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

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Mr Zoat, Jan 27, 2019.

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  1. Venustoise

    Venustoise Getting sticky.

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    He could just Brand him if he has to keep him. Don't think he really does, but would Branding affect his performance with a ring?
     
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  2. Ardy

    Ardy I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Kalmin doesn’t use rings unless he makes them himself and I don’t think he’s done so yet
     
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  3. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    So here's a question.

    Why is this Paul still using a Power Ring instead of requesting the Controllers or Weaponers build him an upgrade?

    We know it's possible after all since Power Rings themselves are just heavily limited copies of Korona's original Power Gauntlet.
     
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  4. Threadmarks: Fleet Traction (part 5)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    1st January 2013
    20:38 GMT


    My gravity manipulation constructs wrestle with the technology of the Reach space station, gradually restoring space to its normal local curvature. I give it a moment to see if there are any backup devices, but it looks like it was designed with one specific purpose in mind. I send a construct probe forwards, crumbling its way through the force field and armour into the interior. The force field feels like an afterthought, but the armour's clearly designed to endure considerable stress. I assume that they weren't sure how much force it would experience when their Lantern threw it around and wanted to be on the safe side.

    Alright, power plant is there, so take control so that they can't overload it or anything like that. Most ships don't have self-destruct systems for their physical structures because of the weakness that would involve introducing. Scarab Warriors do it with a program taking advantage of their innate protean nature rather than introducing something truly new. But with technology that it's essential to keep from the enemy, things are a little different.

    Power plant under control I move to the main computer. A relatively mundane affair without any exceptional resistance. Shut down the gravity system first, and send a message to Scratch-Click to let them know. Did the Reach want to make sure that their own Lantern would be able to interface with it? Okay, so what were they..?

    Pods. Two hundred and eighty life-support pods. Clearly designed to keep the people inside awake and alive for an extended period. Feeding tubes and catheters all around, and… Drugs to force wakefulness. Okay, and who-?

    Quamen, from Qualar IV in Sector 2234. Of course, a species afraid of almost everything and whose natural response to fear is to do a fainting goat impression. Except with those drugs in their system they can't lose consciousness, and… Humans can't sustain a fear response for more than a certain amount of time, but quamen can.

    I… See the logic, but that wouldn't have been what I'd have gone-.

    An orange power ring floats over to me.

    "Orange Lantern Flozz'm is deceased."

    Gone with.

    I take the ring and put it into one of my armour's pouches. I didn't know Flozz'm, but taking their ring and sending notice to their family is one of my jobs. It's going to be fairly boilerplate because I didn't know them, and I'm probably going to end up writing more about Sereaven and the war in general than them personally. Still, that's better than leaving it to Dox.

    I check the medical pods. Yes, the excitative doesn’t appear to have any other properties so I cut off the supply. Almost immediately there's a surge of relief as everyone on board loses consciousness. Send a general message that it should be visited by medical support and intelligence.

    And then check that Scratch-Click's force has been triumphant.

    Hm. Looks like the Reach fleet didn't try to disengage. Their heavier ships tanked damage to protect the rest of the fleet, which tried to get to get to point blank range. Short ranged weapon focus? Boarding? I'm not sure, but the satellite wasn't here long enough to prevent Scratch-Click from keeping his fleet at his preferred engagement range for most of the fight and they're just mopping up now.

    "Illustres to Controller Hinon. Sereaven is secure for the moment. Inner circle fleet was a no-show."

    "Nothing of note?"

    "One Yellow Lantern, and it tried to get a boost by bringing a space station full of terrified people along with it. I'd estimate that it could have engaged one of our neophytes at a slight advantage even if its Scarab weapons are ignored."

    "The next will be better."

    Ring, send records direct to Controller Hinon.

    Compliance.

    "Hm. I think I need to talk to my cousins on Oa about this Thaal Sinestro person."

    "In what regard?"

    "Basic psychological screening as much as anything. His basic morals-. Have any of your homeworld's Lanterns mentioned ongoing psychological assessments?"

    "I think Guy had a few checks after he woke up from his coma."

    "Some rather sharp words, then. The Green Light causes fewer behavioural changes, not none. They should know better than leaving mortals unattended."

    "I'm not sure that they've got the manpower. As First Lantern, Sinestro had the authority to duck out of that sort of thing anyway."

    "That doesn't make it better. Ever since I came out of my coma it's as if everyone's taken leave of their senses."

    "You're playing it up again, aren't you?"

    "Somewhat. It is genuinely vexing. They are too old to be so foolish, and too old to be so ignorant of their own failings. Ah."

