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

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
09:02 GMT

I put-

"No."

-Larfleeze's ring on the table between us.

"I haven't asked anything."

"Please don't imply that you believe I'm stupid. You've made it clear to me that I can't get the result I want if I stick to the Guardians' rules of engagement.. Do you not intend to recruit me?"

"I don't hate the idea. But there wouldn't be any point in you putting on an orange ring if what you really want is to be a Green Lantern. Though I would suggest that it might be worth trying it out, just to see what it feels like."

"The orange light is highly addictive."

"I can give it up any time I like. I just don't want to."

She pauses, briefly.

"That was a joke, I assume."

I hold out my left hand, palm level. And then I turn the ring off, and leave it off for a few moments before allowing it to resume its connection.

"It's a mildly amusing fact relating to one of the most popular narcotics of my homeworld, that a sizeable proportion of the population lack the receptors to actually get addicted to it, yet use it anyway. My desires are indeed the core of my psychological makeup. But I'll never slide into self-destructive urge-indulgence."

I pick up the ring and hold it in my right hand.

"You're doing all that the Guardians want of you, you know that? A Controller of my acquaintance told me that for the Guardians, the Sector Lanterns maintaining order is what the Corps is for. There is no demand from the organisation for you to go further."

"That doesn't matter."

"I've met four enlightened Green Lanterns. Two were human, but the other two weren't. If you managed that mental transformation yourself you would be substantially more powerful. I suspect that Lantern Priest of Sector One Six Three Four would be happy to advise you. He should certainly be able to spare the time."

"What are you doing?"

"Helping you overcome your contradictions. It's what I do. Let me repeat: there is no point in me trying to put a ring on someone who doesn't want it. Self-actualisation without restriction is an appealing concept to me, but it's not appealing to everyone and -given how enlightenment affects me- the idea of forcing it on someone who isn't ready strikes me as bizarre and wrong."

"Ready? You're so certain that it's right for everyone?"

"I can't see cutting off a chunk of your personality… Or if you prefer, a rationalisation of the phenomena emergent from the programming evolution has left you with… As anything other than ill-advised. Unless you've got more cybernetics than just your eyes, your physiology works best when used in a particular way. The green light is the actualisation of the useful trait of tenacity, your motive the intellectualisation and universalisation of the desire to protect the tribe."

I put Larfleeze's ring back on my right ring finger.

"The Orange Lantern Corps has no desire to directly compete with the Green Lantern Corps. Lord Malvolio of One Six Three Four may decide to do that, but I'd really prefer to cooperate. And that won't happen if I start pinching their Lanterns. Though if you're interested in trying an orange ring for the sake of comparison, I'm happy to lend one to you."

"But to your way of thinking, refusing an orange ring means that I want to be as I am, and not to destroy the Spider Guild."

"And that's not a terrible thing. Having a constant threat encourages people to develop their own strategies to deal with it. There's nothing stopping any of the worlds in this region building up their military resources and carrying out an attack. If they could depend on you for everything, why would they bother looking to their own defences?"

"Should I spend more time on that, do you think?"

"That would seem logical. But now you know how you feel, how do you feel about that?"

"Disappointed. I thought… That I was an unstoppable force of opposition."

"Then you can change your behaviour, better informed of your true nature. Or… Not, and at least you will know who you truly are a little better."

"That is true." Now she faces me directly. "I thought that you would be different."

"Oh dear. Are Green Lanterns spreading rumours about me?"

"Since we learned that you exist, some of us have tried to decide on a policy."

"There are two Sectors away from the Reach that have Orange Lanterns in them. Lantern Green Man appeared to have a reasonable relationship with Lanterns Komand'r and Koriand'r, and… The Alignment needed realigning."

"What can I do to help with the Spider Guild?"

"Create a coherent plan and put it separately to the governments and the people of the Sector. Share some of the-."

My ring blinks.

"Excuse me. Illustres here?"

Dox's face appears over the ring.

"Clarissi."

"The Spider Guild Nests in your area have requested a parley. Is it useful to you for me to pretend to be interested?"

"No, not really. But thank you for offering."

"Have you made progress with your task?"

"They're all stronger, but I'm not sure that it's anything we can systematise…" Hm. "Do we have any telepaths in the Corps?"

"I do not believe that telepathic conditioning would work."

I shake my head. "Me neither, but if we're trying to come up with a way to improve teaching and we don't have anyone else like me, telepaths would be the next best thing."

"Then yes, a few, but I do not believe that any of them would be appropriate."

I nod. "I'll see if I can talk Dubbilex into it. Anything else?"

"Controller Hinon has a task for you, but she wants to brief you in person."

"Okay. I can be-."

"She will come to you once she has met with Lantern Malvolio. Dox out."

A Controller and former Guardian… Coming to the largest centre of Lanternism in the galaxy.

I should probably warn some people.

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
09:15 GMT

Nyiath's face remains expressionless, and over a holographic link that actually works on me. He was assigned as my point of contact after Onik's unfortunate announcement… Well. That was when he made contact; I imagine that the wheels were set in motion the moment the former abbot was given enhanced abdication.

"A Controller who was once a Guardian is coming here."

"Once she's done with Lord Malvolio, yes, that was what I said."

"We haven't had a Guardian visit for quite some time."

"Oh, you don't need to do anything special. Controller Hinon is very low maintenance. Just say something stupid once a day so that she can get her condescension ration and she's as happy as she gets."

"I appreciate what you're trying to do, but please do not attempt humour in a situation like this. Karax is undergoing a period of social and religious upheaval such as it has not known for centuries. If we are to navigate this turbulence, we must avoid inadvertent misunderstandings."

"Alright. Hinon acts like a crotchety grandmother who is severely disappointed with her entire line, but is actually an ancient being far beyond petty concerns like… Like just about anything you could do. She has a great many demands on her time, so in the unlikely event that she wants something from you, just make it happen as quickly and efficiently as possible and then get out of the way."

"Will she want to address the populace?"

"I think it vanishingly unlikely. Do you want her to address the populace?"

"Would it help? What would she say?"

"Probably not, no idea. Honestly, I'm surprised that she's coming here rather than just summoning me to One Six Three Four or back to Maltus."

"I assume that she wants to look at-. Is it really a new Green Central Power Battery?"

"It looked like one; she's the expert."

"But what does that mean? What does any of…" He takes a moment to steady himself. "I apologise."

"Quite alright. I'd only be concerned if you weren't."

"Is there anything else that I need to know?"

"Have you had a chance to read my book yet?"

"Not yet. I've instructed some of my junior staff members to go through it."

"Do you want a summary of the parts relating to spectrum-?"

"No, I can't afford to be discombobulated at the moment. Those of us in positions of government authority must remain stoical for the good of all. We can have our private breakdowns later."

"Very well. I'll get in touch when she arrives. Illustres out."

I end the transmission, and turn back to Lantern Vode-M.

"When was the last time a Guardian visited Karax?"

"Shortly after the 'peace' treaty with the Spider Guild was agreed."

"About two hundred years?" She nods. "And I imagine that they had a heavy escort-."

Whoops. I didn't ask Hinon if she would have one.

"You didn't ask your Controller if she would bring one."

"I didn't. But it shouldn't matter. I doubt that she will, and even if she does, Lord Malvolio's fleet is right there."

"Shortly after the 'peace' treaty with the Spider Guild was agreed, three Guardians came here in person."

"Why? Why put in a personal appearance for something like that?"

"Because it was a hard-won draw and they wanted to put in a personal appearance, perhaps."

"Or they didn't think that the locals would accept it without their overt approval. I think that the Sector Lanterns or an Honour Guard Lantern would have done for a show of support."

"Are you insinuating that the Guardians betrayed us?"

"Quite the opposite. The Guardians might not have the best people skills, but they are better at understanding social dynamics than their disinterest would suggest. They didn't want mass rioting, so they openly spoke in favour of a resolution they probably weren't actually all that happy about."

"That-"

My ring blinks.

"-would-."

"Illustres."

"Yes, I know who you are." Hinon's face appears over my ring. "Come to Lord Malvolio's flagship at once."

"On my-" Her face disappears. "-way."

I smile at Lantern Vode-M.

"Looks like I'm getting called away. Do you want to join in, as much as your current rules of engagement will allow you? If nothing else, you can shuttle anyone my subordinates rescue away from the conflict zones. They can attack larger convoys together than you can on your own."

"Yes. I shall."

"Great. And when I get back, I'll run through everything Guy's told me about attaining enlightenment with you, see if you can work out how to make the transformation yourself. Excuse me."

I

step out, the glowing will beacon of Malvolio's Central Power Battery showing me where to aim by the way it drowns out local desire. I

return to the material universe just as Malvolio and Hinon exit his burning doorway.

"Sir, Lord Malvolio."

Hinon ignores me, flying past me to get a better look at the Green Central Power Battery-.

"Hinon, you're not planning on jumping ship yourself, are-?"

"Of course not." She stares at it, floating around it slowly as Malvolio's closeness causes it to glow brighter. "Minosyss." She waves her right hand and knowledge appears in my mind. Oh for goodness sake-.

"Its new rulers have expressed an interest in diplomatic contact, though I have no idea why. Since they come from Earth, I think it appropriate that you make the initial approach. You may want to return to your homeworld to gather a staff. I will remain here."

"By your command."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
09:54 GMT

Okay. So. Prior to Hinon's faction of Guardians leaving and joining the Controllers, the existing Controllers were pursuing other options as far as megaweapons went. One of the more notorious examples of their system-killers of choice were the sun-eaters.

I actually remember them from the comics, where one tried eating Sol and it took Parallax-Jordan killing himself to finally get rid of the thing. And another, where a member of the Legion of Superheroes… Ferrous Lad? Died, stopping it reaching an inhabited system. And I think Animal Man used one to gain stellar navigation and faster than light flight once.

In reality, they're nothing like that common. Once Hinon's faction joined the Controllers, they policed their stray pets properly rather than just letting them wander off. And their chosen storage site was a naturally occurring dimensional warp in the system containing the planet Minosyss. That dimensional warp has caused the matter in the system to display all sorts of anomalous properties, one of which is to make the innate matter manipulating powers of the maltusians… Unreliable.

And to get around that while still extracting what they wanted from the place, they decided that the thing to do would be to enslave the entire population.

Fortunately, that was a… Long time ago. The place has recovered, the descendants of the slaves have… Yeah, it was over a billion years ago. It's about as relevant as that time the proto-Moon hit the proto-Earth is to most humans. We know it happened…

The better educated ones know it happened, I should say.

But there's no emotional weight to it.

But, yes. Dimensional weirdness makes most forms of faster than light travel unreliable, so they don't have external trade. They don't have the fuel resources to build an industrial society themselves, so… There they are. Certainly not a bad place to live, the occasional physics anomaly aside.

The current rulers are a bit of a mystery. They flew in on what is basically a city built into a hollowed-out half-moon a couple of decades ago and took over pretty quickly. That was our first clue that the place is thaumically active. The Darkstars' best guess was that they were New Genesians, but it's the wrong part of the galaxy for them and… While the people of New Genesis aren't above being openly worshipped, they usually don't directly rule worlds under their protection. These people are doing just that, through a bureaucracy of local collaborators. No idea why they want to talk to me, but if N.E.M.O. can get a few dozen more magicians out of it then it's time well spent.

Not… Totally sure why Hinon wants me to pick up a staff… Sure, you can find someone like just about anyone somewhere on Earth, but school is back on so basically everyone on the team is unavailable. Except Canis, but… No. Amon could probably get the time away but I wouldn't want to undermine Adom's authority by offering him a place on the mission when he's supposed to be doing something else. Angelika? Not sure that a group of demigods would have the same instinctual respect for her that they would for someone who felt like them.

Diana and Alan are reasonable choices, except that I know Diana's working overtime on diplomacy to try and keep world governments working to repair the damage done by the Sheeda attack. Alan, on the other hand…

"Illustres to Blue Lantern Alan Scott."

My ring blinks. And then blinks a little more. And-.

"Yeah? Oh, hey, Paul."

Alan manages a wan smile, but he's clearly distracted.

"Are you free? I can call back."

"Sorry, son. Some crazy-. Cultist types broke into one of the Sheeda arms dumps. It's an all-hands for the Justice League."

"Understood. Don't let me keep-"

His face vanishes.

"-you."

That could well require the team's attention as well. Ah. Euanthe's busy with Brazil, Queen Hippolyta… Maybe? But she'll probably want a staff of her own and that… Might be a bit much for Themyscira.

Starting to think that turning up on my own would be the best idea. But Hinon specifically said…

Who the heck do I know who… Isn't…

I

step out and then

11th September 2012
12:56 GMT +3

appear inside the Temple of Hades, waving at the surprised-then-resigned priestesses as I fly for the doorway to Erebos. Down down down down... Despite having died, this bit doesn't feel any different. Though it is at least faster now that I've stopped worrying about being insufficiently reverential, though transitioning is still right out.

And out. Palace that way, and as I gain height I can still see the queues heading into the courtrooms. I'm a little surprised that Hades hasn't set up temporary accommodation or something, though I suppose that they don't really need it. Now, where would-.

"Lantern!" / "Oh, Lantern!"

Two women dressed richly in Greek fashion hail me from the walls, and I fly towards them. They want me for something, and I need directions. Can't say that I recognise either of them, either from past visits or from the statues on Themyscira.

"Ladies. What can I do for you?"

The shorter one covers her mouth with her right hand as the taller one laughs.

"You can apologise for not coming to see us sooner!"

"I'm.. sorry, but this is Erebos. And I have no idea who you are."

"Ah. Then I will introduce myself. I-" She puts her right hand on her chest. "-am Gaudia."

Not 'gaudy' in the modern English sense. Her jewellery is actually quite modest. Rather, she's a minor goddess, representing guilty joys. Which-.

"Which makes you Aporia."

Who I would have chosen as my patron goddess if 1) I was selecting on the same basis as I told Kon to select his patron and 2) I'd heard of her at the time.

"It does indeed. You haven't died again, I trust?"

"No, I'm here to ask Princess Melinoë to accompany me on a diplomatic visit. Do you-?"

"Oooooh."

Aporia lowers her hand as she and Gaudia giggle.

"Do you know where she is?"

"We were going to see her now." Gaudia masters her expression, though Aporia can't stop herself grinning. "She has busied herself recording the novel fears and paranoia of our new residents, but I'm sure that she'll make time for you."

"Glad to hear it. Lead-."

"Though there is one thing we would like to know in return."

"And what might that be?"

"What do a couple of sadly underappreciated goddesses have to do to persuade you to… What was the phrase?"

"'Put a ring on it'?"

"'Put a ring on it', yes. We both have an excellent understanding of desire." She raises her eyebrows and regards me accusatorially. "Why have you ignored us so?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
12:58 GMT +3

"Because while I am a Hellenist, I wasn't raised in the tradition and so I'm not necessarily aware of the names and personalities of… Less well known deities."

"You can say 'minor gods'. We are well acquainted with the concept."

"I mean… To be honest, there was more of a chance that you'd know me." I shrug. "So let me turn that around: why didn't you come and find me? Anyone on Themyscira could have got a message to me."

Aporia tilts her head to the left slightly.

"Zero worshippers. We're a footnote in some texts on Greek 'mythology'."

I shrug again.

"And?"

Gaudia waves her right hand. "And we were out and about, making lives for ourselves in highly restrictive avatars, up until Lord Hades recalled us to help manage his workload. I thought that someone had destroyed Themyscira."

Aporia nods. "So we returned, and met these fascinating people foreign to the Earth, and…"

"And we had cause to want to… Branch out."

"You don't want to work for Hades and you're doing a runner?"

Aporia looks away awkwardly. "I wouldn't put it-"

Gaudia nods. "Yes."

"-quite like-." She glares at Gaudia. "That."

"You understand that we give these rings to people in the expectation that they'll use them for useful things, right? Telling me that you're slacking off from a low-stress administrative job isn't the best way to start an interview."

"We can make it worth your while."

"I can just ask someone else where Melinoë is. Actu-."

I turn my empathic vision up a little, looking for-. Ah, there she is! Serves me right for asking a Hellenistic deity to be helpful.

"Found her." I rise off the ground and fly in her general direction into the palace. "Have a nice day."

"Wai-t!"

I pause in the air, half-turning back to see a worried-looking Aporia with her right hand outstretched.

"Yes?"

"Are you telling us that you don't want anything from us at all?"

"Yes. Few gods are more powerful than the Ophidian. Hades has my afterlife requirements covered, and I understand my own desires perfectly. And-." I frown. "Can't you tell?"

Gaudia shakes her head. "You're… Hard to read."

"Well… You're coming to me. If you think you've got something to offer me, offer it."

"Power."

"I can see your link to Erebos. You're being empowered by it at Hades' direction. I don't know if the Ophidian is more powerful than Erebos, but I know that I'm closer to her than you are to your power source. If you're ducking out of work, I imagine that you think you're going to lose that link and want me to replace it."

"Sex."

"Like Aphrodite offered Paris? I'm happy with-."

"With-." Gaudia glances at Aporia and gets a nervous nod. "With us."

"No. Anything else?"

"What?" / "How dare y-?!"

Despite her surprise, Aporia is alert enough to elbow Gaudia before she can complete her complaint. Gaudia realises her error at once, and inclines her head slightly to indicate that her friend should continue to advance their case.

"We are goddesses of desire. There is no form-."

"If I was interested in having sex with an embodiment of desire then I'd have sex with the Ophidian. If I was interested in an ego-massaging harem of goddesses picked from near-dead religions, I'd have gone out looking for recruits before now. I want neither of those things."

Though… Looking back, that could have been an interesting way to spend a few years.

"I've got no special interest in winning some sort of prize for being the biggest myopically egotistical hedonist in Hellenic history. People aren't prizes who can be won, especially not by having sex with them." I pointedly raise my eyebrows. "Done?"

Aporia looks slightly awkward, though whether that's because she recognises that she's misstepped or because she insulted me I'm not sure.

"I.. understand. Ah. Princess Melinoë-."

"Is here." Melinoë steps out of the palace, looking decidedly unimpressed. "And she's wondering why you're here instead of at your desks. But only for a moment, because it isn't hard to deduce."

"Melinoë, it's good to-."

"Djh!" She spares a moment to glare at me. "I will deal with you in a moment."

I bow my head slightly.

"These work-shy slatterns need to learn that they're here to do a job! They have thousands of applicants to review for deviant desires and actualisation achievements! And the fact that they haven't already started heading back towards the line suggests-"

Gaudia gets a clue, tugs Aporia's arm and starts walking back the way Melinoë came.

"-that they're eager to volunteer for nightmare-testing."

She gives them a few minutes to get out of sight, then looks back contemptuously..

"Honestly. If we weren't desperately overworked I would have told father to leave them where he found them."

She huffs, then gives me her full attention.

"Well? What is it?"

"A group of Olympian-themed demigods -or possibly gods- have set up shop on an alien planet and want to talk. I'd like to have someone from that mythos accompany me. Are you available?"

She blinks.

"Another-? Are you-?"

"Of course, if you're busy with the new intake-."

"This sounds more important. If they've found a way to leave a single world, that would be valuable knowledge." She thinks for a moment. "And if I'm not here to watch them, those two aren't going to do anything. I'll take them with me as maids. Who else is coming?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
14:32 GMT +3

"Um."

Melinoë tries to check her horn armour, fails, then glares at Gaudia until she does it.

