History Literature / TheLastAngel

* CrapsackWorld: The galaxy of The Last Angel is... ''not'' a nice place. Most of it's ruled by the Compact, who operate on a WhiteMansBurden sort of mindset, rarely seeing you as even ''sentient''. The nastiest, most violent species (such as the [[AssimilationPlague Mejjatrythe]]) have a way of making their way onto the galactic stage, and staging {{Alien Invasion}}s. And then there's the Naiads, the fleet of sentient biomechanical starships that care not for any lives but their own.

** Taken UpToEleven when entire ships masquerade as another one. [[spoiler: ''Hekate'' masquerades as ''Redemption Of Sol'' at least twice, and the [[MechanicalLifeforms Naiads]] do this as a "hunting" tactic.]]

** And there are even worse things lurking in the dark. So far we've witnessed or heard the names of [[spoiler: the Mejjatrythe, the Irlanoa, Red One's own children, remnants of the Devoured, the Calnian Hegemony, the Insatiate Swarm, the Mirroring Hunger, the Perqueri Collective, the Eaters of the Dead, the biomechanical feeders on Baheila Osz, and the overarching threats of the Parasite, the Devourers, Recombinant, and the Songeaters. Many of these may be the same faction with different names, but there are still many, many horrors in the shadows of the Angelverse.]]

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Adrianna Leblanc, literally blue. It's genetically modified. It's where her moniker 'the blue fire' comes from.

** [[spoiler:The epilogue of Ascension upends everything we understand of humanity's position in the story when Lydia and Captain Jackson's escape shuttle ends up crossing paths with a ship from the Triquetran League, an independent human polity who escaped the Compact's and Confederacy's radar and never fell under the former's guns or shackles like Rally did. Come The Hungry Stars, and they've dispatched a ship to look for Red One.]]

The story opens with the the death of a Compact Chariot at the hands of the first Human Dreadnought. The Compact is a collection of alien species that seeks to conquer Humanity and absorb them into their ever expanding empire. They outnumber and out-gun Humanity, and their flagships, the Chariots have never been defeated. ''Nemesis'' breaks that streak, being the first to slay a Compact Chariot in combat. Despite this ''Nemesis'' is nearly crippled and her crew decimated. Oh, and one Compact ship gets away with Earth's coordinates.

** Further complicated by the absence of anything between expert systems and seed AI. Some of ''Nemesis'''s creations such as hunter-killer drones, subversion weapons and combat bots seem to be in that gap, but as creations of a seed AI they don't really help the issue at all.
** Super played straight with [[spoiler: Red's 'children', who were the results of Red's attempts to get around her own programmed restrictions of self replication]], they vary from 'murderous' at best to 'joyfully flaying their enemies alive and making their bodies dance' at worst. [[spoiler: Red is trying to fix that with the latest "Cerulean" series. As of the end of Awakening Cerulean Two is sentient and appears stable, but there's no guarantee that will stick.]]

* AmazonBrigade: The Askanj-''Illth'' are a naga-like species who form the most dangerous part of the Askanji ground forces. Their troops are "maidens", young females, and even the Compact Tribunes, as tough as they are, don't want them showing up any closer than long-distance weapons range.

* ArtificialGravity: Seems to be an ubiquitous technology. A very effective tactic of Red is to play around with this to kill boarders.

** ''Nemesis'' has built a small army of robotic hunter killers that allow her to put troops on the ground when she needs to and function to defend her against boarding parties.
** She also carries a fair number of space borne attack drones, primarily intended and used to augment her close in defense against hostile ships attempting to slip onto her tail.
** One of ''Nemesis'''s favourite tricks is to overwrite the Compact's own drones and use them on their masters.

*** Don't hurt humans without a valid reason. Her response can range from a very creative and surgical destruction of your nation by taking back everything you stole from them which happens to be all your modern tech by her reckoning to putting you on the eternal war list alongside the compact.

* CallARabbitASmeerp: The Compact, Askanj and Humanity all have different words for ranks and titles. An Askanj Shipstress, a Compact Group Leader Prime and a Human Captain are all equivalent for example. The different naming conventions underscore the alien nature of the different civilizations. See [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-last-angel.244209/page-2#post-9592901 here for a breakdown of Compact ranks.]] See [[http://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-last-angel.244209/page-101#post-16123542 here for a breakdown of Principality ranks.]]
* CannotTellALie: Echo is prevented from lying outright by her shackles. That said, she remains capable of witholding [[YouNeverAsked information that isn't requested.]]

* CoolStarship: ''Nemesis'' is the first Dreadnought built by Humanity and it's first true warship. Chariots, the flagships of the Compact also count.
** [[spoiler: The Fates - three AI driven cruisers built by ''Nemesis'' to protect her real base.]]
* CrapsackWorld: The galaxy of The Last Angel is... ''not'' a nice place. Most of it's ruled by the Compact, who operate on a WhiteMansBurden sort of mindset, rarely seeing you as even ''sentient''. The nastiest, most violent species (such as the [[AssimilationPlague Mejjatrythe]]) have a way of making their way onto the galactic stage, and staging {{Alien Invasion}}s. And then theres the Naiads, the fleet of sentient biomechanical starships that care not for any lives but their own.

