Chapter 16: Plans and Strategy
<Author's note.> this chapter contains a guest character from a fan. XD<end note>
Inside the tent the air was filled with the gentle snores of pinkie and the slow breathing of the zebra and two pegasi, their sleeping forms laid carefully in a pile of fur and feathers in one corner of the room, the hollow-boned pegasi atop the heavy striped mare.
Twilight and Applejack sat in the centre with spike and rarity, all four facing the other side of the smokeless 'fire' (a stone, heated white hot by dragon-fire and magic) where Pinkie stood stretching and running on the spot.
Twilight spoke first “Are you sure you don't want to sit down Pinkie? We stopped by Sweet Apple Acres on the way into Ponyville and picked up two spare barrels of apples.” she smiled at Applejack and held up a shiny apple in her magic aura.
Pinkie smiled her best, but didn't stop her exercise, bending over backwards into a wheel pose “Sorry Twi but I can't, I need to get ready for round two.”
Applejack shook her head and sighed “Ya sure 'bout that Pinkie? It's a nice apple, ah'm sure Spike would roast it if ya asked nicely. We even have some cinnamon and chocolate chips to go in 'em” when the orange cow-mare cleared her throat meaningfully, Spike looked his roasting of his own apple and gave a hasty thumbs up before returning to his task.
Pinkie's resolve wavered for a moment, but her smile lost it's edge and she dropped into a rapid series of push-ups to distract herself from the mouthwatering scent of cinnamon and apple that pervaded the air, backed by the heady aroma of melting chocolate “no” she answered between huffs of breath “Nopony beats Pinkie Pie at tag *huff* Especially meanie-bo-beanie *huff-huff* aliens who cheat *huff* and make ponies take drugs *huff* when they don't want to.” snorting through her nostrils and pushing up onto her hind-hooves, Pinkie went into a shadow-boxing bout “I'm not going easy on them this time. No more Miss Nice-as-Pie”
Rarity sat nibbling daintily on her own perfectly roasted apple (courtesy of a smitten young dragon) and rolled her eyes as she watched the atmosphere grow heavy with an oncoming argument. Brushing her mane away from her eyes the perfect porcelain pony stood and said politely “I would not expect you to go easy Pinkie dear, forcing you to take anything without consent Is most uncouth” as she walked over.
The fashionista made an easy smile, laying a pristine hoof across the Pink Party Pony's withers and offering a bite of apple, which was taken with enthusiasm before continuing on “But I wonder if you might be taking the wrong path with this dear. If these 'humans' are so determined to cheat your little game of tag, they probably will again hmm?” Rarity chuckled lightly, encouraging Pinkie to play along as she was guided gently to sit by the hot-rock.
Pinkie accepted an apple-stick from Spike with a smile on her face, but bit her lip when answering her friend “I-I guess so...”
Rarity beamed, taking her seat back again and having another nibble on her apple “Well then darling, Wouldn't it be better to wait until the princess has negotiated with them before attempting another game? That way you will have more time to prepare, and thus you may well get away without another dose of those horrid drugs.”
Pinkie bounced back to her bubbly state after a moment of thought, absently covering her apple with cinnamon and chocolate as she spoke “Okay Rares, I guess I was being a silly-pony huh?”
There was a brief round of chuckles before everyone settled back to their apples.
A few minutes passed in delicious silence before anypony spoke.
Spike broke the quiet first, twirling his apple-stick between thumb and fore-claw as he watched the skin brown and cook. “Hey Twilight” he called, turning to look at the purple unicorn.
“Yeah Spike?” the librarian looked up from her book (Zoology of Zebrica – A study of Apes and their evolutionary cousins) and raised an eyebrow.
The dragon stood slowly, putting a hand on the white-hot rock to lean on as he got his legs under him “Should I take that pony you brought back from Ponyville an apple? I don't think she's moved away from the fence in like an hour.”
Twilight nodded without a moment's hesitation “Of course Spike. You should probably re-heat her rock while you're there, it must be getting chilly by now.” she smiled gently as the dragon nodded and dashed from the room with three fresh apple-sticks in tow -one with just cinnamon, one with just chocolate, one with both.
Chuckling at their scaled friend's enthusiasm, Applejack tucked her hat down over her eyes and smirked “Ain't that little guy just a perfect gentle-drake eh Twi? You sure raised him good.”
