“Pane, what is it?” Forna Qorni said, looking over the latest status report from the Federation. It was going better than she’d hoped, really; the rump council meeting on Kembror had declared Cesil a traitor and thrown him out of office; while the Empire didn’t have shipping lanes opened up yet, Kembror and Diona were essentially under control of Imperial allies. And the cut-off of currency had sparked rioting on Senedj XXII. By the time the invasion started, there might not be much of a “New Empire” to fight. Not that Qorni minded; a quick, decisive victory in which her troops were greeted as liberators? Nothing could be better for her poll numbers.
“I’m not honestly sure, Madam Floor Leader,” Pane Segdi replied. “Carva Lagvul asked to meet with you, me, and Jontu in person. He said it was urgent.”
“Madam Floor Leader,” the receptionist’s voice said, over the pad, “Praetor-Imperii Lagvul and Minister Cethje are here.”
“Send them in, of course,” Forna said. She wondered what was so important it couldn’t be done remotely. Did the Federation surrender already? That seemed unlikely….
“Madam Floor Leader,” Carva Lagvul said, half-sprinting into her office, “I needed to deliver this news personally, and to all of you at once. I will need to return to the Dodecahedron, and I recommend that you come with me.”
“What’s going on?” Forna said, her gut tightening.
“We believe that a hive ship has made an incursion into Imperial territory.”
The silence that greeted that news was understandable; it was the only rational response. But Lagvul had men and women in danger. He didn’t have time to let this sink in.
“The ship is believed to be in the Tau Ceti system. Navarchos Bass was bringing Gama Fleet in to show force, and to ascertain the threat. But he has not yet reported back. Comms into and out of the Tau Ceti system are jammed. We have no way of knowing whether Bass was attacked, or indeed, anything about the status of the fleet or the colony. However, before entering the system, Bass reported that initial calculations showed it was a likely 1-Ishaytan, which is the largest class of hive ship they make. For comparison…the one that attacked Sperikos had a volume roughly one-eighth this size.”
“Emperor preserve us! Are they trying to help the Federation?” Qorni asked.
“We don’t know. Praetor-Imperator Nix successfully located the individual who sent the message to Earth; he stated that it was the Federation that was the distraction. It’s possible the Insectoids were coordinating with them, it’s possible that they are using this opening to attack, but…Madam Floor Leader,” Lagvul said, “it is likely that the Insectoids have decided to target Earth. And if so, that threatens Azatlia, Vorsha, Avalon, Seretana…it’s the classic fast-run scenario. And Gimmel, Ashay, and Beth fleets are all out of position. Delta fleet is on the other side of the Empire. And every ship Gama fleet has that hasn’t been reassigned to the task force…all those ships are with Gama Fleet right now. Madam Floor Leader, they may have a clean run to the core.”
“Cesil had to know,” Qorni said. “He had to…this was his plan. He’s not just a rebel, he’s a traitor, he’s in league with the frakking bugs!”
“It gets worse,” Segdi said. “The delegation from Earth…they were with Bass.”
“Oh, Gods,” Jontu said. “So was Prince Antero.”
“All right, you’ve convinced me,” Qorni said, rising from her chair. “We’d better go to the Dodecahedron. We’re at war.”
“Perhaps not yet,” Lagvul said. “Under rules of engagement, Bass can’t attack. Not without permission, or unless fired upon.”
“We’ve been fired upon,” Pane said. “If they’ve stopped at Tau Ceti, that means they’re killing two million humans right now.”
“But it’s not a must-defend target. If we haven’t already engaged…war may be inevitable, but maybe it would give us a chance to set a line. If they haven’t attacked Gama fleet, maybe there’s a better place to launch a counter,” Qorni said.
“Well, unless they shot at the Xifos or one of his ships, Bass would have to withdraw. That’s ROE and Imperial Law,” Lagvul said, as they began to head for the door.
Jontu frowned. Then his jaw dropped. “There is a way he could legally attack, even if not fired upon.”
Pane looked over at Jontu, and said, “It’s been a thousand years, Jontu. Armac wouldn’t.”
“Armac. Wouldn’t. What.”
Qorni said these words. There was no question in them.
“An old precedent. Dates back to Emperor Olch IV…it was part of the old continuity of government rules,” Cethje said.
“Oh. Oh, that? Ridiculous,” Qorni said. “Nobody’s so much as blinked at that in centuries. They taught it in law school as an example of how contradictory procedures build up over the years.”
“What’s this law?” Praetor-Imperii Lagvul asked.
“It’s not a law, it was a practice…and it’s questionable whether it means anything,” Pane said. “In the early days of the Empire, there were procedures on the books that allowed an heir to the throne to authorize a military strike in the absence of the Emperor.”
“Legal scholars at one point assumed it applied to cabinet-level leaders and the Floor Leader. Back under the third Charter,” Jontu said.
