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

Reader mode
Mr Zoat said:
Because planets are big.

Like, really big.

You might think it's a long way from your house to the supermarket, but that's peanuts compared to a planet.

It has been stated at least once that the only way to stop telekinetic FTL is with a more powerful telekine, and Mr Blake still hasn't recovered from his ordeal on Citadel Complex.

Thank you, corrected.
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It wasn't all that obvious that you were talking about moving the planet rather than using it for something located on the planet.

So is TK in this story one of those "can only be done by something alive because souls and/or arcane bullshit" things?
If so, it's time for a space whale super psychic g-gnome with a brain the size of a bus that feeds on sunlight like the g-sprites. Would also be a nice hard counter to Star Conquerors.
Or just steal warship designs from the Martians.
 
Sockmonkey said:
It wasn't all that obvious that you were talking about moving the planet rather than using it for something located on the planet.
.
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I picked up on it from the followup clarifying. If an alien fleet is coming for the planet you need to either have a fleet-wall good enough to shield it, an actual shield around it, or you need to be able to move the planet out of the way. As it stands Earth does not have the fleet necessary to prevent a "zerg-rush" on the planet, and even once it gets started will take a while to be good *enough* to stop it fully if their goal is to hit Earth hard rather than politely stopping to fight the fleet before doing so. Grayven is carefully avoiding saying this out loud.
 
Ganurath said:
So... they're Clanners from Battletech, but with psychic powers. Lovely.
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Not just psychic powers.

The nobles like Maxima and Ultraa also enjoy enhanced strength, speed, and durability.

Maxima traded blows with Doomsday, and Ultraa beat Captain Atom unconscious.

Although I suspect there aren't many assassins from the noble classes, most nobles being busy nobling and all.
 
Stsword said:
Although I suspect there aren't many assassins from the noble classes, most nobles being busy nobling and all.
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Depends what you mean by 'nobling'. There isn't a ruling class served by their augmented subjects. Everyone has some degree of augmentations. In theory, any of their augmented warrior elite could function as assassins, though in their culture that lacks the pejorative connotations that it was in ours.
 
If Grayven, the being living on Earth, moved the OLC to Earth (or just the system) where he lived they wouldn't have to worry about the safety of the place.
 
Making a ship that uses Stellar/Star Energy wouldn't be that expensive; making a whole fleet it would be. If one ship was made in the forties with a professor research budget, even if it tooks decades to make and was unfinished... I think the problem is that they are Warships.

Funny enough ot would be actually cheaper to make Androids that use Stellar power than Stellar powered Warships, the problem would be the Androids not reveling.
 
Grimnar said:
Holy fuck, OL used to really Psychic. What happened to that? There were points early on where he picked up non telepaths thinking really loudly.
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Psi-baffles. He's trained to protect his mind against hostile intrusion, which has the side effect of blocking out unsolicited psychic information.

hkim said:
Did you just quote yourself?
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I mean, why not, if you need to call back to something you said before?
 
Oh by the by for those of you who don't read the comics, Zoat's Almerac and their genetic engineering is a result of Zoat's distaste for the No Biochemical Barriers trope in fiction.

In the comics, the Almeracan powers aren't the result of genetic engineering, but eugenics. Maxima is the result of thousands of generations of selective breeding taking advantage of the fact that DC writers apparently don't understand the definition of species. Her telepathy, telekinesis, magnokinesis, invulnerability, speed, strength, durability, and teleportation could all come from different planets the Almeracan empire conquered, or a hybrid vigor effect from abilities being cumulative for whatever reason.

Almerac is basically the genetic equivalent of the Borg. "We will add your biological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile."

When Superman turned her down, she's made offers to Aquaman (so adding amphibiousness and marine telepathy into the mix), Captain Atom (quantum powers), Amazing Man (Energy absorption and matter duplication ala Absorbing Man), and in the cartoons made eyes at Lobo (massive healing factor).
 
Stsword said:
Oh by the by for those of you who don't read the comics, Zoat's Almerac and their genetic engineering is a result of Zoat's distaste for the No Biochemical Barriers trope in fiction.

