The plume from the explosion expanded in the high-altitude jet streams, spreading across hundreds and thousands of kilolengths of the northern hemisphere. The fallout was not going to be a problem, but the fine particles in the upper atmosphere were predicted to make weather control more difficult for the already stretched storm-management teams. That would be important, but not today; the focus of Orgon's attention at the moment were the other clouds. These were of water droplets rather than pulverised rock, although they glowed with a faint pastel sheen that made the fur on Orgon's neck stand up. The time-lapse video from the remaining high-altitude satellites was clear; multiple initiation points and a steady spread on the order of a hundred kilolengths a day. They also didn't move relative to the prevailing wind patterns, but stretched out into elongated tear-drop shapes centred about the original initiation points.
The future projection of those unnatural clouds was clear; already the ragged edges of some were joining to their neighbours, forming an impenetrable blanket that defied remote viewing. No infrared, no synthetic aperture radar and no clairvoyance. Mass-driver lofted drones stopped transmitting within a clawful of seconds of penetrating the clouds. Radio was useless, failing immediately under conditions similar to the beta-blackout seen around atmospheric nuclear detonations, while even expensive non-causal thaumic channels provided little more than a blurred view of illuminated clouds followed by surges of power and silence.
"Carrier is entering the uncontaminated cloudbank and is approaching the denied zone. Airtank outriders reporting a rise in thaumic background. Laser tightbeam links are degrading. Switching to radio; dropping frequency to improve penetration. Carrier non-causal link is nominal."
The whisper of sound tickled Orgon's ears, the constant refrain of tactical reports from the probe task force he'd sent into the high northern reaches of Lacunae Hive's territory. Displays covered the expanse of wall screen opposite his desk, while miniature copies of the Synod core group in hologram form hovered about his shoulders like worried ghosts. They were also talking, but Orgon had muted their comms channels for now. Of more immediate interest was the subdued hum of conversation in the rest of the ops-room; deep in the heart of one of a series of unnamed and unlisted bunkers, Orgon actually had the physical presence of several of the general staff, along with holograms of others, transmitted from the other bunkers taking part in the virtual command network. Also with him were a pair of the World Court's Auditors: Kosigan, his blunt jaw clenched, and Rthys, along with their anonymously-dressed 'assistants'. Orgon tried not to smile at that; they had the build and movements of trained killers.
"Bandwidth still falling. Inter-task force operating frequency down to one hundred kilohertz. Prioritising telemetry feed from outriders. Deploying gryphon units for manual sweep."
Many of the visual feeds blinked out, replaced by grainy, low-res, low refresh rate things that barely qualified as useful. A wave of a paw pushed them to one side, filling the central space with the images coming from the carrier itself, their quality still excellent due to the non-causal link. Orgon's attention flicked to the strategic map and the rest of the forces following in after the reconnaissance force. Those aircraft were orbiting about a quartet of Arclight transmitters, arranged as two widely-separated pairs.
"When will you use Arclight, Strategist?" asked Councillor Indutu, his voice a tiny buzzing thing at the edge of Orgon's awareness. "The Hive can ill-afford to pull so many from the front lines."
"This one needs to know what the rogues will do. There are servitors on that carrier, and Orgon needs the data that only the non-causal channel will provide," he said absently, the majority of his attention on the displays. Video from outside the carrier was little more than the pearly grey of fog, lit by the strobes of running lights and the unhealthy pinkish-purplish glow of the contaminated clouds. There were internal views as well; extra cameras had been placed inside the five-animal servitor bay in the craft's belly. Other views showed the gryphon launch-roosts, empty now that the troopers had been flung into the mist.
"This one was sure that the Court's actions would have solved our problem," Indutu said, his tiny phantom paws wringing silently.
Yes, well this one told you it wouldn't work, Orgon thought, but only snorted by way of reply. This probe should give these ones a measure of their strength, if nothing else... or that both of the originals are still alive. We already know that the cloudstuff is not immediately inimical to biological life. The lifesign pings from the gryphons, little more than a heartbeat tone, as they could not mount the low frequency transmitters on so small a frame, were still strong.
The servitors were unsettled, if Orgon was any judge. Pinned within their stalls by the restraint systems, they nevertheless shuffled and twitched, flickers of magic filling the small chamber with pulses of ethereal light. They must know something is going on... One of them was muttering into a command panel, its horn flickering as it manipulated the input field. Complex symbols, shifting fractals that approximated the mental patterns the illiterate servitors used to generate their magic, appeared on the display, as if drawn by an invisible claw-tip. If Merlon was there, this one could... He glanced sideways at his servitor, standing silently at his shoulder, then shook his head. The details do not matter, just the response.
===
Metal Matrix soared on a carefully controlled updraft within the shifting pastel gloom at the centre of one of 'their' clouds. Every so often there were flickers of sheet lightning in the depths, filling the world with erratic pulses of white and a continuous low rumble. At his flank was what one of the gryphons had called a squad, six flyers split into a pair of fire teams commanded by a korporal. This gryphoness was Svartr, a compact bundle of anger with a focused, clipped manner that made Metal's tail want to clamp itself between his hindlegs. Especially since he was supposed to take tactical instruction from the creature.
Not orders, though, he thought. Ha! Like I'm going against Backdraft. His old teacher had been very clear about that. He didn't have to obey, but she'd talked at length about how little combat experience any of the ponies had, and that this was completely new territory for them. And this armour... I know Redshift was in a rush, but he could have put a little thought to comfort. There was an annoying grating sound with each wingbeat, and he carefully felt the nested layers of fullerene carbon weave and ceramic scales for the correct spot, the matter flowing like soft clay under the influence of his magic. He flexed his wings; the noise had gone, but there was now a new pressure point just in front of one wingshoulder. More magic, and--
"Specialist Matrix, report," the korporal said, her voice clear in his ear, coming from a comms unit cobbled together from several of the gryphon units.
Metal flinched, his ears folding back, then waggled his jaw to open a return connection. "One moment, Sva-- Korporal." He closed his eyes, sweeping the southern horizon again with his shadow sight. The immediate area was clear, the cloud's magic held back by his own, but past that the world was filled with drifting patches of colour that illuminated the dark universe like lights in a fog -- and made it just as hard to see through. "Maker-damned-- Ah!" Against the sea-creature drift of the floating lights was something static and far away. More lights, the same burnished-gold as the wings of his gryphon squad-mates, were fanning out from some distant, near-invisible nucleus. "Svartr, I'm seeing gryphon deployment." He squinted, even though the motion had no effect on a mode of sight that had nothing to do with actual light. At the locus of the dispersion was a tiny constellation of pastel lights, all different colours.
"It's them," he breathed, "only one carrier, though..." He reached out with the magic relating to his own special talent, the ability to manipulate matter at the lowest of levels, but there was nothing around except for the siren call of the complex ceramics and exotic alloys from the nearest gryphon's armour harness and flight pack. A further inspection by shadow sight revealed a few, much smaller lights at a similar range. Single pony in those, versus... four? five? ...in the larger one. Looks like there's a magical machine in there as well... not big, just odd. "Yes, one carrier and maybe a dozen airtanks." He felt along the sharing link, the only thing they had that would penetrate the ionised clouds. The scouts were right. They are here. Not empty machines this time. He sent his own sensorium into the sharing, feeling the acknowledgement come back from the other nine ponies spread over their defended perimeter. The mental volume became empty as the ponies jumped towards him.
There are ponies on those aircraft, ponies who will try and stop us. How are we supposed to save them when they are trapped in armoured boxes that we need to break? Metal swallowed, mind filling with the crash of magic against armour ceramic. I wish they were just machines!
===
Ellisif had become very excited when she’d heard how Lilac had downed the airtank over the corral. 'Teleport artillery', she'd called it.
Breathing heavily, Gravity let her magic die and surveyed the mountain peak. It wasn't one of the taller ones, barely reaching the underside of the pink-purple cloud deck, and it looked almost untouched, aside from the occasional minor rock fall that had exposed unnatural mirror-smooth surfaces. Biggest force fields I've ever conjured, but this is perfect. Don't even need to fill them with explosives. Fusion suddenly appeared, soaring a few kilolengths away, and Gravity waggled her wings in greeting while reaching for their sharing link.
There are Arclights following the first aircarrier, Fusion sent, as Ellisif said there would be. I have seeded the air above them with clairvoyance anchors, but I expect them to be destroyed soon. There was a flash of memory, of a small collection of thaumically-keyed gems sent to fall from so high that the horizon was curved and the air was nonexistent. It will have to be direct observation. I just hope that... Fusion's train of thought stopped, replaced by a sense of deep sorrow. There are ponies on those aircraft.
All of them? Even the Arclight units? But I thought...
Yes. I suppose they are useful for repairs, when the system is off. I don't think we can get them out, Grav.
Gravity was silent, then sighed. No, I don't suppose we can. Who will be our observer?
It's Stratus and a few of the ex-weather team ponies out of Naraka. They've been well briefed not to get too close.
And if they use lasers? Most of those Naraka mares either have foals or are pregnant, Fusion. Why would you let them go?
Who have we got, Grav? The distant form of Fusion did a slow turn in the air, gaining height. There are too few of us who have managed to get proficient enough with the teleport spell. It's taking the Naraka ponies too long. These ones are those who haven't had their minds dulled by the endless megaseconds of confinement. Her magic built, the complex patterns of teleportation filling her mind and bleeding into the sharing. Ready when you are.
Gravity smiled, stretching out her own power. Beneath her hooves the mountain started to come apart, pony-sized cubes spiralling up into the sky to orbit her like foals nuzzling for attention.
===
It didn't work last time and it's not going to work now... but there is something else this one can use the non-causal link for. Plan B it is. It's not like we can get in more trouble with the World Court. "Pull the Arclight units back," Orgon said, "full speed."
The liaison officer, a member of the general staff and one of five ranked Tactician in the distributed ops room, gaped at him "Strategist... this will leave the probe force unprotected. This one understood that Arclight would be used to trap--"
"The probe force is to continue." Orgon stared at the officer. "The Hive is at war. Is the Tactician refusing to obey an order?" His eyes flicked to the pair of Auditors; they had straightened up and were staring at him, then Rthys leaned over to whisper to her assistant. He moved subtly, paw brushing his firearm, gaze darting to the guards at the bunker's door. In turn, Merlon shifted, the faint scrape of hoof on stone barely reaching Orgon's ears. He touched the soft fur of her chest and she moved back slightly, still watching the World Court group.
