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Post by marienomad on Feb 18, 2014 8:46:37 GMT -8
Now, everyone knows that vampires are indestructible, bodies as hard as diamond, insanely fast, doesn't sleep and all that. But, why are they so afraid of humans? The Volturi knew that humans out number them but they can't afford to kill too many because they need to eat.
So, let's just say that humans discover that there are such things as vampires and declare war. How would they try to destroy them?
Try and keep the strategies to current technology or technology that could show up in like a year or so.
Like nuclear bombs or tasers.
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Post by arcanius on Feb 18, 2014 9:02:02 GMT -8
1.Vampries are not faster than lightning. 2.Vampires might be invulnerable to most direct impact attacks that we can try, but are they to energy? I think not, Venom should be conductive since I still don't know of a liquid that is qualified as an isolator. Meaning one answer: Tesla coils = Who wants vampire crisp (To be honest I really wanted to bring my Power Armor and Heavy Bolter, but you said 21st century tech cap.)
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Post by annoyed on Feb 18, 2014 9:48:16 GMT -8
Armor-piercing incendiary rounds should be enough
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malva
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Post by malva on Feb 18, 2014 13:55:25 GMT -8
I don't see how nukes are even remotely an option. If you can find out every location of every vampire, get all involved nations to agree to have nukes blow up some of their major cities without any warning, nuke them silmutaneously (if vamps know what's up, they can reach safety quickly), AND you're ok with killing or radiating maybe billions of innocent people while wiping a huge chunk of our culture, history and living space, sure. You're polluting the planet for generations to come. And that's just the vampires inside civilisation you may be able to track. What's with those living in the middle of nowhere, who may travel a lot and can dig themselves up a mile deep if they see a giant mushroom cloud on the horizon? You can't possibly find them all, let alone KNOW you got them all. Miss one, and he'll repopulate his kind before you know it. Talk about crappy chemotheraphy. Even a thousand Bellas wouldn't warrant this... quite... To top it off, with Meyer's splendid "scientific" base, the radiation may give them anything from fairy wings to green glowy sparkles, while soap and water could neutralise them into jelly. They consist of acid, after all With all their regeneration and statue-skin that normal tasers couldn't even pierce, you'd need enough electricity to make statues burst. I'm all for awesome advanced tesla lightning guns, but we may have to wait for those. And correct me if I'm wrong, but incendiary ammo doesn't really set people ablaze, and even if, the vamps are going to be running fast, which will smother any smaller flames. It's used to burn vehicle and plane fuel tanks, not people. Now that I'm done pissing all over your fantasies (I'm so sorry), here's mine. Drones. Thermographic cameras may have trouble tracking vampires, but they can also confirm if it's vampires. I have no idea how high they can fly and attack from and how audible they are from there, let alone if you could surprise vampires with them before they bail. But they will be outside vampire range, and I'd rather bet on small targeted missiles raining from the sky to get them than a nuke. The military sure could design the things more toward vampire warfare to iron out any problems My favorite part is that Edward can't read their minds. Have fun throwing baseballs at them.
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Post by arcanius on Feb 19, 2014 3:55:44 GMT -8
How about plasma? We do have plasma, and I'm sure that it won't be that hard to make a magnetic plasma gun(Sure I'll have just a shot or two and it will overheat quickly but it is doable). We just burn them with overheated gas. I just wonder how exactly would they sparkle in front of a miniature sun. Of course it's impractical to mass produce stuff like that but it would be fun. And even if twilight vampires don't burn in the sun, they burn on good literature - quickly somebody throw a copy of Dracula at Edward
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Post by annoyed on Feb 19, 2014 15:19:54 GMT -8
And correct me if I'm wrong, but incendiary ammo doesn't really set people ablaze, and even if, the vamps are going to be running fast, which will smother any smaller flames. It's used to burn vehicle and plane fuel tanks, not people. You're forgetting the venom is flammable. In other words, their blood is basically gasoline.
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Post by arcanius on Feb 20, 2014 5:47:36 GMT -8
This means we just need a "Your average flamethrower"
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Post by Ozymandias II on Feb 20, 2014 11:30:01 GMT -8
Given that they can be set on fire, put on an asbestos suit, get a flamethrower, and go to town.
