Things were looking fairly decent. Well, comparatively. There were still five thousand people in the canteen but the rest had been rehoused. Another positive was that all of the buildings with faults in them had been identified, deconstructed and rebuilt and were now all stable. When the Imperators cleared all of her staff she would be even happier.
The only thing worrying her at this moment was the imminent arrival of her father.
That really should have been the imminent arrival of the delegations from Earth and The Empire but she was prepared for those. Having her father on the same planet as Joseph was making her feel rather queasy. It would have made her feel queasy if she was introducing him at home with her mother there to act as a buffer between the two large male egos. There was no buffer on Tau Ceti, only the possibility of her currently unquantified relationship developing into an interplanetary diplomatic incident.
“Sorcha!” A voice appeared as if from nowhere. It took a moment for Sorcha to realise it was her screen, that had somehow activated without notifying her of the call. Or her answering it.
“Ryan!? What in the hells!? How did you connect to my screen without me knowing!?” She demanded to know.
“We don’t have time.” Ryan said. “I’m on Tau Ceti. The Avalonians built a base here when the colony was being built.”
“What!? Seriously?! Do the Titans know?” Sorcha was getting rather concerned.
“We don’t have time Sorcha! There’s an Insectoid fleet approaching as we speak!” He said. “We’ve got just under two hours!
“That’s not funny Ryan! Did Joseph put you up to this?”
“It’s not a joke! We’re dispatching troops. We’ve a small contigent of jacks and a few hundred guardsmen on their way. They’ll be with you within the hour. The jacks will buy you time to evacuate the city.” Ryan said.
Sorcha’s heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest. There were two million people in that city. Spread out over a huge area. And only a dozen Titans. A dozen cilivian Titans. And a man who she was pretty certain she was in love with. They wouldn’t attack. There’d been peace for millennia…
“Sorcha!” Ryan shouted. “I need you together!”
“Yes, sorry.” She said. “Evacuate the city.”
“We’ll do what we can. We have ships. We can hold them off for a bit. Save as many as you can.” He said.
“There’s a cave system in the mountains to the east. There’s thick forest between us and them. We’ll go there.” Sorcha said and felt bile rise in her. “They’re big enough for Humans but way too small for anyone else. They’ll be safe there.”
“Good! Now go!” Ryan ordered.
“Ryan,” Sorcha said. “Did you call Gama Fleet?”
“Can’t. We’re being jammed.”
“They’re on their way. I don’t know how many ships but the Deputy Floor Leader is due to visit. They’re due in eight hours.” Sorcha explained.
“That’s good news.” He said. “Now go.”
“Ok…ok…Ryan, thanks. And be safe.” Sorcha said.
“You too.”
The screen disappeared and Sorcha started to type frantically.
“All human staff. Insectoid fleet invasion imminent. Avalonian forces on way. Proceed with emergency evac. Direct residents east to the mountains. Seek shelter in caves. Imperials due soon. This is not a drill. All Titan staff. Get weapons.”
She sent the message and ran out of her office door ignoring the ringing of her pad.
****
All around the hangar people were running back and forth. It was chaos. Organised chaos but chaos nonetheless. Techs were giving the Acoyltes final preflight checks, troops were boarding transport craft, pilots were suiting up and in the corner some were being blessed by the station chaplin. Ted would never understand that particular Avalonian custom. Even after all they’d been through, all they’d learned a great many of them still followed The Goddess.
“Good news.” Ryan said running over to his commander. “Sorcha says that Gama Fleet was already enroute to Tau Ceti. They should be with us in eight hours.”
Ted nodded. “That’s something at least.”
“Think we can hold out that long?” Ryan asked.
“That depends…”
“Depends on what?”
“Too many things.” Ted said. “Whether these ships are good enough. Whether the Insectoids are in a hurry or not. I don’t want to think about it. All I’ll say is let’s get as many of those people to safety as possible and then we’ll worry about saving ourselves.”
“Sorcha says there’s caves in the mountains small enough for us but too big for Insectoids. They’re making for them.” Ryan said.
A few orderlies ran by with first aid equipment for one of the transports. It was getting real now.
