“Everything is fine, we all got off easy, Epistratichos Xanthopolous didn’t even look in our general direction, I don’t see why you have to do this Adoni.” Eliud whined as he hurriedly followed after the pixie haired blond.
“Because it’s the right thing to do.” The young female recruit walked with fierce determination towards the Epistratichos’ den.
The both of them were muddy, sore, and carried battered spirits that felt as bad as the both of them looked. Hypostratichos Rixie Tam had showed up, not a minute early, not a minute late. The lot of them had been given a rundown of the rules of engagement, and set off like a pack of hounds to bring down their foe.
The rules were simple, the Avalonean trainees has to either secure a flag that was loosely attached to Tam’s hips, or incapacitate her, before she could reach the far side of the training camp, or capture 75% of their numbers.
One vs five hundred, the average titan was approximately twenty four times larger than a human, they were equipped with retro-fitted with tournament grade, AMBO sparring weapons, that mimicked the feel of real weapons, with out the risk of injury. They had a clear terrain advantage, but when set to the task, had scattered like frightened Tupps.
Lines broke, soldiers panicked, plans failed and everyone suddenly found everything they had learned in Special training impossible to recall.
It was intimidation by size and sight alone. Hypostratichos Tam carried herself with a level of confidence and ferocity that few of the recruits had ever seen. It trumped that of the Mammoth, the wild dogs that populated the vast desert, it even overshadowed the tales of the Great Destroyer they had heard from their parents and older siblings. Tam was a soldier, and that was a great deal more terrifying than any Goddess or Devil they had heard about.
If Rixie Tam had been in Atlantis when the Great Destroyer was there, history would remember that day much differently. It made the happy go lucky mechanic that had been lingering around the camp seem like a playful Dodo, it caught them all completely off guard.
Adoni pushed through and approached the outside of the Epistratichos’ cabin.
“Besides…” The young woman gathered her bravado, and swallowed her reservations down hard. “If he’s going to force us to eat mud while that yit has her fun with us, we deserve to know why.”
Darren was sitting at his desk, nose buried in his data pad. The war games had ceased for the night while humans and titans alike took time to rest, eat, and clean up. Things had gone quite a fair deal worse than he had hoped, but sadly close to what his excitations were. Darren knew his recruits, these men and women were not the same ones who won the out lands, they were not the ones who witnessed Trell Pria devastate the city and devour citizens alive. These were not the ones who watched the Great Destroyer and the Goddess battle in the streets for the fate of the moon itself. This batch knew a different titan than those who came before.
Titans were helpful, sometimes bumbling worker sorts who either got in the way, or stayed as far away as they could. They were near mythical creatures that lives high atop Tayas Mons, protecting the planet from any real harm.
They were used to titans like Myona, Dr. Pria, Dr Mavoy, and Taron. Rixie had never shown the populace what she was capable of, she never had much of a reason to.
As Darren mulled over the multitude of failures he had witnessed that day, it struck him, that this was the first time many of them had seen a titan with malicious intent, up close and personal.
Holographic interfaces, it seemed, we’re no match for the real deal.
A knock on the cabin door broke Darren from his trance. “What do you want?” He said quickly, then sighed and pushed himself up.
“Barti-Beckchi Adoni Raptis, requesting permission to enter, sir!” A stiff voice spoke from the other side, followed by a horse whisper.
“Don’t tell him I’m here…he doesn’t know maybe it’s not too late for me to…”
“I didn’t tell him you were here, if you’re gonna go, go now!”
“What if he heard us.”
“If you knew how to whisper maybe he…”
Epistratichos Xanthopolous opened the door, and looked with one raised brow at the two recruits, bickering outside his door, though he appeared to of had better days, he didn’t look ‘too’ angry…yet.
“Can I help you?” Darren almost seemed amused, in another time and place, these two would have been good friends with Reese Jones and Isabelle Ibanez.
“Sir…yes…actually, well I was wondering if…well…” Adoni’s courage fled her, she had practiced what she had wanted to say, she stormed up to his door, with every intention of saying it, she was going to out Ourania for being an instigator and a bully, then while she riding the high from that, she was going to tell Epistratichos Xanthopolous exactly what she thought of these pointless war games.
Of course, lecturing herself in her tent, and lecturing Xanthopolous himself, was a different game altogether.
“It’s about Shaar sir, we know what happened and wanted to tell you the rest of the story.” Eliud spoke up, surprising both himself, and Adoni.
Darren shifted his weight and eyed both of them with a more thoughtful look. “Shaar catch yer tongue back when this information was a bit more relevant, recruit?”
Adoni’s gaze lingered on Eliud for a moment, then shoot quickly back to Darren. “Sir, I didn’t want to say anything in front of everybody. There is an unspoken rule…and….”
