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

6 883 938.M41

The Dark Eldar wych prisoners smile near-mindlessly at me, eyes glowing orange. It turns out that that once you take out the sadism and hunger, there really isn't all that much left.

"How may we serve, master?"
The Tau getting ahold of Drukhari tech via enthralled Wyches? Granted, I'm sure they'll be repurposing a LOT of it for The Greater Good, but goodness, how will the Imperials react the the Tau wielding dark matter weaponry and incredibly advanced cloning technology?
 
6 882 938.M41

"I do not share your frustration." Fio'Vre Lar'shi Gru'oya makes a gesture to indicate that while she doesn't exactly disagree, she doesn't share my perspective. "I found it quite instructive."

"Yes, but you do agree, right? This doesn't make any sense."
Huh. I guess Tezumak's reaction wasn't that bad, then, if we're cutting away. :p Or this is the equivalent of a 'back from commercial' scene to draw out a cliffhanger. At any rate, it's nice to see 40k Paul again. Our boy P'ol.

"Aliens frequently do things that make little sense to me. As you have observed, by definition, different species think differently. There is more than one correct solution for the equation of sophoncy."

I throw up my right hand in frustration. "So why do you think this ship is a study in different ways of achieving the same outcome?"
Because not all races come to the same technology from the same route either. And something about it is clearly not like the rest of the galaxy?

She thinks it over for a moment. Gru was given this job due to the way she doesn't get flustered by alien technology, which the Lar'shi fio'ar'tol correctly deduced was going to be to most significant consideration to being assigned to studying the ring. I once asked how they determined that, and apparently they used to use a complex battery psychological test… But found that they got almost the exact same results far quicker by showing the students an Imperial servitor and watching how they reacted.
To be fair, I suspect the normal reaction most experienced would be horror that someone could to that to one of their own kind. Especially since the Tau don't have the same hang-ups about Artificial Intelligences (or 'Abominable Intelligences', as the Imperials would put it.)

I was pleased to find out that it wasn't because of her name. On the other hand, as far as I'm concerned any rational person should find a servitor weird.

"The possibility which I think is most likely is that it was intended as a test bed for new technology. Putting them in a functional ship would allow them to be tested under load, and give better information that a laboratory test."
...Is that a 'Despicable Me' reference? Because the main character's name is about all I know of the franchise.

"The idea being that they would select the best and install it on future generations."

"Yes."
But then you get the issue of two different version of the same tech having odd synergies with other systems when combined that might go away when split off. Which would mean running multiple test beds at once. Including a control model.

"Then where are they?"

She considers that for a moment as well. "Warp travel is not something that can be precisely controlled by any known species is this galaxy. While it is usual for ships lost in the warp to coagulate together in a vortex to form a space hulk, it is possible that a ship might find a current which caused it to exit the warp on its own."
Never mind the possibility of a ship coming out in a different frame of temporal reference to its starting point. Consider the tale of an Ork Waaagh that got shunted into their own past, and derailed when the Warboss attacked himself so he could have two copies of his favourite gun. :V

"Where's the damage from warp exposure?"

"They had shielding devices. They were the source of our understanding of the technology."
How convenient.

"No crew, Gru. Something killed them. If it was daemons, then the shields failed. Or weren't perfect. There should be some damage."

"Warp dives have a far lower-."
Ah, now i see the issue. It's too perfect a coincidence. I take it from context that this is the ship the Tau gained their interstellar flight capabilities from. Which they found at just the right time to be able to understand it without having developed their own methods yet.

"We know their fuel capacity, and we've scouted literally every system in range of a warp dive based system. That can't have been how they did it."

She watches me, waiting for me to calm down a little.
When in doubt, assume Tzeentch did it for a laugh.

I bow my head. "Sorry."

She nods slowly. "We know the fuel capacity for the systems we can understand. Your ring had given us full access to some of the databases we could not decipher, but not to all of them. There are still systems we do not understand. You have told us that the ves'ron use drives which nullify inertia in normal space. Perhaps it is something like that, but not effective enough to entirely replace warp technology."
The Necron do use inertialess drives in their ships, at least according to Battlefleet Gothic. And were right pains to fight in-game because of it.

"One of the two would be faster. We know how far that could be for warp diving. Sure, they could have another system, but then why have the warp dive system?"

"The be'gel would make such a system."
Perhaps one was a backup system? A safety drive if the experimental one conked out while they were in deep space?

"The orks would cobble the systems from captured ships together rather than regularise their ship-building. They wouldn't build it like that from scratch."

She regards me calmly. "Then what do you suspect?"
True, orks are musters of kludging tech. It's literally in their Mekboyz' blood.

"Two possibilities. One, despite assurances from the T'au kor'ar'tol, we haven't been given access to everything. They're hiding the bodies, or… Okay, this isn't a fresh wreck or anything, I wasn't expecting it to be pristine, but parts have been removed and not included. Something that would make this make sense." I sigh. "The second is that the they're pulling a Krikket and the ship's a fake."

"It was a real ship. We walked inside it."
Not that kind of fake! :rolleyes: He means it's a dummy, bait, a trap for the young races.

"I don't mean that it's not a real ship. I mean that it wasn't a fortuitous wreck. Someone put it there for the early tau to find. And… Since they didn't know exactly what your species would be good at, they included a little of everything."