“Yes, but it was only applied in very unique circumstances,” Pane replied. “The Emperor or Floor Leader had to be incommunicado, there had to be an imminent, existential threat to the Empire, civilians had to be at immediate risk unless action was taken….”
She trailed off, and said. “Frak. If Loona Armac remembers this….”
“It’s a fiction, though, like the theory that the fourth Charter allowed popular election of the Sovereign,” Qorni said.
“Probably. Maybe. To be honest, nobody really knows, and nobody will know unless someone tries it, and gets brought to the courts over it. It comes down to a question of what precedents were null after the fifth Charter was adopted, and…nobody is totally sure. Certainly,” Cethje said, “nobody would invoke that unless they were absolutely desperate, and didn’t care what the fallout would be.”
Qorni looked out at Tuaut. She didn’t smile, it would be inappropriate. But she had her, She frakking had her.
Of course Armac would invoke it. Her best friend’s daughter was on that planet, along with two million humans, and Navarchos Bass’s niece. Loona Armac wouldn’t let them die. Not when she had a chance to save them.
Now, if the Xifos reappeared and asked for orders, Qorni was fully prepared to tell them to do exactly that. A hive ship was in Imperial space, for frak’s sake, it wasn’t here for a visit. Engaging in Tau Ceti might save humans, which was the decent thing to do, no matter what one thought of them. And it was probably better to attack the ship now and slow it up, both to get some sense of its capabilities, and to give them time to get more ships in position. The part of her that was a patriot hoped Armac would give this order herself, and save everyone time.
The part of her that was a politician did, too, because there was no reason at all for Qorni to endorse such a brazen, reckless abuse of power – and every reason to condemn it.
She could be rid of Loona Armac. And once she was gone…the greatest threat to her administration would go with it.
Of course, this also meant war with the Insectoids. It might indeed mean letting the Federation off the hook…for the moment. She would have to see what the military thought.
But there was an imminent crisis, right now. So she chose her words very carefully before speaking.
“We must assume Armac will be reckless in her defense of humans,” Qorni said. “She always has been before. And therefore we must assume she has engaged us in a war with the Hive. Assuming that is the case…we had better win it. But enough talking. Let’s get to the command center. We need to see what we’re dealing with.”
****
“Yahhhhh hoooo!!!” Ted shouted as he put the acolyte into a tight loop. The first dropship had exploded spectacularly well. A fine first kill for Acolyte One.
However the second was not as explosive.
The dropship had ploughed into the ground and split in two. Several Insectoids were pulling themselves free from the wreckage.
“How many we got?” Ted called to his weapons officer.
“Picking up four of the beasties, sir.” McIntosh replied.
“Setting weapons to low power mode.” Ibori added. “It should give you a few more shots, Lorna.”
“Appreciated chum!” she replied.
Ted pulled the acolyte out of the loop and fired the reverse thrusters, slowing the ship as it angled towards the ground. The engines roared and whined and the ship shook as it was buffeted by the atmosphere.
“Pew…pew…pew…” Lorna said as she fired shots that burned right through the remaining Insectoid soldiers.
“Aye take that ya wee buggy bastards!” she hollered.
“Report.” Ted said.
“All scopes clear on the ground sir. HQ reports nae more ships in atmo but that behemoth’s still in orbit.” Lorna said.
“Ryan, can you call Sorcha and tell her we just bought them a bit more time. I expect the second wave won’t be as sparse as the first.”
“Acknowledged.” Ryan said.
“The rest of you disengage neural interface for the moment, report in any issues and watch the scopes.”
“Aye sir.” Was the response from all ships.
“Oh, and damned fine work everyone.” Ted added with a grin. “Damned fine work.”
****
“What in the name of the Emperor’s shaven ballsack was that Ryan!? Was that you!?” Sorcha half shouted at her pad.
Ryan smiled the smuggest of smiles.
“One of them was me. There’s twelve ships stationed here. Prototype Avalonians fighters. We’ve been testing them for the last year. We didn’t expect they’d actually see combat so soon.” He explained.
“Holy shit, they’re Avalonian!?” Sorcha was still trembling. “You cut through those Insectoid ships like a plasma torch through butter!”
“That’s pretty much what we’re armed with.”
“Is…is that it?” Sorcha dared ask.
Ryan did his best to hide his own fear and kept his face mostly stoic. “Not by a long shot…this isn’t a battle we can win by ourselves. We just have to hold them off until Gama fleet arrives.”
“Ok, we’ll keep going. We’ll do whatever it takes.” She said and steadied her nerves. It wasn’t as bad as she first thought. They were not alone.
“Good. We’ll keep you informed of any change in the situation. Carey out.” He said and closed the channel.
Sorcha quickly returned to the stream of people, moving at a steady pace through the city.
“Keep moving! There’s safety ahead! Help is here! More help is coming” Sorcha called out in an attempt to reassure the crowd.
