Clouds and Currents - VoK & HW 2021 Event Prompts

   That evening, the trio gathered together at their usual spot, Bora raking notes of the stories he'd heard through the day, and his own thoughts on what the scribe had asked, and Nahia and Tamaya... resting, mostly, after their training.
   For once, it was Tamaya who brought up their mission first. "So," she said. "We're able to take down the small guys without too much trouble, as long as we can avoid getting hit, because of these gauntlets. And we've got sort of a plan for the titan, as long as we can be careful about where in the ocean it goes... I mean, you know. As long as we can avoid it causing too much destruction for the sea kingdom and all."
   Bora looked over as Nahia replied with a cheerful, "Mhmm! And we know that we can shatter em or split em apart if we focus our attacks on applying pressure instead of just trying to get through the surface with scratches. So we're basically set, right? If we can get the fighters of the other kingdoms to work with us once it's in the water, that should be game over for Big, Old, and Rocky whenever it shows up."
   "Right," she said, though her tone didn't sound like one of agreement. "But... Well, I was thinking. These little ones are easier to take down because they don't really think, right? Like... Bora, you compared them to automatons. Things that act on, like, instinct, or programming, or... just, external commands, basically, and don't really have any thoughts of their own?"
   "That's right," he said, nodding. "I can't say it with certainty, but they seem to lack the higher processing needed to make decisions for themselves."
   "Right," she said. "But then... the titan itself. It would think, surely? Like, I can't imagine it would just be running on programming, or someone else's commands, right? So I don't think it would fall for a trap like being lured or driven into the sea so easily." She frowned. "I mean, it's their leader, right? Surely it can think, if it can command these smaller... rocklings, or whatever you want to call them, to do its bidding."
   "Ooh, rocklings, I like that," Nahia said, seemingly missing (or perhaps avoiding) the point altogether.
   Ignoring her, Bora nodded. "That's a reasonable assumption to make," he agreed. "If you plan to utilize that strategy, we'll need to find a way to actually get it into the water in the first place." He paused. "I wonder... there are often cliffs by the sea, worn away over time by its waves. It would take a great deal of effort, but if one were weakened enough..."
   Tamaya seemed to understand what he was implying. And yet... "I don't know if we'd have the manpower or the materials to collapse a cliff like that," she said. "I mean, with those tools of yours, maybe in theory, but I can't imagine it would be a fast process. Not enough to drive it into the water without warning, at least. We'd need something bigger."
   "Hmm... your people don't have electricity, or other powered tools, do you? Jackhammers and such, like humans have?"
   "You keep mentioning humans and Earth as if I know what those are," Tamara commented dryly. "But no, we don't have anything like that."
   "Explosives, then?"
   "Nothing that powerful. Like, we've got low power ones, fireworks and stuff, but nothing that could take out a chunk of the ground like that."
   Nahia's ears perked up. "You got fireworks?" she asked. "Dude, that's awesome. We gotta throw a party with those when this is all said and done!"
   "Are you going to contribute any ideas for getting to that point to this conversation," Bora asked.
   "Hey, I'm boosting morale, that's important," she replied, rolling over onto her back to pout at him upside down.
   Tamaya swished her tail. "Actually..." she mused. "Do you think maybe we could use fireworks anyway? Like, if we shot it at its face... assuming it has a face, anyway... you think that might be enough to scare it or disorient it enough we could drive it into the sea?"
   "There we go, an actually interesting thought. That's much more like it," Bora remarked. "We would have to wait and see - Even if these smaller ones reacted to them in spite of their seeming lack of sentience, the size alone would likely make a difference. Explosives of the same size and strength at point blank range would do much more damage to a rock than to a mountain, after all. But that could be an option. We should keep it in mind."