Grrl Power #676 – Double Death Star?
I’ve had the idea of this station in my head for a long time. Now that I’ve drawn it I realize it looks more than a little bit like Apokolips, but the portals on Fracture Station aren’t… well, I’m not sure what the big fire pits are for on Apokolips, but on Fracture Station, they’re fleet sized Stargates/wormholes. (I’m sure the fire pits on Apokolips were just something cool looking that Jack Kirby drew to look cool and a writer had to backfill their purpose.)
Of course I imagined it with about 1000 times the fidelity of what I’m capable of drawing. Here’s an amazing fan render of Cybertron from a guy over at Artstation. So imagine, like… lots more detail I guess. Fracture Station is basically a moon sized city and shipping port. Sydney will get and give more information about it on the next few pages obviously.
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she will be assimilated
Is that a reference from faans?
The Borg from Star Trek.
It kinda looks like a Borg Sphere ship https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/startrek/images/9/94/The_Borg_Sphere_above_Romulus_-_Star_Trek_-_Boldly_Go_004.jpg
I *hope* it’s a sphere of scum and villainy! Space scum and villainy are way more interesting!
Not to mention that you get a lot better plot development at a wretched hive of scum and villainy then you do at oh it’s just the nicest space station you could ever go to
Unless the protagonists are villainous scum visiting the nicest space station you could ever go to.
You calling The My-Tay Halo a villainous scum? o_O
Yea, but you always end up with debates as to who shot first–you would think they would get some cctv’s going on in those places or something to determine that
those cameras are only used when bribes are needed or it involves some super wealthy patron involved and easy blackmail is needed.
I don’t think so.
Shit holes like the bar on Tatooine are on a planet surface. Where things like air are free.
Can you imagine how much money a station like that would be worth? It’s not going to be abandoned to decay into a criminal hangout. It’s worth too much, some State or another will be laying claim.
It’s interstellar Grand Central Station.
Three words: Deep. Space. Nine
It depends very much on a large number of factors. 1. Is it owned by any one species? If so, what are the morals and laws of that species? 2. Is it within range of the Xevoarchy or whatever other interstellar governing bodies exist? If not, this could simply be run by the interstellar equivalent of the Mob.
Also, just because something is hugely valuable on our scale does not mean it’s stable or well-run. For all we know it’s TECHNICALLY part of an interstellar government, but the local governor has decided he doesn’t give a shit and has turned it into his private space station, giving occasional fake reports to his ‘superiors’ and putting on a show whenever a representative shows up.
If whatever governing body it’s supposed to be part of is bureaucratic instead of simply autocratic (Forms, paperwork and procedures instead of “Do as I say, I’m your superior”), then it’s quite easy to rule your own space station as you wish, as long as you fudge the paperwork well enough that it won’t be discovered.
they generally have funner marketplaces
Ah, yes, Apokolips – universally famous Planet of Flaming Lavatories!..
[Yotz]:
You make it sound like they’ve perfected a chili that Syd JUST MIGHT POSSIBLY find worthy of eating WITHOUT any additional “kick” added!
When you realize it is just graffiti on the outside of that station.
By the same delinquent aliens that are leaving crop circles all over the place. Truly, a lawless galaxy.
Space Pirate Ryoko’s handiwork again I see;
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/tenchi/images/6/64/15GXP24.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120730045530
she painted graffiti all over this death star like battle station while fighting it.
I don’t think it’s graffiti.
It looks like it follows lines on the surface of the station, I think it is lights on the exterior that is lighting up those “roads” for lack of a better term. Or maybe there are windows along those paths and it’s light coming from inside.
Now that I think about those markings, I’m going to have to try looking back in the story. I’m particularly going to look for those panels in which DaveB has shown us the markings on Sydney’s Orbs when she activates them. I’d like to compare to see if there are any match-ups on the space station…
Well, that explains why the Icon she clicked to warp, had a line sticking out the top and bottom.
