Ignition (MTG/Multicross, Planeswalker PC)

[Ayashi]

[X] Try to find sizable and abandoned concentration(s) of reusable Elerium.

Gather the unique resource should be the main focus.
Having blueprints that need unique resources like a magical metal we don't have is effectively useless.
On the other hand, having unique resources allows you to improve your current stuff or develop new stuff.

Sure getting both is best but, even assuming the "concentrations" of Elerium don't already come as usable tools, Getting the resources first is still the better option.

Also, it can likely be used as exchange money to trade for relevant blueprints and related technology.

[X] Try to find sizable and abandoned concentration(s) of reusable Elerium.

Gather the unique resource should be the main focus.
Having blueprints that need unique resources like a magical metal we don't have is effectively useless.
On the other hand, having unique resources allows you to improve your current stuff or develop new stuff.

Sure getting both is best but, even assuming the "concentrations" of Elerium don't already come as usable tools, Getting the resources first is still the better option.

Also, it can likely be used as exchange money to trade for relevant blueprints and related technology.

Well, that was interesting. If I wasn't convinced Jade's third aspect / planeswalker instincts included some degree of retrocognition, I am now.

Diplomacy with the Ethereals is actually possible, in the long-term. It's inadvisable now (they're more than powerful enough to capture us, and given their track record may find doing so expedient), but eventually we'll be able to parley with them on near-equal terms. Jade is the miracle solution they've been searching for, after all.

Click to shrink...

The problem with diplomacy is that we don't have proof of our claims. And since the Blind Eternities are entirely impossible to experience for normal people we won't be getting proof any time soon...

i'm not entirely up to date with MtG lore, but iirc the Blind Eternities are also impossible to record in anyway so... Yeah.
No actual proof that the Eldrazi aren't coming back.

If anything we would have better chances at "diplomacy" with the faction of Ethereals that continued their voyage since those are actually looking for someone to help them.

While i'm at it, @Alivaril does this Write-in is valid ?
[] Find the Ethereal faction that continued their voyage. Trade, stealing, or somehow buying their technology seems easier with a faction that isn't in a never-ending war with a whole world.

 

[curiosity]

[x] Try to find sizable and abandoned concentration(s) of reusable Elerium.

And... and anyway, aren't there are almost certainly yummier planes for the Eldrazi to eat?

Click to shrink...

Extra "are".

 

[JackOfAll]

[X] Try to find sizable and abandoned concentration(s) of reusable Elerium.

Yeah, Elerium research is priority. We need to know how to deal with it, and as mentioned, it could be damn useful in JS incident.

 

[Rgal]

[X] Try to find sizable and abandoned concentration(s) of reusable Elerium.

 

[Nachtigall]

Agneyastra definitely wouldn't be able to get Supremacy until she learned the alien language at the very least. With no books for her to copy and only the most basic of words used by ADVENT soldiers, teaching her is a project you'll have to devote some significant time toward.

Click to shrink...

Solution: She can probably piggyback off our gift of tongues during Unison.

 

[Alivaril]

While i'm at it, @Alivaril does this Write-in is valid ?
[] Find the Ethereal faction that continued their voyage. Trade, stealing, or somehow buying their technology seems easier with a faction that isn't in a never-ending war with a whole world.

Click to shrink...

Unfortunately not, but good question. You can't view or travel to the rest of the plane; it's not stable enough. You aren't even sure those who continued are still alive.

And since the Blind Eternities are entirely impossible to experience for normal people we won't be getting proof any time soon...

i'm not entirely up to date with MtG lore, but iirc the Blind Eternities are also impossible to record in anyway so... Yeah.
No actual proof that the Eldrazi aren't coming back.

Click to shrink...

Adding to this, you think showing the Ethereals an illusion of Eternity could have rather extreme consequences. Their souls were once infected by the Eldrazi, and even if they forcefully removed the influence, an unnatural reminder of the Eldrazi native habitat wouldn't be good for them.

