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

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Someguy Somewhere said:
A 100% efficient steel cutting commercial laser at 500 watts COULD eventually vaporize a human being, given they didn't move for a while ( about 1.9 Years, by my back of the napkin math.) Much Longer due to laser ablation, refraction, inefficient energy use and a host of other problems.
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Reasonable enough but I feel compelled to point out that, given that human bodies are ~60% water, it would probably be well less than 1.9 years since whoever was being vaporized by said industrial laser would, presumably, die shortly into the process and stop taking in water to replace their evaporative losses.
 
Wing and Dagger (part 14)
  • Threadmarks
    • 21st January
    19:45 GMT

    "Drop your weapons!"

    Same issue with the thugs. Their ranged weapons aren't much better, while their melee weapons are too good to take risks with. Ring, can we transition yet?

    Transition unavailable.

    And if my teleportation is barely Controller-safe, it certainly isn't regular people-safe.

    I raise my hands and create submissively-folded wing constructs on my back as the thanagarian police fan out to shoot the downed Man-Hawks in the head.

    "I'm sorry officer, but we literally can't. Silver Scarab's weapons are built into his armour, as are mine. And Kara's are built into her face."

    A Man-Hawk dives from its perch on the support pillar, aiming at the lead patrolwoman. Guns are raised as soon as it moves, but it jinks and rolls to avoid their shots. I hear a muttered curse as the patrol begin lowering their guns to switch to melee-.

    I sigh. If we're not trying to keep them alive…

    I raise my hands and hit it in the chest with a destruction bolt. The front half of its chest vanishes around the point of impact, the bolt losing power as it spreads through the creature's flesh. Still makes quite a mess-.

    The blasted corpse hits a wall and then falls back. Hm. Nth metal -the patrol point their guns at me and I ignore them- armour on the Man-Hawk. Looks… Thin, though. My destruction bolt punched a hole through it, and then annihilated a broader chunk of flesh behind the hole. And the bones-.

    The leading patrolwoman steps between me and the remains. "Orange Lantern. You are not supposed to be here."

    "I am here to learn about Thanagar's culture. These Man-Hawks are fascinating. Are you aware-?" A patrolman near my left shoulder in what probably looks like it should be a blind spot raises his mace. Without turning I raise my left arm and point at him. "Don't be an idiot all your life."

    He doesn't lower it, but he doesn't raise it any further. I take out a runestone and point it at one of the now-dead Man-Hawks. A weak glow.

    "Are you aware that the Man-Hawks are either created by magic or able to use it?"

    "It's not my job to ask questions like that."

    "Then find me someone whose job it is and get them here! The whole reason why the Thanagar Empire is tolerating a Lantern in its capital is that it wants my help with magic. And look at that!" I point to the corpse of the Man-Hawk Hector was fighting. "Local magic use. I can't help fix a problem if I don't know what the problem is."

    "Wait." She flaps, rising into the air and… What, she's just hovering there. Communicating with someone out of eavesdropping range? That's not-. She vanishes as a teleporter activates.

    Hm. Thanagarians have teleporters, but they're power hogs and not exactly quick. While there are species who use unsafe teleportation techniques for the sake of expediency, thanagarians take the time to do the sort of proper target acquisition that doesn't result in passenger pâté. That means an in-person report to someone important. Someone already knows that something squirrelly is going on.

    But since there's no one between me and the Man-Hawk I partially disintegrated… I walk towards it, making a beckoning motion with my right hand. "Kara, how much has your vision recovered?"

    "Enough that I don't really want to use it staring at… What are those?"

    "Man-Hawks." Bleez takes a couple of cautious steps closer, but doesn't seem any more eager than Kara. "Monsters that live down here."

    "I don't suppose that you know where they come from, do you?"

    "I think they're supposed to be some kind of alien? People down here usually try to avoid them."

    "Silver Scarab?"

    "I didn't bring my crime scene kit with me, but I'll take a look."

    He sounds.. a little too into this, but I need someone more familiar with Nth metal use than me. And I don't feel like getting out of my armour with argumentative thanagarian police officers around. He grabs hold of the body and turns-. The part of the shoulder he was gripping tears free of the body and he stumbles back a pace before dropping it and taking hold of something better connected. He then turns the body over and takes a look at the armour.

