Star Power 7: Bad Luck for the Starstruck!

[Vinyadan]

What the zuck indeed. The pizza thing I get, last ditch effort by the desperate and all that. But what is starpower supposed to be doing here?

Using Mitch to obscure the gangster's vision. An actually immense power, if Danica ever got in a fight with someone in her league.

Unfortunately, it didn't come up when she fought that orc with the hammer in the Heavy Metal Showdown.

EDIT: if this were another comic, I would assume that the pizza splat on the windshield is also a representation of the gangster's head exploding from a hyperviolent punch from SP.

[Kantaki]

What the zuck indeed. The pizza thing I get, last ditch effort by the desperate and all that. But what is starpower supposed to be doing here?

It's a distraction so she can line up a shot... with her... hand-blasts...
Yeah, I got nothing.

[Kornaki]

Using Mitch to obscure the gangster's vision. An actually immense power, if Danica ever got in a fight with someone in her league.

Unfortunately, it didn't come up when she fought that orc with the hammer in the Heavy Metal Showdown.

EDIT: if this were another comic, I would assume that the pizza splat on the windshield is also a representation of the gangster's head exploding from a hyperviolent punch from SP.

Like kantaki alluded to. She's a super hero. He's a guy with a gun. Just use any of your super powers on him, come on.

Edit: I guess I mean, any of them besides this one....

[Traab]

She doesnt want to kill these guys, she has been very careful to pummel them into unconscious heaps, so shooting them with starship bisecting beams of light is a bit much. She could have done a flashbang too but that wouldnt have been as interesting for comic readers to watch.

[Celestia]

She doesnt want to kill these guys, she has been very careful to pummel them into unconscious heaps, so shooting them with starship bisecting beams of light is a bit much. She could have done a flashbang too but that wouldnt have been as interesting for comic readers to watch.

Fun fact!
If you punch someone in the head hard enough for them to fall unconscious for more than a couple seconds, they are suffering from severe cranial damage and need to be rushed to the ER immediately or they will soon die.

[Kantaki]

She doesnt want to kill these guys, she has been very careful to pummel them into unconscious heaps, so shooting them with starship bisecting beams of light is a bit much. She could have done a flashbang too but that wouldnt have been as interesting for comic readers to watch.

I could swear we've already seen Danica use her powers on people.
Or at least at below ship-murdering levels.

Fun fact!
If you punch someone in the head hard enough for them to fall unconscious for more than a couple seconds, they are suffering from severe cranial damage and need to be rushed to the ER immediately or they will soon die.

That's with humans.
Those are aliens.
Who knows if they're even keeping their brains up there.

[Vinyadan]

That's with humans.
Those are aliens.
Who knows if they're even keeping their brains up there.

That would explain Grex's remarkably fast recover after having her head bashed by Billy.

[sihnfahl]

Who knows if they're even keeping their brains up there.

Heck, they could even be in their pelvic cradle.

[Durkoala]

Characters in this comic have brains?

[faustin]

Gangster: (Examines the pizza and tastes it) "Raspberry. That human dared giving me the raspberry!"

[sihnfahl]

And so, this is the level of comedy that they're reduced to.

Protagonists throwing pies.

[Welf]

Black Hole Bill, Roar Boar, Supernova Dragonlords...
No. No, I don't think so.

That just proves my point. They sucked and had to flee the human core worlds. Only on those strange alien worlds at the fringes of civilization their names would be cool.

[Kantaki]

I'm with the informant here.
Sure, the pizza came in handy, but A) that was dumb luck and B) of Burke hadn't stopped to buy food they probably would've gotten away before the killers showed up.

[Vinyadan]

I'm with the informant here.
Sure, the pizza came in handy, but A) that was dumb luck and B) of Burke hadn't stopped to buy food they probably would've gotten away before the killers showed up.

This would be a new point in Burke's growth.

