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

It's the Ophidian. More is obviously better.

Also literally the first time Paul showed the Ophidian other lanterns, in this case Starfire and Blackfire, said snake tried to manually enlighten one of them and Paul had to talk her out of doing that. In other words? Bet your bottom dollar Ophidian is fucking INTO this.
 
Also literally the first time Paul showed the Ophidian other lanterns, in this case Starfire and Blackfire, said snake tried to manually enlighten one of them and Paul had to talk her out of doing that. In other words? Bet your bottom dollar Ophidian is fucking INTO this.
The Controller HR department may be getting involved if she keeps it up
 
This is so hype!!
I'm curious what the exact final tipping point moment was for Xor - if he did something exotic from the outside or if it was the result of just progressive spiritual understanding. I think that for Xor, seeing the - final realization of his desires from the beginning in the ah, realignment of the Alignment might have moved his soul just right to get him most of the way there. I have to imagine that practically speaking he'll probably get assigned to the honor guard, just because of that structurally works out, but...
Paul definitely makes it sound simpler then it perhaps is to do the hondenportation - or at the very least, if it's something that merely needs to be shown to be relatively reasonably available, I'd think that the enlightened greenies should know how to do it by now, but haven't seen it on screen outside of Malvolio, and Guy has a habit of being a bit of a braggart. The Guardians even seem to just use lantern or maltusian FTL over the thing that Malvolio uses.
This is a big deal but tbf, Hinon can already Hondenport, which means to some extent, just losing him doesn't mean the war effort is lacking in that sort of rapid response capacity.
I think Paul is being perhaps a bit too modest - it definitely feels like he's repeatedly restructured significantly on a magical level even after enlightenment - he seems like he's not just structured like a normal enlightened being but a bit more like a godling or a transcendent mystic too.
I'm guessing that Xor can probably see his influence on local desire, or perhaps his interaction with the honden and/or the Ophidian herself in some way - that's been historically at least a little external to him.
 
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Now, I am not sure what I am, but I know that there are many things which could threaten Great-Mother and that is a task I am well to equipped perform."
Missing word


Also the Illustres's beef-gate just got significantly more beefy.
Pretty sure Ragnar was Paul's beefgate (as a trainer always on Maltus, he was routinely the most senior lantern on site), while Xalitan (who was usually in Alignment space) was his (Ragnar's).
 
Thank you, corrected.
Pretty sure Ragnar was Paul's beefgate (as a trainer always on Maltus, he was routinely the most senior lantern on site), while Xalitan (who was usually in Alignment space) was his (Ragnar's).
No, Xalitan would find the idea of fighting for rank stupid. Ragnar and Zartok measure their progress against one another, though more Zartok than Ragnar.
 
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Equity (part 2)
10th December 2282
06:02 GMT -6

"…no, there's no need to-."

And he's gone. Ugh. I just wanted to check in with the President's office to see if there was anything that urgently needed my attention. I didn't even think the satellite relay went to his residence yet. I just-.

"Mister Krono. Or should I say 'Ambassador'?"

"Mister President, thank you for speaking to me. They really didn't need to wake you."

President Grant Columbus Hayes of the New California Republic snorts. "I'm sleeping lightly anyway. Legion assassins nearly got to me two days ago. Besides, hearing from you is usually the highlight of my day."

"How?! What happened?!"

"Frumentarii snipers took a shot at me during a state visit to the Boneyard. Good job Mariah was quick with the telekinetic barriers or the second shot would have hit me in the head. The real scary part was that they had backups hidden in the crowd. Bleeding from the lung is even less fun when you've got madmen with gladiuses charging at you and your car is too hemmed in to move."

I nod. Mariah Colson is one of my people, charged with keeping President Hayes alive. And unlike the two I assigned to Elder Lyons, she's a mature adult.

"Fortunately the next truck up had Brotherhood Paladins in it. Pretty hard to knife someone in a T Fifty One."

