Grrl Power #1255 – Meet the old boss, different from the new boss
In case you don’t recall, Detla was duped into joining Lapha’s band of mercenaries when she tried to abduct Maxima the first time. At least that’s her story, but despite a slightly creepy sounding race name, Dabbler thinks Stygans are usually pretty much on the level, so Max allowed Detla to join the team for some interstellar cross training. In return, Detla promised not to break any laws while working with the team, which is why she’s asking permission before determining if Lapha’s bioroid has the “earthworm” mod installed.
I’m sure the list of offences you could hit Lapha and her crew with could be basically just about endless. There’s no official quarantine protocol involving aliens coming to America quite yet. That’s something being worked on with negotiations with alien officials. Even so, recklessly potentially introducing new and exciting viruses and bacteriumazoids to Earth is something that the locals could take serious umbrage to. Similarly, bringing crazy alien technology to Earth and possibly leaving it laying around Times Square after an extended brawl, especially if you’re rude enough to not offer schematics to the local government, is another thing some officials could probably use to find something to charge you with. Just revealing that aliens exist to an unsuspecting population is probably worthy of a Fomenting Unrest, or an Inciting Violence. I don’t know if Causing Existential Dread or Making People Question their Religion Convictions are crimes, but let’s not underestimate the ability of humans to be dicks when they’re finally faced with the fact that we’re not be alone. Sure, the people at the tippy top in the Grrl-verse would already be in the know, but that wouldn’t prevent some ambitious mayor/governor/police chief who isn’t read in from causing endless trouble on his newfound platform of leveraging fear for personal gain.
Marion G. Harmon of “Wearing the Cape” fame has the first book in a new series out, Rising Tides (Capes Book 1). It’s set in the WtC universe, but stars a new hero, and builds on the setting established in the original WtC books. I haven’t read it yet myself, as it just came out a week before this page went up and I’m finishing up another series first, which I may or may not recommend. It’s good, but I don’t know if it’s like, recommend good. But I’ve always enjoyed Harmon’s books, so he gets a sight unseen thumbs up from me.
Speaking of Wearing the Cape, you guys should know there’s a WtC tabletop RPG based on the FATE system. Thanks to Sydney’s crossover in the WtC books, (Well, the one book that was specifically about crossover stuff), there’s also an ARCHON supplement to the WtC game that translates the team’s stats to the FATE system. It’s also amusing, IMO, because it’s written like an Intelligence brief on the Archon team from the perspective of someone from the WtC universe, and as we didn’t do the lame thing where power levels are normalized when crossovers happen, their consensus is to generally not mess with Dimension 973b (or wherever the Grrl-verse is located.)
The new vote incentive is up!
Every so often I get the urge to try and draw Maxima all properly shiny, and this… isn’t my favorite attempt if I’m honest. I’ve been sitting on this for a little while doing little tweaks, and decided to finally publish it cause I’m already behind on these. The next one will (almost definitely) resume the trend of including a little mini comic to extend the scene a bit.
As usual, Patreon has some outfit variations as well as sans flagrante.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon. Feel free to contribute as much as you like.
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Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Um… choice between being a criminal (and being bisected) or being a totally deniable intelligence asset…
Choices, choices…
also, Rising Tides by Marion G Harmon is pretty darn good.
Can I say I just love the sword? I guess it would be classified as a Bastard or Hand in a Half sword, one of those swords that can be controlled with one hand but can do even more damage with both hands.
It looks like it’s taken from those ridiculously large and heavy swords that lots of folks in in the Final Fantasy games use. As such, unless that blade is absurdly sharp (and equally absurdly frictionless probably), and also absurdly light then there’s no way that blade could connect before your victim dodged, and perforated you with a dagger while you’re dealing with the follow through. Not to mention that the connection between the hilt and the blade is quite thin and would be a major weak spot.
Of course this is the Grrluniverse, and as such she may have access to materials and methods far beyond those of mortal (earth) persons. But otherwise Newton & Archimedes are both giving this sword design a 0 out of 5. :-)
The entire sword was previously a pair of arm sleeves that dismantled themselves into ribbons and then reconstituted as a sword. I have to imagine that the shape, looking so very tip heavy, is to specifically to GIVE that form some striking weight that it can take advantage of. Especially since the desired use given is to bisect a bioroid, which miiiight be made to tougher specs than most natural born bodies.
