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

...the multiversal portal however is VERY interesting, if they go out looking for other Pauls, or worse.
Reach: Ha! We got duped that pathetic Orange Lantern and escaped into a lifeless universe he can't follow! Nothing can stop us now!
Waul: Bonjour.
 
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Empathic vision shows me the positions of the Darkstars who follow me into the… I don't like calling it an 'embassy'. It isn't one. It's the centre of government for everything the Reach care to control directly, while maintaining a paper thin disguise that the opinion of the local 'rulers' matters at all. But there isn't another word for that. 'Assimilatorium' just sounds ridiculous.
Why not use something from latin?

The setup sounds like something the Romans did with 'client' states. Where the local King was in charge, technically. But there was also a local Roman governor and the king did what they said or the fiction ended, one way or another.

Or go with commissar and commissary. Another situation the the person not technically in charge, is very much in charge.
 
A Lantern who specialised in data analysis like your Coluan or that space station AI might get as many as half."
Isn't this the solution? She said there are 12 different tripwires on the dead man switch. Have Dox work on cutting 6, have Ranx work on cutting the other six.
 
Isn't this the solution? She said there are 12 different tripwires on the dead man switch. Have Dox work on cutting 6, have Ranx work on cutting the other six.
The problem isn't blocking the signals, it's finding, decoding, and perfectly spoofing them all.

Hell, if the Reach were smart, one of those is a quantum channel that can't be intercepted, decoded, or spoofed.
 
Over Reaching (part 19)
3rd July 2012
11:23 GMT -5


"I clearly underestimated you."

The Assimilator and I smile at each other. Very briefly smile at each other.

"This is some high grade… I almost want to say evil, and I don't believe in evil."

Pharmaceuticals. Yeah. Turns out that those pharmaceuticals are harvested from foetuses. Not in destructive quantities, as far as a quick scan shows, but they're basically overfeeding them to ensure the highest levels of production.

"And you can't synthesise this stuff more easily?"

"No. For some reason this is the only method that works. We've tried foetal cells, foetal tissue cultures, vivisected adults… We even tried editing the eggs so that they remain in the egg stage of development indefinitely. Nothing else works."

"Oh, I can believe it. That's impressive biological security. I'm sure that if breaking it was possible, you'd have done it."

"I still believe that we could. But at this point, it simply isn't worth the additional effort on a compliant planet."

"Have you considered a completely different approach?"

"Several. Did you have one in mind?"

"My homeworld has a number of time travellers living on it. Apparently, when you conquer my species, you remove all of the ones with useful traits from the general population and transplant them into an artificial environment where they're raised to revere the Reach. You gain-. Or rather, your successors, gain their loyalty by treating them as valued servants. Sometimes, social engineering works just as well as biological engineering."

"Why limit ourselves?"

"Because in every example we've been able to study, Reach biotechnological domination is inevitably followed by extinction. You people don't maintain servitor races. And then you've got places like this-"

I note the weak glow of my armour's rune stone with a lack of surprise. Natural alchemy. Which only works as long as no alien elements are introduced. It would limit the native species' growth if it's a required part of their physiology, but since the Reach don't use magic at all there probably isn't a way for them to bypass it.

"-where that approach doesn't work. As I understand it, the Reach hasn't even studied long term stable social engineering. I mean, you people like being in control of other species, but you always run them into the ground. It defeats the object of the exercise."

"'Time travel'?"

"Oh, my homeworld has all kinds of crazy things. Two years ago a god moved everyone under the age of eighteen to a parallel universe, and last month a sentient plant took over a continent. We have AIs that run on vacuum tubes and about fifty organic and semi-organic species that we know about on an isolated planet with no faster than light travel. It's like the Source got high and decided to dump every drug-fuelled flight of fancy onto one planet so that the rest of Creation wouldn't be bothered by them. Oh, and also, you were wrong."

"Wrong about what? Have you found a way to bypass the incubators in the pharmaceutical production?"

"No, I mean, you're wrong about me needing to bypass your dead man's switches. You see, if this was happening later in the war, you'd be right: I wouldn't care. Leaving you here wouldn't make our life any more difficult and trying to winkle you out might. I don't want to risk the lives of their unborn; the very notion is abhorrent. But today? Today is the first day of the war. We need to be able to show our allies a clean sheet. No setbacks. We know that we can't keep it up; we won't try to convince people that we can. But today sets the tone, and we need the tone to be 'it'll be a long war, but the Reach can't stop us'."

"We can stop you. And we will. I have stopped you, and I am merely a humble administrator."

"I never said that you couldn't. We merely need to be able to give that impression. At least, today."

She looks mildly curious.

"Do you intend to bribe me? If my loyalties change, the system will detect that."

