It’s been a year since major La’Ni was introduced that I was convinced that she cannot be 100% pro-Federation or the story would end way too quickly. Cort cannot eternally run considering he has the tiebreaker in the war glued to his arm. Either he turns the war 3-1 for the Feds or 2-2 tie.
And since 3-1 makes the story predictable, the only way out is a 2-2 tie. Either La’Ni goes dranglaex or the dranglaex recovers La’Ni’s starcaster or Danton’s
Danton’s could actually make a surprising amount of sense. The message Kelias received seemed to be about a single Starcaster. La’Ni and Cort are together, so their ship wouldn’t really fit that description. And page 8 does mention that Danton is also hunting the Dranglaex fleet, so if he is on a similar one-ship patrol he might just become the hunted…
(And on a meta level, Tim did employ a similar bait-and-switch writing trick with the planets Cort was training/La’Ni sensed/Vectanix destroyed.)
As such, the whole war could become a three/four way dance that still results in the Fed’s Starcasters being matched……or potentially weaker sides coming in for blood while the Feds and the Drang exhaust themselves against each other.
Gonfrask
8 months ago
I’m starting to think that the Dranglaex don’t have only one starcaster, but their warfronts are so many (the universe is not a straight line) that they have them distributed in varios battle zone…so one of Princes is going to die as closing strip but then we will see sister/brother/parent step forward with another starcaster.
Why they didn’t do this from the beginning? Well, clearly they are a patient specie and hoped to get the starcaster before going to war. Now the arriving of the other Dranglaex starcaster need time.
Wasn’t it that they have multiple fronts in multiple galaxies? When they contacted their father he was in another galaxy iirc. The way things were phrased also suggested that they already conquered at least one full galaxy, and send a large party to retrieve a starcaster of some fleeing Odrossian. That made them arrive in this galaxy, which they were going to clean out anyway. With so much resources at their disposal, they might want to spread out and expand to as many galaxies as possible, hopefully increasing their forces with all the resources to become unstoppable. Not to mention… Read more »
Given how they waited (languished, according to Kelias) for a 100 years building a fleet to make up for the lack of a second Starcaster, that seems highly unlikely. It’d also make little sense. For one, the amount of (discovered) Starcasters (and who possesses them) is pretty much public knowledge*, there’s should be no way they’d have such a galaxy-changing artifact without the Federation knowing about it. Additionally, if they really have multiple Starcasters and are such a ‘patient species’, them attacking at this specific moment would be insane. It’s quite literally the worst possible time to attack in that… Read more »
The surprise factor. Waiting another year you were giving the Federation time to find their third Starcaster and reorganized their defence lines, and maybe even do a counter attack to force the Dranglaex to retreat maybe a few light years.
Now the Federation has not the initiative and allow the Dranglaex to spread terror and confusion.
We must trust also that the information the Federation has is correct when we have seen they have a big bunch of traitors and spies in their tanks
That makes even less sense, if that’s somehow possible. If they wanted to use the surprise factor somehow, their current attack isn’t just poor strategy, it’s actively detrimental to the entire plan. It threw away the surprise and risked their fleet for basically nothing. The Dranglaex started this war on their terms. Before the invasion began, the Federation had no idea this was coming. There wasn’t any Federation (counter)push, mobilization or defense being (actively) organized until the Dranglaex began razing planets and put everyone on full alert. The invasion did nothing but give away the guaranteed initiative of the surprise… Read more »
Well, wouldn’t be the first time the “supposed lore” is just wrong or incomplete in a history (see for example how the classic background has changed in Warhammer 40K with a little detail here and there). Don’t know, I don’t see like a bad idea that when you arrive to a galaxy with two actives Starcaster (one courtesy of the refugees) and a third in training first you try a more subtle strategy (get the lost starcaster and then attack), and when this fail…well…go forward, of course you have massed an army and your enemy thinks you are not brave… Read more »
But there was no 3d Federation Starcaster in training at that time. It went missing. The situation 100 years back was: Federation has 2 Starcasters. Dranglaex have 1. Odrossians have 1. (Unknown where the other 2 were/are. Presumably some distant neutral galaxy not relevant in the war, given how nobody talks about them.) Then everything changed when the Dranglaex attacked, exterminated the Odrossians and were presumed to have seized their Starcaster. (Supposedly giving them 2). At that point the Dranglaex were actually weaker than the Federation, still being at a 1v2 Starcaster disadvantage. If things had gone to war then,… Read more »
FederationPlant
8 months ago
Not convinced by Nyrah here. They’d just be guaranteeing themselves two powerful enemies, plus any third parties that become much more threatening when they’re on their own. But more than that, refusing the Federation forces them to ally with criminals – even if they can avoid slaughtering Federation soldiers when escaping capture, they certainly can’t avoid doing more of the dirty work that Nyrah is so vehemently against.
