25 Comments

Option three! If he is able to disable the weapon, the pirate would have to beat feet. And since the temp gauge is already red-lining, if he can drag it out while staying alive, the ship might overheat anyway, granting him the best of both options one and three.

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Thank you for your vote! I will grab a line from your comment for tomorrow’s Terran-Tuesday poem :)

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Ooh option 2 for sure. If the old man is going to go out, let him do it in a blaze of glory.

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Thank you for the vote!

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This is my first look at this serial, and the action is very well done! The world-building is also exceptional, particularly the use of dialect to differentiate the two sides.

It appears I'm too late to vote. I might have gone with one, which seemed most prudent. But perhaps I would have agreed with the others if I'd read the earlier segments. I may not be familiar enough with the hardware involved to make the best choice.

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Btw, this story will be the first one of three. Following its completion, I shall begin number two, and it is about Morale Officer Vinson's friend. A spacer, curious enjoyer of deep space oddities (like olden derelicts for example), and gunslinger extraordinaire, Mr. Northstone Firehand is a man of many talents. With this interactive short story format, I aim to introduce my main Starshatter series to all wholesome scifi lovers here on Substack.

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You can vote for chapter 5 still. Read chapter 4, Advantage here https://substack.com/@theblackknight/p-149487955

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Great episode. I also vote for 2. Maybe because I am old too. But I want to see George blow up that ship. And I will cheer him on.

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Thank you! Please read chapter 4 too :)

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I like #3. First one sounds mostly like evasive maneuvering and hedging a bet of what the enemy might do. Second one relies too much on a geriatric, sick old dude. #3 puts it all under his control and relies on using an already known (effective weapon) and exploiting the weakness of the “windshield” as primary target.

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Thank you for your vote! Please, enjoy my two Terran-Tuesday posts if you like Tanka poems and shanties :)

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Nice visuals in this chapter, I very much enjoyed the flaming torso 😜 I'm voting option 2. Break out the motorcycle!

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Thank you for your vote! I am stealing a line from your comment for my Terran-Tuesday Tanka :D I hope you liked the lasering!

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Practically speaking, I think option 2 would work the best. But from a writer's perspective... option 3. It creates more of a dilemma and gets readers' emotions more involved.

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Thank you for your vote!

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Two. Teamwork makes the dream work. And he’s probably coughing from the pollen.

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Thank you for your vote! He very well may be coughing from the pollen… or not lol Again, stealing a line from your comment for my Terran Tuesday Tanka poem.

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Option 2.

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Thank you for your vote!

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Two! Bring that baby down!

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Thank you for your vote :D

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Yes! It's time to bring in the big guns and light up the sky! Before this pirate has a chance to call in their own reinforcements. I think '2' is the way to go, for sure... 😎

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Thank you for your vote! I will use one line from your comment for our Terran-Tuesday poem :D

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I'd have to say go with #2. The old ranger thinks he can get to the ammo dump and return with the wire. While he's headed that way, The younger lad can do the hide and seek thing among the debris, taking an occasional potshot at the ship with his rail gun.

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Thank you for your vote! I will also grab a line from your long comment for our Terran-Tuesday poem :D

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