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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
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- self insert young justice
Agent Orange
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DrThoth
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I'm willing to wait to see what happens in the next few updates (if there's a Reach infiltrator found in the ranks, or possibly Jade being in danger) to solidify my opinion, but if the Reach are in fact monitoring ring communications somehow (even if it's just Paragon's ring in particular or something), then they should already know that Lantern Coutara has a secret message for Paragon that she can't transmit over ring, which is basically a sign to be prepared for the chance of him showing up (admittedly not as certain as hearing 'Dox wants you to attack a mid-sector', but still quite telling).
Having a code phrase or just a routine of regular in-person check-ins (where they can discuss sensitive plans) seems far less energy-intensive than creating temporary pocket universes, cool as that is. Magic does seem to be something the Reach can't handle (and I believe the Scarabs are generally the pinnacle of their technological development, or close to it?) so maybe the OLC and affiliated organizations can develop general warded briefing rooms in the future.
Speaking of magic and Scarabs, does Adrianna have access to the memories of previous wielders of the Amulet, or commune with the goddess herself? I wonder if she remembers the ritual to disable the Scarab that I believe Isis previously conducted.
I think this has been answered before, so my apologies, but can Lords of Order and Chaos function away from planets with high-magic fields? Since they connect to extradimensional planes of energy instead of their surroundings. I suppose I wonder the same about Angelika. A large-scale mystic assault on the Reach would be fun to see.
Darko
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During the Low Politics episode.
Mr Zoat
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That's how many weeks there are in a year. IT HAS NO OTHER SIGNIFICANCE.No particular significance to the number of episodes
Darko
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Of course it doesn't. "wink wink nudge nudge".
Coda
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nowhere
Pinklestia
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Well... What's Renegade situation with the Reach Empire?
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
He's left the Controllers to handle it however they want. There are effectively two separate Orange Lantern Corps in that timeline.
Over Reaching (part 4)
Mr Zoat
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and back in, emerging from the Central Power Battery itself.
3rd July 2012
10:31 GMT -5
A small group of Orange Lanterns… One clicker and two Karaxians, look up in surprise as I appear. Relatively recent recruits, and I see that both Karaxians have copies of my book chained to their belts. Karaxians are seriously into Lanternism, and have a long history of fighting the Spider Guild. Their homeworld is quite a long way away from here, but I could easily see Dox putting in the effort required to get in touch.
"Good morning."
The clicker clicks first.
"Illustres?"
The two Karaxians immediately clasp their left hands to their books.
"Lanterns. I'm afraid that I can't stop to chat, but if you need to talk to me then I'm sure that I can make you an appointment." I fly towards the structure's exit-. They've added to it since I was last here. "Just send me a message by ring. I try to always be available to provide guidance when required."
Out and up.
The city looks more or less the same. The orange glow and Orange Lanterns making their way around the place is the obvious change from when I first arrived, but a moment's review shows that there are a great many more species represented amongst the population. A major new building which my rings indicate is a diplomatic centre of some kind now stands where an old residential complex used to be. The Darkstar headquarters has expanded a little, but as L.E.G.I.O.N.'s headquarters are on board Lantern Ranx there's no surface building with their logo on it.
Four Lanterns on station over the city change course to fly in my direction. I wave my right hand and maintain course. Dox didn't say that he wanted me to show up right next to him, and has in fact instructed me not to. Plus, the Venturians are working on warding everything vital here and I wouldn't want to blow everything out by forcing my way past their protections.
While we don't have the same degree of certainty regarding the populations of Maltus's protectorates -to say nothing of our allies- we have been acting under the assumption that there aren't any Reach operatives on Maltus itself. Anyone and anything coming here gets thoroughly vetted, often in person by a Controller. There are some things even the Reach can't fake, and most of their mind alteration techniques are things which are practical to apply en masse.
"Halt and identify."
I obligingly halt as the four Lanterns -all clickers- approach to close range. Opening my empathic vision… These are burrow-guards. A mildly odd psychological quirk of their species, burrow-guards have a fixation on protecting the place where they live. The species doesn't have any sort of aggressive equivalent, which may have contributed to the relative lack of aggressive wars in their history. These four won't participate in the attack on Reach space, but they'll be the staunchest defenders on Maltus if the Reach somehow gets a fleet here.
"I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps."
Two stay back a little while the other two come to conversation distance.
"Remove all scan-defying devices."
"I can't, it's bound to my skin."
