Grrl Power #328 – Six cylinder enthusiasm
Sydney recovered pretty quickly from the prior page there, but she’s not one to let trauma get in the way of a callback. It’s not often I throw in a pause panel even though I generally like humor pause beats. A good stare in reaction to someone doing or saying something stupid is usually pretty funny to me, but I tend to cram so much on a page that I never have space for them. In my head, this page and the next were all one scene, but as I started laying it out I realized I had to break it out to two pages which gave me a little extra space. This particular pause is brought to us courtesy of Maxima catching herself and remembering that Dabbler’s alien origins are still classified, and there’s a room full of recruits behind her. I actually almost forgot myself. I’m not sure at what point the people in Arc-SWAT are told. Sydney certainly wasn’t supposed to find out already. Harem knows and she’s only a corporal. Actually the rank of corporal makes some sense. By the time someone hits that rank you’ve mostly sorted out the chaff and the dropouts, and had time to make sure they’re not religiously zealotous or some sort of crazy Earth for humans type. I mean, if they’re on a team with supers they’re obviously ok with a little diversity.
The only thing that doesn’t play right on this page for me is that on the prior one, Sydney was giving this corner of the room a pretty good stare. Though I can tell you as someone with ADD, there have been moments where I’ve looked right past something cause I was concentrating on or expecting to see something else. That may not be ADD, that may just be the way brains work sometimes. Anyway, that’s my excuse. Sydney was looking for some poster or diagram that spelled out why they carry guns and ignored what looks at a glance like an engine block. Oh, and here’s a close up of the stickers on it cause I zoom in too much when I draw:
I’m not sure what those Predatorbusters represent since they obviously haven’t been shooting Predators with that thing. Or have they?
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With subterfuge that good Syd should join Arc Dark.
Right about this time ‘Arnold’ sticks his head in the door and says “Good, you finished the upgrades I asked for. Now get it back to the choppa”.
With the bayonets the gun is ‘da choppa’
+1
Hey all. Only found this a week or so ago. Already caught up, rather like. Might have to wander by a more often…
Name’s Screwball the Minicon, people from Dumbing Of Age probably would recognize me. See you all around…
Oh no! I came here to get away from YOU . /snark
Bwaaahaahaaahaahaaa….
BWAAAAA HHHAAAA HHAAAA HHHAAAAAAA HAAAAA*cough choke splutter hork spit* Bloody flies…
Whoa! Look out people! We got us a real
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIfBcWKXgzY
here!
*Cheezy grin*
Look forward to seeing you around.
thinking about this rationally (which is a dangerous thing in this comic), the positioning of the bayonets makes a good bit of sense. from what i’ve seen in media, miniguns like that spin up counter-clockwise, from the operator’s point of view. the sharpened edges of the blades appears to be facing the correct way to, should you run out of ammunition, take convenient core samples from whatever presents itself, using the spin of the barrels themselves. not sure if you did that on purpose, Dave, but nice detail!
I’m sure he did it on purpose. :)
Actually, from the shooter’s perspective the barrel rotates clockwise, so the bayonets are facing backwards.
https://www.military.com/video/guns/machine-guns/the-m134-minigun/1697255470001/
Spin varies depending on the gun. Don’t know what model that is.
I was just about to say the same thing. This one, they spin to the left https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xq8muc_minigun-rotation-demonstrated_shortfilms
Tom, if you watch the video you linked near 3:22, you will see that the barrel block rotates counter-clockwise (from gunman PoV) on that present model at least.
What you see as rotation in either direction, when barrel block already reached certain speed, could easily be attributed to stroboscopic effect from barrels themselves and discrete nature of video capture.
Looks like you are right at 3:22. OTOH, at 0:16, that one clearly goes clockwise, so looks like Crimson is correct about direction varying based on model. I stand corrected.
It may or may not be a good melee attack, but it can bore a hole in the wall to shoot through.
Good point. Rubble in the barrels might be inconvenient, but that can be cleared out.
Although I would not fancy having to look down it, to check that it was clear!
Don’t you mean, “not fancy having to look down them,” instead? there’s more than ONE barrel to check.
You would have to look down one at a time. Which I would not fancy. Each and every time.
Wait what the- what. What? WHAT.
Uh… what?
All right, I cleared my head a little – you need to color the table or the floor more different, because that minigun looks like it’s the size of a bloody ox.
Also, Max needs to put Sidney in place fast, or the other recruits will start thinking she’s taking favorites.
