Grrl Power #474 – Disassembly line
I have been dissatisfied with my kind of boring panel layouts, so I decided to experiment a little. Hopefully this page isn’t confusing at all. As with the reddish skin tints, i.e. the red noses, (which you’ll notice I totally forgot to do on this page :P) I may over do it before I correct back to a happy medium (or forget to do altogether.) BTW in panel 6 it looks like the door is suddenly restored, but that’s the reverse angle of the hall. You really should be able to see the council’s table between in front of it but I kind of forgot it/ran out of time.
Maxima’s “They didn’t know we’d be here” is a weird humblebrag, because it’s not really humble at all, but to… uh, I haven’t named him yet have I? The black guy in the trench coat who kind of looks like Fireball from the Running Man (I’m honestly surprised Hollywood hasn’t tried some lame reboot of that.) Anyway, he’s The Council’s Mage seat. And to his point, even if the people who sent these things knew Arc-SWAT would be in attendance, that’s still a far cry from being able to counter their power.
Speaking of Maxima on overwatch, I have considered doing some sort of comic showing exactly why she’s not in Overwatch. (Besides me not having any relationship with Blizzard and all the obvious reasons.) Maybe I’ll do that for the next vote incentive.
BTW no politics in the comments please. I know there’s a lot of emotion right now, but nothing is getting resolved by jerking up the comment section of a webcomic. Go organize the revolution on facebook or reddit or whatever if you need to.
Be sure to check out Wearing the Cape: Team-Ups & Crossovers. Sydney’s first Crossover! I’ve made a dedicated blog post for the book, please comment there.
Double res version will be posted over at Patreon, as soon as I get up. $1 and up, but feel free to contribute as much as you like :)
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Here we go again…
Don’cha just hate it when the T-1000 thaws out and gloops itself back together again?…
:-/
I thought that was cool.
Although I would still like to get my paws on a T-X T-850.
Personally, I’d favor a T-900 model TOK715 reprogrammed for Resistance use, but if someone offered me a similarly reprogrammed T-X… well, I wouldn’t say no.
Insufficient number of legs and no tail. Walkies experience will be strictly limited. You may keep her.
Gladly.
Round Two! FIGHT!!
Maybe THIS time we’ll get to see it.
It was funnier not seeing it.
*wags tail, in an approving fashion*
Yeah, first time it was funny. Now it’s getting more serious.
O.o
If mannequins get destroyed and nobody sees it, do they make a sound?
*claps with one paw*
LOUDER!
interesting questions:
-if a dog does claps its paws, does it make “clap” or a sound which trnaslation to human is “clap”
-To Yorp, did you use the “cl” or the “ap” paw?
return to the fight…
Woof. Woof woof. Bark. Woof. Bark bark. Hoooooowl. Woof woof.
Poor Dabbler. Gets all riled up and gets a free magical armour set, and then gets instantly blue-balled out of the fight by Maxima.
I wonder of “Blue-balls” is on the “get Maxima to say _____” bingo cards.
I notice Icon is in no hurry to get off our favorite succubus either . . .
You are not using the initiative board for a few minutes does not mean you are out of combat.
My DM has a favorite phrase: “You are not technically in initiative.” Meaning we have cleared the room, but still tripped the alarm and can expect enemy reinforcements if we dawdle.
*Sigh* Should have taken a moment to proofread.
My point is that you don’t take armor off until you KNOW no one is going to shoot/stab/ambush you anymore. ICON doesn’t strike me as the kind of individual to just say ‘Okay, combat has been over for a whole 7 seconds. No more armor for you’
The armor might LIKE where he is.
That’s kind of what I was implying ☺, though the fact that the bad guys are reassembling here means that AronIronHead is correct too.
revengers, reassemble!
Nicely done.
+1 groaner
we understood from your first comment
Maybe he’s waiting to “get off” before he gets off?…
:P
Apparently talking isn’t a free action in this comic universe. Or perhaps the armor-up sequence made the talk count as an action, while Maxima did some damage.
