Grrl Power #695 – Ordnance, schmordnance
Merry Christmas Eve to those of you celebrating the holiday. Merry “you probably have at least part of the week off anyway” to those of you who don’t. And Merry double overtime to those of you in category 3.
I think the idea that the guy is sent to mine something insubstantial is funnier than it should be. How would one mine “warp”? I think the first draft had “gravity mines” but I thought some people might confuse that with explosive mines floating in space that are attracted to ships via gravity or something, so I changed it. Still, it makes me imagine the guy with a ball and chain swinging a pickaxe at… something, then loading a minecart up with hazy blobs of purple energy.
I had considered showing the fight, but I thought it would wind up being 10-12 pages of decent but not groundbreaking action. I mean I’m not exactly Yusuke Murata or Masahiko Nakahira over here. Yet.
Given the foregone conclusion, I figured it’d be okay to skip this time around. We’ll get to see Cora fight eventually.
Cora is very much a combat monster, much in the way Dabbler is, but unlike her, Cora is a focused DPS, whereas Dabbler is a little bit of this, a little bit of that. Cora has some tankiness, but she’s most comfortable as ranged damage. She’s the ranger, essentially. Minus the healing spells and communing with nature stuff.
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“Cora, you are fined one credit for violation of the Verbal Morality Statute…”
If there is mercy in the universe, outer space doesn’t require use of the three seashells.
Are you taking the pea?
Because that is cheating, you know? If none of the seashells has the pea under it, then your marks will never stand a chance of winning!
Pro tip, to anyone playing that game. Don’t. Because if you win you might get beaten up, once you are out of sight. But if you feel you are in safe circumstances (such as with a big crowd of honest citizens watching, just pick the two shells that you believe do not have the pea under it, and expose both of those. That way the con-man will be obliged to pay out, as the other shell ‘must’ have the pea under it.
If you get paid out, exit stage left, asap though. You will not be allowed to get away with that a second time. And if you get railroaded into playing that game the con-man’s way, you will loose every time.
I think he’s referencing the movie “Demolition Man.”
Nowadays, too many citizens are packing to permit the assumption that a mark is an unarmed mark.
Sadly that just elevates the risk from ‘loosing your money’ to ‘loosing your life’. Just because the mark has a gun does not mean that they will come out of the engagement ahead. If you are dumb enough to play a loaded game, then accept the loss, rather than up the anti to include your life!
If someone’s dumb enough to play the game, then they would probably also be dumb enough to draw a gun. Especially if they are angry.
You don’t have to be dumb to have a harmless bit of fun with a small reward, the dumb is by trying again, and again, and again… believing you have ‘almost figured it out’ and ‘just need one more go’
Just a side note. “never start anything you are not prepared to escalate”. All I can say is that the food fights in my student house were… Epic.
This epic?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yhmrFN6A-g
Funny how you can see static’s on both sides of the concealed carry vs crime fence …
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/do-concealed-weapon-laws-result-in-less-crime/2012/12/16/e80a5d7e-47c9-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_blog.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7f5058afc2bd
Try not to let your assumptions and preconceptions blind you to evidence from one of the two sides. Usually you get two sides from subjects such as concealed carry, by the sides using different facts to support their arguments, and it can be interesting to compare the facts they draw upon.
That aside… the only way to win is not to play.
(not playing is boring)
Static’s -> statistics. Yay for autoclobber.
As a data guy, I find this line quoted in the “fact-check” to be hilarious:
“No link between right-to-carry laws and changes in crime is apparent in the raw data, even in the initial sample; it is only once numerous covariates are included that the negative results in the early data emerge.”
This is translated as “To find any link between these laws and crime you have to apply Math and Statistics to the data.”
Yeah, duh.
And the line “even in the initial sample” uses authorial subtext to falsely presuppose that “the initial sample” should rightfully be easier to analyze than later samples and should provide better evidence than the later samples… which is nonsense.
I’ve no opinion on the supposed link myself, but the quoted text is a red flag for political BS.
You could not have missed the reference harder then if you had tried.
I’ll direct you to this clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7nFEnFtvCM
In order to get a reference, you first need to have seen the source material, which I have not. However I did intuit enough context to be able to get in a relevant pun, which you seem to have missed. ;-)
I think most people got the reference to the three-cups street hustle. But the original comment in this chain referenced Demolition Man, which the first responder noted and replied with another Demolition Man reference, specifically the three seashells that somehow replace toilet paper in the bathrooms. Both are examples of how seemingly positive social trends can be problematic when taken to extremes (a running theme in the movie).
Yea they always hide that pea under the mattresses. :)
Just a little nitpick, but it’s one half-credit per violation of the Verbal Morality Code, not one credit.
I believe it was one credit for most of the violations. Sandra Bullock’s character *did* get fined a half-credit for a ‘sotto voce’ (i.e. whispered) violation of the code.
John Spartan: [to machine on wall after finding out that they no longer use toilet paper] Thanks a lot you shit-brained, fuck-faced, ball breaking, duck fucking pain in the ass.
Moral Statute Machine: John Spartan, you are fined five credits for repeated violations of the verbal morality statute.
John Spartan: [grabbing the tickets] So much for the seashells. See you in a few minutes.
I have to say this 1) It has to be pretty much the first time I had seen (or should I say heard) a conversation about actually going to the loo in a major film at the time (I mean lets face it we all wonder how and when these action heroes actually do normal things) and two in such an absolutely hilarious way.
