Chojin Patriarch
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I wouldn't be surprised if some members of NEMO thought of Orange Lanterns as barely-controlled weapons. Especially if they're privy to the results of Avarice overload. Or maybe this guy is just pessimistic and paranoid.18th January 2013
05:11 GMT
"You. Analyst."
I don't look up. I've had a program notifying me of his location ever since the mission started. The Darkstars are all on-task and the other Lanterns defer to him. If there's going to be a problem, he's where it's going to come from.
Well, not wanting anything difficult, are we?"Lantern Zartok. How can I assist?"
"Confirm for me that the Reach are besieging a New God vessel."
Something that would be a big red flag for a Reach infiltration, I bet."In-combat analysis isn't my speciality, but since-" Colos ordered us to be as helpful as we could without violating orders. "-you ask, I'll take a look."
My normal job is to analyse the behaviour of civilian populations. Which is extremely important when your enemy specialises in mind controlling them, and when anyone you meet might be a sleeper agent. But I'm also trained to look at demographic trends and decipher what major shifts in attitude are happening just under the surface.
I'm sure this won't take long, after all. Zartok's probably looking for a reasonable cause to attack.I'm supposed to be here to analyse changes in the behaviour of the Reach civilian population, and we've only just arrived at a planet that actually has a civilian population. I have work to do.
I dismiss the image of one of the Reach cities, leaving the ship's AI to crunch numbers of population movements and likely industrial output. And then I bring up an image of the 'siege'.
It's not like it carries a big flag showing who's in command..."The ship matches the images on-file for the Citizenry's ships. I can't tell you from here whether or not there's a New God on board."
"Does it use New God technology?"
I'm sure there's some actual reason to have them exposed like that, but really? It just looks cooler."There's no outwardly visible sign of it. All New God ships on record -from Apokolips, New Genesis and Karrakan- have a network on lines on the outer surface. But that just means that it isn't using New God technology in its shields, armour or sensors; the internals could have been refitted."
"Can you detect that?"
Bit worried how Zartok will take such a response, eh?In a word, no, but I'd prefer to phrase it differently.
"The sensors-."
Presumably not a quick process, of course. Only to be expected, since any active pings would instantly expose them."No."
I bring up an up-to-the-second hologram of our sensors' ongoing attempt to make sense of the ship through out stealth systems.
...Huh, guess the analyst isn't the only one feeling paranoid."I can tell you there's no obvious sign of exterior work and that it's mass is roughly what we'd expect it to be, allowing for the observable damage that the Reach inflicted to disable it so completely."
"Do not assume that."
Guessing that's based on the Illustres' observations? OR an estimation based on your own 'conquering warlord' experiences?"Excuse me?"
"Astarte is not the sort of willingly bow her head. The New Gods Grayven recruited will naturally be his supporters. That means that they are an impediment to her taking power from him."
That's a lot of assumptions. Lots of ways you could be wrong..."So she might have sabotaged one of her own ships."
"Or the New God might have sabotaged it without realising that they were in enemy territory."
Yes, but he's a ludicrously smart fellow."They have to open a boom tube somehow. Wouldn't a New God have to know where they were going?"
"Boom tubes do not necessarily require a New God to open them. Clarissi Dox can generate them using his power ring."
Or a very good method of sensing a specific location anywhere in the universe. Like, say, a universal network of emotional lights.I.. didn't know that.
"Alright, but we don't know how their navigation systems locate the place where they want to end point. That might need a New God."
To be fair, we've only seen him Boom Tube anywhere on screen... What, once?
Targetting data sourced from OL's Power Ring? Who knows?"Neither do I. The Illustres mentioned it."
"Did he say how the Clarissi located his end point?"
...No, he's not. But he does recognise talents he doesn't have."No. I doubt that he knew. The Clarissi is sufficiently intelligent that I doubt it would be a method that most of us could use."
I've heard about Coluan intelligence, but I always assumed that it was overstated. I still don't see how an organic brain can out think a power ring's AI, but Zartok doesn't strike me as someone who gives out compliments freely.
Something the Reach wants, I bet...
...And if the Reach want it, then you don't want them to get it."That's where the Reach ships are focusing their scanners." I press a button to bring up a cut away image compiled from other Citizenry ships of this class that have been dissected before. "It-."
"A storage bay, yes, I can read. How long until we get an image of what's inside?"
That would take some serious hacking, given there's probably a noticeable light-speed delay."We won't. It's shielded, and the sort of things we'd have to do to get through that would give the Reach a good chance of detecting us."
"How about reading the Reach's sensor logs?"
After all, if he wants to see this stuff that badly, he can just use his Ring..."Same problem."
Zartok keep staring at the image. I give him a moment, then reach for the control to bring back the images I'm supposed to be studying-.
They are infiltration-friendly tech, after all. Wouldn't be otherwise if they could be picked up at a distance."Are we detecting any Scarab Warriors?"
"Ah, no. Not that that necessarily means that there aren't any here, but there aren't any deployed with their Scarabs active."
Are you asking, Zartok, or just looking for agreement, so you;'re in the clear to attack?"Normal Reach soldiers could undertake a boarding action, but if all they wanted to do was destroy the ship then they could accomplish that with their own vessels."
"So you think they're waiting for the Scarabs to arrive."
After all, Scarab Warriors are one of the toughest super-soldier systems in the galaxy. I'd be impressed if any non-Lantern threat needed more than one."I doubt that it would be more than one."
"I wonder what the delay is."
...In other words, Lanterns would effectively have a free hand in the system..."There's no reason for Scarab Warriors to simply sit on worlds that have no particular significance. They have far more ships than they do Scarabs and they weren't putting their ships in defensive positions either."
"The Scarabs for this area are with the ships attacking the periphery. They don't have any here."
...You've already decided to attack, haven't you, Zartok?"It could just as well be that the Scarabs themselves consider this task to be beneath them."
"And that means… They don't have a counter for Lanterns."
After all, most of a Scarab's weapons systems have to grow from the armour. A Lantern can create constructs anywhere."They have interdictions fields capable of stopped most forms of power ring faster than light travel. They don't need a counter when they have enough ships to wear us down and kill us with overwhelming firepower. At most, we would have a few minutes of relative freedom while they repositioned their ships." He smiles, awkwardly. "Besides, going by the current kill-death ratio, I wouldn't call the Scarab Warriors 'Lantern counters'."
It's true. A new Scarab Warrior will usually kill a new Lantern, but once they start gaining experience the advantage shifts to the Lantern, and as far as we can tell it stays there. The Reach either don't have the ability to create something better, or they're saving it for something.
Hey, it's still better than some species. Ever seen a yautja smiling? It's been known to scare small children of other species...He keeps looking at the image, and I'm-.
Oh, that's not awkward. That's just how he smiles.
...I suspect you'll know before they do, Zartok.I'm thinking of asking if there's anything else he wants. But he turns away, eye glowing.
"Let me know if any Scarab Warriors appear."
Well, looking more and more likely Zartok is lining up to capture a prize from the Reach. He doesn't even know what, but if they want it, then he wants it first. Any guesses as to what it might be, folks? And how big a shitshow this is going to turn into? At least now that analyst can get back to his real job instead of answering near-impossible questions...