“Recruit, this sure as hell ain’t my first gat’damn rodeo, believe ir or not, I was a recruit once. That don’t mean, of course, you are excuse for withholding information from your superior officer.” Darren adjusted his stance, then motioned as if he was about to shut the door.
“Sir?” Adoni interrupted.
“Recruit, that ship has left port. Besides, if Shaar had wanted it said, she’d of said it. Go on and get some sleep, morning comes early. ” Darren looked past them, to the brilliant full showing of Herakleos, which left the night skyline a briliant amber twilight.
“Well, sir…there was one more thing.” Adoni interjected, much to Eliud’s dismay.
“Hmm?” Epistratichos Xanthopolous eyed the two, exhaustion starting to show in his eyes.
“It’s about the games, sir, the war game, against Hypostratichos Tam, see, myself and a few of the other recruits had some concerns regarding the usefulness of this training.” Adoni swallowed, judging by the Epistratichos’ expression, she had best go on.
Adoni took a deep breath, and with steadfast determination went on. “It just doesn’t make any sense Sir. We passed basic training, we put in our time, we did no worse than the thousands of recruits that went before us. In fact, many of us have impeccable records. This isn’t fair sir, we’re being pushed harder and further than anyone else, and frankly sir, Hypostratichos Tam is out of our league. What you’re asking sir, it just can’t be done! Not by us, not by those who came before, not even by you. It’s impossible.”
Darren licked the front of his teeth and snapped his tongue back into his mouth. “Heh…it that so.”
Eliud looked ready to collapse, but held his ground behind Adoni, who for her part stood behind what she had said, maintaining eye contact with Epistratichos Xanthopolous.
“Yup, definitely an Ibanez.” He said, almost laughing, before removing his hand from the door and motioning towards his desk. “Come, have a seat.” He said, with all the calm of a stalking tiger. “Let’s have a chat. I got a bit of a story to tell ya.”
***
Rixie relaxed under the cool twilight canopy. Myona had set up a perimeter, allowing them to remove their clunky gravitational devices, and afterward Rixie changed into something more comfortable than the armor she’d been wearing. Trudging around on a super mu world was exhaustive work, even if her adversaries were not the most challenging. Still, the humans had decades of superstition and inbred beliefs to overcome, it would take more than a few sloppy drills in the outlands to change that.
It must have been exciting to be a soldier.” Myona said to the older woman as she lay face down on her bed roll, legs kicking idly, occasionally making contact with her rear end. “Going out and exploring the galaxy on a star cruiser, and meeting new people. Sounds like such an adventure!”
Rixie chuckled. There was a lot more than that, but Myona’s enthusiasm was a bit infectious, it just felt wrong to burst her bubble with terrible stories of military life.
“Actually, I was all too happy to retire.” Rixie said, as she watched the. Rings of Herakleos light up the night sky.
“Really? But don’t you miss all the excitement and adventure?” Myona had hardly finished her sentence before she realized how silly it must had sounded, considering who she was talking to, they both laughed together.
“Don’t think I haven’t toyed with the idea of returning. Sometimes the quiet life of an officer feels like a vacation next to working for Pryvani Tarsuss.” Rixie said thoughtfully.
“You looked like you were having fun today. Although, the humans really did try hard.” Myona said with a frown. Her eyes perked up quickly, as did her voice. “You should let them win the next one, you know, help boost their spirits!” Myona suggested.
Rixie shook her head at the idea, her eyes drifted to the sleeping form of Shaar, who had decided to turn over and grunt because of the Titans loud voices. “This is too important for that Myona.” Rixie watched Shaar, for some reason, the bold, determined young woman reminded her of Alex. Her Alex, who was off on his own on Valhalla Station and without her protection.
“I guess so. Maybe you could go easy on them though?” Myona followed Rixie’s gaze over to Shaar, who even in her deep sleep, didn’t seem to enjoy being gawked at. “And, you know, I’m not trying to say they can’t do it or anything… but… well, Shaar and I play Qip-top together and she got frustrated when she lost… So, I let her win a few and she started to like the game more. Eventually, because she thought she could win… she actually started to win on her own.”
Rixie sighed. “I see what you’re saying, Myona, but Darren and I can’t take the risk on it working out the way it did with Shaar. The safety of Avalon is too important, and these people need to be able to defend themselves without our help, in case it ever comes to that. I hope it doesn’t, but we have to prepare for the worst.”
Myona frowned. She looked troubled. She didn’t like the idea of the humans on Avalon needing to defend themselves, although she was more than aware there were plenty of Titans who would think nothing of harming them.
“It’s not that they aren’t making progress, Myona. They are. This is just too important. I can’t go easy on them.” Rixie sighed. “Because those who would want to harm them won’t.”
