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Okay, time for some more Codex goodness!

At the end of FLF, we have

the Alliance of Not Vord Types in Alera proper, and the crippled Vord queen is running Canea. She can breed Vord-forms all day long, but can't spawn a new queen.

So ... what's her best move?

Tavi and co all seem to think that she'll spend decades or even a couple centuries consolidating Canea. Spreading croach, breeding warriors, maybe building fortifications. This ... might ... be true. But is it her best move? Mightn't she decide that the Alliance types will never be weaker than they are at the end of FLF? After all, their populations have been slashed, they're weary, and most importantly there are vast swathes of unattended land lying around in Alera, which conditions play to Vord strengths.

The counter is that the queen must be terrified. She is the only Vord queen left on the entire planet; she's the Vord's last hope. She likely doesn't have very good insight into what went on in Alera, just that the inhabitants slew the senior queen. I don't think she and her crew have furycraft ... the Vord only got that when they came back to Alera.

To recap -- should the last Vord queen move now or try to build up an unstoppable invasion force for some decades hence?

Gallifreyan
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    The Prime Queen picked up impatience and emotion by being too like her parents. The Canea Queen will not have that flaw. – Radhil Sep 10 '17 at 02:39
  • @Radhil good point that queen probably won't feel fear like we would. But she should be "doing the math" on when to strike. Compounded by the difficulty of being at once the Vord's best asset and their Achilles' heel. I could see her playing a very conservative game, but if she had an inkling of how battered the good guys are, it just might be worth trying to finish the job. – akaioi Sep 10 '17 at 02:45
  • @user54373 - My guess is that she just doesn’t have the numbers (yet) to feasibly take on Alera. Furycrafting was a major boon to the senior vord queen, which she acquired from her connection to Kitai and Tavi, as was the in-fighting present in Alera. As was ignorance of vord tactics, for that matter. The defenders are battered now, but the Canean vord queen lacks all those advantages. Yes, I think if she attacked now she’d probably lose. In 150 or 200 years, she might have a chance (or more than a chance). There’s also the fact that she probably doesn’t know just what Alera is capable of. – Adamant Sep 10 '17 at 20:11
  • @Adamant On the other hand, Aleta is well aware of this threat (at least Tavi and the other main characters, who are in power, are) and they will prepare. Eventually, they might find a weakness within the structure if such a weakness exists. Similarly as to why insects don't rule the real world. On the other hand, our insects are not human sized. The Awakening of the Vord and the connection between Kitai and Tavi is never fully explained, sadly, otherwise we would have more to talk about here. – Narusan Sep 10 '17 at 20:19
  • @Narusan I was really hoping that Isana or Invidia would ask the queen, "So once we're all extinct what will you guys do all day?" Anyway, the Canea queen is in a bad spot -- she can't use the exponential growth the Vord love so much, nor can she craft. She'll have to invade with a huge army (I note in passing the Vord don't seem to make underwater forms) and knows that she's a big target for a decapitation strike. – akaioi Sep 10 '17 at 20:36
  • @user54373 - Call their alien overlords, maybe? The Vord arrived in a spaceship of sorts, and the Wax Forest is an impact crater. Their goal is to vordaform the whole planet. – Adamant Sep 10 '17 at 21:58

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