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malva
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Post by malva on Feb 20, 2014 14:24:03 GMT -8
Don't forget about the "tear them to pieces" part. Sure Edward is kind of stupid and didn't put as much thought into killing him as we did, but if fire alone did the trick, he really could have used a lighter for suicide... nah, he's just a drama queen. But still, better not take chances. You'll want a helicopter to hover inside an active volcano and ask Edward if he ever thought of THAT as we kick him into the blades. Or rig him with explosives instead of the chopper. Though you'll have to capture them first...
Aha. Incendiary grenades! Use a grenade launcher with these! If they don't bang enough to blow stone people up, build the grenade launcher to fire two barrels at the same time. Have one filled with a regular grenade and the other one with an incendiary. What's THEIR battle strategy? Slam their face into you really fast.
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Post by annoyed on Feb 20, 2014 14:54:03 GMT -8
That's why I suggested armor-piercing rounds. Just need to get past the skin and set them ablaze.
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Post by marienomad on Mar 8, 2014 9:33:49 GMT -8
I have a suggestion. Poison. I mean, there are radioactive poison that have killed people and are not obvious at first. What would happen if a vampire were to drink blood that was radiated?
I am not sure how venom would react but vampires probably absorb nutrients and turn it into venom. Gamma Radiation breaks down cells and messes up DNA. If a vampire were to drink bad blood that was exposed to high doses of radiation, it would screw up the venom making process.
The main issue would be getting the vampire to drink the blood without being suspicious. It might require a human willing to be exposed to radiation and get eaten by a vampire.
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blenderbender
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Post by blenderbender on Mar 8, 2014 11:12:29 GMT -8
"Faster than lightning" my ass. They max out at like 180mph, which is a little over half the speed of an average BULLET.
We don't even need nukes. Normal bombs and missiles should do fine. If not, we're inventive, creative little bastards. If years of studying history have taught me anything, it's that we are VERY, VERY good at finding ways to kill off our enemies. Especially if they're trying to kill US.
And they're about as hard as diamonds. Well diamonds aren't unbreakable. Smash them with a decent claw hammer. Bulldozers would crush them.
And I don't care how fast they are. If they don't realize someone is aiming at them, they are gone. If someone finds where they're holed up, all it takes is a bomb in the vicinity and a hand detonator. BOOM.
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malva
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Post by malva on Mar 8, 2014 12:40:27 GMT -8
We don't even need nukes. Normal bombs and missiles should do fine. If not, we're inventive, creative little bastards. If years of studying history have taught me anything, it's that we are VERY, VERY good at finding ways to kill off our enemies. Especially if they're trying to kill US. Exactly. We're amazing at killing OURSELVES. After all the stuff we do to our own kind, imagine what we could do to something else if we actually had a reason, and made a combined effort. Any gun nut would be all over this. You'd have a private militia of already armed volunteers in no time. As for the list of suspects, just set a bounty out on reports for dudes with red, yellow or (sometimes) black eyes. A thermal camera can confirm it. Maybe it's even in their IDs and passports (only it says "ocher / amber / whiskey with a shot of orange juice / urin" instead of yellow).
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Post by arcanius on Mar 8, 2014 14:18:35 GMT -8
"Warfare is in the nature of humanity." - Quotes Imperium
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Post by arcanius on May 17, 2014 15:46:10 GMT -8
You know, I remembered something: Aro, in the last book Breaking Dawn, says that human technology has progressed to the point where humans can actually pose a danger to vampires and even kill them. I can only assume this is a reference to explosives, whether conventional or nuclear. Shoot a vampire with a rocket launcher and you'd be approaching the kind of force a vampire themself would be able to exert. Dropping a thermonuke onto Volterra would probably mean no more Volturi. Obviously speed would still be an issue, but vampires, though fast, seem to still be subsonic, so a guided missile could probably track and intercept them, and if you managed to catch a vampire unaware you have a chance at detonating a weapon like this before they could get out of its range. But - main point is: Somehow, a piece of meyers's mind figured that out... And apparently independently from the rest of her conscious mind, because she doesn't seem to really think vampires are anything less than an absolutely supreme supahspeshul race of gods above lowly humans Mind you I'm still dreaming about a future time in twilight-verse, where humans invent Power Armor and Bolters, and a brotherhood of overzealous fanatics serve an immortal emperor and slaughter everything anti-human: "Brothers, purge the unholy, sparkly beasts!!!"
