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

3rd July 2012
10:47 GMT -5


The defence fleet reorientates as the four of us grow steadily closer. I don't think that they honestly believe that we're the main attack; Reach ships are known to be able to kill Lanterns, and I see they've reactivated some of the older models and sent them to the Reserve Fleet we're currently facing.
I'm impressed that they had what had to be museum pieces by now still on hand. I suppose they're kept maintained and ready to deploy at a moment's notice just in case the Green Lantern Corps went back in it's pact...

Not that the old ships are worse than the more recently constructed ones. Far from it. Rather, they're optimised for fighting Lanterns, targets they stopped needing to specialise against once their war with the Green Lantern Corps ended. Ships whose forward deployment might have been taking by the Guardians as an indication that they were thinking about fighting Lanterns again. Those things are ships that the Orange Lantern Corps has run training exercises about; they don't try and kill Lanterns with direct fire. They usually have some small direct fire weapons for coup de grâce shots, but their primary armaments are things like spatial disruptors which can cover huge volumes of space, or telepathic weapons which interfere with a Lantern's focus and so their ability to create and maintain constructs.
The latter being a weapon we've seen affect OL before - in the form of the modified Brain Bane used on him a year or so ago in-universe - and presumably the 'spatial disruptors' make it hard to maintain the integrity of a construct within the area of effect... Logical enough to use against Lanterns, whatever the colour.

A few ships try firing on us, but the sheer volume of space that they're trying to cover means that there's next to no chance of them scoring a hit. I spot two drone carriers launch their cargoes in our directions, but since they're forced to travel at sublight speeds they won't be in effective weapons range until long after we overtake our quarry. If that's all they can do…
Not that they care much about the ship OL's wing are chasing beyond its' usefulness as a way to get knowledge of the attack...

"Illustres to Clarissi. Reach fleet doesn't appear to have long range FTL weapons."

"Obviously. Empathic results?"
"Blasted human, stating the obvious again. Is that some trait of their species?"

"Crew well motivated and sure of themselves. They know that they're unlikely to survive, but they believe that they can cripple us. I can't see anything related to a clever strategy or concealed allies."

"Scarabs?"
Helpful. Though I doubt any but the highest commanders would have access to more out-of-the-ordinary knowledge.

"They're blocking me, so they're probably-."

"Understood."
So the scarabs won't be giving their game away when OL fights them. Good to know.

The connections fades. Well, alright, naturally he's paying attention to the only active combat currently taking place. But if he's done an analysis on the weapons the defenders are actually using, couldn't he have shared that with us? He's a far better analyst than me.

"So..?" Velus flies a little closer. "Are you planning on fighting..?"
And not let the Reach keep worrying about what he'll do? Seriously, OL is like the little asian guy in the middle of the brawl right now. You know he's going to do something, you want to see him do it, even if you know it'll be bad for you...

"Ideally, I won't. Dox has me here for two reasons, but it would be far better for Orange Lanterns who aren't me to get experience in real combat with their rings against our primary enemy."

"Oh? Well, we got two minutes until we're in effective attack range… So?"
No doubt OL will explain in detail about Dox's plans for his deployment. We all know how he loves to exposit.

"We will lose battles during this war. That is practically unavoidable. But this is a fight we're supposed to win, to spur on our allies and potential allies. Losing here is unacceptable. If something strange happens and all other forces we're bringing to bear aren't enough, it's my job to ensure a victory."

"Because you're a super-Lantern."
;) Hey, once you've hosted the Ophidian, you can call yourself a Super-Lantern too. Don't sound so snippy.

"I'm not sure that I'm the most powerful Lantern in the universe, but I'm either number one or number two. It.. being understood that raw power isn't the only measure of ability. To the best of my knowledge the Reach don't have anything I can't defeat, but me having to do so would prove that Dox's preparations have been essentially useless. That's bad, politically."

"If you say so. What's the other reason?"
Feh, Politics. Not what the soldiers on the ground care about.

"My usual job. If an Orange Lantern goes crazy, it's my job to disarm them."

"You had to do that before?"
Don't ask him to demonstrate now, you might be needing your ring in a moment. But it's not too hard to learn, I suspect.

"A couple of times. Larfleeze was my first. The others were easier."

