The Salvation War: Pantheocide. Part Eighty One Up

[Tamahori]

Angelic Treatment Ward, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Bethesda, MD

"How are you feeling Maion?" Lieutenant Grace Zachariah looked at her patient with professional concern. A concern that felt slightly ridiculous given that the size differential between them was so marked. According to the medical records, Maion-Lan-Lemuel was about 20 feet tall standing up. Fortunately, she wasn't doing that right now. She was laying while Lemuel was sitting cross-legged on the ground beside her. The other thing that made concern seem unnecessary was Maion's beauty. Now the bruising had faded from her face and body, she was radiant.

Sweet Jessie Ventura! Six meters! Gives me yet another idea for a Poser render, but, yow-za! Of course, once the Angels become media savvy, they'll be able to cater to both the gigantaphile and the wing fetish crowd. (If they want to.) I'll bet honest money that Hugh Hefner would give major green to the first she Angel to get naked in front of a camera. Rule 34, look it up. (On second thought, don't. I don't want to be responsible for anyone screaming "My childhood has been violated!".)

She is impressively large, one hopes none of the humans were too close to the stage when she was performing, at her size a flung piece of robe could cause somebody our size an injury.

Heh, no doubt on the Hefner front, even leaving aside the fetish crowds (hey, winged chicks are hot!) there is the point that angels tend to be, by human standards, shockingly good looking. Even above it's noted that even stuck in a hospital, and suffering from withdrawal, she's managing to be gorgeous.

I have no idea about Maion, it's never been implied she even remotely enjoyed her job in any way (leaving aside her current Stockhome relationship) so I'm guessing not in her case, but I'd bet there are several other female angels from Michael's club that would not even blink at the idea of stripping for a camera for money, or more.

-- Brett

[Captain Trek]

Well, Uxhalar's dead...

*Salutes* Farewell, noble redshirt... Farewell...

Again, I don't know what made me like that guy so much, but there it is... Actually, part of me's pleased that his death was relatively quick... The only thing worse than getting nuked and then dying from radiation poisoning a few hours later would be getting nuked and then dying from radiation poisoning six to eight weeks later...

Anyway, now that I've indugled that particular urge (thus ensuring that it won't come back to nag at me later), allow me to say that this was another generally excellent chapter... The duality of the horrors of war and the comic relief of Abigor sitting at his computer reading Yahoo News works really well.

As for "flash-bang" being rather an understated way of expressing a nuclear detonation, I think it's reflective of the fact that a nuclear detonation is, to them, something completely and utterly indescribable. Given that and also the fact that they are in shock and quite possibly dying, such a simple, understated and straightfoward term may well be all that they can come up with...

Sweet Jessie Ventura! Six meters! Gives me yet another idea for a Poser render, but, yow-za! Of course, once the Angels become media savvy, they'll be able to cater to both the gigantaphile and the wing fetish crowd. (If they want to.)

I'd say you can bet your bottom dollar that there'll be at least a few that will. One of the things I've always found interesting about humanity is that not only are there always people doing all the things that needs to be done (particularly small, unpleasant things as depicted in shows like, "The Worst Jobs in History"), but there also always people doing all the things that don't need to be done. Everything imaginable, up to and including pornography whose primary focus is the heart muscle (don't ask...) is somebody's hobby... Given that, I'd say that that it's quite likely that there'll be at least one angel floating around somewhere willing to appeal to those particular markets...

I'll bet honest money that Hugh Hefner would give major green to the first she Angel to get naked in front of a camera.

Again, I'd imagine that'd be a pretty safe bet...

[nobody_really]

There might be a few angels willing to do something like strip in front of a camera, but I'm not sure what humans can really offer them. Remember, most angels that we've been presented with see humans as menial servants at best. They're primarily useful as janitors for the kind of places that Mike Rowe would have second thoughts about working in, or as subsistence farmers / marketplace mules. And what use is money in heaven, when angels have all the slaves they want? That may change, but the way angelic society is set up now, I don't see too many angels doing anything for human amusement unless the angel is amused as well.

Suddenly the voice he had first heard in the deserts of Iraq whispered in his ear. That is enough. They need know no more. The end of your story is still far away. With those words in his mind, Memnon fell silent.

Referring back to one sentence in Chapter 30 of the 290,000 word Armageddon???. I had forgotten about it. So, will we ever find out if that is some "inner voice" or some other power that we haven't met yet?