"If the encounter turns hostile, my highest priority will be evacuating you."

"Yes, it will."

"You didn't wear that armour when we were going to confront Cottus."

"That was in Tartarus."

"Um. Yes?"

She pauses in checking the parts of her armour she can actually reach in order to give me a withering eye roll.

"I'm a goddess and we're inside a titan. Being myself here is easy. I can't manifest my full power in the material world without an external power source, which I don't have."

I frown. "So how-?"

"I'm going to have to create a weak avatar and go there as that. Which means I need this armour which cousin Hephaestus made."

"Did he make it recently?"

Her eyes narrow.

"What are you implying?"

"That his knowledge of arcane smithing has increased a lot lately and that probably wouldn't be the style he'd use today."

"Oh." She bats Gaudia's hands away. "I suppose that's possible."

"Not that I think what you've got looks bad- "

"I don't care!"

"-in any… Okay. Ah, do you want any technological assistance?"

She frowns. "What do you mean?"

"A personal force field generator? Defence drones? Extra armour plates?"

"This armour is perfectly alright for a visit. Even if the world is closely connected to the Dream, they'll be under the same restrictions as I am. And I doubt that they'll be stronger than me; we don't keep track of everyone, but if someone powerful went missing we would know about it."

"A shield generator doesn't need to be very big."

"Do you know that it wouldn't interfere with the enchantments on this armour?"

"Based on my general knowledge of thaumaturgy and Hephaestus's techniques, I think it highly unlikely."

"I'd like a force field generator." I look around as the lightly armoured Aporia raises her right hand. "If that's alright?"

I glance at Gaudia, who nods twice. I raise my left hand and orange light flickers out, creating girdles around their waists with built in reactive kinetic barriers.

"Hm."

Melinoë makes a point of looking unimpressed.

"Are we leaving via Themyscira, or via the Dream gate?"

"You can't get there through the Dream without lots of preparation. Have you made lots of preparations?"

"Barely any."

"Then there would be 'barely any' chance of you arriving." She looks at her subordinate goddesses. "Any of you."

"But you'd be alright?"

"I'm the Goddess of Nightmares, idiot. I'd be more alright there than in the material universe."

"Rightoh. So I'm flying us there?"

"Unless you expect us to walk."

"Can you walk there?" I widen my eyes. "Gosh, that's impressive. Most people-"

She scowls. "No, of course-"

"-have trouble using magic-"

"-that's not possible, idiot."

"-away from a thaumically active planet."

I smile as her face goes from 'smile' to a 'blank, I'm totally above it all' expression. Then she vanishes.

I look around-. There she is, heading up the stairs to Themyscira. I turn to Gaudia and Aporia.

"Can I offer you a lift?"

Aporia nods. "I am very interested to experience your orange light for myself."

I tag each of them with orange bonds and I get a sudden shock of awareness, an existing contact between them and the Honden. I don't think they had the sort of access that I do, but they definitely became aware of it. That might make them better recruitment prospects than I had assumed.

"Oh. That's interesting."

They feel it, too. Might be worth giving them each an entry-level ring just to see how they function. Though given what Melinoë said, they would be far less powerful in the material universe than they would be here. Maybe they could use their rings to do their jobs faster?

I lift them off the ground and we fly out of Melinoë's dressing room, rising up over the palace and heading for the entrance at speed. I think about making a 'please keep your hands inside the ride' comment, but if they haven't kept up with the surface world they wouldn't understand it.

"So what have you two been doing with yourselves since Greece converted to Christianity?"

Gaudia makes a dismissive gesture with her right hand.

"For a time, we simply stayed in our manors near the main entrance. As we had fewer and fewer souls to vet, we increasingly had to make our own entertainment. Eventually, Lord Hades sent a messenger to dismiss us entirely so that he could keep the interesting evaluations entirely to himself. Then other than hearing the occasional prayer… We didn't have any official functions at all."

Aporia nods. "In the end, we just left. Explored the mortal world, in a variety of roles. We've each had dozens of names at least."

"So that thing about understanding desires… You've got practical experience and not just divine magic?"

"Yes?"

"Good to hear."

 

[Mr Zoat]

When If?

Universe-199998

13th February 2019

"The lost books…"

I look around from my position halfway up the ridiculous bookcase pillars as a somewhat weathered man in a suit walks slowly into the library. The ill-fitting amulet around his neck…

Time manipulation.

I can hardly complain about O'Bengh asking me to substitute for him while he takes a holiday, but that's a subject I'm either… No, I am the best person to answer questions about it. I just hoped that I could avoid it from now on. Returning to China didn't quite… Nothing was going to return me to anything approaching normal, but I'd been able to put being Time Trapper behind me.

I float down, smiling at the prospective researcher as he looks up and notices me.

"Hello, there."

"Aah, hello." He gives me a mild frown as I land a short distance away. "Are you..? Cagliostro?"

"No, I'm the substitute librarian. I've no idea where Cagliostro him or indeed herself is, and O'Bengh the Librarian is taking a holiday. I'm Orange Lantern, holiday temp."

He looks around, taking the place in.

"Strange."

I nod.

"Yes, the whole 'introduce yourself by your codename' thing breaks down in cultures where pseudonyms aren't common. Unfortunately, that-."

He squints. "No, I-. My name. Stephen Strange. Doctor Stephen Strange."

"Ah. Well, pleased to meet you, Doctor Strange." I offer him my right hand, and after a moment of awkward hesitation he takes it. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm… Hoping you can show me the books on time travel."

"Ah… I haven't taken an inventory, I'm-" I glance back at the books stacks, shaking my head. Being a wizard is no reason to abandon sound design principles. "-afraid. Though if it's any consolation, I used to be an atemporal being. There's not a lot about temporal manipulation that I don't understand, and I'm happy to answer your questions."

He looks at me askance.

"If you were atemporal, then surely some version of you still is."

"Oh, well spotted. But no. A version of the being I used to be is still atemporal, though since they lack my particularity they have no particular reason to help me or.. you."

He nods. "Orange… Lantern, was it?"

I take my personal lantern out of subspace. "A symbol of office and a power source. For a maltusian, it's like introducing yourself as a police officer."

"Well, Orange Lantern, perhaps you can help. I need a way to change an absolute point-" I wince. "-in time. Cagliostro was rumoured to have found a way-."

"There's no such thing." I shake my head. "That's not how time works. Even here."

He scowls. "I've got a certain amount of experimental data that says it is."

"Then you're misinterpreting it." I pull a couple of chairs and a table over to us and take a seat. "Tea?"

He takes a deep breath and huffs. "Look, I can find it myself-."

"Why rush?" I lean back in my chair as I take a tea service out of subspace. "You didn't come here for a way to travel in time, so presumably that thing around your neck already has that covered. Which means that it doesn't matter how long it takes. And it sounds like you are in need of background information."

He looks up at the stack, then down at the table. "Fine." He pulls out his chair and sits, leaning forward with his forearms on the table. "What do you mean 'there's no such thing'?"

"Exactly what I said. Time is a process. It's not a person; it can't care about anything. Nothing is just… Randomly designated as being more important than anything else. While the precise mechanism changes from parallel reality to parallel reality, it's usually just a matter of the availability and application of energy, due to-."

"So I need to get stronger."

"So you need to stop interrupting." I pour him a cup, then reach out and pull a book from a nearby shelf. 'What I Did In My Holidays' by Twoflower. "Could you lift this?"

He regards me with mild irritation for a moment before nodding. "Yes."

"If you were much stronger, could you-" I point. "-lift that bookshelf?"

"Yes."

"Is there a level of strength you could arrive at where you could pick yourself up by your own feet and carry yourself around?"

That puts him off his stride, eyes moving away from me as he tries to puzzle it out.

"The human mind is designed to keep us safe from hungry tigers; it isn't easy to talk about temporal mechanics in a language originally designed for telling the other monkeys where the ripe fruit are."

"Oh-kay."

I think he's trying some sort of breathing exercise, though with limited success.

"So then explain it to me like I'm a monkey."

"Events cause other events, and are in turn-."

"I already had this talk."

"Why are you here? Hm? What went so badly wrong that you feel the need to rewrite time?"

"I don't want to.. rewrite all time, I just.. want to save one woman."

"There's your problem. You-."

"Her death set me on this path. I can't go back and save her because if I did then I wouldn't exist."

"Nearly. Your perception of her death set you on this path."

And now I have his attention.

"What do you mean?"

"If she died and you didn't know about it, your behaviour would be unaltered. If she was replaced by a gynoid programmed to mimic her, or a shapeshifter, your behaviour would be unaltered. On the other hand, if you believed that she died…"

"I-. Would still have done everything to bring her back. Whether she was actually dead to or not."

"You tried to brute force it, didn't you? That can't work. Where I'm from, causation violations can upend the entire timeline like-" I click the thumb and middle fingers of my right hand. "-that. It took me an immeasurable amount of time to recreate my own timeline. Here, things are different. Time works -mechanically works- to minimise changes, sucking energy out of the universe every time. It's easy for something like a person dying; there are all sorts of ways to die, and it's more energy efficient to do that than... Than to try and maintain a paradox as part of history? I don't even want to think about how much energy that would-."

Oh.

"No, I've got it. If you moved her to a universe with a different temporal system then the two of you would be alright, it's just that the universe you left would collapse."

"Let's leave that for plan D. So what-"

"Yes, let's."

"-you're saying is, as long as I can exist in the resulting timeline, I can save her?"

"Yes. Your problem was confirmation bias. Once you heard an answer you didn't like, you didn't consider alternate hypotheses."

"So, what, I need to fake a car crash. Get a realistic fake body. Difficult, but-."

"Or you could just fake your memories."

"Excuse me?"

"Go back in time, explain things to whoever she is and your past self. Change his memories so that he remembers what you remember happening, and… Carry on."

He frowns. "She wouldn't see me for two years."

"Better than being dead. Or you could partition your mind so you could see her for a few days each month. I don't know how good you are at mind altering magic."

"I can get good very fast. And you're sure that will work?"

I shrug. "It should. Of course, there's an easy way to check, considering the nature of time travel. Are there any mental partitions in your mind at the moment?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
14:19 GMT

New Cronus is built into a crescent moon, like… Actually, it reminds me of the amulets from The Mysterious Cities of Gold, where the inner sun image slotted into the crescent moon outer. That can't be natural, but what possible reason could someone have for digging out a moon like that? Most of the city sits in the hollowed out part, with masts and veins sticking out through the rock for communications and shields. The city outwardly presents as ancient Greek, but there are clearly far more sophisticated elements. It's like someone copied the structures without any understanding of why they were the way they were.

"Feeling anything?"

Melinoë has looked mildly pained for the entire journey-. When she didn't think I was watching, anyway. Now she's craning her neck to take a closer look at the structure.

"It looks stupid."

"Or it's a display of power and security."

I mean, it's clearly not a warship. I can't see any guns, and from what my scans are telling me the shields are more the sort of thing you might expect from a space station in a relatively peaceful part of space. Not that I'd necessarily be able to detect any arcane defences, and I can't imagine anyone with Olympian heritage not having some sort of arcane protection.

Aporia looks it over, trying to come up with a better analysis.

"It looks like Olympus, a little."

I make an amused snort as I compare her description with that of her mistress.

Gaudia sneers. "They came up well short, then."

"To be fair, they're working in the material universe with mundane materials. They've done fairly well if the worst they did was come up short. Feeling any better?"

Both of them glance at Melinoë, who doesn't look at them, face impassive. After a moment to try and judge her mood, Aporia nods.

"A little better, thank you. Though obviously we aren't at anything like full power."

"Please keep me up to date. If you start to feel better or worse, I'd like to know about it."

Gaudia raises her left eyebrow.

"I'm sure we're grateful that you're so devoted to the wellbeing of beings thousands of years your senior, with far greater understanding of their own state of health than you have."

"While it's nice to be appreciated, it's more that we don't have good data on what happens when gods move between worlds. I'm hoping to write a study, and your feedback will be useful."

"Do we get a byline?"

"Hailing New Cronus. Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps, Ambassador of Maltus, here as requested. I'm requesting landing instructions."

Aporia frowns.

"I wonder why they named it after Cronus? He certainly hasn't gone anywhere lately. They can't be his descendants."

"I thought that all Olympians were?"

"He ate his children. The only gods he sired who are alive today are the gods and goddesses Zeus freed. That means it's easy for us to trace them."

"If you think you've traced all the children Zeus sired, I've got a bridge I can sell-."

"Ambassador. Please approach the upper keep. We will signal for your approach."

Ring?

Language used was a recorded local language. Accent deviated from known standards by a comprehendible degree. Suggests mixing with native speakers from three other regions and relatively isolated.

But not Greek?

Correct. Not Greek.

My passengers and I fly closer, and the ring pings me as their sensors take their time to get a good look at us. Hm. Considering what sort of beings we're dealing with here, perhaps…

Ophidian.

Yes, my Agent?

Be with me. See through my eyes, hear with my ears, understand with my mind.

Happily, my Agent.

"What was-?"

I feel it as the Ophidian gives me her particular attention, my body becoming… Just a little unreal. My eyes glow as they used to when the orange light was in danger of overwhelming me and I know that under my armour my tattoos are lighting up.

Aporia and Gaudia are staring at me. Melinoë is pointedly looking away.

Aporia points at me in a hesitant manner. "No, seriously, what is that?"

"'That' is the Ophidian, Embodiment of Avarice." I shrug. "She likes me."

Aporia glances at Melinoë for guidance and gets an elbow from Gaudia.

"And… Ah, how are you doing that?"

"The Ophidian isn't technically a goddess. She's far more closely tied to the material universe via the desires of every sentient being."

"That's who you were-? Oh… Um. Okay."

We draw closer, and the scale of the place becomes a little more apparent. What I initially thought might be temples of some sort are actually amphitheatres, the roofs are a product of the artificial lighting that means they don't need to be open to the sky. Some are vast, Olympic size or larger. Which means that those are housing… Regular housing. And those are gardens? And those are palatial homes, six of them, and from where they're sited I'm going to assume that the residents either really like their views or can't stand each other.

And that's a plaza with lines of soldiers and a small group of teal-skinned locals in fancier clothing I assume are officials of some kind. Without other direction I approach, causing the four of us to land at the outer side of the plaza. Disconnecting from the trio of goddesses, I take a moment to look-.

Ow.

Okay, not doing that. These people are definitely under someone's protective aegis.

I proceed along the soldier-lined gangway, glancing at the improved magic detection system built into my right bracer. Yes, the armour is enchanted. Not to a high degree -Melinoë's armour is several degrees more powerful- but better than anything pre-arcane revolution produced by a mortal wizard.

The officials at the far end come forward a little way to greet us. Which is interesting. Normally they'd make the foreigner approach them to emphasise that they are the supplicant. But these people aren't in charge; they're functionaries, so the same rule doesn't apply.

"Welcome to New Cronus, Ambassador. Our masters and mistresses are assembling to receive you as we speak. Please, come with us. We will provide you and your companions with refreshment while you wait."

"Thank you. We shall."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
14:32 GMT

A bowl of fruit sits on the table next to my right hand; a species like unusually large grapes and another like strangely misshapen apples fight for my curiosity. Given that agricultural goods are one of the few things that planets like this can offer the wider galaxy in trade, I make a point of not scanning them.

Melinoë's eyes are fixed on the grand entrance to the waiting room. I'm not sure whether she's eagerly awaiting them opening or if she just doesn't want to lose out on any scowling time. Gaudia is more interested in the attendants who lurk nervously at the corners of the room. Teal-skinned examples of the local humanoid species, their clothing puts me in mind of oriental styles… And their slightly larger than average eye orbits reminds me uncomfortably of the qwardians.

Aporia's on her third near-apple.

"What?"

Melinoë closes her eyes for a moment, and I can practically hear her think 'give me strength'.

"You are not as resistant to poison in this form as you are in Erebos. And gorging yourself will slow your mind."

Aporia's eyes widen as she swallows.

"You actually expect me to use my mind?"

"Yes. We are dealing with a break away pantheon who rule an entire world. I assume that you have at least enough ambition to envy them their achievement."

Aporia waves her half-eaten near-apple.

"Not really."

"Really? I'd have.. thought that the Goddess of Desire would feel that more strongly than anyone."

"No? I mean, aside from the fact that I got 'desire' because no one else had picked it yet and I thought it sounded good, you would not believe the crazy people I've seen." She shakes her head. "They just fixate on something, like that one thing will fix their life if they get it just right, if they… Forge a perfect sword. Persuade that merchant to give them an extra coin per barrel of wine. Win a little more glory. And they never learn. Six thousand years of new flavours of stupid."

"Did you ever think of teaching people not to do that?"

"No? I mean, it's kind of funny to watch sometimes but they-" She rolls her eyes. "-have to go on about it. I'm like, 'it's a whale, they're all basically the same', you know? Who cares if it's white?"

For a moment I freeze as I try and remember whether Ahab was a real person in DC, or she's just referencing the book.

"Not big on divine responsibility, then?"

"You worship Eris, right?"

"Yes."

Aporia leans slightly towards me.

"Hera, Athena, Aphrodite. Three goddesses who are supposed to be responsible. And look what they did."

She flops back on her chaise longue.

"Troy. We didn't have many cities… I mean, most of them were towns with ambition. But, poof, gone."

I frown, pick up an applish and scan it.

Ah.

"So what's the point of being responsible if you're going to be fine anyway and everyone else is going to get it wrong anyway?"

"What are the Greek rules on hospitality? Particularly relating to narcotics?"

Melinoë slowly turns her head towards me.

"Poisoning a guest would be a gross violation. But if the guest can't handle their liquor and decides to drink like a barbarian, that is their fault."

"Or eats like one, I presume."

Our eyes move to Aporia.

"What?"

I raise my right hand and wave it to get the attention of one of the servants.

"I don't expect their eminences to drop everything because I turned up, but do you have any idea how long they're going to take?"

She takes a moment to see if she can persuade one of the others to field my question with her eyes alone. She can't.

"I'm sorry, lord. I don't know."

Empathic vision… Power through, she's engaged with us. Yes, fear. Fear that paralyses. Perhaps there are senior… Clerics? Who are accustomed to dealing directly with their rulers, but to this one, the very idea of questioning the hierarchy inspires fear. Could mean a variety of things, and none of them inspire confidence.

"That's-."

The doors are thrown open, and a man dressed in a tunic made from the night sky strides in, a woman wearing a dress of the same material just behind him. Their hair is.. of similar construction, normal hair marking an area which is overlaid with a skin of deep space. Their skin is slightly odd; nearly Caucasian, but with a little gold added into the mix. Or-. I remember hearing that Helen of Troy was referred to as 'golden' not because she had blonde hair but because she used olive oil as a moisturiser. Maybe that's what it does?

Melinoë comes to her feet, her grim expression very clearly not matching the smiles of our hosts. I stand too and smile, aiming at 'polite diplomat' rather than 'schmoozer' as he appears to be. Gaudia stands after the two of us, making a slight effort to fade into the background. Aporia sits upright, sways slightly, then decides to remain where she is.

The man spreads his arms wide in greeting.

"Welcome to New Cronus! I am Coeus, God of the Moon. I apologise for not being here sooner, but a deity's work is never done."

To the best of my knowledge, the titan Coeus was killed during the titans' war with the Olympians. This man clearly isn't a titan in that mould, but I doubt that he got hair like that from his shampoo.

