"Bit of a problem in Karrakan's system. The Reach attacked, and then Grayven attacked them."
"Thiva?"
Heh. Sounds like a major case of screwing the pooch, but thankfully, Thiva
accomplished her mission there: Retrieve Rhea's remains, and rescue as many as possible.
Her ships are heading towards New Chronos at high speed. I… Hm. There's one advanced settlement very visible on the surface. I didn't ever find out how good the New Titans' building technology was. It seems to me that they'd probably to what the New Gods of New Genesis do: keep all advanced technology and magic up in 'Supertown' and leave the rest as a primitive wasteland. But it looks like they've decided to actually do something with the local people. That'll be useful.
Hopefully
without the arrogant attitude the New Genisisians tend to show towards the Bugs.
In a generation or two.
"It is as he says. Everything we build there has been destroyed, and Grayven and the Reach are fighting over Karrakan itself. Grayven has Ascendants among his followers."
Which is worrying in itself. It gives his armies a certain measure of quality to match the gordanian's quantity.
"Lantern, while I appreciate your work in reuniting my people, we are not your allies in your war with the Reach."
"I understand that. I'm just accompanying these ships, and I'll clear off if you want."
Yeah, could be awkward. Orange Lanterns basically do have a strong connection to NEMO in the eyes of the galaxy, after all. Even one acting on their own recognisance will still likely be seen as acting in Maltusian interests.
"Grayven was trading with Sparta. He had Ascendants serving him."
"I couldn't feel their influence myself, but the ships were of a design to require that."
Well, you
did stay pretty much across the system from them. Your God-sense isn't exactly
developed enough to pick their works out at that distance...
"Thiva, take the ship carrying Grandmother Rhea's remains to the surface at once. We will prepare for Grayven's arrival. The rest will dock with New Chronos."
"Yes, Athyns."
I expect her tomb will be something
spectacular. Though likely to be very noticeable as 'something of value' to invaders...
"Orange Lantern, we… I, have no wish to join your war. No any side."
"I'm glad to hear it."
The challenge to remaining neutral, though, is proving that you want nothing to do with any side.
Switzerland manages it by having been so
badass that everyone asked them nicely
not to kick their asses.
"I have been expecting you to attempt to recruit us."
"The Controllers will feel obliged to Minosyss. This is the first time we've encountered Grayven since his declaration of war. Without us having a immediate need to fight New Gods, they felt that it was better to leave you be."
Now? Well, expect
polite overtures...
"Why haven't either of them approached us?"
"Not sure. I'd guess that Grayven already has a… Excuse the phrasing, 'breeding population' of Ascendants, and so doesn't need you, and the Reach… Probably hasn't heard of you. Depending on whether or not they capture anyone on the surface, they may not find out even now."
Heck, those Ascendants under Grayven probably have
better gear than their unaligned cousins. After all, he wouldn't have passed the
good stuff to an untested prospect.
"But they knew of Karrakan."
"Yes, but… With the L.E.G.I.O.N. ships that have been flying through it, it's perfectly possible that they just knew that we were interested in it."
and disrupting a potential point in their supply line would have been a strategic concern, certainly.
"I don't think that is why they were there." Thiva certainly sounds dubious. "That was a great many ships for an investigation."
"It would also work as a trap for me. What they did to lock us in the system, that's not what their usual system interdiction devices look like."
And, to be blunt, OL's a
bigger fish than you kids are...
Oh. Ring, update Controller Hinon.
Compliance.
Hinon: "Good grief. Only
he could get involved in something
this ridiculous..."
"So if the Reach kill Grayven, there's no real reason for them to come here even if they know here exists. If they don't, and you don't ally with Grayven, there shouldn't be any problem."
"And if they decide that they do not want to take a risk?"
Well, you'd probably end up playing the role of Poland: The Reach invading you would get some
other galactic players off their ass.
"You're not part of the conflict. You could.. call in the Green Lantern Corps. Them picking a fight with you would violate their treaty. If they limit themselves to sieging the system, you could bypass that with boom tubes, or… Just… Not? Did you feel an urgent need to go elsewhere?"
