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So how does everyone get out of this predicament?  

Gavia comes to her senses and will rescue Ardent, Alice, Sedna, and maybe Church and Pate if she feels guilty.
The Praeses will intervene by either controlling Gavia or just teleporting everyone into a containment chamber.
Alice reveals some other ability that allows her to move in space.
Church reveals some other ability that allows him to move in space which could prove fatal for Gavia.
A third party like the AIs may intervene.

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Author Topic: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017  (Read 75738 times)

brasca

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Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« on: 31 Mar 2017, 05:20 »

I thought the Praeses popped the bubble ship, but it would seem that Gavia reacquiring her abilities may be something they didn't anticipate... or not.  The trees may be so many steps ahead they knew Ardent would upgrade an ancient space ship and the ipad someone left behind would upgrade into nanotech. 

It's great to see her restored to her former glory, but I wonder if this journey may have shaken her faith in her leaders.   
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #1 on: 31 Mar 2017, 05:31 »

I'm guessing that we're going to see all the interested parties in this story reveal themselves in short order and I suspect Alice and her companions will shortly find themselves struggling to survive as the gods fall out amongst themselves.

BTW - Jeph has recently said on Twitter that Alice Grove is 'close to the end than to the beginning'. From this, I'm getting the feeling that we're heading into the final arc of the plot and we'll soon be able to make a definitive judgement as to our view of the full story.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #2 on: 01 Apr 2017, 12:52 »

Since Alice, Sedna, and Church can are modified or evolved to survive in space, they presumably have some way of moving about there, too.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #3 on: 01 Apr 2017, 13:32 »

Being tough enough to survive hard vacuum for a prolonged period does not mean 'space-ready'.

Gavia, on the other hand, almost certainly will be able to move by using the levitate power of the nanobots like a thruster. Of course, it is unlikely that she'll know how to EVA in freefall so she might need Sedna (who we now know used to be a combat astronaut) to explain things to her somehow.
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brasca

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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #4 on: 01 Apr 2017, 16:48 »

Since Alice, Sedna, and Church can are modified or evolved to survive in space, they presumably have some way of moving about there, too.

Perhaps, but the only way they can propel themselves in the vacuum of space is if they have something to push off of or an unseen ability to emit something.  Without that even someone as strong as Church will just flail around futilely until he's drawn into the gravity of a larger object.  Hopefully, Gavia's regained power hasn't made her stupid because if she goes on the offensive and Church captures her he'll have the equivalency of a sentient rocket pack he can use to push himself and Pate to the surface of the space habitat. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #5 on: 03 Apr 2017, 04:56 »

I'm pretty sure Gavia's considerably more powerful than she ever was. Maybe not at the level of the three nearby gods, but who knows at this point?
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #6 on: 03 Apr 2017, 07:05 »

She has the home field advantage, but if she gets within arms reach of Church it's over. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #7 on: 03 Apr 2017, 11:05 »

Looks like Alice decided to make her move on Church. I guess this is the showdown. Place your bets.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #8 on: 03 Apr 2017, 11:14 »

I'm more interested in what those 'shot' Church deflected was. The most likely causes are:
  • Some kind of force-field projectile Gavia is firing at him;
  • High-velocity debris coming from the destruction of the ship's power or fuel cells;
  • Anti-meteorite fire from the space habitat trying to destroy any piece of debris from the explosion large enough to be a threat to the habitat's hull integrity (and clearly either unable to identify survivors who have gone EV from a spacecraft explosion or simply not programmed to spare survivors if they are a potential threat).
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #9 on: 03 Apr 2017, 11:55 »

Looks like Alice decided to make her move on Church. I guess this is the showdown. Place your bets.

Alice or Sedna. But my money's on Alice. To be the one in the white space armor AND to win the match. Of course, if the "refs" step in, who knows...
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #10 on: 03 Apr 2017, 13:22 »

I'm afraid I'm starting to get the impression that Jeph is getting fed up with having to fit in writing Alice Grove alongside QC, and so is hurrying to reach an end.  This would help explain the lack of clarity in showing the details of what's happening in the last few strips.
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brasca

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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #11 on: 03 Apr 2017, 14:45 »

Looks like Alice decided to make her move on Church. I guess this is the showdown. Place your bets.

