And sp the prodigal son returns to the fold. Lets gloss over the fact he was dragged kicking and screaming all the way for the moment
It only took his father’s best friend with a deep personal connection, his newly developed conscience wanting to protect someone who saved his life and an entire battlefleet turning up more or less by accident to do it too!
Yup, it’s time Cort stopped running. I think this bit was written rather well 🙂
They were looking for him, the Federation just doesn’t know it yet. He fired off a Starcaster a number of times in training. They detected it and though it was the bad guys.
Last edited 2 years ago by Eric the White
CMasta1992
2 years ago
This is the right play, let’s just hope the majority of the Federation aren’t dicks about it
They’ll be as kind as a military can be against an unaligned planet-destroying power as can be. The federation’s star casters though, may be a different story
I think the existing Fed starcasters would be all to happy to have backup.
If you had rocked up to the US offering them a free battleship just after Pearl Harbor, they’d have gladly taken it and given you a nicely paid position
Maybe. If you and your parents had both been born in the US but were of Japanese decent , they might have taken your battleship and put you in the Manzanar Concentration Camp.
To be fair, the Federation’s Starcasters would probably want to align him to their side and are in a far better position to teach him how to control that power. And considering that he’s already got really good control over it compared to how some other so-called “experienced” users end up burning the crap out of themselves on use, he might be particularly gifted with it or something, and they would be DUMB to not try and nurture that power towards their own defense.
he may not be alligned with the federation but he is against the same enemy. Just cuz he doesn’t trust them doesn’t mean he will be hostile against them.
I mean, I figure they’ve got three options. Press-gang him, force him into service. Chop off his arm and give the starcaster to someone who’ll play ball (I don’t remember if this is a viable option, or if it is, the Federation knows 100% it’ll work). Or, station him on a Core World under heavy protections and surveillance, potentially as a last-ditch defense measure.
Or kill him and give the Starcaster to someone they trust. (harsh, but it is an option, and considering what the Starcaster is, I wouldn’t be particularly suprised, if they decide to do that)
Also, when Cort was considering cutting his own arm off, Nyrah told him, that Starcaster would heal it, before he’d even reach the bone. To be fair though, Cort only had a regular knife, if Federation would be going to do it, they’d probably get some better (and faster) tools.
Last edited 2 years ago by Dagroth
Charles Gollmar
2 years ago
Finally a rational thought process from Cort instead of one rooted in panic-based decisions and Han Solo loner-hero aspirations.
Ben
2 years ago
I totally forgot to vote, but would have been in favor of what the majority chose.
Odds aren’t great with the feds, but I think they’re worse on the run.
That said, I think it would have been best (and still might be) if he could save a city or small moon from destruction before joining up with the feds. Y’know, become popular enough that he’d be be inconvenient to disappear.
ThatMageGuy
2 years ago
….Odds that the Federation is going to screw them all?
Probably not so much. You have someone with the power of stars strapped to his arm. It is a huge boon to their military. Tactically you want to set these people up for life. In return you request assistance with the enemies and the training it requires.
Even if you want to kill them, as they are a big unknown and maybe a loose cannon, you want to do it unexpected. As little danger as possible to yourself and as quick as possible kill. Probably ambushing with two experienced starcasters will suffice. If one wouldn’t suffice.
And even then it sets a risky precedent. If the Federation is willing to betray and attack/amputate Starcaster wielders even when they are trying to work with them, any other or future Starcaster wielder should be weary of them (and probably try to find a less dangerous/untrustworthy faction to sign up with).
Exactly. Soft power is built upon trust. Publicizing heroic Cort falling into the fold and willingly helping the Federation and showing how he is rewarded and respected helps further the Federation’s goals, even if done cynically.
Even in real life there is applicability: one of the few strengths Western democracies have over autocratic states is that people are generally much more likely to assume that Western Democracies aren’t rife with corruption so they will do what they say they will do. Not that we hurt that rep every day with shitty politicans, but that’s another matter.
Not likely. A, you set the precedent to the galaxy of “If you’re a Starcaster user, don’t let the Federation get their hands on you”, and B, antagonizing someone with the literal powers of creation and destruction attached to their arms without first trying everything in your power to either befriend or destroy them would be a rather stupid move.