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Post by arcanius on Jul 21, 2014 7:16:14 GMT -8
Come to think of it - here's an idea. They have "hard" skin... Shouldn't this mean that it would break? As in - almost instantly? Have you ever had skin that was SLIGHTLY more inflexible than average? It cracks. Furthermore when things move, they need to have flexibility, or alternatively - to have some kind of gap that would allow such movement. Someone who is rock-hard like them, won't have that.
And also - skin is a thin thing. Now, let's think for a moment what happens to stuff that is both thin and hard. These things are BRITTLE. The hardness, through magnificent irony and basic laws of the universe won't make vampires stronger, it would make them weaker.
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Post by trandafir on Jul 21, 2014 12:03:15 GMT -8
We,humans,can easily own these "vampires" in battle.First of all we could be protected against their bites.Cover the neck with something,or an austronaut-like outfit would do.I mean,do those sparkletards even have fangs to pierce through clothing?Atleast in the movie,I've seen just human teeth.They wouldn't be able to hide among us,seeing how their skin sparkles in sunlight,and their "beautiful" features(golden eyes,hard,cold skin)will totally give them away. Anyway,they wouldn't even be able to get near any of us.I don;t even get why SMeyer tries to make us want to become vampires.(because of immortality and mostly useless powers)
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Post by Chaotic Neutral on Jul 29, 2014 18:47:54 GMT -8
I have long had the belief that their "diamond-like skin" would be breakable, and a good solid blow with a sledgehammer would shatter them. Diamond may be the hardest substance, but sturdiest it ain't. So I'm pretty sure an armor-piercing round would be able to crack their skin, if not shatter through it. Combine that with incendiary rounds and their flammable "super venom" that essentially makes up every part of what they are and I'm pretty sure they'd die rather quickly from the inside out. "Oh, but the vampires are super fast, they could dodge any of those bullets, then run over and snap the shooter's neck before they blink!" Not so! Something else to keep in mind is that while the vampires are super fast physically, that's only insomuch as their brain are able to keep up. Yes, their reflexes are heightened, but that's not to say that their thought processes are faster to match their speed. In addition, even if they had super fast thoughts as well, that only works insomuch as their environment allows. For example, lets pretend that we have a sniper shooting at a vampire from a mile away. And lets go ahead and pretend that these vampires could hear the sound of the sniper pulling the trigger. Thing is, even with super hearing, they would only be better able to pick up the sound waves as they reach them. It doesn't let them hear instantaneously AS the sound is occurring, despite what most movies and comics would portray. Sound travels 343 meters per second, which would equal .21313 of a mile. Also, in terms of velocity, a bullet from a sniper rifle can usually travel somewhere between 2600 and 3400 feet per second. There are 5280 feet in a mile. It would probably take about 5 seconds for the vamp target to hear the trigger or the bullet coming, but it would take 2-3 seconds for the bullet to hit them. Basically, the vamp would be hit before they even realize it was coming, mind reading and people-sensing powers aside. Isn't math fun?
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Post by Chaotic Neutral on Jul 29, 2014 19:26:32 GMT -8
Also, who's to say we can't use nature itself?
Lava. It's hot. You don't have to be touching it for it to kill you. The heat should be enough to make one spontaneously combust. It's possible it may even more easily ignite the flammable venom in the vampire.
Speaking of flammable, it was said that the venom covers the crystal-like cells so the vamps can move. Thus their very skin should, by all accounts, be susceptible to any sort of open flame.
And hey, what else can set off flammable things? Electricity! And friction! And even simply hot surfaces!
But why should fire get all the fun? I seem to recall something about erosion being a potential issue for these rock-like beings, and what erodes rock better than water? Such as certain aspects like water pressure. Or if I wanted to be really evil, water jets. Water jets are commonly referred to as an accelerated erosion process. It is claimed that they can cut or erode through virtually any material known, with variations in size, speed, and even use of composites in the water. Now it's stated that a vamp that is torn apart can put themselves back together given time, but that if a vamp sits in one place too long, they can start to become more rocklike and subject to erosion. What about a vamp whose limbs were removed directly through erosion?