"Why would any species do that?"
They wanted you to develop along lines they desired. A system where you would expand slowly enough to have a strong empire before you met Humanity. Like someone wanted you to be able to defend yourselves against the Imperium.

"Necrons messed around with ancient humans to create pariahs. They can't cope with warp energy, so they wanted another species around who could dampen the connection between warp space and real space."

"That claim is based on the existence of pariah units amongst the ves'ron. The Tau Empire has not encountered them for some time. It has been suggested that they were only ever used by a single dynasty."
In reality, they were retconned away because they didn't sell well. Such are the whims of the true Gods of the Warhammer galaxy. :p

"Or there are a lot more dynasties waking up at the moment and they haven't all had enough time to pick up enough pariahs to form units. If they were even aware of the possibility. The point is, that very long term plans that might pay off are something that happens."

"Very well. Let us assume that one of the situations you suggest is correct. How would you determine the difference?"
Aye, that's the rub, isn't it? How to prove it was a seed for your advancement?

"Ah… Test everything that could be a drive in the field. And everything that might generate power. Except for warp phenomena I can scan and replicate just about anything. Then we'd know what the greatest range could be. Then check all worlds within that area for signs of habitation. If anything matches, then we've got an origin point."

"And what would the significance of that be?"
And since P'ol can travel quickly enough, he can reach those places in a reasonable time.

"We might find other examples of their technology. After four thousand years I doubt that anyone there will remember it… If their civilisation is still a going concern. But they might at least give us some way to decode the remaining databases."

"And the only thing that would require your direct involvement would be the creation of the device copies." I nod, and she's been working with me for long enough to understand the gesture. "What else?"
Or they might discover an altruistic but reclusive people who are happy their ploy worked and welcome the Tau with open arms. Won't know for sure until you go looking.

"Hunt down the T'au kor'ar'tol's secure databases, including nudging peoples' minds to persuade them that I need access. And… At this point, probably the T'au aun'ar'tol's databases as well. That would get any records that I don't have access to. I'd need to do that myself, but it would be relatively safe and wouldn't require anyone but me."

"A-ttacking the aun'ar'tol is something of an extreme measure, regardless of other considerations."
...Yeah, no matter how you justify it, I don't think your hosts would appreciate you nosing about in their files.

"I know how tau get about the aun. If I was planning it, I wouldn't have told you about it. But… You weren't there, but the Admiral had a physical reaction to me showing her the image of Krona. If this ship is somehow one of his projects, keeping that from me is an astronomically stupid thing to do."

Her eyes narrow has they unfocus, Gru clearly going through a calming meditative exercise after my not-heresy.
Interesting. That's a very noteworthy detail. Perhaps the ship had a crewmember or two after all...

"Perhaps we should return to a more productive avenue. How would you access the remaining databases?"

"If it even is a database. It scans a lot like some Eldar psychomorphic materials, so I'd… Try getting hold of a psyker. One with skills relating to transferring information. And probably spotting booby traps."
Because of course it would be booby-trapped. Just in case it got found by the wrong people.

"None of the other databases have active defences."

"Warp-based technology needs to have active defences due to the warp. The daemon will worm their way through any undefended hole eventually, even if it's just to attack the minds of nearby sophonts."
And that's no joke. Remember the movie 'Event Horizon'? That is a good example of just that sort of thing.

"Do you have access to such people?"

"There are human astropaths I could call on. None cleared for access to this site. The genestealer hybrids are psykers and.. since they're under my authority I could bring one or two here, except that I am not a moron. Not trying to use Gremlin because even if he can get enough waaaagh energy, it would probably just wreck the database. That leaves-."
Yes, most everyone he has access to is more like a sledgehammer than a lockpick.

6 883 938.M41

The Dark Eldar wych prisoners smile near-mindlessly at me, eyes glowing orange. It turns out that that once you take out the sadism and hunger, there really isn't all that much left.

"How may we serve, master?"
Ah, the S&M Eldar. Not surprising, given that the average Drukhari has only a fragment of a soul at best. And not much of the 'cold' lights in them, at that.

Well, an interesting diversion. And a conundrum to keep P'ol occupied, I see. I wonder what he'll find from this little detective game. As for OL and his own challenges, I expect we'll see him having to very quickly talk Tezumak down from going on a roaring rampage of revenge on the usurpers who enslaved him. At this stage, that would be counterproductive.
 
Except for warp phenomena I can scan and replicate just about anything.
Which basically just leaves you with low level Imperium technology.

Because everything else either utilizes Warp Phenomenon or is Necron tech, which due to your own changes should shut the Orange Light down hard.


The Dark Eldar wych prisoners smile near-mindlessly at me, eyes glowing orange. It turns out that that once you take out the sadism and hunger, there really isn't all that much left.

"How may we serve, master?"
Dark Elder aren't psykers.

So that would be a pretty huge retcon on your part Mr Zoat.
 
As far as we know, inferred from the Admiral's reaction, it's (one of) Krona's ship(s).

It is absolutely a trap of some kind, the only questions are (a) a trap for who and (b) how steering Tau technological benefited Krona.

Oh, well, there's also (c) is Krona watching them right now and laughing.
 
