Rage Review: Resist and Bite (Chapter 8) · 8:18am Mar 24th, 2020
Chapter 8: Arrival in the Kirin village
Captain Lau unsurprisingly reports to General Jin what happened. Jin is, also unsurprisingly, unhappy at Lau's failure.
In a pleasant surprise, Jin doesn't choose the You Have Failed Me option and kill Lau. Instead he punishes him in a reasonable fashion by assigning him and his men a punishment drill. Then, the Metal-Paddded General muses over how best to capture Charlie and Luster.
I should compliment Author for this. One of the dumbest cliches in a lot of fiction is to have the leader of the bad guys casually slaughter his own men for any failure.
While a few real historical villains (such as JosefStalin) have actually behaved like this at times, most real evil leaders don't. This is for the very good reasons that 1. most people, even most evil people, aren't casual killers of their own followers (Stalin was a sociopath with psychopathic tendencies); 2. killing followers merely for failing is a good way to get one's followers to lie to oneself to avoid death (Stalin was nearly defeated by Hitler because of this), and 3. do this too much and one runs out of followers (Stalin had enslaved the whole Russian Empire, but even he wound up with shortages of key experts due to his purges).
So it's nice to see that General Jin responds to failure more rationally.
Jin's omnisicient computer-controlled scanner than somehow detects Charlie and Luster Dawn. For some reason it doesn't mention that Charlie is now an Alicorn. We don't know if this rather important fact was included in Captain Lau's report, but it is a curious omission.
He then commands his men through a videogame-like interface that reminds me of the controls in a multi-level strategic/operational/tactical system, such as X-Com. This is not necessarily as unrealistic as it sounds: some real-world military computer aide systems are designed more or less like that, so I'll let it pass.
It is odd that "Standard" is apparently equivalent to the rank of "Private," in Lau's SWAT MP force structure, but as I'm not that familiar with the literal translations of Red Chinese military ranks, I don't know whether this is unrealistic or simply foreign. The Chicoms in reality do some weird things, like making their navy a subsection of the People's Liberation Army.
Jin orders Captain Wei, Lt. Cheng and their four-man SWAT team to capture Charlie and Luster. Interestingly, the Chinese scanner and computer system know exactly where the "hidden" Kirin village is located, increasing my curiosity about how exactly their intelligence is supposed to work. I'm not sure the Author has thought this through.
Captain Wei's force takes a "SWAT truck." Their weapons include "assault rifles, pistols and combat knives and a rectangular shield." This is quite reasonable given that they are a military force and know from Lau's defeat that Charlie is quite dangerous.
They drive off to the Kirin village. As he leaves, Captain Wan Long Wei reports "Me and five members of my squad are now driving to the fugitive and infiltrator's location. We'll be back with them in cuffs shortly."
This is interesting, because it implies that (1) there is a fairly good road to the Kirin village (as even if this is an ATV it's a wheeled ATV) and (2) the Kirin village isn't all that far away from Ponyville, as the truck certainly isn't going to be going anything like full speed on most Equestrian roads. This would bother me more if this story didn't take place at least a decade and maybe more than one in the future from the main series (so there's been time for the Kirin village to be opened to trade and the access roaded, and if the original Show hadn't played fast and loose with geography and travel times for plot convenience.
Another question is why the Chinese seem to be making no use of the main Equestrian land transport system, namely the railroads. I can think of a good reason: railroads are highly-vulnerable to sabotage, because the rollling stock is limited and usage can be disrupted by small teams with explosive charges or even hand tools.
One might logically-presume that the Equestrian military and security forces, especially combat engineers, are working to impede the Invader mobility; this would also explain why all General Jin's military forces are already engaged in other tasks. Still, it would be nice if Story was explicit on this point.
HQ informs Wei that lethal force against any Kirins who interfere with the mission is authorized.
That doesn't surprise me, but what does surprise me is that General Jin thinks it's reasonable to send a mere six-man half-squad to capture two targets, one of them already known to be dangerous, in the midst of a village of possibly hostile creatures, who may well have their own dangerous abilities.
Now, General Jin captured Twilight's Castle with ridiculous ease. But that was with his own personal leadership, larger numbers and the element of surprise (assuming that Twilight's Castle is in Ponyville). This looks a lot like Jin spreading his forces too thin, and perhaps having an attack of "victory disease" (overconfidence in offensive action).
This is implied by the lack of available motorized infantry forces, so it's reasonable.
