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Brockton's Celestial Forge (Worm/Jumpchain)

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Random832 said:
Sure, but he can release the data he had showing they were definitely heading towards BB to justify it. The fact that they weren't physically there yet isn't really relevant to the "Apeiron is only BB's problem" thing, as long as it's clear that he was defending BB specifically.
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Thus tipping off Jacks power, brillant.
 
LordRoustabout said:
"I did get a full read on your buried girl." Cherish explained to Crawler. "She's holding out hope, all the Travelers are, but it's pinned to Apeiron. They find out that hope is misplaced, ruined, or squandered and it's all going to come crashing down. They'll break."

A rumbling sound came from Crawlers throat, probably his version of a hum of consideration. With his position and perch, it practically made the house shake around him.

"It's the same with the Butcher." She continued. "She's after something, and she's desperate. Same thing with Uppercrust, and every Case 53 who's in or on their way to the city."
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I am forced to assume that they, probably at the prompting of/with the aid of March, will end up convincing these people, especially with the Travelers Simurgh exposure making them primed to disbelieve that they can be helped, that their hope was poorly founded just in time for the Brookton Bay Broken Multitrigger Event?
LordRoustabout said:
But Jack Slash needed to die. That was paramount. It was something I couldn't leave to chance. I wanted the Nine gone, but Jack was at the top of the list. Killing him was nearly as important as keeping Taylor safe. It was a concern that dwarfed every local issue I had been juggling.
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So shall I assume that this is going to have consequences as someone uses the Slaughterhouse as a distraction?
LordRoustabout said:
The thing was, I had an alternative. Something that would deal with the situation effectively while not blowing my cover or exposing my anti-precog powers. Something that would ensure I could hit every member of the Nine with no chance of someone being overlooked.

I just had to let them come to me.

It wasn't a solution without risks, and it had a very clear cost. The Nine weren't on a relaxing drive through the country. They were killing people. They would continue to kill people until they were stopped. Waiting would mean accepting that. Knowing that people were going to die, to be maimed or broken, to have to deal with the aftermath of an encounter with members of the Nine. Be kidnapped and subjected to experimentation and modification.

In order to wait, to maintain my cover with other factions and to ensure that I could hit the Nine as a group, I needed to accept that cost. And I knew that I could.
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Would it not also be a option to replace everyone within a reasonable distance of them with P-Zombies or something?
 
Ryune said:
I'm kind of surprised. Joe has access to ST tech and scanning technology that can detect and analyze powers as evidenced by Survey outing Victor. He already stated that he could narrow their location down to 100KM and ST sensors are light year ranges.

While I actually agree that taking down the S9 should be a spectacle and letting them enter the city is probably the best way to enable that... letting them remain undetected until they get into the city is definitely the wrong call. Find them, track them, study them. Begin the war before they even know they are inside your territory and the battle will be won before any engagements happen.
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It was addressed in the chapter: Joe isn't that confident about his stealth drone, and he can't pinpoint their position with enough accuracy without his drones.

Patrick said:
This part has me confuced:
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The 2nd Survey is Matrix.
 
LordRoustabout said:
Apeiron isn't invincible. The world saw that. He survived by the skin of his teeth and the incompetence of the ABB. We're better than that." Cherish declared with an air of pure arrogance.
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Cherie? Sweetie? It took an annihilation class cape with Bullshit Power Tinker/Thinker sub specializations in order to leave him in that state. At that point he said fuck all and broke out a FTL and sent Lung packing into Space.
The only threats to him in your group are Siberian and Bonesaw, and even so he can deal with them.
You enter the city, the Slaughterhouse 9 become the Slaughtered 0

LordRoustabout said:
Shatterbird huffed slightly and dropped the picture back to the table. "Of course, all this is pointless if we aren't actually going to the city." She looked up at Jack. "We've been effectively preparing for it since last Friday. I know where everyone stands, but if we're not going through with this we should stop wasting time and find a new target."
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Oh look, a working brain.

LordRoustabout said:
Finally, after what must have been more than a full minute of consideration, he rendered his judgment.

"We will."

Bonesaw shirked in joy at a pitch that made Mimi's ears hurt, but she couldn't keep a smile from her own face. She was going to see Elle again. It was everything she could hope for. Before the room could launch into discussion, Jack raised a hand and continued speaking.

