If you wondered the whole time how the heck Xenon got up into space in the first place, now you know.
(And her shuttle does have actual xenon headlights!)
This is also the first time the name "Xenon" gets uttered within the comic, not just here in the author comment. Babette and Wildebees only know the name under which she publicly appeared back in Monaco. (Is "Candy Armstrong" therefore just another pseudonym? Who knows!)
But "Xenon" is the name she would introduce herself to clients with.
In said Childhood's End appearance, he insisted on being called "Uncle" by Tiny, thus he is calling her his "Niece" here. (While they are definitely related on her mother's side, age-wise they are rather of the same generation though...)
There was also yet no logo of Drake Industries (his company) that I am aware of, so I tried to design one myself. (As seen in the monitor, behind Drake.)
And yes, for a split-second, I considered drawing a duck, referring to the other meaning of the word "drake"...
And who are Drake's partners that Xenon is speaking of? Maybe one is Maerc, since she had Maerc software with her? Who knows! ;-)
Drake and his ominous partner mainly aimed to harm Chapel Enterprises - ToyCo's entanglement in this specific Chapel/HDS jointventure complicated things though.
I'd guess Drake's cost-benefit analysis told him that some minor collateral damage getting inflicted on ToyCo was acceptable. However, Bettina actively interfering (via sending Wildebees) may have been unexpected, and not part of his plan...
They're on the same side!*
Also: stand by, I need you to post something somewhere...
*yeaaaaaah right
I'd guess Drake's cost-benefit analysis told him that some minor collateral damage getting inflicted on ToyCo was acceptable. However, Bettina actively interfering (via sending Wildebees) may have been unexpected, and not part of his plan...
Also, done and done!