Awww ! I was at least hoping for a “Do you wanna do it or shall I” between Cora and Sydney.
I was hoping for a rock, scissors, paper gag…
Where is Sydney? I don’t see her orbs in the wide shot on any of the characters.
Under most circumstances the official position is that you should consider the unobserved character to be standing just outside of sight. This is because if a character does not have a significant part to play in a scene, there is no point adding to Dave’s workload by drawing them. So he just visualises where they would be at that point, and positions the view to omit them.
In this case though it is reasonably likely that Cora will have told Halo to hide nearby, so that she does not get dragged into a Fracture police investigation.
I agree with your last part that Cora probably asked Sydney to go around the corner and hide while Cora deals with the authority
I’m pretty sure that’s Sydney we see standing next to Cora in the first frame – the off-grey blob with the skin tone/blonde blob at the top where a head would be.
Uniform: Check
Head colour: Check (face/hair combined would average what we see)
Orbs: Missing!
Looks like our gal had the foresight to tell the potentially interstellar war provoking items to get out of sight!
In this case I think it would be more of Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
It isn’t “rock, scissors, paper gag”, it’s “rock, club, ball gag”. A paper gag isn’t worth the trouble.
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It occurs to me that Star Trek actually had warp mines – they were called dilithium mines.
Yeah, but if I remember correctly, dilithium is actually ‘mined’ from stars. So, no actual digging.
are you sure it was mined from “stars”?
I’m pretty sure that in the movie “the undiscovered country” it was a dilithium mining planet that blew up in the Klingon territory.
Maybe it was simply the processing planet that blew chunks
In the novels (I think Q-in-Law?) it said that dilithium was commonly misidentified as rose quartz in pre-warp cultures.
Wow, have a few dilithium crystals lying around the house
In much SF warping involves interfacing with a different kind of reality, like subspace. A warp mine could be harvesting material from this inbetween existence. A Dead Space ship in a permanent warp state but not going anywhere, spitting out canned quantum foam. Or clearing space lanes, like the rock in the 1979 Star Trek movie.
I like the single-cheek flush when the beat cop gets flustered in the last panel.
I think that’s just the police lights
Or the fire that was once a “ruffian”
No, it’s the police lights: one side is blue, the other red (look at her cap to better see the reflections)
Thing is she has those same lights reflecting off her cap in panel 2, and both stripes in that panel look purple. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but it definitely feels to me like her emotions are shaded onto her face.
On another note, the whole red & blue police lights thing seems a little too domestic. Color meanings aren’t often standard across countries without agreements between governing bodies, so to see them standard across planets feels off kilter. (Take for example traffic lights. In the US, green means go and red means stop. When I visited Europe, all the traffic lights were white, a vertical bar meant go, and a horizontal bar meant stop. I thought that the bars made more sense, especially for colorblind people, and there’s clear logic to the symbols.)
Colorblind folks can navigate US traffic lights just fine. On the vertical lights, green’s always at the bottom, red’s always at the top. On the horizontal traffic lights, red is on the left, green is on the right. Folks who can’t distinguish red and green simply have a different set of things to remember to navigate traffic.
@Jack_Simth Apparently enough colorblind folks have been confused by horizontally-mounted traffic signals that they have been forbidden on any road signed as a state or US Highway, upon pain of losing highway funding. Living in one of those rare municipalities where horizontal traffic signal mounting is common, I’ve watched them being replaced (in recent years) with vertical-mount signals set on taller (and more heavier structured) cross-beams.
I find Sci-fi tends to oddly navigate towards this appearance for space cops
as seen in Tenchi Muyo, Outlaw Star, among others. Although usually more Earth looking police and vehicles are used in Earth or human like alien scenes, or human colonies.
but eh, this is a comedy series first, hard sci-fi like…fifth…sixth or so. Right behind super-heroes, magic, vampires, and mysterious glowy balls of doom. So yeah, I’d say alien Earth cops fits in with the overall anime look and vibe of this world.
O.O Where in Europe have you been? I live in Europe and we have the same Red/Yellow/Green lights as I’ve seen everywhere else.
Maybe that is what they use at Eurodisney?
Never been to EuroDisney. Saw the bar-style traffic lights in Barcelona and Rome, during bus tours. Thought about it briefly, then realized it made a lot of sense. Horizontal bar = path for cross traffic and/or blockade for viewer. Vertical bar = clear path for viewer and/or blockade for cross traffic. Also works as a closed-circuit-switch concept. Similar to the green arrow for left or right turns at high-density intersections in the US, although establishing an equivalent to the red arrow (no turn now) would be difficult.
Been to Barcelona. Same Red/Yellow/Green for cars and pedestrians as everywhere else. The only difference I know of is we have a pictogram of a standing/walking person (EU) instead of a walk/don’t walk sign (US). The only thing that comes to mind that resembles what you described are traffic signs for trams. In Slovakia they are composed of 4 lights in a T shape. When the two side ones are on it means stop. The two vertical means go. But that’s just for trams.