"No, Strategist!" The tactician's ears folded back and his eyes widened. "If this one could be told what the Strategist intends, he could offer some advice." His paws tapped out a series of rapid commands on the map table and the arrows that indicated the motion vectors of the Arclight groups started to turn about.
"Something different."
"This one would also like to know what Orgon is thinking," the ghost of Councillor Indutu said, voice sounding high and thin, more like a drifting fly than anything else.
Orgon returned to his console, running a claw along the screen to wake it up. "This one warned Indutu that physical force was not really an option anymore." Glancing up at the rest of the ops-room he checked that the rest of the general staff were all busy with their own tasks. "All this action will do is lose us more Arclight units; one of the rogues destroyed two of them while under fire from their associated aircarrier battle groups. These ones will still need to defend their territory, no matter how this plays out." His command console was geared towards the military and security infrastructure, but had high level access to a lot of Hive systems. It validated his identity again, then switched to the master labournet interface.
One command and this one could paralyse the whole of the Hive's infrastructure. His paws froze, suddenly reluctant to touch the sensitive surface. No, too many safeguards to disable first. He smiled, lips lifting away from his teeth. The location map provided a way to isolate the servitors of interest; a few score of individuals in the high north. Zoom and select, then open the priority orders interface. He started to type, hesitating occasionally over the exact phrasing. Must give them enough leeway to actually act.
"That is insane!" Indutu's voice had become even more shrill. "The Court will have these ones trawled for this."
"The Synod can have this one removed from command if it wishes..." He glanced sideways at Merlon, a reassuringly familiar bulk standing at his shoulder. The next act must be to ensure that they cannot. It will work, so long as the servitor is capable of what this one thinks it is. "...but Orgon tells you that this is the only thing that stands a chance of working. Anyway, what would the Court do? Another Hammer strike will only kill more of the People and the servitors will escape. Again." Of course, that is what the Court will do... they are too far from the problem to learn quickly from it, and Lacunae's enemies have too much interest in seeing these ones fail. Orgon kept his features blank, waiting for any objection from the Synod, but there was none.
"Based on what this one has seen, it will be global war if we fought them, and that is not in anyone's interest. The Court will change the rules if this works." They will have to... and if it doesn't work, this one may have to demand a greater sacrifice of our people. Orgon sent the command, direct to the comms units carried by each pony in the probe force's carrier, then leaned back to stare at the video feed from the servitor bay.
It was obvious when the command reached the carrier; if it wasn't for the restraint system, they'd have jumped clean out of their stalls.
===
Metal listened to the voices in his head, then clenched his teeth. By shadow sight the glowing cloudstuff with its floating wisps of faux-pony was starting to decay, the magic no longer being maintained by weather team members, and it was becoming easier to see the carrier and its escorts. The carrier was travelling relatively slowly, perhaps a quarter the speed of sound, but its complement of gryphons was still keeping pace. Must be those flight packs Red mentioned. Well, we've got them too. Good job the last raid collected those reactors! The tanks circled it in a pattern that covered the carrier from all directions.
The ponies inside will know I'm here any second, so let's give them a show. He reached out with his power and accelerated, feeling the additional strain of carrying the pair of gryphon fire teams with him. The moist air within a dozen body lengths abruptly grew cold as he drew energy from the local environment, turning from fog to diamond-dust in an instant, glittering and swirling in the building glow from his horn. Closer now, the carrier coming within reach of his own peculiar magic, the individual planes and segments of its hull mapping out differently-tasting volumes in the shadow world. The harsh tang of nickel superalloys lining the magnetodynamic thrusters and in the blades of the ducted fans fought with a near-unbearable sweetness from the lacework of superconductors in the primary wiring loom and high-density power storage systems, all within the bloody taste of the airframe.
Experienced this way the aircraft was a gastronomic distraction more diverse than the finest meadow grass, but he was used to the complexity. Metal worked his way through the antimagic defences -- just like Fusion had shown him, they were crude things more suited to repelling direct thaumokinetic strikes than his subtle assault -- narrowing down on those nickel-based high-temperature liners. Defect-free single crystals, they sang out to his mind like a gem would to a jeweller, wonderful things that some unnamed pony had poured all his skill into building.
Lights flared, brilliant things that leaked a hard green glare through the slit between his closed eyelids, followed by a lightning-crackle that started in the high registers and faded to a rumble. "The other units are engaging the tanks. Specialist, what is the delay? There is more firepower on that carrier than all the escorts combined." Blue-white flashes and harsh cracks joined the lightning, drowning out the roar of the aircraft's engines.
You try lugging two tonnes along at eighty meters a second while doing this! Metal ignored the harsh bird-screech of the korporal, because there was a twitch of sensation from the carrier. The thing was just passing beneath his hooves, pulling ahead despite his efforts to keep pace with it, and now the ponies within had awoken to the danger.
Something jerked inside the aircarrier, a tentative brush of alien magic that hooked around his own. There were multiple strands to it, each subtly different. In the brief moment it took Metal to recognize the presence, it strengthened, pushing him away from his target. "Sorry, I need the power--" he ground out, sweat dampening his flanks, then dropped his hold of the gryphons. He barely heard the answering near-ultrasonic scream of their flight packs spooling up, vision narrowing as he fought back. Metal's own flight magic faltered, a deep chill stabbing through his fur. Ice crackled as his wings flexed and failed to bite air; Metal started to fall, but ignored it, maintaining focus on the aircarrier.
Arcane light flared in the belly of the carrier as the ponies within put all their effort into stopping him, then the pressure faltered, the opposing magic directed sideways to focus on other sections of the big aircraft. Brief flashes lit the fog above, then the dim flutter of explosions reached him past the rush of air past his ears. Metal's power wrapped around the drive chambers, brushing past the remaining defences and weaving into the perfect superalloy linings.
Under his touch, the metal flowed into new and short-lived shapes, the atomically smooth surfaces briefly forming spines and pits that were immediately washed away by the high-pressure, high-temperature air the drive used for propulsion. More super-heated air, so hot as to be a plasma, escaped the manifold and burrowed deep into the engine housing, ripping and incinerating as it went. The opposing magic vanished as the ponies in the carrier scrambled to halt the sudden destruction, then the safety systems cut power to the drive and carrier dipped violently before the lifter fans in its wings spun up to flight speed.
"The main drive is down," Metal said out loud while sending the same thought into his sharing, wondering if the radio signal was getting through to any of the gryphons at all. Through shadow sight, he could see the golden wings of many of the creatures, but it was impossible to tell who was who. There were fewer of them than at the start, though; even as he watched, a pair of glowing forms swept together and tangled, falling end over end towards the distant ground. One broke away, climbing again, leaving the other to fade as death erased the glimmer of flight magic. Metal swallowed, feeling half-strangled where the throat mic pressed against his larynx. Fighting in the dark and fog, every person for themselves.
This is it, now comes the hard part. He spared another glance for the weaving patterns of gold, then dove towards the attack carrier. Those on board were frantically trying to fix the damage he'd done, so he focussed on the sweet taste of ultra-pure silica that formed the backbone of the carrier's optically switched laser network. The hoof-thick fibres ran through the airframe, from turret to turret, and he traced them back to the complex silhouette of the laser itself, a vast length of carefully doped fibre that formed the amplification medium. A twist and the whole armoured capsule was suddenly alive with motion, the careful core-shell structures disrupted enough that the next pulse expended all its energy within the body of the laser.
The brilliant green slashes that had been filling the cloud and making distracting flashes through his eyelids abruptly stopped. Carrier defences are dead.
Understood, boarding party en route. The escorts are down and weather team is suppressing the cloud's ionisation to restore radio comms.
He flew closer, passing through the antimagic field, landing on the upper hull between the broad wings and their dangerously exposed lifting fans. The carrier was still moving, starting to bank and come about, but the airflow was manageable. "Mind that next step," he muttered, nervously eyeing the nearest fan. The inhaled rush of air was easily felt even from this distance, and the noise was filling his head with a bone-numbing roar. His magic swept the plating beneath his hooves, hunting for a spot that wouldn't cause catastrophic problems, then he neatly sliced a rectangular slot through the alloy. Breaching the hull. A quick telekinetic pull and the armoured panel was whipped away.
Metal made to enter the hole, but ducked as wings swept by over head, close enough to ruffle fur. "If I'd been the enemy, you'd be dead," Svartr growled, then folded her wings and dropped neatly through the hull, followed immediately by another of her team.
But I was supposed to go in first! "Dammit, Svartr!" Metal growled and did the same, landing on a section of springy metal mesh flooring that was already dented from the quarter-tonne of armoured gryphon landing on it. The spinal corridor, a narrow space that ran between the heavy machinery of the carrier's wingroots, allowing the dog flight crew access to the gryphon-troop nest and servitor stalls in the lower aft compartments, was not built to a scale that was appropriate to a pony. There was no way Metal could turn around, and the corridor behind his tail, leading to the flight deck and forward drop-bay was threatening in its low intensity red lighting.
"Move your tail, pony!"
The words, harsh and fast with excitement, were practically screamed in Metal's ears, and he lurched forwards as another gryphon from Svartr's squad jumped into the corridor, this time facing towards the nose of the carrier. He set off with a leap, making room for the next gryphon. There was gunfire from the stern, in the direction that Svartr had gone, and Metal shouldered his way through a warped pressure door that looked like a gryphon had just run clean through it, bringing up a narrow oval force field as he did so.
Past the bulk of machinery that filled the space between the leading edge of the carrier's wing, the passageway opened out into a chamber that occupied the whole width of the hull. It was lined with rows of flight control stations, recessed couches placed crosswise to the carrier's axis and surrounded by semi-circular consoles and display systems, most of which were dead, starred with bullet holes or scored by bomb fragments. Svartr and the other gryphon were hunkered down behind the nearest pair, trading shots with a pair of dogs sheltering behind their own consoles.
His field flared orange as it intercepted a round from one of the dogs. It wasn't an aimed shot by any stretch; the dog just waved a paw around the corner of its console and sprayed fire from a compact railgun. The thing was obviously designed to be used two-pawed, and the recoil put bullets all over Metal's end of the room.
===
Merlon kept her ears relaxed, slightly back and out to each side, while her eyes drank in the operations bunker. What does my Master have planned? The order to the ponies on the carrier was simple and to the point, but how are those ponies going to react? She probed her feelings; instinct said that the decision to let a Master, any Master... She shied away from the thought, even though she'd actually done it herself. A normal pony just won't do it; fugue will be the inevitable result. A Security pony could manage it, but these were just from the Military... She chewed at the inside of her mouth, carefully biting down at her cheeks in hope that pain would bring clarity. I should tell him about my Blessing. She flinched, thinking about the likely result of that revelation.
