Mr Zoat
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We were fine without wolves for 500 years.
And I just learned that there's a place in California called Placentia.
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
- Start date
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- Tags
- self insert young justice
And I just learned that there's a place in California called Placentia.
Artemisnemo
Getting sticky.
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Called it.
RoninSword
Sky God
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So it only just occurred to me. When the Earth was first Anti Lifed, Barda was missing. In Robin's PoV, he starts to think Barda, then he cuts himself off. Still missing or direct Anti Life exposure from Mannheim.
Cuchulin
Versed in the lewd.
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Wolves don't attack people (at least not in North America) and they keep the Deer from being fat/lazy as well as eating themselves out of house and home. People wiped out Wolves out of blind fear and hate.
Mr Zoat
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In 1450 wolves invaded Paris and ate 40 people, not even mentioning the people they ate on the way there.
And I don't care in deer are lazy. The fat is where the flavour comes from.
Home Field (part 9)
Mr Zoat
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6th February 2013
13:12 GMT -5
"You want work, worms?"
We talked about it, and Dick taking the lead would probably look wrong. He's still in the middle of a growth spurt and looks younger than he is. Mitchell can't look spooked convincingly. Not by physical threats. Even if he's not much tougher than Dick and me right now, we've both been in that sort of situation.
I shrug my right shoulder. "We want food and to be somewhere safe, so, yeah?"
The guy we're talking to used to be part of one of the Chinese street gangs. Now he's just standing around outside one of the Mistress-run food halls. Lunch was sandwiches made from long-life bread and cheese slices and most of the people who made it this far look like they were homeless before the Anti-Life.
Guess they were used to keeping going while feeling this way.
"There is nowhere that is safe."
"Why? Do we have to, like, join your weird religion or..? Whatever, first?"
"No. If you did then you would not want to leave and would be entirely inappropriate to send."
He looks at us for a moment longer and I start to get worried that he-.
Shit, I think this was one of the guys I busted before Ollie and Batman recruited me. I don't think he got a good look at me back then, but I-.
"Two things. Then you can go and wait in the truck with the others."
I look sullen, channelling how I used to feel when Dad did something like this.
"You want us to give up our weapons?"
He wrinkles his nose like he's just smelled the dog shit on his shoes. "No. Keep them if you like. Use them and you will certainly be killed so it doesn't matter to me."
"'kay, so, what?"
"This is one way. You will not come back."
"Why would we want to?"
"We were all worms, once. Crawling in the earth, with no comprehension of it. If exposure to the great universal truth only makes you want to run… That is cowardice."
"And sticking around in a crazy, starving city is bravery?"
I don't need to act to get my voice to sound completely dismissive. Though I do make it sound like I'm a bit more scared than I really am.
"Accepting reality takes more courage than retreating to a fantasy." He shakes his head. "But my words will not convince you."
"Fine. So what's the second?"
"You are a product. Whatever there is in you that makes you flee the truth, we don't care, and neither do the people you will work for."
"Slaves."
"Perhaps you will be slaves. Perhaps you will not. But if you still have some hope of being 'free'..." His face screws up like he just tasted the dog shit. "Then go back to hiding in your hovel and waiting for someone to save you."
I make a point of looking at Mitchell and Dick, and they both nod.
"We'll take our chances. Thanks."
"Then go. Outside. The truck is waiting."
Everyone else in the lunch hall is… Huddling in their cliques, only its based on what streets you live on rather than what school clubs you go to. None of them even look at the gang members, and most of them try sitting away from them.
People used to surviving on the streets say 'avoid'. Normal way to relate to gangs, but gangs don't usually run soup kitchens.
The truck's outside. The only thing in the lot. There's a woman in the driver's seat, but she's just staring ahead. We could try asking her some things, but every time we do, we risk standing out. I glance at Dick, but he just nods at the back of the truck. I climb up carefully, then turn around to help Dick up while Mitchell pulls himself up.