“Should I be jealous your ex-boyfriend just turned up to save the day?” Joseph asked with a brow raised.
It took Sorcha a moment to realise he was not actually jealous but just attempting to lighten the mood a bit.
“I did want to kiss him when those ships started to explode but I equally want to kill him for hiding armed forces on my planet without telling me!” She replied.
“It’s never easy with you is it?” Joseph said.
“You knew what you were getting into.” Sorcha reminded.
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Hey, have you seen Manka or Myrell yet?” Sorcha asked.
“Nope, I haven’t” He said.
“Ok, I’ll have to check in. Get back to it.” Sorcha said.
“Yes ma’am.” Joseph said making a point of giving an Avalonian salute.
Sorcha took out her pad. Manka, Myrell and Alesia all showed as offline. That wasn’t to be unexpected given the amount of jamming going on. From where she was now it was a ten minute walk to the compound. Likely fifteen or twenty with the street being crammed with people. Something didn’t feel right here. She looked around, trying to find an excuse to leave but there wasn’t one. Going to look for a group of five thousand could leave five hundred thousand vulnerable if another attack came in. She couldn’t risk it.
As much as it made her feel sick with worry to do so.
She tapped out a quick message to her best friend asking her to check in ASAP and then returned to her post.
“Please be okay Lessy…”
****
Lessy was not okay.
Alesia took cover behind a table leg, glancing to each side, trying to control the panicked animal inside her that said to flee as fast as she could as far as she could. But that wouldn’t help her. People all around her had done that since the horror began and they had all ended their lives screaming in either terror, agony or both.
She didn’t know how long it had been since Myrell had entered the canteen, covered in blood and with blades affixed to her hands. She had smiled at the group of understandly anxious looking Humans, reassured them it would be ok, that she was there to protect them and lead them to safety. Alesia had wanted to believe her. They were friends. But something in her gut told her to stay back. A group of several dozen people hadn’t been so wise. They listened to her and approached her and then it began.
Myrell had stomped her boot clad foot down into them as hard as she could, killing over a dozen under one sole and sending the five thousand Humans who resided in the canteen running in all directions for cover, Alesia with them.
A lifetime living in environments made for beings many times bigger than she had given Alesia a second sight when it came to spotting places that she could crawl into. And across the canteen she had spotted just such a place. A vending machine, poorly maintained and likely requisitioned from a dumpyard for unwanted equipment. It had a split at its base just big enough for her to get into.
Unfortunately it was easily four hundred metres away.
And judging from the noise level in the room and the amount of crushed bodies and lonely limbs, Myrell was running out of victims.
Alesia ran, panting and weeping, under the long canteen table from one leg to the next. She pressed herself flush against the cold metal surface as the floor shook as the rampaging Titaness strode past.
She glanced out, checking it was safe to move. As confident as one could be under the circumstances Alesia ran for the next and final table leg.
Behind her there was shouts of protest from a woman who had been caught. Alesia screwed her eyes shut and pressed her hands to her ears as hard as she could in an attempt to drown out the screams but it was no use. Screams of the nature the young victim were releasing weren’t possible to hide from. And once they were heard they were impossible to forget. Alesia had managed through the grace of her family and friends to avoid virtually all torment at the hands of Titans. She had been consciously aware of what they could do or what they might be capable of but she had never truly realised it until now. Not until she had seen people crushed flat in an instant or had arms torn away for amusement.
No matter how tightly she screwed her eyes shut or how much she pressed her hands to her ears, those images played behind her eyelids and the screams echoed around her head.
There was only two hundred metres to go.
But it was risky.
It was open.
It would be a mad dash to something resembling safety.
Alesia glanced over her head once more. Myrell was facing away from her, scanning the floor for signs of movement. There didn’t appear to be much. The only thing Alesia could make out resembling people were the bodies that were still mostly intact.
She breathed; consciously, slowly and deeply. This was the one shot she’d get. She rocked back and forth, letting the adrenaline surge into her and muscles loosen ready for the mad dash.
“Do you think you can make it?” Myrell said.
Alesia jumped and once again pressed herself flush to the metal table leg. Was that addressed to her? Was there someone else here? She quickly pulled out her pad and tapped frantically at it, trying to get a connection, begging Sorcha to hear her.
“Or do you think she’ll come for you?” Myrell said
Was she talking to her?
“Come on Lessy, we both know you’re smarter than that.” Myrell said and turned around staring at the table leg Alesia was hiding behind. “I’ve known exactly where you’ve been the entire time.”
Alesia’s chest was rising and falling as she breathed uncontrollably. All she could hear was the sounds of Myrell giggling and her own heart pounding her ears.
