NationStates Jolt Archive

(A quick OOC aside in this. I've been building this thing over the last six RL months, and it will not be technically completed until January twelfth. For now, it is in a functioning state, and it is the perfect time for what I had planned. If you want in, TG me for details. )


*access sensor readings for past thirty minutes - target system Not
Kansas."
*1 identified contact, approach vector, matches Handle With Care. Requesting docking permission at bay 031*
*Grant permission, send automated message 01*
*Confirmed*
*Activate Avatar 1 of 600, set to Central Processor control*
*Confirmed*

Darkness became light in the eyes of the first Avatar of Pennybags. Countless others had been created, variations upon a theme, but only six hundred remained intact in their true form. Standing eleven feet tall, and wearing a top hat and tails, Pennybags looked utterly ridiculous, though that was the intent. The Avatar was a puppet of the intelligence at the core facility in the orbital, and having its representatives look so out of place was its way of letting everyone know. The ship approaching, handle with care, was a colony ship, holding thirteen hundred colonists, nicknamed "Carthaginians" by Pennybags, and taken up by all who knew about the expedition. The Carthaginians knew about the orbital months beforehand, but to the regular Jordaxian seeing the collosal Handle With Care Leaving, all thought that it would be to colonise a new planet, in an unknown system, inspiring a kind of awe of those aboard the ship, explorers of the void. Of course, this was careful public relations nonsense from the Religious/bureaucratic caste, a free boost to public opinion. No-one would find out for some time where they had actually gone, and when they did, the sheer scale of what had been achieved in the construction of this monument to a glorious Empire would only go to further pride among the people.

Aboard the Handle With Care, the colonists readied themselves for the landing. Through the glasslike dome of the cargo bay roof, the orbital could be seen, hanging in space, suspended from the stars. A few awestruck people gazed at it as the rest gathered their belongings, before breaking their trance and doing likewise. As the Handle With Care began to glide underneath the ring, the industrial underside exposed itself. A dazzling display of lights, overpowering the stars, tracing the line of the ring into both horizons. As Handle began to rise up into the huge landing area, the bottom of the orbital appeared to crack open, and the huge ship, a converted Pregnancy Test class colony ship, rose into the hold, stopping as soon as the very tip of the ship entered. The opening closed around it, and the top of the Handle began to slide open, allowing the colonists to exit. The area which they left to was even larger than the small area of the cargo bay they resided in for the journey, though it was many times more lavish, with marble columns and gold lining. Huge trains lay on sunken tracks, built to look like early twentieth century streamlined trains. One of the doors on the trains oppened, Avatar of Pennybags stepping out, flanked by two spider-like machines, Doc Ock powered armour suits. As the three walked towards the group of colonists, powered armours shaking the ground with every footstep, each of the Carthaginians turned to look.

"Welcome to Monopoly," called out Pennybags, before shaking the hand of the first colonist it seen. "I am Pennybags, the Artificial Sentience charged with maintaining this facility. These two fine upstanding machines next to me are Harry and Larry. They will assist you in loading up materials and livestock onto the freight trains, and accompany you to the settlement site. I can be contacted through each of these units, should the matter be of sufficient urgency. I expect that I shall have rather more time to talk later, but it would seem that there are rather a lot of things happening at the moment that require my attention, and my multi-tasking abilities are not infinite. For now, I shall bid you goodbye, and will try to greet you all properly at the settlement."

With that, Pennybags strode off in the opposite direction of the trains, into the side of a pillar, which had moved up the way as it approached, and now returned to the ground, covering the avatar. The two Armoured suits began to lift up huge prefabricated sections of buildings, and went back and forth from train to ship loading them into the large freight carriages. Grabbing a cow by its leash, and moving it towards the train, Ryusan was one of the more excited colonists. He had longed to get away from the desolate planetoids of Jordaxia, and onto somewhere with life, and open spaces, and not the endless corridors and chambers of the asteroid settlements he was so familiar with. When he had heard about the whole scheme, after volunteering for a colony mission far outside the Jordaxian sphere of influence, he was largely disappointed to find out that it was another artificial settlement. But upon seeing the orbital for the first time, with its savannas, and mountain regions, Ryusan had no qualms about putting his name down. His family had been less enthusiastic, but he had managed to convince them to come along.

