Grrl Power VII: Let Me Explain For The Next Thirty Comics!

[lord_khaine]

I am confused about why Hiro is bothering with the door shield.
He is more than bullet proof. So anything able to hurt him would go through it like tissue paper.

[InvisibleBison]

I am confused about why Hiro is bothering with the door shield.
He is more than bullet proof. So anything able to hurt him would go through it like tissue paper.

I think it's reasonable for him to be a bit cautious. Yes, an ordinary taser wouldn't affect him, but he doesn't know for sure that these guys are equipped with ordinary tasers. After all, why would you shoot an ordinary taser at a bulletproof superhero?

[sihnfahl]

I think it's reasonable for him to be a bit cautious. Yes, an ordinary taser wouldn't affect him, but he doesn't know for sure that these guys are equipped with ordinary tasers. After all, why would you shoot an ordinary taser at a bulletproof superhero?

Considering how many goons try to shoot Superman in issue after issue, despite everyone knowing normal bullets don't stop him?

And if they were expecting only to encounter non-supers, well...

[Dragonus45]

I think it's reasonable for him to be a bit cautious. Yes, an ordinary taser wouldn't affect him, but he doesn't know for sure that these guys are equipped with ordinary tasers. After all, why would you shoot an ordinary taser at a bulletproof superhero?

You know, I am betting that if it were capable of a big enough jolt a taser might be a great option for dealing with people who are bullet proof. Electricity still flows through their muscles and some of shock of it is like nervous system level response. Might depend a lot on the nature of the powers and of the setting but I could see it working.

[halfeye]

They havent had the chance to break out the lethal ordinance yet.

They were firing bullets, those are usually considered potentially lethal. I think "these goons are idiots" best fits the case.

[Shining Wrath]

They were firing bullets, those are usually considered potentially lethal. I think "these goons are idiots" best fits the case.

It's almost as though criminals don't join up as an alternative to careers in nuclear physics.

[Traab]

They were firing bullets, those are usually considered potentially lethal. I think "these goons are idiots" best fits the case.

Those are different goons, who are dealing with already being discovered. These guys setup a door bar trap to gas heatwaves and hiros rooms, so they couldnt casually open the door, hopefully buying enough time for the gas to put them under. Unfortunately, they were already awake and somewhat alert so they both broke out at the same time and overwhelmed these guys before they could put down the less lethal ordinance and pickup their guns. Heck, i wouldnt be surprised if the taser was for their next target instead. Someone less bulletproof like one of the harem bodies And when they busted down the door the guy just hit the trigger on the taser by reflex.

Overall I rank this attack a C+. They had a plan, they had tools to take down their targets, but they lacked the ability to adapt to their ambush being blown adequately. Had the infiltration gone off without setting off the alarm, like if leon had spent a precious 10 seconds confirming the problem before going on high alert, they would have been able to gas each room one by one in near silence and probably subdue arcswat with minimal issue. Also, he was only there due to a late night booty call from his girlfriend. This was honestly bad luck on their part, who knows how long it would have taken for the alert to go out with a late night power outage?

[lord_khaine]

You know, I am betting that if it were capable of a big enough jolt a taser might be a great option for dealing with people who are bullet proof. Electricity still flows through their muscles and some of shock of it is like nervous system level response. Might depend a lot on the nature of the powers and of the setting but I could see it working.

Well at the same time. If Hiro's toughness only extend to physical trauma. And his nerve system isnt protected.
Then its basically a crippling weakness when facing enemy supers. Suddenly he is at risk from anyone with ice, fire, acid or especially lightning powers.
At least if a guy with a hand held taser could pose a risk.

We do know Max dont have this issue. She tanked lightning that would basically have turned a human to ash.
But she is of course 2 tiers of classification above Hiro.