“What about the Titans?” Ted asked. “They’re civilians too.”
“If I know Sorcha, and I think I do, she’ll keep fighting until she can’t anymore.”
“A Titan is bigger and stronger than an Insectoid soldier. A hybrid will likely pull their limbs off like a kid with an ant. But they don’t have weapons. Let’s hope they’re smart enough to stick to cover.” Ted said.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that…” Ryan replied.
“Oi! Are you two wummin jus’ gonna stand around gossipin’ or are ya gonnae get to yer boats so we can shove some laser beams up Insectoid arseholes?” CMLT McIntosh called from inside of Acolyte One.
Ted looked at Ryan and laughed. He opened his arms wide and pulled his friend into a tight hug.
“God speed Ryan Carey.” Ted said.
“May the force be with you.” Ryan replied.
Ted chuckled. “Your daddy would be damn proud if he heard you say that.”
“Make it home. You can tell him.”
“Not a chance. Your mother will kill me for getting you into this mess.” Ted laughed.
Ryan grimaced. “As long as you have my back she’ll forgive you.”
“Always do.” Ted said. “Always do.”
****
Sorcha burst into the canteen, barely remembering to pay attention to the demarcation lines on the floor. There were still a few thousand Humans in there. And not all stayed within the lines.
“Someone is having you on.” Manka said calmly without looking up from her pad.
“They’re really not. Comms are being jammed. I can’t get any calls out.” Sorcha said.
Manka quickly tried herself. All she got was static.
“Oh frak…that’s not good.” she said. “Frak! What do we do!?”
“There’s help on the way. We just need to hold out. Round these people up and get them through the city and out to the forest in the east. There’s caves there. They’ll be safe there.” Sorcha said.
“And what about us!? Will we be safe!?” Manka asked sounding panicked, which in turn only panicked the crowd of people gathering.
“Do you really think the Insectoids will kill Titans? Risk all out war with The Empire?” Sorcha asked, not sure if she believed her own words.
“But…”
“They’ve heard what Qorni’s said. They don’t think she’ll care about the Humans. But she cares about us. Get them to the cave. If they do attack we’re better together than apart.” Sorcha said and stared hard ay Manka and the crowd “Gama Fleet is coming for us. My uncle is coming for us!”
“Ok, Myrell is sleeping in her room. I’ll wake her and get her to help.”
“Good, when you reach the city someone will be waiting to direct you.”
Sorcha turned to leave.
“Sorcha!” Manka called. “There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“Alesia is here.” Manka said and pointed into the crowd of very nervous looking Humans.
It only took moments for Sorcha to spot her. She dropped to her knees, fighting the urge to snatch her friend up and keep her with her to ensure her safety.
“Lessy! You should come with me.” Sorcha said.
She shook her head. “I need to help get these people to safety.”
“But…the baby…”
“I’m not that far along.” She said. “And all because we’re best friends doesn’t mean I can hide behind you. I have to do my bit.”
“Ok…ok…” Sorcha nodded. “Internal comms are still up. Call me if you need me. I’ll come running.”
“No, you won’t. You’ve two million people to worry about!” Alesia said. “Now get out of here.”
“Ok.” Sorcha said and quickly picked up her friend and planted a kiss on her head before putting her down. “After this is over we need to hang out properly.”
“We will! Now go!” Alesia shouted.
“Be safe!” Sorcha said and made for the door.
****
“It’s happening!” Myrell shouted and hopped around her room staring gleefully at the message from Sorcha on her pad. “After all this time it’s finally happening!”
She stopped bouncing, saving her energy for the fight to come. This was far from over. There were still two hybrids and nine Titans between her and complete dominion over this world.
“Toys! I need toys!” she said and rushed over to the wardrobe in the corner. She threw it open and ripped the bottom from it revealing and a black, metal strongbox. She opened it, grinning down at its shining contents.
Blades. Lots of blades.
Some short and heavy. Others long and thin. Some different, more interesting styles of weapons lay within as well. She agonised over which ones she should take with her.
“So many choices…so many choices…so much fun to be had…” She mused.
She picked up a small, finger sized blade and strapped it to her ankle. “You’ll come in handy.” She said as she did so.
