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Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug
You reek of the weakness time purged. A moment, I have guest that would like to see this. Anna dear, a spectre of lifetime past thinks she can predict the game we ended.

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ADBOT LOVES YOU

dont be mean to me
May 2, 2007

I'm interplanetary, bitch
Let's go to Mars


Oh crap. We didn't go for the sideplot that's been dangling out in smurfspace, so it came for us.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

Fusion dance GO.

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


+1 to taking tea, hopefully breaking the noncommital deadlock the thread is in and getting new posts :v:

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Hexenritter posted:

+1 to taking tea, hopefully breaking the noncommital deadlock the thread is in and getting new posts :v:

:wave: Happy Friday, Forum Friend!!

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

Tea Time please

Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


CourValant posted:

:wave: Happy Friday, Forum Friend!!

And a most felicitous Freya's Day to you too forum friend!

VanSandman
Feb 16, 2011
SWAP.AVI EXCHANGER

Arkanomen posted:

You reek of the weakness time purged. A moment, I have guest that would like to see this. Anna dear, a spectre of lifetime past thinks she can predict the game we ended.

Invite Anna in to laugh at this fool.

Toughy
Nov 29, 2004

KAVODEL! KAVODEL!

If we're going to make it a party let's get Fabiiyan, Anna, and Hera

Karia
Mar 27, 2013

Self-portrait, Snake on a Plane
Oil painting, c. 1482-1484
Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1591)

Let's tea party with the one who taught us the sacred art of tea party-ing. Set servo-skulls to knit and bring in Sincera Pax. Interrogation through superior interior decoration.

Hold off on bringing in Anna until we have some idea what this faker Oneoh knows.

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Karia posted:

Interrogation through superior interior decoration.

This.

This is too good to not use as the next update Title.

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

Can we maybe get a chance to purge something? That always lifts Ohone's spirits.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Interrogation through superior interior decoration.

“So who do you think she’ll call in?”
Fabiyan caught the ball midthrow. “You mean, if she doesn’t order an alpha strike?”
“Yup.”
“Me. You got to go last time.”
Anna snorted. “Doesn’t count. We only approached the black hole, didn’t go in.”
“Would you have?”
She shrugged. “I mean. Probably. We’re off the beaten track. Off-script.” A sharp smile. “Improvising.”
He tossed the ball again, caught it. “Which is why she’ll call me. You are unpredictable, and this is an unknown situation. I won’t, say, call in my daimon ex.”
Anna chuckled. “You have a daimon ex?”
“Sure, why not. I so enjoyed our time on Agatha’s World, I decided to find a playmate while trying to find Ohone.”
“Oh!” Anna touched her heart. “I didn’t know you felt that way.”
He sighed long-sufferingly. “I don’t have a daimon ex.”
“I know that you idiot. This is what normal humans call banter. I swear, the Krieg ruined you.”

Ohone’s sharp voice cut through the air. “Anna, I want you to come see this.”
Anna smiled winsomely at Fabiyan. “Told you last time didn’t count.”
“It doesn’t count if you use magic to see the future.”
“I didn’t, I just know her.” She blew a kiss at him. “Be right back.”

-

Anna’s voice crackled in your ear. “Uhm … your head is in cyberspace, I’m not exactly equipped to go there.”
“Oh, right.” You considered your counterpart narrowly. “Since you have managed to not get blown up yet, I would like to see you in person, and bring some of my staff. You clearly set all this up for a negotiation of some sort.”
Oneoh nodded. “Yes, that is quite true. Perhaps the Bridge?”
You snorted. “A ship you built and equipped? Absolutely not.”
She gestured. “One of the moons nearby? You can pick.”

A moment’s thought. “Anna, can you teleport us there and back?”
“Just us? Sure.”

You turned to Oneoh. “Fine. The third largest. Send one of your shuttles, I’ll meet you there.”

Any preparations before we go to the shindig?

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Loel posted:

Any preparations before we go to the shindig?

Have at least two, unrelated, 'exit' plans before going; I don't want to eat another nuke, thank you very much.

Also assemble the council and get an idea of 'what' might be worth negotiating; we're playing at the 'galaxy cluster' level, what is it that we need that we can't get??

Finally, I'd like Fabs to come with us as well, never hurts to have a hard foil against Anna around.

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug
Bring a man portable Void Cannon attached to our armor (also worn) and a nuke with a dead-man's switch

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Arkanomen posted:

Bring a man portable Void Cannon attached to our armor (also worn) and a nuke with a dead-man's switch

Is the void cannon them 'black hole' rifles we have? Or something else?

Because if I remember correctly, them 'black hole' rifles erases space-time itself and is generally 'bad-karma-don't-use'?

Not Alex
Oct 9, 2012

Cut loose before the god eaters show up.
All the moons are nukes.

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9TRMQwMNnY

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug

CourValant posted:

Is the void cannon them 'black hole' rifles we have? Or something else?

Because if I remember correctly, them 'black hole' rifles erases space-time itself and is generally 'bad-karma-don't-use'?

Karma implies the Universe is any way shape or form balanced and keeping track of any of this Ohone mess. We met with the being that was and even he lost the plot and we promptly threw everything out the window.

The Void Cannons are the reality erasing weapons that scare everyone shitless, even Loki.



Bring three. The main gun, the back up Oneoh knows about and then one more that she doesn't

Mardragon
Mar 4, 2004
Cinderella boy... Out of nowhere...
Yam Slacker
Bring Centurion, Fabiyan, and Janus (in a disguise since he's so good at it). Or at least Fabiyan and Janus, that way you have people to help who aren't you/clone you/past and future you

mepstein73
Sep 18, 2012

Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.

Arkanomen posted:

Karma implies the Universe is any way shape or form balanced and keeping track of any of this Ohone mess. We met with the being that was and even he lost the plot and we promptly threw everything out the window.

The Void Cannons are the reality erasing weapons that scare everyone shitless, even Loki.


Bring three. The main gun, the back up Oneoh knows about and then one more that she doesn't

I believe you mean,

quote:

We met with Loel and even he lost the plot and the thread promptly threw everything out the window.

Because let's be honest, plot is an illusion.

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

mepstein73 posted:

Because let's be honest, plot is an illusion.

Didn't Loel say awhile back that he did have a storyboard for this here Space Opera?

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Hexenritter
May 20, 2001


That crazed look is how I envision you during our plot chats

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



I am occasionally inspired :D

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008


So you're saying we've been building up an immunity to nukes, right? I can dig it.

Question Time
Sep 12, 2010



Y'all are thinking too small. Bring 5 of the other Ohones we've harvested from other loops and slaved into a hive mind. "Welcome, Oneoh, I love you."

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Empty Streets

Fabiyan met your eyes narrowly. “This is a bad idea.”
“Oh yeah.” You nodded at the thought. “Me, Anna, and our third timeline self? Bad idea.”
He blinked in surprise, seemingly having expected to you argue more. “Then why? Take me instead, or Centurion. Take us both.”
You shook your head. “They know more about me than I know about them. I need to commit as little as possible, while getting more data. This is the best compromise.”

Fabiyan considered it. “We’ll need to get you loaded up. You thinking the Eschatologist?”
“Too big. Just the family armor, the storm cannons.”
“Those won’t do much even against our conventional enemies.”
You smiled humorlessly. “Yeah. I’m bringing the void rifles too.”
“Anna will know about them.”
“The two main ones, yes. The hidden one, no.” You nodded to yourself. “I’ve got this.”

He frowned. “What’s your backup plan?”
“When it all goes sideways? Anna teleports out.”
“When Anna makes it goes sideways.”
“Hera’s already promised an evac. If it looks like Anna’s gone off the deep end, Hera pulls me out.”
“And if she can’t?”
“They’ll contact you if anything goes wrong. You and Huron, the Fleet, can come in all guns blazing.”
“I don’t like it. What if they get blocked?”
You shook your head once more, with finality. “If Anna and Hera are both compromised, there was no chance anyway.”

-

<Shuttle heading for third moon, straight course. Teleport coordinates ready.>
<Acknowledged.>

There was the clap of displaced air.

-

Around you, a simple room, enough to hold a company of troops. Light was coming from nowhere in particular, and the surface of the walls was made of a metal you didn’t recognize. Empty, save for a single table. You looked about your warily, even as witchfyre danced along Anna’s hands.

“What you think?”
Anna’s eyes were distant. “This place … ah.”

On the far side, a featureless door opened. Anna smiled wolfishly as she saw the scrawny figure, and he shuddered, almost quailed. His voice leaped into the air as soon as he saw you.
“Lord-Sire! I am your servant. Oneoh asked me to enter first, to gauge your response.” He winced. “Please keep Anna under control, she’s imagining some quite … terrible things.”

