The Silver Grove (1/?)

Well, I’ve heard of the new quest that awards the new Warframe, Titania. To start, I headed to *shivers* New Loka’s room in a Relay.

(Seriously, [REDACTED] those Hippie Space Nazis.)

I found some strange place on the regular Grineer map on Earth. Nice-looking place.

Had to gather some plant scans for a recipe, one of which can be found on Ceres. (Hint: The rarest plant, the Dusklight Sarracenia, is easily found on Ceres Sabotage missions, in polluted lakes. You need 2 for the recipe.)

One quest update later, I return to a map in the midst of it being burned.

Grineer aren’t the most environmentally inclined, really. Just look at their maps.

Yep. Don’t think we’re best buds, mate, I still don’t like New Loka.

Here we go…

Interesting. It speaks.

Not shown: [REDACTED] Loki/Oberon Specter attacks! I wasn’t expecting that!

Got the Systems.

The second voice log. Sorry, didn’t screenshot the first. Interestingly, this voice log mentions Margulis, the first ‘mother’ of the Tenno, explicitly.

Building the Systems now.

Lunar Pit…? Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me…

Building a Political villain cont

saviorgoddessastrid:

zeldamaniac23:

fleet-admiral-red:

zeldamaniac23:

With Wolf, it’s probably pretty easy, as the Coalition is pretty tired of his antics, and are pretty close to just outright declaring war on him (of which Wolf would actually order the destruction of all inter-dimensional travel devices in his universe, all while blocking off all other ways in). In the case of Red, I’ll let Kes decide.

@fleet-admiral-red
@saviorgoddessastrid

@saviorgoddessastrid, @zeldamaniac23

A personal grudge would be rather easy to put up, barring a few details here and there.

Simply let it be the fact that GDI’s enacting of the Juno Protocol on Novak’s homeworld caused many casualties, among them his family.

While he may (or may not) understand the reasons for GDI (and by extension, Red) to have done that, it doesn’t mean he likes them any less than he does the Bouzac.

Perhaps Novak could also be shown to be somewhat…overconfident. Dark Astrid being a wild card aside, he’s essentially challenging GDI in their entirety by trying to get Red blamed.

One corporation against a galactic hyperpower usually doesn’t end well for said corporation, even if events are being manipulated.

And once he’s found out, a lot of people are going to be very unhappy with Novak.

I think that’s a good idea. Since Wolf did order evacuation of the planet, a good chunk of people were able to get off, but some didn’t make it. Novak would probably be so stricken with grief that reason would not be his strong suit.

he’s blaming the GDI for the destruction of his home and the loss of his family, and the Bouzac for not being able to save his family.

Upon his corporation and allies entering the Coalition, he’d probably bring a shift to right wing policies without corruption. Since he’d be able to rally people around ideas that make them feel safe, He’d try to bring in policies that are anti-Bouzac, trying to get them to bring in a governor to replace their current government and move away from socialism, and policies that’ll attempt to rein in the GDI and forced them to set up an actual government, possibly putting them under a council of supervisors to make sure they don’t ‘overstep certain boundaries,’ namely the use of superweapons without permission.

Essentially, what he’d try to do is make sure the council is made up of people he knows would say no every single time. He brings in an outside threat (with full deniability), the GDI asks to use super weapons, and he says no. They do so anyways, and they’re given the boot for trying to do a good thing.

@fleet-admiral-red

@saviorgoddessastrid

((And in the middle of this, Astrid grows suspicious of Novak because of his very specific policies and tries to get him to stop his shenanigans. Because of Astrid’s charisma, she could end up being viewed as a threat to him because if anyone can talk others into stopping Novak it’s her.

Novak would be forced to have to deal with Astrid and her political masterminding, forcing him to try and get Astrid out of the picture, but in the end gets Dark Astrid involved because of her Wild Card nature.))

I’d like to add that it would be pretty hard to justify a request for GDI to stop using superweapons.

How do you properly define what a superweapon is? At the interstellar stage, nearly every ship-mounted weapon can qualify as a WMD.

Additionally, against enemies such as the Brotherhood, the Cartel and the Resurgence, conventional war as @zeldamaniac23 so often espouses simply DOESN’T even begin to cut it. One would just be throwing lives away at that point.