That brings up an interesting point. Sidney is technically a day one recruit. She’s just received her issue duty uniforms and her sidearm. She’s at the point where if she were a Marine or Army recruit, Kill Hats (Drill Instructors) would be screaming at her from all sides whenever she turned around. But then, she’s not in the Army or Marines. She’s ARC. And while she’s a day one recruit, she’s also insanely powerful and incredibly versatile. And she already has a Super battle Royale under her belt. A battle where not once, but twice, she accurately assessed powerful opponents and devised strategies to exploit their weaknesses and defeat them. Especially her coordinated plan utilising all the ARCSWAT members to subdue Vehemence. So, yeah, she needs to learn proper military protocol and her place in the hierarchy, but Maxima is showing a level of comradeship with Halo that would be unthinkable in any other service between a private and Lieutenant Colonel. But then, Sidney has already proven her value to Maxima, ARC, and the country at large. She’s more than just another recruit,she’s already effectively a full team member, and Maxima treats her as such.
I don’t think Archon needs the level of personality and sense-of-self break down achieved in normal military training. These people don’t need to learn to be cogs in a machine. Archon isn’t that big. They just need to learn to work with a team and obey orders. Arianna would actually want them to have more personality for the cameras too so they probably won’t be getting a standard Boot but something more tailored to each individual.
Agreed, it is an interesting situation. But then again, jiggawatt also demonstrated pretty high end levels of power and ability AND she was specifically called in by maxima as backup, so its not like sydney is the only one with battle experience amongst the current crop of newbies. Which brings up its own interesting point. We dont know how far through training these guys are. They clearly know maxima, and they are familiar enough with her for some minor joking around, like calling her skin screwy for varia. So for all we know, these guys are in their last week of basic and a week from being assigned to a squad.
Let’s also keep in a that we don’t know the recruits background. They might have previous service experience. Just like a military MP might have to go through a police academy to get hired.
This might be more of an organizational training/recruit setting than a full fledged boot camp.
Sydney also has some “civilian leeway” as part of her contract that regular military recruits don’t get either…She’s only required to show up in the afternoons because she still has the comic shop to deal with. Regular military boot camp is pretty much like being tossed into prison, in that “you’re there until it’s done.”
Although the thing that you say about the rank did occur to me too, I dismissed it, for similar reasons as TheCrimsonF*cker and Traab, although I was thinking more in special forces terms. Not that I gave it too much consideration, as another aspect was much more interesting. Halo’s security rating.
Given that the decision has clearly been made not to bundle Sydney up and drop her in ‘the place where those who have seen things that they should not remain’, Maxima must have assigned her an appropriate security rating.
This is distinct from situations where somebody has seen something above their pay grade, by the way. Sydney has access to an unique intelligence resource. Her True Sight orb. Plus she is clearly an intuitive analyst. One who is ideally suited to field work. Which makes Halo a specialist who is in a need to know situation, with a justification for the rating.
Amongst other things Sydney is already aware that there are Aliens on Earth. That one of them is an employee of the US government. Plus that magic is real and is likewise being used by the US government.
I suspect that Halo is (pending security assessment) rated at a level that even your average one star general does not have clearance to see.
Point taken. ARCSWAT has a formal military rank structure, but given the nature, power and probable experience of it’s personnel, that rank likely doesn’t mean as much as it would in the other branches of service. And I’m guessing ARC’s basic is more of a semi formal indoctrination to the inside and outside of the organization than it is a full on “tear them down and build them up” basic training. Any non superstars (and some supers) are recruited from the other branches, like Maxima and Peggy, or are powerful supers who have chosen to join up, like Halo. And since people with powers are extremely rare, you wouldn’t treat them like cogs in the machine. I do wonder if that will bring up points of conflict when ARC personnel interact with ranking members of the other armed forces? For example, Harem is only a corporal, but she is a far more valuable asset from a national security aspect than almost any general.
My phone turned supers into superstars.
Well you’re not wrong…
They are now celebrities too, thanks to the press conference & the battle royal. Superstars does still work…
Hummm… let’s see… A M134 minigun (this looks a lot like the latest version) is about 32 inches in overall length. A standard M-9 bayonet has a blade a bit over 7 inches long. If that’s a standard crowbar between the gun and the cabinet against the wall…
The bayonets are double normal size (14 to 15 inches of blade), and the M134 is about x4 normal (around 11 feet) with roughly a foot of blade extending past the end of the barrels (overall 12 feet).
It’s been decades since the family owned cattle, and we had steers and bulls, but I don’t think any got to 12 feet… So, bigger than an ox would be my take!
