Mquz
Versed in the lewd.
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Isn't he dead?
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With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)
- Thread starter Mr Zoat
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- self insert young justice
Chaoswind
Lord of nonsense
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Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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Also because Grayven wasn't dating Beautia.
DAT_NOOB
Accused of writing in a far away land
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a shame really
DeathlessProficiency
Know what you're doing yet?
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*heavy breathing*wHErE iS tHe nExT cHApTeR
Sceptic
Critical Irrationalist
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I ate it. Sorry, but I was hungry.
Mr Zoat
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There isn't enough of a skill overlap for them to collaborate. Also, Renegade Magnificus has had a lot less character progress and is a good deal more abrasive than his SI counterpart.
Conqueror's Moon (part 4)
Mr Zoat
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26th December 2004
20:54 GMT -6
I ignore the sound of military jets overhead. That isn't the first time they've flown over the town, and other warplanes have also been flying a search pattern around my entry point. Someone definitely picked up on my entry, though they didn't spot me specifically. I… Could pick a fight. I doubt that they've got radion weapons-.
Lantern Grayven, I've warned you about that sort of thinking before.
Alright, but statistically. And I've got you. I could grab a pilot or two, follow the trail up the chain of command…
The waitress puts a mango milkshake down next to me.
"Thank you."
I pick up the cup and suck on the straw as I locate the local Wikipedia-analogue and start reading. I'm having a little difficulty with the keyboard as my glamour doesn't actually alter my size. But if I hold my hands close and have Sinestro trigger the keys, it should pass muster.
Lords, Lords…
Ooh, lots of citations needed. Looks like there's been a bit of an edit war here. Ugh. No, the information presented here is worse than what they let me copy from their database. Maybe if I look at their individual pages? Kal-El… Is believed to still be in his Fortress. Batman hasn't been seen-. Ah, apparently he managed to avoid detection by any member of the public last year. John didn't, and there are a few possible sightings…
I open a superhero fansite I remember from my last visit. Confirmed sightings… Most of the ones listed for him have a note saying that it could also be Rayner, which… Yeah, okay, their constructs are the same colour and John's got enough sense not to let people confirm that it's him. One alleged sighting of Diana since the Lords' break up… Possible. Nothing on Shayera, J'onn is almost certainly still on Mars-. Important point is, they haven't been captured or killed.
Stormwatch… Ah, Kara In-Ze has switched to a black and yellow costume, the 'S' of House El replaced with what looks like an inverted 'A'. In kryptonian society, yellow meant 'synergy' or 'cooperation', while black meant 'it doesn't show the dirt'. I… Assume that she's trying to separate herself from Kal-El's 'brand'. I've got no idea what House Ze's emblem is. I suppose there's no reason why it couldn't be an inverted 'A'. Apparently, she's making her home in Metropolis these days, though it's been a little while since anyone's seen her out and about. Huh. Maybe she went with Scott to wherever he went?
Actually, the colour scheme puts me in mind of Adom.
The others seem more or less the same. I'm not going to risk looking up William Batson on a public computer, but-.
Oh.
They kept the youths.
Stretch, Brute, Char and… Metallica. Lynne's fellow inmates are now… Sidekicks? Wards? Of Stormwatch. I'd be curious to know whether they have civilian identities. Thinking.. about it, I suppose that they're not much younger than Kara. Certainly, they're older than William. I… Honestly haven't given them a thought since…
Hm.
Do.. I.. look up mys-oh who am I kidding?
Ah, some good pictures. Little bit of video… Sound quality's a bit patchy. Maybe I should see about taking public speaking lessons? Nothing public about another version of me or any more recent sightings, so my alter-ego isn't on Earth yet. Scott and Barda said that they went to meet him… But they don't have the same formal relationship with Earth's governments that the League back home do. At least, they didn't when I left. They certainly wouldn't be obliged to report a rampaging Apokoliptian warlord to the general public.
Thanagar, what do people know about them? Do people know-? Hm, several sites mention that the device which was going to destroy the Earth was intended to transport their fleet, but there doesn't appear to be anything concrete about exactly what happened to them afterwards. Or the people they were attacking or being attacked by.
