What are the IFCC real goals 2

[King of Nowhere]

So, it seems settled that the ifcc could take control of V, and it was supposed that the ifcc hoped to use V to control a gate. Except that 668 seems to deny that: they didn't mention controlling the gates (and they have no reason for lying among themselves), but only "spreading destructive, unnecessary conflict".
They didn't mention the part the gates have in it, they say that they want the war for the gates to last for long. It was supposed that if they wanted to warp a gate, they needed one team to win.
What good comes to the ifcc from that? How they hope to turn fight in the prime material plane to their favor?

[Timberboar]

I'm not sure how, but I suspect a Kansas City Shuffle is involved.

[73 Bits of Lint]

So, it seems settled that the ifcc could take control of V, and it was supposed that the ifcc hoped to use V to control a gate. Except that 668 seems to deny that: they didn't mention controlling the gates (and they have no reason for lying among themselves), but only "spreading destructive, unnecessary conflict".
They didn't mention the part the gates have in it, they say that they want the war for the gates to last for long. It was supposed that if they wanted to warp a gate, they needed one team to win.
What good comes to the ifcc from that? How they hope to turn fight in the prime material plane to their favor?
Presumably, they expect Nale and Co. to do something related to the gates. But, as the imp said, Nale and Co. are total morons, and I don't think that they know what the Gates are supposed to do (all they know is that Xykon and the Order are interested in them).

We do know that their plan will kill the gods of good (and the way he said it implies that the evil gods are gonna get the axe too), as well as a good number of metallic dragons. So maybe these guys are crazy/stupid enough to just let the Snarl loose on the planes for a giggle. Or they have some way of shielding themselves from the Snarl's attentions while the rest of the Universe is torn apart.

[Porthos]

I'm not sure how, but I suspect a Kansas City Shuffle is involved.

This.

The whole "chaos and destruction" bit is just to distract everyone while they get ready to take control of the Gates. They even say as much:

Orange IFCC Director: As it stands, though, the race for the next Gate begins tomorrow.
Director Lee: And while (Xykon and the OotS) fight each other, we move our pawns into position.

This clearly shows that they are interested in the gates. And since they A) can't interfere directly in the mortal realms and B) their agents are probably weaker than either Team Evil or Team OotS, then a good angle to pursue is to weaken both sides and pick up the pieces after they've exhausted themselves.

And who better to start each side from going at each others necks than the Linear Guild? :smalltongue:


But, as the imp said, Nale and Co. are total morons, and I don't think that they know what the Gates are supposed to do (all they know is that Xykon and the Order are interested in them).

Nate knows quite a bit (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0379.html) about the Gates. (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0380.html)

Or at least as much as the Sapphire Guard did. :smallsmile:

[JonestheSpy]

I think their goal seems to be keeping a balance of power between Team Evil and the OotS, with more and more people being drawn into the conflict.

The first gate (okay, technically second, as the first was destroyed in flashback) was part of a simple dungeon crawl. The next involved a massive war that ended up in the destruction of Azure City - I think the IFCC wants a lot more of that sort of escalation. If the next gate results in a war throughout the Western Continent that results in another stalemate, and then the pattern repeats in the Dwarven lands, there'd be incredible death and destruction.

In the end, I think the IFCC would want the last gate preserved, as it seems they'd be destroyed as well if the Snarl got loose (or it would at least deprive them of a source of fresh souls, if their Outer Plane origin means that the destruction of one Prime Material world wouldn't directly affect them). But having the wolrd constantly warring for control of the gates would suit them perfectly.

[Corwin Weber]

I think their goal seems to be keeping a balance of power between Team Evil and the OotS, with more and more people being drawn into the conflict.

The first gate (okay, technically second, as the first was destroyed in flashback) was part of a simple dungeon crawl. The next involved a massive war that ended up in the destruction of Azure City - I think the IFCC wants a lot more of that sort of escalation. If the next gate results in a war throughout the Western Continent that results in another stalemate, and then the pattern repeats in the Dwarven lands, there'd be incredible death and destruction.

In the end, I think the IFCC would want the last gate preserved, as it seems they'd be destroyed as well if the Snarl got loose (or it would at least deprive them of a source of fresh souls, if their Outer Plane origin means that the destruction of one Prime Material world wouldn't directly affect them). But having the wolrd constantly warring for control of the gates would suit them perfectly.

^ This.

I'm becoming increasingly convinced that it's not about the Gates per se.... and the Fiends have little or no interest in controlling any of them. What they want is for the Gates to continue to exist as objects of power that people are willing to fight over. That benefits them. A godkilling superweapon that they have little or no chance of actually controlling effectively enough to keep it from killing them as well? Not so much.....

What I'm not sure of is V's role in this. The IFCC's dialog suggests that they still need V for something..... I'm just not entirely sure what.

[Beorn080]

Don't forget Sabine. She is definitely an underling, or at least has worked with them, of the IFCC. Assuming they have other minions, and given that they have control of 3 epic level mages at least, I wouldn't be surprised if they use that and perhaps splice Sabine or even Nale to get control of the gate. Even if they can only work during a deal, they could make a very agreeable one to get TLG a trio of epic mages that have already planned on how to control the gate. If OotS and Team Evil are going after Girrards gate, and TLG gets to Kragor's gate unopposed, there could be serious problems. I mean how long would it take for Nale to walk through a dungeon full of monsters with a trio of epics backing him.