 

[Yog]

So... Can someone explain to me (sorry, I don't have much time these days - who knew that building a fusion reactor from scratch, in a year, on a shoestring budget, with less than ten people would be hard?) - why shouldn't we pull Sleeper on Sleeper? As in, walk into her chamber, and introduce ourselves as Princess Jade, Eternal Sun, of the Agni Empire, which is an interplanar empire in a state of cold war with Eldrazi, here checking up on this version of Earth. Earth being one off the weapons created by your ancestors against Eldrazi, a breeding ground for soul mages, copied over different planes to maximize the number of mages it produced. And you hope they weren't messing up humanity's development, were they?

 

[Alivaril]

So... Can someone explain to me (sorry, I don't have much time these days - who knew that building a fusion reactor from scratch, in a year, on a shoestring budget, with less than ten people would be hard?) - why shouldn't we pull Sleeper on Sleeper? As in, walk into her chamber, and introduce ourselves as Princess Jade, Eternal Sun, of the Agni Empire, which is an interplanar empire in a state of cold war with Eldrazi, here checking up on this version of Earth. Earth being one off the weapons created by your ancestors against Eldrazi, a breeding ground for soul mages, copied over different planes to maximize the number of mages it produced. And you hope they weren't messing up humanity's development, were they?

Click to shrink...

Well, for one thing, you don't have enough time to look for Sleeper's Soul Obelisk anymore. You could probably do this to the Ethereals, though, if after giving them a bit more warning than that.

Also did you peek at my notes just wtf where did this come from*

*This was a joke.

 

[Sapient_Ham]

The problem with diplomacy is that we don't have proof of our claims. And since the Blind Eternities are entirely impossible to experience for normal people we won't be getting proof any time soon...

Click to shrink...

That's part of my thought process, as well. Though even in the absence of proof, there are things we could do that would gain the Ethereals' undivided attention—like mentioning the Eldrazi.

However, that wouldn't necessarily be a good thing. Depending on their code of ethics, they may decide the best way to investigate is to rip the knowledge directly from Jade's mind, to test her infinite body swaps through a cycle of repeated vessel destruction, etc. Not saying such a reaction is likely, per se, but if they're ruthless enough it's disturbingly plausible.

So... Can someone explain to me (sorry, I don't have much time these days - who knew that building a fusion reactor from scratch, in a year, on a shoestring budget, with less than ten people would be hard?) - why shouldn't we pull Sleeper on Sleeper? As in, walk into her chamber, and introduce ourselves as Princess Jade, Eternal Sun, of the Agni Empire, which is an interplanar empire in a state of cold war with Eldrazi, here checking up on this version of Earth. Earth being one off the weapons created by your ancestors against Eldrazi, a breeding ground for soul mages, copied over different planes to maximize the number of mages it produced. And you hope they weren't messing up humanity's development, were they?

Click to shrink...

Aside from the fact Sleeper probably isn't privy to her bosses' motives, see the above about how risky it is to attract attention. If it goes well, everything's fine and dandy, but if it doesn't you have another Calypso situation.

Essentially, don't poke the god-tier mind-flayers until you have god-tier mental defenses, even if you think they'll be interested in what you have to say. No, especially if you think they'll be interested.

 

[Yog]

Well, for one thing, you don't have enough time to look for Sleeper's mobile Soul Obelisk anymore. You could probably do this to the Ethereals, though, if after giving them a bit more warning than that.

Also did you peek at my notes just wtf where did this come from*

*This was a joke.

Click to shrink...

Umm... I am really sorry (and yes, I noted the joke point), but this is pretty damn obvious when one thinks about it for several seconds. Consider:
1) Earth solar system is the only stellar body that exists on more than one plane in a recognizable form with closely similar histories - given that there exist similar historical figures on multiple planes, some sort of connection has to exist, because brains and biological reproduction are at least a little bit quantum and, as such, subject to chance
2) In all planes Earth exhibits presence of people with either unusual for the plane abilities (Earth-MGLN and its magical community, Earth-PMMM and the presence of mana mages), or powerful mages in general (Earth-MGLN has an unnatural distribution of "almost no mages, but those that exist are abnormally strong"). This makes perfect sense if this is by design (and, at least in case of Earth-MGLN I am betting that the systems for that are in the other celestial bodies). Against Eldrazi it's better to have few superpowerful mages, rather than many mooks. It gives Eldrazi less to eat, and gives each mortal combatant more chance to meaningfully fight.
3) You outright told us in the last update that the collection of planes we are in was set up by our ancestor, in a way to train us in an Eldrazi-free environment, while keeping us aware of them.