Though, at roughly 1600 pound in weight, somewhat lighter than the ox…
I don’t think that’s a crowbar, looks more like an allen wrench.
Not a crowbar. It is a hex-wrench. Think of it as about 3″-6″ long.
Yeah I made the table top nearly the same color as the concrete floor. Whoops.
I didn’t even notice the table at first- I though the small tool chest was a large filing cabinet type of thing, and it made the whole perspective seem weird. Now that I’ve “fixed” it in my mind’s eye the picture makes much more sense.
Between the minigun and the parts organizer, Dave doesn’t have a lot of room to show the far edge of the table. Aside from a tiny bit to the left of the minigun’s handle there isn’t anything to distinguish between this being a different colored section of the floor, or the table it actually is. That said I really do like the framing and layout of this page – he draws such pretty firearms!
Table? Even looking back I don’t see that as a table.
I get the scale of it from the grip, since the tool can be misleading.
Ditto. I keep expecting a guy the size of T-Rex to walk in, all hunched over, due to the low ceiling, and pick it up.
youve got to remember that we are dealing with supers here, heck i bet syd could probably pick up and use it with no problem, if she braced with light hook
Although it is just a trick of perspective, if the gun were as huge as it appeared to be, the handle would be too big for any of their hands, up to and including Anvil. Of course, in addition to holding it, as you suggested, Sydney might attempt to use the lighthook, to fire it. But it clearly was not designed for her. Hence imagining Mr Rex.
The dull grey utilitarian concrete coloring of everything is pretty standard for the handful of shooting ranges I’ve been in. No one ever seems to want to decorate them with nice wallpaper or shag carpeting.
But I think the bigger issue here is that the gun is positioned just perfectly to obscure almost the entire edge of the table. If it were lower down or an an angle and you could see more of that thin black, I think it would be more readily apparent that it’s resting on a different surface than the floor, even without making the table bright orange or something.
Utilitarian comes in a variety of shades. DaveB need not go to bright orange. it simply needs enough variance to pick out, without having to hunt for the edge. Redrawing the picture would be a hassle. Recolouring the table would be less so.
It slices! It dices! It makes julienne fries! That thing HAS to be made by Ronco! The only improvement would be if the bayonets consisted of Ginsu knives. Coke can confetti for those who like to party hard.
Is it also a combination hookah and coffee maker?
Aren’t all Ronco products combination hookahs and coffee makers? It also doubles as an open fire rotissary.
Actually, if it was by Ronco, they would be using Ronco’s Showtime 6-Star+ knives instead.
If Halo was to make a gun…it would shoot smaller guns…
That shoot deep fried beer cans?
The knives also fire. And can explode on impact. When they explode, they explode a bunch of smaller knives.
Did you get that idea from Manly Guys Doing Manly Things? Quite a while back, the Commander showed Jared an action-figure toy that was based on himself. It had a small toy gun with it…That shoots out smaller guns.
GAH! I totally did…. knew I got that idea from somewhere but couldn’t place it… thanks man :P totally awesome comic that right?
I think the gun is hilarious, but I also really like Peggy’s line about it “starting off” as a joke. As if everyone laughed until they came across some enemy or target that that just happened to be the perfect solution for.
Metroids, maybe.
Oh sure Dave, you take the time to draw the itty bitty stickers on the gun but you can’t bother to put handles on the lockers at the back of the room? :)
FYI, I do like the Spock eyebrow raise from Sydney in panel two.
“Priorities”. ;)
Lockers? Oh you mean the alternative experimental magazine for the mini-gun.
I think that was on Skippy’s List… ‘not allowed to mount a bayonette on a crew-served weapon’ or something like that.
Actually, if the minigun will continue to spin after the ammo is exhausted, it would make a very effective defensive weapon until your arms got tired.
Perhaps even more important than it’s actual destructive ability, it would be incredibly intimidating. And miniguns have an electric motor to power the barrel rotation that runs independent from the actual loading and firing mechanism, which means you can spin it up without firing and keep it spinning between firings. That’s part of what distinguishes them from normal machine guns and lands them in the class of exotic/ super-heavy firearms- A minigun needs a battery as well as ammo, while a machine gun (or almost any other conventional firearm) requires only ammo, since the action draws energy from discharging to load the next round. On a side note, the fact that a minigun has six barrels does not mean it fires six shots at once (I don’t know how people can make this mistake: it seems obvious to me). The reason for it is to prevent heating problems: if you fired 10,000 rounds per minute through a single barrel continuously for, say, ten minutes (which is the kind of sustained fire that miniguns are designed for), then the friction from the bullets and the hot propellant gasses will cause the barrel to heat up until it no longer fires properly, inflicting permanent damage on the weapon. A single barrel could still be used, but it would require exotic cooling methods: water cooling at least, possibly even freon cooling. By adding five other barrels and switching them out between shots, this problem is largely eliminated: each barrel only has 1/6 of the number of bullets passing through it and the constant motion through the air speeds the cooling of each barrel. As an added bonus, if one of the barrels should fail anyway, you still have five left (though the misfires could be problematic).
