Patrons got to vote on a choice on this page:
What Does Speck Do?
Cort is unconscious. Nyrah has programmed coordinates to a remote location where they may be able to hide for a little while so Cort can rest. Cort’s former partner, Marshal Quel’oran, says the Federation Triumvirate will not simply let the Starcaster go, and that he needs to come in for help or they’ll be hunted. What does Speck decide the best course of action for his friend is?
- Just go. Jump to Nyrah’s coordinates, away from everyone, and hide. Give Cort time to recover, and figure out their next move alone.
- Trust Quel’oran. Stop running, surrender to the Federation and let them help Cort/protect him from the Syndicate.
I don’t remember running working out well for them in the past.
But I’ve also *never* seen “Trust the other Large Government Entity behind the well meaning uncle type” working out either.
To say nothing of the fact that the last time they trusted the Fed resulted in them practically handing Nyrah and the starcaster back over to the Dranglaex because the officer was on the Syndicate’s payroll. Nevermind the fact that the Federation just accidentally led the Grin to them AGAIN… Thinking of it from an in-character perspective rather than a viewer’s perspective, Speck and Cort really have no reason to change their minds about the Federation right now. Trusting Quel enough to give him some assurances or even read him in is one thing, but option 2 pole-vaults past that… Read more »
I feel like option 1 is the most likely to succeed and also the one most people probably picked, but I can’t help but wonder what option 2 would end up with.
I know most people went for option 1. But I hope for option 2.
Same here. I’ve been begging for option 2 basically since Quel entered the picture, but the masses being what they are, I think they intend to make this as torturous as possible for Cort.
Well, no wonder Cort calls him Speck. Apparantly you need about six tentacles coming out of your face to pronounce that one right.
When I originally read this page, I thought it was some kind of a curse word (as in “enough with this sh*t”). Took me embarrassingly long to notice the comma and put 2 and 2 together.
How is that even pronouced
Tim can we get a video of you pronouncing some of these names ???
Hmmm Spegh’klieug… well, ‘gh’ is typically pronounced as an f, so phonemically I would guess something like Spef-clueg?
I guess Speck comes from Spegh’k like spaghetti
You forget that he is an alien… so all bets on pronunciation are off.
Assuming they use English phonetics.
It’s pronounced “Shuh-SHEV-ski”
In gaelic “ough” is pronouched “ock” plus Cort could pronounce Spef as easily as Speck so I assume its pretty much Speck.
Unfortunately it’s mispelled. He’s missing 2 dots over the u.
Trust Quel’oran.
Option 2.
I hope option 2 I really like Quel’oran
I don’t trust the federation as far as I can spit tho
Aww, Ethan and Lucas had a baby and he’s in panel 1.
Wish there was 3rd option, surrender but in the remote location with less chaos. Stopping here is super conspicuous.
I can see the majority go “SCREEEEEEEEEEEEW THE GOVERNMENT!” and jump with a FU finger. XD
Option 2. Time to stop running.
I am with the government and We are here to help.
Remember that one decision we made for Cort years ago that put him through a set of industrial fan blades?
Trusting the federation sounds like that.
That was Ethan MacManus: Space Archaeologist.
Oh, dang, I forgot all about Space Archaeologist. Hey Tim, any chance you can add a category for it in the archives?
I say option 2. Constantly running is really never going to work and it just feels like the story is dragging cause it’s constant running with no push forward.
I would say that I’d like to throw my vote in for the less popular option 2! I want to see how that plays out for once!
I’ve gotta go with option 2 here since winging it on their own has ended up with someone almost dying. Whatever sort of a badass Cort is supposed to be has clearly not been enough to keep them safe from the Syndicate
The obvious solution is to vote ALFRED E. NEUMAN for PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED NATION-PLANETS in 6020!
I dont think it will take Pete Buttigieg 4000 years to win election.
Has anyone else been unable to read the comics for the past few months because of the ads?
