Payment MU story thread

[evcake]

I loved the part where the engineers sliced the heads off those body guards, quicker then a horse can switch its tail.

I must say I did too.

[Asso]

I have some ideas, in fact.

[blacknblue]

Let's hear 'em.

[Mitchell]

See Im confused. With the Defiants Command codes, he can take control of the whole ship, an he has loyal people behind him to pull it off to.

But to do this fully he still needs to off Ho-shi, an Travist case. But that would make him emperor, an he dosnt seem to want that at all?

Maybe Im missing something here.

[Distracted]

But becoming emperor is tantamount to painting a great big target on his back. Who'd want to be the chief cook in charge of an empire where everyone gets promoted by assassination?

[Asso]

I think his heart wants something else.
A righter Universe.
Maybe a place where dreams aren't foolish.
Where a certain Vulcan female could belong to him not because she is his slave.

Ah.. you must forgive me!
By now, you know how I am made!

[CX]

I know what I'd do if it was me, but I don't want to spoil anyone.

[blacknblue]

Part 10 may be controversial, based on what JustTripn and Alelou remarked. Anyone that wants to vent, feel free. I am glad to get as much feedback as possible.

[Alelou]

Eh, I wouldn't say it rises to the level of controversy on my part. Different strokes is all.

[blacknblue]

Drat.

*sigh*

I crave debate.

*sigh*

[Asso]

If it can be "consolatory" ( ), BnB, I have found this chapter absolutely great, and have tried to explain the why with my comment.

[Alelou]

Sorry, BnB. Here, I'll debate.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I just don't see MU T'Pol crying with such abandon in front of a room full of people, even with everything that went on here. However, I'm willing to concede that she ain't our T'Pol and that this may work out in interesting ways with Tucker, which is why I'm quite eager to see what comes next.

The way Hoshi reacted to it kind of helped define what was going on there, anyway, which made it a little less squirmy for me.

I also thought the political lesson got driven in a little hard (V'Lar was a bit repetitive). To the point where I kind of wondered if the Vulcan elders were actually feeding the humans a line of BS, though T'Pol's reaction belied that.

There, is that enough disagreement to make you happy?

[Asso]

I intervene in the debate.
I won't rewrite here what I posted as comment.
Only one thing.
Vulcans (the members of her own race: quite ugly, eh?) are destroying her, physically and mentally.
But... what sort of force should have a woman (and a man) Vulcan or not Vulcan, so as not to be broken?
That "Payment" is the "Payment" they want to inflict on her.
And then, honestly, but truly is it so important that she doesn't cry?
For me the fascination of Vulcans also stays in subtle research of what - deep and unknown - they hide (of emotional) inside them.

[panyasan]

Poeh. This chapter is very intense. Dark. Hated the way Reed was looking. Chilled by Travis.
I could understand that T'pol was broken and started to cry. These are intense emotions and losing control, crying is the first thing the mind does to relieve tension. And they are breaking T'pol, because she loves her planet and culture and her Vulcan family very much. I just thought sobbing was a bit much, crying would be shocking enough.
I can understand that the Vulcan elders are very upset about T'pol forming a bond and treating a bond mate like that. It is indeed the basic of Vulcan society. But they are taking it too far. They are too rigid in their acceptance of a evil empire. Are they not wise eldery Vulcans? And at the end when one is making a remark about T'pols mother, she wasn't acting very much like a mother.
Strangly, the scene reminded me a bit about a discussion in WO II in my own country. When the Nazis occupied my country, some groeps just wanted to live their ordinary lives. Others accepted the new goverment as goverment, because you obey your goverment (we are talking 1940 here), at one village all the men above 18 were taking into work camps and they worked them selves to death. They are totally different, but I can see those rigid Vulcans working themselves to death. Other groups just said Nazis are evil and we will fight them, even when it means killing people (big issue), or saying lies or doing lot of illegal things.
At the end I was very puzzled by Hoshi. She is a very tough lady and she is now sort of comforting T'pol...that is a bit strange. Just my thoughts.

[blacknblue]

You need to remember that the first priority of those Vulcan elders is the safety and security of the Vulcan people as a whole. They are the head of the Vulcan government, responsibility for the welfare of their entire race. No matter what their personal feelings might be, ultimately they must take care of their people.

V'Lar in particular may have more in common with T'Pol than anyone seems to have noted. It is possible that she was putting the good of her people ahead of her own personal desires.

Do you believe in results? When Defiant arrived, Vulcan was on the verge of having its entire government slaughtered. After they finished roasting T'Pol over a slow fire, Vulcan now has a 30 grace period to claim amnesty for its wayward sons and daughters and, if it plays its cards right, might be able to escape from the whole rebellion debacle without any punishment at all.

Again, do you believe in results? Those old Vulcans are ruthlessly logical. They have all been playing imperial politics for more than a century, and none of them are stupid.