"No. No, I want to send you back to the Reach with your loyalties intact. Which might be tricky if there were other worlds like this, but… There aren't."

One of the most fundamental desires of all species: propagation. Continuation. Species that don't have a desire in that direction are either synthetic or spawners, and the locals are neither. Our… Shared dispassion for the idea notwithstanding, it is a common and powerful desire. This metaphysical weight is why people react so strongly to any external imposition on their reproductive traditions, foolish as that may be. Our own lack of any real connection to these people is irrelevant; we can harness their desires perfectly well. And since those desires focus on the very objects we wish to move

"World Altering Wave."

The world rings orange, and every gestating egg vanishes.

The incubators flare with incendiaries a fraction of a second later, but I'm already bowing my head in relief. The Assimilator just stares.

"They're-. What will you tell people now that they're dead?"

"No one's dead, you fool. I'm an Illustres." I hold out my left hand. "Illustres to Clarissi. We're going to need some amphibious incubation units. The type… Seven? Is probably closest. The particulars are on the database."

"Understood. Fatalities?"

"All of the Reach personnel except the Assimilator. I was going to send her on her way. I don't think we'll get much out of an interrogation, and I'd like them to be scared. All of the eggs are presently secure and awaiting the construction of facilities for their continued incubation."

I look over to the somewhat shocked Assimilator.

"Can I trust you not to kill yourself before we can get you a ship?"

"How..?"

"Fuck you, that's how." I turn to the Darkstars still shadowing us. "Jade, can your squad spare someone?"

Her exomantle shimmers back into phase. "I was wondering if you remembered who I was. Kellick."

A tall but strangely thin Darkstar steps forward, looming over the Assimilator.

"The Illustres wants her protected pending deportation. Make sure that nothing unfortunate happens to her."

"If I must. This way, Eminence."

I smile as the somewhat stunned Assimilator is led from the building. Yes, we should probably get her on a ship relatively quickly.

Ring, planetwide.

Compliance.

"This is the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I'm currently holding your young in a pocket universe, and replacement incubators are being produced even as we speak. The Reach influence in this region of space is being destroyed. Our Supreme Commander will be in contact with your government with more details shortly."

End.

Compliance.

I turn back to Jade.

"That went well."
 
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Yea... There's a bit of a logic hole here... Subspace doesn't stop the flow of time... So those eggs should be dead when he takes them out.

I was actually assuming he'd done what Priest did with Malvolio, but I guess subspacing makes more sense. I don't remember him ever putting living things into subspace, though he must have tested it at some point; maybe the stasis field works to preserve them- less time-stopping and more analogous to cryogenic preservation. Either that or using the medical capabilities of power ring tech to keep them alive.
 
Also this seems kind of stupid of Paragon.

He basically just blew his trump card for a minor propaganda win. I mean yea nothing bad will come of it, because nothing bad ever does come from Paragons overconfident mistakes, but it still seems really stupid of him.
 
Also this seems kind of stupid of Paragon.

He basically just blew his trump card for a minor propaganda win. I mean yea nothing bad will come of it, because nothing bad ever does come from Paragons overconfident mistakes, but it still seems really stupid of him.
This was far from a trump card, and the Reach has no idea how he did it or what he exactly did.
 
"Fuck you, that's how."
I love it when he swears. It usually means he did something/is doing something/will do something awesome. The last time I remember him swearing was to Capo Scott, the same episode where he took down the founding members of the Justice League of Earth 12 (minus Batman).

"This is the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I'm currently holding your young in a pocket universe, and replacement incubators are being produced even as we speak. The Reach influence in this region of space is being destroyed. Our Supreme Commander will be in contact with your government with more details shortly."
That will send a powerful message. To the populace, that is proof that these guys can protect them from the monsters who've been holding their eggs hostage. For the Reach, it shows that they are severely underestimating the OLC,

Complete understatement. Mr Zoat, how much respect/fear does Paul's actions in this episode inspire in his Corps?

Yea... There's a bit of a logic hole here... Subspace doesn't stop the flow of time... So those eggs should be dead when he takes them out.
He said pocket dimension. He can do subspace on his own. A pocket dimension wherein he can actually drop organic sentient, especially eggs, probably required assistance from the Ophidian.
 
3rd July 2012
11:23 GMT -5


"I clearly underestimated you."

The Assimilator and I smile at each other. Very briefly smile at each other.
Well, teeth are being bared. I wouldn't exactly say they're smiles, but hey... As long as the Assimilator gets an education in what Humans can do? Worth it.

"This is some high grade… I almost want to say evil, and I don't believe in evil."

Pharmaceuticals. Yeah. Turns out that those pharmaceuticals are harvested from foetuses. Not in destructive quantities, as far as a quick scan shows, but they're basically overfeeding them to ensure the highest levels of production.
:mad:...What the hell do these 'pharmaceuticals' do that they're worth this.. atrocity of science? Seriously, they'd better be great for getting a pure-breed Reach high as balls, or be a super-healing potion or something...