Myona furrowed a brow and let out a sigh. “I see what you’re saying, but I just wish we could protect them and-”
“I’m going to stop you right there.” Rixie interrupted. “Because that’s exactly the mentality we need to be careful of. For centuries we’ve been governing the galaxy with that same philosophy, taking it upon ourselves to protect people we have no business protecting, and imposing our will on every species we come across. Humanity especially. No matter what we say, they aren’t pathetic and they shouldn’t be pitied.”
“I know.” Myona nodded. “I’ve seen humans do things I wouldn’t have expected of them a few years ago.”
“You’ll see, they’re capable of a lot. Soon you’ll be feeling sorry for me, when they start handing me my ass.” Rixie chuckled. “They have the advantage, they just don’t realize it, but when they do Myona…”
Rixie closed her eyes, and rested her hands behind her head, “when they do…they’ll be amazing.”
Myona closed her own eyes, she enjoyed the gentle desert breeze, the air was warm and dry, and it reminded her of home. “I know. Everything you’re saying I already knew. I guess it’s just hard watching them work so hard, and not make any progress.”
“They are making progress. They learn fast.” Rixie turned herself about, now laying on her stomach.
Myona’s expression said it all, her eyes softened and a warm smile crept over her lips. “Shaar’s so much better with the mechanical end of things. I mean, I’m better with the code than she is, but when it comes to the actual machines she just… she just knows. You’d never guess that she’s never had any sort of actual ‘education’.” Myona said with a light hearted laugh.
“Makes you wonder how we ever got here, doesn’t it? How their personhood was ever brought into question in the first place.” Rixie said, contemplating the idea herself.
“Well,” Myona said with enthusiasm, “I have a theory on that!”
“Oh?” Rixie asked, moving a bit closer.
“What if,” Myona began, with such a tone of wonder and curiosity, one might of thought she was about to give a lecture, “Our ancestors, you know the early Sperikonian settlers who stumbled across the Terran system, never doubted humanities sentience to begin with?”
Rixie tilted her head with interest.
“Think about it now, you’re a Sperikonian scientist, and you stumble across this strange world of teeny little creatures, who look exactly like you. Imagine the odds, in the entire galaxy, we locate a race that evolved to look and act so much like us? So you travel back, you give a few reports, you look for funding to make another expedition. Then, when you return, the civilization you found is decades beyond where they should be!”
“I see what you’re saying.” Rixie interrupted Myona, filling in the blanks. “There’s this tiny race that’s developing much faster than they ‘should’ be, and they look just like us, except for size…”
“I was reading Forsetti and Melini D’Talma’s field logs a while ago…” Myona said. “Did you know that while they were still doing fieldwork on Earth, they petitioned the government to reevaluate the sentience classification on humanity? Not only that but almost all the pioneers who first discovered Earth were in agreement.”
Rixie adjusted her pose, Myona had her interest now. “Why would all these anthropologists, pioneers and surveyors feel human beings were more than we gave them credit for, but our government still refuse to budge?”
Rixie was silent for a moment as she searched around for an answer. “Unless they were afraid?”
Myona nearly leapt onto Rixie, and grasped her shoulders eagerly. “Right? Afraid of a species with so much potential, it blew their minds! Afraid not of what they saw, but what would inevitably come.”
Rixie was far from a conspiracy theorist, but Myona did make a lot of sense.
“The D’Talma’s never did finish their research. Most of the intelligence, decades of research, and some of the greatest minds in human anthropology were lost on Sperikos.” Myona continued breathlessly. “Shaka, a colony of allegedly self-governed human beings three times the population of Avalon was lost, and not a single titan has stepped foot on the surface of Sperikos since.” Myona took a breath. For a brief moment she had seemed like somebody else entirely. But then that moment passed and her signature energetic grin returned as she shrugged gleefully. “Makes you think, doesn’t it?” She said with a small laugh
Rixie nodded. “It’s an interesting idea to think about, but I mean…the D’Tamla’s disappearance was looked into, even just a few years ago. Pryvani made sure no stone was left unchecked. Truth was, it was a full primary systems failure with their craft. No foul play involved.” Rixie’s lips went thin, and she narrowed her eyes for a second. “As for Sperikos… That was an experiment by the insectoids. The bugs wanted to see how far they could push into Imperial space, see how vulnerable the Empire really was. As soon as they met enough resistance to quantify a defeat, they made a flashy show to keep us from pursuing and then fell back into their own space.” Rixie nodded sagely. “Had they really been interested in an invasion, they damn well could have taken half of the Empire’s holdings at the time before running out of momentum.”
Myona listened intently. Although having her theory dismissed had taken the wind out of her sails somewhat, she was still very eager to hear more.