"The possibility which I think is most likely is that it was intended as a test bed for new technology. Putting them in a functional ship would allow them to be tested under load, and give better information that a laboratory test."
'than a laboratory'
"The second is that the they're pulling a Krikket and the ship's a fake."
Second 'the' extraneous.
The daemon will worm their way through any undefended hole eventually, even if it's just to attack the minds of nearby sophonts."
'daemons'?
Not surprising, given that the average Drukhari has only a fragment of a soul at best.
Reminds me of a cool fanfic I read where Slaanesh died and they were able to grow their souls with torment rather than just maintaining them against Slaanesh's predation. Naturally they just got even more evil and powerful.
Dark Elder aren't psykers.

So that would be a pretty huge retcon on your part Mr Zoat.
I'd forgotten that, it's true that they don't normally do psykers. My guess is that maybe they do have at least enough ability to do a low-level thing like reading a database, and they just don't do it because they don't want to get tortured for eternity after losing their souls to Slaanesh, so they'll be forced to give up their souls to read the database? Doesn't seem like a great idea to bring Slaanesh's attention here, though.
Maybe Dark eldar had psykers in early editions and Zoat is using that? I'm not familiar with the old lore.
 
The Tau getting ahold of Drukhari tech via enthralled Wyches? Granted, I'm sure they'll be repurposing a LOT of it for The Greater Good, but goodness, how will the Imperials react the the Tau wielding dark matter weaponry and incredibly advanced cloning technology?
Wyches aren't exactly the technical specialists of the Dark Eldar culture, and tau don't have the psychic presence to use a lot of their stuff anyway.
Huh. I guess Tezumak's reaction wasn't that bad, then, if we're cutting away. :p Or this is the equivalent of a 'back from commercial' scene to draw out a cliffhanger.
It's really more 'whoops I didn't finish the segment I was writing, what have I got in the buffer'.
...Is that a 'Despicable Me' reference? Because the main character's name is about all I know of the franchise.
No. If you reach back to last time she was mentioned, her name literally means 'lantern'. Well, 'lantern light', technically, but 'gru' means 'lantern'.
True, orks are musters of kludging tech. It's literally in their Mekboyz' blood.
In this story and back in the day, yes. In modern 40K they use fairy magic instead.
In reality, they were retconned away because they didn't sell well. Such are the whims of the true Gods of the Warhammer galaxy.
But they'd already featured in a Ciaphas Cain novel, so it was already too late.
'than a laboratory'
Second 'the' extraneous.
'daemons'?
Thank you, corrected.
I'd forgotten that, it's true that they don't normally do psykers. My guess is that maybe they do have at least enough ability to do a low-level thing like reading a database, and they just don't do it because they don't want to get tortured for eternity after losing their souls to Slaanesh, so they'll be forced to give up their souls to read the database? Doesn't seem like a great idea to bring Slaanesh's attention here, though.
It's more that the orange light ate the thing linking them to Slaanesh, so they can use baseline eldar level psionics reasonably safely. Assuming it isn't trapped, reading a database shouldn't strain them.
Maybe Dark eldar had psykers in early editions and Zoat is using that? I'm not familiar with the old lore.
Dark Eldar came into being in 3rd Edition with literally no mention of them before that. I'm still mildly disapointed that there's never been a non-Citadel Journal Codex: Exodites.
 
I don't know what '?bitransitive?' means, but if you can snatch something out of something then I don't see why you couldn't grab it out of something.
That's definitely an invalind argument in general, there are lots of verbs that are synonymous but have different rules about when you can add objects and ablative clauses.


In this story and back in the day, yes. In modern 40K they use fairy magic instead.

No, that's just memes, they still have genetic knowledge. The WAAAGH! field only helps a little
 
I'd forgotten that, it's true that they don't normally do psykers. My guess is that maybe they do have at least enough ability to do a low-level thing like reading a database, and they just don't do it because they don't want to get tortured for eternity after losing their souls to Slaanesh, so they'll be forced to give up their souls to read the database? Doesn't seem like a great idea to bring Slaanesh's attention here, though.
Maybe Dark eldar had psykers in early editions and Zoat is using that? I'm not familiar with the old lore.
No, it's not that they don't do Psykers, it's that they straight up can't.

They functionally engineered the trait out of their race after the whole Slaanesh thing. And straight up kill any member who shows even the hit of potential and tries.


It's more that the orange light ate the thing linking them to Slaanesh, so they can use baseline eldar level psionics reasonably safely. Assuming it isn't trapped, reading a database shouldn't strain them.
That's some major retconning to make your SI special there.

Because Slaanesh would have sent everything he/she had at the Tau at the slightest hint they had something that could actually do that.
 
The Orange Lanterns always end up with Dark Elf/Elves as slaves, clearly they have a type.

Still not entirely sure what's going on here, though.
Well, no reason to hide your author appeal on a relatively niche fanfic in a distant corner of the internet. Even though I've bought two OL t-shirts because of it.
 
They functionally engineered the trait out of their race after the whole Slaanesh thing. And straight up kill any member who shows even the hit of potential and tries.

"The Wyches flow through the elegant steps of battle, expressions of disdain twisting into savage smiles as they psychically feed upon each fresh scream of agony and pain."
-wiki

Unless it was retcon'd and the wiki hasn't caught up, this statement makes no sense if they have removed their base racial psychic capacity.
 
"The Wyches flow through the elegant steps of battle, expressions of disdain twisting into savage smiles as they psychically feed upon each fresh scream of agony and pain."
-wiki

Unless it was retcon'd and the wiki hasn't caught up, this statement makes no sense if they have removed their base racial psychic capacity.
Wrong Wiki, you want Lexicanum if you're looking for accuracy.