Twilight blushed and laughed nervously “Oh stop Applejack, the princess did most of the work. I don't want to be a bragger”
Rarity couldn't help but join in then, laughing good naturedly “Oh do stop being so very modest darling, you should feel proud of moulding young Spike into such a handsome little dragon” her voice had just the right tone to set Twilights blush off again, so the fashion queen and all the rest chuckled while their purple friend's cheeks blazed with embarrassment.
After the laughter died down Applejack waved a forehoof and stopped herself snickering with no little effort before asking “Anyway Twi, enough ribbing. Mind telling me who exactly that mare you brought with you is? I think I saw her round the village a couple times, but ah don't think ah've ever talked to her proper.
Pinkie Pie put up her hoof like a foal at school and waved it frantically, obviously wanting to tell, but she let Twilight explain first.
“That's Technia, Applejack, an inventor from Detrot. When I mentioned all the technology these humans possess, she made a face like Sweetie-Belle in a sweet-shop and I couldn't keep her from following me.” The purple unicorn glanced around the group “Surely you must have heard of her?”
Both ponies shook their head (apart from Pinkie, who was bouncing up and down to get Twilight's attention)
The student attempted to narrow it down “Technia? Her dad was the Inventor of Equestria's first manalectric dam?” another shake of the head from the fashionista and the farmer.
“Her workshop is down the road from Bon-Bon's shop?” More shakes
“Her house explodes occasionally?” enough shakes to bring the boys to the yard.
“She tried to give you that automatic plough last month Applejack?” at that the orange mare's eyes lit up with recognition.
“Oh that Technia. Now ah remember” she chuckled “That plough went two rows afore it exploded, still haven't managed to get the share dislodged from that oak-tree. Made good firewood though.”
Rarity nodded “Oh yes, I heard that from my boutique, It gave Opalescence quite the scare.” another nibble of the apple passed before the pernicious unicorn lowered her voice scandalously “Though frankly my dears, I'm more surprised that Miss Heartstrings, Bon-Bon's beau, didn't take it upon herself to follow you here Twilight, from the way she rants on about aliens, I would have thought she'd be the first.”
Pinkie couldn't contain herself any-more then, just as Applejack was crinkling her muzzle and opening her mouth -no doubt to make some comment about 'gossiping behind other mare's backs- the party pony cried “Ooh, I know Technia! She helped me design my party-cannon! Before she helped all the confetti kept coming out burnt.”
While the three sat in silence to process this revelation, there came a tremendous burp from the entrance to the tent, and a cloud of smoke floated up across the ceiling. Twilight looked over and smiled “Speaking of burnt. Got a letter for me Spike?”
The baby dragon grinned proudly and held out the tightly bound scroll for perusal, waiting until the magic aura took it away to turn and let out a smaller belch off to his side, thumping his chest contently with a clawed fist.
Carefully ignoring the disgusted snort from Rarity's direction Twilight broke the wax seal and unrolled the scroll before reading aloud
“Dear Twilight and Friends,
I hope this letter finds you well, I would hope that you have remained true to my instructions and stayed in hiding within my old castle.” A few guilty looks between the few friends showed their unease before the librarian was motioned to continue.
“If you have chosen to ignore my request, and follow the alien craft to their landing site, then I am a little disappointed but not entirely unsurprised or worried, though I would hope you have managed to keep Rainbow Dash and Pinkie from doing anything that might jeopardise the coming talks. If not, then please feel free to consider me deeply concerned, I beg you to at least stay safe.” Twilight coughed uncomfortably with a glance at the slumbering speedster before reading on.
“In any case my dear student and favoured subjects, to business I must move. I would request most firmly that you and your friend move to a high elevation at your earliest convenience, taking care to site yourselves far from the human encampment, Make sure to bring the Elements of Harmony with you and keep them on your person. A few days hence, you may be aware that I and a host of ambassadors from Equestria's various species will be making the trip up to the alien's star-vessel, to conduct peace talks.” Twilight nodded in understanding, her eyes concerned as they read ahead of her mouth.