“See, that’s the thing about the bugs Myona. What we don’t know about them could fill a library. One thing we do know about them is their main motivation: food.”
“They can’t expand if they can’t feed themselves, right?” Myona suggested.
“More than that…” Shaar interjected sitting up. She frowned when both Titans turned surprised looks in her direction. “You both talk loud, I couldn’t help but listen!” She cleared her throat to continue her thought. “They can only breed an army if they can feed that army, and their numbers grow only as fast as their food stores allow. If they have the resources, their numbers are endless, if they don’t…well…”
“That’s when they start to entertain diplomatic relations. Until such a time as their bellies are full, and their numbers swell.” Rixie finished, quite impressed with Shaar’s sudden interjection.
“So, the Empire isn’t as virtuous as some seem to think.” Shaar said with a bitter gruff. “It’s in their best interest to keep insectoid grubs wanting for a meal, because if their bellies are full, their ambitions are endless.”
“That is not entirely true.” Rixie argued. “Insectoid/Imperial relations are a lot more complex than that alone. Besides, the hive had no reason to suspect there was even a human settlement on Sperikos to begin with. There is a history of aggression with the Hive and other species that completely pre-dates Sperikos. The insectoids target worlds that are resource heavy, and they prefer those that are inhabited by a race that can’t defend themselves. It’s very calculated. If the risks outweigh the potential gain, then they don’t swarm. Sperikos was a perimeter test, not a swarm. Sol Terra doesn’t possess enough resources to allow them to build an army big enough to overthrow the Empire, not by far.”
“But, what if it’s like Myona said, what if they’re afraid too? What if they see the same thing the Sperikonian researchers saw?” Shaar asked, sharply.
“I…I don’t think the Hive puts that much thought into anything really…I mean…sure the empire gains by protecting its boarders, but there is also the lives of billions of living creatures. It was decided decades ago that all lives must be protected against genocide, not just Titan lives.” Rixie said, watching Shaar with thoughtful eyes.
“We all benefit.” Myona said at last.
Shaar and Rixie both turned to Myona, who had about the closest thing to a serious expression as Shaar had ever seen on her face.
“Earth benefits from the Empire’s protection, because without it they would have been swarmed long ago. The Empire benefits because their boarders are secured and the insectoids are denied resources, and both worlds get to keep on living. That makes sense.” Myona nodded.
“Doesn’t mean the Empire gets to do whatever it wants with us. That’s not a kindness, that’s bribery.” Shaar muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
Rixie nodded. “You’re absolutely right Shaar, and that brings us back to how this whole conversation started in the first place.” Rixie chuckled. “Darren wants Avalon to learn to stand on its own, while Pryvani, myself, and and as many other Titans as we can get try to change the status quo…and if that doesn’t work…well….”
“That’s why you can’t go easy on them!” Myona finished.
“Exactly! We will fight as long as we have breath for liberation, but that might not be enough. That’s why I’m here today, and hopefully that’s why they’ll take me down, hard soon enough.”
Myona nodded, although she had a regretful expression. “I still hate to see them lose so badly.”
Rixie just shook her head and turned over to look back up at the stars. “Give it time.”
“Yeah.” Shaar muttered. “And in the meantime we can discuss this nonsense about you letting me win at Qip-top.”
***
Eliud and Adoni walked in tandem from Epistratichos os Xanthopolus bunker, in the direction of their bunks. Adoni was far more quiet than normal, while Eliud had a puzzled look on his face. He thought out loud as they walked, expressing his doubt of the validity of Epistratichos Xanthopolus story.
“What I don’t understand is the Golden Harp part, assuming the instrument was really made of pure gold, even if it was only the size of a human, which is much smaller than a musical instrument a titan would use, than that would mean the harp would weigh….”
“It wasn’t a true story Eliud!” Adoni dismissed roughly.
“Oh” Eliud lamented with a sigh. “Well, I guess it makes a lot more sense that way. I was going to say, the physics of living on a cloud, and a bean stock reaching that far into the sky with out something to support its weight, well it’s absolutely absurd.” The young man snorted a laugh.
Adoni rolled her eyes as they trudged forward. “Don’t take everything so dang litteral.” Adoni laughed. “The Epistratichos was trying to boost out spirits, he was telling us an inspirational story, so we would buck up and have a transcendent moment or something…I don’t know…that or he wanted to get rid of us so told us what ever he thought we needed to hear…”Adoni shrugged her shoulders hopelessly.
“My favorite part was when Jack cuts down the beanstalk before the titan can lumber down.” Eliud smiled despite himself.
“Yea, well it was just a fairy tale. Our titan is a hell of a lot smarter than some ogre, and we’re fresh out of beanstalk’s.” Adoni said, dismissive. “Rank Tam isn’t some lumbering ogre in sandals. She’s fast, sharp as a Shaar’s tail, and her armor is thicker than a tank. Doesn’t help that everyone’s so damn afraid of her…Epistratichos Xanthopolus story was a fairy tale, this is reality.”