"And you can't synthesis this stuff more easily?"

"No. For some reason this is the only method that works. We've tried foetal cells, foetal tissue cultures, vivisected adults… We even tried editing the eggs so that they remain in the egg stage of development indefinitely. Nothing else works."
Which suggests that it's some quirk native to the species themself. Something more than purely biological functions... :eek: Magic.

"Oh, I can believe it. That's impressive biological security. I'm sure that if breaking it was possible, you'd have done it."

"I still believe that we could. But at this point, it simply isn't worth the additional effort on a compliant planet."
:confused: So it's cheaper to hold the pre-natal offspring of an entire world hostage as you leech.. something out of them, than to try and reproduce it via highly advanced science? ...Just when you didn't think they could sink any lower...

"Have you considered a completely different approach?"

"Several. Did you have one in mind?"
Bitch, Humanity wrote the book on alternate approaches. No, seriously, you might want to get a copy of OL's comportment manual... Assuming they don't already have one somehow.

"My homeworld has a number of time travellers living on it. Apparently, when you conquer my species, you remove all of the ones with useful traits from the general population and transplant them into an artificial environment where they're raised to revere the Reach. You gain-. Or rather, your successors, gain their loyalty by treating them as valued servants. Sometime, social engineering works just as well as biological engineering."

"Why limit ourselves?"
Because you mess up with Humans, we will kick your asses so hard your grandchildren will taste our boot-leather at the back of their throats. ...And no doubt she assumes he's exaggerating things...

"Because in every example we've been able to study, Reach biotechnological domination is inevitably followed by extinction. You people don't maintain servitor races. And then you've got places like this-"

I note the weak glow of my armour's rune stone with a lack of surprise. Natural alchemy. Which only works as long as no alien elements are introduced. It would limit the native species' growth if it's a required part of their physiology, but since the Reach don't use magic at all there probably isn't a way for them to bypass it.
They don't use magic.. yet. The last thing anyone needs is them getting the idea of it in their heads.

"-where that approach doesn't work. As I understand it, the Reach hasn't even studied long term stable social engineering. I mean, you people like being in control of other species, but you always run them into the ground. It defeats the object of the exercise."

"'Time travel'?"
She only just caught that? Do keep up, honey. You're about to see just how bullshit Humans are...

"Oh, my homeworld has all kinds of crazy things. Two years ago a god moved everyone under the age of eighteen on a parallel universe, and last month a sentient plant took over a continent. We have AIs that run on vacuum tubes and about fifty organic and semi-organic species that we know about on an isolated planet with no faster than light travel. It's like the Source got high and decided to dump every drug-fuelled flight of fancy onto one planet so that the rest of Creation wouldn't be bothered by them. Oh, and also, you were wrong."
Let's see what we can recognise... The god: Klarion and the Roanoke incident. The plant: Euanthe reforesting the Amazon? The AIs: Reddy and his siblings. Earth is a madhouse. Oh, it's not just the Source... The Life Entity is getting high off our existence, isn't it?

"Wrong about what? Have you found a way to bypass the incubators in the pharmaceutical production?"

"No, I mean, you're wrong about me needing to bypass your dead man's switches. You see, if this was happening later in the war, you'd be right: I wouldn't care. Leaving you here wouldn't make our life any more difficult and trying to winkle you out might. I don't want to risk the lives of their unborn; the very notion is abhorrent. But today? Today is the first day of the war. We need to be able to show our allies a clean sheet. No setbacks. We know that we can't keep it up; we won't try to convince people that we can. But today sets the tone, and we need the tone to be 'it'll be a long war, but the Reach can't stop us'."
"No matter what the Reach threatens, we will overcome it. No matter how they bark and howl, we will bite harder." Yeah, that's a big propaganda theme that'll be running during the war, won't it?

"We can stop you. And we will. I have stopped you, and I am merely a humble administrator."

"I never said that you couldn't. We merely need to be able to give that impression. At least, today."
And what gives you the impression you've stopped OL, bitch? Be ready to pick your jaw up off the ground...

She looks mildly curious.

"Do you intend to bribe me? If my loyalties change, the system will detect that."

"No. No, I want to send you back to the Reach with your loyalties intact. Which might be tricky if there were other worlds like this, but… There aren't."
On the whole, she's quite irrelevant, isn't she? The only problem is sending her back alive knowing what you've said about Earth... You've likely gotten their attention on the potential usefulness of Humanity...

