The PPC Posting Board - Latest posts

The thing is, we're looking at the interaction between two completely incompatible systems. Assuming Palpatine did his job right, the Fist's shots probably materialise in the planet they target (or rather, inside the first planet they reach - obviously there's no targetting). They don't travel through normal space or the Warp to get there, so they're not actually passing through the Eye.

So can a daemon resurrect itself if it is immolated in an instant without any warning? Accepting that Slaanesh can pretty much do anything, we need to remember that it's a God of Chaos - it may not want to, for its own entertainment. (Plus, people who let themselves get blasted out of existence don't really deserve to be restored, amirite?)

I'm delighted by the idea of the Eldar interfering - it gives them another reason to get on-board with the Alliance. It all ties together...

So, Palpatine. Let's assume that his capture was organised by one of the Traitor Legions (I still think Alpha, but it could be one of the others). That puts him outside the direct influence of Slaanesh - insofar as anyone can be in the Eye. Given that the Force and the Warp have (obviously!) no canonical interactions, I think saying that he can resist indirect/environmental influence is fair.

So he escapes, and ends up in Tz's realm. And then... well, if everything is according to the Changer's plan, then what is his plan? I'd think 'to sow chaos across a second galaxy by letting Palpatine escape thinking he's unchanged' might rank quite highly...

Ultimately, barring divine-level intervention, this scenario will end with something the Gods of Chaos can live with. None of them will die, and the Eye of Terror will continue to blaze. But everything else is in the minds of insane gods, whose plans cannot be understood. They - and Tz in particular - could do pretty much anything that the plot requires, and it wouldn't be OOC.

(Though I admit it would be insanely satisfying to drop something like Abeloth on them, and see how they deal with an actual divine-level threat this time around.)

hS

First, Khorne's first gift to Vader would be the scariest one. He'd free him from the suit. Imagine Darth Vader, restored. Hi limbs flesh and blood again. His body no longer ravaged by Mustafar. That's who would be leading the crusade.

However, the idea of Abaddon using the Fist of Chaos to destroy Terra doesn't add up. For one, he needs the Astronomicon too. For another, he wants to watch the palace fall and to kill the Emperor himself. Abaddon is a man who has remained mortal for ten thousand years because he wants to destroy humanity as a human. He's not gonna fight from half way across the galaxy if he has even the slightest chance of doing it personally.

He's actually not likely to use the Fist for much of anything. Abaddon is champion of Chaos Undivided. This cowardly weapon would cause him to rapidly lose favor with Khorne, a dangerous position to be in with so many upstarts. Huron, for example, wants to become warmaster. And now there is also Vader to consider. Abaddon would save the Fist, not spam it.

It's just Bay's company that's producing the movie, not Bay himself.

"I wouldn't be roaming the literary worlds if not for this one." He pointed his thumb at Izzy, smiling. "I still don't know why she keeps me around."

Izzy, who finally got caught between one eating moment and another, grinned and wrapped her hand around her partner's neck. "Come on, you've been a great help!"

"Yeah... In making you food, definitely." Matt looked to the side, blushing slightly.

... And I just found the answer to the question I was going to ask, which is how much storage space you get with a free account. The answer appears to be 1G, which is bloody phenomenal compared to the 20Mb I've got over on Tripod. I haven't nearly filled that yet, thanks in part to carefully managing how many images I actually store there, but dang, not having to even think about it would be nice!

I might just move—the Lost Tales, at least, and maybe my own stuff, too. It won't be soon, because I don't have time right now, but I know the ads on Tripod are an issue for people without adblock, and it's been a long time since I could happily recommend the service to anyone else.

I reckon they're better than Webs, too.

~Neshomeh

Daemonworlds are entirely bound to the whims of the beings that run them, and those beings are practically invincible in their own territory. We'd have to make assumptions to believe that the shots even struck individual worlds, as well. The Eye would have to alter the bolts in any way. It would also have to not displace them chronologically. And, Slaanesh would have to not just take their power to protect his/her realm.

Assuming all of these don't happen, the nature of the warp would mean that the bolts would destroy worlds if the daemons don't care. If they do, they could rebuild them. But actually killing anyone? Probably not. The daemons would reform almost immediately, and the realms of Chaos are heavily resistant to this kind of attack. At worst, Slaanesh could restore all of it with a thought.

And, on another note, this also requires the Eldar to not interfere. Something I'd forgotten is that the worlds in the Eye of Terror were Eldar worlds. Many Eldar are trapped there, bound to Slaanesh. Those worlds are also the source of Isha's Tears. The Soul Stones. If there was really a chance that they could be destroyed, the Eldar would interfere to save their race.

