Archangel's Return: An Alternative Viewpoint

"Captain! Lurker de-cloaking, port bow by zenith quarter!"

"I suspected he was out there, Ensign. Verify his spoiler status, then hail him."

"Captain, sensors cannot detect his spoiler protectors. I think he's been out there a while, ma'am."

"Then this may get interesting. On screen...."


I think it's correct that we must deal with the Thing in the Basement to deal with the OBS. Without the interface that almost certainly exists there -- or at minimum, the codes and frequencies commanding the OBS -- the Inner Circle is in a Catch-22. It just might barely be possible to use Nimue's Cave to construct TF-era materiel, but it's unlikely to be able to do so on a scale that would saturate the defenses. Certainly not in the overwhelming wave that would be needed to take it out before the response buried Nimue's Cave beyond the ability of the natives to re-excavate it.

We know that the Temple was constructed by the hard-line faction of the surviving crew, for their remaining propaganda -- the edited Writ -- declares their opposition as demons of Shan-Wei. But matters were surely confused during the War. We know from just what we have heard of Kohdy so far that there were communications, and I cannot imagine Kohdy coming by his knowledge of Espanol by other means than tampering with his NEAT exposure, by *someone* (Team Shan-Wei? The moderates?). A mole in the Temple construction crew could have admitted a moderate, or (less likely) a former Shan-Wei agent like Knowles.

The key questions are:
1) is the Thing in the Basement sentient, or just a collection of programs? A pre-Narhman OWL or an even stupider automated system would be a lot easier to manipulate than any other option for the Thing.

2) is the Thing tied directly to the OBS controls, or can they be separated? It would be oh so convenient if we could isolate the Thing and deal with it apart from the OBS, but I doubt it. The last thing any crew folk would want is to hand uneducated natives the power of the Rakurai; aside from the implications theologically, it would become rapidly impossible for the Plan to stay on track if that power were unlocked. Even if Clyntahn didn't already exist, holding that power would create one.

3) Can the Thing be reasoned with? If it's a sentience based on a hard liner, that may be hard. But if it's a dumb AI, a set of programs, or based on / influenced by moderates (or, again, less likely a Shan-Wei supporter) then one or more of (Merlin, Nimue, OWL or Narhman by link) might be able to convince the Thing not to initiate bombing procedures. If it was set up by a nontechnical, it's even possible that Nimue Alban might still be recognized as a valid source of authority. Since the original Nimue is dead and known to be so, it wouldn't occur to Langhorne's team to cancel her command codes... and Shan-Wei's team would be sure not to, as they knew Nimue wasn't quite as dead as she seemed.

Please don't post unmarked spoilers!

Possible spoilers and speculation about the War Against the Fallen and Langhorne's coup.



I suspect that not all of those who decided to back Langhorne were true believers in the cause, some may have just gone along with him by default, as he basically presented the new plan as a fait accompli.
Some may have gone along with Langhorne out of selfish interest, some because they were true believers that he was right, some, even if they disagreed or had doubts, because Shan-wei's open dissent was a lightning rod for trouble, and wasn't succeeding in changing things.

I suspect that the divisions and different reasons for supporting or going along with Langhorne's plan amongst the survivors were major factors in what led to open warfare post-nuke.
All we really know about the survivors, so far, is that Schueller and Chihiro were amongst them, probably leaders of the winning faction or factions, or were leaders of the factions that negotiated a truce to end the War.

Kytheros wrote:Possible spoilers and speculation about the War Against the Fallen and Langhorne's coup.



I suspect that not all of those who decided to back Langhorne were true believers in the cause, some may have just gone along with him by default, as he basically presented the new plan as a fait accompli.
Some may have gone along with Langhorne out of selfish interest, some because they were true believers that he was right, some, even if they disagreed or had doubts, because Shan-wei's open dissent was a lightning rod for trouble, and wasn't succeeding in changing things.

I suspect that the divisions and different reasons for supporting or going along with Langhorne's plan amongst the survivors were major factors in what led to open warfare post-nuke.
All we really know about the survivors, so far, is that Schueller and Chihiro were amongst them, probably leaders of the winning faction or factions, or were leaders of the factions that negotiated a truce to end the War.

Another issue - wars change minds. In addition to the changes that are the point of the exercise, a lot of other changes will occur. In particular, someone who may have been a Langhorne loyalist to start may not have seen it the same way by the end, and if people getting killed for thinking a given way, people who start thinking that way will keep it quiet. And the Thing may be one of those.

Apologies. In future I will be sure not to use a joke to mark my post as containing spoilers.

To wit

*******************************Spoilers**********************************

.
..
...
....
.....
......


It's clear that Kohdy had his mind changed, at least. And not just by NEAT -- he developed some degree of trust in his adversary, or else he would have merely dismissed all this as a demonic trick.

I wonder if there were people in Langhorne's faction who believed that the Adams-and-Eves gambit was necessary, that Shan-Wei and Alexandria were liable to resurrect technology too early, but who also weren't so devoted to Langhorne's and Bedard's Path of Now and Forever, Spathi sub-type. In other words, could there have been three factions even back in Sol system?

The most complicated and most interesting possibility is that multiple Archangels wake up and disagree with each other. Probably not with polite debate.