"No. And we will not for quite some time. Having them picket our system wouldn't really impede our work here."
And you have little or no need of external supplies. It'd be like learning to ignore the constantly-barking dog next door.
"So that's a perfectly fine result. Of course, if Grayven turned up… He can probably track boom tubes, and Sparta would almost certainly have been sharing information with him."
"What will he demand?"
Well, for a start, you might find out
what he expected from Sparta. At best, he'll just command you to kneel.
"I don't know. He was fairly hands-off with Sparta, but he might have expected her to declare her allegiance after she won. Or he might have been satisfied with the service of those Ascendants who wanted to work for him. Or he might just have wanted the Sun Eaters to use against the Reach."
"How much success has he had against them?"
Grayven does have something of a hard-on for cosmic-scale superweapons. The Orrery, Sun Eaters... I shudder to imagine what else he might have tried to acquire... And what he might have
succeeded in acquiring.
"We don't.. really know. The thing is… N.E.M.O. has incorporated as many of the worlds on the periphery of Reach space as we can. We've been in contact with literally all of them. Grayven's personal followers are gordanians, from the Vega Systems. But they're not going home to recruit new soldiers. So where are his shipyards? Where is he getting raw materials from?"
"The ships of the Ascendants can self-repair."
Most likely he's exploiting unclaimed interstellar resources, and those systems he's been able to conquer.
"Sure, but with no raw materials for the repair systems? And… Major damage? There weren't any reports of him using ships like his Ascendant captains are using before now. Where is he building them? Is he capturing worlds at all, or just fighting like the tau?"
"Please explain."
Hmm...
Mont'Ka or Kau'Yon? Not really
grokking the comparison, sadly. Or is it a reference to his collecting subservient 'allies'?
"N.E.M.O.'s aim in the early stage of the war is to take back worlds that have native populations on them so that we can remove whatever mind control the Reach used on them. If the Reach fleet in the area pulls back, we'll probably let it go because killing Reach citizens isn't our specific aim. For the tau, the objective is the enemy. Grayven isn't trying to save anyone. Yes, he probably wants to take Reach territory and industry, but if he doesn't need it to maintain his current fleet, then he might just be treating Reach fleets as his objective and going after them."
And it feeds his Godname. He looks at
Conquest and sees 'Taking by force of arms and intimidation.' Very childish of him...
"Do you know what he would do if we went to his aid?"
"No. The gordanians I spoke to seemed perfectly happy being ruled by him, so I doubt that he's a particularly bad tyrant. He might expect you to kneel at once, or he might treat it as a favour."
And while that may sound like an oxymoron, '
Tyrant' merely refers to an absolute ruler. It has a bad name in
modern culture because most 'tyrants' these days are petty men with
selfish desires.
"How would you take it?"
"Honestly, we'd be happy for Grayven to take the entire core of Reach territory. We just want the bits around the edge so that we can restore them to the species who lived there before the Reach wiped them out. We'd much rather make common cause than fight him."
Except that he won't be satisfied with taking what the Reach has gained. He will always want
more.
"Why didn't he agree?"
"I don't know. Maybe he felt like he needed to look strong and independent. Or maybe he plans to conquer us as well. A lot of the species who signed up with N.E.M.O. were fairly sure that Maltus would be treating them like vassals, but they did it anyway because at least that meant that someone had a plan for fighting the Reach."
Yep. He's like
Alexander III of Macedon. Always looking for the next conquest, never satisfied with what he's gained. Alexander only stopped because his men threatened to overthrow him. Grayven won't allow such independence.
"Would our position be weakened by aiding him?"
"It will piss off the Reach and eliminate your defence under their treaty with the Green Lantern Corps."
So probably better to beg off joining him, though that has the risk of angering him.
"I need more information."
"It's usually helpful."
"I thank you for your council. Please, come to New Othrys. I want to show you what we're made here."
Not for too long. Don't want to be seen 'harboring a hostile agent' by the Reach or Grayven...
