Daniel wrote:

1. Reaper strategy?

Do the Reapers employ combat doctrines or formations in their periodical harvests, or they just conduct a disorganised galactic siege without even a speck of coordination (the cthulu rip-offs just massing system by system)?

Reapers typically don’t need to resort to such. Usually, they arrive (about 60) at the galaxy’s citadel and use the Remote Link to shut down all mass relays. They use the Caretaker race (Keepers in our galaxy, for example) to suppress and indoctrinate everyone aboard the Citadel and then use the knowledge to identify weak spots. Every hour another sixty to one hundred Reapers arrive until the First Wave (roughly five to six hundred lesser Reapers , fifty or so Greater Reapers and a few hundred thousand Occuli and destroyers) is in place and carve up the races clockwise.

Only when faced with equal power (Inusannon, Vortha, some energy beings in the past) do Reapers have to use strategy. The Reapers aren’t good at it — despite their vast intellect, none of the Three were warriors and most races warmaking methods don’t include use of the Godpower. Strategy is limited to massing several strike groups and using the Godpower to disrupt enemy weapons and then jump into their ranks, firing away.

If pressed, Reapers are more likely to sacrifice stars and rely on Godpower strikes than any kind of strategy.

Daniel wrote:

2. Reverse Engineering

Could each species reverse engineer the technology of the others to advance their own? For example, alien firearms and other military tech tend to be abandoned in battlefields (either spent or simply because the user was killed), why won’t just the SA RE them gain an advantage?

To some degree. Most parts that are unique are wrapped in a special kind of omnifoam shell that if broken sprays acid or deconstructive nanites over the special stuff — DRM in effect.

However, some reverse engineering, especially in ships and industrial stuff, has taken place. Ashland Eldfell HE3 fueling stations are never taken intact because the hyperscoops have VI’s that trigger self-destructs, but other captures of tech have happened. Salarians are the best at reverse engineering, followed by quarians. Asari engineers are the worst at it.

However, most military forces combat engineers will do all they can to wreck left behind gear — turians go so far as to equip their combat medics and engineers with cans of deconstructive nano just for that purpose.

Daniel wrote:

3. Batarian eyes

What’s with Batarians consecrating their eyes? I know that they do this because of the Black Leviathans (except when an eyeball is sacrificed to them) but why would they even care for the body part, it’s not like those are significant to their plans… Right?

The batarian eyes are of religious significance. The batarians claim the soul has four parts, each one exiting through a specific eye. If not lost in a fitting manner, the spirit is believed to be fractured and weak.

There is no real significance in terms of the Black Leviathans, but the Influence tends to make organics more mystical, superstitious and believing in … otherworldly events, due to the fucked up dreams and visions they entail.

Daniel wrote:

4. Even fight

During the Eternal War, the Ascended’s battle with the Darkness is clearly asymmetric (The Levis being 9D while the Darkness is 11D), making them highly outmatched by the latter.

But… let’s imagine a scenario: Let’s say the Darkness (we still don’t know if this thing is even a single entity or a species) is 9D as well.

With their… dimensional ratings even, how could’ve the war gone?

Mutual destruction. Even with the might of the Darkness, it couldn’t destroy the All-Highest — a great portion of its strength was spent in locking the All-Highest and a chunk of the Darkness into an eternal sealed time-like looped curve.

Without the advantage of being fully superscalar, the Darkness might have lost. The Ascended were (and are) disgustingly powerful.

Keep in mind – clowns like Mr. Mxyzptlk, one the most powerful DC villians, is a FIFTH Dimensional being. Much lower on the totem pole.

Daniel wrote:

5. Katha and the Dark Gods

Since you revealed that the Ascended god-king arranged his species into a tier of pantheons, where would Katha and the Black Leviathans be placed? As stated in the Hanar Miscelany, these guys are the military-types. Which of these individuals are superior and subordinate, and why do i have the inkling feeling that Katha is the Ascended ‘God’ of War?

Katha was pretty much the military leader of the species, and probably the physically strongest Leviathan. His Godpower abilities were weaker than Lethath and the All-Highest by far, but his attacks (blasts of biotic and pure energy, ‘screams’ and ‘war-chants’ and the like) were much stronger, and his ability to use ‘focused-mind’ techniques to channel energy into his direct physical strikes was enourmous — he could shatter a planet with a few blows.

The All-Highest and the Court of Eternal Gaze were on top of the society — the shaman-kings who explored the Godpower. Below them were the Seekers of the Way — Ascended Godpower scientists — and the Tenders — those who ruled over the thousands of galaxies and altered / created new life.

Below them was the military, mainly responsible for smashing any races that dared touch the Godpower and to destroy multidimensonal dangers (like the Darkness but much weaker) that came through the unfinished Eternity Gate.

Below that were Ascended ‘civilians’ — power creators, those who shaped galaxies, those who created biosciences, and regular scientists. Each one of these had an ‘array’ of things they were responsible for (and worshipped for in the expanded society).

Ultimately, Katha was not a ‘high ranking’ Ascended, but he was VERY well known by all Ascended and even the All-Highest was … cautious about pissing him off. Katha was not like most Ascended even before the Fall, and he’s only grown less like them over the years.

At this point the best reference would actually be Asura from Asura’s wrath. He may seem cool and tranquil but he is fucking FURIOUS at the incompetance of the All-Highest and the Seekers for getting not only their people massacred and either destroyed or crammed into cheap Reaper knockoffs, but also for the loss of until quadrillions of their worshippers, who expected their gods to protect them.