“Urgh! This is so hard!” she said. “Months trapped on this rock playing the good girl! I want to have a good time! I want to let loose!” She said and her arms shook from the tension as adrenaline surged into her in anticipation of the hunt to come.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Myrell turned and looked at the door.
“Myrell! It’s Manka! Get out here! We have to evacuate!”
Time was up. She had to choose.
“Just a minute!” she shouted.
She picked up a set of blades. Not too long, and not too short. They’d do well in the close environment of the city.
She lashed them to her hands and secured the locks. Each weapon was a pair of blades that strapped to her hands and acted as an extention of them. They allowed her stab and slash with a brutal amount of force. She didn’t need to grip which left her hands free for other, more fun pursuits.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
“MYRELL! GET OUT HERE!” Manka bellowed.
Myrell obliged her and opened the door.
There was a sickening squelch and Manka’s face turned to one of horror and panic.
“What’s the hurry Manka?” Myrell looked up into the Titan’s bulging eyes. “It’s not like the world is ending…”
Blood ran from Manka’s mouth and down her chin. She tried to gurgle a response. Myrell twisted the blades, enjoying the feeling of tearing and cutting as she did. It almost felt like they were really a part of her.
“…merely changing hands.” Myrell said and quickly pulled her claws out of her victim.
Manka dropped to the ground, barely conscious and bleeding like a fast flowing river from the gut. Her lips moved, trying to cry out for help but unable to find the strength to do so. She reached out, trying to find the strength to crawl away from her attacker. To try to warn someone.
“Shhhhh…shhhhh…” Myrell whispered. “You’ll scare the Humans…”
She placed her foot on the stricken woman’s forehead and then slashed down with her right arm across her neck. Blood sprayed everywhere and Myrell beamed with delight as the warm spray hit her face.
“…that’s my job.”
****
“All right, they’re on their way up with him,” Vanser said, sliding in next to Rixie.
“Collection went easy?” Rixie asked, checking her pad.
“My officers are good. He didn’t know they were there until they’d closed off every possible exit.”
“Excellent,” Rixie said. “Not sure I can figure out why he did it, though. Data I have shows he’s secure. Graduated from Tannhauser Gate back in ’02, worked for Quantator Phototronics in Grelau before coming here…has a wife, two kids in college. Doesn’t seem the type.”
“You said it to me back on our first case, Rix. There is no type. You start thinking there’s a type, you miss the obvious.”
“Hm. Well, I am damned smart. You want good cop or bad cop?”
“Probably bad cop. I can do worse things to him.”
“Works for me. All right, looks like he’s here,” Rixie said, sitting forward.
The door opened and a meek, scrawny man came in, looking around him as if in a daze. He wasn’t ugly, exactly, but there was something tupp-like in his visage that set Rixie’s teeth on edge.
“Mr Ylym, I presume?” Rixie asked.
“I…I don’t know what this is about,” Ylym said, sitting down.
“Go ahead and wait outside, Imperator,” Vanser said. “Mr Ylym, please sit down.”
Ylym sat down, and glanced nervously at the two people. He didn’t know who either was, exactly, but he knew enough. The woman was high-level corporate security, and the man was a flag Imperator.
He didn’t need to know them personally. That was enough.
“Mr Ylym,” Rixie said, “you are here because you inserted a data splice onto the network that allowed you to spoof the president of Tremarla Lumodynamics. Don’t bother denying it; we have your DNA on the device, and the repeater terminates at your desk.”
“So I’m fired, then,” Ylym said.
“Well, yes,” Rixie replied. “Obviously, for cause. And based on the contract you signed, we’re due damages that, considering the resources we’ve marshalled today alone, will bankrupt your family.”
“But it’s much worse than that,” Vanser continued. “A message was sent from your terminal. We have proof, again, don’t deny it. It was sent to Earth. This message violated at least six Imperial laws, and based on the timing, your sending of it likely makes you a traitor against the Emperor.”
“You are going to prison,” Rixie said. “That’s guaranteed. Whether you talk to us or not, whether you cooperate or not, there is enough evidence to send you away for the rest of your life. The only question left is whether you’re willing to destroy your family in the process.”
