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

Feasibility Study (part 18)
21st November 2012
11:55 GMT -5


"Sir? Who's 'Todd'?"

And yes, I'm through. In the sense that I've made a hole to the other side. It's extremely awkward to reach and I've got more work to do opening it up. Arms apart and try to crumble a cone.. I can.. push out…

"Slabside, the containment wing. After the dominators captured it at the end of the war, they took… Took everyone. Obsidian. One time, he… He put the sun out for a few hours with Eclipso. Normally… Normally we'd execute someone like that, but he… He wasn't in his right mind. Psychologists said he was improving."

"Does he have any weaknesses?"

"Bright light. And his control isn't all that good. He might not be doing this deliberately. Or-."

He coughs and it sounds painful. I remember Alan sounding like that, back when his ring was dead.

I brace myself, deactivate my gauntlets and shove the armoured wall in front of me. Mechanical muscles I just copied and pasted from a data file work as well as specified, making the remaining points of attachments fracture and snap.

"External. I have a hole."

"Yeah, but I can't see anything. Can you?"

A.. bit. I can't see movement, but until I can move around a little sonic isn't going to give me much. Back to work. Gauntlets activate and armour evaporates.

"No one's shot me yet. The hole should be big enough to fly through in a minute."

"You can fly?"

"Not well, but yes."

"We might need you to rush the Commander outside the zone of darkness. Could you-?"

"Not worth it. Didn't bring my lantern. Can't recharge. Prioritise Todd."

"Sir. You heard him, Orange Lantern."

"Okay." I awkwardly walk backwards. "You should be able to climb through now."

"Shouldn't you go first?"

"This is the highest security area in the facility. Reinforcements will be coming here, but the high caste generally don't let their guards inside their chambers." I awkwardly turn around. "You might-"

There's a quiet clunk from the direction of one of the room's doors, and Interceptor's heat signature shows her ducking into cover.

"-get-. Go!""

I shift over into a position to provide better cover as the first shots hit me. No heavy weapons-. Yet, and dominator augmented vision systems aren't quite as effective as what I've built into my armour. Shields are doing alright-.

Interceptor listens out for a moment, then rush-crawls across the floor to Commander Scott. Fire from the dominators slackens off, and I give myself a second to imagine how easy this would be with access to actual combat armour or my subspace arsenal. But why aren't they shooting?

If they can't see me, then-. They're shooting sound. Quick test as Interceptor levers Commander Scott into a fireman's carry. I awkwardly crouch, grab a dominator torso and then toss it to the side.

It lands with a damp thud, then flashes of heat flicker towards it. So they're effectively blind. For a moment I wonder about flying Interceptor and Commander Scott to the ceiling and seeing if the marines will open the way to their masters for us, but she's already going through the hole and I don't think the risk is worth it. Okay, grab a leg and throw-.

Motion sensor wobbles as the dominators throw something. I don't think their regular grenades would do much to my armour, not while I'm behind-.

Ah!

Sonic grenades, meant to shock and confuse. Wait, compare-. They dialled them down. That was nothing like their highest possible output. It blinds me for a moment because I'm using sonics to scan my environment, but-. They might have done the same. Just set their helmet's autosensors to track the returns and share them between the squad's computers to form a complete picture. The correct response would be to move, except that I'm providing cover for my colleagues.

I throw the legs anyway, but this time no one shoots.

Okay, they're not going to have an unlimited supply of sonic grenades, and dominators aren't usually exactly in love with the local high caste. They can only get so many snapshots, and the sonic image is going to show my armour and not much else.

I could get out of the armour, because they won't know whether it was piloted or not.

I swiftly dismiss the idea.

I-.

"Through!"

And that's my cue.

"Internal. Flight."

I spin in the air, turning face down and perpendicular to the floor. As I twist, I grab another body and throw it a little to my left. My flight doesn't make noise, but if they-.

A bright flash of heat, and the fortification to my left fractures.

"External. Aaaagh!"

And then I fly towards the breach in the fortified doorway, arms… I can't do a full Superman pose in this armour; my shoulders aren't that flexible. But as close as I can manage. My armour's computer alerts me to the face that the dominators are continuing to shoot the spot where they 'hit' me as-. Ugh, as I hit the upper part of the tunnel I crumbled, bounce off slightly and get funnelled towards the exit-hole. Did-.