However, Dark Eldar psykers are virtually unheard-of. The innate psychic abilities common to the Eldar race have atrophied within the Dark Eldar, partly due to their focus on physical athleticism. Furthermore, to use any psychic powers would draw the attention of Slaanesh, and is one of the few things expressly forbidden within Commorragh.[1a]
 
However, Dark Eldar psykers are virtually unheard-of. The innate psychic abilities common to the Eldar race have atrophied within the Dark Eldar, partly due to their focus on physical athleticism. Furthermore, to use any psychic powers would draw the attention of Slaanesh, and is one of the few things expressly forbidden within Commorragh.[1a]
That contradicts your earlier statement. That description does not say it was engineered out -- that description says that it was neglected in favor of other things. And we've already CLEARLY established across the lore that "psyker" means someone with noteworthy psychic ability, not someone with any psychic ability at all.

So it is entirely consistent that the Dark Eldar have below-Eldar-average but above-Tau levels of psychic ability.
 
That contradicts your earlier statement. That description does not say it was engineered out -- that description says that it was neglected in favor of other things. And we've already CLEARLY established across the lore that "psyker" means someone with noteworthy psychic ability, not someone with any psychic ability at all.

So it is entirely consistent that the Dark Eldar have below-Eldar-average but above-Tau levels of psychic ability.
"virtually unheard-of" is pretty clear...

Like, if I remember my lore right there have been more Tau psykers then there have been Dark Elder. Which should tell you something about how rare Dark Elder psykers are.
 
Break Time (part 25)
17th February 2013
18:52 GMT


HologramprojectorshowimageofAdom'swedding.

Tezumak raises his right fist and then stops. His helmet hides where he's looking but I'm really hoping that it's the hologram. It shows Adom, Adrianna, Rama Khan, Frederick Cantrell, Sharon Parker, Amon and me posing in our costumes. Guess I'm taking the place of… Whaler?

"I'm sorry that he couldn't come himself-"

He lowers his arm and turns his head towards me. Right, he can't talk.

"-but I'm sure that he'd wish you well. My ring can translate any sort of communication, so if you project intent towards me I should be able to understand you despite your mouth plate."

"My friends are dead. The Mighty One was murdered. Rama Khan would have returned to the wheel by now."

"He did some sort of spell that cut Jarhanpur off from the world. It only nominated him an heir recently. Khufu and Chay-Ara reincarnated and Adrianna's the new Isis."

"You freed my mind. I will accept this for now. I have work to do."

"True. Can we work together? For now?"

"My strength is nothing to the strength of the gods. Is yours?"

"I'm hoping that we can finesse a solution. If we move the hearts from the armour to the priests..?"

"That will restore their minds, but Tlazolteotl knows them."

"And I don't suppose that you can take control of the armour suits, can you?"

"I can convert them to our use. But not quickly, and they will need people inside them."

"Okay, that's all of them." Kon walks back over to use, giving Tezumak a mildly concerned look before returning his full attention to me. "I guess we need the hearts?"

"I'm afraid so. M'gann! How are the prisoners?"

She's hugging a boy with hair made of fire. He's bleeding from several places, and.. some of his blood is catching fire? Doesn't seem to be hurting him.

"They're pretty beat up, but they'll live. Is anyone coming?"

Quick scan…

"No. Hopefully, Tlazolteotl and Mannheim are focusing on each… Other."

Mannheim, who heard when I used the Anti-Life and specifically called for me.

"I've… Got an idea. Tezumak, can you make it so that your armour looks like the automata armour to magic?"

"No."

Darn.

"Can you implant the hearts without me?"

"These are the souls of the dead. Making them whole requires a simple ritual. Bring the hearts here."

I nod at Kon and he nods back, heading over to the closest suit to rip it open. I drop off my regular hearts and pick up the second Anti-Life heart.

Kon glances up as he rips off a metal plate. "I could just burn those."

"I've… Got a plan. It's not a good plan-."

"You're gunna.. use them to get close to Mannheim."

"I'm going to pretend to be Anti-Lifed to try and get a better idea of what the point of any of this is." I look up at Tezumak. "Unless you can fill us in?"

"Blood and hearts from strongly magical creatures makes for stronger armour."

I take another look at the prisoners. M'gann's broken most of the chains off the frames binding them and is helping them down. Their wounds… She's taking whatever cloth she can find for bandages-.

I begin fabricating actual bandages in a pile next to her. She glances up and flashes me a quick smile before returning to work. The young fomorian that she and Robert were looking for is sitting off to the side… He's not in a good condition, but he's not getting worse and will probably be able to recover once we return him to his family. The others… Not sure what all of them are, but none of them look like an elf.

"The heart you gave me is not human."

"Oh. Is that a problem?"

"I don't know. It is not something that I have tested. I do not even know what it is from."

"I'm afraid that we're just going to be doing good-enough fixes until the situation is dealt with. Is there anyone here called Nuala!? Your brother sent us!"



No, it doesn't look like it.

"Is there any clever way out?"

"Walk the path of rebirth."

"For the living."

"The gods can send someone back to the realm of the living."

"Good. We freed Tlaltecuhtli earlier, so she can handle that."

M'gann floats a struggling heartless priest over to Tezumak, who motions for Kon to bring him a heart. He awkwardly does so, blood pumping over his hands and Tezumak takes it and presses it into the priest's chest.