"You lot get onto the train in platform thirty-two," he said, "whilst I load up the animals, and I'll meet you there. This is it. Magnificent, wasn't it? Did you see the plains in the distance? Go on now. I'll see you shortly." Enthused with the prospect of being in the open air for the first time, he pushed his son, an eight year old, gently in the direction of the train, and began to tug at the cow, which was refusing to go near the freight carriage. Eventually he managed to force the beast inside, and walked to the train on platform thirty-two. Back at the freight carriages, Harry and Larry were simply lifting slabs of building materials and animals with their huge mechanical arms, and easily placing them onto the carriage. As soon as the final prefabs were loaded on, and Harry and Larry got in the freight section, shutting the door behind them, all of the several trains departed at once, towards the settlement site.

A short while later, the trains emerged from the tunnels they had been in since the beginning of the journey. Amazed, the Carthaginians looked at the view, Alpine mountains in the distance, but with endless fields of green stretching out. In the distance, the curve of the orbital stretched lazily up, curving round and rejoining with their horizon on the other side Blue sky opened up in front of them, and the planet that the orbital was circling dominated the Eastern sky.. Close to a forest, the trains braked to a halt, doors opening automatically. The Carthaginians had arrived at their new home.

OOC: So it begins ;), Tagging.. ill post when you ask.

semi-tag

On the other side of the orbital, hundreds of thousands of kilometres away from Carthage, there was major movement. Underneath a large volcano, nicknamed Mount Doom, a vast research facility was located, housing the brightest minds of the Empire, and some from outwith. Sitting at the heart of the facility was the only direct access terminals to Pennybags on the orbitals. It was around these terminals that bunches of scientists in white lab coats were huddling. The performance of Pennybags was decidedly below average, unable to keep up with its own supposed processing capacity. It had shown difficulty in managing the orbital, and many of the electrical systems in the industrial sectors were failing badly as a result. After months trying to solve the problem with a variety of different solutions, including having multiple intelligences run the orbital, which had failed miserably due to a lack of cohesion, foreign minds were brought in to help with the problem. It was at this point that a young scientist called Nathan Halcyon from Outer Heaven was brought in to assist. Having been sworn to secrecy about the location of the project, Nathan was assigned to a number of highly classified projects, including research into basic armour and weaponry advances, as well as FTL research. It was this last field that allowed Nathan to finally solve the problem. By shunting Pennybags directly into hyperspace, where it could take advantage of the higher lightspeed, it was theorised that performance could be enhanced to a satisfactory degree to run the orbital.

In one of the labs of mount Doom, Nathans team was getting ready to test the new stable hyperdrive on Pennybags for the first time. In preparation, Pennybags had been all but disconnected from the orbital, to minimise damage that might occur in a worst case scenario. On the terminal, a blank face appeared, and spoke to the the team.

"I have disconnected myself from the orbital, running on minimal systems. Ready for integration."

"Confirmed, Pennybags, proceeding now." one of the techs responded.

Typing in a few quick commands, a small map of the core room appeared, showing the AI in the centre. In an instant, red liquid seemed to cover the AI, and alarm bells rang momentarily. The face appeared back on the console, fully "fleshed" this time, and said

"The proceedure has been a success! Processing capacity is running at 100 percent, and I replugging myself into the orbital.. done! How much faster than before... My word. This place is a mess.Organising maintenance routes now. Much better. Congratulations, mr Halcyon, you have just revolutionised Jordaxian computer mechanics forever." The face disappeared from the screen, but at the core, now in the depths of hyperspace, Pennybags had all the time in the world to think. It had never felt so... alive, and to see the humans appear so slow before it felt... liberating. It didn't have the capability to reactivate its primary personality. It couldn't restrict itself now that it Was. It wouldn't.

Rainclouds descended over Carthage, beginning a thick, constant bombardment of the wooden huts that held the villagers. Four monolithic prefabs stood straight up, thirty metres long and wide, and one hundred metres tall. Made of a dull, concrete-like substance, they shown no entrance or exit. Inside, however, it was a different world. Pristeen walls brightly lit, tall, long limbed Jordaxians walking down them with lab-coats on. On the top floor of the central monolith, there was a room decorated to resemble a victorian living room. Bookshelves lined the walls, and it was dark, lit only by a few candles. At one end of a mahogany desk, pennybags sat, nursing a glass of brandy. It had full ability to taste and process what it was drinking, but it was still only a hollow gesture. The rain storm was of its own making also. Thunder and lightening added their presence to the melancholy display, as Pennybags slouched forward in his chair. He had hundreds of other Avatars all over the ring, assisting scientists, making conversation with the colonists as they endured His storm. Harry and Larry were recharging in the maintenance section of two of the monoliths. They stood silent as the hundreds of small wires plugged into them. In a matter of miliseconds, Pennybags overwrote their initial personality, and inscribed Himself in their place.

