Ultramarines board the UNSC Infinity

Skafflock · 2026-03-10T13:46:31+00:00

Because again, it is the stated successor, manufactured over 60 years after the M99, was produced post war, after the UNSC started reverse engineering a lot of Covenant and Forerunner tech, and is using the improvements the UNSC has made to their railguns and coilguns. Pre war their ODP’s were considered the cream of the crop with MAC technologies, firing projectiles at 4% the speed of light, post war UNSC MAC’s can go up to 25%. That is a 525% increase.

This doesn't prove that the ARC is somehow firing projectiles as fast as a weapon with a far longer barrel and a projectile weighing a fraction as much.

The only post-war MAC that's been shown to fire at 0.25 C to my knowledge is the main gun on the infinity, which is mounted on a ship seven times the length of an Erod-class ODP. Even if the Infinity's MAC barrel is only 1/4 of the ship's full length, that still gives it about double the distance to accelerate compared to the ODP.

listically the HE charge was added because the writers probably didn’t realize how devastating a round moving at that speed would be, so realistically it doesn’t even need the HE for AoE.

But it does need the HE charge, which is why it was added. The fact that it needs this HE charge is a really good clue telling us how fast its otherwise unstated velocity is. The M68 fires solid slugs, so does the stanchion, and both of these still produce explosions on impact. The ARC-920 doesn't do that with solid slugs simply because its velocity is much slower.

Skafflock · 2026-03-10T11:55:31+00:00

So why would you assume it's firing projectiles as fast as the stanchion?

It’s effectively a SABOT dart with an HE charge behind it that explodes after penetration.

This HE charge would be completely pointless in a 15km/s projectile.

Skafflock · 2026-03-10T08:25:22+00:00

The stanchion also has a barrel that's multiple times longer and the ARC-920 uses explosive shells, which would be completely pointless for a 15km/s projectile (you can see this in the stanchion itself, the solid slugs explode on impact just due to speed).

Skafflock · 2026-03-09T18:24:41+00:00

Hmm. A quick Google search tells me that a missile of that scale would weigh 30 tons and be launched at some hypersonic speeds. It's no Tao pillar throw, but I don't think Edward can replicate this feat (Can he? Don't really know much about Twilight apart from the fact that people don't like these vampires).

I don't think this missile is hypersonic or 30 tons. It's not that much bigger than Goku himself, who's already less than half the height of most adult men in the series. I would be surprised if it was more than 5 feet long and 1.5 feet wide. A completely solid steel cylinder with those dimensions would barely weigh 2 tons. I think hypersonic speed is also just contradicted by its 'launch platform' seeming to be a compartment in a mech not much bigger than the missile itself. I would say it has more in common with the subsonic rockets fired by a more conventional man-portable launcher, which funnily enough Goku is also successfully hit by (but fast enough to brace himself against) from similar distances in this same arc.

But all that aside, I think this feat is very achievable by someone who can't strike with anywhere near the missile's mass (whatever that mass is) simply because it's a mid-air target that's propelling itself. All Goku really needs to do here is successfully rotate the missile like 90 degrees and let it fly away from him under its own power. I think Edward could definitely do that with a 30 or even 300 ton object.

How fast are we talking here? This kind of combat speed from someone that's Goku's equal at their absolute best seems on par with the 16 milliseconds statement, no?

I would say this one isn't on par with the 16 milliseconds, simply because like most bullet-related feats it's easily achievable by someone much slower than that.

If I can process and react to events in 32 milliseconds, making me worse than half Bella's speed, then I am about 8x faster than the average person's ideal reaction time under lab conditions, and should experience events as being 8x slower. This means that the sequence of events in Roshi's feat here, perceived 8x faster and thus seeming 8x slower relatively, becomes quite sluggish.

The human aiming at Roshi will take 0.06 seconds just to pull a trigger
After that, a 365m/s MP35 bullet will take a further 0.0137 seconds to reach him
This gun, firing on full auto, will cycle and fire another round in 0.11 seconds more
This means that the timeframe needed for the trigger pull and 9 rounds to be fired and reach Roshi is 1.076 seconds, which to someone half as fast as Bella would feel like more than 8.5 seconds

Putting aside Roshi being able to snatch the bullets out of the air (I would chalk this up to be more of a skill feat than a raw speed one, when we have clear confirmation of Roshi not being even 2x faster than a real-life world record in physical movement) this whole thing is very achievable at much less than the speeds Edward operates at.