Blasphemaster
Jul 10, 2008

Consult Pokedex Proledex Wikipedia The List of Those What Earned Spankings

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

Loel posted:

“Lord-Sire! I am your servant. Oneoh asked me to enter first, to gauge your response.” He winced. “Please keep Anna under control, she’s imagining some quite … terrible things.”

"So, let's review this opening gambit, shall we?"

"One, you're letting me know you can read minds. Two, you're stating that you're my servant, even using the old Lord-Sire title, yet you clearly work for Oneoh. Third, Anna is never not imagining terrible things, as she's a fraggin' Daemon. Fourth, if Oneoh knows me as well as she seems to, then she should know that no one can quite control Anna."

"Given these assumptions, I can only conclude that this is in fact a bit of theater, and not a clever one at that. Oneoh already knows I'm not playing to type this time, so let's just proceed, shall we? Or do I have to shoot you a few times to drag my behavior back to the modeled baseline projections, and you folks finally have a frame of reference to continue this negotiation?"


Blasphemaster posted:

Consult Pokedex Proledex Wikipedia The List of Those What Earned Spankings

That's a loooooooong list.

Arkanomen
May 6, 2007

All he wants is a hug

Loel posted:

Empty Streets
“Lord-Sire! I am your servant. Oneoh asked me to enter first, to gauge your response.” He winced. “Please keep Anna under control, she’s imagining some quite … terrible things.”

"Aren't you the Psionic that I sent to spy on the Jannisaries? Where is the little false-child with the affinity for puncturing implements? Why are you here, galavanting about with one of my failed copies and not updating me with everything you know? Perhaps the repair device didn't repair your melted neuron's properly?

mepstein73
Sep 18, 2012

Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.
I'm voting option C.

Figure it out.

CourValant
Feb 25, 2016

Do You Remember Love?

mepstein73 posted:

I'm voting option C.

Figure it out.

So, you're saying that there is a way to get out of the Dungeon without using the Wizard's Key?

Karia
Mar 27, 2013

Self-portrait, Snake on a Plane
Oil painting, c. 1482-1484
Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1591)

If Oneoh's trying to gauge our response, just... don't respond. Ignore him, sit there, and twiddle our thumbs. Take another look around, and if we've got some secret communication channel with Anna ask her what she knows about this place. But don't talk to the imitation of our faithful man-servant Woodhouse, Oneoh's just trying to throw us.

mepstein73
Sep 18, 2012

Whether or not you find your own way, you're bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, please return it, as it was lost years ago. I imagine by now it's quite rusty.

CourValant posted:

So, you're saying that there is a way to get out of the Dungeon without using the Wizard's Key?

No, I'm saying it's possible to beat Portal without euthanizing the weighted companion cube. :colbert:

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



1 of 16666

Hit by a sudden flash of inspiration

Your eyes narrowed as you took in the figure. He was badly burned, limbs oddly attached. Your mind searched, looking for someone who matched the description … ah. “Mister Travis. Acolyte. I repaired you with Hera’s machine.”

His face seemed to brighten along the old scars. “Yes, Lord-Sire.”
You played with thoughts of violence, but your heart wasn’t really in it. “Anna, dial it back.”
She frowned at you, but shrugged. Travis’ whole posture relaxed. “Much appreciated. I have … had my fill of sorcerers and monsters this past year.”

“With … this Oneoh? What is her Technocracy?”
“Ah. That is a tale.” He strode forward, the old confidence you remembered filling his frame. Hadn’t he been one of your security chiefs at one point? The Battle of Terra had been a hectic thing, half the details lost and the rest far too memorable. Your thoughts skittered briefly to the final battle with the Plaguelord, and Travis nodded sympathetically.

You made a mental note that you needed better defenses against mind-reading, and his face went politely blank.

He gestured to you to sit first, and you declined. It was … unlikely … that the chairs were trapped after all this effort for a neutral meeting place, but better safe than sorry. He shrugged, took a seat. You took the other, and Anna stood behind you, watching him. She was smiling, with far too many teeth.

“Well? Last I remembered, we sent you to keep an eye on Huron and his invasion of Janissary space.”
“Yes, Lord-Sire. We started there, travelling through many systems. I have copies of the intelligence reports I sent…”

A new voice rose from the hallway, sarcastic and cutting. “We’ll be here all night if you want her to read those.” Female, and young. You looked up, seeing a young woman unhesitatingly enter the room like she owned the place. Dressed in a mix of knives and leathers, some of it seemingly human.

The faces were, anyway.

“And you are …?”
“Adelaide. I keep Travis alive long enough to send those boring papers no one reads.”
You considered her. “I don’t remember you.”
“I was on the Filthy Lucre when it fell to Mother.”
“And you survived?”
She showed her teeth in a not-smile. “I’m lucky that way.”
You glanced at Anna, who was looking at Adelaide in half-disguised fascination. “Yes?”
“... I like her.”
You sighed. “Of course you would. Any weirdness? Love you virus, anything like that?”
“No, she’s clear.”
“Oh, good. It’d be one fine last joke to get this far and get hit by daemon memetics.”
“Wouldn’t it though?” Anna chuckled. “She’s not particularly sane, by any metric, but she’s passably human.”
“Passably?”
“More than you or me, anyway.”
You considered this. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“Best not to.” Anna agreed.

Travis waited patiently through the banter, and Adelaide sat on the edge of the table, cheerfully ignoring the lack of chairs. “Right! So. We infiltrated Huron’s fleet.”
“I had originally planned to lay low, perhaps one of the laborer crews …”
“Right, he had a dumb idea.” Adelaide shook her head. “I stabbed like forty seven people, day one. Gotta establish yourself on these kinds of places.”
Your lips almost quirked into a smile. “Where did you learn about these kind of places?”
“Sarge taught me. Never mind that. I got right to stabbing, and we nested ourselves on one of the smaller ships. One more mundane pirate wouldn’t get noticed, but if we got in the big leagues - Nephilim, sorcerers. Bad idea.”
“I see.”

“Right. So, the fleet did its normal things. Raids and harvests on isolated worlds, which is all of them at this point. I don’t know if he was looking for something, or just taking advantage.”
You considered it. “Did Huron seemed to be looking for something?”
“No idea. Not like I was running fleet logistics. We just stopped at a lot of planets. They didn’t have any chance against a fleet this size. Honestly, only Terra or some of the sector capitals could, back before their fleets went to Golgotha. We’d blow up the orbitals, launch drop pods. Use local ships to bring the populace to the fleet, as many as could fit.”
“How do you know all this?”
She showed her teeth. “We had to fit in to keep our cover.”
You looked at her coldly gleeful face. “I … see.”

Travis cut in at this point. “I have limited assessments on fleet composition, army sizes, hoof to tail ratios, and so on. They are also in my reports, although they are limited in scope. Perhaps with the data from the Battle of Terra, we might be able to synthesize full capability …”
You waved him off. “You’ve done well. First, to survive, and second, to get information. Remember, I’ve been running essentially blind, aside from what you have.”
He nodded, perhaps a bit relieved. “Yes.

-

Knoxie rubbed his temples and groaned.

“Another vision?”
His eyes snapped open, looked over. Grimaced. “You.”
Athena smiled. “Me.”
“I’d call you a daemon but Fabiyan would have exorcised you. Why are you tormenting me?”

The entity that was not in any way human crossed her legs, leaned back into a stretch. “Because you are one of the very few people who can see what I’m up to. A small portion, at least.”
“Yes, watching you consider your options is one of my favorite past times.” His tone was bitter.
“Just think, most people - even the elves - would kill for your capability. Most maenads, even if they see the future, can’t see me. But some quirk of yours … you can.”
“And no one believes me.”
“And no one believes you. About my aspects, anyway.” She smiled, sharp as razors. “The oldest Terrans called it Cassandra.”
“I call it a curse.”
“So did she.”

He stared at her hostilely. She met his gaze, still smiling.

“What are you doing at that stupid little world?”
“Setting up the pieces. Finally, finally, they are coming together.”
“They won’t fight.” Knoxie knew that in his bones.
“No. They each had to grow enough, before I gathered them. I try not to waste such valuable resources.”
He chuckled humorlessly. “Make another.”
Athena considered him, weighed him. “I could.”
“You could.”
“But I won’t.”
“Why?”
“It’s … as much a matter of circumstance, as anything. They wouldn’t have the correct mix of experiences for what I need. The galaxy has changed since they started walking it, and any new versions couldn’t walk the same path.”

He met her eyes. “And what path is that?”
She smiled teasingly. “Can’t see that far?”
“You know I can’t. A few minutes at most.”
“Well.” Another smile. “We all have our parts to play.”

