Chapter XXI
Chapter XXI
“I guess we should probably start with the most basic of questions. What are those things that took our people, and what do they want?”
The odd silver probe gave another one of those weird hums before answering. “Their species name is Krin, being derived from one of their more ancient tongues. They are a militaristic species that previously attempted to conquer the known galaxy.” The machine tilted to the side, as if thinking about something. “As for what they want, I can only guess. I am not Krin, and am not privy to their thoughts or plans.”
Ambassador Garcia paused as an endless stream of questions poured through his head. Finally, he settled on one. “Why were you studying us?”
“That, I can tell you. My race is called the Quzin, and physically, we are somewhat dissimilar to your kind.” There was a faint whirring sound, and a small, reptile-like creature appeared on the table between Ambassador Garcia and the strange, floating probe. Garcia instinctively pulled back, only to stop when he realized that he wasn't about to be vaporized. “Do not be afraid, it is merely a miniaturized projection of an average member of my species.”
“Uh… I, uh… gathered that,” Garcia said, scooting forward a little bit and giving the robot a sheepish smile. He then looked to the projection with interest; if he was going to be talking to more of these things in the future, he ought to become a bit more familiar with how they looked.
The miniature Quzin was very reptilian in nature; it had a long, snake-like tail that it supported itself on, four arms, scaly skin, and four eyes on… a surprisingly human-like head. The head was so human, in fact, that Garcia was pretty certain he had seen this kind of thing in a movie before. It was still obviously alien, what with the scaly skin and all, but the general dimensions and symmetry were still very human-like.
“You say we’re different from each other, but I’m already noticing some similarities,” Garcia said as he leaned further in.
“As you should. The facial structure alone was enough to draw our attention, but that is not, ultimately, the reason why we study you.” The projection disappeared, and was quickly replaced by a projection that was all too familiar to the ambassador.
“You’re here for our brains?” Garcia asked, fear shooting into his voice.
The robot gave out a soft, jolly-sounding chuckle at that. “No, ambassador. This is not a human brain. This is a Quzin brain.”
This revelation stunned the ambassador, so much so that he found himself unable to form coherent sentences. “How…” he started to say but trailed off as he studied the image from every angle. He was hardly a neurosurgeon, so he couldn't be too certain that it was an identical match. The resemblance was still very uncanny however.
“How... is this possible? Only the Creator knows why he made us cousins," the probe said, finishing the human's unfinished thought "This is why we study you. Why my superiors left me behind and, if my guess is correct, also why the Krin have come for you.”
Ambassador Garcia looked up at the silver probe as a lump forming in his throat. He didn't need the alien to finish; he already could guess what Yavaar was implying. Despite this, though, the alien still finished his explenation. “We went to war with the Krin to prevent their conquest of the know galaxy. While the war was costly on both sides, we still defeated them quite handily; so much so that they were never able to… successfully capture any of my kind for study. It is only a guess, but I would assume that they are here to study you, in hopes of finding a weakness in my kind.” The probe looked like it was thinking for a moment, its focus on the scared-looking diplomat. For the first time since the interview had began, it seemed to consider the state he had put the ambassador in. “For being drawn into a conflict in which you have no stake or reason, I am truly sorry.”
* * *
“Well? What do you think, Colonel?”
Colonel Conners scratched the back of his head, his gaze locked on the silver probe in the live feed. “In all honesty, sir? I think we’re in some deep crap, regardless of whether or not that thing is telling the truth. The only thing that this thing's story changes here is if we have allies or not.”
General Burton nodded sagely, his eyes never leaving the alien probe. “Never thought I'd see the day we’d meet other life out there… and it turns out that it's been watching us for a while. Wonder what it thinks of us so far…”
“I used to think that any aliens watching us must think we’re crazy,” Colonel Conners chipped in, drawing the general from his musings. The general looked at Conners, the question in his eye prompting Conners to continue. “I always figured that we probably looked like savages, sir. Fighting our petty, meaningless wars, worshiping our meaningless gods, and dying our meaningless deaths. In all honesty, I figured that if anyone was up there, then they’d definitely gotten past all of that before getting into space.”
