Replanting (part 13)
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Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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7th September 2013
23:31 GMT
"Are you injured?"
[No.]
"Has he found you?"
[No.]
"How are you paralysed?"
[Unknown.]
Uh…
"Where are you?"
[Underground portion of the ship.]
"When did the paralysation effect take hold?"
[The moment I came through the hull.]
I frown. "How total-?"
[Total physical paralysis. My exo-mantle has a neuro-link.]
"Have you seen Andar Pul?"
[No, and I can't hear him either.]
Hm. This reminds me-. "Can you see a gong?"
[No. Why?]
"There are several ways to induce paralysis, but while we're talking about Antares, the Gamma Gong is the one that comes to mind first."
[Do they interfere with power rings?]
"It didn't the one time I encountered one in the field. They added a force field which prevented me sending-."
[Come pick me up.]
"Confirm. Pick you up instead of attempting to detain Andar Pul myself?"
[Yes.]
"Understood. En route now."
Alright, now I can track exo-mantle phasing by using my ring, and that sort of short ranged scan isn't significantly higher output than anything else I've done while standing here so it shouldn't increase our risk of detection. Phase and scan… There. And fly.
I drop through the ground, following the trail. Detecting where phased objects have been is actually easier than detecting where they are, which is… Fun. Not that phasing is without risks around Nth metal. But as far as I know Hyathis doesn't use the stuff in her native-grown ships, due to having no way to get any more. Now, I've had a couple of ideas on how to interfere with a gamma gong, but given that they appear to be rare even amongst the Dhorians I haven't spent a great deal of time on it.
You don't have to hear it for it to work, so it doesn't work through sonic-induced paralysis. That also means that sonic baffles don't work. In all instances so far it's required someone to actually strike the thing, but if Jade can't see anyone -and presumably can't be seen- then I have to assume that isn't the case.
And it-. Can't have been intended to open Thanagar to invasion though planetwide paralysis, otherwise they'd have already used it like that. The Dhorians might well try and encourage Thanagar to invade Alstair, given that they've spent hundreds of years fighting one another, but they've had decades to try something like this… If it even is them.
So… Andar Pul works with them to implicate Alstair and prod the thanagarians to attack? Okay, that's… Actually his job. They haven't made any secret of the fact that they consider Queen Hyathis an existential threat, and the fact that some thanagarians willingly follow her a profound insult. So he takes the initiative, doctors a few reports and pushes things along. Starting to sound like the High Mor's position doesn't have universal support. Not sure if killing me was supposed to be an opportunistic assassination or… Something else?
So…
Ergh.
Assassinating me and making it look like it was Queen Hyathis might motivate Thanagar to attack more quickly, but we know that they're building up for an attack anyway. Unless they're preparing to attack somewhere else? I don't think so because they've got a rhythm to their expansions and it isn't quite time yet. And they don't like having lizarkons armed for long, so they're not just getting their training in early. Would the thanagarians recognise a gamma gong? Yes, because the Hawks will have fed back to them about its existence. But if they just thought it was a musical instrument they might flat out overlook it. Or they might not find it.
Or… Antares isn't all that far from Thanagar. Maybe he just thinks it makes sense to prioritise conquering the whole area rather than let any of the belligerent parties win.
I see a brief change in texture as I pass through the narrow gap between the pit and the outer hull of the ship sitting in it, and then I'm through the hull-.
And I can't move. Interesting that it works on phased objects. But… Yep, armour can't move either, but… My constructs are unimpeded. Shipmaster, I choose you!
The Karrakanian Shipmaster I assimilated appears next to me. Honestly… I think that I probably should take him to Highfather to turn him back into flesh. Killing an enemy in war is easily justifiable, but he's just a weak New God rather than something that I need to turn into orange light to contain it.
I tweak its desires to seek out the gong and… It doesn't appear to be affected by the paralysis. It flies upwards and sticks its hand through the ceiling of… I think this is a plant food storage reservoir. Depleted now, which could give some idea of how long this ship's been away from-
And I can move again.
-home.
The shipmaster is holding… Well, it's smaller than the last gamma gong I saw. I've got no idea how significant the size is-.
Jade phases back in next to me, and I follow suit.
"Damage detection would report-."
"Agreed."
I Look for Andar Pul… And something's off, but I see him, and make the Shipmaster desire to take him into custody unharmed. Not as reliable an agent as Jade, but at least it won't be stopped if the mini gamma gongs are one per room. The Shipmaster takes off at speed, while Jade and I advance to the entrance to the next room. Primary power and drive combined. Clearly an older design, and… Assuming that the design is standard…
I crumble a small hole in the wall and send a crumbler-tipped filament through the superstructure towards the centre of the-. Yes, there it is. Cut it out of the power system and physically remove it-.
And note that Jade has picked up the first one.
And walk into the room just as I get the feeling of realised desire from the Shipmaster. And I use that connection to brand.
It takes a moment, but there's… Surprisingly little resistance as it takes affect. And then give him the desire to deactivate the internal paralysation system, good.
"Okay, we got him. Let's go and find out what's going on."