    "Ah?"

    "We have located the inner circle fleet. I'm sending you the coordinates-"

    Karrakan. No no no no no.

    "-now, and I think you should probably-."

    I step out, seeking out the strong drives and confused execution that I remember from my previous meetings with

    the people of Karrakan. Why the Reach are coming here I don't know. There's been some travel back and forth between here and Minosyss since the truce came into effect, but Sparta never fully unified Karrakan and while she was mistaken about there being no survivors it's a really hard place to live. We build unmanned monitor stations with interdiction systems more or less out of habit, but their interdiction fields are routinely deactivated to make patrolling easier. The Ascendant themselves are fine with that because they use boom tubes anyway-.

    The Reach are also fighting Grayven. Grayven had-. Probably had dealings with Karrakan through Sparta. 'Ascendants' are compatible with New God technology in a way that gordanians aren't. Karrakan still has basically no industry. They didn’t have anything to offer Grayven in terms of industrial output. But Sparta only had young Ascendants with her when she attacked New Cronos. They thought that she left the older Ascendants to die. But if she gave them to Grayven… Then they've got a very good reason for coming here. They want to choke off his supply.

    Karrakan is a hellworld. The handful of asteroid mining stations the Ascendants built are the only thing worth coming here for, and that's what the ships of the Ascendants' fleet here are positioning to defend.

    They are massively outnumbered by the Reach. And it seems that I've been underestimating the Reach's ship-building prowess by judging them by the ships that they deliberately put on show. The heavy ships of this fleet are larger that the biggest I've seen before: genuine battleships and dreadnoughts. But more than that, their power generation capacity is far greater, and their shields and weapons disproportionally powerful.

    Their acceleration isn't bad either. Looks like they're heading for Karrakan, and some of their larger weapons are already firing. Not faster than light weapons, but their narrow beams and the size of their target means that they meaningfully hit it from halfway across the system.

    I create construct interdiction field generators.

    "This is the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps to the Reach Fleet."

    "Ah, you're here. I should have thought that it was obvious."

    "I don't suppose there's any chance that you'll tell me your name this time, is there? You're still down as 'Unnamed Assimilation Specialist' in our files."

    "I try not to let ego get the better of me. But since you're here…"

    Alert! Spatial distortions detected.

    "Let's see if you can leave."
     
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2022
  5. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    my -> by
    they -> their
    capital G
     
  6. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Ah, the Nemesis. Can't wait for their flirting...I mean smacktalk.
     
  7. thebishop8

    thebishop8 Umm, ackchyually...

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    "it's" to "is"
    "to" to "the"

    Hinon's "no" to "now"
     
  8. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Built like a brick shithouse, then. Understandable. I'm guessing any inertial dampening systems inside are correspondingly robust as well. Still, doesn't look like they're fighting you, so... Yoink!

    Makes sense. Given the mutable nature of their physiology, I assume said self-destruct process comes down to instructions telling it to 'dismantle itself'...

    ...Huh. I was expecting a mob of Reach crew, not whatever this is...

    Heh. Space Chicken People. Seriously bizarre biology. What evolutionary processes could lead to such an.. overreaction?

    Only one downed? Not bad. I know, every loss is significant, but it shows the recruits' skill that only one of them died out there.

    Such a duty came with the job, Illustres. And at least the hostages are alive. Since that's what these unfortunates were...

    So, they can handle it from here. But what of the real threat?

    Oh, there was something of note. Not really threatening, but noteworthy.

    We can but hope the Reach get frustrated by Sinestro's perfectionism making him ditch failures repeatedly. Assuming he'll let them try that again.

    Heh. Granny going to be telling off the young punks?

    Sadly, the moral character of prospective Green Lanterns seems a little secondary to their ability to wield Willpower. And maybe their lawful nature...

    Yeah, the ultra-stubborn behaviour is something of a worry.

    I mean, you probably did sleep through a Crisis or two...

    Sadly, as they got older, it only magnifies their existing character flaws.

    Ah, good. A quick talking to, maybe a few object lessons, and OL can get back to Earth...

    Right, then. That's just a little worrying, of course.

    Gee, she didn't put due diligence into checking, in her quest for 'vengeance', did she? :rolleyes: How unsurprising.

    So they may declare them allies of Grayven-16, or be looking to acquire 'research specimens' to counter his technology... Either way, not good news.

    Because of course the periphery-based vessels are smaller, weaker or just older specimens of their ship-building practices... Probably helps if any not-quite-assimilated culture has an outbreak of rebellion.

