- Just go. Jump to Nyrah’s coordinates, away from everyone, and hide. Give Cort time to recover, and figure out their next move alone. 66%
- Trust Quel’oran. Stop running, surrender to the Federation and let them help Cort/protect him from the Syndicate. 34%
Good argument – like this decision.
I feel bad for Quel. He certainly still cares about Cort.
Dammit. I was rooting for the other choice. Would have been a more interesting time, I think. Not that I’m not still enjoying this or looking forward to things! Spek is awesome here.
Same I really feel for Quel feels like hes trying to fill some dad\uncle role itd be interesting to see that backstory
I’d say there’s a high probability that he’s going to pull a Heroic Sacrifice considering the “I may not be your Father, but did try to be your Daddy” thing going on
Quel’s Mary Poppins, y’all!
I’ve been a Federation captain ever since my own mommy and daddy sold me – they OWN LIL BOY – into slavery!
Speck is literally awesome in every scene he’s in.
Little surprise there. If there one thing we know (and love) about speck is that he is on cort’s side, come hell or federation fleet?
The vote is almost always for “do the wild and reckless thing” rather than the more intriguing narrative option.
Disagree that running from a corrupt and incompetent Federation is reckless. Between the commander who sold out Nyrah and Captain Ulogg trying to play hero in the chaos, it’s not like they’re trustworthy or reliable. If Cort was framed for corruption, what was Quel’s role as his former partner? Meanwhile, he knows what he has with Speck, and with Nyrah. I would say the voters made the in-character choice. Dubious that Cort can learn to control the starcaster with his body strained when he is also one of the last places he wants to be. I have a feeling Nyrah’s… Read more »
What I was thinking. There probably not flying to safety. My thinking it’s a trap. Voters don’t think rationally.
Or, they think first of the more torturous of the two options.
They did something very much like this the first time Tim tried a CYOA story, and Ethan got diced in like four issues.
:edit: 12 issues, technically. But Zeke got killed in nine.
On the other hand, it’s hard to imagine a narrative where Speck choosing to turn to the federation makes any sense at all. Speck has made his disdain for the federation quite clear, like he does in panel one here: https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-03-14/
A fellow Bolts fan! ASAP! Also agree with you about Speck. 🙂
Problem is that Quel is not able to help Cort like he thinks he can. You know that as soon as he gets him, Quel gets sidelined as far a helping/protecting Cort goes and the corrupt part of the Federation tries to control Cort.
I agree with you there but i feel like that would open up Quel maybe going bandit to save Cort and co
So you think we could have Quel being our “Hobbs”?
My concern is if Quel’s superiors are more interested in using Cort and Quel were to disrupt that by trying to protect him is that Quel would get dramatically murdered for his troubles as a character-developing impetus for Cort. I think this option may also have saved (or possibly prolonged) Quel’s life.
I think I trust Quel’oran, I’m just not sure yet if I trust the Federation. I’m definitely leaning that way, because they seem alright barring one corrupt cop and one trigger-happy dreadstorm captain, but I haven’t really seen enough of them to make that call yet.
Loved the way that Tim conveyed the feeling that Quel’oran actually cares for Cort.
Do we know who jack isir is that a new name?
Jack was Cort’s mentor after leaving the federation. Was introduced in the first volume
https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-01-13/
Nope. Former captain of the Aphelion; friend and mentor to Cort and Speck. When Cort left the Federation, he went to work with Jack.
Yeah, I think this wasn’t a decision against Quel and more like a decision against the Federation from the readers.
I voted to join Quel. Mainly because this entire story has just been running from one place to another. And now, instead of just having the syndicate out to kill him, the Federation is out to kill him now too.
Also I feel like Quel is forced to just become a background character now. There’s not much room for character development now that Federation has to go full bounty hunter mode to find Cort.
Boourns
Where has he gone?