The giant hole in the blade is hard to figure though. Maybe for the blade shape, that becoming solid would have been too much weight? Or maybe for that geometry, there simply wasn’t enough ribbon sleeve material to make the whole blade solid and that’s just where the lack of material was put, so to speak? Maybe it’s even more functional and functions like a ricasso for the user to gain additional leverage; perhaps it’s a standard enough design that, even if the ribbon could take any shape, this specific sword design is a preset and a version that cannot reconstitute uses that hole for carrying (like a loop you’d use to carry an ax on your hip)?
It is also worth noting that these strips of ribbon didn’t flow contiguously from her arms to that shape – in panel 5, you can see that a bit of the handle is forming without being physically connected to the rest of the garment/weapon nor is it in direct contact with Detla.
You are quite correct, I did not fully take into context how the blade was formed. In that case either the blade gained mass as it formed (and then the laws of physics are going to start crying again), or this IS a very light and sharp sword despite it’s clunky appearance. In that case could the hole be there to change the balance of the blade to be more tip heavy? I mean, the design is basically a cleaver with a hilt, it doesn’t look like it was designed for subtlety. This thing is designed to chop!
Look, the thing is self-propelled. When you’re swinging it, the handle is just a control mechanism for a bunch of smaller blades flying in formation. Don’t treat it like it’s an inert blade being swung by muscle power. It probably doesn’t react back on the user any more than a light piece of lathe would. And if you slam it into something it won’t cut, it doesn’t jar the user.
It’s not momentum powering it through the target, it’s the propulsion feature of the component blade pieces.
With active hypothetical substances, ribbons of advanced material could bubble capture air, then compress the added mass into a selected balanced geometry. Holes can also be used as a weapon catch, and could be designed as a blade breaker.
From other story worlds, higher energy weapons capture energized air and form into swirling plasma can theoretically possess more weight than surrounding air. Now ask if Lightsabers work in vacuum.
Another gun vs finger presentation, aka, scary sword better than little, just as effective, cutlery.
The hole makes it great at opening pickle jars.
Remember that Detla’s sword (she calls it her Schism blade, IIRC) is basically nanotech, and can reconfigure according to her mental commands. Which means, yes, it IS absurdly sharp, absurdly light, and a LOT tougher than it looks.
(YES, I KNOW, the pieces it came apart into were visible to the naked eye, so the word ‘nanotech’ does not technically apply, which is why I said ‘basically’, sheesh!)
Yeah, quite right. I didn’t take into account how the blade had formed and what that implied. To slightly misquote the George Reeves Superman Intro, Detla has access to powers and abilities far beyond our own. And of course the blades design (a cleaver with a hilt basically) says it’s designed to chop, slice, dice, and julienne the victim rather than show any subtlety or discretion.
The pieces it came apart into might not necessarily be the smallest units it CAN come apart into.
One caveat… Detla is a hell of a lot stronger than your average human…
Even if it was made of proper steel ( and ridiculously heavy and unbalanced to us ) she should be able wield it as easily as we would a saex..
Which is scary in and of itself….
Regardless of my other comment, I’m not disagreeing that it looks good. It does! It’s just (like jetpacks, flying cars, and servant robots) making it work is way beyond anything we can do.
Not exactly, it’s a single edged cleaver with a chisel point , it’s a sword , but more akin to a oversized tanto.
A longsword is double edged and cut an thrust weapon , a messer is called a messer due to his knife like construction.
Blade seems in the shorter end for a longsword with approximately 33-35 inches a proper one for me ( 1,88 m ;6’2″ tall) is more 41-43 inches ( 100 to 110 cm) for better reach – in melee combat length count -.
You might have a valid request, Lapha, but meet yet another victim of your idiocy. Who isn’t afraid to use math and geometry all over your ass… That “sword” can break down into flying razor-sharp cutting strips to surround the target and chop it into very precis chucks… Another reminder that Lapha’s NOT in control, nor should she try to make demands!
Mathias: Did someone say i get to be all over someones ass?
Maxima: No.
Dabbler: Pretty please?
While Max may think she has her bases covered and can control Lapha, there’s an old saying about the “The best laid plans …”. Lapha’s allegiance, gathered intelligence and behavior can not and should not be trusted. First chance she gets to leverage Sydney’s secrets for personal gain or freedom you can bet your last dollar she will. The only safe choice is to just lock her up. Giving her free rein is not worth the risk.
Yes, I realize that that would make for a dull comic and won’t happen because drama but still…
I mean, the options are to stay in a cell and do nothing and get nothing, or agree to be put on Arc-Dark’s very short leash and enter into a transactional relationship where she MIGHT be able to work her way into good terms with Archon.
Max already pointed out that they know of her past, and are not about to just trust her.