Rixie smiled a patient, understanding smile. “I don’t know what you were offered, Mr Ylym. Maybe you think it was enough to protect you. But we’ll get it back. We always get it back. If you cooperate with Praetor-Imperator Nix’s investigation, the Tarsuss Corporation will not sue you. Indeed, we’ll disburse your retirement account to your wife. Your family will not suffer. You will go to prison…but your family will be okay.”
“That’s a very generous offer,” Vanser said. “And not one that’s going to be available once you walk out that door.”
The man had been considering all of this carefully. Now, finally, be smiled, ever-so-slightly. “So you found it. Well then. I do know what it’s about. What, you think I won’t talk? I’ll talk. I’m proud of it,” Ylym said. “My wife, she might not be so proud, so I would appreciate you taking care of her. She wouldn’t agree with this, she won’t understand this. But I did what I had to to.”
Vanser pushed a button on his pad. “Why’d you send that message to Earth?”
Ylym leaned back, and smiled ruefully. “You ever have a good friend, Imperator?”
“Yes,” Vanser glancing at Rixie. “I have.”
“Then you know you’d do anything for ‘em, right? Well, I had a friend back in college.”
“Federationer?”
Ylym snorted. “Nah, not a Federationer. Aementi. Came from a good family there, and he was a real bright guy. This company here should be run by him, you know? He invented this stuff.”
“Niall Freeman invented ‘this stuff,’” Rixie said.
“Frakking Freeman. Freeman stole this stuff from my friend Dorok, and everyone just frakking looks the other way while he does it. Talks about how smart the human is, when he’s just a frakking thieving scum, like all of ‘em.”
Rixie glanced at Vanser. “So,” she said, “you think your friend interactive invented holographics first?”
“No, but he worked out hard light. Didn’t have the controls done, but he would’ve got there. But that Freeman – his girlfriend, Naskia? Daughter of the professor? They say Dorok assaulted her, but I’ve heard Freeman and another human were in his apartment. Bet you anything they were working on stealing the tech. Freeman, Bass, and some other trained shaar she grabbed. He caught ‘em red-handed, and yeah, he lost his temper. But I mean, look around you! Look how much money this is worth! He was defending billions of credits’ worth of intellectual property. But peacekeepers didn’t care, they saw a girl beat up and a couple of pets, and they sent him to frakking Rura Penthe. Then, he gets caught up in some escape attempt, probably trying to clear his name, but he gets killed during the escape. And now everyone’s talking about how frakking smart humans are? They’re parasites. All of them. They’ve been sucking us dry for thousands of years.”
It was a testament to the training of Rixie and Vanser that neither betrayed so much as a hint of emotion as Ylym spewed his venom. Vanser looked at his notes, and continued. “So you sent this message.”
“Yup. We’ve been working on this for some time.”
“Who is ‘we’?”
“A bunch of us who see humans for what they are. I can’t give you names, so don’t bother. We all use codes. Well…few of us don’t. We all knew about Ziah Solis. And Lady Fand. Prisoners of conscience, who knew exactly what a drag humans are. Day will come when you’ll realize they’re heroes of the Empire.”
“Why did you send it when you did?” Vanser asked.
“I was told to. I was told it was time.”
“You know it was sent just as the Federation was declaring its independence. You realize that timing can’t have been coincidental.”
Ylym laughed, bitterly. “You think I’d do this for the frakking Federation? You’re idiots.”
“But this sets up the perfect distraction,” Vanser said.
“The Federation? Yeah, it does,” Ylym said.
There was a moment, just a moment, where those words hung there in the air, like a bomb lazily dropping toward the ground, genlty, silently, calmly.
And then it exploded.
Ylym’s face fell, as he realized he had been so full of pride that he’d accidentally given away the game. But his reaction was nothing compared to that of Rixie and Vanser, who both kicked their chairs back so hard they skittered across the floor, colliding with the wall.
“Arytus,” Vanser called into his commlink, “I need a hard link to Gama Fleet Actual, Priority Zero, Code Black-Black, now,” he shouted. “Detain the prisoner under charge of high treason.”
