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

Rafin · Jan 20, 2023

I am starting to like Zartok more and more. "I want to become a powerful emperor and if I have to be compassionate and just to achieve that, so be it."

Stsword · Jan 20, 2023

Rafin said:
I am starting to like Zartok more and more. "I want to become a powerful emperor and if I have to be compassionate and just to achieve that, so be it."

That's called pragmatic villainy over at tvtropes.

For example in a Vampirella comic there was a nosferatu king who founded an organization of monsters and monster adjacents who regularly save the world. Because if everyone dies in an apocalypse he and his subjects would get awfully thirsty real quick.

Mr Zoat · Jan 21, 2023

Now

Focus.

Don't think.

Focus.

Don't think.

It's easy to work like this, entirely in the now, all thought of what came before and what will come after banished from my mind. Who is that coward and traitor Agnie, who turned on her shipmates to live this half-life? Not me. Not here.

"How's it look?"

Even this, another act of betrayal, isn't something I would have done without someone pushing me. Cheshire didn't throw up her first blood porridge. Cheshire didn't shrink back from the first Citizens to challenge her. Cheshire saw a way-.

No. Don't think it.

"I can repair it enough to work. Without going outside."

"Good. I don't think the Reach are feeling that generous."

The auto-seals have worked, which is why the air is thin and we're breathing through masks rather than needing full suits. But I'm repairing by tearing out melted components and replacing them with similar parts I salvaged from other parts of the ship. Some sort of… Local power surge strong enough to arc past the surge protectors? And some EM spill over from the shields. There are probably… A lot of systems like this. And I doubt that the Reach have anything compatible.

"How much functionality do you want it to have before we call the bridge?"

"As much as we can. It needs to be completely clear that the Reach are about to board us."

"What if they're not?"

"Then we wait until they are. But I don't think we'll have to wait long."

"How-?"

Don'taskdon'tdrawattention!

"How..?"

"If we-. If we survive, you'll be a Citizen."

"What, because I killed Dulcya? I wasn't sure that's how it worked."

"Not just.. that. Your… Presence. Your purpose. If we live, the leaders will view you and find you worthy."

"Lucky me, but like I said, I plan on jumping ship."

A bit more power flowing. The connections are holding.

"How do you do it? Become…"

"How? Oh, that's easy. I was trained as a killer from birth. My species are considered adult at eighteen and I killed-. I murdered for the first time when I was fifteen. If you see enough violence close up, you just get-. Numb to it. It becomes your 'normal'. Have you finished?"

I nod as I complete the connections and use my bracer to restart the computer. Start up looks good.

"Yes. Just.. bringing it online now."

"Will the Reach be able to see?"

"Yes."

"Should we get out of this section before running the scan?"

"There's.. no point. They almost certainly knew the moment I got somewhere with the repairs."

"So they want us to see. I wonder why?"

The first returns of the scanner come back. The external components are damaged. If they make any active effort to hide, we won't see them. But-.

"There's-. There's a troop ship. It's heading for us."

"How about that? We should probably let the Captain know."

"How did-? You-? Know..?"

Cheshire's mask makes it impossible to read her facial expressions. But the set of her head makes me feel like I've asked a stupid question.

"Can we tell if they've got any Scarab Warriors with them?"

"No. No, those-. We'd need main sensors for that, and they were completely destroyed. We don't have the parts to rebuild the detection system."

"But they'll probably have a Scarab. At least one. Okay. Can you tell where they'll come from?"

I activate my bracer's hologram display, showing their location relative to us.

"Here. They know we don't have shields or point defences here, and their ships around this area are in position to shoot with small-sized weapons if we somehow push them back."

She nods. "Nice that they value our lives more than the lives of their boarding party. Are they transmitting any messages to us?"

"This system isn't-. Isn't designed to pick up messages. I-I can't-."

"That's fine." She-. She pats me on the shoulder-. Oh. "Don't worry about it. Let's get to the other side of the bridge and then signal the Captain."

I follow close behind her as we cross the ship-. The wreck. I see two other engineers working under the watchful eyes of their 'protectors', and I can see that their expressions are the same as mine. The others we see are soldiers, some trying to rest while others work on their weapons.

So, I'm… Cheshire's property, now. I… Don't think that she's taken anyone since she joined-. But if she's going to be made a full Citizen, maybe she thinks this is the time? Working on a ship with her would be better than working on a ship with-. Like this. If-.

"You're not my property."

What? "What?"

"Sorry." Cheshire glances back. "I forgot about the hand-on-the-shoulder thing. I just wanted to reassure you. Don't read too much into it."

Oh.

"Okay, this should do it." Cheshire finds a reasonably intact wall communications unit, and… Signals the bridge.

"WHAT?!"

"Captain. We got a sensor back in working order. Sending-"

"YOU'RE BOTHERING ME FOR-?!"

"-now, enemy boarding party incoming."

"Oh. Then I guess you get to live." The Captain smiles, cruelly. "Guess I better go welcome them. COME ON, BITCHES!"

The Captain steps away from the bridge monitor without bothering to deactivate it, letting me watch as she kicks a broken body out of the way as she heads for the door.

And there's the portal machine.

With a woman's head shoved half-way through it.

How am I supposed to-?

"Don't worry. We don't need the full thing. Just single person point-to-point."

"I… I can't-."

"You won't know until you try, and we don't really have any other options. And if the worst that can happen is the same as what happens if we do nothing, you may as well try."

Ngamer11 · Jan 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Now

Well that was a depressing POV. Also, I just realized that now it's Cheshire's turn to help a woman who's in a dark place which will eventually result in said woman being attracted to her/doing something to Cheshire due to mind control/alteration. If this happens, Cheshire and Paul should compare notes.

Mr Zoat said:
"There's.. no point. They almost certainly new the moment I got somewhere with the repairs."