I think Sydney should have been shown in action, perhaps grabbing a spare leg or something with the henticle while calling out that the automatons were reforming for round two.
Talking is a free action. Showboating is not. Which is what Dabbler was getting up to. And the baddie did get in an attempted attack during that, for that matter. Plus the whole magic-girl sequence would have taken time.
Whilst at bullet-speed, Maxima finishing her fight would not. Not when measured on a human scale, which is what Sydney reacts in.
Most importantly though the gag (seeing Dabbler’s reaction) required that all the action occurred off-screen, whether or not Halo managed an assist. Although I do appreciate that your latter would be after that, so this is not to gainsay your comment.
Personally though I like Sydney’s hesitant reaction in the second-to-last panel. She is still recovering from the blurring of her vision, which was Maxima’s fight (in a figurative sense). It shows her humanity, in needing to have a moment, in order to take stock of the situation.
A very strong argument can be made that the person who just single-handedly took out the opposing force was the one who was “showboating.” Not that I object, mind you. You might recall that I have been highly critical of Maxima for willingly subjecting her team, civilians on the site, and private and government property to unnecessary and extended danger just as some kind of lame way to gauge their performance.
Now, in a story format it might be boring to have Maxima just clean up the baddies without the assistance of the team, but it is realistic, and realism has its own value in a story.
Talking is a free action. Showboating is not.
it is only for Superbaddies Lords who have to be able to gloat in their own power before climax fight begins
Dabbler is not one of those
Thank goodness. Because it has the intrinsic disadvantage of guaranteeing failure, in the end.
Well, depending on the armor type, it takes time to get into it – maybe even magic armor still takes a few standard actions to get into. :D
Max’s basic attacks are a free action. She’s wicked OP.
They are only so fast when Max pumps enough of her power into her reaction speed. You may have noticed Maxima’s attacks versus Vehemence were not at bullet speed. Unlike Super Man, who has all of the powers all of the time, Maxima has to pick and choose what to be good at. This time it was speed.
That said though you would expect the most powerful known super in the world to be … powerful.
So, Maxi is more like Ultra-Boy
Go Max! Also, considering that these are likely mindless puppets, the odds of them exploding/having an area attack are high.
As for Overwatch (the game), I can see Max working with them, but given that they’re an independent organization that would likely work against US interests from time to time (or at least US business interests), I don’t think she’d be up for joining them.
Also, thanks for the no politics note.
+1
Dave is wiser than me.
Supers don’t seem to exist in Overwatch, just science fancy enough to look like magic, which means you can have some fantasy like characters but you still don’t get Supers.
I love Max in that last panel.
“Mono-molecular ash it is!”
I’m betting it’s NOT all there is to it. How to you destroy an opponent that literally defies being destroyed?
There must be a way. These things weren’t born; they were manufactured. Nobody is really egotistical or stupid enough to make a weapon that can’t be destroyed. There’s always the risk that weapon might become sentient enough to turn on its makers (see The Incredibles) or simply fall into the wrong hands that can subvert or manipulate it enough to make it their toy.
And yet we can still consider the possible solution that they are fueled by FIRE.
You can enjoy your sentiment when you are fleeing a Smatter hegemonisation of our galaxy.
Guess bucket head was just another faux-SWATaton afterall
Not-Blade can get what’s left, Dabbles can keep that hand, she claims it as ‘spoils of war’, plus the fact it was used against her (it’s not like they wouldn’t have seven other hands to play with)
Plus, if one of the baddies had that spike, it seems likely to me that all of them did.
Zack Tilly: they would have had no way of knowing which puppet would get to spike Dabbles (or any other magic user)
Well yeah doh.. of course Maxima isnt going to be in Overwach, she is middle level JLA material. In a skirmish between guys with hightech guns and gadgets she would be able to clean up both teams without breaking a sweat.
