[T-Man]

So I took the plunge (decided I could live with some spoilers; sounds like it wasn't a hideous amount in the end anyhow).

I like how you construct scenes and all the images you use (like the ants in many of the scenes; was a nice touch every time and felt you integrated the ant-hill war thing from her childhood well so you could refer to it). The scenes between Simms and Laporte felt quite emotive, and I particularly liked the take on Al-Dawa in this and how she looked and spoke to people.

Do agree with others that sometimes the use of big words can make it difficult to follow (usually I'm okay with science terms but have felt that now and again in all your works; I recall that story of the two Egyptian gods meeting (sorry my memory fails me name-wise) was the worst for that), but got to say this was a smoother reading than previous and I didn't struggle with many descriptions  .

Massive congrats on a good read! It's genuinely hard to get writing onto paper when your story writing proper (have tried so many times, writer-blocked every time so far ), so pat-on-the-back for completing it!


So yeah, if anyone needs me I'll be being all pathetic and dejected in the corner for a while ;

Spoiler:

The Federation surrendered to Steele's (depraved psychotic) genius and will likely get culture-cleansed in the name of MORPHEUS (which I had kind of come to accept as an inevitable future canon-wise but still). Enjoy ya revelry Tev/Steele-sycophants ...

—BP2 is not really going to...end with the same status quo as this story

...*quietly crosses fingers*

[Phantom Hoover]

The Vishnans, and hence MORPHEUS, don't exist in this story.

[crizza]

I thought the vishnans were the simmses?

[Droid803]

Good ****.


Re: differences

So if the Vishnans don't exist, then AoA didn't happen? What are the implications of that, doesn't that mean the UEF was even MORE screwed to begin with?

Also something nagged me about the Lucifer and Sathanii being the same ship class (type?), and the difference in methods of stopping the "Lucifer" being a bomb to collapse the node while it was inside rather than a more conventional arms strike, but now that I think about it more perhaps the difference between the two isn't significant at all in the big picture...

[SmashMonkey]

Battuta's second BP short story "Morrigan in Shadow" has just been released on Clarkesworld.

This story has elements which constitute a massive spoiler for Acts 4 and 5 of WiH. I am not going to tell you which ones, though. The overall arc is similar, but details will differ (radically, in some cases).

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant writing!

Hope that you seriously win the Pulitzer someday

[Doko]

Good ****.


Re: differences

So if the Vishnans don't exist, then AoA didn't happen? What are the implications of that, doesn't that mean the UEF was even MORE screwed to begin with?

Also something nagged me about the Lucifer and Sathanii being the same ship class (type?), and the difference in methods of stopping the "Lucifer" being a bomb to collapse the node while it was inside rather than a more conventional arms strike, but now that I think about it more perhaps the difference between the two isn't significant at all in the big picture...

The UEF lost the war in SOL, makes no difference if the 14th BG arrived at full strength or not. The only need for vishnans would be to justify the ideology of ubuntu a bit more, but the fear of the shivans plus the knowledge of ancients from the pilots stranded in SOL after the lucifer cut off the system would be enough to justify it. (Either way it makes no difference)

You had to kill the lucifer in subspace because the GTA had no weapons capable of piercing the shields at the time + AoA self repair BP canon. The 14th BG would steam roll a Lucifer in under 30-45 seconds.

[Droid803]

The idea being though, according to the GTVA's initial plans, if AoA didn't happen, there shouldn't have even been a war with the UEF - the 14th should have taken up orbital bombardment positions immediately and demanded surrender (which is exactly what caused the UEF surrender as stated in Morrigan).

The UEF should have been so screwed that there would be no war to begin with (and thus Laporte would never have met Simms, and all...) but yet it all happened anyway, makes me wonder what happened.

Important Bits:

GTVA High Command's intention had been to position the 14th Battlegroup throughout Sol and only then demand surrender as additional GTVA forces from the Fourth Fleet poured in through the node.

...
the plan to disperse throughout Sol, assume bombardment positions above major capitals, and only then request surrender.
...

The Elders had greeted the sighting of GTVA probes with open arms, and in spite of a Fedayeen report suggesting that the probes were stuffed with sophisticated ELINT gear, prepared no military contingencies for the GTVA's arrival.