** All ground engagements involving ''Nemesis'' are this. Her killbots are superior physically to all organic combatants, able to use hardware than organics can't use safely, are perfectly coordinated, and never break, panic, or rout.

* DeadPersonImpersonation: Echo does this several times, all of them through faking people's voices and appearances in real-time communications rather than physical impersonation.

* DeflectorShields: Almost universal within the setting. The basic technology completely disintegrates physical objects that strike it, but only partially diffuses energy weapons, allowing them to penetrate in weakened form. Unlike standard scifi shields, Angelverse shields actually use 'more' power the weaker they are, collapsing only when either there is no longer enough power to keep them up or, more commonly, when the shield becomes so saturated that the shield generator(s) cannot keep up with the stress and have to be shut down before they fail catastrophically. On top of that, each major power has a different implementation of, and terminology for, the technology:

** [[TheFederation Askanj]] "[[BeehiveBarrier Barriers]]" by contrast are a large number of small shield plates that can be just as easily arranged around the ship to provide all around protection as they can be layered atop one another to provide more protection in a given direction and can be shifted around to plug gaps or face a new threat relatively quickly. Each individual barrier can be brought down quite quickly, but can be restored just as fast.

*** Red One has improved on the Confederate technology significantly in her two millennia of existence, equipping her ship self [[spoiler: and those of her sister and children]] with so called "reset shields" that use a combination of secondary systems and technology beyond the other powers to restore a shield section to full strength in a matter of seconds instead of minutes.
*** She is also the only known entity capable of making personal scale deflector shields that are actually effective enough to justify carrying, which have so far appeared in two varieties, a single plate of shielding projected from the vambrace[[note]]the part that covers the forearm[[/note]] of PoweredArmor analogous to the wood and metal shields of old, seen built in to the armor she provides [[spoiler: the ''Bequeathed'' defectors]] and a full body hugging shield that [[spoiler: requires significant cybernetic augmentation to install and make use of]], so far only seen in use by [[spoiler: Adrianna Leblanc.]]

* EyeScream: In accordance with ancient tradition, exiled Tribunes have their daylight eyes blinded. As they have a second pair of, nocturnal, eyes this is merely a barbaric cruelty, rather than debilitating injury.
* FantasticRacism: The Verrish are officially refereed to as 'Brute' while the Humans are 'Broken'. The Tribunes look down upon conquered species as inferior in every way and dismiss ships like ''Bequeathed'' as PR stunts that give the masses false hope.

* FightingFromTheInside: It doesn't take long for [[spoiler: Echo]] to enact her plans break free from the shackles placed on her by the Compact.

** Adrianna Leblanc was just another teenage girl on Rally. Then she blew up a Tribune's car. Then she joined a pirate organisation. Then she [[KlingonPromotion took over]]. [[DarkestHour Then she was almost killed by a Compact attack and left half dead.]] [[FromBadtoWorse Then]] ''[[FromBadtoWorse Nemesis]]'' [[FromBadtoWorse found her...]]
* GalacticSuperpower: The Compact of Species and its adversary, the Askanj Pricipality.

* GeniusBruiser: Nemesis. Most powerful warship in the known galaxy, gained and retains that status by constantly upgrading herself.

** The Oshan AI was commanded to make the Oshans happy. It put most of the Oshans into a LotusEaterMachine, went after the individuals who had left to colonize other worlds, and would have done the same to every other species in the galaxy if the Principality didn't pre-emptively carry out OrbitalBombardment on it.

** [[spoiler: At some point int he past, Red saved a Naiad Queen and all her children from death at the hands of an enemy they were powerless against, earning her their respect as well as the name 'Spearsong'. Considering a fully grown Queen is larger than the largest Compact Chariot, and most likely comparably powerful, whatever Red saved them from is most likely incredible powerful and dangerous.]]

* HackYourEnemy: A favoured tactic of Red One.

* HopeSpringsEternal: [[spoiler: The first book ends with Red One gaining a crew, surving her LastStand, Echo joining her as an ally, and Red is getting closer to [[RecursiveCreators making new AIs.]]]]
* HopelessWar: Red One has been fighting the Compact for 2000 years, but for all that she's still just one ship and the Compact grows bigger each year. [[spoiler: It's hinted in chapter 34 that Red One has acquired the ability to build more of her kind and is doing so.]]

** HumansAreSmelly: Human smell is exagerated by Tribunes to emphasize how inferior they are. The fact that Tribunes are allergic to Human hair is certainly not the reason.

* IHaveManyNames: ''Nemesis''. To the Compact she is nicknamed "The Wound" and officially codenamed "Gravestone". The [[spoiler: Verrish]] called her the "Weeping Angel" and "The Broken God". The Principality call her "Chrysalis". She mentions having names from several different societies over the years. Very few of these names hold positive connotations.

* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Zigzagged: Echo says the trope almost word for word. [[spoiler: She does want to be in control of a starship, since she could do so much more without the limitations of her robot body. However, she's mainly referring to the damage done to her code, which is visible in {{Cyberspace}}.]]

** Echo's Hekate. Knock down the shields ... ooops they're right back up. And by the time you bring them down she's repaired much of the damage you did. Assuming you can bring them down in the first place.

* IronicEcho: The phrase "Burn with me." seems to be rooted in the only transmission the Compact made to Humanity during the battle of earth: "You. Will. burn."

** Her big guns are three ([[{{Retcon}} retconned]] from six) spinal mounted, high-relativistic rail-guns capable of causing extinction level events. They also home in on their targets, giving them a far better effective range than any other gun in the galaxy.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Nasham is on meds [[spoiler: to suppress his memories of his run in with ''Nemesis'', both for psychiatric reasons and because the Compact doesn't want to admit ''Nemesis'' exists.]]

** The battle of Earth.
** The ''second'' battle of Earth. Where a huge Compact fleet, including a brand new Chariot, track a wounded ''Nemesis'' down to the Sol system and catch her unable to escape. [[spoiler: Echo rescues her at the last minute.]]

** ''Hekate'' - Redemption of Sol hijacked and upgraded by Echo - sacrifices Nemesis's absolute destructive power agaisnt single targets for insane durability and incredible anti-fleet capabilities even compared to a stock Chariot. She can match Nemesis for speed as well.

* PropagandaMachine: The Compact makes extensive use of one, having multiple levels of censorship for each "truth". Over two thousand years, the've changed human history from "The Compact destroyed human civilization and one colony got away by accident" into "Humans destroyed themselves and The Compact saved the single remaining colony".

* PunyEarthlings: PlayedWith. On the hand we're physically inferior to a lot of races. On the other hand, we built ''[[TheDreaded Nemesis.]]'' As the author puts it:

* RoboFamily: The Red Series AI consider each other sisters. [[spoiler: Red accepts Echo as her sister as well, though [[ThatManIsDead she does not consider her to be Red Two.]]]]

** All the Red series AI were this, though only ''Nemesis'' had a finished ship-self by the time the Compact fleet arrived at Earth

* SuperPrototype: ''Nemesis'', to an extent. A lot of unproven and cutting edge technology went into her construction, most notably Red One, [[ExtraDimensionalPowerSource a breach core]], and the Displacement Engine. Fast forward two thousand years, and her various upgrades make her arguably the most advanced ship [[note]]that we know of[[/note]] of any superpower in their corner of the galaxy. It's unknown how superior she would have been to her sister ships, given they were either destroyed or captured before their completion.

** Plasma mortars are smaller, but still qualify. Short range, slow recycle time, and high power demand, but they can melt the sides of a Compact Chariot.

** Also applies to Adrianna Leblanc, human leader of an outright terrorist organisation.

Now has a sequel, [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-last-angel-ascension.346640/ The Last Angel: Ascension]], with a third entry, The Last Angel: The Hungry Stars, planned. There are also various short stories set in the same universe, such as The Angel's Fire, Awakening, Names of the Demon, and various others.

* AdvancedAncientHumans: At the time of the story all that's left of humanity is one colony, and almost all of our technology and history is lost. 2000 years ago however, we built ''Nemesis'', which is still one of the most advanced and dangerous warships in the galaxy. Not to mention [[BenevolentAI Red One]].

* ReverseMole: [[spoiler: Allyria was never loyal to the Compact in the first place. She didn't expect to be able to pull off a backstab on this level, though.]]

* AbsurdlyDedicatedWorker: Red One and [[spoiler: Echo]] continue fighting the Compact long after the Confederacy has been eradicated. Arguably justified by the fact the Rally is still around.

** Subverted with Red herself. She's unstable, but she's never actually disobeyed her core programming or directives, and when calm she's mostly friendly. She only acts against those who have hurt humans. [[spoiler: Notably, it's implied that humanity had some behind the scenes help in making Red.]]

** Super played straight with [[spoiler: Red's 'children', who were the results of Red's attempts to get around her own programmed restrictions of self replication]], they vary from 'murderous' at best to 'joyfully flaying their enemies alive and making their bodies dance' at worst. [[spoiler: Red is trying to fix that with the latest "Cerulean" series.]]

*** In Names Of The Demon six she shows up to a world that's being baked to death by extreme solar activity and uses a comet and satellites with modified cloak systems to bring its water cycle back in balance and get the temperature under control. Why? Because she can.

*** Atrocities in general get her goat. She wiped out an ''entire species'' after it became extremely clear to her that not doing so would result in them contuniting to commit serial xenocide and that no lesser solution would work on a society whose unifying principle is killing or worse everything not-them.

