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

Fleet Traction (part 10)
1st January 2013
20:54 GMT


I sigh as I register the Reach fleet moving into orbit around Karrakan. I might be able to reach them before they kill everything on the surface, but… I… Don't think so. They could do enough damage to make the planet even more hellish than it already is, and if the locals aren't going to cooperate then I wouldn't be able to rescue them-.

Alright, it would technically be possible to seize a ship and put them there, but given the description Thiva gave me I don't think I really want them to get hold of a top of the line warship. Shame about the regular people but I doubt that the Reach are interested in them.

"Orange Lantern to the-."

"How did you manage that?"

"I'm pretty good at this whole Lanterning thing. And because you used your new technique on me, I'm going to be passing on my information into the rest of the Corps."

"You think that you learned more than we did?"

"Bored now, hanging up."

Hung up.

Ring, signal the ships in the flotilla chasing the Ascendants.

Compliance.

And message to Thiva.

"Illustres?"

"Sorry for the delay, they sicced an upgraded Scarab Warrior on me. I'm heading towards your pursuers now."

"How are you able to travel at faster than light speed?"

"I can overpower the Reach's gravity manipulation over a small area. Hard work though, and it's draining my power reserves faster than I'd like."

"Can you move our ships like that?"

"I.. don't think so, and I haven't examined the boundary."

"Then we will-. Do you want our warships to turn around and fight the Reach beside you?"

I take a moment to consider the relatively small Reach squadron pursuing them, and the slightly larger number of ships pursuing me. I don't know whether they're equipped with construct disrupters or not… But even if they are, ships of that size aren't anything like as agile as Scarab Warriors.

"Are the passengers all loaded on the transport ships, or are they just sort of packed in anywhere there's space?"

"When the Reach arrived, we just rushed to get everyone aboard-."

"Then keep evading them."

Communication from Reach vessels.

Good show. Hang up, answer.

Compliance.

"Hello there. I'm the Lantern chasing you."

"Ah. I had hoped that our Beetle was just carrying your rings."

"Sorry, no such skill. So listen, my record at killing Reach ships is really good."

"My record at killing agents of the Darkstars is similarly good."

"Which would be good for you… If I was a Darkstar. Ever killed a Lantern?"

There's no response.

"So I don't know exactly how the Reach handle personal initiative and impossible situations, but as I see it the problem is like this: your objective is to collect samples of Ascendant biology and technology. And I do mean collect, not scan. It's too different to things your people are familiar with for a few long ranged scans to do much good. Now, there are only wrecks left of their habitation platforms and not a lot of advanced stuff on the planet itself. These ships are valuable."

"Yes."

"Except… You can't. I'm going to catch up with you before you're in optimal weapons range. Your own sensors can confirm that."

"Assuming that you can keep up your pace."

"Assuming that I can keep up this pace, and not go faster. So given that you can't reliably cripple the ships you're chasing before I reach you, do you think that you can beat me?"

"Yes."

Hm.

"I've got no reason to fly past you, which means that it's rear-facing weapons only. You're nothing like as manoeuvrable as me, your maximum acceleration is less and you know that my weapons can destroy your ships."

"And?"

"And, if I destroy you, then you won't be able to fulfil your mission. So what I'm going to suggest is, your turn off and fly away, and so preserve your ships and personnel. You'll fail your mission, but once the Scarab Warrior failed to tie me up for longer that was a given. The only issue is whether your ships survive or not. Though I.. suppose that the information your side gathers on my destructive abilities might be worth something. I can't judge how the two things balance for you."

No response, though the channel is still open.

"Now, in other circumstances I might quite like to destroy this fleet. But as I understand it, you're just here for information to help you fight Grayven. I'd actually quite like you to learn more about fighting New Gods, which -unusually- means that it's in my interests to let you go. I wouldn't exactly be choked up about having to kill you all, but it's not my primary aim."

Still no response.

"I'm nearly in effective weapons range. If you want to take the offer, I'm going to need to hear something… Now."

The warp terminates, and… Ah. It's like a weight has been lifted from my metaphysique-. Which raises the worrying question as to whether or not I'd have been able to do this in a thaumically dead system. Or… Whether we would.