"This will be serious. Probably one of the greatest challenges we've attempted, but also the most significant. The eyes of the world are following Apeiron and Brockton Bay. They're paying for stability, but we can show them just how easily they can crumble." He looked around the room. "We will have to be careful, smart, and cautious, but I believe this can become our masterpiece. We can strip power from those who believe they have control, sow chaos in a city on the brink, and redefine the meaning of disaster. Our strike will be dynamic, brutal and elegant." A wicked smile crossed his face. "And they will never see us coming.
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HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
20 minutes later in Apeiron's base: So the Slaughter house is coming uh Survey? Welp time to break out the ftl option again.

LordRoustabout said:
Exactly." Cherish said. "I'll grant you, if Apeiron was actually as hard as he tries to make himself seem this could have gotten messy, but he's not. Threaten the city, his team, or just Khepri and he'll come running. Engagement on our terms, not his
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Yeah, but either way you won't survive so that engagement on your terms would be always in his favor unless you decide to cripple him.....which is impossible.

LordRoustabout said:
"If it were easy it would be meaningless." Cherish said. "This is a chance to make a major impact, something that will live in history."
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Oh yeah, you are going to go so hard down on history, people will say "Doing a Slaughterhouse 9" every time someone does something monumentally stupid against Apeiron.

LordRoustabout said:
"She's even less stable than Apeiron. A worm coasting on drive and determination that's collapsing under her. She wouldn't make it through the tests." She stated plainly.
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Me looking at Canon: You sure about that???

Cherish Thinker rating -10 so far. God it's like reading a Lisa that is all smug, no brains and her power just keeps feeding her crap despite all the info she has at her disposal.
 
The thing, that some people are molding about is cold logic Vs good storitelling. Yes, logically just going an dropping a nuke on 9s makes sense.
It also makes a boring, non-engaging scene.
I read some fics, where MC kill leviathan in one punch, and sone, where fight spawns multiple chapters. Same with Coil. Same with S9.
If author is good, then I prefer more scenes and character interaction, and not "he should just shot them with a sniper rifle long time ago".
Still, reactions tell us that people care, an think "what would I do there", which is a sign of excellent storytelling.
 
LordRoustabout said:
Seriously, it's all show." Cherish declared. Mimi glanced up from her comic as the Nine's newest recruit continued her report. "Nothing but bluster. He puts up a good front, but underneath he's a mess of indecision and insecurities."

"A very good front indeed." Jack said, dramatically flaring the newspaper in his hands as he reclined in an armchair. The front page was visible to them, a dramatic group shot showing Apeiron and his new team. "Already capturing the eyes and hearts of the nation"
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HAHAAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!! That was 3 day old Apeiron. Now...Now... Well
LordRoustabout said:
"Clearly." Said Jack. "Any cape purported to be invincible will be prone to overlooking their own weaknesses. Apeiron may have learned a harsh lesson, but experiences like that can be double edged swords." A flick of a knife caused a scratch to appear on one of Shatterbird's printouts showing Apeiron bloody on the ground. "He will be aware of the possibility of such an attack repeating itself. Perhaps overly focused, to the detriment of other areas. Shoring up obvious areas while leaving gaps in his armor unaddressed."

"Like mental effects." Cherish agreed emphatically while subtly gesturing to herself. "And whatever Bonesaw can come up with."
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Mental Fortress Goes BRRRRRR!!!
LordRoustabout said:
Our strike will be dynamic, brutal and elegant." A wicked smile crossed his face. "And they will never see us coming."
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LordRoustabout said:
"Yeah, the Slaughterhouse Nine is definitely coming to Brockton Bay." I said as I finished reviewing Survey's analysis.
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This was God-Tier!! I was giggling like mad when I saw this
LordRoustabout said:
"This is our priority now. Not generic improvements or general training. Counter strategies and counter tech. When the Nine arrive, I don't want it to even count as a fight."
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Yes. Finally. S9 is gonna get wrecked and deleted.
LordRoustabout said:
For something like this? Absolutely. I don't want to just defeat the Nine. I don't want this to be close enough to even be considered a fight. I want an offensive that leaves them no hope for escape, much less victory. I want them to lose without even understanding what they are up against and for their destruction to serve as a warning for any who would follow in their footsteps. I want to destroy the Nine as a concept. If that means the Protectorate looks at what I brought to bear and decides their only option is launching an S-Class response that involves opening the Birdcage, canceling kill orders, and making a deal with Nilbog, then so be it. We will deal with that, but no matter what, no matter the cost, Jack does not walk away from this. Not this time."
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Yeaaah!! That's my boy. Finally!! The whole character development has been amazing and I'm really excited to see what happens next.
LordRoustabout said:
Mental Fortress had really come just in time.
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Yes. Yes it did.
Assuming any of the Nine apart from Siberian can even hurt Joe at this point is ridiculous. That Cyborg Hindu God Body is not for show.

