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

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 22, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
16th April 2013
02:58 GMT -5

"This is not the entrance to the Great-Mother."

"Sure."

And what gives the game away is that it's clearly not part of the larger creature. Or exactly part of the stuff… Grafted? Onto the larger creature. Oh, some attempt has been made to match colouration and materials but it's far too close to being a normal Dominion hangar door for me to mistake it for a part of… This. Hiding it this close to the Mother Star's mouth was a clever move, because that's something that anyone who's had anything to do with Star Conquerors will instinctively avoid.

Sensible. And it's clear that it is exactly where OL wants to go, given the drone's reaction. And we have pretty clear confirmation that the Dominators are involved with this, given the technology. Time to welcome the visitors.

I watch as more of the glass ball creatures swim out from the modified Star Conqueror ducts. I'm not sure exactly what they're doing. Something to do with encouraging the growth of the new flesh?

"They should not be being released."

Perhaps they've been sent out as a response to the sighting of OL and Bleez? A few more patrolling sentries to find the disappeared intruders.

"Oh?"

"They are wrong, altered. They should be dismantled, their errors studied and avoided in future."

I shudder to imagine the actual anti-bodies of the Great Mother... Probably something akin to the Sentinel units from the Matrix: Flying armoured squid-forms with energy weaponry...

Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be a review process for whatever 'safe' signal we're sending out. Which hopefully means that this is a small operation by a small number of dominators.

"Look… What do you want for your mother?"

And for all you know, only a few of the staff are trained to monitor the drones. It seems like something that would be mid-tier at least.

"I do not want for Great-Mother. She wanted for us. Then the aliens came. Now she wants for them."

"Okay, you seem like a dutiful son. What sort of life does Great Mother want for herself?"

Seems reasonable to assume that if she gets free, things might get a little hectic for a little while she exacts vengeance.

"I do not know. I know that my function was to absorb and convey data, and that that is what she wants from me and for me."

"Is there something that she wants from and for other members of your family?"

Since it's intelligent enough to maybe draw conclusions from the data it collects. Not that it would mention them, that's not it's job.

"She wants to find someone to sire a daughter. Our sister would then leave and fly into The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

"Is that more or less likely to happen with the aliens in command of her?"

In the end that's what happened to Swamp Thing on his space odyssey. And it wasn't voluntary, either.

"…" He wiggles a little. "Less… Likely..?"

"You don't sound very confident in that answer."

Come on, OL. It's a sensor and repair drone, not a thinker. Who knows what having to deal with your questioning will do to it's sophoncy...

"I am not made for this."

"But you can learn new skills, right?"

"I… Can learn."

Surprising. In most cases, the drones wouldn't be so complex. I guess the Great Mother prefers her offspring to have some measure of independence so that she doesn't have to micromanage.

"And if it helped your Great Mother go back to doing the things she wanted to do before the aliens altered her..?"

The glass ball trembles for a moment.

Geez, OL... You're practically forcing the thing to grow new cognitive pathways at this rate.

"Is that something that you-?"

"It must be."

...I think it just graduated from Dronehood into something higher up the ranks...

"Okay, good. So are you-?"

He space-swims towards the hangar door, lights inside him flickering.

And now he's on a mission. He wants this situation fixed in the Great Mother's favour, and if helping the meat-things will ensure that...

"Hey, is it just me, or-" I turn towards Bleez's ship. "-is he… Kinda like..?"

"A space sperm, yes. I don't know whether he actually is or not, but there are only so many ways to build biological structures."

And a cluster of tentacles that serves as motive impellers is a common design for things that small. Like a set of long, spiralling propellers.

"So… Queen Hyathis didn't build this?"

"No, of course not. I have a good relationship with Queen Hyathis. If she wanted something from he, she'd just ask for it. Or-. Heck, she had to be invited to Thanagar, didn't she."

To be fair, it's a reasonable assumption for her to make. Hyathis' people use plant-based systems. This has a big wad of plant-based tech in it...

"… I mean… Yeah…"

"Even if she wanted to demand something with menaces, well… She did cure the Equality Plague. She could have just kept the equalised thanagarians are serfs. And she's… Busy in Antares right now."

Ah, how much to tell her, eh? Since anything you tell her will end up reaching her handler's ears sooner or later.

"Are you sure?"

"Unlike you, I can just go there. She's… Consolidating."

That's one way to put it.

"Consolidating, like..? She's rebuilding her forces after an attack..?"

"No, 'consolidating' like she just-." Um. "After she won a battle."

Which to Bleez would sound more like she's taking stock of her losses and deciding whether to push her luck further.

I should not be talking to a Thanagarian Empire intelligence asset about how Antares is now firmly under her control and they're next. I don't… I'm not sure exactly what I want out of that situation, but I doubt that…

"Was it a big battle? Because they have a lot of battles in Antares. It's sort of why we didn't want her as our queen."

To be fair... While individual Thanagarians might be nice people, the government as a whole seems a bit troublesome and likely to be looking for fresh targets of expansion...

Oh, I don't know. They know where she is. I'd be astonished if they didn't have at least a rough idea about what she's doing. So… Does telling her just mean that I don't irritate the Thanagarian government? Imply that I'm not backing her?

"It looked like a pretty big battle, but I can't say I'm an expert in the Antares War. By Reach standards it was barely a skirmish."

Heh. Effectively deflecting the matter and talking up the Reach threat at the same time.

"Huh. Yeah, probably just the usual back and forth." The hangar doesn't open, but the… 'Space sperm' swims around to a side entrance and vanishes. "Has he just dumped us?"

"No. I felt his genuine desire. He'll be back. Ah, I've been meaning to ask; now that the Yellow Lantern who was stalking you has been disciplined, are you planning on hanging around? I'm happy to have you of course, but the Earth isn't really at its best right now and no one's really in a concert mood."