"Anyone on our side hurt?"

"Seventeen dead, and about forty injured. The snipers killed security guards and book store workers before taking their posts, and the knife-men cut their way through the crowd. On the plus side, your people took a few of them prisoner, and they've been winding up what's left of that network."

I nod. "The war?"

"The Legion's still fighting. We're winning, but it's a bloody business. Our friends in Rio Grande are having trouble crossing the river, and the robots-." He snorts quietly. "I don't know why I'm surprised."

"Problem?"

"WARDEN says that his standing orders only extend to maintaining law and order within the borders of Colorado and New Mexico. Sallow ended up just ceding the territory when he realised that WARDEN's robots weren't pursuing past that. Oh, and Doki's got some other-. Heh, some other poor sap to play Wasteland's Most Eligible Bachelor with."

Oh dear. "Have there been more kidnappings?"

"Not from the West Coast. There may have been an ARGUS sighting in the Mojave, but we've been getting that sort of report from all over ever since the first time. How was Britain?"

"As good as I could expect. I've got some examples of a new form of circuitry they've developed which might interest you, and some wool samples your tailor might like."

"'New form'? You mean it doesn't use vacuum tubes?"

"Just so. The end product is more easy to disrupt with EMP but can manage a lot more operations per second than regular vacuum tubes while being far easier to manufacture than micro vacuum tubes."

"That's.. interesting. I'm not sure that we wouldn't be better off sticking with what we've got, but we can take a look. What sort of state is their government in?"

I snort-chuckle. "Technically, they have one. They're a ghoul-ruled gerontocracy, though they don't call them 'ghouls' in Britain. Queen Elizabeth is still alive and reigning and there isn't any major opposition. They're currently consolidating control and skirmishing with the other European countries out at sea. Assuming nothing changes, the island of Great Britain should be solidly under their control inside twenty years. I'm going to talk to Santa Anna and Elder Törni about the possibility of opening up transatlantic shipping routes."

"Good." He sighs. "Diana's offered us cotton seeds to get us started, but it'll take us a long time to grow enough to be commercially viable. And… I know that we're going to beat the Legion, but I'm not sure how we're going to pacify-"

"This is Doki-"

"-Ariz-tzzzzzzz."

"Mister President?"

"-Doki for Robot City Productions-"

"Doki, this is a private conversation-."

"-preeeeeeeeeesenting the second ever instalment of..! Drum roll sound effect!"

I hear the drum roll coming from the speakers as I turn the saucer to the north-west and accelerate.

"The Wasteland's Most Eligible Bachelor! Broadcasting to everywhere! Whether you want to listen or not! Sponsored by the goddess Hecate!"

Okay, so nothing untoward happened during the first episode, other than the initial kidnappings, but if she's grabbed people from halfway across the continent again-.

"Our eligible bachelor this morning is a man with mysterious past! A hunky frame! A surprisingly well-trimmed beard on a face that isn't anything like as scarred as it was supposed to be! In-tro-ducing Legate-"

Ah?

"-Lanius of the Hidebark tribe!"

I accelerate more.

"Once I am free of these bonds, I will slay everyone within range of my voice."

That's his voice.

"Competing for the affection of this redoubtable warrior! Tanya 'Ant Agonizer' Christoff! That name is a pun!"

"I don't call myself that any more! I gave it up!"

"She controls giant ants and uses them to ravage the wasteland!"

"It was one town! And I barely ravaged it at all!"

"She's honest, industrious and prudent!"

"I thought I was a comic book supervillain! How is that honest? Or prudent?"

"And competing against her for the privilege of dating the Monster of the East! 'First name not found' Mckinley of The Executives!"

"You think you can acquire and merge me? I'll teach you the true meaning of hostile acquisition!"

"She's a violent killer with ahistorical beliefs about the pre-war civilisation she's based her life on!"

"I'll liquidate your entire family!"

"And she has highly effective leadership skills!"

