Oh boy, Max really should have given the beating and left it at that. But its clear Max has had enough of the prince and his behavior.
Unfortunately Dec now has no choice but try to have Max eliminated as soon as possible. Not saying it will work, but now its matter of royal pride, and paranoia. Men in power, especially those with delusions of grandeur do not take well to being corrected.
This is going to get all kinds of ugly before its over!
hes actually being very careful in his phraseing. hes implying a lot. and taking actions he knows he legaly can under roma law. Acantha is a bit tricky. on that hes pushing it. and yes .. the fuse is burning.. but how long is it.
You should probably insert the phrase "try to" in place of the word "and"...as in "Dec now has no choice but to try to have Max eliminated...". After all, it's just been conclusively proven that he can't do the job himself, his troops answer to the man who just used him for origami practice, and his chief assassin....errr...trouble shooter is siding with Max.
If Dec has the political savvy of a gnat (notice that I didn't mention anything about intelligence or moral fortitude?), he'll realize that he's about one atomic width from a coup, and start cutting a deal.
The troops may answer to Max, but that doesn't mean Max is untouchable. Dec has proven that he knows how to have people that get in his way eliminated. (His own father for instance) and Max gave away an important trigger in this scene. It just remains to be seen if Dec will exploit it.
Max wont be an easy target, but I see Dec as a schemer, and he does have the resources to get what he wants.
Dec wouldn't have been in power this long without knowing whom to pay off.
you are correct Max knows full well what kind of can of flesh devouring worms hes opening , what hes after to accomplish is to "put the fear of max" in decs little head. he feels he can take the heat a LOT better than Acantha. Lynn gets the benny simply by proximity. :P
I would agree if Max were dealing with someone who was both sane and rational, but l see Dec as a man slipping into madness, that makes him more dangerous by far. Max is trying a half measure (a term lm shamelessly stealing from Breaking Bad here) in order to snap the Prince back from the edge, which l hope works, but after seeing that scene with the slave... l think its too late for that now.
As with anyone, Dec thinks of himself as the hero of his own story
He has a twisted mind, and a cold heart, which makes him an excellent. Villain.
There is so much at stake, and so many elements on a collision course, I am on edge waiting to see how this is going to play out!!
Funny thing about that. The whole thing happened before the room was finished, and before janitorial could get to it, a construction crew came along with the painter bot and applied the KarbonKoat to it.
Acid and bleach just can't get through a nano-diamond coating.
Court politics have just ascended several degrees of intensity.
Maxus is dropping a big rock in the Imperial koi pond and anyone standing around the edge is going to get wet feet!
I will say this for Decimus he hasn't puked up his booze, yet. I also agree, Decimus will, later in the morning, complete the plot for Maximus's assassination, Maximus needs to send all the people he holds dear to safe keeping, however his slave wouldn't leave him if a gun were at her head. Excellent action series these past few pages.
BTW what do CentComm's spies tell her of the situation in Nova Roma.
two things I can safely point out - one Deck is not a wimp, nor is he a coward. he prefers to have the cards in his hand first. as for Cent-Comms "spys" Im afraid the only one known is Mister Black and you guys know as much as I do.
Afraid I would respectfully disagree with the author, as presented Decimus is a craven coward, a drunkem fop and is only capable of acting against those who he knows are incapable of defending themselves, the serving girl who he threatened to whip to death, his younger step-sister the cat-girl/pet and probable sex-toy, the Doctor most definitely a wimp and a wuss. Now there may be a side you have not shown us, so far all we have seen is an incompetent, drunken, megalomaniac who has pretensions of adequacy.
I am curious where incompetent comes in. he did after all arrange the kidnapping on his own - he is physicly in great shape. and yes he prefers targets that cant fight back. he has abilititys in planning and and creating plots and other such - he is also extreamly skilled and logisitcs one of the main reasons Romas military is so well organized - a lot of Sociopathic people are also increadibly detail oriented. by all rights Maxus is breaking the plan - by not acting according to his normal stand back and watch. deck has now found the "line" with Maxus.
also if deck wasnt able to keep the senate happy or at least most of them. he might be removed. what you are seeing is not his "public" face.
incompetent adj. 1) referring to a person who is not able to manage his/her affairs due to mental deficiency (lack of I.Q., deterioration, illness or psychosis) or sometimes physical disability. Being incompetent can be the basis for appointment of a guardian or conservator (after a hearing in which the party who may be found to be incompetent has been interviewed by a court investigator and is present and/or represented by an attorney) to handle his/her person and/or affairs (often called "estate"). 2) in criminal law, the inability to understand the nature of a trial. In these cases defendant is usually institutionalized until such time as he/she regains sanity and can be tried.
Actually, the first definition doesn't really fit. He IS capable of managing his affairs. He just chooses to delegate those tasks. It gives him more time to scheme and plan and punish the servants for accidentally putting his coffee table three centimeters out of position after doing the floors.
Great action sequence, agreed. Not an easy thing to pull off with 3d rendering.
Yes, I think even Decimus knows his authority is compromised; that has its good and bad aspects. The immediate threat (actual and implied) as delivered by Max will keep him in line in the short term. But he has some skill as a schemer, and is unbalanced to boot; Maxus (and by implication everyone who stands with him) is a threat / challenge that Decimus *cannot* ignore.
for the asshat that pushed that line.
Unfortunately Dec now has no choice but try to have Max eliminated as soon as possible. Not saying it will work, but now its matter of royal pride, and paranoia. Men in power, especially those with delusions of grandeur do not take well to being corrected.
This is going to get all kinds of ugly before its over!
Really nice job on this page!!
* edited LOL
If Dec has the political savvy of a gnat (notice that I didn't mention anything about intelligence or moral fortitude?), he'll realize that he's about one atomic width from a coup, and start cutting a deal.
Max wont be an easy target, but I see Dec as a schemer, and he does have the resources to get what he wants.
Dec wouldn't have been in power this long without knowing whom to pay off.
As with anyone, Dec thinks of himself as the hero of his own story
He has a twisted mind, and a cold heart, which makes him an excellent. Villain.
There is so much at stake, and so many elements on a collision course, I am on edge waiting to see how this is going to play out!!
oh and would you belive we have a few more balls to put in play? or rather to see if we can resolve some balls! :D
Acid and bleach just can't get through a nano-diamond coating.
Maxus is dropping a big rock in the Imperial koi pond and anyone standing around the edge is going to get wet feet!
BTW what do CentComm's spies tell her of the situation in Nova Roma.
They tend to get 'seduced' by their hobbies.
also if deck wasnt able to keep the senate happy or at least most of them. he might be removed. what you are seeing is not his "public" face.
I would say Decimus fits both 1 and 2 to a "T"
However- he does have intelligence and cunning. and is a dangerous person. just not in a stand up fight against someone like Maxus.
Yes, I think even Decimus knows his authority is compromised; that has its good and bad aspects. The immediate threat (actual and implied) as delivered by Max will keep him in line in the short term. But he has some skill as a schemer, and is unbalanced to boot; Maxus (and by implication everyone who stands with him) is a threat / challenge that Decimus *cannot* ignore.
For anyone with that image now stuck in their head... please don't hurt me.
And he's OK..."
(?)
and make us a vote incentive
O Artistic One!
If two tutus are too much to deal with,
there is that lovely Nova Roman bath you could employ while it's still holding water...
I'm gonna go hunt down some evil now.