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The endless frontier of space is full of stories. Some celebrated legends, others unsolved mysteries. For every honored hero, notorious pirate captain, or daring explorer that is celebrated in tall tales told by weary freight haulers in a spaceport tavern, a thousand more aspiring pioneers suddenly go dark, never to be heard from again. Some fall victim to a pirate attack in a dark corner of the cosmos, or simply get lost in the black expanse. Whatever fate befalls these lost souls, their story typically ends with a question mark, a cliffhanger never to be resolved and all to-often forgotten.
Sometimes, however, out of nowhere, the story suddenly resumes after a long silence. This is one such case.
One of the most lucrative enterprises in the fringes of the stars is the salvage trade. Ships that meet an unfortunate end in the backend of civilized space almost always leave behind enough functional spare parts to be cannibalized from their metallic corpses and repurposed to other vessels in need. Some even leave behind valuable cargo in the chaos of the evacuation, and tales of prospectors striking it rich on one fortunate salvage run are numerous (but not as common as most prospectors would hope).
For one such crew, a routine flotsam-stripping run took an unexpected turn upon interior inspection. The ship in question had clearly been neglected and untouched for quite some time. Covered in rust, dust, and debris, and the power and life-support systems having long given out, it seemed the previous crew simply abandoned the old clunker. Debt they could pay off? Simply found a better model? It was nothing the salvagers were concerned with for long.
At least not until they found her.
Within the ship’s cold storage vault lay more of the same. Ages-worth of rust and cryochambers long worn out from disuse. All but one. Within that one pristine chamber lay a lovely young lady, very much alive and unharmed from the ravages of time that surrounded her. The monitoring computer, barely functional from the power shortage, gave her name as “Mandala Cheng,” and the rank of Captain. What little power remained was diverted entirely to the sole purpose of keeping the slumbering drifter alive until someone discovered her. Alas, the sorry state of the vessel and the questionable state of integrity of her own cryochamber meant that any attempt to revive the young maiden right then and there would almost certainly kill her on the spot, either from complications or vacuum exposure.
Unwilling to abandon her to such a grim fate, the crew brought the frozen maiden onboard their own vessel, hoping to get her transferred to a specialized rescue crew. For now she remains sealed in an endless, peaceful slumber, barely aware of the long passage of time.
How long has this would-be explore drifted amongst the infinite void? What became of her old crew? Perhaps one day, if the fair Captain Cheng is ever released from her endless sleep, her story will be known…
So recently I wandered into a discord server full of fine, wonderful people. One such wonderful person is Kaylee, for which it took me a while to realize was none other than
NixieSeal. Realizing I was speaking to THE Anthronauts lady from back in the day (I kinda skimmed through it every so often back in the day. Fun little tale that was) was kind of an "OH SHI-" moment for me, and got me feeling nostalgic. She's moved on and is doing bigger, better things, but hey, revisiting and experimenting with the past is fun. In the nigh-20 years I've been in this business, this is the very first time I ever produced fanart for one of the "big" furry comics from back in the day.
Good sweet Zardoz, I feel old. XD
Sometimes, however, out of nowhere, the story suddenly resumes after a long silence. This is one such case.
One of the most lucrative enterprises in the fringes of the stars is the salvage trade. Ships that meet an unfortunate end in the backend of civilized space almost always leave behind enough functional spare parts to be cannibalized from their metallic corpses and repurposed to other vessels in need. Some even leave behind valuable cargo in the chaos of the evacuation, and tales of prospectors striking it rich on one fortunate salvage run are numerous (but not as common as most prospectors would hope).
For one such crew, a routine flotsam-stripping run took an unexpected turn upon interior inspection. The ship in question had clearly been neglected and untouched for quite some time. Covered in rust, dust, and debris, and the power and life-support systems having long given out, it seemed the previous crew simply abandoned the old clunker. Debt they could pay off? Simply found a better model? It was nothing the salvagers were concerned with for long.
At least not until they found her.
Within the ship’s cold storage vault lay more of the same. Ages-worth of rust and cryochambers long worn out from disuse. All but one. Within that one pristine chamber lay a lovely young lady, very much alive and unharmed from the ravages of time that surrounded her. The monitoring computer, barely functional from the power shortage, gave her name as “Mandala Cheng,” and the rank of Captain. What little power remained was diverted entirely to the sole purpose of keeping the slumbering drifter alive until someone discovered her. Alas, the sorry state of the vessel and the questionable state of integrity of her own cryochamber meant that any attempt to revive the young maiden right then and there would almost certainly kill her on the spot, either from complications or vacuum exposure.
Unwilling to abandon her to such a grim fate, the crew brought the frozen maiden onboard their own vessel, hoping to get her transferred to a specialized rescue crew. For now she remains sealed in an endless, peaceful slumber, barely aware of the long passage of time.
How long has this would-be explore drifted amongst the infinite void? What became of her old crew? Perhaps one day, if the fair Captain Cheng is ever released from her endless sleep, her story will be known…
So recently I wandered into a discord server full of fine, wonderful people. One such wonderful person is Kaylee, for which it took me a while to realize was none other than
NixieSeal. Realizing I was speaking to THE Anthronauts lady from back in the day (I kinda skimmed through it every so often back in the day. Fun little tale that was) was kind of an "OH SHI-" moment for me, and got me feeling nostalgic. She's moved on and is doing bigger, better things, but hey, revisiting and experimenting with the past is fun. In the nigh-20 years I've been in this business, this is the very first time I ever produced fanart for one of the "big" furry comics from back in the day. Good sweet Zardoz, I feel old. XD
Category Artwork (Digital) / All
Species Panda
Size 1920 x 1920px
File Size 3.46 MB
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