thebishop8
Umm, ackchyually...
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The last line from the previous chapter is above the date, I'm assuming that's unintentional.
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The last line from the previous chapter is above the date, I'm assuming that's unintentional.
What is a 'kimetic'?
Thank you, corrected.The last line from the previous chapter is above the date, I'm assuming that's unintentional.
Grayven's whole thing is conquest. He wants the territory and the supplication of the survivors. The OLC, on the other hand, just wants genocide. They don't care about the territory, just about removing the Reach from it.
I think their values are sufficiently orthogonal as to not intersect. Assuming Grayven is willing to talk at all before opening fire, I anticipate either an alliance or non-aggression pact.
One of the classic problems of space combat: What happens when the other guy has more gun? We're about to see, methinks."I'll let you know how it goes."
3rd July 2012
10:57 GMT -5
Fixed positions in space are… A mixed blessing. Certain types of weapons -kinetics, mostly- can hit from almost any distance away, but since the citadel doesn't need to be able to move the normal problems of moving large masses don't limit its armour or other defences. If you fire kinetic weapons at it, it can deal with them with its flack batteries or just tank it. But at the same time, if someone can point a sufficiently large gun at you and you can't move, you're toast, while a far smaller ship -or a Lantern- might be able to evade.
My, my... Dammit, now I'm thinking of Gryps II from the Gundam Universal Century timeline... Big gun, big target. But the Dreadnaught is a lot tougher than a converted O'Neill Cylinder...In this region major battle fortresses are popular with anyone who can afford them because the combination of popular offensive strategies and defensive strategies. The most dangerous single things are Scarab Warriors and Lanterns, who combine a high damage output with extremely high evasiveness. Structures are therefore mostly defensive, with electronic warfare, shields and point defences. And that's great most of the time. But that New God warship has a gun most of the Reach fleet could fly into.
The joy of using gravity-based weapons a lot. I suppose conventional space combats, without Lanterns involved, tend to be a bit more submarine-warfare-inspired.The initial shots come from the gordanian ships as they copy our actions, squadrons shifting position to destroy beacons and mines. A few Reach fire support ships take shots at… I'm guessing the dreadnaught, but at this distance their shots won't hit for nearly a minute even if the dreadnaught maintains its course perfectly. In open space ships with FTL guns are deadly, but in a place where everyone is trying to gum up the working of space-time they're not much more effective than other types of big gun-focused ship.
I don't know, Grayven-16 probably enjoys stepping on bugs...The dreadnaught isn't firing yet. I can see what I think are weapon mounts, but I'm not sure what their optimal range is and I doubt that a New God is going to try fighting anything as small as a b-
By My Order Be Unmade.
A classic moment of "What the fuck?!" Especially for the Reach.A Reach battleship, several nearby escorts and a bastion station behind it are reduced to vapour in an explosion..?
-ouy…
Seriously, he has to learn how to pick up Godspeech properly soon, if it gives him headaches through the Ring's healing like this... Heck, this might encourage him to do so.
Tense knife-fights with opponents you can't actually see. Yup, guessed as much.Focus. That was an FTL weapon, with the rather confusing profile of appearing to hit before they're fired. There was no sign of any sort of charge build-up in the dreadnaught's primary weapon, but the destroyed ships were in a direct line with the ship's long axis. So they've got FTL sensors as well, which… Some gordanians used to buy that sort of technology from the psions, but it's unusual. Lanterns get spoilt by their FTL sensors; most fleet engagements happen between groups of people who can only see where the other side used to be.
...Definitely in the Wave-Motion Cannon/Macross Cannon class. If this were a 40k battle, Abbadon would have an erection right now at the destructive power...By My Hand Be Cast Down.
This time the dreadnaught strikes the planet directly, the facility's shield failing to do a thing to block the shot as it disintegrates the main base, the surrounding land, the… Well, the moon was a frozen desert, but now it's a frozen desert that's been knocked out of its orbit by a combination of the force of the shot and the rapid evaporation of about a twentieth of its mass, the now-visible core of the world doing that.. interesting combination of freezing and boiling that water does in a vacuum.