Gotta pretend we're not super strong. Or maybe if they didn't care about knives or guns, they wouldn't care about that?
Seven other people in the back. Two look like bums, a family of four and… Some guy in a dirty suit. He's the most alert and… 'Alive', but he pulls himself away slightly when we make eye contact.
So we copy them, forming a huddle as far away from the others as we can, with a 'safe' distance between us and the back of the truck.
And then we wait.
No one else is talking so we can't really talk. I can look out the back, but desolate and abandoned Gotham streets got old a decade ago.
I wonder what Jade's doing?
Not like I think fighting a huge war is better than this, but at least what you're supposed to be doing -what you need to do to win- is clearer. And you don't feel the Anti-Life the whole time. She gets to sneak around for a few days and then go back someplace where the people are living normal lives. Space-lives.
I wonder if Mom would let me take a year out after High School to go space-backpacking? That's something Wally would want to do, right? See a bunch of super-advanced societies? Or maybe space-backpacking isn't really a thing?
Of course, what Paul's doing is something that will fix the problem. And if we're lucky, won't create another problem. Maybe get a bunch of different color power rings together and summon Captain Power Ring?
Heh.
Footsteps-. The Justified guy from inside closes the truck door without looking at us, then I hear his footsteps moving around the side and the passenger side door open. A moment later the engine starts up and there's a slight jolt as the truck accelerates. No seat belts in the back of a truck, but since there's no traffic there isn't a lot of speeding up and slowing down.
I think… Yeah, we're going to the closest warehouse. No real reason why we wouldn't be.
"Hey."
Mitchell leans over, so his mouth is right next to my ear. He'll be able to hear whatever I say with super hearing.
"Yeah?"
"You think we could use this? Send people through ourselves?"
Go through, beat whoever controls the portal generator and then start doing mass evacuations without leaving Earth? Sure, we could do that. Except Mannheim might find out about it and send his super robot through to the other side with a boom tube. The only way it would work is if he couldn't find out about it, and I don't… Think it's-.
Is this why he's coming here? That could be a real problem. If Mistress doesn't know she wouldn't warn them-.
"Mannheim might want the portals. We might have to get them shut down. I don't think we can risk other Earths getting infected."
He tenses slightly.
"I hadn't though-. Yeah, you're right."
I feel the truck pull off the road, and a few seconds later it applies the brake.
Let's find out where we're going.
13:12 GMT -5
"You want work, worms?"
We talked about it, and Dick taking the lead would probably look wrong. He's still in the middle of a growth spurt and looks younger than he is. Mitchell can't look spooked convincingly. Not by physical threats. Even if he's not much tougher than Dick and me right now, we've both been in that sort of situation.
I shrug my right shoulder. "We want food and to be somewhere safe, so, yeah?"
The guy we're talking to used to be part of one of the Chinese street gangs. Now he's just standing around outside one of the Mistress-run food halls. Lunch was sandwiches made from long-life bread and cheese slices and most of the people who made it this far look like they were homeless before the Anti-Life.
Guess they were used to keeping going while feeling this way.
"There is nowhere that is safe."
"Why? Do we have to, like, join your weird religion or..? Whatever, first?"
"No. If you did then you would not want to leave and would be entirely inappropriate to send."
He looks at us for a moment longer and I start to get worried that he-.
Shit, I think this was one of the guys I busted before Ollie and Batman recruited me. I don't think he got a good look at me back then, but I-.
"Two things. Then you can go and wait in the truck with the others."
I look sullen, channelling how I used to feel when Dad did something like this.
"You want us to give up our weapons?"
He wrinkles his nose like he's just smelled the dog shit on his shoes. "No. Keep them if you like. Use them and you will certainly be killed so it doesn't matter to me."
"'kay, so, what?"
"This is one way. You will not come back."
"Why would we want to?"
