Choice For Issue 14, Page 22

"Alea iacta es." ("The die has been cast.") --attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar as Caesar led his army across the Rubicon river in Northern Italy.

I'm also voting 'sign' on this one

I think everyone is getting unnecessarily concerned. This is a formality. I don't think the fact that the captain, who has thus far shown himself to be capable, rational, and even kind, may just have a squad with him due to tightening security. We saw what happened on the Xhelgos. Tightening security likely means having captains with more protection. Also, we voted to join the federation. Choosing not to follow through by refusing this is to do a complete 180. The fact that WE haven't seen Speck or Nyrah lately is because we only get a few pages per month, and there is a lot to track. It's not like it's been months in universe like it has for us. It's likely only been a day or two. Cort can still finish the recruitment process, knowing that things will be a tad unusual due to the current atmosphere of war and rapidly evolving situations. He signed up with the federation to do things right. Also, for anyone thinking Droma is suspect I don't think there's any evidence of that. He seems to be making rational decisions based on events happening. I really would urge people to switch to "sign", because I don't see ANY outcome of refusing to go well. Not from a "these guys are gonna open fire on me" but by harsher sanctions of Droma and La'ni not believing they can trust Cort to follow through. I think it's a fast way to prison and maybe even losing his arm.

I voted for "Sign", but I would have preferred if the poll had more options like the following: -Sign willingly -Sign unwillingly -Refuse politely -Refuse combatively As it stands, I see "Refuse" is winning this poll. I can understand why a majority would choose "Refuse" if the assumption is "Sign" means "Sign willingly". Cort would never blindly sign a contract. He would want to read it first and dispute some of the unfavorable terms (and in this case finding out the fate of his friends). I picked "Sign" because I believe that this is still the best outcome at this current junction and that Cort would have a chance in the meeting to argue for Speck's and Nyrah's fates.

I think it doesn't suit Cort to sign this contract, especially when threatened to do so. He always finds an alternative ways to handles such situations. It's just like the situation in the cave, where the serial killer suggested to let him live if he gives the Starcaster. Even under fire without any chance of surviving he tries to find a better solution.

I think Tim didn't give any context to the choices on purpose, just to see what we did in the comments ;)

Awww, a party of armed men just for my signature? Cort may capitulate for Quel, but this is exactly the sort of situation that flares up his operational defiance. This is going to be ugly either way, but Cort will refuse to sign until he has some answers that they will refuse to give. Poor La'ni is going to have to make a snap decision when this blows up.

I want to have a conversation before I choose. Meta-Me would be all, "Yes, I've been expecting a Commando Unit to be made" and sign right up. However, Meta-Me also knows that whatever choice we make, it won't be good for our hero. So, I'm gonna say, I have to play this according to what Cort would do. He's a former Marshal, and a smuggler. He knows how tight a contract can be. If he's being pressured into one at potential gunpoint, that would make him say, "Hold up." Complete with the meme image. This security unit could be for ANYTHING. Which means it could be good or bad. He signs this document without reading it, and it could all go sideways in ways he can't even imagine it. I want to ask for a 3rd option. "Try to Read the Contract." Operative word being, TRY. I think Cort would try to figure out what is going on before making a snap decision. Cort is the same guy who stole back the Aphelion. Who went back for Nyarah. He's not afraid of a tussle, or a standoff. What he'd be afraid of is "The point of no return." Ask to read the contract, and be in a position to either sign if the conditions are right, or kick this guy in the balls and use him for a human shield. Cort would play for time to figure out what is happening. And maybe Quel would burst in and make the situation all kinds of worse.