The only question I am left with is if the name of the ancestor was Urza, or if they merely heard of Urza and were inspired by him. Because we are Legacy. Like, we are an outright Legacy equivalent aimed against Eldrazi instead of Phyrexia.

And, ok, it might be that we are in a Ven's diagram overlap of several projects. One that created multiple Earths across numerous planes. Earth that had and have similar histories, ie Earths that have to somehow be actively connected still. Earths that produce powerful mages. Earths that can serve as both backups and soldier production facilities. And the project of our ancestors to train up Planeswalkers of the family to defend themselves against Eldrazi... Was Agni Empire also part of the Legacy? I could see it. How many steps deep does this inception go?

Aside from the fact Sleeper probably isn't privy to her bosses' motives, see the above about how risky it is to attract attention. If it goes well, everything's fine and dandy, but if it doesn't you have another Calypso situation.

Essentially, don't poke the god-tier mind-flayers until you have god-tier mental defenses, even if you think they'll be interested in what you have to say. No, especially if you think they'll be interested.

Click to shrink...

Remote drones should be a solution.

I'd like to note that Etherials only left a small contingent on Earth, and the others are still looking for a solution. So, approach them as such - you are the solution. Subverting you is a bad idea, because interplanar empire at your back will be angry with them, and their problem is bigger than they realize.

 

[beowolf]

I'd like to note that Etherials only left a small contingent on Earth, and the others are still looking for a solution

Click to shrink...

Humanity lost the "war," approximately three hundred of the Ethereals stayed on Earth, and the other half continued their search for a species who could solve their problems for them.

Click to shrink...

I wouldn't call half a 'small contingent'. Also, the failing of their methods has led to then falling from 5000 to 600, which is a pretty big thing to take notice of.

 

[Valmond]

[X] Try to find sizable and abandoned concentration(s) of reusable Elerium.

 

[Nixeu]

Me as well, usually I'd prefer caution. I really dislike the thought of confronting a Chosen, especially since
However, if we won't get the chance to scry again, it's pretty much now or never. The Sleeper is the only Chosen I'd risk this against, since they're weakest on the defense and probably absent. Scout the fortress with Agneyastra's sensors, hack into its systems, disable what we can, use one of the Stalker's missiles to breach it take out a large group of enemies if necessary, take whatever isn't pinned down and scan & destroy everything else, then vanish.
Nanoha doesn't have Firewall, Mitra isn't specialized in e-war, and Sidhe lacks shields, so we can't risk them on this.

Click to shrink...

The Sleeper would almost certainly appear during all this, since the Chosen can teleport back to their Obelisks, at least in-canon.

She can only evade what she knows about. Codices are a OCP for her, which is why we need to look first.

Network superiority would allow us to take down any soldier with a control chip, steal a large part of their reach base, find prospective raid targets, ...
It's the single biggest advantage we can get. Imagine an XCOM 2 game where you have unlimited "Data". It's ridiculously broken.

Click to shrink...

on Codices being OCPs. I see very little practical difference between them and other automated watcher AI, which Astra can at least detect without them detecting her, judging by her past encounters with them.

As Sapient_Ham stated, their motivations aren't all that useful if we don't plan to act on them. We can't stay for long, so at least until after the JS incident (and preferably after Thread) we'll only do short raids and maybe trade with XCOM - and the Sleeper really ruined the latter. Apart from being basically guaranteed to be mistaken for them, as long as it lives, any tech or information we might offer would eventually land in the hands of the Ethereals.

Click to shrink...

And if we kill her stealthily, without involving another party, how exactly are we going to prove we aren't the Sleeper? If she's dead and gone, they aren't necessarily going to know why, or if it's permanent. And we won't be able to prove we're the ones who killed her, or that we aren't her by, for example, killing her ourselves while she's trying to infiltrate.

....And the update made those points moot. They're still useful for arguing why we shouldn't try and kill the Sleeper subtly or without Resistance support, though.