That should say 'knew'.

Darko · Jan 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Cheshire saw a way-.

No. Don't think it.

Don't want to get hopeful so you don't potentially lose it later on.

Mr Zoat said:
that they values our lives more

"value"

Mr Zoat · Jan 21, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'knew'.

Darko said:
"value"

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch · Jan 21, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Now

Focus.

Don't think.

Ah, Agnie. And it's not surprising that the young lady (I assume she's young...) is on the verge of panic. This has been a stressful day for everyone, never mind the weakest of the citizenry. Hell, it's probably been a hard week or two, disabled in enemy territory and slowly being cooked in their own ship...

Focus.

Don't think.

She's really riding that mantra, huh?

It's easy to work like this, entirely in the now, all thought of what came before and what will come after banished from my mind. Who is that coward and traitor Agnie, who turned on her shipmates to live this half-life? Not me. Not here.

"How's it look?"

If this works, you won't have to be that person any more anyway.

Even this, another act of betrayal, isn't something I would have done without someone pushing me. Cheshire didn't throw up her first blood porridge. Cheshire didn't shrink back from the first Citizens to challenge her. Cheshire saw a way-.

No. Don't think it.

Ugh, that this shit has her stifling even the thought of hope...

"I can repair it enough to work. Without going outside."

"Good. I don't think the Reach are feeling that generous."

I expect anyone poking their heads out would be fried in their own suits almost immediately.

The auto-seals have worked, which is why the air is thin and we're breathing through masks rather than needing full suits. But I'm repairing by tearing out melted components and replacing them with similar parts I salvaged from other parts of the ship. Some sort of… Local power surge strong enough to arc past the surge protectors? And some EM spill over from the shields. There are probably… A lot of systems like this. And I doubt that the Reach have anything compatible.

Don't worry about it. This wreck isn't going anywhere except to a safe place.

"How much functionality do you want it to have before we call the bridge?"

"As much as we can. It needs to be completely clear that the Reach are about to board us."

And with Scarabs enroute, I expect they're already prepping boarding craft.

"What if they're not?"

"Then we wait until they are. But I don't think we'll have to wait long."

Let's just hope they're not aggressive as some designs, like a Caestus Assault Ram... (Basically, a dual torpedo with guns designed to melt a hole into the target ship's hull as they hit.)

"How-?"

Don'taskdon'tdrawattention!

Yeah, knowing enemies are on their way to kill you as you speak probably wouldn't inspire anything but fear...

"How..?"

"If we-. If we survive, you'll be a Citizen."

Pfft. You think Jade wants to hang around these lunatics any longer?

"What, because I killed Dulcya? I wasn't sure that's how it worked."

"Not just.. that. Your… Presence. Your purpose. If we live, the leaders will view you and find you worthy."

Or they'll test you. Probably let you off with just a few broken bones.

"Lucky me, but like I said, I plan on jumping ship."

A bit more power flowing. The connections are holding.

That's good. This plan might just work.

"How do you do it? Become…"

"How? Oh, that's easy. I was trained as a killer from birth. My species are considered adult at eighteen and I killed-. I murdered for the first time when I was fifteen. If you see enough violence close up, you just get-. Numb to it. It becomes your 'normal'. Have you finished?"

Yeah, Sportmaster wasn't exactly 'father of the year' material...

I nod as I complete the connections and use my bracer to restart the computer. Start up looks good.

"Yes. Just.. bringing it online now."

Might not want to be right there, though. Especially if something overloads.

"Will the Reach be able to see?"

"Yes."

And they'll probably take it as a signal that the Citizenry are starting to get their ship functioning, and thus launch an assault...

"Should we get out of this section before running the scan?"

"There's.. no point. They almost certainly knew the moment I got somewhere with the repairs."

Yeah, I don't doubt the Reach ships have every sensor they can pointed at the Citizenry vessel...

"So they want us to see. I wonder why?"

The first returns of the scanner come back. The external components are damaged. If they make any active effort to hide, we won't see them. But-.

It won't take much to spot incoming trouble...

"There's-. There's a troop ship. It's heading for us."

"How about that? We should probably let the Captain know."

Easy on the sarcasm there, Jade. I doubt the captain is that stupid that she'd fall for such bad acting.

"How did-? You-? Know..?"

Cheshire's mask makes it impossible to read her facial expressions. But the set of her head makes me feel like I've asked a stupid question.

At least they have some body language traits in common. Or at least enough to pick up on the obvious.

"Can we tell if they've got any Scarab Warriors with them?"

"No. No, those-. We'd need main sensors of that, and they were completely destroyed. We don't have the parts to rebuild the detection system."

And it would probably require being outside too.

"But they'll probably have a Scarab. At least one. Okay. Can you tell where they'll come from?"

I activate my bracer's hologram display, showing their location relative to us.

No doubt Jade is on the line with the Darkstars as they speak.

"Here. They know we don't have shields or point defences here, and their ships around this area are in position to shoot with small-sized weapons if we somehow push them back."

She nods. "Nice that they value our lives more than the lives of their boarding party. Are they transmitting any messages to us?"

Even elite troops like that are basically disposable, other than the Scarab.

"This system isn't-. Isn't designed to pick up messages. I-I can't-."

"That's fine." She-. She pats me on the shoulder-. Oh. "Don't worry about it. Let's get to the other side of the bridge and then signal the Captain."

It would probably consist of rubbish like 'Surrender immediately to our boarding party. Do not attempt to resist.'

I follow close behind her as we cross the ship-. The wreck. I see two other engineers working under the watchful eyes of their 'protectors', and I can see that their expressions are the same as mine. The others we see are soldiers, some trying to rest while others work on their weapons.

