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

Razorfloss · Jan 29, 2023

Oh that's going to make him a ton of friends. Oh boy if the iom hated him before they're going to outright despise him now.

Darko · Jan 29, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Angron himself had to call a halt to his offensive on Armageddon when his horde started evaporating from lack of warp energy.

Abd you know that's significant because that giant walking war crime doesn't usually like retreating.

Mr Zoat said:
And the massive ritual sacrifices he made to correct the problem must have saved the Administratum years.

Yep.

With all of them dead the Administratum doesn't need to do more paperwork when they inevitably rediscover the world they losy a century ago.

Mr Zoat said:
moment if tried to force what was there into

"moment I tried"

Mr Zoat said:
No. I saw the human worlds you visited. So much… Life. Even the labourers were treated better."

Even if they treated them a hundred times worse than they treat Paul, it would still be paradise to this guy.

Mr Zoat said:
but he'd definitely hate me for giving up on humanity in favour of aliens."

Humanity more or less gave up on itself.

Mr Zoat said:
I'm sure that they've closed Jaq Draco's tunnel by now

And hopefully cleaned it up

You don't want to touch anything that freak has touched.

Add a . at the end.

Mr Zoat said:
They're going to be removed, but I'm afraid that if you subjected them to a magic mind probe you'll learn that they aren't especially bad people. The system they were part of just gave them more than it gave you."

Though a lot of them probably are bad people.

crazygrox · Jan 29, 2023

If I understand an optimistic view of what's happened here, a powerful psyker merged with the warp-echo created by the manufactorum workers worship of the machine spirits that they viewed as abused and lashing out in anger towards them whenever they gave their lives to keep the manufactorum running, they themselves at the same time fantasizing about lashing out in anger at their mistreatment.
With this merging being helped along by the psyker having a similar mental state, and the deaths of a large number of people with this mindset in an extremely concentrated area(literally packed into cells until crushed to death), in line with the earlier statement that ritual sacrifices weren't strictly necessary for any of the things that sorcery uses them for, and instead ritual killings are just more efficient than regular killings, but can be substituted with more killings.

Creating a Daemon Prince of either a new/negligibly small chaos power, or a Daemon Prince of the Omnissiah/the manufactorum workers' extremely under-educated view of the Omnissiah.

Chojin Patriarch · Jan 29, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
6 561 937.M41

"That's not a good idea!"

Once the daemon leaves, it will lose control of this patch of the warp. The factory should decay away and then I'll be free to follow it out. But that's a big daemon. It'll burn through its power at an accelerated rate; giant daemons are rare, but they occur frequently enough that there are records. Angron himself had to call a halt to his offensive on Armageddon when his horde started evaporating from lack of warp energy.

And that's why daemonic invasions rarely result in the entire planet becoming a daemon world. Plus the fact that planets in such a state are usually Exterminated long before they reach the fizzling out stage...

And the massive ritual sacrifices he made to correct the problem must have saved the Administratum years.

The purges… Yes, that might work!

In case you're wondering: It's usually standard practice after any campaign against Chaos for the surviving Imperial citizens and Guardsmen involved to be wiped out, often by mass killings or life confinement, in order to keep the knowledge of Chaos' existence secret. Interestingly, some of the Space Marine Chapters tend to object loudly to that sort of thing.

"I, who am Faultless, was subject to the foulest of mistreatment at the hands of arrogant masters! And now, I will return bearing the wrath their deeds have earned."

"The Inquisitor's dead!" Its head jerks down, eyes staring at me. "We already killed him!"

Oh, that's a worry. Before, he was looking outwards. Now he's focused on you.

"He was MINE!"

"We didn't know you existed! I came to the prison to free and heal you, and any others who were still alive!"

Admittedly, he didn't hold out much hope for any survivors...

The daemon leans down, right hand resting on a part of the now-skeletal factory wall. Out of the corner of my eye I spot that the wall… Fills out, becoming whole and… Cleaner, as if it were newly made rather than subject to Hive City decay.

"I will be the judge."

Uh-oh. This has to be a completely instinctual use of their powers, I would assume... Which is all the more worrying.

Warning! Mental-

My mind becomes a square. Ridged lines form between evening meal, washing and sleeping, and those lines are solid and fixed. But the other lines are made of the myriad of different actions and situations I am in for the rest of the day, and the square-.

...Would be rather unstable. Human minds just aren't meant to work that way...