"Crazy Orange Lanterns are supposed to get real powerful.
Doesn't matter how powerful you can be when someone can just tell the Ophidian, "Shut this guy down, please, dear?"

"As I said, power isn't the only measure of ability. Clarissi Dox isn't all that powerful, but his understanding of weapons and technology means that he can do more with it. You heard about my fight with Lantern Ragnar?"

"He tells everyone. I think he's proud of it. Do you think you'll need to do something like that here?"
No doubt he's proud. He was bested personally by the leader he now serves. If you look at it the right way, they had to send him to take Ragnar down, because he's the only one who was able to do it. :rolleyes: Just don't mention the fact that OL was more or less the only Orange Lantern in the field at the time...

"No. I'm just insurance. But I'm trying to stay close to the most worrisome cases."

"Huh. Yeah, I guess that's fair. But all the targets in this system are military, aren't they?"
Suggesting they can go weapons-free on any Reach personnel they see without fear of censure? And note that he missed the unspoken suggestion that the three of them are some of those worrisome cases. :p

"If you can't identify targets-"

All four of us evade as a.. relatively weak gravity wave erupts outwards from the drive of our quarry. They appear to have accepted that they're not going to escape. Quite clever, really; their ship isn't design to be able to do that and they must have reengineered the thing in flight without losing acceleration.

"-then you shouldn't be in the field."
Huh, more 'Star Trek'-worthy references. They must have one hell of an engineer on board...

But that sacrifice in acceleration for a desperation attack means that we're getting into attack range. Brobranbrak's ring glows brilliantly, then I'm surprised that zhe turns zhe's head away from the target to glance at me. Then zhe forms aCrumbler ram construct and throws it towards the Reach ship.

"Well done. But-."
Now, now, OL. Don't comment yet, you don't know what zhe's planning. They might be testing the defences with a weak probing attack. Don't assume they're making a rookie mistake.

The ship begins to twist, and the moment it can bring any of its guns to bear it fires at the construct. Brobranbrak winces, but the construct collapses.

"-all Reach ships have weapons precise enough to snipe constructs. You need-."
All you're doing is annoying them. Let them work, OL.

"I do not need you to explain it to me."

Zhe reforms the ram and adds a outer shield before launching it again. I've felt like that before; the lesson is obvious and a person of reasonable intelligence can work it out without a tutor drawing particular attention to it. And zhe might have wanted to weigh up the ship's flak capacities for zheself. I shouldn't assume that Lantern Brobranbrak allowed zhe's contempt for aliens to influence zhe's decision.
:rolleyes: More likely that's annoyance at your commentary, OL. You do seem to have that effect on some people.

So it's good that I don't have to assume things, and I could just check and confirm that's why. Still, I'll call it a win if zhe's abilities are improved by the event. No real need to labour the point.

The Reach ship fires again, but Lantern Brobranbrak remembers to have zhe's construct evade so that the shield only needs to take a couple of hits before slamming into the ship's shield envelope. The shield flares as the smart control system tries to respond to the thing that's hitting it before-. It's gone, and the ram carries on to punch a hole in the hull beneath.
See, now that's how you do it. I wonder if the Reach have ever encountered anything like Crumbler-tech before? Earth Bullshittm​ for the win!

Worth knowing. For a ship this size, smart shielding is the most efficient form of defence. But the standard 'neutral' defence is essentially an unusually efficient plasma shield, and crumber technology goes right through that.

Guns around the area struck lose power and some atmosphere vents, but that-.
So, is that a mission kill or what? Having a giant drill slam straight into the power-plant would be a pretty effective way to do it.

There's a flare of light from inside the ship, and its motion becomes less controlled. Most ships that side don't focus on internal defences beyond teleport jammers, on the assumption that it the shields and armour have been breached then the ship's doomed anyway. Sticking a fission bomb is usually more than enough to wreck them from inside.

Quick check…

"Kill confirmed."
Good-o. One for Brobranbrak. Four more and you get to be an Ace!

I check the system. The L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet is well inside the system, and will be coming within-.

I feel a new-. A cluster of new lights enter the system on another vector. Not reading L.E.G.I.O.N. transponders. If they're Reach ships-.
Someone else attacking at the same time? A poorly-timed supply run? A Reach fleet passing through on the way to somewhere else? Let's see!

"Clarissi to Illustres. Return to the fleet at once."