“I don’t know, I see some parallels to reality.” Eliud said, though Adoni’s doubtful expression begged explication. “Ok well first, an all powerful giant who lives above the clouds?” Eliud said, than motioned to Tayas Mons in the far distance.
“Fair enough…” Adoni admitted.
“Next, a scrappy underdog, who against all odds overcomes incredible odds to fell the beast. It’s a classic good vs evil story.” Eliud shrugged. “Point is, Jack had to do what he had to do, I think Epistratichos Xanthopolus was trying to tell us that.”
Adoni shook her head. “No, I don’t think so.” The young woman stopped, her face scrunched into a thoughtful expression. “Jack was creative, he used what he had available to outsmart his titan. Jack didn’t play the game by the titans rules, Jack made his own rules!” Adoni said, her face lighting up.
“Ok?” Eliud responded, cautiously.
“Eliud!” Adoni smacked her friend’s shoulder and raised her voice to an excited shout.
“Oww!”
“Start waking people up, I have an idea. Get anyone who will come, tell them to get everyone into the mess hall! I have a plan!” Adoni could hardly contain herself as she started to run off.
“What are we gonna do?” Eliud shouted back.
“Make our own rules Eliud, and find good beanstalk!”
“Titan forces be aware… this is the USS Harvester of Sorrow, bout to rek some xenomorph ass one time, how copy?… I cant wait to see the mild prejudeuce titans hold on humans after the insectoid fight is over, and the humans basically tell the titans to fuck off..
Great talk btw Rixie, Myona, and Shaar.
Myona’s theory is well done as people fears the unknown and the balance of force is real. until now this is the case.
lol St Anger on my neck, Titans are after insects, im madly in anger with you… there will be no peace
Myona and Rixie. Not a character pairing I’d thought about before but it was really neat to see them together! I like it when we get random characters you would never think would meet or have anything in common interact with each other.
So that’s where the “Jacks” are from ! Jack and the beanstalk, of course !
Awwwww how did I not see that?!?!?
I feel so dumb! I thought it would have something to do with their equipment.
I like the introspection that Rixie shows. She has such an understanding of human nature that many Titans lack. Though she may chastise Myona for it, but Rixie also fights against the titan instinct to protect were Alex is concerned.
If the Titans can get past their superiority complex, and the humans over their lack of trust of Titans both would form a wonderful partnership, each bringing out the best in the other.
That is Pryvani’s main plan/focus/mission throughout the whole stories. That’s why the main characters are important. They themselves should found their own Empire with lot’s of mixed titan human couples who will have hybrid children.
With blackjack! And hookers! In fact, forget the Empire!
Rixie is probably one of the smartest and most introspective characters of the entire cast, only the royal family showed as much thought and care as she has. Being among the small handful of characters who didn’t have to anyone baby her through kindergarten lessons with “think of how they would feel?” or “Its not nice to torture people” and it didn’t even take her a full Titan day to come to those conclusions all on her own.
I’ll admit, that’s not the story I was expecting him to share. Though it makes sense, as I doubt he ever wants to relive it ever again.
Always love to see this updated, and the theories about initial human/titan contact were excellent. I much prefer the idea that the knowledge human intelligence was actively suppressed rather than Titans were just oblivious.
This chapter also explained some gaps over in Hybrid, the ‘need food’ is more about expansion than starvation and it gives more nuance to the ‘noble’ titans protecting Earth.
Its already well established that information about earth was actively suppressed, to the point that gathering data and contacting the anyone on the planet was outright illegal and the few research teams with clearance to do so deliberately hid their results. But suppressed since ancient times as well also makes a heck of a lot of sense.
That said, too many Titans have been far too mind-numbingly oblivious on an individual level for that to be the full explanation. Nasika’s first reaction to Neil was to strip off his clothing and demand he act like a normal human. Thats the same level of stupid as having a parrot show up to your house in strange space clothes and tell you he’s a space parrot making contact with your people, and your first response is to strip the bird naked and shove in a guided cage, shouting: “stop with all these intelligent lines of questioning, and say ‘Polly want a cracker’ instead!”
Totally agree. The way they act against a creature that does the things you describe, the actions of Naskia, Rixie, Brinn. etc are incredibly stupid. Only few titans that came in contact with wild humans lack that stupidity. I wonder if Naskia would ever treat him as a person if he didn’t solve her math. Brinn was more creepy even. Rixie had the shortest moment of stupidity.
Pryvani was the only one of the first characters who lack that stupidity and had a believable curiosity and big plan.