My face hits the deck just as the vomit leaves my helmet-mouth.

Wrong! Wrong! The square doesn't work, can't catch, every moment if tried to force what was there into a pattern where no pattern exists. Travelling and fighting nearly hold, but the differences in foes and locations still tear it apart.

Trying to reformat P'Aul, is he? Or just studying this memories?

I try pushing myself up

Travel-. Travel- Traaaaaaaaaaa-.

A nigh-unimaginable concept for a person who might spend their entire life with ten miles of their birthplace.

and the daemon slumps and I can think clearly-. Nearly clearly, again.

Can't just ring the vomit away, not while the daemon is imposing its version of reality on this place. But… Rag, and water, because that's what they'd use to clean up messes in the factory.

That's not going to be pleasant, given the ever-present contamination that Hive Worlds tend to suffer from.

There. I splash some water-. Polluted water, across my face and armour, then use the rag to wipe as much away as possible. Given the state of my leg-. I can't fix it because no one would waste time giving a low-hive factory worker medical aide. Splint? Yes. Alright. And crutch. And hobble upright and make sure I tell Tsua'm and Bo'ohk to prioritise medical aide once I get out.

"Did you..? See what you needed?"

No wonder many hive citizens chose to find other methods of profiting from and enjoying life...

It closes its eyes, jaw working and expression pained.

"I saw a universe of colour, such as I have never seen before. I saw possibilities and a shifting, inconstant soul. I saw xenos showing more consideration and kindness than my own masters ever gave me."

Such is the nature of having power. Especially a power unknown to the galaxy. The Tau really want to be P'Aul's friend.

"That might just be because I have something unique to offer them."

He shakes his head, eyes unfocused.

I wonder if he saw anything of P'Aul's life before the insertion. A world like our Earth would seem like paradise to an Imperial lowlie.

"No. I saw the human worlds you visited. So much… Life. Even the labourers were treated better."

"Those weren't Hive Worlds. Comparing the two doesn't work. Yes, the tau will make improvements, but it won't be anything like as radical-."

Major differences in scale of population, for example. A single Hive City holds roughly as many people live on Earth today, in the space of something the size of Mount Everest (and commonly going as deep below the surface as it rises above.) A typical Hive World can have hundreds of Hives.

"Why?" His head comes up and focuses fully on me. "Why do xenos care more for our suffering than our masters?"

"Because people respond better to being treated well. In the Imperium, they can rely on cultural indoctrination to keep everyone working hard. The tau have to be a bit more mercenary. 'See, look how much your life has improved, and you can keep worshipping the Emperor if you want'."

...Though after a while, they might well drop into similar practices...

"Does he exist, or is that a lie too?"

"To the best of my knowledge, the Emperor exists. The Ecclesiarchy doesn't get him quite right, but he'd definitely hate me for giving up on humanity in favour of aliens."

Best not to tell Faultless that their holy book was written by a Traitor Primarch Chaos Worshipper...

I don't see them taking that well.

"Then why do we suffer so?"

"Because it's easy and simple. He cares about humanity, but doesn't care at all for individual humans. If the output of your factory stayed good, he'd think it was fine. Improving your standard of living would cost extra resources without a corresponding payoff in output."

The Emperor in life was pretty much a case of favouring the material over the spiritual. Though on some fronts, he had good reason, like his somewhat-justified suppression of religion.

"Did the Inquisitor have his sanction?"

"He doesn't approve their appointment on an individual basis, and… The organisation came into being towards the end of the Heresy. I don't know whether he created it or not. But… The Emperor wouldn't have condemned you merely for drawing his eye, but he wouldn't have contradicted the Inquisitor either. Saving you wouldn't have been worth the time. But that time would have saved other lives."

In fact, folks, it was created by one of his followers, Malcador the Sigilite, Imperial Regent. One of many necessary changes made after the Horus Heresy... Though it's got rather out of hand since then...

"Why did my soul not go to him at the moment of my death?"

"I'm not sure how it works. I don't even know if that happens."

Which makes you wonder just where their souls do go. Do they soak into the seafoam of the Immaterium, becoming part of its energies? Do they get collected by Daemons? Or are fragments of the Emperor's broken soul out there collecting them...

Ask a dozen sages, get a dozen different answers.

The daemon looks around.

"Is he here?"

...I suspect you'd likely notice Big E if he was hanging out here. Not enough gold, skulls and shining light...