“And now, Colonel?”
Conners took a deep, cleansing breath before continuing. “Sir, the first things we hear from an alien outside our solar system is ‘We’re at war.’ That, coupled with the fact that we apparently have a religious AI on our hands, and I’m starting to think that maybe we aren't as savage as I thought.”
The general gave the Colonel an appraising look. “I take it you don't go to church very often.”
“I stopped going to church the second I was out of my old man’s house,” the colonel said stiffly. “He and I… didn't get along. I always thought God was a scam used on fools who didn't know any better…” The colonel looked back at the screen, took a shuddering breath, then continued. “The aliens believing in God, or gods, presents two problems in my opinion. First one is that we don't want to be branded as infidels by a species infinitely superior to us.”
The general nodded, looked toward the screen, then back at the colonel. “And the second?”
“The second is how am I going to explain to my dad and pastor why I suddenly decided to come back to church and try the whole praying thing again…”
General Burton snorted at that, desperately trying to keep a straight face. “Well, let me tell you this: I'm sure your father will just be happy to have his boy talking to him again.”
The colonel looked a little sour at that, but did not otherwise respond. That was fine, though, since the general wasn't exactly looking to continue the conversation either. Leaning forward, he pressed the intercom button on the console in front of him. “Andrew, I’ve made my decision. Tell our new friend that we're bringing engineers in to help him now.”
The ambassador on the other end of the screen gave a slight nod, then began to relay the information to the alien creature. To say the creature was happy about this development was an understatement. Colonel Conners listened to the alien gush for a few seconds before giving his general a questioning look. “What pushed you over the edge?”
The general shrugged, before straightening out his shirt. “Well, it's like you said earlier. We’re screwed regardless of whether or not this thing is telling the truth. The only thing this changes is whether or not we have some friends out there.” The general took one last look at the screen before turning towards the door. “Besides, even if we are dealing with a race of religious nuts, it wouldn't hurt to do them a favor or two to get on their good side.”
Without another word, the general turned and left the room. Colonel Conners took one more look at the console before shivering to himself and following his general out the door.
* * *
“Hey, Mom! I’m home!” I shouted as I closed the door behind me.
My mom turned to me, a smile on her lips as she pulled a casserole out of the oven. “Hey, Alex, I didn't know you were stopping over today! You should have called!”
I shrugged a little as I hung up my jacket. “I’m not staying for long, just had a bit of trouble with the module I’m writing. Thought I’d swing by and see how Dad’s managing with his new prothstetics.”
Mom just rolled her eyes, and nodded her head towards the living room. “Your father’s still as stubborn as always. He’s already fallen five times this morning alone. See if you can talk some sense into him, get him to rest if you can.”
“Will do,” I said as I made my way to the living room. As expected, there was Dad, face down on the carpet with his new and old limbs splayed out in all directions. None of them were moving, and he seemed to be trying his best to catch his breath. I noticed that Uncle Jerry was here, and currently sitting on the couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table. “You know, Ryan, if you push yourself any harder, I think you’ll set a speed record for fastest person to do ‘the worm.’” Jerry said blandly as he looked down at his sister’s husband.
Dad didn't say anything. Apparently he had tuckered himself out to the point where he couldn't even talk. With a bit of a sigh, I bent down and reached out for my father. “Hey Dad. You sho-”
What I was about to say died instantly in my throat as my claws passed straight through my father’s back and into his lungs. He gave a strangled gasp that was barely heard above the horrified bellow coming from my uncle.
Before I could even register what had happened, though, the world around me seemed to fracture like glass, and a reassuring calm swept through me, drowning out the horror of the scene that I had just witnessed. I took a shuddering breath and plopped down on the floor right before the world around me shattered into a million pieces. Luckily for me, or more likely by design, whatever was underneath me decided to remain solid. “It’s just a dream… Only a dream…” I muttered as I wrapped my arms around myself, shaking violently, trying desperately to rid myself of those images plaguing my mind.