"Stay here and hold this location until you can retreat to Itztépetl. I'll flee for the portal once I've done reconnaissance and found Cornwall Boy and we can meet up back on Earth."

I feel something as Tezumak holds his hands over the wound, and the priest stops fighting. Or at least stops fighting so coherently. It doesn't look like the process is particularly pleasant.

"I will accompany you."

"You've got work to do here."

Kon brings him another heart for the next priest, and Tezumak lays the first spasming priest aside as he performs his office again.

"If our gods are dead, if our way of life is finally to end, I would prefer to see it with my own eyes and then face oblivion rather than be reborn."

"Adom will be disappointed to learn that you have become a coward."

"This new world has nothing of my people in it."

"Or his, and he lives in it. It's quite a lot different to the one I was born in, actually."

Kon shakes his head. "You need backup. If we're evacuating with-" He glances at the exsanguination victims. "-these people, we're going to be busy."

I nod. He's right, but… "Alright, Tezumak. Try and work quickly."
 
Last edited:
17th February 2013
18:52 GMT


HologramprojectorshowimageofAdom'swedding.

Tezumak raises his right fist and then stops. His helmet hides where he's looking but I'm really hoping that it's the hologram. It shows Adom, Adrianna, Rama Khan, Frederick Cantrell, Sharon Parker, Amon and me posing in our costumes. Guess I'm taking the place of… Whaler?
Hmm... Energy Constructs... In a region that I think had a Maltusian ship crashed somewhere nearish. I wonder if Tezumak would find a Green Lantern's power familiar. At any rate, let's hope this image stops his from lashing out.

"I'm sorry that he couldn't come himself-"

He lowers his arm and turns his head towards me. Right, he can't talk.
Well, there are ways around that. A telepathic vocaliser or something, perhaps. Or.. .Tezumak's vocal cords should be fine. Perhaps a sensor pickup similar to a tracheotomy voicebox?

"-but I'm sure that he'd wish you well. My ring can translate any sort of communication, so if you project intent towards me I should be able to understand you despite your mouth plate."

"My friends are dead. The Mighty One was murdered. Rama Khan would have returned to the wheel by now."
Ah, there we go. This would be all kinds of awkward if he couldn't communicate freely, after all.

"He did some sort of spell that cut Jarhanpur off from the world. It only nominated him an heir recently. Khufu and Chay-Ara reincarnated and Adrianna's the new Isis."

"You freed my mind. I will accept this for now. I have work to do."
Work like planting your golden foot up the arse of those responsible? I think OL can get behind that.

"True. Can we work together? For now?"

"My strength is nothing to the strength of the gods. Is yours?"
Well, that depends on the deity.

"I'm hoping that we can finesse a solution. If we move the hearts from the armour to the priests..?"

"That will restore their minds, but Tlazolteotl knows them."
Which probably means she could easily overpower their wills again.

"And I don't suppose that you can take control of the armour suits, can you?"

"I can convert them to our use. But not quickly, and they will need people inside them."
I wonder... There's hostages here who might like to exact some small revenge for themselves...

"Okay, that's all of them." Kon walks back over to use, giving Tezumak a mildly concerned look before returning his full attention to me. "I guess we need the hearts?"

"I'm afraid so. M'gann! How are the prisoners?"
She's probably the best choice to check on them, yes. Very approachable.

She's hugging a boy with hair made of fire. He's bleeding from several places, and.. some of his blood is catching fire? Doesn't seem to be hurting him.

"They're pretty beat up, but they'll live. Is anyone coming?"
Impressively brave, M'gann! I can't imagine she's comfortable with the flames, but helping a traumatised young boy is probably more important to her.

Quick scan…

"No. Hopefully, Tlazolteotl and Mannheim are focusing on each… Other."
We can but hope. Except that we know she'll lose, and he'll just grow stronger for it...

Mannheim, who heard when I used the Anti-Life and specifically called for me.

"I've… Got an idea. Tezumak, can you make it so that your armour looks like the automata armour to magic?"
OL, do we have to have the Constantine Plan talk again?

So no walking folks out inside the armour.

"Can you implant the hearts without me?"

"These are the souls of the dead. Making them whole requires a simple ritual. Bring the hearts here."
Well, at least they can get the priests mostly on their side. Wouldn't trust them in a fight, but they might be able to bluff their way to safety.

I nod at Kon and he nods back, heading over to the closest suit to rip it open. I drop off my regular hearts and pick up the second Anti-Life heart.

Kon glances up as he rips off a metal plate. "I could just burn those."
Which would leave whoever it belongs to in a pinch when this is done.

"I've… Got a plan. It's not a good plan-."

"You're gunna.. use them to get close to Mannheim."
You're right, it's not a good plan. This is extremely foolish, OL.

"I'm going to pretend to be Anti-Lifed to try and get a better idea of what the point of any of this is." I look up at Tezumak. "Unless you can fill us in?"

"Blood and hearts from strongly magical creatures makes for stronger armour."
Which is probably more than they told him, since why explain things to a thrall?

I take another look at the prisoners. M'gann's broken most of the chains off the frames binding them and is helping them down. Their wounds… She's taking whatever cloth she can find for bandages-.

I begin fabricating actual bandages in a pile next to her. She glances up and flashes me a quick smile before returning to work. The young fomorian that she and Robert were looking for is sitting off to the side… He's not in a good condition, but he's not getting worse and will probably be able to recover once we return him to his family. The others… Not sure what all of them are, but none of them look like an elf.
A rather motley collection of sprites, imps and spirits, then.