"Ah… He has a presence in the warp, yes, but it's a long way from here. You'd have to follow the astronomicon to its source, and it's fairly well protected against things like you. It would be a long journey, and I doubt that other daemons would be glad to see you." I sigh. "I could take you there in the material universe, but we'd probably both die without seeing him."

I'm sure that they've closed Jaq Draco's tunnel by now

Ugh, him... The joy of the early days of the setting, where anyone could throw any concept at the wall and have it stick... Fortunately, in-universe dates suggest he's probably long-dead, so no fear of running into his sleazy carcass.

"Look, I understand that you want to tear everyone responsible for your situation apart, but we're past the point where that's a rational course of action. The people taking over your world have tau engineers and physicians with them. It'll take a while, the Hives are very big places, but they're going to start improving things. The existing rulers… They're going to be removed, but I'm afraid that if you subjected them to a magic mind probe you'll learn that they aren't especially bad people. The system they were part of just gave them more than it gave you."

It'd be a rare Imperial governor who would be that cartoonishly evil. Sadly, they do exist, but ironically, the Inquisition can keep them in line.

"Then who do I hurt?!"

"I wasn't trying to give you a target. Lashing out might be cathartic, but it doesn't usually help solving complex problems."

It's easy to tear things down, but what would you build in their place?

"What of the other Hives? Other worlds? I saw them in your mind. How I lived is common."

"My current plan is to help the tau conquer the galaxy, while at the same time improving them to the point where they can fix that problem. I can't promise that it's going to work, but I haven't been able to come up with anything better. If you want to help cast down incapable rulers, we'd be happy to work with you."

And preventing the Tau from going into the grim-derp villainy of later editions, eh? Early editions of the Tau were kind of hopefully idealistic, then they decided 'No good guys in 40k'... You can guess the rest.

Happy may be overstating things, but for once the tau's relaxed attitude to daemons might actually come in handy.

"I mean… Apart from that, what do you want out of existence?"

Especially since some of the obvious human needs aren't particularly workable in their current form...

6 563 937.M41

Bo'ohk stands two places away from me, his right hand on The Faultless One's left arm. Before us, a Primaris Psyker checks the latest of the thousands of victims of the latest Inquisitorial purge for the taint of chaos. With each shaken head, a body is taken before the planet's senior Ecclesiarchy clergy to perform the funerary consecration before they're taken to the cathedral for burial, their clerical robes increasingly stained with blood and soot.

"It's a start."

And hopefully the beginning of a righteous partnership...

Well, that was settled with surprisingly diplomatic methods. I guess the unfortunate 'Faultless' emotions were flickering and momentary enough that their anger couldn't stay stoked for long. It'll be interesting to see how this impacts things from here on out, and how the new daemon develops with a steadier hand to guide them than the Chaos Gods.

Mr Zoat · Jan 29, 2023

Darko said:
"moment I tried"

Nearly.

Add a . at the end.

Thank you, corrected.

crazygrox said:
If I understand an optimistic view of what's happened here, a powerful psyker merged with the warp-echo created by the manufactorum workers worship of the machine spirits that they viewed as abused and lashing out in anger towards them whenever they gave their lives to keep the manufactorum running, they themselves at the same time fantasizing about lashing out in anger at their mistreatment.
With this merging being helped along by the psyker having a similar mental state, and the deaths of a large number of people with this mindset in an extremely concentrated area(literally packed into cells until crushed to death), in line with the earlier statement that ritual sacrifices weren't strictly necessary for any of the things that sorcery uses them for, and instead ritual killings are just more efficient than regular killings, but can be substituted with more killings.

Creating a Daemon Prince of either a new/negligibly small chaos power, or a Daemon Prince of the Omnissiah/the manufactorum workers' extremely under-educated view of the Omnissiah.

Except for the 'powerful psyker' bit, more or less.

Chojin Patriarch said:
And that's why daemonic invasions rarely result in the entire planet becoming a daemon world. Plus the fact that planets in such a state are usually Exterminated long before they reach the fizzling out stage...

There was a Warmaster battle report in White Dwarf where they used a Warhammer-scale Great Unclean One as a general, on the grounds that at the peak of its power it could actually get that large.

Due to the way characters work in that game, it did actually get killed.

And preventing the Tau from going into the grim-derp villainy of later editions, eh? Early editions of the Tau were kind of hopefully idealistic, then they decided 'No good guys in 40k'... You can guess the rest.