As it turns out, your first guess regarding the state of this plane had been correct. The Endless Hunger, or Eldrazi, had been here — or, more specifically, they'd been in a different portion of the same plane. One that's now lifeless and grey.

The Ethereals once had a major multi-system empire before some horrible project or another drew the attention of the Eldrazi. You can't say which of their projects was responsible — the Ethereals believe that strength of soul and moral value are one and the same, and since their souls were artificially enhanced far beyond what lesser species could boast of, they had no issues with enslaving or experimenting on lesser races. Fortunately, your soul is strong enough for them to consider you an actual person, if one they'd disagree with most strenuously and would (try to) kill if they felt it necessary. That's a definite improvement over them considering humans little better than livestock.

You don't have enough time to watch the Ethereal-Eldrazi conflict in detail, but the broad strokes are apparent enough. The Ethereals were corrupted by mere proximity to the Eldrazi, some of the survivors realized what was happening, and the uninfected fought against their insane fellows. Both sides were eventually destroyed and the Eldrazi pushed away, but the corruption had infiltrated even what few survivors remained. Given as said survivors also happened to be the most skilled soul mages of their already powerful species, they were well aware of this fact. As far as the Ethereals were concerned, they had only one choice: to surgically excise and destroy the infected portions of their souls and bodies, losing most of their remaining body-swaps in the process.

The Ethereals spent the next century desperately searching both for allies against the Eldrazi and individuals capable of solving their impending death issue. What they found were primitive species who could act as neither, only subordinates. Had their search been less urgent, the Ethereals would welcome the new workers. As it is? Choosing to wipe out all those who didn't serve them was an easy choice. Less food for the Eldrazi, they felt.

Despite their best efforts, the spare Ethereal bodies decayed more with every passing month and many of the Ethereals simply... stopped. They went from a force of five thousand refugees to a fraction of that number. As far as the dead were concerned, they were sacrificing themselves to let their companions continue living.

Once the Ethereals had reached Earth, a world with beings who held genuine promise and the potential of strong soul magic, the Ethereals split into two major political factions. The first wanted to uplift the resident humans and obtain their technical aid. The second believed that to be courting disaster and simply wished to begin stealing human bodies for themselves. They ultimately compromised: the Ethereals would "invade" with expendable units, but at a slow enough rate that a clever race could, in theory, survive and grow from it.

The rest is just history. Humanity lost the "war," approximately three hundred of the Ethereals stayed on Earth, and the other half continued their search for a species who could solve their problems for them. Those who remain could live with the current state of affairs were it not for one simple fact: as far as they know, the Eldrazi are still going to come back. If the Ethereals aren't back to full strength upon their return, the plane will die and them with it. Even the more reasonable among them would consider sacrificing all of humanity to be a fair trade for regaining proper forms.

Fortunately for them, they've now been dragged into the isolated "Multiplanar Shard" constructed by your ancestors for any of their newly planeswalking family members. Until one of the planes does something to invite the Eldrazi over, this new plane is as safe from them as every other universe in your hidden pocket of Eternity.

...Actually, you're a little worried about the turtle-plane now. Pushing them out of the Shard to make room for another plane seems rather cold-blooded. At least they seemed to have pretty good soul mages over there? Yes, you're sure they'll be fine. Your ancestors might've been selfish at times, but they wouldn't condemn entire planes to death by eldritch abominations. And... and anyway, aren't there almost certainly yummier planes for the Eldrazi to eat? The departing plane will be okay, you're sure.

Click to shrink...

That...is a rather masterful weaving of the implications of some worse, more powerful threat on the horizon found throughout XCOM 2 and MtG lore. Well done. Also, yay, we finally get to understand why we're limited in our access to certain planes.

As for Avatar's safety, it will likely be fine. Usually, plane has to attract their attention in some manner or be stupidly mana rich to be attacked.

Well, that was interesting. If I wasn't convinced Jade's third aspect / planeswalker instincts included some degree of retrocognition, I am now.

Diplomacy with the Ethereals is actually possible, in the long-term. It's inadvisable now (they're more than powerful enough to capture us, and given their track record may find doing so expedient), but eventually we'll be able to parley with them on near-equal terms. Jade is the miracle solution they've been searching for, after all.

