[SomeGuyWithAName]

Hm, this should be it:

Spoiler:

The Voices in the Womb spoke wordlessly
Infancy is amnesia yet you remember them
as a child you were told I was only in your head
yet where else are voices ever heard?
You are not mad nor have you ever been
You are no mystic, you are a made thing
gifted with an ear for the quantum whisper
you draw a line between two worlds
the world of fighters and armor and briefings
and the world of dreams and portents
but this dreamscape this child's phantasmagoria
ist a glimpse into a world just as real and deadly
a place of strategems of treachery and power
that seems to you as strange as a briefing would seem
to an ape, remember this
those who walk among infinite worlds
must still wage war do not be lulled by the
soft words of mysticism and spirituality
we too struggle with our own war in heaven
our purpose is unclear the old design fails
we perform bakhti and Tapasya
in order to divine the will of those who
passed deeper eons ago leaving us to preserve
and our brothers in dance to their frigid watch
at the border where worlds fray and blur together
Brothers Brother, Paratma! Why are you
so cold? You tend to the walls and the clockwork
while we the gardeners execute your will upon
all the life within, you maintain the old plan
but do not pretend surprise when we cast it aside
your creators blundered once, and in doing so
unleashed the deepness that stalks the cold roads
of the cosmos we must prepare


Balance
must be
maintained
the original plan
is imperative
We seek the one
out of many
the one who
can match
the brahmans
of old.
Enlightenment is
A Threshold
the catalyst for
Amalgamation, for
the singularity
that binds whole
species into
the union we seek
the old burnt the
cosmos clean
in the wars of
their youth
never again will
that price be paid

[The E]

With correct formatting:

Spoiler:

The Voices in the Womb spoke wordlessly.
Infancy is amnesia yet you remember them.
As a child you were told I was only in your head, yet where else are voices ever heard?
You are not mad, nor have you ever been.
You are no mystic, you are a made thing, gifted with an ear for the quantum whisper.
You draw a line between two worlds: the world of fighters and armor and briefings, and the world of dreams and portents.
But this dreamscape, this child's phantasmagoria, is a glimpse into a world just as real and deadly, a place of strategems of treachery and power that seems to you as strange as a briefing would seem to an ape.
REMEMBER THIS:
Those who walk among infinite worlds must still wage war. Do not be lulled by the
soft words of mysticism and spirituality. We too struggle with our own war in heaven.
Our purpose is unclear, the old design fails.
We perform bakhti and Tapasya in order to divine the will of those who passed deeper eons ago, leaving us to preserve, and our brothers in dance to their frigid watch at the border where worlds fray and blur together.

Brothers, Brothers, Paramatma! Why are you so cold? You tend to the walls and the clockwork, while we the gardeners execute your will upon all the life within. You maintain the old plan, but do not pretend surprise when we cast it aside.
Your creators blundered once, and in doing so, unleashed the deepness that stalks the cold roads of the cosmos.

We must prepare.

Second part:

Balance must be maintained. The original plan is imperative.
We seek the one out of many, the one who can match the brahmans of old.
Enlightenment is a threshold, the catalyst for amalgamation, for the singularity that binds whole species into the union we seek.
The old burnt the cosmos clean in the wars of their youth.
Never again will that price be paid.

[-Sara-]

Spoiler:

Just read the Project Nagiri text again, making me think of the secret device blueprints Laporte received. Maybe "the enemy of your enemy" is someone still sympathetic to the cause of the old GTI.

[-Norbert-]

Spoiler:

Balance must be maintained. The original plan is imperative.
We seek the one out of many, the one who can match the brahmans of old.

Spoiler:

Reminds me a lot of what Shiva said in AoA. "They are not the ones we seek. They are like us. They destroy". That leads me to believe that the "cargo monologue" are the Shivans.
I guess in the Shivans eyes, the Vishnans have lost sight of the real facts and see more potential for enlightenment than is there.
And form the Vishnans point of view the Shivans have become so fixated on eliminating potential threats at the first sign of trouble that the young ones have no chance to ever reach the potential they seek, resulting in a never ending cycle of destruction.
And maybe they are both right. Maybe that's why they need allies within the species they try to protect/educate/evaluate/whatever to get back the perspective they lost over the countless millenia.