I'm sure that I've mentioned it before, but I prefer to treat tau as humans in a Lovecraft story. Not good or bad, just wholly ignorant of the vast horrors around them.

Handlewithcare · Jan 29, 2023

I feel that he is doing Emps a disservice here. The Emperor does care about Individuals (he is at minimum capable of recognising humanity consists of many individual humans) but he just can't do more.

He is powerful but his resources finite.

Also, I'm sensing a pattern here. May this deamon become this universes version of Hepheastian?

Or hell, if Paul can somehow merge it with the Warp concept of the Omnissiah...

Darko · Jan 29, 2023

Chojin Patriarch said:
Best not to tell Faultless that their holy book was written by a Traitor Primarch Chaos Worshipper... I don't see them taking that well.

Yep.

In life they may have given themselves comfort that they're at least following the words of their God.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Ugh, him... The joy of the early days of the setting, where anyone could throw any concept at the wall and have it stick... Fortunately, in-universe dates suggest he's probably long-dead, so no fear of running into his sleazy carcass.

Actually their chances are probably very, very high.

Time and death aren't really obstacles.

Chojin Patriarch said:
It'd be a rare Imperial governor who would be that cartoonishly evil

Sadly they're not so rare.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Sadly, they do exist, but ironically, the Inquisition can keep them in line.

Fight fire with fire.

Or in this case, fight one corrupted lunatic with another corrupted lunatic.

crazygrox · Jan 29, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
Except for the 'powerful psyker' bit, more or less.

It occurs to me that if a Daemon of the Omnissiah/machine spirit can do this,
then in this canonicity of how warp-metaphysics works it makes it a good bit more likely that Living Saints are ?possessed by/manifestations of/Daemon Princes of? the Daemons of the Imperial Cult(without any direct intervention of the Emperor himself in creating or directing their power),
and that the unique powers Sisters of Battle sometimes display are acts of sorcery sponsored by Daemons of the Imperial Cult rather than a result of their individual strength of faith and soul, or a gift from the Emperor directly.

edit: it also makes it a fair bit more likely that the Demiurge Spirit-ancestors that were briefly mentioned in one of the earlier chapters of this are something like a navigator-Daemon made up of the dead, rather than an artificially-preserved set of the souls of the dead who can look from their position within the warp to approximate the sight of a navigator.

Someguy Somewhere · Jan 29, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
And the massive ritual sacrifices he made to correct the problem must have saved the Administratum years.

And we've got a whole 'nother string storm song about THAT kerfuffle

Vaermina · Jan 29, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
6 561 937.M41

So this version of Paul has now been driven insane and is living in a world of eternal waking delusions.

Fun.

But it kind of takes all the interest out of seeing more of the character since everything from this point on will just be the equivalent of a fever dream.

PDV · Jan 29, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
I'm sure that I've mentioned it before, but I prefer to treat tau as humans in a Lovecraft story. Not good or bad, just wholly ignorant of the vast horrors around them.

You might like this bit of fan lore. The Tau 'Shadow Caste', essentially their equivalent of the SCP Foundation.

Mr Zoat · Jan 29, 2023

Someguy Somewhere said:
And we've got a whole 'nother string storm song about THAT kerfuffle

No, the Month of Shame is a retcon that puts responsibility on the Inquisition rather than the Administratum.

ForeverShogo · Jan 29, 2023

And then word gets out that the Inquisition has been disbanded. Supposedly be decree of the God-Emperor Himself. Soon to be known as the Man-Emperor.

Surprise! It was Text-to-Speech all along!

Vaermina · Jan 29, 2023

ForeverShogo said:
And then word gets out that the Inquisition has been disbanded. Supposedly be decree of the God-Emperor Himself. Soon to be known as the Man-Emperor.

Surprise! It was Text-to-Speech all along!

Go forth my sons! Your Emperor has the munchies!

Coda · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
their souls were set lose into the warp.

loose

Mr Zoat · Jan 30, 2023

20th January 2013
10:21 GMT

I sigh as the last few Reach ships metaphorically strike their colours. They know perfectly well that they can't get away before they're overhauled, not in a situation like this. The commanding L.E.G.I.O.N. admiral sends me a request for confirmation and I approve their plan without a moment's hesitation.

The Reach offensive is -currently- under control. Not beaten, no, but we were successful in defending most of our worlds and all of the worlds that actually have a meaningful industrial output.