It is obviously to Lapha’s benefit to accept Max’s offer. I question whether Max should make the offer in the first place. Max may think she knows Lapha’s past (via Sydney) but does she really? More importantly, Lapha is an alien – meaning alien powers, capabilities, behavior, Max has no idea of what the universe is capable of. What Dabbler did probably another could undo. There is no way Max or anyone else could monitor each and every one of Lapha’s possible future communications. The risk and stakes are just too high for a marginal gain.
What also is not being discussed is motivation and control. Of what benefit to the US/archon is inter-galactic intel? The Earth is just a backwater planet in the eyes of the rest of the galaxy no matter how wanna-be power broker Earth tries to appear. Earth/Max is a babe-in-the-woods, a newbie on the galactic stage that will only get burned. If there is one hing that I have learned in all my decades is playing in endeavors that I have no knowledge is a guaranteed way to get my butt kicked.
Another issue is control. Will Lapha be kept on a short leash and only attend meetings under super vision? Target attendees just might be a bit suspicious and not attend. Or will Lapha be allowed free travel? The how would she be monitored or motivated to return?
You’re a babe in the woods. How do you become not a babe in the woods? Get intelligence.
How are you going to get intelligence? Find/make assets who can tell you stuff.
This is one way. There are others.
We’re pretty sure that Earth is nominally a backwater, but there’s a lot more interest in it than there would be in Backwater Planet #954, due to superheroes. If it gets out that the orbs are Nth tech, the interest will be much greater.
To use an Earth example, I think that Saudi Arabia has a much larger intelligence service than Uzbekistan, mostly because of more oil (so more money to spend), but also because other countries are more interested in what happens to it than would be usual for a country that’s mostly sand.
It wouldnt be the first time that ARCHON employed or otherwise wirk-released soneone with a criminal background.
Achilles, Mr Amorphous, Heatwave, and Digit were vigilantes, as is Marble Maiden if they ever catch her.
Jabberwokky had several arrest warrants and was on a work release program and now seems to be a petmanent member.
Detla wax part of the NY heist attempt.
They have also been using Vehemence for training exercises as a mutually beneficial deal.
Sorry for all the spelling errors. On my phone and virtual keyboards suck.
Many years ago I learned a useful working definition for trust. It just means that you know what to expect. It applies equally well to a person who is kind and consistent or a person who is duplicitous and chaotic.
If memory serves, Detla isn’t officially in Archon’s chain of command, so this wouldn’t *officially* be intimidation by Max…
Max: Oh, hello, Detla! Have you met Lapha? Oh how silly of me, of course you have. You used to work together, right? I’ll just leave you two to catch up. Very busy, you know, sooo much to do…
Detla: You still haven’t paid me for the last job I did for you, when you left me here to rot. Sure, you paid the 25% down, but I still need the rest.
Lapha: But that was contingent on completing the transaction and as you can see, we did not leave with the target.
Max: And you never will.
Detla: It may have been contingent for you, but not for me. Pay me, now! You know, I have read an interesting story here called Merchants of Venice. It has a guy named Shylock who came up with an interesting idea for collecting his bad debts.
Lapha: I have no context for that.
Max: Let’s shelve that one for now and think of more practical solutions.
Lapha: Wait, [ to Sydney ] you read that book in school, but I can’t seem to recall what Shylock did.
Sydney: Yeah, my grade 10 English mark was not that high.
Sydney: A LOT of my grades slipped around that time. I blame Fullmetal Alchemist.
Just like all the various countries aren’t part of America’s chain of command so what they did to the prisoners Extraordinary Rendition’d to them by wasn’t “officially” torture on America’s part.
Since Max is aware of what Detla’s doing and Detla has explicitly asked Max for permission beforehand, Max can be charged as an accessory before the fact to anything that Detla does here unless she shuts her down right away, and she could be charged as a conspirator if she actively gives her permission. Detla is definitely committing intimidation, and technically assault (doesn’t require you to actually attack them, only put them in fear that you will); as an accessory, just this one scene here could easily net Max a dishonorable discharge and jail time. If Detla actually goes through with it, that’s anything from battery up to murder, depending on how badly she harms Lapha – depending on the state that they’re in, that could potentially net them a death sentence. And that’s BEFORE the Xevoarchy gets involved over ARCHON indefinitely detaining aliens and subjecting them to physical, psychologocal and emotional harm.
I think Max is as surprised as Lapha here and while she obviously shouldn’t give Detla permission to bisect Lapha she can’t exactly stop Detla from being intimidating, so not fair blaming her for that.
In fact, I don’t think DETLA can stop being intimidating. She just has that effect without even trying.