If I knew where they were, I could do this task for my Master. Perhaps that would be enough of a prize to save me? The teleport pattern swirled in her mind, great gaping holes marking the locations of the target coordinate-memories. I could do this for him-- The World Court Masters were huddled together again, but all her attention was on the two assistants. They claimed to be administrative experts, but their body language screamed out with the signs of military training. Bodyguards... and on high alert. She catalogued their movements, noting the tiny involuntary twitches that gave away the locations of weapons, both overt and hidden. She closed her eyes, dropping briefly into shadow sight to scan them; both carried a number of complex crystal thaumic devices that were supposed to be other, innocuous things. That's a stun-pulse generator, that's a dormant anti-magic projector, that's--
"This one said: 'servitor'. Is the pony asleep?"
Merlon's eyes snapped open, ears folding back at Orgon's tone. Not irritated, but focussed, like he's ordering one of his Agents-- "No, Master. How may I serve?" Orgon was playing with the bracer on his left wrist; the thing emitted a near-silent hum, like a silent alarm but much fainter. He held his wrist cocked just so, pointing his forearm at her with paw held slightly downwards. Merlon froze, staring at that wrist. The motions and posture made it perfectly obvious that he was pointing a weapon at her. I'm fast enough to stop him -- She bit down on her tongue, willing the pain to dispel the evil thoughts. He knows what I have done. I deserve to die. The Masters are the paws of the Maker.
"Identify the highest ranking individual in this room."
She blinked, mouth opening. "It depends, Master. There are members of the Synod here as virtual presences, so it is them, really. Although, depending on the situation, the World Court Auditors may take precedence, if it were possible to confirm their authority."
"Damn right these ones are," Kosigan snarled. "Orgon, what is all this about? The Strategist had a perfect chance to catch the rogues in the open."
"This one thought so," Orgon said, nodding quietly. "Merlon, give this one the pony's labournet communicator." Merlon pulled the disk from her chest, placing it in his outstretched paw. "Excellent. Restrain the World Court operatives; strip them of any weapons or communications devices."
The pair of 'assistants' moved insect-fast, as if they had been preparing to act at the slightest sign, but Merlon's magic was faster. Power flashed, casting strange shadows as she picked the pair up by their paws, plucking small gadgets and devices from pockets or fur and placing them in a neat pile. Their clothes came next, the fabrics made from tough fullerene weaves more at home on body armour. "This place will be a crater if Orgon doesn't--" A band of pearly-white magic snapped shut around Kosigan's muzzle, silencing him.
He took my communicator so no one can countermand his orders. He wants to make sure no one can take me away from him... I am free to act so much faster; no need to think about what the Maker will do to me. Her jaws flexed, muscles bulging and jumping into sharp relief, and her ears flattened. Why does the Maker even need a spell to communicate its desires? Why do they tell us about the Maker at all? Is it even real? She made a little noise at the back of her throat, a subvocalised whinny. I was right to remove the Blessing... I can do more now. I have more options. I can do so much more for the Masters like this... would I go back even if I could?
Rthys had frozen, shock making her jaw slack. "What is Orgon playing at?"
"The Auditor will see." Orgon had not relaxed his posture and the wrist-mounted weapon was still trained on Merlon. A wave of his other paw blanked the comms feeds from the Synod core group. "This one remembers Merlon's briefing on the teleport magic. Did the pony exaggerate at all?"
"No, Master!" The effort of holding up the struggling People wasn't high, but it was a building strain. He's going to want me to do something special. She straightened up, applying the subtle twist of power that she'd seen in Scalar's memories. The sound of the air conditioners became a little louder as they tried to compensate for the drop in local temperature.
"Excellent. This one needs the Synod core group to be in this bunker with Orgon. Does Merlon remember the tour of Redoubts Gamma, Phi and Epsilon?"
"Yes, Master." He wants me to... Merlon glanced at the guards at the entrance to the operations room, then deftly fished several sets of restraints from their equipment harnesses. They flinched, paws reaching for weapons, but did nothing more when Orgon waved at them. Merlon bound the Auditors’ and their bodyguards’ arms and legs together, wrist to ankle, then placed them on the floor. "What if the Councillors do not wish to come?"
Orgon nodded, an approving gesture. "The pony is strong; Orgon always knew this. The Hive is currently in a state of emergency and the Synod has approved the special measures. This one has complete authority when it comes to the safety of the Hive." He smiled, lips pulling back from his teeth, and turned slightly, addressing not just Merlon, but the rest of the general staff. "Merlon served this one's predecessor for over a gigasecond, with all the knowledge of the Hive's military and security processes that entails, and has a far greater insight into how servitor magic works. It is possible that she, excluding the rogues themselves, is the one best placed to know what they will do next."
"That is possible, Master," Merlon said, a slight tremor in her voice. He's not talking to me, but the general staff! Without moving, she surveyed the room, suddenly aware that she, not Orgon or the Auditors, was the centre of attention.
"Does Merlon think the Hive can beat the rogues?"
Merlon hesitated and Orgon gestured for her to continue. What I say now-- "Master... the amount of power available to Fusion or Gravity is very high, coupled with their mobility--" She closed her eyes imagining the weapon, the hidden thing that must be built into Orgon's bracer, still pointed at her chest. "Even if we can stop them, there are still many normal ponies on their side, and it will be very difficult to get them all back under the Maker's paw. With removal of the Blessing being so easy--" He must know what I've done! "--and the corrals being fertile ground for recruitment, now they have seen the inside of Naraka..."
"...and the pony's conclusion?"
No escape. Merlon sighed silently. "No, Master." There was a susurration throughout the room, the sound of many whispered conversations. "They are too mobile to be easily stopped, and combined with the inflexibility of the World Court's response..." Eyes now open, she lifted her head and addressed the room. "With no effective countermeasures, a continued war with the rogues will likely be unsuccessful and result in very high casualties. Based on what I've seen of Fusion's actions, the majority will be caused by Hammer strikes or more conventional weapons, used with increasing desperation." Her voice became tight, throat closing up. "There must be a negotiated solution."
There was a moment of silence, then everyone started shouting at once. Orgon let it continue for a few breaths, then gestured to Merlon. Magic filled the confined space; a blinding burst of light and a concussive blast of sound, a spell built for celebrations in the vast open spaces in an arcology concourse compressed and fired within one small room. Orgon relaxed, his concealed weapon no longer pointed at her chest, then strode forwards into the stunned silence and placed one paw on Merlon's neck, her skin twitching and shivering under his touch. "Strong and smart. The pony may be the one to save us all," he whispered in one ear, before turning to face the room and raising his voice.
"These ones know this is true. These ones have all seen the abilities of the rogues; mere physical force will not be enough." He smiled, reaching out with both paws. "Lacunae does not have the power of Baur, but it is adaptable. The signs are clear; what is coming is a step-change in history. These ones need to be part of that future. The Hive is at war, but this one will give anyone here the chance to step down, if they fear censure."
"What about the... technical project? The one with Vanca?" The speaker, a female with the tags of a tactician in the Intelligence Corps, glanced sidelong at the bound representatives of the World Court.
Orgon's smile sharpened. "Trust will come with a balance of power; this one does not intend to be defenceless." No one in the room moved or spoke.
"This is treason, Orgon," Rthys said, voice calm but her eyes filled with fury. "If these ones go against the Court, these ones go against all of the People. There will be no forgiveness and no mercy."
"It is only treason if these ones fail." The smile became mirthless, and he gave Merlon a slight push. "Go."
That explains the orders to the ponies on the carrier. "Apologies, Master, but I will need explicit orders." No I don't, but he will expect me to ask. She bowed her head, keeping eye contact, her wing muscles flexing and legs twitching. With the Synod under his personal control, there is no chance of anyone reversing this, no matter what they believe. He needs me to be loyal, or none of this will work.
"Bring the Synod core group, Councillors Indutu, Shmae, Caug, and Ullot, alive, to this location as fast as possible. Disregard any countermanding orders. The pony may use as much force as is needed to complete these orders."
Merlon's knees buckled, and she staggered a step. I expected this, but... "Yes, Master," she said, straightening. Merlon built the teleport pattern, picking a spot mid way towards Redoubt Phi. It was in clear air, high inside Arcology Seven. I'm going to make the news. More spells filled her mind, secret things she'd learned to defend her Master, and the rubber-on-iron feeling of her own telekinesis hardened over her limbs. I should be afraid, but I'm not. With this freedom and new magic, I'm stronger than anypony except the rogues. The ghost of a smile crossed her lips. What is it the troopers say? Fire in the hole--
~~~discontinuity~~~
===
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Svartr snarled, "Magic us some magic, pony."
"So now you want my help," Metal muttered, feeling for the other ponies on the carrier. They were scattered, mentally if not physically, their own power spread through the body of the aircraft and engaged in frantic repairs. Eyes closed he skirted them, locating the dogs at the end of the room by the taste of sodium in their blood, finding their paws and-- There were a pair of screams and the gunfire stopped.
Svartr leaped over the console, closing the distance to the dogs in a single bound, followed by the other gryphon. Metal lifted his head, then flinched as she landed bodily on the nearest dog, claws flicking out to grab the other by the throat and slam him against the bulkhead. Blood splashed after the first impact, the dog going as limp as a foal's toy, and Svartr threw him to one side before stalking down the corridor they had been guarding.
Metal froze, staring after them, then looked down at the dog the gryphoness had landed on. Chest caved in, she moved weakly, jaws opening and closing in a futile effort to pull in air. Nostrils flaring he breathed in sharply, gripping the dog's head. Eyes squeezed shut, Metal twisted sharply, shuddering at the nasty crack. Mouth working, he stepped away, trying to ignore the mangled paws and the smell of blood, heading deeper into the carrier.
There was a sudden burst of gunfire and screaming. He twitched, shifting weight from hoof to hoof, then inhaled sharply at a flare of magic from below. Of course the ponies on board would defend their masters! He reached in with his own power, interfering with the other's magic where it tried to latch on to 'his' gryphons. They were desperate, hammering away at his grip while trying to block the gryphon's advance, and the effort required to keep them in check made sweat dampen his flanks, even while ice grew on the surfaces around his hooves.
Stop! They are killing them!
