I think we might get more bang for our buck by dropping high-level blessings on certain High Lords than by communes, though in time we should find room for that. Blessings seem able to inspire a person's better nature, or at least Emps' perception of what better nature is, and might nudge them into an epiphany even without explicit instructions. In that vein:
High Importance
The Master of the Adeptus Administratum
The Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus
The Representative of the Inquisition
Moderate Importance
The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum
The Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators
The Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum
Low Importance
The Master of the Astronomican
The Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica
The Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites
Something like the Ecclesiarch or the Grand Master is a serious gamble because of how they might interpret it. Do we know the philosophy of the current Inquisitorial rep? That'll impact how they perceive it massively, and while I imagine the Inquisition wouldn't send a monodominant, no good would come of empowering someone like that.
I think we might get more bang for our buck by dropping high-level blessings on certain High Lords than by communes, though in time we should find room for that. Blessings seem able to inspire a person's better nature, or at least Emps' perception of what better nature is, and might nudge them into an epiphany even without explicit instructions. In that vein:
High Importance
The Master of the Adeptus Administratum
The Fabricator-General of the Adeptus Mechanicus
The Representative of the Inquisition
Moderate Importance
The Ecclesiarch of the Adeptus Ministorum
The Paternoval Envoy of the Navigators
The Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum
Low Importance
The Master of the Astronomican
The Master of the Adeptus Astra Telepathica
The Grand Provost Marshal of the Adeptus Arbites
Something like the Ecclesiarch or the Grand Master is a serious gamble because of how they might interpret it. Do we know the philosophy of the current Inquisitorial rep? That'll impact how they perceive it massively, and while I imagine the Inquisition wouldn't send a monodominant, no good would come of empowering someone like that.
Yeah we do, and surprisingly enough she is one of the better High Lords. Kleopatra Arx - Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum is part of the Ordo Malleus, and not only a reformer of the Inquisition, but also a pragmatist when it comes to decisions for the betterment of the Imperium at large.
Besides that, Im more in favour we just keep doing communes for the majority of our actions for the next 2 turns. We still need to finish that original outline of warning about the Tyranids, in addition to telling the Highlords muliple locations of major Dark Age of Technology spots of major importance to the imperium. And deal with the power drain we are always feeling by keeping the webway gate beneath the palace sealed.
Though, when and where exactly should we decide to bless particular lords with their own projects and/or our own plans within the next few upcoming turns after that?
[X] Plan Those Who Stands Vigil: Revised Edition
-[X] Commune (3 point)
--[X] Trajann Valoris, Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes: Calling for him and the rest of the Custodes to resume his duty, for the Emperor is the Imperium, and to defend the Imperium is to defend the Emperor. Cancel the Edict of Restraint and let the Custodes glaives and Adrathics faces the enemy of humanity once more. Bid Valoris deliver your messages and will to the High Lords. Have Valoris inform the High Lords there is to be a new Astartes Founding, with a focus given to fleet-based chapters and those specializing in Void Warfare. To the Grand Master of Assassins alone, bid him set a watch on Armageddon. When the Ork known as Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka emerges (again?) on the former Sol world, he is to be considered a target of highest priority and eliminated thoroughly.
-[X] Aid Navigators (3 points)
--[X] Lord High Admiral Spire of Battlefleet Gothic: The Hero of the last Black Crusade, lost on the maddening vagaries of the Sea of Souls. Guide his fleet, shine the path for the Navigators , the path out of the Warp. It is time, Admiral, you are needed once more. Abaddon in his rage stirs, and your firm hand is what it takes
-[X] Guide the Tarot (1 Point)
--[X] Inquisitor Fidus Kryptman, Ordo Xenos: A vision of chitin and claws, chittering beneath Imperial Cities. A beacon to a horde of monsters, the Great Hoste bares theirs fangs and tendrils, following the signals of the gene-twisted below. Tainted shipments of medicines, turning the unknowing into traitors to humanity from the very strains of their genes. Genes. Helix. Twisted spiral. A pharmaceutical cartel nothing but a mask. Vejovium III, Pahr Sector, Segmentum Ultima. Lair for the Alien breed. Twisted Helix .
