And here comes the plot to f you up. Whatever they had chosen, this would turn everything on it’s head anyway. With 2 Starcasters they might still have a chance to fight them off, though this is maybe more like the Kobayashi Maru for some…
But…this is not the Federation ship in which goes Cort, isn’t it?
Maybe the Vice has given false information to other members of the council to find who can be the spy.
More to the point we know the name of the ship she’s on. The Alodoricut. And the earlier dialog with the Drangs would imply the ship they’re chasing is the Radiance.
You let me doubt a moment, but after close inspection I think they are from the Drangealex fleet. The front shape is very distinct, which the ship in the back has. The other ships have shapes that could result in the same shape at the front. The side ‘thrusters’ are placed in the back, a platform for guns on the grey one. The green brownish ones with the ovals on top… They are the Drangealex fleet for certain.
A smaller foe like the Dranglaex would be best served if they got both of their Starcasters in one place against one of the Federation ones so they could go for the capture or taking it off the map.
War is a ballet (or maybe a riot) of spreading out for better coverage of area defensively or for situational knowledge while concentrating fast to have localized superiority which results in defeat in detail for the enemy.
If it is (b) that means both federation starcasters are in the company of a single ship, which given that Lance Major cannot breath in space, seems like a substantially rookie move even IF you are making the mistake of tying to spread your forces too thin.
I thought it must be. Everything lines up but the captain. Unless it was a clever ruse to use the perceived assets of the Drangealex to give them false information, it all lines up. It is a single Dreadstorm where the Drangealex are converging on. The captain change can be explained by the craft requiring 24/7 operation, so an extra (acting) captain can make sense. We don’t see the planet/solar system, but it seems they were still hunting for the Drangaelex. Space is vast and they have fast ships.
I was hoping that the information was planted by the federation. The Drangealex would be blinded by the fact that they desperately want the second starcaster, so they would be easier to manipulate in this way. However, I fear that the (b) option above is correct and this is a convenient plot twist to get both sides even. Both with one experienced caster, and one new to the device. The federation has already (correctly) guessed that they will not go after resource rich worlds, so they would eventually pin the Drangealex 3 to 1. Evening the count protracts the story… Read more »
Just seems like the Federation would have to hold one heck of an Idiot Ball to leave their one of their greatest assets nearly entirely undefended. Not like either Cort or Major Danton are super experienced, either. La’Ni can handle herself but the other two need backup, and lots of it.
Good point! I misremembered them being alone. Then either part of the fleet has moved on in search of the Drangealex, or more likely Danton (other Starcaster) is not going to be happy. Otherwise there’s no mguffins in the universe worth taking as far as I know. If it is Danton, I do not know why one Starcaster was left so alone. Story wise it can balance out the power between the party. It also makes more sense, as the Drangealex are talking about a single thing worth taking on a single Dreadstorm. Not multiple.
Michael L Livote
8 months ago
….aaaaand it begins!
Seb
8 months ago
Can I have context? Who is who here?
Aaaaaand….
Hyperwarping in a 4D space but still using good old 2D Radar-like screens showing the enemy aproaching every 30 or so seconds… Made my day. 😀
Circular positioning, with altitude modifiers there on the screen next to the reading. That gives X, Y, and Z positioning in the least amount of space possible. Very military.
Context according to me: The Drangealex got a message from an asset on board that the Starcaster was found and on board this single Dreadstorm. Possibly they mentioned 2 starcasters. The plan is to converge on it, prevent escape and extract the Starcaster(s) from the ship. They are willing to obliterate the ships and find the Starcasters after, as these things are nigh indestructible. They might lose quite some of the fleet to the Starcasters, but that is probably a calculated risk. The Starcasters can only do so much before damaging themselves too much. The Drangealex prince destroyed 3 or… Read more »
How would you do it more effectively? It should be possible to go for a fancy 3D display, but that significantly clutters the desk, while there’s tons of other dials and measurements that also need watching. Having a single 2D panel seems a lot more practical to work with. I’m pretty sure current air and underwater scanners also do it like this for their 3D environments. . (Not sure where you got the 30s idea, the screen is already updating mid-sentence). As for context you requested: This should be the Dranglaex fleet warping in, acting on the information the prince… Read more »
Not if it is projected on your eyeballs from a very small unit. Won’t require something others can see. There might be a case where you project generally (like the admiral’s plotting table) because many eyes need to see.
PhobosRising
8 months ago
That moment you regret not buying that ramming prow.
Urainkhali
8 months ago
Warp… hyperspace… speed light, teraport…. Do it now, think later.
I’d risk a guess it’s not possible to jump as easily, maybe it requires calculating the trajectory (and the captain didn’t order one prepared in advance just in case), or being in a right starting point for the jump, or something like that.