Those are different goons, who are dealing with already being discovered. These guys setup a door bar trap to gas heatwaves and hiros rooms, so they couldnt casually open the door, hopefully buying enough time for the gas to put them under. Unfortunately, they were already awake and somewhat alert so they both broke out at the same time and overwhelmed these guys before they could put down the less lethal ordinance and pickup their guns. Heck, i wouldnt be surprised if the taser was for their next target instead. Someone less bulletproof like one of the harem bodies And when they busted down the door the guy just hit the trigger on the taser by reflex.

That in turn sounds pretty reasonable. I dont think you could keep Hiro or Harem captive. But someone like heat wave might be viable. Or well tasering harem might shut all of her down. Perhaps not a bad idea.

Overall I rank this attack a C+. They had a plan, they had tools to take down their targets, but they lacked the ability to adapt to their ambush being blown adequately. Had the infiltration gone off without setting off the alarm, like if leon had spent a precious 10 seconds confirming the problem before going on high alert, they would have been able to gas each room one by one in near silence and probably subdue arcswat with minimal issue. Also, he was only there due to a late night booty call from his girlfriend. This was honestly bad luck on their part, who knows how long it would have taken for the alert to go out with a late night power outage?

Hmm. I am kinda uncertain about how they could have adapted to the alarm blowing at this stage. Except just try and rush the plan, gassing enough Archon members to make it matter.
I mean i dont think there is much you can do to Hiro and Stalvart with less than anti-tank weapons. And nothing you can do to Achilles except sit on him.

But yeah. Exceptionally bad stroke of luck, having Leon be kept awake. And within arms reach of the alarm button.

[Yuki Akuma]

Well at the same time. If Hiro's toughness only extend to physical trauma. And his nerve system isnt protected.
Then its basically a crippling weakness when facing enemy supers. Suddenly he is at risk from anyone with ice, fire, acid or especially lightning powers.
At least if a guy with a hand held taser could pose a risk.

We do know Max dont have this issue. She tanked lightning that would basically have turned a human to ash.
But she is of course 2 tiers of classification above Hiro.

Max's invulnerability is an active power that creates a forcefield around herself. We don't know how Hiro's invulnerability works, except that it absorbs sonic attacks rather than just blocking or deflecting them.

Stalwart's toughness is due to increasing his density - which might also increase his electrical resistance, but against other attack types it might not help very much. Achilles... is immune to everything, for reasons, so a taser definitely wouldn't work on him.

[lord_khaine]

Max's invulnerability is actually 2 layers. A (almost) skin tight force field. And another layer of defence.
As she has survived having her field breached.

We dont know how Hiro's invulnerability works no. Except it has soaked up some fairly solid hits and immense pressure.
Sonic absorbtion seems a seperate thing.

The same with Stalvart. We dont know how his invulnerability work.
Density control seems a seperate ability. That likely dont quite explain his degree of invulnerability.
At 4 dots he is just a point below Thor/hulk tier.

[Traab]

Well at the same time. If Hiro's toughness only extend to physical trauma. And his nerve system isnt protected.
Then its basically a crippling weakness when facing enemy supers. Suddenly he is at risk from anyone with ice, fire, acid or especially lightning powers.
At least if a guy with a hand held taser could pose a risk.

We do know Max dont have this issue. She tanked lightning that would basically have turned a human to ash.
But she is of course 2 tiers of classification above Hiro.



That in turn sounds pretty reasonable. I dont think you could keep Hiro or Harem captive. But someone like heat wave might be viable. Or well tasering harem might shut all of her down. Perhaps not a bad idea.



Hmm. I am kinda uncertain about how they could have adapted to the alarm blowing at this stage. Except just try and rush the plan, gassing enough Archon members to make it matter.
I mean i dont think there is much you can do to Hiro and Stalvart with less than anti-tank weapons. And nothing you can do to Achilles except sit on him.

But yeah. Exceptionally bad stroke of luck, having Leon be kept awake. And within arms reach of the alarm button.