"I'll take days to strip your assets!

"And lastly, Paladin Justinia Hayman of the Midwest Chapter! Her own father told her: 'You are the last in a legacy of failures', and based on what's happening in Arizona right now, well, so is our bachelor! She's also very good at fighting and is completely merciless!"

"Machine, I will destroy you. Not for trying to humiliate me, but to safeguard humanity against your madness. And I will kill the raider and the mad ant-woman as well."

"I'll downsize your Human Resources!" / "What did I do?"

"For the first round! Insert wheel spin sound effect, because it's time for a Cooking Catastrophe!"

I accelerate again.
 
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"Machine, I will destroy you. Not for trying to humiliate me, but to safeguard humanity against your madness. And I will kill the raider and the mad ant-woman as well."

"I'll downsize your Human Resources!" / "What did I do?"
What a shitshow. Doki really shouldn't have been left in control of anything larger than an RC race car.
 
President Grant Columbus Hayes of the New California Republic snorts. "I'm sleeping lightly anyway. Legion assassins nearly got to me two days ago. Besides, hearing from you is usually the highlight of my day."

You managed to convince me last time to give a Hayes run a try, it was a lot of fun! Kinda funny getting two ex-Enclave as unit leaders in the same Army as Cassandra Moore and Alexander Drummond but it worked out. Also, getting a launch out of Houston while bombing the Sierra Madre was quite funny.

"WARDEN says that his standing orders only extend to maintaining law and order within the borders of Colorado and New Mexico. Sallow ended up just ceding the territory when he realised that WARDEN's robots weren't pursuing past that. Oh, and Doki's got some other-. Heh, some other poor sap to play Wasteland's Most Eligible Bachelor with."
Warden is another fun one, honestly the only way to make it better is if it gets HERMES armor. Robot armies but human highway patrol, riot police and SWAT teams. Add in whatever's going on in Nebraska that can join it's network (I haven't played Reclamation Depot yet), though honestly the cause of the war between The Last Patrol and the Great Plains Federation just destroyed any motivation I had for backing The Last Patrol outside of strict RP.

"-Lanius of the Hidebark tribe!"
Doki Doki, no, put them back. Honestly, you'd think Warden would have reeled her in by now.

Just wrapped up a Heaven's Gate playthrough, they are absurdly well teched and honestly they can take on MacArthur/Montana Enclave if done right. Before that it was Safe Haven, but I went reformist and ended up in a faction with Passkeepers, Old Spokane State, Sylix Nation and Koover. The final event where Mary, Showtime and Sylvia are all hanging out and at peace is rather heartwarming.

Somewhere in Canada is next, just to change things up. Maybe Stoon Dandies? They've got a lot of options.
 
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10th December 2282
06:02 GMT -6


"…no, there's no need to-."

And he's gone. Ugh. I just wanted to check in with the President's office to see if there was anything that urgently needed my attention. I didn't even think the satellite relay went to his residence yet. I just-.
Ooh, Krono already? Presumably heading home from England. Not a quick trip even in a skiff capable of multiple times the speed of sound. Looks like he wants to brief certain leaders pronto before he even arrives, though...

"Mister Krono. Or should I say 'Ambassador'?"

"Mister President, thank you for speaking to me. They really didn't need to wake you."
Given the time-zones, it probably would be rather late out that way.

President Grant Columbus Hayes of the New California Republic snorts. "I'm sleeping lightly anyway. Legion assassins nearly got to me two days ago. Besides, hearing from you is usually the highlight of my day."

"How?! What happened?!"
Ooh, that's a significant event. I wonder if that's a possible random event in the game mods this story draws from?

"Frumentarii snipers took a shot at me during a state visit to the Boneyard. Good job Mariah was quick with the telekinetic barriers or the second shot would have hit me in the head. The real scary part was that they had backups hidden in the crowd. Bleeding from the lung is even less fun when you've got madmen with gladiuses charging at you and your car is too hemmed in to move."
And shooting into the crowd certainly wasn't an option, given they were likely panicking already.

