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

[Mr Zoat]

That apostrophe should be removed.
I assume that should be 'takes'.

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"realizes"
"glances at"

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Thank you, corrected.

"what looks"
"taking"

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No, I think these are correct.

Are the black areas shadows being cast by planets."

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Add a question mark.

 

[BlueMangoAdea]

I forgot the exact cosmological model here, but wasn't Big Bang everywhere? I guess Mageddon might have just eaten everything in its observable universe.

 

[Neruz]

I forgot the exact cosmological model here, but wasn't Big Bang everywhere? I guess Mageddon might have just eaten everything in its observable universe.

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It was, the light from the alpha event (aka the Big Bang) reached where Mageddon is, because it reached everywhere. It's just no more light has reached this location since that time, which means it's so far out that no stars are visible from there.

This doesn't really make sense but thats comics for you.

 

[BR549]

I forgot the exact cosmological model here, but wasn't Big Bang everywhere? I guess Mageddon might have just eaten everything in its observable universe.

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Not Necessarily In Earth-16 the DC Universe(s), given Krona mucked about with the thing.

But even leaving him aside, the Big Bang was everywhere. That doesn't give you light, at this point; that gives you the cosmic background radiation. Stars give you light, and Mageddon is far enough out that even with, presumably, stars forming at a regular rate throughout the universe*, he's still so far out that none of their light has reached him.

That's a long, long, LONG ways out.



* Remember that the DC Universe is, presumably, a statically-sized one, not an expanding one, given it's bounded by the Source Wall. Although I suppose the Source Wall itself could be getting bigger too...

(And even if we lowball the size of the DC Universe compared to our own, it is also pants-wettingly terrifying that the Source Wall, which bounds it, is completely filled with the trapped cosmic forms of the universe's worst of the worst who thought 'eh, I can take it'.)

 

[Jankl]

Not Necessarily In Earth-16 the DC Universe(s), given Krona mucked about with the thing.

But even leaving him aside, the Big Bang was everywhere. That doesn't give you light, at this point; that gives you the cosmic background radiation. Stars give you light, and Mageddon is far enough out that even with, presumably, stars forming at a regular rate throughout the universe*, he's still so far out that none of their light has reached him.

That's a long, long, LONG ways out.



* Remember that the DC Universe is, presumably, a statically-sized one, not an expanding one, given it's bounded by the Source Wall. Although I suppose the Source Wall itself could be getting bigger too...

(And even if we lowball the size of the DC Universe compared to our own, it is also pants-wettingly terrifying that the Source Wall, which bounds it, is completely filled with the trapped cosmic forms of the universe's worst of the worst who thought 'eh, I can take it'.)

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In this particular fanfic Universe 16 only has about 7 galaxies if I am remembering things right. I wonder if Paul ever mentioned the difference in size between his home universe and universe 16 to anyone.

 

[Steelplaza]

In this particular fanfic Universe 16 only has about 7 galaxies if I am remembering things right. I wonder if Paul ever mentioned the difference in size between his home universe and universe 16 to anyone.

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The Malthusians at least understand how much smaller their universe is compared to what it could have been.

I've got to say, the "only seven galaxies because Krona fucked it up" thing has really grown on me. Zoat, if that was your original idea, it's the best explanation I've ever seen for why exactly everyone was so mad at Krona and why what he did was such a terrible crime.

 

[Mr Zoat]

I've got to say, the "only seven galaxies because Krona fucked it up" thing has really grown on me. Zoat, if that was your original idea, it's the best explanation I've ever seen for why exactly everyone was so mad at Krona and why what he did was such a terrible crime.

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It's not entirely original. It was mostly due to me misreading something from Arena, where one of the alternate Hal Jordans mentions being the only Green Lantern and being responsible for seven galaxies.

 

[Steelplaza]

"I'd like to introduce Mageddon, the most dangerous physical object that exists in this universe."

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That's just what every telepath who's ever been exposed to it and everyone who's ever been infected by its spores starts screaming.

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Obviously Morrison was riffing off the word Armageddon, but the word "armageddon" itself comes from a reference to Megiddo, an ancient city inhabited as far back as the bronze age. Megiddo happened to be perfectly situated in a location along an important ancient trade route that resulted in it being-

Okay, what I'm about to say is unprovable because who could know, but that it could be true is enough.

...resulted in it being the spot where the most battles have occurred in all of human history, with the earliest we know of dating back to the 15th century BCE and the most recent happening during World War I.