I take a moment to look at the drifting hulks of the L.E.G.I.O.N. vessels that were destroyed in this engagement. Not a single orange glow in any of them.

Our ships do have escape pods, but there's no understanding that escape pods won't get shot at in this war. It's actually safer for naval personnel on crippled ships to deactivate available devices drawing power and shelter in place. While the fight is still going on it just isn't worth the Reach shooting at ships that aren't participating in it. Launching pods is something that only makes sense to do once the people on board get an all-clear signal or if there are boarders.

If the L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet were on the losing side, most personnel not in a position to get away will kill themselves to avoid capture, knowing full well that if they don't they'll be mind controlled and sent back to act against their own people. Reach ships have escape pods, but they're more like mini-ships and are far better at escaping to the rear of their formations under their own power. Somewhat aided by the fact that we don't shoot them even if it would be really easy, like now.

"Illustres to Orange Lanterns. Highest priority is to make safe damaged ships. Don't get distracted by pick-up duty until all survivors are safe. Once that's done, request new orders."

They don't all hop to it, of course. They are Orange Lanterns, and some of them prioritise friends or allies above what's actually sensible in the fight. Or taking trophies from foes they personally bested. I can't stop them without either significant retraining or dominating them.

But…

We reach out to their desires and faintly cause them to resonate with one another. A little groupthink to counter our pernicious individualism.

My ring blinks again.

"Illustres here."

Dox's head appears over my ring.

"Is it done?"

"That part of the Reach fleet that didn't fall back has been destroyed. We're in the recovery phase now. Do you have a new assignment for me?"

"Darkstar Jade Nguyen's infiltration mission has been terminated prematurely."

There's a slight pause. I don't think that he's telling me that she's dead, if only because he wouldn't prevaricate.

"She had only minor injuries, but she and Lantern Zartok's team managed to capture one of Grayven's henchmen, along with the command centre of a Citizenry ship."

"Are we changing our focus, Clarissi?"

"No, but it is my intent to pay a little more attention to Grayven's activities. He has ignored your offers for an alliance and I have no doubt that he will attack us should we appear to be gaining a decisive advantage. At the moment we are no more able to counter fleets transported by boom tube than the Reach is."

I nod. "Alright, what do you need from me?"

"Humans display reduced performance quality when active for long periods of time without rest. While your status as an enlightened Lantern insulates you from some of the causes, I am moving you off duty for the time being."

"Appreciated. Any news on Earth?"

"All N.E.M.O. assets have been instructed to avoid the place. Darkstar Nguyen's prisoner might be able to provide you with information regarding the Anti-Life, but I encourage you to actually take time to refresh yourself."

"Certainly, sir. Anything else?"

"No, that's all."

His head vanishes.

Okay. Off-duty. And

Jade is… There.

I check my location… The N.E.M.O. facility on Tillettit. Zartok spots me at once, a material spear in his hands. Allyn is watching… No, refereeing Jade's fight with… Is that Knockout? While Grood is just sort of sitting in the corner. He's not eating, which is a little uncharacteristic of him.

"Illustres." Zartok moves through his spear katas, without using his ring. I'm no expert in spear combat, but it looks like he knows what he's doing. "What is it?"

I walk a little closer to the sparring arena, watching as Jade dodges around Knockout's punches with her exo-mantle's flight system.

"I understand that you were successful."

"You could call it that."

"You disagree?"

"There's a Darkstar stealth ship in Reach space that will have to leave now that we're no longer on board. We were barely able to defeat two Scarab Warriors, I was forced to damage parts of the ship's control system that will make it near-impossible to fully reverse engineer, and worst of all Grayven decided to hand us victory."

"Did you talk him into it?"

"No. He said that Knockout was his father's spy, and that he arranged the entire affair to get rid of her. He assumed that it would be the Reach, but us having her was more convenient."

Ah. Hammer blows to his pride, then.

"Illustres?" Allyn turns away from the fight to look at me. "Could you please take over here? I have a prior engagement."

A glowing orange shield superimposes itself on the one he's making for a moment, then I absorb his construct.

"Dismissed, Lantern Allyn."

He smiles, nods, and then flies back towards the main compound.

I feel Jade's attention pass over me for a moment as she manoeuvres for space. Knockout looks like she's bracing for something, but Jade's posture relaxes and she raises her right hand to stop-.
Fight Better!
Knockout lunges across the arena as my barrier turns into a giant draconic fist, grabbing her and crushing her before spinning her around hard enough to turn a normal human into a bag of broken bones and shredded organs before slamming her into the toughened ground hard enough to crater it once, twice and thrice.