-

You tapped your fingers thoughtfully. “So, you have ballpark figures on their fleet capability and composition, and Adelaide has seen them deploy planetside. How do they handle?”
He held out his hands. “Even an imbecile could win with the 100:1 odds he brought to the table … but even so, I felt that they were handled competently. I am not a fleet or army commander, but they seemed to take few losses and return with great wealth and human cargo.”
You frowned, nodded. “Okay. I’ll pass the documents to my staff, see what they can make of it.” A faint smile. “I’m not a fleet commander either, by any means.”

Adelaide sighed loudly. You both turned to look at her. “Yes?”
“He’s talking about the boring stuff again. Tell her what happened next.”
Travis looked sour. “You were there. I had to rely on your reports, which mostly consisted of screaming.”
“And stabbing.”
“And running.”

She was one to frown, this time. “Yes.” She met your eyes now, seeming determined to speak some important truth. “We got hosed up.”

You paused, blinked. “... Oh?”
“Yeah. Same as a hundred planets before, fleet takes out the orbitals, land the troops. Except half way through the landing, an enemy fleet popped out of nowhere. Began swatting down our skirmishers like they were flies.”
You looked at her interestedly. “Tell me more about this fleet.”
She shrugged angrily. “I don’t know. I was in a drop ship, and had my own problems.”
“Anti-air artillery?”
“I wish. Angels.”

“Angels?”
“Yeah. Like Fabiyan, except hundreds of them.”
You pursed your lips. “Maybe … some sort of human-mutant aberration. Or xeno hybrid. There aren’t that many Saints in the galaxy.”
“That’s what I thought too, and then they started tearing about the dropships with their bare hands.”
“... It’s welded steel.”
“Yeah. That was about when the screaming started.”

Travis interjected at this point. “She had managed to acquire a comm set during one of the invasions, and had kept it. Most of her reports were narrated stabbing, so the screaming wasn’t exactly new, but I hadn’t heard Huron’s troops doing it.”
You tapped your fingers. “So … this angel matched speeds with you, tore open the hull … maybe a battlesuit of some kind? I think I could build something like that, with a bit of time.”
Adelaide shrugged again. “I don’t know. I was busy leaving. Grabbed a Reaper engine - you know those? The jetpacks that sound like a banshee.”
“Yeah.”
“Grabbed one and jumped.”
“Didn’t know you knew how to use one. The training is kind of specialized.”
“I don’t. But it was that or stay and fight an angel that had already torn through dozens of soldiers.”
“Fair. Got lucky?”
“Yeah.” She showed her teeth. “Severe burns and several broken bones. I looked like Travis here, for a couple months.”
“You seem to have recovered well.” It was true - you couldn’t see the faintest trace of burn injuries.
“Can’t claim credit for that.”
“Oh?”

She looked into the distance briefly, shrugged. “You tell the next part.”
Travis nodded. “So. All I heard from the comms was her screaming, and then silence. I didn’t know what was going on in the fleet - we are in the belly of one of the ships, and generations can pass without being aware the outside. You know.”
“I do.”
“Right. So it was just the comms silence. I was … somewhat worried, as I’d never heard her do that. Not even fighting Mother.”

Adelaide smiled briefly. “You big softy.”
“Shh. Anyway, couple hours later, we started receiving the shuttles back. Normal routine right? Except instead of victorious soldiers carrying cargo, it was a bedraggled mess of survivors who happened to seize the spaceport and get back into orbit. No one had any idea what was going on.

“It was like that for a couple days. No explanation, and the first wave of returning soldiers turned out to be the only one. Adelaide was not among them.”

“So what did it turn out to be?” You were fascinated despite yourself.
“Did you not receive my intel reports?”
“No.”
“Hm.” He considered it. “I conveyed them to Inquisitor Athena.”
A pause. “Did you now.”
“I did.”
“She and I will have words later.”
“I imagine. However, I have copies of the data with me. I think you should hear it before I proceed.”



quote:

Travis Wrent Personal Report to Lordsire Ohone

It has been quite some time since my last check in. It has been … difficult to find somewhere I can work privately. Inquisitor Athena has been most helpful with getting this encrypted data pad into my possession. The Fleet of our target has made contact with, well yourself it would seem. Curious days these, I have little to report this cycle save for a curious vision I had. Since your gracious restoration of my physical body I have not had many and those that I have had have been of a prognostic nature. Some remnant of contact with the Seer Knoxie no doubt. I do hope he is well. Addie often asks after him in between carving up some hapless cultist or dancing with that headless servitor she has taken to riding like some beast of burden. I think she calls it Mr.Giddy-up, not that you could tell what it was underneath the hundred or so knives stuck into the thing.

We’ve been isolated to one of ships in orbit above a world unlike anything I have ever seen. Tapestries to the Empress’ glory at the height of the Empire barely come close to the splendor seen above this world. Technology beyond what was recovered in the STC flows like wine through gilded streets made of pure light. Angels flit about singing songs of pure binary encoded so deeply that they sound as water crashing over boulders of pure diamond. Armies of light gleaming with power unfathomable march by the billion from pulsing fortresses of black obsidian. Above all this hover ships of a size that would make the Beast seem an escape-pod. I have seen wonders beyond words and only my broken mind keeps me sane. It is difficult to remember what the Inquisitor even has us here for, but little Addie reminds me. "Oi Travy-Wavy, we’s the only ones what can kill that captain and anyone ‘Thena says we should."

I dreamt about that order last night. The signal from Inquisitor Athena, Lordsires orders. Decapitation, all senior members. It was simple enough. We were all called to a central hub somewhere on that Eylesian planet. A plain white room with uncomfortable chairs and a table at an awkward height. Abbadon on his consort, the Lord-Sire's mother I think we're he first to arrive. Their thoughts closed to mine but simple body language told enough. Soon after your Imposter, the Inquisitor and the impenetrable tech priest that always lurks near the OneOh entered and they began to discuss the defenses of the core of Ultramar.

Dreams are funny, moreso when prognostic. The harder you focus then more images seem to melt away. Faces become caricatures, words and text become gibberish and suddenly your teeth start whispering to you. Don't listen to the whispers, they never make sense. I relaxed into my chair and let the vision play out. When the conversation turned to fleet tactics, Athena gave the kill phrase and our work began.

Addie dropped from somewhere unseen, her favorite opening gambit, and nearly took off the consort's head with a gash to the throat and a jab to the temple. Before the gout of blood even wet the ground I moved up and bent the General's psychic field back into the Magos and the Imposter. Nasty strike it was, raw hatred tinged with all the spite a lord of chaos could muster. It gave Addie enough time to plunge her favorite knife into the Generals main heart. She picked up this xeno-blade from Empress knows where, but it secrets this nano-toxin that rots its victim from the inside out in moments. It took slightly longer on nephlihim but only slightly.

I'm not sure what happened next, but the world went purple as Addie and most of the General were obliterated by some weapon fired by a struggling Magos, dendrites flailing as he righted himself up from the floor. I charged to close range, firing shot after shot from the hold-out weapon given to me earlier from Athena. Crimson bolts of seething energy lashed forward and tore through the Magos' shielding, then his armor and then back out. Time stopped and the Imposter strode forward. "You have failed assassin. I should just kill you. Tie you up and let the memetic prisoners tear your mind to shreds, but no. I'll have your secrets and you will suffer."

It's odd when you feel pain in a dream. Stays with you when you wake. I'm still feeling the grinding of the drill she used to extract my brain. The stabs of the needles as my mind was boxed up, dissected, compiled and decompiled and then interrogated. The delicate patchwork the optimizer had used to fix my mind was like a spider web in a hurricane. I told her everything I knew, save for my involvement with Athena. That was blocked from being revealed through whatever heresy Athena practices. Oneoh sighed as I pointed out the Lordsire's command and she moved to make ready a small capitol ship to fly out and handle the problem. The Lordsire struck first.

The Beast roared that day. A hole ripped into the air above the Planet and ships by the hundreds poured out. Fighters belched into the sky from crude but familiar imperial vessels. They lasted seconds as the entire planet came alive with weapons fire. The Imposters curious weapons blinked into the path of oncoming frigates. Attack craft being tailed would flash and reappear behind their attacker. Turrets belching that purple fire cleaved grand arcs of death into the invading fleet. The fighters and drop pods were obliterated moments after launch. The fleet went a few moments after that. Forty-five seconds into the attack, only the Beast remained. Forty-Six seconds and LordSire's Titan beamed off the doomed flagship.