"Quite alright. I apologise that I can't greet you in a similar fashion, but my name has been taken from me." I offer him my right hand. "I am the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps."

He comes closer, firmly gripping my arm rather than my hand. I return the gesture, mildly pleased that this form of greeting doesn't degenerate into a test of strength anything like as often as the handshake.

Still holding on, he turns to his companion.

"This is Phoebe, Goddess of the Moon and my sister-wife."

I nod, smiling. "So you are Greek, then?"

He releases my arm. "We.. are descended from the gods of the Greeks, yes." He looks curious, though not suspicious. "How is it that you know of us?"

"Allow me to introduce my companion. This is Melinoë, Goddess of Nightmares and Madness, and daughter of Hades."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
14:37 GMT

"And these-."

"Hades elder brother of Zeus Hades?"

"Yes. And you are not the titan Coeus. Where did you come from?"

"Ah." He takes a moment to regain his mental equilibrium, Phoebe lightly touching his left arm with the tips of the fingers of her right hand. "No, as I said, I'm a god. My mother named me for her late brother. He was slain by your father, as I recall."

"The titans were mighty. Extremely hard to kill. My father does not often talk about it, but from what I remember of his stories Coeus was a team effort."

"A team-. Do not speak so lightly of my uncle's death!"

His metaphysique is protected, but with the Ophidian's help I can get a rough feeling for him. That outburst was more due to shock than rage, but more importantly I get a feel for his complexity. He's… Young. The titans were defeated… What, seven thousand years ago? He's nothing like that old. He might even be younger than me-. My actual age, rather than my official age.

"Melinoë, that isn't helpful. Please-."

"Do not assume that my goals are the same as yours."

"I'm not assuming that, but I am assuming that your reduced strength in the material universe means that I could -for example- stick you in the corner of the room with a construct gag on."

Coeus appears baffled, but Phoebe is starting to smile. Melinoë is giving me her full attention, her face a picture of indignation.

I step in front of her, blocking Coeus's view of her and hers of him.

"Sorry about that. I didn't get much notice and she was the first available Olympian."

"I-." He shakes his head. "Fine. We-. I wasn't expecting you to bring an Olympian."

"I was told to bring a staff, and that you were from Earth. I don't even know why you wanted to talk to an ambassador."

Phoebe leans into her husband. "Then perhaps it would help if we explained that. And.. where it is that we come from."

"I'll take anything."

"Then, please, be seated."

Coeus doesn't look entirely certain, but responds to her gentle tug on his arm to sit down on a nearby bench. I take a seat opposite, leaving Melinoë to choose between either joining me or joining Aporia. She chooses me. Right.. next to me, and

an image of the walls around me trapping me squeezing me crushing me

and that would be deeply unpleasant if I wasn't resistant to magic, enlightened and training to deal with it.

I hold out my right hand and cause my personal lantern to manifest.

"My authorisation."

Coeus nods. "Your ring would suffice, but we acknowledge it. You are the Illustres, second in power?"

"I'm the second in authority. Even without the Ophidian's aid, I'm probably the most powerful."

He nods. "Yes, there's more to authority than power. A lesson our mother took great pains to teach us."

"Your mother?"

"The titan Rhea."

Zeus's mother, who… Yes, I don't think there was any record of what happened to her. I cautiously glance at Melinoë to see if she wants to volunteer anything.

"She was banished to the Dream. I had assumed that she was content to dwell there."

"A lie."

"Husband."

Coeus and Phoebe make momentary eye contact with one another. Coeus inclines his head slightly.

"An incomplete truth. Yes, Rhea was banished to the Dream, but she broke her banishment and fled from the Earth. We are her heirs."

"And where is she now? I would be curious to meet my grandmother."

He bows his head.

"Dead. As I am sure that you know, being anchored to the material universe weakens us immensely."

I frown. It's more than that; a titan is far more primal than a god. They shouldn't be able to exist outside of their medium. So… Yes, ganking an avatar and harming or killing the god by doing so is perfectly possible, but I doubt that's the full story.

"You have my commiserations."

He watches my face for a moment or two before nodding. "Thank you. But what of you? What are you? You seemed… Human, but I feel something greater within you."

"That's the Ophidian, universal embodiment of avarice. She's a little like a titan, I suppose, but she's bound to just about everyone in the material universe, so… Her manifesting is a little less traumatic, particularly when she does so via someone like me who's so in tune with her." Hm. "Actually, given that my friend Kon-El is on excellent terms with Helios, he might-"

Coeus frowns, his eyes darting to Phoebe for a moment.

"-be able to do something similar." I frown. "I haven't asked."

Phoebe smiles curiously.

"Cousin Helios is still alive?"

I nod. "Yes. I haven't studied the titanomachy in any detail, but my understanding is that the titans who abandoned Cronus and accepted Zeus's supremacy were generally left to their own devices. And can you imagine trusting Apollo with something as important as the sun?"

Melinoë elbows me. I ignore her.

"Heck, if you want there's no particular reason why you can't visit the Earth. Very few people worship the Olympians-. Heh, I think Euanthe the Super-Dryad has more worshippers than Zeus at the moment."

Phoebe nods. "We may do that, some day. But as to why you are here?"

I nod.

"We are aware that the maltusians left some of their weapons here when they departed. We intend to make this world into a paradise, something we cannot do if ordnance left by a race of demigods could activate at any moment, at great cost to our people. We would like to request your aid in disarming or removing as much as possible, and confirming that anything left is completely inaccessible."

I nod again.

"That sounds like something I can help with, and I'd be happy to do so. Who exactly is 'we' in this context?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
14:46 GMT

"Delighted to meet you, cousin!"

The actually gold-skinned man Coeus introduced as Hyperion brushes past me to take Melinoë's hands in his own and kiss them. And it's not just his skin that's golden and mildly reflective. No, his clothes and… What I assume is meant to be armour -or at least super sized jewellery that looks a little like armour- is also gold, and his goes from bright gold at the front to red-gold at the back. His sister-wife Theia is dressed in a similar manner, adding a gold… Helmet? Head dress? To the mix.

No children, I note. No Helios-alt here to contract with the one back on Earth.

Theia doesn't look-. No, it's not that she's annoyed at her husband behaving in such a familiar way with another woman. She's looking suspiciously at all of us.

"Uncle."

"Oh, come now! We're a generation removed from our forebears." He offers her his goblet, and apparently misses the fact that her father is her mother's uncle. "May I offer you a drink?"

"Thank you, no."

"My lord Hyperion, my lady Theia."

"Human." Theia doesn't seem to like me any better having gotten a closer look at me. "You are the ambassador, and not that greater being within you?"

"You can talk to the Ophidian if you want, but the drawback of wanting everything is that you don't want anything more than anything else. It's unlikely that she'd care about you or your family."

"Still."

I shrug. "As you will."

My Agent?

She just wants to talk to you for a moment.

She believes that she is reduced by speaking to you. I shall teach her better.

As you see fit.

And then the corridors of the Honden surround me as the Ophidian borrows my body in the physical universe. Ooh, this is… Different. The.. locals have structures similar to those of most humanoids, and desires… Yes, those are familiar enough. Those around New Cronus don't appear to have the burning desire for freedom or restoration that suggests they're harshly oppressed… But then, it's not as if their native rulers were models of liberal democratic rulership. Pre-industrial society can't really work that way; travel and communication technology just doesn't allow it. So if the new rulers are worse then they're not much worse, at least to the people immediately around them.

Which is nice, I suppose.

These gods themselves… Yes, Hyperion wants to spread his 'solar rays' but only with other beings in his weight class. Theia doesn't really care about his behaviour. She cares about their alliance and doesn't think that he'll do anything to undermine.. it…

What's… That? That line of desire feels familiar. What is-.

And I'm back in the room, the assembled children of Rhea looking a little disturbed.

"Problem?"

"No, no." Coeus recovers fastest, taking my arm and leading me towards his red-skinned companions. "Just a little surprising. Don't think anything of it."

"I have no idea what she said to you-."

"This is Lord Iapetus and Lady Themis, gods of the planet."

Iapetus offers me his right arm. "Your snake has great wisdom. I have wanted to take a more active role in shaping Minosyss to the advantage of its citizens, and I believe-"

Themis looks truculent, but holds her peace when he looks at her and gives her the opportunity to chime in.

"-that we have a new accord on the subject."

"I'm glad to hear it. If you can manipulate the magma, there's probably a way to introduce geothermal power. Maybe even industrialise the place eventually."

"Your serpentine companion was of the opinion that the greatest testament to a god's greatness was the strength of their people. I take it that you share that view?"

"I wouldn't have built a Lantern Corps if I didn't."

"There, you see?" He gestures towards a globe displaying the planet below. "Rewarding devotion is no sign of subservience."

"There was a dispute on the subject?"

Iapetus nods, though the globe retains the majority of his attention.

"We discussed using the planet's resources to cow the people into greater displays of devotion. I was never in favour of it, but… It makes a certain degree of sense. It's far easier to see a disaster caused than a disaster prevented."

"Oh, that's painfully true. But exactly how-?"

"And over here-" Coeus pulls me away from the terraphiles as they redirect a major river. "-are Oceanus and Tethys."

A strange contrast in substances. Both have aquatic tails, though I can't tell whether they're supposed to be fish or dolphin. The flesh of their upper torsos is translucent blue, almost water-like, while the 'hair' on her head and the 'hair' of his tremendous beard both appear to be made of anemone tendrils. They're laying on benches by a pool.

I nod to Oceanus.

"I briefly met your predecessor. He very nearly killed me."

His beard straightens in shock.

"He lives?"

"He's currently confined, but yes."

"Then perhaps when we are finished here, we shall visit Earth."

"Have you ever visited before?"

Tethys shrugs. "In a sense, we-."

Coeus pulls again, clearly not wanting me to hear the rest of her answer. Though it's not hard to work out what it would be. They either have or haven't. If she's prevaricating, then… It's their home in a spiritual sense? Or part of them came from there? Was Rhea pregnant with them when they left?

"And the last of my brothers and sisters, Lord Crius and Lady Mnemosyne."

Brown hair, with green skin covered in tattoos. He's wearing a toga while she's wearing a cloak which bares her entire 'attribute-free' body.

And if that's the last, then there's no Cronus or Rhea equivalent. Which makes a degree of sense. Also, the pairs don't quite match up with the pairings of the originals. But they're their own people.

Which -given what happened- is probably a very good thing.

"A pleasure."

Mnemosyne nods. "It is always pleasant to meet a mortal who has pushed his mind as far as you have. But we are most eager for you to begin your work, and render the world below safe for our mortal servants."

"Then let's get started."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
14:59 GMT

"…breached the control room, but it does not appear designed to respond to those such as we."

Coeus leads the way through the breach in the earth that leads to the most accessible part of the decommissioned sun eater factory. Not sure whether this means that the Junior Titans can't teleport, haven't gotten the hang of teleporting in Minosyss's magic sphere or if the maltusians built something that blocks it.

"Have you been studying it?"

"We dared not. Though I'm confident that we would survive whatever traps the maltusians might have added to their system, this world is inhabited by people far less resilient than we are."

"I meant, 'you personally', though I suppose that answers the question."

"Iapetus looked it over, since it comes closest to falling within his sphere. He'd be here now, but his brief encounter with your Ophidian appears to have left him rather distracted."

"I suppose that there isn't a titan of engineering, is there?"

"Had mother survived, there may have been eventually."

"Do you know what her… Plan, was? Did you intend for you to go back and defeat Zeus when you were ready, or...? What?"

"She taught us to use our abilities as best we could. Perhaps she had an ultimate goal in mind… Sadly, we shall never know."

I nod. That suggests that they weren't all that old when she died. Is Coeus the oldest? Was he forced to take on a pseudo-parental role when their mother died? None of the others disputed his right to negotiate with me, after all.

"Why do you care?"

"Oh, I'm nothing like as emotionally invested as you are. But I'm a utilitarian. I don't destroy things unless there's a good reason to do so. Senseless violence is wasteful. And as an Orange Lantern I tend to like to see people pursuing their goals in a rational and pragmatic way."

I look up and to the right as a section of… I think that used to be a wall, juts through the side of the rocky passage. An earthquake? Did that..? Breach the walls? That doesn't seem likely, but the whole reason why the Controllers chose this place was because it doesn't entirely conform to the usual rules.

"You wanted to get the factory safely shut down, so rather than come up with some sort of convoluted scheme to lure a maltusian here you just directly asked. We have absolutely no reason to say 'no', the maltusians abandoned the place because they had no further use for it…"

"The cooperation of disparate parts to a common good is the very definition of civilisation."

We walk in silence for a few moments, the corridor bending as it moves around the buried sections of factory which stick through the walls in several places.

"So… What does being moon god actually involve? Are you in charge of New Cronus?"

"Yes, but that's more a coincidence than anything else. The moon is totemic; most of my actual divine powers relate to the intellect rather than the night in any literal way."

"Hah! We could definitely do with you back on Earth then."

"Isn't there a god of the intellect amongst Zeus's followers?"

"No. Zeus ate Metis, and… I don't think he's been listening to her advice very much."

"Met-? Zeus ate another god?"

"Yes. And-"

"But that's-"

"-I realise that-"

"-what he rallied-"

"-that's what Cronus did-"

"-the younger gods against!"

"-to his brothers and sisters, yes."

"And that hypocrite rules the Earth? Humans pray to him!?"

"Not really, no. Greece converted to Christianity about two thousand years ago. The few Hellenists left mostly prefer to pray to other Olympians. My particular patron is Eris, Goddess of Chaos."

"You… Mentioned a 'super Dryad'."

"Yes, Euanthe has done very well for herself. Essentially, she increased the strength of her bond to all earthly plant life, and after a rather nasty war she made contact with an alliance of jungle tribes in the Americas… And now she's their main god."

"How powerful is she?"

"Innately? Probably not much more than she was before. But she has command authority over the natural world, so her effective power is much greater."

We walk out into… Huh. Yes. A room big enough to build a creature that could eat a sun. In the distance I can see… Gantries, and machinery that I can't easily-

"It's just up here."

-identify. Coeus leads me up a… A rope bridge, to a round platform which appears to be suspended from the ceiling by struts which are both uncomfortably long and uncomfortably thin.

Coeus sees me hesitate.

"They're strong enough. Can you not fly?"

"I can fly in three different ways and I may well be immortal. That doesn't make me feel safe."

I shake my head as I reach the platform. Yes, it's solid -certainly more solid than the bridge- and in the centre there's a maltusian control console. It's a ring made of a stone-like substance, the middle of the ring containing a glowing orb which… Is probably the part of the machinery that they designed to access the dimensional warp.

And there's a plug for a personal lantern. A bit odd, given who was using it at the time. This was shut down before Guardians started using Green Lanterns. I mean… The Guardians had the technology beforehand. Larfleeze's existence proves that. Still, it's a little…

"This control system is contemporary, is it?"

"As far as I know. It was here when we discovered this vault, but I know little of maltusian technology."

"Fair enough."

I don't attach my personal lantern to it, but rather reach out with orange threads and attach-. Ah, yes, there we are. I was a little worried that they would have designed the system to work with their symbiotic abilities rather than glow technology, but it doesn't seem to be arguing the toss.

"Is there anything important directly above here?"

"A few villages. Why?"

"I might need to physically fly the sun eaters out, to say nothing of whatever other weapons the Controllers stashed here."

"I can order an evacuation, though I would rather avoid doing so."

"Alright then. Let's see what this does."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
15:06 GMT

Naturally, there's no user interface.

In fact, I'm not sure that there's any 'computer' here in the conventional sense of the term. I mean, it's the regulator for the interface, but it was clearly built on the assumption that the Controller would be doing most of the work in their head. It's letting me do it by ring more because it hasn't been designed not to rather than any sort of permission system.

"Are you able to access it?"

"Yes. Sort of. Unfortunately, it's designed for an actual Controller to do most of the work. They literally have to bridge the gap between dimensions themselves; this system doesn't do it. Which… I'm sorry, but I'm wasting your time. I can't do that."

I frown.

Can I? Or rather, can my ring?

No, no, I don't think so. The Honden isn't a dimension, not in the way that this place is designed to use the term.

"You can't?"

He sounds genuinely surprised. Which is oddly touching, but it's slightly unfortunate that I'm giving a bad impression.

"Sorry. I'm a Lantern, not a dimensional mathematician. I can do an assessment of the place and report back to the actual Controllers, but as far as activating this is concerned…"

"We would rather not have the Controllers come here personally."

"Ah… Okay? I suppose Dox could probably do it. Maybe one or two others? Would you..? Mind telling me why you don't want them here?"

Coeus turns aside and swings his right arm, indicating the rest of the factory.

"Does it seem strange that we are concerned about the people who made all of this?"

"A little? I mean, they left. A long time ago. There's no obvious reason for them to want to take it back. You said that you were worried about their technology decaying due to lack of attention, and those weapons are already here."

He smiles faintly. "Oh, for a rational universe."

"I know what you mean. I suppose… Is this the first planet you've ruled?"

"Without our mother's guidance?" He nods. "Yes. Is there really nothing you can do?"

"There are a lot of things I could do. But I can't be sure in advance what the result would be, which rather defeats the purpose of my coming here."

I take a moment to peer off into the distance.

"How about I take a look around the place and then report back to the Controllers for instructions?"

"Very well. I can't really give you a tour as I have no idea what any of this does, but you are welcome to see it."

He turns away to walk back down the rope bridge-.

"I'm sorry if this is a personal question, but can you fly?"

"Normally, yes. But there is something about this place that distorts magic. I take it that the Controllers made no use of it?"

I try to rise by ring, but the power leaks away almost immediately. Ophidian?

…

"They can, but they aren't keen on using power moderated by others."

I trigger my armour's flight system instead, and… Yes, that works. I rise off the platform and fly after Coeus.

"Can I offer you an alternate system? It's fairly instinctual to use."

He looks rather taken aback.

"How?"

"Basic physics is working more or less the same in here as it does outside. So whatever shielding they've put in place is probably… High order stuff, designed to prevent certain types of extra-planar energy working. So no magic for you and no ring for me. However, normal"-

I try taking a simple magnet out of subspace, but can't. Ah… Side arm? I draw it and point it off into the distance.

"-manipulations of magnetic forces and electricity work fine."

I pull the trigger, the bang caused by the exploding powder echoing through the chamber before being lost to the distance.

"As well as chemical reactions."

"You carry a chemical propellant weapon?"

"They're a pain to stop remotely." I frown. "What… Language are you speaking?"

"I speak several languages, though at the moment I'm speaking Greek. Why do you ask?"

So how is my ring translating? I mean, I've learned a little Classical Greek, but I'm not fluent and I wouldn't mistake it for English. So is the ring's translation system separate..? Or is it that he has a normal connection to the orange light and it's running off that? Something else to ask Hinon.

"My armour has a translation system, but I usually rely on my ring. And I doubt that you speak English."

"So you can bypass the system?"

"So I can accidentally bypass the system in one regard without knowing why. Let's not get ahead of ourselves."

He nods. "It is wise to know one's limits. And yes, thank you. I would like you to share whatever system you're using."

"I-."

With my rings down, I can't fabricate a flight belt. But I can disconnect my armour's backup and attach a couple of straps… There.

I hold it out to him.

"Strap this on securely."

He looks it over, then tests the strength of the straps before pulling it around his waist and tightening it.