Yes, yes, they heard that. They don't manage to hit me; the angle between the hole, their door and the various fortifications doesn't really allow it unless they advance, and if I could shoot them then advancing would be a foolish thing to do indeed.

Ugh. And with this armour having no head I can't really look up. I can rotate my sensor display, but that-.

Am I… Stuck? Ugh, crumbler gauntlets on, extend arms to the sides, increase flight system power output-. And there we go and stop, rotate, and stand on the floor.

"Interceptor?"

"Ready to move."

"Okay, so two possibilities. Either the high caste have legged it and are sailing away in their escape pods, or they've broken out their experimental weapons and are about to attack us."

"The Heywood Corps has fought off probing attacks, but they're holding out. The Titans are hunkering down by the front entrance. And the Commander isn't doing too great. What kind-. No, I get it."

I check my sonics.

"Looks like the best route is this way. Given the situation, I'm going to move at a jog."

I step-.

AAAAGH!
 
Last edited:
"Slabside, the containment wing. After the dominators captured it at the end of the war, they took… Took everyone. Obsidian. One time, he… He put the sun out for a few hours with Eclipso. Normally… Normally we'd execute someone like that, but he… He wasn't in his right mind. Psychologists said he was improving

It probably also helped that he was related to the leader of the JSI.

pods, of they've broken out their experimental weapons and are

"or they've"
 
21st November 2012
11:55 GMT -5


"Sir? Who's 'Todd'?"

And yes, I'm through. In the sense that I've made a hole to the other side. It's extremely awkward to reach and I've got more work to do opening it up. Arms apart and try to crumble a cone.. I can.. push out…
Well, someone should have thought to make their heavy armour more flexible. So, then. I wonder if Commander Scott actually knows his relationship to Obsidian in this universe, and whether others know about it, or if he's just known as some random crazy metahuman?

"Slabside, the containment wing. After the dominators captured it at the end of the war, they took… Took everyone. Obsidian. One time, he… He put the sun out for a few hours with Eclipso. Normally… Normally we'd execute someone like that, but he… He wasn't in his right mind. Psychologists said he was improving."

"Does he have any weaknesses?"
Yeah, I bet a prison full of metahuman criminals was liek a big old box of candy to the Dominators. And Yes, Eclipso is technically that powerful. He was the Spectre's predecessor as the Wrath of God, after all.

"Bright light. And his control isn't all that good. He might not be doing this deliberately. Or-."

He coughs and it sounds painful. I remember Alan sounding like that, back when his ring was dead.
So the sooner you get his ass out of here and get him recharged, the better. We can only hope the light is being suppressed, not drained.

I brace myself, deactivate my gauntlets and shove the armoured wall in front of me. Mechanical muscles I just copied and pasted from a data file work as well as specified, making the remaining points of attachments fracture and snap.

"External. I have a hole."
And there's the strength enhancement I was talking about. Not as useful as you'd think, given the limited mobility, but if he gets his hands on someone, well...

"Yeah, but I can't see anything. Can you?"

A.. bit. I can't see movement, but until I can move around a little sonic isn't going to give me much. Back to work. Gauntlets activate and armour evaporates.
Sadly, without actively pinging, he's not going to see much. And if he is actively pinging, then anyone else using sonar will spot him loud and clear.

"No one's shot me yet. The hole should be big enough to fly through in a minute."

"You can fly?"
Integrated Kinetic Belt, if I remember right?

"Not well, but yes."

"We might need you to rush the Commander outside the zone of darkness. Could you-?"
Risky. He's be an easy target, and the ride might not be very pleasant for the Commander.

"Not worth it. Didn't bring my lantern. Can't recharge. Prioritise Todd."

"Sir. You heard him, Orange Lantern."
Yeah, better to deal with the cause of the issue rather than a symptom. And I doubt Jordan's lantern will be of much use, since this Ring is the Starheart, not a former Green Lantern castoff.

"Okay." I awkwardly walk backwards. "You should be able to climb through now."

"Shouldn't you go first?"
...Which side of the door are the guards going to be coming from, then? ;) Inside the big cheeses' quarters, or outside?