When the Alliance captured Earth orbit, Admiral Steele threatened to bomb a city every hour until the Federation issued an unconditional surrender.

My understanding is that the whole of AoA was a Vishnan setup. Thus, no Vishnans, no AoA, the 14th would arrive in full strength, everything goes according to GTVA plan (since the UEF made no preparations to affect the contrary), no UEF-GTVA war whatsoever (UEF immediately surrenders), no Wargods, no Delenda Est...etc...

Am I missing something about the Vishnan-AoA relationship or am I going too far down the "no vishnans" rabbit hole? How far do the "no vishnans" implications go?

[Doko]

I think you are trying to too hard to see the effects of something that was removed from the story because it wasn't necesary for the medium and audience its targeted to. A relatively short science fiction story aimed at general science fiction fans, to add too much more to it, would be to distract the non BP reader even further from what Battuta seemed to want us to focus the most, which is Laporte's relationship with Simms.

I'll play along for fun thought!
This way to interpret what could happen relies on the UEF not be willing to gamble on the lives of its citizens. If they were willing to accept the loss of several cities and millions of people, the 14th BG would eventually be annihilated by the combined forces of SoL. No matter how good their ships are.

- 14BG goes through, al-dawa who no doubt had people watching the node 24/7 immediately initiates his antimatter bomb beta aquilae contingency and sends a wing of ainsarii through the node, while waiting for authorization from the "elders" but the 14th BG takes positions over earth too quickly, elders find themselves out of options, command is given to the al-dawa to do whatever is necesary to ensure status quo continues.
Al-dawa uses 0-day exploits to hack a GTVA news relay and infects the system based on data recovered from the probes the GTVA sent before the 14th transversed the node. Soon every GTVA citizen is aware that the node was finally repaired (while everyone knows this is being done, the actual time and progress of the node would be a very closely guarded secret).

Al-dawa sends a message reading "is this how the gift, payed in blood by millions is to be used? laying siege to our home, ready to kill your own family members?"

The revelation is a nightmare scenario for the GTVA, it needs more time to turn ubuntu into the evil cult it needs his citizens to believe in. Someone in delta serpents picks up a phone and calls the 14BG to withdraw to the node and await further orders. Everything is blamed on an enemy psyop on the citizens of the GTVA and everything goes back to the way it is in BP.

[Phantom Hoover]

Frankly I think it's simplest to just remove the 14th BG and the initial strike entirely: the wormhole was repaired, the Tevs invaded, and they had to fight a long war from the start.

[Vidmaster]

I feel like I should not read this until the team has released Blue Planet to the end and I have played it. Shelved :-)

[That Man]

Holy sh*t. Battuta delivers again, and very magnificently.

Spoiler:

I personally didn't mind the ending. I didn't get a Hollywood vibe from it; there's a lot more uncertainty to it than it first seems to suggest. Sure, Laporte and Simms were able to Do The Thing, but they've still got to help fight a big screw-off Nemesis fleet, which is the prelude to another incursion. And Nemesis learns slowly, but it learns well, so victory this time will be even more costly...to the point where the next incursion could well finish humanity off for good even if Our Heroes manage to pull off a win.

[crizza]

I think you are trying to too hard to see the effects of something that was removed from the story because it wasn't necesary for the medium and audience its targeted to. A relatively short science fiction story aimed at general science fiction fans, to add too much more to it, would be to distract the non BP reader even further from what Battuta seemed to want us to focus the most, which is Laporte's relationship with Simms.

I'll play along for fun thought!
This way to interpret what could happen relies on the UEF not be willing to gamble on the lives of its citizens. If they were willing to accept the loss of several cities and millions of people, the 14th BG would eventually be annihilated by the combined forces of SoL. No matter how good their ships are.

- 14BG goes through, al-dawa who no doubt had people watching the node 24/7 immediately initiates his antimatter bomb beta aquilae contingency and sends a wing of ainsarii through the node, while waiting for authorization from the "elders" but the 14th BG takes positions over earth too quickly, elders find themselves out of options, command is given to the al-dawa to do whatever is necesary to ensure status quo continues.
Al-dawa uses 0-day exploits to hack a GTVA news relay and infects the system based on data recovered from the probes the GTVA sent before the 14th transversed the node. Soon every GTVA citizen is aware that the node was finally repaired (while everyone knows this is being done, the actual time and progress of the node would be a very closely guarded secret).

