Grrl Power #1057 – Combat stress huggles
I know it wasn’t obvious from the prior page, but the incoming helis lobbed like a dozen missiles all at once. The thought being to overwhelm unknown and probably pretty advanced defenses. You know what they say, “You miss every shot that’s still attached to the chopper when it gets cut from the sky, plus you could be just handing the enemy some perfectly good missiles. I mean, probably not, as they’re likely to get fucked up during the crash, but you never know, and you guys are going up against supers and demons and possibly aliens, so cut lose the first chance you get. Your families will be taken care of.” It’s not a pithy saying, but it’s surprisingly appropriate for this situation.
Sydney has a lot of superhero “experience” (AKA deep genre lore), but almost no “war” experience. Not that this is a proper war, really, it’s just a targeted skirmish, but a bunch of dudes in full tac gear getting blown up and a half dozen assault helis and missiles flying and Sydney doesn’t even know who she can try and save? Yeah, given Sydney’s accelerated Arc-SWAT training, they did skip a bunch of “In case you’re in a foreign country and a third party’s military attacks” scenarios. Not that normally cover that for recruits, especially considering that they’re a domestic only force, but they do get into action against military opponents, or at least well organized and equipped militias slash criminal organizations in later training. Not to mention half the team is already poached from other branches, so it wasn’t prioritized with the first batch of recruits.
Parfait, on the other hand, is part of the defending team, so she could jump in, but like Sydney, she doesn’t have much in the way of training for situations like this. She’s graduated Demon High, and a large part of Infernal education is about learning trades, so you do your language/history/math courses, but you also get apprentice level training in your demon basics, warlording, fire mageing, weapon crafting, hospitality, civil engineering… I mean, someone’s got to build storm drains and roads. Anyway, Parfait was two years into Succubus Finishing School, which is just classes succubi start taking their junior year. Yes, everyone wants to help them with their homework. Managing that queue is part of becoming a successful succubus.
All this is to say that while Parfait has some melee weapons training (P.E. class in Demon High is quite a bit more violent than in the U.S.- though everyone still has to climb that rope) and can cast a few spells, she too has no experience with “war.” Thoth could start ordering her to do stuff, with her being new to the collar, she’d have no choice but to jump right in, but he probably saw her under Sydney’s shield and figured that was definitely the safest place for her. Could the succubus submission bond work through Sydney’s shield? I… hmm. I’ll have to think about that. Probably yes, since it’s like a soul-level entanglement. Her shield blocks a lot of stuff, but that’s probably asking too much from it.
The June Vote Incentive is up! What’s that dripping down Sydney’s face? Uh… well, actually, clicking on the link won’t actually give it away necessarily, cause the thumbnail is from one of the, er, advanced pictures in the series, if you take my meaning. Yes, I mean there is a nude version of Sydney (and guest) over at the Patreon version.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
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So, how high can Terre fling her bits of rock? Because to act as any kind of anti-missile/AA it would need to be pretty damn high to do so without endangering her in the process. Causing a missile to explode isn’t always a great idea if you are anywhere near that explosion. The reaction time needed to take down missiles flying at supersonic speeds is another question I have about her abilities.
Basically, this seems like bullshit. AA that isn’t tied to a radar is primarily just sending up flack shells and hoping to trigger explosions. AA that is tied to radar does the same, but is better able to get the range right and expend shells more efficiently. Some super tossing rocks into the air isn’t going to do much at all. If she’s too far away she won’t have the reaction time needed to deal with such fast moving targets. If she’s too close, the same, except that if she gets ‘lucky’ she’s likely to just kill herself out of luck…
Well according to my analysis based on every geokinetic, geomancer/patramancer, or other users of rock and hard substances found in comic books, cartoons, anime, manga, movies and live shows featuring such powers, web comics, and written medium.
-in some cases even erecting stone pillars to block bolts of lightning and lasers.
now as I am not Screw Attack, I am not about to do the math or try to second hand guess some brain chemistry change when using their powers to explain this sudden light speed reflexes even when the characters never display this otherwise or when using their powers against slower targets…*cough*…
or how the stones are floating without any form of propulsion, and ignroing aerodynamics.
so my conclusion.
-kinetic power give you relative reflexes.
and floaty rocks go fast.
Flak shells and fragment are moving themselves, so to intercept an airborne target you have to get aim and timing right – you can’t set up a static obstacle and wait for the missile to run into it.
If you have geokinesis and can make the rocks float in the air, however, you can just set them up between the missile and its target as a shield. You can’t do that with AA guns, unless you have a lot of them to fill the air with a constant hail of bullets and/or fragments.