“The ones in here meant nothing. They weren’t people. Just things. And things provide only limited amusement. But you, Alesia Nonahsdottir, are a person! A person with a great mind, who has accomplished great things and who could rise to the highest heights of the Empire.” Myrell said taking a few steps forward towards Alesia’s hiding spot.
“But you won’t. That’s gone now. All of it. All that’s left is you and me. You and me. And I will enjoy ending you…”
This was it.
There was no more hiding. She was found. The only option left was to run. Alesia flung herself forward and sprang off one foot towards the vending machine.
“BOO!” A giant face appeared inches in front of Alesia.
And Alesia screamed.
————————————————–
Author’s note: Once more thanks to D.X for his contribution.
Another good chapter. I enjoyed it
However, as much as I appreciated the horror of Myrell casually (and likely gleefully) demonstrating the power imbalance by killing five thousand people in span of a long conversation…. It doesn’t seem in character. So far she’s been fixated on the long game and achieving the hive’s goal.
Mass murder just makes her seem psychopathic. Shouldn’t she be trying to take out the other titans? They’re, literally, the biggest threat to everything she’s done. If she wants Lessy for a hostage, she could have grabbed her and locked the door on the way out so she’d have toys for later
Fo real!!! Let Darren get his operator paws on some hardlight tech and fight Myrell…. and after he beats dat ass, before the empire can take her into custody let him go full on Guantonimo Bay/ House Bolton on the bitch.
I’m talking exposure to extreme high and low Temps close to the point of death, skinning, burning, waterboarding, starvation, sleep deprevation, dismemberment… and for the cherry on top remove her sight, speech, taste, hearing, arms, legs, and leave her in a constant state of torture as if she was dead until the day she joins them.
I would agree, humans have borne the brunt of Titan hubris, miscalculations, and political machinations. Its always the weakest among us that suffer the most.
I hope that after Hybrid, Titan’s come to an understanding that humanity is rapidly advancing and it would be best to work with them, instead of being condescending. If Titan’s won’t work with humanity, perhaps some other species will?
The Dunnermacs, Ler and Avartle will, for sure. Maybe the K’Gapti, depending on how you interpret what they say in Continuing Adventures.
Am getting tired of mass killing on humans, throughout the whole titan stories it has been humans to be the ones to bare the brunt of the killings, so few titans had died mostly can be counted on two hands.
Need to find a different name for this story, hybrid has no relation to the theme of this story.
That is true. But I have a feeling that Titan casualties are already mounting up in the many thousands in the Federation conflict.
“And the cut-off of currency had sparked rioting on Senedj XXII”. This is a good way to make those spoiled Titans suffer. Slowly starve them to death, let them turn on eachother. Let it sink in that their way of life is over for good.
Let’s hope Senedj XXI suffers even more.
Agree with everyone. Qorni has lost it now. She is more in danger to be labeled as a traitor. In what possible scenario does she think she can come out of this on top.
True, but when there’s essentially no focus on it and not much mention of it, it rather downplays the actuality. The reality may be one thing, but the story seems to portray another. Thus far in the story there have been lots and lots and lots of humans killed en-mass, almost constantly throughout the entire run, either in the background as a thing that sometimes happens or directly in the reader’s face when some main character is involved, but not once does the narrative ever treat nameless background Titans as if they were dumb, inhuman fodder to kill off. If a Titan dies, they always die spectacularly or with dignity. And the disparity between how the story seems to treat each side gets grating at times.
I’d rather complain about the lack of involvement between non-human races though. In the vast span of a multi-racial galaxy all of the focus is on giant humans and tiny humans, nothing /actually alien/ or genuinely interesting really comes into play. And its impossible to believe that space loving alien fanatic humans from earth would somehow focus on interaction with the Titans, the most offensive and least interesting group, over the more colorful races. And yet still somehow not know anything about Titan culture, when culture is the ONLY DIFFERENCE one can focus on for study.
I couldn’t agree more with you. Too much downplay on that. That disparity is very annoying.
The writers have told little about the period in Earth’s development and actions between 2157 and 2174 and before 2157. I hope they deliver something good. When they made first contact(2155) and the different powers and territories were known by the people of Earth, they quickly developed warp vessels. In that 20 or 22 year period they certainly must have done the things you describe. Seeking knowledge from all the other races on medical, science, weaponry, warp engines. etc. Sending large group people to settle on nearby super mu class planets and sending a lot of them to the Empire to learn as much as they can. Sending human spies to play the pet and trying to convert their Titan masters in pro human lovers.
Training the army how to fight a giant invasion force like the Jacks. Every soldier must be armed with small fire weapons that can stun or kill a Titan/Insectoid instantly, so that you only need a 1 soldier and not a hundred to kill one Titan in combat.
Built secret bases deep underground on Titan worlds and mass produce warships on all human colonies. The Empire wouldn’t even mind.
There are so much more examples. But this is the kind of thinking I would expect from the human leaders on Earth. Develop as fast as possible on all fields and spread out populating the whole galaxy with a humans.