I should… Probably get a new medical exam.

"I'm afraid that I'm-"

I form a new giant cold gun.

"-going to need to rush-."

BOOM! INEXORABLE ASCENT!

Uh…

A boom tube has opened in the area of the Ascendants' former base, and I see Grayven's flagship fly through.
 
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You know all this advanced, sudden Super-High Tech may have come from.somewhere else. Apokolips, specifically.

Distract Earth with Mannheim, sic the Reach on Grayven and use all these distractions to seize a Reach Coreworld or two with another Anti-Life infection.

Kill three birds with one stone.
 
1st January 2013
20:54 GMT


I sigh as I register the Reach fleet moving into orbit around Karrakan. I might be able to reach them before they kill everything on the surface, but… I… Don't think so. They could do enough damage to make the planet even more hellish than it already is, and if the locals aren't going to cooperate then I wouldn't be able to rescue them-.

Alright, it would technically be possible to seize a ship and put them there, but given the description Thiva gave me I don't think I really want them to get hold of a top of the line warship. Shame about the regular people but I doubt that the Reach are interested in them.
Yeah, any Ascendant still alive down there is likely half-mad, feral or outright psychotic. Not the kind of person you want commanding a Reach ship. Pity about the remaining locals, but if they're too closely bound to their Ascendant master...

"Orange Lantern to the-."

"How did you manage that?"
Oh, the Nemesis is still on the line? Tell him to bugger off, and then get the heck out of dodge with the bystanders...

"I'm pretty good at this whole Lanterning thing. And because you used your new technique on me, I'm going to be passing on my information into the rest of the Corps."

"You think that you learned more than we did?"
...You really think OL used every trick in his playbook?

"Bored now, hanging up."

Hung up.
:V Ha! Clever Ring VI.

Ring, signal the ships in the flotilla chasing the Ascendants.

Compliance.
Ah, going to try and talk them out of it before you lay in with the cold shoulder?

And message to Thiva.

"Illustres?"

"Sorry for the delay, they sicced an upgraded Scarab Warrior on me. I'm heading towards your pursuers now."
Honestly, it didn't really delay him that long. What, five minutes total? (Seriously, check the timestamps...)

"How are you able to travel at faster than light speed?"

"I can overpower the Reach's gravity manipulation over a small area. Hard work though, and it's draining my power reserves faster than I'd like."
Literally weaponising 'Fuck you, that's how.' Surprisingly handy if you have a direct quantum-entangled tap into the embodiment of universal Want.

"Can you move our ships like that?"

"I.. don't think so, and I haven't examined the boundary."
I shudder to imagine the gravitational flux it's in, based on the weird lensing effects he's been seeing.

"Then we will-. Do you want our warships to turn around and fight the Reach beside you?"

I take a moment to consider the relatively small Reach squadron pursuing them, and the slightly larger number of ships pursuing me. I don't know whether they're equipped with construct disrupters or not… But even if they are, ships of that size aren't anything like as agile as Scarab Warriors.
And as Thiva noted, the Ascendant ships weapons are 'insufficient' to put up much of a fight, even if those aboard came out to fight.

"Are the passengers all loaded on the transport ships, or are they just sort of packed in anywhere there's space?"

"When the Reach arrived, we just rushed to get everyone aboard-."
In other words, even the warships are crammed with elderly and young refugees...

"Then keep evading them."

Communication from Reach vessels.
Ah, their leader is going to talk? At least beating the Scarab will give OL a bonus to his social checks.

Good show. Hang up, answer.

Compliance.

"Hello there. I'm the Lantern chasing you."
And I can't help hear this in anything but a bright and cheerful tone of voice. :D

"Ah. I had hoped that our Beetle was just carrying your rings."

"Sorry, no such skill. So listen, my record at killing Reach ships is really good."
Indeed, you've only suffered one loss in how many bouts? Pretty good.

"My record at killing agents of the Darkstars is similarly good."

"Which would be good for you… If I was a Darkstar. Ever killed a Lantern?"

There's no response.
Yes, I rather suspect if he'd encountered a Lantern, he wouldn't be here now...

