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24

The Starcaster Chronicles 10.24

August 23, 2022 by Tim

And that wraps up issue #10! Regular updates will resume Friday!


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BakaGrappler
BakaGrappler
2 years ago

And with the end of the issue, the Patrons also made the decision on THE BIG CHOICE. If you wish to know what happened that required almost 200 posts between backers to come to what was a near even split consensus, then you can back Tim on Patreon and check things out yourself without having to wait a year or two.

We have a good time whenever we interact, and there is no one in there that is toxic. All friends are welcome, but I’ll admit that most of us are there for the Art and the Polls.

John Swift
John Swift
2 years ago
Reply to  BakaGrappler

That big of a discussion? interesting. Im guessing it was a decision of what Cort will do, to me that feel like the big question hanging in the air. Iv debated backing before… Either way ill find out eventually. Good issue, good ending point but I feel like there is a bigger end comming 🙂 is that planet bursts within a couple pages ill be sad it wasnt in here but theres alot going on.

Esc
Esc
2 years ago
Reply to  BakaGrappler

Wait did the decision get posed after this page of the comic on Patreon, or in another issue?

Erik B
Erik B
2 years ago
Reply to  Esc

Later issue. This page you’ve all just seen is from a while ago.

BakaGrappler
BakaGrappler
2 years ago
Reply to  Esc

The BIG CHOICE finalized less than 1 week ago. The next bunch of pages dropped will be done with the results of said choice. The choice is made, but the fallout has yet to occur.

John Swift
John Swift
2 years ago
Reply to  BakaGrappler

Oh, in that case is that choice based on events in the next chapter that will arrive later? I thought the Patreon was an entire chapter ahead of live but i dono if thats accurate, or atleast anymore.

BakaGrappler
BakaGrappler
2 years ago
Reply to  John Swift

We’re at least a full Issue ahead of the free release, maybe an Issue and a half? I’d have to check and I wanna sleep. Anyway, there are things that have happened that are important, choices along the way that have brought us to where the Patreon pages are now, and they have culminated in a situation where the BIG CHOICE was not only inevitable, but had nuances to it’s presentation and lead up.

If anyone wants to see what happens next, and help steer us in the future to come, backing is the best way to get instant gratification.

Martin
Martin
2 years ago
Reply to  Esc

In the middle of issue 12 – Patreon is still ahead.

Gonfrask
Gonfrask
2 years ago

Jum…does daddy Dranglaex have a bionic right arm? Mean he was a starcaster bearer but cut his arm to give it to one of his sons…maybe because he had to rule and had no time to be in the front…

Paddy
Paddy
2 years ago
Reply to  Gonfrask

Good spot. Could also be a symbolic gauntlet made to look a bit like a starcaster to reference their special claim as heirs of the progenitors or whatever

LazerWulf
LazerWulf
2 years ago
Reply to  Paddy

It could also just be an actual Starcaster.

playing it safe
playing it safe
2 years ago
Reply to  LazerWulf

Can’t say for sure, but it doesn’t match the design of the others. For one, none of the other starcasters cover the palms of the wearer.

Dagroth
Dagroth
2 years ago
Reply to  LazerWulf

It’s not, they only have one, and pretend to have the second one, which belonged to Odrossians, and Cort is now wearing. Read from here: https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-01-22/

Eldest Gruff
Eldest Gruff
2 years ago
Reply to  LazerWulf

Pretty sure it’s not, as the Dranglaex also acted as if they only ever had one. I do have a feeling that he was previous bearer of the Starcaster, passing it down from father to son. Which makes sense: with the toll that the Starcaster takes on its owner, you do not want the one in charge to be occasionally completely incapacitated. Better for the hero of the people to do so, and for that to be the future Emperor; that way, power stays within the family.

John Swift
John Swift
2 years ago
Reply to  Eldest Gruff

Ya i noticed the arm aswell. Thought it was fitting. Eairler this chapter when discussing stragety the brother with the Starcaster mentioned his brothers desire to attack even without thinking was why their Father saw fit to give the caster to him and not the brother. I assumed the father was dead and it was his wishes. I was surprised to see him alive. Now that statement could still be true even if the Starcaster was wielded by another but if thats how they ruled I doubt a prince would have it now. Supremists like that would want to keep… Read more »

VibrantEvolution
VibrantEvolution
2 years ago
Reply to  Eldest Gruff

on the other hand, looking at history what ruler ever gave something to their offspring that would make them more powerful than themselves.

robloughrey
robloughrey
2 years ago

Lots of them. It was quite common to make the heir the General of the army or Admiral of the Navy, chief of the secret police, etc.

Christopher
Christopher
2 years ago
Reply to  Paddy

It’s the Infinity Gauntlet. I’ll see myself out now.

Andhaka
Andhaka
2 years ago
Reply to  Gonfrask

That is the Gauntlet of Drax’alur. Worn by every single emperor since the Great Unification War.

With that gauntlet the first true emperor, Li-Turam, won himself the whole planet of Draglex by felling his last opponent, the mighty Krofdan Red-Eye, with a single blow.