Hey, you wanted this war, you don't get to be squeamish about it afterwards. Ends justify the Means, after all. We can expect quite a few atrocities on all side, by the time this is done...Never seen rock do that before, though I suspect this is going to become a recurring theme of this war. And not just by our enemies; Dox assured me that we won't be doing it to worlds that still have hostage populations-. 'Salvageable' hostage populations, but once we get to the point where we're directly fighting worlds whose populations consist entirely of Reach citizens I imagine that I shouldn't expect much restraint.
So it comes down to Grayven-16's dick substitute making the difference. Why am I not surprised at all by that?The Reach fleet gets underway, accelerating at… Yes, their best speed towards the gordanians. Even allowing that the rest of the fleet is more potent than what most gordanian mercenaries manage… Yes, I can calculate their damage output based on how quickly they destroyed that first Reach ship, scale upwards… The Reach fleet should easily win if the dreadnaught isn't factored in. I don't have any idea of what its secondary and tertiary weapons can do, so it's impossible to say who is truly has the advantage.
Hopefully he's thinking and processing strategic data, not frozen by shock. That will not help his position.But I don't think that someone who could get their hands on a New God warship would have judged their entry into this war carelessly.
Dox is getting.. a lot of requests for orders. I'm not hearing any responses.
...And OL undercutting him isn't going to help either. Still, that kind of is the Illustres' job. When the Clarissi is indisposed or unresponsive, guess who the Lanterns look to for orders.I don't have any rank in L.E.G.I.O.N., but Orange Lanterns are very much my concern. I don't want to undermine Dox, but if he isn't.. saying anything…
Illustres to all Lanterns.
Still, I'm sure ring translation can provide an equivalent euphemism... Or aphorism or whatever it is..."Looks like a New God can have a midlife crisis."
It's a weak witticism, and I doubt the Lanterns who don't come from a species with the standard pattern humanoid reproductive system would understand the reference.
And the more scan data the analysts have to work with, the easier it'll be to find a way to kill them."I hope that everyone is watching very carefully and recording precisely the capacities of the gordanian fleet. The sensors the L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet uses are good, but they're not power rings. And while I'm sure that everyone is disappointed that someone is going to beat us to killing a Reach fleet… There are plenty more where they came from."
Yay... Remember, you picked him, OL. If he turns out to be unsuitable for field leadership duties, it's on you.I don't do anything exotic, but the orange lights around me intensify… Or rather, return to their previous intensity after dipping when the gordanian fleet appeared. I'm not a particularly good public speaker and I don't have a personal relationship with these Lanterns so there's probably not much more I can do until Dox decides what he wants us to do. I could try contacting that dreadnaught directly, or try reaching Councillor Vayneek to discover their intentions… But I don't want to undermine Dox.
Because of course if they have a fleet-scale rapid transit option, why not use it in combat?The Reach fleet is firing in earnest, now, as the gordanians continue to accelerate and cluster tighter. Reach prow-mounted primary weapons are all firing at the dreadnaught, which-. Definite lateral movement, there. Trying to move itself out of the densest cone of fire? Those weapons are a good deal slower than light, so-.
This time, I see the moment when the fleet-scale boom tube appears.
Instant flanking manoeuvre, just add kabooms. Hard to keep your guard up when you have to be aware of all directions becoming attack vectors.It opens just in front of the dreadnaught, the entire fleet passing through before all but the earliest shots from the Reach intersect with their former position. Okay, are they.. disengaging? Somewhat anticlimactic, but if they just want to soften our target up for-.
Then the exit appears, immediately behind the Reach fleet. The smaller gordanian ships are out first, shooting after the larger Reach ships and rapidly closing to point blank range. Reach ships are tough, but their attackers have a weapon loadout focused on short range bombardment and are highly skilled at coordinating their fire. One gun-battleship has its shields breached before it can reorientate them, the barrage breaking its armour and piercing its primary generators a moment later.
