Sixth | Audio

[strategic_guile]

[His voice is calm as he poses this question. It's a voice that wants to encourage discussion but not necessarily a heated debate.]

What is it that the United Earth wants from the Initiative that keeps us alive? That last curbstomping we received doesn't leave much room for debate about our chances.

Is it the tech? Are we a propaganda tool? An experiment?

Throw some ideas out there.

[And then the feed ends.]


[[OOC: Threadjumping and jacking are encouraged in this post! Blaine wants allllll the ideas.]]

Comments

[misplacedxsheath]

It would help if we knew why they bothered destroying that world. While I've met the occasional depraved individual who indulges in mass slaughter with no real reason, I find it unlikely that that's the case here. Likewise, if they were clearing the planet out to have uncontested access to its resources, they would have done the same thing to every other world they've come across. Even if they only developed the technology to send their forces across dimensions after we did, there's been enough time that we might have seen evidence of it by now.

The most likely reasons I can think of are because they consider us entering the worlds they scavenge a threat or they wanted to provide an example of what they could do if they ever decided to stop showing us mercy.

[strategic_guile]

A pretty effective, demoralizing scare tactic, but we don't know exactly what resources they're after. Totally stripping the land may not be the most effective way. If, once they get to a world, they can go back any time they want they won't need to mine it to dust.

[misplacedxsheath]

There would be benefits to having the natives out of the way even so, as long as the resources they're stealing occur naturally. But given the state of this world, I wouldn't be surprised if they were using others as a source of cultivated plants.

[strategic_guile]

I suspect they would leave people to farm and cultivate the resources. Even if it happens naturally, it isn't so organized.

[misplacedxsheath]

We know uncomfortably little about the exact method they use, but taking advantage of the work of the natives does seem to me the most likely reason they don't make a habit of removing sentient life from the planet prior to syphoning the remaining resources.

[strategic_guile]

That being said, what are we cultivating that the United Earth wants?

[misplacedxsheath]

Food seems likely. Some worlds have technology at a level far above what I've seen here that they may be interested in taking advantage of. There's also non-renewable resources that they might have uses for.

[strategic_guile]

Yeah, but unless we brought that tech with us, I don't see a reason for them to keep this little Island alive. After that last virus attack, I wouldn't be surprised if they figured we'd done all they need us to do and were trying to wipe us all out so they could swoop in to pick up the important pieces. The bombs were just because their plan hadn't worked so why not?

[misplacedxsheath]

If that was their attempt to utterly destroy us, they still aren't taking us seriously. I saw what they're capable of through sheer military might. If they mounted a surprise attack with their full forces, I doubt we would last a day.

Either they still have reason not to get rid of us completely, or they're severely underestimating our capabilities. Either one could prove useful to us, however.

[strategic_guile]

The tech wouldn't last either. If there's something physical they want, they can't come in here guns blazing. We'll fight and everything will be destroyed. Even if we last three hours, to bring the fight to us would be pointless. They'll either draw us out or kill via disease. Gotta say, disease has a great track record when it comes to wiping out people.

[misplacedxsheath]

Bombing carries a similar threat. Then again, fear of damaging something they intend to steal may well have been the only reason they halted their assault when they did...

[strategic_guile]

They've bombed several times before. I think they do it to remind us they have their fingers on our pulse and can do what they like. If they wanted us dead, they have the ability to bomb us for days on end, non stop. No matter how sturdy the caves are, they'll collapse or the entrances will be buried in rubble and we'll die.

[misplacedxsheath]

Or we'll simply run out of resources. I've no doubt they could easily maintain a siege. Especially as their craft seem impervious to lightning and thus have nothing to fear from the most likely environmental danger here.

[strategic_guile]

A siege would take, too, long. We'd have plenty of time to think about destroying the equipment as one final 'fuck you' to the UE to make sure they got nothing useful. The best reason for a siege would be for the Initiative to try and send us Transports home so the UE could follow us to our worlds and take the resources without worrying about irritating counter attacks.

[misplacedxsheath]

Assuming we could figure out what they want in order to destroy it and that it isn't something that would give us a chance to fight back. Our time travel technology could theoretically change the tides of such a battle, if we were able to send someone to the proper time and place. If that's what they want, they would have reason to assume we would be reluctant to destroy it.

[strategic_guile]

You just destroy everything. If everyone is about to die or there are no other people who can even properly run the machine, why keep it? Of course they'll try to run missions that prevent the attack from happening before it gets to that point, but it's possible those would fail. Being reluctant to destroy it doesn't mean that someone won't. That's what contingency plans are for, and I hope they have some.

[misplacedxsheath]

Then also hope they don't wait until the last minute. I've no doubt we have yet to discover all of their plants among our ranks.

[strategic_guile]

They won't have to wait until the last minute, in that case. The double agent can just wait 'til the right moment, kill everyone else, and send all the information to the UE.