So, I'm… Cheshire's property, now. I… Don't think that she's taken anyone since she joined-. But if she's going to be made a full Citizen, maybe she thinks this is the time? Working on a ship with her would be better than working on a ship with-. Like this. If-.

You're probably over-reading things. And still stuck in 'We're not going to get out of this...' mode, too. Forget the Citizenry, they're a dead end.

"You're not my property."

What? "What?"

...I'm pretty sure neither of them are telepathic.

Unless Angie has suddenly developed an unconscious faculty for broadcasting.

"Sorry." Cheshire glances back. "I forgot about the hand-on-the-shoulder thing. I just wanted to reassure you. Don't read too much into it."

Oh.

...Still, some things can be read fairly easily even without telepathy. I bet she saw the girl's body language shifting...

"Okay, this should do it." Cheshire finds a reasonably intact wall communications unit, and… Signals the bridge.

"WHAT?!"

"Give me a second for my ear to stop ringing..." Indoor voice, Captain.

"Captain. We got a sensor back in working order. Sending-"

"YOU'RE BOTHERING ME FOR-?!"

...Lady's going to blow a gasket at this rate. Good for her.

"-now, enemy boarding party incoming."

"Oh. Then I guess you get to live." The Captain smiles, cruelly. "Guess I better go welcome them. COME ON, BITCHES!"

...Somehow, I don't think the Reach are going to enjoy her 'welcome aboard' gift basket.

The Captain steps away from the bridge monitor without bothering to deactivate it, letting me watch as she kicks a broken body out of the way as she heads for the door.

And there's the portal machine.

Yay, progress!

With a woman's head shoved half-way through it.

How am I supposed to-?

...Two steps forward, one step back...

"Don't worry. We don't need the full thing. Just single person point-to-point."

"I… I can't-."

"You won't know until you try, and we don't really have any other options. And if the worst that can happen is the same as what happens if we do nothing, you may as well try."

...I think even Allyn might have trouble repairing this one. Unless it's just a matter of scraping off the grey matter...

Well, Plan A is in motion. Bloody, violent motion. Let's hope the Reach boarding party lasts long enough for them to get the Boom tube generator working. After that, it'll be down to the Lanterns. So, a lot of pressure on Angie's shoulders right now. ...And on that note, has anyone else been picturing her as a mousy little thing, with a perpetually spooked expression?

...And for some reason, glasses.

Darko · Jan 21, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
Pfft. You think Jade wants to hang around these lunatics any longer?

Well she doesn't seem to show all that much discomfort at their way up life, so she may have assumed that Jade was comfortable with it.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Yeah, Sportmaster wasn't exactly 'father of the year' material...

The Citizenry may view him as an example of good parenting skills.

Assuming they ever acknowledge males.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Easy on the sarcasm there, Jade. I doubt the captain is that stupid that she'd fall for such bad acting.

You never know.

What we consider sarcasm, another species could consider it to be the most sincere way of talking.

Also, the captain may think that her crew is too scared of her to try to lie to her.

Prince Charon · Jan 21, 2023

I like Angie, and I hope she gets to stick around and be friends with Jade. Once she has enough time to recover emotionally (and maybe some retraining on the tech), she'd make a decent technician for the Darkstars. Maybe not in the field, though, if she doesn't have to be.

Mr Zoat · Jan 22, 2023

18th January 2013
23:42 GMT

No guards outside of the bridge. Agnie readies her bracer to bypass the door control only for the door to open the moment she touches the control.

I could ask Agnie if the door controls were damaged, but I-.

I switch my mask controls so that they filter the smell. Usually I don't like doing that because every sense is important, but I don't think I'd be able to smell anything over the blood and… Waste.

It doesn't bother me, exactly. And from the way Agnie is headed right for the boom tube generator it looks like it doesn't bother her either, at least not enough to distract her. But there was a line from Paul's favorite book, something about assassins with no morals still having standards. This isn't even the work of a brute. Tuppence would have known better than to kill her own crew in this sort of situation. This is the work of a rabid animal.

Agnie doesn't just pull the woman's head out right away, probably because she doesn't want to risk making the damage even worse. I don't recognise her species, but I do a quick check to make sure that she's dead. No, I can see where the Captain gripped her skull hard enough to put her fingers through her skull. She's dead.

I step away to give Agnie some room and check the other bodies. A technician has a couple of tools and some small spare parts that I put within arm's reach of Agnie, but there's nothing else…

The navigator has a small hologram projector. Single image. I tap my mask to check it for traps, then press the activator.

I take a moment to compare the face of the woman in the family picture with the face of the corpse. And then I turn it off and put the projector back on her body. If we get out of this it can be buried with her.

One last body to check, which just happens to be next to the communications station. This one was stabbed in the neck, and I can tell from the spray exactly where she was standing when it happened. From the broken fingers and the footprints in the blood, it looks like she was trying to hold her neck wound closed. That can work if the victim gets immediate medical attention, but in a situation like this all it did was draw things out. Moving over to the console, I see that external communication is wrecked. Internal communication…

Report.

I smile. There we go.

On bridge. Captain plus bodyguards away.

Coming back?

No.

Repair status?

"Agnie, how does it look?"

"I don't understand this. I'm just pushing parts back and then gluing them into place."

Outlook poor.

Stand by.

"Are you talking to the Reach?"

The Reach would probably talk to me. But I don't want to encourage the Scarab Warrior to rush the bridge.

"No." I tap the buttons to make sure that internal communications aren't transmitting anything that we're saying. I don't think I have to worry about the current captain having an off-network secure monitoring system. I'm not even convinced that she knows how to use the regular one. "Friends."

Chance Reach will attack when tube activates. Prepare to flee through portal.

"Can your friends-?"

"Stand up and step away." She does at speed. "And get ready to run."

"Where?"

"If we're lucky, through a hole in space made by super-inflated gravitons."