Metal moved to block the communication, freezing at the sudden wordless wail of distress underpinned with agony that came with the alien thought. They deserve to die -- all the dogs are monsters! he snapped back, jaw muscles bunching as his teeth ground together. Metal took a step forwards, ears cocked forwards and listening to the sounds, as the narrow spinal corridor opened out into a small rear compartment, empty but for discarded magazines and bullet-scarred storage lockers. The fighting had moved on, deeper into the aircraft, but the glare of magic still reflected off the walls through battle-damaged hatches.
They won't let us surrender!
"Dammit, Svartr!" Metal growled, lurching into a trot across the springy metal mesh flooring. What do you mean 'us'? The Masters?
We were ordered to surrender-- With the thought came a sense of shock and pain, of a terrible mental struggle, of trying to understand something that was at odds with the natural order of the universe. --and that our Masters' lives were less important than the non-causal communicator.
The what? That means the dogs are watching us-- Metal sucked in a fast breath, sweeping the aircarrier for anything really exotic, like isotopes or elements in unnatural concentrations, that would speak of a hidden nuclear weapon, but there was nothing to be found. Why? Why does the device matter?
Strategist Orgon wants to talk.
===
Fusion, flying through dense, artificial cloud, watched the hovering attack carrier through shadow sight. At her side was Triple Point, who'd jumped to their position with some garbled message about 'surrender'.
What do you mean 'talk'? She sent the thoughts into the sharing, watching through Metal's eyes while opening a link back to Gravity, still surrounded by her attentive cloud of rocks. Metal was holding a spitting, snarling gryphoness off the deck in a cocoon of green magic. He was standing between her and a small group of dogs, cowering at the far end of an equipment bay. Three other gryphons had joined them, weapons drawn and pointed somewhere between the dogs and Metal, but were held back by a glowing wall. Oh, for pity's sake. What have you done, Metal?
He grunted, breathing hard. "Svartr here is killing every dog, even after they try to surrender," he said. "Can I have some help? I think one of the ponies on this thing is in punishment fugue."
"Triple, find Ellisif and get her to control her troops, or find somepony to relieve Metal." The mare nodded, then vanished with a thump of inrushing air. Did you get that, Grav?
It's a trap. Let the gryphons kill them all and I'll destroy these Arclights. One less horror in the world. They are vulnerable -- when will we next be able to hurt them this badly?
This is a strange bait for a trap... why pull back the Arclights? They must know those things are our main targets. Fusion flew on for a few breaths, focused on the feed coming back from Metal. Triple had reached the room with the gryphons, immediately followed by Ellisif, who had waded through the group, knocking them left and right. She was shouting something, but Metal wasn't listening, all his attention on the ponies in the belly of the carrier. There were traces of pain filtering through the mental space, alien sensations intruding into the sharing from the pony's whiplashing magic.
Triple cantered past the group, passing through a short-lived hole in Metal's force field, and took a hold of Svartr, keeping her still while Ellisif talked. Relieved of his burden, Metal launched himself through the door at the back of the compartment and down towards the servitor hold. Fusion split her attention again, partly on Gravity and her floating arsenal, partly on Triple, but mostly on Metal.
The corridors he moved down were built to dog scale, and not suited for ponies. They were wide enough -- just -- but the sharp corners were out of the question. Metal left a trail of buckled and bent panels as he used magic to force his way through the narrow passages between unknown machines. Let's hope none of that's important! Fusion sent and he snorted in reply and kept on moving.
The dog access to the servitor bay was through a hatch less than a metre on a side, and far too small to do more than poke his head through. There were five ponies inside, just visible through the mesh sides of their individual stalls. A little corridor ran in front of the head boxes, obviously an afterthought.
Two of the ponies were thrashing inside the confines of their restraints, heads pulled up and back on straining necks while their bodies were held upright by the inflated padding in the stalls. They squealed, high distorted things choked out through throats closed with rippling muscle. Their skins, what little was visible, ran with lather and sweat and twitched like they were filled with ants. A dip into shadow sight showed the cause; green-glowing wires of magic ran from horn to brain. The air was filled with the pulse and flare of magic from the other stalls, power reaching out to parts of the carrier and trying to repair the damage done in the attacks.
Metal's eyes bulged and he hissed, then gently gripped the closest pony's head. She ignored his touch, locked in a private world of pain and suffering by the fugue. His magic reached out, focused on a tiny volume of green-stained horn material, and twisted. The mare took a great, shuddering breath and slumped, letting the air back out in a sob, tears running down her muzzle. Metal switched focus and did the same to the other pony, and the level of noise in the compartment dropped dramatically.
"W-what have you done?" The voice was male, but thin and full of strain.
"I've removed the torturer from their heads. What did you mean, 'Strategist Orgon wants to talk'?"
"The Maker--" The words were cut off with a gasp and a shocked whinny.
Will it be better or worse if I remove his Blessing? Metal snorted in frustration. "There is no Maker! Listen, we can debate the way the dogs have trapped us after you are in a position to follow the argument. What did you mean!?"
"I have my orders..." More sobs. "I-- There is a non-causal communicator in the forward hold, the one used by the M-Master's drop troops, but you can access it from any panel." He gestured at the comms unit across from their stalls. On it was the face of a dog, his green eyes calm and expectant. At the back of Metal's head there was a twitch of recognition.
===
Fusion looked out though Metal's eyes. That's the one who spoke to me at Naraka, just before they tried to kill us, she sent.
So what? Gravity sounded impatient. Those Arclights are still in range, I could...
I want to hear what he has to say.
What if it's another trap?
I don't see how. You can sense anything coming over the horizon and they have nothing left in orbit. Metal's the one at risk. You watch the Arclights and make sure they don't try anything from there. If they twitch, destroy them all. Gravity didn't reply, but there was a taste of expectation in the link. Metal, do you remember the spell we used back in the tunnels? The one to show Gravity and I to all the Naraka ponies?
I do... hold on, there's not a lot of room in here. There were the bell-sounds of multiple force field cuts, followed by metallic shrieks and several voices raised in complaint. "You said you had your orders? Well you just concentrate on keeping this thing in the air and let me worry about talking to your boss. You can work from anywhere." There are still loyal ponies here... I only freed two of them, the ones in fugue. Should I...
Later, let them work. The spell, please.
Magic flared and Fusion let her point of view switch from Metal to a point outside his body. The space she was in was small and smelled of frightened and hurt ponies, a metal room decorated with ripped and twisted partitions that had been wadded up and pressed into a corner. On the wall was the screen with the dog. Fusion cleared her throat and heard the sound echo off the hard walls and into Metal's ears. Excellent. Thank you, Metal.
"Sector Chief Orgon, you have moved up in the world! Why should I talk to you?" Fusion said, looking at the figure on the screen.
The dog's ears flicked back for an instant, then he nodded, grim-faced. "This one half expected the pony to destroy the whole taskforce. He is impressed at the pony's restraint, especially after the Hammer strike."
"Why are you talking, Orgon, and why should I listen? Is this another play for time? Are you manoeuvring some weapon into position to strike at us? Speak quickly." Through the link she probed the communicator in the belly of the carrier, hunting for some way to determine where the dog was. Some deep bunker, I imagine; perhaps if I was closer I could locate the other end and dig him out...
"This one's only interest is the safety of his Hive; the pony was a threat, so..." Orgon waved a paw, suddenly looking tired. Behind him there was a pulse of pearly light, and a pony appeared carrying a screaming, grey-furred dog. Orgon turned, a faint smile curving his lips. "Councillor Caug! It is so good that he could make it." The pony, a dapple-grey mare with a slightly wild-eyed look and a nasty burn on one flank, dropped Caug and nodded to Orgon, then vanished again. Behind the dog, revealed when he had turned, were four others, bound paw to paw.
What is going on in there? Fusion's ears pricked forwards and she strained to make out more details. That pony... Scalar said he was questioned by a pony like that.
"To answer the pony's question: these ones have a common enemy." Orgon moved away from the camera, walking to the prisoners, and tapped one of them, a heavy-set male with a blunt jaw, on the top of the head. "Tell the pony who this one is."
The dog snapped at Orgon's paw. "This one is will see to it that anyone Orgon even knows will be trawled on suspicion of treason! He will get to watch before the machines pull out his mind."
"Rthys, please?" Orgon said, turning to a slender female, letting the other grind his teeth and snarl.
"This one is Auditor Rthys of the World Court. That is Auditor Kosigan," she said stiffly staring into the camera. "The pony knows that these ones represent the ultimate authority under the Maker. Surrender now, and no others of the pony's kind will have to suffer."
"And let gigaseconds of deaths and pain continue unabated?" Fusion said; her voice was calm but her body suddenly felt hot. Spell patterns rose unbidden in her mind, making the sharing waver. The distant point of warmth, high above the clouds, seemed to call to her, begging to be used in ways both tantalising and incomprehensible.
"The pony sees what this one has to deal with; they have the evidence yet cannot accept it. This one can," Orgon said, turning slightly to include the rest of the room in his speech. "It is the Court that ordered the Hammer strike. It is the Court that makes the existence of free servitors a crime. It is the Court that will dismantle Lacunae in an effort to destroy the pony and all its kin. It is the Court that is the biggest threat to the existence of the pony and this one's Hive. If these ones want to survive, they will have to work together." His gaze traveled over those watching him, meeting their eyes.
He can't seriously be suggesting... Fusion tried to read the audience; mostly shock, although some were at least looking thoughtful.
Orgon must have seen what he wanted to see, because he stepped back a pace from Kosigan and raised a paw, pointing it at the Auditor. "There is no reason the pony should take Orgon's word for this, so here is a gesture of this one's sincerity."
There was a sharp little noise, like the snapping of a twig, and Kosigan fell over, blood leaking from nose, mouth and ears.
Chapter up!
Holy.... Damn, Orgon is one ruthless SOB!
Oregon is making the smart decision and the Cowards choice... Kinda sucks if you ask me.
Oregon is one scary customer, but this one can't help to be impressed too. Yikes!
7221124 ... Frankly I'm on board with the gryphons. The best way to ensure a threat does not ever return is to eliminate it completely.
Then again it doesn't really matter. All of this is the distant past, after all.. and we know what the Dogs will eventually become.
Alright, so we have the end game being set up, Chaos moving to place things into play that look like they will end with Equestria as we know it. While the Ponies grapple with how to deal with being their own masters and who is in charge. So, where so we go from here?
That's a big boom... going back to the Hammer strike?