And she is facing the same way in both panels
Which makes more sense: the lights are from the paddy-wagon? or she blushes red on one side and blue on the other? (note, the red on her cheek is only on her left side)
Also of note: Cora has red on her right cheek and blue on her left in panel three, that lines up with the cop
@Yaba Wherever “Europe” is for you, it’s not Germany. Traffic signals are the classic red over yellow over green there. The difference in how they are operated there (compared to the US) is that there are four indications: green for go, momentary (but solid) yellow for “about to turn red”, red for stop, and then momentary red+yellow for “about to turn green”. Rev your engines! There is also a growing movement in the US, particularly for dedicated left turn indicating traffic signals, where the bottom light of the signal is *not green* but rather flashing yellow. Some signals even have four lights, red over momentary solid yellow over flashing yellow over green, depending on the traffic flow demands of the intersection.
…how exactly does one melt a femur? And not char it beyond recognition?
Start by not assuming a calcium based skeleton, and figure it out from there.
Alien physiology.
Fluorine?
There are other kinds of radiation than heat that can distort materials. And TBH we don’t know what the “other” settings on the PPO are capable of when used against living things.
Or what exactly Cora’s ‘regular ordnance’ consists of (for a start, we have no way of knowing it’s not like a Judge’s Lawgiver that fires multiple types of rounds: armour piercing, high explosive, incendiary, heat seeking, etc.)
One aspect or scenario that has not been addressed yet is what happens when someone else grabs Sid’s orbs. We seen them make contact with other people, in a defensive nature, as a projectile, but no one has tried to hold one in their hand which is surprising. Lots of attempts to scan them but again no-one tried the tactile approach. I know Sconia talked about using them (if she got enough blood). I was just thinking now if I was a huge hulking alley mugger with a low IQ I would probably try grab one. Just because they are there.
the way sydney used them on math way back leads me to think they are locked to sydney on some level meaning that if she hits someone with them they cannot use the orb and as seen way, way back sydney and the orb cannot leave a certain range of each other im guessing if someone grabbed the orb after bein hit with one the orb would drag them back to her as they return to a neutral stance as if the thug holding them did not exist.
It’s been shown multiple times that they “like” to dodge around stuff, this will include hands reaching for them. The have also been shown to have some sort of intelligence, when Max tried to use them to drag Sydney from under the ambulance they were like “NOPE, not happening”. I suspect they are actually rather intelligent, perhaps even technically sapient, but with a very “tool like” attitude, ie they just want to be useful to someone they like. So mostly it’ll be “no-touchy”, but if they really don’t like you … well https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1942 (6) could come true.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1751
Only time we’ve seen someone else interact with them
You’re kinda proving my point for me, you know that they’re reacting oddly there so you’ve already got a “model” of their “normal” behaviour. Let’s look at this one https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/2587 Normally if Sydney jumps or runs around the room they kinda scramble to get to their usual positions. But here it’s almost as if Max has confused them for a moment, they want to go round Sydney, but not Max. On the next page their solution is to ostentatiously ignore her treating her as if she’s a large ugly hat. Not touching despite the fact that she is very much in the way. At this point there are also more of them where she can see them than behind her (Though that might be Dave, or me, miscounting). I’m not sure if Max is looking at them or Sydney, though if she thought of that simile … well.
Also as far as normal behavior we can also put down:
Can only be moved so far from sid
Orbs can’t be forced to move beyond that limit by grabbing orbs
Can’t pull Syd via a force on the orbs
Syd can pull orbs as long as thay are not stuck on something
All the above items ca happen even when the orbs are powered down (at the time they where asleep before meeting with archon)
remember when maxima tried to took case with orbs inside … that should explain
The reason Maxi fell down, went doom, was because she was caught unawares by the sudden stop and from being on an unstable footing (she was standing on the edge of the curb)
It is possible that if Maxi was standing securely, Sydney may have been *yoink*ed out from under the ecnalubma
I’m imagining some form of high-voltage discharge or rapid chemical decomposition.
Remember, when we first encountered Sydney, she had the orbs in a tube and they kept trying to drage her back to them? It would seem the orbs are bound to Sydney some how.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/184
I … um … volunteer to
fondlehandle Sydney’s orbs. With her permission, that is.Yeah we pretty much all saw this coming.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArsonMurderAndJaywalking
Littering ticket would be a variation
I used to have a link for a hit-and-run that killed a cyclist where the charges included improper disposal of a corpse and felony littering. Felony because of the weight of the body, they had three levels of littering dependent on the weight or volume of the “litter”. I never did find out what the eventual disposal of the charges came to, but suffice it to say the fine and prison sentence for felony littering were much more stringent than for the hit-and-run which was a ticket in that jurisdiction.
I stopped reporting on bicycle wrecks years ago because it did bad things to my brain…
When it said “Warp Mines” I instantly saw mining materials in WH40k warp space….with the occasional chaos god flitting by or gobbling miners…
Cora the bing bang blaster
Uh….. that’s a lot of dead people. That’s probably not something Sydney is used to.
I’m really, really hoping Sydney didnt have anything to do with that femur. I mean, they obviously deserved violence but it really seems like more force than necessary considering Sydney has a shield which could just protect them both from any and all harm those shlubs could dish out.
Sydney has used those things to fight properly a grand total of 3 times, and in two of those cases she used them with the intent to kill robots. With the 3rd case, she only really used them, on one dude and broke half the bones in his body.
Given how over powered her skill set is, and given how little experience she has actually using it. Her mistakenly launching someones femur out of their body while trying to lightly slap them is totally believable.