Only if you are making a jump of any distance. I would wager the time it takes to make a jump is connected to how far you are jumping. Multiple short jumps would get you away, especially if not in a straight line.
Well, you want to avoid crashing into an asteroid/planet/star/black hole/other space object, so at least some idea about a direction (and what lies there) is probably needed.
The probes don’t have people on board, though, so you know, they only risk the hardware. Not to mention, if they really have the Starcaster on board, they would risk that too in case of a fully blind jump. (though of course, a possible death vs a certain one if they stay, would still make sense to get away as fast as they can) However, if all they are doing is tracking and cataloguing debris (possibly after the space battle against the Dranglaex?), why is there a Starcaster wielder in the first place? (if there is, we didn’t actually see… Read more »
I think keeping a pre-calculated jump would be a standart procedure for emergencies in a military ship, if the technology allows for it, especially in high readiness periods. I mean here we see that setting pre-course is possible: https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-07-11/ From this one, we see that drive needs to be “spooled”, which suggests it takes at least a minute or so to jump from take-off. https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-07-15/ Admittedly perhaps the technology requires larger ships to take longer to spool when jumping, (perhaps you need to spend a lot of energy to “keep the engine hot and in neutral”, so to write.) Still… Read more »
I would think in this type of warfare, where a vastly superior enemy force could appear at any moment, all militaries would have an SOP of always having an emergency jump lined up at all times.
If there needs to be a calculation, doing it in advance is in the protocol.
kaladorn
8 months ago
Space is not likely to lead to any convergences except in orbits. If someone is heading towards your path, they want to meet you. If you didn’t order flowers, it’s a threat. And the first thing you do if you are outnumbered is either a) FTL ASAP or b) launch long range comms with all telemetry and analysis and get some delta vee away from these unwanted folks.
Olivier gagnon
8 months ago
Putting a starcaster, and especially one of the unexperienced ones, on a single ship without backup during an all-out war and knowing the enemy leader would trade both of his family jewels for one… would be a tactical blunder of the scale of putting the entire US fleet in the China sea without fuel and ammo and calling the chinese president to insult his mother.
24
Oooohhhh ssshhhhiiiii
And here comes the plot to f you up. Whatever they had chosen, this would turn everything on it’s head anyway. With 2 Starcasters they might still have a chance to fight them off, though this is maybe more like the Kobayashi Maru for some…
But…this is not the Federation ship in which goes Cort, isn’t it?
Maybe the Vice has given false information to other members of the council to find who can be the spy.
This can’t be the ship Cort is on
The redhaired pilot was assigned to the Dreadstorm with the blue male captain (he has white hair) and she’s just walked past Cort not half an hour ago
My best guess is either a) Federation trap; or b) This is most likely the ship our friendly Lance Major with his Starcaster is assigned to
With an option of c) Wrong time, wrong place & Dranglaex intel has messed up
More to the point we know the name of the ship she’s on. The Alodoricut. And the earlier dialog with the Drangs would imply the ship they’re chasing is the Radiance.
I believe the Dranglaex with the message was merely addressing the top Dranglaex dude “Radiance,” not specifying a ship.
Also — those don’t look like the Dranglaex armada to me… ( seen in https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-09-03/ )
You let me doubt a moment, but after close inspection I think they are from the Drangealex fleet. The front shape is very distinct, which the ship in the back has. The other ships have shapes that could result in the same shape at the front. The side ‘thrusters’ are placed in the back, a platform for guns on the grey one. The green brownish ones with the ovals on top… They are the Drangealex fleet for certain.
A smaller foe like the Dranglaex would be best served if they got both of their Starcasters in one place against one of the Federation ones so they could go for the capture or taking it off the map.
War is a ballet (or maybe a riot) of spreading out for better coverage of area defensively or for situational knowledge while concentrating fast to have localized superiority which results in defeat in detail for the enemy.
If it is (b) that means both federation starcasters are in the company of a single ship, which given that Lance Major cannot breath in space, seems like a substantially rookie move even IF you are making the mistake of tying to spread your forces too thin.
I thought it must be. Everything lines up but the captain. Unless it was a clever ruse to use the perceived assets of the Drangealex to give them false information, it all lines up. It is a single Dreadstorm where the Drangealex are converging on. The captain change can be explained by the craft requiring 24/7 operation, so an extra (acting) captain can make sense. We don’t see the planet/solar system, but it seems they were still hunting for the Drangaelex. Space is vast and they have fast ships.
I was hoping that the information was planted by the federation. The Drangealex would be blinded by the fact that they desperately want the second starcaster, so they would be easier to manipulate in this way. However, I fear that the (b) option above is correct and this is a convenient plot twist to get both sides even. Both with one experienced caster, and one new to the device. The federation has already (correctly) guessed that they will not go after resource rich worlds, so they would eventually pin the Drangealex 3 to 1. Evening the count protracts the story… Read more »
Just seems like the Federation would have to hold one heck of an Idiot Ball to leave their one of their greatest assets nearly entirely undefended. Not like either Cort or Major Danton are super experienced, either. La’Ni can handle herself but the other two need backup, and lots of it.