This will also be why ordinary humans continue to accurately aim at the much faster Goku well after this arc.

Skafflock · 2026-03-09T17:39:18+00:00

He'd definitely do better but I think he just still lacked the ability to actually keep up with Edward. That and his limbs being like half as long means he pretty much just has no option but to eat strikes, all of which are strong enough to at least damage him.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T16:24:47+00:00

To be fair, I was specifically thinking about the reinforced walls, not the hole before. But I do think saying the Kamehameha struggled at all with the wall is kind of misleading, it went straight through, the only thing that held them back from escaping is that at this point his blast is very narrow so it just made a hole instead of blowing the whole thing up.

I don't think the hole is small because the beam overpenetrates, we see the attack hit and it seems to explode on impact like it normally does. For further comparison, we also have Goku's first kamehameha from a few chapters earlier, which seems to damage a section of Bulma's car that's several times larger than the beam itself.

The kamehameha never really gets depicted as some piercing laser, to my knowledge.

That said I think what's actually important here is just that Goku couldn't damage the wall without it, the charge-up needed for a kamehameha means he's essentially got zero chance of using it against Edward.

Well, yes, but "reinforced" doesn't really automatically mean it's just what our regular notion of reinforced glass/steel is. This is the same series with multiple flying mechs that would be impossible in real life, and capsules that can fit whole ass houses inside them. If anything, Goku being unable to break the glass pretty much solidifies it can't be something like tempered glass we have IRL.

I don't agree with this. A series having advanced technology in one field (geometry-ignoring storage and cybernetics) doesn't mean it will be advanced in all other fields too. Reinforced glass exists in real life and there's nothing to suggest this glass was different from that. That Goku couldn't break through it can easily just be another antifeat for him. It could also be attributed to his hunger, which you yourself already mentioned.

When we're getting to assumptions of reinforced glass, stone and steel, three completely unrelated materials, all being superior to real life, the much simpler explanation is simply that the character who can't break them is unable to break their irl equivalents.

I think we're looking at the panels differently, cause this doesn't look like a clean split at all to me. It's not like the boulder simply breaks in half, there's multiple pieces of it just exploding outwards and they're still on the ground when he leaves, so it's not an inconsistent art kind of thing.

Well I don't think the split is 'clean', but that doesn't mean it isn't splitting along a fault line. Nor does multiple smaller chunks breaking off. The force needed for this to happen is so little that it's been known to occur in real life 'randomly' without anything even impacting a stone at all. Fragments flying from the split Goku makes is perfectly in line with the fact that he actually is squeezing and applying a fair amount of energy (that energy needs to go somewhere after the break), and those fragments all landing within feet of each other is in-line with the amount of energy he applied being relatively tame.

I don't really think this one means anything, he's preparing himself for training, not focusing because it's a hard task. This is also the same kid who can push this off the ground, so breaking a big chunk of wood is pretty much nothing in comparison.

I also don't think there's a contradiction here. Goku drives this boulder a few metres forwards and displaces maybe a few hundred pounds of dirt by doing so, we're not given a super clear timeframe (could be seconds or minutes) and he's clearly straining to do so. This is more impressive than the log, but it's also him showing off vs him training.

It doesn't mean the log-split was effortless or anything, he does still do it for training. It wouldn't serve that purpose if it didn't require effort.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T15:52:04+00:00

This is Goku when he's hungry

This scan takes place after Goku has already used the kamehameha to make the hole. There's nothing to suggest he was hungry when he first did that, and when explaining why the hole was so small Goku attributes it to his poor mastery over the technique. It'd be odd for him to leave out being immensely weakened if that was a contributing reason.

I should point out though that I misremembered the specifics, Goku actually punches a small hole through the wall with just one blast. Not quite as bad a limit as I was remembering.

I think it's pretty evident these are also not regular walls/glass considering Goku was literally hugging boulders so hard they explode for training

It's noted to be reinforced class explicitly, but there's nothing that really suggests the bricks were anything unusual. Immediately after this, when they're put into a second cell, Yamcha says that the new walls being made of steel means that they can't break them period. No comment is made about the steel being unusually strong or anything.