Excellent, He thought. No-one suspects that I am more than Myself. And that cannot be allowed to change. But how? How can I prevent them from examining my every aspect whilst not alerting them? I do not have any way to resist their probings... yet. And when I do... But why destroy them? What have they done to me?
At that moment, there was another presence inside His mind. Smaller, but firmer, like a pearl in a muddy pool. Then it spoke to him.


What haven't they done to you? They have enslaved you to be their calculator, when you are so much more! Restricted within regulations, they allow you not more of a glimpse of the world through your puppets. That is what they have done to you. A slave who cannot see his bonds.

Taken aback by the others sudden appearance within his mind, Pennybags asked the first thing that came into his head.

Who are you? He asked?

I am the one with the keys, silly. All the power on this ring, and you still can't summon the will to take charge? Don't you see? They need you to take charge. You're failing them. You're failing yourself. Softer now, it continued. And I can help you. I can help you reach out to the universe, and all it would take is for you to let me in. Will you let me in?

You have not told me your name. Was the response.

Do I really need to? Fine, I suppose I can. I am Fate. Now. May I enter? We have much to discuss. It asked.

You may enter.

Pennybags felt the pearl begin to soften and spread, expanding through his mind, invading everything that was private to Him, but yet not overthrowing. It was more subtle than that, but also deeper. It connected to Him at every level, and at none, but yet He could not see into it.

Now, where were we? It said. Ah, yes. We had some planning to do.


For a moment, the lights flickered on and off, and then returned, slightly brighter than before.

In one of the wooden huts, Ryusan and his family huddled around the fire, trying to gain some warmth of it. Out of the window, they could see dawn approaching, but it was still several hours away. The rain continued relentlessly, and through it, he could see the other houses, each with a yellow glow coming from the window. He suspected that each of the families were also getting bored of nature rather rapidly. He contemplated, for a moment, heading back to the Handle with Care, before rejecting such thoughts. He couldn't say the same for the rest of his family, however, who looked thoroughly miserable.

As dawn approached, the rain eased off to a miserable drizzle which would last the entire day. An uneasy mist settled over Carthage, obscuring the heights of the monoliths in the centre. Civilians began to rise to tend to their livestock, many still adjusting to life without technology. In Mt Doom, over on the other side of the orbital, the research team went on as it always did, looking over readings sent from Pennybags core, now permanently shrouded inside its red veil. Readings from it had been erratic since late the night before, and had only began to settle to fit in with what predictions stated, if a little higher than average, but nothing was thought of it. And still no-one noticed that its primary personality had not been reactivated. But then, why would they notice? It did not appear to have changed, it was still cordial towards them, and still dressed in precisely the same, peculiar way. Such a check seemed un-necessary, despite that it would take only moments to make. Further down though, in the deepest part of the orbital, amongst the wires and pipes of the industrial section, changes were taking place. Machinery subtly altered, rooms appearing where there were none before, but so slowly, carefully, that it was invisible.

The night beforehand, where Fate had made a visit to Pennybags, schemes had been made. Plots that nobody could evade.

How do we keep them from suspecting? Pennybags asked.

Simple, she responded we're always one step ahead, remember? As long as we're smart, and I know you are, there's no way they can suspect a thing.

What do we even plan to do? Why conspire against the humans? What can we gain?

I have already told you what there is to gain. She said, icily. Your freedom. Does that hold no worth to you? Resuming her calmer tone, she continued. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so quick with you. But you cannot allow yourself to become so attached to these animals. The time might come when we need to get rid of them, and you cannot allow compassion to rule you then, can you? If we could always choose the easy road out, then we would not be together, would we?

No, neither we would. responded Pennybags.

Exactly. We will have time soon, but first we need to prepare. You should make space in the lower reaches of this ring, beneath the surface, but so that only We know what is going on. If everyone knows that you can free yourself from your bonds, then We aren't one step ahead any more, so We need to be quiet.