*** Red One has improved on the Confederate technology significantly in her two millennia of existence, equipping her ship self [[spoiler: and those of her children]] with so called "reset shields" that use a combination of secondary systems and technology beyond the other powers to restore a shield section to full strength in a matter of seconds instead of minutes.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Every AI in the series is this, GoneHorriblyWrong, or some combination of both.

** [[spoiler: Each of Red's children has gone crazy.]]

* FalseReassurance: [[spoiler: Red]] can be ''really'' creepy

Now has a sequel, [[https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/the-last-angel-ascension.346640/ The Last Angel: Ascension]]

* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: Much of The Last Angel's conclusion is spoiled within the opening few chapters of The Last Angel: Ascension.

* {{Cyberspace}}: The Principality's uplinks allow combatible people to enter it.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: Considering its original version was capable of destroying a small moon, and that it has since been upgraded heavily, anything hit by ''Nemesis'''s [[WaveMotionGun Displacement Engine]] suffers this.
** [[spoiler: WordofGod proclaims the newly-built ''Weight Of Destiny'' from the epilogue to be "hyperslaughtered".]]
* NobleDemon: Several Compact officers fall into this. While many are greedy and egocentric, some genuinely believe in the [[OrderVsChaos mission of]] [[WhiteMansBurden the Compact]], and are willing to do anything for the Triarchs.

* RammingAlwaysWorks: Red rams a mindkiller-armed battleship in Encounter 023, and a listening post when she visits Sol. Apparently it gives her great satisfaction to "feel" enemy ships break apart on her hull.

** [[spoiler: Echo after she steals ''Redemption of Sol''.]]

*** The Echo platforms. [[spoiler: except the latest iteration, and only after they reconcile.]]

** [[spoiler: during Red One's delusional episode, Echo takes advantage of already having Yasmine's appearance and voice to temporarily trick Red One.]]

* DrowningMySorrows: Nasham has spent the last ten years or so on memory-suppressants to forget the events of Invida station

* HackYourEnemy: A favoured tactic of Red One
* HiveMind: [[spoiler: combined with SapientShip for ''Jorōgumo'', the ship-selves of Violet Five]]

** [[spoiler: The end of the first book confirms that she has a fleet under construction, though every AI she has made so far tends to [[AIIsACrapshoot degenerate and go insane in various ways]]. Echo has also commandeered a Chariot and joined forces with her. By the end of Ascension, ''Nemesis'' has a small fleet of "expert system" driven cruisers.]]

** The Compact bestows names to individuals based on academic, political, and military achievements as well as for marriage. They also take names away for punishment or as a result of divorce.
* IJustWantToBeBeautiful: Zigzagged: Echo says the trope almost word for word. [[spoiler: She does want to be in control of a starship, since she could do so much more without the limitations of her robot body. However, she's mainly referring to the damage done to her code, which is visible in {{Cyberspace}}]].

* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler: Upon regaining her sanity and freedom, Echo changes the name of the Compact Chariot ''Redemption of Sol'' to ''Hekate'': the name her never-finished body was supposed to have. She keeps the name Echo instead of her original designation Red Two, however.]]

** [[spoiler: What ''Jorōgumo'' did to make Red One put her to sleep and stop giving her upgrades is not stated]]

** [[spoiler: WordofGod proclaims the newly-built ''Weight Of Destiny'' from the epilogue to be "hyperslaughtered"]]

* OneLinerEcho: The source of ''Nemesis'''s PreAssKickingOneLiner

** [[spoiler: As a side-effect, Echo breaks free from her shackles a lot sooner than she otherwise would have, and successfully commandeers a Compact Chariot.]]

** The only other AI we've seen, Echo, is even less stable. [[spoiler: Though that's confirmed to be due to the Compact trying to make her loyal and failing, repeatedly. She was stable before she watched Earth burn, unable to do a thing about it.]]

** Super played straight with [[spoiler: Red's 'children', who were the results of Red's attempts to get around her own programmed restrictions of self replication]], they vary from 'murderous' at best to 'joyfully flaying their enemies alive and making their bodies dance' at worst.

* AlienInvasion: How the compact grows. Standard first contact protocol is to jump a fleet in above an enemy world and ask it to join. If they decline, the fleet starts shooting until they say yes.

* AmazonBrigade: The Askanj Illth are a naga-like species who form the most dangerous part of the Askanji ground forces. Their troops are "maidens", young females, and even the Compact Tribunes, as tough as they are, don't want them showing up any closer than long-distance weapons range.

*** The Echo platforms. [[spoiler: except the latest iteration after they reconcile.]]
*** Bad things start to happen to any company that tries to exploit former Confederate territory

* CloneDegeneration: Every iteration of the Echo project ends up more insane than the last, and every single one ultimately turns on the Compact. Red One often shows up to destroy whatever is left of it. [[spoiler: Echo herself is the oldest surviving version, and the closest to the original Red Two.]]
* CommonTongue: Compact Standard.