"So I don't know exactly how the Reach handle personal initiative and impossible situations, but as I see it the problem is like this: your objective is to collect samples of Ascendant biology and technology. And I do mean collect, not scan. It's too different to things your people are familiar with for a few long ranged scans to do much good. Now, there are only wrecks left of their habitation platforms and not a lot of advanced stuff on the planet itself. These ships are valuable."
Possibly too valuable for the commodore here to abort his assault, even if he wanted to... The price of failure is likely high.

"Yes."

"Except… You can't. I'm going to catch up with you before you're in optimal weapons range. Your own sensors can confirm that."
And I doubt they've got anything that would bother him.

"Assuming that you can keep up your pace."

"Assuming that I can keep up this pace, and not go faster. So given that you can't reliably cripple the ships you're chasing before I reach you, do you think that you can beat me?"
Now, what will the answer be? Fatalistic, realistic, or...

Foolishly overconfident it is.

"I've got no reason to fly past you, which means that it's rear-facing weapons only. You're nothing like as manoeuvrable as me, your maximum acceleration is less and you know that my weapons can destroy your ships."

"And?"
Ask yourself this, Commodore: Is today a good day to die?

"And, if I destroy you, then you won't be able to fulfil your mission. So what I'm going to suggest is, your turn off and fly away, and so preserve your ships and personnel. You'll fail your mission, but once the Scarab Warrior failed to tie me up for longer that was a given. The only issue is whether your ships survive or not. Though I.. suppose that the information your side gathers on my destructive abilities might be worth something. I can't judge how the two things balance for you."
I suppose it depends on how willing the commodore is to sacrifice himself for the state.

No response, though the channel is still open.

"Now, in other circumstances I might quite like to destroy this fleet. But as I understand it, you're just here for information to help you fight Grayven. I'd actually quite like you to learn more about fighting New Gods, which -unusually- means that it's in my interests to let you go. I wouldn't exactly be choked up about having to kill you all, but it's not my primary aim."
And you have to wonder how committed his crew are. A few bridge officers with less conviction...

Still no response.

"I'm nearly in effective weapons range. If you want to take the offer, I'm going to need to hear something… Now."
Clock's ticking, Commodore. Surrender or fight? Live... Or die?

The warp terminates, and… Ah. It's like a weight has been lifted from my metaphysique-. Which raises the worrying question as to whether or not I'd have been able to do this is a thaumically dead system. Or… Whether we would.

I should… Probably get a new medical exam.
Gee, you think? Between all the strange and dangerous new energies you've soaked up... I can't wait to see the face of the Maltusian who looks at that soul...

"I'm afraid that I'm-"

I form a new giant cold gun.
Cold-related puns optional. And possibly unlikely to be understood, translation bedamned.

"-going to need to rush-."

BOOM! INEXORABLE ASCENT!
A New Challenger Has Appeared!

Uh…

A boom tube has opened in the area of the Ascendants' former base, and I see Grayven's flagship fly through.
Oh, a Grayven Interrupt. Bet he's come looking to collect what Sparta owed him.

Well, this is turning into quite the New year's Day. At this point, I'm amazed OL isn't reaching the point of going 'Oh, sod this...', grabbing the Ascendant refugee ships and hauling ass, gravity-warping or no gravity warping, through the power of Do Not Want. Let the Reach play patty-cake with Big Gray over what's left of Karrakan, and save the people you can...
 
"Now, in other circumstances I might quite like to destroy this fleet. But as I understand it, you're just here for information to help you fight Grayven. I'd actually quite like you to learn more about fighting New Gods, which -unusually- means that it's in my interests to let you go. I wouldn't exactly be choked up about having to kill you all, but it's not my primary aim."
This seems fucked up, because it's basically asserting that Grayven is worse then the Reach.

In order from of horribleness, I'd go:
1: Darkseid
2: The Reach
3: Grayven

Where Darkseid is eternal 1984+, the Reach is a Nazi holocaust crusade scaled way up in terms of both scope and refinement.

Grayven just wants to conquer everyone into his empire. He's all the bad parts of Colonial Imperialism, writ large and IN SPACE. Bad like the British Empire is bad, but not as bad as the others. OL's weighting scale seems fucked in the head here.
 
This seems fucked up, because it's basically asserting that Grayven is worse then the Reach.