Thats of course Overwatch as in the game. As in the organisation im sure the people in charge would drool at the opportunity to add someone of that power level. Especially since Maxima is not a lose maverick but a thoughful soldier, and one the opposition dont have any counter to.
I believe Dabbler was referring to The Fight at the Steakhouse (TFATS), where Maxima was holding back on ‘overwatch’ at the risk of her teammates lives and toes, not to mention civilian lives and property damage, just to see how they would perform against another group of supers.
Maxima’s actions were not as cynical as you portray. Although you are right to a certain degree mind. Where you are being unfair though, is that Maxima was in the air, drawing fire. The vast majority of it, in fact. Which meant that it was actually safer for her subordinates to engage the periphery of the battle.
Likewise had Maxima attempted to engage the entire enemy force, she would have been at risk of being defeated, by any one of a number of totally unknown powers. For Arc-SWAT to loose both their commander and most powerful super, in the opening moments of their first battle, would have been absolutely disastrous!
Additionally, the enemy would not have stood passively by, and there were far too many for Maxima to wipe out as quickly as she did this four. Which would mean that many wild shots would have been aimed in her direction. The cross-fire of which could have had devastating consequences, for everybody involved.
So Maxima made a sound military decision, from many different perspectives. Especially as that initial drawing of fire allowed the restaurant staff, and any other civilians who may have been in the vicinity, to be safely evacuated. And, being on overwatch allowed Maxima to respond, in the event that any of them were under an immediate threat. Something she could not have spotted, if she had joined the battle up close.
Enabling her team to do their jobs did, of course. have the benefit of getting them battle-hardened, to assess their performance and to win public confidence in Arc-SWAT and Archon’s capabilities. All of which were vital goals of the organisation. Every bit as important, in the long term, as minimising the risks in their first engagement. Which they managed admirably.
It is worth pointing out that Tor was not referring to Dabbler’s use of ‘overwatch’ though, rather it was as regards Dave’s blog comment about ‘Overwatch’ the game.
I’m not being unfair. You have the right to an opinion, but that opinion is wrong. No military officer is going to take any strategy other than the neutralization of the opposing force in the shortest period of time and while limiting the opposing force to the least amount of freedom of action as possible. Maxima absolutely did not do that, and she is a highly ranked military officer. Therefore she is either reckless, incompetent, or both. There is no other valid conclusion.
Exposing the commanding officer and the most powerful asset in the U.S. arsenal, to unknown risks would be the reckless course. At least at altitude she was able to see any incoming attack and evade it.
A similar debate occurred after one naval battle, between Britain and Germany (alas I cannot recall the name of it, so was unable to link to it). Much criticism was made by armchair historians, with the benefit of hindsight, that the admiral had been too cautious. Britain had the larger fleet and could have destroyed the German forces completely, freeing up all the vessels from their blockade duties, to act elsewhere.
However that call only works if you know that they did not have their submarine fleet supporting the main fleet. Which was an unknown factor, at the time of the battle. The Germans had a large advantage in submarine power, and their disposition was unknown. Plus the maneuvering of their surface fleet looked characteristic of trying to draw the British into an ambush position.
So historians who factor that into the equation tend to agree that the right call was made, to be cautious. The cost of not having a decisive victory was simply that the British had to maintain their blockade for the remainder of the war.
Whereas, if Britain lost its capitol ships, to massed submarine attack, without inflicting significant damage on the enemy’s surface fleet, then it would have lost naval supremacy for the entirety of the war. Which, in all likelihood, would have lost the war.
Much the same as loosing Maxima would have lost the battle, as nobody else stood a chance versus Vehemence. Once he soundly thrashed all of Arc-SWAT, he could have finished off the evening by taking over the White House, if he chose. Given that there would be nobody powerful enough to oppose him.
But, all that said, you are right. She could have taken that risk, and may have won the engagement on her own. Well that is, up until she attacked For Whom The Bell Tolls (a.k.a. the Periwinkle Butt Sniffer). At which point Maxima would have been instantly defeated.