Since then the Gauntlet has been the symbol of power and majesty for every emperor.

Cheers

Erik B
Erik B
2 years ago
Reply to  Andhaka

Wait. Where is this info?

Cragfast
Cragfast
2 years ago
Reply to  Erik B

Pretty sure he’s mocking the strip by making up a load of dumb-sounding names. Intentional misspelling of Dranglaex gives it away.

Kasaix
Kasaix
2 years ago
Reply to  Gonfrask

I figure he had to cut off his arm to give their Starcaster to the prince, kind of like what was told to Cort if he ever wanted to get rid of his.

Gonfrask
Gonfrask
2 years ago
Reply to  Kasaix

Another theory I had (I’m not patreonist so I haven’t read the next chapters) is that the Dranglaex Emperor always have more than one heir, because one of them will have to bear the Starcaster and probably the toll will kill him/her in some moment. The others heirs are those who will inherit the crown

Dennis
Dennis
2 years ago

Who is this Marko? Have we ever seen that character before?

Glaedien
Glaedien
2 years ago
Reply to  Dennis

The name’s not ringing any bells for me atm, but at a guess, he’s our big scary bounty hunter antagonist.

Kenju
Kenju
2 years ago
Reply to  Dennis

Might have been the Feddy cop from early on who tried to sell out the location of the Starcaster before Cort rescued his partner and teacher in Starcaster-ry.

Or it could have been the Feddy cop that tentacle uncle sent to keep an eye on Cort who tried to kill Spek but got turned to bubbly goop paste.

Martin
Martin
2 years ago
Reply to  Dennis

Marko was the mobster that hired “the grin” / the bounty hunter. He got killed in the orbital bombardment by the Dranglaex after they learned that Marko and the bountyhunter had failed to secure the Starcaster twice…

Dennis
Dennis
2 years ago

Who is this Marko? Have we ever seen that character before?

Dyna
Dyna
2 years ago
Reply to  Dennis

Marko was the leader of the syndicate, first mentioned here: https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-01-17/ and seen here: https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-01-24/

Last time he was seen he got nuked from orbit by the Drangleax while trying to flee for some reason. https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-07-24/

Cragfast
Cragfast
2 years ago
Reply to  Dyna

Vextanix was going to Star Beam the planet, but Kelias felt that would be too fast. So Severic suffered a slow, agonising death by orbital bombardment instead. The needless cruelty of the Dranglaex.

robloughrey
robloughrey
2 years ago

My last month’s check was for 11000 dollars. Everything I did was basic Οnline wΟrk from comfort at hΟme for 3-4 hours per day that I got from this office I found over the web and they paid me 95 dollars each hour…
Attempt it yourself.. https://richzone99.blogspot.com/

Last edited 2 years ago by Robert
robloughrey
robloughrey
2 years ago
Reply to  robloughrey

Tim, you really need to do something about this guy. Can you just ban my account and I’ll log in using a different email. Letting people verify only by email isn’t very good practice BTW.

Tim
Tim
2 years ago
Reply to  robloughrey

See it can end up going bad if you let people say they are whoever they want to be.

robloughrey
robloughrey
2 years ago
Reply to  robloughrey

I saw you were able to put a mod lock on me logging in as Tim. Isn’t there something you can do? This is literally the only website I’m on that has this problem.

OliGagnon
OliGagnon
2 years ago

There isn’t 160000 options as of who this drangalex secret agent could be. Either a new character to appear, Quel or Major La’Ni/Major Denton that could always flip sides as she/he has still to take direct action against the Drangalex herself. Cort’s only hope is to stick with the Feds making the war a lopsided 3-1 so La’Ni/Danton has to switch sides for the story to not end in 5 minutes. On a side note, big props to Tim for being one of the last two (along with Penny-Arcade) still drawing their main gig since 2002 and not hiding everything… Read more »

toughluck
toughluck
2 years ago
Reply to  OliGagnon

If any of the Federation Starcaster bearers were double agents, the Dranglaex would have already started the war decades earlier because they would already have 2-1 advantage and would have found Cort’s Starcaster.

I also don’t think it’s Quel. He seems like a man on a mission and is perfectly aware that Dranglaex take no prisoners. He has nothing to get from a bargain with them and getting a Starcaster bearer to them wouldn’t stop their genocidal war.

robloughrey
robloughrey
2 years ago
Reply to  toughluck

There was literally a story arc about a double Fed agent. Quell’s the one that caught him.

GUNnibal
GUNnibal
2 years ago
Reply to  OliGagnon

making the war a lopsided 3-1 so La’Ni/Danton has to switch sides for the story to not end in 5 minutes To be honest, I feel like you are overestimating the impact Starcasters can have on the war. They are powerful weapons, yes, the kind that allows you to win specific battles relatively quickly. Battles, not wars. The galaxy is a big place and with less than a handful of individuals wielding this weapon you can’t hope to just use them as a shield – they simply can’t be everywhere at the same time. Hit and run is a valid… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by GUNnibal
Number51x
Number51x
2 years ago

Octodad just became incredibly sus.