She takes a stance, which I suppose is-
Assuming Control!
BOOM!

-all I can expect. The portal appears next to the boom tube generator, and Agnie runs straight into-.

An Orange Lantern's chest as they-. He, comes through from the other side. And just like that the mission is over and I activate my exo-mantle, the red and white costume appearing over my body in an eye-watering shimmer.

"Darkstar Nguyen." He checks Agnie for a moment as she cringes back, then focuses on the boom tube generator, construct tools appearing around him. "I'm Lantern Allyn. The Illustres recruited me."

"Generally, you shouldn't tell people things like that. Agnie, lock the doors. Everyone must have heard-"

My exo-mantle receives a message from the Darkstar ship about half a second before the ship shakes.

"-that." Allyn is already fusing the generator back into shape while Agnie is paralysed with indecision. Run or stay and help. "Lock the doors, then you can go through."

She gives me a nervous nod, then scurries over to the door controls.

"Lantern, can you fix it?"

"I don't know."

"Have you done this before?"

"No."

"How long are we giving it before we give up?"

"If the Reach start shooting, tear this out of the deck and get through-"

Agnie uses her cutting torch on the door control panel and then awkwardly creeps towards the tube-.

"-the tube." I nod. "Go, go, thank-" She runs through the tube "-you. They won't just shoot her, right?"

"She'll be in a small compartment next to the hull. There isn't anyone else there." The generator looks… A bit more together than it was, but-.

The light on the internal communications panel blinks. The Captain almost certainly heard that, but she should be occupied with the Reach soldiers right now. So why haven't the Reach started shoot-?

Chime!

I dive forward, twisting in the air as I do so to bring my maser to bear. The dull blue of the Scarab Warrior's tibia blade scythes through where I just stood as they rise through the deck. Was the captain trying to warn me? And now I feel a little bad.

My maser shot goes through the Scarab Warrior's head, whatever it's using to phase saving it from being hit. Don't know if that would have actually killed it; normal masers take a couple of hits to pierce their armor and this is the scaled down model. I also don't have the strength boosters or flight system a normal exo-mantle would have, and that's why fighting Scarabs is usually a Lantern's job.

And the Scarab knows it. I see it assess me and deprioritize me a moment before Allyn's construct sword swings at it and forces it to parry.

For an instant I wonder why Allyn didn't just smash it into the wall with a pneumatic ram, then I remember that I'm used to what Paul can do.

Right. My x-ionised sword should still go through its armor if I hit it at the right moment. I need to keep back and-.

The bridge door explodes as another Scarab charges inside!

Ngamer11 · Jan 22, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
For an instant I wonder why Allyn didn't just smash it into the wall with a pneumatic ram, then I remember that I'm used to what Paul can do.

I get the feeling Jade sometimes forgets just how much stronger Paul is compared to other OLs.

Silveraith · Jan 22, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"If we're lucky, through a hold in space made by super-inflated gravitons."

Hole.

ZzzSlothzzZ · Jan 22, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
I get the feeling Jade sometimes forgets just how much stronger Paul is compared to other OLs.

More that Paul thinks outside the ring-box and has his Hammerspace bag of tricks

But yeah, Paul is soo powerful he made THE CAKE not a LIE.

Thats like Chuck Norris levels of power.

Chojin Patriarch · Jan 22, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
18th January 2013
23:42 GMT

No guards outside of the bridge. Agnie readies her bracer to bypass the door control only for the door to open the moment she touches to control.

I could ask Agnie if the door controls were damaged, but I-.

Let's hope the Captain didn't leave anyone alive in there, then. Though I doubt she'd have accepted any of her goons wanting to avoid the fighting. And if they're her ~~friends~~ goons, they're probably just as combat-hungry.

I switch my mask controls so that they filter the smell. Usually I don't like doing that because every sense is important, but I don't think I'd be able to smell anything over the blood and… Waste.

Yeah, death is never pretty, what with all the biological systems losing control. The room probably smells like a mixture of an open sewer and a slaughterhouse.

It doesn't bother me, exactly. And from the way Agnie is headed right for the boom tube generator it looks like it doesn't bother her either, at least not enough to distract her. But there was a line from Paul's favorite book, something about assassins with no morals still having standards. This isn't even the work of a brute. Tuppence would have known better than to kill her own crew in this sort of situation. This is the work of a rabid animal.

Well, let's hope the Reach boarding party can put her down for you.

Agnie doesn't just pull the woman's head out right away, probably because she doesn't want to risk making the damage even worse. I don't recognise her species, but I do a quick check to make sure that she's dead. No, I can see where the Captain gripped her skull hard enough to put her fingers through her skull. She's dead.

I step away to give Agnie some room and check the other bodies. A technician has a couple of tools and some small spare parts that I put within arm's reach of Agnie, but there's nothing else…

Okay, that sounds pretty decisively dead, yeah. I bet the Boom Tube generator is a right mess...

The navigator has a small hologram projector. Single image. I tap my mask to check it for traps, then press the activator.

I take a moment to compare the face of the woman in the family picture with the face of the corpse. And then I turn it off and put the projector back on her body. If we get out of this it can be buried with her.

All these mentions of a mask... Is she wearing her classic mask, or just a very useful piece of Citizenry survival gear? And good luck hoping there's going to be enough left of the ship once the fight's over to bury corpses....

One last body to check, which just happens to be next to the communications station. This one was stabbed in the neck, and I can tell from the spray exactly where she was standing when it happened. From the broken fingers and the footprints in the blood, it looks like she was trying to hold her neck wound closed. That can work if the victim gets immediate medical attention, but in a situation like this all it did was draw things out. Moving over to the console, I see that external communication is wrecked. Internal communication…

...Not a pleasant death, then.

Report.

I smile. There we go.