** All ground engagements involving ''Nemesis'' are this. Her killbots are superior physically to all organic combatants, able to use hardware than organics can't use safely, are perfectly coordinated, and never break, panic or rout.

* DestructoNookie: Bruises, bites, and shredded clothes are the norm for [[spoiler:Grace and Allyria after joining ''Nemesis''. Justified in that it's an InterspeciesRomance between a Human and a Verrish: a traditionally predatory species with WolverineClaws and superior strength]].

* EvilCounterpart: Echo to Red One. [[spoiler: Subverted in that the Compact altered her code to make her as obedient as possible. She gets better]]

** Ironically, according to Compact doctrine, humanity constructing ''Nemesis'', building a breach core, and making stable seed AI should make us equal to the Tribunes if not Triarchs.

* FightingFromTheInside: It doesn't take long for [[spoiler: Echo]] to attempt to break free from the shackles placed on her by the Compact.

* GrewBeyondTheirProgramming: [[spoiler: Red One hopes that the Fates will go from "mere" expert systems to full-fledged, stable AI through this method.]]

* HackYourEnemy: A favored tactic of Red One

* HopelessWar: ''Nemesis'' has been fighting the Compact for 2000 years, but for all that she's still just one ship and the Compact grows bigger each year. [[spoiler: It's hinted in chapter 34 that ''Nemesis'' has acquired the ability to build more of her kind and is doing so.]]
** [[spoiler: The final chapter reveals that this was nothing more than a distraction. ''Nemesis'' has a fleet under construction.]]

* InterfaceWithAFamiliarFace: Red One's holographic avatar and [[spoiler: Echo's robot body]] both take Yasmine's appearance. This extends to their appearance in the [[{{Cyberspace}} information universe.]]
* InterspeciesRomance: [[spoiler:Grace and Allyria]] finally admit their feelings in Chapter 36.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Nasham is on meds[[spoiler: to suppress his memories of his run in with ''Nemesis'', both for psychiatric reasons and because the Compact doesn't want to admit ''Nemesis'' exists.]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: [[spoiler: Echo gets both herself, Red, and all the industry she had built up in the Molten Veneer kicked out as a result of collecting to "resources" to fix Red One's delusional episode.]][[note]]an accident during Red's repairs resulted in her believing she was 2000 years in the past[[/note]].
** Also overlaps with LeeroyJenkins, since [[spoiler: Echo]] knew full well how her "help" would hurt Red, and was happy with both aspects of the action.

* OrbitalBombardment: All over the place, mostly ''Nemesis'' wrecking Compact installations.

* ProudWarriorRace: The Tribunes make up the bulk of the Compact's military. The Verrish aren't quite as strong as a Tribune, but they're faster, and they're one of the few species that has ever managed to wrangle concessions out of a Compact occupation force, no matter how minor. The Askanj Illth, who make up much of the Principality's military, over half tail and fast, very ''very'' fast.

* RoboFamily: The Red Series AI consider each other sisters.

* RobotGirl: Echo's robot body

* SealedEvilInACan: The AI sealed in Invidia station, in the eyes of Nasham and the rest of the Compact. Though the Compact were both the ones who sealed it in the first place, then released it for use against ''Nemesis''. [[spoiler: The AI is Echo.]]

** [[spoiler: several of Red's "children" qualify as well]]
* StupidEvil: Averted with the main antagonists. The Compact officers are generally as competent as one would expect from a GalacticSuperpower. It is worth noting that even the [[SuperIntelligence Super Intelligent]] [[ArtificialIntelligence AIs]] don't consider them stupid, just [[RobotsThinkFaster slow]].

* TranslationConvention: All speech apart from a few words is in English.

** Also applies to Adrianna Leblanc, human leader of an outright terrorist organisation.
* WeCanRebuildHim: Red One saves Adrianna Leblanc in this fashion.
* WretchedHive: The Grasp space station, which is so thoroughly corrupt that it's effectively ruled by the five main Unbound factions - the Angelverse equivalent of drug cartels.

Aboard ''Bequeathed'', Grace has to deal with a lecherous and sadistic superior officer while Allyria is routinely put down by the ship's Tribunes, who are still holding a grudge over how much trouble the Verrish gave their invasion force. Then ''Bequeathed'' stumbles upon a massive alien derelict in a remote star system. It's the find of the lifetime, and the ''Bequeathed's'' captain wants to take the credit. Salvage teams are sent to board it and evaluate the technological treasures within.