You know what I think would be hilarious?
If Earth gadgets were so wide-spread, or galactic tech so user-friendly, that there’s phone/WiFi coverage here. Not that Sydney would necessarily notice, but her photos would automatically upload to facebook or whatever for people to notice…
I asked Arianna about your comment, and she just flatly said “No”.
There is an extended Internet protocol for off-world communications that allows for long response times due to the vast distances involved. The Space Communications Protocol Specifications (SCPS) is used to give access to Internet services in Earth orbit (such as abort the ISS) and theoretically when humans get back to the moon and even other planets. The ISS is only about 0.25 light-seconds from the surface, but even that much delay can overwhelm terrestrial wired Internet protocols.
That said, I don’t think these guys will be linked up to the SCPS yet.
*Sydney’s phone starts ringing*
Sydney: Not now, I’m taking a selfi… WAIT, WHAT A PHONE CALL OUT HERE??? No way there’s…
*phone screen shows “Unknown caller”, service is blank… but there’s THREE BARS*
Sydney: Da fwirk… *shrug* *presses Answer*
Friendly Voice On Line: Our apologies for the delay, Orb Vessel One. Our communications AI could not find your communications protocol in our active databases, and it took 19 seconds to find an appropriate protocol adapter in an archive search. As The Fracture prides itself on providing its customers the highest levels in customer service, our agents have credited your account 15 Fracture credits to compensate for the delay. What Service Level can we provide you today?”
Syd: Ub…dur… gih…seeervice level?
Friendly Voice: Our transport levels include Value, Standard, Premium, and Executive transport packages. We also include Storage and Accommodation packages for the weary traveler.
Syd: Sounds pri – WAIT, Accomodations, that includes FOOD, right?
Sydney winds up paying 12 credits for room and board aboard the Fracture. After that, Cora and the Spacebois arrive, and take her home. She later finds the 3 remaining Fracture credits on her account are worth slightly more than the GDP of Earth.
I like it. Had a jolly good laugh at it. Thanks, mate.
Hilarious!
I just noticed how DaveB’s attention to detail is VERY refined here.
At first I thought ‘why is Sydney’s hair all weird in the last panel?’
Then I realized…. she had to let go of the fly orb in order to take a picture, so no longer had her own gravitational pull – she was in zero-gravity at that point. She couldnt let go of the shield orb since she was in the vacuum of space, so if she wanted a picture, she’d have to let go of the fly orb instead.
Okay I’m sort of majorly impressed with Dave Barrack right now. The only other comic I ever see with minute consistent attention to detail is Tarol Hunt’s Goblins. No wonder this is one of my favorite webcomics.
Goblins?
Sorry, I’m Oblivious.
Viirin Here page one…
It is a DnD based comic but it is really good and has few references to the WOC books. if you played way back in the ADnD days you will get a lot more of the jokes.
https://goblinscomic.com/comic/06252005
I’m prettu sire Viirin knows Goblins, given he referenced “Oblivious”
Heh…
Heh…
“Penis go boom.”
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!
…huh…
…Sorry about that. My first favorite part of the dialogue ever.
Viirin is familiar with the comic, which is why he mentioned Oblivious :)
It’s the name of a character’s sword, for people who havent read the comic and wonder what the heck we’re talking about (the sword is magical and powered by oblivion, so the less the wielder understands about how it works, the more powerful it is – and the wielder of the sword tends to be a good-hearted but complete idiot).
“Oblivious” … ?
No, you’re “Viirin”.
It says so, right there, in the upper-left corner.
Pleased-to-meet-you, either way.
:)
…I think you would get along quite well with Minmax…
…But excuse me while I go into the next room (alone) & close the door behind me…
[MidnightDStroyer]:
“Shameless Flattery Shall Avail Thee Not, Good Sir!”