One of the most fundamental desires of all species: propagation. Continuation. Species that don't have a desire in that direction are either synthetic or spawners, and the locals are neither. Our… Shared dispassion for the idea notwithstanding, it is a common and powerful desire. This metaphysical weight is why people react so strongly to any external imposition on their reproductive traditions, foolish as that may be. Our own lack of any real connection to these people is irrelevant; we can harness their desires perfectly well. And since those desires focus on the very objects we wish to move
And OL gets just a little bit more Clerical with his use of Orange Light. Calling upon Best Snek to work a spell of sorts? This gonna be good.

"World Altering Wave."

The world rings orange, and every gestating egg vanishes.
... :eek: ...

The incubators flare with incendiaries a fraction of a second later, but I'm already bowing my head in relief. The Assimilator just stares.

"They're-. What will you tell people now that they're dead?"
Oh, is that what you think just happened? Oh, I'm going to enjoy seeing her learn the truth... If only we could have video of that smug sliding right off the pasty lump she calls a face...

"No one's dead, you fool. I'm an Illustres." I hold out my left hand. "Illustres to Clarissi. We're going to need some amphibious incubation units. The type… Seven? Is probably closest. The particulars are on the database."

"Understood. Fatalities?"
No-one important. They were only Reach after all.

"All of the Reach personnel except the Assimilator. I was going to send her on her way. I don't think we'll get much out of an interrogation, and I'd like them to be scared. All of the eggs are presently secure and awaiting the construction of facilities for their continued incubation."

I look over to the somewhat shocked Assimilator.
And there we go. Are you going to need help with that jaw, dear, or can you get it yourself?

"Can I trust you not to kill yourself before we can get you a ship?"

"How..?"
:sneaky: Because: fu-...

"Fuck you, that's how." I turn to the Darkstars still shadowing us. "Jade, can your squad spare someone?"
Dangit, you beat me to it! And I knew Jade was here somewhere! Of course, he'd know her particular emotional makeup from a galaxy away...

Her exomantle shimmers back into phase. "I was wondering if you remembered who I was. Kellick."

A tall but strangely thin Darkstar steps forward, looming over the Assimilator.
I see she's been moving up the ranks, if she's in command of the squad. Wonder if she was the one who got the killshot on the Scarab?

"The Illustres wants her protected pending deportation. Make sure that nothing unfortunate happens to her."

"If I must. This way, Eminence."
"Just give me an excuse, bug..."

I smile as the somewhat stunned Assimilator is led from the building. Yes, we should probably get her on a ship relatively quickly.

Ring, planetwide.
Time to let the people know the good news.

Compliance.

"This is the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. I'm currently holding your young in a pocket universe, and replacement incubators are being produced even as we speak. The Reach influence in this region of space is being destroyed. Our Supreme Commander will be in contact with your government with more details shortly."
And most people will be wondering what the hell is going on. Lots of fear... And then the hope begins to shine...

Short and sweet. And more than a little blunt...

I turn back to Jade.

"That went well."
I hate to say it, but let's not slap Murphy on the cheek? You know a statement like that would normally result in something exploding...

Okay. That happened. If it pays off, and all of the eggs come out of.. wherever he sent them intact, this will be a major coup for the NEMO forces. I gotta agree with the rest, it does feel a little 'out of left field' with this new ability... I do hope Jade asks him what the hell he did tomorrow so he can explain it to her (and by extension, us.)
 
That was him channeling the Ophidian... Which is his Trump card.

That isn't something that he's ever tried to keep secret though, anybody who does any amount of intelligence gathering on him would find that out real quick. Even if they don't know the exact details, they would know that he is an extremely powerful lantern and a somewhat major threat. Given that the entire point of the mission was to make a big splash for propaganda, seems reasonable.

Enjoyed the Jade sass in there, not surprising she was on the squad that didn't need any help wrecking faces
 
Yea... There's a bit of a logic hole here... Subspace doesn't stop the flow of time... So those eggs should be dead when he takes them out.

It does. OL has been known to keep his cooking inside.
I'm on pudding duty, so I'm bringing a few hundred grams of chocolate with me in subspace. I ended up getting a chocolate pudding recipe online after M'gann found me in the kitchen swearing at one of the ones we have here which expresses all quantities in volume rather than mass.
 
That was him channeling the Ophidian... Which is his Trump card.
How would the Assimilator have any manner of idea what Paul did, again?
Did she show any signs of havjng advanced magical knowledge or perception?
Did she have an array of high-tech sensors on her?

Paul's exotic energy shit isn't easy to analyze beyond "he did something".

That he was verly powerful for a Lantern was known to them before.
He didn't reveal any overt detail that'd be actionable for Reach, with this, however one spins it.
 
The second OL spilled the beans about Earth having time travelers, I cringed.

Maybe he planned that so that they'll either attack the Earth too early and get their shit stomped by all of the bullshit Earth has, or they'll start experimenting with Time Travel and end up fighting their future selves?
 

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