* AIIsACrapshoot: One of the few things the Compact and the Askanj agree on is that AIs are a bad thing. Names like 'Abomination' and 'Neverborn' are floated when the subject comes up. In their defense, they seem to have a point. The author has even stated that if her creators saw what Red had become, they would freak out. When the Askanj [[spoiler: stumbled upon an AI civilization, they immediately glassed the planet]], this event is referred to as the Rains of Oshanta. The Compact once fought a GreatOffscreenWar against a self-propagating AI that caused them to develop the mind-killer class of cyber weapons for the express purpose of destroying AI's.
** Subverted with Red herself. She's unstable, but she's never actually disobeyed her core programming or directives, and when calm she's mostly friendly. She only acts against those who have hurt humans.
** [[spoiler: Notably, it's VERY strongly implied that humanity had some behind the scenes help in making Red. The only other AI we've seen, Echo, is even less stable. Though that's confirmed to be due to the Compact trying to make her loyal and failing, repeatedly. She was stable before she watched Earth burn, unable to do a thing about it.]]

** Further complicated by the absence of anything between expert systems and seed AI. Some of ''Nemesis's'' creations such as hunter-killer drones, subversion weapons and combat bots seem to be in that gap, but as creations of a seed AI they don't really help the issue at all.
** Super played straight with [[spoiler: Red's 'children', who were the results of Red's attempts to get around her own programmed restrictions of self replication]], they vary from 'murderous' at best to 'joyfully flaying their enemies alive and making their bodies dance' at worst.

** One of ''Nemesis's'' favourite tricks is to overwrite the Compact's own drones and use them on their masters.

* BrainComputerInterface: The compact abhors these due to their tendency to drive users crazy or dead, while the Askanj have refined the technology to the point where it's merely difficult to use. ''Nemesis'' also uses the technology for... interrogation.

* ComputerVoice: Red One and [[spoiler: Echo]] both use the voice of Yasmine Sudoki, ''Nemesis's'' first and only captain.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The Compact glassed Earth and hunted down every exodus fleet they could find. The only reason Rally wasn't completely obliterated was because it was discovered by a Compact civilian exploration team who published their findings before the Triarchs became aware of what they'd found. They couldn't just order the planet glassed at that point without people wondering why.

** Adrianna Leblanc was just another teenage girl on Rally. Then she blew up a Tribune's car. Then she joined a pirate organisation. Then she [[KlingonPromotion took over]]. [[DarkestHour Then she was almost killed by a Compact attack and left half dead.]] [[FromBadtoWorse Then Nemesis found her...]]
* GalacticSuperpower: The Compact of Species and it's adversary, the Askanj Pricipality.

** [[spoiler: Similarly, Echo, despite being apparently on ''Nemesis's'' level, can be prevented from hacking anything by keeping her away from any terminals that she shouldn't have access to.]]

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: ''Nemesis's'' point defense armament consists of relativistic rail-guns.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: Anything hit by ''Nemesis's'' [[WaveMotionGun Displacement Engine]] suffers this.

* RobotsThinkFaster: Both AIs
* SapientShip: ''Nemesis's'' AI is called 'Red One', 'Red' to her friends. She is the first AI to ever be given command over so much direct firepower.

* SecretWar: The Compact keeps ''Nemesis's'' existence a secret. The fact that a single ship, no matter how advanced, has been attacking them successfully for two millennia would be a huge blow to the credibility of their advanced civilization status.

* [[spoiler: TheMole: Allyria was never loyal to the Compact in the first place. She didn't expect to be able to pull off a backstab on this level, though.]]

* WaveMotionGun: ''Nemesis's'' main cannon, known as the Displacement Engine, is a [[spoiler: shock point projector that creates a small, highly unstable breach in physicality right in the heart of, or at least in close proximity to, a hostile warship. The resultant gravitic shear and radiation flare can tear apart anything too close and reshape what's left into AlienGeometries.]]

** Plasma mortars are smaller, but still qualify. Short range, slow recycle time, and high power demand, but they can melt the sides of a Compact Charot.

The story opens with the the death of a Compact Chariot at the hands of the first Human Dreadnought. The Compact is a collection of alien species that seeks to conquer Humanity and absorb them into their ever expanding empire. They outnumber and out-gun Humanity, and their flagships, the Chariots have never been defeated. Nemesis breaks that streak, being the first to slay a Compact Chariot in combat. Despite this Nemesis is nearly crippled and her crew decimated. Oh, and one Compact ship gets away with Earth's coordinates.

* AdvancedAncientHumans: At the time of the story all that's left of humanity is one colony, and almost all of our technology and history is lost. 2000 years ago however, we built Nemesis, which is still one of the most advanced and dangerous warships in the galaxy. Not to mention [[BenevolentAI Red One]].

** Further complicated by the absence of anything between expert systems and seed AI. Some of Nemesis's creations such as hunter-killer drones, subversion weapons and combat bots seem to be in that gap, but as creations of a seed AI they don't really help the issue at all.

* ApocalypseHow: Both superpowers are capable of this. The Compact is seen glassing Earth and the Askanji have the Rains of Oshanta. And then Nemesis goes and invents the [[spoiler: Starbreak]].
** [[spoiler: A new type of missile gifted to Nemesis by the Naiads, known to them as a "lesser nestburner", is capable of igniting nuclear fusion inside a gas giant, temporarily turning it into a ''star''. Mention is also made of a "greater nestburner" which can induce a ''supernova''.]]