I think that the Xevoarchy doesn’t get a look in here. Earth isn’t part of them, and we know very little about their legal code. We know that at least some “demons” are part of them (I think), so the code has to be pretty loose. Not to mention the distances involved.
As for Max being in trouble – pretty sure there’s a lot of leeway there (or possibly secret codicils). I doubt the UCMJ allows for dealing with prisoners in the manner we’ve seen with others already.
Yes, it’s the UCMJ, not any state code. ARCHON is a military unit. The UCMJ is a federal statute. and would override contradictory state laws. It does have to be constitutional though. Hm. This is in their base. Is it on federal land?
I think this will not come up. It’s interesting, but how do you make it funny?
Lapha is not human, so many laws meant to protect humans would not apply to her. Also, Detla is not human, so many laws set up to prosecute human offenders would not apply to her. So what does that leave us? Animal Cruelty? The Federal Animal Fighting Venture Prohibition (7 U.S.C. 2156) carries a fine and felony jail time for promoting an animal fighting event or creating a situation where two animals would fight. That could apply to Max if she said Yes to Delta’s request.
Hey, Detla asked, nicely.
Funny expression on Maxima.
there is temptation here. strong temptation.
Yup… That’s the “I can’t *officially* allow it, but it’s a viable option we hadn’t even thought of yet.” face.
What makes things doubly scary for Lapha is that Syd’s memories should have given her the knowledge about Max’s superspeed, so she knows she’s essentially safe from Detla since Maxima can intercept any action *if she should decide to do so*.
And Max’s face clearly says that option is very low on the list of probabilities.
What connection does Delta have with Lapha???
As noted in the commentary, Detla was part of Lapha’s group that came to Earth to abduct supers. Except she didn’t know that was their objective, and just thought she was going somewhere to engage in consensual combat with powerful foes. It was an opportunity to test herself, and perhaps improve as well. Clearly, she was not happy to find out what was actually going on.
Lapham wanted to abduct Max, so she hired a ship and some mercenaries. She did not tell anyone what her goal was. The captain of the ship got mad because he wasn’t let in on it, and I believe that Detla’s code of ethics would have caused her to decline the job if she had been told. Note that I really like Detla, and it’s been a while since I read the relevant section of the comic, so I may be misremebering/making assumptions about her, but the important part (Lapha hired Detla) should be accurate.
In other words, Alpha lied to Delta?!?!?
Yep, Lapha lied to Detla & most of the others. Maybe all of them—I forget offhand how many of that crew were rando mercs she hired as opposed to actual crew-in-the-know.
So are we going to get a character named Ebta?
Maybe, but we’ve already had a character called Tabe.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-880-variable-lethality/
Lapha names them in Panel 3.
There’s no sure way of knowing which of the mercs has that name, but I think it’s one of the one-eyed goons fighting Mr Amorphous in the last panel of https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-883-garbage-duty/
Additionally, I think DaveB based those aliens on the ‘Vindaloovians’ from Red Dwarf.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPPO-R-e1R4
The comic itself is great overall, but there’s something about Detla that I really like, so it’s always a good day when she shows up.
‘Then you’d better arrest them too,’ said Vimes. ‘Arrest the lot of ‘em. Conspiracy to cause an affray,’ he started to count on his fingers, ‘going equipped to commit a crime, obstruction, threatening behaviour, loitering with intent, loitering within tent, hah, travelling for the purposes of committing a crime, malicious lingering and carrying concealed weapons.’
‘I don’t think that one–’ Carrot began.
‘I can’t see ‘em,’ said Vimes.
– Jingo, Terry Pratchett
Always nice to have an existential threat on your side of the bargaining table.
could we say it helps to cut to the chase?
Gordian knot? Meet Detla!
at the negotiating table we need to stay sharp. ninjas are everywhere.
Incitement to violence requires speech with the specific intent to cause another to imminently commit a felony that includes an element of force. Just walking around violating people’s assumptions about the world doesn’t qualify. Other than acts directly related to their criminal conspiracy (which should be plenty), probably the only thing you could hit them with is an immigration violation, which isn’t even a misdemeanor.
Well, I can see where this is going. Effectively “Join us or die, which isn’t a threat because I’m not the one doing it.”
#TotallyNotTheBaddies
LOL Not only Lapha’s body having a sweat drop in that last panel, but also her ‘flame’ has a tiny sweat drop too. 8)
I swear, every time I see Detla’s name, I misread it as “Delta” the first time.
That’s the point: just like Lapha’s name is ‘Alpha’, and Tenri’s is ‘Inert’
And the comic is by BaveD.
And Garamm was supposed to be Gamma but I think DaveB said he made a little error there, but the name stuck like that. Which is cool because I love the name.