Actually Sydney mentally told herself the drones were Robotic, not if they actually were as for all we know it could have been ships like in Independence Day launching out of a mothership, all containing biological creatures. The large one itself had legs and what was clearly an eye, I don’t think I would be logical to have a ship with something resembling that so potentially it was a massive planet killing creature with obvious intelligence due to adapting to her attacks, or a bio mechanical hybrid either with its own or hive intelligence or a multitude of them. When she gets back to Earth she will likely break down at the fact she had to use deadly force in order of self preservation and get the PTSD evaluation done a bit earlier than the recruits. All in all she has had an eventful day. On the plus side, having ADHD helps in some ways dealing with chaotic things as you tend to not necessarily deep focus on one thing be it bad or not.
Femur was melted, wall in panel one shows definite “machine gun” pattern associated with Pew Pew, wall behind femur in panel five shows either flash burnt or internal liquid spatter picture of perp. Assumption would be that either Cora has a really powerful device very similar in effect to Pew Pew or Sydney did it.
Dunno about the ladies you associate with, but the ladies I hang out with would HAPPILY demolish someone trying to rob or rape them.
Yeah, I really don’t see Sydney using the kill shot so easily here. If anything she’s probably creeped out. I’m gonna be disappointed if somebody isn’t covered with partially digested grakz real soon.
Yea, Sydney likes the bravado, but someone actually getting turned into giblets, in front of her, would be very shocking to her. Past examples include her being most upset at providing an assist to Maxima, in ripping off Vehemence’s arm. Even her envisaging shooting someone’s arm off had to be mentally pixelated, due to her being squeamish about even thinking about that!
As I recall, Maxima impressed upon Sydney the value of using non-lethal tactics, particularly reaching for shield rather than PPO as reflex. I would expect Sydney to go with shield & tentacle for a low-level threat like these guys. Then again she did go for PPO first against Sciona’s enforcer with the crystal power core, and as already discussed there’s a good chance her meds have worn off.
I keep seeing this trend in the comments regarding Syd, that when she’s off her ADHD she suddenly has little to no self-awareness, little to no concept of right and wrong, and in effect becomes an amusing but completely amoral character.
ADHD doesn’t work that way. Unless she’s actually schizophrenic or otherwise has no ability to distinguish reality when she’s off her meds, she should have attention issues, sure, but it shouldn’t be an write-off for any bizarre actions she takes, especially if those actions border on the psychotic.
Yes, I know, comedy comic, but seriously, mental illness shouldn’t be played for laughs or used as a easy out for poor character behavior.
I didn’t mean to imply that ADHD would make someone prone to violence. Sydney is already prone to violent reaction when responding to threats (and violent language when responding to discomfort or pain). The contribution of the ADHD would be that she may not remember to rein in her own reactions.
My own experience with the condition is pretty minimal, but I’ve definitely had instances where I completely reversed what I was doing, in the middle of doing it, because I couldn’t remember why I was doing what I was doing, despite having made a decisive logical decision. The reversal then led to problems related to the reason I was performing the original action, and I was only able to remember the decision later, once my mind cleared.
My apologies. The comment wasn’t aimed at you specifically, just the trend I’ve seen in the comments section in general of excusing Syd’s actions when she, quite frankly, experiences manic episodes, or disassociative episodes, as her being off her ADHD meds.
Your experiences are fairly typical of ADHD. However, I’m assuming you’ve never started screaming nonsense in public in a manic manner, reacted in a manic manner to imaginary threats, or had your personality shift to the point that your moral judgement is completely reversed or suppressed. Syd has done the first two, and may have just done the last, all under the umbrella of ADHD.
My main concern is if Sydney now using lethal force is just laughed off or blown over. She never struck me as an Image comics Bloodkill Murderdeath reader, so suddenly ending what amounts to a completely non-threat by murdering all but one guy (she had help, sure, but Syd still pulled the trigger) should be something that should be at the very least a massive wake-up call for her. She has massive lethal force… and is part of a military unit that is authorized to use lethal force. She has killed, and may be asked to kill in the future.
Yes, I know, primarily a comedy comic, but still…
There is still hope as it was Cora who was having a giggle over it, without Sydney participating. And hopefully she did not contribute to the act itself.
An interesting point to note will be her future reaction to Cora, after this incident. Will she feel comfortable hanging around someone who is willing to kill bloodily, when non-lethal options are available? With the caveat, of course, that Cora may not have such nor be aware that Sydney did.
There’s also the fact that getting injured in a way that would be fatal to a human might just be painful or inconvenient to an alien. They might be okay?
Yay! The site has actually let me reply to a post this time!
*happy little doggy dance*
That looks like a survivor to me.
Plus I just wished to compliment you on your taste. In avatar, webcomic and movie.
UN-fortunately… the link you posted is copy-right blocked here in the USA, though we at least get to see the text of what it should show and can search it out ourselves if we really need to see it…
While I can easily accept Cora would know that, there is no way Syd would. In fact, as far as she (and we) have seen, Syd’s default attack level is either mild irritant (pool noodle TK) or “I blow the Enterprise out of orbit” ship-killer pew-pew.
Merry Christmas and all the best in the new year, everyone!
( From a slighty-shy long-time reader, re-reader, comment reader, and patreon supporter)
Obviously, “warp mining” involves harvesting of some specific mineral crystal or ore needed to fuel or construct warp-capable technology.
Can it really be considered self defense killing people that pose to you no threat at all?
Re: Attempted Murder.