This is easily the best CF story I've ever read. And probably will ever read. Nothing even comes close though some had the potential.
 
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DarthPrince said:
Wrong. It seems people didn't even read the whole chapter. Here:



He gave permission to use everything. Everything. He doesn't care about publics or PRTs opinion as long as S9 dies.

And that's why the decision to wait for them doesn't make sense. Srategy? Apeiron could go into super speed thinking and finish early. Info gathering on a notorious murderers? You want to say Survey need several days for that and can't finish in an hour or two? What, exactly, is different between starting acting in a couple of hours and whenever S9 gets here? He's planning on tracking their every move to prevent them starting to set up in the city... but he cant track them beforehand? What???

And it's framed like a good choice. Why?
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His position in the cape scene and world wide is very precarious, his every action is constantly being monitored because everyone is scared of him and the only thing preventing him being delcared an S-Rank threat to be elimated is that they believe him to be reasonable, that he will follow his word.

He is constanlty being scanned by thinkers, his every action, word and movement is being parsed through by entire teams of thinkers. Aperion is a scary guy, who is powerful and is possibly a Mad-Tinker dependant on contracts and deals to keep himself sane. The moment he acts out of their predicted measures? The moment he reveals just what he can do?

He will be delcared an S-Rank threat and treated as one, which includes getting the PRT'S S-Class team coming in to deal with him. Now it wouldn't work and he would easily destroy them all but Joe doesn't want to even be put into that position, he doesn't want that to happen end of story as such he is taking steps and his acting in order to prevent such a thing from happening.

His issue isn't that he doesn't have the power to do such things because he does but he doesn't want too.
 
Joe gave valid reasons why going after s9 without info is a bad idea and letting them come to him doesn't mean he's going to allow them cause chaos within the city and just nuking them would be boring as a reader I want the shoe to be on the other foot turn the predator to prey and let them feel despair I'm sure tybalt is an expert in psychological warfare
 
Oooooooh yesss...

Well. We knew the S9 would be interested. We knew they would be bee-lining. We knew that Joe would deal with them eventually.

And well... they DO hit cities that have recently been through hell. And Brockton counts.

The 9 are... all about to have a terrible fate. And a bad time. And worse still.

And Joe will be adopting a new little member of the Forge once he has Riley in his hands. His power voice is so personified fandom that NOT taking her into the workshop, locking her up, removing her shit and rebuilding her body to what she should be by now, and working to reprogram her is something Joe just won't be able to NOT do.

And, quite honestly... Tybalt is about to go brrrr.

And it'll be fucking beautiful.
 
KNM said:
So...Joe is ceding initiative and letting them plan and come to him. Setting aside the morality of that.

Tybalt doesn't see anything wrong with that on a tactical and strategic level? How about Shatterbird's singing and Bonesaw's plagues fucking up BB because Joe was content to wait, Joe keeps on mentioning "he'll deal with the fall out later" I guess a wrecked plague wridden city is just one of those.
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Has LordR provided a WoG about the MC having a location limitation in this fic? I mean this fic is FIRMLY located Brockton Bay (also the Forge Workshop and Shard-Space which are both kind of extra-dimensional extensions of Brockton). We've seen a few POVs (ex. Accord, Chubster) from outside of the city but all of them have focused on Brockton Bay and its residents.

When Garments charity auction was divided into a large fabulous New York event and a smaller hometown auction, the New York one received a few lines of acknowledgement ("Went well. Models love Garment's pajamas and robes.") While the Brockton auction is having chapters of build up. Completely missed the chance to meet Legend or otherwise expand the story into the larger world.

Story-wise, I can understand why it can be easier for the writer and more entertaining for the readers to keep things simple and concise (ex. This is Lt. Sam Carter the Super-Scientist. She'll has any and all technical, practical engineering, and advanced theoretical science knowledge and skills your plot team could ever need.)

I'm just curious as to if LordR has stated if he is keeping everything in Brockton due to writing reasons or if there is an actual in-story plot-device (ex. Joe's Passenger) which justifies Apeiron so firmly remaining in Brockton.

I guess the reason doesn't really matter. Just curious.
 
GetRektNuub said:
HAHAAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!! That was 3 day old Apeiron. Now...Now... Well
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Yeah, it is kinda concerning how they just forgot about that detail.
He has been a Tinker for.....what? Less than a month? And his tech level is already surpassing most known Tinkers and able to go toe to toe with Dragon, she even admitted it.