It is a different ship than the one Cort is on. The ship Cort is on was part of a fleet: https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-11-09/
Good point! I misremembered them being alone. Then either part of the fleet has moved on in search of the Drangealex, or more likely Danton (other Starcaster) is not going to be happy. Otherwise there’s no mguffins in the universe worth taking as far as I know. If it is Danton, I do not know why one Starcaster was left so alone. Story wise it can balance out the power between the party. It also makes more sense, as the Drangealex are talking about a single thing worth taking on a single Dreadstorm. Not multiple.
….aaaaand it begins!
Can I have context? Who is who here?
Aaaaaand….
Hyperwarping in a 4D space but still using good old 2D Radar-like screens showing the enemy aproaching every 30 or so seconds… Made my day. 😀
Circular positioning, with altitude modifiers there on the screen next to the reading. That gives X, Y, and Z positioning in the least amount of space possible. Very military.
Context according to me: The Drangealex got a message from an asset on board that the Starcaster was found and on board this single Dreadstorm. Possibly they mentioned 2 starcasters. The plan is to converge on it, prevent escape and extract the Starcaster(s) from the ship. They are willing to obliterate the ships and find the Starcasters after, as these things are nigh indestructible. They might lose quite some of the fleet to the Starcasters, but that is probably a calculated risk. The Starcasters can only do so much before damaging themselves too much. The Drangealex prince destroyed 3 or… Read more »
How would you do it more effectively? It should be possible to go for a fancy 3D display, but that significantly clutters the desk, while there’s tons of other dials and measurements that also need watching. Having a single 2D panel seems a lot more practical to work with. I’m pretty sure current air and underwater scanners also do it like this for their 3D environments. . (Not sure where you got the 30s idea, the screen is already updating mid-sentence). As for context you requested: This should be the Dranglaex fleet warping in, acting on the information the prince… Read more »
Not if it is projected on your eyeballs from a very small unit. Won’t require something others can see. There might be a case where you project generally (like the admiral’s plotting table) because many eyes need to see.
That moment you regret not buying that ramming prow.
Warp… hyperspace… speed light, teraport…. Do it now, think later.
I’d risk a guess it’s not possible to jump as easily, maybe it requires calculating the trajectory (and the captain didn’t order one prepared in advance just in case), or being in a right starting point for the jump, or something like that.
Only if you are making a jump of any distance. I would wager the time it takes to make a jump is connected to how far you are jumping. Multiple short jumps would get you away, especially if not in a straight line.
Well, you want to avoid crashing into an asteroid/planet/star/black hole/other space object, so at least some idea about a direction (and what lies there) is probably needed.
Space is mostly empty. NASA sends billion dollar probes through the asteroid belt without looking for holes – they just depend on luck.
The probes don’t have people on board, though, so you know, they only risk the hardware. Not to mention, if they really have the Starcaster on board, they would risk that too in case of a fully blind jump. (though of course, a possible death vs a certain one if they stay, would still make sense to get away as fast as they can) However, if all they are doing is tracking and cataloguing debris (possibly after the space battle against the Dranglaex?), why is there a Starcaster wielder in the first place? (if there is, we didn’t actually see… Read more »
I think keeping a pre-calculated jump would be a standart procedure for emergencies in a military ship, if the technology allows for it, especially in high readiness periods. I mean here we see that setting pre-course is possible: https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-07-11/ From this one, we see that drive needs to be “spooled”, which suggests it takes at least a minute or so to jump from take-off. https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-07-15/ Admittedly perhaps the technology requires larger ships to take longer to spool when jumping, (perhaps you need to spend a lot of energy to “keep the engine hot and in neutral”, so to write.) Still… Read more »
I would think in this type of warfare, where a vastly superior enemy force could appear at any moment, all militaries would have an SOP of always having an emergency jump lined up at all times.
If there needs to be a calculation, doing it in advance is in the protocol.
Space is not likely to lead to any convergences except in orbits. If someone is heading towards your path, they want to meet you. If you didn’t order flowers, it’s a threat. And the first thing you do if you are outnumbered is either a) FTL ASAP or b) launch long range comms with all telemetry and analysis and get some delta vee away from these unwanted folks.
Putting a starcaster, and especially one of the unexperienced ones, on a single ship without backup during an all-out war and knowing the enemy leader would trade both of his family jewels for one… would be a tactical blunder of the scale of putting the entire US fleet in the China sea without fuel and ammo and calling the chinese president to insult his mother.