-[X] Blessing ( 2 Points , for Spire ) -[X] Curse ( 1 Point ) : Herman von Strab , current or former Imperial Commander of Armageddon. A corrupt and incompetent, then make the utmost despicaable choice of treason. May his filth be uncovered by the just servants of the Imperium, may fate will him towards untimely death, before the catastrophe of his treason make itself aware
A Clash of Wills
Captain General Valoris attends you every day. Your physical form at least. Drawing your attention back into that form is painful. The shrieking agony that you put off by viewing the wider galaxy is now ever present, a pain that reaches deep into your soul.
Even so it is easier to speak to those who stand before your throne than to those a galaxy away. So for the sake of your wider plans you bear the agony as you instruct the Captain General as to his new duties. You place on him the mantle of your authority. The divine mark that will force all of your servants to yield. And you watch with grim pleasure as he wields it adroitly. He cuts through the complaints of the High Lords and rescinds the Edict of Restraint.
The war preparations that the Captain General has been making in the shadows for years now take full effect as your golden guardians take up their glaives and venture out into the galaxy to face the Great Enemy in its own territory. Your heart aches with memories. You yearn to lead them into those battles as you once did. If only your cursed flesh had not failed you.
Besides the Custodes themselves Valoris also sets into motion a new Founding of Astartes. The High Lords are more prompt with their preparation than they might have been. Perhaps they see the Astartes as a counterweight to the newly rising Custodes. Or perhaps they are simply true servants of the Imperium.
However there is an unexpected blockage. The Fabricator General has released the gene seed for the founding, but refuses to build the ships needed for new fleet based chapters. Even in the face of the Captain General's authority the Fabricator General does not quail. For he claims the Omnissiah has given him his own purpose. And he is not incorrect. You have your own plans for the Cult Mechanicus.
"Request: Do not punish them - Utilize Opportunity: Conclave of the Mechanicus - Potential Institutional Power gained deemed 64.39146% more efficient than wider impacts of Astartes Founding." The mechanical whisper repeats what you already know. Would you have reached out to the machine cult if you hadn't planned to use them.
Pushing away your annoyance and frustration at your plans colliding you turn back to the High Lords. There is one more thing you wish to watch. You have bid the Grand Master of Assassins to dispatch kill teams to Armageddon to deal with the Ork Warlord Ghazghkull. They will fail. You have foreseen it. But having such pieces in play will enable threads of fate you have yet to pull.
Turning away from mortal matters you turn your attention to the Sea of Souls. Your power is greater here. Your sight is more keen. But the Great Enemy too is more adept in their own homes, and they take great delight in foiling you. So you marshal your will to the task you have set for yourself. You will brook no failure or interference here.
Your gaze peers through the murk searching for one of your most loyal servants, Admiral Spire and his fleet sailing in circles across the great sea. Their sight is so muddled by the Great Enemy that they will never reach their destination. But here, in this place, with your power, none can defy your Will. And you will see Spire go to the aid of your people once more.
There is a lingering presence which makes itself known, feeling rather similar to the whimpering voice from before. Like you, it watches Cadia also, listening in to each desperate prayer, desperately wishing to alleviate their suffering. Yet even if capable of speech, it chooses to remain silent this time. A form of condemnation, perhaps. Or a plea. Whatever it is, it's clear that they won't be content until aid is provided to 'mere mortals', sparing them from the horrors of the galaxy...
Ignoring the silent watcher, you direct the Astronomicon to cleave through the fog around Spire's fleet like a mighty sword. You purify their path and show the navigators aboard his ships the way forward. Like a mighty beast unleashed, the fleet surges onto this new course, and in mere moments, or mere decades it is hard to say, the Admiral finds himself once more in the realm of the real.
You let your touch linger for a moment longer. Wreathing his ships in golden radiance you ensure that they will ever travel through the sea of souls with ease and certainty. And for Spire himself you quicken his thoughts and bolster his courage. His insight will need to be keen indeed to face the dangers you have foreseen.
He will be your champion of the void just as you have champions of the land. He will be the sword you wield against the black ships of the Great Enemy, and you can sense the threads of fate shift to a new course. The course you have chosen and willed. Where Cadia stands, and your empire is whole.
And he does not fail your expectations. Even as he takes stock of his fleet and position the Admiral is already sending vanguard flotillas out to relieve distress calls from local worlds, and destroy the pirates hampering local shipping.