I hope to think that it was stress in the case of Naskia and that she quickly would realize after hearing Niall again that she was wrong. That it wasn’t only the math solving that would save him from a stupid acting Naskia.
I liked it when Sorcha reminded her mother about that in Contact.
I think the lesson the authors were going for was that the Titans ultimately learned from direct contact with intelligent humans. Its not that they were incredibly stupid, but they had no reference point. It has a huge part of it buried in slavery and a bi in the civil rights movement. Everyone from our original stories grew and learned, and in some cases came to love. Its been alot of fun, and the characters have been fascinating and amazing. Except for Eyrn. She’s the ONLY character to have regressed. All the others evolved, learned, and got better, but Eyrn became somewhat like a classic Titan. Ruined her.
It’s been me that’s done the direction for Eyrn in Hybrid. I don’t see her has regressing but actually being in a fairly desperate position.
She identifies with Humans but is actually a Titan. And she’s desperately trying to find a way to bring the two peoples together in a way that is constructive and mutually beneficial. She’s like a kid stuck between two bickering parents. She just wants them to get on. Which is why she’s hiding some of the terrible stuff one parent has done from the other. She just wants them to get along. I don’t think it means regression or arrogance. Just desperation.
@OpenHighHat. Good explanation, just wanted to be sure. 😉
@Dann and OpenHighHat. I don’t find Eyrn’s development unrealistic to where she is now and that it’s written on purpose.
Her way of bringing the two people together is very wrong in my eyes. She lets herself(her free will and own ideas) taken hostage by that idiotic position of ambassador. She acts as an agent for the Empire, not as someone who is trying to bring two people together. She constantly lies to Earth and humans in general, but she will never do that against the Empire. She clearly takes the side of the Empire. In all her actions. Her actions with Lennox were awful. I know the point she was trying to make, but she did a lot of damage. More damage than good. Does she also has the balls to threaten Qorni? Or is it only ok to threaten and humiliate someone the size of your finger.
The conversation with Loona about the weapons development on Earth was also awful. Eyrn found it nescessary to speak about those achievements in a very degrading tone. And the fact that she finds it ok to keep taps on humans as if the other far more powerfull groups in the galaxy are saints. She is just a disaster now.
The good way of bringing the two people togheter is by mingle with them. And do stuff you genuinely like and stop pretending. No false smiles or lies. Be yourself Eyrn. Quit that job as ambassador unless you try to do something useful with it.
TD right now:
Barrowman!
Barrowman: “Her actions with Lennox were awful. I know the point she was trying to make, but she did a lot of damage. More damage than good. Does she also has the balls to threaten Qorni? Or is it only ok to threaten and humiliate someone the size of your finger.”
This scene in Debate I remember being rather shocking. In Contact she was all for reveling the truth but I think it was Mulan that talked her out of it. Since then her desire to hide bad news and push positive stories are, while flawed, completely understandable.
But that scene in Debate felt out of character. I can see Eyrn trying to be intimidating, but in a straight forward manner. Not as part of some psychological game. I have a hard time seeing Pryvani pulling this stunt, let alone Eyrn. Probably because it ultimately fails, making it seem like a pointless endeavor. In the end, that’s probably what hurt Eyrn character for me. I do see shades of the old Eyrn in Hybrid, but I look at her with a new lens too.
I actually think the threat was in character. It wasn’t a real threat but a fake one. Lennox saw that as well.
The “threat” was a “we could threaten you but we won’t”. It was attempt to show that she wouldn’t behave in the way that was expected for someone operating in a position of absolute power. She didn’t try to suppress his story but instead tried to show him her reasons for operating how she did. I think it showed her well.
In fairness to Eyrn she is the ambassador of the Titan Empire to Earth. Her job is act on the Empire’s behalf. If she plays too much for Earth she gets canned and Qorni appoints a hardliner. She’s walking a tight line. The question is if she was pushed, if her back was against the wall, whose side would she take?
And like all questions when it comes to international relations, the answer is never simple. But I’d be certain Eyrn would not turn her back on Earth.
The funny thing is Barrowman that myself and Dann discussed this VERY early on in Physics, before Exile was even written.
He wrote a piece about Dan (from CSP) swapping places with Niall and it actually goes fairly similarly. It didn’t get romantic but she did come around quite quick.
The thing with Naskia in Ch1 Physics is she’s a mess. She bought a pet to keep her company in her own isolation. She was lonely and wanted to be loved. No matter who comes out of that tube from Earth, they will not give that to her and she will get upset and dump them in the tank.
But going into day two when she is calmer and the person from Earth is calmer there would be discussion. If you explained your life from before, talked about family, friends, university or whatever she’d feel totally awful. Even if you only showed a limited understanding of science/maths she’d know it’s similar to most people she’s encountered. She’d feel awful. Especially if you weren’t as belligerent as Niall.