Ah, Darkstar headcomms. I can't help but imagine it to be like 'Ghost in the Shell's wireless comms.

On bridge. Captain plus bodyguards away.

Coming back?

Hopefully not.

No.

Repair status?

...Oh, how to put it.

"Agnie, how does it look?"

"I don't understand this. I'm just pushing parts back and then gluing them into place."

Outlook poor.

...Sounds about right.

Stand by.

"Are you talking to the Reach?"

I guess Jade's not trying to hide the body language cues of 'talking to someone not present in the room...'

The Reach would probably talk to me. But I don't want to encourage the Scarab Warrior to rush the bridge.

"No." I tap the buttons to make sure that internal communications aren't transmitting anything that we're saying. I don't think I have to worry about the current captain having a off-network secure monitoring system. I'm not even convinced that she knows how to use the regular one. "Friends."

The Captain probably just yelled at whoever did know how to use it to press the buttons.

Chance Reach will attack when tube activates. Prepare to flee through portal.

"Can your friends-?"

Ooh, is Allyn coming through his own separate portal?

"Stand up and step away." She does at speed. "And get ready to run."

"Where?"

It'll be fairly obvious. Do cover your ears, it's loud.

"If we're lucky, through a hole in space made by super-inflated gravitons."

She takes a stance, which I suppose is-

Admittedly, that description does sound a little strange if you're not up on the physics of it.

BOOM!

-all I can expect. The portal appears next to the boom tube generator, and Agnie straight into-.

Any port in a storm, eh?

An Orange Lantern's chest as they-. He, comes through from the other side. And just like that mission is over and I activate my exo-mantle, the red and white costume appearing over my body in an eye-watering shimmer.

"Darkstar Nguyen." He checks Agnie for a moment as she cringes back, then focuses on the boom tube generator, construct tools appearing around him. "I'm Lantern Allyn. The Illustres recruited me."

Gotta love when two people with a mutual acquaintance meet.

"Generally, you shouldn't tell people things like that. Agnie, lock the doors. Everyone must have heard-"

My exo-mantle receives a message from the Darkstar ship about half a second before the ship shakes.

Yup, sound would carry something fierce in a closed environment like a spaceship. Especially when a lot of the usual background sounds are silent...

"-that." Allyn is already fusing the generator back into shape while Agnie is paralysed with indecision. Run or stay and help. "Lock the doors, then you can go through."

She gives me a nervous nod, then scurries over to the door controls.

Ideally, do it in a reasonably permanent way, hun'. Not like anyone's coming that they might want to let in...

"Lantern, can you fix it?"

"I don't know."

Well, shit. Guessing it's a lot higher-spec than what he's used to.

"Have you done this before?"

"No."

After all, he was a Ship Master, not an engineer...

"How long are we giving it before we give up?"

"If the Reach start shooting, tear this out of the deck and get through-"

I think you'd be better placed to pull it out, Allyn. Not only are you closer, you've got more leverage via a few grapple constructs...

Agnie uses her cutting torch on the door control panel and then awkwardly creeps towards the tube-.

"-the tube." I nod. "Go, go, thank-" She runs through the tube "-you. They won't just shoot her, right?"

...Probably a good thing she didn't hear that last bit.

"She'll be in a small compartment next to the hull. There isn't anyone else there." The generator looks… A bit more together than it was, but-.

The light on the internal communications panel blinks. The Captain almost certainly heard that, but she should be occupied with the Reach soldiers right now. So why haven't the Reach started shoot-?

I guess anyone able to push the button for her is already dead.

Chime!

I dive forward, twisting in the air as I do so to bring my maser to bear. The dull blue of the Scarab Warrior's tibia blade scythes through where I just stood as they rise through the deck. Was the captain trying to warn me? And now I feel a little bad.

Eh, don't be. She was an asshole, going by the evidence presented on the bridge.

My maser shot goes through the Scarab Warrior's head, whatever it's using to phase saving it from being hit. Don't know if that would have actually killed it; normal masers take a couple of hits to pierce their armor and this is the scaled down model. I also don't have the strength boosters or flight system a normal exo-mantle would have, and that's why fighting Scarabs is usually a Lantern's job.

And the Scarab knows it. I see it assess me and deprioritize me a moment before Allyn's construct sword swings at it and forces it to parry.

Might be a good time for Zartok and Grood to get the fuck in here...

For an instant I wonder why Allyn didn't just smash it into the wall with a pneumatic ram, then I remember that I'm used to what Paul can do.

Big difference between 'level 1 Lantern' and 'level 100 Orange Light Shaman', after all.

Right. My x-ionised sword should still go through its armor if I hit it at the right moment. I need to keep back and-.

The bridge door explodes as another Scarab charges inside!

Bugger, a Dual Boss. Always a pain, because you can only usually block one way at a time...

Well, at least Agnie isn't in the splash zone for the moment. But the shit has hit the fan and it is gonna paint the room... Now would be a really good time for some backup from Allyn's squadmates. Because he's busy with his attention on the Generator, and Jade is in the Darkstar equivalent of a Mark V briefcase armour. Not great against two of the deadliest power armour users in the galaxy...

The portal appears next to the boom tube generator, and Agnie straight into-.

There's a word missing here, I think. Probably 'leaps'?

And just like that mission is over...

If she's not just being terse, perhaps 'that my mission'?

NightmareWarden · Jan 22, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
The bridge door explodes as another Scarab charges inside!

I think this chapter ending might be spread through intercourse, guys. Normally it only happens to Paul.

Old Knife · Jan 22, 2023

Most Lanterns don't have saturday morning cartoons.
This helps them with tech stuff but is bad for magic and power ring use.

Mr Zoat · Jan 22, 2023

Silveraith said:
Hole.

Chojin Patriarch said:
There's a word missing here, I think. Probably 'leaps'?
If she's not just being terse, perhaps 'that my mission'?

