"His Grace Duke Oswin will see you now, Lord Grayven, Lord Tawny."
Alonzo's butler ushers us from the lounge where we'd been deposited on our arrival and leads us through Oswin's manor. It used to belong to the pirate Amalak, but since Komand'r's Lanterns and Oswin's fleet annihilated his organisation Oswin's made it his base of operations in his new duchy. I-.
Sucks to have been Amalak. Pity you missed out on sweet assets like his Coluan aide-de-camp, though. Or those Spectrum-resistant warrior women...
I frown at the display case in the centre of a large corridor intersection. It's a cube about five metres on each axis, and the… Thing inside it-.
"Excuse me."
Oh-ho, what could this be?
The butler turns back, eyebrows raise. "Sir?"
"What is that?"
"Some sort of monster the Spider Guild were keeping in their burrows, sir. The marines who killed it presented it to His Grace as a trophy, and he had it preserved for display."
Maybe not the queen. She was a known quantity, if I remember right... Then again, it has been a
long while since I've been reading to archive. Been busy catching up with Constellations (only 40 pages of thread on SB left!) then I'll be back to Taylor Varga (
600 pages of SV thread left out of nearly
1800...)
I give it a quick scan. Huh, based on their own genetic structure. Weird. The Spider Guild are pretty big on robotics, but it's unusual for them to get into biotechnology.
I nod. "Impressive."
Then again, it might
well be the Queen. She
was an experimental proof-of-concept for dealing with humanoid species, wasn't she?
"Just so, sir. If you'll follow me?"
We follow him to the artfully designed doors of Oswin's receiving lounge, the butler pulling open the doors and stepping inside just ahead of is.
"Lords Grayven and Tawny, Your Grace."
Ah, Grayven brought Mr. Tawny with him? He expects the Karnans to see some involvement in the coming fight?
"Thank you, Rychen. That will be all."
I steps aside and… Okay, Oswin's a friendly face, a worthy ally and we've got a good working relationship. I don't know what Kalista and Pren are doing here. I don't want them to be here and I don't want to have to pretend that they matter in the grand scheme of things. If for no other reason that they probably aren't happy about Komand'r's realpolitik campaign or Regent Alonzo's continued isolation. I mean, I haven't been boasting about it or anything but I'm sure they know that I'm employing Euphorians by now.
They might think they can poach a few of Grayven's Euphorian recruits. Given that he himself said they were people not particularly welcome back home...
"Admiral!" I stride over to his sitting area as he rises to greet me. A polite grip around his forearm while he grips the heel of my hand. "Good to see you."
"Oh no, Grayven. It's quite wrong to continue calling me an Admiral. The Crown Imperium's law is very clear on the subject. The only fleet I command is that of my duchy's patrol fleet."
A technicality. Mostly to legalise his occupation, I suppose?
Which just happens to be comprised of virtually the entire royal fleet that was assigned to attack Vega under his command. Only those ships loaned from other duchies have actually left the region, which given how volatile it was makes a good deal of sense.
"I stand corrected." I release his arm. "I believe that you met Michael?"
As I thought. Presumably the rest of the nobles expect him to shape things up and they can push for preferential trade deals...
Michael's slightly larger than me in his humanoid form these days. Being a renowned warrior has agreed with him, as has fatherhood. He and Oswin clasp arms for a moment before Oswin stands aside to formally introduce his other guests.
"Queen Kalista and Lord Pren."
Oh-ho. I guess Micheal's been getting his mack on with some of the Karanan ladies, then?
And he's taller than Grayven? Wonder if that's some expression of his Godhead?
I nod and lie. "Good to see you both."
"Likewise."
Heh. No love lost
there.
Kalista is probably about as glad to see me as I am her, but she manages a polite smile. Regular meals and sleep clearly agree with her far more than life as a terrorist. I have no idea how she feels about the Crown Imperium's annexation of so much extra space. Not like Euphorix had any claim to it, but it could be awkward if she's trying to work out how to set Owsin and me against each other.
Pren is there.
He
is kind of forgettable, isn't he? Mr 'Generic hero type'... I suppose she's enjoying the good life, then, even provided by a nominal rival.
Oswin points to a pair of chairs clearly reinforced for the benefit of plus-sized guests like myself and Michael.
"Please, sit, and tell us what brings you here."
The man thought ahead? Wonder if he keeps them stowed safely for when Grayven turns up, or if they're regular parts of the room's decor...
I sit at once, whereas Michael takes a moment to get comfortable. At home he usually shifts back into his quadruped form when he wants to get really comfortable, but clearly this rates a greater degree of formality.
Chair's not built for tailed folks, eh?