– South Park
– SeaLLab
– Albany
– Gotham City
The people voting for side A or side B seem to have forgotten one thing…
Cort left the federation on purpose. Not as a traitor, not as a convict. He just left.
But he did it for a REASON. Whether Quel’oran was helping Cort do things or worsened things, Speck is not going to look on anyone associated with that event and say “yeah, sure, this is good”
Cort himself might have been willing, actually, though to the best of our knowledge Speck got a second hand opinion.
This back and forth dialogue wouldn’t be as bad, if it didn’t come out slowly and wasn’t completely expected.
This whole thing is glacially paced, a completely unsuitable story for the medium and release format. It’s also janky, full of exposition and monstrously derivative. And yet, you seem have a few dozen, presumably low iq people (probably juggalos), that seem to lap this shit up and spend ages debating what imaginary, narrative characters can or cannot do.
i honestly dont believe this result
I picked the jump to Nyrah’s coordinates. I look at it as a matter of control. You are in trouble and things are spiraling correct? So you need to regain some semblance of control. You do not do that by going to someplace where you will not have any control. You end up someplace where you have yourself and a small group of trusted people around you. You heal up, and you gather intel on what is actually going on.
I get the sense that while the Federation is corrupt at the top, Quel may be a good guy. Can he help or will he be overruled? Don’t know. However, I can’t see Cort or Speck choosing to trust him at this point. They’d jump for sure. Although, if Quel tracks them down and Cort wakes up and they manage to have a chat.. who knows what could happen next?
I hoped for the other option, but the Federation already screwed over the party when Nyrah forced them to go to the Federation outpost. I can’t blame them for running.
Um… Cataloguing or calculating? Sorry to be that guy.
—
Yeah, running is the most sensible option again from where they’re standing. Even if Quel is a well-meaning guy, you know the saying about good intentions.
Also I bet the Federation’s corrupt elements can overrule him. That’s usually the case in most gov’t organisations. The most influential people nearly always are the worst assholes.
Also, as a reader, I don’t think it’s healthy for the galaxy/quadrant/whatever for any group to have more than one Starcaster.
Well, the feds have two already. So in a universe with only six known, Cort on their side would be an almost unstoppable power.
Ah, yes. I recalled incorrectly. Thought the feds had just one.
But they have two already, and the Dranglaex just one though they pretend they got a second one when they exterminated the Odrossians.
Change my wording to something like “any group to have a significantly larger amount of Starcasters than the rest.”
The feds don’t sound like the kind of group that would openly start wars. But real-world geopolitics have shown us there are several other ways to start them…
Did anyone else get an odd vibe from Speck there? That smug face…
It made me wonder, if there’s more to him than the usual “perfectly loyal sidekick” gig.
That trope IS quite the cliché, so I wouldn’t mind if he turns out to have ulterior motives. Would make for an interesting plot twist, maybe. If done right.
I mean, thus far the story’s been very straightforward.
I think we just haven’t seen much of Speck’s background. He’s a creature that pretty much inspires terror wherever he goes, unable to touch anything, a threat to any ship he’s on. Yet, he lives away from the home world.
I think that Cort is one of Speck’s very few friends. Possibly his only one, and he lives a very, very lonely life. I don’t think their story is by-the-book at all; just that excessive time hasn’t been spent diving into Speck, who is, after all, a supporting character.
Yeah, the basic template still makes sense. And everything we’ve seen so far points that way. By now, if Speck turned on Cort somehow it would look out of place for the most part.
I was just wondering out loud.
Gorrammit. I hate being right all the time.
Quel, good intentions or not, is going to have a hard time playing this by the book. I feel like an act of trust is needed. Show up alone to meet Cort or what not, basically I feel like Quel needs a choose your path moment where he could break from the federation or something…. It seems like this decision is in character and actually aligns well with what Spek would, even SHOULD, do when Cort who has been pretty clear at ducking Quel and is now unconscious would probably do. That said, I don’t see how this story ark… Read more »