Good officer -> Bad Officer -> Killer for the Void Angels -> Doubtful follower in a splinter group -> Reformed, but with feelings of inadequacy because of love -> When far from his crush, Happy and Jaded

[random11]

Update

And we're back to "documents and evidences are important" after pretty much ignoring all of it since the start of the "punch them all" plan.
I have a headache.

[faustin]

Corrupt or not, this must be the police station with the lowest standards in security ever.

[random11]

I'm not even sure how it can be done in 5 minutes unless the password is "password", and all the documents are ready in a folder on the desktop named "illegal stuff I want to hide".

[Kantaki]

I'm not even sure how it can be done in 5 minutes unless the password is "password", and all the documents are ready in a folder on the desktop named "illegal stuff I want to hide".

I mean, yeah?
That'd actually be more security than I'd expect from this verse.

[random11]

At this point, what disappoints me the most is that in 5 minutes he only have time to take off his jacket.

As for the rest of the stupidity? I'm just enjoying the show.
I think the best comparison to this arc is watching a heist movie in fast forward with scenes in random order.

[faustin]

Just checking out, the prostitute is actually the detective in disguise, right?
If that is the case, shouldn't the Chief have recognized him on the spot? I mean he is the guy with allegedly enough evidence regarding police corruption in his hands to end his career.

[random11]

Update

I'd like to think that the last panel was missing a speech bubble:
And THIS is for not using the five minutes properly!

As for the rest, just a different kind of abuse of power to get access BEFORE evidence were supplied despite having plenty of chances to do it properly.

[faustin]

So Abaxi didn't bother to put his own access code to prevent anyone else getting into his archives? Tsk, tsk.
Oh well, it isn't by far the most stupid thing of this comic.

[Celestia]

So Abaxi didn't bother to put his own access code to prevent anyone else getting into his archives? Tsk, tsk.
Oh well, it isn't by far the most stupid thing of this comic.

Maybe he couldn't. Maybe the system would alert the higher ups that he overwrite the override code, all but admitting he was up to something fishy. Maybe he just figured that he was far enough below notice that anyone with the override code wouldn't bother coming to his backwater. There are plenty of issues with this comic, but this part is fine. I'd focus more on the dumb timeline of events and the complete inconsistency in whether or not evidence and procedure are necessary and the fact that the detective theoretically already had this evidence. Also, if there was a higher up override option, why couldn't it be activated remotely? Remote computer access is something that exists in the real world. I mean, there are plenty of other problems already without making up new ones.

[random11]

So Abaxi didn't bother to put his own access code to prevent anyone else getting into his archives? Tsk, tsk.
Oh well, it isn't by far the most stupid thing of this comic.

Or just use a different computer and not put incriminating files on his law enforcement work computer?

[random11]

I thought to write on how pointless "the invasion to the police station just to use the fax machine" was, but when I looked back to confirm I remember things correctly, it just became worse and worse...

- There was never a technical issue of sending the data, the fear was that it will be intercepted by the Embuvalij family, and until the evidence get processed, everyone will be warned and disappear and/or burn whatever links them to the evidence.
BUT, the crime families are all down, there is no one to trace the data or report to it (otherwise the attack on the families is meaningless).
This makes every plan after the families were down pointless.

- The Embuvalij family? It's the first one that agreed to cooperate to stop the others.
Also the one that could easily be "persuaded" by dangling him outside the window.
This makes all the attacks on the other families pointless.

- Like I said before, the issue of sending the data was not technical, and made sense (partially) at the time since we assumed time was needed to process the legal data.
However, it appears that the chief had the authority to arrest the head of the police station BEFORE processing the evidences required to do so.
This makes this entire ARC pointless.

[Celestia]

I thought to write on how pointless "the invasion to the police station just to use the fax machine" was, but when I looked back to confirm I remember things correctly, it just became worse and worse...

- There was never a technical issue of sending the data, the fear was that it will be intercepted by the Embuvalij family, and until the evidence get processed, everyone will be warned and disappear and/or burn whatever links them to the evidence.
BUT, the crime families are all down, there is no one to trace the data or report to it (otherwise the attack on the families is meaningless).
This makes every plan after the families were down pointless.