I suck down more of my milkshake. It's so nice to have proper plastic straws and not those weird paper ones.
Ugh. Getting in contact with Stormwatch would be so easy. Ring-to-ring communication with Rayner, ultra-high frequency message to get Kara's attention… I've got Thanagarian communication protocols which should let me communicate directly with their ship. But it's still a sub-par option. My disguise will not stand up to examination by Scott, Barda, or Zatanna.
Find the Lords…
Richard could probably get me back in touch. And I suspect -quick search, yes, he's still around- that Timothy could as well. Richard… Might buy 'I want to make sure that my brother is alright', but it's probably best not to risk it. Alfred Pennyworth-. Oh. He's dead. Shiera didn't really have human friends outside of her team mates, John spent a decade off Earth as a Lantern and rather fell out of contact…
Themyscira or Mars? I did give J'onn some long ranged communication equipment when we last spoke, but there's no guarantee that the Lords will be responding promptly. On the other hand, Themyscira doesn't even have that. But at this point Diana 50 will have either gone totally mental or she'll have sorted herself out. And if she's wigged out completely, that's probably worth knowing about as well. Not that I think it would come as a surprise to Batman, but I don't want to get blindsided by a desperate demigoddess.
Al.. right. Nearly time to get moving. Does Stormwatch have an e-mail address? Well, there's the name of a press agency. It's better than nothing, I suppose.
Dear Stormwatch, nice to see that you're all doing well. Thought I'd stop by to make sure that my alter-ego wasn't making a nuisance of himself. You know how to get hold of me. Yours faithfully, Grayven 16.
Yes, that should do it. I down the rest of my milkshake, pay at the desk, and step outside. Using a boom tube out in the open risks blowing my disguise since it can't be reconfigured on the fly. But there's a convenient alleyway, and a quick construct will prevent the security camera from reporting my presence. Around the back, no one looking-.
Lantern Grayven, an… Alternative, has arisen.
Oh yes, what's that?
A mining ship called the Hockalint is broadcasting a distress call not far from this system. They appear to have tripped over a vein of unrefined Nth metal.
That's worth grabbing, but I'm not sure how it helps.
It seems that the Lords are trying to regain their humanitarian credentials. They answered. The source is a dumb drone, but the transmission appears to be recent.
Heh. Teach me not to over think things. I take off my ward.
Fine, open a boom tube to wherever the Hockalint ended up. I'll lend a hand, if the Lords aren't already finished.
Very well.
Boom!
Arms confidently folded behind my back, I stride through the portal-
-and jerk my head back as a powerful white-blue plasma bolt burns past my face!
Armour and what? I rise into the air as some sort of mobile anti-air platform opens fire at a target above me. It's.. Shayera, who's ducking and weaving-.
The fusion cannon on my right arm fires, blasting through the force field and armour protecting the AA emplacement and incinerating both the gun and the crew. I shoot upwards on my aero discs, a construct shield soaking a smattering of plasma bolts fired by the attacking infantry.
Shayera slows her movements as I approach.
"Grayven?"
"Hey there. Feels like it's been months. Who are-?"
A flight of thanagarian soldiers rises up out of the jungle.
20:54 GMT -6
I ignore the sound of military jets overhead. That isn't the first time they've flown over the town, and other warplanes have also been flying a search pattern around my entry point. Someone definitely picked up on my entry, though they didn't spot me specifically. I… Could pick a fight. I doubt that they've got radion weapons-.
Lantern Grayven, I've warned you about that sort of thinking before.
Alright, but statistically. And I've got you. I could grab a pilot or two, follow the trail up the chain of command…
The waitress puts a mango milkshake down next to me.
"Thank you."
I pick up the cup and suck on the straw as I locate the local Wikipedia-analogue and start reading. I'm having a little difficulty with the keyboard as my glamour doesn't actually alter my size. But if I hold my hands close and have Sinestro trigger the keys, it should pass muster.