"There's no escaping them now." Seriously, why am I picturing an Eve Online battle right now?Reach return fire is slower but not slow, hampered more by the relative position of the fleets than the sloth of the crews. They're turning, but their formation isn't designed to fight an enemy coming from that direction and-.
And then the dreadnaught is through and their efforts-
Grayven certainly is bombastic, isn't he, when he's speaking in Divine voice? No doubt it'll apply to his in-person appearances too...
Since the weapons get stronger when a New God is backing them, I take it. Grayven-16's literally reaching out and touching the foe. And what he touches dies.Two battleships this time, and I think… It's targeting the Reach fleet's flags. And it turns out that it does have secondary weapon batteries and I can't even see the Reach fleet's return fire now. Scaled up Apokoliptian blasters. Far slower that light but far more powerful than the infantry version. Reach ships crumple, their shields failing in moments and their hulls only shortly afterwards. That… Means there's a powerful New God on that dreadnaught, either that or a team of less powerful ones perfectly coordinating themselves.
Feh, as if friendly fire matters to Grayven-16? I fully expect him to shoot through his servants to strike down his foes... He's that kind of bad boss...The gordanians aren't having it entirely their own way. One of the flanking Reach squadrons manages to reposition itself and make a coordinating counterattack. Two gordanian cruisers are caught while attacking a.. carrier? And reduced to drifting hulks as the squadron heads for a gordanian battleship a little way behind them. They're also careful to keep a number of gordanian ships between them and the dreadnaught, which isn't a terrible idea…
Contempt for his worthless minions, who are cannon fodder for his plans, grist for the mill of his war?But I've seen Canis, Scott Free and Barda interact with New God technology. The commander of that ship isn't going to miss in a situation like this. The only question is whether they take the shot themselves or order the battleship to deal with it. The fact that they haven't shared blaster technology with the gordanian ships suggests that they aren't perfectly cooperating… So what wins out? Pride in the power of their fleet, or contempt for those who fail to grasp their own power?
Or maybe they're just trying to get out of the way of the planet-killer. Seriously, anywhere the dreadnaught's main gun is pointing is the last place you want to be...The battleship spots the attack and opens fire, its primary and secondary batteries picking targets by class. Its support squadron turn away from their targets a moment later, moving to flank the attackers. The Reach ships are dying faster than their worse-positioned comrades, so if this is a sacrificial-.
The dreadnaught fires, miss-.
Ah, he noticed something amidst the chaos?
Which means most Orange Lanterns aren't going to far much better. Time for a strategic withdrawal, perhaps? Quickly?No, not missing. The squadron's command ship had a Scarab Warrior who was flying at the gordanian battleship. The dreadnaught apparently considered that to be the only thing the battleship couldn't deal with on its own. And two blaster secondary batteries are enough to shred a Scarab Warrior.
Looks like Grayven-16's had enough play for the moment. The question is, what does he intend to do next?I look back to the ongoing combat, only to find that it's not really ongoing. The Reach fleet has ceased to be, the few survivors being pursued as they try to flee. They aren't getting away though; the dreadnaught is opening smaller boom tubes for the cruisers to intercept them, all the while turning to-
Trouble Me No More.
Shiiiiit.-utterly shatter the moon with its main gun.
Huh.
Then a new fleet-scale boom tube opens just ahead of our fleet.
The dreadnaught isn't firing yet. I can see what I think are weapon mounts, but I'm not sure what their optimal range is and I doubt that a New God is going to try fighting anything as small as a b-
By My Order Be Unmade.
Focus. That was an FTL weapon, with the rather confusing profile of appearing to hit before they're fired. There was no sign of any sort of charge build-up in the dreadnaught's primary weapon, but the destroyed ships were in a direct line with the ship's long axis. So they've got FTL sensors as well, which… Some gordanians used to buy that sort of technology from the psions, but it's unusual. Lanterns get spoilt by their FTL sensors; most fleet engagements happen between groups of people who can only see where the other side used to be.