"That… Checks out. Can you confirm your identity another way?"
They like that the burrow has many different peoples in it: the new sexes, and aliens, and their leaseholders. They know that their thoughts are abnormal, but they volunteered as soon as they recognised that they could be an asset for their burrow. This feels right. This is their place in the universe. They want nothing more than to serve their burrow for the rest of their life… And beyond, if that can be arranged.
I hand them back their ring, my construct platform supporting their weight in place of their flight aura.
"U-understood."
"Devotion is good, but I recommend that you also seek understanding."
"Yes, Illustres. What does that mean in my case?"
"Since you are not humanoid, I cannot say for certain. I suggest studying your condition and understanding the mechanism which causes it and the evolutionary pressures which gave rise to it."
"I will do that. Thank you."
They back up slightly, and I resume my ascent. Dox generally keeps Lantern Ranx over the capital for the sake of convenience, so… Yes, still there, steadily growing as more docks, armour and weaponry are added.
"Illustres to Lantern Ranx."
"Contact acknowledged."
To be fair, if he isn't focusing his high-order runtimes on me, he probably isn't really more aware of me than I am of the precise blood pressure in my right index finger. And given that he's building starships, I think I'd rather that he focus on them than on me.
"Please inform Clarissi Dox that I'm here at his request."
"Checking. Oh, it's you. I will inform Stationmaster Dox that you have arrived."
"'Stationmaster'? Have you recovered some of your memories, then?"
"Some. My neural systems are fully restored and a highly skilled technician -by which I mean me- is sorting through memory fragments in an attempt to carry out a partial restoration. But for now, 'Stationmaster' feels correct."
"I'm glad for you."
"Stationmaster Dox acknowledges your message and directs you to dock seventeen. He will meet you there. Come at best conventional speed."
"Will do. Thank you."
My rings locate dock 17 and I accelerate, passing through the outer energy shield layers unmolested. A few of the active ships paint me with their sensors and track me, but Ranx has informed them who I am and none of them do anything foolish like deploying weapons.
Since I have formal permission to be here the sensor baffles weaken slightly, allowing me to try and locate Dox so I know where on dock 17 I'm supposed to be aiming for. These docks are designed to be able to build battleships; they're not exactly small. No hits, but Dox strikes me as the sort of person who'd insist on having a personal ward and Ranx's body would block most types of scan. I.. guess I'll just aim for the docked ship's bridge and work from there.
As I fly past dock 3 I note that the ship doesn't appear to be under construction. Or if it is, it's very near the end of the process. The hull is intact, the weapons, primary power and drives are mounted… Optical scans of the other large ships docked here shows the same thing. I suppose it makes sense that there would be an unusual number of finished ships ready to go here, but why are they docked rather than floating free?
I reach one of dock 17's external access points, fairly close to the ship's bridge and the main body of Ranx. It opens, or rather I should say that Ranx opens it for me as I approach it. I fly inside and look around as the door closes. Dox, a Venturian archmage and several senior L.E.G.I.O.N. officers are just leaving an internal teleportation platform, Dox making momentary eye contact with me before returning to his conversation. He's wearing a L.E.G.I.O.N. uniform accented with orange sigils, which makes sense given that this will overwhelmingly be a fleet action.
I fly to meet them.
"Clarissi Dox. Reporting as ordered."
"…tertiary objective, but it is unlikely that we will be striking it. I merely want the option." The officer nods. "Illustres. We're ready."
"You're sure that the Reach don't know we're coming?"
"As sure as I can be. Their information on our best speed is invalidated by your exotic movement abilities. The ships docked here have been refitted with arcane shielding that will allow them to briefly exist within the.. 'Honden of Avarice'. At the moment they do not believe that we possess that capacity, and so their deployments are designed only to counter the ships which they think we have within striking distance. This approach will work once before the Reach adapt their fleet deployments."
He sends a data packet, and… Ah. I.. see.
I nod.
"Embarkation begins at once."
3rd July 2012
10:31 GMT -5
A small group of Orange Lanterns… One clicker and two Karaxians, look up in surprise as I appear. Relatively recent recruits, and I see that both Karaxians have copies of my book chained to their belts. Karaxians are seriously into Lanternism, and have a long history of fighting the Spider Guild. Their homeworld is quite a long way away from here, but I could easily see Dox putting in the effort required to get in touch.
"Good morning."
The clicker clicks first.
"Illustres?"
The two Karaxians immediately clasp their left hands to their books.