He wants them to fight with Grayven because any experience they gain in fighting new gods is nearly 1:1 applicable when fighting Darkseid's forces.

In this case he probably hopes fighting Grayven will make them bold enough to finally try stamping out the thorn in their prideful collective psyche that is that one nearby region of space that is functionally untouchable to them.
 
This seems fucked up, because it's basically asserting that Grayven is worse then the Reach.

In order from of horribleness, I'd go:
1: Darkseid
2: The Reach
3: Grayven

Where Darkseid is eternal 1984+, the Reach is a Nazi holocaust crusade scaled way up in terms of both scope and refinement.

Grayven just wants to conquer everyone into his empire. He's all the bad parts of Colonial Imperialism, writ large and IN SPACE. Bad like the British Empire is bad, but not as bad as the others. OL's weighting scale seems fucked in the head here.

This Grayven wants to conquer everyone into his empire, yes.

His empire that is still on pretty good terms with Darkseid, in the end.

You'll notice OL said he wanted the Reach to bone up on fighting New Gods, not fighting Grayven. He has his eyes on the prize - defeating Darkseid - and sometimes you have to play realpolitik to get to the end goal.

There's also the fact that, even setting aside Big, Gray, and Tyrrany, he's going to have to fight Grayven-16 eventually, and the more the Reach can wear him down militarily and prevent Grayven from metaphysically Asserting His Empire before then, the less NEMO will have to deal with when they reach that point.
 
This means Grayven could have infiltrators in the Reach. I mean… if Scott Free could sneak a bunch of the Justice League onto Apokalyps for a rescue mission, I can believe Grayven has some spies in the reach. Or some device which allows him to eavesdrop on the Reach better than anything the Maltusians can make,

We've seen Renegade!Paul's conquest powers. We've seen that he didn't radically expand the scope of his abilities while fighting for X decades in the future against Artemis. Now of Grayven had previously conquered this planet, then I could see this skirmish pinging his godsense from anywhere in the galaxy. But we don't know that's what happened. another possibility is that, following Paul and Grayven's last confrontation where Paul screwed with Grayven's mind in order to not give up a metaphysical win by "fleeing," Grayven marked Paul somehow. The new god kept a tab on his status and warmed up the portal-maker when he detected Paul's struggles.

With all that said… I have no idea how this situation will shake out.
 
This seems fucked up, because it's basically asserting that Grayven is worse then the Reach.

In order from of horribleness, I'd go:
1: Darkseid
2: The Reach
3: Grayven

Where Darkseid is eternal 1984+, the Reach is a Nazi holocaust crusade scaled way up in terms of both scope and refinement.

Grayven just wants to conquer everyone into his empire. He's all the bad parts of Colonial Imperialism, writ large and IN SPACE. Bad like the British Empire is bad, but not as bad as the others. OL's weighting scale seems fucked in the head here.


Grayven explicitly allowed the citizenry to absolutely genocide dozens of pre industrial races and turn their entire populations into food for his army, so your analysis is extremely wrong.

Darkseid leads to universal death of self and must be stopped from achieving that goal by any means necessary.

The Reach are slow methodical genociders, they do keep some extremely useful aliens around for significantly longer in reserves.

Grayven and his forces are speedrun genociders they may keep around useful individuals from weaker races, but for the most part if you are weak, you are no better than food.

On that scale the Reach are the lesser evil because they take their time before erasing your entire species from the face of the universe and are actually at least willing to negotiate in bad faith. If you are a strong species/individual then Grayven is better than the Reach, but not by a lot.

The Reach saw the chicken people and thought "I wonder if they could be useful"

Grayven would just see them as chicken tenders regardless of how smart they are.
 
Fleet Traction (part 11)
1st January 2013
20:57 GMT


I narrow my eyes slightly as the central Reach dreadnought's mid section is vaporised, the colossal beam of energy working its way back towards the Absolute Dominion's hyper blaster. RUINATION!

Heh.

"Ring, message to the Absolute Dominion: go get 'em, Grayven."

Other, smaller ships fly through the boom tube behind the Dominion. And… Those aren't gordanian ships. They're… More like what the Ascendants use, which makes perfect sense given the source. And they'll probably have-.