And your mother and handlers will be sending out search parties by now.

"I just… Really want to make sure."

"Fair enough. I-" The hangar door shudders for a moment, then opens at the standard rate. "-think we're in."

Time to see just how well their disguises are working.

It's not that I don't think that Sinestro will keep his word. It's that I don't think that his recruitment tactics will result in him getting well-disciplined Lanterns, and one lacking the foresight to realise that his boss wasn't joking could cause Bleez really trouble.

The inside is… Ah, they've gone with the space-airlock design. Practical, and far easier to hide than a synthetic environmental barrier. The interior of the lock looks like it was cut through the Mother Star's body, and I can see where veins and arteries have been cauterised or blocked while the muscle and fat has been left bare. I suppose that it doesn't have to worry about rotting, exactly, though it's interesting that this part isn't being consumed by whatever's replacing the top side.

Ugh. No point wasting effort in making it more aesthetically pleasing, I guess.

"Ew."

Bleez pilots her ship into the opening, and I follow her.

"I will never complain about Thanagarian Empire ship decoration again. Did they just cut a hole in this thing?"

If anything, it's more like an implanted medical device.

"Looks like." The exterior door begins closing behind us, and I note that there's no interior lighting. I can still see fine and I'm sure that Bleez's ship has some sort of augmented vision system, but it's unusual by human standards. "Does your ship have shields?"

"Basic ones. I could just have waited outside."

That would probably have been noted as unusual for the drone's behaviour. Then again, she's significantly larger than OL's shell or the drone they're working with, so maybe no-one's looking at them.

"No, I can't mark two locations as friendly. If it comes to a fight, just keep out of the way or abandon your ship as a distraction. I can fly you back once we're done."

"That's what I was planning."

Then the interior door opens, and I see the dominator ship.

Well, there it is. Hopefully they aren't looking out a window or anything and note the odd drones lurking about.

So, one step closer to sorting this out. Kick some Dominator teeth in, break the controls on the Great Mother and hope she chooses to head back to deep space. Still, that's a later problem. First thing will be persuading the Dominators that Earth is off-limits. Which means getting inside their ship without knocking over the anthill...

If she wanted something from he...

If she wanted something from me...

She could have just kept the equalised thanagarians are serfs.

She could have just kept the equalised thanagarians as serfs.

...could cause Bleez really trouble.

...could cause Bleez real trouble.

NightmareWarden · Jul 22, 2024

To simplify things: So instead of a parasitic fungus controlling the "ant queen" as a puppet, the Dominators made a parasitic plant. And instead of reproducing with this unusual drone-creating creature's flesh as fuel, they are using it on the starfish corpse.

Mr Gumbo Man and Swamp Thing have apparently learned of something remarkable, perhaps a great magical secret, after having their intelligences enhanced by a chair-computer. Personally, I suspect we are going to get a flashback to when Kilowog's stomach algae were ORANGED outside of their normal routine for digestion- some manner in which mutuallistic (or symbiotic) relationships can exist for sapient plants. I don't really get how that could tie into this specific subset of Dominators though. If the species had some captive super-plant slaving away at their computer systems…? No, that wouldn't tie into this specific one seemingly affecting the Green's champions.

Also,

Mr Zoat said:
prevent a consciousnesses like that emerging.

Should be consciousness' or remove the "a" I think?

Darko · Jul 22, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Hiding it this close to the Mother Star's mouth was a clever move, because that's something that anyone who's had anything to do with Star Conquerors will instinctively avoid.

And even if they have never even heard of Star Conquerors, avoiding the mouth of a giant monster is probably instinctual for most species.

Mr Zoat said:
"So… Queen Hyathis didn't build this?"

"No, of course not. I have a good relationship with Queen Hyathis

For now.

In the future she may decide to extend her empire building enterprise to Earth.

Mr Zoat said:
Was it a big battle? Because they have a lot of battles in Antares. It's sort of why we didn't want her as our queen."

Well that's probably one reason, though I'm guessing they mostly just didn't want to be ruled by an alien.

Though yeah, they also probably didn't want to be involved in someone else's wars.

Mr Zoat said:
It's not that I don't think that Sinestro will keep his word. It's that I don't think that his recruitment tactics will result in him getting well-disciplined Lanterns

Yeah, the type of people that are able to cause fear are not usually the type of people you want to give power to.

Darko · Jul 22, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
To be fair... While individual Thanagarians might be nice people, the government as a whole seems a bit troublesome

They're imperialistic fascists.

Chojin Patriarch said:
and likely to be looking for fresh targets of expansion...

Especially now that their supply of Nth metal has increased.

Lord Ernest · Jul 22, 2024

It was frequently hinted (beyond the name, I mean) but it's good to have confirmation that it was indeed the Dominators getting their grubby paws close to Earth.

So how many aliens have gotten close to Earth in their dark times now? Feels like somebody sounded the alarm for Earth Happy Hour. Next it's gonna turn out that Rann has a splinter cell on the planet, some Gordanians are hiding out there as well, the Khundians have a monitoring station nearby and that even the Appellaxians are back or something. In fact, has anybody checked if Maxima is around? I believe she turned up on Grayven's side of the story at some point, after all.

Mr Zoat · Jul 22, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
If she wanted something from me...
She could have just kept the equalised thanagarians as serfs.
...could cause Bleez real trouble.

Thank you, corrected.

Darko said:
They're imperialistic fascists.

Technically correct, in the original Italian sense.

NightmareWarden said:
Also,
Should be consciousness' or remove the "a" I think?