I just wanted to note that because it adds to the vibe, that this fictional monster is sort of named after what just might be the most continually fought over location in human history, our own species' shrine to warfare itself. I think that's neat!

 

[Graeme]

"For those who skipped astrophysics, black holes are what you get when really big stars collapse. They contain huge amounts of mass in a relatively small area."

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volume

 

[Mr Zoat]

volume

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Technically you're correct, but I think that saying 'area' is reasonable.

 

[BartlettMagic]

"We-" I shake my head. "-don't know."

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is this an Earth royal 'we,' or an intergalactic royal 'we?" it seems like OL should be able to draw on the knowledge of the Controllers via ring, so is he just not at this moment or do the Controllers have such limited information? kind of hard to believe they haven't studied and come to many conclusions millions of years past.

 

[Mr Zoat]

is this an Earth royal 'we,' or an intergalactic royal 'we?" it seems like OL should be able to draw on the knowledge of the Controllers via ring, so is he just not at this moment or do the Controllers have such limited information? kind of hard to believe they haven't studied and come to many conclusions millions of years past.

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Oh, they've tried studying it. The people of Wonderworld dealt with it last time it was active, but there wasn't anyone alive who could explain how it came to be. While a few Maltusians did spend some time trying to work out what was going on, most of them thought that was unwise given how infectious it appeared to be.

 

[mastermenthe]

Oh, they've tried studying it. The people of Wonderworld dealt with it last time it was active, but there wasn't anyone alive who could explain how it came to be. While a few Maltusians did spend some time trying to work out what was going on, most of them thought that was unwise given how infectious it appeared to be.

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A rare moment where Krona did not stick his hand into the fire to see what happens.

 

[Darko]

the only part they'll care about it that we lied. Then there's buck-passing. We could

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"is that we lied"

 

[Mr Zoat]

"is that we lied"

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[RoninSword]

So, since Hawk and Dove draw their powers from chaos and order respectively, could Constantine have a thing or two to teach them?

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That should already be happening. Constantine went on a synchronize walk to find people he could dump Order and Chaos on.
This is the first we've seen them in Paragons timeline.

 

[Steelplaza]

That should already be happening. Constantine went on a synchronize walk to find people he could dump Order and Chaos on.
This is the first we've seen them in Paragons timeline.

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Maybe Constantine found them, took one look at them, and said "Nope!".

If he wants to dump Order and Chaos, they totally can't handle it. And the last thing he wants to do is play superhero mentor to a couple of kids eager to dress in bright costumes and punch bad guys.

 

[RoninSword]

Maybe Constantine found them, took one look at them, and said "Nope!".

If he wants to dump Order and Chaos, they totally can't handle it. And the last thing he wants to do is play superhero mentor to a couple of kids eager to dress in bright costumes and punch bad guys.

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He's begun teaching them. The problem is that he's a shit teacher.

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He's apparently a bad teacher.

 

[NightmareWarden]

Now that we have a partial list, I'm curious as to who exactly are being trained right now. From what was said previously and here, I got the following: Argent, Face, Toyman, La'gaan, Risk, Slager, Hawk, Dove, and Timothy Hunter.

Edit: I just remembered Slager, better known to Teen Titans fans as Hot Spot, was previously seen as a member of the Alliance of the Just. How many of its members are now here receiving training from the Team?

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Darn, no Aurakos? I guess the grundygod is still receiving treatment from Orange-marked Melmoth. Or she's an adult, so she has no reason to travel from the fey land to Earth. Aurakos' power to force "fair" fights was neat.

That's a lot of boys then. Have fun, Argent. I guess Wally's magnetic friend isn't ready for heroics in the Paragon timeline? Other young women... Claire (flamethrowing-metahuman who is friends with Lynne via school) in the Renegade timeline was resisting recruitment attempts by the USA's military and darker groups. I wonder if she survived in the Paragon timeline? She is too young to be one of the Bat-OMACs, the League only let adults soul-bleach themselves. Other girls... I'm not sure when we would have seen Aquagirl since the Fear Thing plot. I suppose Atlantis has enough work to keep her busy. Honestly, the Paragon timeline's undersea cities were probably hit hard by Anti-Life. Probably gonna be some interesting political and cultural changes from it eventually. But Atlantis recovered to some extent because of the Arion-pretender... so they might be lending support to the other cities.

Other young heroines... No martian girls? No signs of the Reach yet? None of the recovered members of the Alliance of the Just? Ah, that last group, they were adults so they wouldn't join the Team.

 

[Graeme]

Technically you're correct, but I think that saying 'area' is reasonable.