The facts of the matter prove you wrong. Maxima could have mopped the floor with Mr. “You punch me, I get stronger. I punch you, I get stronger” if she had simply wiped him out before he had the chance to get so much stronger that he was a threat to her.
This is exactly what I was referring to when I said that any competent military leader will attempt to limit the enemy options and neutralize them in as fast and efficient a manner as is possible. Had Maxima done this she would have saved many dollars of public and private property damage, and would have reduced injury to both her team and the opposing team.
You appear to be referring to Vehemence. Who I did not mention. He was not even on the battlefield at the time! And he would have gained his power whether it was Maxima beating up supers, or her team doing the same. He would have just gotten it really fast. Either way he was just innocently hanging out, with his squirrel buddy, under their tree.
Whereas if you are replying about For Whom The Bell Tolls, then “You punch me, I get stronger. I punch you, I get stronger” is not an appropriate description of him. His nemesis power simply requires that an opponent attack him. Which is what you advocated that Maxima should do. It requires no build up. His power level remained consistent throughout the battle.
Maxima’s wisdom, as a sensible commander, was to send the pawns in first. When they attacked him, and were instantly defeated, then her tactician (Halo) was able to figure out the cause, and save Maxima from suffering the same fate.
But if Maxima had attacked For Whom the Bell Tolls, before anyone else had engaged him, as you suggest, then his power would have automatically defeated her. That is the nature of his power, and she would have had no way to avoid it!
Sadly, your tactics would have lost Arc-SWAT its queen.
Well, to be honest, I did mention Vehemence. But in the correct context. He only came into play at the time of his own choosing. Once he had enough power that he considered himself to be unstoppable. Prior to that he was not a valid target for Maxima to attack. As verified by Sydney interviewing him.
Suspicious? Yes. Conducting criminal activity? Not as far as could be determined.
However his aggro aura would have increased, as Maxima attacked the other supers. Which, in turn, would have affected her judgement. Thus making her prone to attacking For Whom the Bell Tolls, in response to whatever provocations he made, regardless of what her better judgement might have been.
Taking bets now. Will they simply reassemble to their previous state, or will they go all megazord and combine into one or several new, stronger, form(s)?
Going by panel eight, it does look like at least two of them a joining at the hip, with bucket head forming… the head (prefer Voltron over Power Rangers, unless they swap out the Princess for AJJ ;) )
Nah. One was just re-assembling in front of another
I’m still calling self destruct at some point when she vaporizees too much of them for their reassembly protocols
Still looks like a Transformers sequence to me.
Mannequins, Transform! Combine to form “Devastator!”
It is traditional for villains to come back more deadly than before, after all. Whilst there could be a ‘they will keep coming for you, forever’ Terminator-like aspect, I think that Maxima took them out too easily, for that to maintain enough dramatic tension, on its own.
The next fight might be about deductive reasoning rather than dramatic tension, with Dabbs and Sydney figuring things out about the mannequins and who might have sent them, as Max wrecks them in different ways.
Whatever they do, I hope it’ll be their Final Form…
I think one way or another this will be their final form. Maxima has THAT look on her face. Whether or not it was intended to be is another issue.
Called it. Whoever assembled these dumb mannequins didn’t count on deus ex Maxima.
Hopefully she’s wise enough not to torch that blood stain. I get that doing so would probably drop that mannequin, but it’s the best clue they have that is immediately apparent.
Deus’ ex, Maxima?
She might not appreciate being referred to that way…
He he he.
I thought it was DuesxMaxima
+1
Something tells me that Max is not really considering to “go ye forth & multiply” with Dues.
Because it might lead to Math problems?
I don’t think Math would be a Hiro over that pairing.
+1!!!
At the very least it is a prime source of DNA evidence. And even if it turns out to be pigs blood or the blood of an innocent, it is still evidence.