Overall, excellent entry. Thanks, Stuart.

[Bayonet]

The AN-94 has a very complicated mechanism to allow it to fire two round bursts before the user feels the recoil, so no way are you going to make those modifications without dropping a completely different system into it.

And this would make it so mucn not an AN-94 that it would have little interest. The two shot feature only exists in full auto.

[Commander Xillian]

Abigor had just finished reading a long dispute with somebody claiming that shooting people in the head wasn't an efficient way of killing them.

Oh my god not that moron... Well, took me a bit, but after someone sent the link, I recognized the name instantly.

[Simon_Jester]

There might be a few angels willing to do something like strip in front of a camera, but I'm not sure what humans can really offer them. Remember, most angels that we've been presented with see humans as menial servants at best. They're primarily useful as janitors for the kind of places that Mike Rowe would have second thoughts about working in, or as subsistence farmers / marketplace mules. And what use is money in heaven, when angels have all the slaves they want? That may change, but the way angelic society is set up now, I don't see too many angels doing anything for human amusement unless the angel is amused as well.

Not even then; they don't even say thank you.

But that is liable to change soon, because if the Eternal City winds up occupied with bazooka teams wandering the place and giving orders to angels, pretty soon they'll wind up reacting much as the demons did. That shifts the balance of power, and pretty soon you'll have the low-ranker types seriously reconsidering the whole idea of "we are like demigods compared to you, filthy peasant!"

[Bayonet]

I'm a little confused about the leak. But I guess a new chapter can clarify that. Maybe the leak was mentioned because nukes being used is bad enough as it is, that such news coming out would be bad for morale, eh?

I think it's referring to the guy who was just busted for leaking classified videos to Wikileaks. Remember, this is set roughly today, and Stuart likes to slip in a few current events issues.

[Commander Xillian]

But that is liable to change soon, because if the Eternal City winds up occupied with bazooka teams wandering the place and giving orders to angels, pretty soon they'll wind up reacting much as the demons did. That shifts the balance of power, and pretty soon you'll have the low-ranker types seriously reconsidering the whole idea of "we are like demigods compared to you, filthy peasant!"

It wouldn't even take bazookas. Just some guys in Gasmasks with suped-up stun guns, That'll put the fear of... Man, in them!

... Why is it that I'm the first one to sugest Fear Tactics? I'm probably not... Likely missed some important debate back in Armageddon???.

[Bayonet]

As for "flash-bang" being rather an understated way of expressing a nuclear detonation, I think it's reflective of the fact that a nuclear detonation is, to them, something completely and utterly indescribable.

In TBO, the German survivors called them Hellburners. That's not a metaphor that SalvationWarverse denizens would be likely to use, because of their greater familiarity with the actual Hell.

[Simon_Jester]

It wouldn't even take bazookas. Just some guys in Gasmasks with suped-up stun guns, That'll put the fear of... Man, in them!

... Why is it that I'm the first one to sugest Fear Tactics? I'm probably not... Likely missed some important debate back in Armageddon???.

You need weapons that are a credible threat to them. Even heavy-caliber rifles are a bit iffy against the larger angels, hence the use of AT-4s and such.

Remember how big Maion is; to her, even a Scary Gas Mask Human is a tiny little midget. To make midgets scary, you need to give them heavy weapons.

[MKSheppard]

What happens is that the blast wave heading downwards compresses the ground underneath it so that it forms a perfectly symmetrical depression in the ground. In doing so, the structure of the ground itself is crushed. Water then seeps upwards through the crushed ground and fills the depression. The water is intensely radioactive and chemically poisonous.

How high does a nuclear weapon have to be before this effect degrades or becomes irrevelant? And does the height of the water table also have an effect on the formation of crater lakes?

[Stuart]

How high does a nuclear weapon have to be before this effect degrades or becomes irrevelant?

To be honest, I don't know. Obviously, the larger the device, the bigger the crater lake that gets formed (there is no crater lake formed from ground bursts. Logically, as the initiation point gets higher for a given yield, the lake gets shallower.

And does the height of the water table also have an effect on the formation of crater lakes?

Yes, also the degree of water saturation in the soil. Initiations over very arid conditions do not form crater lakes.

[Commander Xillian]

Remember how big Maion is; to her, even a Scary Gas Mask Human is a tiny little midget. To make midgets scary, you need to give them heavy weapons.