I nod. Mariah Colson is one of my people, charged with keeping President Hayes alive. And unlike the two I assigned to Elder Lyons, she's a mature adult.

"Fortunately the next truck up had Brotherhood Paladins in it. Pretty hard to knife someone in a T Fifty One."
Powered armour for the win.

"Anyone on our side hurt?"

"Seventeen dead, and about forty injured. The snipers killed security guards and book store workers before taking their posts, and the knife-men cut their way through the crowd. On the plus side, your people took a few of them prisoner, and they've been winding up what's left of that network."
Ceaser's legion not known for their mental prowess, especially at resisting telepathic intrusion.

I nod. "The war?"

"The Legion's still fighting. We're winning, but it's a bloody business. Our friends in Rio Grande are having trouble crossing the river, and the robots-." He snorts quietly. "I don't know why I'm surprised."
So, the Legion likely won't be an issue before long, then.

"Problem?"

"WARDEN says that his standing orders only extend to maintaining law and order within the borders of Colorado and New Mexico. Sallow ended up just ceding the territory when he realised that WARDEN's robots weren't pursuing past that. Oh, and Doki's got some other-. Heh, some other poor sap to play Wasteland's Most Eligible Bachelor with."
...Surprised it didn't insist on operating solely on pre-war boundaries. Tough luck for whatever wanderer Doki's got a hold of, though.

Oh dear. "Have there been more kidnappings?"

"Not from the West Coast. There may have been an ARGUS sighting in the Mojave, but we've been getting that sort of report from all over ever since the first time. How was Britain?"
Which makes me wonder where Doki's getting her ladies this time...

"As good as I could expect. I've got some examples of a new form of circuitry they've developed which might interest you, and some wool samples your tailor might like."

"'New form'? You mean it doesn't use vacuum tubes?"
Which might give them an edge in some areas, and weaknesses in others.

"Just so. The end product is more easy to disrupt with EMP but can manage a lot more operations per second than regular vacuum tubes while being far easier to manufacture than micro vacuum tubes."

"That's.. interesting. I'm not sure that we wouldn't be better off sticking with what we've got, but we can take a look. What sort of state is their government in?"
Pity they can't hybridize the tech somehow. Presumably it might be more useful in shielded safe sites rather than out in the wilds.

I snort-chuckle. "Technically, they have one. They're a ghoul-ruled gerontocracy, though they don't call them 'ghouls' in Britain. Queen Elizabeth is still alive and reigning and there isn't any major opposition. They're currently consolidating control and skirmishing with the other European countries out at sea. Assuming nothing changes, the island of Great Britain should be solidly under their control inside twenty years. I'm going to talk to Santa Anna and Elder Törni about the possibility of opening up transatlantic shipping routes."
Not a big concern in the short-term, then.

"Good." He sighs. "Diana's offered us cotton seeds to get us started, but it'll take us a long time to grow enough to be commercially viable. And… I know that we're going to beat the Legion, but I'm not sure how we're going to pacify-"

"This is Doki-"

"-Ariz-tzzzzzzz."
Oh, dear... Doki's already broadcasting? Hope someone's recording it.

"Mister President?"

"-Doki for Robot City Productions-"

"Doki, this is a private conversation-."
I doubt she's listening. This is probably one of those near-magical wide-area broadcasts which can override everything that appears in fiction so often.

"-preeeeeeeeeesenting the second ever instalment of..! Drum roll sound effect!"

I hear the drum roll coming from the speakers as I turn the saucer to the north-west and accelerate.
Aiming to save that poor bastard from embarrassment and pain, eh?

"The Wasteland's Most Eligible Bachelor! Broadcasting to everywhere! Whether you want to listen or not! Sponsored by the goddess Hecate!"