"This is the highest security area in the facility. Reinforcements will be coming here, but the high caste generally don't let their guards inside their chambers." I awkwardly turn around. "You might-"

There's a quiet clunk from the direction of one of the room's doors, and Interceptor's heat signature shows her ducking into cover.
Ah, that'll be the guards now. Decent response time.

"-get-. Go!""

I shift over into a position to provide better cover as the first shots hit me. No heavy weapons-. Yet, and dominator augmented vision systems aren't quite as affective as what I've built into my armour. Shields are doing alright-.
...Though probably limited to his silhouette, rather than a good old pavise.

Interceptor listens out for a moment, then rush-crawls across the floor to Commander Scott. Fire from the dominators slackens off, and I give myself a second to imagine how easy this would be with access to actual combat armour or my subspace arsenal. But why aren't they shooting?

If they can't see me, then-. They're shooting sound. Quick test as Interceptor levers Commander Scott into a fireman's carry. I awkwardly crouch, grab a dominator torso and then toss it to the side.
If wishes were fishes, no-one would go hungry... You fight with the tools you have, not the tools you could have.

It lands with a damp thud, then flashes of heat flicker towards it. So they're effectively blind. For a moment I wonder about flying Interceptor and Commander Scott to the ceiling and seeing if the marines will open the way to their masters for us, but she's already going through the hole and I don't think the risk is worth it. Okay, grab a leg and throw-.

Motion sensor wobbles as the dominators throw something. I don't think their regular grenades would do much to my armour, not while I'm behind-.
And I doubt their bosses would appreciate them setting off fragmentation charges in or near their quarters, no matter the reason...

Ah!

Sonic grenades, meant to shock and confuse. Wait, compare-. They dialled them down. That was nothing like their highest possible output. It blinding me for a moment because I'm using sonics to scan my environment, but-. They might have done the same. Just set their helmet's autosensors to track the returns and share them between the squad's computers to form a complete picture. The correct response would be to move, except that I'm providing cover for my colleagues.
Ooh, clever. potentially stun an attacker while they're blind and generate a sonar map at the same time.

I throw the legs anyway, but this time no one shoots.

Okay, they're not going to have an unlimited supply of sonic grenades, and dominators aren't usually exactly in love with the local high caste. They can only get so many snapshots, and the sonic image is going to show my armour and not much else.
Which they may assume is some manner of combat automata, and call for heavier weaponry. Best to deal with them quickly, then.

I could get out of the armour, because they won't know whether it was piloted or not.

I swiftly dismiss the idea.
For a start, it would make a lot of noise, I expect. Also, you're not exactly well-protected underneath, are you, besides light armour and a kinetic belt?

I-.

"Through!"

And that's my cue.
Okay, the squishy ones are out of the way for now. Time to wreck some shit?

"Internal. Flight."

I spin in the air, turning face down and perpendicular to the floor. As I twist, I grab another body and throw it a little to my left. My flight doesn't make noise, but if they-.
Heh, a human torpedo.

A bright flash of heat, and the fortification to my left fractures.

"External. Aaaagh!"
Ha, nice, make them think they hurt you. Get them confident and moving up.

And then I fly towards the breach in the fortified doorway, arms… I can't do a full Superman pose in this armour, my shoulders aren't that flexible. But as close as I can manage. My armour's computer alerts me to the face that the dominators are continuing to shoot the spot where they 'hit' me as-. Ugh, as I hit the upper part of the tunnel I crumbled, bounce off slightly and get funnelled towards the exit-hole. Did-.

Yes, yes, they heard that. They don't manage to hit me; the angle between the hole, their door and the various fortifications doesn't really allow it unless they advance, and if I could shoot them then advancing would be a foolish thing to do indeed.
The joy of fighting blind: second-guessing what you're hearing.

Ugh. And with this armour having no head I can't really look up. I can rotate my sensor display, but that-.

Am I… Stuck? Ugh, crumbler gauntlets on, extend arms to the sides, increase flight system power output-. And there we go and stop, rotate, and stand on the floor.
Honestly, if you could replace it with something closer to Astartes power armour... Instead of the ersatz Securitron look you have now.

"Interceptor?"

"Ready to move."
Good, good. Best to be quiet about it...

"Okay, so two possibilities. Either the high caste have legged it and are sailing away in their escape pods, of they've broken out their experimental weapons and are about to attack us."

