If it needed to be any more clear, here’s the reason not to fire. If he had, this conversation would be very different. I’m imagining a tiny arm guillotine for style. Even if he had only hit Dranglaex.
There’s too much distrust because of his past, and uncertainty on his current ability.
Big thing in my opinion is that she shouldn’t have brought Cort outside the ship to be able to fire his Starcaster in the first place if she didn’t trust him.
I disagree. As she explains, if she saw an opportunity she would have let him know. Bringing your asset into the fight, such as it was, can teach you a lot. She has learned some communication with him, some of his desires, and Cort was ready immediately if some opportunity arose to fire.
Of course it’s a risk, but La’ni took it. In essence Corts role was “stand here, observe, fire only when I tell you to,” and despire it’s simplicity Cort nearly failed.
Honestly, you bringing up medical bay makes me wonder. Is there any point, for a starcaster? I suppose some painkillers, but I’m not sure I’d want to risk someone with a starcaster being high on painkillers. Or… on anything. Gods, can you imagine a starcaster addict?
The prince was in a med-vat just a few pages ago; he even made sure to wear a space suit (sans glove) to dedicate more power to a fleet-obliterating attack, and the med-vat was probably employed so he could recover faster.
I think it’s the best diplomatic thing to say right now. Cort now knows exactly his position. When he’ll be of use, and when he’ll not. There’s plenty unsaid that Cort can figure out of the benefits and consequences, but the geberal lines are clear.
Next panel:
-Clear, that you are right to distrust me… and that you are now vulnerable!
[starcasts La’Ni’s head off]
[rips her starcaster off]
-Now I hold two Starcasters and nobody can stand in my way! UNLIMITED POOOOWER!
Cue Cort Ryder’s villain arc.
La’Ni’s last words: Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Nxuan
1 month ago
Her wounds look worse on the 2nd panel than on the first, we can see her eye in the middle of the flesh on the 2nd panel. I expected the opposite… and to see the rate at which starcaster heal her up while talking would have been nice.
chargersfan
1 month ago
I wonder if the major will teach him how to fly around space without a suit on, presuming it’s an ability the starcaster provides and not an ability inherent in their race.
When I don’t know the operator’s level of skill with the scalpel-that-can-also-be-a-greatsword, I don’t think I’m going to ask them to help heal me using it.
Not really. The Starcasters seem to automatically heal their wielder anyway, there might not be even be active participation from the caster involved.
Until anyone actually discovers out how to do anything with a Starcaster besides firing doom beams, it’s rather pointless to treat it as anything else than a weapon right now. Pretending they can just figure it out in a few days/weeks/months when All Of Galactic Civilation hasn’t managed to in centuries seems a tad arrogant. (Not to mention that it’s open war, they really don’t have the spare time to send Starcasters on such a study break.)
I agree with all of the above. One slight addendum however: La’ni can fly in space with the Starcaster, so there is precedence of it being used for other than destruction. It would make sense as well. The Starcaster race would rely solely on the Starcaster to move, at least relative short distances in space. It allows them to breathe, or at least survive without other protection in space. All that to allow them to terraform at will, moving to the appropriate distance of a celestial body for said terraforming, as well as with some speed to cover all distances.
I’d say the self-healing in itself already counts as precedent for non-destructive uses. I’m not denying it’s possible for them to do things like that. The Aug using them for things like that also seems very likely. I just don’t think it’s worth considering those possibilities for any current plan-making. At least not until there’s any evidence of anyone alive figuring out how to do those things. (Even if only by accident.) La’Ni flying in space doesn’t really seem to change any of that. For one, we don’t even know how she does it. It might be a Starcaster thing,… Read more »
Nightdagger
1 month ago
“You’re not wrong, but you didn’t have to be such an asshole about it.”
Although, quite honestly, direct, to the point, and kind of an asshole about it is probably the most effective way to get through to Cort, seeing how stubborn he is at times.