As for good old Palps, he might escape Tzeench's lair with his mind intact, but the taint of Chaos would be so infused with him that he would not escape human. Tzeench would give him...gifts. His body would be warped by the exposure to the raw power of chaos, and his mind likely would be altered as well.

Do not forget that everything is according to Tzeench's plan.

It should also be noted that if he was brought to the Eye of Terror, he was brought to the realm of Slaanesh. That is a chaos god he couldn't contend with, as he is definitely vulnerable to Slaanesh's influence. Greed, Gluttony, Pride, Carnality, Absolute Power over others, and perfection. If he allows even the slightest bit of any of these to affect him in Slaanesh's realm, he'd be trapped there forever. And if he saw Slaanesh himself, his soul is gone. Nobody can look upon Slaanesh and keep their soul.

And Vader runs on his refusal to accept the idea of limits - we've seen this time and time again. Vader is someone who will not give up, whatever happens, because the idea that he could fail (again) is fuel for his rage.

I'm going to assume that the powers of Chaos aren't capable of mass-corrupting an Ork Waaagh!. Since we've got Vader defecting to Khorne in order to free Palpatine (even the Orks wouldn't be able to fight into the realm of the Changer by brute force), the sides flip to Waaagh! versus Daemon Prince Vader and the Corrupted Inquisition. Oh, and the Imperial blockade of Cadia, because Vader is their commanding officer.

I dunno how that's gonna turn out, but I am pretty sure that once Abaddon the Despoiler has room to breathe (between the Khorne-Slaanesh war and the Waaagh!, it's been a bit cramped in the Eye of late), he's going to take the Fist of Palpatine Chaos out into real-space. The Thirteenth Black Crusade will start with the destruction of Cadia in the fires of its own sun. Very shortly afterwards, starcracker beams will rain down on Holy Terra itself. Not even the most powerful void shield in existence is going to hold up to that for long.

Obviously the final death of the God-Emperor of Mankind and the consequent failure of the Astronomican is going to have a devastating effect on the Imperium. One positive effect is that every surviving loyal Primarch is going to have to come back out of the woodwork. At minimum that means the resurrection of Guilliman (hey, the Alliance+Eldar will be happy to help with that, if it means stopping Vader+Abaddon - and it looks like it was Eldar tech that made the difference) and the return of the Lion. It looks like at least four of the others (Russ, Khan, Vulkan, Corax) are not confirmed dead, so y'know, party time.

What we've got on our hands here - assuming I haven't made any particularly egregious leaps in logic that invalidate chunks of the timeline - is all-out war. Here's how the sides seem to shake out.

The Alliance
Fighting for 'good', the Alliance is the only side particularly concerned with, y'know, people.
-The New Republic
--Including Hutt Marines
-The Tau
--Including half of the Hail of Flames, which has not yet been turned
-The Eldar

The United Empire
The forces of Order, seeking to secure power at any cost.
-The Imperial Remnant, under Tzeentch-boosted Palpatine.
-The Chiss Ascendency
-The Imperium of Man
--Palpatine successfully persuades the Primarchs that allying against Chaos is the best course. Also he can offer them hyperspace tech, which is essential for them to be able to move around.

The Black Host
Chaos, doin' what Chaos does.
-Abaddon the Despoiler
--With his armies, including the Fist of Chaos
-Daemon Prince Vader
--With the Imperial blockade fleet from Cadia, now corrupted.
-The Corrupted Inquisitors

Everyone Else
Would like to take over the galaxy, but figure it's probably a bad time.
-The Tyranids (swarming over the Tau).
-The Necrons (opportunists all).
-The Dark Eldar (hanging out in Commorragh and hoping it all goes away).
-The Orks (still fighting in the Eye of Terror, and having a great time).

How'm I doing?

hS

Isha's still alive. She's trapped in Nurgle's garden, being used as a test subject for Nurgle's diseases. She's also the reason cures exist, as she whispers them to mortal minds while Nurgle does his thing. He knows she's thwarting him, but he loves her so he doesn't care.

Orks are slightly psychic; they basically reshape reality around them to match what they think should happen. Ork tech is a jumbled, utterly garbled mess that only works because Mekboyz think that's how things work; anyone else attempting to analyze it has the feeling it's like trying to reverse-engineer a bike engine powered by, and I quote, glurble wurble flurble durble oh no I've gone cross-eyed. Red-painted vehicles literally go faster than ones that aren't, because red ones go faster. Orks are powered by Clap Your Hands If You Believe.