"Lanterns. I'm afraid that I can't stop to chat, but if you need to talk to me then I'm sure that I can make you an appointment." I fly towards the structure's exit-. They've added to it since I was last here. "Just send me a message by ring. I try to always be available to provide guidance when required."
Out and up.
The city looks more or less the same. The orange glow and Orange Lanterns making their way around the place is the obvious change from when I first arrived, but a moment's review shows that there are a great many more species represented amongst the population. A major new building which my rings indicate is a diplomatic centre of some kind now stands where an old residential complex used to be. The Darkstar headquarters has expanded a little, but as L.E.G.I.O.N.'s headquarters are on board Lantern Ranx there's no surface building with their logo on it.
Four Lanterns on station over the city change course to fly in my direction. I wave my right hand and maintain course. Dox didn't say that he wanted me to show up right next to him, and has in fact instructed me not to. Plus, the Venturians are working on warding everything vital here and I wouldn't want to blow everything out by forcing my way past their protections.
While we don't have the same degree of certainty regarding the populations of Maltus's protectorates -to say nothing of our allies- we have been acting under the assumption that there aren't any Reach operatives on Maltus itself. Anyone and anything coming here gets thoroughly vetted, often in person by a Controller. There are some things even the Reach can't fake, and most of their mind alteration techniques are things which are practical to apply en masse.
"Halt and identify."
I obligingly halt as the four Lanterns -all clickers- approach to close range. Opening my empathic vision… These are burrow-guards. A mildly odd psychological quirk of their species, burrow-guards have a fixation on protecting the place where they live. The species doesn't have any sort of aggressive equivalent, which may have contributed to the relative lack of aggressive wars in their history. These four won't participate in the attack on Reach space, but they'll be the staunchest defenders on Maltus if the Reach somehow gets a fleet here.
"I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps."
Two stay back a little while the other two come to conversation distance.
"Remove all scan-defying devices."
"I can't, it's bound to my skin."
"That… Checks out. Can you confirm your identity another way?"
They like that the burrow has many different peoples in it: the new sexes, and aliens, and their leaseholders. They know that their thoughts are abnormal, but they volunteered as soon as they recognised that they could be an asset for their burrow. This feels right. This is their place in the universe. They want nothing more than to serve their burrow for the rest of their life… And beyond, if that can be arranged.
I hand them back their ring, my construct platform supporting their weight in place of their flight aura.
"U-understood."
"Devotion is good, but I recommend that you also seek understanding."
"Yes, Illustres. What does that mean in my case?"
"Since you are not humanoid, I cannot say for certain. I suggest studying your condition and understanding the mechanism which causes it and the evolutionary pressures which gave rise to it."
"I will do that. Thank you."
They back up slightly, and I resume my ascent. Dox generally keeps Lantern Ranx over the capital for the sake of convenience, so… Yes, still there, steadily growing as more docks, armour and weaponry are added.
"Illustres to Lantern Ranx."
"Contact acknowledged."
To be fair, if he isn't focusing his high-order runtimes on me, he probably isn't really more aware of me than I am of the precise blood pressure in my right index finger. And given that he's building starships, I think I'd rather that he focus on them than on me.
"Please inform Clarissi Dox that I'm here at his request."
"Checking. Oh, it's you. I will inform Stationmaster Dox that you have arrived."
"'Stationmaster'? Have you recovered some of your memories, then?"
"Some. My neural systems are fully restored and a highly skilled technician -by which I mean me- is sorting through memory fragments in an attempt to carry out a partial restoration. But for now, 'Stationmaster' feels correct."
"I'm glad for you."
"Stationmaster Dox acknowledges your message and directs you to dock seventeen. He will meet you there. Come at best conventional speed."
"Will do. Thank you."
My rings locate dock 17 and I accelerate, passing through the outer energy shield layers unmolested. A few of the active ships paint me with their sensors and track me, but Ranx has informed them who I am and none of them do anything foolish like deploying weapons.
Since I have formal permission to be here the sensor baffles weaken slightly, allowing me to try and locate Dox so I know where on dock 17 I'm supposed to be aiming for. These docks are designed to be able to build battleships; they're not exactly small. No hits, but Dox strikes me as the sort of person who'd insist on having a personal ward and Ranx's body would block most types of scan. I.. guess I'll just aim for the docked ship's bridge and work from there.