OneNeoEno
1 month ago
I can see her reasoning, but her cost/benefit analysis is all wrong. If he takes the shot and fucks it up, worst case he blows away a couple of dreadstorms on his own side, and the bad guys now have 2 star casters. That’s not great for the few hundred (few thousand?) people thar just got got blown away, but it pales into insignificance compared to the billions that will now be wiped out because of the loss of the starcaster, and there’s a good chance the war is lost and its genocide o’clock. Whereas if he takes the shot… Read more »
I just gotta say that I love the safe choices the Patreons are picking. For drama purposes, writers usually end up going for the messier, more dramatic choice. The conflict those bring are a gold mine for content.
But that means we rarely get to see the story where people make the reasonable, rational choice and then talk about their frustrations with it afterwards. I’m glad we didn’t have to blow up a ship of federation citizens and watch him get yelled at.
This right here is why i love tim’s writing! Because sure the drama of the usual scope of stories is fun and all but sometimes having something mundane adds more spice to a story as a change of pace! Thereby to me making it all the more special!
kyle waite
1 month ago
your in the army now, …or navy or whatever
Derfman
1 month ago
Thank you Tim for this great introspect. We the reader have had a chance to see Cort grow and train with his weapon… the rest of the cast, besides his friends of course, have not. Command and control are the key to winning battles. Without the control component, command quickly devolves into chaos. I know it is going to be hard for someone who has freelanced for so long to get back with the program, but since he now has the power to destroy planets attached to him, he will need to do that fast.
Logan
1 month ago
Really bad ads today for some reason. Usually never get them.
24
If it needed to be any more clear, here’s the reason not to fire. If he had, this conversation would be very different. I’m imagining a tiny arm guillotine for style. Even if he had only hit Dranglaex.
There’s too much distrust because of his past, and uncertainty on his current ability.
Big thing in my opinion is that she shouldn’t have brought Cort outside the ship to be able to fire his Starcaster in the first place if she didn’t trust him.
I disagree. As she explains, if she saw an opportunity she would have let him know. Bringing your asset into the fight, such as it was, can teach you a lot. She has learned some communication with him, some of his desires, and Cort was ready immediately if some opportunity arose to fire.
Of course it’s a risk, but La’ni took it. In essence Corts role was “stand here, observe, fire only when I tell you to,” and despire it’s simplicity Cort nearly failed.
Or in other words, he passed.
Glass half empty, Glass half full…
Glass 50% air 50% water = 100% full
That could have been a touch more… “diplomatic” but she’s ultimately right.
To be fair, she seems to be under a lot of pain right now.
And she’s prioritizing speaking to Cort when she really should be in the Medical Bay right now
Honestly, you bringing up medical bay makes me wonder. Is there any point, for a starcaster? I suppose some painkillers, but I’m not sure I’d want to risk someone with a starcaster being high on painkillers. Or… on anything. Gods, can you imagine a starcaster addict?
I imagine the Starcasters probably also filter out toxins on top of healing
Which would mean painkillers wouldn’t be in the system long enough to work
The prince was in a med-vat just a few pages ago; he even made sure to wear a space suit (sans glove) to dedicate more power to a fleet-obliterating attack, and the med-vat was probably employed so he could recover faster.
I think it’s the best diplomatic thing to say right now. Cort now knows exactly his position. When he’ll be of use, and when he’ll not. There’s plenty unsaid that Cort can figure out of the benefits and consequences, but the geberal lines are clear.
Character growth. Ugh! (Ha ha.)
Next panel:
-Clear, that you are right to distrust me… and that you are now vulnerable!
[starcasts La’Ni’s head off]
[rips her starcaster off]
-Now I hold two Starcasters and nobody can stand in my way! UNLIMITED POOOOWER!
Cue Cort Ryder’s villain arc.
It’s not truly unlimited power until he’s got all 4—one for each limb.
Clear Lance Major…..That the game was rigged from the start *starcast blast to the back of the head*
Next panel:
-Clear, that you are right to distrust me… and that you are now vulnerable!
[starcasts La’Ni’s head and half of the ship with it
Player One: “Hey? Heey? Two starcasters!”
Player Three: “You know what? Fuck it. Rocks fall, everyone dies.”