We only got to see the one manikin, with its visor off. Which means that we still do not know if the bloody hand was from an animation ritual or due to the force of Maxima’s blow. Although the lack of any other hints of blood does tend to point more towards the former now.
But, either way, your advice is sound.
Ah that inceneration is gonna make them explode themselves… Hope max is on awareness to evac memers or i guess somehow counter the explotion…
Dazzler wants to put a new weapon into her arm huh.
I am with her though. play with it to learn about it
The first step of playing with it to learn about it I would stick it in the mannequin reassembling itself.
Good call!
Halo shield time
Well that was just a little . . . anti-climactic. I wanted to see what Icon and Dabbler could do together, plus I really wanted to see Halo smash some stuff up! I bet they reassemble into something stronger and I get to enjoy the carnage and destruction after all. ☺
I think that round 2 is going to be rather different.
Dabbler sure does hate when events don’t reach a climax.
Dabbler has almost reached a Sydney level of distraction here.
I mean, remember when Sydney got distracted and forgot she was at a press conference? Well, Dabbler was so focused on getting grabbed by Icon here and then making sure she was still eye candy while wearing him that she missed the entire fight! A fight which was happening right beside her!
Dabbler has been distracted with her showboating before. Plus you may recall her banter, with Sydney, about clothing and transformations made her completely forget she was actually fighting Heavenly Sword! They are both distractible, in their own ways.
As is Math, in his. Accountable for by the fact that Sydney is a newbie and the other two are both civilian specialists. So Maxima does have her hands full, trying to instill military discipline into them. But she has made a start on that, to give her credit.
I wonder how many of them Maxima took down and how many Halo — using the ‘lighthook — did?
My best guess is that Maxima took the whole lot. Given the speed she was moving. Plus Sydney still seems to be recovering from the speed it all ended, even though she was facing the action herself!
“Incipient” is my new favorite word.
I’m kinda cracking up looking at the helmet on Dabbler’s head. From this angle, it looks like the eyes are those cartoon Xs that indicate dead, as if Dabbler murdered the living armor and is wearing its remains.
Your comment made me realize that those are ICON’s eyebrow equivalents. They are also negative-space. As such, ICON doesn’t have eyebrows!
As to Hollywood reboots of ‘The Running Man’, refer https://www.slashfilm.com/running-man-sequel/
With that said, note also that the name itself is kind of over-used at present – there is a South Korean TV sewries AND a recent Chinese movie that both are called ‘Running Man’.
Plus, I daredsay a lot depends on how much they will need to pay Richard Bachmann (a.k.a. Steven King) for another shot at his story.
Here is a bit of logic for you to think about:
The government announced a new special police force to deal with super powered people.
The very next night 4 figures in SWAT uniforms tried to murder the leaders of a group of super-powered people
They may not of known Max’s group was there.
Killing people at the main table would just tick all the rest off to get them wanting blood
It is possible they got the uniforms by killing SWAT officers, and left their bodies with the looks of being killed by magical means.
Can anyone else see where this logic is leading?
It’s a few days later, but not out of line. They might also have simply moved up their time line; especially since the attack force didn’t look “overwhelming” enough to wipe out the leadership. Wait, these are diplomats, not leaders. This IS meant to stir the hornets nest.
Whilst individual factions might have their own leaders elsewhere, some are bound to be here. This is like the United Nations You are as likely to have a national leader speaking (when there are important affairs afoot) as you are a career diplomat. And, importantly, either way, they have the leadership powers delegated to them.
This is a matter of practical fact, given that the Council clearly make binding decisions on critical matters. An emergency meeting like this would need to resolve matters, such that plans of action can be put into motion (and we saw that happen). As opposed to waiting for ratification by remote leaders. We had no hint of the latter occurring. So this room does represent the combined leadership of the Twilight Council. These are V.I.P.s not disposable civil servants.
Sydney: Don’t these things EVER stay down???
Dabbler:Apparently not!