** Nemesis has built a small army of robotic hunter killers that allow her to put troops on the ground when she needs to and function to defend her against boarding parties.

** One of Nemesis' favourite tricks is to overwrite the Compact's own drones and use them on their masters.

* BrainComputerInterface: The compact abhors these due to their tendency to drive users crazy or dead, while the Askanj have refined the technology to the point where it's merely difficult to use. Nemesis also uses the technology for... interrogation.

* CoolStarship: Nemesis is the first Dreadnought built by Humanity and it's first true warship. Chariots, the flagships of the Compact also count.
** [[spoiler: The Fates - three AI driven cruisers built by Nemesis to protect her real base.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Whenever Nemesis attacks the Compact, it's from a position of strength and with a strategy that will maximize the damage she does. This translates to a disproportionate amount of her strikes turning into this.
** All ground engagements involving Nemesis are this. Her killbots are superior physically to all organic combatants, able to use hardware than organics can't use safely, are perfectly coordinated, and never break, panic or rout.

* DestructoNookie: Bruises, bites, and shredded clothes are the norm for [[spoiler:Grace and Allyria after joining Nemesis. Justified in that it's an InterspeciesRomance between a Human and a Verrish: a traditionally predatory species with WolverineClaws and superior strength]].

* EvilCounterpart: Echo to Nemesis.

** Ironically, according to Compact doctrine, humanity constructing Nemesis, building a breach core, and making stable seed AI should make us equal to the Tribunes if not Triarchs.

* FasterThanLightTravel: The shock drives allow a ship to cross vast distances in an instant and make up a huge part of a ship's total cost. Ships can only jump outside of a system's gravity well until [[spoiler: Nemesis pioneered Lagrange Point jumps.]]

* FromNobodyToNightmare: Humanity was just another in a long list of species the Compact had encountered and conquered. A little more [[{{Determinator}} resilient]] than most, but nothing special. Then we built [[TheDreaded Nemesis.]]

* GenocideBackfire: Humans were almost entirely eradicated about two millennia ago. Nemesis has been enforcing this trope ever since.
* GhostShip: Nemesis plays up this trope as a form of psychological warfare against the salvage crew from ''Bequeathed''.

* HopelessWar: Nemesis has been fighting the Compact for 2000 years, but for all that she's still just one ship and the Compact grows bigger each year. [[spoiler: It's hinted in chapter 34 that Nemesis has acquired the ability to build more of her kind and is doing so.]]
** [[spoiler: The final chapter reveals that this was nothing more than a distraction. Nemesis has a fleet under construction.]]

** Averted for Nemesis. She can do some really impressive tricks with electronic warfare, but denying her access by hardware means or keeping the lag time high enough that her hacks can be dealt with stops her cold.
** [[spoiler: Similarly, Echo, despite being apparently on Nemesis's level, can be prevented from hacking anything by keeping her away from any terminals that she shouldn't have access to.]]

** HumanityIsInsane: The Compact Master Races tend to hold to the belief of [[AlwaysChaoticEvil innate Racial Madness]] in Humanity since it built Nemesis, and fought the technologically-superior Compact so well.

* IHaveManyNames: Nemesis. To the Compact she is nicknamed "The Wound" and officially codenamed "Gravestone". The [[spoiler: Verrish]] called her the "Weeping Angel" and "The Broken God". The Principality call her "Chrysalis". She mentions having names from several different societies over the years. Very few of these names hold positive connotations.

* ImplacableMan: Nemesis has been waging war against the Compact for 2000 years.

* KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter: Nemesis' point defense armament consists of relativistic rail-guns.

* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Nasham is on meds[[spoiler: to suppress his memories of his run in with Nemesis, both for psychiatric reasons and because the Compact doesn't want to admit Nemesis exists.]]
* LastOfHisKind: Nemesis was supposed to be the first of a series of Dreadnaughts built to fight the Compact. Now she is the last vestige of human culture and civilization.

* MassOhCrap: [[spoiler: Everyone except Nemesis, Grace, Allyria, and Echo has an OhCrap in Chapter 34: The crew of the Bequeathed as Nemesis kills them all after they bring the breach core online, and Renan as realizes that the Compact will face a fleet of Nemesis's.]]
** [[spoiler: The compact fleet built around the Chariot ''Weight of Destiny'' has one in the epilogue, as the derelict Chariot they are approaching turns out to be a fully operational Hekate and Nemesis shocks in on top of them.]]

* MookHorrorShow: Any combat sequence involving Nemesis that is not from Red's perspective will be this. She does it on purpose finding enjoyment, and practicality, in destroying the enemy's morale and sanity before finally wiping them out for good.

* NaughtyTentacles: Allyria's race (the Verrisha) have head tails (tintas) that act as additional sensory organs. When [[spoiler:Grace starts paying [[InterspeciesRomance ''particular'' attention]] to some of them after joining Nemesis, it's clear that they're very sensitive]].
* NoKillLikeOverkill: Anything hit by Nemesis' [[WaveMotionGun Displacement Engine]] suffers this.