Scarsdale
2 years ago
This is going to be tricky, I’m sure some high placed a-hole will come up with “Why don’t we just amputate his arm so we can decide who wears it? There’s plenty of prosthetics he can be using in it’s place.” if not just straight out order him killed for it. That song that goes “I GOT THE POWER” keeps running in my head when I see things like this. But yes it is the best choice, sooner or later they will run out of options or ways to run away. I figured it would knock some sense into him… Read more »
Isn’t at least one of the current Starcaster wearers an extra-galatic war refugee who escaped from a previous Dranglex extermination campaign? So why take Cort out when he’s an actual Federation citizen, even if he’s the kind of ex-Marshall embarrassment whom gets booted out of jail with the local cop’s boot imprinted on his butt regularly? Second worst case scenario Cort is too untrained to risk using his Starcaster or simply doesn’t want to. That still leaves the Dranglex with only one starcaster versus two with the threat of it being three breathing down on them Worst case scenario is… Read more »
Crestlinger
2 years ago
Have to laugh if that blast of his gave the highest-up a mohawk and That’s what started this hunt.
Rolando
2 years ago
There are no safe options. All of them involve high risk, indeed. And none of the team’s concerns are invalid. But I do think their odds are better with the Federation. Running away seems like it’ll surely make things worse, by now. We’ll see what happens, when (not if) the Feds try to do something shitty to them. I think it all boils down to that one defining moment. To what the Federations does exactly, and how the team reacts to it. On the one hand, Cort and Quel are better equipped to deal with “the devil they know.” On… Read more »
Last edited 2 years ago by Rolando
Shecky
2 years ago
Was there actually a vote here, usually votes and results are mentioned.
Yes! There was a vote between 11.12 and 11.13. The poll was: To Blast Or Not To Blast “The transponder in Quel’s ship is pinging on a Federation frequency, that has been picked up by the battlegroup that just entered the system. With time to triangulate the signal, it would pinpoint Cort’s exact location on the moon. If discovered, Cort and crew lose control of the situation and Quel’s options for how to handle the wanted fugitives in his company vanish. Option 1: Blast the transponder, killing the signal before it’s too late. Option 2: Listen to Quel. Option 1… Read more »
For some context, Tim had mentioned in a comment that the feds just had a signal. Not a location of signal. The poll description said “with time to triangulate the signal, it would pinpoint Cort’s location”. So some people were voting for shoot the transponder, since they may cut it before anyone can find their location, buying more time. Other people were voting in favour of shooting, since they were thinking of Cort’s history involving snap decision choices, not always sensible choices, and were trying to vote him into character moves.
24
… the peanut gallery voted NOT to run?
Story would have grown stale fast if they hadn’t.
Are people still voting on the story in a poll on patreon?
Yup!
Yes, we typically get a vote or two every issue or two.
Hey look, they’re growing up too!
Oh thank all the gods that the readers didn’t vote for running away again!!!
Now we get to see the inevitable betrayal ^^
On the bright side, maybe we will get to see the starcaster melt a few people. ?
This comment aged well.
And sp the prodigal son returns to the fold. Lets gloss over the fact he was dragged kicking and screaming all the way for the moment
It only took his father’s best friend with a deep personal connection, his newly developed conscience wanting to protect someone who saved his life and an entire battlefleet turning up more or less by accident to do it too!
Yup, it’s time Cort stopped running. I think this bit was written rather well 🙂
I didn’t think it was at all by accident that the fleet arrived, it sounded like they were tracking Starcaster energy use.
Well the point was they weren’t looking for him, and accidentally arrived in the same system.
They were looking for him, the Federation just doesn’t know it yet. He fired off a Starcaster a number of times in training. They detected it and though it was the bad guys.
This is the right play, let’s just hope the majority of the Federation aren’t dicks about it
They’ll be as kind as a military can be against an unaligned planet-destroying power as can be. The federation’s star casters though, may be a different story
I think the existing Fed starcasters would be all to happy to have backup.
If you had rocked up to the US offering them a free battleship just after Pearl Harbor, they’d have gladly taken it and given you a nicely paid position
Maybe. If you and your parents had both been born in the US but were of Japanese decent , they might have taken your battleship and put you in the Manzanar Concentration Camp.
To be fair, the Federation’s Starcasters would probably want to align him to their side and are in a far better position to teach him how to control that power. And considering that he’s already got really good control over it compared to how some other so-called “experienced” users end up burning the crap out of themselves on use, he might be particularly gifted with it or something, and they would be DUMB to not try and nurture that power towards their own defense.
he may not be alligned with the federation but he is against the same enemy. Just cuz he doesn’t trust them doesn’t mean he will be hostile against them.
I mean, I figure they’ve got three options. Press-gang him, force him into service. Chop off his arm and give the starcaster to someone who’ll play ball (I don’t remember if this is a viable option, or if it is, the Federation knows 100% it’ll work). Or, station him on a Core World under heavy protections and surveillance, potentially as a last-ditch defense measure.