"Tap it, then sort of angle yourself in the way you want to-"

Coeus launches into the air, narrowly dodging the beams holding up our platform to the ceiling before stopping.

"I see. A little…"

He shifts sideways, stops, falls a few metres and then stops again.

"I see. Interesting. Is this its original purpose?"

"No, it was originally used as crash protection for starship travellers."

"Travellers who would often not have been trained in specialised systems." He thinks for a moment. "Tell me: you mentioned geothermal power earlier. What other suggestions do you have for improving this world?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
17:22 GMT

"Half a year?"

I nod as we head back up through the tunnels, my right hand slightly extended as I try and create a construct.

"How much time have you spent in the immaterium?"

"A few moments, while our mother was teaching me."

"You remember what it's like?" He nods. "You're a god. This body you're driving around now? That's an avatar, capable of using a fraction of your full power."

"But I-. We have more access to the world like this."

"Look… Unless I very much miss my guess, you're not much older than me, right?"

"A little older-. But yes, far younger than our titanic forebears."

"So while your powers are notable, they're really nothing that a high end mortal magician couldn't replicate. It's just that for you they're innate rather than learned."

"I haven't seen a magician who could match us."

"I-."

My construct splutters into existence, then stabilises.

"There we go." Coeus frowns. "Trust me, as someone who has seen high end magicians. If I dropped off a book on thaumaturgy in a few of this planet's major cities, you'd see people at that level in… Twenty to thirty years? No one could equal you in full god mode."

"But I would struggle to affect the world."

"And that's what priests are for. Very few people have regular meetings with their planet's overlord, but if you stick a priest with a few divine gifts in every town, suddenly they have a more personal relationship."

"We could have priests without empowering them."

"Then where's the pull? Why would someone become a priest? What are they supposed to be doing that mundane administrators aren't doing? What are the government officials doing that the priests aren't going?"

"Is that how..? How the Olympians organise their devotees?"

"No. As I said, hardly anyone worships the Olympians. Zeus mostly spends his time hanging out in Olympus or… Picking up lonely middle aged women on cruises while in avatar mode. He has at least one recent daughter that I know about sired like that. You want to build this civilisation up?"

"Of.. course, but-."

"Then you need to think about what is it that you can offer it. What you can do that would make people want to worship you. Can you assess the intellectual capacities of everyone on the planet as you are now?"

"Not quickly. I would have to meet them all in person."

"And in the immaterium?"

"I would need to bend the world-sphere around myself, which.. would take some time. But once we created a new Othrys, I could arrange matters so that my attention was drawn to the sharpest of intellects."

"Wouldn't New Cronus work?"

"No, it would need to be tied to somewhere on the planet. We flew New Cronus here; it isn't integrated yet. Do you intend to hand out books on thaumaturgy?"

"I'll give you a few copies when we get back to New Cronus. If you're serious about the uplift project I don't see any reason to make your life unnecessarily difficult." I frown as we emerge into the sunlight. "How has your takeover gone over with the locals?"

"Most mortal rulers have acquiesced. Consolidating our control is slow-going, but there's no unified resistance."

"Mortal rulers might acquiesce to a display of strength, but that won't be enough to make them yours. It won't make them loyal in the way I imagine that you want."

"I am confident that within a few generations, they will become accustomed to us. But I take your point-. Your many points. You have never ruled a world yourself?"

"Not my desire. But I've had access to the records of the rulership of millions of worlds, and the writings of people far wiser than me who analysed them. I would be happy to give you those as well, though I suspect that you will need a very long time to read all of them."

"Time, we have. If we do as you suggest, Hyperion and Thia would be able to rejuvenate this system's star." I frown. I didn't think-. "It's not dying yet, but it's older than it might be."

"I wouldn't suggest prioritising it, but visibly changing the sun would certainly give an undeniable impression of power. Oh, and you should probably divide up responsibility between you. Not just your domains, but what parts of lives of your people you oversee."

"How so?"

"Would schools be the responsibility of Crius and Mnemosyne, or you and Phoebe? Who is responsible for law and order? How about public health and medicine? Civic planning? Industry? If you're trying to create a unified civilisation and culture, you'll need a unified plan."

"I will need to discuss all of this with Phoebe, and with the others."

"Of course. And I need to talk to Controller Hinon about-."

Coeus doubles over, clutching his head! A moment later he straightens, a look of horror on his face!

"No!"

A second later he's faded from view. Some sort of teleportation? It makes sense that he'd be able to do that, but I've got no idea why he's so concerned. I… Doubt that there's anything I could help with; we've built up a rapport and if he wanted me he'd have asked.

We didn't really… Stop to talk to the garrison protecting this entrance before we came in, but I did get a brief introduction to the man in charge. Athyns came with the New Titans from Karrakan, and he's the head of their military here. I fly towards his command post, returning my armour to subspace and switching to my formal robes. Athyns is a very serious warrior and commander, and I want to be sure that I'm not immediately seen as a potential threat.

As it turns out, I don't need to head to his command post. He's already out, mustering soldiers and preparing them for action. I get a quick and extremely hard look as I land, and then he nods.

"Ambassador."

"Lord Coeus has been called away. I wouldn't want anyone to think that I was poking around secure sites without an escort."

"It's best if you just stay here. I'll assign you an escort once everyone else is prepared."

"Prepared for what? If you can tell me. I can see there's some sort of alert, but I don't know what for."

"Someone attacked one of the gods. That's all I know. Now go sit over there, and stay out of the way."

 

[Mr Zoat]

"Recognised, Power Ring Blue, Made Man of Power Ring."

Earth -14
Oranga
11th September 2012
20:23 GMT +3

I appear in the antechamber of the team's new base of operations, and take a moment to relax. Things… Things are going as well as they could…

I chuckle slightly for a moment.

I can't even finish that thought.

But they could be going a great deal worse, and -to quote Dilbert- that's not nothing.

The Syndicate has almost completely moved to the arse ends of the world. The Answer is heading up Asian operations, their Byzantine political and economic systems suiting him perfectly. 'Al' -because apparently we're on first name terms now- is having fun scaring the night soil out of the drug cartels of South America while the Director is stretching his tentacles out across Africa. This hotel is one of his, and the staff and guests are robots operating under his direction.

"So?"

Most of the guests.

"Mister Quick, you know full well-."

"We're all gunna get tole inna bit, ain't we?" He shrugs, and I note that despite the enforced inactivity he's barely jittering at all. Looks like the new formulation of the speed formula has ironed out that problem. "What's it ma'ahr?"

"Because it undermines Ultraboy. He's the team leader. I bring news to him, he decides how to share it with the team." I nod politely. "Excuse me."

I head towards-

"But we're gettin' out, roight?"

-Jon's suite-

"Roight?"

-and knock politely on the door.

"Ultraboy?"

He doesn't run, but I hear his heavy footfalls on the other side of the door immediately. His self control is pretty good, all things considered, but he's been feeling the enforced inactivity just as much as everyone else. He's looking… Okay. Though I personally think that the goatee is a terrible look for him, it does fulfil the recommendation that everyone alter their usual appearance during the relocation. He's even abandoned the 'U' insignia he used to have on just about every piece of clothing he owned. No one familiar with his old appearance would look for a young man in a suit.

"You got something, Blue?"

His elocution training has been more miss than hit, but unlike many of our colleagues he is actually making an effort.

"Indeed I do. Would you please accompany me to the briefing room?"

"Sure, just… Give me a minute."

I nod. "Of course."

He heads back inside, closing the door after him, while I head towards the meeting room. I'm not sure whether the Director meant it as an insult or not, but the main meeting table was originally a replica of the one the old Management used to use. I had it taken out almost immediately, and replaced with a more collegial circle. I also added some soft seating off to the side for less formal one-to-one chats, and it's there that I head. And in deference to the preferences of my colleagues, I pull out a decanter and a couple of tumblers before sitting down.

How… To sell this.

Jon pushes the door open and does a quick scan of the door before coming inside and closing the door. He makes eye contact with me, and I hold up Zorina's anti-detection ward and do a quick scan to make sure. Nothing detected, so I give Jon a nod.

He hesitates for a moment and then walks slowly over, eyes alighting on the glasses.

"Since when do you drink?"

"I don't. It's alcohol free; basically wheat juice. It's practically a health drink."

Jon frowns, a snort escaping his nostrils. "Fer real?"

"Eh… A few other chemicals. Nothing intoxicating, but it tastes just like the real thing."

He sits down opposite, picking up his glass and sniffing it. "And no one figured it out?"

I shrug. "I changed it five months ago and no one's said anything." I pick up my glass and hold it out to him. He taps his own against it with a chink, then we each take a small sip. "Your health."

He nods. "Makes me think of the first time we had a drink together. Guess that's a happier memory for me than you."

"I've found that life isn't quite so easily sorted into 'good' and 'bad' these days."

"Guess I should be grateful about that." Jon puts his glass down and sits back. "What're our orders?"

I shake my head. "The Management don't-."

"Sure. 'Requests'."

"It's an important distinction. They're recognising your independence and-."

"And that I gotta do what they say if I want the lights t'stay on."

"You can look at it like that." I shrug. "You can do your own thing, or you can answer requests and receive the commensurate rewards."

"We did what you said to make the New Management happen. Not like I had any better ideas." I shrug. "Plan any good?"

"I think it will achieve the Syndicate's medium term objectives. Whether it's the best thing to do or not…" I shrug again. "You remember our alter egos?"

"Yeah."

"Their team is used by their mentors as a covert operations unit. Their United Nations imposes rules on the Justice League, and they use their apprentices to bypass them without anyone knowing. The Management want to do the reverse with the Young Offenders. While the Syndicate beds down in its new areas of operation, your team will carry out random acts of brigandage with the aim of drawing as much attention as possible." Jon frowns. "Luthor's sticking to the deal, but there are more excitable elements-"

"The Justice Underground."

"-who will come after the Syndicate anyway, and the New Management want them led away from the more vulnerable areas of the business. And you've got plenty of vinegar in you, so I doubt that you'll complain if they catch up with you."

"Easy to sell it to the others. I'm guessing we can't go back to America."

"No, but you could attack US interests outside of the States. Just as long as you don't draw attention to other Syndicate assets."

He nods, looking at his drink for a moment. "Or what else?"

"What else?"

"You got some other idea." He looks up. "Don't you."

"I… Do."

"So?"

"We do need a decoy, but we can get anyone to do that. There are a few of the less stable Made Men I wouldn't mind seeing the back of. But for you… How would you like to head up your own operation?"

"What's the catch?"

"You have to create one."

He frowns. "How?"

"The Syndicate has been moving into highly criminalised areas and inserting itself as the top level boss. My idea for the team is to go somewhere that has suffered a complete breakdown in law and order and creating order."

A wry smile. "Like heroes."

"Like empire-builders. You saw how fast Slade threw every law he swore to uphold out of the window the moment he thought that's what he needed to do to win. Ultimately, that's what law is; what the strongest force in a society says will happen. Constitutions are just paper. If you conquer an area, if you enforce your will and bring stability, people will support you."

"Time fer me to make my own mark on the world?" I nod-shrug. "Interesting idea. Kinda assumed I'd get this talk from Pa."

"Yeah." I sigh. "That would be better. Or your grandpa, or grandma, or your Uncle Jimmy or Uncle Pete. But I'm what you've got."

"Yeah. I guess you are."

He swirls his drink around in his glass.

"Where were you thinking we'd do this?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
19:31 GMT

…and that one wants better fitting armour. And clearly feels guilty about it. As far as I can tell, these soldiers represent the hardcore of loyalists who either came from minor religious groups who worshipped something similar enough to the new gods that they were willing to accept them as 'fulfilling the prophecy', or who were from minor groups who were happy to accept the Pax Divinitatus to protect them from their oppressors. No one other than Athyns from Karrakan, which… Seems a little odd, but I suppose that there must be some reason why the gods left.

N.E.M.O. doesn't have any recent information on the place. It's not exactly a busy stop over, being another relatively technologically primitive place like Minosyss. I'll ask Dox to send someone.

Anyway, the armour of these soldiers appears to have been a joint project between Iapetus and Hyperion. There's a ceremony they all go through where they're awarded it in person, which is the closest most of them come to the beings they worship and kind of a big deal.

I'll give Coeus a book on armour design. It shouldn't be that hard to integrate spells for automatic adjustment into the existing network, and that would allow them to make the armour a standard size every time.

"Excuse me?"

The two soldiers assigned to watch look up from their reading. The encampment outside of the tent is packed up and ready to fall out, but as I'm a foreigner and they're guarding me none of us are involved.

"I had assumed that someone would have told me what was going on by now, but since that hasn't happened, could I please send a message to the rest of my party?"

That doesn't appear to strike either of them as particularly unreasonable.

"What message?"

"Ah… Something along the lines of, 'I'm fine, couldn't really help with the factory, how are you doing?'. I mean, I'd like to know more about what was going on-."

Athyns pushes his way into the tent.

"You can tell them in person. We are needed on New Cronus, and you will come with us."

"Oh. Certainly." I stand. "Am I allowed to use my ring?"

"I have no orders to contain you."

"Right, but people are upset and I don't want to set anyone off. Ring, contact Hinon."

"Channel open."

Oh, not picking up immediately? Well, fair enough. She's a busy woman. Not like she gave me this job personally or anything.

"Send her the images-."

The ring couldn't scan in there.

"Send her the scans I took on the way down, and access my memories for the rest. Ask her if there's an easy way to relocate it."

"Compliance."

Okay. I lower my ring and return my full attention to Athyns.

"Do you want me to fly us up?"

"That will not be necessary."

The two guards hold open the tent flaps, and I take the hint and walk out. The majority of the other soldiers are assembled in ranks in the central area with their kit on their backs. Transport, rather than immediate combat deployment. Oh… Kay, but the locals don't have flying machines any more advanced than hot air balloons. Are they sending a shuttle?

I look around and then… Up.

Ah.

I can just about make out the broken outline of New Cronus overhead as the area around us glows brilliant white-.

And the broken moor land vanishes and is replaced by the interior of New Cronus, the soldiers falling out immediately as Athyns heads for the grand doors at the front of the room.

"Ambassador." I transition up to him and land next to him as he pushes the doors open. "The gods-."

"We will tell him ourselves."

The next room is a courtyard, Crius pacing just in front of the central fountain while Mnemosyne sits on the wall at its edge.

Athyns bows.

"My lord. My lady."

Crius strides towards me.

"You. If I find out that you had anything to do with-."

"Husband." Mnemosyne rises. "Threats are a waste of time when we have better methods at our disposal."

He halts. "True."

"Has something occurred?"

"Yes. And we will ascertain whether or not you were involved by peering into your mind."

"Ah. Well, yes, you could, except that I'm trained to resist telepathic intrusion and magic. I'm also inhabited by the Ophidian, and last time someone went into my mind uninvited she ate them."

His eyes narrow. "We are gods, mortal."

"You're the avatar of a god used to living in the material universe. And she's the Embodiment of Avarice. The Universal Embodiment of Avarice. But-"

I take a step towards him and politely bow my head.

"-I have fulfilled my responsibilities as your guest by apprising you of the risk. If you want to do it anyway, that's on you, and I take no responsibility for what befalls you."

Crius doesn't move, sharing a glance with his wife.

"You'd have more luck in full god mode, but I understand that you aren't able to access that at the moment. Might I suggest telling me what has happened that has you so concerned?"

Mnemosyne comes closer, clearly making a point of getting inside my personal space.

"Our sister Phoebe has been attacked and lies recumbent and unwaking. We find the timing suspicious."

"Oh. No, not guilty. If I'd wanted to attack you, I'd either have done it the moment I saw you or waited months while divining your every weakness so that carrying out an attack was as easy as possible. I certainly wouldn't have assigned the task of making an attack to subordinates weaker than me at a time when I was unavailable and incommunicado."

Crius huffs. "So you say that we should not blame you because it was not your style, and that it was foolish."

"If I was going to target anyone, it would have been Hyperion. Phoebe represents a poor choice of target given my objectives." I shrug. "Also, it would be going against my orders. Why don't you give me a little more information to work with, and I'll see if I can help you track down the culprit?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
19:36 GMT

Phoebe lies on the bier, a slightly out-of-place bio-regulator system keeping her lungs and heart going. I can't see any other activity; her mind is… It's not even turning over as it might for someone in a coma. If she were a normal woman I'd say that she was brain dead. But… My definition of 'dead' and, frankly, how much that matters, has changed a good deal since coming to Universe 16.

Coeus is sitting on the floor beside the bier, her left arm trailing limply down so that he can hold her hand. He obviously looks distraught, though he tries to cover it up as he hears me approaching.

"It wasn't you, then. I'd…" He bows his head slightly. "Hoped that it wasn't, but I am.. not…"

I walk closer and sit down in front of him.

"Don't put on your mourning garb just yet. Gods can be remarkably resilient."

"Oh, do not give me false hope. I can read a neural scanner as well as you."

"I've been dead twice. If I can get better, so can she."

"W-?" He looks pained. "This isn't funny!"

"Neither is being stabbed in the brain with a burning sword by an angel or disintegrated by qwa-energy. But if we keep her body in one piece and work out where her soul went, we should be able to get her going again."

"We should-. Without a focus we have created, it could be-."

His face goes still, his pallor paling.

"Something occur? I haven't done any kind of arcane survey, so I-"

He rises unsteadily to his feet, his currently-late wife's hand slipping from his grip.

"-can't…" I stand as he heads towards the exit, local physicians cowering back as he goes. Mildly pleased to see that he wasn't turning his anguish on them. "Help in guiding us to her, but I know some.. people..?"

He's not paying me any attention, striding in the direction of… The room where I was introduced to the others, I think. Alright, so that-

**[Mr Cassidy points his trident at Mr Excalibris and fires off a gout of flame. Mr Excalibris sings, the fire being buffeted aside and Mr Cassidy collapsing, bleeding from dozens of places.]**

I grab Crius's hand and push it away from my head.

"That was uncalled for. I've been cooperating perfectly well. If you want to see it that badly-."

"Where was that?" He's staring at me. "Tartarus?"

"No. Hell. The monotheistic version of the Punishment Fields, with no hope of release and worse staff. That was where I got stabbed in the brain. Look, you clearly have advanced technology here. Why don't I just put recordings of the events on a multi-format crystal for you to review at your leisure?"

"I wouldn't-." He jerks his head in the direction of his brother. "Coeus!"

Coeus stops at the end of the corridor.

"You're distraught; I understand. I would be the same if it was Mnemosyne. But-."

"It's her." Coeus bows his head slightly. "It's obviously her. We were fools to think-."

"She can't-." Crius's eyes dart to me before returning to his brother. "If we could-."

He hurries after his brother.

"If we could discuss this in private, then-."

"And how well did keeping this to ourselves work out last time? We're lucky that-."

"Okay, look."

They look.

"The Controllers ignored this world for a billion years; it's no skin off their nose to ignore it for a billion more. I'd like to help, but to do that you'll need to tell me what's going on. If you don't want my help or are unwilling to give me the information I need in order to help, then I'll take my retinue and leave."

I raise my hands.

"Entirely up to you."

"I-."

Crius holds up his right hand to silence his brother. "We can't decide that by ourselves. We will need to discuss it with our brothers and sisters."

"Fine, but the longer you take, the colder the trail gets."

Whatever… Sort of trail that might be. I don't think that gods just drop dead. Someone or something caused her to die-

Armour.