Unless they have upped the specs since the last time I checked them out (entirely possible) the chain gun/mini gun fires at 6000 rounds per minute. With a tracer round every 20th round fired it looks like a laser beam to the naked eye. They were mounted on helicopter gun ships during the Vietnam war and given the nick name “Puff the Magic Dragon”. And yes, many, many soldiers new the words to the song…
Intimidation would have to be the primary factor in that rig for a normal person. For starters unless you modded it with a heavier motor to rotate the barrels those knives aren’t going to cut very far before they start dragging the barrel speed down or even catch on a rib and get stuck. Then too there’s the generally greater lethality of what the barrels spout compared to its overall bulk. If you have bullets you’d just fire the thing. If you don’t then it’s so heavy and bulky that it’s unwieldy as a melee weapon. You’d be better off using a crowbar with a knife duct taped to the end. Super strength changes that equation though. With superstrength it would be like a really heavy club with an abattoir on the end.
As for continuous fire, miniguns are generally used for short burst fire only due to the difficulty of aiming it while continuously firing and to the limitations of ammo consumption. Super strength would help with aiming but wouldn’t do much on the ammo limits.
Don’t care. I want.
Seconded!!
The reason I was wondering is, if you end up with enemies close enough to you to attack you in a melee and you’re out of ammo, you could spin the barrels and the blades slicing a swath across your front arc allowing you to then ditch the gun and move to something more easily wielded in close combat.
Give it to dabbler to use… She could interface up her hammerspace between the gun and a warehouse that has just one belt, full of ammo…and it takes up the whole warehouse..
Yup, now that kind of suggestion Dabbler would approve of. As opposed to folks who suggest she would then hand those out, for other people to use.
This is true. Though in this case “a heavier motor” isn’t about rpm, it’s about added torque. Considering how heavy the barrels already are, I seriously doubt the motor would have any trouble with the added weight of the bayonets… until you started trying to cut something with them.
Thank you. As I explained, I was thinking that, if the barrel spun for a while longer than the ammo, you could cut a swath and get some breathing room to move to another weapon, if people were that close or if you had nothing better.
And I understand what you mean. It wasn’t until fairly recently in the history of guns that they were able to make barrels which could withstand near continuous fire, and even at that, things like a machine gun are designed for short bursts of rapid fire instead of hitting the trigger and firing non-stop until you ran out of ammo. Doing so would warp the barrel, according to what I’ve learned, and render the gun pretty much useless.
It’s why the earliest forms of machine gun were Gatling Guns, named for their inventor Richard Gatling. It wouldn’t be until Dr. Hiram Maxim came along that the first true machine gun would come into existence, and that required that the length of the barrel be immersed in water during operation to keep it from overheating and warping. However, even at that, miniguns fire too fast for a single barrel :)
I know way too much about weaponry.
You can really never know too much about weaponry…Especially having to consider the differences on how to deal with it, depending on which end of it you are.
This is true. Case in point was the M1 Garand during World War II. German soldiers would listen for the distinctive noise of the Garand ejecting its Enbloc clip, because that meant that you would be reloading. Then it was safe (or at least safer) for the German soldier to stick his head up and snap a few rounds off at you to keep you pinned down.
For the record: It is not true that the Garand had to empty the clip before you could reload. You could reload at any time using single rounds, but it was slower (for obvious reasons) and you were more likely to get the infamous “M1 Thumb” (it’s almost impossible to get “M1 Thumb” when loading a clip)
For those who are curious: “M1 Thumb” is caused when the user fails to make sure the bolt is properly locked back. When the shooter grabs the op-rod handle and pulls it back, the op-rod engages the op-rod catch and locks it in place. If the shooter does not fully retract the bolt (or sometimes if the bottom of the bolt has not been properly greased), the op-rod catch never engages and the bolt can get stuck on the follower. When this happens, ONLY the friction between the two parts prevents the bolt from flying home. If you bump the rifle, or stick your hand in the receiver, the bolt will snap shut on your thumb.