The titan held for a time, cutting swaths through hulking abominations and warriors of unparalleled grace. It made a gesture as the Beast sank lower and a great flash of light cleansed the battlefield leaving the Imposter and the Titan untouched. The Imposter simply stood and watched as the Beast beached itself upon a section of the city Distant among the wreckage of its meager fleet.

The Titan paused for a moment, assessing the carnage. The Imposter wasted no such time and with a snap of her fingers the fallen warriors stood up, unharmed and spurred to greater savagery by the light of the Imposter's golden wings. As fast as the Titan could strike, new warriors appeared to wear it down. The Titan could not regenerate so and after seven minutes and twenty three seconds the Titan collapsed within reach of the Imposter. It's hatch opened and the Lord Sire and the blessed Saint emerged fighting.

The Lord Sire, you, in her blessed armor regalia cut a patch for the Saint to strike. Blazing Wings and burning Sword came to bear upon the Imposter. The Imposter laughed. A wave of her hand snuffed his wings out and another slammed the Saint to the ground. I became aware the three were speaking.

"Couldn't play nice sister? Had to send your primitives on a suicide mission to kill me. Failing that you waste that pathetic excuse for a ship on singing my lawn with an old toy."

The imposter sneered as she twisted the saints Arm and grasped hold of a wing. "On top of that your nephlihim consort attacks me as well." Eyes and sensors scan the Saint with ruthless precision. "Rune inscribed bones, primitive cybernetic enhancements, curious Acheronic tethers but they read similar to the Acheron Beacon in energy. A wedding band. Massive psychological and spiritual trauma. You really messed this one up Sister, guess he meant a lot to you. Stop Struggling." A sharp twist broke the Saint's arm.

Your armor was covered with the Imposter's troops, holding you back as the Saint cried out. It must have been too much for you to bear. The Lordsire ejected from her armor and leapt at the Imposter. The same warp power caught you and slammed you into the ground with the sound of snapping bones and shattering augments.

"Throwing a tantrum are we? You can't see how little you are. Perhaps a demonstration then." The imposter crowed. Her gauntlets seized harder upon the Saints wing and then began to twist. Energy poured into the little strings that streamed from those blessed wings and they began to snap. As the flesh gave way so too did the Saint's connection to the Empress. You cried and cursed but your Imposter did not relent. She took her time.

Nothing much was said. The Saint kay broken, staring into your eyes. His lips mouthed something and then his expression slackened. You were too broken to move as the Imposter wiped the blood off her hands and advanced.

"Will you see reason now Sister. All this you have brought upon yourself. Do you think I enjoyed killing that warp-twisted man? Do you think I enjoyed killing the ship I once called home, even after you turned it into whatever that dam Elf tech thing was? I will give you one last chance for mercy. Will you submit?"

You were silent for a time, but a voice spoke in your ear. It was muffled but it made you smile. "Never. Loki, activate it." Athena had appeared sometime during the fighting, she nodded with a look of sad frustration and then vanished back to wherever she came from. A black void engulfed you and the Imposter with a silent scream.

I felt a tearing feeling as everything fell into that darkness and I awoke to a hand holding me down in my bunk. Inquisitor Athena stood by my bedside looking upset. She held a finger to her lips to quiet my protestations. "Not yet." she whispered. I snapped awake for a second time alone in my bunk, pale and disturbed.

I do not know what this means Lordsire. The Inquisitor bid me send this message, but I hardly think there is much reason stock to put into visions and dreams these days, but I must report as per Inquisitor Athena's instruction. I have included Addies report as an addendum to this message, though I think Cultist kill-count and childish renderings of knife designs hardly constitute an espionage report.

Hail the Lord Sire and bless her Holy Saint.
Inquisitor Asset Travis Wrent

You sat back in your seat after hearing that, silent.

-

Sincera clacked her needles together angrily. “This is a mistake.”
Skade chuckled. “Least it’s not us this time.”
Sincera looked at her frostily. “That is not the point.”
Skade held up her hands defensively. “Hey. All I’m saying is, we only came back once, and that was after a crazy powerful sorceress worked with a contender for the Dynasty to bring us back. Ohone has come back … lots of times. Eight?”

Sincera clacked her needles again. “That was also a mistake.”
“Ohone coming back? She could probably use the break, certainly.”
“No, us. Because of your aforementioned ‘a crazy powerful sorceress worked with a contender for the Dynasty to bring us back.’” Her voice mimicked Skade’s weirdly well.
“Well, sure. Anything sounds bad when you put it like that.”
You were the one who put it like that.”
“I do have a way with words. A gift you might say. Even a talent.”

Sincera stared at her. “Can you take anything seriously? You are supposed to be one of the Command staff, for Empress’ sake.”
“That’s precisely my job, yup. Court Jester. I mock everything in Ohone’s life, even us. Keeps her grounded.”
Sincera narrowed her eyes. “You just like to mock things, and are claiming justification for it afterwards.”
“That too. Life - our lives, in particular - have just become completely absurd at this point. One can only laugh.”
“Well, please focus. Ohone gallivanting once again into a likely trap is a mistake.”
“She’ll survive. Even nukes haven’t stopped her.”

Sincera met her gaze, “That’s my point.”
“Eh?” Skade raised her eyebrows. “Worried about the boss surviving? That’s a new take for you.”
Because, she’ll survive. You know that. I know that. The entire galaxy knows that. So whoever set this up knows she can survive anything, and invited her in anyway. Which means they think they can influence her behavior in a way that benefits them.”

Skade sat back thoughtfully, amused smile slipping from her face. “... Ah.”
“Yes, good. You follow.”
Skade nodded. “And it likely isn’t something that benefits Ohone or the Dynasty, because they would have just come out and said it. All this sleight of hand and trickery, its to keep Ohone off balance.”
“As I said. It’s a mistake.”

-

You considered your words carefully. “Anna, what do you think?”
She shrugged. “Visions of the future are … tricky things. But it feels true.”
You grimaced. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too. Too many things lining up that I don’t like. What happened next Travis?”

“It was a couple days before I heard anything. And then word came down that we were allies with the angels.”
You blinked. “Just like that?”
“I mean. I wasn’t at the high level council meeting where they agreed to it. But, couple days later, we were told to consider them as ally forces. Most factions in this navy have shot at each other at one point or another, so it’s not as big a deal as you might think. Huron keeps them in good order. Until he, well, doesn’t.”
“Such a good system.” Your voice dripped acid. “I’m astonished they can coordinate at all.”
“As opposed to the unadulterated terror you keep things in.”
“Quite so. Now, tell me more about these allies.”

“As I said in the message I sent, it turned out they were lead by … you. I thought it was actually you at first, although I had no idea why you had split from Huron only to join him again halfway across the galaxy.”
“So where did this Oneoh come from? And what were the terms of their alliance?”
“Well. Oneoh’s Technocracy turns out to control a hell of a lot of local space. We had happened to hit the fringes of them, and they called out for support that quickly. And got it, that quickly.”
Your eyes narrowed. “Faster than light communication. Lot faster than Hegemon, for that matter.”
“Yeah. Faster travel, too. They got the warning and responded in a matter of hours. No one in the Hegemon could do that, period.”
“If a fleet got really lucky and arrived before they left maybe … but yeah. Not as a matter of consistency.”
Travis nodded. “So, I’m thinking they got the STC on Golgotha. It wouldn’t make any sense for them to find a second one months after you did. Someone got to the STC, made a copy of you, and let ‘you’ run rampant. I have no speculation on who that might be, this Oneoh seems to be running her own program here.”

Anna spoke. “She told us she was from a possible timeline, or implied it.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that. I mean, Acheronic copies are possible, but I feel like slapping an STC and making a clone is a lot easier.”
You considered this. “We’ll need to keep an eye out for their puppet master then.” A thought. “Could Huron have done this?”

Travis shook his head. “Timing doesn’t match up, we never went to Golgotha, and why would he make a fake you? Why would he fight fake-you and then ally with fake-you?”
“Good point. So what happened then?”
“After we became allies, they began treating our wounded. Didn’t take them long. Recovery time nearly instantaneous, really, and better than anything I’ve seen. They even paid attention to the cosmetic side, no scars to be found.”
“How wasteful.” You frowned. “Or … they have such resources they don’t consider it waste. Now, that’s a nasty thought. If that dream of yours was anything close to reality, we’ll really need to up our game.”
“The thought has occured to me.”
“So, we’ve got Huron’s fleet allied with this Oneoh, she’s apparently got resources for him to consider her equal … yeah. I don’t like this. And I don’t know what their goal is, either.”

“I think that’s my cue.”