Thank you, corrected.

thebishop8 · Jul 22, 2024

Watching OL trying to avoid telling Bleez what's going on with Hyathis is amusing. He's going to have to figure out what he wants out of that situation because it's going to be awkward if Thanagar finds out his involvement in Hyathis' increase in power.

Darko · Jul 22, 2024

thebishop8 said:
Watching OL trying to avoid telling Bleez what's going on with Hyathis is amusing. He's going to have to figure out what he wants out of that situation because it's going to be awkward if Thanagar finds out his involvement in Hyathis' increase in power.

At least he helped them get an increase in power as well.

Stsword · Jul 22, 2024

NightmareWarden said:
Personally, I suspect we are going to get a flashback to when Kilowog's stomach algae were ORANGED outside of their normal routine for digestion- some manner in which mutuallistic (or symbiotic) relationships can exist for sapient plants.

Which reminds me, just for the record, for anyone who might not know- Gut flora is not composed of plants. At least not on Earth.

Gut flora consists of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and archaea microorganisms.

Flora in "gut flora" is not a reference to plants but that in microbiology flora is used to reference the collective microorganisms that live in a host.

Not that I'm complaining about this bit of comic book science in this story, hey there could be an alt.Paul who took advantage of Amos Fortune's "luck gland" technology. lol

Vaermina · Jul 22, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I should not be talking to a Thanagarian Empire intelligence asset about how Antares is now firmly under her control and they're next. I don't… I'm not sure exactly what I want out of that situation, but I doubt that…

How about, and I'm just spitballing here, not being responsible for an intergalactic war where billions die?

Ardy · Jul 22, 2024

Vaermina said:
How about, and I'm just spitballing here, not being responsible for an intergalactic war where billions die?

Would you prefer quadrillions die when the reach exterminate them? Or are you referring to giving the tech to alistsair, at which point ending the war, even brutally, is saving countless lives who would have been lost in that centuries-long never ending struggle

Vaermina · Jul 22, 2024

Ardy said:
Would you prefer quadrillions die when the reach exterminate them? Or are you referring to giving the tech to alistsair, at which point ending the war, even brutally, is saving countless lives who would have been lost in that centuries-long never ending struggle

No? They were at a generally stable stalemate where no one side could do anything too big because if they did the others would gang up on them.

Now three civilizations are under the thumb of an insane despot after having their planets bombed into the ground who's planning to start an interstellar war with the Thanagarians that will kill billions more.

Ardy · Jul 22, 2024

Vaermina said:
No? They were at a generally stable stalemate where no one side could do anything too big because if they did the others would gang up on them.

Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes upon someone who does not know that a stalemate in war does not mean people aren't killing each other, but rather that neither side can make progress on permanently ending the conflict. Blood for the blood god forever in all its stupidity!

Mr Zoat · Jul 23, 2024

16th April 2013
03:02 GMT -5

It's a uniform sandy brown in colour, the habitation unit at the front a large egg-shape, one shared with the sealed arcologies of their homeworld. It will contain the laboratory, communications centre, quarters and… Hm, it's not a huge vessel, so they probably aren't bothering with internal segregation, which means that the galley is either for everyone or they've automated the ship's mundane functions. The habitation unit is clamped to the long oblong engineering module, which contains the drives, generator and either bunks for the low caste members of crew or charge points for the robots.

In their ideal universe, the high caste would be able to complete their mission without interacting with or even seeing their social inferiors.

Gunnery… Light. Some small energy mounts on the engineering portion of the ship, almost certainly automated and currently retracted into their protective cowling. There might be something in the forward section, but that seems unlikely. A vessel of this size doesn't have the generator capacity for one of the Dominion's 'fun' guns, and it doesn't have the internal volume to retract it. But now I look…

I… Think that's a heavy tractor beam. It can sort of be used as a weapon, but the tractor field won't form around large ships and all it does to small ships is hold them in place. But if they had to bring Great Mother here… Yes, that would make sense. It also gives me some idea of her likely mass; quite a bit bigger than the Dominion ship, and relatively solid. I'm not seeing any stealth technology that might explain how they avoided detection by our sensor arrays, but that should be well within the abilities of the Dominion.

"So… Who are they?"

"It's a Dominion ship. And it looks modern enough that they wouldn't have sold it to another species to use."

Hm. Yes, I'll have to risk it. I turn up my empathic vision-. And wince at the confusing feedback I'm getting from all around me, from the structure of the Mother Star itself.

U-ugh.

But… As far as I can tell, there's no one on board. Can't see through the walls here due to… I don't even know what that is. Some sort of echo of the Mother Star's incomprehensible desires? Something to do with the way its little patch of the Dream is collapsing… If it's even collapsing. I mean, it's not impossible that the Mother Star's soul is being pulled into the Dream due to it having such a big presence there anyway.

"Is it safe?"

"'Safe' is a very relative word." But knowing what those guns do, and the fact that they're currently powered down… "Assuming that you were just up against that ship, you should be able to keep out of its fire arcs or run."

"Ah, I'm a qualified pilot, not a military pilot. I know what an arc of fire is but I've got no idea how to keep out of one in a fight."

"The guns are on the long section at the back. Immediately in front of the ship or immediately behind it are out of its arcs of fire, though if you go too low at the front it can pick you up with its tractor beam."

"No, I mean, physically. I don't have those skills."

"It's amazing what you can learn to do-" I cautiously start flying into the docking bay, monitoring all directions with my rings and armour sensors. "-really quickly when someone's shooting at you."

Bleez activates her ship's thrusters, and… Takes me literally, flying over to just behind the Dominion ship's primary sublight drive. A little close, actually. If her shields and armour aren't good she's going to get kzinti lessoned if they get underway. Not from exhaust, but from the gravity distortion the dominators use to fly around.

Right, where-

The space sperm emerges from a cleft in the wall and swims over to us.

