Goddamn Balmarian clones!

[prismphantom]

[In an otherwise silent room, the sound of Ingram's voice can be heard.]

"Good. Hate me then. Cherish your hate. Grow stronger."

"Ze Balmary Empire - what you call Aerogators. It collects strong warriors to add to ranks of its own army. Earth picques our interest."

"Ze Balmary will make good use of warriors such as you."

[And if you were to look inside, you'd see Selena, playing audio files taken from the incident over and over again, with all those notes on Balmarian weapons of war found in La Gias in the other.   The notes get crumpled up and thrown in a bin.  They feel less like a cheatsheat and more a pity handout given while the doner was sporting a shit-eating grin.]

The Zentradi and Decepticons just want us dead.  The UE just want us guessing about everything that has to do with them.  The Wulgaru want our genetic material.  The Indalph and the Gebian AEP want us as a trophy of conquest.

... And now this.  He gave the documents to us.  He just did it so we'd be worthy enough footsoldiers for his Empire.

Comments

[tiger_ken]

Yet for all the questions that answers...

[Ken opens the door, and steps inside.]

We've got even more to solve. Like why Earth. And why now, rather than any time over the last two decades.

[prismphantom]

Who knows? Perhaps it's been the sudden increase in various technologies that are being used. A few years ago and something like the Granzon or the SDF Macross wouldn't have been realized.

[tiger_ken]

But its also more trouble for their intended new forces to handle. How exactly are we meant to serve when we're being invaded by more bad guys than ever?

[prismphantom]

Because this territory is valuable to so many other races. We are or our technology or... just whatever you want to say.

Whoever can get it first could wind up becoming king of the mountain. And that's why the aliens are taking a swing at each other so often.

[actuallyselfish]

"Look on the bright side!" Dido remarks, holding a cold compress to his forehead.

"We've got the chance to become stronger than he can imagine...strong enough to break through his plans and beat him!"

[prismphantom]

I'd rather not try to solve this situation with merely brute force. That's taking a gamble of just giving him and the Balmarians exactly what they want.

[actuallyselfish]

"I'm not disagreeing with you..." Dido says with a firm nod. "The way I see it, there's other kinds of strength besides building bigger guns and pumping iron. We need to master those kinds of strengths and blindside those flying crocodiles exactly where it hurts!"

She clenches her teeth, then lets out an audible sigh. "So. What's in the documents?"

[prismphantom]

Just a copy of all the files we recovered during that incident in La Gias. The one where Albhard got a Grungust and we found out data pertaining to the proper names and capabilities of a number of Balmarian machines.

[majestic_keiki]

It doesn't even make sense. Why would he want soldiers who hate their officers?

[prismphantom]

Anything to motivate us to be more worthwhile soldiers, I suppose. It's possible we might never even see Ingram after the Earth's conquered.

[majestic_keiki]

And slaves who are trained to hate their overlords make good soldiers?

[prismphantom]

You would be surprised how many police states run that way.

[star_of_sad]

Is this really what Major Ingram was after all along? I know it's true, but I find that... hard to believe, somehow.

[prismphantom]

And yet it makes sense considering the history of encounters with the Balmarians.

The Hiryu was nearly destroyed by the Aerogators years prior, but it survived and its crew raised the alarm about them. And the subsequent attacks almost feel like they're more there to provoke a response than actually secure any valuable resources or territory...

[star_of_sad]

Ingram was overseeing the Steel Dragon Group... and later Gavin's team.

Was his goal only to make sure they grow strong enough for his liking?

[prismphantom]

From the sounds of it, it was. Certainly fits together, all things considered.

[abugslife]

How much do you know about information security?

We need to find out how much of Unity Group's classified data was leaked to the Balmarians.

[prismphantom]

Well, for starters -and this is just common sense talking- it's safe to assume that every single battle plan drafted up to counter Balmarian attacks is compromised. Even if Ingram didn't play a part in developing them, they would've come from information he chose to give us, and he might as well have left critical information out.

[abugslife]

We will have to create completely new defense procedures, from scratch. And in the meantime, Earth is vulnerable to their attacks.

Even though he is an enemy and a traitor, I admire Major's cunning.

[prismphantom]

He certainly didn't go into this plan half-cocked. That's for sure. And we won't be able to afford underestimating him.

[keep_your_dignity]

I JUST READ WHAT HAPPENED IN THE DEBRIEFS.

WHAT A CUNT. DO WE HAVE ANY ESTIMATES ON HOW MUCH SENSITIVE INFORMATION HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET?

[Kagura speaks from behind Selena's back, at the door. She seems able to move fairly quietly sometimes]

[prismphantom]

Even the conservative estimates of that aren't pretty.

And for once... I'm actually grateful that the Graveyard keeps everyone and their cats at arms' distance.

[keep_your_dignity]

HONESTLY, I NEVER TRUSTED PLISKEN. BUT I THOUGHT HE WAS SIMPLY ANOTHER ASSHOLE WITH AN AGENDA, NOT AN ALIEN.

[prismphantom]

Certainly one of the few times being just another self-serving bureaucrat is what we'd all prefer.

... We should probably give the Wildschwein another once-over just in case too. No telling if Ingram intends for it to be some sort of insurance policy.

[broken_puppet]

You seem to be almost as upset by the events of the last mission as those of us who were directly involved.

[Lamia enters the room and looks at Selena for a moment before turning her attention to the printouts in the bin.]

If the documents can be used to make us stronger than what does it matter where they came from?