Hence, the difficulty of intercept isn’t due to reaction time but precision. But Terre doesn’t need to get the range right, she only needs to set up an obstacle. Reaction time isn’t an issue even with a supersonic projectile if you can see it coming from a mile away – several seconds to react.
The static obstacles you describe are akin to barrage balloons that were in use in the world wars, which were balloons that supported cables strung up into the sky in hopes that enemy planes would run into them.
Metal storm can put up a literal wall of bullets right up until it runs out. If I remember correctly its capable of something like a thousand rounds per second to take down incoming missiles. I use them in several of my books because they’re tech levels ahaead of standard slug throwers.
The issue is that it runs out very fast – you’ll have that wall in the air for a fraction of a second. So you’ll still need good timing to intercept a missile.
We’re seeing a series of events happening at once a montage so to speak she no doubt flung up the rocks the same time Dabs called up her mini shield launcher and fired. This is how a well-trained and experienced squad would react too many things happening at once to see it all in one shot. Each one focuses on one subject at a time that way the troops on the ground can deal with everything at once. Picture a 5 man squad being rushed by a platoon each member of the defending squad would react with what they had one could drop and open fire with a machine gun another lobs a few hand grenades another starts taking sniper shots… you get the idea.
It’s a comic, so since no comic writer/artist is an expert in everything you do need to take some things with creative license.
I mean, exploding missles above the ground actually causes more damage than letting them hit the ground. A lesson learned from the halifax disaster and applied to nukes later. But I don’t count on everyone to know that, so why nitpick?
That for very big explosions – for more conventional warheads you need get close to do a lot of damage.
While airburst makes the fragments go farther, that depends on how far out she intercepts the missiles – we can’t actually see that very well, so I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt.
The damaging effects for an airburst rather than direct strike depend on what the explosive is and what you’re trying to achieve with it.
If the thing it’s hitting with a direct strike isn’t what you want to damage (for example, anti-infantry artillery wants to hit the infantry nearby, not damage the ground that it lands on) and is well in excess of what’s necessary to damage the target (soft targets like people or powerful weapons against non-hardened buildings) then an airburst is usually better because it allows the energy and fragments to spread further and hit more.
But if your target IS what you’re directly striking and is difficult to damage with the yield that you’re bringing to bear (like, for instance, a tank, or a hardened structure), then direct strikes are the way to go.
I’m pretty sure this is just fiction. Some degree of “suspension of disbelief” is warranted. Otherwise, you’re kind of missing the point of a “comic.” There are no supers in real life either, after all.
Eh. For me the main appeal of this comic is that it attempts to explore the consequences of superpowers in a realistic way, and the discussion thereof.
Although, as said above, I think this scene is actually plausible (with the caveat that it depends on the distances involved, which we can’t see (yet?)).
Suspension of disbelief requires that the setting allow for conceivable results based upon the rules which are communicated. A superhero setting is of course outside of reality, but if the rules for super powers are laid out and followed this allows for the suspension if disbelief. If on the other hand things just happen via authorial fiat, suspension of disbelief is not achieved and the setting fails to allow the reader to submerge themselves.
It’s still a conceivable result that Terre not only has terrakinesis, but also really good timing and can telekinetically move the rocks as high up as she can see. Aside from that she’s militarily trained for aim and under Deus’s tutelege, she’s probably been trained in just how far she can control Earth, this has happened with other terrakinetics in comics. Most notably Terra II from Power Girl, and Terra I from Teen Titans, both of whom had significant distance on how far away they could control earth-moving objects (Terra II was actually able to even shift tectonic plates but never realized she could – when her mind was taken over, that person realized her power potential instead).
In addition, the missiles would NOT be THAT high anyway – they have to come down because they’re aiming at a factory – not aiming at the sky above the factory.
She doesn’t need timing – she puts up a static wall as an obstacle and waits for the missile to hit it.
I’m just giving multiple reasons why what Terre doing does not break suspension of disbelief, as opposed to what Oberon is claiming.
No, it requires imagination. Stop using verbosity as a substitute for reason.
Imagination and reason are why I am having issues suspending disbelief. So, you know, the exact opposite of what you said.
Criticizing me for using words you don’t understand only makes you look insecure.
so, in a comic where someone destroyed a spaceship with a single energy beam (maxima) and a guy who perceives the world in slow motion. (forgot his name), and a comic panel with a literal half succubus half genie able to eventually grant wishes, you have trouble believing another super can throw rocks fast enough, and far enough to stop ballistic missiles?