I assume that there’s a vote coming up – I wonder what the patreons chose?
ears
8 months ago
I don’t think it’s smart to run away from an almost guaranteed starcaster training that Cort could get from Federation in these circumstances. It’s pretty much his best chance for max possible training level — the Federation would be interested in that. Time constraints, though…
Why go through all that trouble? Wouldn’t it be more practical for the Federation to just take the starcaster from Cort and put it on someone better prepped (and less of a trust issue)? They did know about the other starcaster out there, they also have been looking for it as far as I can remember the plot points. So I’m pretty sure they’ve already had someone in training to take it over, once it resurfaces. Now is that exact time. Of course it would be much nicer if they could do it without taking Corts limb off, but as… Read more »
If the cut is made faster than the ‘caster can heal, yes. Cort tried to cut it off him early on with his belt knife and it healed up fast. A cutting laser or a guillotine would do nicely.
They didnt know about the other starcaster, somewhere in the first volumes it is claimed that the dranglex claimed to also have 3 starcasters. So the federation always thought it was all 6 accounted for 3 for them 3 for the draglex. So this 4 vs 2 situation will have them unprepared.
The Drangalex only have one, the federation have 2 – but the Drangalex claimed to have 2 hence a long cold war. Now that it turns out it’s 3 v 1… The federation will not allow that to shift back to 2v2.
They thought the Draxler had this Starcaster. They probably haven’t been looking for something they thought was in the hands of the enemy. When this specific story started (or maybe the second set), Speck even mentioned that peace was being kept based on the Federation believing the Draxlar had what is now Cort’s Starcaster.
I think what will keep them from doing that is the Lance Major. We don’t know her well yet, but she strikes me as somebody who actually buys into the Federation rhetoric about being a Lawful Good empire. She might have the kind of disposition where ruthlessly amputating Cort could potentially cost them some of her loyalty.
They certainly have people prepared. If you find a new one or lose a current wielder, you want someone to step up asap. How much prep work can you do without having an actual starcaster? Even the other federation starcaster seemed to lack a huge amount of skills compared to the lance major. Cort has already bonded, and moved past the first dangerous stages. It is obvious someone could accidentally blow up something big, like the ship they are on, in this first stage. Not to mention that it had a big mental toll. He already has some experience with… Read more »
I doubt the Federation has special cells for his species everywhere, and this was kind of a surprise arrest. Besides, even if they had one that could hold him, it couldn’t hold an unwilling starcaster, so it’s more of a formality than actual desire to hold them.