"We were all worms, once. Crawling in the earth, with no comprehension of it. If exposure to the great universal truth only makes you want to run… That is cowardice."
"And sticking around in a crazy, starving city is bravery?"
I don't need to act to get my voice to sound completely dismissive. Though I do make it sound like I'm a bit more scared than I really am.
"Accepting reality takes more courage than retreating to a fantasy." He shakes his head. "But my words will not convince you."
"Fine. So what's the second?"
"You are a product. Whatever there is in you that makes you flee the truth, we don't care, and neither do the people you will work for."
"Slaves."
"Perhaps you will be slaves. Perhaps you will not. But if you still have some hope of being 'free'..." His face screws up like he just tasted the dog shit. "Then go back to hiding in your hovel and waiting for someone to save you."
I make a point of looking at Mitchell and Dick, and they both nod.
"We'll take our chances. Thanks."
"Then go. Outside. The truck is waiting."
Everyone else in the lunch hall is… Huddling in their cliques, only its based on what streets you live on rather than what school clubs you go to. None of them even look at the gang members, and most of them try sitting away from them.
People used to surviving on the streets say 'avoid'. Normal way to relate to gangs, but gangs don't usually run soup kitchens.
The truck's outside. The only thing in the lot. There's a woman in the driver's seat, but she's just staring ahead. We could try asking her some things, but every time we do, we risk standing out. I glance at Dick, but he just nods at the back of the truck. I climb up carefully, then turn around to help Dick up while Mitchell pulls himself up.
Gotta pretend we're not super strong. Or maybe if they didn't care about knives or guns, they wouldn't care about that?
Seven other people in the back. Two look like bums, a family of four and… Some guy in a dirty suit. He's the most alert and… 'Alive', but he pulls himself away slightly when we make eye contact.
So we copy them, forming a huddle as far away from the others as we can, with a 'safe' distance between us and the back of the truck.
And then we wait.
No one else is talking so we can't really talk. I can look out the back, but desolate and abandoned Gotham streets got old a decade ago.
I wonder what Jade's doing?
Not like I think fighting a huge war is better than this, but at least what you're supposed to be doing -what you need to do to win- is clearer. And you don't feel the Anti-Life the whole time. She gets to sneak around for a few days and then go back someplace where the people are living normal lives. Space-lives.
I wonder if Mom would let me take a year out after High School to go space-backpacking? That's something Wally would want to do, right? See a bunch of super-advanced societies? Or maybe space-backpacking isn't really a thing?
Of course, what Paul's doing is something that will fix the problem. And if we're lucky, won't create another problem. Maybe get a bunch of different color power rings together and summon Captain Power Ring?
Heh.
Footsteps-. The Justified guy from inside closes the truck door without looking at us, then I hear his footsteps moving around the side and the passenger side door open. A moment later the engine starts up and there's a slight jolt as the truck accelerates. No seat belts in the back of a truck, but since there's no traffic there isn't a lot of speeding up and slowing down.
I think… Yeah, we're going to the closest warehouse. No real reason why we wouldn't be.
"Hey."
Mitchell leans over, so his mouth is right next to my ear. He'll be able to hear whatever I say with super hearing.
"Yeah?"
"You think we could use this? Send people through ourselves?"
Go through, beat whoever controls the portal generator and then start doing mass evacuations without leaving Earth? Sure, we could do that. Except Mannheim might find out about it and send his super robot through to the other side with a boom tube. The only way it would work is if he couldn't find out about it, and I don't… Think it's-.
Is this why he's coming here? That could be a real problem. If Mistress doesn't know she wouldn't warn them-.
"Mannheim might want the portals. We might have to get them shut down. I don't think we can risk other Earths getting infected."
He tenses slightly.
"I hadn't though-. Yeah, you're right."
I feel the truck pull off the road, and a few seconds later it applies the brake.
Let's find out where we're going.