-so this is an active combat zone until I hear otherwise. Ugh, wish I brought a thaumaturgist.

Crius nods, and lays his right hand on his brother's shoulder to encourage him to continue his journey. And since they're not around, ring, call Hinon.

"Error."

"Can you be more precise?"

"Unable to connect to network."

I make a spork construct, then dismiss it. Constructs are still working, subspace storage is still working-. And since the things I put in subspace were still waiting for me, the subspace pocket remained associated with my ring, just inaccessible.

"Did my message from earlier get through?"

"Uncertain."

Fly out or stick around? Need to check on Melinoë first in either case. Interior map… Somewhat complete. Given that the place is warded I probably shouldn't try phasing through the walls or moving to the Honden, but I think I can justify impolite flying.

Scan for Melinoë.

Compliance.

Thin veins of orange briefly glimmer on the surrounding walls as the orange light overpowers the wards designed to prevent them. Depending on the system they've got set up they might re-establish themselves, but that's on them. But I've found Melinoë, and that's the main thing.

Plot course and fly, maximum speed.

Compliance.

Corridors flicker past as my current-generation armour with inertial dampeners and ring-power allows me to fly around -and occasionally through- the obstacles in my path. A bit of a surprise to the crew who get a half-second view of me as I appear through their heads, but I'm sure that they'll live.

And here I am. I leave the armour on as I land and walk through into the sitting area-. Soldiers, they've posted more soldiers. No, irrelevant.

"Was your time on the surface productive?"

"Arguably. What happened while I was gone?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
19:40 GMT

Gaudia gestures towards the doorway I just flew through.

"A few of our new cousins came for a visit, and we got a tour of a few parts of this building. And then a lot of soldiers started running around and we were shoved back in here."

"'Shoved'?"

She shrugs, looking away from me.

"Escorted with menaces."

"Did you see anything untoward?"

"Do three instances of repressed sexual attraction count?"

"Probably not, unless it was occurring in the local gods. Also, these aren't your people so please don't go poking around inside their souls."

"I could transfer." She shrugs defensively. "They don't have an avarice or wealth goddess. I would fit right in."

"They're a new pantheon looking to do a lot of work. Somehow, I doubt that you'll take to it."

"What if I limit myself to vague but spiritually uplifting pronouncements?"

"I don't-."

"There was a 'boom'." Aporia grips onto the head of her bench to pull herself upright-. The fruit bowl is entirely empty. "Does that matter?"

"What sort of boom?"

"A boom boom. Like…" She throws her arms up. "Boom!"

"An explosion?"

"No. You know… Boom." She blinks blearily and I start hoping that there's a god-level sobriety potion or spell somewhere. "Boom?"

"Like a gun?"

"No? That's more like-."

I hold up my right hand.

"Stop. Stop. Melinoë, did you hear anything?"

"No. We left her here to…" She moues. "Recover."

"Okay. Okay. Boom like-"

I have my ring make the sound of a gunshot.

"-that?"

"No, that's a gun. I know what a gun sounds like."

"Alright. Boom like-"

I have my ring make the sound of a car backfiring.

"-that?"

"No."

I play a recording of a controlled demolition.

"No. Just… BOOM!"

Oh dear. I play the sound of a boom tube appearing.

BOOM!

Aporia beams. "Yes, that's it!"

"Did you hear it once, or several times?"

"Ah… Once?"

"Did you see anyone you didn't recognise?"

"I don't recognise anyone. I just got here!"

"Did you see anyone who seemed out of the-. I'm wasting my time."

Melinoë looks at me contemptuously.

"How has it taken you this long to work that out?"

"Badly misplaced optimism. Look, Phoebe is… Biologically 'dead', and they don't have an afterlife set up to handle that."

"That happens. Cronus digested all of my aunts and uncles older than Aunt Hestia. Not even a trace of them remains. I don't even know the names of most of them, and I know that Grandmother Rhea named them all."

I wonder if they tried cutting into Cronus again after the war, to check? Or if that means that Metis is gone? She would be stronger than a newborn, but it's been a long time…

That might explain some of Zeus's decisions.

I take a hologram generator out of subspace and generate an image of Phoebe.

"Do you have any idea what could have caused this?"

Melinoë barely bothers looking at it.

"No obvious injury. I felt no great magic. If I could examine her directly I might learn something, but this tells me nothing."

Reasonable. So, boom tubes means New Genesis, Apokolips, or Lonnie Machin. And last time I checked, he wasn't at anything like that level yet. My main concern is that Grayven might be involved, but there's no obvious reason for him to care what happens here. We're not particularly close to Reach territory here, and I haven't seen any indication that he has other ships on the scale of his personal dreadnaught. Splitting his forces…

Except… He could. There's no real defence fleet here. The planet isn't especially populous and their lack of industry means that it wouldn't be all that difficult to ramp up production. Apokoliptians are comfortable using magic, so non-magic technology becoming unreliable wouldn't be a crippling problem. He could send a very small fleet, and as long as they had a way to kill the gods…

Or it could be anyone else. I wouldn't even be totally surprised if it turned out to be Canis. Dead without a wound on her? He probably would find Coeus's emotional pain artistic.

"Okay, I'll try and get you permission-."

"Lantern." Athyns strides into the room. "And companions. The gods require your presence."

"I serve at the gods' will."

"Hah!"

I look around, and a momentarily shocked Melinoë blinks in surprise before considering her position and deciding to glare at Gaudia.

Gaudia looks surprised, then sags slightly.

"Sorry."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
19:47 GMT

And then there were nine.

And I feel slightly guilty for thinking that.

Ideally, these gods would either have a good deal more training before taking on planetwide responsibility, or would be in full on god mode and using their powers to aid people remotely. Ruling a planet while not actually all that powerful isn't a good place to start.

"My lords and ladies."

I incline my head rather than doing a full-on bow. They're seating in pairs at the head of the room, except Coeus and… Phoebe, obviously. He's standing next to his seat, his right hand resting on it for a moment before he jerks it off and steps away.

"Here."

He reaches into his toga and pulls out… A small orb, of the same starry sky texture as his hair and clothes.

"Do you know what this is?"

I glance at Melinoë, who is staring at it in fascination. Whatever it is, it's setting off the magic detection system in my helmet something fierce.

"I can't say that I do."

He nods, and puts it away.

"Do you know why we left Karrakan?"

"I was planning to find out later. It didn't seem to be of primary importance."

"It isn't; there's barely anything left there, now. Mother… In her exile, our mother occasionally mated with some of the locals, begetting a new race of demigods. They fought amongst themselves, their great.. war, destroyed their civilisation. We were our mother's attempt to salvage the situation. That was my… Seed; the fragment of my uncle's magic which she used to grant me life. The intent was that she would guide us as we came fully into our powers, then we would use them to restore Karrakan. But the.. strain of creating us proved too much. And without her guidance…"

He shakes his head.

"There are a few amongst our followers who we brought with us, Athyns chief amongst them."

"He's one of Rhea's natural children, isn't he? I thought that something felt odd about him when he escorted us here."

"He's a descendant. We're not sure.. how closely related they are."

"Does he know?"

Hyperion's head blazes.

"Of course he doesn't know! His people tore their world apart when they thought they were blessed by a higher power! We will not make that mistake!"

"I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think that will work in the longer term."

"It doesn't have to. It just has to work long enough. Besides, it's not as if we can't deal with-" A corona of fire flares around him. "-a rogue demigod or two."

"I take it that Phoebe's sphere was missing?"

Coeus nods. "Yes. I don't know whether removing it from her was.. enough by itself to reduce her to her current estate, or if someone struck her with a weapon first. But it is gone."

"Do they have other uses?"

"It's a powerful focus of titanic magic. I imagine it would serve that purpose for anyone."

"Are there any magicians on board?"

Mnemosyne shakes her head. "Two, and I have already confirmed that they were not involved."

"Have you heard of New Genesis? It's a planet."

A few shaken heads.

"Aporia reported hearing a sound characteristic to their long range teleportation system. The New Gods usually don't care about the divinities of other races-."

Iapetus's eyes widen. "You know the perpetrators?!"

"The New Gods inhabit two worlds, and those two worlds are at war. Usually, when one world commits an evil deed, Apokolips is to blame, but New Genesis hardly has clean hands. For what I've learned of their morality, it's perfectly possible that they'd consider Athyns to be a peer and all of you to be rogue automata."

Hyperion blazes brighter. "They would dare-?!"

"I don't know. It's a possibility that I would investigate. I would think it more likely to have been Apokolips, on the grounds that ruining things and making people miserable are considered to be worthy goals in themselves by the Apokolipitians, but those are my leading suspects. Is it possible to track them?"

Iapetus shakes her head. "None of us have the knowledge of magic that would be required, even if it were."

"I do."

I keep my face blank. I did give Hades several books on modern thaumaturgy back when I wanted to get into Tartarus, but I hadn't gotten the impression that Melinoë was all that into them. Granted, she learned to make those nightmare conduit things relatively quickly, and her very physiology is proof that she's intimately familiar with titanic magic…

Huh.

Coeus stares at her.

"You can?"

"I could track it within a single thaumatic environment." She tilts her head slightly to the right. "I might be able to track it through the Dream, though that would be a great deal more difficult." She strides up to Coeus. "Give me your seed."

Behind me, Aporia snorts.

But I get thinking. Okay, if a New God took it, they might take it home to study it. Study how to make it suffer in Desaad's case, or study how to make use of it for Metron or someone like him. But they wouldn't be coming back in either instance. They wouldn't hang around inside the thaumosphere of Minosyss or lurk in the Dream, they'd head right back to Apokolips or New Genesis. There are two reasons to hang around: the other gods and the maltusian storage depot. The depot's been here for a billion years, so unless they've only just heard about it… Which seems unlikely, because as far as I know there hasn't been any information travelling from Maltus to either New Genesis or Apokolips.

Grayven the obvious potential exception. But unless he's tracking me -which should be impossible- how the heck would he know about this place?

How advanced was Karrakan? Because they're the only people-.

"Yes, I can feel it. Distantly-."

There's a mighty banging on the door!

Iapetus glares at the faux-wood. "We are in council!"

"My lords and ladies! A fleet has been sighted, and they're heading this way!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
19:52 GMT

The thirteen of us stand on the promontory which serves as New Cronus's bridge. Coeus has called up a holoscreen, and I don't recognise those ships at all.

"How?"

Hyperion on the other hand clearly does, and from their expressions Tethys and Oceanus would rather that he'd kept his mouth shut. Theia on the other hand decides to support her husband.

"Some people just don't know when to die."

Hyperion nods. "Bring us over the horizon, Lord Coeus. It's been too long since I burnt something to cinders."

"Are your seeds proof against solar fire?"

Hyperion hesitates, his hands dropping slightly.

"Or don't you know? Were you going to attack without knowing whether or not it would cost you the chance to resurrect your sister?"

Coeus doesn't look around. "Lower your hands, Lord Hyperion."

"If we can identify the ship-."

"Lower your hands."

After a moment's hesitation, he lowers them.

"What else are we going to do?"

"Ambassador?"

"The Controllers didn't volunteer for this because this system makes their powers act up. Normally, I'd say that a fleet that size wouldn't be a problem, but something odd is up with my rings at the moment. Who are they?"

"The people of Karrakan burned what was left of their world from orbit." Coeus pulls up their technical schematics and puts them alongside the results of New Cronus's scans. "We thought that we had already slain the survivors of that bout of self-destructive madness. But it seems that at least a few survived."

"Ring, contact the local Green Lantern."

"Error."

"Any Green Lantern in the galaxy?"

"Error."

Theia looks at me with condescension. "Having difficulty, Ambassador?"

"Yes. Please bear with me."

Okay. My armour has an integrated communications system. Less advanced than the ring, but it should still work. Call Maltus.

…

Ring, identify error.

No error in system.

Well, there's no such thing as an uninterruptible communication system.

Ophidian?

…

Feeling a little ambushed right now.

"Coeus: intellect, night and the moon. Was Phoebe goddess of anything else?"

"What are you thinking?"

"Regular communication and ring communication are down. The Ophidian, a being closer to me than any other, isn't answering me. Something odd is happening with this system. How is that possible?"

Iapetus nods. "This world has spawned no gods. Once we fully bond with it, our power will be unrivalled for as far as the magic stretched. If another had beaten us to that goal, it… Might be possible for them to interrupt your technology. But stealing Phoebe's seed would not be enough on its own."

"Ex-cept that Apokoliptian technology lets them improve their natural abilities."

I vaguely remember it being mentioned during the period in which Supergirl was brainwashed by Darkseid that Apokolips had sorcerers. I don't remember any other mention of magic use outside of the New Gods own natural abilities in the comics, but it was too much to expect them to make a similar oversight in real life.

"How many demigods did Rhea birth?"

Coeus shakes his head. "I have no idea. Over the millennia, it was at least dozens. Including their children, it was hundreds."

"And you've got no idea who that is over there, or why they're coming after you?"

"The damage was too extensive for us to take a full accounting."

"So we don't know why they're here. We don't even know for certain that there's a demigod over there."

"There is. That's how they organised their forces."

"Um…" Gaudia awkwardly raises her right hand a little. "Can we just ask them? That's how things happen on Earth. 'Who are you, why are you doing this, what do you want?'"

I nod. "Are your communications working?"

Coeus checks. "Our communication laser array is working, but if their shields are up then they won't receive it. And since they're near the edge of the system it would take five hours for them to receive the message and another five for us to receive their response. Radio has the same problem. Real time communications systems are in full working order but can't send a message. Lord Crius? Lady Mnemosyne?"

They turn to face one another, clasping each others hands. Their eyes glow faintly… Reaching out with magic? Difficult, even in a thaumically active system. On the other hand, if there's a receiver at the other end… Maybe? The titans were better able to access the Dream than the gods, so it's possible-.

"Parasites. This is where you ran to."

The voice is quiet, emerging from the lips of Crius and Mnemosyne both. I don't recognise it, though my ring indicates that it's speaking a Karrakanian language.

Coeus glances away from the screen for a moment, but makes no move to address the speaker. A problem with having a council of nine-? Oh. No. He's waiting for Phoebe to answer it.

And in her absence it's Hyperion who steps up.

"Which one are you, scum?! Which of you wastes of our mother's milk clung on when you burned your world?"

"I am Sparta. I am here for the fragments of my grandmother that you stole. I will burn your false moon from the sky and then I will make this world a New Karrakan. I would suggest that you pray for your deaths to be swift, were it not for the fact that you have no one to pray to."

"I AM THE GOD OF THE SUN YOU WORTHLESS WHORE! YOU WILL NOT LIVE HAVING SPOKEN TO ME LIKE THAT!"

"God of the Sun, yes. But for how long?"

The lights in the eyes of Crius and Mnemosyne fade as they release their hands.

"That's that cleared up at least. What sort of naval assets do you have?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
19:56 GMT

'Obviously her'.

Hm.

"Also, any information you have about 'Sparta' would be appreciated."

Hyperion shakes his head. "What? She's just another demigod from Karrakan."

I look away from him, staring at Crius and then Coeus. Coeus meets my eyes for a moment, then nods.

"Sparta was -is- one of our mother's natural granddaughters. When the wars started, she attempted to stop them, first by diplomacy and later by force. But in the process she became deranged. I don't know if it was the bloodshed or the failure that broke her." He shrugs. "By the end she was berserk, attacking any who did not bow to her authority."

I suppose there's no need to ask how she feels about them. Assuming that I accept their timeline, there probably wasn't anything they could have done to prevent rampaging demigod-led armies from fighting. I mean, in theory there were things they could have done, but it would be unreasonable to expect newly created gods to have any idea what those things were.

"So why did you think she was dead?"

"She wasn't the only one with a fleet. When I piloted New Cronus away she tried attacking us. I fired and crippled her ships. They crashed onto the planet's surface, and at that point the planet was locked in an eternal winter. They should have had neither food nor the machinery to rebuild." He shakes his head. "I have no idea how she managed it."

"Was Karrakan thaumically active?"

"Barely. Far less than Minosyss."

"What exactly are her abilities?"

Coeus looks around at his siblings, but none of them say anything.

"I don't know. As I said, she was already delusional by the time we were in a position to speak with her."

That sounds like an issue I should try to hear the other side about.

Or… It isn't, is it? These gods want something from me. They've got the right attitude to improve this world, even if they don't have the skills yet. I can help them, we get our sun eaters back, the people get a thaumological revolution that they were unlikely to get any other way and the gods get a purpose. Even if they did muck up something on the last world they orbited, how would backing someone else -or even investigating their story- actually help anyone? It would be a different matter if they were here purely due to ego-fulfilment, but that isn't the case.

I would still like to hear the other side, but… Mostly due to personal curiosity and bargaining fodder. I don't really think anything there would change my view of the situation.

But where did the boom tube..? Of course, post hoc ergo propter hoc. Just because someone stole Phoebe's seed, that doesn't mean they have anything to do with someone who apparently already hated them.

"But if we could return to the matter of your fleet..?"

"Small ships. Shuttles and assault boats. New Cronus itself is our main naval asset."

"Gunnery?"

"Easily enough to destroy those ships, unless they've had a substantial refit."

"Could they target the planet?"

"Not meaningfully, not at that distance. Energy weapons would dissipate and…" Coeus looks at Iapetus and Tethys.

They share a glance, and Tethys nods.

"We can create a storm of such power that it will shield the planet. Not instantly, and it would cause much harm on its own, but it can be done."

A planet-scale plasma shield created from storms and dust. Now that is beautiful.

"Good to know. So what's your plan?"

Coeus pulls up a hologram.

"Wait until they get closer to Minosyss then close the distance, board their command ship while our weapons cripple their other ships and take back Phoebe's seed. Then Lord Hyperion can burn as many of them as he likes."

"Sounds like a plan. Unless you need me right here, I'd like to get outside. I need to find out what new restrictions my rings are working under."

He waves his right hand in dismissal.

"I look forward to fighting beside you."

Melinoë follows me as I leave, motioning for Gaudia and Aporia to stay put. Gaudia nods, while it looks like Aporia didn't notice us leaving. I'm not sure that I'm seeing her at her best. Melinoë waits for the door to the bridge to close and for us to pass the guards before covertly handing off an anti-eavesdropping charm.

"The plan does not-."

"Doesn't account for whatever it was they used to kill Phoebe that quickly. Sure, drop an armed warrior goddess on her with no notice and I'd expect her to lose, but that was fast. She didn't even call for help. Which means that if they confront Sparta and she's the one who did it, they'll probably end up in the same state."

"And if she were rational enough to carry out an attack and then leave, then she is clearly not a madwoman."

"Or it could be someone else, but whoever it was, they've got good enough intelligence on the interior of New Cronus to boom tube in right next to Phoebe-. Or worse, they could boom tube into New Cronus and walk around until they found her."

"Betrayal?"

"Possible. Please, track Phoebe's movements as best you can, and those of her attacker too. If we're at least reasonably lucky, whatever they use to disable her only works on those seeds."

"And if not?"

"Melinoë, you're armed and armoured and have thousands of years of experience and can cause people to have horrifying waking nightmares by looking at them. I have every confidence that you'll come out ahead."

"Of course I will. I just wanted to make sure that you noticed."

"I noticed that you've been studying thaumaturgy. You could stick around here for a while if you wanted to."

"I will consider it. It would be… Pleasant, if my family could reconcile without familicide."

She stops at an intersection just before the closest landing platform.