The point is I expect Sol Earth to be much more difficult to take, then Tau Ceti. And I wonder what the writers think how Earth would have developed between 2155 – 2174.
Qorni is thinking like a politician, in which “You broke the rules” is a greater crime than “you allowed this horrible scenario to play out” and she assumes everyone else will think the same way. Not to mention the fact that as a politician she’s been mind numbingly stupid the entire time without any human cast there to baby her through kindergarten lessons like all of the other mind numbingly stupid Titans in previous stories have had the advantage of.
Many thousands of dead already in the Federation conflict? According to the wiki, not quite. There was fighting between New Empire forces and Federation planets who didn’t agree with Cesil’s secession, resulting in approximately 2500 dead. But the real conflict, Imperial military vs. New Empire, has yet to start.
As for how Qorni thinks she can come out on top, it looks like Qorni thinks that Gama fleet alone (and not at full strength) cannot defeat a 1Ψ class Hive ship, just slow it down at best. This means that Tau Ceti and Earth will be lost regardless of whether or not Gama fleet attacks. But if Loona ordered the attack, Qorni can accuse her of recklessness, wasting Gama fleet with a futile attack when it would have been better to make Gama fleet retreat and join up with other ships before engaging the Hive ship. Also, Qorni expects that winning a war will hugely increase her popularity.
I’m getting really tired of seeing humans slaughtered on mass.
That last scene is easily in the same league as The Feast of the Overseer.
Ugh. Look, I figured that Qorni would be trying to use this crisis to advance her political agenda. She’s a dyed-in-the-wool politician, she probably does politics even when she’s asleep. But having to suppress a smile at the thought of getting rid of a political rival when she was told just a minute ago that the insectoids are in a position to strike at the core of the Empire (meaning that suddenly billions of lives are in danger)?!? Talk about not having your priorities straight.
As to how well Qorni’s plan will work, I think that that partially depends on whether it’s Loona or Antero who invokes the ancient precedent. But mostly it’ll depend on how succesful Gama fleet and the Acolytes are going to be. If they can beat the odds and defeat the insectoid Hive ship then Loona and Antero are likely to be hailed as heroes. Instead of slavishly following legal procedure, they recognized the reality of what was going on and took quick and decisive action to end the insectoid threat, saving millions if not billions of lives.
It is insane that she considers Loona the biggest threat to her administration and not, say, the fact that the insectoids may conquer a large part of their empire.
Well well…. Looks like what we gots heah …. is a good ole’ fashioned massacre… (pass me some of those grits w/gravy)
Got me some points tho..
Achad:
“Qorni looked out at Tuaut. She didn’t smile, it would be inappropriate. But she had her, She frakking had her.
Of course Armac would invoke it. Her best friend’s daughter was on that planet, along with two million humans, and Navarchos Bass’s niece. Loona Armac wouldn’t let them die. Not when she had a chance to save them.”
______
Frak those darn Republicans – Oh I mean conservatives.. How DARE they take political advantage of a situation!! Bad…Bad…Bad.. people. BAD!!
Shtayim:
“Probably. Maybe. To be honest, nobody really knows, and nobody will know unless someone tries it, and gets brought to the courts over it. It comes down to a question of what precedents were null after the fifth Charter was adopted, and…nobody is totally sure. Certainly,” Cethje said, “nobody would invoke that unless they were absolutely desperate, and didn’t care what the fallout would be.”
____
Just called my bookie and put another $100 on the bugs……
___
Oh oH…..it may appear that Lessy is going to bite the big one (um reverse pun intended).. possible that another main character gets greased. Unless Sorcha gets there in time and dukes it out with Myrell
Sholosh:
Realistically speaking the survivors of this event should drop all trust of Los Titanos. Earth officials and Ridgemont will find out and perform their sworn fiduciary obligations..I’m fully expecting Ridgemont to be portrayed as intransigent and obstructionist getting in the way of “progress”
Alesia survives but has a miscarriage, and yes, somehow Ridgemont will be the bad guy.
“Frak. If Loona Armac remembers this….” Right thought, wrong person. Loona pight not have thought about it but I expect Antero will remember it.
Anyway the hint has been dropped they will find some way to make the Bugs pause short of war which is probably a good idea. If Insectoids are capable of shock they have to be wandering what the heck just happened to their assault force. They may also be wondering what happened to their agent since she seems to have completely lost track of what’s going on with her “family.” Combine the two and the Hive might pause short of sending in a larger landing force long enough that Gama pops out of hyperspace.
If Qorni ever thought seriously about anything else than her own career she’d be on the phone to Cesil asking for a truce and a joint declaration to resist Hive aggression as another factor weighing on the Bugs to stop short of war.
It also might help matters if Darren spills the beans about the Acolytes so that Loona is better equipped to play poker with the Bugs when the showdown comes.