Okay, so nothing untoward happened during the first episode, other than the initial kidnappings, but if she's grabbed people from halfway across the continent again-.
That's bound to have stepped on someone's toes.

"Our eligible bachelor this morning is a man with mysterious past! A hunky frame! A surprisingly well-trimmed beard on a face that isn't anything like as scarred as it was supposed to be! In-tro-ducing Legate-"

Ah?
'As it was supposed to be'? Does Doki have opinions about how grizzled some men should be? :p

"-Lanius of the Hidebark tribe!"

I accelerate more.
...That's bad, I take it.

"Once I am free of these bonds, I will slay everyone within range of my voice."

That's his voice.
...If he means to do what he said, he's going to be very busy for the next few years.

"Competing for the affection of this redoubtable warrior! Tanya 'Ant Agonizer' Christoff! That name is a pun!"

"I don't call myself that any more! I gave it up!"
I see Krono's not the only one inspired by comics out there.

"She controls giant ants and uses them to ravage the wasteland!"

"It was one town! And I barely ravaged it at all!"
I'm betting most of the damage was accidental, giant ants not being known for subtlety.

"She's honest, industrious and prudent!"

"I thought I was a comic book supervillain! How is that honest? Or prudent?"
It's certainly industrious, though...

"And competing against her for the privilege of dating the Monster of the East! 'First name not found' Mckinley of The Executives!"

"You think you can acquire and merge me? I'll teach you the true meaning of hostile acquisition!"
Oh god, she talks in Executive Doublespeak? This is going to suck.

"She's a violent killer with ahistorical beliefs about the pre-war civilisation she's based her life on!"

"I'll liquidate your entire family!"
Well, Doki's not wrong, I guess?

"And she has highly effective leadership skills!"

"I'll take days to strip your assets!
Sounds like the lady isn't happy. :D

"And lastly, Paladin Justinia Hayman of the Midwest Chapter! Her own father told her: 'You are the last in a legacy of failures', and based on what's happening in Arizona right now, well, so is our bachelor! She's also very good at fighting and is completely merciless!"

"Machine, I will destroy you. Not for trying to humiliate me, but to safeguard humanity against your madness. And I will kill the raider and the mad ant-woman as well."

"I'll downsize your Human Resources!"
/ "What did I do?"
Oh, boy... Doki's got her hands full with this trio.

"For the first round! Insert wheel spin sound effect, because it's time for a Cooking Catastrophe!"

I accelerate again.
Somehow, even if you get there in like five minutes, I don't think Doki is going to stop...

It just never ends for Krono, does it? Thinks he's got an easy time until he finds out about the fighting flaring up, and then Doki too? I have the feeling he's going to have a headache before this is over. I suppose his trip to England will have some nice benefits for his allies, at least. If nothing else, his impending wedding has gotten a bit easier to plan.
 
That should be regular sized.
Thank you, corrected.
The title is the same as the previous chapter, which was not a Fallout chapter.
Yes. This time they're part of the same story.
@Mr Zoat, have you played Fallout London yet?
No.
Any thoughts and opinions on the mod if you did?
From what I hear it's pretty darn good for a Fallout 4 mod. Watching videos of it, I was struck that the Legendary Womble fight wasn't very good due to the game engine, and I think most of the problems with it are engine problems.

For a start, the concept of a generic legendary is a bad one. A legend is someone with a story, whose name is known to all. It's 'The Twelve Tasks of Hercules' not 'The Twelve Tasks of Nameless Legendary Demigod'. Then you've got the fact that the legendary enemy doesn't do anything different to the regular type of enemy, they just have higher stats. That makes them even less unique. The womble fight I saw was won by circle strafing around an unbreakable obstacle. The womble didn't do anything interesting like barging through it or falling back or jumping up to a higher level. It didn't have a unique attack pattern.

And then there's the magic weapons.