Also yeah, I can understand the feeling of just dealing with a problem before it becomes a problem......but that would be boring.
The best part of OP worm fics is the Slaughterhouse curbstomp.

KNM said:
So...Joe is ceding initiative and letting them plan and come to him. Setting aside the morality of that.

Tybalt doesn't see anything wrong with that on a tactical and strategic level? How about Shatterbird's singing and Bonesaw's plagues fucking up BB because Joe was content to wait, Joe keeps on mentioning "he'll deal with the fall out later" I guess a wrecked plague wridden city is just one of those.

But on the bright side, the bomb code is starting to make progress and the shard space ship is on its maiden voyage. That's pretty cool.
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He already knows they are coming with at least a few days(which for him may as well be half a month) to prepare and has tech to spare.
He can render Bonesaw's plagues null, make Shatterbird have performance issues (i mean her silica control has a sonic component, shut that down and then she gets nothing) besides all that crystal just makes her easier to put in crosshairs , no sell Jack, Cherish and Hatchet Face, has 20 ways of dealing with Mannequin, can get rid of Crawler via the same thing he did to Lung and Siberian......if he isn't able to find the connection between her and Manton I'll eat my pants.
Besides they are operating off of faulty, erroneous, info.
 
LordMentat said:
Nuts. Was hoping that thing was skipped and we could see Lord's version of the big cheese going about.
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You say this like he isn't going to heal them and make sure neither of them remember their time as Murder Rat.

Because fuck fate.
Dr.Ag0n said:
By the way guys. Do you think Joe's gonna get softhearted when he reads the life profile of some of the 9?
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Most of the S9 are people that honestly deserve to either be put down, or given mercy killing.

Mannequin? Mercy kill.
Manton? Put Down
Crawler? Mercy kill.
Cherish? Mercy kill.
Burnscar? Mercy kill.
Shatterbird? Put down.
Jack? Destroy with great prejudice.
Riley? Save or Mercy Kill.1

Honestly the only redeemable members of the 9 and pitiable ones are Riley, Mimi, and Ned. Ned... well, he is iffy. He has been through some serious shit and done horrible things under his Shard's influence. The dude just wants to die inside at this point.

Mannequin has been dead for years. His existence now is only a torture. He isn't even a person, just Ziz's hand puppet. Send him to meet his family.

Manton? Fucking idiot who needs to die.

Cherish? Fucking idiot who should have done anything else but what she did.

I fully expect Riley, and maybe Mimi, to come out of this with either full projects of Joe's to repair and undo their damage... or mercy killed.

And Murder Rat is so totally going to get saved. Of that, I have no doubt.
 
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Why I am okay with Joe not declaring himself God-Emperor of Mankind, proactively eliminating every S-class threat in the omniverse, and creating a divine utopia for all mankind today. ​

Timeline:
Joe triggered Friday, April 1st, 2011 (April Fool's Day? Really!?)
Sunday, April 10th, Apeiron went out for the first time as a cape.
Currently it is Monday, April 25th? Tuesday, April 26th [corrected]


​
Joe: Attempting to juggle personal issues, rapid accumulation of powers, loss of humanity, trauma from memories of alternative lives, s-class threats from within the Forge, s-class threats from outside the Forge, residual effects from the Ungodly Hour, etc.

Me: I really should fold and put away my laundry. But I think I'll just put it back in the basket and deal with it tomorrow.


Edit: Also, I'm here for the story. Not for an analytical report on the most efficient step-by-step plan by which Worm could be fixed.
 
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It's funny learning about the S9's plans, when in reality, the only protection they have is actually just jack slash. I remember a certain cat still hasn't made his debut, damn lazy cats.
 
All people complaining that Joe does not strike S9 now.
You guys know that you're talking from the position of out-of-verse knowledge, right? Same with Noelle. "He should attack Coil because Noelle would not be able to do anything to him, because the author of this story said so." Yes, and Joe's mind sits here with us and reads this fanfiction.
People forget that powers are bullshit, and Joe can't predict what S9 has right now. Just remember that things like PtV and Doormaker exist. There are tons of different invulnerability powers, threat detection, teleportation, that would foil his attempts if out of luck.
So, he'll "nuke" 100km² area, killing 5 times more than S9 would, and they still get away, and now will hide and skulk on the other end of the continent, because he attacked without knowing they can't escape/survive.
 
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