Alice or Sedna. But my money's on Alice. To be the one in the white space armor AND to win the match. Of course, if the "refs" step in, who knows...

It would seem that the immortals have their own custom armor, but I suppose Sedna could've donned hers the last time she fought Alice.  I think she preferred to use guns in that match.  It would also seem that Alice can propel herself in space and if she can then I'll assume Church can too so it's a good thing that Alice is going on the offensive.  Those energy beams directed at him have about the same effect bullets had on Alice so he was probably getting ready to charge Gavia before Alice took him by surprise. 

I'm afraid I'm starting to get the impression that Jeph is getting fed up with having to fit in writing Alice Grove alongside QC, and so is hurrying to reach an end.  This would help explain the lack of clarity in showing the details of what's happening in the last few strips.
 

Well keep in mind that in space no one can hear you scream.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #12 on: 03 Apr 2017, 16:52 »

I'm afraid I'm starting to get the impression that Jeph is getting fed up with having to fit in writing Alice Grove alongside QC, and so is hurrying to reach an end.  This would help explain the lack of clarity in showing the details of what's happening in the last few strips.

Lasers fire, everybody dies.


I suspect that the Praeses will step in  here at some stage.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #13 on: 03 Apr 2017, 17:33 »

If it all comes down to a space battle of the poor man's Power Rangers, then it's kind of anti-climactic. But usually Jeph is a better storyteller than that.

If AG is about to start winding down, I'm a trifle disappointed. It looked to me that we were setting up a fair amount of world-building, which ought to have played out in a bigger story than what we've seen so far. The Praeses are just big trees floating in orbit? Pate, who was built up as some sort of criminal mastermind, ends up toasted after a single pop into space? Who did the Blink? Is there some reason we should care? Are the three immortals human or AI? What was the plot behind sending Ardent to the surface with nano-Jim'llFixits? Are Alice and Sedna really an ex-couple? Etc.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #14 on: 03 Apr 2017, 18:19 »

I don't think it's anywhere close to over. Closer to the end than the beginning just means two and a half years, and maybe more if you consider he's updating less frequently (because it could be nearly 200 strips left at one a week). That being said, he could also just change his mind.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #15 on: 03 Apr 2017, 19:32 »

Is Alice expecting the Praeses to intervene?

Otherwise, she knows that she and Sedna together are no match for Church, and that Gavia can't make a dent in an Alice-class entity (see her first appearance for what happened when she tried).

So the possibilities are that Alice has sized up Gavia's rebooted abilities and thinks they are a game changer, or she expects the Praeses Public Peacekeeping Patrol to weigh in on her side, or she's desperate.

A desperate Alice strikes me as something I would not want on my world line.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #16 on: 03 Apr 2017, 21:12 »

Gavia can't make a dent in an Alice-class entity (see her first appearance for what happened when she tried).
That was Gavia pre-enhancement. Like I said before, who knows how powerful Gavia is?
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #17 on: 03 Apr 2017, 22:41 »

Is Alice expecting the Praeses to intervene?

Otherwise, she knows that she and Sedna together are no match for Church, and that Gavia can't make a dent in an Alice-class entity (see her first appearance for what happened when she tried).

So the possibilities are that Alice has sized up Gavia's rebooted abilities and thinks they are a game changer, or she expects the Praeses Public Peacekeeping Patrol to weigh in on her side, or she's desperate.

A desperate Alice strikes me as something I would not want on my world line.

I don't think Gavia is that much powerful than before, but she's provided a distraction that took both Pate and Church by surprise.  It's not enough and from the look of it Alice can move in space so I'll assume Church can too which is why she's attacking him.  She doesn't stand a chance, but she doesn't need to engage him for long.  She's succeeded in separating Church from Pate so now Sedna can capture him.  Once she does he'll order Church to stand down and the battle is won.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #18 on: 03 Apr 2017, 23:02 »

What brasca said.

For whatever reason, Church's prime directive is to protect Pate. If they actually have the ability to move in vacuum effectively, then there are three parties present now (Alice, Sedna, and Gavia), who could kill Pate with a single move (and Gavia has range).

If they are willing to use the threat of harming Pate as leverage, then Church is going to have to pull an absolute rabbit out of his keister to keep control of the situation.