Normally we would indeed apply such yardsticks to the legality of a situation (and you are very right to make that query). Here though Halo and Cora are on an alien mega structure, populated by species from diverse cultures across the galaxy.
In other words, the rules, laws and customs followed need not have much resemblance to our own. In fact each overlap would have some degree of surprise. However having almost no divergence from our own would point to more than mere chance or convergent social evolution. In that case we would point to alien influence over our culture as likely being significant.
Which as they have been on our planet, affecting our affairs for at least 3,000 years is not unreasonable.
So maybe they do have such yardsticks too. ;-)
Aesperian common trade alliance law: If you are capable of overpowering an attempted mugging, theft, or piracy you are permitted to take their property on the spot in loo of law enforcement intervention.
Amana law: That which is mine is mine, if we catch you attempting to take that which is ours, or find our property in your possession at any point without our grace we may do with you as we wish.
-due to memory issues the items and those borrowing them are marked as such on a spiritual level.
(specifics vary, from I shall not suffer a thief to live, to just cursing everything they own for instant punishment…law still applies even if they tempt people to steal it for fun).
Ju-el law: muggers are a threat to the common good of the collective, a disregard for the safety and personal properties of others indicates a potential future threat to said collective. Lethal force is authorized for defense of personal property from such unwelcome elements.
Considering that they are in a mega space station with diverse cultures and alien civilizations, I believe that preservation of sentient life must be the norm to any kind pacific coexistence between different civilized cultures, specially because you may not be aware of the intricacies of the other culture. They turn a blind eye to Cora’s actions because of her special status and because nobody would miss those goons.
Or, maybe the station is some kind of true neutral ground that don’t answer to any kind of government, so you must follow their rules. However, that would attract a lot of bandits and outlaws.
Fish cop lady seems to disapprove Cora’s actions, but I’m not sure if its about the killings or the collateral damage to the station.
But probably they are just following the action movie rules, where only the life of the named boss matters.
Inverse ninja.
Standard rule is that deadly force is allowed only when life [yours or others] is threatened. 5-year-old comes into the room and says “Dad gave me some lessons at the rifle range. Now I can get revenge for you spanking me.” If you see he has a cap pistol, all you can do is give him another spanking. If he is holding what could be Pa’s 45, you can blow him away [at least if you have a good lawyer].
So the girls could be in serious legal trouble here and Cora’s in with the cops may be really needed. Sydney was in no danger at all, and everything points to Cora being almost as safe. Of course we do not know local law, but that is more likely to cause problems for the ladies than not, and both criminal and cops seem to think “she shot first” would be a serious point if it were believable. [It likely isn’t important. the other guy just has to be a serious and immediate threat, and the undrawn gun will do if he looks to be about to draw it.]
Important point: the lead ruffian had a weapon drawn and pointed at them. That’s an immanent threrat to life right there!
And Sydney has a magical bubble that protects its occupants from lasers
Again: where is the threat?
Intent to do harm.
It varies by country, state, and city in some cases but there is generally some leeway or aspect of the law based around on the intent of the accused. Even if they fail misterably at a crime, the fact is they attempted to do it. Thus their intent is key. Just as if they believe they can cause harm or kill and attack with intent to kill, it doesn’t matter if it turns out they went after a super-hero, alien symbiote, god like being in disguise (that time Zeus was attacked by a vampire that regularly fed on the homeless), the fact is they intended to cause harm and kill; so had it been someone not able to defend themselves, or they just shrug them off, the aggressor here could just turn around and go after someone else.
‘Self defense’ isn’t a defense against threats to others, that’s why it is not-ironically called “SELF defense”
If they are not a threat to the self, then all self can legally do is restrain them and hand them over to the proper authorities: not brutally liquidize them!!!
While the language can be criticized, you can indeed use self-defense to defend others. While there are more complications, if someone pulls knife or gun on your date, or a total stranger, you are free to kill in those cases where you could kill if the attack was directed at you. In either case, you are taking a life to save a [hopefully more worthy] life.
True. Although the ‘free to kill’ must always be kept proportional. If you make a move and the villain drops their weapon, or cowers in a corner, the circumstances have changed, and you can no longer claim to be acting in self defence. The apparent threat has dropped from one that is clearly life-threatening.
Unlike the wild west law, where if someone has drawn a weapon you may kill them, that interpretation would not stand up in most courts around the modern world.
There is a vast difference between defending someone else who is there with you, and someone who is not even in the area
And again, if they are not a threat to self, and self can safely restrain the potential assailant, then there is no need to liquidize them
Take the Flying Soupcan: there have been plenty of cinematic instances where he placed himself in the line of fire knowing it would not harm him while protecting Lois Lame without harming (or killing) the assailant, when it would be easy for him to have turned them into a red smear before Lois even knew what happened
Intent applies to the attacker. If you think you are using a deadly weapon, the law will usually agree with you. [If your belief is silly enough, you may get off, but attempted murder is on the table.]
And the same applies when you are attacking in self-defense. What you [reasonably] think is the case is the case as far as the law is concerned. While proving it can be a problem, if you think the other guy is about to shoot you with his gun, it doesn’t matter if he even has a gun. But equally, if you think the lout threatening you is harmless, you can’t hurt him. The fact he intends to hurt is important only to the judge. To you? Well you can cut him off your Christmas card list, but you have to feel he can hurt you before you can hurt him first.