“I will be with you shortly, Alex,” Luna’s voice echoed through the black void, catching my attention. “There is something I must attend to first.”
I just nodded, not really trusting myself to say anything at that point. I was still messed up pretty badly, despite the calming influence that Luna was trying to engender through my mind. I could feel her, like a thick blanket, trying her best to soothe what was probably a roiling sea underneath.
After a few minutes, or hours, or days of this, my breathing finally calmed, and my shivering stopped. I took a deep, cleansing breath, right as I felt something feathery drape over my shoulders.
“Would you like to talk about it?” Luna asked, her voice slightly echoey in the empty dreamspace.
I took one more breath before shaking my head. “N-no, not now… We’ve got too many things that are more important to talk about.”
I couldn't see Luna from my position, but I felt her as she shook her head. “It can wait, we do not need to-”
“Yes, we do,” I said as I stood up and wrapped my arms around myself again, though I didn't turn to look at her. I didn't trust myself enough for that yet. “Look, I appreciate what you’re trying to do for me, and everything you've already done for me. Far more than you know, but…” I let out my breath in a ragged sigh, my arms falling to my sides as I looked down at the endless dreamscape below us. “I’m broken, and a few therapy sessions, even ones as good as these, isn't going to change that. It’ll take time. Time that, unfortunately, has better uses right now than helping me work through my personal issues.”
Feeling less likely to break down completely after saying that, I turned to look at her, and noticed that she had a look in her eye that said that she didn't quite want to let this go. Luckily, she didn't press the issue. “Okay. Whenever you’re ready,” she said, giving me one last searching look before asking her first question. “I suppose we should start something you are more familiar with. Who were the Prometheans that came before you? You seemed to know them...”
I sighed, and shook my head. “The Prometheans… they were a civilization that lived almost… well…” I stopped for a bit, then looked around at the blank world around us. “How does this place translate time measurements? Is my year the same as yours?”
“The Aether tries to match our closest concepts to each other. I know the amount of time you are referring to, and it is a little bit longer than what my people measure as a year,” Luna said as she gave me a curious look.
“Well, the Prometheans, or Greeks, were a civilization that existed over two thousand years ago,” I said wryly.
The shocked look on her face was priceless. “If… If they existed two thousand years ago, just how long was Discord’s reign…?” She asked herself.
I looked down at the endless abyss, a lump forming in my throat as my mind worked furiously. I didn't even want to speculate about that. I was far too busy thinking about the things that I at least had partial answers to give to even know where to begin guessing about the length of the reign on a long dead god. “I don't know... I can at least give a guess as to why they came, and why this… Discord, was after Gaea, though," I said as I gave the princess a rueful smile. This theory had been percolating in my brain ever since Titania had first mentioned the name 'Gaea', and now was the time to see if it held up. I needed a few more pieces of the puzzle first, though. “My guess is a bit out there, and it all hinges on how magic works.”
“What is it that your are unsure about?” Luna asked, curiosity burning in her eyes.
I took a deep breath, then let it out before continuing. “Is it possible to… well, overuse a magical field? To deplete it?”
Luna nodded at this, an amused look on her face. “Of course it is. You’ve almost done this to yourself on multiple occasions. Luckily, a magical field eventually replenishes itself over time, otherwise you would have killed yourself several times over by now.” She tilted her head to the side, though, obviously confused at the turn of the conversation. “But… I do not see what that has to do with the matter at hoof.”
I felt both emboldened and terrified at that. Emboldened because it was another fact in favor of my growing hypothesis, and terrified that I had been so close to death by accident so many times. I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself before continuing. “Yes… well, good to know. Anyway, I was kind of wondering about that; about the limits of magic, and how far someone could push it. Especially if what Titania said about Discord was true.”