Arriving at the village, Charlie and Luster Dawn find it seemingly-deserted:
Charlie took a quick survey around the village and saw houses with wooden bridges of a child's tree house. Tall trees and a large pool fountain in the centre but no residents, and Luster Dawn was getting a little edgy from all of the silence.
Charlie scans but for once his nigh-magical Safety Goggles fail to detect anything. And there was something to detect:
But unexpectedly, sixteen Kirins rushed out of their hiding areas and surrounded Charlie and Luster Dawn in a circle with spears aimed at them which made her hide in her mane.
So ...
1. Why did the goggles fail to detect the Kirin? Previously, they were omni-directional and able to see right through forests. Is this a special Kirin ability?
2. Why is Luster Dawn so timid, faced with armed Equestrian allies? Shouldn't she be talking to them, maybe saying something like "Charlie's on our side" ...?
Finally, armed and prepared ambushes by sections of enemies at close quarters is exactly why General Jin shouldn't be sending a mere six men to enter a hostile village!
Then a Kirin with orange hair and red horn walked forward with a shorter one next to her. Charlie must assume that the orange haired one was the ruler.
Why? Height does not equal authority.
"And just who are you two? And who allowed you to enter our village without letting us know?" The Kirin asked, and Charlie must assume that it was a female.
1. The village gate was unbarred and unguarded. You, Autumn Blaze were thus the one who allowed them to enter the village!
2. Why must Charlie assume that the Kirin is female? (She is, but this isn't something he can easily see if she is facing him standing on all four hooves).
"Um... hello there fellow resident, my name is Charlie Lam, and this is my friend Luster Dawn." He introduced themselves, and Luster Dawn managed to stand up and look at the Kirins.
Luster Dawn was "hiding in her mane." That implies she was covering her face with it, not that she was actually lying on the ground in abject fear. And why would she be in such fear? The Kirin are asking them their business, albeit at spear-point, not attempting to kill them on the spot!
"Charlie Lam?" The Kirin asked with a bewildered expression "That's an unusual name except for the name Luster Dawn.
Charlie Lam's name is unusual by Equestrian standards. But Luster Dawn is not part of Charlie Lam; she is merely his companion, so the phrasing makes little sense.
And you two don't look like threats to me. Anyways, where are my manners? My name is Autumn Blaze." Autumn introduced herself with a bow.
Charlie Lam is an Alicorn. Any Alicorn could clearly be a threat, as Alicorns are powerful. Nevertheless Autumn's final decision is reasonable, as there's no particular reason to assume Charlie and Luster to be hostile.
Charlie tells Autumn that he is actually a Human from Australia. As Autumn knows nothing of "Humans" nor "Australia," this means little to her.
Charlie was going to delineate what a human is but luster Dawn interrupted him.
"They are the ones who invaded us." She said.
Thank you for putting it that way, Luster Dawn. You could have said "Some Humans invaded us, but Charlie is their enemy," but nope. You clearly didn't foresee this reaction:
All of the Kirins gasped in horror and aimed their spears at them again and Luster Dawn immediately hid behind Charlie who is showing no signs of agitation towards the armed residents.
"Y-your one of the invaders?" Autumn asked Charlie.
1. Luster, what did you expect? And why are you being useless once more?
2. Key question, Charlie. What will you say?
"Precisely yes." Charlie said with a nod.
BZZT!!! Wrong answer! Both in the sense that you are not an Invader, but instead an ally of Princess Twilight Sparkle, whom you healed of a grievous wound, and in the sense that it is the wrong thing to say to sixteen Kirin with spears aimed at you.
Luckily, the Kirin aren't bloodthirsty. Charlie thus gets to continue:
"But, I am not from where they are, I am from Australia and they are from China." He said.
Autumn Blaze would logically hear: "But I am not from where they are. I am from (meaningless place name) and they are from (meaningless place name)."
Charlie, I know that in our world, people think "Korean War" and "genocide" and "totalitarian tyranny" when they hear "China," as opposed to "Land Down Under" and "G'day, mate!" and "Toss another shrimp on the barbie!" when they hear "Australia," but no one in this world has our cultural referents! Do you not grasp this?
Luckily, Autumn is smart enough to realize that this may be an important distinction, so she keeps talking instead of stabbing.
"B-but, you invaders or humans have killed our ruler with that strange shiny thing of yours!" She exclaimed which made Charlie and Luster Dawn gasp in horror.
Um, what? Autumn, "strange shiny thing" is insufficiently descriptive here.