Honestly, adapting the plan depends entirely on what their actual goal even IS. Like, if its grabbing supers like those alien bounty hunters tried with max, their best bet is to move as fast as possible, incapacitate whoever they can RIGHT NOW, then run for it. If their goal is to steal information or some specific items, their best bet is to get to where its stored, form a defensive position, and try to hold out till the team grabs it, then bug out. If their goal was to cause some sort of havoc, such as a lightning raid, kill/capture random people and destroy portions of the headquarters in an attempt to make archon look bad at being unable to hold off an attack, im not sure what they could do besides hope for the best and continue on. Also, it seems they have only two supers, the rest are probably normal goons. Though in this setting they could be like Twice from MHA and be disposable clones wearing concealing gear so the secret isnt exposed. But yeah, that seems to be oddly light for an assault on a building stuffed to the brim with supers who are trained or at worst int raining to use their powers in combat. Which is why its starting to look like xmen 2 with the stryker raid on the school as wolverine comes out and starts gutting people. Highly trained soldiers can only do so much against opponents so far beyond them. They only got as many captive kids as they did because they got into the building and caught a few before the alarm even went out.

[lord_khaine]

Thats also a relevant point. We do not know what the heck they want.
Capturing supers are likely going to be wildly impractical. Unless you got someone with mind control powers of course.

Question then remains what goal they can have. It seems unlikely Archon has to much stuff of value.
Besides i guess information. A quick smash&grap still seem most likely.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Archon also has a lot of cutting edge technology; stealing some could be worth the risk. And for people in the know, might actually be less risky than targeting Deus' company.

[Traab]

Thats also a relevant point. We do not know what the heck they want.
Capturing supers are likely going to be wildly impractical. Unless you got someone with mind control powers of course.

Question then remains what goal they can have. It seems unlikely Archon has to much stuff of value.
Besides i guess information. A quick smash&grap still seem most likely.

Capturing supers could involve goals that dont require willing participation. No need to mind control if your goal is to say, dissect hiro and figure out how he can do what he does, in order to grant that ability to your own troops. There is also the potential for non mind control brainwashing. After all, this is a super hero comic, and we all know about the winter soldier as an example so its certainly within the realm of the feasible in this medium. And we cant forget supernatural mind control as an option that exists. So even straight up mind control powers are potentially on the table in a couple forms. But yeah, we need to know what the goal is.

[Radar]

One thing is sure: the attackers do want something or someone out of Archon HQ - otherwise they would just bomb the place immediately after gaining access. What exactly do they want, we hopefully get to know relatively soon.

[lord_khaine]

Hmm.. that is a good point.
Though in turn. Supers are kinda priceless assets most vulnerable when asleep (and hence predictable in their position).
I would personally place their rooms in the reinforced bunker part of Archon HQ.

[Traab]

The problem with that is, since that would create regular traffic to and from said bunker, that makes it more likely to be open and vulnerable during an attack. After all, the supers have to LEAVE said bunker to start fighting.

[lord_khaine]

Would mean a slightly longer response time, of perhaps a minutte or two, in case of a sudden alarm.
If the Archon members are sleeping in the reinforced basement.
That still seems like a decent tradeoff to not lose the entire team to someone crashing a plane into the building.

[Traab]

Would mean a slightly longer response time, of perhaps a minutte or two, in case of a sudden alarm.
If the Archon members are sleeping in the reinforced basement.
That still seems like a decent tradeoff to not lose the entire team to someone crashing a plane into the building.

I would imagine the base is in a no fly zone, government buildings like that often are. Meaning an incoming kamikaze is going to provide plenty of warning its incoming before it gets shot down by one of the several heroes capable of doing so, or any anti air defensive installations nearby. And even if they did sleep in said bunker, that just means that at best they are trapped for an unknown length of time buried in tons of burning rubble on top of their exit.