They don't necessarily need to "defeat" him, per se. But, this is as clear a shot as they're going to get to effect a power shift.
« Last Edit: 03 Apr 2017, 23:08 by Samik »
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Skewbrow

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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #19 on: 03 Apr 2017, 23:13 »

Well keep in mind that in space no one can hear you scream.
I thought nowadays that reads "in cyberspace you can hear everybody groan".

I don't think Gavia is that much powerful than before, but she's provided a distraction that took both Pate and Church by surprise.  It's not enough and from the look of it Alice can move in space so I'll assume Church can too which is why she's attacking him.  She doesn't stand a chance, but she doesn't need to engage him for long.  She's succeeded in separating Church from Pate so now Sedna can capture him.  Once she does he'll order Church to stand down and the battle is won.

This. Is a very possible course of events! A one-armed Sedna is still a lethal threat to Pate. Ignoring Gavia for now - possibly errorneously.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #20 on: 03 Apr 2017, 23:19 »

Well that was an interesting development...was Church unknowingly hardwired to be a Praeses guardian?
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #21 on: 03 Apr 2017, 23:22 »

If Pate is the King and Church is the Queen, now Alice, Sedna, and Gavia are the Rook, Bishop, and Knight.

(click to show/hide)
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #22 on: 04 Apr 2017, 02:41 »

I'm afraid I'm starting to get the impression that Jeph is getting fed up with having to fit in writing Alice Grove alongside QC, and so is hurrying to reach an end.  This would help explain the lack of clarity in showing the details of what's happening in the last few strips.

Jeph is trying to give the immediacy of an action movie set-piece in sequential art format. I don't think he's doing too badly. Nothing has happened without explanation that cannot be explained at a later date if necessary. What matters right now is that the whole main cast are EV and that Alice has taken the opportunity to take down Church, if she can.

FWIW, I'm thinking that the Praeses will teleport them all onto the Habitat after Alice and Church have been struggling for a few minutes. For now, at least, I think that they're observing and fine-tuning their plans.

For whatever reason, Church's prime directive is to protect Pate.

Actually, I think that's misreading Church. For whatever reason, he's chosen to work with Pate.

However, I do think what they do is going to ultimately be moot. This is the Praeses turf and, quite frankly, they have the numbers and firepower to decide who lives and dies at this point. If they have indeed manipulated events to get Pate up here, then no-one is killing them without their permission.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #23 on: 04 Apr 2017, 12:50 »

I don't know whether I think that Alice even needs to be Church-class at this point. The Praeses *are*, and so all Alice has to do is get them involved, and then she can move on to her next task, whatever that might be.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #24 on: 04 Apr 2017, 15:34 »

For whatever reason, Church's prime directive is to protect Pate.

Actually, I think that's misreading Church. For whatever reason, he's chosen to work with Pate.
Well, I don't agree, but I don't think it really matters. I wasn't intending to be that specific. Whether he's been programmed/coerced, or is acting by conscious choice because he needs Pate for something, the result is the same: protecting Pate is priority #1, and nothing else presently comes close. I think that his actions immediately after Gavia's attack strongly support this.

We know that Church is a lot faster than Alice and Sedna. I'm not going to assume that Gavia's attack "surprised" him to such an extent that he's slower to assess and react than Alice - everything we've seen has indicated that he's the far superior specimen, so I think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt that he's reacting as he means to. My read would be that he adopted his defensive posture around Pate because he made the same assessment brasca and I made, and saw it as his only option for defending Pate against three attack vectors simultaneously. (No matter how fast he is, he can't be in three places at once.)

If he was able to value Pate's survival as anything less than 100% priority, then I think the ideal course would have been to neutralize Gavia and her ranged attack before the others could react, then take his chances in a 2-on-1. But, that would require abandoning Pate for a small window. Basically, his priority flow-chart forced him to sit tight while outnumbered and outgunned, instead of taking initiative and trying to improve the odds. I think that's pretty revealing.


- Now, this read depends on them having the ability to move in vacuum. If Alice just pushed off a large piece of debris to get to Church, or something, then you can't really read anything into his actions/inactions immediately after the breach.

- Also, Church has to be thinking ahead, about how exactly he's going to get Pate back into a pressurized environment. Depending how how he assesses the likelihood of intervention by the Praeses or a third party, eliminating any or all of Gavia/Ardent/Alice/Sedna actually might not seem so ideal.