"The heart you gave me is not human."

"Oh. Is that a problem?"
It won't start making you change shape or something, will it? Like the jaguar/eagle guy?

"I don't know. It is not something that I have tested. I do not even know what it is from."

"I'm afraid that we're just going to be doing good-enough fixes until the situation is dealt with. Is there anyone here called Nuala!? Your brother sent us!"
No harm in asking, certainly. Somehow, though...



No, it doesn't look like it.
...I don't think you'd be that lucky. If Sod's law is any guide, she'll be right under Tlazolteotl's gaze.

"Is there any clever way out?"

"Walk the path of rebirth."
...Not helpful, T.

"For the living."

"The gods can send someone back to the realm of the living."
Fortunate. Let's hope that the process isn't too painful, though.

"Good. We freed Tlaltecuhtli earlier, so she can handle that."

M'gann floats a struggling heartless priest over to Tezumak, who motions for Kon to bring him a heart. He awkwardly does so, blood pumping over his hands and Tezumak takes it and presses it into the priest's chest.
Eesh. The kids are going to need so much therapy after this.

"Stay here and hold this location until you can retreat to Itztépetl. I'll flee for the portal once I've done reconnaissance and found Cornwall Boy and we can meet up back on Earth."

I feel something as Tezmuak holds his hands over the wound, and the priest stops fighting. Or at least stops fighting so coherently. It doesn't look like the process is particularly pleasant.
Well, the bits have got to sort themselves out, lacking any surgical precision like yours.

"I will accompany you."

"You've got work to do here."
To be fair, it probably won't take him long, if you stop arguing with him.

Kon brings him another heart for the next priest, and Tezumak lays the first spasming priest aside as he performs his office again.

"If our gods are dead, if our way of life is finally to end, I would prefer to see it with my own eyes and then face oblivion rather than be reborn."
Kind of fatalistic, aren't you? Then again, given their religion...

"Adom will be disappointed to learn that you have become a coward."

"This new world has nothing of my people in it."
Some would say that's a good thing, given, you know...

"Or his, and he lives in it. It's quite a lot different the one I was born in, actually."

Kon shakes his head. "You need backup. If we're evacuating with-" He glances at the exsanguination victims. "-these people, we're going to be busy."

I nod. He's right, but… "Alright, Tezumak. Try and work quickly."
All right. If nothing else, having a local expert might make things quicker.

Honestly, this Tezumak is kind of an entertaining guy. From what we've seen of him thus far. It'd be fun to see him stick around, learn about the modern world, and probably be annoyed by cultural appropriation of his gods' images. And Adom could use another old buddy hanging out with him. Though I get the feeling Tezumak will more likely sacrifice himself to free his gods from Mannheim...
 
I think it would be funny if this Tezumak guy sticks around and tries to sell his religion to a modern audience.

Like imagine all of the religious denominations with stalls lined up with curious people reading the offered brochures.

"Ok so what does having my heart painfully cut from my chest actually get me?"

Tezumak swallows his pride as he adjusts for modern standards. "Your soul will be crushed between the Sun God's mighty thighs and your sins cleansed in the holy fires of her womb."

The prospective customer looks at the imagery of a sexy Aztec dommy mommy sun goddess. "SOLD!"
 
Break Time (part 26)
17th February 2013
18:59 GMT


There's a… Pull, when I hold the heart in a particular direction.

Ugh.

"Why do you do that?"

We're heading towards the biggest pyramid, collapsed power armour all around us. They don't seem to be recovering. Which is… Good?

"It's what I want. I am the me-shaped place in the universe. I have determined to make changes to the way the universe operates and the Anti-Life winning makes them impossible to achieve. You?"

"No. Why do you use that corrupt thing?"

"Because as far as I can tell that's the best way to achieve the result I want. Refusing to use it would be cowardly squeamishness. My comfort is not as important as getting the right result."

"I see why the Mighty One likes you. That is his attitude." He looks at a large suit of power armour slumped against the wall of the great pyramid. "This perversion of the divine disgusts me."

"I met Qualpopoca earlier. He told me that he didn't get reincarnated because he couldn't stand the idea of being reborn into Spanish Mexico. But you've had far longer, and you're still you."

"It takes more than the failures of one man to bring down a civilisation. If he had endured rebirth he could have learned to respect himself."

"So..?"

"My people were from long before the Mexica, the people you call Aztecs. Our traditions were different. I found existence in this form preferable to returning to life as a man, and I dwelt in a place of honour. In sight of the… Gods."

We approach the main entrance, and the two slumped titans that had been standing guard outside it. The door is open wide enough for a normal sized person to walk through. Tezumak takes the left side and I take the right. We push, and the door opens wide enough easily.

No one comes to greet us.

"Have you been in here before?"

"Yes. Many times." He reaches out to one of the supporting pillars with his right hand and runs his hand down it before withdrawing it and examining… "There should not be blood here."

"Blood seems to be your culture's thing."

"Blood, hearts, sacrifice. These things bind the gods to the world, strengthening them and us. There is no reason for it to be on the walls."

Things are going as he directs them.

BaBUM.

"This way. And there is, or it wouldn't be there. What is it?"

We start down the larger corridor, blackened heart beating in my raised left hand.

"Blood is a conduit for magic. Tlazolteotl could be casting some spell that required this pyramid to be bound to the living world."