“In the event that I or any of the ambassadors are attacked while on board, I will send you a message via dragon-fire (so far as I know it is unstoppable by any known means). On receiving the message, I would ask that you and your friends activate and use the elements, targeting them at the alien's vessel. For the safety of Equestria Twilight, I beg you all to heed my request on this day, I cannot force you to do this, and I will admit that I am unsure of what effect the elements will have if used, but if I am felled or disabled by these creatures then I will use any measures I can think of to help ensure Equestria's survival.
From the desk of Princess Celestia.
Stay safe.”
There was an uneasy silence for a moment as the friends brooded over the message.
Then Applejack stood and rolled her neck to crack the joints “Aright then. Ah guess it's to the mountain we go? Ah'll get rainbow if one a y'all 'll get Flutters” The cow-mare trotted over without waiting for a response to grab the comatose pegasi and sling her across her barrel.
“I suppose Technia will be fine to stay and watch Zecora and the Crusaders whilst we're gone. Good thing I packed an extra tent, even if it is less fabulous than this one.” with a flick of her elegant horn, a pair of bulging saddlebags flew to rest on the white unicorn's back, completed by a matching scarf, earmuffs and fluffy hat.
Twilight flipped her book into her own bags and took up both her and Applejack's bags, earning a grateful nod from the mare “Big Mac promised to head out with the cart to pick them all up, so they'll be back in Ponyville before night falls.”
Pinkie was strangely muted, a thoughtful smile on as she picked up the drugged up butter-shy and slung her over her back, picking up twin sets of saddle-bags in her teeth.
Acting on some unseen cue, Spike hitched up the party cannon to it's harness and placed it over Pinkie's shoulders, the bouncy pony giving him a little nod. Lifting the large apple barrel onto his back with surprising ease the tiny drake bit his lip (forgetting his fangs and causing a small trickle of blood to trickle down) before asking nervously. “She's just being safe isn't she? Nopony could hurt Celestia. Right?”
The mares looked between themselves before turning and doing the same to the little reptile, all speaking with reassuring surety.
“Of course not Spike.”
“Don't be silly partner, Old gal's the toughest there is.”
“Perish the thought darling.”
“Mff Hmm. Mf Mf hmfff. *muffled giggle*”
With a final moment taken to, write an explaining note and dump water over the hot rock, turning it from a hot yellow to cooling red with a hiss, crackle and pop, the group left, all of them glancing over to where mare sat by the perimeter fence, twelve pages into her huge note/sketchpad and accelerating, half a roasted apple-stick stuck into the ground next to her flank, alongside the remains of two others.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zis is an outrage!” the griffin screeched, his chest puffed out and wings spread in a threatening posture as he reared in the centre of the throne-room floor, his eyes locked on the cowering pony clerk before him, claws clenching tightly at the stone.
Behind him the dragon ambassador loomed like a shadowed monolith against the sun. his wings not spread, but tense enough that they might at any moment “I am forced to agree with Monsieur Guisarme, this is most unwelcome” the rumbling voice of the huge dragon wasn't angry, or particularly annoyed, it didn't need to be. “By what right does Celestia presume to call these talks? I would like to know.”
The zebra ambassador spoke next from his seat in the dragon's shadow, his tones neutral as always, but with an edge that spoke of hidden turmoil “I also question Celestia's judgement in this matter. I will cede the need for peace talks with this alien species, their level of technological advancement makes them impossible to ignore, but to let the talks take place upon the aliens own vessel? That speaks of little but foolish arrogance.”
The clerk panicked under their glares and gazes, but before his trembling lips could stammer, the calm tones of a god rang from the throne behind him “Then consider me an arrogant fool Ambassador Hekima. I would prefer that when you have concerns to voice, that you take them to me first, before trying to intimidate my staff” Celestia smiled faintly while all eyes snapped to her and the zebra blustered, she inclined her head serenely to nod at the trembling clerk “You are dismissed Mr. Time-Table, please give your wife my congratulations on your new daughter, I have heard she is quite the cute one.”
The clerk bowed so low his muzzle brushed the flagstones before dashing from the room, breathing out a desperate gasp of thanks.
The dragon ambassador raised his leg to let the stallion pass, before looking to the Diarch on her throne “I apologize on my own behalf Princess, I would have come to you sooner, but I was unable to locate you.” A smile let his fangs show while his nostrils flared “Though perhaps that is just as well, I would hate to interrupt whatever you were doing with that stallion” Celestia had the decency to look slightly embarrassed while the dragon laughed with all the rumble of a landslide “To say nothing of the mare.” he finished, snorting smoke as the next few chuckles turned into another bout of wall-shaking laughter.