"Acknowledged. Returning now."
...Let's see tomorrow!

All going well so far, at least from what OL's seeing. I wonder if other Lanterns are having as easy a time on their end... And who's this turning up?

The connections fades.
The connection fades.
"Crazy Orange Lanterns are supposed to get real powerful.
Missing a closing quotation mark.
 
No doubt he's proud. He was bested personally by the leader he now serves. If you look at it the right way, they had to send him to take Ragnar down, because he's the only one who was able to do it. :rolleyes: Just don't mention the fact that OL was more or less the only Orange Lantern in the field at the time...

Kori and Komand'r were made Lanterns before OL met Ragnar, and they were doing Lantern things at the time.
 
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Is there a reason they didn't hit some place deeper in? If the Reach have mothballed their anti-lantern fleet then it seems like it wouldn't matter if their target was more built up.
 
Is there a reason they didn't hit some place deeper in? If the Reach have mothballed their anti-lantern fleet then it seems like it wouldn't matter if their target was more built up.

The deeper places may have more ships and advanced tech than this place, so it could be more difficult and chances of failure are higher.

This place is dangerous, but the chances of failure, and thus losing support, are much smaller.
 
Is there a reason they didn't hit some place deeper in? If the Reach have mothballed their anti-lantern fleet then it seems like it wouldn't matter if their target was more built up.
Because it's not just starships that are a danger to them.

It's also Scarab Warriors.

And the deeper in you go, the more Scarab Warriors there likely are.
 
That's probably not the best idea given what they are up against.

After all, Entities can be killed.

point- if they've been preparing their anti-lantern combat techniques for decades/centuries, AND have established doctrine/surviving combat records from the war with the bobbleheads to base newer on, long shot or not commtting the ace in the hole bar extremis would a heck of an unacceptable risk- the Reach are one of the few powers likely to have put the effort into designing countermeasures for that kinda scenario...

granted their countermeasures would -probably- be minmaxed towards countering/knocking out a greenie hosting Ion, but given the demonstrated adaptability of their tech given one of their crews rewired their drive system into a AOE Weapon on the fly, and how bullshit the breadth of capabilities of a scarab warrior are.....
 
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granted their countermeasures would -probably- be minmaxed towards countering/knocking out a greenie hosting Ion, but given the demonstrated adaptability of their tech given one of their crews rewired their drive system into a AOE Weapon on the fly, and how bullshit the breadth of capabilities of a scarab warrior are.....
Actually, no. The Reach have never encountered Ion, and based on the very limited records they've accessed about it have tentatively concluded that it was probably either a very powerful Lantern or a Guardian.
 
point- if they've been preparing their anti-lantern combat techniques for decades/centuries, AND have established doctrine/surviving combat records from the war with the bobbleheads to base newer on, long shot or not commtting the ace in the hole bar extremis would a heck of an unacceptable risk- the Reach are one of the few powers likely to have put the effort into designing countermeasures for that kinda scenario...

Jaime's scarab landed on Earth 4 thousand years ago, so they might have been coming up with anti-lantern weapons and strategies for millenia.
 
Actually, no. The Reach have never encountered Ion, and based on the very limited records they've accessed about it have tentatively concluded that it was probably either a very powerful Lantern or a Guardian.
Of course, the procedures for killing an Entity in a host are pretty much the same as the procedures for killing a very powerful Lantern or Guardian.
 
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Wait a minute, the Sheeda are dealt with, the Reach are the next arc. Are we reaching the end of the story? I suppose Renegade will deal with Darkseid while Paul is dealing with the Reach, but damn...
 
Wait a minute, the Sheeda are dealt with, the Reach are the next arc. Are we reaching the end of the story? I suppose Renegade will deal with Darkseid while Paul is dealing with the Reach, but damn...
The Reach will take years/decades in-universe. They'll also eventually visit Earth. When either Paul/the Renegade finds out, they will wreck them.
 
Wait a minute, the Sheeda are dealt with, the Reach are the next arc. Are we reaching the end of the story? I suppose Renegade will deal with Darkseid while Paul is dealing with the Reach, but damn...
This is a single battle, an important one as it is the opening battle after a long cold war between Maltus and the Reach, but still a single battle.

Even if the Reach are defeated, there are still plenty of stories left that could be told.