He stormed from the room, heading for a terminal. Rixie stared at the pathetic man in front of her, as two Imperators bracketed him.
“You couldn’t be more wrong about humans, felgercarber,” she said, in a voice sharp enough to draw blood. “They are wonderful beyond your imagining.”
“They’re pathetic animals, and they will be gone soon enough,” Ylym spat.
Rixie nodded to the Imperators. She had no legal authority, but these were all senior imperators. They all knew who she was, and what rank she’d once held. They were happy to defer to her. They jerked him to his feet. Rixie held up one finger, and leaned in close to Ylym’s ear. She spoke so softly that her voice became completely synthetic in tone.
“Dorok Melaskah was killed by an Imperator on Narena Colony. He was killed after assaulting a very good friend of hers. A friend of hers who was human. The Imperator nearly died on that mission. Dorok’s partner in crime nearly killed her. Shot out her throat, but she survived. Though she has an artificial larynx now….”
Ylym’s eyes widened in shock.
“He died painfully and pathetically. I killed him. And all the pain I endured on that mission is worth it, just because I get to tell you.”
She took a step back.
She nodded. “Get this frakking traitor out of this building.”
As Ylym was drug out the door, Rixie allowed herself to collapse into a chair, just for five seconds, her hand over her mouth. Five seconds to feel the wave of nausea and terror.
Oh Gods, she thought. Oh no.
She rose again, and headed for Vanser.
—————————————————————————–
Author’s note: Once more thanks to DX for his contribution.
Great chapter; really ramping up the story. Thank you
“small enough for us but too big for Insectoids.”
Backwards!
strange, why told Dorok and then Niall invented the hard light, the hard lights holographics was not already in the holosuites? i mean in physich and in pandemic the holo can touch physically in the holosuite
“Anyhow, that’s what’s amazing about holos. Anyone can look like anything. Size, shape, color – doesn’t matter. You can’t see it. You just see the person behind it. That’s why I’ve always loved them, you know”
yes i know this was in previous chapter, but i take the advantage for fuse the two question, i don’t understand what Myona want said with this, i mean seems Myona doesn’t want live in the reality and hide behind the illusion of the holo…
1. While hard light holos worked in the lab, Dorok had managed to make them portable — that was his invention. Niall, however, made them actually functional. Also, Dorok assaulted Naskia and raped Nonah so to hell with him.
2. Myona doesn’t want to live in a world where everything is literally illusion. But she also recognizes that reality itself is something of an illusion — our physical forms are only partially “us,” and our personalities and internal lives are not visible. So while there’s nothing wrong with living in the real world, it’s nice to have holos to remind you that there’s a reality beyond what we can see.
“So,” she said, “you think your friend interactive invented holographics first?”
“No, but he worked out hard light. Didn’t have the controls done, but he would’ve got there.”
Well, that’s pretty much true, isn’t it ?
It’s been a while since I last read Physics but Niall did expand on Dorok’s work if memory serves. Doesn’t take anything from the accomplishment but he didn’t start from scratch.
It’s interesting that “poor” Dorok makes a comeback from the grave like that, so long after his death.
Myrell desperately needs to be thrown (pushed) into an active volcano…
I think the bugs sort of overplayed their hand here. Someone that overtly psychotic would have been noticed and culled by now..but it keeps with the storyline.
und…
“They’re pathetic animals, and they will be gone soon enough,” Ylym spat.”
_____
Yep there all one big (ha) happy family in Titano land.. Its that darn culture thing gets in the way.. (I hate when that happens)
Damn, Myrell didn’t waste any time in carving up our heroes. Her downfall will be seeking out Sorcha for a fight, inevitably bringing Joseph in. At least one of them will be knifed badly while the other fights to save her, if Sorcha is being the heroine here then she’ll probably go Hulk smash on Myrell and leave her a bloody pulp. Plus this will more or less decide for the both of them where their relationship is right now. Perhaps have them exchange kisses while both are soaked in blood.
Problemo: Myrell knows how to fight Sorcha doesn’t….
