Verrrrry interesting. Somehow I don't like the okapi either. But yeah - he's a politician. That could be it right there.

Senator Lynch has got his own agenda, that is for sure. ;)

This one is huge... lotta stuff going on. I like the development of the world and the characters. You can see how things are progressing on a wide scale. The action is solid and there's rarely a point where the narrative lags. Lovely work, hun

For a while this idea had been in limbo, I'd actually figured out the next one in the sequence before coming back to this one. I'd written all of "Relativity" before making a mention of this one, then I had to write the story they were talking about, haha!

Once I'd thought about them capturing a facility with Lyndon present it fell into place. I had some trouble writing the first scene when Chris and Lyndon were talking, the adversarial approach didn't work so I tried a conversational approach and it unlocked. :) I was a bit concerned thematically it might be similar to Nadir, but this time with the other side, though I think it worked to more formally establish Chris's unit members and so on. Plus to update folks with what the Ashurians learned from their foray into Talwyn territory.

Not only that, but I was able to expand on the Guardian roster and actually get some names in there, as well as use some characters that have laid fallow for a long time.

I thought of the ending as I was writing it, it seemed clever to have them sneak out rather than engage in a head on fight. I was particularly proud of the moment when Chris realizes he's met the Guardians before. ;)

I love it when stories work out that way. I think that's why I need to pants more often... things just pop up as I'm writing and they work far better than if I'd planned it from the beginning.

I know that I had worried after I'd finished it that maybe it was too similar to Nadir, but while both involve breaking into a facility and holding it, I think that's where the similarities end.

It's nice to see the other end of Nadir though, since now you can see what they've done with the items they retrieved. I'm really excited for you to see the next couple in the set... :) I've got a Topaz story and another Kathris story. ;)

Sorry it took me so long to get to this one! But it was a fun read, and while it wasn't as dramatic as some earlier chapters I thought it did a really good job of upping the sense of tension for both sides, but especially for the Talwyn. These mysterious Guardians certainly do sound worrying, as does the Ashurian attempts to harness the power of the crystals. Though I can't help but wonder if that won't end up backfiring on them, too, since it seems like they're pushing ahead pretty fast without really understanding that much about what the crystals are really like or what they can really do.

Again, I was quite impressed by how even handed you are in your portrayal of both sides of the war, and that neither side comes across as evil or necessarily any worse than the other. Granted, I can't say I like the sound of a lot of the Ashurian higher ups, but the ordinary people seem to be pretty decent. I was quite surprised by how forthcoming Dr. Brennan was with so much information about what his people were doing at the facility and their plans to harness the crystals. Then again, I get the impression he's less than thrilled by the prospect of war and may have serious doubts about what his government is doing. It certainly makes him seem pretty sympathetic and I really liked how concerned he was for his people. It's really nice to see a scientist character who is portrayed as a decent person, too, and not as someone who would throw his own mother into the grinder if it meant completing his research.

The ending was really sweet, too, I thought. I'm as interested to see how that little scenario plays out as I am to see how the rest of it goes!

Oh, it's no issue, it takes me a while to get to things too, but I do it. ;) This story originally had been planned to be much more adrenaline driven than the final product, like Lauren's Relativity, it was thought that they would do a daring raid into some place but it turned out to work better to reveal certain bits of information that would be somewhat difficult to reveal otherwise. Once I had made the decision for Lyndon to be in the facility it changed the whole tone of the story. The Guardians are definitely intended to be something that will make you think twice, a deterrent if nothing else. They're a strong right arm, and one that will be used for sure. It's funny you say that, because that is at least in part exactly what is happening. The Ashurians are playing with fire. The results of that are anyone's guess so far.

There's two reasons for that, actually. The first is that I dislike stories where you've got the clear good guys and the clear bad guys and it's all black and white. Real life isn't like that, and I want more people to think about the other side's perspective for one thing. It's also very cliche when one side is murderous thieves and the other side is helping pass out food. Antagonist does not have to mean villain, it just means two sides opposing. Rarely do the good guys talk about their flaws though they do have them. Lauren has her own failings, and it's important you see both sides as real people. Even the perception of flawlessness is just not conducive to good storytelling. The other thing is that really, life is a lot about perspective, and as you've noticed before, both sides could be friends if they only had the chance. By now you may be able to hazard a guess as to why that is, but if not it will become clear in one of the later stories intended for the short story collection. There's a hidden reason why I made those choices, but it'll become clear much later.

In early versions of the conversation I had a much more adversarial conversation between Chris and Doctor Brennan, but this kept stalling me because if neither side will talk and Chris won't torture the elephant, there can't be discourse. So I approached it like I'll tell you what I know, you tell me what you know, and Lyndon didn't tell them much they wouldn't figure out by looking around or searching the data they probably got. You're right in that he doesn't trust his leaders, nor really does Kathris, but they follow orders as they must. Lyndon knows there is a lot he isn't being told but he can't just up and ask either. I've always thought that Lyndon represents his species well, intelligent and gentle.

The ending was a last minute addition. When I realized they were in the hanger talking to Hastings, I was like... Hm.... So I put in an easter egg that links the stories together, as well as hinting to Chris and Lauren's future relationship.