I'm thinking Cort needs to at least ask about the deal for his crew first, but I doubt the Federation is gonna take no for an answer ligthly here. I get that the Federation classified things which now makes it hard for Quel to help, but this feels like its gonna go downhill fast

Ugh. Two bad choices. On one had we have a situation, where Cort could be whisked away to a "need to know" location in no time. Making him look "well, I've asked for my friends to be nearby, but since you're threatening me with all these guns, I'll just forget all about them, ok." On the other hand he might look bad in La'ni's eyes (just when he might have gained some points by obeying the order not to take a shot at retreating Dranglaex ship). He might also get detained and his possession of the starcaster might be in jeopardy - last thing a covert super-secret unit needs is a rogue element whose loyalty is uncertain (and just when the Federation is cracking down on all potentially disloyal elements). Even more, I realized that my trust in Vicen Droma is not really based on anything (I wonder if he's just drawn in a way that makes me want to trust him). It looks like he is the only one properly informed amongst the senate members we see - so he is in a perfect position to manipulate the situation to his advantage consolidating power and, essentially, pulling a Palpatine (then again, tightening security in this situation sounds like a solid idea). Playing along with his plan might be dangerous, but, perhaps, someone like Cort working on the inside might be the only chance to see Droma's end game whatever it might be. What made my mind was that I trust Quel. I trust that he won't just let the matter drop in case everything related to Cort will get classified, Cort will nowhere to be found and Cort's friends will get booted out of the ship. I trust that Quel might go as far as desertion, if he decides that he delivered Cort right into the arms of a corrupt Fed plan. Cort refusing to sign the contract will make Quel fight for him, but won't make Quel turn on the Federation. And I do want Quel to turn. :-)

Well, it looking like refuse is winning here. There's 3 ways it'll probably go - 1 -La'ni respects us being unwilling to abandon our friends and respects and backs us up if they force us at gun point. Us following her orders earlier may have won us brownie points 2 - La'ni is a spectator while we politrick and who knows what'll happen, maybe they'll shoot us or something 3 - La'ni pressures us to sign. I don't like any of these options if we sign, even if we outrank the ship's commanding officer, it's their ship - we don't have the authority to keep Speck and Ny'rah here But if we are of the grid black ops, La'ni can opt to use our ship- we'd need a non-standard transport, unless they issue us a stealth ship.

Cort has no idea about the disposition of the terms for his friends, and I'm sure he doesn't trust the Federation any more than before. I think him signing means he doesn't care about his friends as much anymore, almost like he's abandoning them (a little extreme probably). Given his previous work "experience" I think he's smarter than to just blindly sign with no guarantees.

Refuse. The whole squad to escort for a "briefing" is suspect, and signing without knowing the fate of his friends is not a thing Cort would do. He can explain as much and assure he'll sign as soon as this issue is solved.

Staff Major is a decently high rank. Do we get the authority to hire contractors?

It's been a month, but on page 19, we find out that Vicen Droma is just pulling the starcasters to covert operations so that their movements and location is top secret. Knowing that, I'm not concerned about what happened on page 21. That said - are we talking something like "refuse, nobody answered my questions about my friends yet" or are we talking about "refuse, I just completely changed my mind and don't want to join up anymore"? Because I could see myself voting for the former, but not for the latter.

At least read what your signing before you do anything.

I vote refuse .. I do think you are right it is really not an option but I think he would refuse simply because he is unsure of the fate of his friends - as long as that is not resolved he will simply refuse out of solidarity with them.

Cort obviously doesn't have the context of the previous strip, but it's still hard to miss the "subtle" message being sent. La'ni is the wildcard here...she has the muscle to enforce either outcome. But we already know she thinks Cort is an unproven element (and she told him as much last time). I'm not sure that Cort would actually feel as though he has the option to refuse here....

Daaaang Vicen Droma pulling rank. Yikes. "You misunderstand, I haven't signed because we're still in negotiations. Come back when we've come to terms."

I'm going to say sign for now, see if he can get his friends out of harms' way before forcing the issue with the feds.

Hope he recognizes his leverage will never be higher, and that he probably could say “I’ll serve, but on my terms.”

Lots of people with big guns just to get 2 people to a briefing and to get a signature...

As much as I'd like to refuse, they're hardly going to just let him go at this stage. He can always bail later at a better opportunity...