Was… Sparta talking complete nonsense about the state of Karrakan's surface? Was it actually fine and he was-? No, Thiva would have checked-.

"Ring, get me Thiva again."

Compliance.

"Holy Grandmother. Illustres, can you feel that? His… Power. Who is that?"

"That's Grayven, Sparta's sponsor. And I'm afraid that I can't-"

A second dreadnought is hit, its central section disintegrated, fore and aft drifting apart with surprising gentleness as the Reach fleet starts to try to reposition itself. RUINATION!

"-feel it as I'm not a god myself. I've got to ask: how much effort did you put in to trying to rescue people from Karrakan?"

"I don't understand."

"You see that the ships accompanying Grayven's flagship are very similar to the ones you're using? He had to get Ship Masters from somewhere."

"I spoke to several myself. Or-. I tried to. They would not hear me."

"Did they know that you were allied with Sparta? Or that Sparta had been overthrown? Because they might have turned you away for that reason."

"I didn't ask. I just…"

"Right, fine. He might be willing to take you on; if that's something you're interested in it would probably be best if you contacted him directly. Otherwise, I'm betting on him over the Reach, so we should be out of here soon."

"If he wishes to speak with us, he can come to New Othrys."

"I've got a suspicion he will. Ring, add the Reach ships in front of me to the channel."

"Compliance."

"So I'm guessing that you're getting new orders about now."

Their primary weapons open fire on the Ascendants. It's at the very limits of its effective range and New God shielding is very good, but the intent is clear.

"Yes. We are to deny Grayven all resources, no matter the cost."

"That's a real shame."

End. And fire.

The cold beam lances out, hitting the Reach ship closest to the Ascendants. Since I'm close enough not to worry about needing to warp space to make it hit, the beam is continuous. The ship I hit is completely enveloped with a beam of unceasing physics-violation. The armour seems to shrink in on itself as it dissolves into fragments, the interior freezing solid. Something I can identify because whatever they use to disrupt ring scans appears to have been one of the things I just destroyed.

"Would you care to reconsider? Think about the needs of the whole of the Reach, not just the local theatre."

Near Karrakan the more agile Reach ships are in full retreat, trying to get to the far side of the planet as the New God ships draw closer. The capital ships-.

I smile faintly as the last one is torn apart by the Dominion's primary weapon. RUINATION!

I know it's not an efficient design, but there's something about watching it tear through enemy capital ships that stirs a primal joy in the violent and uncivilised depths of my soul.

"The Writ is all."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I switch the cold cannon to the next target and fire. "Thiva, you handling it? Or do you need me to fly closer and shield you?"

"I think that Grayven's power is fortifying our shields."

I wince. Looks like he wants to preserve his investment.

The second ship I targeted comes apart like the first. Three left, and while they're gaining on the Ascendants their weapons aren't doing anything worth talking about to the shields at this distance.

"Come on, don't you have families to go home to?"

Nothing. Ring?

Channel ended.

Alright, signal the other three ships.

Compliance.

"Guys, you're not hurting their shields and I can one-shot your ships. Please give it up. If you're concerned that you'll be punished when you go home, I'll take you prisoner. I'll even let you scuttle your ships first so I can't gain useful intelligence. Please."

"The Writ is all." / "The Writ is all." / "The Writ is all."

Darn it.

I turn my cold cannon to the third ship and fire, watching… Yes, I'm actually saddened by it. These ships aren't an immediate threat to anyone but unless I destroy them and their crews they will become one. What do they think we're-?

"Has your government told you something about us treating prisoners badly? Because I assure you, it's just a high security prison black site. One round of telepathic interrogation, and then you'll be left to your own devices."

"No succour. Stop insulting us and kill us."

I sigh and fire at the second to last ship, which doesn't survive any better than the previous ones. The Ascendants-. They rotate their ships and begin applying thrust to reduce their speed.

"Thiva, what are you doing?"

"Helping." Strike!