Lords, Lords…
Ooh, lots of citations needed. Looks like there's been a bit of an edit war here. Ugh. No, the information presented here is worse than what they let me copy from their database. Maybe if I look at their individual pages? Kal-El… Is believed to still be in his Fortress. Batman hasn't been seen-. Ah, apparently he managed to avoid detection by any member of the public last year. John didn't, and there are a few possible sightings…
I open a superhero fansite I remember from my last visit. Confirmed sightings… Most of the ones listed for him have a note saying that it could also be Rayner, which… Yeah, okay, their constructs are the same colour and John's got enough sense not to let people confirm that it's him. One alleged sighting of Diana since the Lords' break up… Possible. Nothing on Shayera, J'onn is almost certainly still on Mars-. Important point is, they haven't been captured or killed.
Stormwatch… Ah, Kara In-Ze has switched to a black and yellow costume, the 'S' of House El replaced with what looks like an inverted 'A'. In kryptonian society, yellow meant 'synergy' or 'cooperation', while black meant 'it doesn't show the dirt'. I… Assume that she's trying to separate herself from Kal-El's 'brand'. I've got no idea what House Ze's emblem is. I suppose there's no reason why it couldn't be an inverted 'A'. Apparently, she's making her home in Metropolis these days, though it's been a little while since anyone's seen her out and about. Huh. Maybe she went with Scott to wherever he went?
Actually, the colour scheme puts me in mind of Adom.
The others seem more or less the same. I'm not going to risk looking up William Batson on a public computer, but-.
Oh.
They kept the youths.
Stretch, Brute, Char and… Metallica. Lynne's fellow inmates are now… Sidekicks? Wards? Of Stormwatch. I'd be curious to know whether they have civilian identities. Thinking.. about it, I suppose that they're not much younger than Kara. Certainly, they're older than William. I… Honestly haven't given them a thought since…
Hm.
Do.. I.. look up mys-oh who am I kidding?
Ah, some good pictures. Little bit of video… Sound quality's a bit patchy. Maybe I should see about taking public speaking lessons? Nothing public about another version of me or any more recent sightings, so my alter-ego isn't on Earth yet. Scott and Barda said that they went to meet him… But they don't have the same formal relationship with Earth's governments that the League back home do. At least, they didn't when I left. They certainly wouldn't be obliged to report a rampaging Apokoliptian warlord to the general public.
Thanagar, what do people know about them? Do people know-? Hm, several sites mention that the device which was going to destroy the Earth was intended to transport their fleet, but there doesn't appear to be anything concrete about exactly what happened to them afterwards. Or the people they were attacking or being attacked by.
I suck down more of my milkshake. It's so nice to have proper plastic straws and not those weird paper ones.
Ugh. Getting in contact with Stormwatch would be so easy. Ring-to-ring communication with Rayner, ultra-high frequency message to get Kara's attention… I've got Thanagarian communication protocols which should let me communicate directly with their ship. But it's still a sub-par option. My disguise will not stand up to examination by Scott, Barda, or Zatanna.
Find the Lords…
Richard could probably get me back in touch. And I suspect -quick search, yes, he's still around- that Timothy could as well. Richard… Might buy 'I want to make sure that my brother is alright', but it's probably best not to risk it. Alfred Pennyworth-. Oh. He's dead. Shiera didn't really have human friends outside of her team mates, John spent a decade off Earth as a Lantern and rather fell out of contact…
Themyscira or Mars? I did give J'onn some long ranged communication equipment when we last spoke, but there's no guarantee that the Lords will be responding promptly. On the other hand, Themyscira doesn't even have that. But at this point Diana 50 will have either gone totally mental or she'll have sorted herself out. And if she's wigged out completely, that's probably worth knowing about as well. Not that I think it would come as a surprise to Batman, but I don't want to get blindsided by a desperate demigoddess.
Al.. right. Nearly time to get moving. Does Stormwatch have an e-mail address? Well, there's the name of a press agency. It's better than nothing, I suppose.
Dear Stormwatch, nice to see that you're all doing well. Thought I'd stop by to make sure that my alter-ego wasn't making a nuisance of himself. You know how to get hold of me. Yours faithfully, Grayven 16.