Luna nodded in understanding. “Magic can be unpredictable and dangerous at times, but the only real limits to what it can accomplish is the power available, the field of the wielder, and the imagination and knowledge of the wielder. However, just because someone can do something with magic, doesn’t mean that they should. There can be any number of unfortunate side effects from even the smallest change, since our universe and the forces that hold it together are very closely knit.” Her face suddenly became incredibly serious. "And as for Discord, I can personally attest that everything Titania has said about that monster is true and more. The draconequus could bend the very fabric of reality to his whims, and he is not a subject that I or my sister take lightly.”
I waved her off at that. “Yeah I… wasn't doubting, just confirming. And I wasn't intending to toy with this stuff until I knew more anyway; that’s not where I was going with this.”
She looked even more confused by this. “Could you please elaborate, then? You said earlier that you had an idea as to why the Prometheans came to our world.”
I nodded, then looked down towards the void below us. Almost as if in response to my thoughts, though on retrospect that was probably exactly what it was, the scenery changed to show us a beautiful green meadow. “Yeah, and it all rests on who the Greeks believed Gaea to be.”
Luna looked around at the changed landscape, obviously intrigued. “Tell me, who was this Gaea to them, then?”
“You must understand, my people weren’t always in the habit of figuring out how things worked. We would often make up gods and goddesses for every natural disaster or phenomenon, and the Grecian people were no different. They had gods for the lightning, gods for the wind, gods for fire. They had gods for concepts, such as justice, or mercy.” I crouched down at that, reached out with my hand, and pulled out a handful of grass. It looked so real that I even pulled a bit of dirt up with it. “None of those are that important at the moment, though they might be if my theory holds any water.”
“I take it that Gaea was one of these gods, then?” Luna asked. “The way they worshiped sounds similar to how the Diamond Dogs view divinity.”
“Well, I don’t know what a Diamond Dog is, but you’re right. She was a god that the ancient Greeks worshiped. And the Greek civilization was so influential to our modern culture that many of my people still use her name when referring to the thing that she was said to embody.” I stood up, brushed the imaginary dirt off my imaginary pants, then stomped on the imaginary ground to drive home my point. “Gaea was the Grecian name for Mother Earth.”
Luna eyes widened as all the puzzle pieces fell into place for her. “Then… you mean to imply that Discord stole your world’s magic… because he was exhausting Equis’s?”
I shrugged, shook my head, and sighed. “It's just a theory, but it fits the information we currently have.” I thought about all of this for a bit, then let out a short laugh at how little we truly knew; even though I was standing in front of someone who was old enough to have stopped the person we were talking about, she knew just about as much as I did about any of this. “It’s not like there’s anyone left alive who knew the whole truth…”
Luna suddenly looked incredibly thoughtful. “Do you remember what Titania said about the stallion who stole the portal to your world?”
I nodded. It was kind of hard to forget.
“Well, that stallion was a friend of mine and my sister. Our mentor, in fact. He left a record that he wrote in code, which no one has been able to crack for a thousand years, and it is possible that the answers we seek lie within.”
This sparked my interest. “What makes you say that?”
Luna’s horn glowed briefly, and a grey pony that was nearly identical to the one that Titania showed appeared between us. There were a few differences, of course, though most of them seemed to be in the pony''s clothing, specifically the bells, their placement, and their number. “Starswirl the Bearded had made it his life's work to overthrow Discord. He was unable to do it himself, but he set me and my sister on the path. When you awake, I would have you look at his last record. Perhaps you may glean some answers from it.”
I laughed heartily at this. “Lady, thanks for the vote of confidence, but I highly doubt that. I just barely started being able to speak your language, much less read it.”
“All I ask is that you try. You may be surprised at what you find within…” she said mysteriously as she began to fade from view. “For now, however, I must leave you. There is much I need to attend to, and I also need to share what I have learned with my sister. On top of all of this, you seem to be waking rather earlier than expected. I hope to continue this conversation soon.”
I smiled and waved, and opened my eyes to find that I was waving to the ceiling of my room.