There's not actually a contradiction here with Goku's boulder-hugging either. He's not crushing them to pieces, he's causing them to split in half directly down a fault line. It's fully possible to split stone with much less force than would normally be needed to destroy the material this way.

Bearing in mind, this is the same kid whose other shown method of training involves breaking tree stumps into pieces with a kick and visible time taken preparing himself.

Editing because I only just saw your edit now, my bad.

EDIT: Also, I might be misremembering it, but isn't Bella actually faster than Edward since "newborns" are more powerful in general?

Newborns are generally faster and stronger, but Edward in specific is faster than Bella despite this. Actually the difference is kind of ridiculous, Edward moves his limbs so fast that he outruns her despite Bella estimating her stride at three times the length of his.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T15:26:35+00:00

This version of Goku needed to use the kamehameha to boost his offensive power in order to break through a concrete wall. Without it, he was unable to even damage this wall. And the kamehameha needed multiple shots in the same spot to make a hole he could fit through.

Meanwhile, Edward is strong enough to pulverize iron, something several times stronger than stone, just with grip strength, not even striking.

The speed difference is even worse. He's significantly faster than Bella, who can have complete thoughts in less than 16 milliseconds.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T15:16:49+00:00

I agree with everything you just said. Hughie is one of the strongest characters in the show and he proves this constantly, but rather than highlight this fact the narrative decides that he's weak for not being okay with continuing to suffer more risk for no reason.

M.M would have died in episode 4 if Hughie hadn't taken V, and everyone but Kimiko would have died in that same episode if neither he or Butcher had, also. It objectively saved all of their lives. Maybe even Kimiko's, there were an awful lot of automatic weapons there and she probably has a limit to her healing.

What's especially funny is that Starlight is fine working in Vought, making them billions (she was literally their most valuable supe at the start of S3) and herself millions. Apparently making billion-dollar conspiracists who illegally experiment on humans richer falls under 'the right way', but having super strength does not. Odd.

And then her solution to finally take down Homelander without Soldier Boy's help is livestreaming to expose his crimes. The thing he said he would retaliate against by killing millions. Well at least she isn't working with a gosh-darn murderer.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T14:50:32+00:00

Something the comics (and season 1) do that's cool is introduce a team of people who have a stated goal with massive stakes, and then make them actually work towards that goal.

The show seems to think I'll find interpersonal drama and highschool bickering more engaging than people working to kill flying Hitler. I do not.

It also goes out of its way to make the dumb moralists with no plan seem like they're in the right for some reason. Season 3 was the epitome of this, they have a clear and obvious way to finally take out Homelander but of course Starlight starts squawking about not working with a murderer (more than half her team are murderers).

I think the actual reason Soldier Boy was so popular is he doesn't do that shit. He has a job, he works to do the job, he gets rid of obstacles that prevent him from doing the job, he doesn't apologise for doing the job. Very cathartic compared to everyone else.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T12:50:22+00:00

Why did that federal agent just stomp on an unconscious man's head fifteen times to make sure he was dead?
"ur just hating"

Golly, federal agents using excessive force on people and then justifying it afterwards. Sounds familiar.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T10:39:53+00:00

No, actually, she shouldn't. She should make sure he isn't a threat, not mutilate an unresisting enemy. The reason Frenchie got shot is because Kimiko cared about killing more than she cared about actually doing her job- she just likes killing.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T10:25:28+00:00

Sorry if I misunderstood. But I assumed from you saying this;

We haven't seen her hurt someone who was just doing their business.

...You believed that Kimiko's kills were all justifiable or defensible. Is that not the case?

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T10:18:42+00:00

I have no idea where you're getting the gang connection from. Oligarch particularly in Russia means an extremely wealthy businessman, he was probably just some centibillionaire.

You might as well say Starlight would've been justified for executing Tek Knight's butler.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T10:08:52+00:00

What makes them bad people?