If it was an actual arrest instead of a “we have no idea how to handle you” they’d have taken Cort’s gun and/or tranquilised him
Kenju
8 months ago
Both of them have a point. If they stay or if they run their odds of being screwed are about 50/50 either way. Betrayed (again) if they stay in the Federation, or caught in the crossfire of a galactic wide war/purge if they run. Honestly, it’s hard to tell which option has the better odds in their favor. Given the Dranglaex have spies in the Federation there is a VERY good chance they will always know exactly where Court is as long as he stays with the Federation. That *COULD* be used to their advantage, baiting traps, but they only… Read more »
Garry
8 months ago
Cort is now in VERY elite company. The power he has puts him in position to get really “proportional” with his response to anyone who tries to take the caster from him. That makes it dangerous for the Federation to betray him. Here’s the calculus as I see it: The Dranglaex want to conquer the galaxy. If they defeat the Federation, they will have all the time they need to hunt Cort and his starcaster down. Cort’s best chance at surviving the war is to team up and help defeat the Dranglaex. If he’s afraid the Federation will betray him… Read more »
TamTroll
8 months ago
Honestly, i think sticking with the federation is their best bet. They MIGHT get knives at their back, but they also WILL have allies.
if they decide to leave the federation, then they WILL have an enemy out of both the Dranglaex AND the Federation.
Minimize enemies, minimize hostilities. Allying with the Federation just seems like the best idea here.
Sir Guestelot
8 months ago
While I sympathize with Nyrah’s “once bitten, twice shy” misgivings, I feel that she’s not thinking this through. There’s no place to hide. Cort was a two-bit smuggler before, a street level criminal, so to speak. He was a known quantity, but by all indications he was also low-visibility and largely under the radar. Now? He’s a free-roaming Starcaster, as far as the rest of the galaxy is concerned. He’s a beyond massive payday for anyone with loose morals, and militarily speaking he’s a weapon that’s nearly on par with the Federation and Dranglaex. Considering recent events, he could aptly… Read more »
Taylan Ertan
8 months ago
At this point, there is no ‘hiding’ as an option. Especially since both sides now know a starcaster surfaced and the users can actually sense them. So no matter where they run, they won’t succeed. And Dralex gonna do a lot more purging the galaxy stuff. At that point, why even bother hiding the starcaster when the whole galaxy is purged?
24
Am I getting foreshadowing here ?
It’s been a year since major La’Ni was introduced that I was convinced that she cannot be 100% pro-Federation or the story would end way too quickly. Cort cannot eternally run considering he has the tiebreaker in the war glued to his arm. Either he turns the war 3-1 for the Feds or 2-2 tie.
And since 3-1 makes the story predictable, the only way out is a 2-2 tie. Either La’Ni goes dranglaex or the dranglaex recovers La’Ni’s starcaster or Danton’s
Danton’s could actually make a surprising amount of sense. The message Kelias received seemed to be about a single Starcaster. La’Ni and Cort are together, so their ship wouldn’t really fit that description. And page 8 does mention that Danton is also hunting the Dranglaex fleet, so if he is on a similar one-ship patrol he might just become the hunted…
(And on a meta level, Tim did employ a similar bait-and-switch writing trick with the planets Cort was training/La’Ni sensed/Vectanix destroyed.)
Except there are also 2 Starcasters that are being held by 1 or 2 different sides.
People always forget this strip…….
https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-01-22/
As such, the whole war could become a three/four way dance that still results in the Fed’s Starcasters being matched……or potentially weaker sides coming in for blood while the Feds and the Drang exhaust themselves against each other.
I’m starting to think that the Dranglaex don’t have only one starcaster, but their warfronts are so many (the universe is not a straight line) that they have them distributed in varios battle zone…so one of Princes is going to die as closing strip but then we will see sister/brother/parent step forward with another starcaster.
Why they didn’t do this from the beginning? Well, clearly they are a patient specie and hoped to get the starcaster before going to war. Now the arriving of the other Dranglaex starcaster need time.