Yes, that should do it. I down the rest of my milkshake, pay at the desk, and step outside. Using a boom tube out in the open risks blowing my disguise since it can't be reconfigured on the fly. But there's a convenient alleyway, and a quick construct will prevent the security camera from reporting my presence. Around the back, no one looking-.
Lantern Grayven, an… Alternative, has arisen.
Oh yes, what's that?
A mining ship called the Hockalint is broadcasting a distress call not far from this system. They appear to have tripped over a vein of unrefined Nth metal.
That's worth grabbing, but I'm not sure how it helps.
It seems that the Lords are trying to regain their humanitarian credentials. They answered. The source is a dumb drone, but the transmission appears to be recent.
Heh. Teach me not to over think things. I take off my ward.
Fine, open a boom tube to wherever the Hockalint ended up. I'll lend a hand, if the Lords aren't already finished.
Very well.
Boom!
Arms confidently folded behind my back, I stride through the portal-
-and jerk my head back as a powerful white-blue plasma bolt burns past my face!
Armour and what? I rise into the air as some sort of mobile anti-air platform opens fire at a target above me. It's.. Shayera, who's ducking and weaving-.
The fusion cannon on my right arm fires, blasting through the force field and armour protecting the AA emplacement and incinerating both the gun and the crew. I shoot upwards on my aero discs, a construct shield soaking a smattering of plasma bolts fired by the attacking infantry.
Shayera slows her movements as I approach.
"Grayven?"
"Hey there. Feels like it's been months. Who are-?"
A flight of thanagarian soldiers rises up out of the jungle.
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thebishop8
Umm, ackchyually...
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Remove the if.
Remove the my I think, though I'm not sure what Gravyen is trying to say here.
*They
Oh, I just checked the Justice League Unlimited episode list. The episode Hunter's Moon is the one where Thanagarians try to take revenge on Hawkgirl.
zerofarad
Know what you're doing yet?
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Perhaps "close" or "close by"?
Just "months"?
DeathlessProficiency
Know what you're doing yet?
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Wasn't there an episode about this, in JLU? Angry thanagarians ambush Hawkwoman and the League for fucking up their space public transit plot. Damn urbanists.
Chojin Patriarch
Veteran Lurker
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Now, now, Grayven...
Exactly.
Heh. The joy of giant hands.
One bonus, at least. Good to see the Guardians have someone on site.
Could be worse. She could have gone for white with gold trim.
I hope they're not actively fighting crime, or is it a 'junior team' in the sense that people see them hanging around the team and assume so?
Who wouldn't?
Double-space.
Or he could have taken both prisoner... Depends on their last public sighting.
I know, right? Those paper ones feel so weird...
Sad about Alfred. No doubt he was disappointed in Bruce.
That's never fun.
Heh. Bets it gets binned as crank mail?
I'm surprised Thanagarians want anything to do with Earth space. Then again, 'not far' is relative...
It's a trap! [/Ackbar]
Dammit, Grayven, never walk in blind without loading for bear!
Seeing him shrug that off should buff his Yellow aura from their fear.
No time to talk, birdbrains to smite!
Well, straight into the thick of it, eh? Least he got a nice milkshake before the excrement went fanwards.
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Sceptic
Critical Irrationalist
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Are those paper ones a thing in Earth 16, or were they already a big thing as of when you started the story? It seems a little odd for him to focus on that if neither of those are actually the case.
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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Thank you, corrected.
Common on Earth 16. I only encountered one for the first time recently. Attached to a plastic cup.
Handlewithcare
Versed in the lewd.
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They probably tried to do the right thing, Sinestro frames it in utilatarian terms and the Thanagarians set a trap for them. I feel a bit sorry for the Lords.
Sceptic
Critical Irrationalist
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They seem almost designed to be terrible. Mine lasted about halfway through my long island iced tea before it started blocking itself.
Mquz
Versed in the lewd.
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Definetely not the second.
Mquz
Versed in the lewd.
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Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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In the comics, every drop of Lobo's blood is capable of regenerating into a copy of him. One such copy (kicknamed 'Slobo') joined the Young Justice team in the comics.
rdfox
Know what you're doing yet?