Okay, so just setting up some of the after effects, like increased cloud cover, and the Dogs noticing the cloud cover the ponies were making.
Gee it's almost like something down there doesn't want a bunch of genocidal asshole to find them....
Wow, they are packing those clouds with all kinds of tricks. And any low altitude scouts trying to come in under the clouds would be easy enough to see and deal with quickly. So, I bet they are going to take this well......... I mean it is not wholly impossible that Orgon has realized how out matched he is and want to stop messing with them.... just highly unlikely. I could actually maybe see Orgon coming to the conclusion it simply is not worth it, but he'd never convince those that would crucifying him for even suggesting this.
Okay sending in a carrier group to scout things out. Good balance, likely large enough to defend itself, but not so massive that it would be a huge loss of already straining resources to send just to scout. This should be fun.
Likely standard for him by now, getting tired of their pointless yammering. Still, don't want to be distracted right now so he has an excuse.
So they get a chance to see first hand just how OP Ponies can be if you piss them the fuck off.
The what? I saw it earlier but still, what does that mean? Some form of QEC type deal that bypasses interference by simply not transmitting through normal Space-Time?
Smart, of course at this point, with ponies being so wide spread, good luck covering enough area to prevent them from getting in behind you and wiping them out.
AH, so it's a Sharing like link using Servitors. Okay that makes sense. Still feels odd given the story treated this type of long distance Sharing ability as something special when Grav and Fusion figured it out, but could chalk that up to it being something that isn't common knowledge among Ponies, just the high end Military ones know about it and are cleared to use it.
Then what the buck is making that cloud idiot?
And after all of this, he still does trust Merlon and sees him as his best.. if not ally.. at least his most faithful and component lackey. It is kind of touching in it's own way.
Working on integrating ponies into Gryphon teams to get each side better able to work with each other as a team in combat?
Also Backdraft continues to dominate the "Best non-Sisters" pony category. Sorry Spiral but, you just haven't done enough lately. But very smart way of putting it. Don't want the Gryphons to see the ponies as subservient, but the ponies need to realize that the Gryphons simply know more then they do about combat and be willing to learn.
The downside to such heavy cover, it works both ways. But any Dog force large enough to be a threat is going to be a LOT easier to detect then random ponies or Gryphons.
And Ponies learn fast so, this should be good. Show them what prepared ponies can do against Dogs!
This is going to be an issue, you might have to realize that, sometimes, you can't save every pony from the Dogs. But that does not mean you stop trying. Just, know when it will become impossible to do without taking far greater losses.
Very VERY fun times incoming. Arclight projects their force in an arc ahead of the vessel correct? More likely a cone, but still, just pop the 'artillery' in above and behind it and smashy time.
Grav getting some ammo ready? Though, this is a lot closer to where they are so, won't it mean the "artillery' won't have quite as much force? Or is Grav going to take care of that one?
And they know about the arclights so, no chance of a bit of a surprise. Yeah, this might make it harder for the ponies to see too, but they are still far far better at it then the Dogs.
And they realize this. Good. I mean it's horrible that they HAVE to realize this but, it's good that they do, and also good they both regret this fact.
Hehehehehehehe-hahahahahahahahahahahaha. Pure, awesome!
What did they run into that's causing this?
From the ONE Dog who has ever actually proven to be able to be a threat to the ponies at that?
What happened to muting them?
Huh, smart, and something to keep in mind, if the Hive weakens itself to much fighting the Ponies, they will leave themselves vulnerable to outside attack from another Hive, so they are limited in what amount of their resources they can throw into this.
Okay... and why would he suddenly be thinking like this? Or is he planning something major for later? Or Chaos messing with him a bit? Or just plain fed up with all this shit? Or was it more a "If I screw this up" type deal of him realizing how bad this could go if he got it wrong?
He's going to try and use the Servitors on those ships as some kind of weapon or distraction isn't he?
Ooookay.... this is starting to not look good....
Wait.. wait... is he... is he going to have those Servitors... offer peace terms and try to negotiate a cease fire with the Free-Ponies? Open a line of dialog?
Well, this is going to be... interesting....now stop holding us in suspense and let us in one what is going on!
Okay.. that is... one way of phrasing it I never thought I'd here. Quite poetic and, interesting... and it does make sense the way it's worded so.. umm, good job on this one, impressive few lines here.
I found a typo! HOW MANY POINTS DOST I RECEIVE!?
Hmmm, next thing to try and work out, some form of IFF system that works in Shadow Sight.
Well this is going a bit to easy.
It makes sense to send the combat units in ahead of the tech units.
Ohhh and back to getting in the head of the biggest Wild Card left in this, and the one no one is sure where she'll fall, on whose side, what she'll do, just.... so intriguing to see her make up her mind.
Wait.. ordered the Ponies to let their Masters die? To go over to the free Ponies? It has to be a simple order, one that could lead to Masters dying. Self destruct the ship?
No just trapped in her own thoughts, between what she wants, what she thinks she should want, and all the conflicting thoughts going through her head.
And.. that is how he treats her, like his top, most loyal and dependable agent. Like I said, it is rather touching. He doesn't see her just as "A Servitor". It is a start..
Are you reall.... yes ye they really are that stupid to think they could catch Fusion and Gravity in such an obvious trap that they already knew was coming.
Oh shit... okay Orgon, what's your game? this is definitely a Hail Mary attempt... and the only thing I could see them being pissed off enough at to make this needed, is.. if he really was trying to talk peace to the Ponies..... or something far far worse that I'm just not callous and ruthless enough to come up with.
The Toughs would approve. Go go low profile body armor.
Meaning that 1. He believes you CAN be ordered by a higher authority, meaning he believes you still have your Blessing, and also, that 2. He trusts you to do this and act with him, unless you are outright ordered not to.
NOOOOT exactly the best time to have this revelation but, it is still amazing to see her work through this on her own. But she still wants to serve the Masters.. this is going to get complicated. Still really REALLY hoping we get her and the Sisters just, discussing their conflicting ideas.
And she knows that trick as well..... damn.
And she's quick to pick up on what he wants, they really do make one amazing team. So.... yeah Orgon is going all or nothing on this....
Okay, either he is using this to further make clear why offering peace terms is the right idea, and the only way to get out of this alive. Or.... he's about to name HER as the head of strategy and put her in charge of operations. That would be awesome but... more likely the first bit.
Holy shit he IS going that route! And, for very very smart reasons. Yes Orgon is ruthless, merciless, driven, will not hesitate to do anything he has to to insure the safety of his Hive....... but that includes ANYTHING even something like this. He is not an asshole, he's not a sadist, he's not even very vindictive overall. He is cold, logical, pragmatic, and yeah I am not the least bit surprised he would go this route or realize this is the only way.
And their capitulation will lead to Baur striking, and triggering The End. I did not see things going this way but.... well.. till more story to go.
Yes, he's not an idiot. Also, flat out pointing out that Baur is more powerful then Lacunae. So yeah, next phase will be conflict with them.
And.. I would not be surprised if he did realize she'd been acting differently, and yet not seeing a need to say anything... that he really does trust her that much. But good to keep up the act.
Nice little joke to break the tension. And see they ARE becoming a team, even sniping at each other and snarking back.
And yes... now get those fucking gryphons in line!
So yes, they are setting up a way to communicate and negotiate with the Ponies.
Oh fuck YES! Granted, can't be TO hyped cause, well we know shit is still going to go south, and Baur is just waiting to screw them over. But still, holy shit did not see this really happening.
Gravity! I get you have no reason to trust them, but this is an opportunity you have to take. Be cautious, don't fully trust them, but just go along while being alert for now.
Good on both of them. But at this point, how could it be a trap? they have to know you won't trust them so, well, what could they hope to do?
And Fusion gets it right, listen, take the chance, but keep ready for a double cross and be prepared to strike first at any hint of deception.
That is one hell of a spell. And yes, good luck having this be a trap with all their tricks to avoid it.
Can the whole next chapter just be Fusion laying out every possible way in which that sentence is so so utterly wrong? Cause, yeah that is, there is nothing right with that one. First, missing that they have done nothing but suffer for generations, and assuming you idiots could do anything to stop them. Just, wow you are a moron.
Not just Peace but, actual partnership... it makes sense, the power of the Sisters is the only way Lacunae could stand a chance. And they really are the real problem. Of course this mean Baur will have free rein to put it's plan into motion. Still hope we get a bit of the two forces working things out before then.
Well..... not exactly a way of sealing a pact ponies would like but.. effective
HOLY SHIT THIS CHAPTER! MORE MORE MORE HURRY! So want to see where this is going! I mean I know the big picture but, the small term? them working this out, coming to agreements..... this is just..... please let us get a bit of that before Baur makes it's move. This was just.... holy shit was this awesome, and it all made perfect sense from Orgon.. wait wait... this means...... can we PLEASE now get that bit of discussion between Fusion, Grav and Merlon!? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Have Merlon act as the initial point of contact to start working things out maybe? That would make a lot of sense on both sides to accept it. Orgon trusts her more then I think he trusts any other living being. And the Sisters will be more inclined to listen to another pony, especially one who self broke her Blessing.
7221124 How is it "the cowards choice" to do he smartest move that has the strongest chance of keeping the people you are sworn to protect alive? This take balls of steel so massive they are creating their own gravitic pull on things.
7221396 It's also the Question of Who i he most afraid of. the Synod? or the Rogue Servitors? He betrays the synod because the servitors can easily wipe out everything if forced into desperate tactics, while the World court would find their weapons either destroyed or turned against them by the former servitors.
Orgon is a pragmatist first and foremost. He sees the way the war is going and just how far it can still fall... granted, we see that that's probably exactly what happens in hindsight, but still.
He's attempting to save his Hive (country) and the only way he can see to do that is via the Ponies.
What they have seen so far is bad enough, but maybe Gravity should demonstrate to Orgon what wouldve happened if he had been just a couple minutes late? Hypersonic ton masses are like mini Hammers, capable of going through pretty much any shielding.
Except I wonder if Orgon has even had an inkling of just how bad things can get, if Gravity keeps practicing with her spaceciotemporal acceleration field, linking it to a mass tracking spell so that she can fire a mass into an immense gravity well, and have the well collapse onto the mass as it passes through. At a high enough level, the gravity well can be collapsing faster than the speed of light, and so Alcubierring the mass with it. Sending it behind space time, to reappear inside any and all shielding, intersecting normal mass at either a sizeable fraction the speed of light, or as light speed pure energy.