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_The_Bomb
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Alright, I'll try this again with the other topic that's been on my mind for a while; getting Koriandr a Blue Ring!
1. Has Alan made any progress on learning to craft a Blue Ring?
2. Paul might not be able to coach him (yet), but would Kalmin, Hinon, or one of the other controllers be able to?
3. Did Kalmin make Alan a Blue Ring in addition to the Blue Lantern, or did the Blue Lantern convert his damaged Green Ring into a Blue Ring?
4. If it's the later, could more Blue Rings be generated like this? They wouldn't be able to recharge without going to Alan's lantern, but that wouldn't be a problem for Koriand'r if she stayed on Earth.
Did I do that right, Mister Z?
_The_Bomb
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Should be "fighting"
Cuchulin
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1. I said none in North America.
2. That was effectively pre-firearms.
3. It was during a utterly BRUTAL Winter where people were starving.
4. I'd bet good money that people in France were eating people that Winter.
A better example is the Wolf attacks that happened in 1917 on the Eastern front of WWI where Wolves supposedly attack and ate wounded soldiers in the middle of battle.
But that was another horrible winter (the worst in a century) and the war had driven off or killed the Wolves food. So the conclusion is that (as with almost every other carnivore) humans are only on the menu when there is basically nothing else to eat.
We hate them because we recognize ourselves in them.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
No.
A little bit.
Just the personal lantern.
Yes, but they don't have more green rings and Kalmin doesn't want to.
Yes.
Chojin Patriarch
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Little hard to be afraid of things like a beating when your skin is as tough as steel. Never mind the 'more powerful than a locomotive' or 'leap tall buildings in a single bound' aspects of the Danner-enhancile or young Kryptonian physiques...
Not many places to go down when you're already that low, after all...
I mean, technically true. Any alien invasion could get you killed in DC. Heck, even a sloppy super-hero fight can have bystander casualties...
So Mistress is aware that those who have given in, who are speaking with Black text, are potentially contagious?
To be fair, with your costume back then, I doubt he'd have been paying too much attention to your face, Arty.
At least you've got plenty of practice...
And I have no doubt he cares whether he's stepped in any or not. What's one more insult to his dignity these days?
At least, not without causing some kind of slave revolt. And given what people are fleeing from...
Boy, the Chuunibyou is strong with this one.
Yeah, he is a bit of a dick, isn't he?
Better to fight that reality than accept it and bend your knee... But he's already drank the krazy-juice, no convincing him...
Or indentured workers. Refugees aren't really gonna be given much of a choice, are they?
Pity smacking this guy around wouldn't get them into the warehouse. But I bet it would feel really satisfying.
Well, lucky for them.
Not profitable, after all. And no street cred in being nice.
Heck, it might be a benefit to their buyer.
The hardest part of an infiltration: blending in.
The second hardest part: waiting for important stuff to happen.
Ah, if only. But being the Illustres' partner has its benefits and drawbacks...
...That is a good question. Never really seen any sort of tourism in DC space stories. Then again, there's usually no downtime to be had...
And few enough people that you don't really have to worry about being crushed.
So there are multiple sites. Probably makes it less likely to lose your access if a site is attacked.
Only if you can be sure of getting them back. Remember what the guy said? 'One-Way'.
Oooh, that's a bad possibility.
Yeah, there is that aspect to it too. Unless you plan to keep the refugees isolated from locals. And even then, there's no guarantee that it wouldn't slowly infect the destination's thaumosphere.
And Lady Luck is getting ready to dance all over their plans, I bet...
Well, so far so good. Still not a great plan, but hopefully three super-strong, super-tough teens can get themselves out of any trouble they might get into. Especially if it's Earth -16, where Ultraman is dead, and the rest of the capes on his tier aren't quite as powerful as he is. Still, they've got to get there first...
Vaermina
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Eh, he's not doing to well with that plan.
_The_Bomb
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Yay!