Maxima:Let’s cut them down literally! GO ARCSWAT!!!*
*A little tribute to the battle cry used in the 1980s G.I.Joe cartoons..
Mannequin soldiers combine into!!!! MECHA MANNEQUIN!!
Or, considering how they’re dressed, maybe the Mega-Swatter?
Moe Cronin: “Swatter, swatter, get your swatter here!”
Dabbler: “I’m looking for something with a little more hitting power.”
Moe: “Well, I do have something that was just brought in from the Capital Wasteland.”
Dabbler: “So whip it out honey.”
Moe, obviously sweating: “They called it the Mega-Swatter!”
(sorry, I couldn’t ignore the Fallout joke. It was the first thing that popped into my head when I read your comment)
Dabbler: That’s a ground vehicle axle with spikes on the wheel hubs! I’LL TAKE IT!
On the second to the last panel.
At first glance, I thought the automatons are merging like a Combiner from Transformers.
CONSTRUCTICONS!!!!!!!
Transform into… DEVASTATOR!!!!!!
Can we call the mage Binder? No reference, just like the name.
A mercenary mage known as ‘Binder’ — not a full Wizard, a a level or two down the scale in terms of versatility, but good at what he can do — has appeared in two of the ‘Dresden Files’ books.
I meant no reference of which I was specifically aware. Given the number of stories out there, having a mage named Binder somewhere was inevitable.
“Discreetly swings orbital bombardment cannons away from comments board.”
‘Oy! Why am I pointed toward New York?!
because Godzilla called dibs on Japan
Considering that the comments board is geographically located in Texas (where DaveB lives & does this comic), New York would be a better target anyway…
Hang on, that is where Sydney and the rest of the team are!
*nudges cannons’ target area 224.8 miles to the south west*
Nice. It’s lame duck season?
Put it back. Achilles wants to test himself against it.
Layout is good and not confusing.
Also wondering how long it’s going to be before the Wearing The Cape story hits in continuity. Sydney IS an actually private in the story…
Sometime between now, where she is a recruit, and the actual start of the comic, where she was a Corporal. Which also means that she went from recruit to Corporal in the span of “a few months.” Not impossible for an army recruit with some education who also tested well, at least back in the day. I’m not so sure about currently.
Its not that unusual for someone with special high value skills to get bumped in ranks. Its basically an incentive to get those skills under your control.
Actually, rising in rank depends on two things (most of the time); time in current rank & possessing specific technical knowledge that may skip the time requirement, or particularly meritorious conduct on the battlefield.
Sydney is a raw recruit & no matter what she does, she’ll stay at that rank until she finishes Basic Training. Afterwards, she may attend a specialist training course & may be granted an automatic promotion once she finishes it…OR it may be possible that her participation in the Steak House battle might be enough to give her an honorary ranking until she can pass specialist training or document that she can pass the general test for higher ranking.
Barring field promotions.
Both of you are correct. You are an E-1 (Private) until you complete Basic Training. However, if you have a 4-year college degree, you can start with a pay grade as high as E-4 (Specialist). Corporal is also E-4… the same pay grade, but not the same rank.
Normally, to get from E-3 to E-4 requires 26 months of service, and at least 6 of those months must be as an E-3 (waiverable to 3 months).* But, unit commanders can advance soldiers on an accelerated basis.
She’s already participated in two battles… first the steakhouse battle, and then the upcoming second battle against the manikins. We don’t know yet how many MORE battles she’ll participate in, between now and the time we finally get caught up to the start of the flashback. That alone may be more than enough to justify her promotion to Corporal.
* For purposes of promotion to Corporal, an E-4 Specialist is treated as an E-3.
From the bottom of the pile we hear one mannequin weakly saying ‘No disassemble!’
+1
No disassemble Mani-5?
He he. Love Dabbler’s reaction to the ‘belly dancer’ accusation.
Plus nice call-back to ‘incarcerate, inter or… incinerate!’ (my paraphrasing, from memory, and possible adaptation)
Here you go!