4620 of 18333

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



4620 of 18333

Templars of steel will burn

You considered the figure, taller than you twice more. “Oneoh, I presume. In the flesh.”
“Correct. Has young Travis brought you up to speed?”
“Said you met Huron, and are allies. Hadn’t gone much further than that.”
“Yes, his viewpoint is much closer to the ground than you or I.”
“How did you find him?”

She shrugged prettily. Most everything she did was pretty, actually. You narrowed your eyes, focused. A low level memetic field, fear and adoration. Cute. Yours was much more … brute force. You preferred terror and subjugation, simply for practical reasons. Dressing up like that was something you did for Fabiyan, not for the dregs.

Oneoh smiled faintly as you saw through the facade, but continued. “He could hide well enough from the disarray of an Acheronic fleet - half of them are backstabbing each other anyway - but our statistical methods are far better.”
“Like Edourd.” You probed the question, seeing what she knew.
She paused. “I don’t believe I’ve ever met him. If you introduced us, perhaps.”
You didn’t look at Anna. “He died.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. I would have been interested to see his models.”

So, either she was denying knowledge of him, or her vaunted models hadn’t mapped out your campaign staff. Something to examine later.

“Anyway,” Travis continued. “She found us in quick order. Rather embarassing, to be honest. If Acheron had her methods, the Inqusition would have been strangled in the cradle.” He glanced at her. “I still want to see how you did it.”
“You’d need about ten years of hypermath.”
“I got time.”
She chuckled like windchimes. “You see, Ohone? You inspire such devotion in your followers. Willing to spend a decade to plug a hole in the security.”
“One tries. How do your own compare?”
“Similar, similar.” She met your eyes. “We are alike in so many ways, after all.”

You tapped the table impatiently. “I tire of these games. Are you a clone, an alternate timeline, what?”
“I am … a what-if.”
“Met a lot of those.”
“I’m more solid than most of them.”
“How so?”
Oneoh spread her fingers. “From your description, they are from alternate timelines - a multitude of different decisions. Correct?”
You considered withholding the information, decided she knew most of it already. “Yes.”
“You and I are in the same universe, split by a single decision.”
“Which is what?”
“Golgotha.”

You stared at her impassively, even as your mind raced to the only possible event that could have caused this. She nodded, continuing. “In your point of view, you left Olympus. Left Golgotha, went onto Terra. I stayed.”
A brief laugh escaped you. “I got the better of you on that one.”
She looked at you in genuine curiosity. “Oh?”
“I got Fabiyan.”

She seemed to look inward. “Oh. That obscure little Commissar.” She smiled again. “You can have him.”
Your anger rose up at that, but you held it. “I intend to. So, you stayed aboard Olympus, and .. what, studied?”
“Indeed I did.” Her eyes sparkled. “All the secrets of the universe, a full STC, and years to research. A fully operational guide who named me Prometheus. And how can I not be? I am bringing light back to this twilight galaxy.”

You paused thoughtfully. Thought again. “Athena.”
Oneoh looked about her. Nothing happened.
You spoke again, more firmly. “Athena.”
Oneoh shrugged. “Weird, isn’t it? She hasn’t been responding me lately either.”
“I’m more annoyed by the fact that she set up a whole secret Oneoh and didn’t tell me.”
“Yes, well. You can imagine my surprise when my codes suddenly announce the STC at Golgotha in a galaxy wide alert. Had to leave quite quickly at that.”
“Where did you go?”
“Archmage Angelika - you remember her, we hit her with a truck - she had extensive notes and communications with other Magi. I simply went to the nearest world.”
“And invited yourself to the table?”
She smiled faintly. “Blew up the moon, more so. They bent the knee then. From there, it was simply about building up the Technocracy. Making humanity what it used to be.”

“You must have been quite surprised when Huron came knocking on your door.”
She showed her teeth. “Yes, well. Not often one sees the second largest Acheron fleet on the border. Particularly when they were all supposed to be at Golgotha.”
“Huron has always been of a different mind.”
“Yes, he’s quite a sneaky fellow.” She smiled at you. “You must have been quite surprised when Huron came knocking on your door.”
You pursued your lips. “I won that battle.”
“And I won mine. Weirdly enough, we both subverted him into an ally.”
“Guess he likes the blue skin.”

Anna snorted. Both of you turned to look at her. “Yes?”
“You two are cute is all.”
Oneoh narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, I’ve slept with him for like … a thousand years. But yes, he’s got a thing for you two.”
You blinked. “He really does have a thing for us.”

Anna stopped, grimaced. “Dammit.”
Oneoh looked from you to her, quickly doing the math. “... Wait. You are one of the alt-timelines.”
Anna held up her hands. “No.”
“You are. I’ve just ran the math ten thousand times, and the only reason for Ohone to say that is because you are an alt.”
“I’m not getting into this.”
She looked at Anna pleadingly. “Please, we’ve only seen it in models. We’ve never gotten to talk to a divergence. Where did you make the change? What was their galaxy like?”
“Useless and annoying, much like you.”

Oneoh looked at you. “Get her to talk to me.”
“Please, I’ve tried to kill her every time we’ve met. I can’t get her to do anything.”

-

Blackfinger frowned, his voice a low murmur. “Oh, I don’t like that.”
Nothing else really needed to be said. The bridge staff watched silently as all the sensor ghosts suddenly resolved, surrounding them at light minute’s distance. An insane, uncountable number of ships. Sensors immediately began flagging thousands of them as survivors of the Battle of Terra, while others were too strange to even describe.

“Right, that’s torn it. Prepare the fleet to jump to the next system. There is no way in gently caress I want to try to fight all the armadas of hell. Prepare for Ohone’s evac. Fabiyan, Centurion, get ready to kick in the door if she doesn’t show up. Someone over there knows exactly what we are doing each step of the way, and we need to stop dancing before they lead us over a cliff.”

Quietly, the bridge went about following orders, the fleet spooling up their next hyperjump. And then:

“Incoming transmission.”
Blackfinger grunted. “Show me.”

In front him, the smiling face of Huron. “Hello … Blackfinger, was it?”
Blackfinger scowled. “What are you doing in the middle of this dump? No one to loot in a hundred light years.”
“Waiting for you, as it happens.”
“Yeah, I figured that, which is why I am leaving. We both know you can’t get to my fleet before I do.”
“Certainly. Which is why I am turning off the sensor ghosts, to be polite.”
Blackfinger snorted. “Outnumbering me a hundred to one, wants to be polite.”
“Of course. We are allies, you recall? Ohone’s armies in her crusade against the Janissary.”
“I remember you swearing to go kill Janissary, sure.” Blackfinger held out his arms. “None around here, are they?”
“We are gathering allies. Your fleet, and ours, and the others Ohone are meeting now.”
“The fake Oneoh? What do you have to do with her?”
“Gathering allies.” Huron smiled that too elegant smile. “And she has every reason to battle the Janissary as you.”

-

Janus didn’t look away from the sensor readings. “Looks like … most of Huron’s fleet from Terra. And that new fleet, Oneoh.”
Centurion was checking his weapons absently. Greatsword, oversized handgun, grenades. “Think we can defeat the fleet?”
Janus considered it. “Huron’s, yes. It would be a bloody, bloody thing. Phyric at best. The new ones, we’ve never fought. No records of anyone who have fought them.”
“So you think they’ll kick our rear end.”
“If no one has survived who fought them, and they’ve built that size fleet…”
“Yeah.”

Janus considered the map a bit longer. “Good thing we won’t fight them.”
Centurion looked up. “We leaving?”
“No.” Janus pointed at the solid line of ships. “They aren’t approaching, and we can leave at any time. They are nominally friendly.”
“As friendly as Acheron fleets can be.”
“Yeah. So I don’t think this one ends in a fight.”
Centurion chuckled. “I’ll keep preparing, if you don’t mind. Seen too many ‘nominally friendly’ armies get in a shooting war, even accidentally.”

-

“Where did you diverge? Did you meet Athena in your timeline?”
Anna stared daggers at her. “Don’t you have high level negotiations to be doing?”
Oneoh blinked, abashed. “Oh.”
“Yes, oh.” Anna rubbed her temples. “How any of you survived to your twenties I’ll never know.”
”So you admit it!
Anna looked at you. “Yeah, I’m out of here. I can’t deal with two of you.”

There was a pop of displaced air, and Anna vanished.

Oneoh looked about the room. “She really leave?”
“I hope not. She was my ride.”

-

Oneoh shrugged finally, her eyes regaining that glittery focus you recognized. “So, Huron has agreed to work with us to hit the Janissaries.”
You held out your hands. “Why do you care about them?”
She shrugged. “Various reasons. They are the largest power bloc near my regime. They are one of the biggest blocs left standing, and need to be removed for the Technocracy to survive. And, perhaps most importantly to you, they have some technology I want.”
You raised your eyebrows. “Something not in your vast STC archive?”