With only a single focus it is far easier to shuffle the Tarot as you wish. You give the rogue inquisitor a target even as you foresee the fires that will be unleashed, and you are not disappointed. Kryptman descends on Vejovium III with teams of loyal deathwatch marines, and begins a righteous purge.
Laboratories are raided and specimens collected for Kyrptman's generators to examine. The underhives are washed clean with burning promethium. The nobility complain of the loss of their elixirs, but this does nothing but give Kryptman another target.
Ancient noble houses are deemed traitors to the Imperium. Fouled by xenos taint beyond redemption. Entire spires are destroyed as deathwatch kill teams scythe through their neophyte defenders. Finally Kryptman is satisfied and he departs to scour the rest of the sector for further tendrils of the Twisted Helix.
Behind him Vejovium III burns. Its hives are twisted wrecks inhabited only by those who proved themselves pure under the most thorough tortures of the Inquisition. Billions have died by fire and sword, but you are satisfied. Through their sacrifice trillions have been spared the hunger of the Great Devourer.
Though perhaps you need to pull the strands of fate for your tool of purgation. Kryptman is now pursued by not just the Inquisition, but forces of the Magi Biologi who are furious over the loss of their testing grounds.
"Kryptman is a fool beyond measure, but loyal to this atrocity that is our Imperium. A blessing is in order, carve out the stupidity that ordered the cordon sanitaire from his mind and mold him into something worthy. His work is not yet complete." The discordant voice for once echoes your own thoughts. Kryptman is a useful tool, and will be more useful yet with just a little direction.
You reach out and your mantle flows into another aspect. One of ticking machines and unyielding precision. In your aspect as the machine god you direct the prognostications of the mechanicus. The levels of holy lubricant, the timing of the signal bells, the rhythm of the industrial presses.
The magi of a thousand worlds read the signs and portents of the forge and their conclusion is the same. There is a call to return. A call of pilgrimage to the red cradle of the mechanicus. Many ignore it. There are those factions that reject such superstitions for the pure logic of the mind. But there are many more who point out that it is in fact illogical to ignore such clear and apparent phenomena.
Ships are prepared. Explorator fleets are summoned home or redirected. Archmagi leave their forge worlds for the first time in centuries and as the procession moves inward it becomes a torrent. A vast stream of crimson vessels whose destination is Mars.
And they are not unexpected. The most esteemed arch magi of all, the Fabricator General of Mars Oud Oudia Raskian, has seen those same signs. He has seen the radiant mantle that surrounds the Captain General, and read the portents of the Omnissiah in the turning of the cogs. And he understands that the Omnissiah has chosen to bless him above all Fabricators.
Finally the greatest minds of the mechanicus are assembled. For one pilgrimage perhaps, and perhaps they yet have their differences. But this is Raskian's chance. The chance to finally address his greatest fear and push the mechanicus into a new age of enlightenment.
"A chance to heal the wounds of the failure we've made, to mend the ignorance that chews at our imperium like a cancer, allow the mechanicus to work, let the innovation of man once more shine unmatched in the galaxy. Wield their ships as spears against our many foes"
"Calculation: Knowledge given here by Emperor will reverberate throughout the galaxy - Utilize to prevent tragedy - Maximize efficiency - Share insight into technology." You snap at the voices. If it were that easy to shape the galaxy you would have already done it. T
"THRONE UPGRADES REQUIRED. COMMUNICATION DEVICE. OTHERS?"
The voices are weak and tired. Their words repeat what you already know. But their desires align with your own. To lever the mechanicus out of their rut and clean the rust from their workings would greatly aid in your future plans. If only you had more ability to communicate with your vassals. Though the thought of ignorant hands tampering with the mechanisms keeping your body in stasis is disdainful. You do not trust others not to cause irreparable damage. As tortuous an existence as this is, it is one you have grown used to.
The world of Parenxes was peaceful and secure. As the base for the space marine strike force that patrolled the entire sector its inhabitants knew that they had nothing to fear. For who would dare strike at the very heart of a space marine fleet.
So the immediate reaction of the augar crews was one of mundane bureaucracy as a warp first opened in the outer system. A routine checking of schedules to see what chartist captain was currently expected. It was only as a fleet of misshapen vessels clawed their way into reality that the defenders of Parenxes realized they were about to have a very bad day.
