I just have to hop a ride.
Sciona: Somehow I don’t think those guys subscribe to Lyft. *Cough*
Halo: Nope, but we’ll see how this baby works, I hope.
Given Sciona appeared to be lamenting the loss of her new body when she activated the soul jar, I don’t think she’s still corporeal or on planet.
Haha, love the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy reference :p
i’m guessing that the last unknown orb could be a translation orb or lrt (long range teleport) orb. both would be useful in this situation and hard to notice under normal circumstances. a translation orb translating english into english sort of like the atmosphere orb providing breathable air in a breathable environment, on the other hand maybe its a long range teleporter and you can only use it to go to the rough location of places you have been (while the light bee provides a more accurate short hop) and sydney has not been within the minimum distance needed to make use of it (after all i don’t think she held the mystery orb and went i wanna go home, or maybe closer to I wanna go to earth)
Haha, love the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy reference :p
Click her heels three times and chant “There’s no place like home.” repeatedly?
A swirling blue vortex appears beside Sydney, from the portal emerges a tall woman dressed in an alluring sorceress costume complete with a black corset with red strings, black high heel boots, a black cape with a red inner lining, and blood red hair. Her blue starlight eyes survey the much shorter Sydney and the chthonic creature beyond the portal.
“Uh wuh?” stammers Sydney, “Who are you? What is going on? and third…are you a villain or a hero?”
The stranger twists her blood red lips into a smile and raises her hand in the direction of the creature, “Chaos Blast!” a wide beam of dark red energy destroys the creature, and everything around it.
“I am the Deus Ex Machina…or Deus Ex Fuck this planet, depending on my mood; lucky for you kid I like you.”
She stretches out her arms and brings her hands together as Sydney is surrounded by a cyclone of blue and white starlight waves, “Oblivion Summance!” shouts the woman, not the nicest sounding spell name as it occurs to Sydney to brace herself…only to open them to the startled *gasps* of her teammates as she appears from the cyclone of light in the Archon base.
What has come of the Alari world you ask? Upon being contacted by Dabbler the Xevoarchy has sent an exploration team, but the planet…is missing, where it should be is instead a different world with lush vegetation, and numerous life forms. A strange new species is to be found there, a utopian culture of humanoid dragons with Alari like light wings. As for the unknown enemy, they are no where to be found, and a deeper scan shows that time and space have been altered around the planet as though this world and not the Alari homeworld had been there for decades.
So is this lady supposed to be a Metron (You know, the species that set up the fight between Kirk and the Gorn in “Arena”)?
One of the Celestial Architects of my series (Architects of Magic, Architects of Hell, Rulers of the Seven Sacred Realms, ect…), about as needlessly capricious as a Metron though…only like the Q times ten in power *at full power anyway, have a habit of using avatars with various limitations built in to make things more interesting (power and mental limitations), only seven of them *offspring are never as strong as they are* so aren’t counted, and they counter each other 1-1 ratio and seldom work together (clash of egos…when you are used to being the all powerful being its hard to stick around others like that for too long.); the one in question here has a thing for “fantasy” style worlds so has a habit of guiding and manipulating worlds into that direction.
But does she know where her towel is?
I don’t think she needs to reserve a spot on the beach. Sydney can pretty much have her pick.
Best time as any to learn long range teleportation
Probably more useful than interpretive dance.
*does universal ‘I come in peace’ dance*
Well, not long ago she figured her powers made her into a spaceship of sorts. Now she just needs to unlock a GPS.
She has one of those on her wrist. Sadly the globe it works on is some distance away.
As is the nearest way of recharging it.
Now if only the orb had a Galactic Positioning System! ;-)
Someone reads “Wapsi Square”?
i do :3. why’d you bring it up though?