Barghest Blue said:
I find that finding a map that perfectly describes the layout of the facility and the location of their target to be highly unlikely.
You only see that type of thing in buildings that are intended to be accessable by the public. Private/Secure buildings may have some identifiers on doors and halls, but actual maps would be vague or labeled in such a way that only people who actually work there would be able to immediately understand them precisely. This facility would definately not be considered 'publicly accessible'.
I've worked in a fair amount of private businesses both large and small and to know having a map that useful is like a pink unicorn...it doesn't exist in reality. Heck, the older the facility, the more likely the layout has changed compared to the actual documentation/labels. I've gotten lost before in these types of buildings before trying to find a specific room or Navigate between sections that 'grew' together instead of being designed and built that way.
In fact the more 'secure' the facility the more likely it is you won't find anything remotely like this. It's like expecting the highest security military facility to be clearly labeled so any school child could navigate it. Plus what about the damage to the facility? Impassible or blocked corridors? Passages blocked by rubble or unspecified fluids from the hive above? Sections where the seals failed and there is atmosphere leaking? (In reference to the breaking window sucking things out)
Barghest Blue said:
That's because the Second and Third Sites were the possible locations of the facility, but the facility itself was only ever in one place
The last time those sites were refered to the cultists were still looking for the facility, when they found it they didn't matter anymore
The jump from having three possible sites, to everyone outright knowing that this was the correct one is what I have trouble with. There's no supporting transition in the story to why this site was suddenly 'the one'.
Did the cultists rule one out while the shields were still up? How did Nicole know the underground layout enough to plan for a Hellbore insertion? As far as the story goes, all she has is the fragmentary audio log that reveals the cultists are searching for it and there are 3 locations.
Also, just because the STC was at that location, doesn't mean there wasn't anything at all in the other two locations. They may not be STC's (Or more specifically the main one they are looking for) but there was some reason why they flagged them as possible locations and it would be a very poor magos who didn't on check them out just for the miniscule chance there was something there even remotely STC/Archaeotech related. For all we know they could have been remote support locations for the main STC. In the real world a lot of organizations have main and satellite sites, and these could very well be that type of situation.
Barghest Blue said:
Yes, but how did thosse carrier boxes get from the printer to the storage area/shelves? Is there some sort of above head rail with grabby pinchers ala Wheatley in Portal? Are there little C.A.T.s running around like what Nicole found in the Drake? (Cyber-Altered Task units, etc.) Servitors? Robots? The lack of even a mention of this in the facility is a bit glaring to me in light of how they mention the out of place cables and such.
Barghest Blue said:
The facility is right on the edge of the sinkhole, and the room was overlooking the hole
Why? There's no reason for that
The STC is basically just an overtuned computer, there's no reason to separate it from the printer
Your analogy of the server room isn't very accurate, especially if they specifically wanted to isolate the STC from the outside, forcing it to connect to something outside that room would then go against that desire. What the STC is is a secure computer in a secure room, if they wanted to connect the printer at all they needed it in that room. It's deliberately not a part of a network.
The STC is NOT a desktop PC. The vast majority of server rooms in actual businesses are usually seperate from any printers. Heck, there usually even separate from the operators! Initially it would have been done because paper and printing produces a lot of dust. And you don't want that to get into your big expensive computers. Not only that, but it is also a fire hazard. Plus the STC and the Printer would have wildly different requirements for operating environments. (Heat, temperature, humidity, etc.) And that doesn't even get into the security requirements. It's like watching the Lord of the Rings and Gandalf uses an helicopter to escape Sarumon and not one of his Eagle friends!
I can allow that in this DAOT facility it's far more likely that they didn't actually do any sort of printing on paper, as it would likely have been all data slate/Noosphere reports and such. But the story does point our attention to all the unexpected cables and pipes that were feeding the printer, which would take up a lot of room, generate heat and have the possibility of leaking....something you would very much like to keep away from your fragile STC!
And lastly the window out into the sinkhole is so contrived, it's like watching a 'B' horror flick and the first thing out of the character's mouths is "Let's split up" or 'Let's check out this highly skeevy location in the dark without a good source of light, just ignore the smell of blood!'. Let's call it what it is: Chekhov's gun.
There's no need for "The Window" (tm) at all. Just have some random explosive or psycher attack blow a hole in the floor, revealing that there is a void below caused by and leading to the sinkhole that the thing falls into. Heck, maybe if it needs more 'oomph' have the attack break off a very big and heavy piece of pipe/cable/structure from the ceiling high above and have it not only puch the whole, but also tilt the floor so things slide into the hole instead of relying on the 'Dues Ex/Vacuum' to suck it out. Sure, it's nearly as old as the busted window as it goes in terms of plot narrative, but it's also one that fits the scenario without looking out of place.
Barghest Blue said:
It will effect total changes to the planet, but it is specifically terraforming the planet for humans, on a planet that can already support human life. The changes will not be devastating to the worldwide population.
The reason they are evacuating Cycladon is because it is about to have a giant ass tree thing growing through it.
Unless this is another Chekhov plot point, there no reason for the plot have a have a 'suddenly terraformed'! Moment. In fact, I'd put as more likely that any still usuable seed that falls into the void would break on impact and not activate at all. I can't help but think it's one of those cheesy infomercial moments writ large as WH40K Grim Darkness.
Our heroine finds the STC first. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
The STC is not a single piece of tech, it's a congolmeration of multiple seperate ones. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Nicole can immediately access the STC through a convenient data port. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
The STC Data is too big and she can't get it all. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
The Nefarious Cultists use invisibility to do a surprise attack and start corrupting the STC. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Nicole stops the attack from further corrupting the STC. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Random shots break the nearby window and suddenly there a big vacuum that sucks anything not nailed down outside. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
One of the things sucked out is a viable seed. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
That seed suddenly activates instead of breaking. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
The seed sprouts "Super Tentacle Roots (tm)!" instantly. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Nicole immediately recognizes that the Roots will not only affect the facility, but also destroy it. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Despite not having ever seen the activation of the seed she automagically knows how big it will get and that it will probably destroy the Hive...
Yeah, by the end of that entire section I felt kinda let down. It was just too easy easy to see a formulaic layout to the events and it dragged things down a bit instead of sounding exciting. I can get the need to evacuate the Hive due to the sinkhole....but that's something that would have needed to happen anyway if the sinkhole was that big of an issue that current Imperial tech couldn't solve it to save the Hive. They are that massive and not easy to relocate the people and industries in them. If they were, the Imperium would have given up on Necromunda/Armageddon millenia ago. Plus unless you have some sort of plot points revolving around it before the Drake leaves the system, it's largely something that won't be a part of the story at all and can be ignored.
I can suspend some disbelief for the purpose of a good story, but I can't ignore things that don't follow logic and physics within that framework of the story when the plot holes are that large and feel too contrived and/or artificial.