Of course, the next power level up from that is temporal deviations, such as Future Sight.
Can the Dogs be trusted to talk though, as they have shown to wish to do Anything and Everything to ensure the existance of the slaves.
7221444 Except it's made clear he is not doing this for himself, but becuase he feels this is the only way his Hive stands a chance of surviving.
7221515 Hopefully when the time comes he throws his lot completely with the ponies.
7221685 Well, he will always prioritize Hive Lacunae above any other, but he knows how bad double crossing the ponies will go for him. It's going to be tense, and the World Court might try to push him to betray them in exchange for lenaincy. But hopefully by that time so many Servitors will have been freed of their blessing and discovered the truth that it won't be an option for him.
Still really eager to see where this goes from here between them. Neither side is going to trust the other, and getting the Griffons to go along with it is going to be really hard.
Man. The Gryphons aren't going to like the potential for a low-violence, if not peaceful, resolution here. Ellisif especially doesn't want a peaceful resolution, what with her goal of complete genocide. She would've loved to watch that one dog kill the other one, though, and now that I think about it, she might see this potential resolution as a tool to get Lacunae to try to take out some other dogs for her while she plans against them for the future.
So, if this 'peaceful resolution' actually makes any real, meaningful progress before shit hits the fan again, I would LOVE to see some of it from that once-mentioned group of dogs who fight for Pony rights. I don't remember if they were considered terrorists? It's been so long, I don't even remember where they were mentioned, lol. But it would be super interesting to see some new perspectives if you show any of that progress; the general public's view, probably confused and trying to understand why their free labor and occasional pets are being called in for a mandatory removal of their Blessings ("What do you mean Fluffy is a person? That's absurd, he's been the family pet for generations!"), the terrorists(?) fighting for pony rights (who I imagine to be super laid back and high on some sort of marijuana-equivalent all the time, and just generally not very competent, otherwise surely Security would've permanently dealt with them right?), and the uninvolved ponies in general, the ones who work at restaurants and skateboard factories and rich families' butler-pets (Fluffy), and is homelessness a thing in Lacunae? Is it a thing for ponies in the general citizenry? There's a whole side to this world we haven't seen, and I really want to see it reacting to this change.
[Edit] I also, for some reason I can't quite pin down, really want to see a conversation between Academician Vanca and Fusion. And Korn's reunion with his girlfriend would be interesting too. Lots of potential for a feel-good moment there, and of course you need to get in some feel-good moments before shit hits the fan again.
Man, I'm really invested in this being a thing that happens. Watch negotiations break down, now. I'm going to preemptively blame Ellisif.
Ooohhhooh this is getting interesting. I must say, as a national security / military analyst this twist just feels right. I felt like we we're seeing much about what the other hives were like for a reason and that the political situation was more complicated than we believed. Each hives is it's own country, while the World Court is like UN, except with actual power.
Also, Orgon is now Caesar, Hail Caesar!
Hmm? Interesting development.
Hoooooooo-Leeeeeeeee Craaaaaaaaaaap.
This has been quite the development.
I am so looking forward to what happens next.
Orgon likes bait tactics so much.
7221391
OK, sorry, but the near sentence-by-sentence commentary is a bit annoying to me.
7221934
Low violence, peaceful solution? Any potential agreement is only with Lacunae so far. The rest of the world? They'll be screaming for blood. All of it. Orgon truly is trying to make a play for the winning side and, as it seems from his conversation with Merlon, there are a number of The People who think that it won't be Gravity and Fusion who lose. After all, right now Lacunae is caught between a deadly-tense cold war across its entire border and a band of hyper-capable ponies who are systematically dismantling its military infrastructure. If Gravity and Fusion don't bring down Lacunae directly, the other hives will when they find Lacunae defenseless at Gravity's and Fusion's hooves.
I'm sure Orgon is playing for time - he's a manipulative bastard - but he has to be alive first. That means being able to hold off the reprisal from all the other hives.
Orgon is my spirit animal.
In seriousness, though, I suspect he's being honest about the alliance. The only person he truly respects is a pony (also: I ship it), and his own kind disappoints him time and time again; he alone knows that ponies are not inferior — much less mere machines — and there's really no rational motivation to oppose their crusade. Especially since it seems pretty much in line with his own goals at this point.
We start to see the shape of how this ends, but now I'm wondering what the knock-on consequences are thousands of years later. Wondering if the final part of the trilogy will be set in modern-day Equestria when the Guardian automata and the (presumed) external universe Equestria is imbedded in come explicitly into play.
Well, well, well.
Orgon has done the math. He is a cold calculating bastard, but he also has a healthy respect for Merlon - recognizing her knowledge and ability. Going by this, it is not really a big surprise - nor would it be, if he double crosses them. But somehow I don't believe it - he is smart, very smart, and I believe he already has figured out that Merlon has "lost" her "blessing" as well; But as she is still loyal to him, he'll try to use her probably ... or they will make a good team standing in-between the ponies and the dogs, against the rest of the world ...
Though that will also probably soon lead to the use of that prion-weapon ...
The impact on Lacunae Society will be big - that is, if this cooperation won't stay between ponies, gryphons and military for now (negotiations will be tough - and I am sure Orgon will try to keep this change of plans secret for as long as possible, which would mean that the society won't hear of this change anytime soon). Cooperation against world court will mean that they have to pool information and resources - because another hammer strike will be imminent as soon as the world court gets wind of this change.
And here I could imagine that with some math from Academician Vanca and the combined power of Fusion and Gravity they could neutralize the hammer strike - or at least pull it so far off of target that it is practically neutralized ... This might end in some bad nuclear war even, with only some ponies being able to deal with the fallout and clouds ... which would explain the title of book two "a soot covered world".
Wow, this is going south drastically ... just in the direction that chaos wants ... Though I wonder if Orogns/Merlons actions really were within its planning - and somehow I feel as if Merlon will still sacrifice herself for Orgon ... I wonder why ... ?
7221934
This this THIS please please PLEASE this! Give us a bit of down time, some time to see things maybe work out, to show the ponies and dogs COULD work together peacefully, to have some fun, touching bits. BEFORE the other Hives move in and Baur triggers ragnarok screwing them all over.
7223662 So just scroll past them, others do enjoy them and they are primary for the authors of the stories anyway.
---------
As to the Gryphons, I could see Ellsif being smart enough to keep the others in line by painting this as a "Divide and Conquer" type deal. Get Lacunae to help them weaken the larger Dog forces, before turning on them.
7224071
If you performed a blow-by-blow analysis of the entire chapter after having read it, it would be useful critique. As it is, though, you clearly write it as a live-reading, with comes of as juvenile and extremely narcissistic.
Live commentary can work when watching a ridiculous movie (it certainly works with Plan Nine From Outer Space; furthermore, a live comedian is the only way to make sit through a screening of the Star Wars Holiday Special), but it hardly works in written format unless you were making a parody of it. As it currently is, you aren't making it work.
If you want to make your currently flawed style work, please get yourself a webcam and upload your live-readings in Youtube.
7224348 Once again you don't like them don't read them. And yes, tossing out insults, yeah that's going to work and get someone to actually care what you think.
7221009
Indeed it is!
BTW: So Orgon decided to perform the same manoeuvre as Gaius Julius Caesar in grabbing Imperator power, and his immediate first action is to extend an olive branch at Spartacus?
How do you say "By my grandmother's bollocks" without sounding crass? 'Cause this bloke is a ballsy one!
I imagine what follows will be Orgon simultaneously sweetening the deal and multiplying his allied assets by means of peacefully releasing the nearest Naraka-like breeding centre, discontinuing the application of new Blessings on foals, and letting freed ponies empty a few more corrals and at least the full assets of an ancology. I don't see more butter making it into the deal at this point, though, or at least not without Lacunae's economy suffering.
7224378
What insults?
Cue in the music.
7224061 It also makes me wonder what these Guardians do other than run around looking for Chaos.
From my vantage point as the Omniscient Voyeur, EVERYTHING in charge of this universe is an asshole of one sort or another!
It makes the Troll-version God, who was experimenting with Evil for fun, from that old movie "Time Bandits" look reasonable!
Seriously, I would be SO much better as God there. Come on! Let me start with the smiting and fire and brimstone! I can rain lice on the Dogs and slay all their firstborn and all that awesome Old Testament stuff!
Hoooooo diggity
7224651
I got distracted by the "alumina-silicate metabolism" indicating dragons and didn't notice that the "earlier batch" implies that those ones aren't. So yeah, changelings seems at least possible.
Orgon and Merlon have been my favorite characters since introduction. Ruthless, calculating, incredibly intelligent and best of all they're so bound by their purposes that they know when their duties interfere with their goals.
They are the kind of adaptive beings that actually have the capabilities to create a new world order.
I'd be their enemy in real life but I would respect and honor them all the same.
7224378 Telling [us] to just scroll past them would be a valid suggestion only if they didn't take up almost as much space as the other comments combined, as their current form could easily be seen as spam. Have you considered linking them as blogs on your own profile page instead?
7225869
7223662
7224348
Blocking works, I'm told. You need never know the post is there. Also the long post length makes it easy to skip, not harder. Just hold down 'pgdn' until you hit the bottom of the page.
From my point of view, it's an interesting to get a beat by beat perspective. Which things attract attention, which minor throw-away line is seen in some unexpected light, which things are not commented upon, and so on. It's a very narrow, in the moment view vs. the from the more measured I'm reviewing this chapter thing, but data is data. More points on the graph are always useful; I am a scientist, after all.
It's somewhat artificial, because writing the comments must disrupt the flow, but I'm not sure how usable a video version would be (you'd have to have what, screen video and highlight passages of interest?), compared to 'reaction videos' or game play-throughs.
7225947 Oh, they do definitely have their own sort of value — hence my suggestion of blogging them instead of outright stopping, and I personally don't want to block him at all. It's just that a comment on that scale makes browsing through the rest of the comments pretty awkward sometimes, like a lorry parked in a small lot.
Thanks for all the comments, folks!
===
7221391
A non-causal link is basically magic. It sends information via the automata, so is (in principle) unjammable and undetectable by physical means. Arclight can block the transmitter (it's a physical device, rather than directly using the servitors, but the principle is the same as their sharing magic).
The Arclight effect is like a directional transmission; think of them like AWACs aircraft. Where the beams from two Arclight transmitters cross, you get the magic cancellation. One beam has a disruptive effect, but machines and ponies can work through it. The idea originated from the nuclear dampers in Traveller RPG (now there's an indicator of my age!).