And you're saying a Stun baton that would put an elephant on it's ass isn't a credible threat? I'm sure this could be done in such a manner that it's both non-lethal, which means you could beat the angels for stepping out of line, and going around bazooka-blasting everything that tries to attack you would be murder on your PR. I say it's better to go with that almost-instinctual fear of the Gasmasked-killer paired with the ability to mace/stun/incapacitate a hostile with out lethal force.

... And if all else fails, have a couple of .50 cal rifles, or maybe a 2-gauge shotgun XD

Hey Stuart, what ever happened to Shotguns? They don't seem to even make a remote mention. If I have to make an ass out of myself to pressure you into at least telling us what happens to them, I will do so!

In all seriousness, wouldn't a high-powered shotgun have enough stopping power to make even an angel duck and cover? I think we need to at least bring this up, because not everything is going to be fought from within a foot of steel. Especially when the Occupation kicks in.

[MKSheppard]

The reason why the strike was so horrible is due to several factors coming into play here:

1.) We have a large massed target of light infantry in the open with no cover at all -- traditional battlefield uses of nukes are against dispersed military forces who are either dug into foxholes or in armored vehicles; so casualties are much lighter and less concentrated; while with the use of them in a strategic role against cities -- buildings and the like do offer protection -- even if it is fairly minimal.

2.) It occured with absolutely no warning at all for the enemy -- even the shortest amount of warning can massively reduce casualties.

3.) The Device was unusually large by our standards -- 1.2 megatons is the kind of thing that gets deployed against missile silos or to blow away a city. And we're using it to blow away a massed group of infantry dispersed according to ancient world standards -- about 10m2 or less per man.

3.) The enemy forces are totally utterly unprepared and have no knowledge of the effect of nuclear weapons or doctrine to deal with the effects.

For example, it takes about 15 or 20 minutes for significant fallout to begin falling -- and this is "golden time" in which you can prepare an impromptu shelter with a high protection factor -- walking on foot away from ground zero is the WORST possible thing you can do -- you'll just suck up rads and weaken yourself in the march.

I wouldnt be surprised if both NATO and WARPAC both had nuclear survival doctrines for Mechanized Infantrymen and Tank crews which emphasized "Shelter in place", even in knocked out or crippled vehicles. Even if an APC has been tossed on it's side by the airblast and is no longer mobile; the steel/aluminum walls still offer a significant PF upgrade and even if the metal in the vehicle has been radioactively activated by the intense radiation from the initial pulse; it's still going to be a lower concentration of radiation than walking around in the open sucking down rads.

[UnderAGreySky]

up to and including pornography whose primary focus is the heart muscle (don't ask...)

But I must, I must!

So, WTF?!

[OmegaChief]

Suddenly the voice he had first heard in the deserts of Iraq whispered in his ear. That is enough. They need know no more. The end of your story is still far away. With those words in his mind, Memnon fell silent.

Referring back to one sentence in Chapter 30 of the 290,000 word Armageddon???. I had forgotten about it. So, will we ever find out if that is some "inner voice" or some other power that we haven't met yet?

Couldn't this be some variation on the "Possession" power that some demon used? And that we likewise turned against them with the unfortunatly unsuccesful "Radio Free Hell" project?

[Erra]

Suddenly the voice he had first heard in the deserts of Iraq whispered in his ear. That is enough. They need know no more. The end of your story is still far away. With those words in his mind, Memnon fell silent.

Referring back to one sentence in Chapter 30 of the 290,000 word Armageddon???. I had forgotten about it. So, will we ever find out if that is some "inner voice" or some other power that we haven't met yet?

Overall, excellent entry. Thanks, Stuart.

Here is that sentence from Ch. 30 of Armageddon??? for all those who don't care to go archive diving.

Standing at the Hellmouth was a Lord. The Duke, Abigor.

In that instant he felt something alien. Something alarming yet exhilarating as he watched his Duke move among the shattered remnants. He was still tall and proud yet there was no longer that cold arrogance to his gait, the sneering pride on his features, the snarl of command on his lips or the lash of rebuke in his eyes.

Haunted.

He looked haunted and humbled yet he was proud now, not a pride borne of Dukedom granted to him in the mists of ancient history but pride in personal knowledge that he had faced the human magic and lived. Pride in that he was still here. He was a Duke of Hell yes, but now he was a survivor. Memnon watched him speak gently to one of the survivors and he heard a brief whisper in his ear.

“Follow him. Follow him till the end of your story.”