In the comics, the Almeracan powers aren't the result of genetic engineering, but eugenics. Maxima is the result of thousands of generations of selective breeding taking advantage of the fact that DC writers apparently don't understand the definition of species. Her telepathy, telekinesis, magnokinesis, invulnerability, speed, strength, durability, and teleportation could all come from different planets the Almeracan empire conquered, or a hybrid vigor effect from abilities being cumulative for whatever reason.

Almerac is basically the genetic equivalent of the Borg. "We will add your biological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile."

When Superman turned her down, she's made offers to Aquaman (so adding amphibiousness and marine telepathy into the mix), Captain Atom (quantum powers), Amazing Man (Energy absorption and matter duplication ala Absorbing Man), and in the cartoons made eyes at Lobo (massive healing factor).
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Yeah, but in some media it makes sense. Why is everyone humanoid? In Doctor Who it's because the Time Lords made everyone look like them by genetically seeding themselves everywhere. In Mass Effect it's because Protheans. In DC it's probably because of whatever force is controlling evolution / the red / the White Light decided to make it so. Maybe there's a reason the Presence seems humanoid?
If everyone is genetically engineered, then there's no reason they shouldn't be at least partially compatible with their creator (Though this isn't really the case in Mass Effect, where only the Asari are).
 
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Mquz said:
In DC it's probably because of whatever force is controlling evolution / the red / the White Light decided to make it so.
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At least one explanation that I'm familiar with is because of this one time that Dream brought his Maltusian waifu to visit the Parliament of Stars, they were so taken with her that they decided to make life on their respective planets evolve to resemble her.
 
Bended (part 15)
  • Threadmarks
    • 3rd March
    03:41 GMT +5

    I open the door, and General Lane punches me in the face.

    Naturally, the kinetic energy is absorbed by my environmental shield, leaving me entirely unharmed. As he realises who he just took a swing at he lowers his arm, and looks mildly guilty for a moment until he realises that I'm unhurt.

    "God damn."

    He shakes his head, then walks back across the small holding room to the bench which is firmly bolted to both the floor and the wall.

    "They grabbed me through a God damned mirror. I wasn't even sure it was your people!"

    "Given that shapeshifters and telepaths exist, it would probably be best if you didn't assume that I'm me just because I look like me."

    "Hey, this cockamamie scenario isn't about testing the US military." He sighs, releasing built-up frustration. "But… Yeah. Make a construct while I think about football scores."

    I create a construct of Mr McCulloch, and he nods, taking a seat.

    "Yeah, that was the guy. Mirror Master, right? We talked about having to cover every mirror in the US military with wire because of him. Only reason it didn't go through was because he was supposed to be dead."

    "Is there a collective term for the people who agree with former General Hardcastle about the best way to deal with supervillains?"

    "Lunatics." He exhales sharply through his nose. "Or politicians. Officers who are thinking of going into politics when they leave the military. You didn't make any friends in the US military with that stunt. Or anyplace else."

    "What stunt? Making sure that people follow the law?"

    "Your new Lantern threatened a police officer with a car."

    "No, he was just looking at the car. His fists were a far bigger threat than it was. Looking at a car isn't a crime, and I.. don't think picking one up is unless the owner asks you to put it down." I nod. "But yes, I did realise that it would sour relations. Remind me to provide everyone with an update on what Lantern Xor has been doing with his time since the-."

    Oh dear.

    "Is Hardcastle going into politics?"

    "Looks like. If he gets made President Knight's Secretary of Defense, life could get… Interesting. For both of us."

    I frown. "I… Would be surprised if Knight gave such a prominent role to such a divisive figure. He never struck me as having the sort of conviction that would require."

    General Lane shrugs. "It polls well with people he needs to vote for him."

    "Yeah…" I shake my head. "But… Even if he did it, he wouldn't okay him shooting up US cities. More money for anti-supervillain arms procurement, sure, but… One shooting is all it would take to turn public opinion right against it. And then Hardcastle will be gone for good."