Granted, it is not a speedy or cost-effective method of killing a vamp. But if you wanted to be particularly vindictive and if you were able to capture and hold a sparklepire, this puts a whole new meaning to the term "water torture".
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malva
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Post by malva on Jul 30, 2014 15:17:14 GMT -8
Interesting, didn't know about that one. It's funny how for "immortals" who lack the two braincells to figure out how to kill themselves, you can use pretty much anything that is used against normal people in modern warfare.
Since you mentioned the mind reading, I just wonder how to best circumvent Alice's fortune telling tricks. I'm not quite sure anymore how her powers worked at all. Did she just see what decisions someone was about to make, if she concentrated on that person? So if she concentrated on what colored shirt Edward was going to grab tomorrow, would she sense that he's not going to make that decision, because in five minutes, he'll be ripped apart by sniper bullets before a gigantic space laser annihilates the hell out of their house?
Sure, it wouldn't really help prepare the Cullens against the stuff we listed here. Especially since most of them can only run really fast and play baseball (and possibly football, since over centuries, they mastered the art of smashing into people). But then we're up against Bella's poorly defined forcefield, a guy who ripped off Avatar the last airbender, Jane and that amazon chick who makes people blind. And that's just the bullshit vampire powers we know of, which are somewhat useful. So when these four schmucks see armies with incendiary 12-gauges, snipers, tesla/plasma guns and flamethrowers and all that, they'll probably just go "nope" and manage to flee again and again. It'll be hard to surprise them if Alice can just warn them of every surprise attack.
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Post by Chaotic Neutral on Aug 8, 2014 22:50:21 GMT -8
Out of everyone, Alice would quite possibly be the hardest to work around given her godmodded powers and the way that they never seem to make sense or stay consistent. The implications were that she can only determine events based on decisions but she's somehow able to tell when it's going to be sunny out to avoid sunlight? On the opposite side, she foresaw Bella joining the Cullens but not James's plan to eat her. In fact, Alice kind of missed the whole "James blackmailing Bella to draw her to him" bit, which if anything should have warranted a vision. And she also missed out on the future warnings of Jasper attacking Bella, Edward going to kill himself because her own stupid vision led them to believe Bella died, other ways to STOP the vampire army coming to kill them, ANYTHING with the Volturri, or really anything useful that could have actually prevented half the stuff that happened in the series. Ultimately, even Meyer showed that Alice isn't perfect.
Obvious weakness includes Alice's visions being blocked in regards to creatures she has not been. Meaning that by all accounts, she can't see visions of the wolves or the hybrids, any of whom could potentially be recruited to help take the vamps down.
I've come to a conclusion that for as powerful and godmodded as Alice's powers are made to be, she seems to be incapable of noting cause and effect. She can tell what the weather will be since there's not much they do that can affect it, but practically everything she probably SHOULD have but DIDN'T have a vision about was in some aspect tied to another vision she had about that situation. She saw the Cullens playing baseball but not that James would come along and want to eat Bella. She saw Bella jumping off the cliff but not that she survived or that someone was going to tell Edward and make him go suicidal. She foresaw the Volturri coming for them over Renesmee, but not the vamp who saw them and ran off to tell the Volturri in the first place. Just overall, there were some serious blind spots in her visions.
In addition, Alice seems to have a thing for wanting her visions to happen as she sees them. She got with Jasper because she saw him in a vision. Her main reason for wanting Bella to join them? Vision. They go play baseball in a thunder storm? Vision. It begs the question of how much of what happened was because she saw it and went along with it as opposed to actually trying to DO anything to stop it, final battle with the Volturri aside.
With Alice, what you need is to outgambit her. So she had a vision of the sniper? She must have missed the warning of the drone heading their way. They escape to a nearby desert? Watch out for the minefield. Oh, and who ever said there'd only be one sniper sent out? And what about a battalion sent in as cleanup? Her visions can only show her so much, she can't catch EVERY danger. She'll no doubt get a couple of them, sure, but her visions are spotty and she's bound to fumble somewhere. Plus the sad thing about the Cullens' powers is that they're shown to pretty much live by their powers that they don't plan ahead or around them, so they lack the capability to work without them. Because if dancing around is her idea of fighting and grabbing the dues ex machina kid is her idea of outwitting an opponent, she clearly is a novice in strategy.