They cover half the page, and they never stop playing. Every time one ad video ends, another just starts up after a random amount of time. It’s always this frustrating game of how far I can read before the comic hides behind the same video informing me Last of Us II is delayed.
These days, I can only read the comic with the “open image in new tab” trick.
I’ve never had that happen to me. I use Chrome on my android phone to look at the comics. What are you using?
Chrome and android as well. It’s gotten a little better recently, but it’s kind of random. Sometimes it’s just a little player in the corner I can ignore, but just as often it eats up like 75% of the screen. And it’s also random when/if it stops playing at the end, instead of starting over. Been like it since some time in early 2019.
I’ve noticed a few other comics, like Misfile, having the same problem.
Panel 5, Speck says “go no one” typo?
not a criticism, love your work.
Noted.
I’m leaning option 1, but I have to wonder where Nyrah plotted her course to. She thinks it is remote and potentially uninhabited, but maybe it was that way 100 years ago and things have very much changed..?
I think the best option would be to somehow escape, but take Quel with them. Not his ship and crew, just him. But that doesn’t look like it’s even close to an option.
Oh interesting, Speck is just a nickname and he has a proper name. Makes me wonder a bit more about Mimion lore. What’s their culture like? What’s their home planet like? Is it just a big ol’ nivium asteroid or something? Do they lay eggs that start to dissolve once the embryo develops its corrosion glands? Or does the corrosive biology develop when they mature from juveniles?
At least Quel’Oran is not a corrupt bastard like that guy 4 years back:
https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-04-04/
Or an idiot like Captain Ulogg.
If there wasn’t fear of Bad Ends, I’d go for Option 2 because it sounds far more interesting. But alas, death threats make you not choose the most interesting option or even the option with highest chance of survival, but rather the option that you believe the writer thinks is right.
Honestly, there is no ‘right’ choice here. Both options here have some upside, but also great potential of leading to Bad Things. While running away does seem safe for getting rid of the immediate danger (assuming the coordinates are actually safe and not, say, in the path of an incoming invasion fleet), it does officially turn Cort into a galactic-level threat, and cuts off any hope of a reasonable outcome with the alliance even if it should become necessary to reconsider. Turning himself in has all the obvious downsides, but it does at least give some negotiating position and Quel’Oran… Read more »
I’m really torn on this (predecided) decision. On the one hand, Quel’oran seems like a stand up guy. That said, he’s seemingly had a real grudge against Cort in the past, so it’s hard to determine his motives. Even if he IS a stand up guy, I can’t imagine the Triumvirate let Cort keep the star caster willingly (and thus keep his arm) . Either they take it by force, or force him to be a soldier in their army, or he has to make a big show of using it to ward them off. All Cort seems to imply… Read more »
I have to say, given there is a xenocidal empire spinning up for war in the background, and lots of shady characters gunning for the star caster, option 1 sounds like something out of a tragedy. the big empire whose name I have forgotten is getting ready to go to war, and by all indications they are the sort to just wipe everyone else out. The federation is going to need that star caster to survive, and cort is going to need them to survive if he wants to survive. this feels like a point in a tragedy where a… Read more »
Seems to me option 1 would result in having both the Syndicate and the Federation after Cort whereas option 2 leaves Cort just having to worry about the Syndicate which the Federation, or at the very least Quel’oran, can help protect him from.
Just go, run and hide away for a bit! Those guys need a rest!
Knowing speck, he’ll choose to book it.
Though i really wanted to know what would option 2 lead to.
I vote trust
Option 2 would get him more assistance.
Hmm…this is a interesting choice when trying to think from Speck’s mindset and not my own. Speck I’m guessing (outside of relatively minor bad experience at that patrol outpost a long while back) has his own bad history with the Federation, and haven’t seen Quel’oran’s thoughts like we had, thus doesn’t have any real reason to trust him.Plus the immediate danger of Grin has been taken care of and Speck’s probably used to bouncing around running from people, so it’d seem like the natural choice from Speck would be to just go. On the other hand that’s what they’ve been… Read more »