    Then again, the planet's so badly damaged, they're probably not making it all that worse. Still, shouldn't allow them a free hand with that sort of thing...

    Sadly, OL's brain is not a bag full of angry cats, so he can't really be as devious as you are. Hello, Nemesis guy.

    And it's a lot harder to cry "Screw you, Unnamed Assimilation Specialist!" than it is to use a nice, punchy name.

    Guessing he wants to see how OL Greediports. While I doubt they could replicate it, they might well find a way to block or limit his destinations.

    Ah, Smarmy Reach Nemesis guy. This promises to be an episode full of sniping and smarm. No doubt the fleet has plenty of Anti-Spectrum weaponry aboard, and instructions to throw everything they have at him to see what works. At least OL can be confident they don't have any Yellow Rings aboard, since the Deputy Protocol historically only allows for a limited number running at once.
     
  9. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Feels like LePaul got baited.
     
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  10. Bud-E

    Bud-E Stand up so I can push you down!

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    Yeah I'm with Hinon on this one space cops using personality-altering rings should have regular psych exams and the Guardians should know better.
     
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  11. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    She’s on the same “screw comics logic/tropes” wavelength as Paragon!Paul, of course we’re generally “with her.” She finds Paul a little bit disturbing, but they are a lot alike. Anyone who’s read this much of the story is going to appreciate her for one reason or another.
     
  12. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    No, it's the name of the species and not their nationality.
    No, that's correct.
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  13. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Given the gender neutral pronouns, I'm guessing this was that one potentially problematic student that hated the fact that their species relied on aliens for help.

    The whole "age brings wisdom" thing is a myth that romanticizes wrinkles.

    People can be very old, but still be very stupid.

    And given the fact that it was a battleground for demigods, it may honestly be a little like Hell.

    "that are here are positioning"
     
  14. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Who?
    Thank you, corrected.
     
  15. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I'm guessing the predators on their world lacked the capacity to tell the dead from the living.

    The Guardians may need to be very flexible on that bit, since what one species considers to be moral or lawful may not be what others consider to be those things.
     
  16. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I remember Paul was once briefly in a mission with some problematic Lanterns.

    A vengeance seeking Clicker, a sociopath, and a member that hated the fact that their species was relying on another alien race and who may have wanted to kill Paul in the future.

    I remember Paul used gender neutral pronouns when thinking about the last one and I thought it was the same person.

    Granted, it's possible that I'm mistaken since this story has introduced a lot of characters and it could be moths or years before we hear about them again.

    So who was Flozz'm?
     
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  17. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    We don’t know yet. If Flozz’m was on screen previously (perhaps with a crowd), they weren’t named.

    The first death being an unknown was the most likely scenario, given how often Paul is away from the Corps. This scene is partly to show that such a reveal isn’t a gut-punch for Paul like it would be for the average superhero. He isn’t distracted by one death. And hey, maybe this lantern’s spirit will find its way to the Orange Power Battery somehow, that would be neat.
     
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  18. Rafin

    Rafin Not too sore, are you?

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    Isn't this just pre-enlightenment style thought? Why does Paul need it to be more successful here? And if it still has value post enlightenment, why doesn't he use it all the time?
     
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  19. Rafin

    Rafin Not too sore, are you?

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    that is
     
  20. Windona

    Windona Beetle Queen of Crackshipping

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    Oh boy, that does look like an interesting fight. Graven v Paul v Reach. Though we'll see who is doing what where
     
  21. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    I don't remember any of that.
    Because it makes him less him. And he's not sure if there are even more possible long term consequences, but he'd rather not find out.
     
  22. thebishop8

    thebishop8 Umm, ackchyually...

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    Darko is probably talking about the episode in which Paul first encountered Grayven while on a mission in Reach space. Dox got incapacitated, and Paul tried to get all the orange lanterns on the mission to sing.

    This section specifically:

     
  23. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    I briefly tried to imagine Dox writing a letter of condolence, and I have difficulty with the idea that he'd even be inclined to try. At best, it'd be like the telegraph messages the US Army sent out during and before World War II, but automated and even more coldly impersonal.
     
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  24. Threadmarks: Fleet Traction (part 6)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    1st January 2013
    20:42 GMT


    The stars… Move, the universe 'above' and 'below' the system's orbital plane emptying of light sources while the rim becomes far brighter. I… Don't even want to think about the sort of gravity manipulation they've had to do to make that happen.

    "Very pretty."