@DaveB I know this has nothing to do with the current page and you probably don’t take suggestions, but I had a thought on the replica orbs that they’re going to sell:
All Orbs: are Bonded to a user via magic, and act as a GPS tracking device when active.
Flight: If the Flight Orb detects the user falling, it will cast a Slow Fall effect.
Lighthook: Has a replica tentacle that can pick up 10-15 lbs.
PPO: can shoot a non-lethal force bullet, similar to a paintball.
Comm Ball: Can make a Hologram of the bonded user that stays in place, but mimics the users movements.
Shield Ball: Can scan various clothes and overlay the user with Light clothing, which is resistant to damage.
Air Ball: If the user suddenly goes unconscious, it will flash lights and send out a 911 alert.
Sorry, I should look up the actual names for some of these, but I would have to leave the page and I already wrote all this.
Flight:
Honestly, letting Garamm join might be a good idea, as long as he and Lapha aren’t *deployed* together. That way you functionally have a hostage so the one who’s deployed doesn’t defect.
Lapha’s not in much of a position to negotiate, but she’s in a great position to make polite, reasonable suggestions. Sydney can confirm whatever Lapha knows about Garamm’s potentially useful skills and compassionate personality, and, hostage-based coercion aside, having him around would presumably be good for Lapha’s morale.
quick question, what’s up with detla’s ears? they’re missing in a few panels
Covered by hair in those panels.
Anyone see the symbol for the French Olympics and not think of Lapha?
I hadn’t seen it before this comment got me to look it up.
You’re right, and now I’ll never unsee it.
I looked it up, and you’re right. It does remind me of Lapha.
Hmm. It’s possible Detla has reason to bring criminal charges against Lapha and get her extradited to her homeworld where they take honor very seriously? Or possibly have cause to invoke trial by combat as long as Lapha isn’t in Archon custody?
It’s also worth remembering that Detla doesn’t know that Lapha’s locked in her body. Given her “What did you do?” reaction a purple flame might not be a known indicator. Detla may just be thinking she’s getting some cathartic revenge that’s merely an inconvenience. Maybe taking unpaid wages out of Lapha’s body budget.
You may be right that she’s not intending to actually kill Lapha. As for extradition, the United States doesn’t have any sort of extradition agreement with Detla’s homeworld. And considering how her culture is big on learning from others (note the reason she temporarily joined up was to better herself by learning from those who bested her; she was disappointed to find out Achilles had only beat her by way of being invulnerable, but is clearly interested in learning from the others who do indeed have great skill, like Math), I suspect they’d be willing to allow Archon to handle Lapha’s punishment, to see if such methods yield good results.
The thing about aliens is that under current human laws they would have no rights at all. You don’t need them to be criminals because you can already do anything you want to to them.
Do current laws specify “humans,” or do they talk about “people?” The courts would have to rule on whether or not aliens count as people or not, at least in the United States (not sure how the separation of powers works elsewhere, but I think it’s typically similar in most of the first-world at least). Given aliens have been public knowledge for a while now, and that Archon arrested several back during Lapha’s first attempt to abduct a super, it’s possible this question has already made its way through the courts. The most likely result is for the courts to rule that aliens count as people, so they should have the same rights as humans. At least in the USA – again, I can’t speak for elsewhere.
It’s very semantic argument that I’m sure Deus would love to have just to play devil’s advocate for the fun of it. See, throughout all of human history, people has referred to humans, it’s why no animal has rights unless we specify animals in a given law. And thus all human laws automatically refer to humans, but there is no legal distinction for anything other then humans aside from animals. Which aliens could use as a substitute until the legal system finally includes them. And it’s something people would debate over, and I’m positive special interests would make it a bigger issue then it is making it take a lot longer then it should. Meaning in the few months the secret being out is probably not enough time for sufficient protection laws to pass. I mean, if a tree can own itself, I’m sure some courts can use existing laws and cases to protect the aliens who do seek legal action, but it’ll still be a slow process.
You don’t need any laws passed, you just need the courts to rule that the existing laws apply to “people” rather than “humans,” and further that “people” refers to “sapient living things.” I probably underestimated how rapidly that would work its way through the courts, however (although I’d imagine Deus would have a small army of lobbyists supporting it – he’s a forward-thinking guy, and the same arguments that would make laws only apply to humans may well make them not apply to some supers; I could see an argument being made that Maxima is no longer human).