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technically correct is the best form of correct.

 

[Steelplaza]

Was going back to reread a few arcs from last year. OL went on a massive multi-arc investigation to determine how Batman had gained access to New God technology, and if Batman has somehow become a New God himself to be able to use this technology. He scoured Earth, uncovered Sleaze, and then paid a visit to New Genesis to interrogate Highfather. His conclusion was:

PAUL: I couldn't figure it out.

OL didn't learn where Batman got that throne that lets him control OMACs. OL did not even confirm if Batman himself has somehow become a New God, or found some other way to use their technology. He thwarted some evil along the way so it wasn't a waste of time or anything, but in terms of the investigation he came up completely dry and eventually moved on to other things.

I mean, I guess that's fine and we'll come back to it later. I wonder, though, if Robin has given up. Dick Grayson was always more like Bruce than his jokey attitude lets on. Has Richard really let the whole thing go for the last... (checks dates) couple of months in-world? Or has he been continuing to push on his own? After all, Dick has advantages that OL does not in terms of access to Batman and his secrets.

Worth wondering about.

EDIT: I kept reading, and I guess he didn't give up entirely but brought in a Darkstar investigation team who presumably are still working on it?

 

[Frozen20XX]

Not a lot of desire in intergalactic space. That did make Wonderworld stand out a little more once I started looking, and a conventional scan quickly revealed the super-massive black holes plural being used as an anchor for the only star in the region.

I don't think Mageddon has seen me. I'm not sure how much light from the rest of the universe reaches it, due to the black holes. No one from Wonderworld has tried to communicate to me when I've been here, and I'm not sure whether that's because my stealth is actually that good or they just don't care.

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Ah, a weapon from the Old Gods... that's... horrifying considering the last time we saw an Old God was when S'ivaa affected reality by waking up iirc.

Why are you lying to her? It makes no sense.

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I mean, wouldn't the truth be "I read it in a comic book" kinda bizarre (and kinda creepy), even for these guys? The parallel universe thing gives him an easy excuse to share his comic knowledge without delving into that topic. Even if we assume Earth-16 J'onn would give the same physic link explanation that Earth-12 J'onn did when they visited the Justice Guild's Earth (wonder what what that parallel is called? Earth-21? Earth-17?)

 

[Mquz]

Ah, a weapon from the Old Gods... that's... horrifying considering the last time we saw an Old God was when S'ivaa affected reality by waking up iirc.



I mean, wouldn't the truth be "I read it in a comic book"? The parallel universe thing gives him an easy excuse to share his comic knowledge without delving into that topic. Even if we assume Earth-16 J'onn would give the same physic link explanation that Earth-12 J'onn did when they visited the Justice Guild's Earth (wonder what what that parallel is called? Earth-21? Earth-17?)

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And besides, he has no precise knowledge of the current world, only parallels.

 

[Mr Zoat]

21st June 2284
07:03 GMT -7

"…interest in adopting Brotherhood ideology, so much as being afraid of facing down our power armor."

High Elder Mari Törni glances around from her lectern as I enter the briefing room and hurry around to my seat. She gives me a moment to sit before resuming her address.

"While there are reliable Brotherhood elements in the former state of Washington, there are nothing like enough to establish a new Chapter on their own. And other than the Enclave facility-."

"Ah." Grant shakes his head. "We're not calling it that. Even if it was established as part of Project Safehouse, they never had any direct connection with the Control Station ENCLAVE and they never had anything to do with Curling Thirteen."

The High Elder blinks. "They think they're Enclave."

Grant turns to me. "Krono?"

I wiggle my right hand. "The officer's I've spoken to thought that the Enclave was… Essentially a committee responsible for contingency planning. General McMahon reacted negatively to hearing what they actually did."

Törni frowns. "Negatively?"

"'What the Hell were they thinking', 'what the Hell was the point of that', 'my brother's whole family was in a Vault'…" I make a circling motion with my right hand. "He thought they were going to do what Vault-Tec said in their advertising they were going to do."

"You checked?"

"Of course I checked. That's the whole point of sending a telepath."

"Hm." She nods, and moves a page from her wad of notes to the back. "Other than the pre-War military facility, there aren't any technological sites that would require the Brotherhood to secure them in that part of America."

Grant smiles. "Can I have that in writing?"

She sighs. "Grant…"

He raises his hands. "We'll call you if you find anything."

A little further around the table, Balm-Upon-Wounds look curious. "How will you treat the members of the Washington Brotherhood who have returned to you?"