Player Two: “OK, but I’ve got acid skin, I’m sure Speck-”
Player Three: “ROCKS FALL EVERYONE DIES!”
Well, not all villain arcs are supposed to be long
La’Ni’s last words: Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
Her wounds look worse on the 2nd panel than on the first, we can see her eye in the middle of the flesh on the 2nd panel. I expected the opposite… and to see the rate at which starcaster heal her up while talking would have been nice.
I wonder if the major will teach him how to fly around space without a suit on, presuming it’s an ability the starcaster provides and not an ability inherent in their race.
It seems Starcaster powered. There’s some light around the Starcaster when she flies, even if that’s the only thing she does.
Well, actually, it’s not only a weapon, so theoretically she could tell him how he can help her, e.g. heal herself.
When I don’t know the operator’s level of skill with the scalpel-that-can-also-be-a-greatsword, I don’t think I’m going to ask them to help heal me using it.
Not really. The Starcasters seem to automatically heal their wielder anyway, there might not be even be active participation from the caster involved.
Until anyone actually discovers out how to do anything with a Starcaster besides firing doom beams, it’s rather pointless to treat it as anything else than a weapon right now. Pretending they can just figure it out in a few days/weeks/months when All Of Galactic Civilation hasn’t managed to in centuries seems a tad arrogant. (Not to mention that it’s open war, they really don’t have the spare time to send Starcasters on such a study break.)
I agree with all of the above. One slight addendum however: La’ni can fly in space with the Starcaster, so there is precedence of it being used for other than destruction. It would make sense as well. The Starcaster race would rely solely on the Starcaster to move, at least relative short distances in space. It allows them to breathe, or at least survive without other protection in space. All that to allow them to terraform at will, moving to the appropriate distance of a celestial body for said terraforming, as well as with some speed to cover all distances.
I’d say the self-healing in itself already counts as precedent for non-destructive uses. I’m not denying it’s possible for them to do things like that. The Aug using them for things like that also seems very likely. I just don’t think it’s worth considering those possibilities for any current plan-making. At least not until there’s any evidence of anyone alive figuring out how to do those things. (Even if only by accident.) La’Ni flying in space doesn’t really seem to change any of that. For one, we don’t even know how she does it. It might be a Starcaster thing,… Read more »
“You’re not wrong, but you didn’t have to be such an asshole about it.”
Although, quite honestly, direct, to the point, and kind of an asshole about it is probably the most effective way to get through to Cort, seeing how stubborn he is at times.
I can see her reasoning, but her cost/benefit analysis is all wrong. If he takes the shot and fucks it up, worst case he blows away a couple of dreadstorms on his own side, and the bad guys now have 2 star casters. That’s not great for the few hundred (few thousand?) people thar just got got blown away, but it pales into insignificance compared to the billions that will now be wiped out because of the loss of the starcaster, and there’s a good chance the war is lost and its genocide o’clock. Whereas if he takes the shot… Read more »
The fourth starcaster isn’t on the same ship; that’s why Vectanix is calling Kelias via hologram.
https://cad-comic.com/comic/the-starcaster-chronicles-12-09/
I just gotta say that I love the safe choices the Patreons are picking. For drama purposes, writers usually end up going for the messier, more dramatic choice. The conflict those bring are a gold mine for content.
But that means we rarely get to see the story where people make the reasonable, rational choice and then talk about their frustrations with it afterwards. I’m glad we didn’t have to blow up a ship of federation citizens and watch him get yelled at.
This right here is why i love tim’s writing! Because sure the drama of the usual scope of stories is fun and all but sometimes having something mundane adds more spice to a story as a change of pace! Thereby to me making it all the more special!
your in the army now, …or navy or whatever
Thank you Tim for this great introspect. We the reader have had a chance to see Cort grow and train with his weapon… the rest of the cast, besides his friends of course, have not. Command and control are the key to winning battles. Without the control component, command quickly devolves into chaos. I know it is going to be hard for someone who has freelanced for so long to get back with the program, but since he now has the power to destroy planets attached to him, he will need to do that fast.
Really bad ads today for some reason. Usually never get them.