Surprisingly, I felt like I had gotten very little, if any rest the whole time I had been out. My throat was absolutely parched, though, which was probably why I had woken up at all. When I got up to get myself some water, I was somewhat hampered by the bandages that covered my left arm and shoulder that I could not for the life of me remember getting. Before I was able to fully examine this minor mystery, though, an urgent need in my lower body made the bandages a moot point at best.
Once I had taken care of my needs, I settled back into bed, being careful not to lay on my left side. I was asleep before my head had even hit the pillow.
* * *
Captain Kalizar of the ship The Hidden Pursuit was not in a good mood. While the scientists under her command had assured her that the latest changes to the test subjects would keep them under their thrall, she couldn't really put that claim to the test. Both Quzin and Krin space were on high alert for any suspicious activity, and the blasted Quzin had the foresight to alert all of their allies of The Emperor’s recent activities. Attempting to find a suitable location to test the new units was nearly suicide in and of itself.
As she went through the new list of possible testing locations, her bad mood only seemed to intensify. So much so, that she nearly broke the touchpad on her desk when the intercom rang for her attention. “This better be important, Lieutenant.”
“Ma’am, we’ve received an encoded message from Emperor Histali. It’s marked as priority one.”
She gave out a weary sigh. She did not question the emperor’s rule, but sometimes his demand for perfection really set her on edge. “Thank you, Lieutenant. Send it to my personal terminal.”
It took her computer a few minutes to load and decode the video message, during which she took the time to have a nice, soothing cup of shara tea. Once she felt her nerves were calmed, she pressed the play button, ready to hear the emperor’s will.
“Greetings, Captain, I hope this finds you in good health. I would like to start by saying I am extremely pleased with the work you are doing. Your latest report about the new batch of test subjects is extremely promising.”
Captain Kalizar felt her confidence pick up from that; it wasn’t often that the emperor gave out praise. What he said next, though, completely deflated her. “That being said, I have new orders for you. Stop all attempts to find a place to test the new subjects and rejoin the fleet at Carathos.”
Kalizar let out a groan of frustration when she heard that. We just got these, and the project is already scrapped!?
The emperor was only a recording, though, and therefore unable to respond to her displeasure or her thoughts. Instead, he pressed a few things on his desk, and a diagram of the world that The Destiny Ascension had crashed on appeared to his right. “After reviewing all the data that Ilisk sent to you, we have decided that the world that the original project crash-landed on has shown far more promise in helping us achieve our goals. Word has it that The Aurora will arrive at the planet within the week, while most of the Holy Armada is moving towards the human homeworld to secure it from further incursion. We have no word of any further reinforcements being sent by the Quzin to this world, which is an opportunity that we cannot let pass. Known tactical data and a battle plan drawn up by my best admirals are both attached to this video; take time to study both as you travel to meet the fleet. As for your project, keep the subjects on ice. We still do not know if they will go rogue like the original project did, and we cannot take that chance during this engagement.”
That makes sense. And from what I remember from Ilisk’s report, The Bastion was heavily damaged, and there is only one Quzin exploratory vessel orbiting the planet, Captain Kalizar thought as she rubbed her mandibles. The new fleet shouldn’t have any problems flying in and taking what we want.
The more she thought about it, the more the coming offensive appealed to her. She had seen the data that Ilisk had sent, and she knew full well that that planet held creatures that had the same tech that those snake-witches possessed. As she studied the battle plan, her role in it, and listened to the rest of the emperor’s orders, she couldn’t stop her antenna from wiggling in excitement.
This had all the promise of bringing back the glory of the old empire.
“Lieutenant! Set a course for Carathos,” she said, pressing the shipwide intercom button on her touchpad. “All hands, this is the captain. Prepare yourselves for the glory of battle. The emperor calls us to war!”
Though her door was shut, she still could hear the distant echoes of her crew shouting throughout the ship, all calling for the glory of battle and the blood of their enemies.
Our moment has finally come… she thought as she went back to reviewing her orders; she had a lot of work to do to ensure victory for the empire.