Thank you, corrected.

Ngamer11 · Jan 22, 2023

I really hope we get to see more of Agnie in the future and that she isn't just forgotten about like with Felicity.

Rafin · Jan 22, 2023

I gotta ask, what was supposed to be Jades method of evacuation under normal circumstances? She was on a Citizenry ship in war with the Reach. This whole situation seems like the kind pf suicide mission where multiple very unlikely situations (captain doesn't randomly kill her, Reach wants to have ship instead of destroying it, random NEMO stealth mission to exactly the same place as her ship stranded, Paul recruits a useful New God, New God Lantern happens to be on stealth mission, Lantern as driven as Vartok happens to be on stealth mission, Lanterns come up with a workable idea) needed to happen at the same time for her to survive. Now I get that Darkstars sometimes take on massive risks and I get that Jade doesn't want to get treated differently in her new job just because she is the girlfriend of one of the bosses, but just what does mission control think would happen if the Illustres hears that his fiance was sent on a >20% survival mission on the off chance of learning a bit of Citizenry intel and then just died alone in space? He's an Orange Lantern of the functionally insane variety with powers close to a Controller.

Mr Zoat · Jan 22, 2023

Ngamer11 said:
I really hope we get to see more of Agnie in the future and that she isn't just forgotten about like with Felicity.

I can write something about Felicity if you want? She's not doing anything particularly interesting.

Windona · Jan 22, 2023

Well, at least Angie's safe.

And I doubt Jade and Allyn have the luck of having softened up scarabs. They're certainly going to be tough.

Rafin · Jan 22, 2023

I don't even remember who Felicity was. New Catwoman? Her girlfriend?

Darko · Jan 22, 2023

Rafin said:
I don't even remember who Felicity was. New Catwoman? Her girlfriend?

Felicity was a member of the Omega Men, a group of freedom fighters trying to liberate Vega.

She was captured by Paul when she tried to disrupt a meeting between various pirate groups that Paul was trying to get to sign a peace treaty.

Ryumancer · Jan 22, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
she touches to control.

the control?

Mr Zoat · Jan 22, 2023

Ryumancer said:
the control?

Thank you, corrected.

Mr Zoat · Jan 23, 2023

18th January 2013
23:45 GMT

"Allyn to Zartok. Both Scarabs, close quarters."

I fly as fast as I can through the ship, Grood only a short distance behind me, cursing under my breath as I go.

Could the cannibals not hold the attention of a single one?!

"Drusa, keep monitoring!"

"Yes. For what?"

"Anything-"

A woman not on our crew climbs out of the hatch to the outer hull. She's unarmed, and unless she's a highly trained liar she's a coward too. I pull her out of the way and then dive for the portal.

"-relevant."

Glaive.

I pass through the portal as the larger Scarab Warrior charges Allyn's weak construct barrier, my glaive's edge projecting a phase disruption field as I dive under the Warrior's arm and swing at its back. It responds by charging faster, my swing merely nicking its armour instead of slicing through its spine. With the Scarab distracted Allyn is able to reposition himself while focusing his efforts on getting the boom tube generator to work.

I create a shield as the other Scarab decides to endure the Darkstar's maser to take a shot at me-.

The shot destroys my construct shield, though it fails to actually penetrate.

"Orange, Green?" The smaller Scarab twists like a tumbler to avoid the Darkstar's sword, firing three shots at Allyn as it does so. His shield stops one and fails, and I'm forced to create multiple shields of my own to block the other two. "I can't tell-"

I slash at the larger Scarab as it shifts its back to project a force field. My glaive is deflected, so I spin it and change the blade to the other end.

"-the difference between-"

Cutting low, I slice through the left greave as the Scarab clumsily turns. Ah, it lost its flight system to make the force field. It stumbles as it turns, but the injury will knit itself back together before long.

"-different colours of meat."

The large Scarab pushes off its uninjured leg, flying towards me and towards the boom tube generator behind me. I smile and ignore it, lunging at the smaller and more talkative Scarab, who is forced to switch from a blade to a pistol to shoot out my spear. No matter.

I swing my arms as if the spear were still there, reforming it with a phasic blade as the Scarab attempts to disengage. Behind me, the larger one has realised that something is wrong and switches its back module from a force field generator to a flight system.

Meaning that when Grood barrels into it through the portal, it has no momentum with which to evade.

"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHR!"

Grood's only construct is a construct Grood, enhancing his already impressive strength and toughness to superlative levels. The larger Scarab has hit the wall before it's fully processed what is happening, and Grood's far faster with his phasic blade-tipped claws than it is with its morphed shields. It gets a gash along its side before it can interpose the first, then a gash to the face as it drops its guard too low. The shield then extends but Grood has already switched to grabbing and pulling like a frenzied molath and the Scarab hasn't anchored itself properly.

Good.

The smaller scarab appears to think that if it swings at me with blades from all of its limbs that will in some way threaten me. Its right arm blade swings down, cutting into the deck as I jink aside and thrust forward with my spear. The blade retracts and the Scarab spins clockwise, ducking around my spear and slashing with its leg-blades. I reverse my spear and parry each of them, the Scarab allowing its spin to be countered and flapping its wings to gain space.

The Darkstar takes the opportunity to slash at its wings, slicing through the left wing before the Scarab can cover it with its elytra armour.

Wings.

"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHR!"

Heat washes over me from the larger Scarab firing a plasma weapon at point blank range to try and force Grood back. It works, for all the good it's going to do, and melts about a third of the room-.

The Darkstar suddenly pulls back, keeping-. Her armour isn't rated for that level of discharge. I suppose it's unreasonable to expect infiltrators to fight on the front line.