"Good fortune, Orange Lantern."

"You too."

I accelerate as she turns back, flying out across the now-deserted landing field and out into space. As I pass the edge of New Cronus's atmosphere envelope I check my environmental field, but it still appears to be working. My armour can rejuvenate the available air for a very long time, but it never tastes right.

I fly 'up' the orbital plane, 'over' the planet until I can a direct line of sight to the invading fleet. Scans… Yes, I can get a 'fuzzy' scan of them, though I can't even identify their primary armament, just their class. They don't seem to be moving all that fast, so I can only assume-.

BOOM!

I accelerate away as the ships charge through the boom tube beneath me and open fire on New Cronus!

 

[Mr Zoat]

1st July 2007
09:12 EST

"Why are you doing this, anyway?"

Jade doesn't look around as Hal follows her through the corridors of the John Hopkins Hospital. Why he's doing this is a better question; he never hid the fact that he didn't like Guy, and he actively avoided working with him as much as possible. She didn't like Guy, but at least she didn't try pretending he didn't exist.

"Someone should be there."

"So give his folks a call. I know you know their number."

He-.

He wasn't raised by assassins. He was raised by a test pilot and a homemaker. Of course he didn't bother finding out anything about Guy's background, despite how often they'd been working together. Because that's not normal.

Even if it is a very good idea. If you're taking the job as seriously as you should.

"Guy doesn't talk to his parents. His emergency contact is his sister."

Hal frowns, but she already knows that he won't rethink his approach.

"Okay, so why not call her?"

Because there's nothing like coming face to face with other versions of yourself to let you evaluate your life. And even if you didn't think any of them were doing better, meeting the man Krona abducted would open your eyes to a lot of things you'd missed.

And he hadn't even been a Lantern for two years.

The files he'd given her… His version of-. The version of her from his parallel ended up joining the League of Assassins. She was a murderer several times over when he first met her. It… Was a future that she could see herself having, if she hadn't met Alan. And that-. That just made her more determined to do better.

"Hey, take it easy." Hal looks around at the hospital staff who are just out of line of sight. "You got some kinda problem with her?"

"Never met her. And I did call her. But this is my project, and we're his colleagues. If it bothers you this much, why are you here?"

Hal pauses. Because he hasn't even thought about it.

"Like you said; we're colleagues. I don't have to like him to feel obliged to show up. But you never worked with him."

"How many people would visit if it was me in there?"

"Your sister. Alan and Molly-"

"They're in their nineties."

And whatever is keeping Alan energetic doesn't extend to Molly. Jade had watched her fade, even in the few years that she's known her.

"-would-. Yeah, I.. guess. What, you don't have friends in school?"

He doesn't mean that to be quite so grating as it is, but even he picks up on her prickling.

The basic idea behind the treatment is simple. Guy Gardner is suffering from a traumatic brain injury. The initial swelling caused by the sudden impact of his head against the road has gone down, but the rigid structure of his skull made it impossible for his brain to expand and as a result it is effectively crushed against his skull's interior surface. That permanent damage is why he's still in a coma, and while the medical records she got from parallel universes a little way in the future say that he'll make a recovery in a couple of years, that damage is permanent. It can't be healed by conventional medicine.

But an anal retentive with a power ring isn't limited to conventional medicine. And having his help meant that she could eliminate a lot of fruitless lines of enquiry. While Wonder Woman was willing to lend her a purple healing ray even to benefit the man who called her 'the hottest grandma ever' before his brain injury, the ray was unreliable for healing 'old' injuries. Stem cell infusions required constant monitoring of a sort that wasn't practical with a green power ring unless the Lantern was a medical professional, and her training focused more on traumatic injuries than neurological trauma. It might work fine, and it might give him brain cancer.

But combining medical data from a hundred different versions of a man who didn't exist in this reality gave her enough of a picture of pre-war Durla to trade with the survivors for an example of their adaptive biotech. As well as the service of a Durlan physician who survived the war and had experience treating humanoids.

Not that the treatment was exactly FDA approved, but Alan was still insisting that she maintain a secret identity at least until she left high school.

And it would work. The Durlans used to use something similar on other more humanoid species as a standard procedure before the war. And if anything looked like it was going wrong, that was what the nanotech the blue Lantern gave her was for.

There's a bit of a crowd around the ward, but at least Guy had thought to add them to the approved visitors list before he was hit by the bus. The hulking purple-robed form of the Durlan doctor is visible over the heads of the doctor, nurses, government officials and at least one janitor.

Hal steps forcibly through the crowd.

"Excuse me, coming through."

The crowd parts reluctantly, unsure why the interloper thought that they would be allowed to attend but sufficiently cowed by his confidence that they weren't willing to say anything. Since Guy didn't have a secret identity, explaining how they knew him was a little awkward. Hal could at least claim that he met Guy in prison. She'd had to claim that he rescued her once, which wouldn't have been true if she'd had her ring at the time.

"Mister Jordan, Miss Scott!"

Dr. Cross raises his right hand in greeting from inside the ward, prompting the doubters to make a path for them. A few of the Durlan's face tentacles wave in their direction but it doesn't otherwise move, its attention absorbed in the hand it has on and in Guy's head.

Hal nods in greeting. "How's it going, Docs?"

"The patient's not in any distress. I've never met a physician who can alter cells by touching them before."

"It is largely automatic, even for us. I am simply guiding the process."

The Durlan's voice sounds damp, phlegmy. Almost exactly like all of the Durlans she spoke to on Durla. Given their shapeshifting ability, keeping track of which one was which even with a power ring was an exercise in futility. The Martian Manhunter said that they gave him a migraine, which is the only reason why he isn't here to check on the status of Guy's mind.

"How's it going?"

"Well. I am nearly done." The tentacles wave. "Though I am curious about one thing. Do humans mate outside of your species?"

Hal frowns. "Ah… Not.. usually? It's pretty much just us on the planet. What makes you ask?"

"There are… Unfamiliar components."

Dr. Cross shrugs. "Modern humans interbred with neanderthal and denisovan humans about fifty thousand years ago. Is that what you mean?"

"No. Other human subspecies would be too similar for me to notice the difference. This feels synthetic. Though it may simply be that I am unfamiliar with the specifics of your species. I have finished."

She watches as the skin of Guy's head moves as the Durlan removes its tendrils from inside him. Guy himself doesn't look any different, his chest rising and falling as he remains unconscious.

"When will he wake up?"

Dr. Cross is already checking his monitors.

"Ah, well, his brain still has to recover, though having all of his-."

Guy convulses, the brainwaves going wild! Dr. Cross's eyes dart from monitor to monitor as the Durlan holds out its hand again in confusion.

"That should not-."

Guy's body shifts shape, red and blue lines appearing all over his skin as his muscles bulge! His forearms melt and distort, his right settling down in the form of some sort of gun while his left forms a mace. His torso jumps upright as his eyes snap open, left eye normal while his right contains a target recital.

"I'm awake!" He looks around, blinking hard. "What just-?"

He brings his left hand to his forehead to rub his brow, but unfortunately it's still in the form of a mace.

It hits him on the temple, and he collapses back to his bed, unconscious once more.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Sungate, part 2

11th September 2012
20:00 GMT

My construct overshield comes up about half a second before the fleet's flak turrets decide that I'm the best target!

A thousand-

Seven hundred and ninety two.

-brilliant beams of energy strike from all directions, the orange orb protecting me puckering and blistering as the continuous rain strikes home. What are they hitting me with? No weapon whose profile I can immediately call to mind should be able to do this much damage.

Get out of their line of sight.

I fly directly towards one of the cruiser class ships, fire slacking off from that direction as the hull obscures my location. So what am I being hit with? Plasma? No, there's no ionised cloud residue. The only.. other thing that comes to mind is an Apokoliptian blaster, but these ships aren't of Apokoliptian design. Right, establish a new shield inside the old one, expand, drop the old one and-

The battleship and two cruisers open fire on New Cronus's launch bays. They're inside the main shield envelope, and the heavy firepower punches through the weaker near hull shields in moments before wrecking the hull beneath.

-transmit what I'm seeing to the interior. Alright, gravity manipulation is unlikely to be entirely reliable here. Let's try crumbler fire to the ship acting as my cover. I form a railgun and bend my shield bubble slightly to give in a clear line of sight to the target. Sight good, aperture minimal, charge and open fire.

The rate of fire is… Less than what I'm used to, but the shots fly across the void without significant deviation from projections… Right up until they hit the ship's shields, at which point they completely fail to crumble them. Not plasma or programmable matter based, then. Magic… Magic? I haven't had the opportunity to study starship scale magic shields, due to the fact that they wouldn't work away from a living world.

I cease fire, load mage slayer rounds and fire a quick volley of those. No… Greater penetration. Not magic. Or at least, not a simple magic barrier.

The battleship launches assault boats into the broken launch bays as the cruisers switch their attentions to New Cronus's main guns. For a moment I get the impression of the difference in the size of the two sides. New Cronus may be a broken moon, but it's still a moon; lunar size, rather than the tiny technically-a-moon that most planets have. And the future tech city, shield emitters and drive which covers it increases the mass even further. The battleship is barely a hundredth of that, and the cruisers less still.

From a distance, it would look like a toy.

And my overshield is gone as one of the cruisers manages to get a hit with one of its primary weapons. I'm lucky that they don't use all big gun ships. I dodge and weave, three more shots flying past me as it tries to adjust with no success. Lanterns just aren't that easy to draw a bead on.

Okay, I could have a go at those assault boats, but that would involve getting closer to the battleship with no idea how to get through the shields and board it. On the other hand, the angle would be awkward for their guns, I'd be shielded by the two largest objects in local space and it would slow the boarding efforts. And capturing an assault boat might make getting on board easier.

Still…

Orange energy roils around my left hand for a moment before I raise it towards the cruiser and fire! The shield… It's stressed, but I don't think I'm in danger of breaching it. I make a tugging gesture with my left arm, the beam of energy changing from a beam of destructive force to becoming a leaching beam instead. This time the shield is visibly weakened, flaring all across this side of the ship.

That's interesting. I really can't think of a shield system that acts like that.

Spell eater overheating.

Huh? Ah, replace it.

Compliance.

Is that..? From the shield?

Unable to confirm.

Great. I'm being affected by something magical. I can't see it, can't detect it, and it's impeding the techniques I'd usually use to try and deal with it. I-.

Ring, compare psychological responses to baselines.

Increased focus on intellectual enquiry. Reduced concern about combat.

Ugh. Someone found a way to largely bypass my magic resistance. And I'm sure that would be fascinating to study, but I'm in a war zone and need to focus on that.

Indirect wards. Doing something to change the nature of the region. There's still an energy exchange so I can still drain them, but only at a fraction of normal strength. Mage slayer rounds don't work because there's no single focus of energy to drain; it's spread throughout the region and constantly being replenished. I fire an x-ionised round at the cruiser and it gets close to the hull, but doesn't quite hit home. The basic physical laws are being altered by the invader in their favour.

So what still works? New God blasters. I don't have one of those, but I… Do still have one of those stupid disc launcher things the team picked up in Qurac in subspace. See if it works while the shield is stressed.

I take it out of subspace and put it on over my armour before firing, the resulting discs flying forwards and taking position around the most weakened portion of the shield and releasing-.

I dart forward through the gap, torn between being pleased that it worked and unsettled that the disc launcher turned out to not be completely useless after all. New God technology is unimpeded. Given typical New God behaviour…

This wouldn't usually work, but if they're stacking the deck…

As I hit the hull, I take an Apokoliptian lash out of subspace and use constructs to wrap it around the base of the closest flak turret. It sheers through the metal easily enough, tearing it free and sending it floating away through space. A construct knife… Cuts into the metal, but nothing like as deeply as it should. Great, but the whip is totally the wrong shape for penetrating a hull.

Which leaves…

I attach myself to the hull with a leaching beam, but instead of draining it into the orange light, I hook up my own tattoos and drain it into those. As Canis described it, that's basically how New God technology works, so-.

Ooh. This feels weird.

I form a battering ram construct, and… Not sure exactly what's happening, but while I imagined a simple cylinder what I actually get has… Ah, tron lines? Along the shaft and head. I smash it into the hull, and the hull armour fails, splintering and shattering in the area around where the ram struck. No escape of atmosphere, but I can't see any internal force field.

I dismiss the ram construct-. What's more important, boarding the ship or protecting New Cronus from boarding? There aren't that many ships, and the internal volume of the place is huge. I could get reasonable information by interrogating the crew of this ship, and-.

Warning! Information gathering receiving greater than usual priority.

Ugh. When did I get so comfortable with external mental influences?

I zip through the hull breach just as marines in full encounter armour storm through internal pressure door, guns firing. Plasma rather than blasters, I note, and nothing like powerful enough to destroy my construct barrier.

"Surrender, or I will take this ship by force."

"We do not bow to alien gods!" The squad leader draws a sword-. Yes, that's definitely Apokoliptian. "My life for Sparta!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:04 GMT

And he's there, sword slicing into-. Through my overshield without apparent effort. I sidestep, voiding his follow-up as I raise-. He's back in his original location.

"Weak, alien."

"Nice sword. Apokoliptian?"

And he's angry. Very angry. I really would like to know what actually happened on Karrakan, but I think this is a three-edged sword situation. I can't see either side giving me a reliable answer, and I can hardly-.

I yank myself to the side as he appears again, sword cutting through my construct armour and cutting a slice in my power armour. I send a filament at him as he hesitates for a split second, not sure whether to swing again or retreat. It splashes against some sort of protective barrier around him, and that appears to make his decision for him as he vanishes back to his starting location.

Angry, but making good judgements. That's-. That's me being compelled to intellectualise and not actually act.

No reason not to combine the two impulses. Whatever shielded him from the filament appears to do the same to my empathic vision, but that doesn't mean I can't just sever-. Okay, apparently it does.

X-ionised knives, then.

"Pathetic. Could they find none better?"

Ring, it's been a while, but Ready In-.

Alert.

I turn, knife blades moving as my assailant appears to my right, sword stabbing into my thick rerebrace rather than going into my face. My knives stab at his armour while I try draining the sword in the same way I did the ship's shield.

He tries pulling the sword free, and it doesn't come. My knives fail to pierce his cuirass, while he raises his off hand to block the one that I sent at his exposed face.

I step away shoulder armour glowing as I suck whatever magic is making his sword work out of it. He tries to pull it free but it's stuck; the heavy outer plates of my armour clamping down on the flat sides of the blade.

And then I punch him with my left fist, crumbler gauntlet smashing into the protective shield his armour generates, flares of magic and plasma flickering out as I increase the output. With a frustrated snarl he releases the sword, backing off a pace.

"Thank you."

I form a construct-.

The sword vibrates, the plates gripping it abrading and losing their grip as-.

As I form a construct positron ray and shoot the owner in the chest!

"Ah!"

The positrons don't hit the armour, but the energy released by them reacting with the air immediately next to his protective aura is enough to send him hurtling backwards. Doesn't look like his armour has any sort of inertial dampening system, but he's toughing it out and getting back to his feet.

The sword stops vibrating, and I extend a strand of orange light up to the handle and pull it free before knitting my armour back together.

"Thank you. I'll keep-."

The accompanying squad aim and fire, blaster-. No, plasma, striking my construct armour. But these weapons are far more conventional, far closer to the levels of energy output that I designed my power armour to take. So while my weakened construct armour fades and the armour starts taking hits, I'm not really worried.

At least not for the fraction of a second it takes to turn my own gun on them. The first load of positrons hits my initial target and erases him, the explosion burning the deck, walls, ceiling and sending his comrades flying! There was a force field there, but-

"Damn you!"

-it wasn't anything like strong enough. Or perhaps it wasn't designed to cope with positrons? That's not uncommon.

Their leader draws a small knife-. Then uses it to cut his exposed face, coating the blade in blood before-.

I shoot him again, but he's touched his knife to his chest plate and his body is swelling, veins of red light appearing all over its matt black surface.

"Thank you, alien, for giving me the chance to prove my faith!"

"Is there any chance we could talk ab-?"

He lunges, and while the travel time isn't nothing, it's quicker than his-

And he's punched me back outside of the ship.

-other movement. He grabs my armour, one hand on my right shoulder and the other on my left arm and both pulling in opposite directions! I can hear my armour creak as he keeps growing and the force he exerts keeps increasing! I send x-ionised knives at his face once more, and while they bite into his flesh I can actually feel the resistance as his innate magics try and nullify the thing that's harming him.

My left arm is at full extension and he's trying to tear it free.

Tether his discarded sword, connect it to my tattoos and feed it and stab!

It slices through his cuirass, punching into his gut! He twitches and grimaces before snarling.

"You first!"

I try slicing further in, but this sword isn't really meant for sawing. My shoulder is approaching maximum strain; it's just not optimised for shearing force. Ah-.

Drain him directly.

Orange light radiates out of his stomach wound and the pressure on my armour decreases at once. Still more stress over a sustained period than I'd like, but he's not going to rip my arm off like that. I lift my right arm and grab onto the hand on my shoulder, reinforcing my environmental shield and yanking at it, doing what I can to remove the friction-

He loses his grip, twisting sideways at the sudden loss of pressure.

-as I drain harder.

"What-? What are you-?"

"Enjoy existence as a construct."

He shudders, body shrivelling without shrinking, armour caving in on itself.

"Assimilate."

"Unable to comply."

He starts choking, vitals fading.

"Why not?"

"This one is not yours to take, Lantern."

I scan, but I can't tell where that came from. I take a moment to look at the corpse still clamped onto me. It hasn't lost any height but it's unnaturally thinned, giving the impression of a long-term dungeon inhabitant who has been drawn on the rack. Then I toss it aside and fly back into the ship.

The surviving soldiers are picking themselves up and I use constructs to grab onto the armour and pull, tearing it from their bodies and leaving them in scraps and their under suits.

Still need information.

"Assimilate."

Orange strands leap out and are pushed back before they can touch them, the bodies of the defeated decaying to.. ash to fuel the spell.

"And neither are these."

"Sparta. I don't know what you want, but you came here to pick a fight rather than settling anywhere else." I run in the direction of the cruiser's bridge. "You won't get the choice again."

"What is one more titan to the Bane of Titans?"

"If that's how you want it."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:07 GMT

"yARGH!"

While the positron ray reliably annihilates anyone it hits, close detonations just cause agonising burns as the armour and personal shields fail. Respect to whoever designed the Karrakanians' armour, though: it isn't melting into their flesh or otherwise exacerbating their wounds.

"Sorry."

I fly closer to what appears to be an internal strongpoint, designed to allow marines to defend against boarding actions.

"Nugh nuh nuh…"

"Would you be prepared to exchange information for healing?"

He beckons me forward with his more intact arm, but I've already seen the grenade he's preparing in his other hand.

"Good effort. You gave it your all."

I shoot him in the head, then extend strands of orange light into what I hope is an internal communications node of some kind. Accessing…

Partial access available.

Yes, that. It looks like someone has partially integrated a New God system with both an earlier, more primitive system and something that's mundane but sophisticated. Not using a central computer is something that civilisations that are just getting into space don't do, due to either not having computers or the great efficiencies and improvements in command and control a unified data network provides. Deliberately not doing that because it improves security and is no longer necessary… Apokoliptian ships don't have central computers because the New God in charge can manage things perfectly well without one. Other species… The Reach have a decentralised sys-.

I'm doing it again.