If the Battlewatcher willed it, they were finally going to gain the edge they needed to win this long, bloody war with the Quzin.
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So happy to see a new chapter! Thank you for taking the time to make this for us. Congratulations on your family's new addition! Do you know if your having a boy or girl yet? I hope all is well, thank you again.
Thanks for the new chapter, it is always a pleasure getting one of those.
Heh, now I'm waiting for the ugly surprises that every side of the conflict is gonna get. I doubt it will go easy on any of them.
To the Krin, I say: BRING IT! A whole squad of you bitches couldn't take on one woman with a 12-gauge, you lot better bring your A-game if you think you can take on Earth!
...The Krin are going to get some sunburn.>: )
Congrats on pregnant wife! Also, good chapter. Anyway, it's good to hear from you again. Hope you have enough sleep when it's all said and done.
I can't quite remember, but whom does the friendly Krin captain serve again? I thought it was the leader of the Krin, but with this Emperor business, this seems wrong.
8727880
A space-faring civilization vs non space-faring one. Which one wins?
The one who can bomb the enemy from orbit.
I want to Exterminatus the Xeno Bugger scum.
8727977
I STILL SAY BRING IT! I'M AMERICAN! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS! I'LL KICK YOUR DOG'S ASS! I'LL KICK MY OWN ASS!
f00.inventorspot.com/images/Snapshot%202008-01-04%2008-52-54.img_assist_custom.gif
8727977 I'd say it's the one that can move bodies up to the size of small planets around at relativistic velocities with their will alone. The biggest battle armada in space isn't going to do you any good when your opponent can turn it into 'bugs on a windshield' by throwing a moon through it.
Which is exactly what will happen when Alex manages to build that Omniscope so they can find their targets.
I really, REALLY hope the Krin get torn apart. They have caused so much suffering, it's about time they tasted some themselves. With interest.
This is honestly one of my favorite aspects of this series; monotheistic space faring aliens. I've always thought that one of the best (funniest) ways for first contact to go would be for them to transmit to us "Greetings people of Earth. Have you heard the Good News of Jesus Christ?"
The other way was to trick them into telling us "we will never give you up, we will never let you down, we will never run away and desert you . . ."
8728019
Except they're not taking the fleet to Earth, they're taking it to Equus.
Basically the Quzin are rushing to defend Earth while the Krin said "fuck it, we'll get the ponies instead". How this'll all end depends on how well can Luna aim her moon, and how close to Equus itself she can swing it. If enough, well, no fleet can fight a frigin' moon. If they can get closer than she can use the oversized rock as a weapon, then things can get ugly.
Equestria doesn't have true industry though, and most their power comes from magic in one form or the other. If the Krin don't resort to glassing the planet - which they won't as it would reveal their empire's plans and do jack shit to help them win said war - they'll have to spend troops trying to conquer a species with means to fight against plasma. Hell, if the dragons are immune to it the bugs will sorely need other weapons. And with changeling infiltrators, unicorn magic, pegasus wheather control... it's going to be a harsh fight. Undoubtedly will torn the pony world asunder while the Quzin fleet travels to defend it, but it certainly won't be an easy battle.
8728100
could've sworn a fleet was mentioned shooting off to Earth as well...ah well, nvm then
So eerie. This is the second time that I've not thought of this fic in months, then thought "I wonder if it will update soon?" and have seen an update within a day. Stop with the alien mind-reading! (or don't, if it means more chapters
)
Well this is exciting. Can't wait until we see what happens when that fleet gets to earth.
Looking forward to seeing the damn bugs get crushed into goo.
8727977
"who wins?"
The one who can move celestial bodies with small effort before the enemy can even get close to orbit.
8727977
As you may recall, in this universe humans are considered unusually radiation resistant, and guess which planet is full of ICBM nukes. When it comes to home turf, the humans are quite capable of unleashing multiple boatloads of hurt. Still, it would not be pretty for either side.