-next?

"The passageway is too small for your male."

I frown for a moment. "My male?"

"The grey featureless male that accompanied you."

"That's not a male. That's a ship. Like…" I point to the Dominion ship. "That."

"There is someone inside?"

"Yes."

"That is very strange. Can they leave?"

"Would staying here be safe?"

"With the Great-Mother altered, I do not think that anywhere is safe, even for me. Her mind is alien-altered."

"Bleez? Up to you, but I have to go on."

"Ugh. Yeah, I-. I'll get out. Can you make me a force field generator or something? This suit wasn't mean for hazardous environment work."

"Certainly. I'd offer to make you armour, but if you're not used to it then it might throw off your movements."

I fly over to her ship as she wriggles out of the void exit. There is actually an atmosphere here, but it's thin and nothing I'd want to try breathing. And… Huh. No, not a kinetic barrier. That would get in the way of her flying, and dominators don't generally usually use kinetic weapons. Instead… Ah, yes, a N.E.M.O. personal force field should work… Ah, strapped to her waist as part of her belt. Enter physical parameters so that it doesn't burn her wings off or something… Good.

She glances down at it, running her fingers over the casing. "What's it good for?"

"You saw the guns on their ship?"

"Y-es..?"

"Most of one hit. Then it will be completely overloaded and need to be replaced. If there are Dominion marines here it will probably take about four shots before failing, and it will come back up after about a minute. Don't get hit if you can avoid it."

"Overloaded-. Sure, but what happens to me?"

"Painful but non-crippling burns to whatever part of the body it hit. Possibly including blindness if it hit your head. But I already know what you look like in perfect health so fixing you afterwards won't be a problem."

"You know, I think one of the things I could learn real fast is how to wear armour?"

I shake my head. "Your best defence is avoiding being hit, and we don't have time for you to train how to use it."

"Not a problem if it was Nth metal. Thanagarians wear that like skin."

"Ah, sorry, but last time I made Nth metal I was having a psychotic episode. I can.. try again once we're finished here, but… It.. wouldn't be a good idea in a situation that calls for good judgement."

"If it's what I've got…" She looks around. "Where next?"

I turn to the ball. "Alright, we need to know where the aliens are, where Great Mother is and where Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man are."

"Who is Swamp Thing?"

"Plant elemental. Usually takes control of a bundle of plants to make a body for himself. Good Gumbo Man is similar, but older and slower."

"Oh. You mean grandfather."

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 23, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
16th April 2013
03:02 GMT -5

It's a uniform sandy brown in colour, the habitation unit at the front a large egg-shape, one shared with the sealed arcologies of their homeworld. It will contain the laboratory, communications centre, quarters and… Hm, it's not a huge vessel, so they probably aren't bothering with internal segregation, which means that the galley is either for everyone or they've automated the ship's mundane functions. The habitation unit is clamped to the long oblong engineering module, which contains the drives, generator and either bunks for the low caste members of crew or charge points for the robots.

Because little or no mixing of castes for the Dominators. I'm guessing they aren't super-heavily armed, and probably expected to go unnoticed the whole time their experiments are running. Pity OL's properly paranoid about these things.

In their ideal universe, the high caste would be able to complete their mission without interacting with or even seeing their social inferiors.

Gunnery… Light. Some small energy mounts on the engineering portion of the ship, almost certainly automated and currently retracted into their protective cowling. There might be something in the forward section, but that seems unlikely. A vessel of this size doesn't have the generator capacity for one of the Dominion's 'fun' guns, and it doesn't have the internal volume to retract it. But now I look…

So, not a significant threat to a motivated Lantern. Pity you're stuck in an escort mission right now.

I… Think that's a heavy tractor beam. It can sort of be used as a weapon, but the tractor field won't form around large ships and all it does to small ships is hold them in place. But if they had to bring Great Mother here… Yes, that would make sense. It also gives me some idea of her likely mass; quite a bit bigger than the Dominion ship, and relatively solid. I'm not seeing any stealth technology that might explain how they avoided detection by our sensor arrays, but that should be well within the abilities of the Dominion.

Probably betting on Humanity being so primitive that they wouldn't be looking. Outside of Lanterns, anyway.

"So… Who are they?"

"It's a Dominion ship. And it looks modern enough that they wouldn't have sold it to another species to use."

Sounds like a good chance to yoink some of their newer tech.

Hm. Yes, I'll have to risk it. I turn up my empathic vision-. And wince at the confusing feedback I'm getting from all around me, from the structure of the Mother Star itself.

U-ugh.

Ooh, that's gotta sting. Like being punched right in the optical cortex.

But… As far as I can tell, there's no one on board. Can't see through the walls here due to… I don't even know what that is. Some sort of echo of the Mother Star's incomprehensible desires? Something to do with the way its little patch of the Dream is collapsing… If it's even collapsing. I mean, it's not impossible that the Mother Star's soul is being pulled into the Dream due to it having such a big presence there anyway.

At which point it becomes Dream's problem, at least. I doubt it'll be that easy, sadly.

"Is it safe?"

"'Safe' is a very relative word." But knowing what those guns do, and the fact that they're currently powered down… "Assuming that you were just up against that ship, you should be able to keep out of its fire arcs or run."

Let me guess, they operate mainly on 'spinal armament' logic? Most of their guns point right out the front, with only basic point defence anywhere else.

"Ah, I'm a qualified pilot, not a military pilot. I know what an arc of fire is but I've got no idea how to keep out of one in a fight."

"The guns are on the long section at the back. Immediately in front of the ship or immediately behind it are out of its arcs of fire, though if you go too low at the front it can pick you up with its tractor beam."

Yup, thought so. Kind of awkward when you have to turn your entire ship to shoot the big guns.