Also, a bit of trivia for you – back in the Bad Old Days, it was suggested/rumored that there were people in Africa with the heads of beasts, like you see for some Egyptian gods. There was a question of if such creatures could be considered people and, if so, if they had immortal souls that could be saved by conversion to Christianity. And the decision, IIRC, was that such would be considered people, and would be eligible to enter the gates of Heaven if they converted. I can guarantee there are missionaries in the Grrlverse who are just itching to spread the Good Word amongst the aliens (naturally, there are also xenophobes that want nothing to do with them, or even to wipe them out as an affront, and “missionaries” who only want to “convert” the aliens to get more revenue in the old tithing bucket, but that’s humanity for you).
Err… I meant underestimated how slowly it would work its way through the courts, or overestimated how rapidly it would happen. It not having made its way through by now would be entirely realistic – but I can just about guarantee Archon treats aliens as though it were already a done deal.
Toy Biz v. United States suddenly becomes a very unfortunate legal precedent
No, Detla, that won’t be necessary. Sydney has killed her once already today, with noodles.
Noodles?
Yes. Interesting martial arts technique I’d never seen before. Dabbler resuscitated her at the last minute or she’d be dead right now.
Noodles.
Yes. It’s Syd after all. Sooner or later we were going to have a Noodle Incident.
Please explain.
Oh. Sorry, but Noodle incidents are never explained.
And they’ve had TWO Noodle incidents now…the first one when Syd had her first meal at Fusion, and now the “Sydney’s food is so spicy, even bodysnatchers can’t stick around for it.
first you make the noodle,
then you boil it,
then you spice it past the point where it is a crime against humanity.
then you never speak of it.
this is a team building exercise from Budapest.
I submit that THE LIST is a series of pending Noodle Incidents.
Except for Frix, but with him she canoodles instead.
I’d like to see Detla’s expression when it’s explained that now such an action would actually kill Lapha.
This song just popped into my head
“…In the eyes of the confessor
There’s no place you can hide
You can’t hide from the eyes (of the confessor)
Don’t you even try
In the eyes of the confessor
You can’t tell a lie
You cannot tell a lie (to the confessor)…”
-Joe Walsh
Panel 2
Is Detla looking through a wall or is that frosted glass?
Frosted glass.
It’s visible behind various characters in the previous few comics too – the blue/purple ‘wall’ with the band of hexagon pattern on it.
I like that swords woman…. I likes her way of thinking a lot. :D
“Permission to bisect Lapha?”
“Uh, no thanks. I’m not bi?”
“Yet.”
Oh, she’s totally bi. She just exudes bisexual chaos goblin energy
I’m not sure what Max means with the passport thing. Like… when they brought him here to arrest him? Or when he came on that guy’s ship? Because that should involve everyone that came, not just him, which is an unfair application of the law. And that surface to orbit flight plan? I feel like that’s a retro-active application of a new law, which is very not okay. Unless there’s an already existing obscure law I’m unfamiliar with. The battery, assault, and kidnapping charges are probably connected to Sydney so I’ll let those slide. And he totally stole that escape pod in time square, so that’s perfectly legit.
Oh, she’s definitely bisexual. She radiates that unmistakable vibe of a chaotic bisexual imp.
Okay just checking the list of crimes Garamm is being accused of to see which ones would actually fly (at least as far as I can tell):
1) Assault – yep, definitely does apply, since he did assault Ray in New York
2) Battery – also yep, since he did batter Ray in New York
1a and 2a) If she is to use ‘Defense of a Friend’ (the closest thing in the US would be ‘Defense of Others’ but there are several problems with that. First, while it could be brought up in court, that doesn’t mean he can’t be CHARGED with it still. He could just bring it up as a defense argument. Second, It was during the commission of a crime, and he would have been an accessory (although that would still need to be proven in court, but we as readers know he was an accessory).
3) Accessory to attempted kidnapping (of Sydney) – Yep, this is definitely something he committed since he did an action in furtherance of Lapha’s crime and both the mens rea and actus reus can be shown. He doesn’t even need to know exactly what Lapha was doing when the plan changed for him to be charged with it, as he made no attempt to back out of the plan.
4) Grand Theft Escape Pod – I”m not sure the US is the proper venue for that, but might as well throw it on the pile since it did at least take place in New York City, even if none of the participants (victim, perpetrator, and ship) were from New York or Earth).