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Belated, but... was it just me, or did anyone else get completely the wrong impression from that line, given where we're now hosted?
Coda
Versed in the lewd.
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No, he can't. The question was asked already -- Dolmen gates require a persistent magical connection between the endpoints, and subspace is a pocket dimension so that would break the connection. (That's also why Dolmen gates have a range limitation outside of Earth's thaumic field.)
Pinklestia
Well worn.
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Does Grayven still have his orange power ring?
Lord Ernest
At the End...
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He even has an Orange Lantern Corps made up of Tamaraneans, so of course.
thebishop8
Umm, ackchyually...
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He technically used it last chapter:
So, shouldn't Earth 50 have its own version of Paul? One who started off as Peter Wynn just like Earth 12? I wonder what happened to him, especially with Superman inclined to lobotomize the super-villains Peter would try to recruit. On the other hand, I don't think every universe got its own Paul.
Zig
Not too sore, are you?
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That's a tough one. 50 diverged from 12 pretty late, and given how early Paul showed up in 12, he probably would have butterflied Flash's death. So if 50 does have it's own Paul, when did he show up? Right during the diverging event? That would probably still lead to some butterflying so that the 50 we saw would be totally different than what it was in canon.
Prince Charon
Just zis guy, you know?
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Ah, yes. A nice reminder that he was in the habit of using modified versions of the original episodes' titles. I'd nearly forgotten that because of how far past the alternate Season One we are, in terms of real time.
... OK, that's silly. It's like they're trying to look green on the cheap, and making an incredibly, pathetically weak effort at it.
Impartial Panic
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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It had one of Nathan Fillion's more amusing lines as Vigilante
Darn-sung, dang-busted, horse-thievin', alien control panel which can't nobody work proper!
They are just having a shit year, get their butts kicked on earth, Lose their home world and now this.
These guys are going though a conga line of fail that would give the Deep a run for his money.
hkim
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I doubt he's done either, really.
Conqueror's Moon (part 5)
Mr Zoat
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26th December 2004
21:03 GMT -6
Heh.
Heh. He-.
No, no, wait, I've been here before.
"Just in case, these guys don't have radion-?"
"Which Grayven?"
"The one with the-" I hold my right fist in her direction. "-yellow ring? The one who fixed your bones? Grayven Sixteen?"
She nods, and lets out a relieved breath.
"This is what's left of the Thanagarian Resistance."
The flight of soldiers grow closer. Seven of them, armed in the same way as the marines I killed when I overran the bridge of the Thanagarian Mothership.
"This many? I think I know who wins the title of 'Best Grayven'. But seriously, radion weapons?"
"They haven't fired any at me."
We both smile. Ah…
"And why are they shooting at-"
The first soldier swings his mace through my construct, smashing it asunder as he continues his upwards charge.
"-you?"
She brandishes her own mace. "How about we deal with them first?"
"Alright. Are we taking them alive, or-?"
She dives, viffing in the air to take hold of the shaft of the first soldier's mace with her left hand in order to turn aside his swing while her swing takes him in the unarmoured flank. There's a crack as the entire lower part of his torso skips sideways while still being tenuously connected to his upper torso and legs.
…
Okay, I can work with-.
"It's the Praetor!"
Again?
Lantern Grayven, I would be less quick to complain about how your enemies hand you victory.
Fine, I can work with this. My fusion cannon construct shrinks slightly as I refine the confinement beam to create more precise shots. Shayera meanwhile uses her first opponent's corpse as a temporary shield to block shots from the rest of his squad then thrusts it at the gunman on the left. He struggles to stow his gun to catch his late colleague, giving Shayera the room to turn her dive into a swoop and mace him in the side of the head. His nth metal helmet takes the blow reasonably well, but he falls bonelessly out of the air a moment later as she follows up with a smash to his right wing.
And then I fire, shooting the gunman on the right through the neck and neatly severing his head from his shoulders. And another and another. The remaining three get a clue and turn to flee, dropping face first towards the forest canopy, madly flapping for it.
A mechanical claw construct constricts the lead soldier and yanks her back towards us, the others slowing for a moment to look on in horror, and as such being too distracted to evade Shayera's diving swing.