    On the off-chance, I try warping space. I can manage a little, but the feedback I'm getting from my ring makes space-time feel unusually… Sticky. Which means that my second favourite form of faster than light travel is effectively unavailable unless I feel like trying to override their generator… Which could actually be outside of the system.

    "I look forward to the day when we can do this to your home system."

    "My home system?"

    "Yes. Why, did you think we would grant it clemency?"

    I try transitioning a test object, and… It works, but that system is dramatically slower than warping. Flying in normal space would make me deal with relativity and relativity is no fun at all. Honestly, when I imagine trying to get around Universe Prime with FTL probably being impossible I actually shudder.

    "Tell you what. If you abandon your attack here, I'll take you there right now. I'll even escort your troops to the surface and do absolutely nothing to them."

    "So you are a deviant even amongst your own kind."

    A sternguard element of their fleet… Rotates with impressive speed to face me. They don't actually move in my direction, but their heaviest armour and main weapons are now pointing in my general direction while their existing momentum carries them along towards Karrakan.

    "Oh, Earth. Did you know that we gained powered flight technology a hundred and ten years ago? Sixty six years later we had rockets capable of taking us to our moon. Giant moon. Whenever I stand on another planet and someone describes the moonrise as 'beautiful' I always end up squinting. 'That tiny thing?'"

    Ring, cold gun.

    Compliance.

    Big cold gun.

    Compliance.

    "We've got hundreds of gods no one even worships because they're so common, humans with bodies made of mud, AIs that run on electromagnetic tape reels… A few weeks ago I had to fly through a pocket universe made of fragments of dreams. I call it 'hard mode' sometimes because I know of exactly no other planets that have the same range of madness that we have to deal with."

    "Fascinating. Please, keep talking. This is helping me build a far more accurate psychological profile."

    "And about ten years ago, a man with no higher education invented a gun that can reduce anything its beam hits to zero-"

    Fire.

    Compliance.

    "-degrees Kelvin. Completely arrests molecular vibrations. How good's the thermal insulation on those ships?"

    Okay, so don't point it at the star, unless it's a star no one's using and Leonard needs an ego boost. We're all in the inner part of the system but the beam won't hit anything for five minutes or so-

    Realistic space combat sucks.

    -unless… I focus on our desire and the desire of all within N.E.M.O. to strike at the Reach… No, let us draw upon the desires of species long since extinguished as well and add that to our force!

    "I suppose that we'll find out in five minutes."

    "Maybe."

    Space wobbles like a rubber sheet, snapping back almost immediately. But the distortion carries with it a beam of max-strength cold ray, partially concealed by the ongoing beam I'm firing in the direction of those ships. No beam attenuation makes this a far better weapon for long-ranged sniping than a laser.

    I watch as the Reach fleet manoeuvres, using gravity manipulation to shift a little at right angles to their main angle of thrust. Plenty to make sure that they're not on the same trajectory five minutes from now that they were when I fired. The sternguard do something-

    My pulse hits the largest ship in the sternguard.

    -similar, manoeuvring but not moving as far due to their lower speed.

    Not that it matters.

    The ship I hit tremors, but it keeps moving and manoeuvring. Maybe it-.

    The hull cracks, a dozen rents appearing in the frontal armour and atmosphere venting from all of them. Usually there would be emergency force field or -given that this is the Reach- reactive armour automatically patching small holes. But it looks like those systems also just got wrecked by absolute zero and can't function. The ship isn't dead-dead, but it's severely-

    "That's interesting."

    -impaired in its functioning. I think I got about half of its frontal weapons, though the dorsal, ventral and side weapons are completely fine.

    "Glad that you liked it."

    "But can you do it again?"

    "No, that's completely impossible."

    We do it again, aiming at the next ship in line, predicting based on observed to-target time and manoeuvring pattern.

    "Excuse me."

    Ring, drop channel and try contacting the Ascendants in charge of those ships.

    Compliance. Channel open.

    "This is the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. Please respond."

    "Illustres! It is good to hear from you."

    "Ascendant Thiva. Well done for still being alive. Any idea why the Reach are coming here?"

    "This is the Reach? Their ships are different from our records."

    "This is one of their inner sphere fleets. They use them to defend their core systems. People don't usually see them. Consider yourself honoured."

    "It is an honour I would gladly pass. As to why they are here, we are evacuating the remains of Grandmother Rhea to be interred in New Orthys. We were going to finally abandon the system after that."

    "Do you have them on board?"

    "Yes."

    "Can you make it to the edge of the system? Without being overhauled?"

    "Perhaps."