The “incinerated” part was Sydney’s contribution.
I think if Maxima was heading my way, with intent to inflict one of the options, I would settle for “incontinence”. There would not be much chance of avoiding ti, in any event!
As Bill Cosby once said: “First you say it, then you do it.” And seeing Maxima heading your way, with intent to do harm, is definitely an “Oh Sh*t” moment.
Huh. I learned a new word. Incipient
beginning to come into being or to become apparent
“Foolhardy” is one word. It doesn’t mean anything when separated into two words. (Unless: the unacknowledged Hardy brother; a tough idiot; tricking the rugged guy; …)
It is probably just split up to fit in the speech bubble aesthetically. Although, if that is the case, then it should be hyphenated.
The guy on the Council’s Mage seat, if it were me I’d name him Davon Ambrosius.
Why Davon? The Ambrosius part I understand.
“Incipient” is an odd choice of words. “Imminent” is I think the more common word for something about to happen. Unless of course Halo packed a thesaurus in her utility belt.
Damn you Grrrl Power for making me look up additional english words in the Internet.
I go to dictionary-dot-reference-dot-com every day and check out the “Word of the day”. You can even click the speaker icon and listen to it being pronounced. Then I try to use that word sometime that day to remember it. Maybe Sydney does the same.
The thesaurus is an app on her Pip Boy.
Sydney is a well read geek, her vocabulary is going to be impressive and she will utilise it.
Oh yes, definitely. We’ve seen several examples of Sydney’s extensive volcabulary…For one example:
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/197
She even knows Shakespear.
SomehowI messed up the link https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/838
Hey DaveBi am all up for experimentation, seems to work well.
I hope that sydney can use her new found “Chekhov vision” to find the magi lines, so Dabler can use her “Chekhov’s blade” to safely disable them.
Please don’t forget to vote. We have slipped down to second place, in the Top Webcomics list!
No politics.
:-D
It’s all rigged! RIGGED!
A basket of deplorables.
a veritable pantheon of deplorable epithets!
C’mon, guys! Pull yourself together! Get your head back (in the game)!
Loose the element of surprise and they all went to pieces! What dummies!
We have to give them some credit for perseverance though…It’s admirable that they can pick up the pieces & try again.
It’s not that much of a brag… these things were specially equipped to fight supernatural creatures, but not to fight simple sheer power like Maxima’s. Even Sydney could probably mop the floor with them if she went full PPO, as they probably can’t pierce her shield.
Also Maxima, you see, interred sometimes isn’t good enough.
Yeah, those guys could tear each other apart, pass the pieces through the bars, and reassemble on the other side. Kind of like the captured aliens murdering one of their number in order to splash its acid blood liberally around and escape their prison, except without the acid blood, and with no murder involved.
If they can pierce Dabbler’s shield they may well be able to do the same with Sydney’s. They are the same strength approximately. Sydney’s is rated much higher though, due to it’s larger size and huge versatility. Being able to protect crowds, adapt its size and shape for smaller areas or high-speed flight, blocking teleportation, providing a sealed (if limited duration) air supply, letting light and sound pass, yet blocking attacks using the same and protecting from attack at any angle, even behind. But the raw defensive power is apparently similar.
Now that Dabbler has identified that the spike used anti-magic, to overcome her shield, it means that Sydney’s shield could be penetrated, if it too uses magic. Which is not something that we know yet.
They may be the same strength, but are they the same constitution?
Yeah, Sydney uses “incipient” oddly. Grammatically, she should have said “Uh, guys? Incipient second act, here!” It always appears before the modified word. She may have picked it intentionally, however; unlike “imminent,” incipient applies to something already beginning. It’s closer to “budding” or “developing”, and means something in an early stage.
When you learn words from reading comics, you can’t guarantee accurate interpretation. Also goes for other media types.