Not important here, but there is also the point of immediate danger. That these thugs might get some heavy artillery or just mug somebody else does not justify deadly force now. There is always some chance they will not and the law wants all to survive.That they might go home and sleep it off means the dames can’t just blaze away.
Thank you for explaining it betterer
There are plenty of jurisdictions where “Monday morning quarterbacking” by the district attorney or judge, safe in their office or courtroom, will decide such matters. On the other hand, there are jurisdictions where “whatever would seem reasonable to a person in those circumstances” is the yardstick that would be applied… combined with a decent amount of “do I think a jury will convict the mugging target?” and “how would a prosecution of this mugging target look in the papers?”.
Bottom line, in Texas, it’s a no-bill. In the UK, you probably go to jail.
And if you have Cora’s and Halo’s firepower, they politely let you walk with a ticket for littering.
Sydney is WAAAAY outside of her jurisdiction, and knows it.
That did not appear to be a laser.
Local law may view this outcome as normal.
It’s an alien weapon, for all we know it could be a variant on that ‘tickle-gun’ Dabbles was working on
The point was, Mr Buble can protect Sydney from way more than a handheld anything
Hmmm, could her shield protect her from some of the higher end caster shells from a Caster (Outlaw Star handheld magi-tech weapon).
I’d like to think trying to grab one of Sydney’s balls (he he), sorry…Orbs…would result in on of the imaginings on page # 85 https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/468. Preferably “Attack, my furry tempest!”.
* LAUGHS *
^_^
The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy defines Warp Mining as:
opening a warp to a specific point requires a great deal of math and precision. However, just opening a random destination warp requires one AAA battery, and an uncommon lack of good sense. Since space is vastly empty, most of the time you get a warp to vacuum, followed by a localized storm and a stern reprimand from a judge (if you survive). However, with a SMALL bit of fiddling, you can have the warp connect to someplace with a little more interest.
Thus the profession of warp mining was created. Open a small warp to somewhere else (not a vacuum), reach through and grab something, then tug it back (quickly, before the warp closes and you have to change your name to “Lefty”). Sometimes you score really big, like the fellow who ended up with the last page of Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony. However, most times (and mathematicians are still arguing as to why) the warp opens briefly in the bottom of a random clothes hamper and you end up clutching a single, smelly, used sock.
Due to the extreme hazard of various life-forms’ used socks, and the potential to be sticking your hand into other places Man Was Not Meant To Go, the job of Warp Miner for centuries has been relegated to incarcerated galactic criminals.
When I worked for the “govmint” holiday pay was 2x regular pay. I often got in arguements because I would point out you only got a days pay for showing up. You already got a days pay if you stayed home. Many people couldn’t see it.
Warpstone, aka “Warp”, Mines are present in the Warhammer universe — I was dungeon crawling through one a couple hours ago!
https://warhammerfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Warpstone
And here I was thinking Sydney was going to take them out – or most of them.
Cora may just be covering for Sydney’s share of the damage, knowing that they favoured her and would give Cora an almost free pass. Whereas Sydney is an unknown stranger who, if she featured on their radar, would very likely be hauled off for interrogation. Thereby seriously raising the risk that the Orbs possible status as Nth generation technology might be exposed.
This supported by the fact that Halo is not in evidence above. Cora will not have abandoned Sydney, nor let her go wandering off unsupervised. Either she has been told to hide somewhere nearby, or she is just out of shot (a technique Dave favours, if a character does not feature significantly on a page) whilst under orders to remain inconspicuous.
“If you draw attention to yourself, you may find yourself being whisked off and/or starting an interstellar war!”
And as mentioned in https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/457 they are definitely “Whisk Worthy”.
Nah they weren’t Sydney’s type and she just “wanted to be friends”.
*Let’s be friends!
*Why friend make loud noise and go squish?
*Friend? Friend left squishy body, come back friend
-pulls soul back from the inbetween and constructs new body for them
*Now friend smooshy and soft and no scream
(Did you just turn me into a teddy bear you crazy witch!?)
Blobs of energy? It’s Energon!
Double overtime??? Honey, I’m a server. I’m working a double, and I’ll be lucky to make a total of $20 all day.
Most “warp mining” I can think of would require very precise machinery or beings, such as hyper force collection, Dimension battery charging, probes sent to bridge a breach to pull over exotic matter that normally wouldn’t occur in your universe like “Demon Stone”, “Spirit Stones”, “Mana Crystals”, and other innate magical materials.
A more direct method though with a more pickaxe approach could be neutral matter.
While Neutral Matter annihilates with Hyper Matter, it has next to no reaction with Anti-matter or Sublime Matter *regular matter like what most people are used to/made of*. Thus Neutral matter (which also has negligible variants on gravity relative to anti and sublime) can be used to produce anti-matter engines in a way that they are actually able to hold and process the two types of matter separately in a way that makes such an engine actually efficient rather than costing more energy to constantly bring over anti-matter which annihilates instantly on arrival due to all the sublime matter around.
Of course you also use a Neutral matter based dimension needle to procure anti-matter and store it.
-the only draw back is if you use hyper force as a means of moving your craft *as hyper force (which is what hyper matter becomes as it reacts to the dimensional breach into sublime space), will make neutral matter explode. Hyper force being a common form of craft levitation for saucer and orb type craft due to the corkscrew spin breach required to make it function *reduces relative gravity which can equal levitation and acceleration when applied properly*….but use an anti-matter engine made of neutral matter as the power source for the machines that run the hyper force drive and well…you are just asking for trouble.