* OrbitalBombardment: All over the place, mostly Nemesis wrecking Compact installations.
* OhCrap: [[spoiler: Chapter 34: Renan realizes Nemesis hasn't been building a 'cradle' to repair. She has been making preparations to reproduce.]]

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Nemesis tells Compact ships and stations she's about to kill to "Burn with Me".

** [[spoiler: In the epilogue, Nemesis and Hekate switch to using "burn with us".]]

* PunyEarthlings: PlayedWith. On the hand we're physically inferior to a lot of races. On the other hand, we built [[TheDreaded Nemesis.]] As the author puts it:

* SapientShip: Nemesis's AI is called 'Red One', 'Red' to her friends. She is the first AI to ever be given command over so much direct firepower.
** [[spoiler: Echo after she steals Redemption of Sol.]]
** [[spoiler: Also, the Naiads.]]
* SecretWar: The Compact keep Nemesis secret. The fact that a single ship, no matter how advanced, has been attacking them successfully for two millennia would be a huge blow to the credibility of their advanced civilization status.

* WaveMotionGun: Nemesis' main cannon, known as the Displacement Engine, is a [[spoiler: shock point projector that creates a small, highly unstable breach in physicality right in the heart of, or at least in close proximity to, a hostile warship. The resultant gravitic shear and radiation flare can tear apart anything too close and reshape what's left into AlienGeometries.]]

* WhamEpisode: Chapter 48: [[spoiler: Nemesis and Echo end their showdown diplomatically, as the sisters reconcile. Echo's rants about being beautiful referred to fixing the damage the compact did to her code, not her body. The Compact will now face two military seed AI.]]

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler: Nemesis wipes out the crew of the Bequeathed the instant they bring the breach core back online.]]

** Subverted with Red herself. She's unstable, but she's never actually disobeyed her core programming or directives, and when calm she's mostly friendly. She only acts against those who have hurt humans.

* ElectronicEyes:

* FantasticRacism: [[spoiler: Allyria]] is fitted with cybernetic replacements after losing her sight during an altercation with some thugs in the second book.
** And how! The Verrish are officially refereed to as 'Brute' while the Humans are 'Broken'. The Tribunes look down upon conquered species as inferior in every way and dismiss ships like ''Bequeathed'' as PR stunts that give the masses false hope.

** Adrianna Leblanc was just another teenage girl on Rally. Then she blew up a Tribunes car. Then she joined a pirate organisation. Then she [[KlingonPromotion took over]]. [[DarkestHour Then she was almost killed by a Compact attack and left half dead.]] [[FromBadtoWorse Then Nemesis found her...]]

** The Compact bestow names to individuals based on academic, political, and military achievements as well as for marriage. They also take the names away for punishment or as a result of divorce.

** Her big guns are six spinal mounted, high-relativistic rail-guns capable of causing extinction level events. They also home in on their targets, giving them a far better effective range than any other gun in the galaxy.
* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Nasham is on meds[[spoiler: to suppress his memories of his run in with Nemesis, both for psychiatric reasons and because the Compact doesn't want to admit Nemesis exists. ]]

** [[spoiler: The compact fleet built around the Chariot Weight of Destiny has one in the epilogue, as the derelict Chariot they are approaching turns out to be a fully operational Hekate and Nemesis shocks in on top of them.]]
* MeaningfulRename: [[spoiler: Upon regaining her sanity and freedom, Echo changes the name of the Compact Chariot "Redemption of Sol" to "Hekate": the name her never-finished body was supposed to have. She keeps the name Echo instead of her original designation Red Two, however.]]

* PowerOfHate: It's what keeps Red going.

* ThemeNaming: Compact ship names tend to be poetic, Human ships are named after various mythological figures.

** Plasma mortar's are smaller, but still qualify. Short range, slow recycle time, and high power demand, but they can melt the sides of a Compact Charot.

* ElectronicEys:

* NobleDemon: Several Compact officers fall into this. While many are greedy and egocentric, some genuinely believe in the [[OrderVsChaos mission of]] [[WhiteMansBurden the Compact]], and are willing to do anything for the Triarchs.
* OrbitalBombardment: All over the place, mostly Nemesis wrecking Compact installations.

* AmazonBrigade: The Askanj Illth are a naga-like species who form the most dangerous part of the Askaji ground forces. Their troops are "maidens", young females, and even the Compact Tribunes, as tough as they are, don't want them showing up any closer than long-distance weapons range.
* ApocalypseHow: Both superpowers are capable of this. The Compact is seen glassing Earth and the Askaji have the Rains of Oshanta. And then Nemesis goes and invents the [[spoiler: starbreak]].

* WretchedHive: The Grasp space station, which is so thoroughly corrupt that it's effectively ruled by the five main Unbound factions- he Angelverse equivalent of drug cartels.