Wow... You would really think The Reach would be better at information gathering... But nope... Somehow they know absolutely nothing about Earth... Even though it has multiple lanterns... And LePaul has been anything but circumspect about where he's from in his travels around the Galaxy...
I died.
"mange" to "manage"
Oh, holy crap. That's not a simple space-time wedgie... They're going full Atomic wedgie, right down to hooking space-time's underwear over its head. The slightest mistake and they could splatter the whole system like a pancake. Their technicians are either overconfident, suicidal or just stupid. Or any combination of the three.
And I'm picturing the gravitational silhouette of the place looking less like a funnel around the planet... And more like a Klein bottle...
Bitch, please. You try anything against Earth, and it'll kick your ass.
Heh. Dump them into the middle of the Anti-Life broadcast, see how they handle it.
Because in space, you don't need to be pointing in the direction you're moving. A fact so much space sci-fi forgets in favour of dogfights.
And the Nemesis probably thinks he's exaggerating, or making it up whole-cloth. After all, no rational society could advance technology so quickly without cutting so many corners...
No, Bigger.
Admittedly, their own cultural bias will probably lead them to get it entirely wrong.
Sadly, the cold gun in space doesn't really have the giant beam of doom this scene deserves...
...Not nearly good enough.
Ah, giving space-time, relativity and their negative space wedgie the middle finger through the power of WANT. Classic OL.
If anything, the beam getting wider would be worse for them, because it'll hit more of their hull at once.
Too little, too late. To quote Kenshiro: "Omoi wa mou shindeiru."
After all, they're not part of the fleet any more. Heck, they might make a good comet.
Ah, not totally effective, then. But the frozen bits are suddenly finding themselves having trouble maintaining their structural integrity, eh?
And I bet the Reach scientists take one look at the sensor readings and visual footage and scream about it 'being physically impossible!' or 'in complete violation of all known laws of thermodynamics!'
Oh, would you like some more ice for your drinks? Pity it'll have a metallic tang to it.
Nemesis: "I don't appreciate the disingenuous tone, sir."
Right, that's a thing. And they're rather worrying potential combatants. At least they're likely to fight alongside OL.
Hopefully they'll be polite about this.
Well, there's a familiar face. At least that smooths any diplomatic issues quite nicely.
Or unlucky. Mostly because they're here because of OL. And Grayven.
Ooh. Better not let the Reach get their hands on her. Who knows what they'd do with the material remains of a terrestrial Titan.
Definitely a concern, if the Reach fleet is faster than their ships at sublight.
At least, before the Reach folded the system into a nasty little knot of space-time origami...
So, make for an edge, see if you can slice it open, and hope for the best? Not a great plan...
People don't usually see them. Consider yourself honoured.
You're focused on the way Paul originally could not handle traditional currency when you say disgust? Or the extreme urges he accepted while gaining enlightenment? Listen, the Yellow light technically does not include courage and the Orange light technically does not include disgust like you're imagining it. Avarice is flexible enough ("I want this to cease," "I want this to be ruined and useless…") that an Orange Lantern is not "lesser" for lacking disgust-based constructs.
Wrong planet. The Ascended are refugees from a ruined world. This is the ruined world, not the Maltusian warehouse with a black hole acting as guard dog.
I realize Renegade!Paul updates are rare, but does anyone remember if anything came of this? Hawk and Dove have potential.
Thank you, corrected.
DON'T GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT!
Thank you, corrected.
BABYLON 5!Because in space, you don't need to be pointing in the direction you're moving. A fact so much space sci-fi forgets in favour of dogfights.
No. That's a light speed weapon. The speed of light is just really slow.
best move
installation
our
I'm not certain if "overhauled" is the word you meant to use here. It might be fine.
Thank you, corrected.
British
Huh. That makes a whole lot of sense.
He really should be asking why The Reach keeps sending Scarabs at him one at a time instead of sending a hundred or a thousand to just bury him.
No turning back, after all. Their world is burnt, their people fled to another. Nothing holds them to this world anymore, now they have their goddess' remains. A total cutting of the last threads, a symbolic shedding of childhood. ...Or I'm just reading too much into it.
Crunchy. I wonder if the Reach will think the spatial warping is part of the Cold Gun's effect, or realise it's him doing it...
They've made their choice, then. I suspect there weren't that many left anyway.
Ooh, there's a nasty thought. A Scarabed-up Ascendant, fully indoctrinated into the Way. Not a pleasant idea, especially if they send them after him.
Yeah, not such a fun idea when the target can shoot back, isn't it? Let's hope the word spreads and others are reluctant to attack him...
I doubt they'd still be here if they could just jump away.
There are limits, OL. Their force of will, their metaphysical oomph... Probably not enough to overcome this obstacle.
So unless someone aboard can literally throw rocks at the Reach, they're hosed.
Of course.
So the recruitment option is out. Deception? Diplomacy? Intimidation?
I mean, besides being arrogant conquering assholes?
Surprisingly weak effect. Though Cold Guns aren't really that much of an area weapon, are they? Short of arraying an entire battery and trying multiple warps at once, he's not going to do a lot of damage to the bigger ships.
Well, then. There's one theory confirmed, more or less. They want the Ascendants, and/or their divine-empowerment systems.
Unless they want to try and ram something. Even as brittle as it is now, that much mass will hurt if it hits something.
No doubt they hope to develop a countermeasure before long. Probably not in time to be useful right now, but in a few weeks, the next Lantern to try a Cold Gun might get a nasty surprise?
Logical enough. But no doubt the Nemesis is also aboard, in the safest place aboard the ship.
Heh. Brings a new meaning to 'reaching out and touching someone', eh?
Oh, I'm sure you Nemesis thinks they're protected against tricks like that. Perhaps that can be a nasty little surprise for them someday.
Like I said, there's probably not that many left on-planet, and they'll likely not take well to any attempt to conquer them. But good luck to you, Reach assholes.
Also, what little girl would use a word like 'uncharacteristically'?
...Besides someone like Hermoine Granger?Of course, the fact that OL will happily kill them if he sees them in Earth space doesn't need to be mentioned...
Oh, look, another bug to bait into self-destructing...
My guess: Not nearly enough. Of anything.
A pity you can't subvert said Nemesis, but I'm sure they're quite happy as they are. Now, to see how long this Scarab lasts. Can OL set a new speed record, I wonder? 