I wonder how the attacking soldiers manage to-?

No.

I push forward, crumbler gauntlet smashing into the security door and crumbling a two metre hole in it before I fly onward towards the bridge.

The only thing I learned from that computer was the local patrol shifts, which might be useful if I was a stealth infiltrator but is fairly useless for me. Copies of personnel files -oh, that was his name- and local maintenance logs… Complaints from the engineering team about the systems not working together properly unless one of 'The Ascendant' were in the area…

Ascendant: Rhea's descendants. Who can use New God technology. Makes sense. Have to see what we can harvest from these ships for the local gods, because learning more about their technology could be very useful in our future dealings with Grayven.

Though the term 'Ascendant' implies that they're moving towards some state-.

Two Karrakanians with belts of engineering tools walk through a side door and then freeze as they spot me. One goes for-

"Don't."

-something on his belt, then makes a point of moving his hand away.

So. Prisoners. I don't have anywhere to put them and my usual methods for rendering them compliant aren't working. As a military obstacle they're irrelevant and they have potentially useful knowledge.

"Go back inside, shut the door and don't come out until you hear an all clear or I come for you. Understand?"

They don't say anything, but they do back up and press the button to shut the door behind them. I use a crumbler gauntlet to fuse the door shut and then continue on my journey.

How close to a divine being does a demigod have to be to still be able to use Apokoliptian technology? They called Sparta a granddaughter, but if she's got Phoebe's seed then she might be running off that. Is that why they only boom tubed in after she returned? Was the delay because they needed to integrate it into their systems?

No, I don't know it was a delay at-. Doing it again.

Apokoliptian ships sometimes have the bridge entirely inaccessible from the rest of the ship, on the grounds that anyone important enough to go there has a boom tube with access permissions, but the general design of these ships is Karrakanian so it probably won't-.

Al-

I yank myself sideways as the spear meets the corridor wall.

-ert!

This one's female, though the armour and equipment are otherwise identical. Spears are good weapons for formations or single warriors on the open ground, but on a ship with narrow corridors and guns, they're-.

That's going to keep happening, isn't it?

"He-"

Al-

From behind, and I lunge forward in the direction of the bridge while laying a cold field down behind me.

-ert.

"-llo."

Al-

From in front, my construct armoured gauntlet coming up faster than thought to parry the haft and direct the point away from my chest.

-ert.

She vanishes as I reach for her with my right hand. Cold field in front then, and take a step forward to make it look like I'm-

Al-

I raise the sword, linking it to my metaphysique as I parry high, the spear coming down from the ceiling. And I smile as I see hoarfrost appear on my assailant's armour, her body tumbling to the deck before me as her spear falls from her grip. I kick, but rather than shatter she goes flying into the wall at the end of the corridor. Resistant but not immune. And I get a spear that-.

That I can't send into subspace. Bound to its owner? She's trying to get up, but I can't feel any of the motion from it that the last demigod managed to make in his sword.

"Surrender or die."

I try attaching a tether to the spear, but it isn't taking. One owner at a time?

"Need a quick answer."

"I would sooner die than surrender to a false god."

"Reasonable, except I'm not a god, don't claim to be, and am not formally allied to them so you'd be surrendering to me as a representative of an independent power. You would be held until the end of hostilities and then released on parole. Though if that doesn't change your answer, I will understand."

"Kill me. It will change-."

I stomp forward, grab her helmeted head and activate the crumbler gauntlet. Her head is vaporised, her body collapsing to the deck.

I wonder why they're so-?

No. Bridge door next.

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:10 GMT

The bridge is abandoned, the circular doors leading to the escape pods closed and the pods themselves gone. Computers… Non-functional. I could probably dig up something; emergency data wipes are rarely completely reliable at removing all data. But I can learn something from the layout. That command dais is clearly Apokoliptian in design, and it's… It's been cut and shut into place. I can see the welds, and the floor around it isn't quite level with the rest of the room. For the most powerful Ascendant? They don't seem to have sabotaged it, which may well be an error in judgement given that I can interface with the technology well enough.

This ship is somewhat interesting, but New Cronus takes precedence. I walk over to the command lectern and bind it to me as I did the sword, the orange glow extending into its tron lines oh that's what they do! Or what they're for. I mean, there's something going on there-.

I consider my armour for a moment. The tron lines on that are more for aesthetic reasons than anything else. I can't cover myself with solid plates if I want to move, so I reinforce the flex points with orange light. But I get the feeling that this is functional… Somehow.

Right.

I want to ram the cruiser into the battleship's launch bay.
That makes no sense. Who is this?
Why would I want to do that? That's completely-. Completely someone else's desire feeding back through the system to me. I saw it coming, but it's… Fascinating to experience. A technological gestalt soul. Someone felt what I wanted but it didn't make sense to them, so I get their feedback.

Did they not hear whatever evacuation alarm sounded? I mean, on a ship like this losing the bridge isn't game over or anything like that, but they should-.

They can't. There's no way to shut off the Apokoliptian devices. They'd have to smash them apart completely, and even that isn't reliable. People-. Ascendants in other parts of the ship might know that the bridge crew aren't transmitting, or that they'd signalled that they were abandoning ship, but the moment someone else starts broadcasting there's no way to know that it's not the same people because this is the system being used.

I want to ram the battleship's launch bay because the false gods are attempting a counter-boarding and collapsing the bay externally-
I Hear And Obey.
My ring detects us starting to change our vector.

-is the best way to stop them.

I distantly feel other people… Take on my desires as their own. Is that how the system works? How the bridge version works? Do different parts of the ship just have another one of these, or is this some sort of dedicated command unit? Imparting desires like this is allowed but my normal ring-based abilities are blocked? And does their high command feel what I do?

Interesting that I could lie like that. Have to ask Canis whether that's-.

Doing it again.

Can't try to communicate with New Cronus, not with other Asc-. New Gods listening in. Got to see if I can talk Hinon or Kalmin into making a black power ring for Melinoë… Though under current circumstances I suppose that it might still not work as a communication channel.

I reattach myself to the Apokoliptian console.

Want to defend the bridge. May not be in constant communication. No need to reinforce, current orders are more significant.
The Supplicant Hurries To Obey.
I feel a vague sense of agreement that I… Can't really describe. Probably a New God thing. If I capture something decent intact I'll get Canis to go over it with me. Ah, Canis and Mr. and Mrs. Free.

That'll do for this cruiser.

I raise both hands, and… Take a moment to work through my hesitancy to destroy something interesting before unleashing a two-handed eddy pulse at the Apokoliptian technology, tearing it to pieces. With a little luck that will stop Sparta countermanding my directions, though that's really more a faint hope if she can detect when I try assimilating her followers.

Then I fly over to an empty escape pod dock and crumble the door. There's a movement of air as the pressure equalises, but again I note that the air doesn't leave the ship. Through the hole in the hull I see New Cronus wheel past, assault ships from the Karrakanians landing around the main batteries which have finally started shooting. I-. Yes, that's water and ice being used to repel the attackers, so it looks like Oceanus Junior and Tethys are in action. The mortal defenders appear to be using plasma guns as well, though I can also see some light vehicles flanking to destroy assault boats and prevent evacuation as the gods press forward.

I exit the ship and pull away from the cruiser as it accelerates towards the battleship. One of the other cruisers is actually attached to the New Cronus launch bay, presumably defending the interior of their landing zone with its guns. The other cruisers are forming a protective semicircle, and I can see that they've already destroyed the primary guns on that part of New Cronus.

Decent strategy. Though it does mean that they can't direct anything like as much fire at small objects as they could during the initial attack. And the ship I was on actually got closer to the battleship while I fought my way through. Now, if the cruiser actually hits, it will be knocked that way… Average stabilisation thruster performance for a ship that size at their tech level, add a little for whatever Apokoliptian stuff they've bolted on…

They should just enter the arc of fire of a couple more of New Cronus's guns. But those guns could fall if they're not defended, and they might not score a killing blow if they're not in position.

I accelerate towards New Cronus, swapping my positron beam construct for two cold guns. Target fire support ships and fire. Dead, dead, dead and I'm drawing a little more flak. Bubble shield and increase evasiveness. New Cronus coming up-

And again I'm momentarily overwhelmed by the scale of it. No clouds to obscure the view of it getting larger and larger until it fills my vision, micro to macro with no clear point where the switch occurs. It-.

Those are mobile shields. The attackers are forming up around them as they muster for a new push. Soon deal with that.

Filaments leap across the intervening space and connect to the upper surface of the dome and connect them to me. I lose one connection immediately to a lucky shot from an unusually alert soldier, but the other connections hold for long enough that I can usurp control and-. Try and crush.

No, that didn't work, but I did knock a lot of them off their feet, and now I'm close enough to fight directly. Since I've never really trained in spear combat I leave plotting my swings to the ring's AI while I keep track of my surroundings.

"Oceanus! I have news!"

A sweep from a cold gun causes limbs to crystallise and soldiers to fall, alive but overwhelmed by pain.

A wave filled with razor sharp super hard shards of ice slams into them a moment later. Some are torn apart, their armour unable to withstand the extreme force. Others are catapulted off the New Cronus surface, their armour's atmosphere seals failing and losing heat and air.

Oceanus surfs in just behind it, partially transformed into the element that he commands.

"What news?"

"Definitely Apokoliptian technology. I've sent that cruiser to crash into the battleship. If Coeus has-" I create a construct model to demonstrate. "-these guns ready and lined up, we might be able to destroy it. Can you get a message to him?"

He manifests a little more of his human-like form as he considers the model.

"Yes. Yes, I can. I will send a runner. Internal communications are not reliable or safe."

"Good show. I'll head that way now to make sure."

He nods. "Send up a signal once you're clear."

I shake my head. "Don't worry about that. Just shoot them at the first opportunity. I can look after myself. Where's everyone else?"

"Hyperion and Athyns are fighting their boarders around the landing bay and Coeus in on the bridge. I've lost track of everyone else."

"Right. I'll go now." I rise up slightly, taking in the dozen patches of fighting between here and the bridge. "Maybe send.. a few runners."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:14 GMT

Spear wreathed in an orange glow, I head after the kamikaze cruiser, taking a few seconds to dodge behind assault craft where reasonably practical. The spear point can cut though their shields and armour easily enough, but as they start veering away from me I elect not to chase them down. The defenders are capable of dealing with them without me, but that battleship-

It turns one of its medium batteries in our direction and fires, shields flickering over New Cronus before a small breach appears and a building patterned after the Acropolis gets pulverised.

-isn't going to destroy itself.

I can't detect any communication between the battleship and my suborned cruiser, but my ability to detect New God communication isn't exactly reliable. Alright, this… Seems to be my maximum speed. What else can I do to sell this?

I form a beam singularity projector, then take a moment to contemplate the likely results of firing that in the vicinity of a moon with its own artificial gravity system when I'm not exactly sure how my orange light manipulation abilities are being altered by the change in local physics.

Best not.

Instead, I form a laser cannon construct and take a few shots at what look like they might be vulnerable points on the cruiser's surface. I mean, if I can see it then lasers should be able to hit its hull, right? Naturally its Apokoliptian technology shielding… Or wards? It could be a separate system. Whichever, they protect it.

Sparta isn't mocking me. Was that… Some sort of hallucination that I only experienced because I was touching the souls of people in her network?

I know I'm doing it again, but until the cruiser gets a bit closer there's not much else I can do.

The battleship isn't targeting the cruiser, and neither are any of the other cruisers. I'm starting to attract a little more fire, but it's nothing that I can't evade. Should I be worried? Sparta appears to have better things to do with her time than fight me. Would she know who or what I am? Rhea might have heard of the Green Lantern Corps, but it's unlikely that she'd heard of Larfleeze. The Karrakanians appear to be assuming that I'm another god, so possibly they haven't heard of Lanterns ei… Ther.

Wait. If Sparta is using Phoebe's seed to create an area effect, shouldn't I be able to connect directly to that?

I've got another minute and forty seconds before the cruiser hits the battleship so I may as well give it a try.

Orange tendrils reach out, not really reaching for anything in particular. I unfocus my soul, trying to see the interface between the Honden and the material universe. It can't be cut off -and not just because of the power requirements- because people wouldn't be able to have desires. And I wouldn't be able to use my rings. Still can't feel the Ophidian, which is… Weird… But I can still feel the conflicting desires of-

Things go dark, and blinking feels wrong and damp-. My eyeballs just exploded. Clean that up and grow a new pair.

Compliance.

And there's the univerohdear. Yes, someone noticed that and they're making a real effort to shoot me! I abandon efforts to interfere with whoever clearly has the mystical realm firmly in their grasp and instead focus on dodging-. Oh, yes, yes, that was a shot from the battleship and it didn't miss by much. In a way, it's nice to see that the Karrakanians don't share the New Gods' reticence when it comes to just shooting each other rather than brawling, but it's-.

Agh! Looks like they have lasers as well! I track the source and swoop left, because while the laser will hit me near-instantly at this range they still have to keep it on me-. Yes, it's following but not instantly. Coming from that ship, so if I fly-. Yes, they've lost the lock. I refresh my shield bubble and change it to 'reflective' mode, on the grounds that I don't think the bubble would stop a direct hit from their big guns anyway.

Cruiser is still on course even without me worrying it. Though… Why not combine the two? I fly out of cover and go back to normal evasiveness, and the laser locks onto me almost immediately, hitting dead centre and having about ninety seven percent of its energy directed right back at the cruiser I'm chasing. It-. Oh, it actually does damage their New God shields. Doesn't appear to be doing much, but it's doing something and that's probably what prompts their gunnery officer to stop using it.

The cruiser is on its final-

OhgoshIdon'tlikeseeingprimaryweaponfirefromthesideatthatdistance.

-approach, and I think someone's spotted that things are-. Yes, yes they're firing. And its shields aren't blocking any of it; it's hitting the hull directly but no one's on the bridge. Can they communicate with the engine room or drive? They're not sending over a boarding team to speak to them directly, and the cruiser is out of the arcs of fire of the battleship's main weapons. The smaller guns on the other hand-. They're shooting the.. hull? No, they're trying to shoot through to the empty bridge-. Though that might just be because they're not in a position to shoot the drives.

New Cronus' gun batteries on the far side of the battleship are still inert. That's a shame, because to quote Ghenghiz Cohen, if this doesn't work it's going to take ages to kill them all.

Okay, get into position. The fire coming at me is slackening off slightly as the ships don't have an angle that doesn't threaten each other or their ground troops. I'm taking hits, but unless they get a lot more accurate in the next few-.

The battleship stops shooting and the cruiser starts to slow and turn. Oh no you don't. I bend space-.
Remain As I Command You To Be.
Ah. I can do it, but it's far more effort than usual.
Impudence!
Right, bend space around me and around the ship. Create a corridor and shorten the distance, I want to get close enough to shove it into the battleship myself if necessary.
Destroy The Usurper!
And the cruisers have stopped worrying about-.

Gah!

About shooting each other! A dozen hits across my bubble shield and about a hundred that miss me and hit each other! The bubble shield collapses as the battleship starts trying to shoot the cruiser that's on a collision course but it's too late! I get up close to the rear of its hull and generate massive construct thrusters surrounded by construct armour. Immediately they stop shooting me and try shooting my construct, but even as they eat through the armour both of my construct and the cruiser the engines activate and accelerate! Closer, closer!

The cruiser's nothing like big enough to destroy the battleship at this sort of relative speed, but my rings show me escape pods being launched from the sections that will be closest to the site of impact because that doesn't mean that there won't be a lot of local destruction.

Would their shield block it? I.. don't know. Even if it prevented a direct impact, the kinetic force should push the battleship into the path of those guns… That don't appear to be ready yet.

Damn it. Okay.

I fly around the cruiser, taking all… Three disc launchers out of subspace and setting them to fire until dry. Then I fire fat cables of orange light at the battleship-. Yes, shield is still up. Connect that to my metaphysique-

And it occurs to me that my tattoos are designed to feed on local sources of magic, and the change in my behaviour could well be explained by the fact that Phoebe's seed is the largest local source of magic rather than anything deliberate.

-and Feed Me!

Red lightning dances through space as the discs start hitting the shield and doing their best to make an inanimate energy field feel pain. But my tethers are achieving something more, not only causing the ward shield to visibly fail in places but…
I think…
I can actually… I'm getting glimpses of the battleship: how the systems and New Gods on board interact with each other. It's fascinat-.

My right arm comes up and clumsily slaps me in the face.

The heck-? Soul back-hacking? Okay, clever dick, let's see if you can handle being consumed!

Another slap, then I feel something shudder and my arm is back under my control. I dive off the cruiser as the battleship fills the horizon and my engine construct falls apart under the bombardment but it's too late!

The cruiser smashes through what's left of the shield and into the outside of the battleship's flight deck.

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:16 GMT

The first thing I see is that the cruiser loses momentum suddenly, the hull around the point of impact crumpling in a little as the hull armour fails and the exterior corridors form a crumple zone. Then the battleship's hull starts to bend, armour cracking as the empty hold of the launch bay provides no structural reinforcement while the more solid interior structure of the cruiser has far less give to it.

It bends a little more.

A little more.

Then it caves, the entire front… Fifth? Of the battleship's underside caving inwards. Is it-? Yes, whatever environmental shield they used to keep the air in fails with such widespread damage, atmosphere escaping in the direction the cruiser came from.

The battleship is moving. And it appears to be a weakness of the design that it doesn't have good manoeuvring abilities. That's a common feature of battleships, and why a lot of polities don't use them. Accelerating an object that big takes a lot of thrust, and larger ships have proportionally less surface area than smaller ships. When compromising between space for guns and space for the thrusters that would be needed for something it wouldn't ever be particularly good at anyway, most places allot the space to guns and have escorts cover them when it needs to turn.

The Karrakanians appear to have adopted that methodology and right now it's biting them in the rear.

I head for the battleship as it begins to tumble very slowly in the direction I want. That's not doing anything to move the troops that it has already landed other than wound their morale -they can all clearly see it- but if they're fighting in the Apokoliptian way, anything that weakens their supreme commander should have a knock-on effect on all of their weapons.

The remaining cruisers don't appear to be trying to reacquire me as a target, which is a little curious. Two are moving from their 'guard' position, presumably to render direct aid or recover escape pods.

Only question is whether the guns are going to actually take advantage of the opportunity. Well… That, and do I board the ship or operate the guns myself. I could… Drag the battleship while they're distracted. If I keep close to the hull I doubt that they'll dare shoot me, not with the battleship in the condition it's now in.

Okay. Ring, calculations based on the visible thrusters. Can the battleship stop itself getting hit by the guns if they're active?

Assuming that it has no other means of generating thrust, the battleship will drift into the arc of fire of the guns. However, the cruisers may be able to act as tug boats and prevent that.

Agh, that's what they're doing. Okay, not an insurmountable problem. Ships that size don't have lots of tractor beams, for the same reason that battleships don't have a lot of manoeuvring thrusters. It takes a lot of power to use and doesn't add anything to their gunnery. Some fleets relegate them to dedicated tug boats kept with the fleet tenders. I'd be surprised if they have more than one designed to work on capital ships, though they might have smaller ones from grabbing escape pods. And now that I know how to pierce their shield, and could just destroy them when they are deployed and then carry on with attacking the battleship.

I-.

Ah. I turn back and pick up the disc launchers. They're dry now, but they can generate their own ammunition given time. I stick them back into subspace, and then fly towards the closest of the two supporting cruisers. I've got no idea where they deploy their tractor beam from, so it's really just a-.