Memnon nodded numbly and rose wiping the gore and gristle from his snout. He strode up to the lord and spoke.

“My lord?” When Abigor turned to regard him Memnon knew he had found his leader.

Very interesting.

[Simon_Jester]

And you're saying a Stun baton that would put an elephant on it's ass isn't a credible threat? I'm sure this could be done in such a manner that it's both non-lethal, which means you could beat the angels for stepping out of line, and going around bazooka-blasting everything that tries to attack you would be murder on your PR. I say it's better to go with that almost-instinctual fear of the Gasmasked-killer paired with the ability to mace/stun/incapacitate a hostile with out lethal force.

I don't think nonlethal weapons are all that viable against angels or demons; they're too big, too tough, and too quick to recover. Even against humans they're a bit chancy. Against a twenty-foot humanoid with superhuman regenerative powers and a bloody great sword, I'd want to be carrying something that speaks with more authority than pepper spray, or for that matter a stun baton.

But in the kind of culture we're occupying in the Salvation War, promiscuous use of lethal force against troublemakers is an accepted part of society. Certainly among the demons it was routine, and the sheer level of submission shown by the angels to Yahweh is a sign that that sort of thing would happen if they weren't obedient.

Public Relations as we understand it isn't the issue here.

Hey Stuart, what ever happened to Shotguns? They don't seem to even make a remote mention. If I have to make an ass out of myself to pressure you into at least telling us what happens to them, I will do so!

Stuart juggles fusion bombs for a living; pressure has... unpredictable effects on him.

But seriously, I suspect that shotguns are a fairly popular choice at close quarters, and seem to recall some references to them in Armageddon. Starting with Bill Clinton and that succubus. Just read Armageddon, or if you already have, just do a browser search for "shotgun" in it.

The reason why the strike was so horrible is due to several factors coming into play here...

2.) It occured with absolutely no warning at all for the enemy -- even the shortest amount of warning can massively reduce casualties.

Also, the enemy wouldn't have known what to do to protect themselves even if they did have advance warning, since this is totally outside their context. They have some concept of what an explosion is, and they've seen buildings collapse, but a nuclear weapon is beyond anything they've ever imagined.

3.) The enemy forces are totally utterly unprepared and have no knowledge of the effect of nuclear weapons or doctrine to deal with the effects.

Which makes this much, much worse, and makes (2) irrelevant. Even knowing exactly what would come for them, there wasn't anything they could do to prepare except not be there.

[Commander Xillian]

Oh, yeah. How could I forget the part where Clinton takes a SPAS 12 to a Succubus Action-Hero style? Sick shit, that!

[nobody_really]

Oh, one other thing jumped out at me when I first read this entry:

Abigor sighed at that, it meant another morning negotiating with them, the humans and the other surviving Lordly Daemons in an effort to find a solution to the Orc problem. In a way, things had been much simpler in Satan's day.

I sure hope Abigor doesn't start referring to it in public as "The Orc(ish) Problem that needs a Solution." It sounds too much like a "Final Solution" and that would be really, really bad if he's trying to improve the image humans have of demons/daemons.

[GenghisQuan]

Wow, so, I just read through that thread with the "headshots aren't useful" thing.
I am depressed that I sent it to my (usually smart, if a bit obstinate and smug) friend, who thinks that the skull does offer protection against bullets if they hit at an angle and it's a small pistol round you're shooting.

[MKSheppard]

I'm saddened nobody noticed this:

General Dynamics Land Systems, just how big was the nuke to give a ground wave like that this far out?

[Emerson33260]

There might be a few angels willing to do something like strip in front of a camera, but I'm not sure what humans can really offer them.

You are viewing two worlds through rose-colored glasses. Not all angels will want to stop using drugs when the war is over and the Eternal Order of the Universe is changed. Some large percentage (actually, I think a large majority, but it's too much work to look up figures) of sex industry workers are in it to finance their habits.

[Ryan Thunder]

I'm saddened nobody noticed this:

General Dynamics Land Systems, just how big was the nuke to give a ground wave like that this far out?

Oh, we saw it. I thought it was lame, but not bad enough to compel me to mention it.

[Commander Xillian]

I'm saddened nobody noticed this:

General Dynamics Land Systems, just how big was the nuke to give a ground wave like that this far out?

Oh, we saw it. I thought it was lame, but not bad enough to compel me to mention it.

Don't get it :/