Does it have to be a Guardian-crafted Green Ring (or even Green specifically) or would one crafted by Lord Malvolio work?
EDIT: Ah, did you mean "Koriand'r" instead of "Kalmin" there?
In that case, why exactly is Alan trying to make Blue Rings at all? Koriand'r would be amazing with a Blue Ring but she wouldn't be able to recharge it without staying on (or repeatedly going to) Earth to use Alan's Lantern or having one of her own.
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dw7thdoctor
Getting sticky.
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I was just wondering if it even had to be a green ring could he possibly convert an orange ring? Paul converted green to orange.
Darko
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He'd have been looking at her kegs after she knocked him down.
Darkseid is basically King Emo, so of course thjse exposed to Anti-Life would be like that.
And I can't help but think that the reason he kidnapped Black Orchid was to make plants that turn people emo.
Mr Zoat
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Alan's ring being able to do that was a result of a series of unusual circumstances and his own nature. Any ring that was the same at the start and went through the same process would end up the same. Good luck with that.
Alan isn't trying to make blue rings. He's theoretically capable of learning, but he's an old dog and lacks the SI's expansionist mindset.
Pre-costume. She was wearing jeans and a hoodie.
_The_Bomb
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Mr Zoat
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He was just asking.
PDV
Revelation That Uncertainty Is Itself An Answer
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Duplicated repetitively
Vaermina
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Which under your own rules should only matter if Alan's ring was Orange.
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
SotF
And Away We Go!
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There had been human kills by wolves in North America, just not for a long while. But the NA Wolves tend to only do that when pushed into it via injury, starvation, or disease...the European and Asian varieties, however, are ones that would go after people.
You also had at least one pack that was going after soldiers and corpses in WW1's no mans land that, occasionally, invaded, or attempted to invade, the trenches.
Lantern Conspiracies (part 7)
Mr Zoat
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3rd November 1999
23:56 GMT
I watch from on-high as the armed police continue to patrol the area of the fire fight. The Alliance did a reasonable job of cleaning up after themselves before fleeing in their remaining transport vehicles, but the signs of a fight like that don't just disappear and the police have clearly picked up on them.
The first carbonised tree could have been written off as a freak lightning strike, but there are a lot more black marks on the foliage and soil that could be explained by anything short of an electrical storm that would require a dust cloud of a sort that just doesn't occur in Britain.
The fused lumps of metal look like they could be cars, but once the Scene of Crime officers get here they'll quickly realise that they aren't any sort of car that's actually been sold in any country in the world. And that their owner hasn't paid road tax. If they then reach the conclusion they were some sort of prototype electrical vehicle meant for testing on private land -which would be perfectly legal- they'd still have to explain the odd design choices from the mech-shifting technology that are still visible.
"Sir, we've got blood down here."
I hear the voice from the radio of the Inspector overseeing the operation, originally coming from the Sergeant who led the team into the now-evacuated bunker.
"Forensics will be pleased. Any sign of a body?"
"No body, sir. Some footprints, and… Looks like animal tracks."
"Animal tracks?"
"Too small and wrong shape for footprints."
"What sort of animal?"
"Dunno, sir. Something with hooves."
The Inspector frowns. Ah, he spotted that. A predator might follow the scent of blood, but a hoofed animal -a herbivore prey animal like a deer- wouldn't.
"Anything else down there?"
"Dust has been stirred up. Someone's been down here recently. Gone n-. Wait one."
The Inspector walks over to a carbonised tree and pulls off his right glove to touch it with his bare skin.
"What the fuck did this?"
"Looks like someone added a rear exit. I've got more footprints and animal tracks."
"No people?"
"Still completing the sweep, but it doesn't look like it."
"Finish your sweep, then pull out. Leave as much for the Scene of Crime officers as you can."
"Yessir."
The Inspector nods to himself, and then walks over to have a look at one of the piles of wreckage.
"Some sort of… Armoured car..?"