"Like..?"

"If I knew her mind, then she would not have captured and enslaved me."

Fair-. Enough…

"The wall is lined with beating hearts."

Tezumak stops walking, gently reaching out with his right hand to touch one with his fingertips.

"I don't know this spell. It feels a little like the one which animated my armour, but…Not. This many hearts, this much vitality…"

"Is this pyramid a giant suit of armour?"

"That is ridiculous. A suit that big would serve no useful purpose." He withdraws his hand and starts walking again.

I keep pace with him. "The gods of Greece brought their last point of contact with the Earth here. A giant suit could enable a goddess to storm it."

"And do what?"

"Add their hearts to her collection, empowering her further so she can get more and more and eventually become supreme goddess of Earth."

"This may be for channelling power, but she would have no need for a suit."

"Could she move herself to Earth? At full power, rather than an avatar?"

"That is possible-. No. That would require the hearts of many living people. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Perhaps more. Most of these were taken from our dead. They would not serve that purpose."

"The magic creatures and people?"

"Compared to the hearts of gods? Their power is trivial."

BaBUM. BaBUM.

I hesitate slightly as I hear the second beat. Or was.. that an echo?

BaBUM. BaBUM.

And it's getting faster.

To Hell with it. If all the suits are dead then I'm not going to worry about pretending. Construct claws take my Anti-Lifed heart and grab the one that Tezumak is holding and crush them as I accelerate to a jog.

"No more pretending, then."

"I can't see how we win, here. We just need to find out what he's doing and then break contact."

He sticks out his arm, obliterating the hearts attached to the walls as he runs. I use my x-ionised knives to do the same on my side of the corridor as the door to the inner sanctum approaches. Two human guards stand outside, but when they see us they just… Step aside and pull the door open.

Titanic… Bodies lay on biers along each side, each with their chests cut open and… Apokoliptian.. cables and devices implanted into their chests, connecting to machinery attached to the walls above their heads which in turn connect to a device at the end of the room. From their clothing I recognise a handful of Aztec gods, and-.

Tlazolteotl is at the end of the room, facing away from us.

…final absolution.

She-. Jams a spike connected to three Apokoliptian cables into her own chest and then collapses, her position mirrored by a giant heart in some sort of cage. Near the top of the Apokoliptian machine there are smaller figures strapped to sacrificial slabs, and from the blood covering their chests I think most of them are dead already.

Mannheim walks over to the last, a slightly built girl-. Nuala, with a small obsidian knife in his hand.

"And you, for your connection between realms. But do not fear, for you will not miss my ascension. These machines and this place will trap your soul as surely as those bonds trap your body, and you will serve me in spirit as you do in flesh."

He places his left hand on her neck, then hesitates, looking towards us.

And once he has eye contact he begins cutting.
 
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"Is this pyramid a giant suit of armour?"

"That is ridiculous. A suit that big would serve no useful purpose

Well it would if the god in question is themselves a giant.

"This may be for channelling power, but she would have no need for a suit

Unless she wants some physical protection.

"The magic creatures and people?"

"Compared to the hearts of gods? Their power is trivial

But it's probably bigger than a mortals.


"he's doing"
 
17th February 2013
18:59 GMT


There's a… Pull, when I hold the heart in a particular direction.

Ugh.

Using it a bit like a dowsing rod, eh>? Better than sticking it into yourself, at least. Though I have the feeling that would basically represent OL accepting defeat and the Anti-Life. At which point the story would be over. And we know it won't end here.

"Why do you do that?"

We're heading towards the biggest pyramid, collapsed power armour all around us. They don't seem to be recovering. Which is… Good?
Worrisome is what it is. That suggests Mannheim has been draining everything in his path.

"It's what I want. I am the me-shaped place in the universe. I have determined to make changes to the way the universe operates and the Anti-Life winning makes them impossible to achieve. You?"

"No. Why do you use that corrupt thing?"
Ah, answering the wrong question, eh, OL? Or at least, the one you assume he was asking.

"Because as far as I can tell that's the best way to achieve the result I want. Refusing to use it would be cowardly squeamishness. My comfort is not as important as getting the right result."

"I see why the Mighty One likes you. That is his attitude." He looks at a large suit of power armour slumped against the wall of the great pyramid. "This perversion of the divine disgusts me."
Gratifying to know you like OL. This little buddy-0cop sequence would be much more awkward otherwise. :p

"I met Qualpopoca earlier. He told me that he didn't get reincarnated because he couldn't stand the idea of being reborn into Spanish Mexico. But you've had far longer, and you're still you."

"It takes more than the failures of one man to bring down a civilisation. If he had endured rebirth he could have learned to respect himself."
Not quickly, I suspect. So he would have been worn quite thin by the trials.

"So..?"

"My people were from long before the Mexica, the people you call Aztecs. Our traditions were different. I found existence in this form preferable to returning to life as a man, and I dwelt in a place of honour. In sight of the… Gods."
The joy of his origins being so... Ambiguous in the comics. You can say just about anything about his people, because they would predate anything modern by centuries. And we all know how... Loose the modern world's grasp of such ancient times is...

We approach the main entrance, and the two slumped titans that had been standing guard outside it. The door is open wide enough for a normal sized person to walk through. Tezumak takes and left side and I take the right. We push, and the door opens wide enough easily.

No one comes to greet us.
Given the other option would be a greeting at gunpoint, this is probably better.