The cruiser I used as a ramming ship activates its thrusters at full reverse, pulling itself out of the battleship with a flare of the shields of both vessels. They… Shouldn't have any sort of central command and control, but I suppose 'we just hit something, move away from it' doesn't require a great deal of instruction from on high. If their tractor beam was front-mounted rather than underside-mounted then they won't be able to use it, but if it was-.
We Will Have Revenge!
I hurriedly throw myself into an evasive pattern as they work out where I am and decide to demonstrate their displeasure with all of their remaining guns. A cavalcade of plasma bolts fly at me with… More accuracy than they were able to pull off. I'm taking hits, and my construct overshield is cracking in a dozen places. They aren't keeping the guns on me like whoever it was controlling that laser did, but it's a good deal harder to redirect plasma. I'm going to have to keep moving-.

Oh! One of the surface guns is up and tracking. Not sure if that was because of me-.

It shoots, hitting… One of the cruisers that was preparing to act as a tug. Its shields flare, movement slightly thrown off. I know that Coeus said that the guns of New Cronus dealt with them easily last time, but I suppose that was without them boom tubing into assault boat range. If that cannon can't even destroy a cruiser, maybe it's best-.

It fires again, then maintains the rate of one shot every four seconds. It takes five shots before the target vessel's shield weakens to the point where they start hitting the hull, but the cruiser is already giving up on whatever it was trying to do in order to get out of the arc of fire. The other cruiser stays on the near-side of the battleship, one of its weapon ports opening up to reveal its tractor beam. I immediately start flying towards it, only for the-.

Ah ah ah.

Damn, bubble-. Bubble gone, and my construct armour is taking a battering. It turns out that someone over there has basic tactical awareness and had everyone else shoot through the space between my position and the cruiser that deployed the tractor beam. I just got shot by at least four different ships and I-. Alright, don't compromise on evasiveness. They know where I'm going and I have to go there, but that doesn't mean that I need to make myself an easy target.

The outer part of the battleship's hull just… It's falling off, the part near the hangar doors being completely disassociated from the rest of the structure. It's still attached at the opposite end, but the weakened sides are tearing from the stress as the ship tries to change vector. I can see bodies and small ships falling out through the gaps.

The cruiser that got into range of New Cronus' gun is nearly out of the arc of fire before it takes a final hit to the rear armour that punches straight through, a brilliant plume of gold-white fire burning through the armour and flaring through the interior! The ship loses control of its acceleration immediately, drifting along its last vector without further thrust.

One of the gods boosted that. And if Hyperion is fighting around the New Cronus launch bay I'm going to assume that it was Theia. Excellent! That makes my job far simpler.

Okay, I'm close enough to the tug boat cruiser that it's shielding me against fire from the rest of the fleet. Its anti-attack ship guns have deployed and are peppering me with fire, but they don't have anything like the power of its main guns. Destructive pulse… Doesn't penetrate. Okay, not a problem, I need to fly around the bulk of the ship anyway. Hug the shield, strands ready and-.

Alert!
Seek The Foe's Heart!
DODGE!

"Surprise, alien!"

A New God carrying a cruiser-class gun like it's an infantry rifle is floating in space. Light power armour and thrusters, and from the tron lines I'm going to assume that it's Apokoliptian issue. They narrowly missed the first shot, mostly because they're using a slower than light weapon and my ring's still guiding my dodging. They change pose and accelerate after me, weapon ready and apparently not slowing their accelerating at all.
Die!
Alert!

I change vector immediately and agh! Hit me anyway! There goes my construct armour and my power armour isn't rated against that class of weapon! Nowhere to evade to, have to fight them quickly and then carry on with my attack.

I turn, generating a construct shield and sending out construct tendrils.

Feed Me!

"Cannibal." Four small flak turrets extend from their armour and shoot out my tendrils. "Degenerate."

Two can play at that-.

They fire their main gun, the oversized shot smashing straight into my construct shield, which…

Technically it holds, deflecting the plasma before being reduced to a disc of cracks and dull orange light. Then it fails completely as my opponent prepares to fire again.

Spear it is, then.

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:20 GMT

Warning: low power. Nineteen percent-

Already?!

-remaining. … Yes.

Give me the spear anyw-
Expunge!
Alert!

-ay!

The shot blasts through my construct armour as I manage to partially evade by inverting, causing it to hit my legs rather than my chest. Armour's melted and flesh…

Ah…

I didn't really like walking anyway. Okay, this is shaping up to be difficult and I'm on more of a time limit. But I don't need to win. I just wanted to ensure that the battleship was destroyed outright rather than just being crippled. I could head for the New Cronus or Minosyss itself, hide and recharge.

Or I could hide in the battleship while this New God wannabe shoots it apart from the inside. Sounds actionable.

Speed and rearward shield. No point in evasive action if she can hit me anyway. Don't want to waste power on healing my legs when they're not essential.

Shot to the rear and the construct vanishes. The New God is falling behind a little as they try to maintain separation. They haven't realised where I'm heading-. No, they've angled their body and they're accelerating, trying to keep the distance down so that I can't dodge fully. Given current time-to-impact-
Die!
Alert!

-I could-. Yes, dodge the next one fully so as to not waste power. Right, attach myself to the spear and wait for the pursuer to commit. Passing out from behind the cruiser now and there's some fire, but I'd guess that they know that one of theirs is in close proximity and they don't want to risk hitting them.

Not that Apokoliptian, then. Might be possible to negotiate a settlement at the end of this-

Alert!

-then.

I dodge, the shot going wide and hitting the battleship in the undamaged portion of the underside.
No!
I can almost hear my assailant hesitate in shock as the shot penetrates and blasts a furrow in the outer armour. Good, yes, just a little-.

The small turrets on their armour open fire, biting at my rear-mounted shield. But they're nothing like as powerful as the main gun, and the construct remains reasonably solid. Seeing this, they retract them and pour more power into their thrusters in order to close the distance. I dart around a detached armour plate from the battleship and use a construct ram to send it careering towards them, on the off-chance that their commitment to pursuit means that they can't dodge effectively. I doubt that'll be the case, but-.

Incoming fire from the surviving flak turrets on this part of the battleship's hull, but it's sporadic and not particularly accurate. Something got damaged during the ram, and if I'm very lucky then it was something fundamental to the operation of the ship. Based on the snapshot I saw of its internal systems I don't think that it was, but I don't know how their internal power system oper-.

Behind me, the New God cleaves the hull plate in two with the sword blade now projecting from their gun barrel. And they're gaining on me.

Okay, okay, construct impeller and.. aim for that still-functional flak turret, firing every two seconds, line up and dodge!

And the New God batters the shot away with their new sword, and the gun stops firing a moment later. Alright, if you don't want to shoot… Two railguns, load-

Warning: low power. Seventeen percent remaining.

-crumbler rounds and fire one of them at each target.

Compliance.

The gun pointing at the ship's hull opens fire at once, the rounds striking the hull and chewing a circle in the armour. No exotic defences functioning, at least not in this part of the ship. The gun firing at the New God tracks for a second before shooting. They see the shots coming somewhat and go to parry with their sword. But the sword is more than a little unwieldy and the gun is rapidly traversing to aim shots at every part of their body. Some get through, causing the tron lines on their armour to glow turquoise as it works to resist the damage.

The New God responds by cutting thrust and making their armour grow thicker and harder, which renders my shots ineffective but allows me to pull away further and-

Heavy construct armour!

-smash through the partially crumbled section of hull armour and into the interior of the battleship. Looking to my right I can see the cracking internal armour and flickering lights, while looking to my left… Doesn't look much better, but that is the direction the more intact parts of the ship is in.

Right, fly that way, hold up Larfleeze's ring because it's least useful and chant.

My personal lantern appears next to me from subspace.

"This is my cause, this-"

My construct armour dims.

Warning: low power. Nine percent remaining.

Because it's not counting the combined charge across the two rings. Talk faster.

"-ismyfight,
Shinethroughthevoidwithorange-."
Seek The Heart!
Alert!

I throw myself at the ceiling, the New God's shot punching through the hull and missing me by millimetres! Well! Sort of what I wanted!

"-light,
I'veclaimedallwithinmy-"
Hit Him You Stupid Gun!
"-sight,
Tokeepwhatismine-"

Alert!

GAH!

That hit, armour… Ah, basically gone on my left side, along with my arm-. I grab my detached hand and the ring upon it with my right hand, my construct armour failing as I lose the connection.

"Thatismyright!"

An orange beam connects the ring to my personal lantern. No AI assistance in Larfleeze's ring, but I can create a shield to cover my left as I… Gunnery compartment, this is where the main guns retract into when not in use. I head deeper into the gunnery compartment. And… Can't really heal myself with Larfleeze's ring, but I can create construct legs and a construct arm to go with the shield. And I also can't replace my equipment because I keep all of that in the subspace pocket associated with the ring Hinon made for me.

Move further in, and… The gun isn't designed to point inwards for obvious reasons, but with a few constructs that.. I can't create using Larfleeze's ring, I can pull it off its runners while keeping it plugged in, and bypass the targeting lockouts. Or I could shoot the second cruiser through the hull. Need to recharge the other ring first, but that won't take long.

"This is my-"

Alert!

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:22 GMT

I duck back, the shot smashing through the hull armour and inner hull before slamming into my cover-. The gun has its own shielding, which shimmers as it soaks the strike. Ah, okay, that's… A relief. But as I stare at my glowing arm stand-in I realise a problem.

Despite my wounds, I'm feeling no pain. That's not because of the medical systems in my armour; they're good but not that good. That's because my main ring is altering the way my body is processing stimuli. When I recharge it there's going to be a good few seconds at best where I'll get the full effect of suddenly losing large parts of my body. Not for a fraction of a second like I did just now, but for several seconds as the ring fully recharges.

No titan of healing.

Okay, transfer Hinon's ring to my good side without ever losing hold of it. Move around to the far side of the gun to keep its armour and shield between me and the New God with the oversized gun. Disintegrate the hand; I'll replace it later. Full construct arm. Purple healing rays on my left shoulder and my leg stumps; that should reduce the pain to manageable levels. And unlike maimed Amazons I can repair by ring later.

Alert!

This time I don't move, other than to interpose the shield I'm generating with Larfleeze's ring. It's good for simple and strong constructs at least. Instead I watch to judge the effectiveness of the gun as an obstacle to hide behind. The New God's shot comes through the outer hull just as easily as before… Diminished from what they were firing at me outside, but still strong as it hits the gun's shield. The gun blocks, but the shield seems more stressed than last time.

Finite uses, then.

Wounds still being healed. Recharging my main ring right now would be a bad idea.

What's the New God doing?

They're shooting at me. How are they detecting me? Magic shouldn't work, and… I think that extends to New God technology. Gravity-based detection might have been able to track me outside of the ship, but here I'm surrounded by mixed density materials. There isn't going to be anything that identified me as me. Internal monitoring-? Can't see any cameras or lasers, and heat detection becomes unreliable when weapons start firing inside the ship.

What does that leave?

Nothing on the outside of my armour, so I'm not broadcasting my location. Detecting me by my absorption of local mana? Theoretically doable, but mana systems are usually chaotic enough that it-.

That it's not possible, unless someone is already rewiring the local thaumasphere and has simplified it for easier access. I reach out with orange tendrils and pull more of it into me from all parts of the gunnery chamber before repositioning higher up the room, closer to the muzzle of the gun. Still behind the gun to take advantage of its shield, but in a different position.

Can they still track me?

Alert!

I shield and wait… As the shot hits one of my strands on the other side of the room.

Got you.

Their next move is probably going to be to shoot 'me' a few more times and then come aboard in order to confirm the kill. That would fit Apokoliptian methodology. I'd rather that they stay outside, to be honest. Or leave. Under these conditions this isn't an efficient or necessary fight for me.
Roust Them Out.
Alert!

Another shot, this one closer. And it didn't appear to be aimed at a strand. Which means that they know the strands are a hoax. How..?

Self-enhancement. They might not be able to track me directly, but there's nothing stopping them improving their own ability to predict me. I've never claimed to be a tactical or strategic genius. So either they shoot everywhere in this compartment -which would take a while with her current gun- or they come in here to track me with their own eyes.

So do I try finishing off the ship? Grab the gun with Larfleeze's ring and force it to fire? Or prepare to fight them? Don't know how long taking over the gun will take or how long my assailant will take to decide to get closer. Or if I even can take control of the gun without a ring AI.

Wounds mostly healed. Right. Cold gun out of subspace and firing cold zones at all obvious points of ingress.

I tap Hinon's ring against my personal lantern.

"Charge."

Nothing happens.

Yes, that would have been too easy. Ritual binding it is, then.

"This is my cause, this is my fight."

My construct arm vanishes and… The missing parts of my body don't hurt so much as… Really disturb my sense of proprioception. There's an ache, but… Not so bad. I've been injured enough that physical damage doesn't faze me emotionally any longer.

"Shine through the void with orange light."

Not rushing in or firing again. I think I do need to defeat -kill or disarm- them. Lure them in? They require my full focus, obviously.

"I've claimed all within my sight."

Alert!
Cowering Before The Inevitable.
"To keep what is mine, that-"

The shot hits my shield, but that's okay.

"-is my right."

The beam connecting my main ring to my personal lantern glows brilliantly, but with my other ring I throw out a blast of orange light in all directions.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHnnnnnnnnnnnnn…"

And cut the flow of orange light off, dismiss my tendrils, personal lantern back into subspace, grow back the missing parts of my body and repair my armour. Construct power to minimum and… Directly feed orange light into my tattoos to exclude anything else.

Under my armour my skin is glowing orange, but that should make me impossible to find with whatever technique they're using. I mean, it's not like they know what happens when a Lantern of my abilities gets killed.

Unless they had someone observing both other times it happened, but that seems unlikely. Or perhaps they'll think it was my rings getting destroyed? In either case-.

For a fraction of a second I see the hull cleaved open by the gun-turned-sword, then-
Death Comes For You!
-the cold field collapses, somehow cut by the oversized sword while I fly towards the New God, tendrils reaching out and around to grabble and feed!

Micro-turrets on their armour open fire, only to be immediately countered by orange lasers from my counter battery constructs as the second wave of tendrils lock on!

Feed Me!
I Stand Strong!
The colour in their armour oscillates as they try to power through, sword flashing towards me! I take my spear out of subspace, already linking it both to my body's energy and to theirs. I parry, briefly meeting their energy blade before turning it aside as I latch more tendrils onto their weapon.

The spear is partially melted by the brief contact, but the oversized sword is positively guttering.

And sword, stab forwards into the mechanism! Their sword goes out with a small crack of energy, and a construct claw grabs it and pulls it from their harness!

"One chance. Yield."

 

[Mr Zoat]

11th September 2012
20:24 GMT

Various parts of their armour glow in quick succession as I prepare for a new att-.

"I yield." "I strike my colours."

Their armour dims, and I feel a certain… Presence, vanish from the material.

"Accepted." I float back slightly, dismissing most of my offensive constructs. "You will remove any remaining weapons, though under the circumstances you can keep your armour for now."

My new prisoner -the voice was feminine, but let's not make assumptions with aliens- hesitates, then begins decoupling their gun's harness from their armour.

"Good effort, by the way. You did noticeably better than the other two Ascended I fought today."

Their helmet momentarily turns to the spear I discarded and the sword I'm still holding. Ah, that was probably insensitive. Though with warrior cultures that isn't always the case so long as you make it clear-.

"They both fought bravely, but their tactics were inferior."

They let the removed parts of the harness fall to the deck, then remove what looks like an equipment harness. That appears to be all of the readily detachable parts of their armour. I reach out with orange strands, connect them to my metaphysique and then subspace them.

"Why do you not complete the ritual?"

"An ongoing misunderstanding. I'm not a god or titan. I just look a bit like one. I have no idea what ritual you're referring to."

"Oh."

"If it's important to you, you can talk me through it once this battle is over."

"No, that's-. No."

"Right then. I'm going to be busy destroying this ship, so please fill me in with what you think this fight is about."

"What?"

I send strands out, draining through the gun's shield and attaching myself to the gun itself.

"I was visiting New Cronus on an unrelated matter when your attack started. I've only heard their version of events, and while I doubt that hearing yours will change things greatly it might affect the resolution I suggest."

Okay, the gun seems… Reasonably responsive. I can make it traverse, that's… The control to deploy it, but the system appears to be damaged. Power comes from there… Huh. There doesn't appear to be anything stopping it firing internally.

"Or you can remain silent, but I will point out that doing so may be contrary to the interests of your faction."

"What lies did they tell you?"

"Don't… Know."

With a creak and a scream of twisting metal, the gun comes free from its cradle, construct cabling maintaining the link to its fuel reserves and power source.

"Beyond a passing familiarity with some of Rhea's other descendants, I know nothing about what she did after leaving Earth beyond what they told me. Feel free to give me your version while I kill this ship."

"If you're not one of them, why do you-."

Charging the gun… Seems straight forward enough, other than the tron lines. But I doubt that-.

"Stop! Please, stop."

"I take it this will work, then?"

"The other Ascendants have already boarded New Cronus. The remaining crew are all mortal!"

"So it will definitely work, then. I'm not seeing that as a-"

Construct cradle for the gun, point it towards where I… Think I felt the commands coming from. The tron lines covering the gun are fully orange at this point, glowing brilliantly as I prepare to actualise my desire to bring about destruction.

"-bad thing. War is all about killing because you couldn't accept an alternative."

"What alternative could we accept?!"

"I don't know. It doesn't matter to me, and I would suggest that it will soon not matter to the crew of this ship, either."

"They murdered Grandmother Rhea for her power!"

"Ah. You believe that they gained those seeds by killing her, contrary to their claim that she died after creating them. What evidence do you have?"

"Their power-."

"I know of two demigoddesses brought to life after a titan infused clay with their power. What they say that Rhea did is possible, though it's true that they could be lying. Brace."

"W-?"

I fire and oh that's a bit spicy! The gun annihilates everything in its path… Yeah, yeah, I can see through a cylindrical section of hull… Not quite into open space, as the ship is quite long, but I can see sparks and lights going out, so I assume that I'm closer to achieving my objective than I was.

My prisoner was slammed against the interior wall due to not bracing.

The gun's recharging, doesn't look like anyone can respond…

"When I say 'brace', brace. Do you have any evidence?"

"I-." The New God picks themself up. "I don't-. Will you allow the ship to yield?"

"That's actually my preferred option. Can you arrange it?"

"Ah…" They take a look at the white hot hole I just shot in the ship's interior. "I can see no way for them to survive. Yes. But… I will have to use my divine essence."

"I'm not stopping you."

"And yours. The crew will need to feel my submission."

"I have no idea how to do that, but if you just want me to plug myself into you then I can do that."

I release the hellwraith construct lantern.

"If she does anything suspicious, eat her soul."

"Yes, Master."

The gun indicates that it's fully charged. It would probably be more helpful in the current battle if I just fired a few more times, turned this ship into a wreck and then left. But I'm trying to wean myself off genocide.

I extend filaments and attach myself to the New God, the orange forcing out the turquoise from their armour.

"Does that work?"

"Yes. I will speak to them now."

"Good. Do-. What's your name?"

"Thiva."

"Make sure that they understand their position, Thiva. I'd rather they live, but I'm not wedded to the idea."