One would be forced to use weapons and strategies that are, by definition, unconventional. Some may even indeed qualify as superweapons, but what choice does one have against enemies like them?

You will want to take out as many of the enemy as possible while simultaneously ensuring the safety of your own people. To that end, combat without troop deployment becomes the norm.

Orbital strikes/bombardment, use of directed drone swarms, cyberwarfare, nano-plagues. Any one of these could be considered superweapon-grade. Yet they are essential to modern (that is, spacefaring) warfare.

Novak must consider all this, because the way it’s presented, he still seems to be stuck in 21st century ways of thinking when it comes to war.

Building a Political villain cont

zeldamaniac23:

saviorgoddessastrid:

zeldamaniac23:

saviorgoddessastrid:

zeldamaniac23:

zeldamaniac23:

But we still don’t know his background. How did he become the leader of the largest corporate alliance since the Separatists of Star Wars? Why does he hate the Bouzac and GDI so much?

Of all I can come up with, Novak is from the planet Xentorok, which is in the same dimension as the Bouzaculan Empire, but it’s in an area that never got conquered by the Bouzac.

Also, most Xentorians are very conservative in their beliefs – they’re very anti-LGBTQ+, family oriented, business savy, rich/poor divide, low taxes for the rich, you get the idea. They hate anything anything that resembles anarchy – The GDI’s apolitical structure, the Bouzac’s socialist leanings, so on and so forth.

@fleet-admiral-red

@saviorgoddessastrid

((I was letting Kes comment on the idea, but since Kes seems to be avoiding that, I suppose I’ll say what he told me. Kes is fine with this idea, and even wanted to add in the idea that Novak could have reason to view the GDI as anarchists because of the times that the GDI has destroyed planets without anyone really getting a chance to veto it because of them being apolitical.

As for me, the idea works. It’s definitely not a bad one. As Kes mentioned, Novak will need a strong PMC presence in order to have a voice in the Coalition, and this could run into the ideas that you proposed of being conservative.

As for why he goes after Astrid, there is the fact that Astrid is extremely pro-LGBTQ+, as well as wanting to avoid the rich/poor divide and low taxes for the rich. She’d basically be his greatest enemy after the GDI and Bouzac because even if her faction is small comparatively, she’s got an immense amount of charisma that can let her sway factions that would normally despise her.))

This is the cultural side of it, but there’s also a more personal side to this for Novak. He’s obviously bringing in some of his people’s natural prejudices, but usually they’re pretty peaceful about it. Hell, they trade with the Bouzac no problem because of cheap goods that are good quality. No, there’s something more to it. Possibly a personal grudge, but what?

@saviorgoddessastrid
@fleet-admiral-red

((Forming a personal grudge against Astrid would be difficult. She’s got the kind of personality that’s extremely hard to hate on a personal level. She’s made friends with an evil overlord and even her own equivalent of the devil. Having a personal grudge against Astrid is something that simply doesn’t happen easily, especially because of how kind and friendly she is towards literally everyone.

As for Red and Wolf, I admit, I’m not too sure how to get a personal grudge against them going. Maybe Kes has an idea as to how Novak gained a personal grudge against Red?))

With Wolf, it’s probably pretty easy, as the Coalition is pretty tired of his antics, and are pretty close to just outright declaring war on him (of which Wolf would actually order the destruction of all inter-dimensional travel devices in his universe, all while blocking off all other ways in). In the case of Red, I’ll let Kes decide.

@fleet-admiral-red
@saviorgoddessastrid

@saviorgoddessastrid, @zeldamaniac23

A personal grudge would be rather easy to put up, barring a few details here and there.

Simply let it be the fact that GDI’s enacting of the Juno Protocol on Novak’s homeworld caused many casualties, among them his family.

While he may (or may not) understand the reasons for GDI (and by extension, Red) to have done that, it doesn’t mean he likes them any less than he does the Bouzac.

Perhaps Novak could also be shown to be somewhat…overconfident. Dark Astrid being a wild card aside, he’s essentially challenging GDI in their entirety by trying to get Red blamed.

One corporation against a galactic hyperpower usually doesn’t end well for said corporation, even if events are being manipulated.

And once he’s found out, a lot of people are going to be very unhappy with Novak.