8727717 It's a boy.
8727951 Captain Hazalk (the Krin captain currently orbiting Equis) serves the current government of the Krin homeworld set up by the Quzin. This new captain serves the emperor, the government that was overthrown by the Quzin.
all I ask is to finish the story.
p.s. Congrats of the baby on the way.
Hey congratulation on the baby. Hope you and your wife are doing very well.
I'm quite excited with this turn of events. Everything is moving forward and no doubt there will be high confrontation to come. The humans on Earth who have to help the probe, the invading fleet coming to Equs while a detached force is going to secure Earth. The Omniscope being built. Titania and her changeling hive possibly helping. Queen Chrysalis is still silent but no doubt there will be something to come if she finds that the aliens are a danger to her and must be forced to ally with everyone else. (Anything could happen.)
All this is leading up to a damn good story that is making me wish for the next update that sooner. Keep up the amazing work as always.
Well. If what you're implying about Discord is true, then he absolutely HAS to die. It goes to explain a lot of things. He's so evil that his existence cannot be tolerated nor his crimes forgiven. I hope some truly brutal justice is headed his way for what he did.
other than that, wooot!! Another chapter! Thank you very much!
Good luck with your real world stuff, hang in there, grats on the soon-to-be kid and I look forward to the next updates! :D
She seems really excited to re-enact all the glory of a bug hitting a windshield, with the windshield replaced with stellar bodies. Looking forward to Alex pulling his stuff together at the last possible moment.
Seems like this fic will end with some plot holes, but that's okay. We're still missing the reasoning for why the Krin were surprised by projectile weapons, what Chrysalis is going to do for revenge, what useful info is in Starswirl's book, and a few other things. Regardless, for how spread out the plot has become, you're doing a very good job of pulling everything together so far.
Best of luck with your move and new baby! I wish you the best in both writing and life.
8728809
It was all but stated that their surprise about projectile weapons was because another species had given them their advanced tech before they could really understand it.
Wouldn't it be funny if the Greek language turned out to be easily translatable?
Excellent, a shakedown test for the scope! Free targets! But, does this ship contain the newest captured humans? The Emperor's lapse in judgement may lead to the ruination of this plan...
Keep going! ;)
Well, Alex certainly had an interesting hypothesis about Discord stealing all magic from Earth. Let's see how much of it is true and how much more will be uncovered.
So, the Krin are going to attack Equestria?
... will Celestia use her sun to smite the enemies before they even land? Probably not, but that would be hilarious.
Huzzah, new What I Am chapter!
A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one. I generally enjoy how aggressively reasonable your characters are, even if the tension sometimes diffuses a bit too quickly. That was not a problem in this chapter, at least.
Also, I love the politics between the Whole Bunch Of Factions. Let me try to count them: we have Alex + Titania's hive + the ponies, humanity, the Quzin + the homeworld-based Krin, Chrysalis's hive, and the imperial Krin. Watching our diverse cast of heroes collide and unite is a lot of fun, which will hopefully happen to all but the last two (one?) factions. More specifically I really want to read about Titania's Changelings integrating with the ponies, as long as it does not distract too much from the main plot.
The formation of a Quzin-human alliance seems to be proceeding swimmingly, but I fear for the panicked bureaucratic and xenophobic nightmare that will ensue once the human media, politicians, and public in general learn about the aliens. Hopefully the threat of the Krin will help humanity unite with the Quzin, but unfortunately the Quzin may have scared off a threat which could have persuaded humanity to join. The Quzin do have more of a vested interest in protecting Earth – preventing the Krin from learning about human neuroscience – but it may have been better alliance-wise to mass their forces at Equis and give Earth just enough help to repel an invasion. Equestria is probably willing to befriend aliens regardless of a mutual enemy, but the comparatively suspicious humans seems more likely to need to unite against a common foe as a necessary condition of friendship.