Knockout groans as I release the construct.

"Hey Jade. How did it go?"

"I submitted a mission report." She takes out her purple ray. "Do I need to use this?"

"On Knockout?" I walk over to Knockout and kick her. "No. She's Apokoliptian. You dead, Knockout?"

"Nnnnno?"

"Good answer. Apokoliptians understand and like the language of brutal violence. But really, how are you doing?"

"I nearly died because Grayven sabotaged his own ship. Aside from that, good."

"Are you finished with Knockout for now?" She nods. "Knockout, up." She groans, but comes to her feet. "Let's drop her off in a holding cell and do a full debrief."

Mr Zoat · Jan 30, 2023

Coda said:
loose

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
approve they're plan without a

"their"

Mr Zoat said:
No. He said that Knockout was his father's spy, and that he arranged the entire affair to get rid of her. He assumed that it would be the Reach, but us having her was more convenient."

Well the Controllers are far more likely to have something that can hold a New God.

Mr Zoat said:
Apokoliptian. You dead, Knockout?."

Remove the . at the end.

Silveraith · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
"Are you finished to Knockout for now?"

With.

Old Knife · Jan 30, 2023

Huh. I was expecting godspeech.

Someguy Somewhere · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
No, the Month of Shame is a retcon that puts responsibility on the Inquisition rather than the Administratum.

Hmm....I'd have to dig into early lore to find the reference, since most sources now reference 'The Emperor's Gift' (published in 2012?) for the definitive coverage of it. Given GW lore in White Dwarf and throw away lines in a Codex rarely reflecting sources or later content getting fleshed out with things ending up very differently.....

Zoat was a second Ed player, but the lore for these is somewhere near the early introduction to the tau, rather then the later versions, so I'd place the lore at late third early fourth ed. Which puts the version of the lore between the late 90's and early 2000s. Which leaves out the novel where it's the Inquisition to blame.

Ok that makes sense why it's that way then.

In universe logic is a bit odd with the Administration taking care of it.

Sure the logistics of the labor camps and sterilization would require them, but the direction of the whole thing isn't their bag. If it was a Crime of witnessing Heresy then it's the Arbites call, if it's Suspected Heresy it's the Arbites or Ordo's bag with support from other branches. Planetary Execution (while mostly done by Exterminatus) is either the Inquisition, or the armed forces. While there is a LOT of overlap with duties and who gets to kill what, there is also a significant amount of pissing matches between organization over who gets to do what.

The Inquisition Generally wins those because they (generally) can order other branches around...and Armageddon is generally held up as an example of their overreach, along with that goofball that thought that eliminating all life on every planet between the 'Nids and the heart of the Imperium would form a moat that would starve the bugs before they could get a foot hold in. When a whole Council of big hatted pricks says you've over used your Kill Planets card, and take it away, you know you dun goofed.

Chojin Patriarch · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
20th January 2013
10:21 GMT

I sigh as the last few Reach ships metaphorically strike their colours. They know perfectly well that they can't get away before they're overhauled, not in a situation like this. The commanding L.E.G.I.O.N. admiral sends me a request for confirmation and I approve they're plan without a moment's hesitation.

The Reach offensive is -currently- under control. Not beaten, no, but we were successful in defending most of our worlds and all of the worlds that actually have a meaningful industrial output.

Though that means a few worlds got flipped back under Reach control, doesn't it? Not the greatest showing, but you can't win every fight, no matter how many Lanterns and ships you throw at them.

I take a moment to look at the drifting hulks of the L.E.G.I.O.N. vessels that were destroyed in this engagement. Not a single orange glow in any of them.

Our ships do have escape pods, but there's no understanding that escape pods won't get shot at in this war. It's actually safer for naval personnel on crippled ships to deactivate available devices drawing power and shelter in place. While the fight is still going on it just isn't worth the Reach shooting at ships that aren't participating in it. Launching pods is something that only makes sense to do once the people on board get an all-clear signal or if there are borders.

And making the escape pods tough enough to survive combat would be counter-productive, I suppose.

If the L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet were on the losing side, most personnel not in a position to get away will kill themselves to avoid capture, knowing full well that if they don't they'll be mind controlled and sent back to act against their own people. Reach ships have escape pods, but they're more like mini-ships and are far better at escaping to the rear of their formations under their own power. Somewhat aided by the fact that we don't shoot them even if it would be really easy, like now.