23:31 GMT
"Are you injured?"
[No.]
"Has he found you?"
[No.]
"How are you paralysed?"
[Unknown.]
Uh…
"Where are you?"
[Underground portion of the ship.]
"When did the paralysation effect take hold?"
[The moment I came through the hull.]
I frown. "How total-?"
[Total physical paralysis. My exo-mantle has a neuro-link.]
"Have you seen Andar Pul?"
[No, and I can't hear him either.]
Hm. This reminds me-. "Can you see a gong?"
[No. Why?]
"There are several ways to induce paralysis, but while we're talking about Antares, the Gamma Gong is the one that comes to mind first."
[Do they interfere with power rings?]
"It didn't the one time I encountered one in the field. They added a force field which prevented me sending-."
[Come pick me up.]
"Confirm. Pick you up instead of attempting to detain Andar Pul myself?"
[Yes.]
"Understood. En route now."
Alright, now I can track exo-mantle phasing by using my ring, and that sort of short ranged scan isn't significantly higher output than anything else I've done while standing here so it shouldn't increase our risk of detection. Phase and scan… There. And fly.
I drop through the ground, following the trail. Detecting where phased objects have been is actually easier than detecting where they are, which is… Fun. Not that phasing is without risks around Nth metal. But as far as I know Hyathis doesn't use the stuff in her native-grown ships, due to having no way to get any more. Now, I've had a couple of ideas on how to interfere with a gamma gong, but given that they appear to be rare even amongst the Dhorians I haven't spent a great deal of time on it.
You don't have to hear it for it to work, so it doesn't work through sonic-induced paralysis. That also means that sonic baffles don't work. In all instances so far it's required someone to actually strike the thing, but if Jade can't see anyone -and presumably can't be seen- then I have to assume that isn't the case.
And it-. Can't have been intended to open Thanagar to invasion though planetwide paralysis, otherwise they'd have already used it like that. The Dhorians might well try and encourage Thanagar to invade Alstair, given that they've spent hundreds of years fighting one another, but they've had decades to try something like this… If it even is them.
So… Andar Pul works with them to implicate Alstair and prod the thanagarians to attack? Okay, that's… Actually his job. They haven't made any secret of the fact that they consider Queen Hyathis an existential threat, and the fact that some thanagarians willingly follow her a profound insult. So he takes the initiative, doctors a few reports and pushes things along. Starting to sound like the High Mor's position doesn't have universal support. Not sure if killing me was supposed to be an opportunistic assassination or… Something else?
So…
Ergh.
Assassinating me and making it look like it was Queen Hyathis might motivate Thanagar to attack more quickly, but we know that they're building up for an attack anyway. Unless they're preparing to attack somewhere else? I don't think so because they've got a rhythm to their expansions and it isn't quite time yet. And they don't like having lizarkons armed for long, so they're not just getting their training in early. Would the thanagarians recognise a gamma gong? Yes, because the Hawks will have fed back to them about its existence. But if they just thought it was a musical instrument they might flat out overlook it. Or they might not find it.
Or… Antares isn't all that far from Thanagar. Maybe he just thinks it makes sense to prioritise conquering the whole area rather than let any of the belligerent parties win.
I see a brief change in texture as I pass through the narrow gap between the pit and the outer hull of the ship sitting in it, and then I'm through the hull-.
And I can't move. Interesting that it works on phased objects. But… Yep, armour can't move either, but… My constructs are unimpeded. Shipmaster, I choose you!
The Karrakanian Shipmaster I assimilated appears next to me. Honestly… I think that I probably should take him to Highfather to turn him back into flesh. Killing an enemy in war is easily justifiable, but he's just a weak New God rather than something that I need to turn into orange light to contain it.
I tweak its desires to seek out the gong and… It doesn't appear to be affected by the paralysis. It flies upwards and sticks its hand through the ceiling of… I think this is a plant food storage reservoir. Depleted now, which could give some idea of how long this ship's been away from-
And I can move again.
-home.
The shipmaster is holding… Well, it's smaller than the last gamma gong I saw. I've got no idea how significant the size is-.
Jade phases back in next to me, and I follow suit.
"Damage detection would report-."
"Agreed."
I Look for Andar Pul… And something's off, but I see him, and make the Shipmaster desire to take him into custody unharmed. Not as reliable an agent as Jade, but at least it won't be stopped if the mini gamma gongs are one per room. The Shipmaster takes off at speed, while Jade and I advance to the entrance to the next room. Primary power and drive combined. Clearly an older design, and… Assuming that the design is standard…
I crumble a small hole in the wall and send a crumbler-tipped filament through the superstructure towards the centre of the-. Yes, there it is. Cut it out of the power system and physically remove it-.
And note that Jade has picked up the first one.
And walk into the room just as I get the feeling of realised desire from the Shipmaster. And I use that connection to brand.
It takes a moment, but there's… Surprisingly little resistance as it takes affect. And then give him the desire to deactivate the internal paralysation system, good.
"Okay, we got him. Let's go and find out what's going on."
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