Solutiono: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DzcOCyHDqc
Sorcha doesn’t know how to fight?! Did you read Contact? Or chapter 23?
Sadly, Sorcha doesn’t know how to do anything well other than to fight.
A professionally trained fighter – military grade. I’m assuming that Myrell had some professional training..She could even be some type of pseudo militia type training. Sorcha seems like a street fighter..
Example: Its like a bar brawler vs a professional MMA …who would win that fight?
I once dated a girl named Myrell or was she named Myra?
__
Myrell also had weapons training so you have that…Buuut since her (Sorcha’s) father/author is writing the tale I’m guessing she is going to go… down… down… down……(3rd round – vegas)
*Oh shit, starting to piss off OHH, again…Oh Nooooooo*
Sorcha was trained by Rixie wasn’t she? Throw in some super strength on top of that and it’s far more of a fight.
So it’s more professional killer vs. amateur mma with super strength lol
This will be interesting. I wonder what those Insectoids have planned. It would be exciting if they attack other Titan territory as well.
In all this confusion the Drazari could also attack the Empire and steal some territory. Massive internal struggles in the Federation.
Ylym’s face fell, as he realized he had been so full of pride that he’d accidentally given away the game. But his reaction was nothing compared to that of Rixie and Vanser, who both kicked their chairs back so hard they skittered across the floor, colliding with the wall.
We’re assuming Ylym’s contact leads back to Solis or Fand somehow and he clearly thinks he’s working with them but I’m nominating Siabo Snyusia will be the name behind the numbered contact. Remember this exchange from the original Background Chatter:
“Absolutely. And not just that. There’s the monetary settlement – not that it comes close to covering your daughter’s worth, but with two million credits, you can find ways to ensure that your daughter is never forgotten. And what’s more, I know some businessmen who are looking for a good, legitimate importer. I would like to give you their contact information. Oh, don’t scowl, Astes. You’ve worked with my clients before, you know.
And the importers’ product may have been Myrell’s fellow hybrids, the 5th column designed to bring down the Empire from within as the Insectoid fleet bears down from without.
Poor Manka. In the grand scheme of things her death probably won’t be remembered as much as other characters that dies in this series. Never the less, I believe she will leave a deeper legacy then momentarily confusing readers as to identity of the insectoid agent. It’s a shame we didn’t see that much of her as I thought she brought an interesting perspective that we haven’t seen before. A Titan that took a more reserved, pragmatic approach to human equality while not being opposed to it.
“They’re pathetic animals, and they will be gone soon enough,”
I want to dwell on this line if we can. I wonder if anyone else in story will grasp the full picture of what a successful invasion would cost humanity.
We would lose Tau-Ceti, that’s a given. Probably Earth would be harvested as well. If predictions hold, they would sweep all the way through to Avalon and the adjacent provence.
We would lose a fledgling colony and the two most developed human civilizations.
Gone is also the most progressive provence towards humans.
We’d lose Sorcha, the Clan, the Careys, and the Tarsus family, and others, so most of the hybrids.
Gone are the empire’s top human scientist, engineer, author, and first Tol Bot player.
Gone are the highest ranking officers in two branches of the military who are sympathetic to humans.
Same for the top government official, likely the heads of two major families, and the Imperial heir.
Last, but not least, we lose an Earth raised Titan.
The last remaining civilization of humans would be Tribe Maris, and along with a few scattered families, the last direct ties to Earth’s culture.
What would remain of humanity would be largely former pets, and most of those left in power who see them as just that.
Talk about having 11 billion eggs in one basket. After the war, assuming we survive, it would be good to start a mentor program of Earth humans for former Empire pets, if only to spread humanity’s legacy out a bit around the galaxy.
It’s the idea behind The Scattering in the later Dune books. Ensure humanity’s survival by motivating them to spread across the universe.
I really have to read this series at some point.
You are correct.
Poor Manka, had a horror movie moment when she said she was going to get Myrell alone. 🙁
Think that might be the first time we’ve see a named titan protagonist, or at least non antagonist, die so brutally.