"No, I mean, physically. I don't have those skills."

"It's amazing what you can learn to do-" I cautiously start flying into the docking bay, monitoring all directions with my rings and armour sensors. "-really quickly when someone's shooting at you."

Desperation is a great teacher. Pity the penalties for failing to learn tend to be murderous.

Bleez activates her ship's thrusters, and… Takes me literally, flying over to just behind the Dominion ship's primary sublight drive. A little close, actually. If her shields and armour aren't good she's going to get kzinti lessoned if they get underway. Not from exhaust, but from the gravity distortion the dominators use to fly around.

And even if her ship can tank it, she might not be able to. Unless her inertial dampening tech is really good.

Right, where-

The space sperm emerges from a cleft in the wall and swims over to us.

Ah, he's back. So, lead on, little wiggler.

-next?

"The passageway is too small for your male."

...Wait, he means Bleez?

I frown for a moment. "My male?"

"The grey featureless male that accompanied you."

Heh. I wonder if the males of their species operate on peacock aesthetics...

"That's not a male. That's a ship. Like…" I point to the Dominion ship. "That."

"There is someone inside?"

He says it like it's something unusual... Then again, his species are built to operate in zero-gravity...

"Yes."

"That is very strange. Can they leave?"

Boy, the barely-comprehensible alien consciousnesses...

"Would staying here be safe?"

"With the Great-Mother altered, I do not think that anywhere is safe, even for me. Her mind is alien-altered."

In other words, don't split the party.

"Bleez? Up to you, but I have to go on."

"Ugh. Yeah, I-. I'll get out. Can you make me a force field generator or something? This suit wasn't mean for hazardous environment work."

"Certainly. I'd offer to make you armour, but if you're not used to it then it might throw off your movements."

Better make it a super-strong one. Lady's going to be getting quite the education.

I fly over to her ship as she wriggles out of the void exit. There is actually an atmosphere here, but it's thin and nothing I'd want to try breathing. And… Huh. No, not a kinetic barrier. That would get in the way of her flying, and dominators don't generally usually use kinetic weapons. Instead… Ah, yes, a N.E.M.O. personal force field should work… Ah, strapped to her waist as part of her belt. Enter physical parameters so that it doesn't burn her wings off or something… Good.

That would be an embarrassing oversight. Even if you can patch her up promptly, better to not have to spend that ring charge...

She glances down at it, running her fingers over the casing. "What's it good for?"

"You saw the guns on their ship?"

Not up to them, I would think? so don't get hit.

"Y-es..?"

"Most of one hit. Then it will be completely overloaded and need to be replaced. If there are Dominion marines here it will probably take about four shots before failing, and it will come back up after about a minute. Don't get hit if you can avoid it."

Oh, joy. a Dodging-focused combat mission. At least OL can tank it.

"Overloaded-. Sure, but what happens to me?"

"Painful but non-crippling burns to whatever part of the body it hit. Possibly including blindness if it hit your head. But I already know what you look like in perfect health so fixing you afterwards won't be a problem."

So, again, don't get hit.

"You know, I think one of the things I could learn real fast is how to wear armour?"

I shake my head. "Your best defence is avoiding being hit, and we don't have time for you to train how to use it."

A pity they won't be distracted by her looks. At least, I assume Dominators don't do the 'lusting over humanoid females' thing.

"Not a problem if it was Nth metal. Thanagarians wear that like skin."

"Ah, sorry, but last time I made Nth metal I was having a psychotic episode. I can.. try again one we're finished here, but… It.. wouldn't be a good idea in a situation that calls for good judgement."

Plus, I suspect the spontaneous gravity well and radiation eruptions might kind of ruin your chances at stealth.

"If it's what I've got…" She looks around. "Where next?"

I turn to the ball. "Alright, we need to know where the aliens are, where Great Mother is and where Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man are."

And which target should be the highest priority. Freeing the Avatars might make the rest of the encounters easier. Or they just end up snapping back to Earth...

"Who is Swamp Thing?"

"Plant elemental. Usually takes control of a bundle of plants to make a body for himself. Good Gumbo Man is similar, but older and slower."

"Oh. You mean grandfather."

Oh, goddammit. Too late to stop the assault, huh?

Welp, Swamp Thing might need some therapy once you track him down, Though the 'grandfather' comment is worrying. Which plant elemental did he mean, I wonder... And are they still here, or have they already gotten away? Let's hope they don't have to scour the entire Mother Star's body for them... As it is, this may be a slog.

Silveraith · Jul 23, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
I can.. try again one we're finished here

Once.

Mr Zoat · Jul 23, 2024

Silveraith said:
Once.

Thank you, corrected.

haralo99 · Jul 23, 2024

Hey, does anyone know where the whf segment are?

m_d · Jul 23, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
an affect of running

effect - something caused by the act, in this case, of running

Mr Zoat said:
Hiding it this close to the Mother Star's mouth was a clever move, because that's something that anyone who's had anything to do with Star Conquerors will instinctively avoid.

Darko said:
And even if they have never even heard of Star Conquerors, avoiding the mouth of a giant monster is probably instinctual for most species.

While true, there are also symbiotic relationships that involve being around, and sometimes entering and exiting the mouth of a larger entity. See Cleaning symbiosis. There are also parasitic relationships which, depending on their nature, may mimic the behaviour of a cleaner symbiote in order to get access to the host organism without triggering defensive measures.

haralo99 said:
Hey, does anyone know where the whf segment are?

Could you give a bit more detail? I'm not sure what you're referring to.

haralo99 · Jul 23, 2024

m_d said:
Could you give a bit more detail? I'm not sure what you're referring to.

