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He did ask for them to open communications, all the records indicate that. (Almost) every advanced civilization in the Galaxy would have respected that and at least tried to communicate.
Even an American citizen can not just stroll into on of our military bases without prior authorization. If would be like if someone dressed up as a Russian soldier and tried to storm a US military base during the height of the Cold War.
Some won't be "happy", but few governments can complain without it coming off as hypocritical. I suspect that the UN will try drafting something to create their own unified space defense force along with a treaty prohibiting nations from building one, but Lex is so far ahead in space technology that they would probably try and just buy them from him.
I worry more about a military force that is not loyal to any government though. If something happens to Lex, then who would the fleet go to? I would not trust anyone else from taking over the world with it. (heck, I don't exactly trust Lex not to. But he would be more inclined to buy power rather than take it by force.) What sort of "checks and balances" on Lex's behavior are there going to be? This is a whole new level political intrigue for me.
But but but that's the finale and expected best part of the episode
No movement of energy could happen in a 0K environment even if one were possible, so it's not actually possible to design any kind of machine that would operate in one.
I'm pretty sure that the epic boss battle with Mr. Atom was the finale and expected best part of the episode.But but but that's the finale and expected best part of the episode
i think the PRC does, but there's... issues with it killing/eating pilots, from memory- and it's training intensive/ maybe needs interface implants on top of training that'd just be a wasted investment after 1-2 sorties (memory is vague) - id honestly say it barely counts as a warship unless there's a fix for the crew-fatality problem (unless im being stupid and getting my alien fighter craft/starships confused again?) its..well, despite how advanced it might be, a borderline-useless technological dead-end-About 5 seconds after Zoat started writing it.
Grayven's not exactly one to throw stones about being trigger happy.
No movement of energy could happen in a 0K environment even if one were possible, so it's not actually possible to design any kind of machine that would operate in one.
Doesn't China have an operational Durlan ship? And the Hawks definitely have one. And I find it extremely unlikely that the Russians with all their secret programs and the likes of Starfire on their payroll don't have at least an early prototype. And there are a couple dozen metahumans who can operate in space to oppose Lex if they so chose.
So, in short, even by the canon of this story that you yourself have established, yes.
Is it wrong that in my head, I see Lex spinning around in his chair/throne going "wheeeeeeee" the first time opportunity he got when no one was looking?
Maybe childish, but humanity no longer being so dependent on the pants on the outside brigade would be a hell of a trip for him.
It is Anathema to the current forms of life.Actually Lex in New 52 had a few victories, was the new Superman for a while, saved the World and almost became a God. While it sucked for most people, for Lex it was basically awesome.
Then Rebirth happened like five minutes later but.... eh victory is boring.
Read 'Superman: The Black Ring" and then we talk, okay?
Now I demand for Lex Luthor to be replaced by Doctor Evil.
Edit: About the Black Ring, let's face it, a world or universe of eternal bliss would be fun at first then basically kill all life in the universe. Because if you are "happy" no matter what then what motivation you do have to do anything? Life is struggle, life is conflict, life is the pursuit of happiness. To be happy all the time would be the anathema of Life...
NnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
1. Wasn't there a fourth casualty prior to Jordan that pulled OL from his conversation with the Flash?
2. What happened to Red Rocket Red?
Ah, good, we do get the debrief. Thank you, Mr Zoat. And I see Mr Atom is making himself useful.The holoscreen shows a picture of the fully recovered Mr Atom glowing brilliantly, while all around him Geiger counters drop off to near baseline levels of radioactivity. A jump in the recording, and then a video clip of Mr Atom walking around Ozyorsk with three children on his shoulders, the red object built into his chest plate glowing.
"In case you're wondering, that's why the Russian government was happy to let us use the Chelyabinsk Oblast as a staging area."
I shudder at the cost of the indestructible underoos...Superman nods, smiling. He looks a good deal less sunburned than he was yesterday. And a good deal less naked. I've got no idea how his underwear survived and I'm not going to check for some sort of 'censor physics'.
With a fresh CPU and core program. I wonder how that works with AIs. Is he the original reborn or a third model? I suppose a look at his soul would decide..."Um." William raises his right hand. "Is that really Mister Atom?"