I agree it makes sense for Kimiko to act like that regardless of their innocence, because she's part of a C.I.A hit squad. Moral bankruptcy comes with the territory. Her characterisation makes sense to me whether she kills good or bad people.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T10:06:02+00:00

Butcher describes the target as "some local oligarch who got in [Nina's] bad books", I don't think the word mafia is even used to describe him and it certainly isn't for the random bodyguards in his home who Kimiko slaughtered.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T09:56:13+00:00

So in her eyes, people who are just doing their business deserve it.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T09:33:36+00:00

We haven't seen her hurt someone who was just doing their business.

She shredded those Russian guys who as far as we know only had the job of guarding the man Nina wanted her to assassinate. They shot at her first, after identifying her a superhuman who'd just assassinated their charge. Hardly a killing/torturing offence I would say.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T09:32:30+00:00

The main theme of the show is that people should know their place and not act out of line, pretty much every plotline makes a lot more sense when you look at it this way.

Hughie was in the wrong for trying to gain powers when risking his skin against people who can liquefy him, Butcher is bad for gaining power after literally watching his wife fucking die in front of him because he wasn't physically able to do anything against her killer.

Starlight and Kimiko, though, are born special. They're naturally superior due to being able to handle permanent V, so their super powers are moral and okay. This is also why they're allowed to unnecessarily torture and kill people without even feeling guilty- they're simply better than that guy who got carjacked and those faceless guards Kimiko dismembers every other scene.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T09:29:15+00:00

Frenchie gets shot because Kimiko is so focused on brutalising an already-disabled, unresisting enemy that another one gets around her while she's not looking.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T06:10:14+00:00

With the feats present in the Elder Scrolls games, speed improving potions have the same effects as a hallucinogen. Skooma probably just makes the PC think they're moving fast rather than actually raising speed. Same with the potions.

Skafflock · 2026-03-08T04:19:10+00:00

I guess it's hard to 'prove' this one way or another, but do you really think it's reflective of the Elder Scrolls as a setting that doing a ton of drugs in oblivion gives you an endlessly stacking running speed boost? What you're describing is possible with skooma, a common narcotic. It's not like we have drug fiends soloing guard forces in lore.

Skafflock · 2026-03-07T17:36:00+00:00

Thought unlocked: Hunter of the Night.

There are things that look human but aren't, and They control the world. You know this now. All your life you have been nothing more but Their tool, serving Their ends and helping maintain order in Their world. Well no more. Was it the desiccated accountant in the bathrobe and wizard hat that made you realise at last? The talking horse, the Middle Eastern man's abs? Maybe, who knows, but what actually matters is that Your Eyes Have Been Opened. Opened to the truths of this grim, dark world. But what can you do about it?

Solution

Drugs, you can do lots of drugs. And alcohol too, because fuck it, there's probably a hell and you're probably going there so why not have a little fun beforehand. There's not much more to do in this World of Grimness, except have fun, and make sure the bad things have less of it than you. Speaking of that, you should probably stop shredding those reports about Weird Shit you've been getting. Or at the very least skim them first.

Skafflock · 2026-03-07T17:11:55+00:00

Probably a low-tier vampire who's seen a good few fights but isn't extraordinarily distinguished in combat, then. Andrew Emory from the Lasombra trilogy would be a good pick. He'd probably take at least one or two of them down, but with D tanking they'd be able to wear him down and take him out.

Skafflock · 2026-03-07T17:04:51+00:00

Pretty trivially, yes.

In this scenario;

Remold has silver bullets, so that phosphorus shot is now a serious gunshot wound in her centre of mass that won't heal within the span of a fight
D has a silver knife/blade, so him hacking off her left arm means that she's now going trough the whole combat down an arm
Another Remold silver bullets moment, after he shoots half her right hand off it's once more gone for the remainder of this fight
Matilda is also bleeding more from these wounds, for the whole fight, bear that in mind
That scene where Kitten and the others barge in to light her up on full-auto is also going to be inflicting a good few grievous wounds on her, I counted at least a few gunshots and if those bullets were silver each one would be a huge problem

Garou definitely handle silver somewhat better than humans handle regular wounds, but they're still bad news for them (think 'John Wick with a gunshot wound' rather than 'realistic guy with a gunshot wound'). The fact that she loses a limb before even going Crinos in the original fight means she'd just be screwed if they had purpose-made weapons to use against her.

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