"Inspector!"
The Inspector looks around as another police officer hurries over.
"What?"
"It's the Chief Inspector, sir. He wants to know where we are."
"What does he mean, where we are? He's the one-. Give me the phone."
The communications officer hands the puzzled Inspector the phone handset, and he brings it to his ear. "Sir, I received deployment orders that appeared to be from you. Are you telling me-?"
He stops talking, his face growing increasingly grim.
"S-hit."
He takes another look at the wreckage as his superior continues to talk.
"That may well be, sir, but it looks like a good job they did. I've got two wrecked vehicles, scorch marks that look like someone fired… I don't know, some sort of… High powered taser? Or-. Because the damn trees are burnt like they were hit by lightning. Ah, not sure. Wait one." He turns to his squad radio. "Sergeant, how much blood would you say there was?"
"If it's from one person, they're dead, sir."
"Thank you, Sergeant." He turns back to his phone. "One probable, body no longer on-site. And I'm waiting on forensics before we open up the wrecks to see if there are any remains inside. Um. Doesn't seem likely, sir, but it doesn't hurt to ask." He leans forward to tap the armour panels on the wreck he was studying. "It feels armoured, but it doesn't look like any armoured vehicle I've ever seen. How long-? Right, well, we'll do a perimeter check while we wait for them to arrive, and then clear off. Yeah, I think that's one for the secret squirrels."
He hands the phone back to the officer who gave it to him, then takes a step back from the wreck.
"Alright, everyone! Form a perimeter, twenty metres out, and wait for Scene of Crime! Don't touch anything if you can help it!"
Armed officers stop patrolling around the bunker entrance and form up into fireteams, moving away in different directions.
I've led the horse to water. Let's hope it drinks.
The Conduit refugees are miles away, camping out in the wilds of Hornchurch. They've got contingency plans for this situation that don't involve me, and I can't keep this armour up while I sleep. Percival could set up a safe house near his cottage, but there isn't really… Most aliens prefer modern conveniences for pretty much the same reasons humans do, and he's pretty off-grid.
The Alliance soldiers have pulled out. I was kind of expecting them to bombard the area with missiles once their people got clear, but apparently they decided that it wasn't worth it. Their stealth technology is pretty good, but with a little effort I can see their transport aircraft flying back across the Atlantic. I don't know if they all left, but I can't see any other aircraft of that class nearby.
So..? Time to go home? Or back to Percival's place at least? Ring, fuel?
Thirty four percent charge remaining.
I don't want to get into a big fight at thirty four percent, but I could survive one if I had to. And I've got enough cash on me to get a ferry back to Ireland if I had to.
Okay, but what about tomorrow? I could follow the Alliance transport plane back to their headquarters and… Express my displeasure. Except that some of the work they do is actually valuable. And I certainly couldn't sub in for them with regard to their global commitments. I could find them doing something dodgy and wreck it to make a point, but would they actually get the point, or would they just prioritise my elimination?
Prioritise killing me. Like I killed their-.
No. He was about a second from murdering some unarmed civilians. I don't-.
But I've got a power ring. There are ways I could disable-. Learn to disable someone without killing them, even if they did have it coming.
But that's for tomorrow. I'll check the prisoners and Alliance equipment one more time-.
What are they doing?
23:56 GMT
I watch from on-high as the armed police continue to patrol the area of the fire fight. The Alliance did a reasonable job of cleaning up after themselves before fleeing in their remaining transport vehicles, but the signs of a fight like that don't just disappear and the police have clearly picked up on them.
The first carbonised tree could have been written off as a freak lightning strike, but there are a lot more black marks on the foliage and soil that could be explained by anything short of an electrical storm that would require a dust cloud of a sort that just doesn't occur in Britain.
