An alien pirate arrives, and “Ladies’ Fight” continues with Volume 4, Episode 3 – Page 15. Mara meets her contact, and much to her shock, it’s Illyana Mordon, one of the members of the space pirate crew who have tangled with the Lucky Strike crew in the past. What the heck is going on here?
Technically Illyana’s inclusion should be no surprise based on the previous page or the cover, but I still felt like the reveal needed to reflect shock, so I am happy with how it turned out. Plus, it was only four panels, which is rare for me.
We had another “Blood & Oil” update last week. We’re getting to the end, and the last page got pretty damn messy. I’ve been enjoying the tonal shift between that story and what I am doing here.
Ah, but now, what are some of the other updates?
- Supernatural Selection continues to go strong. In case you missed last week’s episode, I wrote it. We talk about American cryptids like Jackalopes and Hoop Snakes. This week’s episode, a Week In Weird, will be up sometime later today.
- More RGBots… Green is dead. Long live Green.
- There are no lore or prose updates, but I hope to fix that this weekend.
Speaking of lore… let’s talk about Illyana.
Alien Pirate Illyana Mordon
Several characters I have are borrowed or adapted from friends of mine. Illyana Mordon, for example, is based on a character from my friend Poinko‘s comic, Lancaster: The Ghost Detective. She’s not the same character, but the inspiration came from that character in that comic. The name isn’t the same, but the character is similar.
As for Illyana, I feel like fleshing out her background a bit here can be fun, and it is inevitably something that can be collected in a larger character spotlight for the blog later.
So, ten notes about Illyana:
- Illyana is probably the most violent of the Thruster Spear crew and has the biggest body count.
- She named the ship as a perverted in-joke with her partner Vid Seng.
- Illyana was close to “Black” Mab Sang’s inner circle but chose her feelings for Vid over influence.
- She is the best shot among the pirate crew.
- Illyana has served three years in prison for assault, robbery, and taking a hostage.
- Illyana has an arrest warrant within Imperial territories.
- She has been working for Ij Far longer than Mara has.
- She greatly dislikes her crewmate Quell Blaxstromas. She nearly threw him out of an airlock after a particularly tense argument regarding cuts of a heist.
- Illyana was offered a spot in a prestigious Imperial military training program, but she was forced to go on the run after killing a soldier.
- Illyana has had two life-threatening injuries from heists with corresponding scars.
Volume 4 Episode 3 – Page 15 Transcript
The following is a transcript of Cosmic Dash, Volume 4, Episode 3, “Ladies’ Fight” – Page 15.
Panel One
Mara has an alcohol carton in her hand, glancing back toward the unseen speaker.
Voice: “Ransom.”
Panel Two
Mara begins to turn and engage the mysterious voice.
Mara: “Shellshock.”
Panel Three
Mara is alarmed by what she sees. She squeezes the carton, causing it to spurt.
SFX: SPLORT
Panel Four
Mara stands up, her hand hovering around the blaster on her hip. She is staring at space pirate Illyana Mordon, who has her pulse rifle ready. They both look shocked and angered.
Mara: YOU?!
Illyana: YOU?!
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