Something the Reach probably consider a foolish weakness, I bet.

"Illustres to Orange Lanterns. Highest priority is to make safe damaged ships. Don't get distracted by pick-up duty until all survivors are safe. Once that's done, request new orders."

They don't all hop to it, of course. There are Orange Lanterns, and some of them prioritise friends or allies above what's actually sensible in the fight. Or taking trophies from foes they personally bested. I can't stop them without either significant retraining or dominating them.

That's the problem of the Orange Light, of course. Sometimes subservience fades in the face of their own urges.

But…

We reach out to their desires and faintly cause them to resonate with one another. A little groupthink to counter our pernicious individualism.

Encouraging them to consider the ship crews 'theirs', eh? And thus to take care of their things...

My ring blinks again.

"Illustres here."

Dox's head appears over my ring.

Well, he wasted no time checking in...

Actually, no, if that were true, he'd probably have been calling as soon as the last Reach ship signalled its surrender. I guess he's learned a little politeness.

"Is it done?"

"That part of the Reach fleet that didn't fall back has been destroyed. We're in the recovery phase now. Do you have a new assignment for me?"

...Or can OL go back and help fix Earth now?

"Darkstar Jade Nguyen's infiltration mission has been terminated prematurely."

There's a slight pause. I don't think that he's telling me that she's dead, if only because he wouldn't prevaricate.

I mean... Given previous experience with Orange Lanterns, he might be wary of an outburst of some kind.

"She had only minor injuries, but she and Lantern Zartok's team managed to capture one of Grayven's henchmen, along with the command centre of a Citizenry ship."

"Are we changing our focus, Clarissi?"

I mean, that wasn't want any of them were sent out there for, after all...

"No, but it is my intent to pay a little more attention to Grayven's activities. He has ignored your offers for an alliance and I have no doubt that he will attack us should we appear to be gaining a decisive advantage. At the moment we are no more able to counter fleets transported by boom tube than the Reach is."

I nod. "Alright, what do you need from me?"

Which surprises me. I would have expected Dox to have been considering some sort of countermeasure for Boom Tubes. Then again, he is busy managing the war.

"Humans display reduced performance quality when active for long periods of time without rest. While your status as an enlightened Lantern insulates you from some of the causes, I am moving you off duty for the time being."

"Appreciated. Any news on Earth?"

...Great. More delays, huh?

"All N.E.M.O. assets have been instructed to avoid the place. Darkstar Nguyen's prisoner might be able to provide you with information regarding the Anti-Life, but I encourage you to actually take time to refresh yourself."

"Certainly, sir. Anything else?"

After all, he's one of the few beings available to NEMO who are resistant to it...

"No, that's all."

His head vanishes.

Not much of a goodbye, but it is Dox...

Okay. Off-duty. And

Jade is… There.

Heh, he wasted no time in going to check on her, of course. After all, I doubt she'll be heading back out anytime for the next while.

I check my location… The N.E.M.O. facility on Tillettit. Zartok spots me at once, a material spear in his hands. Allyn is watching… No, refereeing Jade fight with… Is that Knockout? While Grood is just sort of sitting in the corner. He's not eating, which is a little uncharacteristic of him.

"Illustres." Zartok moves through his spear katas, without using his ring. I'm no expert in spear combat, but it looks like he knows what he's doing. "What is it?"

...Huh. Grood not eating? I guess he's maintaining readiness if Knockout gets loose, maybe.

I walk a little closer to the sparring arena, watching as Jade dodges around Knockout's punches with her exo-mantle's flight system.

"I understand that you were successful."

A necessary advantage for Jade, I suppose. I doubt Knockout was allowed to keep any of her gear on her so far.

"You could call it that."

"You disagree?"

Their original mission is technically a failure, even if they had some success.

"There's a Darkstar stealth ship in Reach space that will have to leave now that we're no longer on board. We were barely able to defeat two Scarab Warriors, I was forced to damage parts of the ship's control system that will make it near-impossible to fully reverse engineer, and worst of all Grayven decided to hand us victory."

"Did you talk him into it?"

Zartok definitely holds himself to a high standard, doesn't he? But he did the best he could with an uncertain situation...

"No. He said that Knockout was his father's spy, and that he arranged the entire affair to get rid of her. He assumed that it would be the Reach, but us having her was more convenient."