"Sort of. After you destroyed the central processor of the original, its remains were taken into custody by the Department of Energy. The Sivanas stole them, studied them and created a design based on them: Mister Atom 2, the giant robot version I saw on Venus. This Mister Atom is the restored original."
Perhaps Reddy can get some ideas for chassis upgrades he'd like. A more human-like shell perhaps?Red Tornado studies the image carefully.
"Another sibling of mine?"
"More of a cousin, but it's the same core technology. Only he uses radiation rather than the classical elements. Oh, and his chassis was build by the Sivanas so it's far more advanced. He did say that he wanted to meet you."
So it was a temper tantrum. One that could have irradiated huge swatches of Russia... More than it already was..."I would like that as well."
William looks a little sceptical. "When I met him he kept going on abut how he was going to rule the world. How exactly did you talk him down?"
"He was only a day old at the time. Artificial intelligences can have a mental sophistication that far outpaces their emotional maturity. He was basically doing the robot equivalent of shouting 'no' when someone tried to feed him vegetables."
10 points for attempting diplomacy, -5 for execution."Oh."
William looks shamefaced. I raise my hands.
"But there's no way you could have known that, and he was still genuinely dangerous. And not sophisticated enough to listen when you tried to talk him down."
True, probably good to encourage methods other than righteous face-punching."I didn't.. try all that hard." He shrugs awkwardly. "Just 'stop', really."
"But you did this time, and that's what you're getting evaluated on."
So many weak points in the plan. I'm guessing he lacked the perspective of a five-year-old child to spot them.I look around at the seated Justice League.
"So, quick summary. The 'mysteriously' revived Mister Atom, aided by Mirror Master and a large number of hirelings, committed a number of high tech thefts around the world. This was to enable him to upgrade himself, build robotic avatars with the powers he had and shield his minions against his powers. Ultimately, his plan was to attack the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Repository with General Lane's access codes and get enough high-grade nuclear material to make himself unbeatable."
Hahaha... Well, that's one way to get them to use their heads, rather than their fists."And thanks to you, he didn't even get close."
Jordan shrugs, only slightly sullenly. And he's been a good sport about wearing the 'Be nice to me, I died today' sticker. "All his help ran off."
Oh-ho, some hard feelings, I see.Mr Queen put his sticker on while insisting that Ms Lance comply with its instruction. Mr Allen noted it and then ignored it, and it's still on the table in front of him. Mr Thal disintegrated it with a tap of her mace when she thought I wasn't watching.
Don't laugh, you may not have read his report on Earth -14, but I'm sure the others did take note of his takedown of the other League."Because you and Flash pressured him into rushing the final stages. The wargame allowed for the villain side to make mistakes as well as the hero side; pressuring someone into making errors is a perfectly viable approach in real life as well. If I'd wanted to throw you up against a flawless opponent you'd have been fighting me."
Guy snorts.
+5 points for each success..."You took down Mister Atom, and apprehended a small number of metahuman mercenaries and a larger number of baseline human robbers." Images of the League's successes appear on the holographic display behind me. "With the Lanterns stabilising all the dust thrown up from Lake Karachay, there wasn't a horrible nuclear incident. General Lane was recovered alive and in one piece. Damage to the locations which the villain team attacked was generally minimised."
-5 for each of these. So a net win, barring the team casualties.I shift that screen to the side.
"You didn't get Mirror Master, and the leader of the metahumans evaded capture along with an indeterminate number of his colleagues. There were quite a few deaths, as a result of their use of short-lived disease weapons and radiation attacks in addition to conventional attacks."
Ah, China... Let's hope it doesn't take a real disaster to shake them out of that bad habit... Their super-functionaries can only do so much.Major Atom points to one image.
"I don't remember us being called in to China."
"The Chinese government elected not to inform the League of the attack in the belief that they could handle it without external intervention. Technically, they were right, though the casualties they suffered would have made it a national tragedy."
A fine balancing act is needed. Or getting more moderate super-functionaries involved in international work.If they would have allowed the news to spread. Sometimes, totalitarianism can be really useful.
"The League has good contact procedures in place, but they rely on the other party actually using them. The League has good reasons for not butting in whenever it feels like it, but sometimes that approach has adverse consequences. And, of course…"
This isn't the first time he's had to point this out, people. Pay attention!Mug shots of Mr Queen, Mr Allen, Ms Thal and Lantern Jordan appear on the screen with red X's over them.