Al-dawa sends a message reading "is this how the gift, payed in blood by millions is to be used? laying siege to our home, ready to kill your own family members?"

The revelation is a nightmare scenario for the GTVA, it needs more time to turn ubuntu into the evil cult it needs his citizens to believe in. Someone in delta serpents picks up a phone and calls the 14BG to withdraw to the node and await further orders. Everything is blamed on an enemy psyop on the citizens of the GTVA and everything goes back to the way it is in BP.

And like before, al'dawa wouldn't have been allowed to antimatterbomb BA.
Besides, the third fleet was battleready I think, but they wouldn't have been able to delay the 14th at full strength I guess.

[rubixcube]

Wait so, are these new Sinadhuja ships distinct from both the Lucifer, the Sathanas, and the Dante?

[Rheavatarin]

Wait so, are these new Sinadhuja ships distinct from both the Lucifer, the Sathanas, and the Dante?

Does it matter? It sounds like you are asking if the pear you are holding is a red apple or a green one, when the important thing is that they are both fruit.

[rubixcube]

Well, I suppose I'm sort of hoping for a drawing or artwork of it (or a model)

[Darius]

The Sinadhuja is a Nemesis ship, not Shivan. It was first sighted by Admiral Metrarch's ship the Maquitaine and destroyed by the Molasses.

[rubixcube]

The Sinadhuja is a Nemesis ship, not Shivan. It was first sighted by Admiral Metrarch's ship the Maquitaine and destroyed by the Molasses.

...Umm, this is a joke right?

[AdmiralRalwood]

The Sinadhuja is a Nemesis ship, not Shivan. It was first sighted by Admiral Metrarch's ship the Maquitaine and destroyed by the Molasses.

...Umm, this is a joke right?

The second sentence is; the first is not. While the Morrigan stories are heavily inspired by Blue Planet, it's important to note that they're not in the same universe and that the Nemesis are not Shivans.

[TrickMagnet]

to be fair, molasses is a fabulous alternate name for the colossus

[Rabid]

I didn't read the whole thing carefully, but how the hell they managed to get into Capella? uncharted node?

I also share the opinion that via Ken narration it looks like the UEF is the bad guys and GTA is actually more tolerable to Shivan viewpoint.

The Ken itself is somehow a weak point altogether - both he and GTVA analyst underline thaat second Shivan invasion had no weak points while now (third attack) the Ken itself is a weakness. From Shivan point of view they don't need him they just need 80, 800 or 8000 Juggernauts to burn GTVA to a crisp. That's all.
Ken has no point in Morrigan universe - he's only valid if Shivans are something more than mindless force of nature that brings ballance to the universe(s). He's only valid if Vinashaans and Brahmans exist and that there is a bigger plan for Humanity.
Additionally in Morrigan Shivans are mentioned to be artifical creation while in Blue Planet they are mentioned to be ethernal and far older than even Brahmans and Vinashaans. Somehow Morrigan Shivans seems to be more dumped down (to the point where they are not intelligent by design) while in Blue Planet they are enigmatic, alien but inteligent (and they are acting chaotic/unpredictable, because it's optimal strategy against their targets). Again exstence of Brahmans and Vinaashans make Shivans more interesting and hard to define because they make you wonder what makes them to tolerate these "younger races" while other are senteced to extermination.
In Morrigan they are like "meh, we kill everyone, because intelligence is bad to universe and we were created so that universe will not get cancer".


What is The Cancer? Is it the same as "Great Darkness"? Or maybe the Shivans themselves are the first cancer? Or maybe descendand of the first race that created the Cancer and then decided to sacrifice/turn to become Shivans so that the universe would never again had to go through the doom?

These things are what I kept wondering about, but then again factors in "Morrigan" are supposed to kinda be different stories to ours in BP. I'm assuming that this storyline is based on WiH not playing out with any GTVA defectors/ no trip to alternate universe.