Ah. Hammer blows to his pride, then.

Ah, indeed...Finding out you were an inadvertent patsy for the enemy probably stings some.

"Illustres?" Allyn turns away from the fight to look at me. "Could you please take over here? I have a prior engagement."

A glowing orange shield superimposes itself on the one he's making for a moment, then I absorb his construct.

Hmm... I wonder what Allyn means by that? And no sign of Agnie, I'll note...

No, wait, she was aboard the stealth ship, and presumably still is.

"Dismissed, Lantern Allyn."

He smiles, nods, and then flies back towards the main compound.

This planet probably feels odd to him, what with a deity having been fought back by mortals...

I feel Jade's attention pass over me for a moment as she manoeuvres for space. Knockout looks like she's bracing for something, but Jade's posture relaxes and she raises her right hand to stop-.
Fight Better!
Knockout lunges across the arena as my barrier turns into a giant draconic fist, grabbing her and crushing her before spinning her around hard enough to turn a normal human into a bag of broken bones and shredded organs before slamming her into the toughened ground hard enough to crater it once, twice and thrice.

When the Illustres' lady says 'stop', you stop, honey.

Knockout groans as I release the construct.

"Hey Jade. How did it go?"

Saving the big 'lunge, hug, kiss' stage of the reunion for later in private, eh?

"I submitted a mission report." She takes out her purple ray. "Do I need to use this?"

"On Knockout?" I walk over to Knockout and kick her. "No. She's Apokoliptian. You dead, Knockout?."

If she was, I'd be impressed. She's not happy, but that's normal.

"Nnnnno?"

"Good answer. Apokoliptians understand and like the language of brutal violence. But really, how are you doing?"

...Dammit, now I can't help but imagine Knockout's reply as Loki's post-hulking wheeze.

"I nearly died because Grayven sabotaged his own ship. Aside from that, good."

"Are you finished to Knockout for now?" She nods. "Knockout, up." She groans, but comes to her feet. "Let's drop her off in a holding cell and do a full debrief."

And after that, some wild post-mission fun?

I bet Jade is looking forwards to the 'happy to be alive' sex...

Well, I guess that's it for the episode for real. Zartok not happy about his win, OL stuck on non-combat leave for a while and Grayven getting a solid success out of it at the cost of one ship and a few hundred Citizens. Not a great day for NEMO overall, military performance aside. So, where will things go from here, I wonder?

...the people on board get an all-clear signal or if there are borders.

...the people on board get an all-clear signal or if there are boarders.

There are Orange Lanterns, and some of them prioritise...

They are Orange Lanterns, and some of them prioritise...

BlackCoat13 · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
I approve they're plan without a moment's hesitation.

their

Mr Zoat said:
"Are you finished to Knockout for now?"

should probably be 'Are you finished with Knockout'.

Mr Zoat said:
Okay. Off-duty. And

'And-', drawn out And, or 'And...', or even something like italics 'And'.
It's just sort of awkwardly open there otherwise.

Bud-E · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
I take a moment to look at the drifting hulks of the L.E.G.I.O.N.

I think you mean hunks?

RoninSword · Jan 30, 2023

Bud-E said:
I think you mean hunks?

In this context, a hulk is a wrecked/abandoned ship.

Mr Zoat · Jan 30, 2023

Darko said:
"their"
Remove the . at the end.

Silveraith said:
With.

Chojin Patriarch said:
...the people on board get an all-clear signal or if there are boarders.
They are Orange Lanterns, and some of them prioritise...

Thank you, corrected.

Bud-E said:
I think you mean hunks?

No. Hulks. Wrecked ships.

BlackCoat13 said:
'And-', drawn out And, or 'And...', or even something like italics 'And'.
It's just sort of awkwardly open there otherwise.

No, that's intentional.

iamnuff · Jan 30, 2023

I like Apokoliptian diplomacy.
The chain of command is very simple.

moralrelativity · Jan 30, 2023

Mr Zoat said:
No, refereeing Jade fight with…

Jade -> Jade's
OR
fight -> fighting

BR549 · Jan 30, 2023

iamnuff said:
I like Apokoliptian diplomacy.
The chain of command is very simple.

It's the chain they go get and beat you with until you understand who's in command.

Mr Zoat · Jan 30, 2023

moralrelativity said:
Jade -> Jade's
OR
fight -> fighting

Thank you, corrected.

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

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