- The Embuvalij family? It's the first one that agreed to cooperate to stop the others.
Also the one that could easily be "persuaded" by dangling him outside the window.
This makes all the attacks on the other families pointless.

- Like I said before, the issue of sending the data was not technical, and made sense (partially) at the time since we assumed time was needed to process the legal data.
However, it appears that the chief had the authority to arrest the head of the police station BEFORE processing the evidences required to do so.
This makes this entire ARC pointless.

Mookie stories are like onions: they're full of layers. Except, each layer is worse than the one before, and the more layers you peel off, the more rotten the onion becomes.

[Vinyadan]

- Like I said before, the issue of sending the data was not technical, and made sense (partially) at the time since we assumed time was needed to process the legal data.
However, it appears that the chief had the authority to arrest the head of the police station BEFORE processing the evidences required to do so.
This makes this entire ARC pointless.

It would make sense, if Chief had to ask the judiciary for a warrant and superior access codes. While everything was going down, he would have tried to make a case. Maybe find a mole or more trouble to create tension. I don't think it ever was intended, however.

[random11]

Things can be partially fixed with simple changes.

For example, make the phone call traceable like any other data.
So the first call from Smith to Burke will start with "No names! This call might be traced", there will only be minimal connection, and Smith's insistent that only Burke will be the delivery guy makes more sense since he was the only one contacted, and the rest of the chain is only calls Burke made himself.
This also adds a layer of tension, since you don't know how risky the meeting is. Was this call traced or wasn't it? (assuming Mookie can resist answering it himself, being subtle is not his forte).
This also fixes the scene with Grex and Burke at the start. Grex notices someone is watching the "house of pleasure" but can't be sure if they know someone will come to deliver the data or not, so replacing Burke as the messenger actually puts HER in more risk, avoiding the problematic part of her using Burke as a decoy.

It would make sense, if Chief had to ask the judiciary for a warrant and superior access codes. While everything was going down, he would have tried to make a case. Maybe find a mole or more trouble to create tension. I don't think it ever was intended, however.

This can also be partially fixed: Imagine if Danica DID deliver Smith's papers.
The Chief contacts them later and tells them it's not enough for an arrest, but is just enough to get a warrant to look for data in the officer's computer, but he needs to be distracted for a few minutes to prevent him from deleting all the files...


Sure, there are still problems after both fixes, but goddammit Jim, I'm a mechanic not a magician!

[Welf]

MAlso, if there was a higher up override option, why couldn't it be activated remotely? Remote computer access is something that exists in the real world. I mean, there are plenty of other problems already without making up new ones.

That is actually believable. In recent years there has been a push-back against remote access. Leaving systems open to remote access is a huge security risk. They probably also want to keep the federal and local security agencies separate to avoid abuse of power by the former.

[random11]

That is actually believable. In recent years there has been a push-back against remote access. Leaving systems open to remote access is a huge security risk. They probably also want to keep the federal and local security agencies separate to avoid abuse of power by the former.

I think the problem is (well, one of the many problems) that the words "evidence", "files" and "documents" are thrown around, but never really explained.

If this is personal files he keeps (like book records on the families), then why is it on his work computer?
If it is a file in a police system (like forged evidence), then no remote code is needed since these kind of programs are intended to be shared with different police stations, at the very least on the same planet.
If the officer can use this system to declare a file as classified for some reason, then it's very likely that someone high enough in the same system can declassify them remotely from his planet/base.

Usually, it wouldn't matter so much since in most cases the readers don't REALLY need to know what exactly a secret file contains, just that the hero needs to get it.
But in this case, the type of evidences and files (both the ones Smith has, and the ones on the computer) are important because they determine the question of how important this raid is.

In most cases, I can trust the author.
You don't build a heist story just to discover it's a diamond you can just get by robbing a local wedding ring store.
Here? All the actions, motivations and moral issues pretty much depend on what these files were, and I don't think the author even gave it a thought.