Whf= warhammer fantasy

Ardy · Jul 23, 2024

haralo99 said:
Whf= warhammer fantasy

....Shoot, I had this problem the other day. There's a year almost all of the segments start with, but I can't remember it. 4 digits. Search that on the story only thread and it will bring up all of them.

Someguy Somewhere · Jul 23, 2024

Search for 2512 finds most of them....working on a list here

EDIT:
I Think this is most of them, I recall something about the chat with the Vampires Next Door that I don't think I've found, but this should be the bulk of things.

Where he first shows up

1
2

Visiting The Tomb Kings

3
4
5

Dealing with Elves

6
7
8
9
10
11
12

Talking Roadwork

13
14

Burying Grudges and Congrads it's a Girl-Gor

15
16

Empire Things

17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29

haralo99 · Jul 24, 2024

thanks

Mr Zoat · Jul 24, 2024

16th April 2013
03:06 GMT -5

…

"I'm sorry, 'grandfather'?"

"The Great-Mother of Great-Mother harvested material from him to guide the creation of Great-Mother and of my uncles. Therefore, he is my grandfather. From him we derive the ability to manipulate certain forms of organic life as we might guide Great-Mother's flesh."

He never mentioned that to me. I mean, okay, there's no obvious reason why he would. I know that he'd left Earth before…

"This way."

He float-swims off towards a side… Passage, the door blocking access clearly Dominion style surrounded by Mother Star flesh. I don't detect any particular signal, but it opens when he approaches and remains open as Bleez and I fly through after him.

Bleez shakes her head. "I don't get it. I could get some kind of living ship getting another living ship pregnant, okay? And I guess one kind of magic plant could get another magic plant pregnant, so… Maybe we could use your guy to distract Hyathis or something?"

"Hyathis has already been to Earth and showed no interest in that sort of thing."

"But how does a plant-guy and a ship-woman make a space-sperm?"

"I imagine that she incorporated parts of his design inside her own mutable structure, or… Parts of his mental set-up in their neural pathways. Sexual reproduction isn't the only form of reproduction."

"Grandfather was vivisected while fully conscious, his brain and other organs removed and processed for data. We were surprised that he was still alive."

"… Vivisected?"

"Great-Mother of Great-Mother loved him greatly."

We.. both back off slightly as he continues down the corridor, the sides… I think we're in some sort of internal structure that's been… Cleared out. They're flatter than the entryway, with a slightly rough texture that…

I.. think there are vines growing beneath the surface. Or… On the other side of the membrane.

"That's not how love works."

"He made a body from her flesh, she used it to create new life. They were as close as two beings can be. Integrated and iterated. What else is love?" He sort of waves in the air. Regret? His emotions aren't easy to parse. "I thought that perhaps the aliens had led Great-Mother here so that she could make a daughter with the meat star. But it was dead, and echoes cannot love."

Bleez looks at me, but I'm not really sure what she's hoping that I'll say. Clearly something. Perhaps if we move on to less disturbing subjects.

"What are the aliens using Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man for?"

"The plants dream in the Green, dream of being plants. Great-Mother dreams the plant dream in the Green, but dreams of being Great-Mother."

Alien starship lucid dreaming in the Green. That… Could be worse than the Mother Star heading for Earth.

"But she is not of the Green. She could not move it. But the dead meat star has many dreams, and grandfather dreams of Green and meat."

Oh dear.

"What?"

"Ah, rough translation? The Mother Star has enough of a presence in the Dream for magic to happen and the unreal to become real. You know how those robot arms didn't look like they were coming from anywhere and just reappeared when I destroyed them?"

"Yes? Do you mean they weren't real?"

"I mean that around here that's not much of a distinction. The sort of growth that's happening here isn't natural. The Mother Star can exist at this size through a combination of psionics and Dream manipulation. The ball's mother is using the Elementals to Dream more of herself into being at the dominators' direction."

There's a branch in the corridor and the ball leads up… Upwards and inwards… I think towards where the eye orbit was?

She stares at me. "What?"

Yes, alright, if you're not familiar with the Dream that was probably a bit much. "Elementals power enslaved machine bad?"

"No, I understood all the words, I just-. This is normal here, isn't it?"

"Basically, yes. The number one reason why the Thanagarian Empire shouldn't ever conquer Earth isn't that it would be hard, it's that they'd have to deal with this stuff." Ugh. "Okay, so if your mother is as enmeshed in the Dream as I think that she'd need to be for that to work, how do we get her out?"

"Her mating instinct is very strong."

"Not it."

Bleez puffs her wings out slightly. "Huh?"

"It is stronger than the alien's programming. If a good mate was available, I think that she could leave the Dream while you dealt with the other matters."

"Wait, me?! No no. Thanagarians don't mate by vivisection! You're the one with the magic powers!"

"Black humour, Bleez. I doubt you're her type. Okay, ball? I need you to take us to somewhere with fungal structures."

"There are fungal structures in the alien's workshop. It is ahead of us."

Bleez makes a sort of chirping noise as her wing tips droop a little. "Because your construct thing can use that to make a body."

"Just so. I don't know if Gary is her thing, but I'd rather try him followed by my own Dream manipulation techniques rather than offer someone up to the libidinous alien spaceship monster. Ball, what do you think?"

"Great-Mothers are usually fairly picky. We sons are not."

"Well, we'll try it and see what happens. So, we pull her out of it-. Are the aliens controlling her with a particular device, or have they altered her entire body?"

"A device of the Green."

A Dominion computer? Current generation? I'll take that.

"And how are they keeping Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man contained?"

"Great-Mother copied the devices of her Great-Mother, that she used to contain grandfather. The aliens knew that she has that capacity."

"Right-oh. Does your great mother have any weapons?"

"Some. Why?"