The griffin was not amused, even as the Zebra joined the dragon in merriment, with a tone more aggressive than the last he squawked “There are Aliens invading your country, and you forgo your duties to dally in the bedroom!” the enraged chimera took a step forward “Is zis whole situation a joke to you Celestia!?”
Celestia turned her eye to the fuming ambassador and smiled, apparently ignoring his obvious aggression “I assure you Ambassador Guisarme, my activities were entirely innocent, though I had hoped a shower would cover up the scent.” she tittered faintly before stopping and switching to a more serious version of her standard smile “I can understand your concern Ambassador, please do not think me so ignorant as to think that I can order any of you to do anything. But I would hope that you will at least consider that my many years in office count for something. These aliens are powerful, that much I know. For that reason, and many others, we as a planet need to earn their trust.”
The griffin made a dismissive snort and looked away, leaving the ruler to continue “Trust is important, as any of you know. These aliens have been wronged by my sister, they have every right too mistrust me, That is why I ceded to their request for the talks to take place on their ship, they are scared of what they do not know, and being in a familiar setting will help ease their minds.”
The dragon spoke then, his craggy face thoughtful “hmm, there is wisdom in your speech Celestia, as there always is. But what if these alien's fear, their nervous front, is but that, a front? What if we are betrayed whilst we talk, there will be no escape from their ship, even I would be afraid to fall from such a height.”
The alicorn nodded, allowing the giant the point before she rebuked “A fair point Ambassador Shinescale, but one I have considered. As we speak, the Elements of Harmony are preparing themselves to fire, and the unicorns of my guard stand ready to lend aid. The alien's ship is high up, but a thousand unicorns cannot be ignored, even if the ship cannot be attacked directly, there are ways to affect it indirectly, so long as you can think outside the box. Equestria is pacifistic, this you well know ambassadors, but my little ponies are far from defenseless.”
Guisarme snorted again, his beak clacking “Of course Princess, I am sure you have a plan for everything, but have you considered us that are not immortal? You may be able to take whatever the aliens do and recover, the dragon's hide is nigh impregnable, what of myself and Hekima?”
Celestia appeared to consider this for a moment, then turned her radiant smile upon the beaked speaker again “Oh of course my dear Guisarme, how could I forget. I have considered this however, and my plan is rather simple. I have managed to talk the good captain into allowing my commander of the royal guard, Shining Armour, to accompany us. In the event of any trouble, he is under orders to teleport yourself and ambassador Hekima down to a predesignated spot on the surface, should he be taken out then I will put every thaum of power I can into doing the spell myself.”
She turned to look up at the dragon ambassador, floating an oversized pendant on a chain to him “I would not forget you ambassador Shinescale, so I have had this charmed necklace commissioned, it is enchanted to create a forcefield of air, large enough to contain yourself and any three pony sized creatures you enfold in your wings. Your natural magic resistance makes it a short lived spell, but should you feel in true danger, simply make your way to the outside of the alien vessel, and it will protect you long enough to survive the fall.
The ambassadors all looked sated with this, the dragon turning the pendant over in his claws, until the zebra finally broke the uneasy silence to ask. “Clearly Princess, our judgement was marred by our tempers in this matter, you have once again proven your mind to be a match for any. What of yourself? Have you no plans to escape?”
Celestia smiled with joy as each of the ambassadors expressed seemingly genuine concern for her, choosing to wait and bask in the flow of feeling for a moment before speaking calmly “I have no plans to save myself Ambassador Hekima, I do not need any protection. Whatever tortures these aliens devise, I will survive them, should they choose to try and hurl me from their ship into the voids of space, then that is their own loss, I have no real need to breath, and the cold of the vacuum or the burn of the sun hold no terrors for me. I will make my way back to Equestria in time.
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I love cider, don't you guys. I've drank about 6 cans by now, and I feel great
Enjoy
Dangit, she's feeling very OP... but lets hope the humans can contain her. My only hope is that you don't make her so op that she can just overpower the whole ship's system. Once again, great chapter.
1604122
What he said.
I love it when someone's preconceptions are shattered.
Also, post this fast more often!
I vote for human. Long live humanity!