    "Try it. I don't think we've got the force here to defeat them in conventional fleet combat. Did you send an alert out?"

    "Yes but… The system… Can they get in?"

    Given how boom tubes work, probably not using those.

    "We'll have to assume that we're it for now. What can the Ascendants you have on board do?"
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2022
  25. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    That should say 'Reach'.

    That should say 'our'.
     
  26. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    Wow... You would really think The Reach would be better at information gathering... But nope... Somehow they know absolutely nothing about Earth... Even though it has multiple lanterns... And LePaul has been anything but circumspect about where he's from in his travels around the Galaxy...
     
  27. Oglymogly

    Oglymogly I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    I died.
    Also, always good to see the cold gun again. Its been Paul's ace in the hole for a long time now, but it's never any less fun watching it make physics its bitch.
     
  28. thebishop8

    thebishop8 Umm, ackchyually...

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    "mange" to "manage"
     
  29. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Oh, holy crap. That's not a simple space-time wedgie... They're going full Atomic wedgie, right down to hooking space-time's underwear over its head. The slightest mistake and they could splatter the whole system like a pancake. Their technicians are either overconfident, suicidal or just stupid. Or any combination of the three.

    And I'm picturing the gravitational silhouette of the place looking less like a funnel around the planet... And more like a Klein bottle...

    Bitch, please. You try anything against Earth, and it'll kick your ass.

    Heh. Dump them into the middle of the Anti-Life broadcast, see how they handle it.

    Because in space, you don't need to be pointing in the direction you're moving. A fact so much space sci-fi forgets in favour of dogfights. :rolleyes:

    And the Nemesis probably thinks he's exaggerating, or making it up whole-cloth. After all, no rational society could advance technology so quickly without cutting so many corners...

    No, Bigger.
    Compliance.

    Admittedly, their own cultural bias will probably lead them to get it entirely wrong.

    Sadly, the cold gun in space doesn't really have the giant beam of doom this scene deserves...

    ...Not nearly good enough. :sneaky:

    Ah, right. Slower-than-light weapon. Much slower, given most depictions. The joy of shooting at things almost a full Astronomical Unit away. Space combats tend to be more like long-range target shooting than firefights......
    (Edited for word-of-Zoat concerning Cold Gun beam speeds.)

    Ah, giving space-time, relativity and their negative space wedgie the middle finger through the power of WANT. Classic OL.

    If anything, the beam getting wider would be worse for them, because it'll hit more of their hull at once.

    Too little, too late. To quote Kenshiro: "Omoi wa mou shindeiru."

    After all, they're not part of the fleet any more. Heck, they might make a good comet.

    Ah, not totally effective, then. But the frozen bits are suddenly finding themselves having trouble maintaining their structural integrity, eh?

    And I bet the Reach scientists take one look at the sensor readings and visual footage and scream about it 'being physically impossible!' or 'in complete violation of all known laws of thermodynamics!'

    Oh, would you like some more ice for your drinks? Pity it'll have a metallic tang to it.

    Nemesis: "I don't appreciate the disingenuous tone, sir."

    Right, that's a thing. And they're rather worrying potential combatants. At least they're likely to fight alongside OL.

    Hopefully they'll be polite about this.

    Well, there's a familiar face. At least that smooths any diplomatic issues quite nicely.

    Or unlucky. Mostly because they're here because of OL. And Grayven.

    Ooh. Better not let the Reach get their hands on her. Who knows what they'd do with the material remains of a terrestrial Titan.

    Definitely a concern, if the Reach fleet is faster than their ships at sublight.

    At least, before the Reach folded the system into a nasty little knot of space-time origami...

    So, make for an edge, see if you can slice it open, and hope for the best? Not a great plan...

    So, another tense situation. Hopefully OL's little 'fuck you' to the laws of thermodynamics has them chewing their fingernail equivalents in worry, slowing down their response. And let's hope that some of the Ascendants have useful powers for this fight. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. At least they'll have a morale advantage, defending their founder's corpse from alien attackers...


    People don't usually see them. Consider yourself honoured.
     
    Last edited: Nov 25, 2022
  30. crazygrox

    crazygrox Versed in the lewd.

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    It occurs to me that because orange light is associated with greed and disgust, the greed side of it has techniques like assimilation and the feed me trick, but Paul isn't likely to create any orange-unique disgust-driven techniques because he prefers using weapons, munitions, and construct-guns that produce physics effects, over destructive orange light blasts or direct-contact destructive constructs.
    Maybe something for another lantern in his Corps to be the first to figure that out? As it'd be a blindspot for Paul.
     
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