Building a Political villain cont

saviorgoddessastrid:

zeldamaniac23:

saviorgoddessastrid:

zeldamaniac23:

The original post got corrupted and is not showing up in my feed.

@saviorgoddessastrid

@fleet-admiral-red

So, on the subject of corruption, in the real world, it flows pretty freely. Nobody really notices it until it’s too late. That could be the case with the Coalition. It’s subtle at first, and then builds up in the shadows.

((The thing is, this’d require folks going against literally everything the Coalition stands for. It’s not even necessary to put the Reds in a situation where they need to step down. As I originally tried to say, due to the Reds’ tendency for extreme overkill it’s more than easy for them to be subjected to a hearing where they need to step down from power.

It’s not at all necessary to compromise the idealism of the Coalition just to make this political enemy succeed, he can do that with the cards he already has in his hands. All he has to do is put the Reds in a situation where they violate the Charter without it being suspended and bam, he has everything he needs to get the Coalition to step down from power.

Frankly, making the Coalition go from an idealist faction dedicated to protecting the multiverse to a corrupt organization ruled by the corporations strikes me as edge for the sake of edge. It serves no purpose to the story beyond making the Coalition look evil, and frankly, it can be a bit tiring to constantly deal with a lack of idealism in threads involving you. I think that this story idea is totally workable without the need to make the Coalition edgy and not an idealist faction.))

Alright, fine, what do you suggest?

((Well, like I said, we just need to put the Reds and the Bouzac in a situation where they jump for the extreme overkill, but the Charter has not been suspended. That’s easy to pull off, you just need to bring in an enemy that seems dangerous enough for the Reds to jump to overkill, but not so dangerous that the Charter needs to be suspended.

My personal recommendation is Orks from Warhammer 40K. Extremely numerous, extremely durable, the GDI knows about them and would indeed jump to overkill, but they’re not so dangerous that the Charter must be suspended.

Plus it’d be easy to string them along, all you gotta do is point a WAAAGH! in the direction of, say, a populated civilian center. Plausible deniability for Novak is easy as well, Orks are a warrior race that are addicted to combat. So long as Novak didn’t leave anything with the Orks that pins it on him, he can just say that the Orks were just doing what the Orks always do.

Another, riskier option are the Tyranids from Warhammer 40K, who are even more numerous than the Orks. In order to get them involved though, first you’d need a way to get them through dimensions, and also some Genestealers to psychically attract the Hive Fleet. Unlike the Orks, Tyranids cannot be bartered with or bought even with weapons, since their only motivation is OM NOM NOM, NOM NOM NOM.

In either case, the GDI would feel justified to jump to overkill measures even if such is not needed, especially if the WAAAGH! manages to start attacking other locations. A few sabotage acts, a failed attempt to stop the WAAAGH!, and the GDI jumps to overkill.

Bouzac are just as easy to string along for that purpose, all it takes is getting Wolf angry, which Orks can easily do by just targeting a populated civilian center of the Bouzac for their initial attack and then Wolf dedicates his life to murder each and every last one of the Greenskins.

This would even be enough to string along the Empire of Hope, because Astrid knows very much how dangerous the Orks and the Tyranids are, though Astrid being Astrid, she’d opt for a less overkill solution, so she can’t be hit with the charter rules.))

I don’t know, an Ork WAAGH! certainly qualifies as an extreme crisis, given their sheer numbers and comparative strength.

Any faction from Warhammer 40K’s universe attacking at large would be enough to mobilize the entire Coalition, to stop them at ANY cost.

Though yes, this seems like a good solution.

Building a Political villain cont

saviorgoddessastrid:

zeldamaniac23:

The original post got corrupted and is not showing up in my feed.

@saviorgoddessastrid

@fleet-admiral-red

So, on the subject of corruption, in the real world, it flows pretty freely. Nobody really notices it until it’s too late. That could be the case with the Coalition. It’s subtle at first, and then builds up in the shadows.

((The thing is, this’d require folks going against literally everything the Coalition stands for. It’s not even necessary to put the Reds in a situation where they need to step down. As I originally tried to say, due to the Reds’ tendency for extreme overkill it’s more than easy for them to be subjected to a hearing where they need to step down from power.