Can I buy five quatloos of whatever you’re vapo-ingesting?
There are four types of mass,
Matter
Anti-Matter
Neutral Matter
Hyper Matter
although we use the term “matter” in protest and even “mass” as the appropriate term I don’t think exists yet in this language.
Matter and Anti-matter annihilate each other *equal mass annihilation (converting matter to energy)*
Neutral matter and Hyper matter annihilate each other *equal mass annihilation*
However cross-dimensional contamination works differently with non-opposites.
Hyper Matter can’t even enter Anti-Matter or Matter space due to reacting with the buffer space that keeps dimensions separate yet occupying the same space *in truth buffer space is neither a space nor a force and I don’t know off the top of my head if a term has been made yet for it other than the rather silly “membrane” which creates far too physical a visual to conceptualize it properly.
When Hyper Matter breaches Matter and Anti-matter space it annihilates its self, turning into Hyper Force. Hyper Force is an exotic force and reacts to the presence of gravity by dampening its effect locally relative to the quantity of Hyper Force vs the intensity of the gravity. As well while its not physical the best I can describe it is the breach point “scars” for a few nano-seconds so to produce a hyper force field around something to levitate it by reducing the effects of relative gravity around it, as well as around certain parts of it cause it to *slide* in that direction, most devices use a spinning disc or corkscrew set up to create multiple breach points in a rotation.
Neutral matter, annihilates with Hyper Matter and Hyper Energy as stated before. However its reaction with Matter and Anti-matter is nothing *hence the given name of Neutral Matter*. While there is a minor relative gravity reaction, its usually too minor to notice without extremely precise relative gravity sensing equipment; but its properties make it useful for containing Anti-matter and matter for use in equal annihilation energy conversion engines *using the energy produced when Anti-matter and Matter annihilate as a fuel source in other words*. In short, you can’t make an Anti-matter engine out of matter as the anti-matter would react and destroy its equivalent mass from it, and using electromagnetic containment fields operates at a massive loss to the point the engine is an utter failure as it takes more power to run it than it could ever put out. Constructing the engine out of neutral matter solves this.
The implied statement however is these two techs are not really compatible, if you have a craft with hyper force levitation, and an anti-matter engine; the force could react with the neutral matter the engine is made of and cause an explosion.
So anti-matter fuel source tech must use a different form or “propulsion” (not a directly descriptive word, but not sure of another word to mean *move from here to there by forces acting upon it*). While any one who becomes reliant on hyper force levitation tech must likewise utilize a different fuel source for the same reason.
-luckily producing hyper force levitation is far easier to accomplish than building a neutral matter constructed anti-matter engine, to the point that by the time a civilization can mine neutral matter it already has found a better fuel source than matter/anti-matter annihilation could ever hope to be.
Chapter 1 stuff of Odafen high school equivalent summarized. The dimensions *or as you say now “parallel membranes” relations is a whole other thing that makes the above utilizations of these forms of mass significantly harder to accomplish without already there help.
there’s a fifth type, called ‘no matter’, which always exists in a state of flux, and constantly only appears when it isn’t necessary for it to be there
I have seen this concept in science fiction, usually refered to as flux-matter, or flux particles. Exotic particles that when introduced into physical space localize into that of adjacent matter. Sometimes used as a way to explain away the clear defiance of “conservation of mass” for size changing character, morphing giant mecha limbs, and the like. (Extra dimensional molecules pulled from another dimension and localized into the desired mass, allowing for giant werewolves, Hulks, Apocalypse turning giant, ect…with out needing to draw mass from the surrounding area or rapidly grow).
Of course hard to envision an entire universe made of that stuff, typically its from one of the dimensions of any universe so any of the other four can have a sub-dimension within their universes with flux particles.
Merry Christmas Eve to you too DaveB. Likewise to all fellow readers!
I think Sydney must have exercised considerable restraint, if the station does not have uncontrolled wildfires and external ruptures, leading to hard space.
*puts out a glass of sherry, a plate of mince pies, cookies and milk, plus a bowl of reindeer munchies*
*stares up at the roof, head cocked to one side, listening for reindeer hooves*
How would it have ruptures into space?
Its a surface station, she flew down onto a surface. It likely has force field contained artificial atmosphere around the moon sized station.
Ships are coming and going above her. It is less like Babylon 5 and more like a tiny version of Cybertron or Coresont.
We did not see how Sydney arrived on the surface. She may well have flown through an aperture. And those departing vessels could be heading out the same way.
But, even setting that aside, if you exposed a planet to a suitably energetic attack you could strip away enough of its atmosphere and mantle to expose the dinosaurs, living in the middle of it, to hard vacuum.
Fact.
:-P
The station is big enough that it also might just have an artificial atmosphere. Which it seems to have since there’s no ‘dome’ and ships seem to be able to fly down towards it, like the Orville.
Aint no such thing as ‘overkill’. There’s only: “Open fire!” and “Reload, and hit them again!”
So, basically the cop is saying next time use a vaporizer?
Exactly
sydney is going to be given sooo much paperwork that boils down to “STFU about all that you saw.”
Now, i saw many mentioned that Sydney is not present. She is there, look closely. There’s the officer, there’s Cora, and behind Cora stands Sydney, her orbs not show, so i presume they got hidden.Or if she can just pass them off as fancy marbles while orbs ordered / willed ( somehow ) by Sydney all the while Cora have the big guns to draw attention away too, they should be in the green.