Typo fixed (and another I found along the way. Sigh.).
7221513
I have to leave something for later! There are plenty of interesting things that can be done with gravity (small 'G') control. It almost seems unfair.
7221934
Maker's Path. You don't know very much about them...
Imagine it from Fluffy's perspective! A loved and valued part of the family (in the same way as a good riding horse), taken away to have things done to your head.
Ponies are property and a restricted item (there is a maximum number of working pones that each Hive is allowed), so the vast majority are in government or industrial service. There are a few in private paws; typically the richest and most powerful dogs. I've purposly kept most of the POVs in with the ponies, but there will be time for external 'reactions shots'. Just got to pick a view point. Fluffy has given me an idea...
7221957
I was a little concerned how it would be received, but it felt right to me, also. None of the characters are particularly stupid, and intelligence reports serve no one if they hide future projections. Yes, you have it: the Hives are in a six-way cold war, with the World Court as arbiter -- like the UN, only with teeth.
7224061
A lot of the negative effects will depend on how the switch-over is managed -- most dogs have no daily contact with the ponies, so will only see the second-order effects (loss of medical services, things not getting fixed, things not being made). There is a time-lag to this -- we'll just have to see!
The series title comes from a comment by prereader Noe, and it directly relates to the show itself. Equestria is built on the soot of the dog's civilization (all those worked gems have to come from somewhere). I liked it so much that I stole it.
7224412
He's the Man and he gets the Vote. He's got the advantage of also knowing exactly what the ponies want. The trick will be avoiding the collapse of the Hive in the process...
7225947 I've gotten to the point that doing it doesn't do a whole lot to disrupt the flow for me, other then giving me a bit more time to think through bits. And it's why I tend to do less commenting during the large, more tense scenes where I'm just too gripped to want to stop or break up the tension by not reading ahead.
Would be nice if there was some kind of page break/read more toggle for comments that would solve the whole issue, but till Knighty come up with one...
Regarding the communications, thinking about it, and my comment about it being a QEC, (Quantum Entanglement Communicator just in case you didn't play Mass Effect for some odd reason. Guessing you got it but not good to make assumptions.) I'm wondering if the whole 'sharing' idea isn't some version of magically induced quantum entanglement. The two are quite similar. Unblockable, untraceable, uninterceptable, providing instantaneous transmission regardless of distance, the only limit is that actually establishing the link is harder the further away they are, but once the link is established, it keeps seems almost effortless to maintain. The only way to block or disrupt it is to block all magic at one of the points of contact, preventing them from maintaining the entanglement. Which would make sense and work if that initial power surge is needed to establish the quantum entanglement between the two, or more, ponies minds. Linking just the right parts in a type of QEC pattern that allows the thoughts of one to be the thoughts of others. And that idea would fit in well with this verse, where most magic is just a different version of science going by different rules, but still having it's own patterns, and mostly simply being an alternate way to do things you can do with tech anyway.
7225596 100% agree, those two are some of the most fascinating, intriguing and interesting characters I've ever found in Pony-Fics, just for how complex they are, and all those things you noted. And yeah I can totally see Merlon being chosen to act as the initial go between for the Dogs and Ponies till they start to trust each other a bit more. As I noted, Merlon seems to be the one being in the world Orgon outright trusts. Yes he pointed his weapon at her at times, but that was just caution and him having a reason to be paranoid. He actually does trust and even respect her as another being. At least as much as he able to given how paranoid he's had to be to survive this long at his level of power. And really hope that is the case cause I really REALLY want to see Merlon and the Sisters debating things regarding the Dogs in a context where there is no pressure or worry about something else going on to interrupt the talk.
7224663 Well in Fusions case it could be less she's been mutated, then it is she hasn't eaten any of the food in so long any of the prion precursor molecules have been flushed from her system or decayed past the point of viability. Can't remember if Gravity stopped eating it too or not. But, that would explain why such radical alterations had to occur.
Starting to wonder if, given just the shear SCALE of it, this won't involve the ponies all being incapacitated but the Sisters, and it spreading to the point, the only hope they have is to go right to the source of what made ponies in the first place to try and fix such a widespread issues, raiding all the other hives to collect the "Creation Stones" and it's triggering them that results in ponies becoming what they are now. Would also explain why certain special ponies are able to ascend back to being alicorns.
Oh and regarding the whole, adjusting to things... it is odd we've heard nothing about or from the Makers Path in so long, feels like the story forgot about them. But, YAY! having to think it over this much means we will be seeing some time of the two sides adjusting? I hope? Please? And, given Merlon, and how some other ponies think, I could see some ponies choosing to stay and keep serving the Dogs, and would the sister really block that? Force them not to?? Impose their will on them like they are now Masters? So long as the Dogs make clear the ponies that want to stay will be treated fairly, not over worked, not exploited or hurt, I could see Fusion agreeing to it. Plus it would help to lead to reintegration. Fusion was willing to work out terms of the ponies still working for the Dogs and being part of their society, she just wanted them to be on equal terms as partners, not Master/Slave. But yeah also likely to be many that just want to be as far from any Dogs as possible. So it'll be a tense situation that would take time to work out and have both sides get into a new mindset.... time they won't have to get things moving smoothly, but time enough to see it start.
The only real, first demand, non-negotiable if you want a truce you WILL do this immediately thing could see Fusion having is for all Blessings to be removed. Everything else I'm sure she'd be willing to work with Orgon on and try to come to an understanding. And the whole Blessing removal process will go a lot smoother if they have a Dog there with them to explain things as well as a pony. Make it easier for the Ponies to deal with the shock.
7226239
I know Windows users hardly ever get used to working without maximizing each and every window, but try having both the browser and a Microsoft Word window side-by-side. Do put the View mode on Word to Web mode, though, so the text adjusts to the window rather than the opposite. Only thing is that you would need to manually parse.
Beyond that, video streaming is really, really easy. Here's me recording my own breakfast after pressing like three buttons in Youtube:
I really don't think this would be possible, due to pony labour being an essential cog in the dog economy, and Lacunae not being capable of affording an economic crisis right as they made themselves the focus of a world war. I believe the deal I delineated would be as far as they would be able to go (releasing to the rebels all ponies currently under medical research, allowing the rebels to pick up more technology without having to fight for it, and cancelling the application of new Blessings), although it could possibly also extend to medical professionals having it removed, and then receiving Carte Blanche to remove Blessings at their own discretion.
7226741 There doesn't seem to be any other place like Narraka in the Hive, every time anything like it was mentioned, it was always singular. There might be a few Ponies being used in individual testings like Fusion was with Vanca at the start, but no large scale things. And everything regarding testing of the ponies themselves was always placed under the purview of Narraka. So don't think that will be a huge thing. Like I said, maybe a few individual tests, but no large scale stuff like that.
And as much as it would interrupt the Dogs economy, I could see this being the one hard line even Fusion would agree needs to be done to establish any hope of the two sides trusting each other. Maybe not an instant all Blessing at this moment, but at least allowing the free Ponies to go from corral to corral freeing ponies immediately. At least start the process of removing it. But doing it slowly enough to give the larger population of ponies time to adjust and come to grips with this better then the rebels were able to. And having a Dog along to help explain will be useful. It is likely their economy will be taking a hit, but that was true just by them declaring independence from the World Court. That alone will be a huge impact on everything. So it's almost certainly going to be one of the very first things on any agenda. At this point the Ponies hold all the power. Orgon has burned every other bridge, and the Ponies are his only hope of getting through this with his Hive intact.
Remember, the ponies are still condition to want to serve, so with this being voluntary, I could totally see a good number being willing to still work in at least the essential areas. Medical above all. But yes seeing how this plays out.. I am SO eager to see this and SO SO SO hope we get a good run of exploring this and seeing it being worked out before the other Hives retaliate.
Granted still the issue with the gryphons, but as I said, the most likely way I can see this going and working is Ellsif convincing the rest it's a Divide and Conquer mechanic. Use Lacunae to help weaken the rest of the Hives and the Court, let them bare the brunt of it, and only after that turn and wipe them out as well.
The idea of Orgon of siding up with the demigods... mmm...
I mean, first of all, what stops the military-paranoic reemplacements of the World Council (WC) to order an immediate Hammer attack on Lacunae? For all Orgon knows, Fusion and Gravity may not be able to stop it, even if they want.
What protects Orgon being assassinated from proper/less evident spies/agents/security infiltrated ponies? Is he going to be with Merlon the rest of his life? It is evident that the synoid has agents in all Hives. Who is restraining the Councilmen and their guards when Merlon is out kidnapping more people? Lacunae Guards? Any of them could be a traitor and kill Orgon while Merlon is out in his teleport business.
About the way of doing the thing... I think it is not the realistic way of doing it:
1-Orgon talks in private with Merlon, in an environment that gives him the superior hand, and checks if Merlon is OK with a coup. Then checks if Merlon is "magically" able to do the kidnapping with a real test, and then checks if he is psychologically able in spite of the blessing. Then, Merlon should hide her identity with a disguise, and try the kidnapping in secret. If she succeed, all the councilmen will be under Orgon power before declaring anything, if she fails and is not discovered, Orgon may even be able to blame the rebels. Even if fails and is discovered may be possible to say Merlon was a rebel traitor. To say your intentions to your enemies before doing it, its not only the typical supervillain thing; if you fail you are screwed. First you do the treason, and if you succeed you declare your intentions.
2-Merlon doesnt know the bug of "a long teleport multiplies the movement inertia/momentum/something and can break your bones". I am not sure where she has to go, but maybe very far, and several places. That means multiple jumps. Can get tired, may have to defend or fight against some security personel trained to point with the gun at anything unexpected. The councilors may not be where expected, and go to search for them in their own base after a teleport seems like extremely dangerous. In addition, they may have secret-weird-hidden-unexpected weapons and surprise Merlon somehow. It is not an easy mission, it can very quickly become a failure or a partial success.
3-Even if "it makes all the sense in the world" from the point of view of Orgon, the ponies may just reject the alliance for X reasons: revenge for slavement, distrust for the past treason, pure paranoia, maybe they are proud and crazy and see this as weakness, maybe they already have an alliance with another Hive (somehow), they think can win by themselves, they hate everything dog-related, ask for impossible conditions, etc. The thing is, you dont start the war first and ask later to X for an alliance. First you ask for the alliance in secret, and if everything is OK, then you start the war. The opposite is ask for disaster.