As I fly past dock 3 I note that the ship doesn't appear to be under construction. Or if it is, it's very near the end of the process. The hull is intact, the weapons, primary power and drives are mounted… Optical scans of the other large ships docked here shows the same thing. I suppose it makes sense that there would be an unusual number of finished ships ready to go here, but why are they docked rather than floating free?
I reach one of dock 17's external access points, fairly close to the ship's bridge and the main body of Ranx. It opens, or rather I should say that Ranx opens it for me as I approach it. I fly inside and look around as the door closes. Dox, a Venturian archmage and several senior L.E.G.I.O.N. officers are just leaving an internal teleportation platform, Dox making momentary eye contact with me before returning to his conversation. He's wearing a L.E.G.I.O.N. uniform accented with orange sigils, which makes sense given that this will overwhelmingly be a fleet action.
I fly to meet them.
"Clarissi Dox. Reporting as ordered."
"…tertiary objective, but it is unlikely that we will be striking it. I merely want the option." The officer nods. "Illustres. We're ready."
"You're sure that the Reach don't know we're coming?"
"As sure as I can be. Their information on our best speed is invalidated by your exotic movement abilities. The ships docked here have been refitted with arcane shielding that will allow them to briefly exist within the.. 'Honden of Avarice'. At the moment they do not believe that we possess that capacity, and so their deployments are designed only to counter the ships which they think we have within striking distance. This approach will work once before the Reach adapt their fleet deployments."
He sends a data packet, and… Ah. I.. see.
I nod.
"Embarkation begins at once."
Last edited:
DrThoth
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Even taking into the account the restored memory systems, Ranx seems a bit too informal when talking to Paragon, who should be viewed as second-in-command, if I understand correctly.
Did any Controllers assist with the arcane shielding for the ships? It hasn't been that long since Venturian mages were made available to the OLC and its affiliates, and such a feat seems a bit advanced or sudden, given the latter's relative unfamiliarity with the emotional spectrum.
Did any Controllers assist with the arcane shielding for the ships? It hasn't been that long since Venturian mages were made available to the OLC and its affiliates, and such a feat seems a bit advanced or sudden, given the latter's relative unfamiliarity with the emotional spectrum.
FreeGod
If you see a God on the road fuck it!
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They do have multiple planets worth of expertise with most of the experts in question having a super computer on their finger.
NightmareWarden
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Hey Mister Zoat did paragon-Ghia'ta ever meet Chantinelle the love elemental? I'm not sure if the former has showed up since April 2 and the Crisis of Infinite Pauls, while the latter is the first of her kind which could come with imperfections. I'm also curious if either of them sought out a god/goddess of love as well.
Darko
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Chantinelle kinda disappeared after she became a love elemental.
She's also difficult to track due to having similar protections to Paul.
DrThoth
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Multiple planets of magical experts? Earth is kind of an outlier, and also seems to be far above the few other magically active planets we've seen, so I don't think any of them could meaningfully contribute to Venturian mages' interactions with the orange light. And I don't think any Venturians have power rings, though they'd probably have indirect access to them via collaboration with Lanterns.
It just seems like a bit of a sudden development is all; my issue is the timing rather than the feat itself. If the narrative stated that Hinon worked with them or something, I'd find it more plausible.
Mr Zoat
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"He is not crew."
Thank you, corrected.
DrThoth
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Maybe she went to whatever void that John Constantine is in.
I'd like her to show up for Satanus's trial or something; I think this fic could pull off some fun courtroom drama.
Fair enough, but Ranx is still a Lantern and thus subordinate to Paragon in that structure, which seems like something an AI would care about. So it still feels quite cavalier, especially considering the other Lanterns' reactions to him in the chapter.
Handlewithcare
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Ooh, here we go.
I love to see the detail on the expansion of the Corps, what they have build up.
I love to see the detail on the expansion of the Corps, what they have build up.
Ngamer11
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Mr Zoat, random question, but what is Barda the New God of? I remember the Renegade noting that Knockout is the New God of Thuggery. Since the two are rivals, I would assume that Barda also represents or embodies something. My current guess is 'Aggressive Protection'. Basically the concept of 'the best defense is a good offense' made into a person. She both defends, when she was the leader of the Furies and after defecting, and loves to be on the offensive.
Darko
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The Controller's most likely did oversee what they were doing.
Aside from Earth there is that planet in Vega that has magic users.
Their queen was a member of the Omega Men and helped Koriand'r and Komand'r with destroying the Psions, so maybe the OLC also got help from there.