“The ones in here meant nothing. They weren’t people. Just things. And things provide only limited amusement. But you, Alesia Nonahsdottir, are a person! A person with a great mind, who has accomplished great things and who could rise to the highest heights of the Empire.” Hmmm. Weakness. If Myrell weren’t so sure of herself she’d just stomp on Lessy and call in to Bug HQ. Instead she’ll try and drag this out long enough for Lessy to settle her nerves, remember her strength and start spinning Myrell a never ending story worthy of Scheherazade.
Myrell deserves a fitting punishment at the end. A nightmare in the holodeck that last forever.
Alesia will not recover from this and Loona has to take some blame.
This seems to turn in an all out war.
Oh craps that is bad for Alesia !!! Will Sorcha come in time?
I need sombody to explain the political part that Qorni want to play here bcz i’m confused here
Tu veux ça en français ? 😉
La colonie sur Tau Ceti n’est pas une planète impériale au sens légal = elle a peut de valeur et donc la flotte Gamma n’est pas autorisée à tirer sur les Insectoides (et donc provoquer une guerre) seulement pour défendre cette planète là, même si elle est en territoire impérial.
Seulement, un gros vaisseau comme ça est une force d’invasion avec quasi certitude qu’ils vont attaquer le reste de l’Empire donc la bonne chose à faire serait d’attaquer tout de suite, ne serait-ce que pour gagner du temps, même si c’est illégal.
Qorni espère que Loona va appliquer une très vieille loi pour ordonner à Bass d’attaquer : Qorni est pour parce que c’est mieux dans les faits, ça affaiblit les Insectoides tout de suite et en plus elle pourra officiellement accuser Loona d’avoir violer la loi (actuelle) et d’avoir provoqué la guerre. Du coup, Qorni gagnera la guerre et se débarassera de Loona en même temps.
tout de suite c’est + clair merci l’ami !
Alesia had managed through the grace of her family and friends to avoid virtually all torment at the hands of Titans. She had been consciously aware of what they could do or what they might be capable of but she had never truly realised it until now. Not until she had seen people crushed flat in an instant or had arms torn away for amusement.
Okay, if Lessy survives this, I dare you to write an ending or story where she ever sets foot on a Titan world ever again. That she’d ever want her child to grow up among Titans.
And I mean a believable story. I dare you.
Nah..she’ll forgive them and live happily ever after…endure horrific torment and abuse…suck it up kiddo…
Its the right thing to do you know…
I’m actually gonna go against this, and I almost always agree with you Nighteye. It’s similar, and I stress that word, to a civilian watching hundreds or thousands slaughtered by an invading army and surviving. There are mental repercussions that can be incredible, especially on those who’ve never witnessed such things, like Lessy. However, they don’t usually entail fearing all of humanity. I’m not saying its not possible, because the dynamic is somewhat different, the very bodies of Titans become the machines of death, not guns etc.
Hm not exactly (I’m not Nighteye either but…) Its actually worse. In war things happen, sometime horrible things we as humans know this and its understood. Here this was a horrific betrayal of someone that had their trust and did these things because they could – and enjoyed it..
I’m starting to think that long term separation of the species is probably the way here..Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes its politically incorrect and not very nice, not co-existence, doesn’t fit with the narrative…. blah ….. … fuck …. blah and its rational
Aaaaand to prove me ‘wrong’ there will be some Titans (in a few chapters) that will self-sacrifice save a couple of humans in the process and do heroic things…That will be very nice – and not change a darn thing
I don’t see how separating the species is supposed to solve anything long term. If anything, that just seems like it will breed more resentment and hatred.
Vs a mind set that views your species as just things to play with, used and killed? ……..yeah..
Resentment and hatred?….Oh my, how dare those insignificant humans have real life reactions to events! They *should* have a particular point of view…If they don’t, they are wrong and are hateful *gasp* can;’t have that. Nope
Oh I know what the response will be; “well you know this was just a few people doing a few crazy things bad things, we are all not this way, people (Titan people) can change, just give them a chance, really please. Even if it means enduring couple (hundred?) or more of these events in the future it will be worth it”
Well if you are a politician on Earth trying to sell this snake oil – good luck..
Another thing; This mindset had over a thousand (Titan) years to develop. Its pure fantasy to think this can change overnight or by passing a few laws, waiving some papers around. …
@Nitestarr : not to mention the fact that, even if every newborn Titan starting right now had the right mindset, (fat chance, right ?) it would take a couple generations at least for the Empire as a whole to get there. And a couple of titan generations is well over a 100 Earth years, so 5 to 6 generations of Humans.
No way we’d be that patient.
Not tot mention the fact that, 100 years from now, Humans will have catch up with the Empire technologically. So why even bother ?