"Short version: there's two of me, and the other one's heading this way with a fleet of gordanians."
Oswin blinks. "Two of you? Do you mean to say that you have a twin brother?"
If
only it were that simple.
"It's possible that Father cloned me. Or.. cloned him and created me. Or that another New God did; really, it's… A bit of an imponderable. He exists, and he's coming here."
"And when you say here..?"
To make it clear:
Conquest has set his eyes on Vega as the heart of his domain. Too bad
Acquisition has gotten there first.
"He's mostly coming to kill me, but he's got an army of gordanians. Which is why I brought Michael."
"Ah. Yes. Do you have any idea on numbers?"
Besides 'Lots'? And as for
why Tawny is here? The Karnans and Gordanians shared a
homeworld. With the Gordanians
initially on top.
"Not much of one. At least one Apokoliptian dreadnaught, so I suggest that your sensor officers should wear their brown trousers when he gets here. If he's anything like me -and for obvious reason he should be- then the ships the Gordanians will be using will be significantly upgraded compared to what their local brethren use. Plus whatever odds and sods he's picked up in his travels."
"These… Gordanians. Where exactly did he acquire them?"
In other words, the Crown Imperium and company might well be outclassed...
"Pass. Until yesterday I honestly thought he was doing the intelligent thing and avoiding me. But there are plenty of Gordanian clans around the region who were losing out in Vega and could have been co-opted."
Michael nods. "The Karnans have good intelligence on the clans with an actual presence on Karna. But for all of the others..."
And I suspect there were a great many who left the sector. When one or two manage to dominate the local trade, it's usually a good idea to seek greener pastures elsewhere.
Oswin nods. "We only kept approximate tabs on them as well. Below a certain level they weren't really a threat to us, so we didn't prioritise it. How did you come by this information?"
"The Controller who's on Tamaran to oversee the Central Power Battery. Her name's Hinon, and she's got access to all of their intelligence infrastructure. It seems that my alter ego had been planning on targeting the Reach… You may not have heard of them, but they have a fair sized empire on the other side of the galactic core."
To be fair, who knows how far word of them
has spread? Especially since they're known for giving the Green Lanterns one of its biggest defeats.
"No, no, I've heard of them. Never met one, but I know who you mean. You mean to say that a force a man of your strategic acumen believed could threaten the largest empire in the galaxy is heading here."
"It's possible that he meant to spend some time gathering allies in-situ, but essentially, yes."
'Allies' meaning conquered populations repurposed into service...
"This fleet will be armed with weapons built by the most technologically advanced species in the galaxy."
"On that score I've got a little good news. Unless he's got other New Gods with him, no. Our weapons require New Gods to operate them, and unlike humans and other Earth-native life forms the gordanians aren't compatible with the Awakening. The other Grayven can buff his fleet and followers, but that's all flowing from him."
Which leaves one obvious weak point. Not that he's actually
that weak. With so much successful conquest, he should be running
hot.
"So: assassination."
"That's… Prohibitively difficult. With Apokoliptians, it's more a duel between the two faction-leaders, and unless you're much better with a sword than I am, I suggest leaving that job to me."
Meanwhile, the Renegade gave up a lot of the power he'd gained in the Sheeda future, when he and Artemis returned...
"Single combat? He'll settle this with a duel?"
"No, it's more complicated than that. Either of us killing the other will allow us to step into the other's divine… Shoes, so to speak." Though I will be talking to Kanto just in case I've misunderstood how it works. "Last time I killed a version of me I was effectively able to give commands to his followers in the immediate aftermath and have them obeyed. Not sure what happens if he kills me, but it would probably be rather bad for you."
Yes, unlike the Earth-50 Grayven, this will be a
much tougher fight for the Renegade...
"So we're involved whether we want to be or not."
I shrug. "Sorry. I'll compensate you, of course, and share whatever benefits we get seizing his holdings. But if it's all New God technology, you're just not going to be compatible."
And from what we saw of the Paragon's encounter with them, it will rely heavily on it...
He nods. "Regarding our Orange Lantern Corps candidates."
"Stop sending callow young nobles bucking for promotion. They don't have the mindset of life experience to handle it."
Sure, they
might want the power, but these Orange Lanterns don't have the same safety net that the Paragon's do. I wonder how many have succumbed to
Avarice overload since their founding...
"Oh, I know. I just wanted their families to stop bothering me. On the other hand, the three of us-" He indicates oh why! "-are a little more stable and focused."
"Make a will and designate an heir, and I'll oversee your induction myself."
"Then we have an agreement in principle." He smiles broadly. "Let's kill you."
Heh. Wonder how well they'll handle the
Want...