She ignored your sarcasm, or seemed to. “I can’t find it, anyway. I can only presume it was developed after the STCs were deployed. A small range Astronomicon, deep in Janissary space. It’s the only reason their sector hasn’t fallen the way all the others did.”
“Again, why do you care about it? You have FTL that is a lot better.”
“Much to my disappointment, I can’t build a fleet fast enough to replace what was lost in the Message. All those agricultural worlds, those hive worlds, severed from each other … the death toll is incalculable.”
You shrugged. “Dregs will breed. Give them a generation or two.”
Oneoh stared at you as if seeing you for the first time. “Literally incalculable. I can’t even guess it.”

You snorted. “Look, Oneoh. Maybe this is your first time with realpolitik. You’ve got your neat toys which give you a hell of an edge, but it means you have never been tested. You are soft. The first and most important lesson is that Dregs are replaceable, and they do it with a quickness.”
She was still staring at you, trying to see inside your head. “Every person has potential to be something great.”
You laughed. “Now you sound like Amacita. I punched out her heart for being weak.”
Oneoh stopped at that. “You … killed our childhood friend? For being weak?”
“You remember her before Golgotha. Always doing something stupid. She kept doing it. She died.”

In an undertone, Travis murmured something to Adelaide. Then they both began sneaking out of the large room.

Oneoh grimaced. “Okay, let me see if I can explain it better. Trillions of potentially useful human resources died in your Message. People who could build us tanks and bombs.”
You looked at her impassively. “A, everyone else lost them too. So we’re not down in points. B, you and I both have a tech advantage to take out anyone in the ruins. Might take a few centuries, but we’ll get there. And C, dregs will always be breeding. They. Are. Replaceable.”

She put her forearms on the table, entwined her fingers. “And when you actually breed all these trillions of humans?”
“Keep them dregs. Bare minimum to keep making weapons. Literacy for trusted members of the upper class.”
“What’s the point of rebuilding the Hegemon if you are going to leave it like that?”
“What’s the point of rebuilding if you are training your killers? Dregs rebel in half a second, given a chance.”
“If you didn’t treat them so badly they wouldn’t rebel.”
“Now you sound like a cultist of the Great Enemy. Which, fun fact, Amacita came pretty close to being.”
Oneoh grimaced. “How many people are on the Beast who were there when I was?”
You considered it. “Couple hundred? Couple thousand?”

She couldn’t seem to find a response to that, tried again. “Because they are dregs?”
“Because I was in a war.” You looked at her gear appraisingly. “Which, from the toys you have, you clearly have not been in.”
“I’ve conquered a thousand worlds.”
“Yeah. Blowing up orbitals isn’t a war. What’d you lose?”
“Practically nothing. That’s how to win a war.”
“That’s my point. In a real war, you lose things.”
Oneoh smiled beautifically at you. “Maybe I’m just better at it.”

You snorted. “Anyone could win with an STC. The real trick is winning when you are down on numbers and tech.”
“The real trick is never being in that situation. Only someone profoundly stupid let’s themselves get caught in a fight like that.”
“Which is easy to say when you are setting the deck.” You shook your head. “You really are just like Amacita. Terrifyingly dumb, and terrifyingly naive. Your empire will fall to dregs or the Enemy in a matter of years.”

She smiled confidently at you. “Won’t happen. It’s already accounted for in the models. The education, the living stipends … they have no reason to rebel. And the Enemy is being broken down to a science, which we are using for the betterment of my people.”
You grimaced again. “Yeah, I give you about five years. When you are overcome by madness and daemons and an army of psychotic dregs, it’ll be me with the machine guns mowing them down. And then I’ll keep them down so they never think about such heretical things for ten generations.”

She sighed exasperatedly. “I can show you how things are improving. Hegemonic worlds in our domain have expanded life expectancy, reduced child mortality rates …”
“Just give Fabiyan the maps of the cities for when we need to bomb them. It’s better to have more recent ones.”

Oneoh threw up her hands. “Fine! In a couple years you are totally going to come in with a palty sub-tier ship and a couple mosquito boats, overthrow the largest and most advanced empire the galaxy has seen in fifteen thousand years, and oversee a reign of darkness lasting a thousand years.”
You nodded. “I’m glad you are coming to see it my way.”

“There is literally no chance of that ever happening.”
You had to laugh. “Oneoh, while you were pretending to be a monarch, I’ve come back from the dead multiple times, fought Anna, fought Gorgon, fought Huron, been to the Golden Throne, and blown up Terra. You simply can’t comprehend the things I’ve done and the odds I fought at. Your Technocracy would just be another name on my list.”

She smiled at you, eyes glittering. “You have no idea the scale at which we fight. My fleets could defeat the old Technocracy of Mars.”

7220 of 18333

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



7220 of 18333

Contemplate your fate on the tree of woe

You spread out your arms mockingly. “Look at you, defeating the old Technocracy. But you still need my help, otherwise you wouldn’t have moved the galaxy’s largest fleet here. Billions of the dregs you care about, to a place in the middle of nowhere? No, you have more of a reason than just talking yourself up.”

She bit back words with a snarl, took a calming breath. “Yes, I will admit you have … an idiosyncratic approach within the models. Your harebrained approach to life, as foolish and occasionally psychotic that it may be, offers certain assets to us.”
You smiled at her. “Say it, then.”

Oneoh ground her teeth. “We need you to fight the Janissary.”
“That’s nice. I don’t need you.”

She blinked in astonishment. “What?”
“I don’t need you.”
“But … you came all this way.”
“Yup. Athena said there was some lostech here. Funny joke Athena, putting it all in Oneoh’s hands, by the way. Ha ha. But no, beyond that, I don’t need you.”
“You don’t want to fight the Janissary?”
“Eh.” You shrugged. “I can build something on the other side of the galaxy. They are your problem. They can’t even get to me.” Thoughts of possibly finding the Empress carefully did not cross your face.

“But … you built this armada. Tiny as it is, it would be formidable against anyone else.”
“True. Good habit to be in, always be building armadas.”
Oneoh seemed quite blindsided. “But you aren’t at war and aren’t planning to be. The resources being divested are astounding.”
“Dregs don’t need them. I do. And I don’t care about building another Astronomicon or whatever it is you are invading them for. If I have the monopoly on FTL, I win. Giving out that kind of technology is foolishness.”

She paused, quite besides herself. “Do … do you want money?”
Gotcha.
“What would I do with money? Terra and Mars are both gone, no one cares about money.”
“Technocracy money.”
You snorted. “Paying me in your own currency? That I can only use in your territory? That’s useless.”
“What would you want?”
“Information. Everything you’d give to a ‘citizen’ of your empire. I expect that’s all sorts of useful things that shouldn’t be given to most aristocrats, but since you are giving it to Dregs I want it too.”
She nodded. “Okay. Then you’ll fight with us?”
“For Dreg knowledge? That doesn’t even pay for this conversation.”

Oneoh seemed to sink down into her chair. “What else?”
“A tour of your fleet. The ones you’d give to your officers. Capabilities, technologies, doctrine.”
“I can’t give you that!” She looked horrified. You shrugged.
“If we’re allies, I need to know that so I don’t crash into you. That’s how it works, right? You believe in your people and trust them and all that? So share it with your ally.”
“And that’s it.”
“No. I don’t even know what you need me for. I can’t give you a price on a mission without knowing what it is.”

She frowned, pushed hair away from her face. “We’ve analyzed Janissary space for quite a while. Place is a fortress that has been fortifying for ten thousand years. Quite frankly, it’s a tough nut to crack even for us.”
“Thought you could fight old Technocracy on an even footing?”
“Not without tremendous loss of life.”
“So what’s the problem?”
She stared at you, spoke like she was speaking to a child. “I … don’t want to lose them.”
“That softness is going to get you killed. Spend a few billion, take the systems.”
“It will cost trillions of lives.”
“Okay. Get on with it.”
“There’s an easier way.”

You chuckled. “Aha. This is where I come in.”
“Yes.”
“So … I risk my life, fleet and Dynasty, open the back door to the fortress? So you don’t have to spend those precious Dregs of yours?”
“Yes.” She met your eyes. “You will be saving uncounted lives.”
“I will be risking mine. The price is going to be ludicrously high.”
Oneoh stared at you. “Your life is less than trillions of lives.”
“Not to me. And ludicrous price is worth less to you than trillions of lives. It’s an easy decision to make.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You are a monster, you know that right.”
“I’m the Lord-Sire. I am here to protect my Dynasty, and you are here to pay me.”

-

Knoxie opened his eyes. Athena smiled at him. “Not so bad this time, was it.”