Click to shrink...

We might be best off trying to contact the second faction mentioned, and working with them to get the other Ethereals to play nicely with us. They're significantly more likely to be willing to talk to us, and significantly more likely to be receptive to our ideas, IMO.

That said, they might have trouble accepting that the Eldrazi aren't coming back. It's been such a defining aspect of their lives and actions that it might be hard for them to believe that there's no longer a need to be so afraid. Might best to ease them into it. And it's not like contacting the pro-uplift crowd is going to be quick or easy, though I do think we should do it.

The problem with diplomacy is that we don't have proof of our claims. And since the Blind Eternities are entirely impossible to experience for normal people we won't be getting proof any time soon...

i'm not entirely up to date with MtG lore, but iirc the Blind Eternities are also impossible to record in anyway so... Yeah.
No actual proof that the Eldrazi aren't coming back.

If anything we would have better chances at "diplomacy" with the faction of Ethereals that continued their voyage since those are actually looking for someone to help them.

Click to shrink...

Psionics does seem to include some form of foresight. It's not seen very often, and it's imprecise, but it is seen a few places in XCOM. Seems to manifest more in feelings than visions, I think. So they might have some ability to confirm our claims for themselves. The Templars seem to be able to sense similar things, as can some of the Chosen.

So... Can someone explain to me (sorry, I don't have much time these days - who knew that building a fusion reactor from scratch, in a year, on a shoestring budget, with less than ten people would be hard?) - why shouldn't we pull Sleeper on Sleeper? As in, walk into her chamber, and introduce ourselves as Princess Jade, Eternal Sun, of the Agni Empire, which is an interplanar empire in a state of cold war with Eldrazi, here checking up on this version of Earth. Earth being one off the weapons created by your ancestors against Eldrazi, a breeding ground for soul mages, copied over different planes to maximize the number of mages it produced. And you hope they weren't messing up humanity's development, were they?

Click to shrink...

...Yeah, I can see how that might keep one busy.

And this is just an absolutely hilarious trick to pull, honestly.

 

[beowolf]

We might be best off trying to contact the second faction mentioned, and working with them to get the other Ethereals to play nicely with us. They're significantly more likely to be willing to talk to us, and significantly more likely to be receptive to our ideas, IMO.

Click to shrink...

We, can't, unfortunately.

Unfortunately not, but good question. You can't view or travel to the rest of the plane; it's not stable enough. You aren't even sure those who continued are still alive.

Click to shrink...

 

[curiosity]

We, can't, unfortunately.

Click to shrink...

I think, he meant this:

Once the Ethereals had reached Earth, a world with beings who held genuine promise and the potential of strong soul magic, the Ethereals split into two major political factions. The first wanted to uplift the resident humans and obtain their technical aid. The second believed that to be courting disaster and simply wished to begin stealing human bodies for themselves. They ultimately compromised: the Ethereals would "invade" with expendable units, but at a slow enough rate that a clever race could, in theory, survive and grow from it.

Click to shrink...

 

[Alivaril]

I think, he meant this:

Click to shrink...

On that note, those who left and those who stayed were not divided into the two separate political factions previously mentioned. More of the "uplift" faction left than stayed, and more of the "conquer" faction stayed than left, but the two groups did mix.

EDIT: You don't know if the "Stay" group is still delivering human bodies to those who continued on, but you're leaning toward a yes. The mixing of groups doesn't make much sense otherwise.

 

[Yog]

...Yeah, I can see how that might keep one busy.

Click to shrink...

On the plus side, it would make for a good chapter of my eventual memoirs. "How to build a tokamak using Aliexpress and random junk from soviet warehouses".

And this is just an absolutely hilarious trick to pull, honestly.

Click to shrink...

It is pretty much true to boot. The only bluff is that the empire is actively working against Eldrazi, and the only lie (as far as we know) is that it was us who set up Earths as incubators for mages / backups for humanity.