;)
:)
Foglio’s Girl Genius pulls that kind of stuff routinely, afaik – when Phil doesn’t draws second left shoulder, or flesh instead of mechanical arm, that is. In such cases it is usually amended pretty fast, though – but given the nature of GG’s world one can never be certain: sporadic refleshization and additional appendages are rather ordinary when every tenth person is a Mad Scientist of some kind…
To me, it looks like Sydney’s hair is in a ponytail in panel 2, which it shouldn’t be.
Whoops! Hah hah, force of habit. Let’s say it just happens to be just floating like that?
And ‘HOW’ Many people want a full sized wallpaper of Sydney with that ‘flyaway no gravity hair picture right now ?
I’d rather a wallpaper of The Fracture.
I’d rather an up to date skill tree.
So would Sydney :P
That’s no moon!
Well, it does not look like a planet-killing battle station.
Not sure if I’m the 1st to suggest this, but it seems to me that by back-tracking along the different places in the Orb’s (or would the plural be: [Orbs’]?) travel records, we may be able to get some idea of who the previous owner of the Orbs might’ve been?
the only problem with this is how long ago did the last owner come through?
its a common trope in sci fi is that mega structures like the fracture can be thousandths if not even millions of years old. going to the other worlds in the history would help sure but but without a time frame to work with it wouldn’t be that mach help
[dexdrako]:
I’m in total agreement.
Thing is, there’s too much we don’t know, & while the effort offers only the tiniest likelihood of success, it’s still 100% more likely to succeed than NOT trying.
We don’t KNOW how long it’s been.
We also don’t know if individuals with non-human life-spans (or official records) might still exist who (or which) might still be helpful.
There’s no question that it’s an incredibly unlikely long-shot, but we don’t know enough to be certain that the odds are as low as zero.
Even if it only narrows it down to, not-so-much an individual, but at-least a species/race, & from there a “planet-of-origin”.
Contrarywise, if the last owner lost them only 2 days before Syd’s discovery, the trail would be pretty fresh. We just don’t know enough, either way. Trying would help by (at the very least) confirming which speculations were definite impossibilities, to be discarded.
“When you eliminate the impossible, what remains – however improbable – must be the truth.”
Actually Dave to be honest, I’m ALOT more interested in what the hell an Aetherium Causeway is.
The first thing that popped into my head was the Starforge from Kotor.
Isn’t it a bad idea to take snapshots of planet-sized alien installations? Once she gets back to Earth, every hacker on the planet will want to know what she’s been up to. Or is Leon so good at his job that he can stop them all?
I don’t know. The last time I took a picture of an alien space station while I was flying in space, no one seemed to believe me that it was real anyway, even though I assured everyone who looked at the picture that it was totally for reals. For some reason they kept assuming it was computer generated.
So I think Sydney will be okay, even if someone somehow gets through Leon.
https://scifiaddicts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Space-station-orbiting-planet.jpg
Yeah had that problem too. Ya gotta make sure your assistant did not slip psychic paper in the printer
It’s under occupation ‘zombie, or lawyer’
Oh, good! You took the picture in portrait mode. Excellent choice for that situation.
Well, that’s definitely not taken from over Earth. How am I so sure? Well, I’m not completely sure about the continent shape, but those are totally the wrong cloud formations, and we don’t have any orbital spinning-top-shaped objects with honkin’ great big honkin’ blue lights on one end.
(…and now I’ve got the dreidel song stuck in my head, and that’s not even my culture…)
Is it wrong I want the chief of security to be a Telepathic/Telekinetic mutant dog Cosmonaut that everyone thought dead?
Only “Mostly dead” Try finding THAT on a government form.
“Laika is not dead, she just went home.”
First, “The Fracture” is a pretty important-sounding name – is that a black hole in the center of this thing? Cause whenever you want to say something is huge, it always involves having a black hole contained or something.