[JonestheSpy]

What I'm not sure of is V's role in this. The IFCC's dialog suggests that they still need V for something..... I'm just not entirely sure what.

My guess is that V is their ace in the hole if it ever seems like the OotS is going to have a decisive win against Xykon or somehow ensure the Gates' permanent safety.

They'll take control of V at the right moment and sabotage everything, and another round of struggle will just start up again - then of course V will have to deal with the consequences of what the fiends did, after they relinquish control.

[JonestheSpy]

Sidenote: I suppose they could also take control of V if the OotS was about to decisively lose to Xykon, as well...

[Pronounceable]

They didn't mention the part the gates have in it, they say that they want the war for the gates to last for long.

Too much exposition for right now. They haven't fully spilled the beans.

[Porthos]

My guess is that V is their ace in the hole if it ever seems like the OotS is going to have a decisive win against Xykon or somehow ensure the Gates' permanent safety.

They'll take control of V at the right moment and sabotage everything, and another round of struggle will just start up again - then of course V will have to deal with the consequences of what the fiends did, after they relinquish control.

But in the last comic they said that the time that they would be able to control V should be "more than enough for their purposes". Which strongly suggests that they are actively planning something for V above and beyond any "backup plan".

[doodthedud]

My guess is:

The IFCC wants all the gates to be destroyed. They mentioned that it's 'technically true' that they will be bringing down good gods and with the destruction of the gates they might be able to unleash the snarl on their own terms to have it hunt down the good gods, bringing power to all Fiends, Demons, and Devils as the evil gods reign.

[Corwin Weber]

My guess is:

The IFCC wants all the gates to be destroyed. They mentioned that it's 'technically true' that they will be bringing down good gods and with the destruction of the gates they might be able to unleash the snarl on their own terms to have it hunt down the good gods, bringing power to all Fiends, Demons, and Devils as the evil gods reign.

Kinda superfluous for me to post this here... but here ya go....

Doubtful. They aren't stupid. They can't control it and they most likely know it. Additionally, the release of an entity of pure malicious chaos may seem like a great idea from a demonic perspective, but it's marginal from a daemonic perspective and as far as the devils are concerned? A horrible idea. Releasing the Snarl, even under their marginal control, would screw things up for the devils and would mess up the stated goal of uniting the fiends. (Which I suspect they actually were being truthful about. They told V the truth, just not the whole truth. They weren't lying about wanting to unite the fiends, they just weren't telling V about the strings attached.)

I still suspect that they want the gates left intact, and for knowledge of the gates to spread. Think about it. Every two bit villain from every backwater plane will want to control them, and will want to come to the OOtSplane to try. That gives the IFCC opportunity after opportunity after opportunity after opportunity.... much more useful than a potential godkilling superweapon that would most likely be too dangerous for them to use even if they could figure out how.... and that would seriously freak out some of their allies. (Remember, the evil gods are working with them.... how do you think they'd react to the Snarl?)

** edit **




But in the last comic they said that the time that they would be able to control V should be "more than enough for their purposes". Which strongly suggests that they are actively planning something for V above and beyond any "backup plan".



That's what I'm wondering. I honestly don't know. I could see them having V go UberV again to fight Xykon if he looked like he was going to win.... (I suspect they do not want Xykon to win specifically. He won't work with them.) I could also see them using V to sabotage the OOtS to make sure they don't win either.... but neither of those is a terribly specific plan.

I suspect the Giant has something very specific cooked up for this... I just don't know what it is.

[Lyx]

Giant has shown in multiple occassions that he understands the illusion of dualism, its mechanics and solving it remarkably well, so in light of the previous strip:

Potentially big spoiler:
The IFCC is neither on team evil nor on team good. They are their very own team evil, and consider the other two polarities morons in their endless struggle of pointless conflict. So they are planning to escalate that conflict, so that the camps weaken each other so much that IFCC and co. can - via unity, synergy and intelligence - dominate over both camps.

[Ozymandias9]

They're a coalition of Archfiends trying to end the Blood War so that they can turn the bloodshed outwards and start making a war on the Cosmic Forces of Good. What do you think they want the ultimate trump card for? They want to take over the hell dimensions, then mount a war on the heavenly ones. Of course, they have to trust each other with the God-killing abomination to do that...

[Corwin Weber]

They're a coalition of Archfiends trying to end the Blood War so that they can turn the bloodshed outwards and start making a war on the Cosmic Forces of Good. What do you think they want the ultimate trump card for? They want to take over the hell dimensions, then mount a war on the heavenly ones. Of course, they have to trust each other with the God-killing abomination to do that...

They have to trust their ability to control said godkilling abomination too.... and the evil gods have to trust them with it. Neither is terribly likely.

The Snarl in this case is like a nuke that you can only throw or set in one place and run. Potentially useful, potentially incredibly powerful..... if you survive trying to use it. It's much more valuable to them as a carrot to dangle in front of powerful evil mortals, semigods and gods.

They don't want either side to win, although if it came down to it I suspect they'd help the Order. In this case, the good guys winning is in their best interests as well.... it maintains the status quo. They can always spread stories about the gates later. Xykon controlling a gate would be pretty bad for them.... people would try to take it from him, but they'd fail before they could do the fiends any good.