    "I hadn't realised you were that optimistic."

    "Heck, I considered giving him a power ring. Maybe trying-."

    "That's not funny."

    "There was a book series I read a few years ago. Fantasy novels. One of the nations in it was an Empire that had a pretty laissez-faire attitude to rebellions. Usually, when one of their governors was overthrown they immediately recognised the leader of the rebellion as the new governor. Their rationale was that if someone actually overthrew a sitting governor then there was clearly a huge problem which the previous guy wasn't dealing with. So either the new guy would deal with it and cement his support, or he'd fail and be easier to remove once he'd lost everyone's support."

    I shrug.

    "So if I gave Hardcastle a ring, he'd find out exactly how hard dealing with supervillains is. And he'd either do a great job and be able to reform the law while fully informed, or he'd fail and everyone would ignore him."

    "I don't think it's quite that simple." He leans back. "So why didn't you?"

    "Because it's not quite that simple. And I was worried about the damage he might do in the mean time."

    "Good." He looks around. "So what happens now?"

    "As you surmised, you've been captured by the villain team. They want some information which they think you have and are going to torture you for it."

    He raises his left eyebrow.

    "On the assumption that you don't particularly want to be tortured in the name of realism, we're going to say that you held out for half an hour and then were beaten unconscious. Does that sound reasonable to you?"

    "What, they don't have mind readers?"

    "The mind reader quit after her boss fried her colleagues with a radiation weapon. They couldn't recruit another at short notice without alerting the League."

    And paying through the nose. The villain team has a finite amount of resources to work with, and a short list of institutions they can 'rob' for more. But that results in an even higher risk of League intervention and it looks like they're trying to avoid needing to expand their budget.

    "So why bother taking me at all?"

    "The person who did it didn't know about the walkout. You.. overheard that from one of your guards, by the way."

    "In case the Justice League ask?"

    "Yes. They've got half an hour to rescue you if they want you conscious… Well, twenty seven minutes, now. And they can get information from your brain by telepathy if you're unconscious."

    "So, what? I just wait a few minutes and then tell them?"

    "Ah… We can do it like that, but…" I take a small tablet out of subspace. "This-."

    "You are giving me a suicide pill?"

    "No, it will just knock you out for a few hours. After that point you could well have woken up from your beating. Obviously, you don't have to take it; I appreciate your cooperation so far and don't want to start trying to insist or anything."

    "How would it make things more realistic?"

    "The League has recruited a few people with exotic healing abilities. I'd like to be able to reward them by having those people be capable of waking you up early."

    He goes to speak.

    "And.. yes, I do realise that we could just use a shorter countdown or something, but I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible."

    He gets up and takes the pill from me.

    "That's it? I lose consciousness and wake up a few hours later like nothing's happened?"

    "Yes. We tested it. KordTech is going to start selling it as an anaesthetic once it gets FDA approval."

    "Fine, I'll take it." He goes to sit back down, and then stops. "You've told the people at my command that I vanished as part of an exercise, right?"
     
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  • Threadmarks
    • Mr Zoat said:
    I open the door, and General Lane punches me in the face.

    Naturally, the kinetic energy is absorbed by my environmental shield, leaving me entirely unharmed. As he realises who he just took a swing he lowers his arm, and looks mildly guilty for a moment until he realises that I'm unhurt.
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    Ah, the joy of personal defensive gear that can tank nukes, with sufficient motivation. I'm guessing Lane is not entirely happy.

    "God damn."

    He shakes his head, then walks back across the small holding room to the bench which is firmly bolted to both the floor and the wall.

    "They grabbed me through a God damned mirror. I wasn't even sure it was your people!"

    "Given that shapeshifters and telepaths exist, it would probably be best if you didn't assume that I'm me just because I look like me."
    Click to expand...
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    Good advice in general, really. Especially for someone of his rank.

    "Hey, this cockamamie scenario isn't about testing the US military." He sighs, releasing built-up frustration. "But… Yeah. Make a construct while I think about football scores."

    I create a construct of Mr McCulloch, and he nods, taking a seat.