Halosty
Halosty
2 years ago

Not gonna lie, I probably wouldn’t work for an alien species who openly wants to eradicate all others. Seems like any rewards are going to be very transitory.

Eldest Gruff
Eldest Gruff
2 years ago
Reply to  Halosty

OK…. OK, hear me. It’s, like, these guys, you know, are entitled to their own view of the Universe. And according to their view, which the Universe forced on them, right, they did right. Sounds crazy, but I think you’ll agree. They believe in…

… uh…

… they believe in “peace, justice, morality, culture, sport, family life, and the obliteration of all other life forms”.

… I’ve heard a lot worse.

Rolando
Rolando
2 years ago
Reply to  Halosty

That’s the sensible road to take. But a lot of people aren’t sensible, remember. Also, hardship and duress have a way of twisting or destroying ethics, dignity, and so on. As they say in my country: “Need wear an heretic’s face.” Pretty much all real-world equivalents (Nazis, religious fanatics, invaders of all sorts) had their fair share of collaborators from among the people they were blatantly trying to subjugate and/or eradicate. After all, every society has its share of a-h0les. And its share of people who choose betrayal, when the alternative is horrible enough (torture, death, loss of loved ones,… Read more »

Kaitensatsuma
Kaitensatsuma
2 years ago

DUN DUN DUN

Robert
Robert
2 years ago

I’ve always had issues with communication systems that can send messages instantaneously across vast distances. At least with Star Trek / Star Wars / etc. they were all inside the same galaxy. These guys can talk between galaxies with no problem!

robloughrey
robloughrey
2 years ago
Reply to  Robert

We’re right on the cusp of being able to do that ourselves. The Chinese have already communicated with a quantum entangled particle in orbit. Once thats reliable it’s instantaneous communication with any place that we can get to.

Steve
Steve
2 years ago

I am not a Patreon so don’t say ‘spoilers’ but my guesses on Dranglaex assets, in descending order:

Sun Devils
Sssssimiasss
Captain Ulogg
Danton
Cela/Cass (whichever was MIA)
Quel (unlikely, would drive Cort mad)

Erik B
Erik B
2 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Nice job with recalling the back issues enough to bring up sun devils and ssissimias.

CTOWNS
CTOWNS
2 years ago

I’m loving these badass Roman-style enemies. I will be sad if they go down too easy. Its a classic mistake I see with scifi writers – They make an enemy that’s “too strong” or whatever and have to write them into making very uncharacteristic mistakes or “Suddenly an unforseen trump card appears! There’s actually been another even more powerful race lurking around the whole time that just suddenly kills the bad guys for you!”

If the Dranglaex go down, I hope they don’t go done easily or cheaply. That would just ruin it

toughluck
toughluck
2 years ago
Reply to  CTOWNS

“Too strong” doesn’t exist. There’s always a weak point that leaves them in defeat. I actually liked that in Wing Commander series (parts 1-3). In parts 1 and 2, it felt like it’s possible to win the war, that the Kilrathi are on essentially equal footing with Terrans. Part 1 was pretty clear in that even if you lost in the early campaign, you could still eventually win, and even the complete wasn’t obviously crippling to humanity. Part 2 was more complex and Jazz did provide some justification for his betrayal and in the Special Ops expansion, it was pretty… Read more »

Dagroth
Dagroth
2 years ago
Reply to  toughluck

About “Too strong doesn’t exist” – Mass Effect’s Reapers come to mind. They only lost, because the third game’s developers forgot about what we learned in the first game: The Reapers could just take the Citadel, and disable the Mass Relays (so, FTL travel) for everyone except themselves. And that alone would effectively mean they win, with everyone getting stuck in the system they were at the time (that’s what they did 50000 years prior, when harvesting the Protheans, the Prothean VI, that Shepard met on Ilos, told him/her about it). So, as I said, they only lost because the… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by Dagroth
Rolando
Rolando
2 years ago
Reply to  CTOWNS

So, so true. It also happens with the heroes. They make them too perfect, then have to come up with constant excuses to nerf them. Superman is a classic example. They either make him weaker, or bring enemies who absurdly have his same level of strength and stamina when he is supposed to be the strongest and sturdiest by far… Enemies whose power level was established earlier as not nearly that high. And of course, Kryptonite shows up way too often or not enough. I say “not enough” because, after showing up often enough for the more resourceful villains to… Read more »

Rolando
Rolando
2 years ago

I was assuming their father** was dead. I could’ve even suspected “retired” as a rarity. But, still alive and in charge? I always assumed someone such as the Dranglaex royalty, would never relinquish a Starcaster. Not even to family. They’d have to die, for it to pass on. So, I’m quite curious to find out WHY he did so. I hope the reason is something more interesting than “he didn’t wanna die from it,” @Tim. He IS a zealot, after all. And I sense great storytelling potential in the reasons why he would’ve given it up. ** Because, OF COURSE… Read more »