"HhhhhhhhhAYAH!"
I wince slightly, then dismiss my fusion cannon as my new victim comes closer.
"Hello there." I smile politely. "Did you send a fake distress signal?"
And she's panting in terror. Un.. productive.
Shayera takes a moment to check that her falling former compatriots are really dead and then flies back up towards me.
"What brought you here?"
"I think that my brother might have done something unwise regarding my alter-ego. I wanted to make sure that he was alright." I gesture to my prisoner with my right hand. "You want this one for anything?"
"Not right now, but keep her with you."
"Alright, so, bring me up to speed."
"The other Grayven won. The ships we sent back reached Thanagar just in time to pick up escape pods from the Thanagarian fleet as the gordanian fleet took up position to start landing troops." She looks around. "This planet is on the edge of what used to be the Thanagarian Empire. It was being built up as a staging area before it was abandoned due to the war starting. They've been using it as a base of operations."
"So… No 'Hockalint'?"
She smiles ruefully. "You caught that too?"
"And your response. Jolly generous of you, considering."
"Beats going stir-crazy on the Watchtower."
"Are any of the other Lords here?" I look around, bringing my goggles out of subspace. Ah. There's definitely a subterranean base here, but it's shielded against New God technology and I can't get a clear look. No other troops are approaching our position. "I was hoping to have a chat."
"Diana's here somewhere. We were separated when they sprung their trap."
"Diana's back with the team? Is that… Entirely…"
"She didn't do anything the rest of us didn't. And.. she's… Changed more."
I frown at her and scan the surrounding landscape. "The lack of explosions and plumes of earth was a bit of a giveaway there. Are we hanging around or going back to Earth?"
She crosses her arms. "We're not leaving Diana."
"I didn't mean-."
"Lantern Grayven, a Thanagarian Command Carrier has just entered orbit. You may wish to take cover."
I raise my left eyebrow. "The fighters will take minutes to arrive at best, and its primary weapons aren't good at penetrating an atmosphere."
Shayera frowns. "I didn't know there were any Command Carriers left. Apart from-."
The sky blurs, trees explode into pulverised chips around me as I'm slammed into the ground! Through the clouds I see the glow-
"Warning: will detected."
-of someone-. Of Rayner using a construct to attack Shayera while my head is violently turned from left to right and back again by someone pounding on my faceplate.
I create an inverted pile driver construct in the ground beneath me and fire it, sending me hurtling into the air and knocking whoever that was-. Ah, Batson. Off me for a moment before he turns in the air and blurs after me.
But this time I'm ready. A sonic cannon combined with a vertigo inducer forms on my right hand and fires. Batson's eyes widen and he's forced to evade, his flight slightly unsteady as the intense sound wave tears a swath through the forest below us. Another construct releases a cloud of noxious gas around him, but he seems-.
"That won't work again, Grayven. And I can cope with the sound!"
"Then I suppose I'll have to do this the old fashioned-"
I take a purple death ray out of subspace and shoot him with it.
"-way."
21:03 GMT -6
Heh.
Heh. He-.
No, no, wait, I've been here before.
"Just in case, these guys don't have radion-?"
"Which Grayven?"
"The one with the-" I hold my right fist in her direction. "-yellow ring? The one who fixed your bones? Grayven Sixteen?"
She nods, and lets out a relieved breath.
"This is what's left of the Thanagarian Resistance."
The flight of soldiers grow closer. Seven of them, armed in the same way as the marines I killed when I overran the bridge of the Thanagarian Mothership.
"This many? I think I know who wins the title of 'Best Grayven'. But seriously, radion weapons?"
"They haven't fired any at me."
We both smile. Ah…
"And why are they shooting at-"
The first soldier swings his mace through my construct, smashing it asunder as he continues his upwards charge.
"-you?"
She brandishes her own mace. "How about we deal with them first?"
"Alright. Are we taking them alive, or-?"
She dives, viffing in the air to take hold of the shaft of the first soldier's mace with her left hand in order to turn aside his swing while her swing takes him in the unarmoured flank. There's a crack as the entire lower part of his torso skips sideways while still being tenuously connected to his upper torso and legs.