    "Badly made. I've seen Mom work Nth metal. She'd be embarrassed by this. Heck, I would. Too thin to be anything other than an ablative anti-handgun layer."

    "Could the Man-Hawk have made it?"

    He looks and notes the lack of forelimbs. The talons on its feet appear to have some grasping capacity, but… I generate a construct and try flexing them. They're for snatching prey, not for fine object manipulation.

    "Maybe? If they could get hold of it. All I can really say is that it isn't converted military gear. Hey, didn't you make Nth metal armour for Superboy?"

    "Nth metal heavy plate. He looks like a medieval European knight when he puts it on. It doesn't look anything like what a thanagarian would wear."

    "Hm. The bones… They're reinforced. Some kind of metal, and I'm going to guess that it's Nth metal."

    Kara frowns, still clearly revolted by the situation. "Don't.. thanagarians have that?"

    "Trace amounts, maybe. These bones survived Orange Lantern's energy pulse, which normal thanagarian bones wouldn't. In thanagarians, the Nth metal is more noticeable around the nerve endings. Which I.. can't find."

    Alright. Assume this creature is thanagar-native and has some evolutionary history in common with modern thanagarians… I generate a construct cut-away, showing the likely locations of the Nth metal structures which enable their flight and augmented physiology.

    "Thanks."

    "Wouldn't-?" I think Kara's looking despite herself. "Couldn't they do this with bioengineering?"

    "While I'm sure the thanagarian government has attempted to augment its soldiers with Nth metal, any information relating to that sort of project would be highly secure. And the thanagarian military is competent enough not to let their failed projects loose. Though it.. would explain the faces."

    Bleez does a passable horror heroine face. "What do you mean?"

    "Maybe it's not an intimidation technique. Maybe they want their 'real' faces back."

    "U-uh-h."

    "I mean, you called them cannibals, but aside from the face-taking is there any hard evidence that they're-."

    "Found.. something." Hector yanks his right hand out of the carcass, and bloody lump of.. something in his grip. "Does this look like a nerve cluster to you?"

    Scan. "Yes. It's larger than it should be, assuming that used to be a thanagarian. That would explain the aerial manoeuvrability. But not why-."

    The Thanagarian teleporter activates again, returning the patrol leader and a short, balding thanagarian in red clothing.

    "Orange Lantern." His eyes flick briefly over the scene. "We need to talk."
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • darthdavid said:
    Reasonable enough but I feel compelled to point out that, given that human bodies are ~60% water, it would probably be well less than 1.9 years since whoever was being vaporized by said industrial laser would, presumably, die shortly into the process and stop taking in water to replace their evaporative losses.
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    I thought about doing the calc's twice, one for the 'vaporize all water in the human body, leaving charred bones behind' and one for 'just dust', but figured it was overkill. If you were trying to do it quickly, you'd have the body explode from the water vaporizing, and have to hunt down all the chunks afterwards if you wanted the 100% completion award.
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    And Kara's are build into her face."
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    And Kara's are built into her face."

    "I am her to learn about Thanagar's culture.
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    "I am here to learn about Thanagar's culture.

    They're for snatching prey, not for find object manipulation.
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    They're for snatching prey, not for fine object manipulation.

    And the thanagarian military is competent enough not to let their failed projects lose.
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    And the thanagarian military is competent enough not to let their failed projects loose.

    "U-uh-h."
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    Her urge to vomit rising, I think.


    Ah, someone who knows what's really going on. Now to wonder how much involvement he has in it...
     
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    Z000 said:
    welp

    on the spot autopsy and analyze , i'm amaze that no one watching them feel like puking
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    Thanagarians aren't quite so off-put by blood and guts and squishy bits. Kara was the most likely to puke but I'm not sure Kryptonians actually have vomiting mapped to disgust, or at all, since their digestive system is markedly different from a human's.
     
    Our disgust response evolved to keep us away from unsanitary things.

    We avoid carcasses of our own kind because a) whatever caused it may still be nearby and b) diseases.

    I think that is such a universal adaptation that every species would evolve it.

    Unless they never get sick or something and that is very unlikely in biologicals.
     