Now if you used that sympathy and then listened to her and empathised with her and became an outlet for her anxiety and helped to lift her up you could quickly find her falling for you whether you wanted it or not.
The trick would be doing what Niall did long term and becoming her equal on all levels (you would need to do this whether you were Titan/Human/Ler). Otherwise once you helped to lift her up and she learned to cope by yourself you would become a wounded bird and be left behind.
I really like that analogy OHH and if that’s what you were going for I think you nailed it. I guess me seeing “regression” then is more that one parent raised her and was pretty decent to her and the other was abusive to that parent (humans in general) so you’d think she’d prefer one over the other, kids do have a favorite parent haha! That’s why it surprises me so much when she advocates for and hides things from Earth
I was behind OHH 110% with the direction he decided to take Eyrn in Hybrid, and trust me, OHH and I have a very solid history of arguing endlessly with one another when we think one or the other is doing something with one of our beloved characters that we don’t think is right.
There are MULTIPLE scenes in Hybrid I gave him a headache over, and a few I demanded changed(and he obliged eventually) and there were MANY MANY issues with Nomad where I had to change this or that because OHH didn’t feel Aisell should do X thing. For instance, I was insisting upon a sex scene between Aisell and Darren, and fought hard for it, I had eventually wore him down and we had arrived at an acceptable situation, but at the last moment I saw the light of day and realized the scene would never work.
All of that to say, OHH and I, and JS and D.X are fastidious when it comes to making sure characters are handled well. In fact, JS re wrote a good chunk of this Myona and Rixie conversation, because he felt Myona was coming across as too condescending towards humans.
So when I say I support OHH’s direction for Eyrn, I don’t say that lightly.
I understand she has taken some heat, and that is going to happen, she isn’t in a very easy situation, and let’s be honest, she is in WAY over her head.
In the end, she likely made a few mistakes, but considering the clusterfuck that is happening, they are minor.
Did she betray her identity? I don’t think so, as remember, she’s always been that little girl torn between two world, now she just has BIG decisions to make, and the same feeling of being torn.
I feel sorry for her, I’d of quit her job long ago.
The nomad argument was a bad one. Even the ever wise and patient DX couldn’t mediate that one!
As hard as she tried, Aisell just couldn’t get Darren to impale her with his tool…
So she’s failed at the most important job of her life… doesnt mean I have to fell sorry for her.
@Borrowman
Let is never forger the countless human world leaders on earth who either willingly agreed to, or too BRIBES and then kept slavery and human imprisonment in the empire a secret.
As far as Quarni, don’t you think for a moment, just for a moment Eyrn, Loona or just about any of the titan main cast would LOVE to get that woman alone in a dark alley for just a few? Lord knows, Quarni and the Titan party, and the other staunch conservatives have been the real thorn in the Empire’s side. Because let’s not forget, if we examine first contact, world leaders (perhaps a bit reluctantly) agreed on radio silence on the issue, they agreed on an information blackout. At anytime they could have unanimously agreed to bring the whole truth out into the open, at any time any single one of them had the freedom AND ability to go back to their home nation and let the truth out of the bag.
Dr. Eyrn Bass is but one SMALL player in a big HUGE game.
But, let’s for a moment pretend Eyrn did “the right and honorable” thing, and just blurted out the truth at the first U.N meeting. Why don’t you write up a bit of a summary on how you think events out have transpired, if she were ousted, and tried for treason against the empire, removing her completely form the equation, and giving her zero say what so ever on matters involving earth and the empire. (Personally, if you ask me, Eyrn was more true to herself by doing WHAT EVER IT TOOK to be in on these conversations, and this doesn’t mean she took the moral high ground, see Aisell and Luke, but, true to herself she most certainly was, because she cared far too much about Earth to leave it in the hands of whom ever Quarni had in line to replace her.)
@Paaaa
Naw, you don’t have to feel sorry for her, and I don’t think she’d ask anyone to. She made her bed, and is prepared to lay in it. Remember, she was the one telling Aisell to move on after making her own terrible decisions.
That makes sense. I think the moment where that really comes through is when she explains her decision not to tell Earth about Tau Ceti. She said that Earth-Empire relations were still relatively good, and she didn’t want to compromise that. But I still have one question: Did Eyrn feel bad about lying to humans, viewing it as a regrettable necessity, or did she believe 100% that she really is doing what’s best for everyone? That didn’t really come across.
@AR
That could be left upto reader interpretation, o OHH may yet bring it up, the story isn’t over, and I’d hate to spoil anything.
But I know what I think on the matter.
@Dann: Ah, thanks.
@sketch
As D.X often says, when we groan about you lot in our skype chat, Eyrn is 22 or so years older now, are you the same person you were 10 years ago? Let alone 20?