Fallout has psykers since the beginning, and ghost since at least Fallout 2 and creepy Lovecraft magic since Fallout 3. That's fine. But why are there shotguns which can fit hundreds of shells in the barrels so that you never need to reload? That doesn't fit the setting. Fallout isn't Skyrim.
You managed to convince me last time to give a Hayes run a try, it was a lot of fun! Kinda funny getting two ex-Enclave as unit leaders in the same Army as Cassandra Moore and Alexander Drummond but it worked out.
That really annoyed me when I played Vault City and my Field Marshall suddenly disappeared.
Warden is another fun one, honestly the only way to make it better is if it gets HERMES armor. Robot armies but human highway patrol, riot police and SWAT teams.
I really don't understand why HERMES armour is a thing. The only nation I know of that gets it is MacArthur, and they get it far too late for it to be worth switching from heavy special forces to light special forces. And it's not even that good.
Ooh, that's a significant event. I wonder if that's a possible random event in the game mods this story draws from?
No.
'As it was supposed to be'? Does Doki have opinions about how grizzled some men should be? :p
No. In Fallout: New Vegas, Sallow feeds you a story about how scarred Lanius is, and how all his servants are blind so that none can see his face. Then you see his actual face and he has a soul patch.
 
I really don't understand why HERMES armour is a thing. The only nation I know of that gets it is MacArthur, and they get it far too late for it to be worth switching from heavy special forces to light special forces. And it's not even that good.
From a practical standpoint, I agree with you. It's effectively tier 6 SF equipment (accepting first sophisticated SF equipment as tier 5) but it comes at the last quarter of a playthrough that has been almost entirely power armor focused. It's very rare that I'd say a nation would be better served with Light SF over Heavy SF unless you've got buffs that favor them heavily. Or you're the NCR and can do both. Or be the BoS and use them as support units in your formations.

Thematically, it's the region breaking away from the Secretary's influence with a conscious change, since their stocks of APA came from Chicago and HERMES was something they could make themselves.

IIRC, HERMES was part of a series of mythology based codenames for Pre-War Poseidon Energy projects from Van Buren. Another is the APOLLO laser pistol, which the Sleepers and Yellowstone have as the cultural variant of intermediate energy weapons.
 
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From a practical standpoint, I agree with you. It's effectively tier 6 SF equipment (accepting first sophisticated SF equipment as tier 5) but it comes at the last quarter of a playthrough that has been almost entirely power armor focused. It's very rare that I'd say a nation would be better served with Light SF over Heavy SF unless you've got buffs that favor them heavily. Or you're the NCR and can do both. Or be the BoS and use them as support units in your formations.

Thematically, it's the region breaking away from the Secretary's influence with a conscious change, since their stocks of APA came from Chicago and HERMES was something they could make themselves.
But they can make Hardened T 51c. I've seldom had much APA when playing as MacArthur. If the mod makers wanted to give them a boost that was actually useful, they could have given them T 60.
 
"Machine, I will destroy you. Not for trying to humiliate me, but to safeguard humanity against your madness.
At least someone is being sensible.

Odd that he didn't just go to max from the get go.

Honestly by far the most interesting part is that this is labelled 'Equity (part 2)'. Indicating that we have a crisis chapter on our hands. Looks like Krono gets to be involved this time. Hope the Illustres doesn't get nerfed so heavily in this one. Twice is carelessness and all that.
 
At least someone is being sensible.
In-game, she gets mind controlled by the Fenrir AI and ends up its fully conscious puppet. Fortunately, I started this story before that was added to Old World Blues so the Montana Chapter doesn't exist.
Odd that he didn't just go to max from the get go.
It's a fuel and maintenance thing. He tends to regard Doki Doki's actions as a disturbing but not particularly dangerous practical joke, the sort of thing that those involved might laugh about in a few years. This was an escalation.
 
I have questions.

1. why haven't we asked a star sapphire to see if starfire's ex fiancé would be a good recruit?

2. after the white light purified the earth, did demon nabu get purified or released?