    Chojin Patriarch said:
    And Kara's are built into her face."
    "    I am her to learn about Thanagar's culture.
    "I am here to learn about Thanagar's culture.
    They're for snatching prey, not for find object manipulation.
    They're for snatching prey, not for fine object manipulation.
    And the thanagarian military is competent enough not to let their failed projects lose.
    And the thanagarian military is competent enough not to let their failed projects loose.
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    Thank you, corrected.
     
    How would he know what's going on? Sure, he's in government, but it seems like the government is genuinely confused. Maybe they just don't want magic because it causes chaos, but there's better ways of keeping Paul from messing around. Like actually have a largish contingent of guards keeping constant watch / require him to keep a bug made of Nth Metal on himself at all times while on planet. Also, magic seems like it would be really hard to keep people from doing.
     
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    Mr Zoat said:
    "Man-Hawks." Bleez takes a couple of cautious steps closer, but doesn't seem any eager than Kara. "Monsters that live down here."
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    I think it's supposed to be: Bleez takes a couple of cautious steps closer, but doesn't seem any more eager than Kara is.

    Mr Zoat said:
    Bleez does a passable horror heroine face. "What do you mean?"
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    Can you please post a pic of what kind of face she's making? I'm a little curious.

    Mr Zoat said:
    "Orange Lantern." His eyes flick briefly over the scene. "We need to talk."
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    Looks like it's government conspiracy time. Are they a bio-engineering thing like Kara hypothesized? Or perhaps one of the Thanagarian Devils is making a slave race from thanagarians? Either way, time to start the mystery and intrigue part of the episode.
     
    Bramble Thorn said:
    Well that wiki link doesn't give any relevant details, but does list this guy as a baddie.

    What specific flavor of baddie is he?
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    In the comics, he's a high powered politico (Wingmen police chief) in a system of government in which might makes right, who fathered a child on a thirteen year old girl, and had his baby daughter abandoned to the slums to live or die as fate decreed.

    While Thanagar in the comics apparently has no law against pedophilia (or rape, or kidnapping, or murder, or pretty much anything else apparently), it's still a faux pas so he left his daughter to die to avoid the embarrassment harming his political career.

    You might have heard of that daughter, her grandfather, despite being a total sleezeball as well, at least had the decency to track down his granddaughter and adopt her rather than leave her to die or live in squalor.

    Hawkwoman was rather surprised to find out her father was her grandfather, and she was pleased to find out from her mother that it wasn't a Chinatown situation.

    Less pleased to find out her sleazeball boss was also her sleazeball father.
     
    Stsword said:
    In the comics, he's a high powered politico (Wingmen police chief) in a system of government in which might makes right, who fathered a child on a thirteen year old girl, and had his baby daughter abandoned to the slums to live or die as fate decreed.

    While Thanagar in the comics apparently has no law against pedophilia (or rape, or kidnapping, or murder, or pretty much anything else apparently), it's still a faux pas so he left his daughter to die to avoid the embarrassment harming his political career.

    You might have heard of that daughter, her grandfather, despite being a total sleezeball as well, at least had the decency to track down his granddaughter and adopt her rather than leave her to die or live in squalor.

    Hawkwoman was rather surprised to find out her father was her grandfather, and she was pleased to find out from her mother that it wasn't a Chinatown situation.

    Less pleased to find out her sleazeball boss was also her sleazeball father.
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    WHAT?

    Her grandfather is her father? does that mean he raped his daughter?

    wtf...

    Also her boss IE her father (pretend grandfather) was also her boss and he made advances on her? like how many ethics shit are being broken in these three paragraphs?
     
    Chaoswind said:
    WHAT?

    Her grandfather is her father? does that mean he raped his daughter?

    wtf...

    Also her boss IE her father (pretend grandfather) was also her boss and he made advances on her? like how many ethics shit are being broken in these three paragraphs?
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    Mea culpa, I wasn't clear enough.

    Her biological father, the guy who just showed up, had sex with a 13 year old girl from a wealthy powerful family and left them both to die in the gutters. Or at least his doppelganger from New Earth did. Whether he held her down or seduced her, I have no idea.

    Her biological grandfather took his granddaughter, and adopted her as his own daughter, never telling her the details of her origin. Hawkwoman grew up thinking that she was just random street urchin that an aristocrat decided to take in ala Little Orphan Annie. Well Little Orphan Annie if Daddy Warbucks was complete slime, but at least slime that provided a roof over her head and three square meals a day.