5) Piloting a Surface to Orbital Craft without a filing a flight plan – that’s more a problem for Ray Cosmos, and I don’t think there are flight plans for surface to orbital crafts in the first place on the books. Plus you can’t charge someone retroactively if they create a law about this NOW. Probably a better charge would be unlawfully fleeing an officer in a motor vehicle (I’m guessing an escape pod has a motor and it’s a vehicle) in the first degree… although again I’m pretty sure the law was never designed for spacecraft escape pods. :)
6) Immigration and illegal entry violations – again more a Ray Cosmos problem than a Garamm problem, since they did not charge anyone else with that, including Ray Cosmos. Plus they havent charged anyone who came through portal to the comic book shop, or anyone who has been on Earth via the Council (although maybe with that last thing they have some sort of agreement with the Council with regards to aliens (ie, Jeannie Greenie, etc) But in Maxima’s defense she is using the caveat of ‘if we really want to be dicks about it… which I do know from firsthand experience prosecutors sometimes do in order to just pile on the charges as a negotiating tactic.
(to McGrewer, I think Max is talking about the New York thing, not the current thing for the passport, since this current crime, he was off-planet the entire time, so the main thing they can use for him is an accessory to attempted kidnapping charge – everything else seems to be from the New York incident).
For Grand Theft Escape Pod, a brief bit of online searching indicates the Grand Theft Auto laws also apply to other motorized vehicles, and thus should apply to an escape pod.
For Piloting a Surface to Orbital Craft Without Filing a Flight Plan, a similarly-brief bit of online searching indicates there are two general types of flight, Visual Flight Range (VFR) and Instrument Flight Range (IFR). For the former, you’re able to keep an eye on your surroundings without instrumentation and typically aren’t required to file a flight plan; with the latter, you are reliant on instrumentation, and typically are required to file a flight plan. The stolen escape pod would most likely fall under IFR. I don’t know if there are laws about launching into orbit, but I’d imagine there are (the last thing you want is some amateur managing to get their homemade rocket into orbit and trigger a Kessler event… or for some hapless corporation to do the same), but that seems like it would be a separate charge from failing to file a flight plan.
For all the “But they didn’t charge the others!” bits, prosecutors have leeway on who they opt to actually charge and prosecute. A lot of this will come down to what they did in the course of committing the crime, as well as after. Someone who respects the rest of the laws in place and is cooperative with the authorities – like Ray Cosmos, and the actual tourists he brought along – is less likely to be charged than someone who commits a bunch of other, much more serious crimes – like Lapha and her crew trying to abduct Maxima and kill whoever got in their way.
Nice post. :)
I agree with everything you said in your first and second paragraph, although I do not think a space escape pod has any laws requiring filing a flight plan still. You might be correct though. I remember watching a movie with Billy Bob Thornton called The Astronaut Farmer (based on a real person in New Mexico) who did try building a rocket to outer space and he DID try to file a flight plan with the FAA (the FAA stalled him but I think he eventually was able to get it filed). My main quandry is how a person could file a flight plan for an ’emergency’ escape vehicle, since the entire concept of an emergency escape pod means it would not be capable of predicting needing a flight plan in the first place. It would be like planning an itinerary for one of the lifeboats on the Titanic. Actually, similarly I’m pretty sure that a person could be charged with stealing a lifeboat or life raft if a cruise ship sinks or a plane crashes into the ocean like they could if they hijacked the actual plane or cruise ship. :)
I do have a better argument for your third one though, mainly because:
(1) it would also violate the ‘no ex post facto laws’ clause of Article 1 of the Constitution, since there’s no actual law for extraterrestrials coming to Earth without permission of the US government (yet), as far as I know. Although if there are in the Grrlpower universe, it would likely be in joint agreement and written by the Council, since they have the alien representative and the demon representative; and
(2) one of the reasons that laws actually work at all is that everyone is ‘supposed’ to be subject to the same laws. It you have some people being charged with a crime while others who did the SAME exact crime, at the same exact moment, with all else being identical, would not exactly be in keeping with the concept of ‘in stare decisis.’ Although I do agree that prosecutors do have prosecutorial discretion (the leeway you were describing), it usually doesn’t happen with multiple people in the SAME crime at the same time.
More specifically, your description of how Ray Cosmos treated the laws of the United States vs how Lapha and Garamm et al treated the laws of the United States are not really applicable in this particular question, mainly because we’re not talking about ALL the laws that had been violated – just the illegal entry law involving coming to the United States itself. What they did afterwards would be different criminal charges and would be a reason that Lapha could be charged differently than Ray Cosmos (for completely different laws than illegal entry).
But I do understand the logic that you’re trying to convey in your post, and most of what you said is at the very least a plausible argument. :)
The escape pod is a flying machine akin to an airplane or similar (albeit with space flight capabilities), regardless of the fact that it’s intended to be used as an escape pod. I think laws would allow for one to utilize such a vessel without needing to file any sort of flight plan in a legitimate emergency (but this may just fall under “it’s technically illegal, but because this was an emergency situation nobody in their right mind would charge and prosecute you”), but “needing to escape the authorities” wouldn’t count as such. Similarly, “stealing” an escape pod (that is, launching it without express consent of the staff) in an emergency probably shouldn’t result in a charge of theft, but again, this isn’t a legitimate emergency.
