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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

And the sad thing is that he's not even asking in a schadenfreudian way. Diabo is genuinely concerned about her wellbeing, because… Because a slanted report to the Senate could ruin everything? Because he doesn't want to make an enemy if she decides to blame him for her hardship? Because he doesn't want her to throw up on him and get his uniform dirty? All of those are in the mix, but they're all bound up in the bundle of instincts and fears that make up Diabo that it's a little hard to tell which has precedence at any one time. The only thing I'm really sure about it that it's not compassion because I'd feel that due to it disrupting our connection.
'so bound'?
Dame Bozes makes an effort to control her bilious stomach. "I have never… Had the privilege… Of riding with wyvern knights."
Ought the full stop be green rather than orange? Not necessarily a problem, just looks a tad queer to me and I can't remember how you usually handle it.
"Hm? Oh. I apologise. I've been watching for some sigh of enemy fleet movements."
'sign'
"That's the point: we don't know about it. Everything our spies tell us says that their force is well within our ability to best, and it is only the difficulty in maintaining our supply lines that has preventing an attack like this being made in years past. But they know that also. We know that our black powder weapons have radically changed the calculus but so far as they know, this is simply an overbold prince trying to do what his forebears could not."
'prevented'
We, at least she didn't hit at an equites-

"EYUK!"

-but perhaps it would have been best to check that Giselle wasn't following us first.
Extraneous 'at'?

Amusing chapter.
 
also, let's not forget that the former villian and world-conquest seeker Mr. Atom has been given a global network of unquestioningly loyal foot soldiers. i wonder if he's feeling confident enough to make a move, or if he has the ability to operate outside of Batman's observation.
I think given how long Mr. Atom has had to try and put into lace palms or actions that would let hike take over the world and hasn't, the more frightening and plausible scenario is that he ISN'T operating outside Batman's observations or knowledge.

The longer this "Peace Agent" arc goes on for, with Batman actively making use of a Yellow Ring and taking action to consolidate power like he's never before done outside of comics where he went bad or insane, the more it looks like this is a calculated effort by a mentally warped Batman to take over Earth while its weak, shrouded in a fog of actions that all seem reasonable and sensible due to the situation, and truthfully are but are still setups to conquest.

Either this goes a whole new direction and Batman truly isn't behind this or it's revealed that the obvious is true and recent events truly have driven Batman over the edge into totalitarianism. A recurring theme in this arc is that OL knows there's something wrong and fishy about this, he can just feel it that something's not right. Yet he distracts himself with other things, like rebuilding Hub City, finding the Question, or Tetch. He chooses not to look directly because he's still guilty about what happened with Batman, so he's purposely avoiding what's going on and Batman knows that and is using his guilt to keep him out and away from anything he's not directly needed for.

It looks to me like this is all lining up to be another step along the path of Avarice Enlightenment for Paul. If Batman is really going evil, then Paul will have no choice but to find away to stop him despite his own guilt over the situation. Since he can't trick his desires in order to get past his guilt anymore due to Enlightenment giving him perfect understanding of his desires, then the only step here i can imagine is advancing Enlightenment to the point where he can fully **control** his desires instead. Control them and remove his guilt.
 
Early Winter, IC 690

"Dame Bozes, are you well?"
Ah, the dragon flight mentioned last chapter. I wonder, did the wyvern rider squadrons ever develop the idea of a parachute? Or do they simply go down with their mount, as it were, in a bit of honourable foolishness?

And the sad thing is that he's not even asking in a schadenfreudian way. Diabo is genuinely concerned about her wellbeing, because… Because a slanted report to the Senate could ruin everything? Because he doesn't want to make an enemy if she decides to blame him for her hardship? Because he doesn't want her to throw up on him and get his uniform dirty? All of those are in the mix, but they're all bound up in the bundle of instincts and fears that make up Diabo that it's a little hard to tell which has precedence at any one time. The only thing I'm really sure about it that it's not compassion because I'd feel that due to it disrupting our connection.
Nor the sort of overwhelming fear that turns his thoughts firmly yellow. Merely a selection of the normal neuroses that most people live with... Albeit focused on more fascinating targets.

"Yes-. Thank you-. Prince-. Diabo-."