I notice you didn’t actually answer my question as to how separating the species is supposed to benefit either long term. Particularly the humans on Earth who seem like they have nothing to gain and everything to loose from cutting off all ties to the empire and it’s resources and technology, and also Avalon.
I am also going to be very clear on this next point: It does not matter what the humans reaction to this is! It does not matter whether they hate every Titan for generations to come. The time for isolation is long past. And it is never coming back.
These two species are going to either have to learn to work together, despite their animosities, or very quickly find themselves in a state of perpetual war with one another.
You are making an assumption that isolation means war. Explain how that would happen in this verse?
I’m not talking isolation I’m talking about a potential separation. Two distinct things. Learn to live with each other? Sure. Does that mean enduring slaughters, mass killings? Is that what you mean by learning to live with the Titans? Is there a particular number to endure? Explain the mechanism by which the culture of the Titans ‘magically’ changes in a very short period of time in order to make co-existence at least realistic. By realistic I mean not killing, kidnapping, stealing humans etc….I’m setting a low bar here…
And since this is an alien culture we don’t really know (apart from what the writers tells us) who and what they really are. They could be all in for equality and life, liberty blah one moment (or period in time) and then it can change. Decide that dealing with these semi-sentient mouthy animals has reached its limits, rescind citizenship, strip them of rights and order all humans to be deported and transferred to other worlds (or facilities)..Give the humans to the bugs in exchange for peace..
Don’t think that could happen? Think again..It already has happened here on Earth…
“I notice you didn’t actually answer my question as to how separating the species is supposed to benefit either long term. ”
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Ok kiddo I’ll answer this one For humans – how about not being killed, kidnapped, experimented on etc. To me thats a HUGE 🙂 benefit. For Los Titanos – dunno.. I don’t get the sense that there is any benefit other than mercantile or short term pleasure. Umm err.. tasty snack?
This is all delightfully ironic considering that it was separating the species that directly lead to this slaughter.
If Qorni hadn’t tried to separate the species by shipping all emancipated humans off to their own undeveloped backwater planet instead of integrating them into Titan society proper like Loona had wanted from the start, then non of this would have happened.
As for what magical spell will instantly change the hearts and minds of all Titans everywhere? Yeah, there isn’t one. It will take generations for the wounds to heal. But how is that any different then any other racial conflict in history? Just because it will take some time doesn’t mean they shouldn’t start now. There are always going to be instances of Titans killing humans. Just as there are always going to be instances of Titans killing Titans and humans killing humans. And Lerr and Avartle and Duner… okay maybe not Dunnermac. The point is there will walls be instances of people breaking laws. Unless you are arguing that everyone should wait until we find a magical cure for murder.
Finally as to your nightmare scenario of humans suddenly becoming pets again? Yeah, that’s not going to happen! First of all the idea that all Titans will instantly turn against humanity is just as laughably unrealistic as all Titans instantly becoming human lovers. Second Titans are not the only members of the empire. Lerr, Avartle, and Dunnermac consist of a large portion of the population on par with the Titans. And non of them are going to support stripping humans of their rights, less they open themselves up to having their own rights stripped.
Yeah, it has happened on earth. And I don’t recall a single instance in which the separating of the races has resulted in a viable long term solution.
Not long term. Never said anything about that. You assumed that. And yeah a temporary (maybe) separation to keep humans safe that would make sense. They could still have cultural exchanges, trade, academic forums (conjugal visits) 🙂 etc. I don’t understand the societal catastrophe in doing this.. If you still object to this then I would assume that you think that a perceived injury to a social philosophy is much worse than preventing actual harm…
Also; We are not talking about other racial (human)conflicts, we are talking about the Titan-human conflict – that one sided affair that has been going on for a Titan millennia..
As to humans not becoming pets again, maybe but I see something potentially worse. I mentioned it in one of my posts above. It may not happen or it may happen..If you were one of Earth’s leaders would you take the risk of assuming that it will never happen?
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Also:
“Yeah, it has happened on earth. And I don’t recall a single instance in which the separating of the races has resulted in a viable long term solution.”
You are mixing apples with pomegranates (Like em’ better than oranges) The humans races are still humans. We (they) are dealing with different species, alien species .And as for you assertion of “single instance” of separating race (on earth) I have a contrary argument – The native Americans (North and South) were doing fairly well (and separate) until the Europeans showed up…Then they didn’t do so well..Unless you consider the viable long term solution to THAT problem to be mass death, cultural destruction, displacement …
Gute Nacht
Interesting discussion, Nighteye, Nitestarr, Genguidanos and Rapscallion.
Because of these horrible events we can lose sight of what already has been achieved by and for humans between 2013 and 2174 in the Empire. All our main pro human characters, titans and humans are now sitting in key positions of power in the Empire and it’s a very versatile group. The mindset of many Titans has already changed much in favor of humans.
Titans? Maybe. Titan-insect hybrids? Noooooo! I dare say this is going to set back human/Titan-insect hybrid relations another 50 years ….
