22nd August 2012
16:44 GMT
I finish reading the missive, then raise my eyebrows as I look up at Onigar.
"Genuine?"
"The bodies of quite a few members of the government are hanging from the walls of the State Security headquarters." She nods. "My father is still on the planet, and his contacts have confirmed as much of this as they can."
"Surprisingly quick." I nod. "Which means this is more a palace coup than a sudden outbreak of revolutionary zeal. Someone in the old guard thinks they can survive while keeping the old system going if they dump enough of their old colleagues over the side."
"That was my conclusion. Fortunately, I have a tireless advocate of justice to call upon." There's a very brief flash of uncertainty. "I assume that I do have him to call on?"
"I wish you and Lantern Xor every happiness together?"
"That's-. Thank you, but that isn't what I meant. The Orange Lantern Corps is fighting a war. With the majority of the fighting here over, I assume that you will want Xalitan to travel to Maltus."
"How does he feel about it?"
"He feels intensely obliged to you. He would go, if you asked. And… I've read the files on his ring about the Reach. They are.. worse than the Alignment has ever been."
"That's objectively true. But it's long been my belief that the orange light is extremely subjective. If this is where he wants to be, it would be churlish of me to try and insist that he leave."
"He doesn't see it that way. He sees you as his superior officer."
"Well then… Consider that the war with the Reach won't last forever. Eventually, over the bodies of many comrades, we will pull the whole edifice down." I shrug. "Then what?"
"You will have to rebuild."
"Rebuild what? The Reach? With an army of Lanterns whose greatest desire is to destroy them?"
"The.. people they enslaved?"
"If there are any left, but I doubt that most Lanterns will have the visceral attachment to them. The Reach don't maintain slave populations. We won't have to go far into Reach space before we stop finding other species. I imagine that we'll have fixed all that we can well before the Reach finally collapses."
I shake my head.
"I imagine that most Orange Lanterns will want to quit. To go and return to their recaptured worlds and try to have a life. Some might keep their rings, but they're not going to want to live under military discipline. So how will that work? That's one of the things I want Lantern Xor to work out in advance."
"Xalitan would happily live under military discipline his entire life."
"He doesn't need to tell any of the others that."
"What's.. wrong with the Green Lanterns' Sector system?"
"Nothing, if you're a Green Lantern. Maybe nothing if you're Orange. We don't know yet. I'd like to have Lantern Xor doing this sort of work so that we've got a worked example to draw on. When we get to that stage I'm probably going to send a few Lanterns this way for retraining, but otherwise, unless the Reach get to the point where they're actually pushing onto Maltus itself I'd rather that Lantern Xor stay here."
She nods. "Thank you."
"Serving your interests serves my interests, which is how this should work. Though going back to your revised government structure…"
"Yes?"
"There's a country called 'Russia' on my world that went through a couple of traumatic government changes during the last century. And whether it had a monarch, a communist dictatorship or a representative democracy, the fundamental character of the place remained much the same. People are going to try going back to the old way of doing things."
She nods. "And Xalitan will stop them, until eventually they learn not to."
I nod. "Good show. The L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet is lurking nearby just in case you need them, but it's probably best if this remains an internal matter."
"I agree, but thank you for your foresight." She walks over to the view screen showing the work being done to bring the captured ships back into working order. Xor's doing the lion's share of the heavy lifting; the revolution hasn't captured any space docks yet and so their engineers are mostly limited to internal repairs. "Do you think… Returning in warships sends the right message?"
"'We took these guys with little effort, how lucky do you feel?' Yes, I think that's an excellent message. I mean, don't try and govern from one…"
"But people need to know that we are strong enough to maintain order until things are settled."
"Just so." I nod. "Have Lantern Xor send me a message if you need me for anything."
I raise my right hand to my forehead,
step out
22nd August 2012
11:47 GMT -5
and reappear-.
There's a crackle, a small explosion, and a billow of decidedly toxic smoke.
"Thaddeus?"
"Heh." Thaddeus Sivana Junior kicks a smouldering box under his work bench. "However did that get there?"
"Are you really that bored?"
"No, I'm not… Bored. Merely… Undirected." He kicks whatever that was, and there's a loud crackle! "Agh!"
He hops backwards a pace, clutching his right leg, as Georgia pokes her head around the door.
"Paul! Are you looking for Father?"
"Not specifically."
"Good." She walks into the room. "Because he and Mother are… On a date."
"So they're..? Getting on?"
Staying on one leg, Thaddeus Junior takes a spray can of some sort out of a wall-mounted box and sprays his injured leg. He then cautiously puts his foot back on the ground before returning the can to the box.
"Yes."
"And how do you… Both.. feel about that?"
"I… Guess it's good."
Georgia ducks her head, glancing aside. Thaddeus turns to her with a frown.
"What?"
"If neither of you are busy?" They both look at me. "How would you like to visit Maltus?"