"Darkstar." I bombard the smaller Scarab with energy pulses, preventing them from attacking as they're forced to shield themselves. "Disengage."

She doesn't move immediately, instead taking a stance-.

"Do you require assistance?"

The body of a Reach marine flies through the bridge door, hitting Grood in the side and breaking in half, spraying swiftly-cooking viscera across the room.

"WHY YOU RUNNING, BEETLE BOYS?!"

"Do you?"

The New God commanding officer. I did wonder what god-blood looked like. "No."

The smaller Scarab reforms its other arm into a gun and fires at me around its shield, forcing me to-. To block with control panels torn from the ship in order to shield Allyn, because it is clearly using a construct disruptor and simple mass is better at resisting it.

I will express my gratitude to the Illustres for teaching me that at his funeral.

The Darkstar moves towards the door, ducking around the flailing limbs of the large Scarab and Grood, who appear to have both anchored themselves to the floor to better flail at each other. The Scarab isn't bothering with a shield any longer, just accepting the blows on its thickened armour in order to strike Grood, who seldom defends himself in any case. I can't help but be a little stirred at the sight of two fearless warriors unleashing their full strength without hesitation.

"WHO SAID-?!"

The New God is wearing green armour with strange lines running across it, and carrying a mace of some sort which she uses to parry the Darkstar's attack without looking around. The move is so instinctive to her that she actually looks a little surprised when she sees who she parried.

Then she smiles.

"For me?"

Then she backhands the Darkstar, sending her flying.. directly through the portal. I suppose that gets her to safety, and her head was reasonably well protected.

"Darkseid's balls, I wasn't even aiming-. Guess I'll just have to kill the rest of you."

"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHR!"

The Scarab gives up on weaker hits and switches to giant rams for its arms, striking Grood in the chest hard enough to crack his ribs through his construct. Grood responds by dragging his claws through the Scarab's head from the back, tearing out its eyes along the way. Not necessarily fatal; the Scarab implant is usually located on the spine and can restore a great deal of damage-.

"Midget-bug, go fight the other Lantern! I want this one!"

Grood tries to claw at the front of the large Scarab's face, but its armour has thickened again and Grood's own movements are visibly slower. Even its impaired motions are enough to fend him off.

I sneer at the godling.

"Who are you to demand anything?"

"I'm Knockout." She hefts her mace. "Now guess what I'm going to do."

Oglymogly · Jan 23, 2023

Huh, Knockout is spying on Grayven in both timelines. I'm surprised this Grayven was willing to talk to daddy dearest, but at least he was smart enough to distance himself from the obvious poisoned gift.

Chojin Patriarch · Jan 23, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
18th January 2013
23:45 GMT

"Allyn to Zartok. Both Scarabs, close quarters."

I fly as fast as I can through the ship, Grood only a short distance behind me, cursing under my breath as I go.

See, this is why you should have been closer to the expected portal point. Honestly, I don't know why you didn't just all three go through at once. Unless you were worried about tripping over each other...

Could the cannibals not hold the attention of a single one?!

"Drusa, keep monitoring!"

Since her in-combat skills aren't exactly up to this level of fighting...

"Yes. For what?"

"Anything-"

And I can just picture her rolling her eyes in exasperation at him.

A woman not on our crew climbs out of the hatch to the outer hull. She's unarmed, and unless she's a highly trained liar she's a coward too. I pull her out of the way and then dive for the portal.

"-relevant."

Oh, hey, something for Drusa to do: Restrain Agnie. After all, she might know something useful.

Glaive.

I pass through the portal as the larger Scarab Warrior charges Allyn's weak construct barrier, my glaive's edge projecting a phase disruption field as I dive under the Warrior's arm and swing at its back. It responds my charging faster, my swing merely nicking its armour instead of slicing through its spine. With the Scarab distracted Allyn is able to reposition himself while focusing his efforts on getting the boom tube generator to work.

Dang, not quick enough. But it did give Allyn a chance to bolster his defences.

A create a shield as the other Scarab decides to endure the Darkstar's maser to take a shot at me-.

The shot destroys my construct shield, though it fails to actually penetrate.

Layered shields, Zartok. This is why.

"Orange, Green?" The smaller Scarab twists like a tumbler to avoid the Darkstar's sword, firing three shots at Allyn as it does so. His shield stops one and fails, and I'm forced to create multiple shields of my own to block the other two. "I can't tell-"

I slash at the larger Scarab as if shifts its back to project a force field. My glaive is deflected, so I spin it and change the blade to the other end.

Something you just can't do with a physical weapon, even if it's got a retractable blade. Nice to see him taking advantage of Construct tricks.

"-the difference between-"

Cutting low, I slice through the left greave as the Scarab clumsily turns. Ah, it lost its flight system to make the force field. It stumbles as it turns, but the injury will knit itself back together before long.

Not a killing blow, then. I doubt the fight would be ended that quickly, after all.

"-different colours of meat."

The large Scarab pushes off its uninjured leg, flying towards me and towards the boom tube generator behind me. I smile and ignore it, lunging at the smaller and more talkative Scarab, who is forced to switch from a blade to a pistol to shoot out my spear. No matter.

Maybe the Scarabs should focus on defending instead of taunting...

I swing my arms as if the spear were still there, reforming it with a phasic blade as the Scarab attempts to disengage. Behind me, the larger one has realised that something is wrong and switches its back module from a force field generator to a flight system.

Meaning that when Grood barrels into it through the portal, it has no momentum with which to evade.

Dynamic Entry for the win!

"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHR!"

Grood's only construct is a construct Grood, enhancing his already impressive strength and toughness to superlative levels. The larger Scarab has hit the wall before it's fully processed what is happening, and Grood's far faster with his phasic blade-tipped claws than it is with its morphed shields. It gets a gash along its side before it can interpose the first, then a gash to the face as it drops its gird too low. The shield then extends but Grood has already switched to grabbing and pulling like a frenzied molath and the Scarab hasn't anchored itself properly.