Um Jacks, Moze, anybody? help… 🙁
Also, really Qorni? Even now you’re thinking politics first. Pretty crazy that I might hate her more than Myrell.
You could make a case that the Jacks should be the ones to kill Myrell. Show that humanity is capable of defending itself.
Humans pretty much need to run the table here. 1 hybrid murders 5,000 humans to start, humans need to strike the blow that obliterates millions of Myrell’s family.
Ah, as expected Lessy gets into trouble and Sorcha must save her. Myrrell won’t kill her so soon, not if it means drawing out Sorcha into a fight, bringing Joseph with her. To Ryan, just look for the uncovered exhaust port! They won’t see it coming!
Actually now I think Alesia has to be the one to bring Myrell down, if we are keeping with the theme of the rest of the series involving final show downs between humans and Titan villains.
Of course she’ll still someone to run interference. Since Sorcha isn’t coming, hopefully Moze found a jack to escort him to the compound to find his family. Red shirt Jack tags Myrell with an invasive explosive before dying, and Alesia recovers the detonater. All she needs is a witty action taunt.
Well I mean, isn’t Myrell wearing antigtav shit? Turn those off and squish goes the titan
Myrrell is just aching to fight Sorcha, if she learns of how close the two are then she will have Sorcha brought over to see who is the strongest hybrid. I think despite all of this, Lessy will still raise her kid on a Titan world. If not then Tau Ceti or basically somewhere with her friends and family, she and Sorcha are too close. Maybe another story where they show her getting over the trauma like Alex?
Comparing this to what Alex went through is like comparing a fender-bender (minor car accident) to nuclear war. In other words there is no comparison..
On ghe bright side I can see this event being suppressed and/or ignored….Can’t have the truth come out, fuck things up you know what I mean?
@Nitestarr:
I doubt this event will be suppressed/ignored unless Tau Ceti falls to the insectoids. Their sudden invasion and the upcoming fight with Gama fleet are going to draw the eyes of the Empire to Tau Ceti and the surrounding region for some time to come. Instead of a likely futile attempt at suppression it makes much more sense to blame the convenient enemy agent serial killer. One can even boost morale for the upcoming Federation invasion by revealing that Cesil aided the insectoids by providing their agent with a fake Federation birth certificate.
Not on Tau Ceti. 😉 She won’t set a foot on that planet again. That trauma is nothing like any other of our main character humans has ever experienced. I don’t think even Darren, Rixie or Pryvani would recover quickly from that situation. Not even Nonah’s dealings with Naskia and Dorok can compare to this.
I don’t know if the Titan element is the problem. I think she will never leave her family and friends environment again to go with strangers. Loona and Qorni are to blame. The kind of pressure they put on that staff was criminal, even without the damage Myrell caused, people were dying.
To think, if they hadn’t pushed the time table up, or properly built the city before hand, or even just had more staff, there wouldn’t have been 5000 people living and trapped in the canteen with a psycho. If Myrell had tried this outside during the evacuation, she would have been plasma dust after the first kill.
So you could say these deaths are also on Loona and the floor leader.
I don’t think even Darren, Rixie or Pryvani would recover quickly from that situation. Not even Nonah’s dealings with Naskia and Dorok can compare to this.
When OHH had Loona bring Nonah along I suspected it was more for Loona’s emotional support than as a message to Ridgemont. It’s now obvious she’s on the Gyfjon to eventually aid Lessy’s emotional recovery.
Myrell using Lessy as bait for Sorcha is likely. My guess is that Lessy makes it out alive but either Moze or Sorcha does not in the rescue attempts. For the authors Moze is the easy sacrifice but Sorcha is the logical sacrifice of Hybrid
@Locutus : I would find it very ironic if, in as series as liberal as this one, we end up having the black dude is gonna die cliché. 😛
@sketch: A lot of people are going to look very bad here, or react very badly to this. In addition to what you said, Ridgemont’s and Earth’s first impression of Tau Ceti will be an Insectoid invasion and a massacre, and Sorcha might have a breakdown when she sees what happened in her project.
@A.R., Ridgemont is probably going to quote Churchill’s favorable reference to the Devil when she agrees to an alliance with the Empire. That alliance is coming though. It’s a precursor to the human’s part in saving the Empire just as losing some of our Titan heroes at Tau Ceti and probably over Earth is equally necessary. That Sorcha might never forgive herself afterward for what happened to the Colony is another reason it makes sense that she makes the ultimate sacrifice.
@Locutus. Killing of Sorcha isn’t a good idea and I don’t expect that. Sorcha is too important on so many levels and it would ruin too many main characters lives. The main characters are already suffering enough. Sorcha and Lessy must survive so they can learn from this. I still see them as children, innocent and not seeing through deception of fellow titans or humans.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, this is bad.