A disadvantage of this setup that I hadn't considered: by the rules of this reality I am a god, which means that prayers directed to me personally or to the concept of Ambition do actually come to me. There's no sort of obligation to do anything about them… Not a 'built-in' obligation at least, but since Diabo became my chosen I've had a dramatic increase in prayers and visitors. And yes, it's mostly from people hedging their bets, and being on Diabo's finger means that I can't have the sort of one-to-one discussions I used to have with the few people who visited my temple. But while I can bend dreams enough to grant visions and I.. think I've been of some assistance, a brief prayer with no real focus behind it isn't going to attract my attention.
Stuck with the dubious minor benefits, and able to dodge some of the responsibilities. No wonder the local Gods don't like him. 😏

On the other hand, when someone's greatest ambition right now is to land safely, it's easy enough to hear when it's crowding out every other thought.

"While I would never disclose a prayer by one person to another without their express permission, I will observe that you don't look very well."
I mean, she's hundreds of feet in the air on the back of a vicious beat, secured by straps of unknown quality with only the hope of getting caught by her companion if said straps fail. She has good reason to be a little green.

Dame Bozes makes an effort to control her bilious stomach. "I have never… Had the privilege… Of riding with wyvern knights."

"My brother Zorzal once insisted that we tried riding one once. He was.. twelve, I think? He loved every minute."
He sounds the sort who would. Not enough sense to be afraid, too much ego to consider that he might get hurt...

"And… You..?"

"My vomit knocked an equites off his feet and I couldn't eat for two days. This dragon is actually a good deal more stable."
I would assume that's a cavalryman on the ground. Still impressive, if embarrassing.

Her expression suggests that she doesn't believe him. "More stable?"

"Oh, yes. It's the difference between riding a horse and riding a wagon, except that the horse has two legs."
...You say that, but Chocobos are a thing. And given how often Japanese properties take inspiration from each other, I can't help but imagine there's a country out there who ride giant bird-steeds into war. 😄

"Would that not..? Fall over?"

"As I remember it, it felt like it was falling over the entire time. And that was just flying at one elevation; climbing and diving were far worse." He glances back at her, smiling reassuringly. "Don't worry; if your stomach betrays you then you won't have done anything that I didn't do."
I'd say the Wyvern Knights have strong stomachs, then. I bet resistance to motion sickness is a common trait amongst them.

"But all of the-. The reports from Alnus Hill say that you made this dragon dive down in front of the Japanese army."

"I did. But when I did that I was mostly thinking about my position in the Empire, not about how much I wished that I'd never left the ground."
It was definitely an eye-opener, at least. Nothing says impressive like several tons of giant flying 'lizard' dropping out of the sky in front of you.

I could interject there, but there's no advantage to doing so and it really was his decision. I was actually a little impressed that he was able to maintain a shield through the Japanese bombardment. And it looks like Bozes is a little impressed-.

Ah.

She thinks he means 'his duty to the realm as a prince', not 'securing my position'.
An easy mistake, given she's probably disconnected from regular warfare enough not to see the dirty side of things, both in battle and in politics.

I take a moment to extend my awareness down, to where the ships of the bombardment fleet are beginning their slow crossing. The ships of the first wave are smaller, lighter and faster, and we'd rather have their departure unobserved… By naval units that might be able to arrange to have them met on the far shore. The bombardment fleet should be able to blast apart anything they meet… Unless the gun crews completely mess things up, which could happen. I expect that a ship or two will be sunk before 'friendly fire isn't' gets embedded in the minds of their captains.
Teething troubles always happen when any new technology get introduced into a war.

And speaking of the captains, they were actually fairly upbeat and enthusiastic about the whole thing. In the Saderan Empire, the most prestigious positions are infantry commands. Naval commands usually go to members of the junior nobility or bastards, and as a result they've got something to prove and an enthusiasm for anything that could increase their prominence. Before Diabo, the navy would have been limited to landing the troops who would attack the city from the land. But he's given them the ability to attack a fortified city directly and they know it.
And doing it in as impressive a manner as swooping down out of the sky on a dragon, at that.

"Prince Diabo?"

"Hm? Oh. I apologise. I've been watching for some sigh of enemy fleet movements."
A sensible idea. Naturally just part of his pessimistic sense of what could go wrong next.

She snorts. "What could they do?"

"Based on what we know of their fleet?" He looks around. "Given how high up we are, the only thing that they could hit us with be a scorpion, and they would need a very lucky scorpion shot indeed to hit us. But my concern is something that we don't know about."
He means a heavy mounted crossbow, often used by ancient Rome. Definitely something that could hit high-altitude targets if they could angle up. And given that their enemies do have wyvern knights, they certainly would.