"The Heywoods Corps has fought off probing attacks, but they're holding out. The Titans and hunkering down by the front entrance. And the Commander isn't doing too great. What kind-. No, I get it."
Honestly, I could see it going either way. Depends on how brave the high-caste feel at the moment.

I check my sonics.

"Looks like the best route is this way. Given the situation, I'm going to move at a jog."
Let's hope you're not being funnelled into a kill-box by the layout.

Let me guess: point defences or land mine equivalent?

This is going to be a very slow process, stumbling around in the dark. Gods only know how many traps are laid in that complex. And sooner or later, those guards are going to start moving after you. And there's still the chance of nastier stuff ahead. We can at least hope that the centre of the bubble of darkness has an unaffected area. Otherwise, shutting it down might prove difficult.
 
I brace myself, deactivate my gauntlets and shove the armoured wall in front of me. Mechanical muscles I just copied and pasted from a data file work as well as specified, making the remaining points of attachments fracture and snap.
Ugh. And with this armour having no head I can't really look up. I can rotate my sensor display, but that-.
So yes, LePaul is really just bad at designing Power Armor.

This is especially amusing given he's plundered Oa, Controller, Kryptonian, and Thanagarian databases while having a copy of Doctor Ivo literally sitting in his base somewhere.
 
So yes, LePaul is really just bad at designing Power Armor.

This is especially amusing given he's plundered Oa, Controller, Kryptonian, and Thanagarian databases while having a copy of Doctor Ivo literally sitting in his base somewhere.
There are limits to what Paul can think of possibly happening and there are physical limits on what he can include in his power armor. Also, are you referring to a robotic duplicate of Ivo, which I'm not entirely sure Paul even has, or the Lantern-Construct of Dr. Morrow?
 
As I said, give them a sense of morality and the Dominators would be Paul's favorite people in the galaxy.

...I wonder what Earth-3 Dominators are like?

I'm picturing interplanetary doctors without borders. Just show up and start curing diseases, replacing missing limbs, unscarring burn victims, that sort of thing.
 
Well, someone should have thought to make their heavy armour more flexible.
The problem with backup weapons and armor is they seldom get used in real works situations.

You hope you have a good, practical bayonet design. Then someone turns off the physics support for gunpowder, and then you get to find out. Most people being unable to disable lantern rings, means the may be his first actual sustained use of this armor in an serious engagement.

Hopefully he uses the after action evaluation to make improvements based on his real world experiences of how it worked out in practice.
 
I'm not much a fan of this 'lol, all yer superpowers are turned off' shite. Like, this is an army of superheroes with dozens upon dozens of different sources for their power, from Lantern rings to kryptonians, and this one size fits all zone of darkness has neutered everyone but the tech guys.
 
I'm not much a fan of this 'lol, all yer superpowers are turned off' shite. Like, this is an army of superheroes with dozens upon dozens of different sources for their power, from Lantern rings to kryptonians, and this one size fits all zone of darkness has neutered everyone but the tech guys.
I refer you to Justice Society of America, 2007 run, issues 36-40.
 
Well, Commander Scott might not last too much longer at this rate. Hopefully he's able to get recharged at some point.

Ah, so Paul hasn't practices with the belt as much as the other Team members did. I keep on picturing Superboy laughing at OL now.
 
Mr Zoat did Alan raise his kids in this reality or only discover he had kids when they were already adults?
 
The only way that I can imagine the Illustres's armor right now, is as a block of heavily reinforced machine with the articulation and mobility of a third or second rate action figure. Like a refrigerator with limbs that can slightly move. And that's just lame.

I know he just puts this on for defence and as a back up, but even a modified Darkstar armor would be better no?
 
I refer you to Justice Society of America, 2007 run, issues 36-40.
You misunderstand. I don't care that it's a canon thing in a published work, and you're well within your rights to use it. I still hate it. This isn't Worm where all superpowers share a common source with a simple means of shutting them down.

Fucking comics.
 
You misunderstand. I don't care that it's a canon thing in a published work, and you're well within your rights to use it. I still hate it. This isn't Worm where all superpowers share a common source with a simple means of shutting them down.

Fucking comics.

Well actually DC is a setting where powers share a common source.