We've been primed to see the "good guys" as the underdogs, because of how powerful Church has been established to be. But, man is he in a tough situation here, in terms of his own personal objectives.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #25 on: 04 Apr 2017, 15:44 »

Also, I just want to say that I love the abject terror in Pate's face in all three panels.

Like, however important he may be back home, and as much old and new-tech as he's seen, he's still kind of a primitive country bumpkin. And now he's tumbling in zero gee with explosions and debris and nanotech and lasers and super soliders whizzing all around him. There's no preparing for that.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #26 on: 05 Apr 2017, 18:31 »

Ellie.  Ardent had the hots for her.  Gavia at least liked her, and watched Church murder her and maim Sedna.  I reckon Gavia hates his guts enough to try and dismember him in a berserk rage.  Who's shooting at Church?  Sedna's the Weapons Queen but our genial horndog Ardent wouldn't pass up a chance at revenge for killing Ellie either.  And he might be able to convert a simple flashlight into an energy weapon.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #27 on: 05 Apr 2017, 18:55 »

Odd coincidence: Schlock Mercenary has just introduced what seems to be a large, sentient, and probably super-powered tree. It's quite a bit more talkative than the Praeses have been, so far.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #28 on: 06 Apr 2017, 06:26 »

Ellie.  Ardent had the hots for her.  Gavia at least liked her, and watched Church murder her and maim Sedna.  I reckon Gavia hates his guts enough to try and dismember him in a berserk rage.  Who's shooting at Church?  Sedna's the Weapons Queen but our genial horndog Ardent wouldn't pass up a chance at revenge for killing Ellie either.  And he might be able to convert a simple flashlight into an energy weapon.

It's probably Gavia shooting those energy beams. Potentially it's a previous unrevealed power of Sedna's, but the last we saw she was using her one good arm to try and keep Ardent from flying off. The beams were coming from Behind Church, and from last positioning Church had his back to the ship when Gavia exploded.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #29 on: 06 Apr 2017, 13:40 »

It's probably Gavia shooting those energy beams. Potentially it's a previous unrevealed power of Sedna's, but the last we saw she was using her one good arm to try and keep Ardent from flying off. The beams were coming from Behind Church, and from last positioning Church had his back to the ship when Gavia exploded.
Lack of effectiveness also suggests the beams are from Gavia. Tech level that could harm Pate, but not Church.


Prediction: Sedna is fully healed and has been playing possum. Will join the fray in the next panel.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #30 on: 06 Apr 2017, 20:34 »

I'm curious about a couple of things that are super unclear right now:
1. Where is everyone in relation to one another?
2. Can Alice, Sedna, and Church actually propel themselves, or are they forced to jump off of nearby objects and then float in a direction, Ender's Game style?
3. Does Church, Alice, or Sedna have more mass than a normal person? If not, I don't really think that their ability to punch should be any better than any other random person from earth right now - Their hand won't break on contact, but they have no way to brace themselves for recoil. 150 pounds of Sedna shouldn't cause any more damage than a 150 pound sack of potatoes with a fist glued to one end, assuming they have the same velocity.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #31 on: 06 Apr 2017, 23:52 »

It's probably Gavia shooting those energy beams. Potentially it's a previous unrevealed power of Sedna's, but the last we saw she was using her one good arm to try and keep Ardent from flying off. The beams were coming from Behind Church, and from last positioning Church had his back to the ship when Gavia exploded.
Lack of effectiveness also suggests the beams are from Gavia. Tech level that could harm Pate, but not Church.


Prediction: Sedna is fully healed and has been playing possum. Will join the fray in the next panel.

I wonder if Sedna has an armored form and if she does will she don it for this fight.  Seeing as how it chopped Alice's long hair off she might be reluctant to go to that length, but considering the stakes involved she might not want to take any risks in capturing Pate. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #32 on: 09 Apr 2017, 13:38 »

Well, that didn't take long to work out, did it? As I have posted before, I wonder if Church was specifically made to hunt down super-soldiers (a sort of 'a monster that monsters fear' scenario).

Gavia certainly has had an upgrade; I don't remember her having a stand-off shield capability before!