Wasn’t it that they have multiple fronts in multiple galaxies? When they contacted their father he was in another galaxy iirc. The way things were phrased also suggested that they already conquered at least one full galaxy, and send a large party to retrieve a starcaster of some fleeing Odrossian. That made them arrive in this galaxy, which they were going to clean out anyway. With so much resources at their disposal, they might want to spread out and expand to as many galaxies as possible, hopefully increasing their forces with all the resources to become unstoppable. Not to mention… Read more »
Given how they waited (languished, according to Kelias) for a 100 years building a fleet to make up for the lack of a second Starcaster, that seems highly unlikely. It’d also make little sense. For one, the amount of (discovered) Starcasters (and who possesses them) is pretty much public knowledge*, there’s should be no way they’d have such a galaxy-changing artifact without the Federation knowing about it. Additionally, if they really have multiple Starcasters and are such a ‘patient species’, them attacking at this specific moment would be insane. It’s quite literally the worst possible time to attack in that… Read more »
The surprise factor. Waiting another year you were giving the Federation time to find their third Starcaster and reorganized their defence lines, and maybe even do a counter attack to force the Dranglaex to retreat maybe a few light years.
Now the Federation has not the initiative and allow the Dranglaex to spread terror and confusion.
We must trust also that the information the Federation has is correct when we have seen they have a big bunch of traitors and spies in their tanks
That makes even less sense, if that’s somehow possible. If they wanted to use the surprise factor somehow, their current attack isn’t just poor strategy, it’s actively detrimental to the entire plan. It threw away the surprise and risked their fleet for basically nothing. The Dranglaex started this war on their terms. Before the invasion began, the Federation had no idea this was coming. There wasn’t any Federation (counter)push, mobilization or defense being (actively) organized until the Dranglaex began razing planets and put everyone on full alert. The invasion did nothing but give away the guaranteed initiative of the surprise… Read more »
Well, wouldn’t be the first time the “supposed lore” is just wrong or incomplete in a history (see for example how the classic background has changed in Warhammer 40K with a little detail here and there). Don’t know, I don’t see like a bad idea that when you arrive to a galaxy with two actives Starcaster (one courtesy of the refugees) and a third in training first you try a more subtle strategy (get the lost starcaster and then attack), and when this fail…well…go forward, of course you have massed an army and your enemy thinks you are not brave… Read more »
But there was no 3d Federation Starcaster in training at that time. It went missing. The situation 100 years back was: Federation has 2 Starcasters. Dranglaex have 1. Odrossians have 1. (Unknown where the other 2 were/are. Presumably some distant neutral galaxy not relevant in the war, given how nobody talks about them.) Then everything changed when the Dranglaex attacked, exterminated the Odrossians and were presumed to have seized their Starcaster. (Supposedly giving them 2). At that point the Dranglaex were actually weaker than the Federation, still being at a 1v2 Starcaster disadvantage. If things had gone to war then,… Read more »
Not convinced by Nyrah here. They’d just be guaranteeing themselves two powerful enemies, plus any third parties that become much more threatening when they’re on their own. But more than that, refusing the Federation forces them to ally with criminals – even if they can avoid slaughtering Federation soldiers when escaping capture, they certainly can’t avoid doing more of the dirty work that Nyrah is so vehemently against.
I assume that there’s a vote coming up – I wonder what the patreons chose?
I don’t think it’s smart to run away from an almost guaranteed starcaster training that Cort could get from Federation in these circumstances. It’s pretty much his best chance for max possible training level — the Federation would be interested in that. Time constraints, though…
Why go through all that trouble? Wouldn’t it be more practical for the Federation to just take the starcaster from Cort and put it on someone better prepped (and less of a trust issue)? They did know about the other starcaster out there, they also have been looking for it as far as I can remember the plot points. So I’m pretty sure they’ve already had someone in training to take it over, once it resurfaces. Now is that exact time. Of course it would be much nicer if they could do it without taking Corts limb off, but as… Read more »
I’m not sure, but can the Starcaster be removed that easily?
If the cut is made faster than the ‘caster can heal, yes. Cort tried to cut it off him early on with his belt knife and it healed up fast. A cutting laser or a guillotine would do nicely.
They didnt know about the other starcaster, somewhere in the first volumes it is claimed that the dranglex claimed to also have 3 starcasters. So the federation always thought it was all 6 accounted for 3 for them 3 for the draglex. So this 4 vs 2 situation will have them unprepared.
It was 2 v 2.