It’s not at all necessary to compromise the idealism of the Coalition just to make this political enemy succeed, he can do that with the cards he already has in his hands. All he has to do is put the Reds in a situation where they violate the Charter without it being suspended and bam, he has everything he needs to get the Coalition to step down from power.

Frankly, making the Coalition go from an idealist faction dedicated to protecting the multiverse to a corrupt organization ruled by the corporations strikes me as edge for the sake of edge. It serves no purpose to the story beyond making the Coalition look evil, and frankly, it can be a bit tiring to constantly deal with a lack of idealism in threads involving you. I think that this story idea is totally workable without the need to make the Coalition edgy and not an idealist faction.))

@saviorgoddessastrid is correct.

The idealism of the Coalition is what keeps it together and makes it a worthy organisation to protect all civilizations. That being said, it is hardly perfect.

A situation as required by @zeldamaniac23 would be possible, without requiring such extensive corruption that the Coalition itself would already collapse.

There is a point where such darkness frankly becomes unnecessary and excessive.

Building a political villain

saviorgoddessastrid:

zeldamaniac23:

@fleet-admiral-red

@saviorgoddessastrid

So, I’m trying to create a villain that opposes both the Bouzac and the GDI politically. I’ve got the framework, but the test run with the character…. Didn’t go over well…. With @saviorgoddessastrid….

I need to develop him more. Here’s what I got so far.

– Name: Cedric Novak.

– Race: Human

– Occupation: CEO of HyperComm Industries, Leader of the Conservative Majority of the Coalition, Prime Minister of the Coalition.

– Age: 56.

– political beliefs: Conservative

– Wishes: wishes to bring the GDI truly into the fold of the Coalition while subordinating them to the Coalition and limiting their power, taking Wolf out of the leadership of the Bouzac, and establishing a governor into the Bouzaculan government to replace the Constitutional socialist monarchy while decentralizing control of Bouzaculan industry.

Thoughts? I really need help developing him.

((So, first thing to establish is how this guy came into power in the first place. This is the part that needs focus, because if we don’t have a good way for him to enter the Coalition and get a position of power, we don’t have a way for him to be a credible threat.

@fleet-admiral-red is the one who can come up with an answer here, as he’s the one who came up with the Coalition. Kes, if you have any ideas for how Novak got into power, feel free to share them.))

To first understand this matter, one must understand the structure of the Coalition.

The Coalition is a astropolitical/military alliance of multiple spacefaring powers similar to the old United Nations, or more accurately NATO. It is dedicated to protection of the multiverse and it’s inhabitants.

High military strength, industrial capability and technological/scientific/ advancement are important requirements for any nation to join the Coalition. This is not a hard limit, but a guideline.

Member nations can contribute to the Coalition’s overall defense force, since the Coalition doesn’t possess its own military. In theory and in practice, even corporations can join the Coalition so long as they are capable of supporting it.

Each member of the Coalition is expected to take care of their own matters, but can call for assistance from allies if absolutely necessary.

In the event something threatens the entire multiverse, the entire Coalition mobilises to eliminate it.

Leadership of the Coalition depends on the capability of any one member state to direct and lead it in an efficient and effective manner. Consistently, the Galactic Defense Initiative has held this role, although other member nations have had it as well.

For Novak to have gotten into power, he must possess a sufficiently powerful military or pseudo-military force and be dedicated to upholding peace and harmony.

There are no political sides to the Coalition, so that part needs a rework. There is no Prime Minister, either.

Essentially, the Coalition’s leaders, being representatives of their nations/corporations, function similarly to the UN General Assembly.

Challenging of leadership qualifications, as Novak intends to do, depends on how the leading member state (in this case, GDI) has acted according to the Coalition Charter and enforced multiversal safety, certain sections of which can be suspended in times of extreme crisis to ensure survival of the Coalition as a whole.

For a proper challenge of leadership to pass, an evaluation of the leading member state according to the above guidelines must be done. In this case, whether or not GDI has acted within the limits of the Charter in service to the Coalition.

Do keep in mind that as stated above, certain sections of the Coalition may be suspended if necessary.

Such a suspension of the Charter has only happened twice before, both times to deal with the Cartel and the Resurgence. Related threats are to be treated the same as the above two.