    Finding out her grandfather was her adopted father, Hawkwoman immediately asked if that meant that her grandfather was also her biological father, and that's when her mother revealed that police chief Andar Pul was her father.

    Which Hawkwoman then promptly used to blackmail her bio-father, the police chief.
     
    So, saw Shazam and...I'm torn.

    Anyway, to the arc. Hawk stuff eh? Perhaps the one part of comics I have never learned a thing about. Liked Hawkgirl on Injustice though.
     
    Wing and Dagger (part 15)
  • Threadmarks
    • 21st January
    19:57 GMT

    We watch as a squad of thanagarians sanitise the scene under Andar Pul's direction. The bodies are wrapped up for transportation, and a short-lived carnivorous bacterium is being sprayed on the blood and flayed meat. Though they did pick up the faces the Man-Hawks had been wearing for identification purposes. They appear to be used to this sort of work, which raises new concerns for me.

    "Kara, why were you even out here?"

    She squirms a little, clearly still quite uncomfortable with what happened. Okay, she lived through General Zod's attempted putsch and Kru-El's killing spree, but there's a difference between what she'd have seen and seeing death up close.

    "When I.. was.. little, Uncle Jor took me on a trip to one of the pre-isolationism alien ghettos on Krypton. It was.. decayed, and.. empty, obviously. There were recordings, but that's not the same as seeing a living community."

    "We have perfectly good slums on Earth."

    "But not species segregation. I don't think it's.. the same."

    Bleez make a gesture of disagreement with her right arm. "Plenty of thanagarians live down here. And there are some aliens who get to live upside. Were there aliens who lived outside of Krypton's ghettos?"

    "Not legally. There were.. stories of humanoid aliens who looked kryptonian enough to pass themselves off as one of us, but I doubt it actually happened."

    Hector turns his head my way. "You're not curious why I came down here?"

    No, because while I know why both of you came down here Kara needs to talk and you don't. "Missing the superhero life?"

    "Kind of. Without modern communications, it was a lot harder to make a big impact back in my day. I sometimes wonder what Infinity Inc. could have done if we'd had… If everyone in our day had cell phones and we have the kind of transport infrastructure the Justice League does."

    Honestly? Quite a lot. They weren't exactly lightweights. I don't think any of them could quite compete with Kal-El's power, J'onn J'onzz's versatility or Batman's intellect, but aside from that they're League-level. Certainly at the level of a League which contains Mr Queen. And when you hit middle age, I imagine that being outshone by pointy-stick-launcher-man just makes the crisis all the worse.

    "Thanagar… Probably isn't the best place to get back into the habit."

    "Hey, we just went for a fly. The locals started that."

    "Do you know how much the Nth metal in your armour would be worth to these people? People who have to steal electricity to get light?"

    "Yeah…" He looks away. "Yeah, I guess I coulda.. thought the whole thing through better."

    Mr Pul watches as the last Man-Hawk corpse is teleported away then walks in our-. In my direction.

    "Mr Pul. Or do you have another title?"

    "Several. But that one will do. I work for Imperial Intelligence. And you just blundered into one of my operations."

    Whatever protected the Man-Hawks isn't protecting him. I can see his mental networks quite clearly, though I will credit him with good self-discipline. It's not totally clear which of his desires he's fulfilling at the moment, though I can tell that he's loyal to Thanagar and to himself in roughly equal measure.

    "I'd say that your operation blundered into us. I was just trying to pay off a gang and leave."

    "You claim you did nothing to draw them to you?"

    I glance at Kara and Hector. Kara shakes her head with a shudder, while Hector shrugs. "Not knowingly."

    He nods. "Lantern, you detected the presence of magic in their remains."

    "Yes. But not plant-magic, so don't try and tell me-."

    "Of course not. We may not be specialists in the field, but Imperial Intelligence is competent enough to recognise one of the primary assets of our greatest enemy. These are something else. And now we're further away from identifying exactly what that is."

    "Your soldiers were the ones finishing them off. Given how dangerous the Man-Hawks are I wasn't going to fault them, but if you're trying to find something to blame me for…"

    "I have a problem. And regrettable as I find it, I suspect that I'll find working with you easier than working around you."