Autumn does not attack, but she refuses to help Charlie and Luster.
Charlie tries to persuade Autumn, while leaving out the key information that he is an enemy of the Red Chinese.
Luster Dawn continues to be useless.
This brilliant diplomatic debate is interrupted by Charlie's magic goggles, which have decided to start detecting things again.
/!\PROXIMITITY ALERT/!\
Yep. It's the Red Chinese.
An implanted tracker in Luster or literal plot sensors seem to be the only feasible explanations. You'd think Luster would comment on the former, but given this instance's track record, I'm not sure if she realizes she has a horn.
Just the one, mind you. Riot shields don't grow on trees.
I can't help but picture this as a Pinkie-esque leap into her mane like it was a D&D bag of holding, leaving Charlie standing next to a wad of blonde hair.
Similar plot sensitivity to the Chinese scanners. The kirin are fragile natives rather than gun-toting humans, ergo they aren't important enough to register as a threat.
Counterpoint: Alicorns. And even Rain Shine is twice the height of the other kirin. Granted, there's no way for Charlie to know this.
It wasn't that he had to assume the leader was female. He must. This assumption has been imposed by the narrator, regardless of any conclusions Charlie may have reached on his own.
The RPG party is a multipartite organism, a single mind guiding multiple bodies.
(At least, it is for computer RPGs. Tabletop ones work on a strict 1:1 ratio, much to the GM's woe.)
Luster is still in Introduction to Friendship 101 at the moment. Pacifying hostile crowds is a 200-level subject.
As 5227106 pointed out, kinda, sorta, yes with alicorns, but Charlie has a sample size of, what, exactly one, which is quite statistically meaningless mind you.
...y'know, speaking of Alicorns, I might be Tempting Fate here, or be incorrect, but to my knowledge, the author seems to have completely forgotten that there's, what, still at least two alicorns out there (Cadance, a now adult Flurry Heart, and then there's also the Unicorn Shining Armor), and then there's probably still the alicorns of Celestia and Luna, assuming they didn't go to another continent (which, y'know, Spike could magically send a letter to any of those four alicorns probably, if any of them [Twilight, Spike, Starlight, so on] were being written to be remotely competent).
Not that I'm complaining, they don't deserve to be wrapped up in this nonsense to get Worfed and/or infantilized, to have their existence remembered here.
(Side note, kinda related, I'd assume that Cadance grew bigger, more powerful as an alicorn, kinda like to think that in regards to them getting older; maybe Luna is just unusually
smolsmall in regards to that).Maybe all of this is just some terrible fanfiction written by Flurry Heart in a teenage rebellious phase... it would make as much sense as anything else in the storyI'm not sure how I'm supposed to believe anyone can be said to be intelligent if they're so stupid as to associate themselves with the enemy for a nanosecond. That part of your life story probably comes later in the conversation/relationship-building, even if you were a defector, unless absolutely necessary, until after you prove yourself or something. But that's the more intuitive option, isn't it?
(does nobody understand the concept of "Commit Withhold Information?" ...rhetorical question)
5227106
It has occurred to me that, given that Twilight Sparkle made friendly contact with the Kirins in the Show, it's possible that within a decade or two of that there would be regular travel to the "hidden" Kirin Village, and it would be on all the road maps. I'm guessing that the Chinese grabbed a bunch of Equestrian maps at some point and fed the information from them into their computer system, since that would only make sense.
Thus, the name of the place now might be "The Hidden Kirin Village," rather than it being a literally HIDDEN Kirin Village. And its existence and location might be easily-accessible public knowledge.
Luster Dawn's being set up to be Charlie's Love Interest, given all the blushing she does at any accidental physical closeness or touching between them, but yeah -- even if she's academically-competent, her common sense appears to be roughly nil. And Author is writing her as if she's seriously stupid -- and rather cowardly, to boot.
This bothers me less than the way he's Nerfed Twilight Sparkle and her other friends, mostly because Luster Dawn only ever got one canon episode and she didn't really shine in that one either. Though I daresay canon Luster Dawn is a lot smarter and braver than this story is making her out to be!
Especially in the cases of Cadance, who is easy to mischaracterize as "ineffectually lovey-dovey," despite the fact that the Show has always portrayed her as in time of crisis a fierce Pegasus warrior, willing to fight hard for her family and Empire.
Flurry Heart --- she's had less chance to shine, never having been shown as anything but an infant or toddler. Though we know she's brave, smart and kind, traits she's displayed even as a very small child, and also powerful.