7226949 Well first off "The Synod," have noting to do with the Hammer, The Synod were the leading council for Hive Lacunae only. And they are under his controll. Meanwhile the only officials from the actaul World Court are in his control and unable to report. Yes eventually word will get out, but this gives him time to prepare. As to why no one will take over, that was the whole point of him having Merlon make the speech she did, to make clear WHY he was doing this. He has been the leader of Security for years, he knows how to be paranoid. He is still in the position of ultimate authority in the Hive, and the only ones that could ever override him are The Synod, who he has control of. Going with the Caesar analogy others have made, he was officially made Dictator of the Hive, his world was law, he was the one in charge of all military operations, he had full and total authority till such time as the Synod vote to remove him. And now, they can't do that.
The Dogs are very very regimented in their thinking, Orgon is an outlier in actually being able to even contemplate thinking outside the box to this degree. To the majority of them, the Strategist is telling them what to do, and they do it. Orgon's main way to make this work is simply stall for time. Keep this going long enough that there is no turning back. (Another reason mass unblessings should be a priority.) Which they are all ready at that point. For what he's done Lacunae will be screwed no matter what, even without it, the World Court would have ended up running over them, and fighting the Rogues would have weakened them so far the other Hives could just move in and pick them off at will. But more later. On the specfic points.
1. Nope would not work, once gain the parallels with Caesar are just to enormous to be coincidental.
Sometimes, you cannot do that. The ONLY way this would work is if Orgon moved quickly, decisively, did this all on one quick action before anyone had any time to react. And going back to Caesar, this is Orgon crossing the Rubicon. That is where the phrase "The die is cast" comes from. It is what Caesar said after taking that action, the action that cried out to all of Rome, he was going against the Senate. It was a huge HUGE risk, but it was the only one Caesar, and Orgon, felt might work for the security of their nation. And as to talking it over with Merlon, again would not work, this had to be fast, he could not utter it to anyone, no matter what, the only way it stood any chance was to be done how it was. AND it is a massive show of just how utterly Orgon trusts Merlon, putting ALL his plans in her hooves like this. Yes that might be the IDEAL way, but, it is not one that ever stood a chance and was just as if not more risky, this was the only option Orgon had.
2. Merlon knows everything the free ponies know about teleporting, she got the full mental download, hell she even learned the "Suck energy from the ambient air" trick as well. She knew how things went, and she was teleporting within the Hive, not very vast distances that would cause it. And, as above, Orgon is in charge, he is the Dictator, he is the highest authority at this moment. He knows EVERYTHING, there is no data anywhere in Lacunae he cannot access. He knows precisely where each councilor is, because as the guy responsible for keeping them safe, he needs to know this. He knows the layouts of those bunkers, and by their discusion it's clear he's been there WITH Merlon in the past. These aren't special, just built things, these are the standard, pre-planned retreats that the head of security would have know of and inspected at some point. So no that is not an issue.
3. Except Orgon didn't start the war. If any one Dog is to blame, it's Salrath. And keep in mind pony psychology on the whole, they are not built for this, they are not really comfortable with the idea of fighting, on the whole they WANT peace. Yes there are hot heads, yes Luna is not going to like this, but it is Fusion who will have the final say, and this is exactly what she wants. A peaceful end to the hostilities. No more needing to die. And she is smart enough to know the truth about the World Court being the bigger issue, and be willing to accept they need help. Orgon has every scrap of data the Dogs have on them, knows them as well as any Dog could and so knows how they are most likely to respond.
Yes in an ideal situation, he could have done this more sneakily, but he COULD NOT do that, he had no chance, this was his only option. He had both the synod and the World Court crawling up his ass and double and triple checking every single thing he did, he had no chance of doing anything without being caught, he could ONLY do it like this. Was it a huge risk? Yes, but, again, So was Caesar ordering his army to cross the Rubicon. And much like Caesar Orgon accepted this. "The Die is Cast" he knew this was a last ditch, Hail Mary, million to one shot, but it was the only course he saw that stood a chance of saving Hive Lacunae.
7226838
As far as the story has explained, Naraka had three purposes: breeding centre, eugenic's practice centre and biotechnological research centre. Given the dogs' militaristic society, I sincerely doubt they would allow themselves to have put all their biotechnological research in a single location, which is then further proven by how the dogs sacrificed Naraka. Beyond that, consider that this is a world with only 6 countries, so Australia or the US would be considered as tiny as France, your average country would be 22.67 million square kilometres (slightly larger than the area of North America (Canada, the US and Mexico combined), or slightly smaller than Russsia plus India and Greenland), and a large country could be as large as Africa. It would therefore be absolutely impractical to have to ship ponies in what would equate the freaking Trans-Siberian Railway just so they could fuck (and often be implanted with zygotes produced through eugenics).
Therefore, I believe Naraka to be at most a regional centre.
Other than that, I could see the rebels pushing for a complete liberation inside Lacunae, while Orgon rather wishes to facilitate them with everything he's got so the rebels can begin abducting ponies out of other Hives' stables. He should also push that rebels train newly liberated ponies in their new techniques, as they become terrific force multipliers.
7227149 Except you are overlooking that all research and tweaking to Servitors was tightly controlled and regulated by the World Court. All Hives had to stay within certain rules, limit their Herd sizes, not do certain things, and that everything involving the Servitors was over looked by the World Court. So it does make sense they'd be told to keep it all in one facility to make oversight easier. And the fact no other facility like it has been mentioned, and if there was such a thing, the Rebels would have made going there and freeing those ponies a priority. So no it was almsot certainly the only place like it in the Hive.
As to them not minding losing it, 1. They were desperate to destroy the Sisters at all coast, it was worth the sacrifice. 2. Keep in ind torching it had a secondary benefit, they were about to have World Court auditors crawling into everything, and the stuff they were doing at Narraka with trying to make a cyborg abomination to replace servitors was illegal under World Court Servitor regulations. So it served to hide they were doing some shady illegal stuff that would get them sanctioned even without the Sisters. And it's treated like destroying Narrake removed all evidence, meaning all the data WAS at the one facility.
As to size, yes it's not made clear in story, but word of the writer is that while each Hive technically is massive in the amount of land it covers, they really use very little of that land. Having been able to use Servitors to jump up the tech scale faster then the population growth would normally go along with AND due to preferring to build massive, multi level underground facilities rather hen spreading out. So while the overall territory might be huge, the actual amount of actively in use territory is quite a bit smaller.
As to Orgon wanting more ponies free to help, I could definitely see that too, he knows they will need everything they can get to fight the rest of the Hives and the Court.
7227277
Just like you are overlooking that the various Hives can have covert, top-secret projects that they wouldn't want the World Court to ever hear about. you even said it a few lines down:
Plus that we saw in the last chapter that at least one Hive has biological weapons specifically meant to target ponies. I imagine Hives are generally as shady as the worst examples of totalitarian regimes we have seen on Earth, except for being somewhat diminished by the fact that dogs aren't treating dogs like shit.
7228409 And you have yet to actually come up with a single solid fact anywhere in the story that even hints at there being a single other eugenics board out post in the Hive, when every single thing has always referred to Narrakka as a singular establishment. And the preponderance of evidence backs that up.
Dayum ! Thing's got a hell of a lot more interesting! I love it
7228907
And yet I came up with logical reasons why there should be others.
Furthermore, while I do remember that the story so far never mentions another, the story will also fail to mention Naraka being unique. What does make Naraka unique, though, is that Naraka was within commuting distance, and some characters were personally involved. The rest would be out of mind.
Something else, before I forget:
Industrialized, Low density countries... like Russia, Canada and Australia. To a lesser degree we could also mention Chile, Brazil, Mongolia, Saudi Arabia and some Saharan countries in this list. And states or provinces within certain countries: Canada has the Northwestern Territories and Nunavut. The US has Alaska and the US Virgin Islands. Mexico has the Baja Peninsula and Quintana Roo, plus plenty of national parks larger than European countries. Every South American country with access to the Amazon has the Amazon. Argentina has its southern taiga and tundra. Russia and Australia have like 3/4 of their territories.
7229738 And none of that matter in the least given there is nothing telling us how this is arranged in 'verse. NONE of those examples are identical in culture, mindset, tech level, anything to the Dogs and so tehre are to many added varaibles to draw any firm conclusions. Keep it to in 'verse facts that actually matter.
And you have yet to give one solid reason why, in all the talk, in all the dialog, at no point was there ever even a mention of there being anything like Narraka elsewhere in the Hive, it was ALWAYS treated as singular, even by the Dogs in charge of the entire hive who wouldn't care about location. So again present one solid fact that even hints to this mythical location existing that also explains all the reasons why it has not even been hinted at. Not only does it not fit with the available facts, but from a narrative standpoint, it is just ludicrous for there to be another place like that which has not been mentioned, after so long treating Narrakka as singular within the hive. Suddenly pulling out yet another place like it would be a huge stretch and just feel extremely weak and contrived.
Is it possible there is another location, yes, but it is highly, HIGHLY implausible to the extent of only being possible in the sense it is a non-0% chance.
7229885
I am not currently willing to toss an hour or two into reading year-old chapters, but I do seem to remember that Naraka wasn't a target of opportunity, but was rather intentionally seeded and baited, from the prototype teleport detectors to at least one nuke inside of it, passing through stuffing the deep tunnels full of military. Thus, the dogs weren't caring about the installation, feeling all too willing to sacrifice it if that would award them a kill. The only thing about the Naraka situation that wasn't properly planned was using the solar sail to fry it, but that happened due to them loosing control over the nukes. If Naraka had been important, they would have rather baited a security hub or even a minor military base.
7229939 It wasn't 'baited' the "bait" was already there, namely all the Servitors being housed there, especially the ones from their Coral. This wasn't them trying to lure the Sister into a trap, this was them making a guess at where the Sisters next target was going to be, and trying to set a trap there. They figured Narraka would be targeted soon, and planned to make the most of it. Not trying to get the Sisters to target it. And at no point, at all, in any of that was even a single mention made about there being another site. Nor afterwards, when any other site like it would be the next likely target for the Sisters to hit to free the rest.
They were willing to sacrifice Narraka if it came to it, because that loss would be worth it to end the threat quickly, AND as pointed out, also served double duty of eradicating all the incriminating evidence of them being up to anything illegal with their servitor research from the incoming World Court Auditors.
So once again, why if this place existed, was there not one single mention, or hint of it, when there logically should have been by now? Do you have any actual hard proof of your claim?