Not a native speaker, but I note that https://wordsinasentence.com/incipient-in-a-sentence/ has several examples where it’s used predicatively, and a web search finds several similar examples.
My mistake then; I just know the most common usage. “IS incipient” is generally taken the same as “IS imminent”, when they’re not quite the same thing.
Imminent: is about to happen.
Incipient: is happening (with a building-up phase).
I agree on the common usage front. It did ‘sound odd’. Yet I found that to be a charming Sydneyism. Albeit that her word for the day calendar gave her the correct usage, in any event.
*wags tail antilugubriously*
You also have to consider what is imminent or incipient. If she had started with “a second attack” then I would think “is imminent” sounds best drama-wise. But she said a “second ACT.” It’s a classic understatement to which “incipient” fits well.
Maxima’s not in Overwatch because: a) Overwatch is disbanded & now illegal; &/or b) Overwatch is/was an international organization, the membership of which was probably required to give up all other affiliations, such as, say, a military commission (even when it was active & legal).
That’s what they said about SHIELD, and G.I. Joe
DAVE! How about practitioner (of magic) instead mage? I really liked reasoning of that phrasing in novel Personal Demons by Elliott Kay: “Don’t ever say wizard, Alex. Don’t make Dungeons & Dragons jokes. And don’t even think about bringing up Harry Potter.”
Maybe Sydney could crack something before she is told to STFU? ;)
The on the other side you have Dresden who uses terms like “muggle” and “padawan” with no shame when trying to communicate with non-wizards (or his apprentice).
Yeah but dresden is a special case, his power is fueled by sarcasm and pop culture references. Which is why he kicks so much ass.
Heh. Okay, now I need to make a Champions character with and END Battery and buy the recovery with a faster action on the time chart and a trigger (so it goes off even when it isn’t supposed to according to the rules) and then take a limitation of Incantations (activation only – pop culture references and ironic sarcasm/snark comments only).
Inspiration!
Wild guess : they can’t be disabled till the magic is dispelled.
Sounds reasonable.
or the only way to defeat one is to stuff it’s own hand spike into it
Highly plausibubble. Your argument is hypnotic.
*sways, from side to side, rhythmically*
trust in me
“….uh, I haven’t named him yet have I? The black guy in the trench coat …. he’s The Council’s Mage seat.”
Dante. His name is Dante.
And amusingly, he would be about age-appropriate relative to his first appearance on the cover of Mage: The Ascension.
He needs a monocular and that weird power gauntlet thing, but I’d back that.
Dante… last name “Shoen”?
Bitte.
Gesundheit.
Actually, I keep thinking of Dante as ‘the Romulan’.
The folds in his forehead and the general shape of his head makes him look (to me) a LOT like the Romulans in Star Trek: The Next Generation’ and later. All he needs is for his ears to be just a teeny bit pointier, and he’d totally be there.
Dave has pointed out that there is a door on the opposite side of the council chamber. Maybe someone should take a quick look out that door to see if something is coming from that direction? (or at least post a guard.)
+1
There are people here who have literally been fighting for hundreds of years. If nobody’s on that, I’ll be genuinely shocked.
Hundreds of years is pletny of time for habits to become ingrained, or things to be taken for granted.
Given that they don’t as yet know the where/who/what/why/how of this attacking force, then an extra serve of paranoia is probably a good starting move.
Where are the guards for the wooden door?
There should have been guards there. If they don’t then security is a major issue.
I speculated that there was a magical guardian, when Sydney got kicked out. But if that is the case then clearly it is inactive. The baddies could have found a way to deactivate it. Or perhaps the attackers chose to use manikins because they would not trigger it, for some reason (e.g. “Attack any unauthorized person, animal or monster approaching this door”)?
Or it may simply be so dangerous that it cannot be activated whilst there are any friendlies in the area. In which case Sydney’s presence would be what allowed them to get in unchallenged. Presumably with a heads-up from an insider, that someone was exiting the chamber early. Or it could have been through extremely good predictive technomagic.