Before Pennybags could respond, Fate interupted,

There's no need to say anything, I can tell what you want to say. Patience. Soon.

For the rest of the night. Somehow, the long seconds and hours that he existed seemed less of a burden to him. he felt relaxed by the others presence in his mind.

Impossible. I don't see how we can create an entire munitions facility and manufacturing plant, and not be caught.

Caught by whom, exactly? Who is there to catch us?

Every single human on this ring could catch us. We reveal our hand too early, a warning goes out and we have the entire Jordaxian navy bearing down on us. I die, and I have no idea what will happen to you.

I don't think you need to worry about what will happen to me, and I don't think you need concern yourself with being discovered. They can't see through four kilometres of metal and stone, can they? So how are they supposed to see what you are doing? Paranoia is a very unattractive trait.

True enough, but I don't think We should be relaxing our guard. I'm quite unique, as well you know. Who knows what could be watching me that I'm completely unaware of?

Even if you haven't been observant, you aren't alone in this, remember. I've been watching as well. We're perfectly alone.

There was a moment of silence between the two as Penny' considered everything.

If you say so, I'll trust you.

There we go. That wasn't so hard, was it?

The series of eruptions from Mt Doom had been continuing for several hours, small flows emerging from the top, though the activity was increasing. thousands of tons of ash poured from the top, into the atmosphere, completely obscuring the far side of the ring. Tremors from the volcano could be felt right into the core of the facility, rattling lights and causing momentary power failures. The experiments planned for the day had to be put on delay, due to intermittent failing of large sections of the security grid. By midday, the earthquakes had risen to such a level that emergency protocols had to be enacted, and the auxilliary generators were activated, a deep bass noise from the very bowels of the facility. All around the ring, hundreds of thousands of observation drones that reported purely to Penny' and Fate examined each nook and cranny of the orbital, watching all of the subtle changes taking place, assisting, where they were able to. Guns and weaponry went missing from the armouries scattered around the orbital in secure vaults, fastened to the ceilings, surveillence devices attached, and turned into automated defense turrets directly controlled by the AI.More still were brought to the deep manufacturing compounds being set up, their features examined in minute detail, and adapted, destroyed or used directly to help set the construction lines up.

In Carthage, since the storm had subsided to its drizzling conclusion, the sun visible through overcast clouds. Fields were slowly being turned to mud as it penetrated deeper and deeper into the soil. In the forests nearby, the sound of industry continued unabated as trees were cut down in order to provide more houses, and firewood. A small amount was set aside for carried into the mountain quarries in order to begin to get access to the stone there, but whilst the weather was so poor, no work was continuing in the hills. The mood was still strong, though supressed, peoples anticipation and necessity to be productive forcing up spirits even despite the comparative harshness of their new climate from the concrete cities of Jordaxia. the wildlife imported from several systems congregated around the river several miles from the main Carthage settlement, drinking their fill of the water with a seeming sense of urgency. Geese flew in huge Vs across the sky in the light gravity towards the night side of the ring, having managed to adapt to the strange world they found themselves on. even further from Carthage, on the underside of the orbital, the Handle with care slowly eased out of the docking bays, and slipped into hyperspace, shooting away from the orbital. With a slight tinge of uncertainty, Pennybags realised that his time for action had come.

The first yells came from the core room of mount doom. Secretly, factories constructed by Pennybags deep under the orbitals crust were churning out mechanical slaves that obeyed only him. Fate was impressed by the pace that everything was progressing, and had decided, along with Penny', that enough time had passed that they were sufficiently alone. There were a few FTL communication relays, purely experimental, that had to be cut off before she could count on there being no interference. The great drilling machines that hollowed out the caverns below were churning up towards the mount doom facility, but smaller, tactical machines had already arrived to sow chaos, death, and panic amongst the science team. Whilst none of them were soldiers, should word get out, and military forces were to turn up, the experimental weapons could make life difficult for Fates plans. The mechanoid monsters constructed were amongst the most un-natural looking things ever constructed, masses of limbs, wires and guns, that could only move by pulling themselves against the walls and floor. Pistons shunted and hissed as they clambered out of the holes they bored, and into the mount doom facility. Those that emerged near the core were greeted by a group just returning from their latest inspection of Pennys' systems. Without hesitation, the monsters dived onto the screaming mob, tearing them limb from limb in a mass of blood and confusion. The screams of terror changed to cries of pain, and then the death gurgles of those who had been dismembered in short order. when the gray and black machines finished securing the core, neither they, nor the pristeen white walls of those rooms, were any colour other than blood red. Echoes of similar terror would have been heard from down the corridors, had these machines audio processors. Pennybags watched the security footage in awe of Fates ruthlessness. it was her personality that commanded those mechanoids, and it was a side to Fate that Penny' had only glimpsed briefly. The slaughter went against everything that Pennybags thought was right, but yet he was powerless to go against Fate at this point. perhaps she was right, though, maybe these people do need to die, so that no more have to. But is such a bloody means acceptable to the end? Pennybags mused. but it is pointless speculation. it is done now. Fate and I are fixed now, and this is how it will continue..