Bella's shield is noted as being more mental than physical. As a human, she could block Edward but not Jasper, and Alice still could have visions of her. Ultimately, it's useful against Jane and most of the Volturri as they rely on mental abilities, but most humans lack that type of power and instead rely on pure physical force, so I doubt the shield is going to be an issue.
Avatar dude...honestly, I'm surprised he's not dead. With the elements he summons, he should have killed himself by accident at least long before now. And even if he is somehow magically immune to all his own elements, those around him should not be. He should, by all accounts, realistically have killed everyone around him at any point he even attempts any of these abilities.
Jane and the amazon chick as you call her since I neither know her name or care to find it out are both quite dangerous. But I'm pretty sure their abilities have the requirements of designated targets and visual of said targets. That's when drones can come in handy. Drones can't feel pain or go blind. Easy enough.
But again, Alice would be the big one. She can't warn them of every surprise attack because even with her visions, she can't account for EVERYTHING. Plus again, she has no concept of strategy. And even if she did know enough to hold her own, she can't account for the random split-second decisions every soldier on a battlefield has to make. Maybe she did foresee the sniper who had a lot of forethought and planning in his decision to line up a shot and fire at her, but can she account for the soldier who within the past five seconds figured "to hell with it" and decided to blow himself and her up with a grenade?
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Post by Chaotic Neutral on Aug 9, 2014 7:40:49 GMT -8
In addition, the Cullens in particular have a pretty easy lifestyle. They're rich and expressed as being high class and ultimately wasteful with their resources. To be honest, I don't really think they know how to survive in the wild. The thing with living an easy life is that, no matter your past or how you used to tough things out, when you live in an easy manner for a while, it similarly becomes easy to let yourself go in it and lose some of the ability to "rough it" that you used to have. It's difficult to get back to that.
In this case, Edward and Carlisle both apparently had a history of some roughing it out on their own, and even then they weren't exactly in the wilds. Alice....I don't believe that was the case for her. Jasper had his history as a soldier, but that was during the civil war. The Cullens have essentially spent decades sitting around doing nothing. They've clearly become complacent in the series. So while those like the amazons would be more used to living in the wilds and using their surroundings to their advantage, the Cullens would more likely be limited in that regard. Especially considering how things have changed since they did rough things out.
They've also clearly never been hunted--or at least realized it. Their reactions to both incidents where they were the subject to a hunt of any sort (the vampire army and the Volturri) were to wait in one spot for the forces to come to them and believe that they can beat them or pull something out of their asses to save themselves. I don't doubt they'd try the same here. Send out a few squads of soldiers first, they'll likely try to "make a stand" and verbally defend themselves with some BS about how they are "vegetarian" and don't kill people (which is a big fat lie given how many people died because of them). Then if the soldiers refuse to listen, they'd try to fight. I don't think the Cullens could manage long term warfare or make efficient use of guerilla tactics.
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blenderbender
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Post by blenderbender on Aug 22, 2014 16:17:52 GMT -8
EVERYTHING CHAOTIC NEUTRAL SAID.
Darling, you are kicking ASS in this thread! But yes, the Cullens would be so screwed if it came down to a fight. Moreso than most vampires. And the vampires in general are pretty damn screwed considering a lit match could kill one since they're covered in venom to lubricate the cells.
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Post by Georgaina on Aug 23, 2014 5:11:05 GMT -8
Honestly, I think we'd still be able to easily destroy all the vampires in medieval times. It seems all you need to be is covered in armour and hold out a torch. To quote paraphrase Jon Snow: "Don't move too fast, or I could just hold my sword out and let you do the work for me."
If only they had been vulnerable to unions instead, at least that way they would have to rely on people's ability to aim.. It seems to me as though flamethrowers would make the job insanely easy.
What Chaotic Neutral said earlier about 'no matter how much you think you've thought things through, things can still go wrong' seems to apply to SMeyer as well. This is what you get if you don't do research into fantasy before writing it. She thinks and claims her vamps are super powerful, but really all you need to do is hold a lit match out right in front of you when they come to get you.
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Post by arcanius on Aug 24, 2014 2:36:02 GMT -8
Right now I'm thinking about flaming sword(No NOT MAGIC, I'm talking about a sword covered in burning oil.)