Nice insight from the solis group/insectoids, if everything had gone to plan I could maybe see them being right. The Empire might have put its focus on the Federation and written Earth of as a loss. It still had a ton of holes though, the Empire not bringing the hammer down on them was really dependent Qorni staying in power (which after this there’s no shot in hell of), and not engaging any Titan military (which they also have no shot in hell of.)
Course the Solis group probably doesn’t care so long as Earth is taken care of, and the Insectoids might not be capable of making that many distinctions between groups.
I’m having trouble following your line of thought regarding the Solis group/insectoids’ plan. From what I can tell they wanted the Empire to focus its attention on the Federation for a while, drawing assets away from Earth and giving the insectoids the opportunity for a surprise attack. Which is exactly what happened. Now that the Federation has served its purpose neither the Solis group nor the insectoids care about them any longer. It’s now up to the insectoids to make the most of their opportunity and harvest as much of humanity as possible. (Unless the insectoids have another goal in mind. They’re hard to understand.)
@faerie
Responding to your questions about Kusanagi’s line of the thinking, Solis and his group are nationalists that view humanity as a long term threat. They achieve their goal if Insectoids destroy Earth, Avalon, and Tau Ceti. Once done, they want to defeat the Insectoids and the Federation.
I don’t know why you are limiting the Insectoid ambition to a few human planets. It’s not like they are starving and desperately need the resources of humans as food, nor are the planet’s valuable in a material way. The Insectoids expand and consume because that is their nature. To preserve and continue the species by consuming, increasing population, and growing stronger. They have been at peace only because conflict with the Empire would more likely end their species than preserve it. Now they see weakness and believe that they can succeed.
Federation’s goal is to be separate entity, and see Empire weakened but not defeated or they’d be next.
@Rapscallion
I never meant to imply that the insectoids only target humans. It’s just that Tau Ceti E and Earth are the two populated worlds closest to the Empire/insectoid border and will therefore be the first targets. And the insectoids will harvest humans rather than simply kill them not because they need more food, but because they like the taste of humans and dislike letting anything go to waste. But should the insectoids get to planets like Vakor and Azatlia then I’m quite sure that they’ll just as happily harvest the titans that live there, since insectoids supposedly like the taste of titans too.
Black Block thinking is that insectoids, like all non-titans, are beings inferior to titans. Insectoids conquering a province or two with the Federation’s help (in the form of a distraction) is one thing. But Cesil and his cronies would never consider the possibility that the insectoids might manage to defeat the entire Empire.
My point was more on the matter of what happens after. Ask yourself is Earth worth a full scale war with the Empire? What if there was a way to get Earth and not have to go through that? From a certain point of view, if everything went the right way, it might have been possible to take Earth and avoid a full scale war with the Empire. It’s basically the Federation’s logic in reverse, the Empire doesn’t want a two front war so they’ll pick one war to focus on and go to the negotiation table for the other.
With Qorni having no love for humans, if it was just human planets/colonies that fell, she could spin it as a tragedy, use some harsh rhetoric but could potentially focus on the Federation while setting new boarders with Insectoids.
Now that’s not going to happen because of Gamma Fleet’s unexpected arrival, and it was highly unlikely Qorni had a shot in hell of keeping power even before this, but I can see the logic.
In fact it wouldn’t shock me if this was the Solis group’s plan all along. Convince the Insectoids it’s possible to take Earth without a massive war with the empire, let Earth fall, then have the Empire stomp the Insectoids.
Okay, I understand you now. However, I don’t think Qorni’s opinion of humans is relevant here. Insectoids have trouble understanding titans in general; asking them to understand the politics surrounding Qorni is asking for the impossible.
Nonetheless, it does make sense for the insectoids to want to attack Tau Ceti and Sol Terra by surprise. They were probably hoping to have conquered those systems before Gama Fleet could respond. If all the humans from Tau Ceti and Sol Terra were already taken away or dead, would the Empire really be willing to go to full scale war with the insectoids just to avenge a few soldiers and a bunch of humans? Or would the Empire remember that the insectoids had already claimed those systems long ago and reluctantly let the insectoids keep them? Actually, it’s very much possible that the insectoids don’t even understand the concept of wanting to avenge the fallen.