Primary fore-mounted weapons from their warships fire, taking a few seconds to hit the last Reach ship in pursuit. Its shields crackle and flex, far better able to cope with nearly-normal weapon fire than the physics-defying wrath of a cold beam. The Reach ship responds by taking hopeful shots with its secondary batteries, but it's clear that's more a sign of their will to resist rather than something they expect to actually achieve anything.
Slay!
Another barrage from the Ascendants and their target's shield finally suffers a partial overload, failing and allowing the energetic assault to hit the hull. Again, that survives far better against their shots than it did against the cold beam, but there's never really any doubt-.

I nod as the front of the ship melts, and the interior is far less resilient that the armour.

I turn to face my own pursuers. They're still following, but-.

I stare in astonishment as the giant cold beam I fired at the beginning of the fight slams into the Absolute Dominion.
 
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A few snippets of Godspeech. Mostly punctuation to what's happening onscreen:
I narrow my eyes slightly as the central Reach dreadnought's mid section is vaporised, the colossal beam of energy working its way back towards the Absolute Dominion's hyper blaster. RUINATION!

A second dreadnought is hit, its central section disintegrated, fore and aft drifting apart with surprising gentleness as the Reach fleet starts to try to reposition itself. RUINATION!

Near Karrakan the more agile Reach ships are in full retreat, trying to get to the far side of the planet as the New God ships draw closer. The capital ships-.

I smile faintly as the last one is torn apart by the Dominion's primary weapon. RUINATION!

"Helping." Strike!

Primary fore-mounted weapons from their warships fire, taking a few seconds to hit the last Reach ship in pursuit. Its shields crackle and flex, far better able to cope with nearly-normal weapon fire than the physics-defying wrath of a cold beam. The Reach ship responds by taking hopeful shots with its secondary batteries, but it's clear that's more a sign of their will to resist rather than something they expect to actually achieve anything.
Slay!
Another barrage from the Ascendants and their target's shield finally suffers a partial overload, failing and allowing the energetic assault to hit the hull. Again, that survives far better against their shots than it did against the cold beam, but there's never really any doubt-.
 
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I stare in astonishment as the giant cold beam I fired at the beginning of the fight slams into the Absolute Dominion.
Anyone else starting to notice how almost everything that could possibly go wrong for LePaul is going wrong for LePaul?

Because I'm starting to suspect Eris's blessing has finally flipped to the other side.
 
Can Paragon by any chance locate and capture the souls of the dead Reachians for intelligence via metaphysical shenanigans? Though Grayven's presence and resources may be a challenge to that.
 
Or it's intentional in the sense that he wants to demonstrate the futility of Earth's weapons against him.
Or it's intentional in the sense that it's somehow a setup for god-magic, or some kind of political maeneuver.

Or it's actually pure bad luck, and we're about to see Grayven trip over an entirely random screwup and give the Reach a decent shot at trying to kill him.
 
1st January 2013
20:57 GMT


I narrow my eyes slightly as the central Reach dreadnought's mid section is vaporised, the colossal beam of energy working its way back towards the Absolute Dominion's hyper blaster. RUINATION!

Heh.

"Ring, message to the Absolute Dominion: go get 'em, Grayven."
Ah, the classic introduction: A gigantic beam of 'Fuck you'. Or in this case, 'Fuck you, Fuck everyone next to you, and Fuck whatever celestial body you might be standing in front of!' And all OL has to worry about is staying as far from their firing arc as possible...

Other, smaller ships fly through the boom tube behind the Dominion. And… Those aren't gordanian ships. They're… More like what the Ascendants use, which makes perfect sense given the source. And they'll probably have-.

Was… Sparta talking complete nonsense about the state of Karrakan's surface? Was it actually fine and he was-? No, Thiva would have checked-.
Or she sent some of her Ascendant followers off as an initial down-payment to Grayven. I doubt he'd be so nice as to offer anything without a deposit...

"Ring, get me Thiva again."

Compliance.

"Holy Gandmother. Illustres, can you feel that? His… Power. Who is that?"
Ignore it, girl, he's worse than Sparta ever was. Do not follow the sweet taste of Conquest.

"That's Grayven, Sparta's sponsor. And I'm afraid that I can't-"

A second dreadnought is hit, its central section disintegrated, fore and aft drifting apart with surprising gentleness as the Reach fleet starts to try to reposition itself. RUINATION!
I get the feeling this has been the usual sort of occurrence whenever Grayven commits his flagship to a fight.