As it turns out, I found some images for you. This is a slow-motion animated GIF recorded at 1200 frames per second, showing what happens: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/02.gif
This is the same clip at full speed: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/03.gif
And this is the result: https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/thumb-660×440.jpg
See what MidnightDStroyer and I are saying? There’s no such thing as knowing too much about any weapon that is likely to be used by you or against you.
Interesting details, thanks.
Yes.
Oh come on Max! Let her try it, let her try it – what’s the worst that could happen?
“Near-Total Destruction Of The Entire Area”.
Sydney might be able to handle it better than anyone but Max. Her lighthook is super strong and could easily form itself into a tripod.
With practice, certainly. It’s the learning process getting to that which is frightening.
She can already make full words with her lighthook, I see her having no trouble using it to pick the Bayonet-Gatler, either wrapping it around the grip & trigger or even holding onto that bit herself, problem is would she be ready for the recoil, would the lighthook (& Sydney through it) react to it fast enough, or will it be a single-fireman-&-overpowered-hose situation…
Given the strength of the lighthook and it’s general inability to be moved by outside forces Sydney likely has a nice self-stabilising weapon mount with a very large lifting capacity, Sydney with vehicle mount weapons anyone?
PRACTICE would be key. though.
Seems to me that a lot of people are putting unconditional reliance on the L:ighthook as ‘The Solution To Everything’.
I don’t dispute that it will probably be an effective way to wield such a weapon (in fact, very likely the best way in Sydney’s case). But using the Lighthook this way will take lots of very serious practice.
Consider. For this, she is NOT using the Lighthook for comparitively simple single tasks – such as spelling out words or grabbing stuff or to form a noose. For using a minigun, it (and she) has to MULTI-task – has to support the basic weight, has to keep the weapon stable against the recoil, AND has to aim.
Put all together, these are not things just anyone can pick up and coordinate in five minutes. It really is that simple.
In fact, consider that it might take a little LONGER for Sydney to fully “qualify” for the minigun, simply because she cannot be trained the usual way. Many of the tricks and techniques a “normal’ user might learn probably cannot be used with the Lighthook
For Sydney, they will probably have to rewrite the training manuals (and probably not for the only time, either).
imagine her using the lighthook and flight orb… She’d basically become a mini a-10…
Scary as heck, however one imagines it.
But NOT an A-10, because those suckers are armor-plated.
Try to imagine all life as you know it stopping instantaneously and every molecule in your body exploding at the speed of light.
Thanks for such an easily understood explanation there, Egon.
Good safety tip, we will keep that in mind. Don’t cross the Sydney.
Case example for the point: That guy Sydney slammed into the parking lot & had to be going in an ambulance. He crossed only ONE of Sydney’s streams (aka: Lighthook).
The worst that could happen?
If you would, try to imagine opening an infinite number of cans, each of which contains an infinite number of worms…
How? There is nothing beyond infinity. You have left no room for the tin opener. Nor anywhere for the worms to go.
If you persist, I shall have to contact PETA, as you clearly have not provided adequate living space, or food and water, for the worms.
Living space, food & water was all linked with the infinite number of cans, acting as portals to an infinite number of dimensions.
Oh, that is alright then. Carry on.
Don’t forget your can opener. And an infinite number of potions of youth, so that you can open all your cans. You might want some spare can openers too, unless you have a really durable one.
make a list of everything that needs to happen for this to work, then imagine every one of those thing going wrong TWICE. that is half of what could go wrong
I think Archon needs to start putting “No Sydney” labels on things.
But those would only draw her attention to the most dangerous stuff!
Hmmm, true. Perhaps electrification would work better?
That would definitely be something to add if we ever see this gun again…
…complete with anti-Sydney magic that cause her to be unable to fire it when it would be convenient for everyone!!!
Okay, okay. Excellent page, DaveB! I got a guffaw at first sight of the bayonets on the minigun, but then paused and went, “Hmmm”. If the blades are properly balanced and secured, then that is a vicious close-quarter weapon when whirling on full blur. YEEKS!