The fused lumps of metal look like they could be cars, but once the Scene of Crime officers get here they'll quickly realise that they aren't any sort of car that's actually been sold in any country in the world. And that their owner hasn't paid road tax. If they then reach the conclusion they were some sort of prototype electrical vehicle meant for testing on private land -which would be perfectly legal- they'd still have to explain the odd design choices from the mech-shifting technology that are still visible.
"Sir, we've got blood down here."
I hear the voice from the radio of the Inspector overseeing the operation, originally coming from the Sergeant who led the team into the now-evacuated bunker.
"Forensics will be pleased. Any sign of a body?"
"No body, sir. Some footprints, and… Looks like animal tracks."
"Animal tracks?"
"Too small and wrong shape for footprints."
"What sort of animal?"
"Dunno, sir. Something with hooves."
The Inspector frowns. Ah, he spotted that. A predator might follow the scent of blood, but a hoofed animal -a herbivore prey animal like a deer- wouldn't.
"Anything else down there?"
"Dust has been stirred up. Someone's been down here recently. Gone n-. Wait one."
The Inspector walks over to a carbonised tree and pulls off his right glove to touch it with his bare skin.
"What the fuck did this?"
"Looks like someone added a rear exit. I've got more footprints and animal tracks."
"No people?"
"Still completing the sweep, but it doesn't look like it."
"Finish your sweep, then pull out. Leave as much for the Scene of Crime officers as you can."
"Yessir."
The Inspector nods to himself, and then walks over to have a look at one of the piles of wreckage.
"Some sort of… Armoured car..?"
"Inspector!"
The Inspector looks around as another police officer hurries over.
"What?"
"It's the Chief Inspector, sir. He wants to know where we are."
"What does he mean, where we are? He's the one-. Give me the phone."
The communications officer hands the puzzled Inspector the phone handset, and he brings it to his ear. "Sir, I received deployment orders that appeared to be from you. Are you telling me-?"
He stops talking, his face growing increasingly grim.
"S-hit."
He takes another look at the wreckage as his superior continues to talk.
"That may well be, sir, but it looks like a good job they did. I've got two wrecked vehicles, scorch marks that look like someone fired… I don't know, some sort of… High powered taser? Or-. Because the damn trees are burnt like they were hit by lightning. Ah, not sure. Wait one." He turns to his squad radio. "Sergeant, how much blood would you say there was?"
"If it's from one person, they're dead, sir."
"Thank you, Sergeant." He turns back to his phone. "One probable, body no longer on-site. And I'm waiting on forensics before we open up the wrecks to see if there are any remains inside. Um. Doesn't seem likely, sir, but it doesn't hurt to ask." He leans forward to tap the armour panels on the wreck he was studying. "It feels armoured, but it doesn't look like any armoured vehicle I've ever seen. How long-? Right, well, we'll do a perimeter check while we wait for them to arrive, and then clear off. Yeah, I think that's one for the secret squirrels."
He hands the phone back to the officer who gave it to him, then takes a step back from the wreck.
"Alright, everyone! Form a perimeter, twenty metres out, and wait for Scene of Crime! Don't touch anything if you can help it!"
Armed officers stop patrolling around the bunker entrance and form up into fireteams, moving away in different directions.
I've led the horse to water. Let's hope it drinks.
The Conduit refugees are miles away, camping out in the wilds of Hornchurch. They've got contingency plans for this situation that don't involve me, and I can't keep this armour up while I sleep. Percival could set up a safe house near his cottage, but there isn't really… Most aliens prefer modern conveniences for pretty much the same reasons humans do, and he's pretty off-grid.
The Alliance soldiers have pulled out. I was kind of expecting them to bombard the area with missiles once their people got clear, but apparently they decided that it wasn't worth it. Their stealth technology is pretty good, but with a little effort I can see their transport aircraft flying back across the Atlantic. I don't know if they all left, but I can't see any other aircraft of that class nearby.
So..? Time to go home? Or back to Percival's place at least? Ring, fuel?