If we don't want to be too confrontational, we could probably do something along these lines:
1) Drop in into some city on the planet. A large one, ideally one where the alien government nominally is. Ideally, get spotted on cameras, but hurry away before they can detain us.
2) Pose as a scout / inspector for the Empire, come to check on Earth's progress after a brief absence of several hundred years - this can be done over internet, the public one, using a mechanical proxy. Ideally, we'd be wearing a disguise.
3) Leave a message with the Advent using advanced non-human technology requesting a meeting concerning their actions in regards to Earth
4) Request a meeting with them after a short amount of time, saying that this is clearly way above your pay grade, and you'll get an Empire's princess to come, because your really hope they weren't messing up humanity's development as soul weapons against Eldrazi.
5) Teleport to X-com, tell them of the meeting, where and when it's going to be held

What the intended effect is?
1) We show that we can teleport in, and use at least somewhat OCP technology
2) We establish existence of an "Empire" that works exactly like what Etherials were looking for
3) We establish humans as important to our plans, and we also establish Earth as being artificial. This is important to set up the scope of the Empire.
4) We don't give them enough time to exterminate X-com, while dangling too much of a carrot for etherials not to come to the negotiation table in at least some capacity
5) When the meeting happens, X-com would crush the party, either to "rescue" us, or to be a negotiating party in their own right.

I am not explaining perfectly clearly, but my short point is:
We are what Etherials want and are looking for, possibly more than we know IC. Etherials have inner political frictions and divides where it comes to interacting with other species, probably all the more pronounced when said species are their equals or superiors in terms of might / technology / magic. We should play up those differences as strongly as possibly, sowing confusion and preventing them from pushing humanity more than they are now, ideally halting their activities altogether.

Even more tl;dr: "humanity was actually a bioweapon in development of a civilization that operates on a larger scale than you do, but has the same goal. You are messing its development, actively messing up your only chance of survival. Stop until you can at least verify this information" should be our message.

 

[fictionfan]

Unfortunately, it's hard for you to progress past needing around eight seconds to assemble the packet of cold Blue. You could make an overcharged version of the spell within five seconds, but that might send targets into a comatose state of unknown length. Maybe days, maybe weeks.

(Ability Improved: Sleep [Rank 0 -> 4])​

Click to shrink...

About this @Alivaril is Agneyastra able to detect the spell as it is being formed? Just wondering if we can set it up and spring it on a linker core magic before they notice.

 

[Alivaril]

About this @Alivaril is Agneyastra able to detect the spell as it is being formed? Just wondering if we can set it up and spring it on a linker core magic before they notice.

Click to shrink...

You think a better question would be "Can Nanoha sense it," to which the answer is no.

 

[AramilOniasha]

[X] Find out what Internet equivalent(s) this world has, whether Mom would be able to establish supremacy over them, how normal people would get access, and where you'd go to get temporary write access.

 

[Vebyast]

[] Find out what Internet equivalent(s) this world has, whether Mom would be able to establish supremacy over them, how normal people would get access, and where you'd go to get temporary write access.
Agneyastra definitely wouldn't be able to get Supremacy until she learned the alien language at the very least. With no books for her to copy and only the most basic of words used by ADVENT soldiers, teaching her is a project you'll have to devote some significant time toward.

Click to shrink...

Still not sure this is something that Planeswalker cheating would help much with. Best case would probably be a modification like this:

[] Find some backdoors into their computer systems that you'll be able to gain control of once Agneyastra knows the language. Defectors with passwords you can buy, targets you can hit to gain physical access, crashed ships with intact databases, etc.

Again, the default vote is almost all things we can do manually. Especially the "where would a normal citizen go" bits; we can just point scanners at a small town and watch.

I'm actually torn between that and safe, abandoned alloys. They're both pretty good plays.

 

[Nachtigall]

humanity was actually a bioweapon in development of a civilization that operates on a larger scale than you do, but has the same goal. You are messing with its development, actively messing up your only chance of survival.

Click to shrink...

There's a problem with that:

the Ethereals believe that strength of soul and moral value are one and the same, and since their souls were artificially enhanced far beyond what lesser species could boast of, they had no issues with enslaving or experimenting on lesser races. Fortunately, your soul is strong enough for them to consider you an actual person, if one they'd disagree with most strenuously and would (try to) kill if they felt it necessary. That's a definite improvement over them considering humans little better than livestock.

