Grrl Power

Okay, I get the issue. The problem that Spindriver is noting is that "Mach" is technically a relative term based on the medium in which you're inhabiting. Since it's derived in part from the speed of sound in the medium through which the object is moving, "Mach" is variable depending on what you're traveling through. For an example, what is Mach 4 in normal sea-level conditions (approximately 3100 mph) is actually under Mach 1 underwater (sound travels much faster underwater). One hopes for Sydney's sake that her flight orb does not vary velocity depending on what Mach 4 is in her current medium - as the air gets thinner and sound would travel slower, she'd actually slow down.

Measuring one's speed in "Mach" is a useful shorthand if you're only comparing to a particular medium, but it's technically useless in this case. Thus, presuming her flight orb gives a constant speed instead of converting everything through Mach, Sydney would be better served in her calculations in first converting her speed to kilometers/second and figuring things out that way (which is not good news for her... space shuttles move at over 28,000 kilometers per hour, while her speed is somewhere around 4,900 kilometers per hour, so getting to a distance equal to our moon's orbit is going to take a good long while).

Uh, no. I’m talking basic practical physics here.

1. A realistic flyer in atmosphere has an upper speed limit at which maximum available propulsive thrust equals the atmospheric resistance. A realistic flyer in vacuum has no such limit, and is limited only to the speed it reaches (relative to its starting point) by accelerating until it runs out of fuel.

2. More relevantly, a magic reactionless flyer like Sydney appears to be is again limited to a top speed in atmosphere where thrust = resistance, or to something defined by handwave bafflegab interaction with nearest mass yadda yadda. In the absence of atmosphere, she should be able to accelerate indefinitely, to any damn speed she wants, unless the limit is defined by handwave yadda, in which case that “Mach 4” (which would be better defined as “3,000 mph”) must be relative to some other body...

There are no speed limits in space. The idea is meaningless. Unless physics has been talking BS for the last 150 years, and there is an absolute frame of reference (the luminiferous ether?) after all.

Edited by Spindriver on Aug 2nd 2018 at 6:52:30 PM

So I'm assuming Mach 4 is much faster than a speeding bullet?

Bullets travel at about 1,700 miles per hour, which is slightly faster than Mach 2. Mach 4 is twice as fast.

Okay, fair enough Spindriver.

All that said, right now Sydney is hitting into one of a couple things that previously haven't been explored.

One, most logically, would be that there are limiters on the orbs above and beyond what had previously been demonstrated. The top speed isn't a function of the atmosphere; it's a function of the orbs themselves. And really, this shouldn't be a surprise - the whole point of the "skill tree" her orbs have is to provide limits and to allow those to eventually be surpassed.

Two, there's some limitation to the orbs in regards to energy accumulation/expenditure. We've never really questioned just where the energy that they use for their powers comes from. We've just more or less accepted that it comes from some vague "somewhere" as a Necessary Weasel for a proper superhero setting. That said, we may be getting into that. There may be some reason why the orbs are not providing increasing amounts of acceleration to Sydney for energy expenditure reasons (or, to combine the two, there are limitations on energy expenditure that are hardwired into the orbs for space use - probably to prevent the user from accidentally accelerating too far from a craft).

There is also the possibility that the orbs are just magic and we're busy trying to figure out out the physics of it all when the proper response is A Wizard Did It.

Starting galactic wars and speed clarifications.

To be fair here, they short first.

Well, Vale has a new gun. And we get other powers than just being really strong and tough (and being really scary when damaged).

*Deadly Boss Mods voice* Boss Fight begins in 5...

Man, Sydney is going to flip once this is over and the adrenaline fades away... Well, she's going to flip harder, anyway.

Max is gonna have a screaming fit about safety behaviour as well.

Also, just wondering, shouldn't her Meds start to war off soon?

Has there been an art shift? She looks more realistic

New strip up. Plans needing work.

I wonder if that's A invisible Shield that the bream is scraping against or some sort of gravity distortion that bends the beam around it?

My guess would be psychic powers bending the laser with telekinesis.

Edited by Kayeka on Aug 16th 2018 at 2:52:44 PM

This feels like setup for a Reveal

I maintain that we're about to find out the power of at least one of her orbs.

There's only one orb left whose power is unknown.

Ricochet's are a bitch.

Lets hope the last Orb is the Sickbay.

Edited by 3of4 on Aug 23rd 2018 at 12:07:47 PM

Hopefully, it was just blunt trauma? Still not great, especially if the organs took damage, but better than a gaping hole...

Naw, at the speeds the images implied (to keep richocheting like that) even if it hadn't been a pointy piece of shrapnel it would probably penetrate unless her ARCHON Uniform has some nifty kinetic armor-properties

It does. The armormaster gave her a long explanation of how ridiculously high-tech her bulletproof vest is, plus it's passively enhanced by his powers. It seems likely the shrapnel just did blunt force damage. Still a lot, and it would be best to get immediate medical attention, but she doesn't have a fist-sized hole in her gut.

Looks like she bought the flight upgrade after all. The page is a little confusing, took me a bit to be sure of it.

On the bright side, it's going to lose some kinetic energy after that many ricochets, so it's not as bad as a direct hit.

But yes, if not sickbay now, sickbay soon.

The armor held. And Ashley is getting chills...

And the ninja makes an anonymous but triumphant return.