…
Okay, I can work with-.
"It's the Praetor!"
Again?
Lantern Grayven, I would be less quick to complain about how your enemies hand you victory.
Fine, I can work with this. My fusion cannon construct shrinks slightly as I refine the confinement beam to create more precise shots. Shayera meanwhile uses her first opponent's corpse as a temporary shield to block shots from the rest of his squad then thrusts it at the gunman on the left. He struggles to stow his gun to catch his late colleague, giving Shayera the room to turn her dive into a swoop and mace him in the side of the head. His nth metal helmet takes the blow reasonably well, but he falls bonelessly out of the air a moment later as she follows up with a smash to his right wing.
And then I fire, shooting the gunman on the right through the neck and neatly severing his head from his shoulders. And another and another. The remaining three get a clue and turn to flee, dropping face first towards the forest canopy, madly flapping for it.
A mechanical claw construct constricts the lead soldier and yanks her back towards us, the others slowing for a moment to look on in horror, and as such being too distracted to evade Shayera's diving swing.
"HhhhhhhhhAYAH!"
I wince slightly, then dismiss my fusion cannon as my new victim comes closer.
"Hello there." I smile politely. "Did you send a fake distress signal?"
And she's panting in terror. Un.. productive.
Shayera takes a moment to check that her falling former compatriots are really dead and then flies back up towards me.
"What brought you here?"
"I think that my brother might have done something unwise regarding my alter-ego. I wanted to make sure that he was alright." I gesture to my prisoner with my right hand. "You want this one for anything?"
"Not right now, but keep her with you."
"Alright, so, bring me up to speed."
"The other Grayven won. The ships we sent back reached Thanagar just in time to pick up escape pods from the Thanagarian fleet as the gordanian fleet took up position to start landing troops." She looks around. "This planet is on the edge of what used to be the Thanagarian Empire. It was being built up as a staging area before it was abandoned due to the war starting. They've been using it as a base of operations."
"So… No 'Hockalint'?"
She smiles ruefully. "You caught that too?"
"And your response. Jolly generous of you, considering."
"Beats going stir-crazy on the Watchtower."
"Are any of the other Lords here?" I look around, bringing my goggles out of subspace. Ah. There's definitely a subterranean base here, but it's shielded against New God technology and I can't get a clear look. No other troops are approaching our position. "I was hoping to have a chat."
"Diana's here somewhere. We were separated when they sprung their trap."
"Diana's back with the team? Is that… Entirely…"
"She didn't do anything the rest of us didn't. And.. she's… Changed more."
I frown at her and scan the surrounding landscape. "The lack of explosions and plumes of earth was a bit of a giveaway there. Are we hanging around or going back to Earth?"
She crosses her arms. "We're not leaving Diana."
"I didn't mean-."
"Lantern Grayven, a Thanagarian Command Carrier has just entered orbit. You may wish to take cover."
I raise my left eyebrow. "The fighters will take minutes to arrive at best, and its primary weapons aren't good at penetrating an atmosphere."
Shayera frowns. "I didn't know there were any Command Carriers left. Apart from-."
The sky blurs, trees explode into pulverised chips around me as I'm slammed into the ground! Through the clouds I see the glow-
"Warning: will detected."
-of someone-. Of Rayner using a construct to attack Shayera while my head is violently turned from left to right and back again by someone pounding on my faceplate.
I create an inverted pile driver construct in the ground beneath me and fire it, sending me hurtling into the air and knocking whoever that was-. Ah, Batson. Off me for a moment before he turns in the air and blurs after me.
But this time I'm ready. A sonic cannon combined with a vertigo inducer forms on my right hand and fires. Batson's eyes widen and he's forced to evade, his flight slightly unsteady as the intense sound wave tears a swath through the forest below us. Another construct releases a cloud of noxious gas around him, but he seems-.
"That won't work again, Grayven. And I can cope with the sound!"
"Then I suppose I'll have to do this the old fashioned-"
I take a purple death ray out of subspace and shoot him with it.
"-way."
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