Just finished reading through this quest, thank you for putting together such a great story!
@Gromweld
Small discrepancy, but back in 7.6 you write:
While in 9.3 you write:
As for the next member of the Assembly, I don't think there is a specific WoG on this, but will we get Sakura back at the end of another week, or is she stuck on Autochthonia for the foreseeable future? Though there's still ~3 months before Plot strikes, we should figure out how long the Cradle will be held up due to Sakura's situation.
I think the next slot that should be filled is the Jade caste, as there seem to be plenty of candidates immediately available. Chevalier, Vista, Armsmaster, Miss Militia, Piggot. While the vote was for:
back in 8.6, it doesn't seem appropriate to find the Assembly's "hero of the people" in Cauldron's list.
Chevalier probably fits the Jade caste the best out of any choice in terms of personality/character. He's the guy that everyone turned to when Legend was forced to retire in disgrace in canon; if Hero hadn't taken it first, Chev could have taken the name Hero no problem. No one has bad shit to say about this guy. It'd be a PR coup if he joined the Assembly, and as a side benefit it may result in Armsmaster taking command of the Philly Protectorate branch, which would score Taylor major points with Armsy. On the other hand, Chev may best help as an ally rather than as an Exalted. He's already Taylor's boss and he likes and supports her efforts (even if he's probably still grinding his teeth over the whole Bonesaw thing). He's also really powerful as is, what with being able to melee Endbringers. If Taylor gets her hands on any magical materials, Chev might be able to incorporate them into his gear and further up his powerlevels. Point is, Exalting anyone greatly empowers them; even a relatively weak individual is granted a huge boost. I'd argue that as Chevalier is already a very powerful character, we'd be better served Exalting someone weaker and keeping Chev as an ally, giving us a greater net gain in power for the coming battles. Another, lesser concern is how Iris was baffled by Chev's reality layering powers. Autocthon will likely find a way to convert Chev's shard into something equivalently useful, but it could be more of a side-grade, and the resulting power may not be as suitable for Chev's role as a front line fighter.
Vista would make a great Jade, Taylor even confirms it, but she's probably not as suitable as Chev, if only due to not having a decades-long career and the national respect that Chev commands and that her youth causes her to be overlooked by others. That said, her character is stellar, she's likely the most dedicated of the Wards to being a hero, and the most experienced. She hasn't gained the bleak fatalism she did in canon, likely due to her fellow Wards' continued survival and her relationship with Taylor, but we don't know how she's doing since her stint as Jack Slash's taxi. My biggest concern is that we don't want know whether she want to be Exalted. Aisha wants to, we know the Twins wanted it from the recent update, Accord demanded it, but it's never been stated outright that Vista is on board. Granted, she'd likely readily agree if Taylor asked, but I'd prefer an interlude to see where Missy's mind at, if only because there's a relative glut of Jade candidates available. Power-wise, Vista's is top-tier, but she's a squishy little girl, so Exaltation would greatly improve her survivability in the field, as opposed to Chev, whose power is also top-tier, but while he is also squishy, he's wrapped in super-dense fuck-off armor and would not benefit as greatly in terms of staying alive. That said, Vista's power is strong enough to continue to be an asset even without Exaltation, and Alchemicals do need relationships with mortals to help with Clarity issues, which little sister Missy is in a prime position to help out with. Her youth is another issue, but with Taylor's successes, backing and allies, not an insurmountable one. I personally don't have an issue with Missy being so young, Taylor's only two years older than her and had to make a much less informed choice in the matter.
Armsmaster could work, but we'd have to spend some time with Taylor, Dragon and Saki to smooth out his character issues; he has certainly not fallen like he did in canon, but neither has he been reforged into Defiant. He hasn't shown that he wants to be Exalted imo, given his scene with Prayer when she was at the Providence PRT office. Then again, he could have changed his mind, given his ineffectiveness against the S9, he may be open to Exaltation to maintain his relevance as a her. Not that that's a good reason to join the Assembly, terrible really, but even Marrow admitted her desire for Exaltation was not unselfish. Armsy is prideful and selfish, but those traits are so closely wrapped up with his desire and drive to be a hero that you can't really damn him for it. Power-wise, I'm not thrilled WoG stating that Exaltation would nerf his shard, but plenty of other Alchemical goodies should make up for it. As a Tinker, he could be redundant given Taylor's abilities, but he's also a fighter, like Marrow, and having more than one dedicated combatant doesn't sound too bad. He may also have issues with Clarity, given his personality and Dragon being his only person he's ever bonded with.
Miss Militia is another solid choice for Jade, but she's been out of the spotlight in-story for so long, she might be out of the running due to sheer lack of interest. Otherwise, she's a dedicated, popular, long-time Protectorate member with a spotless record, and compared to the other choices, she really doesn't have any responsibilities/issues that would impede her Exaltation. Like Chev, who's got anything bad to say about her? No one, that's who. Her power's strong, but her most potent weapons (tac nukes) are ineffective against Endbringers/Scion, so Exaltation may help push her into being competitive against the really big threats (no idea how Autobot's conversion of her shard would work out though). Taylor lost her intimacy with her, no sure if that's a huge deal mechanically speaking, but I don't see Taylor having a hard time convincing MM into accepting (but like Missy, we don't really know her opinion on whether she wants to be Exalted). Given her personality, MM should be able to deal with Clarity issues easiest of all candidates. Honestly, the more I think about it the more MM looks like a perfect Exaltation candidate. Really the only thing going against her is a lack of popularity/lack of appearance in the story since Behemoth. If she's not Exalted, she can still make for a good ally/emotional support for Taylor, but I can see her falling by the wayside as the story progresses.
Piggot may be an interesting choice for Jade as well. Despite her infirmity, she's still got the personality of a warrior, of someone that exemplifies the concepts of the Jade caste. She'd be a really hard sell though, if she views the Exalted through the same lens as she does parahumans, like she'd probably need to get stuck with Saki's POS to even consider it. No powers, but if the theory that converting shards is significantly eroding Autobot's health is correct, then that's a point in favor of Exalting her. She's been out of the Story for a while, but she's also at fairly loose ends as Deputy Director overseeing a refugee camp that ought to be nearly emptied out by now, so she should be available if she can be convinced. Talyor has proven she can work with her well though, and Piggy's given her some measure of respect, so it may be better to have Piggot as another ally we can work with in the future. We're supposed to hit time skips in the future, and Piggot may end up as a Director once more, possible overseeing our Assembly depending on how things shake out.
That said, if there was a vote for Jade caste tomorrow, I'd probably pick Vista, despite MM likely being the most zero negative consequence pick. I like Vista, I think she's a cool character with a cool power, and would like to see here continue to survive, which is more likely if she has a bullshit magical robot body. Though I think the other candidates currently being discussed are valid choices, so I wouldn't be too dissatisfied if Vista doesn't make the cut.