Fortunately the Space Wolves and Astral Hawks were far better prepared. Forming up on the Wolf of Fenris they immediately burned to confront the intruders even as machine spirits sang out a chorus of identifications. This was the Red Corsair fleet, with a 98% certainty, blessed be the Omnissiah.
Labouring crews loaded guns and fired torpedoes as the two fleets engaged. A shoal of enormous missiles streaked back and forth across the void. As the enormous broadsides thundered it became apparent that despite their ragged and juryrigged appearance the Red Corsairs were no amateur pirates. Their weapons struck true and fire blossomed across the defending fleet. And even as they fired their macro cannons they evaded the counter fire with a nimbleness that seemed impossible from such hulking ships.
For this was no random pirate raid. It was not foolishness that had brought them here. Lord Huron Blackheart wanted ships, and what better ships were there than a space marine strike force. Following his orders elite pirate gunners disabled engines were disabled with clinical precision, and boarding torpedoes slammed into critical junctures.
As the defenders of Parenxes watched in despair, transponder after transponder winked out only to be replaced by the warning sigils of the Enemy. And then, ever so ponderously, the fleet turned back. They watched in horror as their own defenders began to bombard their cities from orbit.
For more than a few space marines had decided that death was not the greatest honor after all. And now Lord Huron forced them to prove their loyalty by destroying their charges with their own hands.
"They betrayed us! Another betrayal from these so called super humans. CURSE THEM" This voice follows your own thoughts so closely that it is hard to tell apart from yourself. How dare these disloyal sons of Russ turn against you! How dare they defile their own charges! Your anger is enough to ignite several minor warp storms in nearby systems before you snuff them out. Another maelstrom would do nothing but aid the Red Corsairs at this point.
She could hear her sisters calling for her. Their cries for aid pierced through the hazy dreams of her immaterial slumber. She was loath to leave the comforting golden embrace of her dreams, but duty compelled her forward.
Radiant wings flapped and she burst forth into real space. The assertion of reality driving away the hazy dreams and focusing her thoughts. Once more she was Celestine, and she was needed. On the planet below her sisters and the valiant marines of the Salamander chapter were fighting a desperate losing battle. The hordes of the Great Enemy pushing them back through the city streets.
But she was here now. Beams of luminescent light shone forth over the battlefield invigorating the Imperial defenders and burning the putrid abominations of the fallen. Even the mere fraction of His divine essence reflected through her was more than enough to punish such lowly fallen.
But these were just chaff. She could sense a far more malevolent force behind them, and even as her sisters began to push forward once more Celestine rocketed towards the evil at the heart of this campaign. There was the warlord, a daemon prince more warp than real. She could feel its prideful essence shouting at her, Gralastyx. A sword of fire and a sword of bone clashed as the two titans met each other, but that was just the physical manifestation of the far greater psychic conflict.
Divine fought against Fallen. A smaller representation of a far greater conflict. Their battle laid waste to all around them. Thousands of lesser daemons and corrupted space marines perishing not just to Celestine's righteous fury, but careless swipes of Gralastyx's balefire.
But as mighty as the conflict was it was not equal. Celestine pressed the daemon prince hard. Her divine radiance overpowering his foulness. But then just as her sword pierced his armor there was a third presence. A sword of obsidian pierced her own armor in turn. Wielded by a presence even more blasphemous than the daemon prince before her.
She could feel the corresponding essence whisper dark thoughts in her mind, Leporine. And suddenly a duel became two versus one. Now Celestine was the one suppressed. Her radiant fire dimmed under the assault as she desperately fought on two fronts. As if to mirror the psychic battle, dark clouds spread over the battlefield. And the force of chaos space marines, cultists, and daemons resumed their advance, pushing the Imperial defenders back once more.
Celestine struggled mightily. Her sword flashed back and forth in a flurry of parries and strikes, but this new daemon was a nimble flash of black armor compared to the hulking Gralastyx. Even the smallest opening was ruthlessly exploited and Celestine's armor was soon covered in dents and gashes. She knew the battle had already been decided, but with zeal and fury she fought on to give her sisters time to retreat. Until the final strike, an obsidian blade plunged through her heart.
