"I'd have thought that you would be more efficient."
"It was about sending a message. Quickly."
Sadly, the person - A Spider Guilder Yellow Lantern - he was sending it to didn't really bother
listening to it. Too high on the power of
Fear...
He turns, right arm leaning on the rail while he gestures with his left.
"You're a fascinating man, Illustres. The way you intervened in the peace talks and actually made them work, the way you took Felicia and handed her over to that Crown Imperium charity rather than keeping her as a concubine, I rather formed a particular vision of you in my mind. Then you destroyed the Citadel Complex with such ferocity and ruthlessness, and here…"
So many contradictions, eh? It's like he's doing whatever he
feels like doing at the time.
He glances back over his shoulder.
"Here I can only describe your behaviour as callous. Not a terrible personality trait for a soldier -and I know exactly how repugnant the Spider Guild is- but I find I struggle to reconcile what I see here with what I saw then."
Expediency. Needs must, and all that. In this case, he had to lay down with dogs, and was smart enough to have
flea shampoo ready.
"It was a utility calculation. The Spider Guild is far stronger here than they were in Vega, and the local civilisations aren't…"
"Pirates with delusions of civilisation? Don't worry, I've heard worse."
...That's honestly the
best description of them I've heard.
"Right, they're just… People, managing their own affairs and occasionally having their citizens abducted and eaten. One is clearly more moral than the other. So if my actions aid Karax and hurt Chughraghahh, that's fine. Nothing of value was lost. But in Vega, while that's true of the Psions and arguably the Citadel Complex, it's less obvious that it was true about the rest of you. The Queen doesn't want to eat people and you're just an 'aggressive capitalist'. I've got no reason to violently advantage one in favour of the other if I want to improve the region."
And being OL's 'friend' is much healthier than being an enemy or an
impediment.
"But the Psions and the Citadelians… Don't meet your requirements."
"Didn't meet my requirements."
Yeah, what few
might still be around aren't exactly going to be doing much of anything.
"'What the means, want the ends'. Still, for most people, going from throwing space stations at a planet to defending it with such fervour would require a major change in outlook."
"I wasn't particularly fervorous, to be honest." I sigh. "I'm.. rethinking my approach a little. Otherwise I might well have not bothered defending them. But the fact is there isn't anything worth salvaging here; utility would be maximised by exterminating them. Between my doubt and the fact that the local interdiction system messes up subspace storage, I wasn't anything like as effective as I'm used to being."
Ah, did you read OL's book, Commodore? And 'Subspace interdiction', huh? Guess that makes as good an
excuse as any, especially if you don't want to mention...
Them.
It would have been difficult to get a solid tether attached to the main mass of the railgun rounds through their plasma sheath, but it would have been slightly more efficient than what I was doing. The Guild don't use subspace but do occasionally find themselves at odds with species who do, so they pre-empted my efforts.
"But to return to the matter of Vega, you're satisfied with the Queen's behaviour?"
And first amongst those who use subspace storage being Green Lanterns, eh? Not that they'd
admit that's the reason for it, would they...
"She has been scrupulous in upholding her end of the agreement. What friction there has been comes from disagreements between the other parties. Though I must admit… Even damaged like this, I'm a little concerned about the Queen taking on this much additional industrial capacity."
"I assume that it's not practical for you to expand this far from Vega."
Bah, with the right tricks, distance mean nothing!
"You assume correctly. Unless you're going to give me Vran back, in which case things get a good deal easier."
The Dominion uses fixed portals to transport their fleets long distance. Putting one here and one in Vega would be a functional solution, but I'd have to either persuade the Dominion to let me rent one from them or create them myself and be prepared for their open hostility when they found out. They already don't like me for breaking Vril out in the first place.
Eh, they already want him
dead on a lab table, you think he cares about them not
liking him?
But a large scale zeta radiation based system…
"I could make travelling back and forth a good deal easier. N.E.M.O. has the technology for interstellar gateways."
Ooh, that's going to be
quite the force multiplier. Drop a gateway assembler on a stealth ship, send it off to find a useful staging ground deep behind enemy lines...
"That's Dominion technology."
I shake my head. "Similar concept, different execution. I can't promise you that they won't pick a fight over it, but it's not something they routinely do."
"You are infringing on our intellectual property!"
"You're just mad because you didn't think of it first..."
"...Curse you!"
"Other places use your version?"
"My homeworld has been using them for years, and I know of one other planet that has a similar arrangement."
...Oh, right,
Rann is a thing. Honestly surprised he hasn't met with Adam Strange on-screen. Guess he's been off-world.
"Is there some other catch?"
"I don't intend to give it to you. The Queen's going to be paying you in goods and services to be the guarantor of the new treaty, but there will be a charge for the gateway."
And make it expensive, so he doesn't treat it
casually...
"Per use, or..?"
"I think I'll lease it to you. For the duration of the contract. The more money you can make with it, the bigger your margin."
That faint 'cha-ching' sound you hear is Amalak musing over the potential profits...
"A reasonable prospect. How cheap are they to run?"
"We use them for global planet-side transportation on my home world. Unless they're in continuous use, they're pretty darn cheap."
Admittedly, Zeta-beams can be disrupted by bad weather. But I doubt Dolmen Gates would work in this situation...
"So. I agree to protect the neighbouring polities against the Spider Guild, and the Spider Guild against the neighbouring polities. With a gate thrown in to make me appreciate the opportunities for diversification. And with the Guild making payment in kind, I can build up a huge tonnage in merchantmen while accessing a new pool of recruits."
I nod.
Yes, quite the potential profit indeed. and you'll hold the keys to the only
fast route to access all that.
"Then I'd be a fool to reject it out of hand. Let me know when you've hammered out the specifics."
"Will do. Do you want a lift back to your ship?"
Just in case any locals are holding
grudges against anthropoids. ...Or are
hungry.
"No, I think I'll continue the tour, start speaking to the locals. Without you around. I imagine that they're finding you a little overwhelming at present."
"I'll see you later, then."
Yes, well, they've got good
reason to think that...
I step out and
reappear next to-.
"Not-Daddy!"
Ah, meeting with the Spider-Queen of Vega... And her princess.
The Queen, as Princess perks up, and-.
"Princess, you appear to be furry."
So... A little something like
this?
As if she wasn't adorable enough...
"M-Hm. Mummy says that Spiders are too different from humanoid physiological norms to be erotically appealing, so the best I can do is look cute and inoffensive. And that means full body fur!"
She spreads out her upper arms.
Well, appealing to
most people, anyway.
Some folks...
"Hugs!"
I open my arms and she jumps, grabbing onto my torso and rubbing herself against me like a living spider-teddy. Her chitin is well covered and I can honestly see her being a far better diplomatic envoy than any the Guild has used to date.
Especially if she remains this
enthusiastic.
I look up at her indulgent mother.
"Perhaps we could go over the terms I've been discussing with Amalak?"
Quit talking business for a bit and relax, OL. Enjoy the fluffy spider-hugs.