He scowled. “They came within a thread of killing us all.”
“Yes, well, they are both a bit tightly wound. That pride will get them every time.”
“Then why did you put them in the same room? You could have lost everyone in your entire plan!”
“Trust the plan, Knoxie. Pride is good, but they have other drives. Greed in one, charity in the other. It was inevitable.”
If anything, his scowl worsened. “You and I both know it nearly wasn’t.”
“Isn’t seeing the future fun?”

-

“Hey Blackfinger.”
Blackfinger almost jumped out of his seat. “Dammit, witch, you aren’t even supposed to be able to do that.”
Anna smiled and waggled her fingers. “Hi. Anyway, I wanted to let you know it’s all good. The two sisters have met, and haven’t killed each other. It’s all over but the quibbling on price.”
He grunted. “In my experience, that’s the most likely time for a fight. What’s the price?”
“Oneoh wants to go a-raidin with her. Jannissary space.”
“How convenient we are in the area.”
“I thought so. Ohone is working her over on the price. I feel like she’s never had to negotiate with a Rogue Trader before.”
Blackfinger snorted. “We’ll own her entire kingdom by the time Ohone is done.”
“Certainly seemed that way when I left. Anyway, you can tell Fabiyan to stop having an anxiety attack, we got past the hard part.”

-

“Centurion.”
“Yes, Fabiyan?”
“Anna says Ohone is okay, and we’re in the negotiating stages. Can stand down a bit.”
“And you don’t think she’s telling the truth?”
Fabiyan grimaced. “I can’t seem to forget fighting Anna across the universe while Ohone fell through time. Makes me a trifle concerned when she’s involved.”
“Well. If it was a surprise attack on Anna, half the moon would have blown up by now.”
“And if it was a surprise attack by Anna? Or, just trying to drop us to lower our guard?”
Centurion smiled faintly. “Well, we don’t do that.”
Fabiyan considered this, nodded. “That makes sense. Let me know if you hear anything.”
“Of course.”

-

Janus looked at Centurion. “You know how this goes, right?”
“Yeah. The moment I saw his face.”
Janus sighed. “Well. We knew it was coming.”

-

Oneoh sighed. “I just have no idea what you want. You’ve already got an STC, you don’t want money, you don’t care about people.”
“Right now, information. What kind of grand plan do you have for Janissary, and where do I fit?”
She nodded, hands moving expressively. “Okay. My fleet is best equipped for hard targets. Sector capitals, things like that. The outer layer of the onion has a bunch of node systems that coordinate border defense. I’ll hit those head on.”
“And spend all those Dreg lives.”
She shook her head. “Frankly, I won’t lose much on those targets. This is just the outer layer of the onion, just the toughest part of it. It’s the later layers which could mess my fleet up.”
“Okay. So you are hitting this sector capitals.”
“Right. That’ll draw local fleets towards me, nice and orderly for shooting.”

You began to get a picture. “And leave the other systems empty.”
“Yeah. Huron will hit those. They’ll be mostly undefended, so the tech equivalence won’t matter.”
“Mm...hmm. I’m guessing Huron helped you with this plan.”
“He did, yes.” She met your eyes. “He’s one of our finest fleet captains.”
“Oh, I’ve no doubt about that. I’m just seeing you using your fleets on the hard part, and him pillaging once the garrison leaves.”
She didn’t blink. “We need resources to win the war.”
“And you don’t care when it’s enemy dregs. Very neat and tidy, I like it.”
“We’ll incorporate them into the Technocracy as quickly as possible, we’ve processed thousands of worlds.”
“Mm. Not too many after an Acheron warband hits it I bet.”
“No. All of those went to Terra or Golgotha.”
You nodded. “Yeah, you are in for a treat. So, you hit the hard targets, Huron hits the soft targets, what is this secret mission for me?”

She gestured again. “Right, so. The next layer of the onion - next couple layers really - have defense grids. Hundreds of light years across, I have no idea how they built them honestly.”
“Ludicrous amounts of resources.”
Oneoh shook her head. “The math is simply … staggering. They must have a technology we’re not seeing.”
“The math is probably fine. Ten thousand year fortress? Yeah, it’s going to be in the trillions of lifetimes to build.”
“There’s just no way that’s feasible.”

You made a face. “Were we always this naive? Or do you just not remember where you came from?”
She gestured. “Even Lord-Sire Di Musio cared enough to feed his people. And he was called the Butcher.”
“Yeah, well, not everyone is as nice as he was.”
Her face fell. “He died too then.”
“Not a lot of other ways for me to be the next Lord-Sire.”
“That’s unfortunate. I would have liked to talk with him again.”
You shrugged. “Oh well. Tell me about the defense grids.”
“They have operations centers tucked away. Maybe half a dozen.”
“Maybe?”
“We’ll have a better idea as we get closer.”
“And why can’t your magnificent fleet hit them?”
“We’re the distraction. Big scary fleet knocking on the front door. You are the knife at the ribs.”
“Ah, there you go. Thinking tactically.”
“Yes.” She smiled. “Huron liked that when I brought it up.”
“Of course. His two most recent allies being sent into the most difficult parts while he gets his loot on. I’m sure it’s fine.”
“Are you always this cynical?”
“Why are you not?”

She shook her head to clear it. “Look, we need to take out those operations centers to get to the next layer of the onion.”
“Oh good, there’s more? Like what?”
“We’ll need to get closer.”
“This plan gets better and better. Why do I have to attack the operation centers?”
“Well, you can’t hit the sector capitals. That’s suicide for you.”
“I disagree, I bet I could take them and you can have the defense grid. Or, even better, I take the soft targets, and Huron takes the operations centers. He’s been raiding for a thousand years, he’d be good at it.”

She raised her eyebrows at you. “Big risks get biggest rewards.”
“Big risks get killed. I like small to medium amounts of risk and large rewards.”
“That wouldn’t even make any sense. No one pays large rewards for small risk.”
You tapped your nose. “That’s the secret of being a Lord-Sire. Finding those large reward/small risk deals.”

9100 of 18333

Loel
Jun 4, 2012

"For the Emperor."

There was a terrible noise.
There was a terrible silence.



Bwhahaha, my series of long hiatuses killed the thread :v:

Aww :(

9100 of 18333


Maternal Instinct

Oneoh ran her hand through her hair. “Fine, I’ll talk to Huron and see if we need to reassess the strategy.”
You nodded. “I should probably check back in as well. My team is probably getting ready to blow up the moon just in case, at this point.”
She blinked at you. “The one we are on?”
“Yup.”
“But we’re on it.”
“Yeah, they’ll bet I can survive and whoever I was talking to won’t.”

She paused.

“You have the strangest approach to tactics I’ve ever heard of.”
“No one ever sees it coming, either.”
She stared at you. “I wonder why.
“Genius is unappreciated, I suppose. Anna?”
The pop of displaced air, and Anna appeared. “You ready to go?”
“Yeah. Let’s head back to base, update command staff.”
Anna looked at Oneoh, who was studying her with undisguised fascination. “We going to blow the place up?”
“Not yet.”
“Pity.”

-

“Okay, we’re back.”
Blackfinger jumped again. “Dammit, I told you not to do that.” He looked narrowly at the bridge staff. “I thought we had all sorts of things to stop this kind of intrusion.”
Anna smiled airily. “You do, but I’m the exception to most of them. Good thing too, otherwise how would Ohone get back here?”

You gestured. “Okay, settle down. We’ve decided we’re not going to kill each other yet, so go down to alert status. I don’t know how long negotiations are going to take, so plan accordingly.”
Blackfinger nodded. “And the comms?”
“Minimal. I need to take a couple hours and vet them, but I should have them checked out soon.”
“Understood.” He tapped the fleet communications. “Stand down to yellow alert. Reduce evasion maneuvers. Fleet admirals only authorized for communications.”

Across the vastness of space, the frenzy of the fleet slowed down. Worn out crewmen went to bed, or found hot food. Others maintained a wary eye on the screens, waiting for further orders. The sensor ghosts were a solid wall of neutral ships, and no one wanted to be left holding the bag if they went hostile.

You nodded to yourself. Having a professional to delegate to saved you some tremendous time, and he often caught things you didn’t. And now … “I want to have command staff meet me here. I don’t want you sending a holo into the meeting when we’re not sure how secure things are, and I don’t want you leaving your ship. So bring everyone in here.”

Blackfinger nodded understandingly. “Who we bringing?”
“Mm … Fabiyan, Limosa. Ching Shih, Anna, Sincera, Hera. Skade. You and Elenora, of course.”
“Anyone else?”
“If I think of one, I’ll write a note. That’s good for now.”
“Works for me. I’ll have the meeting room set up.” He watched the screen. “Shuttles should be here in forty five minutes or so.”
“Very good.”