"Like what?"

"That's the point: we don't know about it. Everything our spies tell us says that their force is well within our ability to best, and it is only the difficulty in maintaining our supply lines that has preventing an attack like this being made in years past. But they know that also. We know that our black powder weapons have radically changed the calculus but so far as they know, this is simply an overbold prince trying to do what his forebears could not."
In other words, they'll be confident that they can fend him off with minimal effort and a few casualties. Gonna be a bad day for them once the cannons open up.

"Then they will be overconfident."

"I hope so. Because there is nothing about the gates which stops them opening in other nations, and there is no wisdom special to me which prevents others doing what I have done. I do not want to be the overconfident one. Kati was overconfident."
Although the Gods are unlikely to want to fool around with a world as advanced as modern-day Earth. Depending on how much control they have over the gates, anyway.

She smiles. "Piña was right about you."

"In what way?"
His little sister? Do tell...

"She once told me that Prince Zorzal confront a barbarian horde alone and be completely sure that he'd win, while you could confront an unprepared enemy on the back of a dragon and be sure that you'd lose."

He frowns. "When did she say that?"
I mean, she's not wrong. About Diabo, at least, though Zorzal sounds the 'mighty-thewed warrior king' type for his part... The kind of man more comfortable on a charger than a council seat.

"About seven years ago. We were talking about-." Her eyes widen and her cheeks colour slightly. "Ah, that doesn't matter."

Hm. I suppose that anyone wanting their daughter to court a prince might well suggest talking to his half-sister. And said half-sister might well encourage her friend if said friend were actually interested.
And Diabo isn't a bad catch, as long as you can get him to show some backbone.

Diabo hesitates for a moment. "Do you want to practice a dive while we're too far away from anyone to see it? I doubt that anyone would even hear your screams from so far away."

Her momentary relief about not having to talk to Prince Diabo about what his sister's been saying about him rapidly gives way as her mind processes what he just said. Her eyes drop down to the harness holding her in place, and the broader straps and chains holding the saddles in place around the dragon.
Always gonna have that fear that 'Am I strapped in right?'

"Have-? These been tested?"

"I've used them since just after I returned from Japan. They will hold, and if they don't then I will catch you myself."
Heck, the only reason he's not flying by himself is to minimise the chance of identification.

I hear her renewed prayer as her pride refuses to allow her to fail to live up to the standards of the most hesitant prince. But she manages to nod.

Diabo looks a little surprised, but then takes a firmer grasp of the reigns.
No doubt using the Ring to steady his own guts...

"Very well. Dive!"



We, at least she didn't hit at an equites-
Though soiling the deck of a friendly ship would be as embarrassing.

"EYUK!"

-but perhaps it would have been best to check that Giselle wasn't following us first.
Whoopsie. 😄

Ah, comedic timing. It never changes. She's gonna be pissed off about that, you can be sure. Probably make a lot of noise, while demanding the resources needed to clean herself... Hopefully she doesn't blame Bozes for her inability to keep her stomach along for the ride with so little warning. I suspect Bozes' drills will also be a little less springy, though. 😏
 
I expect that a ship or two will be sunk before 'friendly fire isn't' gets embedded in the minds of their captains.
Doubtful, unless their shipbuilding is really pathetic.
Age of Sail naval battles usually ended in boarding actions because actually sinking a wooden ship with solid shot is really difficult. Even a 'perfect' hit on the waterline will take quite a long time to let in a dangerous amount of water and is pretty easy to patch.
 
That should say 'Prince Zorzal could confront'.
'so bound'?
'sign'
'prevented'
Extraneous 'at'?
Thank you, corrected.
Ought the full stop be green rather than orange? Not necessarily a problem, just looks a tad queer to me and I can't remember how you usually handle it.
No, because the green is just where she's focusing.
Doubtful, unless their shipbuilding is really pathetic.
Age of Sail naval battles usually ended in boarding actions because actually sinking a wooden ship with solid shot is really difficult. Even a 'perfect' hit on the waterline will take quite a long time to let in a dangerous amount of water and is pretty easy to patch.
True, but these ships have cannon balls enchanted to be incendiary as well as larger cannons intended to bombard city walls from the sea. The drawback is that the enemy ships don't have powder to ignite.
 
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