3. What happened to Barda? I may have forgotten if she already got rescued.
 
I have questions.

1. why haven't we asked a star sapphire to see if starfire's ex fiancé would be a good recruit?
Probably because they're fictional characters. I mean, you could ask, but you're unlikely to get a reply.
2. after the white light purified the earth, did demon nabu get purified or released?
No. I mean, he's not suffering from Anti-Life exposure, but for once that wasn't his biggest problem.
3. What happened to Barda? I may have forgotten if she already got rescued.
That's on my list of things to be covered.
 
But they can make Hardened T 51c. I've seldom had much APA when playing as MacArthur. If the mod makers wanted to give them a boost that was actually useful, they could have given them T 60.
From a gameplay perspective, I agree with you. It's one of those areas in OWB where the gameplay (not even meta necessarily) clashes with the story the author wants to tell. IIRC, the original writer for MacArthur left the dev team halfway through that update cycle and someone took over after, which was why MacArthur was so bereft on release for a nation that was the regional cornerstone.
 
Equity (part 3)
16th July 2014
21:23 GMT +5:30


Phh-tchhwuhwuhwah.

I lead the way through the ground bridge -or maybe that should be underground bridge, waving in the direction of our secure storage area as Arcee, Slipstream and Tailgate follow me through.

"We didn't think keeping them on the surface was a good idea."

Tailgate isn't listening, his attention fixed on the walls and ceilings of Unicron's interior. Arcee in the meantime looks at me sceptically. "I thought you were selling parts."

Pull's head nods. "Yes, and once we've delivered whatever we sold to a secure facility then it stops being our problem. But until then, we leave it down here."

I amble towards the chamber set aside for Unicronian storage.

"Since we're in Unicron, dark energon's not exactly in short supply."

I feel Slipstream's amusement at Arcee's visible disgruntlement. "Do you sell that, too?"

Slipstream shrugs nonchalantly. "You remember when Unicron started waking up? Or when Megatron used his dark energon crystal to raise an army of terrorcons on Earth?" Arcee nods cautiously. "That left… Quite a lot of dark energon on the surface. Terrorcons don't have much liquid dark energon in their systems, but there were a lot of terrorcons, and a lot of the ones we located were drained using human equipment before we got to them."

"Scrap."

"And small dark energon crystals got recovered from at least one eruption site. The American government let us take some for disposal, but I'm sure that they've got more in storage somewhere."

I nod as I turn back towards them. "We haven't wanted to draw attention to them, in case more countries start digging for them."

Tailgate returns his attention to his immediate surroundings, peering at Pull-. At Pull's optics. "Still.. can't.. get over you being in that guy."

"There is no 'guy'. I'm a transtector, not a headmaster." Ah. "Unless you recognise him. I did sort of consider the idea that Shockwave might have used someone's body rather than build it from scratch."

"Creep-y."

I nod with Pull's head. "Yes. And on that note, here are the transformer corpses we're draining of fuel."

Axlegrease built up a system for assembling frames for them to hang from, battered bodies clamped in place at the chest, arms, legs and head, the frame supporting the draining tubes which feed into the pump system drawing out the dark energon. Most of what we're getting is sludge with just a little dark energon, so we've got filter tanks for that as well once a batch of draining is done.

Tailgate and Arcee both wince at the sight. I wave Pull's right hand in a circle.

"Yes, it's ghoulish, but they're literally ghouls. If you've got a better idea, I'm all auditory pickups."

Tailgate girds his… Um. Girders, and takes a closer look at one of the inanimate revenants. "Couldn't you take them apart first?"

Slipstream shakes her head. "That would just make it take longer. And risk exposing whoever did it to dark energon. There's only one Decepticon immune to the effects of dark energon and that's only because the tox-en already in his system is worse. And I don't think that bringing Toxitron to Unicron would end well for anyone."

Tailgate turns his head to stare at her, baffled. "Tox-en? How is he still alive?"