-

The meeting room was in the gothic ostentatiousness that Blackfinger so loved. Over-elaborate carvings on the walls, pillars where they didn’t need to be, multiple platters of expensive and gaudy food. Chairs and lounges comfortable enough to die in. Tapestries of acts that were almost certainly banned on a thousand worlds.

You looked about you. “This is a sex room isn’t it.”
Blackfinger shrugged. “Ask me no questions and I’ll tell you no lies. It was the fastest one I could prepare for guests.”
You pursed your lips, sat … gingerly … on the edges of one of the couches. “Everyone else on their way?”
“Just docked. Couple minutes maybe. Any impressions before we start?”
“Frighteningly naive.”
Blackfinger didn’t blink - instead, his eyes assumed the guise of a shark’s. Cold, empty. “Really.”
“Yeah. I could pick her pockets and she’d thank me.”
“How … interesting. Opportunity there, but someone else will probably have the same idea.”
“Yeah. I think someone did, to be honest. She didn’t get this far on her own.”
“Huron.” Blackfinger nodded.
“That’s the way I’m betting.”
“Mm.” He made a thoughtful noise. “Don’t like the idea of him with her fleet.”
“Yeah. That’s why I wanted the command staff meeting. Wanted to get some ideas.”

-

“What do you think?”
Oneoh glanced across the composite-metal table at her mother. “She’s … determined.”
Camilla nodded. “She is.”
“And … very cold. Selfish. Willing to do anything to profit, but very careful in the price she pays. Pragmatic.”
“Do you think she’ll help us?”
Oneoh shrugged. “I think so. That greed will get her. She didn’t go in all guns blazing, so she’s not a mad dog, but it’s definitely a tactic that has worked for her. With the right bait, I think we can get her where we need her to go.”

Huron leaned on the table, his massive form dominating the space. “What did she want?”
“Information, first. About the Technocracy, about the fleet. Open information, the things any citizen or officer would know.”
He grunted sourly. “She’ll be able to do a lot with that.”
Oneoh frowned. “We give it to everyone.”
“Most people aren’t sneaky like her. She can do a lot more with it.”
“She … didn’t strike me as sneaky. Greedy and aggressive, sure. Territorial, but not overly thoughtful.”
“You don’t get as far as she has without being occasionally sneaky. The question is, how do we minimize what she can do with it.”

Camilla looked at him. “You thinking of falsifying it?”
“Maybe leaving some of it out. We’ll need to go through the ‘welcome aboard’ papers, see what needs to get sanitized. It would be foolhardy to just hand it to her unvetted.”
She nodded, looked at Oneoh. “Is that all she wanted?”
“She didn’t really name a price. Wanted to know what our plans were.”
Huron grimaced. “Can’t really get around that, I suppose. You told her?”
“Broad strokes. I hit sector capitals, you hit outliers. She hits the defense grid centers.”
“How’d she take it?”
“Said the price would be high, and that she’d prefer to hit the outliers. Wanted you to hit the defense grids.”
He snorted. “Couldn’t you just see that. A fleet of Acheron, going headlong into a grid built to find and kill us. No, that’s not an option.”
“We’ll need to work on bringing her around then.”

-

Sincera sat straight across from you, the others settling in. “Tell me everything.”
“Athena - Loki - has been up to her tricks.”
“What do you mean?”
“When I left Golgotha, I was given the choice to stay aboard the Olympus. I obviously did not.”
“Obviously.”
“Except, I did.”
Sincera narrowed her eyes, hands carefully wrapped around her cup of tea. “Explain.”
“Athena made an exact copy of me. One stayed. One left.”
She sat back, considering. “How did she seem to you?”
“Naive. Startled at challenges.”
“How do you mean?”
“She believes in supporting dregs, in attacking Janissary space for that reason.”
“Do you think that’s her core reason for doing so?”
You considered it. “She said Janissary space was her main rival. But her motive appeared altruistic.”

“Interesting. Do you remember acting like that when you were on Golgotha?”
You flickered briefly back to those days. Processing pilgrims, ending a rival dynasty, tricking Devries with Amacita. “No.”
“I don’t remember you doing that either. Speculatively, this may not be a perfect copy. Or it maybe someone pretending to be one.”
You shook your head. “Very few people know the details of what happened on Golgotha. She knew them.”
“Does anyone else?”
You thought. “Athena, Anna, Skade and Delatorres.”
Sincera’s eyes flickered over to Anna and Skade. “So, anyone who they might have told.”

Anna held out her hands. “I had nothing to do with this one. I am not aware of Skade doing so.”
You narrowed your eyes. “You are compelled to tell the truth, remember.”
“I do.” Anna smiled faintly. “And that has been quite a change, I tell you. But no, to the best of my knowledge, Oneoh is an exact copy of you at that moment in time.”
“Has Athena - Loki - ever done anything like this before?”
Anna shook her head. “No.”

You frowned. “I wonder if she’s changing it up. Do you think she can see the other attempts, the other times you’ve gone back?”
Anna shrugged. “I … don’t know. I think if she did, she would have stopped me earlier than she did. I don’t know why she’s acting differently this time.”
You pursed your lips. “Things are going different in general. First time you were captured, too.”
“Yeah.” She smiled humorlessly. “Maybe this is the last time we do the circle.”
“Maybe.” You looked at Hera. “Is this a common thing?”

She glanced up from her violent attempts at knitting. “Time travel?”
“Making copies of people.”
“Not often. I mean, it’s a known technology, just without a real purpose.”
“Why would Loki use it?”
“Controlled test?”
“What?”
She gestured. “Mm … seeing how different situations affect things.”
You blinked. “Why would she bother?”
“No idea. It’s mostly been an academic thing, in the past.”
“Hm.”

-

Huron frowned. “It’s a weird thing, you must admit.”
Oneoh glanced over. “Hm?”
“Why are there two of you? With Acheron, you occasionally have a past-meets-future kind of thing. Haven’t heard of this split/fork thing you got going though.” He laughed briefly. “I thought you were the same person for a good week.”
“Well. I am clearly not her.” Her tone was clipped.

Huron held up his hand. “I see that. I see that! But, it’s strange.”
“The main divergence was on Golgotha. Athena made a copy of me, the one you met. Poor damaged thing. Meanwhile, I went on to perfect my training and build the Technocracy.”
He weighed her words. “I still have yet to meet this Athena of yours. She sounds … interesting.”
“Yes, she’s about somewhere. Does this a lot, always working on her own project.”
“And you are one of her projects?”
“I like to think of us as friends, or at least tutor and student. The vast fleets I’ve built, the civilization I’ve raised from the mud … primarily from her.”

He considered it. “Then why did he copy you? Why make another version when the one who sits here is doing so well?”
Oneoh smiled at him. “Isn’t that easy to see? I am the builder, and she is the destroyer. She pushes the old order aside, and I conjure the new.”
“And what happens to the destroyer after that? She destroys your order as well?”
“She won’t be needed, once the old empires have fallen.”
“Ah. I see.”

-

Sincera spoke again. “Does she know about your motives?”
“Breaking into Janissary space and trying to find the Empress? No, not that I’m aware of.”
Anna coughed. “You did do that big speech about it. It’s not concealed information.”
You frowned. “Yeah, good point. So depending on what she hacked in our comms, she might know.”
Sincera nodded. “Do you think she was lying about her need for you then?”
“She didn’t bring it up during negotiations. If it were me in that situation - well, if it were … you know what I mean. I would have used that as leverage to keep the price low. Preferably nothing.”
“So she might be a poor negotiator.”
“Possibly. Main takeaway is, we can’t assume she doesn’t know that we suspect the Empress is there.” You thought of something. “She emphasized going after the lesser Astronomicon a lot. That was one of the main abilities of who we thought was the Empress. So we might be hitting the same objective.”

Fabiyan frowned. “So, at the end of all this, we might have a throw down at the capital of the Janissaries immediately after.”
Blackfinger chuckled. “You know how it is. Work together to get into the vault, shoot each other once you get inside.”
You nodded. “So we’ll need to be prepared to fight her fleet right at the end. We’ll need to do everything we can to even the odds before that happens.”

11,120 of 18,333

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Not Alex
Oct 9, 2012

Cut loose before the god eaters show up.
Well, I suppose it's time to start sharpening the knives. Flip Huron. Carefully, with Anna's knowledge as the bait/reward. Brew up falsified atrocities to turn her "enlightened" masses against her. Whip up a virus to turn her Empire's defense platforms on the planets below. As a distraction, you know.

Business as usual. Victory at any price for any given definition of victory.

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