When I read the description, I immediately thought of Deep Space Nine :0
1604122 Eh, I would prefer her being an actual goddess... Celestia's almost always underwhelming.
FREAKIN MEDICS A SPY.
1604323
And exactly what makes a God? Immortality? I'm quite sure humans already have a firm grasp of that in this world. My guess of why the captain was shocked, was because such primitive creatures had immortality. Of course the author might disagree. I'm pretty sure the humans are using fusion reactors right now. Fire in its most primitive form.
I don't see any reasons for humans to contain Celestia this time. They have Luna, and I don't think that Celestia is going to do anything stupid, same about the dragon.
I rather hope that no one does anything stupid enough that they need to contain Celestia. Unless the humans are using this as an opportunity to kidnap themselves some more hostages, which by the way would be a terrible plan diplomatically speaking, they should only need to be able to safely host her and the rest of the ambassadorial party until it's time for them to leave.
I could see the gryphon or maybe the zebra causing some problem, but the dragon seems likely to play along nicely right up to the point that something goes terribly wrong.
1604323
Why is she a god, she has got pwnt many times.
I vote for successful peacetalks with only minor incidents that can be resolved quickly before any of the "preperations" are needed.
Still beeing prepered is never a bad idea.
Just wait until she finds out that humans know how to break those crystals that allow her to use magic.
1604332 A slip of tongue then... Goddess is the wrong word. Rather, it would be nice if Celestia did indeed have enough power to smash the humans uncontested - regardless of their sonic weaponry, or what have you. Walk softly, carry a big stick, as it were. Regardless, time will tell.
1604831
*Sigh* Does no one on this site actually love their own species and actually roots for them? I for one dislike the ponies, humans and them are like Cain and Abel. The ponies get a relativity carefree existence and don't have any 'entropy' to worry about. Humans on the other hand have always gotten the short straw for everything, harder life, everything is leading to chaos, ect. Even if she could crush the ship, she still wouldn't be able to stop thousands of warheads from raining down on her planet.
Technia was a nice surprise (if I had offered her earlier, I had forgotten about it). As for her father having made the first manalectric dam, I shall add that to her biography.
1604864 But Celestia also gets the short straw as a character. She typically has to fail in order for there to be a purpose for everyone else stepping up to the plate. I'd just like to see how that turns out here, and I'm hoping she doesn't fail.
As for the humans... Well, we're antagonists here. I don't hate us, but I don't love us in this particular situation either. Their reactions are somewhat understandable - the good captain's out to protect him and his own. However, the magical kill switch strikes me as off.
In any case, we'll see how it turns out, and I'm sure it'll be good either way.
Lol she thinks she's invincible, prove her wrong please....
Read this.
See this.
I love what you've done with Celestia.
I know I've said this before, but she's A GOD!
And I'm happy to see you reflect that.
1604911
i.imgur.com/o6AnH.gif
>MFW
Human's are the antagonists? Do you remember how they got into this situation, because it sure as hell wasn't on their own accord. They're handling the situation in the favor of the ponies at this point. As for the magic kill switch, do you really blame them? They're facing an unknown xeno, which could crush their ship like a bug. As I've said before, this could be considered an act of war and protocol would have most likely stated the best course of action would have been to bomb the planet from orbit.
1605035
Lol, sure.
A god defeated by a single beam of energy from chrysalis. A god that sends others to do her work. A god who is not omniscient (the changeling incident)
So why exactly is she a god again? She can move the sun? That's never proven, more likely she just uses that to control her subjects cause the energy required to move something the mass of the sun..... Well, nothing on one little planet would be a problem for her, much less other beings.
Are the characters from DBZ gods? Cause they are definitely more powerful than she is.
Okay that is just way too OP. You can't survive in space.
Ever.
The cold of space would freeze her to death. No oxygen will, and I repeat WILL kill you. You need air to have your blood distribute the oxygen. Or the depressurazitation (that may be spelled wrong) will turn her into a balloon and POP her.
Do. Not. Make. Her. Invincible.
1604945
The ship does have shields.
I kinda agree with what a lot of people are saying, you're making Celestia too OP. But it's your story so go ahead with what ever you want to do.
1604864
Whenever I see a humans vs ponies story, I find it a complete load of shit when the humans lose a single battle. Of course, the ponies have magic, but humans have the whole 'thousands of years more advanced, i.e guns and missiles vs crossbows and spears' advantage.