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malva
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Post by malva on Aug 24, 2014 8:08:53 GMT -8
Looks like we got every possibility covered then You'd think any type of immortal-but-not-really-because-they-can-still-be-killed would take precautions against attacks like these. The immortals from Highlander actually traveled the globe, amassed antiquities, armories and knowledge. They have trained with weapons for maybe thousands of years and they expect you any time. Granted, they have to, because other immortals will come after them. But how many vampires can you name that have that never get into fights? Vampires from cereal boxes, Twilight fanfics, the muppets or other kid shows don't count. ...har-har-har. Count. Imagine the Cullens would have trained with all types of firearms over centuries, becoming the most proficient marksmen in the world + super senses and speed and strength. They could switch their sniping positions in a blink and aimbot an entire squadron of our's as fast as their guns can fire. It also takes a special kind of person to know when and where enemies will attack from, knowing they are stronger and more numerous than you, and still attacking them head on. These guys are old enough to have learned everything there is to know about warfare, and to have tried it out in several major wars. As if they needed to crawl up to the werewolves for help. We couldn't even make our own army of vampires to counter them. It would be like throwing new academy recruits at a squad of elite veterans, while Alice may or may not read all our plans. And even if not, there's no way we sneak a nuke past her. Yet somehow not a single Meyerpire is anywhere near this unstoppable. Instead, they all seem to rely on their powers in their rawest forms. They're like cavemen hauling lumps of iron ore at us, when they should have learned how to forge swords and guns out of them centuries ago.
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Post by arcanius on Aug 24, 2014 12:41:13 GMT -8
^ Does this mean I can get my power armored, geneticaly engineered fanatics?
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malva
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Post by malva on Aug 24, 2014 15:31:42 GMT -8
^there is always a slim risk some Meyerpire out there didn't actually waste their time looping highschool, but learned to be a badass. So it can't hurt trying to out-badass them preemptively.
So bring on the crazy overpowered fanatics, I say! Make sure they bring a huge ass robot calling them communists while shooting lightning. Just tell no one that regular guns did the trick, or the world might not cover our expenses for doing it a favor.
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Post by Chaotic Neutral on Aug 24, 2014 19:59:47 GMT -8
Thank you, BB. Granted, a lot of that is based on real world physics, which apparently don't apply to Meyerpires thanks to the power of Meyerlogic, but I digress. Certain points remain valid. Including the more subtle components of warfare and physics.
Malva, you hit the point head on--the Cullens should be downright TERRIFYING. These are monsters that are fully capable of killing a person within minutes. Can go anywhere. Are not bound by any means or mythos--they don't have to be invited to enter your home, they can tear through any barriers you try to put between you and them, they are faster and stronger than you, and sunlight does nothing against them. These are potential killers that can attack you out of nowhere, follow you anywhere, and play with you like a cat plays with its dinner. These are monsters you CANNOT run from......
....and they do NOTHING with it. They're not monsters because of the damage they've actually done. They're monsters because they need something to wangst about to make themselves feel deeper than they actually are. They're lazy, but even moreso, they're egotistical, show-offy, and much too haughty. And not because of the reasons they'd actually have the right to be that way for. I'm not about to argue the "better than you" attitude of the beings who think they're better than me on the basis that they can rip me limb from limb within seconds, because...well, they can. But when those beings feel they're better than me based on something as intangible and individually-crafted as personal morals--morals they don't even follow, no less? Suddenly, they're more annoying than scary.
A major aspect of my ideas of battle with them here is that the Cullens lack subtlety. They are literally going out and making a show of themselves wherever they go. It's obvious the Cullens aren't normal. For all their "hiding", they suck at it. You don't avoid attention by making names for yourselves, showing off how super rich you are, flaunting the laws, and outright endangering people. The Volturri aren't much better. They're sending out their vampire agent whose special powers is being super pretty and charming people to go out in public and...well...charm people into following her directly to their secret lair! No indication is given as to what they're doing to cover their tracks, how they're hiding the fact that all these people are mysteriously disappearing within the same general area, most of whom are tourists and would have loved ones and a country wondering why they never came back.