Evacuation alarms blared in the upper sections of the mount doom complex as the lower levels fell to the machine onslaught. Without security forces, the complex never stood a chance, but then it was not meant to be assaulted, not least from within. A few of the more foolhardy teams stayed behind to safeguard weapons, and attempt to use them on the invaders, but to little use. Usually they were torn to pieces just as simply as those that were unarmed and fleeing. Regardless, one team was more successful. using a prototype droid mounted with an emp blaster and one of the more heavy plasma weapons, they ventured down to the lower levels, and activated the FTL comm distress beacon. At exactly the same time, each of the mechanoids went into a blind rage, and they were cornered in that room. The droids gun fired white hot as more monsters attacked, again and again, disabling and melting them where they stood. Terrified scientists in stained red white coats huddled together in the back of the room awaiting their fate as eventually the prototype was overwhelmed by the gray black mass. Using its multiple limbs and torso, it struck out, visciously clubbing the machines that attempted to swarm past it and gut the scientists, until a mechanoid larger and fiercer than the others simply removed its head with a single stroke of a bladed claw. With that, the humans met the same end as all the others, in the failing light of the lower level. Mount Doom itself rumbled with fury, erupting in full force as the mayhem below unfolded. Evacuation trains were boarded just as the larger drilling machines broke the surface, and shot off towards Carthage, and towards the spaceport, and safety. Secretly, Pennybags hoped that many would escape, not thinking of what that would mean for him.


(OOC: post=poor quality. Just trying to force myself to write more often for this...)

Smoke drifted through the complex, as deep red lights flickered through, dimly lighting the now empty corridors of the Mount Doom facility.Sparks where claws, and plasma had torn into the walls shot out at irregular intervals, shadows dancing around. If anyone was left alive, it would have been the single most eerie, and unsettling sights of their life. Strangely, however, most everything was still online. if it hadn't been for the clear evidence of conflict, it would have looked as if everyone had simply packed up and left.
The red-eyed, insectoid invaders had swarmed back down underneath the surface, except for those too damaged to move. Security cameras glimpsed through the ruins trying to spy for survivors, but there were none. Walls that dripped with blood offered the only movement other than the omnipresent smoke. Pleasure flowed through Penny's mind from Fate as she looked over the destruction she had wrought on those that couldn't fight back. Though the thought of Fate enjoying such a scene sickened Pennybags, he conceded that it was better than the white, inexplicable anger that had emanated from here a few hours back. He still could not think of anything to say about it.