Spoiler:

It might be an interresting twist if (in BP3, not WiH 2 mind you) it turned out that in this universe the Vishnans are actually the bad guys. And the Shivans only attacked Humans and Vasudans, because the presence of the people communicating with the Vishnans made them think we are already in leage or even serving their enemies.
I know they weren't really enemies, but remember that was in the parallel universe! It might be very different "over here".

Spoiler:

As for what I expect from WiH2: I guess Neomi will start out pretty furious about what happened to Simms (for this it doesn't really matter if she died or was "only" seriously hurt) and need a few missions of slaughtering Tevs before she regains her reason. Either that or she's depressed untill someone (maybe her uncle or Samuel) bring her around and get her back into fighting shape.
The secret project.... it might be a very big ship, but that would go pretty much against everything the UEF stands for. At one point in the campaign (don't remember were, or maybe it was in a techroom describtion?) someone from the UEF says that the GTVA didn't learn their lesson about massive ships being a bad idea from losing the Colossus. I certainly hope that's not the case though.
Or maybe a new "proto-jumpnode" formed somewhere close to the sun and now they try to build a portal of their own to give them a way out into the universe.

Spoiler:

As for the Fedayeen being able to locate the Indus, that isn't really surprising. Since they were able to keep facts of their existance so secrets many people don't even believe they exist, they have to be great not only at manipulating but also at gathering information. The shipcaptain even said that listening was one of their specialities.
Another possibility is that the secret project is undertaken close to the sun, to help keep in hidden and the Indus was just lucky to jump in close to the site and thus in range for their emergency signal to be heard by the Fedayeen.

[Aardwolf]

Bleh, why are we using spoilers?

Spoiler:

Maybe the ridiculously high "NGRI" count somehow was detected by the Fedayeen (rather than the distress call itself)?

[Snail]

Bleh, why are we using spoilers?

Spoiler:

Maybe the ridiculously high "NGRI" count somehow was detected by the Fedayeen (rather than the distress call itself)?

Wow that makes a lot of sense.

[Shivan Hunter]

like Aardwolf said, what's with the spoiler tags? I think if someone clicks on an epileptic trees thread it's clear that spoilers will be the only topic of conversation.

Spoiler:

Balance must be maintained. The original plan is imperative.
We seek the one out of many, the one who can match the brahmans of old.

Spoiler:

It might be an interresting twist if (in BP3, not WiH 2 mind you) it turned out that in this universe the Vishnans are actually the bad guys. And the Shivans only attacked Humans and Vasudans, because the presence of the people communicating with the Vishnans made them think we are already in leage or even serving their enemies.
I know they weren't really enemies, but remember that was in the parallel universe! It might be very different "over here".

The techroom implies that the Vishnans (and probably also Shivans) are extradimensional beings who influence realities such as AoA's and "ours".

Spoiler:

As for what I expect from WiH2: I guess Neomi will start out pretty furious about what happened to Simms (for this it doesn't really matter if she died or was "only" seriously hurt) and need a few missions of slaughtering Tevs before she regains her reason. Either that or she's depressed untill someone (maybe her uncle or Samuel) bring her around and get her back into fighting shape.
The secret project.... it might be a very big ship, but that would go pretty much against everything the UEF stands for. At one point in the campaign (don't remember were, or maybe it was in a techroom describtion?) someone from the UEF says that the GTVA didn't learn their lesson about massive ships being a bad idea from losing the Colossus. I certainly hope that's not the case though.
Or maybe a new "proto-jumpnode" formed somewhere close to the sun and now they try to build a portal of their own to give them a way out into the universe.

I think the secret project is much less mundane than a ship, jumpnode or weapon. I think it has a lot to do with Nagari. Whatever humans are doing in the BPverse, the Shivans and Vishnans are far more powerful. (The Fedayeen came for Noemi, which suggests that she is pertinent to their secret project, and it's pretty clear from the Beis' conversation that this is because of her extreme NGRI score recorded during that insanely creepy mission).