"That depends. As far as I'm concerned, that's an internal Brotherhood matter."

He frowns thoughtfully. "I had thought that we were standardising some parts of our policy. You have not sought to punish Governor Rusk, and-"

To my left, Rusk comes awake from his open-eyed snooze.

"-Governor Hayes has not sought to punish Colonel Jalabert, who-"

Next to me, General Drummond grimaces. "Should punish that son of a-."

"-now works of New Reno. I claim no authority over Ammonites who have left our lands, but it seems that it is not so for you."

"Members of the Brotherhood of Steel swear to obey certain precepts. If they have broken that vow, they will be punished in accordance with the Codex. For example, if they believed that the Midwest Brotherhood had collapsed and that the 'Immortal' had legitimate authority, then they were merely acting as their oaths required in difficult circumstances. On the other hand, if they wanted to behave as raiders with power armour, then they will be spend the rest of their lives in penal servitude."

"And will you reward those who broke with the Immortal?"

"It would depend on why. If they accepted the Immortal as their Elder and them turned from him merely because they felt that he was cruel, then they will be exiled. If they turned from him because he breached the Codex, then they will be rewarded."

My father-in-law looks confused, but Rusk leans forwards. "Felluh turns his back on his whole people over a point of principle ain't the sort who's gunna want to go back. The High Elder's just fillin' in paperwork."

"Ah." He nods. "She is making formal the exile of those who in their hearts have already joined a new tribe."

"'bout the size of it. Still, what I wanna know is, what we're doing about the Immortal. Now, ah may not be the strictest when it come to the Codex-"

Along the table, Alamo Chapter Elder Kathrine Törni mutters something I can't quite make out.

"-but even I realise that stopping a cockamamie A.I. getting its hands on Commie superweapons is our responsibility."

First Citizen Lynnette looks displeased. "Why bother? If Colossus wants to make the Russian and Chinese weapon depots safe, what sense is their in interfering? If anything, I would have thought that your Brotherhood would be happy that someone is taking care of them."

Governor Rusk smiles. "Well, sure. If we could trust it. Krono, about how many people did it turn into cyborg slaves?"

"Somewhere in the region of twenty thousand."

Rusk nods. "Now, you see, that suggests to me a robot that might not have our best interests at heart."

She sneers disdainfully. "How many of them were raiders and pirates?"

I raise my hands. "We don't know, there's no way to tell. The fact is that we can't tell if Colossus is doing what it said it would in a way we'd find acceptable, or not. Based on WARDEN's records I doubt that it will deliberately destroy the human species with what it finds, but there's a big gap between 'not destroy everything' and 'only make superweapons safe'."

She nods. "Such as?"

"I believe that Diana was testing abolishing industrial civilisation."

She nods more definitively. "Can the zeta warship destroy them from orbit?"

"Certainly not!" / "Now, hold on there." / "No."

The suggestion does not meet with favour from the Brotherhood elements. But they're right.

"A few problems there, First Citizen. The mothership's weapon is completely indiscriminate. If we fire on Russian or Chinese settlements, we will kill thousands of innocent people."

"But the military-."

"If the pre-War America military knew where the Chinese kept their superweapons, they'd have nuked those sites when the War went nuclear. We know even less. Satellites might be able to tell where there's suspicious activity, but we might just be detecting the Russian version of Vault Eight."

"Satellites?"

"America didn't actually have that many satellites over China, due to Chinese anti-satellite weapons. We can retask some, but the network we had isn't back in full operation yet, and… I'm sorry, but we're going to need to start making more sooner rather than later if you want to try tracking Colossus down with them."

Now Grant looks concerned. "Do the Chinese still have anti-satellite weapons?"

"We don't know. I wouldn't have thought so, but our worst-case scenario is that they do, and they take us sending one as a sign that we're resuming hostilities. Our knowledge of modern China is from aerial reconnaissance only."

Rusk nods. "Sounds to me like we need to send someone over there on foot."

I nod back. "Yeah. So unless anyone's got a better idea, I'm going to put a team together."

High Elder Törni checks her pipboy. "The Brotherhood can't spare enough soldiers to fight a conventional war, but several squads-."

"High Elder…" I shake my head. "We can't rely on local resupply. Power armour needs too much maintenance to keep it operating. This is going to have to be light reconnaissance."

"Circle of Steel infiltrators, then."

WARDEN's screen flickers. "There are a number of naturalised ethnically-Chinese ghouls in Colorado. I suspect they will be interested in making the journey."