As for ex post facto, immigration/foreign travel laws aren’t country-specific. If aliens are considered to have laws apply to them as people, then the existing laws would apply, no concerns about being made after-the-fact.
As for laws applying to everyone all the time, that’s categorically untrue. The fact is, the authorities have the legal, well, authority to determine who to prosecute for what. This leeway exists for a variety of reasons, most of which come down to it being impossible to right a perfect law (there’s also concerns of the use of resources, which are finite – trying a case is expensive in terms of time, energy, stress, and money). It’s not uncommon for crimes that normally aren’t pursued to be added on as additional charges, which is essentially what Max is threatening here – they didn’t charge Ray and his merry band due to extenuating circumstances (they were unaware of the laws and requirements, Archon and the US government didn’t want to make a bad impression on galactic society by arresting and charging otherwise-innocent aliens who broke laws unknowingly and didn’t cause any harm, etc)… but they would still have the ability to charge Garamm and Lapha while charging them with their more serious crimes. Certainly, their lawyer could bring up the lack of charges on Ray Cosmos and co as a reason to throw those charges out – and may even succeed, depending on the judge – but that wouldn’t prevent the charges from being filed in the first place.
Of course, that leeway can be – and indeed sometimes is – abused, with normally-ignored minor crimes being prosecuted against someone the authorities despise, or normally-prosecuted major crimes being ignored when it’s someone with sufficient power and influence in the right circles. So it needs to be carefully watched, and those who abuse it removed from places of authority. But it’s there for a very good reason, and I feel the benefits outweigh the risks.
“The escape pod is a flying machine akin to an airplane or similar (albeit with space flight capabilities), regardless of the fact that it’s intended to be used as an escape pod.”
Would you say the same thing about a lifeboat as compared to the laws and requirements for a yacht or ocean liner or other ship?
“I think laws would allow for one to utilize such a vessel without needing to file any sort of flight plan in a legitimate emergency”
What I’m saying is that, since an escape pod is equivalent to a lifeboat, the laws could also be equivalent to those used by a lifeboat, not used by a normal vehicle. What you’re saying is possible as well, but requires more interpretation.
“needing to escape the authorities” wouldn’t count as such. ”
Needing to escape something that just tried to eat and murder you would, though.
“As for ex post facto, immigration/foreign travel laws aren’t country-specific. ”
That doesn’t actually matter. You cannot be tried for a law that wasn’t a law at the time that you committed the act. That’s what ex post facto means, and it’s one of the more important rules in Article 1, along with no bills of attainder.
“If aliens are considered to have laws apply to them as people, then the existing laws would apply, no concerns about being made after-the-fact.”
I think you’re misunderstanding what I’m saying.
If there are no rules about extraterrestrial alien immigration, then there wouldnt be any existing laws on point. You cannot then make laws after and retroactively apply them.
“As for laws applying to everyone all the time, that’s categorically untrue. The fact is, the authorities have the legal, well, authority to determine who to prosecute for what.”
And it’s a fair argument to make as a defense that it was not applied equally, in violation of the principles of in stare decisis. Regardless of the rest of what you said in this paragraph, it does not remove the applicable defense.
“Certainly, their lawyer could bring up the lack of charges on Ray Cosmos and co as a reason to throw those charges out – and may even succeed, depending on the judge – but that wouldn’t prevent the charges from being filed in the first place.”
Yes, that is literally what I said.
:)
There is such a thing as a surface-to-orbit flight plan, I researched it for a short story back in the ’90s. Even if you’re flying visual flight rules you still have to file a plan to fly over 13000 Ft ASL as 18K-60K is controlled airspace.
Oh, she’s definitely bisexual. She radiates that unmistakable vibe of a chaotic bisexual imp.
When you modify your new body to satisfy the tastes of your paramour, who isn’t even from the same species, gender and sexual orientation may be more of an assumed convenience rather than an inherent trait. On the other hand, chaotic imp seems to fit rather well.
You don’t need sci-fi space tech reasons to make a mask that shows expressions. We could probably make it now. We *can* make moving cat-ears…
https://youtu.be/XPQC7-nGObg
So Detla’s mask works like spider-man’s wich cosplayers acctually made work practicly irl
https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/14iiv1v/mechanics_of_a_spiderman_mask_that_can_emote_eye/
And Batman’s, and… every other character with a mask