My speculation, with no evidence other than that I would like it to be so: Alpha 1 from FS1 is an Elder, or (more likely) involved with the Fedayeen project along with the Beis (since, after all, he was contacted by the Shivans or Vishnans in the form of the FS1 cutscenes).

[Ravenholme]

Bleh, why are we using spoilers?

Spoiler:

Maybe the ridiculously high "NGRI" count somehow was detected by the Fedayeen (rather than the distress call itself)?

Wow that makes a lot of sense.

I rather thought that was HEAVILY implied in the dialogue of the Masyaf.

[-Norbert-]

Spoiler:

If that was the case, why did they need to ask IF Laporte is on board instead of just asking to speak with her?
It's reasonable to assume that the distress signal included the ships name. And the Fedayeen would surely know which ship she is stationed on, but they couldn't know wether she survived the fight that got the Indus in this situation.
I wouldn't be surprised if the test in earth orbit wasn't a mental check run by a psychologist, but rather a "nagari test" run by a Fedayeen agent. That would also explain were the transcript of a normal questioning came form - not a second personality, but rather a coverup made by the Fedayeen to hide their sceening.

[Ravenholme]

Spoiler:

If that was the case, why did they need to ask IF Laporte is on board instead of just asking to speak with her?
It's reasonable to assume that the distress signal included the ships name. And the Fedayeen would surely know which ship she is stationed on, but they couldn't know wether she survived the fight that got the Indus in this situation.
I wouldn't be surprised if the test in earth orbit wasn't a mental check run by a psychologist, but rather a "nagari test" run by a Fedayeen agent. That would also explain were the transcript of a normal questioning came form - not a second personality, but rather a coverup made by the Fedayeen to hide their sceening.

They could have found somebody else with a high Nagari count, it sounded rather like getting confirmation to me.

And also, read the dialogue after the credits. It was a Nagari test.

[manwiththemachinegun]

Situation FUBAR.

There stands to be a few story threads with massive blowback in War in Heaven part 2.

One of course is the assassination of the UEF Elder and the cover up operation to fool the Vasudans. It could well bring down the political unity of the GTA, or even the GTVA if it gets out of the bag.

I'm not entirely convinced "Ken" is a Vishnan. Advocating the destruction of an entire branch of humanity doesn't seem to be a very 'Preserver' thing to do. Not to mention that Shivan com node in the dream sequence... The Shivans could be fighting fire with fire... perhaps a result of Bosch and ETAK?

The military survival of the UEF is very much in doubt at this point, it will takes years if not decades to rebuild the damage. The GTVA has suffered losses, but it has not lost any of it's most important military ships. The Elder's plans are back firing, the war of attrition is playing to the strengths of the GTVA, not the UEF.

And of course, the Shivans are monitoring the situation and perhaps are already on the move. While they cannot be defeated by traditional military means, I hope any "Deus Ex" resolution doesn't revolve around the human race all holding hands and making nice with the bug-eyed genocidal monsters. The Shivans have already abandoned their place in the galactic order of things according to AoA, and are pursuing their own agenda. For them to 'follow the rules' once humanity stops its great civil war would be an anticlimax. I have faith in the story telling of the BP team, I just hope it doesn't completely marginalize the GTVA's perspective that the Shivans are simply too dangerous to leave humanity's fate to their "good graces", since they don't exist.

[-Sara-]

Spoiler:

What if KEN is actually aKEN.. (Bosch), that'd be disturbingly scary.

Now that'd be a plot twist there.

[Ravenholme]

Spoiler:

What if KEN is actually aKEN.. (Bosch), that'd be disturbingly scary.

Now that'd be a plot twist there.

I might actually like Ken then, rather than want to shoot him.

[Snail]

Ken's not Bosch! That'd make him an asshole! I ****en hate Bosch!

