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!
...Well, someone hasn't been paying attention to their lessons about advanced technology, has he? But seriously, I wonder why they didn't detect them sooner.Something to do with the theft of Phoebe's orb, perhaps?