As far as Lennox, I had very little to do with contact, and the shorts that surrounded it, but I had no real issue with how DX handled her, or Darren, or the Gyfjon crew.
I like to consider myself a neutral third pty, as DX did all the heavy lifting there, so I try to look at contact and Debate as such.
Lennox was threatening to pull the plug at a critical stage, when the Zermablin act was still in its infancy. That would have been catastrophic! Almost as terrible as if one of Trell Pria’s video’s was leaked to earth? We all know what happened then, and what the result was.
I see her paralleling Aisell in a lot of ways, she’s made some iffy choices with the best intentions, but that’s hardly an excuse.
Purity is an illusion, Eyrn is as human as anyone else, she’s made mistakes, but she’s done so with the absolute best intentions, that to me makes me comfortable that they are writing her as close to true as I would.
Is it possible we hold Loona and Eyrn to a higher standard because they are politicians, and it’s mirrored in our own society. When a politician screws up, even if it’s something half of us would do, like for instance screwing an intern while President of the United States, we loose our minds!
I’m rambling now.
I’m touched that something I’ve helped write envokes such strong emotions and deep conversation! Never stop, I love reading this stuff, even if I don’t always agree.
And remember, I’m not arguing with opinion, just stating my own.
As DX likes to spout, death of the author, right?
As DX likes to spout, death of the author, right? As I see it, the author’s intent and each reader’s interpretation are all valid and interesting, for each individual person.
The question is if she was pushed, if her back was against the wall, whose side would she take?
Eyrn tends to take things personally, very personally. She felt personally responsible for Darren going into voluntary exile and then later captivity. She was willing to go nose to nose with Iron Maiden to protect him and later publically disrespect the emperor over human rights. Her graveside soliloquy at her parent’s grave reveals she’s equally defensive about Aerti and her children. Now the other thing is Eyrn’s seen a lot of the galaxy in between the end of Exile and Contact. She knows full well how much Earth is at risk and also the political realities powering Ridgemont. Eyrn will do her best to uphold her oath but push come to shove she’ll side as necessary to protect her family first and then friends titan and human, politics be damned.
@Dann. First contact meeting she handles well. No problem with that. Agree with you on Earth leaders, they aren’t really bothered by the fact that titans keep humans as pets. If Earth politicians could trade humans for technology, money, power, etc., they would. Lying to that scum is no crime. But it is so onesided. She always takes the side of the all powerful Empire as if they are in danger and not Earth/Humans. The weak endangered Earth trapped between the all powerful Empire and Insectoids. Darren and Niall already came to the conclusion in what dangerous position humans and Earth were in this galaxy. Is Eyrn blind for the difference in power? She acts as if Earth poses any threat if they have weapons on par with the vast Empire. Eyrn has to see that Earth can’t stay this weak in comparison to The Empire and other powers. Eyrn has to see what Darren and Nialls sees and act upon it. Choose the side of the underdog and level the playing field.
I hope Eyrn knew about Earth’s weapons development and chose not to tell the Empire.
PS.Qorni is Winn Adami light.
The Empire’s actions are logical. I think they are right to be afraid. The moment humans mass produce handweapons that can kill a Titan in one shot and dangerous warships, they have a problem.
What I expect is that the human and titan main characters form some sort of own small empire that is more advanced with many hybrids. What they infact already are doing in the Tarsuss system. The humans and titans in Pryvani’s friend group are much smarter than those of Earth or Archavia and the rest of the Empire.
It’s interesting to see a very different development between Earth and Avalon humans.
I’m pretty sure that’s already come to pass by now, at least on earth. Darren was able to kill a Titan while half paralyzed and wielding nothing but an old knife, its not like Titans have impossibly thick skin or lack vital organs. The pounds upon pounds of fat, muscle, and flesh aren’t going to stop a high velocity bullet from punching through an unarmored target and taking out something vital, so guy aiming a shotgun or someone standing across the room with a sniper rifle would be a rather legitimate threat.
Armored targets mess that up, and I don’t think we’ve actually seen how Titan combat armor would hold up against projectile weapons of the 20th century, to say nothing of how they might hold up in the current Era.
I mean, there are animals that we have a hard time killing with firearms. Crocodiles and their armor like backs. I realize that’s a scaly exterior, but it’s only millimeters thick. Imagine feet and inches thick…
Although I imagine humans are developing technology at a faster rate than Titans, there is still great disparity in capability.
How many worlds are in the Titan Empire?
We’re talking about an intergalactic empire of people 100-140 feet tall. They could have the reources (and manpower) of hundreds of planets, not to mention the non-Titan species. The Empire is much more capable than I think it’s being given credit for, especially in regards to Earth and Avalon, a measly two worlds.