As her wings failed her Celestine watched in horror as the planet was overrun. The last Imperial strongholds were abandoned as landing barges evacuated what they could. She had failed, and she could feel a dark grip on her heart. A constant reminder of that failure.
"One human, no matter how powerful and how full of so-called "divine power" will not turn the tides of this war. Strengthen the Guard and the Navy, the true forces behind the Imperium, let the Mechanicum provide to them the might of the ancients, let their ranks be purged of cowardly and incompetent leaders, so that they might never fail again in their charge to defend mankind everywhere." You barely acknowledge the whisper. It's advice nattering the back of your mind as you pull your champion's spirit back into your domain. The voice does not realize that this is not solely a battle of arms and armor. You fight for the souls of humanity as surely as their bodies.
"I told you! I told you and you didn't listen, and now they've all died because of this, the survivors scattered to the void, their planet brought to ruins. This could've been avoided, they counted on us, prayed to us, and yet... It's no use, you will never listen. I suppose helplessness is all we deserve, for the magnitude of our sins." This voice may be weak and small, but its words pierce you like swords. The Great Enemy has won more than a planet here. Their spiritual victory will reverberate through the galaxy. All your plans will be that much harder now.
The Emperor's power is tremendous but so are the draws upon it. Every turn, you only have a limited amount to spend on actions to guide the galaxy.
Plan voting only please.
You have 10 points to spend.
[ ] Guide the Tarot (1 Point)
Use your influence to give cryptic advice to people through the Imperial Tarot. You must write-in what messages you want to send and to whom. The more detailed and complex the message, the more likely that it will be misinterpreted or only understood in part. You can target these messages broadly, like to all governors in a sector, or specific, like sending the message to a single Inquisitor that fulfils a set of criteria you define.
[ ] Observe (1 point)
Sometimes you need more information than what your own visions of the present and future can reveal. Spend some time observing a specific place, person or something else.
[ ] Aid or Hinder Navigators (3 points)
The currents of the warp are treacherous and many a war was decided by one side receiving reinforcements just at the right time. You can put your finger on the scales by trying to alter the travel time of a fleet, though the gods of chaos might counteract you, especially if you try to influence their followers.
[ ] Send Visions (5 Points)
You send a prophetic dream and portends to specific people. Only one individual can receive this guidance, but you can communicate much more detailed information this way with a vastly lower chance of being misunderstood.
[ ] Displace Fleet (6 points)
The right person at the wrong place can make all the difference. Exert your will to fling a fleet off course to a different destination than it intended. This is unlikely to work on chaos fleets.
[ ] Commune (10 points)
Through a great exertion of your power, you can directly communicate with the soul of another being while shielding them from being overwhelmed by your presence. Communication in this way is always perfectly accurate and your touch will linger on the recipient, making it apparent to anyone that they are acting in your name. This power only costs 4 points if the target has been brought to your throne room on Terra.
[ ] Create Warp Storm (10 points)
The warp is never a calm place and with the right infusion of your vast might, you can conjure a storm in it that will make travel in an area all but impossible for anyone without divine guidance. However, your control over this storm is not perfect yet, so the storm might grow larger than intended and you can not control when it calms down again.
[ ] Blessing or Curse (variable)
Many call out for you to guide their hand every day. Sometimes you do. With this action, you can directly aid a mortal with a fraction of your power. Investing more points increases the effect. Blessing larger groups or giving very broad blessings will weaken the effect.
I might need some time to figure out what the hell just happened with Celestine. And, apparently were actually in 980.m41, not earlier like we had hoped with 940.m41.
Well...Star Child is much louder than before (in a sense) and it affects Emperor much more than louder other voices. Because he says a truth. Emperor could help...but he didn't.
I presume the more we use it, the more painful it is for Emperor to do it. I presume the price will lessen the longer we don't use it or we repair the throne.
From what I understand, she fought Daemon Prince of Nurgle and was trouncing him, then Daemon Prince of Slaanesh "joined in" via (literally) backstabbing Celestine, and she went down on 1v2 "fight"
I presume the more we use it, the more painful it is for Emperor to do it. I presume the price will lessen the longer we don't use it or we repair the throne.