I've seen some good portrayals of her as a slightly-decadent (due to being spoiled and over-exposed to celebrity in her teens) young mare, inclined to partying and other vices, but still basically a good person willing to fight for what she knows to be right. And other decent portrayals.
But yes. From what I've seen of the other canon characters' incarnations in this story, I wouldn't trust Story not to make her more helpless than Show had her even as a toddler.
Especially when you in point of fact are allies, and this is not a calm conversation around a dinner table, but a tense confrontation at literal spear-point.
Luster Dawn comes for a lot of blame for me here, because she should have been the party spokescreature. She is acting as an agent of the Ruling Princess of Equestria, and if she had told the Kirins so right off the bat, they would have been much more inclined to friendliness. Yet all she does is to inadvertently Poison The Well regarding Charlie, and then hide behind Charlie for fear of the pointy, pointy spears.
The comparison with young Unicorn Twilight Sparkle makes Luster Dawn look truly pathetic.
5227776
Looking back, there are kirin students at the School of Friendship at this time, so they've definitely opened themselves up to wider social contact. As for Flurry Heart, however she turned out, she got a stained glass window for some reason. She's probably being kept as far from General Jin as possible by authorial fiat, lest she annihilate his fragile elbows.
5227885
You know, if I'm right about the Chinese force being motorized (rather than mechanized) roughly regiment to brigade sized,any of the Alicorns as depicted on the Show could really ruin their day. They'd show up poorly on radar and could in any case fly Nap Of The Earth with ease; and their war-beams would go right through the silly ATV trucks they're using for transport. As for defensive fire, they all have shields, so machine-gun fire would be ineffective, and I don't know if a SAM could even acquire them.
Oh, and they can teleport, so they could watch a column until they figured out where the HQ vehicle was, bamf in and take it out, and then bamf out before anyone could draw a bead on them. These sort of tactics would soon have the Reds shooting at every stray leaf blowing in the wind.
That's, of course, if the Alicorns (and other powerful Equestrians) weren't being Nerfed like crazy by the Author.
5227776
What's worth noting about Cadance is that she's pretty good at magic, and can easily have an argument made to have an interest in it, in and of itself, which is cool in both regards considering she was originally born a Pegasus; she's adapted to having magic quite well, it fits her, she owns it.
Woe is you if you hurt anyone she cares about, for she will kill you if she has to. A pacifist she is not, as compassionate and loving as she may be, she will stand up for herself and others.
And this is a bit off-topic, but it wouldn't break the suspension of disbelief if Cadance was portrayed as say, having learned to teleport at some point, would it? I mean, she is a quite powerful alicorn, not just any old unicorn.
Indeed; Flurry Heart's bravery was shown when she tried to shoot at Sombra, and his brainwashed goons, tried to bite his hoof, and refused to bow before him. She does seem to mirror her aunt's intellect, from what little we know, and it's not like Cadance is an idiot, nor is Shining Armor really (as often as he gets Worfed). And her power should go without saying.
And speaking of an underrated idea (IMO) that interests me for more than one reason, the last two-parter basically spelled out a scenario of "Twilight and her friends died... can there ever be hope again," in which it kinda falls down to the last two alicorns to be Equestria's/the world's last hope (or more, depending on if more children are had, however that might go, if they may be alicorn(s)), with Flurry Heart kind of being the opposite of "spoiled." No pressure to grow up under, right?
Hell, it's already happened to Discord, here, hasn't it? I'm not gonna lie, even if it might be for the wrong reasons (least of which because it'd more than likely be out of character), it'd be more entertaining to see one alicorn supercharged with the power of four, and have something like this speech happen, then have them obliterate them, magically, like they've been magically (pun definitely intended) forgetting is something they possess as an advantage over humans. Or having them think they could beat, say, Chrysalis, by going hand-to-hand... only for... the painful realistic outcome to ensue, with her lack of mercy.
(admittedly my tastes can be on the sadistic side when it comes to fiction, lol)But apparently, Twilight loves to induct students that stupid into her fold, because reasons. It definitely wouldn't be kinda instinctual to say something like, "I am Luster Dawn, I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle's protege, and we're here to ask for help."
(but then you miss out on the fake, artificial drama that doesn't result in our beloved hero getting skewered, if you don't have them say and do stupid things, to up the "tension" [because we know nothing really bad's gonna happen to him, or if anything does, it won't have any lasting effects, now will it, in regards to "is he traumatized," and so on?])