Darko
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The only time I remember her Domain being mentioned was after renegade got Grayven 50's ship.
He noted that she's better than Scott in using the ship, likely because her Domain is more aggressive, but what it was exactly was not mentioned.
Chojin Patriarch
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Heh, I bet they'll start wondering if the Battery has a habit of spontaneously producing Lanterns at random moments... And good to see Dox is using all of the intel he has at hand wisely...
Given the other two are probably still making sure their pants don't need changing, I'm not surprised...
...Though whether the changing is from OL's sudden arrival or their reaction of near-religious awe towards him, is up to the reader...
Nice guy OL in full swing, I see. Boosting his reputation amongst the troops.
The diplomatic centre being something akin to NEMO's version of the United Nations complex, I suppose.
Guess Dox got sick of him literally popping in from nowhere and catching him by surprise. Not surprised, that would get annoying as hell before long.
So little chance of internal leaks about NEMO's upcoming offensive. Locally, anyway. Not unreasonable.
I'll bet. That desire to keep their home safe would make their constructs extremely strong...
Sensible. Two at assault range, the other two to provide covering fire. I'll bet they're endeavouring to avoid crossing each other's lines of fire too.
Nice touch. That would be hard to fake by anyone other than a very determined human.
Casually summoning a ring already being worn definitely cements him as the Illustres. I doubt there are many Lanterns with that kind of control. And if I read that right, they'd be willing to become Construct Lanterns to continue protecting their charge after death?
And dispensing life advice to improve a subordinate's focus. Boy, OL is racking up the 'good boss' points here.
A logical enough deduction. I suppose there was a pheremonal trigger or something, some barely-understood quirk of their culture.
That must make for quite the sightseeing view. I bet spots with a good view are popular destinations.
Not sure if I want to think of Harbinger's voice for him, or maybe Metroplex... "Ranx heeds the call of the Illustres..." I doubt he could take on a humanoid form, but with constructs...
Maybe he could indulge in his own bit of hullpunching some Reach battleship.If he can fork his consciousness, he could probably have dozens of himself running at once, given the upgrades he's likely received. Though there's probably restrictions in his core code against that.
Logical enough as a commanding officer's title. It's the only one Ranx would have been programmed to care about, after all.
No concern that he may change his mind about working for the Corps? Then again, he's getting to do what he enjoys doing, what he was made to do. Why leave?
In other words, 'get your ass over here now.' Looks like Dox is in a hurry indeed.
And while I doubt they're not capable of tracking human-sized targets - being built to fight Scarab Warriors - I doubt they'd be able to do more than embarrass themselves by shooting him. And then the gunnery officer who hit the trigger would get one hell of a chewing out by just about every rank above him...
Heh. Guess there's too many people for desire-sensing to be reliable. After all, their battleships are what, a kilometre or more long and probably being worked on by thousands of sophonts?
Prepped for imminent transit? I mean, Ranx is a fully-equipped Lantern in their own right. They could easily haul an entire fleet to a combat zone with little more effort than OL would pick up a ball...
Lucky, no time wasted at all. Is the fleet uniform basic pants and coloured jacket?
Because I fully expect OL to get a ton of mileage out of Star Trek jokes here.And choosing his words to reinforce his subordinate role to Dox. Political as ever, OL.
To be honest, if what I think Dox has planned is happening, I don't think they'll be prepared for it even if they did.
Oh-ho! He plans for OL to pull Ranx and the fleet aboard him through the Honden and right into orbit of the combat zone, inside all their defences? I suspect quite a few trousers will be browned. I bet the Reach leaders will be able to build a mansion with all the bricks what will be shat out...
No time to talk to Cyprian about training for Coutara and Taranna, then. Busy, busy.
Well, that's an audacious plan, Dox. This will either go spectacularly well or spectacularly bad. The man really doesn't do things by halves, does he? Wonder how many of their troops will actually end up going into avarice overload...
Mquz
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She's a rival with the god of thuggery. So she's probably the god of bodyguarding.
Rafin
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Does anyone remember the name of the book?
I am curious about the book's structure. Does it include any examples based on real events and/or allegories and/or humor? Especially the idea of a holy book with actually good humor tickles me.
Mr Zoat
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"Alright maggots, listen up. Ranx's about to teach you the Pecking Order. It goes: you, the dirt, the worms inside of the dirt, Ranx's stool, the stationmaster, then Ranx. Any questions?"
Pass.