Honestly, I think overall its a matter of security versus convenience and a balance has to be maintained. Sure you could create 90 layers of security that have to be passed every time you go anywhere that constantly are rotated to avoid infiltrators, but there is generally not even remotely that much security because the cost, delays, and general annoyance factor of dealing with it all day every day causes its own problems for little to no gain. *EDIT* And as for todays target, more faceless goons are wiped out by people with no idea whats going on. Also us, we still have no idea whats going on either.

[The Glyphstone]

It's moments like this that really draw attention out of the narrative itself and to Dave's pacing. We are currently in our 3rd real-life week covering the same 30-second span of time in 3 separate parts of the building.

[halfeye]

I would imagine the base is in a no fly zone, government buildings like that often are. Meaning an incoming kamikaze is going to provide plenty of warning its incoming before it gets shot down by one of the several heroes capable of doing so, or any anti air defensive installations nearby.

That the literal Pentagon didn't have? admittedly there are no supers in the real world.

[Shining Wrath]

That the literal Pentagon didn't have? admittedly there are no supers in the real world.

What worked in 2001 wouldn’t work in whatever year this is now.

[lord_khaine]

What worked in 2001 wouldn’t work in whatever year this is now.

What have to work in 2022, have to also work against any number of super powers.
And it cant. There are to many low scale super powers that could work to circumvent ordinary defences against a plane loaded with explosives.

Hence i think stashing your supers in a reinforced basement is the very least thing to do while they sleep.

While as for being trapped for an unknown period of time beneath burried rubble?
Well considering how strong Hiro/Stalvart are, i would think perhaps 5, to 10 min at top.

It's moments like this that really draw attention out of the narrative itself and to Dave's pacing. We are currently in our 3rd real-life week covering the same 30-second span of time in 3 separate parts of the building.

Yeah.. i mean.. i get the need to give some of the minor faces a bit of screen time as well.
All the same. Especially this comic. I think we could have done without.

edit.

At last. The plot moves a bit. Its revealed this clown show is a decoy.
Well. In that case. A bit more of a danger then. They certainly do the distraction part well.

[Traab]

Ah there we go. I thought the faceless goons were a bit too inept. I think I even floated the idea of them all being clones in an earlier comment. It took me WAY too long to figure out what goose did in the first panels. Like, I knew he shoved a minigun through the dude somehow but I forgot they had bayonets on them as a semi joke. Good god thats brutal!

[Shining Wrath]

If I were in charge of Archon base defense, I'd put the various supers in 3 or 4 different barracks, each barracks containing a mix of powers, with secure comms between them (as in, multiple physical wire paths buried & shielded). And also multiple secure paths to nearby government secure facilities. Basically, make the odds of taking out all supers without anyone knowing about it very close to zero.

Having someone with long-range sensing ability keeping an eye on Archon from several miles away should also be part of this. And a geosynch satellite watching for a cessation of a keep-alive signal from the base: "I'm still here and can communicate ... I'm still here and can communicate ...".

Anyway, the strong guy Hiro is fighting is a sacrificial lamb, too, not just Goon Squad. I wonder if he knows?

[lord_khaine]

The one Hiro is fighting is a pretty high tier super.
As seen by how Hiro isnt wiping the floor with him.
So its quite possible he has some way of getting away.

[Keltest]

The one Hiro is fighting is a pretty high tier super.
As seen by how Hiro isnt wiping the floor with him.
So its quite possible he has some way of getting away.

In fairness, we dont see what happens when Hiro makes contact.

[lord_khaine]

It looked pretty even in the previous comic. Neither directly seemed to have the advantage.

[Shining Wrath]

Hiro appears to be wrestling with Strong Guy, but Strong Guy may be hoping to outrun someone who can fly.

[lord_khaine]

Well.. why should it be a hinderance to outrun someone just because they can fly?
Just for an example, the Flash could outrun anyone in this comic as long as the destination were on the ground.
Up to and including Maxima