How does Paul's relationship with the Justice League grow?
Does Jade and Paul get married? Do they have kids?
Does Paul nudge Earth into getting Starships? Colonies?
Does Apokilips decide to attack?
How does the Orange Lantern Core transition from a military organization to a trading/militia organization after the war? Stick with a Sector Lantern system, go with more Lanterns per Sector, or a completely new system that works better with Orange Light?
Does the War of Light start? Will the Darkest Night fall? Who will wield the White Light of Life? (my money is on Dr. Mist. He already seems to achieved White light enlightenment.)

Most importantly, does Boss Smiley get defeated allowing Earth to finally advance both socially and technologically?

Speaking of captain Chuckles, I have been wondering if he is the reason the attack on the Reach started so suddenly. It is a mighty big coincidence that right after the Sheeda were beaten, the Reachian/Maltus war went live. I thing Mr. Smiles wanted Paul off-world for a while to try and work some devious scheme to slow advancement down again. What's he plotting?
 
And there it is.

You know someone should really go tell the Crumbler that his technology is literally the most powerful crap in the universe. It basically tells every single thing it's ever been thrown at except magic to piss off
 
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I feel a new-. A cluster of new lights enter the system on another vector. Not reading L.E.G.I.O.N. transponders. If they're Reach ships-.

"Clarissi to Illustres. Return to the fleet at once."

"Acknowledged. Returning now."
I am Flora not fauna, Foliage not trees.
What am I?


The Worst Kind of Shrubbery, Ambush.
 
And there it is.

You know someone should really go tell the Crumbler that his technology is literally the most powerful crap in the universe. It basically tells every single thing it's ever been thrown at except magic to piss off
And this is why you shouldn't massively buff an obscure bit of technology.

For those who didn't know, in the comics Crumbler technology is psychic-tech that only works when it's physically connected to a person's body.
 
Over Reaching (part 8)
3rd July 2012
10:53 GMT -5


Gordanians.

Since Dox expressed displeasure at being told things he probably already knows, I don't point out to him that the heraldry and transponder marks them out as the Unending Conquest clan. The three yellow lines and a white blob emblem that every ship, weapon and adult clan member will have somewhere. The ships are mostly as I remember from the flotilla they sent to the meeting in Youlsi. None of the civilian ships or support ships that accompanied the diplomatic mission, but the general design and the slight headache I get when I focus on them are much the same.

The dreadnaught's new. And very clearly not gordanian in construction.

It.. utterly dwarfs the other ships. It could treat the heavily armoured battleships in the fleet in the way most carriers do their parasite craft. Their fleet is making excellent time to the Reach facility and as far as I can tell it's because that ship is blocking the effects of the FTL jammers. I'm having trouble matching it to anything on file. Most species don't build ships that large, and most of them are civilian ships. In a military setting they're too clumsy; equal tonnage of smaller ships are a better bet in most situations. It… Could be a support ship of some kind; shipbound gordanian clans do generally grow their own food and raise their young on ships, and something that size could have plenty of space…

Fall Before Me!

But that doesn't feel right. This… Feels like a warship. A pure warship.

A squadron of gordanian cruisers accelerate away from their formation, swiftly running down a Reach vessel which had been heading in their direction. They open fire at what a professional navy would consider optimal engagement range, their shots are accurate and disciplined, and one ship that took a hit from the Reach vessel's primary weapon falls back in formation and takes cover behind a ship with fully powered shields. Most gordanian warfleets would struggle for that degree of discipline.

Hm.

It's not gordanian, but I'm not sure whose it is. It's also got the same headache aura that the small-. Relatively small gordanian ships have…

"Any of you recognise that?"

Light-Click Quiet-Cough Rasp gives their antennae a shrug-wiggle. "No. Not the ship or the style or the underlying technology."

Velus shrugs. "It's big."

Brobranbrak doesn't respond, but does continue studying it in detail.

"When you look at it… Do you feel..? Strange?"

Velus smiles awkwardly. "No, no, you're thinking of the khundians. Killing doesn't arouse me. It's more of a… An intellectual satisfaction."

"I didn't mean in a libidinous sense. Like a… Headache? Like there's something… More, than what you're seeing?"

"I don't think I even understand what you're asking. Moving pretty fast, there. How worried are we right now?"