"I think it might be best if we destroyed the remains of the Mother Star. I didn't bother before because I thought it made sense to treat it as a grave site, but if this sort of thing can happen…"

"The Great-Mother may help." We arrive at another door, this one clearly plant-based. "Here. This is where the Grey traces are."

"Alright, let's-."

The door opens, and it looks like the dominators prefer open-plan laboratories.

Coltsguy · Jul 24, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Basically, yes. The number one reason why the Thanagarian Empire shouldn't ever conquer Earth isn't that it would be hard, it's that they'd have to deal with this stuff."

Thanagarians officials: This may be the best reasoning we've heard to not invade a planet.

Thanagarian dissentor: Oh come now. I don't think it's that bad.

Thanagarian dissentor's future self: *bashes the dissentor over the head with an Nth metal mace* This is your fault! It was all YOUR FAULT!!!

Thanagarian officials: ...This is now the best reasoning we've heard not to invade a planet.

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 24, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
16th April 2013
03:06 GMT -5

…

"I'm sorry, 'grandfather'?"

"The Great-Mother of Great-Mother harvested material from him to guide the creation of Great-Mother and of my uncles. Therefore, he is my grandfather. From him we derive the ability to manipulate certain forms of organic life as we might guide Great-Mother's flesh."

Ah. So my timing of the Space Odyssey was off. Swamp Thing's already taken one cosmic trip and made it home safe... Safe-ish. This one seems to have been less planned, and possibly instigated by the Dominator's computer design, perhaps...

He never mentioned that to me. I mean, okay, there's no obvious reason why he would. I know that he'd left Earth before…

"This way."

And really, he still has very human psychology. Would he have wanted to admit he was kinda-raped by a space plant-machine-thing?I don't expect him to have happy memories of his encounter with her.

He float-swims off towards a side… Passage, the door blocking access clearly Dominion style surrounded by Mother Star flesh. I don't detect any particular signal, but it opens when he approaches and remains open as Bleez and I fly through after him.

Bleez shakes her head. "I don't get it. I could get some kind of living ship getting another living ship pregnant, okay? And guess one kind of magic plant could get anther magic plant pregnant, so… Maybe we could use your guy to distract Hyathis or something?"

Eh, Swampy's already married with a child. And I doubt Gumbo Man is all there enough for Hyathis' taste. Not that I expect her preferences to run to ambulatory shrubbery.

"Hyathis has already been to Earth and showed no interest in that sort of thing."

"But how does a plant-guy and a ship-woman make a space-sperm?"

SCIENCE! But seriously, I doubt it was anywhere near as racy as you seem to be thinking, Bleez.

"I imagine that she incorporated parts of his design inside her own mutable structure, or… Parts of his mental set-up in their neural pathways. Sexual reproduction isn't the only form of reproduction."

"Grandfather was dissected while fully conscious, his brain and other organs removed and processed for data. We were surprised that he was still alive."

I was about to say something along the lines of Asari reproduction, but that...

"… Dissected?"

"Grand-Mother of Great-Mother loved him greatly."

Pretty much to death, you might say. Well, if he weren't a little disconnected from corporeal existence already.

We.. both back off slightly as he continues down the corridor, the sides… I think we're in some sort of internal structure that's been… Cleared out. They're flatter than the entryway, with a slightly rough texture that…

I.. think there are vines growing beneath the surface. Or… On the other side of the membrane.

Some sort of blood vessel in the Mother Star, perhaps, co-opted as a travel-tube?

"That's not how love works."

"He made a body from her flesh, she used it to create new life. They were as close as two beings can be. Integrated and iterated. What else is love?" He sort of waves in the air. Regret? His emotions aren't easy to parse. "I thought that perhaps the aliens had led Great-Mother here so that she could make a daughter with the meat star. But it was dead, and echoes cannot love."

So there was some sort of psychic resonance thing going on as well, since I doubt a purely physical analysis would have been difficult.

Bleez looks at me, but I'm not really sure what she's hoping that I'll say. Clearly something. Perhaps if we move on to less disturbing subjects.

"What are the aliens using Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man for?"

She's a singer and sometimes-spy. I don't think she's really ever been trained for anything like Earth Bullshit™ before...

"The plants dream in the Green, dream of being plants. Great-Mother dreams the plant dream in the Green, but dreams of being Great-Mother."

Alien starship lucid dreaming in the Green. That… Could be worse than the Mother Star heading for Earth.

Especially if her dream can be forced on others...

"But she is not of the Green. She could not move it. But the dead meat star has many dreams, and grandfather dreams of Green and meat."

Oh dear.

So she couldn't access the Mother Star's psionic engine cores, so to speak, until Swamp Thing and then Gumbo Man turned up...

"What?"

"Ah, rough translation? The Mother Star has enough of a presence in the Dream for magic to happen and the unreal to become real. You know how those robot arms didn't look like they were coming from anywhere and just reappeared when I destroyed them?"

A psychic projection with enough telekinesis to make it corporeal.

"Yes? Do you mean they weren't real?"

"I mean that around here that's not much of a distinction. The sort of growth that's happening here isn't natural. The Mother Star can exist at this size through a combination of psionics and Dream manipulation. The ball's mother is using the Elementals to Dream more of herself into being at the dominators' direction."

Oh, that's a clever trick, if a nasty one. And no doubt those freshly-formed offspring would be loyal to the Dominators.

There's a branch in the corridor and the ball leads up… Upwards and inwards… I think towards where the eye orbit was?

She stares at me. "What?"

No doubt they're using the space within the eye to house the whole proceedings.

Yes, alright, if you're not familiar with the Dream that was probably a bit much. "Elementals power enslaved machine bad?"

"No, I understood all the words, I just-. This is normal here, isn't it?"