Unless, this was a mistake on the page and she suppose to be hidden, be may anyof the possibilities, i’m sure Cora have some serious leverage here if she can walk away from, self defence or not, multiple murder with just a littering ticket.
Also, some one else mentioned a rock, scissor, paper panel would been hilarious, i agree XD
As I pointed out before, she is so far way,;from our perspective, they would appear so small as to be invisible!
Or, equally plausible, the viewpoint in that shot is from a mechanical recording device at the far end of the alley, and thus the orbs are not detected by it.
Machines can see the orbs, they just can’t see the skill tree.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1751
Only time we’ve seen them interact with someone else properly.
She’s bonked a few people with the orbs as well – without actually checking, I can think of Dabbler, Math, and the nega-knuckles guy. The first 2 were even skin contact – however we still haven’t seen anyone else actually lay hands on one.
My object all sublime I shall achieve in time —
To let the punishment fit the crime —
The punishment fit the crime;
I’m just going to believe the fight was so one-sided and easy for our ladies, it just wasn’t worth showing us. Not from a drawing effort standpoint, it was just SO unclimactic it wouldn’t make for good reading (and would probably ruin the pacing).
I know we’re unlikely to ever see Miss Cop again, but she’s cute. She should get a mini side-arc about dealing with the kind of casual street crime and eldritch abominations a space station like that might attract.
I have long wanted to have some vote incentives or mini-series about some of the side characters – Officer McGillicuddy is now pretty high on my wish list of candidates.
I yearn for “Grrl Power After Dark”, which Dave teased us with once. Merely as something he would like to do, but doubts he would ever have time to do it.
Although personally I would be happy to have it restricted to the “A team”. Less to draw makes it easier, right? ;-)
I realize that Cora is supposed to be a space badass, but the “saved the station from annihilation! Twice!” comment seems… off.
Like, okay, sure: it’s much cooler to have a certified hero with prior credentials as a character, particularly as a friend of Dabbler, than her being some random shmuk with some cool gear. But why was she instrumental in protecting this station specifically?
Imagine, you have a major galactic trading hub. It has its own security and organization, and access to trade from literally every person who comes through who is willing to trade. If there is a thing on the open market, you can probably find it here. If you can’t, then your goal is probably no more than two portals away. As a major trading hub with a portal network, you are all but literally rolling around in credits… and most of the reason you aren’t is because it’s a pain in the ass to get that many credits in physical form. Rolling over a single credit chit just doesn’t have the same appeal.
And, with both all the opportunities you could ask for, and money to blow… somehow, you still need some random shmuk to save you. What is wrong with this picture? What does Cora have that the station security doesn’t? Guile and nerves of steel? A steady hand and a good eye? If you don’t have those, maybe you shouldn’t be a police officer on a major portal network. Find some quiet farming community to look after instead.
Okay, yes, this is a staple of the genre. Non-special characters don’t get to be competent, or at least not against “major” threats. But, honestly? It is a stupid staple.
Okay, given how that comment ended I feel I should clarify: I’m not saying “people who use this trope are dumb”. That would be needlessly antagonistic against intelligent and talented writers, just because they used a particular writing convention.
I’m saying “this writing convention itself makes no sense and is kind of dumb if you think about it”.
One day some trader cheated a powerful ascended or near ascended entity out of a prized artifact it was after. In a fury it was about to blow the station up, however Cora arrived, sweet talked it, and one sexy encounter later the entity decides to spare the Fracture station.
Then on a later date Cora showed up just as a world eater had arrived and bargained with it, explaining the Fracture had no life force to consume, beyond the tiny percentage of living beings on the surface and in exchange for spareing the Fracture gave it a list of worlds with only moss level life on them, a few dozen, enough to satiate the being for centuries *as world eaters only need to eat one planet every few centuries at most, and most world eaters can nibble at a large planet for millennia if not eons slowly consuming its mass before the effects are noticeable, but for a space station like the Fracture they’d be noticeable in like days.
You just answered your own question: Cora’s a merc. Just because the station hired you to save it doesn’t mean you don’t get “savior of the station” perks.
Picturing a Rick Sanchez superhero (like) moment.
Well, you hired me to protect the place from that Master of Doom guy right? Well what better way to do that than to break into his base and shoot him in the head?
I mean yeah sure you hire my ship along with eight thousand others to defend against his armada threatening to take the station for its tech and gates, but then I thought…why not just kill the guy? He was expecting an army, not a lone individual walking through the front door.
i need my femurs to live
+1 for paging Ruth Lessick…
Salt mines, Siberia, Cursed Earth penal colony, Titan… there have often been nasty places for the authorities to send people, both in real life and in fiction. The most imaginative one I can recall was from 2000AD‘s Indigo Prime universe, where employees and freelancers of the multiverse-spanning Indigo Prime corporation who mess up too badly can expect to end up shovelling entropy in the Mamre Reefs.
Hrrmmm….anyone else notice the strange silhouette? Kinda looks like it has antlers. Curious…
Blood spatter pattern from the guy in the middle of the third panel, on the previous page, as my interpretation.
Re: Warp mines; I figured it was something like sending the new guys for a box of grid squares or a can of squelch, like we used to do in the Army.
Hee hee, Cora has freckles…
Merry Christmas and Happy Other Holidays to everyone!
Likewise, to one and all!