Slipstream shrugs. "Shockwave."

I nod Pull's head. "Tox-en was an early failed attempt to create synthetic energon. But Shockwave, being the logical being that he is, decided that if tox-en couldn't fuel transformers as they are, that didn't necessarily mean that he couldn't modify a transformer so they could be fuelled by it."

Acree nods. "That's Shockwave alright."

Tailgate looks discomported. "And it worked?"

Slipstream and I look at each other uncomfortably. Toxitron was one of Shockwave's surviving projects that Shockwave asked us to help. But he took exception to our 'shiny shiny chassis' and tried 'fixing' us… With acid.

As one, we raise our right hands horizontally and wiggle them back and forth.

Tailgate smiles. "Heh. It really is like you've been bonded for gigacycles. I don't even know what that gesture means."

"It means 'kind of'." Arcee has moved to examine the wrecks more closely. "How old are these?"

Pull's body shrugs. "We're not sure. Carbon dating doesn't work for materials from outside of this solar system. Based on the designs… Some of them are pre-War."

She turns back, looking puzzled. "Pre-War? I thought everything on Earth was from early-War caches?"

"Well, Unicron certainly isn't. It's not impossible that some of these date from the Quintesson Occupation. Or earlier. If early transformers worked out where Unicron was and set up watchers to warn if he ever woke up…"

"Which we forgot about when the Quints took over. What killed them?"

Pull's body shrugs again. "Unicron's defences? Starvation? It's just a theory. We're trying to identify as many of the bodies as possible, but the records aren't in good shape. We've had more luck asking old transformers if they recognise them than getting archive data."

Tailgate look down the rows of salvaged Terrorcons. "Have you found any who aren't Terrorcons?"

"That would be too easy." I lead the way between the rows of dead transformers. "Did you ever finish decoding the Iacon database? After the Star Sabre and the Forge of Solus Prime got discovered, I got the impression that it… Stopped being relevant."

Arcee glances at me suspiciously. "Why do you wanna know?"

"If there were any stasis pods contemporary with these remains, it could clear up a lot of things." I give her a wan smile. "Don't worry. Even if we found something, we'd just trade it to you. We don't need bigger weapons or fancy technology to be happy here."

"For what?"

I take a moment to… Unfocus, trying to hear Slipstream's feelings on the subject. Yes, that's what I thought, too.

"Depends what we find. If we actually get something valuable like the Requiem Blaster… Our own energon production plant? Earth has energon, but it never hurts to have reserves. A small or medium sized ship, maybe? There must be some smaller warships you don't really need anymore, now that the War's over."

Slipstream nods. "Or if it's just an Autobot data module in a stasis pod, we probably owe Ratchet that much for our checkups."

"If it-."

The dim lights embedded in Unicron's internal walls flicker, winds gust out of nowhere as we all deploy our weapons, pointing them in all directions!

"Lantern Pull." A translucent apparition I still just about recognise appears near Pull's feet. Humanoid, blank face and blue and red robes. Last time I saw someone like him they were picking a fight with Larfleeze. In a comic book. I don't think Controllers even exist in this universe, and I've certainly never met one. So where is this fellow from? "I have need of your service."

"I'm not really a Lantern." I switch Pull's guns back into hands and kneel before the Controller. "But I owe you a great deal already. What can I do for you?"
 
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"Lantern Pull." A translucent apparition I still just about recognise appears near Pull's feet. Humanoid, blank face and blue and red robes. Last time I saw someone like him they were picking a fight with Larfleeze. In a comic book. I don't think Controllers even exist in this universe, and I've certainly never met one. So where is this fellow from? "I have need of your service."

"I'm not really a Lantern." I switch Pull's guns back into hands and kneel before the Controller. "But I owe you a great deal already. What can I do for you?"
I'm really hoping this is Hinon or a Maltusian aligned with the Controllers and not one pretending to be a Controller.
 

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