"If it really came to it we could accelerate just as hard. We're not because we don't need to. The gordanians might be racing to get into position to aid the Reach…" But the Reach ships are reforming their formation in a way which suggests that the other interlopers aren't any friendlier than we are. "But that doesn't seem to be what's happening."

"How did they even get here? Are there… Two of you?"

"I've met hundreds of me, but they all came from parallel universes and I've got a way to detect that. But if I can do something, I'm not arrogant enough to assume that no one else can have a similar ability."

All… Right. Given the speed of light and the relative position of the fleets…

Out I go

and back again, ready to take advantage of light speed sensors. FTL ring scans show the gordanian fleet not all that far behind me, and I take advantage of that fact to get some better quality scans in. The gordanians don't change direction, and while something they're doing causes my scan returns to glitch slightly, I'm able to power through it. Slower than light scans in the direction of their sudden appearance…

A giant portal.

I shift further away

for another look, knowing perfectly well that the quality is only going to degrade. That-. There are a lot of different forms of portal, some of which don't need a device at the end point. Even a zeta tube technically doesn't, as long as you don't mind a degree of imprecision. And I didn't detect any zeta radiation. The other type of portal like that which I'm familiar with is Canis Minor's boom tube. Canis always seemed rather dismissive of warships, but apparently their ships did make use of boom tube generators.

Going the other way

is easier, the focused desires of the Orange Lantern Corps standing out rather obviously. I send the images I recorded to Dox, then wait for a response.

Velus points at the gordanian fleet. "Find anything?"

"Know anything about Apokolips?"

He doesn't respond, his eyes flashing-.

"Oh."

"I can't be completely sure, but I think that's a New God dreadnaught. I'm not 'worried', exactly, but I'm concerned that there's something going on that I don't know about."

Hm.

"Orange Illustres to…" Who's going to be on Earth? Coutara doesn't have the connections yet, the greenies could be dealing with things anywhere else in the Sector. Alan's probably still on the tour. "Dame Carol."

Her face appears almost immediately. "Lord Citrine. What aid can I lend you?"

"Nothing exciting, I'm afraid. Are you anywhere near Canis Minor?"

"The dog rider from Apokolips? No. Do you wish for me to relay a message?"

Transmit.

"I'm sending you the image of a ship. Please ask him if he recognises it."

"You believe it is Apokoliptian?"

"Yes, though if it's not there's still a good chance that he'll recognise it."

"I will begin-. Ah, I have him. One-"

The image vanishes for a moment, then reappears.

"-moment. Hail, warrior!"

"That may not be the best-."

The image shudders and then vanishes.

"That may not be the best approach, because Canis is Apokoliptian and considers violence to be artistic."

The image reappears.

"I should have made my intentions slightly clearer, but he is now restrained and still able to speak with you."

"Thank you. Could you put him on?" Canis's face replaces hers. "Canis."

"Do you need me to return? I was conducting a tour of the most heavily damaged sites to gain inspiration. I had informed Aqualad…"

"No, I just need to know if you recognise this ship. Dame Ferris, if you could..?"

Canis glances away for a moment, then nods.

"Yes. Though this image tells me little. It appears… Older. I have no idea who commands it."

"Thank you. I'll-."

The gordanian and Reach forces begin firing at one another.

"I'll let you know how it goes."
 
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told thing he probably

'things'

the Unending Conquest clan.

Ah, the big grey guy is here.

ship it blocking the effects of the FTL jammers.

'ship is'

weapon fall back in formation

'falls back'

I've got way to detect that

either add 'no' or 'a way'

the gordanian fleet not all that far behind me,

maybe 'is not'

The other type of portal like that I'm familiar with is

maybe remove 'like'

the focuses desires of the Orange Lantern Corps

'focused'

The image vanishes for a moment, the reappears.

'then reappears'

but his is now restrained

'he is now'

Did he try to attack her?
 
Fall Before Me!

But that doesn't feel right. This… Feels like a warship. A pure warship.

"When you look at it… Do you feel..? Strange?"

Velus smiles awkwardly. "No, no, you're thinking of the khundians. Killing doesn't arouse me. It's more of a… An intellectual satisfaction."

"I didn't mean in a libidinous sense. Like a… Headache? Like there's something… More, than what you're seeing?"

"I don't think I even understand what you're asking. Moving pretty fast, there. How worried are we right now?"
Paul's mystic senses are pinging again.
 

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