[X] Plan Light of Hope, Light of Knowledge
-[X] 4 points Commune with Valoris. Bid him order the High Lords to unearth the Choral Engine on the Shrine World (useful in inciting the Ecclesiarch to defend it) of Malakbael, fortify it, study it, operate it and bring light to the Imperium and knowledge related to the Golden Throne to spur Raskian into action). Expect reprisal, have the Grey Knights on standby, whole Astartes Chapters to defend it, the Custodes a personal hand in the defense. To all, speak of the Kraken emerging from the starless void into Ultima, of the hybrid abominations serving as its vanguard causing mayhem and confusion.
-[X]4 points Commune with yourself. Find the Knowledge needed to improve and repair the Golden Throne, and install a communications device.
-[X] 1 point Bless Kryptmann with luck to survive his trials, and the wisdom to not enact the self-destructive plans of the Octarius and the Cordon Sanitaire
-[X] 1 point Bless Raskian with charisma and luck in the endeavor to enlighten the Mechanicus and improve their efficiency through the conclave.
[x] - Observe: clone of fulgrim
[x] - send visions to kor phaeron and Erebus tricking them that they need to gather their forces and challenges the black legion openly.
[x] - observe: Constantine valdor
[x] - Observe: clone of fulgrim
[x] - send visions to kor phaeron and Erebus tricking them that they need to gather their forces and challenges the black legion openly.
[x] - observe: Constantine valdor
Why the fuck would we observe the Captain-General and the Fulgrim Clone? The former is our right hand man and is pretty much guaranteed to always be near us and the latter we know for a fact is held by Trazyn, so that's just useless.
And I sincerely doubt we'd be able to trick Erebus into starting a civil war
Yeah, trying to repair the Throne should be high priority especially given that repairing the throne means less strain on Emperor and quite possibly, more points for us.
[X] Plan: Communement and Tech
-[X] Commune (4 point)
--[X] Trajann Valoris, Captain-General of the Adeptus Custodes: Call for him to bring the Magos Belisaurius Cawl to the throne room swiftly, for he is much needed for the golden path. And to send a Shield host to the Ameythyst palcae on as Karis Cephalon and retrieve the Angel located within by all means necessary.
-- Bid Valoris deliver your messages and will to the High Lords. To all, speak of the Kraken emerging from the starless void into Ultima, of the hybrid abominations serving as its vanguard causing mayhem and confusion. To the Fabricator General, speak of the Panacea STC on Verdigris IX and bid them recover, protect and use it, but beware the desires of the Drukhari to steal and pervert it. About an Archaeotech complex known as the Choral Engine on the Shrine World of Malakbael. Bid great forces and efforts be bent towards unearthing, studying, harnessing and fortifying the planet. And that he has our support with his attempt to bring the Mechanicus back to glory once more.
- To the Inquisitorial Representative, bid she support Kryptmann and his work regardless of the cost, for his work helps fight the Kraken.
- [X] The Anathema: Look into ourselves and search through our broken Psyche for the memoires long lost of the workings of the Imperial Webway gate before its fall by Magnus the Red. No matter the suffering, the memory of that technology must be found before we commune with Cawl.
- [X] Blessing
-[X] 2 point Bless Rashian with charisma and luck in the endeavor to enlighten the Mechanicus and improve their efficiency.
Figured that this would give us as much bang for our buck as possible, and set up our meeting with Cawl in the future in order to have that job finished next turn rather then wait for longer then it needs to. And the rest of the prior plan was fine in my opinion, only that it had too much bloat and so could have been able to pace itself better for future turns, like now.
I'm willing to entertain suggestions, especially in regards to commands to the High Lords since we have room for some, but the core is still there. We need to learn to pay attention to the suggestions to a point, and we need to act on this Mechanicus thing while the going is hot, so we can better impart our commands and knowledge. Plus, I really want that Choral Engine up and running.
I was putting it in reference to the fact he is now being hunted by two groups of people that are only hunting him down now, because they don't have institutional awareness of what Genestealers are and how much they could have messed up everyone that could have been infected with their medicine. As for the cruelty part, he has not gone far enough yet to try and begin committing Exterminatus on every planet he sees, nor has the Tyranids come in mass into the galaxy right now. So him acting cruelly, however nebulous you try and put it, has not yet happened and is unlikely to continue if he can actually go and do his job preparing the Galaxy for the coming Hive Mind.
