And the others should be able to handle most things.
I plot course and accelerate, space bending and stars blurring. I've gotten a little out of practice in using this sort of faster than light travel, but it should only take a few-.
You hope the others will be able to handle things, anyway. With multiple Lanterns, kryptonians and Marvel Family members on-site, you'd expect so.
Geh!
A few seconds unless someone puts an interdiction field up in a system that didn't have one half an hour ago. It didn't kill me, but that's mostly because my environmental shield is rather good at holding my body together. Peering in-system shows me… Mother of Mercy is… Moving around Timaron, and… There are ships on the far side of the planet. Looks like they're trying to keep it between her and them. Most of the ships look like they could have come from anywhere, but that one is definitely Dominion.
I expect she could casually disable any ships she gets line-of-sight to, but she's not used to working beyond-the-horizon. Hence why they aren't crippled hulks already.
What are they doing here?
The space around Mother of Mercy seems clear at least, so I
And there's more than enough space on her surface for a space greediport. Even if they were bombarding her, she's still a
planet. There's not enough ships
anywhere to burn every part simultaneously.
step out, homing in on the giant beacon of orange
before emerging at the base of the solar collector I was sitting under earlier.
Since you know she can communicate there without expending Ring charge (And it would save the animators making a new background.)
"Lantern Mother of Mercy. Update."
"It appears that there was a Dominion spatial gate under the crust of Timaron. They have exposed it and brought forth a fleet.
Huh. Under the crust? That must have been sitting there for a
long time. Like, say, the aftermath of the Burning when the planetary plates would still have been settling.
"Shouldn't you have detected it?"
"While inactive, it simply read as an area of dense matter. It did not stand out."
Ah, there's their cold gate. And no doubt it made
quite the mess when it reactivated, blowing any material above it skywards...
"Why aren't they leaving?"
"They dispatched a larger fleet towards Xudar. I assume that they are intending to recover them before returning home."
A quick smash-and-grab run, then. This fleet to hold their escape route. Too bad they look to have bit off more than they could chew.
"They've got an interdiction field around the system and they're jamming power ring communications. Any idea what's happening on Xudar?"
"No."
Damn. So OL's going to have to risk greediporting over there. Unless he wants to try to find an uninterdicted FTL method or waste time flying out of system.
"Current location of their gate?"
"It is attached to the hull of their large ship."
Presumably for safekeeping. With the ship hauling it willing to make a suicide play to protect the rest of the fleet's exit.
"Lantern Tomar-Re?"
"He is escorting observers and other civilians to safety. The Dominion fleet sent pursuers, but only in sufficient quantity to force him to remain."
Not about to risk word getting out, I see. Not until
after the work is done.
Tomar-Re might be a veteran, but he isn't exactly a high-flier. Maintaining a shield around civilian ships against the sort of firepower which Dominion client state ships can throw out and dragging those ships to the edge of the interdiction field may well be the limit of his abilities.
To be fair, three-eight-one-three isn't exactly a hotbed of challenges for him to grind his skills on.
"Keep chasing their fleet. I'll aid Lantern Tomar-Re."
"As you command."
Round and round the burnt cinder they fly...
Tomar-Re is also
rather obvious, his desires to protect his charges
visible despite the green. I take a look at his shield and energy pulses… The ships don't look too damaged and he himself is fighting fit.
Playing conservatively, I see. He knows his limits and is staying within them.
"Illustres to Lantern Tomar-Re. Do we need prisoners?"
"It would be preferable. They are likely conscripts. The Dominion-."
"Understood."
And he
is a space-cop, so lethal force is his last preference, if at all. And being able to ask them 'what the fuck is going on' afterwards will help. Not that I expect them to know anything more than 'we was told to do this.'
I brute force transition towards the closest ship and use a crumbler ram to batter a hole in its shields before flying inside the envelope. Stabilise my velocity relative to the hull. Then send out a swarm of giant wrench constructs and twist the manoeuvring thrusters off the hull.
I bet that transition hurts under the interdiction. Which probably explains his
aggressive disabling of their ship.
I see the sudden burst of fear from the ship's bridge. Is that for me, or just a response to their ship being damaged? Doesn't matter. Crumbler ram through the hull, find an internal communications line…
"Orange Lantern to ship. Power down main thrust, shields and weapons, or I'll deactivate your power plant by tearing it out of your ship. You have-."
Ah, OL. Always so good at making the enemy soil their spacesuits. I wonder if Sinestro would ever say 'You would make a
fine Corpsman.'
Main thrust shuts down almost immediately.
"Thank you."
Well, that was
satisfyingly reasonable.
I turn to the next closest ship, which… Has dropped off the stern chase and is trying to target me with its flack. Brute force transition, smack with the construct crumbler and smack again to make a large hole in the hull.
"Feeling lucky? Shut down or else."
I can see he's starting to get annoyed by their resistance.
I don't see the pulse of fear, but all aggressive systems power down a moment later.
The next ship… Is already turning away from the civilian vessels, as is the rest of the flotilla.
Wonder if they were ordered to break off if he showed up, or if this is a perfectly understandable 'oh shit' moment from them.
"Thank you."
"I suspect this is happening because of me, so don't worry about it."
Maybe not you directly, but all this is happening because... I don't even remember
why he started this whole questline, really.
"I agreed. I will escort these ships to safety and then return to take the crew that surrendered to you into custody."
"Do you want me to attack their fleet here, or fly on to Xudar?"
Because the former probably won't take long. At best, chase them into range of Mother of Mercy's abilities and let her pull them down.
"Xudar. There are no further innocents at risk here, whereas-."
"Understood."
And It's where he'd rather be anyway.
I take a moment to watch the ships flying back in-system. There's not really anything to stop them turning around the moment I leave, so I should probably hurry them on their way. I generate a simple but effective faster than light projectile cannon construct, charge, warp spacetime and fire.
Just a 'keep running, boys.' to keep them from getting any ideas about pressing their luck once he's gone.
It doesn't pierce their shields, but it does hit with enough force to make them flare and knocks the ship slightly sideways. Thrusters flare as they recover, but they and a couple of the other ships accelerate just a little harder afterwards.
Good.
the satisfaction of a job well done. On to the next objective.
Now, I still don't want to risk appearing in a place that may be under fire. Not without a spare body on-hand. I mean, I've left records on what to do lodged with the League but I'm a little worried that they'll just hold a funeral or something unhelpful like that.
Is anyone..?
At this stage, he might well get killed and simply go 'I am not dying
today, thank you' and instantly respawn in a fresh body, Rings and all.
Ah, good, Kon and Arisia are outside of the system. I
step out, homing in on their desires before
returning to normal space.
On their way back from the empireth homeworld, I see. Hopefully with useful information that can help disable Lyla quickly and safely.
"Hi-"
Arisia spins around and hefts a hammer construct for a moment before recognising me.
"-guys. What have I missed?"
To be fair, that's probably a fair reaction to him suddenly appearing, especially since she isn't as used to it as Kon is.