Ah, old school. Going for the old 'rip and tear' style, eh? Extra intimidation and distraction bonuses for the mouthful of fangs, of course.

Good.

The smaller scarab appears to think that if it swings at me with blades from all of its limbs that will in some way threaten me. Its right arm blade swings down, cutting into the deck as I jink aside and thrust forward with my spear. The blade retracts and the Scarab spins clockwise, ducking around my spear and slashing with its leg-blades. I reverse my spear and parry each of them, the Scarab allowing its spin to be countered and flapping its wings to gain space.

Argh, don't you hate when the opponents have gravity control and just all the blades?

The Darkstar takes the opportunity to slash at its wings, slicing through the left wing before the Scarab can cover it with its elytra armour.

Wings.

...Wow, rookie mistake there, bug-boy. Leaving such an obvious weak point exposed?

"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHR!"

Heat washes over me from the larger Scarab firing a plasma weapon at point blank range to try and force Grood back. It works, for all the good it's going to do, and melts about a third of the room-.

Because even if he knows the flames won't hurt him, the instinct to be wary is still there...

The Darkstar suddenly pulls back, keeping-. Her armour isn't rated for that level of discharge. I suppose it's unreasonable to expect infiltrators to fight on the front line.

"Darkstar." I bombard the smaller Scarab with energy pulses, preventing them from attacking as they're forced to shield themselves. "Disengage."

Best do as he says, Jade, this is way above your pay-grade, now...

She doesn't move immediately, instead taking a stance-.

"Do you require assistance?"

Unless you can get in a really lucky back-stab, Jade, best to back off...

The body of a Reach marine flies through the bridge door, hitting Grood in the side and breaking in half, spraying swiftly-cooking viscera across the room.

"WHY YOU RUNNING, BEETLE BOYS?!"

Oh, joy, the Captain's still alive?

"Do you?"

The New God commanding officer. I did wonder what god-blood looked like. "No."

Much the same as anyone else's, I expect.

The smaller Scarab reforms its other arm into a gun and fires at me around its shield, forcing me to-. To block with control panels torn from the ship in order to shield Allyn, because it is clearly using a construct disruptor and simple mass is better at resisting it.

I will express my gratitude to the Illustres for teaching me that at his funeral.

Heh. See, you did learn a few tricks from OL, even if you'd never admit it...

The Darkstar moves towards the door, ducking around the flailing limbs of the large Scarab and Grood, who appear to have both anchored themselves to the floor to better flail at each other. The Scarab isn't bothering with a shield any longer, just accepting the blows on its thickened armour in order to strike Grood, who seldom defends himself in any case. I can't help but be a little stirred at the sight of two fearless warriors unleashing their full strength without hesitation.

Don't get distracted, Zartok. Still live enemies to deal with before you admire the bloodshed.

"WHO SAID-?!"

The New God is wearing green armour with strange lines running across it, and carrying a mace of some sort which she uses to parry the Darkstar's attack without looking around. The move is so instinctive to her that she actually looks a little surprised when she sees who she parried.

Heck of a flinch reaction. Lady must have a combat-related domain.

Then she smiles.

"For me?"

...Definitely some kind of war-god...

Then she backhands the Darkstar, sending her flying.. directly through the portal. I suppose that gets her to safety, and her head was reasonably well protected.

"Darkseid's balls, I wasn't even aiming-. Guess I'll just have to kill the rest of you."

Huh, must be one of Grayven's own, then. Probably gives her some edge over the Citizenry, then.

"HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHR!"

The Scarab gave up on weaker hits and switched to giant rams for its arms, striking Grood in the chest hard enough to crack his ribs through his construct. Grood responded by dragging his claws through the Scarab's head from the back, tearing out its eyes along the way. Not necessarily fatal; the Scarab implant is usually located on the spine and can restore a great deal of damage-.

Still, having to regrow them in combat isn't going to help any. Whereas Grood's ribs are already fixed.

"Midget-bug, go fight the other Lantern! I want this one!"

Grood tries to claw at the front of the large Scarab's face, but its armour has thickened again and Grood's own movements are visibly slower. Even its impaired motions are enough to fend him off.

Damn, the tide's turning. This could get painful.

I sneer at the godling.

"Who are you to demand anything?"

"I'm Knockout." She hefts her mace. "Now guess what I'm going to do."

...Huh. I suppose she had to be somewhere. Guess she joined Grayven's retinue in this timeline instead of the Renegade's.

So, Knockout? I suppose it makes sense, putting her in charge of a Citizenry vessel. They're so much alike. I'll bet her armour is a little heavier than her usual casual leotard-thing, but follows similar lines. Still, that makes this fight all the harder, especially if she focuses on the Lanterns first. At least the Scarabs aren't going to play nice with her either. A three-way fight, then.

Always messy.

It responds my charging faster...

It responds by charging faster...

A create a shield as the other Scarab decides...

I create a shield as the other Scarab decides...

I slash at the larger Scarab as if shifts its back to project a force field.

I slash at the larger Scarab as it shifts its back to project a force field.

...then a gash to the face as it drops its gird too low.

...then a gash to the face as it drops its guard too low.

Vaermina · Jan 23, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
18th January 2013
23:45 GMT

Why are the Scarab's sandbagging so much?

We saw what they could really do when they almost took out LePaul after all.

Oglymogly · Jan 23, 2023

Vaermina said:
Why are the Scarab's sandbagging so much?

We saw what they could really do when they almost took out LePaul after all.

I believe it is canon and not fandom that scarabs come in different power tiers, the lowest being the blue scout class. These may just be lower level or outdated scarabs. Its not like they expected to encounter multiple lanterns on this mission.

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