By My Hand Be Cast Down.
And then the dreadnaught is through and their efforts-
By My Will, Cease.
I look back to the ongoing combat, only to find that it's not really ongoing. The Reach fleet has ceased to be, the few survivors being pursued as they try to flee. They aren't getting away though; the dreadnaught is opening smaller boom tubes for the cruisers to intercept them, all the while turning to-
Trouble Me No More.
...Definitely in the Wave-Motion Cannon/Macross Cannon class. If this were a 40k battle, Abbadon would have an erection right now at the destructive power...
Yay... Remember, you picked him, OL. If he turns out to be unsuitable for field leadership duties, it's on you.
Feh, as if friendly fire matters to Grayven-16? I fully expect him to shoot through his servants to strike down his foes... He's that kind of bad boss...
You are when you want to be.
Those aren't stray; they've got a forever home.
Even though it was a typo, I'd like to answer this anyway.
By all appearances he is doing a fine job of undermining himself.
I think this is supposed to be "buoy"?
no Bouy is noun and Buoy is a verb.
The one that says "(head)" is broken. It's supposed to be a redirect heading to correct a commonly misspelled word, and it isn't a definition in and of itself.Edit: never mind the dictionary page shifted over finally and the verb definition moved under buoy and second noun one moved over, sorry for correcting you when i was wrong. i think you are correct and bouy only says definition is head. Weirdly now im picturing headshots.
Oh, well now my funny visual is goneThe one that says "(head)" is broken. It's supposed to be a redirect heading to correct a commonly misspelled word, and it isn't a definition in and of itself.
Thank you, corrected.
Mostly, because he doesn't have a scarab, doesn't have spare magicians, using magic in space is really hard and he has no real reason to believe there'd be any sort of special interaction.I'm kind of suprised Paul never got someone looking into how to magically reset/purge a scarab. How useful would that be as a combat ability? Or even if they have tto capture a few and resett them, the Intel.
Mostly, because he doesn't have a scarab, doesn't have spare magicians, using magic in space is really hard and he has no real reason to believe there'd be any sort of special interaction.
Is Jaime's Scarab being rendered inert by magic not part of comics canon? I assumed it was (and that would be part of Paragon's background knowledge).
I hope they can capture a Scarab Warrior for study at some point, and find a way to safely separate the device from the host.
I forget any WoZ on the subject, but what's the Green Beetle/Scarab of Mars up to? I'm not sure what the canon timeline is on its activation.
yeah it being from comics, was my reasoning. But if Zoat isn't a big Blue beetle reader, i can understand him not being aware of the one relatively minor thing especially with how it has retconned.Is Jaime's Scarab being rendered inert by magic not part of comics canon? I assumed it was (and that would be part of Paragon's background knowledge).
I hope they can capture a Scarab Warrior for study at some point, and find a way to safely separate the device from the host.
I forget any WoZ on the subject, but what's the Green Beetle/Scarab of Mars up to? I'm not sure what the canon timeline is on its activation.
Im sorry if that sounded like i was knocking your decisions. I am more curious as to why it was left out. With everything you have done here, even if it was overlooked, i don't mind. Paul/You has been over worked bringing this to us every day. I was more realizing/wondering if you didn't read Blue Beetle, so SI doesn't know one is on earth for him to tinker with/how valuable it would be.Mostly, because he doesn't have a scarab, doesn't have spare magicians, using magic in space is really hard and he has no real reason to believe there'd be any sort of special interaction.
Clarissi Dox, the Orange Lantern Corps and I would appreciate orders.
…
Oh.
That's a shame.
Apokoliptian New God doing everything it can to seem intimidating? I can only think of one appropriate response.
I hope he follows up by transmuting a giant cake to smear the dreadnaught with.