I think that we are gonna need some parameters on the Molestorb. If it is basically limited to imagination, then I could see Sydney riding a caterpillar legged platform, mounting an open-frame structure to hold and aim the minigun, whilst Sydney reclines in a chair and simply pulls the trigger. The potential for the light-tentacle could easily reach astonishing levels if Sydney decides to get “creative”. Depending on how resistant the light-tentacle is to penetration, it could easily be a substitute shield, make a cage to hold villains, act as an elevator, or a self-mobile gurney, etc…
Based on previous use we know that a strong person can pull it out of shape (Vehemence) so not much use as a cage. Beyond that I’d say it’s like a green lantern ring except it forms everything out of a straight line like a balloon animal. Sydney would have to maintain some REALLY complex shapes in mind to make something like your gun mounted caterpillar. Not saying she couldn’t, but not easy. Plus she’d have to forgo her shield to fire the gun.
Ah, but how difficult is it for Sydney to form such a complex structure? And how difficult is it for her to maintain said structure? And nothing says that someone else cannot be the gunner whilst Sydney rides along protected and generating the vehicle/weapons platform. As far as a cage goes, Vehemence is really strong, so Sydney might be able to cage a lesser mortal. It would be an excellent means to disable someone like Math…
Bayonets on a gatling gun. Reminds me of the insomnia 3am discussion I had one night with a fellow gamer.
Antipersonnel lightsabers. Point toward enemy, watch lightsabers explode all over
Boomerang lightsaber. Behaves similar to dragonball Z Krillin’s energy disk. held in place by the force until released
Lightsaber with a single shotgun round loaded at the other end. Swing, miss, pull the trigger as the lightsaber is flying past the face.
3rd taken from an actual flashlight/single shot shotgun that requires 5 forms of gun licenses, informing the sheriffs department of the town you move to that you own it, and is not allowed to be reproduced. So only the ones that already exist are legal under those rules.
That reminds me of an engineer-type I had in the Star Wars RPG. Designed & built (& successfully tested!) the equivalent of a grenade launcher for Thermal Detonators.
Because I couldn’t zoom in well enough on my tablet I thought the things on the side of the mini gun were crossed out Sydney faces.
It is the Sydney warning labelling. One crossed-through Sydney head is “Sydney, do not touch”. Two is “Sydney, do not even think of touching”, three is “Sydney, NO NO NO!”
Have to say, I do concur with Max’s assertion that Sydney does NOT get to try the minigun until she is FULLY trained.
But it also occurs to me that she missed a golden oppurtunity here. If using the minigun was offered as an incentive – eg. “Achieve such-and-such in your training, and you WILL get to fire it…” – then there would be no stopping Sydney. Max knows Sydney is in that mindset already – training to be a superhero, etc. but it’s something to think about.
At first, I thought those were warning labels, like on some consumer products, as in Do not dry clean, do not wash in hot water, do not put in the oven, do not microwave. I was sure that one might be “No Sydneys!”
Ya’kno she could wield that well considering her force hook. that’d be pretty scary. super shield tons of artiliary outside of it.
i lik the bayonets if they’re well made could “spin up” the weapon and cut someone up haha. but you certainly risk knocking hte barrels out of alignment.. so not the best idea
It started off as a joke…
But then they found out that as the mini-gun runs out of ammo fast, in a super-fight, the bayonets turn out to be real handy.
WANT!
I’m more amused by putting a bayonet on each barrel of that gatling gun than I am anything else in the comic.
HOLY $#!T, THAT’S ARMAGEDDONTASTIC!
It started as a joke, turns out they are actually really helpful when it comes to heat distribution. Also aids in cauterizing bullets wounds as knife wounds.
Since I’ve done that “overlook the obvious even when I have no excuse, I have no objections to Sydney doing it. You likely should have some vague mention that there could be weapons like that on the range, though…just because not everybody is that unobservant.
Still don’t see how a gun is a “universal threat” to many metahumans.
Seems like more of a chance to intimidate the one holding the gun.
“Stop or I will put you down maggot!”
*baddie melts gun with his brain*
“Uhhhh…”
Most supers aren’t bullet proof…Not even bullet-resistant. Even most of those villains at last night’s superfight were nothing more than “glass cannons.” So yeah, it would still be a “universal threat” even to most metahumans.
… And even to some metahumans who BELIEVE they are bulletproof. Have to think that some interesting “special ammo” will be around or is under development. For example, knowing that Kryptonite-tipped bullets are about would give certain supers good reason to rethink their tactics.
The kryptonite bullets would only be of concern to Kryptonians. However, regular lead bullets would be feared by the entire race of Daxamites (In case you’re wondering, Mon-el of the 30th Century Legion of Superheroes is a Daxamite).