Give them a purpose, give them a figure to get behind, and give them something to pummel, and an Ork WAAAAAAGH! is pretty much the most dangerous thing in the galaxy. Hurling a really big one - and there's no doubt in my mind that WAAAAAAGH! Vader would be the biggest he could find, his pride demands it - into the Eye of Terror really could do some serious damage.

He polished off the last mouthful of his pumpkin ale. "I've already handicapped myself. Against most people, I'd say that was fair, but..." He eyeballed Thoth and shrugged. "I suppose a man must sometimes fight a losing battle if only to say he fought." He stuck out his free hand to Tom. "Derik, by the way. My partner is Gall. Our response center is number 1110. If we both pass out, please make sure we get back there."

Gall rolled her eyes. "Ugh, defeatist. Haven't you ever heard the expression 'the bigger they are, the harder they fall'?"

"And there might have been something like whatever this is in our history somewhere, but we did not have it in the maths from what I know." Peregrin clarified.

"Now, all I have managed to gather is that Haloween involves costumes, scary things, and candy. These seem ... rather unrelated. Bridge me over, please."

"Sure, I'll take you to skolliwoll. Only you'll need to supply the raw eggs, the calmaga, and the firecrackers."

"Hm." Numbuh 3721 stroked her chin. "I'm torn, actually. A world with no Halloween . . . this sad fellow has grown up lacking a critical childhood experience. Perhaps it would be correct for us to . . . make up for the lost time, as one might say?"

Harry shrugged. "Long as it involves like side-eight sladkies, I'm for it."

Anne smiled at Ami. "Very nice costume idea! I'm Anne." She turned an airy, emotionless expression on Chris. "Well, we're from the Nursery. Originally, I come from Goosebumps. Numbuh 3721 is former Kids Next Door, and she's wearing her old battle suit. Harry's from A Clockwork Orange, but he didn't dress from his home world. Some of us just snuck in to that new R-rated It movie. Harry liked it quite a bit."

(Sorry for long response times; in retrospect, a character who speaks Nadsat was a terrible, terrible idea altogether.)

"I don't think I ever introduced myself. I'm Ami Seeker, a My Little Pony unicorn. Chris said the theme this year was enduring characters, so I cast a spell to look like Epona. She's Link's horse from various Zelda games."

"Where are you guys from, anyway?" asked Chris. "I guess the silverware hat is supposed to be a clue but I'm drawing a blank. I'm from the Pokémon verse, myself. I almost went as James Bond, but my partner Miguel wouldn't let me wear his suit." He pouted. "Killjoy."

"It is possible that I might never understand." he continued, voice returning to its usual tone. "Maybe the old saying is true and the progress of holidays, like that of the sciences, is measured in funerals. We ancient ones do become productively set in our thoughts.". Peregrin gave a bit of a chuckle at that for some reason that was not readily apparent.

"Then again, I know rather little of this holiday. My home did not have it." he said. "So thereby I bid you teach, that I might become taught."

The formality was ruined by a muttered "Note, learn English to confirm usefulness of translator on fixed phrases." a moment later.

The notion of someone seeing the Jedi as religious figures - as something close to Avatars of Isha (though, uh, Isha isn't dead? I guess they probably don't chat to Nurgle that often, so might not know that) - is extremely compelling.

Unfortunately I don't think a Webway visit to the GFFA is on the cards - the Webway is constructed, right? No-one's been building corridors in the Star Wars galaxy. But a Farseer could definitely foresee the fall of the Hail of Flames ('cloned humans corrupted by Chaos' doesn't exactly take a genius to see coming), and Ulthwé Craftworld would have witnessed the entry of the Fist of Palpatine into the Eye of Terror as confirmation. That - along with Vader's rather intimidating presence in Eldar circles - could prompt them to open contact with the Tau-Republic Alliance still in the Milky Way.

I don't imagine they'd straight up tell them their clones might turn evil at any moment - I never got the impression the Eldar share information that way - but they would definitely start preparing for the possibility. They wouldn't be members of the Alliance, but they'd definitely be looking out for each other. And, as you say, the Jedi... well, it sends shivers down your spine, dun't it?

Hmm... all of which puts paid to Vader's attempt to enlist Eldar aid, and it seems the Dark Eldar have an utter fear of Slaanesh that means they won't go mucking about in the Eye of Terror, either. Who is a lonely Sith Lord to turn to? Not the Necron - he's not a huge fan of droid solders. But maybe if there was a primitive race out there who might be vulnerable to Force suggestion, impressed by Imperial ships and weapons, and stupid enough to launch an all-out attack on the home of Chaos...?