Or kill him and give the Starcaster to someone they trust. (harsh, but it is an option, and considering what the Starcaster is, I wouldn’t be particularly suprised, if they decide to do that)
Also, when Cort was considering cutting his own arm off, Nyrah told him, that Starcaster would heal it, before he’d even reach the bone. To be fair though, Cort only had a regular knife, if Federation would be going to do it, they’d probably get some better (and faster) tools.
Finally a rational thought process from Cort instead of one rooted in panic-based decisions and Han Solo loner-hero aspirations.
I totally forgot to vote, but would have been in favor of what the majority chose.
Odds aren’t great with the feds, but I think they’re worse on the run.
That said, I think it would have been best (and still might be) if he could save a city or small moon from destruction before joining up with the feds. Y’know, become popular enough that he’d be be inconvenient to disappear.
….Odds that the Federation is going to screw them all?
Probably not so much. You have someone with the power of stars strapped to his arm. It is a huge boon to their military. Tactically you want to set these people up for life. In return you request assistance with the enemies and the training it requires.
Even if you want to kill them, as they are a big unknown and maybe a loose cannon, you want to do it unexpected. As little danger as possible to yourself and as quick as possible kill. Probably ambushing with two experienced starcasters will suffice. If one wouldn’t suffice.
And even then it sets a risky precedent. If the Federation is willing to betray and attack/amputate Starcaster wielders even when they are trying to work with them, any other or future Starcaster wielder should be weary of them (and probably try to find a less dangerous/untrustworthy faction to sign up with).
Exactly. Soft power is built upon trust. Publicizing heroic Cort falling into the fold and willingly helping the Federation and showing how he is rewarded and respected helps further the Federation’s goals, even if done cynically.
Even in real life there is applicability: one of the few strengths Western democracies have over autocratic states is that people are generally much more likely to assume that Western Democracies aren’t rife with corruption so they will do what they say they will do. Not that we hurt that rep every day with shitty politicans, but that’s another matter.
“and now I’m in federation jail forever”
Not likely. A, you set the precedent to the galaxy of “If you’re a Starcaster user, don’t let the Federation get their hands on you”, and B, antagonizing someone with the literal powers of creation and destruction attached to their arms without first trying everything in your power to either befriend or destroy them would be a rather stupid move.
This is going to be tricky, I’m sure some high placed a-hole will come up with “Why don’t we just amputate his arm so we can decide who wears it? There’s plenty of prosthetics he can be using in it’s place.” if not just straight out order him killed for it. That song that goes “I GOT THE POWER” keeps running in my head when I see things like this. But yes it is the best choice, sooner or later they will run out of options or ways to run away. I figured it would knock some sense into him… Read more »
Isn’t at least one of the current Starcaster wearers an extra-galatic war refugee who escaped from a previous Dranglex extermination campaign? So why take Cort out when he’s an actual Federation citizen, even if he’s the kind of ex-Marshall embarrassment whom gets booted out of jail with the local cop’s boot imprinted on his butt regularly? Second worst case scenario Cort is too untrained to risk using his Starcaster or simply doesn’t want to. That still leaves the Dranglex with only one starcaster versus two with the threat of it being three breathing down on them Worst case scenario is… Read more »
Have to laugh if that blast of his gave the highest-up a mohawk and That’s what started this hunt.
There are no safe options. All of them involve high risk, indeed. And none of the team’s concerns are invalid. But I do think their odds are better with the Federation. Running away seems like it’ll surely make things worse, by now. We’ll see what happens, when (not if) the Feds try to do something shitty to them. I think it all boils down to that one defining moment. To what the Federations does exactly, and how the team reacts to it. On the one hand, Cort and Quel are better equipped to deal with “the devil they know.” On… Read more »
Was there actually a vote here, usually votes and results are mentioned.
Just checked. There was one that suggests that it would be about this page. Not sure why the result is not posted.
Yes! There was a vote between 11.12 and 11.13. The poll was: To Blast Or Not To Blast “The transponder in Quel’s ship is pinging on a Federation frequency, that has been picked up by the battlegroup that just entered the system. With time to triangulate the signal, it would pinpoint Cort’s exact location on the moon. If discovered, Cort and crew lose control of the situation and Quel’s options for how to handle the wanted fugitives in his company vanish. Option 1: Blast the transponder, killing the signal before it’s too late. Option 2: Listen to Quel. Option 1… Read more »
For some context, Tim had mentioned in a comment that the feds just had a signal. Not a location of signal. The poll description said “with time to triangulate the signal, it would pinpoint Cort’s location”. So some people were voting for shoot the transponder, since they may cut it before anyone can find their location, buying more time. Other people were voting in favour of shooting, since they were thinking of Cort’s history involving snap decision choices, not always sensible choices, and were trying to vote him into character moves.