Besides, even if Empire decided to attack and then managed to retake the conquered systems, the humans of those systems would still be dead. With most of humanity dead, the Empire-human alliance that recently became official would be much less dangerous than it is now.
The Insectoids have difficulty distinguishing humans from titans other than the obvious. They did trip to the fact that human-titan hybrids were materially stronger than titans and we know that is a key factor in bug plans. The real question is how many brothers and sisters does Myrell have and where are they if not in the belly of that beast bearing down on Tau Ceti? Then there is the question of where they all come from because if it is a large number of hybrids then somewhere there are a lot of Titans being held in Insectoid captivity. The incursion might be just to seize the 2 million humans on Tau Ceti as genetic material but to make it work for anything more than a big feast they have to grab a lot of titans as well which to me says at least some titan systems are in the crosshairs.
Also, the Hive doesn’t really seem to have any further plan for Myrell as she seems to be so focused on her fantasy she didn’t even know the bug’s had arrived until told. She might have been programmed but there doesn’t seem to be any new program being downloaded and it wouldn’t be surprising if she were eliminated as soon as the bugs arrive in force…but after a little obligatory torture of the humans and Sorcha’s crew.
As for territory claims the Insectoids probably assume that Titans should assume they will claim all that they can seize and hold and the Bugs wouldn’t be moving now just to seize just Tau Ceti or Earth and the vicinity but a substantial part of the Empire. The bugs may have been double-crossed by their friends in the Solis-Fand contingent because they didn’t grasp the Federation revolt would gather the fleet even if it was in the wrong place and ultimately work against the invasion. It’s possible Solis and Fand intend to break out of the dungeon, seize control of the gathered fleet and repel the bugs after the bugs conveniently wipe out most humans while Solis-Fand kill off the Titan royals and political leadership.
Not gonna lie, for sure I thought the person leaking Intel to earth was going to be somebody we all knew from the beginning but oh well.
Ridgemont is going to shit bricks when they show up at tau ceti and see’s the freaking death star looming around (lol that’s no moon… it’s yo mama!)
Myrell, savage af, icing fools left and right… gawd damn! Really interested to see how she bites it (no pun)
Yeah, I thought it was going to turn out to be Shaar out of some misguided sense of what’s right.
I agree it’s a missed opportunity for the story to have an interesting anti-hero. However, it’s a side show now to the main event about to take place.
Question though, the Insects are only sending 1 Hive ship that we know of at the moment. Really hoping one doesn’t sneak in behind and lay waste to Earth please no! The question is where are the other fleets? If its a full scale invasion then one would expect more. I do wonder if maybe the Hive mind is split since that chapter that said it would give more autonomy to the different clusters. Maybe this is causing one part of the hive to attack without the support of the whole?
Wiki entry lists an unknown number of Cap Ships and fighters in the invasion fleet.
There must by a traitor hidden among the imperators if Myrell passed a second background check.
Geeze, I liked Manka. She had potential. We never even learned if the guy she dated made it out of the collapsed building. Were the two of them supposed to have evacuated the canteen? Is Alesia at the mercy of this psycho?
Federation, thinks they have the perfect distraction when they are the ones serving that role.
Loona asked Vanser to rerun all the security checks as a priority “over and above all but one of the matters he’s dealing with”. However, that one matter with even higher priority is probably the one we’ve seen him doing, namely tracking down who sent the Earth broadcast and why. So he probably didn’t get around yet to rerunning the security checks.
Federation, thinks they have the perfect distraction when they are the ones serving that role.
Actually, up until now everything is going according to Cesil’s plan. Namely, the Federation secedes, drawing the Empire’s attention their way. Then the insectoids use that distraction to attack and conquer Empire territory. Being a more dangerous opponent, the Empire will then turn around and wage war with the insectoids. The Empire will probably be victorious in the end, but it will be severely weakened while the Federation will have had the time it needed to shore up its defenses.
Wait! Myrell still in Tau Ceti? I thought she went for Eebee! Ted’s team detected her (as “a living being” in shutlecrfaft).
Niall ? a thief? no too proud lol.
After Myrell sabotaged the sensor array at Eebee she went back to Tau Ceti E.