Fuck man, that ship might not be specialized for a battle, but I can't imagine it has LOTS of guns and bombs on it.
I'm reading all these comments and I'm loving all of you.
but I'm writing the confrontation chapter as I type, and now I can't stop sniggering whenever I write a Celestia line
I might make this tea-cup thing a running gag
thanks bro
1604908
1605508
omg... were we friends in another lifetime? I cannot overstate how much I agree with you. The population of Equestria is around a few million. So how does, lets give them the upper hand this time and say that they have 20million ponies. How does a population of 20million defeat a population of 7billion (or more, since it's the future) when two thirds of their population doesn't have opposable thumbs or anything to match (magic). This is exactly the reason I hate the whole conversion beuru series. Even Celestia would not be able to stop thousands of tactical thermal nuclear warheads. She might be able to put up a force shield, but for how long? The radiation would either seep through or just stay on top of the shield. Once she gets tired and has to turn it off for a bit, BAM radiation falls and ponies die from radiation.
1605605
I love you
I'm listening....
1605605
Not to mention the fact that she probably has to hold it up manually.
With the size of a thermonuclear explosion, she'd instantly drop the shield in pure agony, killing her and the ponies in the city.
1605813
Sorry brah, ain't my cup of tea.
1606100
not in that way.
1604634
You have obviously not read about the Greco-Roman gods, they were even more fallable than their worshippers.
Imagine several dozen Trollestias and Molestias who are drunk practically 24/7, where nearly all their messes were their own hubris, or their half-mortal bastards coming back to bite them.
No wonder a large swath of the first Christian bibles were written in GREEK!
1606148
Yeah I know... I was messin' with ya. Anyway, I think we should stop... we're destroying this authors comment page.
1604911
>Humans are the Antagonists
What have you been smoking?
1606223
Or are we!
1604084 random statement #1 initiated...1606100 random comment #2... those are the only two that caught my interest... feel free to add more! Random comment #3 successfully posted
This is a great story, and I cannot wait to see more. Although, your grammar and punctuation leaves a bit to be desired; I wonder if you actually proof read this at all sometimes. The story is great, and I really don't have all that many complaints--although one chapter does repeat a previous chapter earlier at the beginning that I've seen--and the story-line is coming along swimmingly. I do find how you are narrating this entire ordeal very amusing--especially with the portions pertaining to Princess Luna. I do await elatedly for the next chapter!
1606153
Interesting insight. I do agree even deities are not perfect.
1605605
Another interesting point that I have to agree with. I have heard of this 'conversion bureau' before--and unfortunately read a few parts of it for reference--and it seems to cause nothing but strife. An interesting idea turned into a major strife--sad really. Though, I withhold my opinion on battles for there are too many factors to make any decision on such matters. Too many undefined and interpretative factors, that is.
I just hope that the situation can be resolved with little complications. Both parties are in the wrong here and having talks about what happened should surely allow cooler heads to prevail.
Also, I notice a lot of people only seem to apply the Christian definition of a 'god'. Celestia and Luna are clearly 'gods' in the old Greek sense. Just as fallible as any mortal.
1605224
[pet peeve]
Space is not, i repeat NOT, cold in any way. Temperature is a property of matter, and there is no matter in space. In fact, a vacuum is the most perfect insulator imaginable. Someone adrift in space would only be able to lose heat by radiating infrared light, they'd be more likely to be cooked by solar radiation than freeze to death.
[/pet peeve]
1608561
Celestia does seem a bit OP here, but keep in mind we only have her word for it. Compared to everything else on the planet, she really is that far above them. Doesn't mean that'll hold true when she's confronted with technology completely outside her experience.
Just as fallible, and definitely not invincible either. I think it was Ares that got beat up by one of Achilles' drinking buddies and locked up in a barrel for a year or so.
I don't really agree that both sides are at fault here though. I'd say the humans have shown remarkable restraint given this started with an unprovoked attack on them which stranded them, damaged their ship, injured several crew (including the captain... what the hell was he doing in a fusion room anyway?), and could easily have killed someone. Yes, that was Luna, but when you're a sovereign ruler you can't really just act on your own, you're implicitly acting on behalf of your nation. 'Act of war' is no exaggeration here.