The regular strategy for the Cullens so far has been to wait in one place for the enemy to come to them. This fits in lines with the strategy the Volturri has displayed of confronting their enemy directly. Both sides have also made use of some show of force that is very blatant and obvious and in some ways over the top. The Volturri with their "honor guard" and the Cullens with the "witnesses" and even Victoria with her vampire army. All of them very blatant, very obvious, and with no subtlety or strategy whatsoever.
James--the first villain of the series was a bigger threat than either the Volturri or Victoria's vampire army simply because he was able to act SMARTER. He didn't just run out and confront the Cullens as the obstacles to his ultimate goal of having Bella as lunch. No, he knew that what he needed to do was target said lunch directly and acted to draw Bella out from behind the safety of the Cullen defense and directly to HIM. He learned about her, found out about her mom, and played on Bella's love for her mom (HAHAHAHA--no we're actually being serious here) to get Bella to stupidly endanger herself and walk into a trap. Still an obvious trap, but a trap nonetheless. And used more foresight and thinking than anyone else in the whole of the series so far.
Think about it. Victoria was creating a vampire army in Eclipse. The signs were obvious. So obvious that we shouldn't have even needed a vision from Alice to get everyone to take notice of the strange events and loss of life. And yet the evidence of James's random "snacks" in the first story warranted more attention. These people are not THAT stupid. They figured a vamp was causing issues in the first book, how could they NOT realize vampires were behind the strange happenings in Seattle? A CRUISE SHIP was taken out among other things. There should have been cause for concern, even if it was simply that some vampire was being stupid and risking revealing everyone else. It should have warranted some investigating. Instead, it took a vision from Alice and once they knew for sure that a vampire army was in the making with the sole purpose of eating Bella, what do they do?
They...sit in a circle around Bella and wait for said army to finish gathering members, invade their home area, and endanger EVERYONE ELSE THERE. It wasn't even that they were trying to use the advantage of knowing the area or having the home advantage or any of it. They just knew the enemy was coming and waited for the enemy to arrive so they could show off how badass they all were. Except Leah because...yknow...girl.
What COULD they have done?
Well, they could have set up traps for the vampires. Or even just A trap. Used Bella or even just her blood if it was THAT freaking powerful as bait to draw the vampires to one location where they'd be at some disadvantage. Arranged battle maneuvers. Used guerilla warfare to take them out a bit at a time until their forces were whittled down enough for them to be able to overpower the rest.
Or even better! They could have paid attention to the obvious warning signs and sent out a smaller portion of their forces as a strike team of sorts to secretly take out Victoria and her higher ups BEFORE they finish their vampire army. Thus a number of people wouldn't have been turned into undead monstrosities and many more WOULDN'T HAVE DIED. And don't tell me it couldn't have been done. Edward could read minds. Alice could see the future. Jasper was a former soldier AND could feel emotions. Send a few wolves with them and I really don't think they would have had THAT hard of a time tracking Victoria down.
But that would have been interesting. And subtle which again, the Cullens lack. I find it increasingly evident that the whole point of everything was to allow the Cullens to show off in some way. Show off how rich they are, how strong they are, what special abilities they have, what political power they have, how creative or intelligent or knowledgeable they are. Even the bit with training the wolves came off as a way for them to show off. Alice's movements in training were referred to as though she was dancing, which is less like how a real fight actually works and more like a way for Alice to show off how agile and graceful she is.
The Cullens have a longstanding history of showing off to any threat. Which actually makes sense when you realize you're dealing with a group that thinks they're essentially at the top of the world. To them, a show a strength is supposed to be all they need to get the other party to back off, and if that doesn't work, follow up with actual use of that strength. But in the meantime, they've neglected sense and tactics. Their strength won't do them much good against a hidden assassination attempt or a drone strike or subterfuge. and dammit all, now I want to write a story about this...
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Post by arcanius on Aug 25, 2014 1:13:54 GMT -8
^ Late. I already wrote one... Though it has Adeptus Astartes with adamantium chainswords destroying the vampires during the end of the Age of Strife(about the 28-th millenium, when Earth under the leadership of the God Emperor of Humanity sets out on galactic conquest, subjugating, reclaiming or ahnialating everything in it's path making every alien race who dared to oppose them extinct or enslaved... Man the WH40K universe is fun...)... Not assasins....
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