"Have you been in here before?"

"Yes. Many times." He reaches out to one of the supporting pillars with his right hand and runs his hand down it before withdrawing it and examining… "There should not be blood here."
Flowing this openly, or at all?

"Blood seems to be your culture's thing."

"Blood, hearts, sacrifice. These things bind the gods to the world, strengthening them and us. There is no reason for it to be on the walls."
Okay. So this is something much more recent. The sin-eating lady's work, then.

Things are going as he directs them.

BaBUM.
...Oh, hush, Mannheim. You'll get your turn to monologue soon enough.

"This way. And there is, or it wouldn't be there. What is it?"

We start down the larger corridor, blackened heart beating in my raised left hand.
Let's hope Tezumak can work that out before you get to the boss...

"Blood is a conduit for magic. Tlazolteotl could be casting some spell that required this pyramid to be bound to the living world."

"Like..?"
Could be trouble, if she's planning to cross over.

"If I knew her mind, then she would not have captured and enslaved me."

Fair-. Enough…
He's got a point. None of the local Gods saw this coming, I bet. Which makes me wonder about the circumstances of the lady's membership of their pantheon. Wouldn't be the first time a minor god has been integrated into another culture's deities, though she might have had the shittiest position. (What do I mean? Look up the theories about the migratory history of Ishtar and Aphrodite.)

"The wall is lined with beating hearts."

Tezumak stops walking, gently reaching out with his right hand to touch one with his fingertips.
...What's the bet Robert 'Cornwall Boy' Marrack is lurking in the building somewhere?

"I don't know this spell. It feels a little like the one which animated my armour, but…Not. This many hearts, this much vitality…"

"Is this pyramid a giant suit of armour?"
I mean, it's not without precedent in fiction, giant transforming buildings...

"That is ridiculous. A suit that big would serve no useful purpose." He withdraws his hand and starts walking again.

I keep pace with him. "The gods of Greece brought their last point of contact with the Earth here. A giant suit could enable a goddess to storm it."
...And, the local deities do seem to be quite large folks. If yon earth goddess was anything to go by.

"And do what?"

"Add their hearts to her collection, empowering her further so she can get more and more and eventually become supreme goddess of Earth."
Which Mannheim probably might object to, given that he's intending to take the same position.

"This may be for channelling power, but she would have no need for a suit."

"Could she move herself to Earth? At full power, rather than an avatar?"
Which is no doubt a much more difficult task.

"That is possible-. No. That would require the hearts of many living people. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Perhaps more. Most of these were taking from our dead. They would not serve that purpose."

"The magic creatures and people?"
At least there's a likely source of leverage upon her. If she's working with Mannheim, he may have offered her the lives she needed. If not...

"Compared to the hearts of gods? Their power is trivial."

BaBUM. BaBUM.
Huh. Someone's getting excited.

I hesitate slightly as I hear the second beat. Or was.. that an echo?

BaBUM. BaBUM.
...Ah. That's probably not good, then.

And it's getting faster.

To Hell with it. If all the suits are dead then I'm not going to worry about pretending. Construct claws take my Anti-Lifed heart and grab the one that Tezumak is holding and crush them as I accelerate to a jog.
Smart move. Those could have been used as an attack vector. Though you might have to make new hearts for whoever those belonged to if they're still kicking.

"No more pretending, then."

"I can't see how we win, here. We just need to find out what he's going and then break contact."
If you can. I suspect Mannheim will have a different goal in mind.

He sticks out his arm, obliterating the hearts attached to the walls as he runs. I use my x-ionised knives to do the same on my side of the corridor as the door to the inner sanctum approaches. Two human guards stand outside, but when they see us they just… Step aside and pull the door open.

Titanic… Bodies lay on biers along each side, each with their chests cut open and… Apokoliptian.. cables and devices implanted into their chests, connecting to machinery attached to the walls above their head which in turn connect to a device at the end of the room. From their clothing I recognise a handful of Aztec gods, and-.
That'll be the other local gods, then. And definite proof that Tlazolteotl is working with Mannheim.

Tlazolteotl is at the end of the room, facing away from us.

…final absolution.
Not quite the reaction I'd expect. Either she's high as a kite, or she's about to...

She-. Jams a spike connected to three Apokoliptian cables into her own chest and then collapses, her position mirrored by a giant heart in some sort of cage. Near the top of the Apokoliptian machine there are smaller figures strapped to sacrificial slabs, and from the blood covering their chests I think most of them are dead already.

Mannheim walks over to the last, a slightly built girl-. Nuala, with a small obsidian knife in his hand.
...Well, shit. Just in time to see Manheim get his win.

"And you, for your connection between realms. But do not fear, for you will not miss my ascension. These machines and this place will trap your soul as surely as those bonds trap your body, and you will serve me in spirit as you do in flesh."

He places his left hand on her neck, then hesitates, looking towards us.

And once he has eye contact he begins cutting.
On the up side, that kind of wound's not necessarily fatal around here.

Well, they found Mannheim. And Tlazolteotl . And Nuala! Just a moment too late, though. From the sound of it, he's set all this up as some sort of... Amplifier? For the Anti-Life and his own power. Probably related to the geomantic energies used by the transmitter towers. But targetted at the spiritual realms of the Earth rather than the material... Smothering the competition, as it were.

Tezumak takes and left side and I take the right.
Tezumak takes the left side and I take the right.
 

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