She just didn't understand them in the order he was using them. And yes, you've had your first real taste of Earth Bullshit™ now.

"Basically, yes. The number one reason why the Thanagarian Empire shouldn't ever conquer Earth isn't that it would be hard, it's that they'd have to deal with this stuff." Ugh. "Okay, so if your mother is as enmeshed in the Dream as I think that she'd need to be for that to work, how do we get her out?"

Dear god, imagine them trying to deal with Earth like they would any other client world? There'd be rebellion after rebellion of superbeings... And that's on top of alien invasions, dimensional incursions and gods know what else.

"Her mating instinct is very strong."

"Not it."

Yeah, OL's already spoken for twice over. And I doubt Jade would be okay with him doing the deed with a giant space plant-machine. Best Snek might find it interesting.

Bleez puffs her wings out slightly. "Huh?"

"It is stronger than the alien's programming. If a good mate was available, I think that she could leave the Dream while you dealt with the other matters."

...Good luck finding anything capable of distracting her like that around here. Or is the little guy thinking of volunteering?

"Wait, me?! No no. Thanagarians don't mate by dissection! You're the one with the magic powers!"

"Black humour, Bleez. I doubt you're her type. Okay, ball? I need you to take us to somewhere with fungal structures."

...I fail to see how introducing her to Gary the Grey is going to help.

"There are fungal structures in the alien's workshop. It is ahead of us."

Bleez makes a sort of chirping noise as her wing tips droop a little. "Because your construct thing can use that to make a body."

Wow, she's on the ball. Good to see she's getting used to Earth Bullshit™ already.

"Just so. I don't know if Gary is her thing, but I'd rather try him followed by my own Dream manipulation techniques rather than offer someone up to the libidinous alien spaceship monster. Ball, what do you think?"

"Great-Mothers are usually fairly picky. We sons are not."

...So he'd be fine with a fungal space-ball-thing? Some guys...

"Well, we'll try it and see what happens. So, we pull her out of it-. Are the aliens controlling her with a particular device, or have they altered her entire body?"

"A device of the Green."

A Dominion computer? Current generation? I'll take that.

Well, good to know you're getting some sweet loot out of this sidequest.

"And how are they keeping Swamp Thing and Good Gumbo Man contained?"

"Great-Mother copied the devices of her Great-Mother, that she used to contain grandfather. The aliens knew that she has that capacity."

Because of course Granny made sure her daughters would be able to trap thought entities. For breeding purposes.

"Right-oh. Does your great mother have any weapons?"

"Some. Why?"

A better question might be 'how big are they?'

"I think it might be best if we destroyed the remains of the Mother Star. I didn't both before because I thought it made sense to treat it as a grave site, but if this sort of thing can happen…"

"The Great-Mother may help." We arrive at another door, this one clearly plant-based. "Here. This is where the Grey traces are."

There is a reason the Greenies toss them into stars, after all.

"Alright, let's-."

The door opens, and it looks like the dominators prefer open-plan laboratories.

Let's hope no Dominators are in residence right now...

So, looks like the plan is incarnate Gary the Grey into a form hopefully pleasing to the Great Mother, snag Swampy and Gumbo while they're canoodling, and maybe have her smash the Mother Star into small pieces during the afterglow. ...And what other story would give us the hero trying to get a giant space-going plant-machine entity laid as part of his goals.

Bleez makes a sort of chirping noise as her wing tips droop a little.
"Because your construct thing can use that to make a body."

Unwanted Line Break there.

EgyptianDio · Jul 24, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"Her mating instinct is very strong."

"Not it."

Guess he learnt his lesson after the spider.

Darko · Jul 24, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
plant could get anther

"another"

Mr Zoat said:
Grandfather was dissected while fully conscious,

Then it would technically be a vivisection.

Mr Zoat said:
Grand-Mother of Great-Mother loved him greatly."

...kinky...

Mr Zoat said:
Her mating instinct is very strong."

"Not it."

Oh, come on.

You already went to second base with a giant spider.

Why not add a giant space monster on the list.

Mr Zoat said:
Bleez makes a sort of chirping noise as her wing tips droop a little.
"Because your construct thing can use that to make a body."

Add a space between the sentences.

Mr Zoat said:
Star. I didn't both before because

"didn't bother"

Stsword · Jul 24, 2024

For those unfamiliar, Zoat is using Technis here.

Raped Swamp Thing which produced Zavior who tried to turn the Earth into computronium in a Titans storyline, and are also the aliens responsible for turning Cyborg into Cyberion

and producing an android body for Prestor John of the Team Titans.

Zoat seems to have nerfed them a bit here, though, they defeated Swamp Thing through time manipulation technology if memory serves, and Cyborg as Cyberion was a Do Anything Robot, and again, Zavior almost assimilated the entire Earth.

The only aliens In DC with technology I'm comfortable stating is definitely their superior is the Maltusians.

Mr Zoat · Jul 24, 2024

Me said:
Grand-Mother of Great-

Chojin Patriarch said:
Unwanted Line Break there.

Darko said:
"another"
"didn't bother"

Thank you, corrected.

Stsword said:
For those unfamiliar, Zoat is using Technis here.

Raped Swamp Thing which produced Zavior who tried to turn the Earth into computronium in a Titans storyline, and are also the aliens responsible for turning Cyborg into Cyberion

and producing an android body for Prestor John of the Team Titans.

Zoat seems to have nerfed them a bit here, though, they defeated Swamp Thing through time manipulation technology if memory serves, and Cyborg as Cyberion was a Do Anything Robot, and again, Zavior almost assimilated the entire Earth.

The only aliens In DC with technology I'm comfortable stating is definitely their superior is the Maltusians.

I think you're conflating two separate machine intelligences here.

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