I think you need to take a step back and look at things from a different perspective.
Ren is the dude who sees things in slow-mo
And Oberon likes to attack things in the comic (and the readers… and the artist… )
Don’t mess with a Bloodthirster / The devil guy from Primal Rage 2.
Yeah don’t piss off Tom he swings a major axe LOL which also tells you that he has feelings for Dabs otherwise he probably knocked her into the next county if he wanted!
The comment,s are part of why I like this comic, from very intelligent posters. I am attracted to Intelligence!
“Managing that queue is part of becoming a successful succubus.”
I don’t know if the joke was intended, but in french language this phrase is quite hilarious (and salacious, which is even better). So well done writer, well done!
I’m kind of curious what would happen if Halo wished she knew what to do in this instance. What is 1/3rd of “knowing what to do” – a hint? can she get a hint from someone who doesn’t know what to do, either? Given that wishes seem to spawn things directly, I’m not sure?
A wish for something that requires messing with her brain chemistry is likely, given Parfait’s track record to date, to kill Sydney as her brains turn into scrambled eggs. Or a computer which Sydney might be able to use to get her answers is fused, with deadly consequences, with her brain matter.
OK, so what are the boxes that were being unloaded from the helichoppedalluper?
Pretty sure those are riot shields, being carried by soldiers. Not boxes at all.
Look like riot shields to me.
OK, so what were those square things being unloaded from the helicopter?
Speakers. They came to party!
Those are riot shields being held by the troops there, George.
Riot shields for some reason. Not sure why they’re using them but they are.
maybe they painted a bunch of holy symbols on the shields thinking they would work LoL
Ah. The logical explanation. They painted every possible holy symbol, including those for known currencies.
Ballistic shields.
Thanks for the answers. Ballistic shields? Against demons, superheroes, or for that matter antitank weapons? Someone is optimistic.
Sydney’s shield probably can’t block a succubus submission bond, since there’s no physical aspect to it.
There might be an upgrade to block psychic and magical linkages, though.
There was no physical aspect to Kevin’s Agro-Aura either, but that got blocked
“Could the succubus submission bond work through Sydney’s shield? I… hmm. I’ll have to think about that. Probably yes, since it’s like a soul-level entanglement.”
I would say yes because it didn’t hack harem off from her other selves when she was flying with Sydney back in the bank robbery days. If it did cover something like that Harem would have likely collapsed inside the shield, or vanished into a purple mist that Sydney would be coughing up for hours on end or until she dropped the shield again.
I say this because Harem has said she is one mind controlling five bodies effectively one soul in five forms.
Using this logic the collar would work in Sydney’s shield.
I’d agree but with Vehemence Dab’s hypnoboobs worked on him but his aggression aura didn’t so it’s a matter of the intent as much as anything? Still brings us back to whether or not the orbs and sentient.
It’s nice to see that Parfait and Sydney are bonding.
I wonder if this scenario will unknowingly exploit some demon rule that says that Parfait is now Sydney’s property.
Honestly, Sydney staying behind her shield is the best thing she can do. The only thing to do better would be to 1. make the shield as big as it can go, and 2. Make it encompass a bunch of non-combatants. However, I seem to recall her getting orders to stay shielded up in active combat situations whenever possible.
Those missiles are now toast. The solid fuel engines in them can get cracked with a fall of just 1m, and if you try to launch one with a cracked engine, it explodes immediately!
Still better off than trying to use old liquid fuel engines.
(There’s a reason our liquid fueled rockets are only fueled up for a launch)
The shield can stop quantum entanglement (i.e. everything is one thing) but not soul entanglement? I’m not certain that tracks. I could see it being that a piece of Thoth’s soul is still inside Parfait at the moment, meaning she is still bound to him in some ways, but that the mana between them is cut off, making this a safe but long term uncomfortable experience for Parfait?
Never mind. It stops Dabbler from teleporting it, but not from being connected to herself on the outside. That definitely tracks. Might still cut off the mana.
Not dabbler. Uh… I am so bad with names… Teleporting girl who is many…
Harem!
I doubt that sort of revelation would be done off screen. Although Varia IS able to figure out stuff about people’s DNA. Not sure if a vampire’s DNA is actually different than a human, or if she’d be able to tell the difference between DNA that’s undead and DNA that’s not undead. Or if she even tried to find out – she seemed too freaked out to even bother to try to check that.
I’m so glad, that Sydney seems to have found a kindred soul in Parfait.