Undoubtedly. The point I’m making once again tracks around to the bulletproof / bullet-resistant argument. Just because “regular” bullets can’t hurt you does not mean the same for all other bullet types out there.
Just one thing bugging me about this page, the blades of the bayonets. Miniguns spin, and my sense of universal justice states that the sharp edges of the blades should point in the direction of rotation. Especially if Peggy is saying that they only Started as a joke (implies that someone is taking it seriously now, and proper blade orientation is Serious Business).
Well now you know which way that mini-gun spins.
love the mini-comic at the bottom!
The mini-gun mini-comic with mega-bayonets.
Oh sure, this one is nice, but it only shoots 7.62 mm rounds at 3000 rounds per minute. If Sydney wants a REAL gun to play with give her the M-61 Vulcan that shoots 20 mm shells at 6000 rounds per minute https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/M-61_Vulcan-28.jpg
(the downside is that it is about the size of a washing machine and weighs about 160 lbs without ammo)
Although this type of gun is always treated as being so ‘modern’ in design Gatling himself filed a patent for an electric motor driven version of his hand cranked gun back in July of 1893.
That is only just outside living memory.
Just FYI, in the mid 1970’s GE brought out the XM214 Microgun, an even smaller version of the Minigun in 5.56 NATO. Whereas the M134 is chambered in 7.62 NATO and was 31 inches long and weighed 84 lbs without mounts or feed systems, the XM214 was 27 inches long and weighed 26 lbs stripped. The drive system and feed system added 11 lbs. The XM214 wasn’t a commercial success and while it stayed in the GE catalog until 1990, only a few dozen were built and sold. And XM214 rig with an ammo/battery backpack and the gun would be a more man portable rig than the M134.
Yea, the training for ARC will have some elements in common with the regular armed services, but I think they’ve figured out that it’s NOT going to be “regular” basic. For starters, after the initial class it’s probably going to be a lot of “class of one recruit”
Plus, they’re NOT just a military – they’re a police force. They aren’t going to want to be seen as an occupying force, but more beat cops.
Heck, it wouldn’t surprise me if Arianna tried to talk them into spandex so the action figures would sell better!
Spandex one week, then urban cameo the next. You have to collect all versions to be considered a true fan. And think of how many variations of figures you get when she sells Varia figures with combinations for each known Archon…
CAMO dammit
And next up on the catwalk, modelling our new “Urban” collection, we have Stan Lee.
With Peggy’s size in mind, one of the Predatorbusters should be a Pedo-Bearbuster.
OH GOD I WANT TO SHOOT THAT TOO!
I like how she whispered about Dabbler to Sydney, since other than Harem and Jiggawatt (maybe Vance/Blondie?), do the other recruits even know about Dabbler being an alien or has she always been glamoured around anyone else?
This might be one of the most poorly worded questions/statements I’ve ever made. So many grammatical errors and errors in sentence structure. Let me try again. Ahem…
I like how she whispered about Dabbler to Sydney since, othe than Harem and Jiggawatt (and maybe Vance/Blondie), the other recruits may not know about Dabbler being an alien. Or do they? Who knows – maybe she’s been always glamoured around everyone else because her true form is too top secret for recruits, in general.
Check Dave’s blog, they are not in the loop. Sydney has managed to, inadvertently, acquire ultra clearance.
But… why would Jiggawatt know about Dabbler? She’s a recruit, and DaveB said they would not be told about her origin.
OTOH, Jiggs and Dabs met during the Big Fight, and they were already familiar with each other.
So, is Jiggs an exception, or are all recruits introduced to her ‘Battle Form’ ™ ?
that may be exactly what they are TOLD, versus reality… in that it is a “Battle-Form” that she transformsINTO, NOT one that shows up as she CANCELS her glamour*… just like Jiggawatt can transform into lightning, and Varia can change… well, variously… that just happens to be what Dabbler can do.
No big deal, these are NOT the aliens you’re looking for, Move Along…
* one question i just thought of… how does she look in video cameras? does the camera pick up her true form? or does the Glamour actually project a visible/solid hologram kinda thing that is what a video camera captures
ooh, how about this one, what does a person who was NOT initially in range of Dabbler when she first cast the spell see if they walk into her view later on?
Succubus illusions are considered to be the best known. If that corresponds to the best possible, then they will emulate the totality of the subject. Even physical contact would respond as if the subject were real. As such cameras, microphones and tricorders would all register Dabbler as being whatever she was projecting.