    "Yeah, that was the guy. Mirror Master, right? We talked about having to cover every mirror in the US military with wire because of him. Only reason it didn't go through was because he was supposed to be dead."
    Click to expand...
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    And to be honest, that might not have worked too well, depending on how large a gap is needed for fancier mirror-teleportation...

    "Is there a collective term for the people who agree with former General Hardcastle about the best way to deal with supervillains?"

    "Lunatics." He exhales sharply through his nose. "Or politicians. Officers who are thinking of going into politics when they leave the military. You didn't make any friends in the US military with that stunt. Or anyplace else."
    Click to expand...
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    It wasn't about making friends, it was about saving lives...

    "What stunt? Making sure that people follow the law?"

    "Your new Lantern threatened a police officer with a car."
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    Technically, the officer assumed it was a threat. Easy mistake to make when you're facing a ten-foot-tall supersoldier...

    "No, he was just looking at the car. His fists were a far bigger threat than it was. Looking at a car isn't a crime, and I.. don't think picking one up is unless the owner asks you to put it down." I nod. "But yes, I did realise that it would sour relations. Remind me to provide everyone with an update on what Lantern Xor has been doing with his time since the-."

    Oh dear.

    "Is Hardcastle going into politics?"
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    Oh, dammit. His name should be political dynamite by now, surely?

    "Looks like. If he gets made President Knight's Secretary of State for Defense, life could get… Interesting. For both of us."

    I frown. "I… Would be surprised if Knight gave such a prominent role to such a divisive figure. He never struck me as having the sort of conviction that would require."

    General Lane shrugs. "It polls well with people he needs to vote for him."
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    Especially if he's been replaced, like in other timelines...

    "Yeah…" I shake my head. "But… Even if he did it, he wouldn't okay him shooting up US cities. More money for anti-supervillain arms procurement, sure, but… One shooting is all it would take to turn public opinion right against it. And then Hardcastle will be gone for good."

    "I hadn't realised you were that optimistic."
    Click to expand...
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    It's that or give up trying to gauge humanity's stupidity..

    "Heck, I considered giving him a power ring. Maybe trying-."

    "That's not funny."

    "There was a book series I read a few years ago. Fantasy novels. One of the nations in it was an Empire that had a pretty laissez-faire attitude to rebellions. Usually, when one of their governors was overthrown they immediately recognised the leader of the rebellion as the new governor. Their rationale was that if someone actually overthrew a sitting governor then there was clearly a huge problem which the previous guy wasn't dealing with. So either the new guy would deal with it and cement his support, or he'd fail and be easier to remove once he'd lost everyone's support."
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    Ah, you too are a man of culture. And yes, that can be quite effective, if a little exciting for the populations involved.

    I shrug.

    "So if I gave Hardcastle a ring, he'd find out exactly how hard dealing with supervillains is. And he'd either do a great job and be able to reform the law while fully informed, or he'd fail and everyone would ignore him."

    "I don't think it's quite that simple." He leans back. "So why didn't you?"

    "Because it's not quite that simple. And I was worried about the damage he might do in the mean time."
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    I can picture him going after Superman or Martian Manhunter, because 'dirty alien infiltrators' or something equally crazy.

    "Good." He looks around. "So what happens now?"

    "As you surmised, you've been captured by the villain team. They want some information which they think you have and are going to torture you for it."
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    Huh, just out sand says it, eh? Naturally, there won't be any actual torture.

    He raises his left eyebrow.

    "On the assumption that you don't particularly want to be tortured in the name of realism, we're going to say that you held out for half and hour and then were beaten unconscious. Does that sound reasonable to you?"
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    I'm guessing they're rushing, since they give up after half an hour.

    "What, they don't have mind readers?"

    "The mind reader quit after her boss fried her colleagues with a radiation weapon. They couldn't recruit another at short notice without alerting the League."
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    More reasonable henchmen. And the villain boss didn't try to have 'her' killed? How reasonable of him, too.