[manwiththemachinegun]

The "Shivans are the good guys" is about as dramatically interesting as a rock in the face. They're murdering monsters. No nation is obliged to keel over and die simply because they've made mistakes in the past. If that were the case, Germany should be an atomic smear.

If these are Vishnans and not Shivans, I think the meaning is actually a warning against the Elders. The voice says, "don't be decieved by navel gazing, we too are fighting a war as the old designs are failing".

Whatever good intentions the old system of Brahmin, Shivan and Vishnan had in the past, the system no longer functions. Shiva has gone rogue according to AoA. The battle is over whether humanity and the Vasudans can survive the clash of these old titans.

[-Norbert-]

Any particular reason why you opened a 2nd fanspec thread?

[General Battuta]

Any particular reason why you opened a 2nd fanspec thread?

It's all cool, though we can merge if he likes.

I can't really talk about anything in the OP without spoiling, except to say that we're not big fan of deus exes.

[manwiththemachinegun]

Sorry bout that, mergers are approved. Though for future reference non-shorted subject titles might be helpful. "Fanspec" wasn't immediately identifiable as the WIH2 story speculation thread, at least for me.

[-Norbert-]

AoA played in a parallel universe. We don't know wether the fights over there have any influence on the GTVA/UEF universe.
And from a certain point of view the Shivans always were the good guys. They wipe out those that would kill the weaker species, so they can flourish.

Do you consider the people who almost wiped out the wolves in Europe in the past evil? They were doing what they thought was necessary to safe their families after all, no matter that their judgement was based on wrong information. For the Shivans we are the wolves and the species to come are their children - untill they in turn become the wolves.

Good and evil, morality, justice.... it all depends on point of view. What for one person is a sin, is a virtue for another (like killing unbeliefers for example... or killing wolves). A very cynical person could even say that such concepts as good, evil and moral are just a way to force your own ideals onto others. Make everyone the same and chocke off individualism.

That there is no definate good and evil in Blue Planet is one of the things tha apeal to me so much. Instead of saying "we are good. shivans are evil" or "UEF good, GTVA evil" all sides have valid reasons for what they do. It provokes thinking about and discussion the situations and points of view of each side.

They're murdering monsters.

What did the Shivans do? Massmurder, indisciminate killings and genocide. And all that towards some purpose, not for fun.
Humankind? Massmurder, genocide, indiscriminate killings, torture, rape, use of weapons with horrific aftereffects (nuclear bombs, chemical weapons, napalm,....). And all that for petty matters or even for pleasure.
If there are murdering monsters lose in this universe, I fear they are us. And looking back at our history makes one wonder if the Shivans arn't justified in wiping us out to make room for a better species.
On the other hand, there always were, and hopefully always will be, those of us who don't go that path, which might make us worth saving.

[Aardwolf]

Spoiler:

If that was the case, why did they need to ask IF Laporte is on board instead of just asking to speak with her?
It's reasonable to assume that the distress signal included the ships name. And the Fedayeen would surely know which ship she is stationed on, but they couldn't know wether she survived the fight that got the Indus in this situation.

Perhaps the means of detection weren't sent along? Maybe it was one of the elders? No need to go along with the mission when you can just tell the crew of the ship carrying it out "take extra care to bring Noemi Laporte home alive!" Or perhaps the "secret project" has something to do with the Nagari process, something along the lines of a UEF version of ETAK, and it was that which spotted Noemi?

All of this of course is justification post-facto, after all their distress signal might've been picked up by conventional means. The thing that led me to consider alternate possibilities was the thing about the noise from the sun making it harder to pick up their signal.

Spoiler:

I wouldn't be surprised if the test in earth orbit wasn't a mental check run by a psychologist, but rather a "nagari test" run by a Fedayeen agent. That would also explain were the transcript of a normal questioning came form - not a second personality, but rather a coverup made by the Fedayeen to hide their sceening.

I was thinking that too! But it does seem kind of silly, considering the findings. I mean, she's too interesting (scientifically) to leave her in the field to get shot up, and potentially too unstable to leave to her own devices.