"And I'll ask the Shi as well. Now if you'll all excuse me, I need to go and explain this to my wife."

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

21st June 2284
07:03 GMT -7

"…interest in adopting Brotherhood ideology, so much as being afraid of facing down our power armor."

High Elder Mari Törni glances around from her lectern as I enter the briefing room and hurry around to my seat. She gives me a moment to sit before resuming her address.

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Ah, the stress of the tense situation settling into briefings and meetings. Such is life, it seems, at these levels of leadership. From the sound of it, massed power armoured troops are keeping the peace rather effectively up north.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"While there are reliable Brotherhood elements in the former state of Washington, there are nothing like enough to establish a new Chapter on their own. And other than the Enclave facility-."

"Ah." Grant shakes his head. "We're not calling it that. Even if it was established as part of Project Safehouse, they never had any direct connection with the Control Station ENCLAVE and they never had anything to do with Curling Thirteen."

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What, then? They've got to be called something, if only for ease of communications.

The High Elder blinks. "They think they're Enclave."

Grant turns to me. "Krono?"

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Makes me wonder what they think of what the other Enclave became...

I wiggle my right hand. "The officer's I've spoken to thought that the Enclave was… Essentially a committee responsible for contingency planning. General McMahon reacted negatively to hearing what they actually did."

Törni frowns. "Negatively?"

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Well, that's a good sign they're rational human beings.

"'What the Hell were they thinking', 'what the Hell was the point of that', 'my brother's whole family was in a Vault'…" I make a circling motion with my right hand. "He thought they were going to do what Vault-Tec said in their advertising they were going to do."

"You checked?"

"Of course I checked. That's the whole point of sending a telepath."

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Heh. Nothing like making sure of someone's opinions than passive telepathic reading.

"Hm." She nods, and moves a page from her wad of notes to the back. "Other than the pre-War military facility, there aren't any technological sites that would require the Brotherhood to secure them in that part of America."

Grant smiles. "Can I have that in writing?"

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Seizing the opportunity, I see.

She sighs. "Grant…"

He raises his hands. "We'll call you if you find anything."

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I like the unspoken implication that they'll know when they find something.

A little further around the table, Balm-Upon-Wounds look curious. "How will you treat the members of the Washington Brotherhood who have returned to you?"

"That depends. As far as I'm concerned, that's an internal Brotherhood matter."

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And good old Balm, looking to the spiritual condition of the newcomers.

He frowns thoughtfully. "I had thought that we were standardising some parts of our policy. You have not sought to punish Governor Rusk, and-"

To my left, Rusk comes awake from his open-eyed snooze.

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Rusk is important enough that punishment can wait until he's not needed.

"-Governor Hayes has not sought to punish Colonel Jalabert, who-"

Next to me, General Drummond grimaces. "Should punish that son of a-."

"-now works of New Reno. I claim no authority over Ammonites who have left our lands, but it seems that it is not so for you."

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Well, these folks are less reasonable about folks going their own way. Especially when their power depends on holding on to that power with a vice grip.

"Members of the Brotherhood of Steel swear to obey certain precepts. If they have broken that vow, they will be punished in accordance with the Codex. For example, if they believed that the Midwest Brotherhood had collapsed and that the 'Immortal' had legitimate authority, then they were merely acting as their oaths required in difficult circumstances. On the other hand, if they wanted to behave as raiders with power armour, then they will be spend the rest of their lives in penal servitude."

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And telepathic examination will let you determine the truth of their claims.

"And will you reward those who broke with the Immortal?"

"It would depend on why. If they accepted the Immortal as their Elder and them turned from him merely because they felt that he was cruel, then they will be exiled. If they turned from him because he breached the Codex, then they will be rewarded."

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Half the issue is what happens to those subordinates who simply followed their leader's orders.

My father-in-law looks confused, but Rusk leans forwards. "Felluh turns his back on his whole people over a point of principle ain't the sort who's gunna want to go back. The High Elder's just fillin' in paperwork."

"Ah." He nods. "She is making formal the exile of those who in their hearts have already joined a new tribe."

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Surprisingly insightful of Rusk. There's quite a brain under that sleepy exterior, isn't there?

"'bout the size of it. Still, what I wanna know is, what we're doing about the Immortal. Now, ah may not be the strictest when it come to the Codex-"

Along the table, Alamo Chapter Elder Kathrine Törni mutters something I can't quite make out.

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Something that would probably set fires if she shared it aloud, no doubt.

"-but even I realise that stopping a cockamamie A.I. getting its hands on Commie superweapons is our responsibility."