It's sweet that Sedna is having to struggle to stop Ardent from getting hurt trying to protect Alice! He's a little creep sometimes but his heart is 100% made of gold when the chips are down.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #33 on: 09 Apr 2017, 14:06 »

Once again I'm pleased as punch to see that arrogant prick Pate scared out of his mind.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #34 on: 09 Apr 2017, 14:24 »

Gavia has used a shield before.  She displayed the ability when they first met Sedna and Alice had her shield herself and Ardent when Sedna  opened up on them.  hat being said, I wouldn't be surprised if Ardent had inadvertently upgraded her as he has a habit of doing.


I hope Alice will be OK going up against Church.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #35 on: 09 Apr 2017, 14:42 »

Good to see my suspicions confirmed although it seems that it was a joint effort of Gavia and Sedna that captured Pate. 

Hopefully, Alice can survive this onslaught because this being the vacuum of space it's not like they can call out to Church to stand down now that his king is captured. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #36 on: 09 Apr 2017, 17:13 »

Church seems to have grown in size from last week to this. For a bit I thought he'd grown hair too, but I guess those are motion lines.

Wouldn't want to be Pate right about now.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #37 on: 09 Apr 2017, 17:36 »

Church seems to have grown in size from last week to this. For a bit I thought he'd grown hair too, but I guess those are motion lines.

Wouldn't want to be Pate right about now.

Not sure I'd want to be Alice right now.  Unless Gavia can get his attention or he looks behind the beat down will continue.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #38 on: 09 Apr 2017, 20:40 »

It does seem that the immortals (Alice & Church) can move about in space at will. Gavia's nanotech can apparently produce a habitable bubble. Now if they can strip Pate's gold pressure suit off, then Church will not be in any position to attack Gavia; doing so would put Pate at risk.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #39 on: 09 Apr 2017, 21:30 »

It does seem that the immortals (Alice & Church) can move about in space at will. Gavia's nanotech can apparently produce a habitable bubble. Now if they can strip Pate's gold pressure suit off, then Church will not be in any position to attack Gavia; doing so would put Pate at risk.

They seem to have some way of propelling themselves through space, but it's uncertain as to whether Sedna grabbed Pate while Church was away fighting Alice or Gavia has been absorbing everyone into her force field.  She had the ability to cancel gravity so her abilities may be upgraded beyond that and she can also cruise through space.  She's not wearing her space suit so I'll assume she can breathe in the bubble she's created.  And from the looks of it she seems to have calmed down since she's not firing energy blasts at Church so at least they don't have to try to snap her out of a berserker fugue. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #40 on: 09 Apr 2017, 23:11 »

Good to see my suspicions confirmed although it seems that it was a joint effort of Gavia and Sedna that captured Pate. 

Hopefully, Alice can survive this onslaught because this being the vacuum of space it's not like they can call out to Church to stand down now that his king is captured.

I would have designed supersoldiers with built-in radios.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #41 on: 10 Apr 2017, 00:35 »

They seem to have some way of propelling themselves through space, but it's uncertain as to whether Sedna grabbed Pate while Church was away fighting Alice or Gavia has been absorbing everyone into her force field.  She had the ability to cancel gravity so her abilities may be upgraded beyond that and she can also cruise through space.  She's not wearing her space suit so I'll assume she can breathe in the bubble she's created.  And from the looks of it she seems to have calmed down since she's not firing energy blasts at Church so at least they don't have to try to snap her out of a berserker fugue.

I'm not sure Gavia was firing the energy blasts in the first place. Those energy blasts came very close to several of the characters but missed every time (except for the very first one that Church deflected). I'm thinking the blasts may have been anti-meteor defenses taking out what remained of the ship while intentionally avoiding the survivors. As to why the first one actually hit Church... er, no system has perfect aim? Hmm.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #42 on: 10 Apr 2017, 01:57 »

They seem to have some way of propelling themselves through space, but it's uncertain as to whether Sedna grabbed Pate while Church was away fighting Alice or Gavia has been absorbing everyone into her force field.  She had the ability to cancel gravity so her abilities may be upgraded beyond that and she can also cruise through space.  She's not wearing her space suit so I'll assume she can breathe in the bubble she's created.  And from the looks of it she seems to have calmed down since she's not firing energy blasts at Church so at least they don't have to try to snap her out of a berserker fugue.