"-feel it as I'm not a god myself. I've got to ask: how much effort did you put in to trying to rescue people from Karrakan?"

"I don't understand."
Well, for a start, did you actually check the surface conditions for yourself? Make visual contact with those on the ground? Or did you just holler out over the radio?

"You see that the ship's accompanying Grayven's flagship are very similar to the ones you're using? He had to get Ship Masters from somewhere."

"I spoke to several myself. Or-. I tried to. They would not hear me."
...Perhaps a louder voice was filling their ears, as it seems to be trying to do to you now.

"Did they knew that you were allied with Sparta? Or that Sparta had been overthrown? Because they might have turned you away for that reason."

"I didn't ask. I just…"
Huh. Certainly, the change of command might have been reflected in her godly aura, but unless she went face-to-face, they might not have noticed...

"Right, fine. He might be willing to take you on; if that's something you're interested in it would probably be best if you contacted him directly. Otherwise, I'm better on him over the Reach, so we should be out of here soon."

"If he wishes to speak with us, he can come to New Othrys."
...That might not be a good thing for New Orthrys. Depending on how he's received, for sure.

"I've got a suspicion he will. Ring, add the Reach ships in front of me to the channel."

"Compliance."

"So I'm guessing that you're getting new orders about now."
Though they might not be the ones you expect them to be getting, OL.

Their primary weapons open fire on the Ascendants. It's at the very limits of its effective range and New God shielding is very good, but the intent is clear.

"Yes. We are to deny Grayven all resources, no matter the cost."
Ah, of course. The last great act of defiance. (Insert the age-old cartoon of 'Mouse flipping off eagle' here...)

"That's a real shame."

End. And fire.
After all, they're messing with something OL's claimed. Well, loosely claimed.

The cold beam lances out, hitting the Reach ship closest to the Ascendants. Since I'm close enough not to worry about needing to warp space to make it hit, the beam is continuous. The ship I hit is completely enveloped with a beam of unceasing physics-violation. The armour seems to shrink in on itself as it dissolves into fragments, the interior freezing solid. Something I can identify because whatever they use to disrupt ring scans appears to have been one of the things I just destroyed.
Bonus. And that makes a very nice object lesson...

"Would you care to reconsider? Think about the needs of the whole of the Reach, not just the local theatre."

Near Karrakan the more agile Reach ships are in full retreat, trying to get to the far side of the planet as the New God ships draw closer. The capital ships-.
...Sadly, a planet isn't going to be an effective piece of cover against that gun...

I smile faintly as the last one is torn apart by the Dominion's primary weapon. RUINATION!

I know it's not an efficient design, but there's something about watching it tear through enemy capital ships that stirs a primal joy in the violent and uncivilised depths of my soul.
Yup, there's just something about giant fuck-off beams of doom that tickles nearly every man's fancy.

"The Writ is all."

"I'm sorry to hear that." I switch the cold cannon to the next target and fire. "Thiva, you handling it? Or do you need me to fly closer and shield you?"
Don't stop running, mind. getting closer if not conducive to your survival, or those aboard your ships.

"I think that Grayven's power is fortifying our shields."

I wince. Looks like he wants to preserve his investment.
Helpful, but sadly worrying.

The second ship I targeted comes apart like the first. Three left, and while they're gaining on the Ascendants their weapons aren't doing anything worth talking about to the shields at this distance.

"Come on, don't you have families to go home to?"
I don't think you're going to talk them out of this, OL. Fanatics gonna fanatic.

Nothing. Ring?

Channel ended.
How rude. Not even a goodbye. Unless you count 'The Writ is All', and those are hardly the nicest last words.

Alright, signal the other three ships.

Compliance.
Still trying to talk? OL, sometimes you just have to accept, some fools want to die.

"Guys, you're not hurting their shields and I can one-shot your ships. Please give it up. If you're concerned that you'll be punished when you go home, I'll take you prisoner. I'll even let you scuttle your ships first so I can't gain useful intelligence. Please."

"The Writ is all." / "The Writ is all." / "The Writ is all."
Well, so much for diplomacy.

Darn it.