    "Depends what the problem is. But I'm being honest when I say that I'm perfectly happy to take no further action. Thanagar isn't my beat." Because distasteful as I find this place, it's not as if Earth doesn't have slums inhabited by armed gangs. The only 'special' attribute is the arcane angle. "But if you're including me, the more you tell me? The more I can help."

    "Yes. That was the opinion of our agents as well. Your…" He looks at Hector, Kara and Bleez. "Colleagues? Do you intend for them to join you?"

    Getting.. Bleez involved seems like a pretty good way to put her on the xenomusik list. And… Useful as Kara might be, I doubt that an investigation will call for much higher maths. On the other hand, Hector seems all for it.

    "I doubt that our guide-" I incline my head towards Bleez. "-will have much to-."

    "The fact that Princess Bleez enjoys spending time in disreputable company is not news to Imperial Intelligence." He gives me a look. "You were seen conversing with her before leaving the reception together, and our files suggest that you are loyal to your mate."

    I smile. "Thank you. Bleez… Up to you, but you might be better off keeping yourself ignorant."

    "And I might be better off not being disappeared by Imperial Intelligence." Ah. Mr Pul doesn't appear fazed by the accusation. "But I might need you to fly me home afterwards."

    "Very well, and of course. Kara, Silver Scarab, under the circumstances it might be better if you both accompanied us."

    They nod, Kara doing so with clenched fists.

    "All in, Mister Pul. What's going on?"

    "We're not.. sure. Certain subversive groups have begun using Nth metal weapons in greater numbers than before, not including those… Creatures. Given that you have demonstrated the ability to transmute base metals to Nth metal by the use of magic, we know that it is plausible they are doing the same."

    "Or they've found a deposit you don't know about. Or they've been grabbing it from-."

    "We keep track of our Nth metal reserves rather carefully, and we have complete geophysics scans of all of our colonies. The quantities they're getting aren't coming from conventional sources. Is there anything you'd like to admit to?"

    "I don't know how important you think you are to me? But I've got better things to do with my time than foment rebellion here. And if for some reason I did want to, I have power rings."

    "Merely sharing your knowledge of transmutation would be enough, and give you plausible deniability."

    "I don't know how to transmute it. And.. anyway, that wasn't magic. I lost a lot of the knowledge I gained from bonding with the Ophidian when we separated, but I do remember that we were altering it physically. And we nearly took out a mountain doing it."

    Bleez turns her head my way. "Thanagar has that technology."

    "Well there you go-."

    Mr Pul makes a negative gesture with his wings. "Such a forge would be impossible to disguise. If it existed, we would have found it."

    "Alright. How about we go somewhere a little more civilised and you fully brief us?"
     
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    • Mr Zoat said:
    "We're not.. sure. Certain subversive groups have begun using Nth metal weapons in greater numbers than before, not including those… Creatures. Given that you have demonstrated the ability to transmute base metals to Nth metal by the use of magic, we know that it is plausible they are doing the same."
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    It's the Great Old One returning, called it.

    Unless Zoat nerf's him it sucks to be you Paul, because he will no sell your everything.
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    ...versatility or Batman intellect, but aside from that they're League-level.
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    ...versatility or Batman's intellect, but aside from that they're League-level.

    "Yeah…" He looks away. "Yeah, I guess I coulda.. thought the whole thing through better."
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    You think?!

    "I have a problem. And regrettable as I find it, I suspect that I'll find working with you easier than working around you."
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    Heh, his reputation precedes him.

    Getting.. Bleez involved seems like a pretty good way to put her on the xenomusik list.
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    Of course Thanagar has something like that.

    "And I might be better off not being disappeared by Imperial Intelligence." Ah. Mr Pul doesn't appear phased by the accusation. "But I might need you to fly me home afterwards."
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    I have doubts they'd have the guts to disappear the princess of an elder colony, but you never know with these black-ops types...

    But I've got better things to do with my time that ferment rebellion here.
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    But I've got better things to do with my time than ferment rebellion here.

    Deeper and deeper, the rabbit hole goes... This is turning into something of a busman's holiday for OL, even accounting for the diplomatic aspect of his visit...
     
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