Click to shrink...

Our soul isn't strong enough to push the argument. Since theirs are stronger, they obviously were in the right and improved humanity through the crucible of war. They're even factually (if not morally) right, as the emergence of human psychics shows.

on Codices being OCPs. I see very little practical difference between them and other automated watcher AI, which Astra can at least detect without them detecting her, judging by her past encounters with them.

Click to shrink...

Teleport and Psionic Rift. Soul and mana magic are OCPs to most of MGLN and Agneyastra never had to oppose them:

"The Agni are the only users of mana-based magic I know of on my home plane. It is possible, albeit unlikely, for certain leaders of the Emblask Alliance and the Democratic Republic of Lech to have possessed mana of their own.

Click to shrink...

Calypso trivially took her out, and psionics may be able to do the same if she's unprepared. Inside the psi-network, disabling all weapons may well translate to disabling Agneyastra's e-war capabilities and leaving her helpless.

---

@Vebyast: You're right that the network vote probably needs to be rephrased. It still needs to include looking at the network defenses, though, so that Agneyastra is forewarned of Codices.

Another point to keep in mind is that, if my idea (Unison to crack language/encryption) works, it would considerably shift the timeframe we're working with.
@Alivaril: Does Agneyastra know whether a device can access its Lord's unique skills during Unison, or about another way to leverage gift of tongues in Unison?

 

[Alivaril]

@Alivaril: Does Agneyastra know whether a device can access its Lord's unique skills during Unison, or about another way to leverage gift of tongues in Unison?

Click to shrink...

She knows that certain combat skills could be shared, but the sample size of "Was a Lord" and "had another Rare Skill" was rather small. Skills that were based more in the mind or soul than the body could go either way. She believes that hearing your precise translations in real time would help her learn the language, but it almost certainly wouldn't be a suitable method of actually accessing it.

 

[Yog]

Our soul isn't strong enough to push the argument. Since theirs are stronger, they obviously were in the right and improved humanity through the crucible of war. They're even factually (if not morally) right, as the emergence of human psychics shows.

Click to shrink...

1) Each Etherial is pretty much a Captain America with cybernetic improvements of their species. We are a young child of our species, barely a decade old, and with far greater potential (which is relatively trivial to show). Assuming etherials are not stupid, and they aren't, they should recognize this, especially if we mention this (that we are a young example of our species, barely into maturity, and that their whole universe, as well as couple of others was chosen as our "nursery" of sorts).
1.5) Actually, yes, if they can do truth detection (should be capable of doing so) "this whole mess you are in was chosen as my training wheels" would be a great argument in favor of treating us respectfully.
2) You misunderstood the argument. Which means I made it badly. I apologize.

My argument is not "what you are doing is morally bad, stop". My argument (to present to them) is framed within their own enlightened self-interest. It is based on the following:

1) We, or rather Empire / whoever set up Earths, is operating on longer timespans (at least millenia) and larger scales (multiuniversal) than they are. Earth was set up with that in mind.

2) The overall goals for them (life, prosperity, f*ck Eldrazi) is comparable and mutually beneficial with ours (life, prosperity for us and humanity, f*ck Eldrazi)

3) Their intervention, while arguably beneficial for them short-term, is harmful for them, and us long-term and is preventing any for of alliance or help between us.

Basically "you were hasty and are operating without full picture. Your problem is part of a larger overall problem." From there, it is not my goal to have them leave Earth or anything like that. Those are infeasible. The goal is to have them stop and evaluate the data given. Which either leads to them stopping altogether and switching onto uplifting / peaceful endeavors, or gives us time to uptech and help X-com.

We could also throw in the following (backed up by data):
1) Earth was set up to produce few exceptionally powerful psionics / mages, not masses of mooks. This can be backed by data. And Agneyastra could probably run simulations to demonstrate how that wouldn't be revealed in their invasion
2) Overall scale of Eldrazi thread. Ie multiversal. Demonstration that their actions are not helpful to them in the long run. They are gunning for immortality, they have to consider long run.

 

[The Froggy Ninja]

[X] Try to find sizable and abandoned concentration(s) of reusable Elerium.