Thirty four percent charge remaining.
I don't want to get into a big fight at thirty four percent, but I could survive one if I had to. And I've got enough cash on me to get a ferry back to Ireland if I had to.
Okay, but what about tomorrow? I could follow the Alliance transport plane back to their headquarters and… Express my displeasure. Except that some of the work they do is actually valuable. And I certainly couldn't sub in for them with regard to their global commitments. I could find them doing something dodgy and wreck it to make a point, but would they actually get the point, or would they just prioritise my elimination?
Prioritise killing me. Like I killed their-.
No. He was about a second from murdering some unarmed civilians. I don't-.
But I've got a power ring. There are ways I could disable-. Learn to disable someone without killing them, even if they did have it coming.
But that's for tomorrow. I'll check the prisoners and Alliance equipment one more time-.
What are they doing?
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Darko
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"meant"
Well they are people, just not the usual type.
The tax one is the worst offense.
Hope they don't flash anyone.
moralrelativity
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Seems to need another word on the end. Maybe "in nearby airspace"?
Mr Zoat
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Thank you, corrected.
Chojin Patriarch
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Excellent. Back to the Emerald Knight. And of course the police are just a bit late to the party. Still, this should raise some fascinating questions amongst the government circles. Especially if they notice just how odd some of the things they're looking at are.
I'm guessing targetting discipline isn't something the Alliance troops need to focus on, then. More of a 'hose down everything and ask questions later' style...
Like, you know, the legs. If they can even recognise what Roswaul left intact as legs.
That'll be the unfortunate Darwin award nominee who thought shooting unarmed civvies was smart.
Surprised they didn't try to clean up by hosing down the stains with plasma.
That would be the fauns. And presumably the goblins, too. Which might make their footprints mistaken for a small person or a child...
Hopefully they didn't leave too obvious a trail as they fled.
Lots of little things that don't add up, huh?
Yeah, no chance of this being an arsonist, eh.
...Roswaul's work? Or did the golem handle that?
Not if the Alliance grunts knew their shit. No evidence left behind...
Though unlike an episode of 'CSI' they'll probably never work out what really happened, much less in a neat little 45 minute package...
Half-right.
The joy of being in charge... No time to think for a moment.
Oh, right. They weren't officially dispatched.
Heh. A little tougher to fake that stuff this early into the information age, but it can be done.
You realised someone else set this up, didn't you?
Heh. Yeah, this was no simple prank or teenage stunt. Which would probably be one of the possible causes they might have come up with without the hard evidence.
Which will raise all manner of questions upstairs. This might well end up being handed over to the military...
...Well, more than they might have already.
Let's also hope it doesn't turn out to be a poisoned well...
And he lives out there for a reason. I doubt he'd appreciate neighbours.
Besides, a missile strike in rural England might be a little harder to explain than a couple of odd burns and wrecks.
Just in case you run out of flight charge, eh?
Yeah, no. Unless you can make peaceful contact with someone willing to talk, best not to poke the eight-hundred-pound gorilla.
Again, you were eliminating a threat to unarmed civilians. Don't feel too bad about it. Remember it, try harder to do better, but don't mourn the stupid.
You'll be crying all day.Ah, spotted Team Logan pulling their crazy plan, eh?
So, now there's a police record and physical evidence of Alliance activities in England. At least until someone 'removes' the documentation. But more importantly, it looks like the Emerald Knight is about to get to meet the series protagonists. And hopefully prevent some action movie-worthy levels of property damage. Though I bet something will explode anyway.
Darko
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Honestly, most cop shows really shorten the amount of time actual investigations happen to the point that the crime is solved in a day or two, while misy probably take weeks at the minimum.
The only cop show that I think showed a long time passing was Monk, sincer we sometimes had months pass in-universe before they solved a case.
Why if course it will.
B00ki5h
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Better call Harvey Birdman attorney at law
Duke Long
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'than could be explained'