That last part – yikes! Sounds like the Quzin made a mistake leaving Equestria unprotected. While the Equestrian alliance seems to have enough magic to hold off the invaders for some time, especially now that they are alert and preparing, I am worried about how war will affect them – especially if the Quzin do not come to the rescue, which I hope that they will. Bonus points if the Quzin rescuers bring humans to the party and unite the two protagonist alliances together! Assuming, that is, that humanity has not already made friendly contact with Equestria through Star Swirl's mirror.
Oh, and on top of the zillion uniquely awesome arcs of interplanetary and interspecies politics, you are building MLP lore too. Discord stealing Earth's magic is a fascinating hypothesis – someone remind me, is he reformed in this universe so they could simply ask him (not that they are guaranteed a straight answer)? I assume he's not, since I cannot recall him participating in the political craziness of the story so far.
It would be hilarious if the invasion force picks an isolated area to set down in and it turns out to be in the dragonlands. Remember how stupidly huge Torch was? He could eat their landing craft. Crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside!
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One other thing to note is that it shouldn't be too hard to convert ICBMs and possibly SLBMs into surface-to-orbit weapons. Just pull the heat shield, throw a radar guidance unit (probably from an air-to-air missile) and basic thruster pack on each warhead, and add a communications antenna to the main missile. That'll let you guide the main missile into the area with a ground-based radar and let the onboard guidance systems take the warheads the rest of the way to the target since those warships are going to have a much larger radar return than anything else up there. It won't be the best or most accurate solution, but with multiple warheads per missile and hundreds or thousands of available missiles in the combined American and Russian arsenals (mostly limited by conversion given the time constraints) you'll definitely be able to hit something unless they have some heavy duty point defense weapons or stay very high up.
Thought this story was scrapped and left for dead. Glad to see it is not. Keep up the fantastic work
8729725 I honestly haven't abandoned any of my stories. I simply have more pressing issues than this to get to. Eventually, I plan on having all of my stories completed.
Yay not dead 😁
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Not in the story. He said that in the comments section, and he also didn't go into any great detail on it (i.e. who exactly uplifted the Krin). Regardless, it should be established in the story somewhere, otherwise it is a story plot hole (even though he already explained how he would fill it).
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https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/2008-11-24
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DIscord is still stone right now, although that might change in the near future.
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Yeah, that's funny, but it would be awkward if that actually happened.
I hate you and this stupid series because every time I see it update I get 'What I've Done' by Linkin Park stuck in my head and I hope now that I've said this every time you go to work on it you do too....
PS keep up the good work
Good to see this thing progress.
I'm honestly a little torn. On the one hand the bugs have done enough to make me welcome the idea of them meeting the metaphorical boot. But on the other hand after what I've seen of the snakes in the previous stories and their passive arrogant superiority I cannot say that I can't sympathize with the bugs desire to say 'screw you religious space elves!'.
Great it finally happened we have space nazi's :(
Back from the dead? What necromancy is this?
8731948 Dude, it never died. I've just been busy with moving and stuff.
well, now. I wonder if they will still be so eager to fight when they see what they are really up against.
Wait... you're saying... Discord is why I can't do magic!? Well, maybe that isn't such a bad thing. Nobody would want to witness my Mahou Seinin Transformation Sequence.
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I know, I explicitly made that comment after reading the authors note. 😁
8734060 Uh... I knew that... yeah, totally...
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Well, that's sometimes the problem about wars fought on two fronts. One may lose in one theater (Equestria) while still win in the other (Earth).
Unless the Quzin haul in the majority of their forces over to Earth PDQ while staying out of the way so the Princesses can play whack-a-fleet with their sun and moon, then Earth is still fucked and Histali at least wins a pyrrhic victory.
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Levitate a few thousand tons of lead into space. Convert it into 50 pound spheres. Accelerate
the spheres to approximately .75c. Impact will, I think be in the range of 136 MT per sphere. Fired into
a fleet unable to detect any sign of thrusters, in a shotgun spread. I think the problem will go away.
8000 tons times 2000 pounds per ton in 50 pound spheres is 320,000 spheres, most likely
undetectable until the last moments.