If you think about the usage that Succubus illusions are required for, you will realise that they probably closer to the upper end, than the one your question proposed. Hence the surprise at Halo’s power unmasking it. Dabbler is used to even ultra-advanced technomagic failing to penetrate her illusions. Mundane human technology should have no chance!
Proportions of this minigun are really messed up. It looks, like it is 6 meters long at least. But then you look at the size of they handles, and bayonets, and see, that it is supposed to be a hand-held minigun, and not ship-mounted one. Shelf, crowbar and a shadow from a minigun make it only worse.
As has been clarified elsewhere in the comments, it is sitting on a table close to the “camera” (viewer), not on the ground (you can see a corner of the table on the left edge of the panel and an edge to the right of the bayonets). Unfortunately the table top is a very similar colour to the floor.
That’s not a crowbar, it’s an Allen key (hex key). The shelf/cabinet thingy is one of those boxes with little drawers for nuts, bolts, washers, and suchlike.
Once you see the context clearly, the proportions are fine. But at first glance, yeah, it looks like something huge sitting on the floor.
This is called forced perspective. Manage to keep an object in the foreground in focus along with objects in the background, using a single lens (as opposed to your two eyes) and near objects will appear large and far objects will appear small.
Gotta say no on that one Max. Pointing a gun at someone who isn’t affected by guns doesn’t really make that good a threat. More like a act of pointlessness.
Odd, it worked on Sydney, who is immune to guns (when she has her shield up).
Likewise we know (from Maxima’s blowing a hole in the wall of her house incident) that super powers are not always active from birth. Even the most invulnerable super, Achilles,did not develop his power until he was an adult. Which means they will have the normal recognition of it as a threat, even if they can ‘tough it out’.
But, bear in mind that even Super Man would not know whether he is immune to a gun being pointed at him. Not if it is in the hands of an organisation like Archon, which is publicising it’s capabilities. So that it is known their weapons have anti-super capabilities.
A kryptonite bullet would be a serious threat to Superman. And if he can be taken down by a gun, then anybody could be. Except Achilles, but he is on their team.
Key words there are, “When her shield is up.” And when have you ever seen Super man ever sweat a gun shot. Each and every time someone fires a bullet his way he just stands there with his arms crossed looking at the guys like “really?” Unless if they were firing kryptonite ammo and even then he is after all “faster than a speeding bullet,” so he can evade them like they were nothing.
Bottom line, weather you’re super man, Neo, or one of those swordsman that can cut or deflect a bullet in mid air. There are people that just don’t sweat guns.
Thank goodness Sydney is intelligent and realises that. What Maxima was showing though was a way to intimidate a lot more people than pointing a finger does. But, you certainly are keeping in the spirit of the page, by being pedantic over the terminology, rather than the gist of the lesson. So all is good.
And why the sudden hush hush, about Dabbler in front of the other prospects?
Check upthread. Sidney only knows about Dabbler because of her True Sight Orb. Yorp said her orb and the knowledge it gives her pretty much bumped her clearance level up to Ultra since day one. She has a higher security clearance than most officers of Flag rank. (Admirals and generals.)
My first thought was: “OMG, they put bayonets on a BFG9000”. Still very funny though, like putting a bayonet on a tank barrel. Suspect it would screw up the balance of the gun however, given the speed it rotates at, and it would instantly self destruct if one fell off.
It is bad that I wonder whether that gun would shoot the knives as well as bullets? (Keeping in mind that I don’t know guns.) n__n
Also, thanks for the lineup, now I can really see that Ren is quite tall. :D
They did have a mini gun in the Saints Row 4 game that shot knives instead of bullets. A little shower than the mini gun but still just as destructive. They also had a gun that was a few machine guns, flame thrower, bayonets and rocket launcher all put together. Such a fun game.
The Knife Thrower’s only real disadvantage was that it couldn’t damage vehicles beyond popping the tires. But with infinite ammo it was fun.
Time to install the solid rubber tires, common on some military vehicles. Pretty much immune to small arms fire, up to anything short of a AP/AT mine.
In addition to Sydney’s comments about ‘galactic’ threats, I would like to point out that the ‘World Series’ consists of teams from a total of two countries, and the ‘Miss Universe’ pageant has yet to accept entrants from any other planets. Xuriel needs to sign up to rectify that last one. What could she do for the ‘talent’ portion? (nudge, nudge. wink, wink)
How’s that? You say there is no talent portion? Don’t be so pedantic.
Wondering what you press to activate “just spin” mode?
The switch under the red cover on the back of the pistol grip.
He he, that seems a much more precise answer than was expected.