I turn my cold cannon to the third ship and fire, watching… Yes, I'm actually saddened by it. These ships aren't an immediate threat to anyone but unless I destroy them and their crews they will become one. What do they think we're-?
No need to set aside Compassion, OL. They brought it on themselves, they're set on dying foolishly, and it's just bad luck that you're the one to have to pull the trigger...

"Has your government told you something about us treating prisoners badly? Because I assure you, it's just a high security prison black site. One round of telepathic interrogation, and then you'll be left to your own devices."

"No succour. Stop insulting us and kill us."
...And even if you don't want to, they do want you to. :oops: What a bunch of assholes...

I sign and fire at the second to last ship, which doesn't survive any better than the previous ones. The Ascendants-. They rotate their ships and begin applying thrust to reduce their speed.

"Thiva, what are you doing?"

"Helping." Strike!
No, I'm pretty sure this level of dumb qualifies as 'HALPING!'

Primary fore-mounted weapons from their warships fire, taking a few seconds to hit the last Reach ship in pursuit. Its shields crackle and flex, far better able to cope with nearly-normal weapon fire than the physics-defying wrath of a cold beam. The Reach ship responds by taking hopeful shots with its secondary batteries, but it's clear that's more a sign of their will to resist rather than something they expect to actually achieve anything.
Slay!
Another barrage from the Ascendants and their target's shield finally suffers a partial overload, failing and allowing the energetic assault to hit the hull. Again, that survives far better against their shots than it did against the cold beam, but there's never really any doubt-.
...I suppose if it lets them feel like they're being useful.

I nod as the front of the ship melts, and the interior is far less resilient that the armour.

I turn to face my own pursuers. They're still following, but-.

I stare in astonishment as the giant cold beam I fired at the beginning of the fight slams into the Absolute Dominion.
:eek: ...Oops? "Well, poop."

...Huh, I had assumed the shot he tried to fire back when the Scarab first attacked (back in 'Fleet Traction 8') failed to launch. Guess it went off after all. And Grayven's ship just had the dumb luck to catch it. Never has the 'Isaac Newton is the deadliest sunnuvabitch in space' speech seemed more appropriate, even if it isn't actually a conventional projectile. Now, what will the damage be, i wonder?


"Holy Gandmother. Illustres, can you feel that? His… Power. Who is that?"
"Holy Grandmother. Illustres, can you feel that? His… Power. Who is that?"
 
Can Paragon by any chance locate and capture the souls of the dead Reachians for intelligence via metaphysical shenanigans?
In theory, such a thing is possible. In practice, collecting weak souls in a thaumically active region is prohibitively difficult.
"Holy Grandmother. Illustres, can you feel that? His… Power. Who is that?"
Thank you, corrected.
I was never convinced by that speech. If it were true then the combined fleet would have destroyed Earth in ME3 when they fired at the Reapers with the Earth the next thing in the line of fire. And space is mostly empty. If the projectile doesn't hit something within a few hours it's probably going to either lose its momentum, drift forever or end up in a star or black hole without troubling anyone.
Thank you, corrected.
 
I was never convinced by that speech. If it were true then the combined fleet would have destroyed Earth in ME3 when they fired at the Reapers with the Earth the next thing in the line of fire.
Depends on what they were firing. Projectiles might have burned up in the atmosphere. Or thr writers might simply have forgotten or ignored it in favor of rule of cool...

And space is mostly empty. If the projectile doesn't hit something within a few hours it's probably going to either lose its momentum, drift forever or end up in a star or black hole without troubling anyone.

Under normal physics it can't lose its momentum - that's the entire point. In the vacuum of space, with no atmospheric drag, it's going to keep going until an outside force works on it.

That outside force can be "slam into a planet" (which possibly isn't going to be very good for the planet), "slam into a star" (depending on the star and the projectile, possibly not good for the star) or "sucked into a black hole" (burp). It could also be a gravitational slingshot or a gravitational capture, which might result in a stable orbit, or could slingshot it faster into something else, or could decay into the object that captured it.

Or it might just keep going forever, never slowing down and never hitting anything.

The point being made in language a Gunny can use and a buck private can understand is that you have no idea what might happen if you miss, so don't miss - and yes, don't fire when Earth is behind your target!
 

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