First Citizen Lynnette looks displeased. "Why bother? If Colossus wants to make the Russian and Chinese weapon depots safe, what sense is their in interfering? If anything, I would have thought that your Brotherhood would be happy that someone is taking care of them."

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The problem is that they don't know if that's what Colossus has planned. AIs have gone rampant before and caused no end of trouble. One in charge of strategic weaponry? Problematic.

Governor Rusk smiles. "Well, sure. If we could trust it. Krono, about how many people did it turn into cyborg slaves?"

"Somewhere in the region of twenty thousand."

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...That's a lot of tin men. Most of whom are probably overseas now under Colossus' control.

Rusk nods. "Now, you see, that suggests to me a robot that might not have our best interests at heart."

She sneers disdainfully. "How many of them were raiders and pirates?"

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They were still human beings before they were criminals.

I raise my hands. "We don't know, there's no way to tell. The fact is that we can't tell if Colossus is doing what it said it would in a way we'd find acceptable, or not. Based on WARDEN's records I doubt that it will deliberately destroy the human species with what it finds, but there's a big gap between 'not destroy everything' and 'only make superweapons safe'."

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Especially if it judges this group or that as a danger to humanity's survival. Those superweapons would likely be turned against such dangers.

She nods. "Such as?"

"I believe that Diana was testing abolishing industrial civilisation."

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Untenable, though. Humans seek improvement and tends towards comfort and ease. Not really compatible with a medieval farming lifestyle.

She nods more definitively. "Can the zeta warship destroy them from orbit?"

"Certainly not!" / "Now, hold on there." / "No."

The suggestion does not meet with favour from the Brotherhood elements. But they're right.

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Though each probably had their own specific reason for objecting.

"A few problems there, First Citizen. The mothership's weapon is completely indiscriminate. If we fire on Russian or Chinese settlements, we will kill thousands of innocent people."

"But the military-."

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It's a rare weapon capable of precision from orbit.

"If the pre-War America military knew where the Chinese kept their superweapons, they'd have nuked those sites when the War went nuclear. We know even less. Satellites might be able to tell where there's suspicious activity, but we might just be detecting the Russian version of Vault Eight."

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Which was one of the few successful Vaults, even with the supply mishap.

"Satellites?"

"America didn't actually have that many satellites over China, due to Chinese anti-satellite weapons. We can retask some, but the network we had isn't back in full operation yet, and… I'm sorry, but we're going to need to start making more sooner rather than later if you want to try tracking Colossus down with them."

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Never mind the problem of the Chinese noticing either war party or satellite overwatch.

Now Grant looks concerned. "Do the Chinese still have anti-satellite weapons?"

"We don't know. I wouldn't have thought so, but our worst-case scenario is that they do, and they take us sending one as a sign that we're resuming hostilities. Our knowledge of modern China is from aerial reconnaissance only."

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Which can't really tell you much about the actual situation on the ground. For all you know, they're running around with technology from the Han and Three Kingdoms period right now, outside of rare enclaves...

Rusk nods. "Sounds to me like we need to send someone over there on foot."

I nod back. "Yeah. So unless anyone's got a better idea, I'm going to put a team together."

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And naturally Krono's decided that he's the one who's going to be wearing those boots on the ground, eh? I suppose they'd probably ask him to do it anyway.

High Elder Törni checks her pipboy. "The Brotherhood can't spare enough soldiers to fight a conventional war, but several squads-."

"High Elder…" I shake my head. "We can't rely on local resupply. Power armour needs too much maintenance to keep it operating. This is going to have to be light reconnaissance."

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And it's highly unlikely that any Chinese power armour still in operation will be in any way compatible with the American models. This isn't Universal Century Gundam, where nearly every mech in-universe was made by the same one or two companies...

"Circle of Steel infiltrators, then."

WARDEN's screen flickers. "There are a number of naturalised ethnically-Chinese ghouls in Colorado. I suspect they will be interested in making the journey."

"And I'll ask the Shi as well. Now if you'll all excuse me, I need to go and explain this to my wife."

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And Balm-Upon-Wounds offers him a silent 'Godspeed, Son-in-law.' knowing exactly how she'll react.

Well, well. Looks like Krono's next big adventure is following in the footsteps of Nixon, eh? A little trip into mainland China to see if they're still Communist, or if some new ideology has taken over... Or an older one risen to prominence. That's going to be quite an interesting tale to read, especially if there's no sources on the post-war Orient in any Fallout media...