The Source.

Genesis event- The Godwave broke off of the Source and made the gods and the superbeings, and the Speedforce, the Green Lantern's Glow, magic, and Captain Atom's quantum field all flow from the Source.
 
Hey mr. Zoat, I've been rereading earlier chapters and, aside from finding dead links I'm too lazy to link to, I'm curious: If the Nabu thing hadn't happened, what would Paul's relationship with the league be? Would he actually want to join despite their organizational issues? Be the den mother for the Team? Would it interfere with his OLC work? He was a shoo-in for the December vote barring Nabu (and I think Jordan), would that change things after?
 
Mr Zoat did Alan raise his kids in this reality or only discover he had kids when they were already adults?
The SI doesn't know. But since it isn't a secret, he only met them in adulthood.
The only way that I can imagine the Illustres's armor right now, is as a block of heavily reinforced machine with the articulation and mobility of a third or second rate action figure. Like a refrigerator with limbs that can slightly move. And that's just lame.
No, it's not quite that bad.
I know he just puts this on for defence and as a back up, but even a modified Darkstar armor would be better no?
Darkstar armour would have shut down by now because its exotic energy systems would have failed.
Hey mr. Zoat, I've been rereading earlier chapters and, aside from finding dead links I'm too lazy to link to, I'm curious: If the Nabu thing hadn't happened, what would Paul's relationship with the league be? Would he actually want to join despite their organizational issues? Be the den mother for the Team? Would it interfere with his OLC work? He was a shoo-in for the December vote barring Nabu (and I think Jordan), would that change things after?
If Nabu hadn't joined the League the SI wouldn't have thought that the organisation issues were a big deal. It's a not for profit run by highly motivated volunteers who have shown themselves to be open to a rational argument. In a situation like that taking five minutes and talking things through can bypass most organisational inefficiencies.

He'd most likely have talked things through with Diana, realised that several League members had 'concerns' and offered to spend time with each of them so they could get to know each other better. That would have resulted in him joining the League in mid-2011.
 
If Nabu hadn't joined the League the SI wouldn't have thought that the organisation issues were a big deal. It's a not for profit run by highly motivated volunteers who have shown themselves to be open to a rational argument. In a situation like that taking five minutes and talking things through can bypass most organisational inefficiencies.

He'd most likely have talked things through with Diana, realised that several League members had 'concerns' and offered to spend time with each of them so they could get to know each other better. That would have resulted in him joining the League in mid-2011.
Would his first act as a league member, be bringing up Nabu as an issue, the fact that Zatanna is basically an orphan with no real guardian taking care of her, and Zatara is essentially a slave since Nabu's not looking for another host and has shown no interest in finding one? Also, can we get a chapter of a Paul variant where Nabu never joined the league after the split world incident?
 
The SI doesn't know. But since it isn't a secret, he only met them in adulthood.

No, it's not quite that bad.

Darkstar armour would have shut down by now because its exotic energy systems would have failed.

If Nabu hadn't joined the League the SI wouldn't have thought that the organisation issues were a big deal. It's a not for profit run by highly motivated volunteers who have shown themselves to be open to a rational argument. In a situation like that taking five minutes and talking things through can bypass most organisational inefficiencies.

He'd most likely have talked things through with Diana, realised that several League members had 'concerns' and offered to spend time with each of them so they could get to know each other better. That would have resulted in him joining the League in mid-2011.

Thank you, that clarifies a lot for me
 
Would his first act as a league member, be bringing up Nabu as an issue, the fact that Zatanna is basically an orphan with no real guardian taking care of her, and Zatara is essentially a slave since Nabu's not looking for another host and has shown no interest in finding one? Also, can we get a chapter of a Paul variant where Nabu never joined the league after the split world incident?
I think there's been a bit of miscommunication. What Mr Zoat said could've only happened if Nabu never took control of Zatara to begin with.
 
I think there's been a bit of miscommunication. What Mr Zoat said could've only happened if Nabu never took control of Zatara to begin with.
No, it's more or less the same. If the League don't let Nabu in but Zatara's still possessed he and Zatanna run their plan past Diana at some point in the first half of 2011. She refers them to Batman, who brings in a few other people people to check their working but otherwise gives it the go ahead.
 

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