    And paying through the nose. The villain team has a finite amount of resources to work with, and a short list of institutions they can 'rob' for more. But that results in an even higher risk of League intervention and it looks like they're trying to avoid needing to expand their budget.

    "So why bother taking me at all?"

    "The person who did it didn't know about the walkout. You.. overheard that from one of your guards, by the way."
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    Ah, metagaming. I take it OL will give him information for the League's investigation, too?

    "In case the Justice League ask?"

    "Yes. They're got half an hour to rescue you if they want you conscious… Well, twenty seven minutes, now. And they can get information from your brain by telepathy if you're unconscious."

    "So, what? I just wait a few minutes and then tell them?"
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    Come now, you think OL would have things be that simple?

    "Ah… We can do it like that, but…" I take a small tablet out of subspace. "This-."

    "You are giving me a suicide pill?"

    "No, it will just knock you out for a few hours. After that point you could well have woken up from your beating. Obviously, you don't have to take it; I appreciate your cooperation so far and don't want to start trying to insist or anything."
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    How polite. I assume he flash-fabricated and custom-mixed it to suit the General's metabolism?

    "How would it make things more realistic?"

    "The League has recruited a few people with exotic healing abilities. I'd like to be able to reward them by having those people be capable of waking you up early."
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    Heh, good move. Get the league to recognise their deficiency in medical matters. Beyond what he's already pointed out to them so far.

    He goes to speak.

    "And.. yes, I do realise that we could just use a shorter countdown or something, but I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible."

    He gets up and takes the pill.
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    Brave man. I see where Lois gets it from.
    "That's it? I lose consciousness and wake up a few hours later like nothing's happened?"

    "Yes. We tested it. KordTech is going to start selling it as an aesthetic once it get FDA approval."

    "Fine, I'll take it." He goes to sit back down, and then stops. "You've told the people at my command that I vanished as part of an exercise, right?"
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    "Of course. I'm not an idiot, you know."

    Ah, good. Nice to see the villain team still trying to stay under the radar. Not that this helps.

    Corrections:
    '...held out for half and hour...'
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    '...held out for half an hour...'
     
    FeepingCreature said:
    an anaesthetic, I presume. Unless it's a very pretty pill.
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    Thank you, corrected.
    Chojin Patriarch said:
    Ah, you too are a man of culture. And yes, that can be quite effective, if a little exciting for the populations involved.
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    David Eddings wrote the same story five times. At least in the Redemption of Anthalus he condensed it into one book.
    '...held out for half an hour...'
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    Thank you, corrected.
     
    Vaermina said:
    Which is years away.
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    Yes. And that is a very good thing: every current known form of anesthesia is extremely dangerous and, when you get right down to is, work via mechanisms beyond the understanding of modern science and medicine, meaning that they are prone to failure in unknown and seemingly arbitrary ways. If Kordtech figured out a new one that is more reliable, even if it works by "magic", then it'd be worth the Kordtech building's weight in platinum.
     
    How the hell is Hardcastle not in jail, never mind being considered for a political office?

    He literally gave the order to open fire on an inhabited town filled with American citizens, leading to the deaths of many innocent people, in a failed attempt to kill someone that was found by a court of law to have only been acting in self defence

    That should at the absolute least have resulted in him being dishonourably discharged and blacklisted from having anything to do with the US Government
     
    jonasquinn said:
    How the hell is Hardcastle not in jail, never mind being considered for a political office?

    He literally gave the order to open fire on an inhabited town filled with American citizens, leading to the deaths of many innocent people, in a failed attempt to kill someone that was found by a court of law to have only been acting in self defence

    That should at the absolute least have resulted in him being dishonourably discharged and blacklisted from having anything to do with the US Government
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    A few too many supervillain rampages made it hard for people to treat an alleged rampager fairly.
     
    Mr Zoat said:
    David Eddings wrote the same story five times.
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    I love Eddings' standard blurb about how he got into writing "to develop certain technical and philosophical ideas regarding the genre", which after a few of his books, I began mentally finishing with "namely, how many times people will buy essentially the same story about a bunch of stereotypes searching for a blue rock".
     
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