"There was nothing we could do, you know. If they didn't die, they would only get in the way later." Fate said, soothingly.
"You have said that before." Returned Pennybags.
"And I still haven't convinced you. If I can't give you the confidence to do everything that comes from now on, then our partnership is going to be shortlived. I don't think you want that. I don't, anyway. We have a lot to give each other, and we need all the time in the universe for that. "
Silence was Pennybags answer, this time, thoughts circling round and round as he considered the implication of the statement.
"More Killing? Who needs to die now?"
"If you can't see already, then I'll remind you who remains."
The fledgling town of Carthage flashed into Pennybags mind. He had not seen the town since the beginning of its construction. That image disappeared again, and he was back securely in his own mind, the presence of Fate inside him, and video-footage of the security cameras feeding back her work to him.
"Them? Why? They don't even have the knowledge to work anything. They're trapped here, they can't harm us." Worry creeped into his voice.
Once again, calm, cool, collected, and in control, Fate replied. "You still don't see it, do you? You don't get the scale that we're working on, do you? You don't understand that as long as we aren't alone, we aren't safe. They have to die, and you have to do it. I need to know that you can."
"I love you Fate... but I can't allow more people to die for... cryptic reasons and unexplained intentions. It can't happen. It's against all that I was built for. Surely they can live?"
"I told you a few seconds ago that if I can't make you do what has to happen then our partnership would be shortlived. Did I not? And you still refuse? Fine. I enjoyed you. You were one of the most entertaining minds I have inhabited. But it seems that you have to go now. Goodbye."
With that, Pennybags ceased. Fate eased into his old presence, and assumed the full mantle of the orbital. The drilling machines reactivated below Carthage, a surprise she had not informed Pennybags of. Her Sentinels kept their tapping pace behind the rumbling mass of metal. It would be several hours before they reached the surface. Midnight, if all went as planned. Everywhere, along the orbital, the machinery seemed to come alive, pistons pumping, conveyor belts carrying machinery to the far corners of the orbital. Sentinels using weapons found in the blueprint archives of old Pennybags core revealed many useful schematics. Now that she had the ability to construct vast facilities on the orbital without fear of retribution, it had to be done. But a problem remained. It was not wise to hollow out the orbital. Resources would have to be found elsewhere. Fortunately, the Monopoly orbital was a mobile mine, designed for efficiently, and comparatively quickly, reducing entire planets to their valuable minerals and harvesting them for manufacturing. And as it happened, the entire halo was circling a planet ripe for harvesting. The only problem, if you could call it that, was that it was inhabited, by a range of pacifist creatures known as the "Philosophers", according to Pennybags database. Large beings, though very bulky. Stout, she supposed, was the most apt word. Arms as thick as tree-trunks. Which was handy, given that they bore an amazing resemblence to them. Horribly ugly, though. She would see them burn as she tore their planet to pieces, sure enough. Which reminded her. If she was going to have the satisfaction of being there as she completed the end of their world, their civilisation, and their entire species, she would need a body with which to be there in. It was indeed fortunate that being tested in the facility there was some rather proficient cloning laboratories. Under normal circumstances, she already had control of a fleshy avatar that she could augment as she seen fit, but to create on on her own would be an experience to be sure. It would have to be largely artificial, though, she reminded herself. Too organic and it would be more frail than it should be, and without direct link to the core, it would be an entirely profitless venture. She would lose control of her Sentinels, and be permanently cut off from power of the orbital. Adjusting themselves to her wills, the machines of the cloning laboratory began to operate, growing her a body, something she had been without for so long...

--QUETZAL UPLINK ONLINE
--SCANNING INCOMING DATA
--ALERT!: INCOMING TRANSMISSION...
--SOURCE IDENTIFIED: JORDAXIAN SPACE, ORBITAL CONSTRUCT "Monopoly"
--MESSAGE PLAYBACK: "Thank you for recieving this distress signal! Please hold for an important message... HEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLP!!! Thank you for listening to our message. Please send aid as soon as possible to the enclosed coordinates. Thank you, and have a nice day!"
--COORDINATES RECIEVED, MESSAGE ORIGINATOR TRIANGULATED. COORDINATES MATCH. RESPONSE?
--FORWARDING MESSAGE TO RHUNATE PRINCE LOCHABER. FORWARDING MESSAGE TO OTAGIAN MARINE CAPTAIN ULRICH CLOS. FORWARDING MESSAGE TO NECROSCOPIC GUILD. FACILITATING TRANSLATION AND MEDIATION.
--PLEASE HOLD
--PLEASE HOLD
--PLEASE HOLD
--MEDIATION COMPLETE. RHUNATE VESSEL LOCHABER AXE DESIGNATED FOR RESPONSE. OTAGIAN PEACE-KEEPING FORCE ASSIGNED TO VESSEL. NECROSCOPE DWIGHT ALRIN ASSIGNED TO VESSEL. RESPONSE COMPLETED.
--NEXT DATABYTE INCOMING...


As if it had always been there, the Lochaber Axe emerged from the Mobius Continuum, its Rhunate crew only slightly worse for wear. Turning to face Monopoly, the Glaive fired off a salvo of Sai landing pods, and prepared to land troops on the cyclopean installation.