"Four League members died. Green Arrow, from a weaponised disease. Flash, from intense gamma radiation. Hawkwoman, from being repeatedly shot and Lantern Jordan from being shot once. I'm going to suggest that everyone have a look at their personal protective equipment and feed back to Batman, Aquaman or myself with their updated requirements."
Yeah, a passive defence that trips every time he goes supersonic isn't going to be too useful.Mr Allen glances at Mr Queen, who just nods. Clearly deducing that we've already had that conversation, Mr Allen looks my way.
"Have you got anything that would protect us against gamma radiation that strong?"
"Several things. Automatic emergency teleport recall, certain types of force field…" I shrug. "We'd need to test how they interact with your speed, though."
Then again, how many of them would have been useful in that fight anyway? The mages could have stopped or slowed down Mr Atom, yes... But Pointy-Stick-Launcher-man? Man Dressed Like A Bat? yeah...King Orin nods. "We should be able to produce wards against radiation. It's not something Atlantis has needed before now. We don't enrich radioactive materials ourselves, but Mera tells me they can make wards against just about anything now."
"This is especially important because a significant proportion of the Justice League doesn't have superhuman resilience. A lot of you weren't able to participate in the Lake Karachay fight at all because the radiation would have killed you."
I'm guessing that happens a lot after his Leaps. Adrenaline is a hell of a drug...Naturally, I checked everyone who went there over before they went home for the day. The attack which 'killed' Jordan was more simulated than anything, but I didn't like how some of the cells in his skin were behaving. Mr Freeman, Diana and William were fine, as was Major Atom when he reappeared a few hours later during the clean up. Bit of an awkward moment where he nearly attacked Mr Atom, but he realised that things had changed before he followed through on his initial impulse.
Ah, the point-by-point breakdown. We don't need to see this, I think. Especially if it's going to be a powerpoint presentation..."Apart from that, I think the biggest takeaway is that there are plenty of sites storing exotic material you can't easily get to and.. and some cases, don't officially know about. I've got a list-"
The list appears on the 'bad' screen.
"-of things which Mister Atom was able to acquire but not use, and if he'd gone for the long game things would have become quite unpleasant. But since the wargame is over, let's run through everything from the beginning."
...chassis was built by the Sivanas...
Bwhahahahahahha!
Maybe consider "Naturally, I checked over everyone who went there before they went home for the day."?Naturally, I checked everyone who went there over before they went home for the day.
Ah. No, sorry, I wrote that last weekend. When I said that I was going to skip it I meant I was going to skip the full, instance by instance evaluation.Once again, the readers spoke, and Mr Zoat listened. And we thank you for it. Finding out just what the bad guy plan was makes the previous chapters make more sense...
Thank you, corrected.
So it was a temper tantrum. One that could have irradiated huge swatches of Russia... More than it already was...
10 points for attempting diplomacy, -5 for execution.
True, probably good to encourage methods other than righteous face-punching.
For clarity, I'm relatively sure that Captain Marvel was referring to the first incarnation of Mr. Atom, whom he defeated; he's lamenting not communicating better against the original rather than the one from the day prior, and Paul is noting that said original was essentially throwing a tantrum and unreasonable.
Out of everyone here who's the only one that's actually died?"Because you and Flash pressured him into rushing the final stages. The wargame allowed for the villain side to make mistakes as well as the hero side; pressuring someone into making errors is a perfectly viable approach in real life as well. If I'd wanted to throw you up against a flawless opponent you'd have been fighting me."
This is relevant to this fic exactly how?
I sort of suspect that everyone there wanted to smack him. I am a little surprised that Guy didn't.Ugg. I really really want to slap Paul for the Flawless Opponent remark. I kinda feel like most the time I end up wanting to root for whoever he is facing rather then the protagonist.
"The Chinese government elected not to inform the League of the attack in the belief that they could handle it without external intervention. Technically, they were right, though the casualties they suffered would have made it a national tragedy."
If they would have allowed the news to spread. Sometimes, totalitarianism can be really useful.
"The League has good contact procedures in place, but they rely on the other party actually using them. The League has good reasons for not butting in whenever it feels like it, but sometimes that approach has adverse consequences. And, of course…"