I'm not sure Gavia was firing the energy blasts in the first place. Those energy blasts came very close to several of the characters but missed every time (except for the very first one that Church deflected). I'm thinking the blasts may have been anti-meteor defenses taking out what remained of the ship while intentionally avoiding the survivors. As to why the first one actually hit Church... er, no system has perfect aim? Hmm.

Maybe, but looking at her in the bottom panel http://www.alicegrove.com/page/5 it appears that she's summoning fire balls in the palm of her hands.  And we know she's had pyrotechnic capabilities before. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #43 on: 10 Apr 2017, 11:54 »

It seems unclear who (or if anyone) shot something at Church, and if  why.  But clearly before that, even if  very shortly before, at some time he'd "armored up".      Whatever else, he's knocking Alice about, and she hopefully has a way to stop or reverse her motion.  We don't know how she started moving,  but Church was able to counter her (and then some) with a lot of force and without moving backwards himself. So we'd imagine all three of them have some way to counter near zero G.  If it's just Church that might be a very bad thing, at least for the others.

So Gavia is shielding/hiding/helping/moving them, Sedna is far more protective of Ardent than she is "capturing" anyone, and Pate is still out of his element.   

Church seems far more reactionary to the immediate threat than to what else happens later; attacked, he counters.      Does that mean anything for later?    It's entirely possible the people in charge of this place intervene.   If not, who knows.  As far as capturing Pate and using him as leverage, it's entirely possible that it's been prearranged that he's expendable.   Or Church isn't quite as loyal in reality as he's been carrying on.   That is, why would a seemingly pretty much immortal indestructible being would throw in their lot with a low-tech criminal mastermind crime boss (or what have you) sort of short-lived human anyway.     Life debt seems unlikely bordering impossible, how could he be coerced, what sort of romantic entanglements would be at all enticing, economics seem to have no bearing, and so on.    Political or visionary perhaps, but then one questions the motives there to carry it out, that content is at least a bit questionable given the  violence and coercion used to get to space for a chitchat with some trees or whatever they are.   

Not that we have any indication that there are any such plans or ever have been, but I wouldn't trust in the success of any plans using Pate's physicality as a bargaining chip.   Not that it wouldn't work if things are as they seem, but at the least Church seems unconcerned of such.  Although maybe it's just because he thinks he doesn't have to worry about it, or if he does he can just get his revenge on everyone after if it goes wrong. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #44 on: 10 Apr 2017, 12:18 »

The rays were probably streaks of burning debris flying from the exploded ship. It seems to have only happened immediately after decompression, so it makes sense. Now Gavia is just maintaining a bubble around the four of them while Church and Alice fight it out. Probably waiting to see if Alice wins, or they have to do the 'Stay back or your boss gets it' routine.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #45 on: 10 Apr 2017, 20:28 »

Good to see my suspicions confirmed although it seems that it was a joint effort of Gavia and Sedna that captured Pate. 

Hopefully, Alice can survive this onslaught because this being the vacuum of space it's not like they can call out to Church to stand down now that his king is captured.

I would have designed supersoldiers with built-in radios.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #46 on: 10 Apr 2017, 22:42 »

Good to see my suspicions confirmed although it seems that it was a joint effort of Gavia and Sedna that captured Pate. 

Hopefully, Alice can survive this onslaught because this being the vacuum of space it's not like they can call out to Church to stand down now that his king is captured.

I would have designed supersoldiers with built-in radios.

If that's so then the first broadcast should be Gavia telling Church to stand down or she'll have Sedna break Pate's arms.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #47 on: 11 Apr 2017, 16:34 »

Gavia Shield 1.0 barely slowed down Alice. Church is tougher than Alice. I hope Gavia Shield 2.0 is enough to keep Church out.
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #48 on: 11 Apr 2017, 16:51 »

As long as they have Pate all that matters is the shield is strong enough to keep out the vacuum of space. 
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Re: Alice Grove MCDLT - April 2017
« Reply #49 on: 11 Apr 2017, 22:02 »

Gavia Shield 1.0 barely slowed down Alice.
Good point. Alice is so ridiculously strong she can punch through nano. Ardently enhanced nano is still nano, so...who knows, really.
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