The Drangalex only have one, the federation have 2 – but the Drangalex claimed to have 2 hence a long cold war. Now that it turns out it’s 3 v 1… The federation will not allow that to shift back to 2v2.
Actually it’s currently:
2 for the Feds
1 for the Drang
1 on Cort
2 with one or two unidentified sides.
They thought the Draxler had this Starcaster. They probably haven’t been looking for something they thought was in the hands of the enemy. When this specific story started (or maybe the second set), Speck even mentioned that peace was being kept based on the Federation believing the Draxlar had what is now Cort’s Starcaster.
I think what will keep them from doing that is the Lance Major. We don’t know her well yet, but she strikes me as somebody who actually buys into the Federation rhetoric about being a Lawful Good empire. She might have the kind of disposition where ruthlessly amputating Cort could potentially cost them some of her loyalty.
They certainly have people prepared. If you find a new one or lose a current wielder, you want someone to step up asap. How much prep work can you do without having an actual starcaster? Even the other federation starcaster seemed to lack a huge amount of skills compared to the lance major. Cort has already bonded, and moved past the first dangerous stages. It is obvious someone could accidentally blow up something big, like the ship they are on, in this first stage. Not to mention that it had a big mental toll. He already has some experience with… Read more »
I don’t think there’s any reasonable prep to become a starcaster user. It’s not like being a pilot, where you could fly a simulator.
Hiring Cort is more meaningful than taking it off him. Of course, I might be wrong.
We all agree that Speck can just break them out at any moment by melting stuff, yeah? Weird that he’s not in some special cell.
I doubt the Federation has special cells for his species everywhere, and this was kind of a surprise arrest. Besides, even if they had one that could hold him, it couldn’t hold an unwilling starcaster, so it’s more of a formality than actual desire to hold them.
Yeah I think it’s pretty clear that the thing keeping them inside is not the physical barriers.
If it was an actual arrest instead of a “we have no idea how to handle you” they’d have taken Cort’s gun and/or tranquilised him
Both of them have a point. If they stay or if they run their odds of being screwed are about 50/50 either way. Betrayed (again) if they stay in the Federation, or caught in the crossfire of a galactic wide war/purge if they run. Honestly, it’s hard to tell which option has the better odds in their favor. Given the Dranglaex have spies in the Federation there is a VERY good chance they will always know exactly where Court is as long as he stays with the Federation. That *COULD* be used to their advantage, baiting traps, but they only… Read more »
Cort is now in VERY elite company. The power he has puts him in position to get really “proportional” with his response to anyone who tries to take the caster from him. That makes it dangerous for the Federation to betray him. Here’s the calculus as I see it: The Dranglaex want to conquer the galaxy. If they defeat the Federation, they will have all the time they need to hunt Cort and his starcaster down. Cort’s best chance at surviving the war is to team up and help defeat the Dranglaex. If he’s afraid the Federation will betray him… Read more »
Honestly, i think sticking with the federation is their best bet. They MIGHT get knives at their back, but they also WILL have allies.
if they decide to leave the federation, then they WILL have an enemy out of both the Dranglaex AND the Federation.
Minimize enemies, minimize hostilities. Allying with the Federation just seems like the best idea here.
While I sympathize with Nyrah’s “once bitten, twice shy” misgivings, I feel that she’s not thinking this through. There’s no place to hide. Cort was a two-bit smuggler before, a street level criminal, so to speak. He was a known quantity, but by all indications he was also low-visibility and largely under the radar. Now? He’s a free-roaming Starcaster, as far as the rest of the galaxy is concerned. He’s a beyond massive payday for anyone with loose morals, and militarily speaking he’s a weapon that’s nearly on par with the Federation and Dranglaex. Considering recent events, he could aptly… Read more »
At this point, there is no ‘hiding’ as an option. Especially since both sides now know a starcaster surfaced and the users can actually sense them. So no matter where they run, they won’t succeed. And Dralex gonna do a lot more purging the galaxy stuff. At that point, why even bother hiding the starcaster when the whole galaxy is purged?