Second, why are Sydney’s would-be rescuers so certain that the causeway/jump gate they detected HAS to be the friend Dabbler sent them to help? They just showed up and started scanning then immediately left to follow the shiny thing. Good thing for them their real target isn’t still holed up on the Alari homeworld waiting to be saved.
why did they guess that was Sydney?
well seeing as the rest of the planet is dead with little or no power generation. plus you were told your target can output a lot of power and this causeway sounds like a high level/power vent. that just so happened on the other side of the planet for the world kills.
i’d say its a good bet that’s your target
Also Dabbler saw the Screwship arrive and could possibly recognize their mean of Travel and the causeway is probably a total different, better and much more advanced form of travel by the reaction of Cora.
What is stretching credibility and the suspension of disbelief is that her cell phone still has battery after at least 4 hours away from the charger.
Depends on the usage, Mine can last all day away from a charger if I don’t use it and it’s not trying to connect to wifi.
If you turn off the GPS and all the other stuff you really don’t need to have on all the time, a phone battery can last 2 days.The GPS is one of the worst power eaters in your phone. And unless you are hiking in some remote location and need the mapping ability… you don’t need GPS. And if you are… better shut it off between each use or it won’t last long enough to get you out of the woods.
That and if you turn off the “ET phone home” aspects of almost any free app, and don’t use it for any games and such, turn down the screen brightness, etc. you can make it last even longer than that, I’ve had mine go for ALMOST 5 days before the battery dropped below 10% though 3 days is typical for mine.
If I do not use Pokemon Go, or LIfe 360 (it allows people (family) in your network to track you (because I’m notorious for wandering off during conventions, etc, and not being seen for hours on end)), my Galaxy 9 can actually last all day.
…The hard part is turning off the Pokemon Go, but I’m quite sure there was a very long and serious lecture wherein Sydney had to write, “I will NOT used unauthorized GPS based apps that can locate my positioning while on a mission!” 100x on a chalkboard back before she even got to go meet the shadow council of atypical allies.
The Fracture! The hottest dance club in the quadrant!
nice to see the Goauld playing nice with the empire, though maybe they haven’t seen each other yet, being on opposite sides of the port
Maybe thats the Free Jaffa Nation after the downfall of the Goa’uld Empire or the remainder of the Tok’ra.
Looks like something that any of the protagonists from https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/tags/planetary-annihilation/ would create.
Dave’s robably spending more time than usual on Monday’s strip.
Something like the interior of the Independence Day mothership?
A 100 floor mall?
Heh, I saw that the sphere and thought of the movie Titan AE
Sydney’s last orb: Could it be illusion generation, or control over the special effects of the other orbs? If so, it could fulfill Sydney’s desire to make her Lightbee projection look like the Grim Reaper, or make her forcefield look like a rock from the outside, or make an illusory wall to hide behind, etc!
Too similar to the truesight/lightbee/teleport orb.
Maybe it’s the CTRL, that gives the other orbs a different function.
THAT would explain why it has no function of its own.
My guess is that it’s the muffin-button orb ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNRQFVEdIU ) but in Sydney’s case the orb will automatically adjust and produce ghost peppers on demand… which Sydney will find some way to weaponize and become the de facto ruler of yonder big space ball by the time Cora arrives to haul her back to Earth.
+1
If that last orb is not a universal translator she might be in trouble
Most likely just about every high tech race in the galaxy has a universal translator in one form or another already, and Earth is a tourist site, so Earth languages are probably part of a standard free download.
Like the translators in The Last Starfighter?
“No, you HEAR English.”
The free version has ads.
+1
For the quicklinks on the FTL function on the flight orb. I wonder if it works more like a favorites list than a Destination History, which would explain the “Wavy Staticky” button, if that’s the button to add a new favorite? So when she gets back to Earth, she can try pushing that button and see if it then adds Earth as a new button…
I wonder if Archon is recognized interstellarly. What with aliens living on Earth and stuff. Maybe Sidney would just have to flash her badge and bill any expenses to Archon.
I love how her first reaction is “Neat” and snap a picture. With her phone, no less.
Yup… she is No Man’s Sky-ing this up.