I think I just argued my way around to a Waaagh! On Chaos.

hS

I think it's not unreasonable to say that the first few bolts striking from a direction they had no idea even existed would be devastating. A few worlds get blasted out of existence without their rulers having time to react. Then they get wise, and start claiming the energy. It's all swings and roundabouts.

So whose domain is affected here? I know Slaanesh caused the Eye's creation - would it be reasonable to assume that its creatures would be initially weakened, then strengthened by the attack? I get the feeling that upsetting the balance of power in the Warp probably comes under the heading of a Bad Thing...

So, assuming Slaanesh was temporarily weakened, it looks like Khorne would probably go on the 'offensive'. I'm guessing that would both be a spiritual matter (in that Khorne's influence would convert some segments of the Warp proper that had previously been Slaanesh's) and also a martial one (ie, the various creatures under Khorne would attack Slaanesh's for a bit). And then that dynamic flips as Slaanesh's minions start to drink starcracker bolts. Which leaves Khorne feeling rather miffed (though presumably pleased at the slaughter, because Khorne).

I like the notion of Palpatine 'escaping' into Tzeentch's realm, but I think the Changer of Ways might have more on his hands than he bargained for. Assuming we can place the Warp and the Force on roughly equal pedestals, Palpatine is the number one Force user in the galaxy (second only to the Three who dwell on Mortis, the embodiments of the Light, Dark, and Balance, who might be dead anyway). Drawing from the Legends canon for a minute, his powers include mind-controlling the entire Imperial Navy, creating a Force Storm powerful enough to wreck a planet and open a direct hyperspace wormhole, and returning from the dead into his own clones.

The description of the Crystal Labyrinth on Lexicanum includes phrases like this:

Its glittering corridors reflect not only light but also hope, misery, dreams and nightmares. The labyrinth does not merely reflect but also distorts, pulling apart hope and purpose turning them into insanity and despair.

Hope? Misery? Dreams? Nightmares? Palpatine has none of these. Purpose he has in spades, and that purpose is, first, to claim absolute power, and second, to impose absolute order.

Palpatine will not surrender his sanity nor his purpose. He is the writer of his own destiny, and no-one - not the Jedi, not the Republic, not the Gods of Chaos or the Force itself - is going to take that from him.

... I mean, obviously Tzeentch could still kill him. But it seems out-of-character for an entity steeped in cunning and conspiracy to just straight-up kill someone who's proving difficult to control. I imagine the best path to try and claim Palpatine is to let him think he's stealing from you - slip him little bits of power, so that he will (hopefully) become hungry for more.

Which, if Vader's rescue mission succeeds, could backfire tremendously, unleashing a Warp-bearing but 'uncorrupted' (ie, not more than he already was by the Dark Side) Palpatine on the combined galaxies.

Speaking of Vader... there's someone who could be corrupted, but not by Tzeentch. If Palpatine is driven by his purpose, Vader is entirely propelled by anger. Would Khorne accept Vader's fealty and grant him power to steal Palpatine out from under Tzeentch's nose? That sounds like a win/win scenario for the Blood God, who needs a boost against Slaanesh anyway.

... sweet mercy. How's Luke going to cope with finding out he's got a Daemon Prince for a father now?

hS

I think you're right that the Imperium would probably have hit the Chiss before now - they're not prone to just charging straight ahead, so their forces are probably looping around the north side of the Core. The Unknown Regions mean nothing to them, so they would have hit the Chiss... well, heck, let's say right about the ten year mark.

I think we can take it for granted that the Chiss have been watching the war (as they watch everything else), so the Chiss Expansionary Defence Fleet has been upgraded with every form of technology they can pull together. They may be a tiny empire (the Legends Ascendency only has 29 populated systems - I'm pretty sure that's smaller than the Tau!), but their technology is a hybrid second to none. They cut the Imperium fleet that attacks them to shreds.

Do they then get involved in the larger war? Mm... given their obsession with ending threats, and the sheer scale of the Imperium's invasion - plus their semi-alliance with the Empire - probably yes. They sweep out across the Galactic North, driving the Imperium before them.

But they're cut off from the remnants of the Empire, which are down south. And the Republic isn't terribly fond of Thrawn's people.

(Speaking of Thrawn... it's entirely possible he'll end this season of Rebels dead. So it's probably best to keep him out of things.)

So now the Republic has a triple threat to face: the Imperium's Crusade, the Empire's resistance to takeover, and the Chiss attack. Admittedly the Chiss aren't attacking them, but they figure it's only a matter of time. So who do they turn to? Well, General Han Solo has a couple of ideas...

The Crusade has largely bypassed Hutt Space, but the Hutts are traders and crooks. The Imperium has a lot of technology that they haven't seen before, and they've spent their time scrounging off the battlefields. They're no Chiss, but their various subordinates are skilled in a wide range of sciences. They've been applying what they learn to their own ships.

And, how to put this... Space Marines aren't exactly easy to kill, but it is possible. And it only took one body for the Hutts to undertake a thorough investigation. The biotech in a Marine is beyond them, of course, but with cybernetics and a bunch of illegal medical technology, they can make a decent facsimile. It's taken them a few years, but the first Hutt Marines are ready - and available to the highest bidder. Who just so happens to be Han Solo, official emmisary of the New Republic (who trades them a whole bunch of Tau technology that they've never seen before).

The first appearance of Republic Space Marines on the battlefield is a massive blow to the Imperium's morale. They're either facing someone who can create fake Astartes, or they've been fighting Chaos all along without knowing it. Either way, it shakes them to the core - and those blue-skinned maniacs cutting away at the northern flank aren't exactly helping matters! They call for yet more reinforcements, weakening the fleets in certain other key sectors back home...

How'd I do? ^_^

hS

I don't think I have much more to say - not much that's actually helpful, anyways, so this will be brief. But I think I might just know a provider you might find acceptable: neocities

They like SSL, (I... think the have a hidden service? not sure...), they're free, and they're paid for by premium memberships - NOT advertisers, or data sales. You do need to trust them to not be lying about that, but it's as good as you'll probably get.

Don't think it'll help much, but on the off chance...

"All right, four contestants, I'll be judging, anyone else joining?" said Tom. "In addition, do we give a handicap to the mortals?"

"I vote against," said Thoth, earning him a glare frim Tom.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

Hello Thoth,

Inline:

> ...Actually, I don't think you do have to trust an inproxy. Pr
> ovided that we can trust your PGP key (and you've been working
> under the assumption that we can already), and you sign your f
> ic, we can verify the sig and prove that you are, in fact, the
> person who wrote it. And yeah, special software configs are no
> t acceptable.

Indeed, you're right about that we could continue to rely on detached signatures.

> I'm sorry if it seems like I'm pushing a bit hard on this, but
> PDF is Barely Acceptable, IMHO, and I'd really like to see if
> we can find a way to get your fic into a more readable format.

To reiterate, I very much prefer PDF because it is the best way for me to guarantee that you see what I see, and a way for me to bundle things in there such as font rendering and self-contained bookmarks. As time went on I had intended on using the medium itself to do things like formatting gags and other things that would have taken advantage of the ability to control formatting to the precision allowed by PDF.

If you're very adamant on having a plain text option, I can strip the formatting by hand (I use LaTeX) and release it as a .txt with no formatting whatsoever. This may omit content that I had planned. But if you're willing to download and read .txt files, you can request it by just asking me to post the plaintext of each chapter by chapter, and I will make it happen.

While I could get a provider with Webs, 000webhost, QQ, those hosts run content management systems and Web UIs that are incompatible with the security model I have since they routinely phone home to Google and Facebook, which I decided was unacceptable.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----

iLUEARMKAB0WIQTfllUBtaeNnRzzfmVK3+74uImA+wUCWfEp+QAKCRBK3+74uImA
++YsAf9q/zJBfa2OkRAxTu6+7U4mjKiLDWkBJX+jHWhTiAAwYaBUbeQ8y7pyFtFh
G9zDgGKY//R+DdMU5GuLBR/MfhcaAgCqrpjjXR6cwYtfj+ydVW03WzNkoNyEebxr
l+ihAKdpSLvmFSnh64sVAArQ3JK89IrJr1fU9tUqqn8no35Rp2SF
=rx1J
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

If a trilogy of Tetris movies is making it's way into the theaters, this news isn't much of a stretch.

Still weird, tough.

Anne smiled at the pony, ignoring her partner. "It's supposed to be like what Gabe and Sari wore to Egypt in The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb. They're two of the heroes from my home continuum!"

Harry and Numbuh 3721 glared at Gandalf!Peregrin. The girl said, "No, you certainly aren't us. You're an adult, which means you aren't capable of grasping the truly fun aspects of this holiday. Or of candy-binging. Why don't you go check the table for boring foods? I bet they'll have some nice broccoli over there for adults." Harry snickered.