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

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Mr Zoat, Jan 27, 2019.

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  1. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    He isn't.
     
  2. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    *Insert British Joke Here*
     
  3. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    The English often seem to think it does. The Celts and other peoples that they conquered may take a different view.
     
  4. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Love that last paragraph.

    Your depiction of the Leentniar is amazing. A very believable culture born from cultural trauma, resource constraints and xenophobia.

    But even here there might be a good chance of "rebels". Especially youth that want to see more of their world than their fleet.

    As usual, Paul will split another alien society down the middle :D
     
  5. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Spreading out is a good plan, lessens the damage to each other if they scuttle themselves.Interesting that they're blocking his scans, though. Some measure of arcane ability, perhaps? With enough stored thaumic energy to maintain it...

    The trick is keeping their risk-reward evaluation on the side that doesn't mean self-destruction... And for all you know, their masters may choose to discard them as 'contaminated'... With all that entails.

    Or, more likely, desperation. Never underestimate the ability of fear to overcome good sense.

    Unfortunately, they also seem to have passed down paranoia as well. Which is what's making just talking to them so damn hard.

    ;) Aw, you didn't knock? I suppose that might be rude in this case, though.

    Interestingly old-fashioned. Or solidly pragmatic. If you don't invite people on board ship, why bother making the airlocks fancy?

    The joy of being able to pull rank as needed. And if things go badly, OL will take the blame too, so no shit lands on Miss Gozzi.

    Now, any other person, that'd be an invitation to keep a running commentary... But Lantern Gozzi is a professional.

    Unfortunately, thicker armour doesn't help with some weapons. But if they're facing weapons that big, no amount of armour will help anyway...

    They're very serious about cultural contamination, aren't they? She's probably steeling herself to actually have to talk to the aliens...

    To be fair, unless they actually have been raiding ships' databases, they might not know what any of those are... Still, they can get the idea form context.

    Given she's likely to be exiled anyway if she survives, that's probably a good end.

    Suggesting they're actually watching live. And she obviously has headset comms to allow her to hear their orders. So it's as good as having them in the same room.

    No doubt the rest of their ship is as compact and efficiently designed as this passage. Practical, if boring.

    They know how Lanterns work, eh? So they're expecting him to make detailed scans of the ship. But they might not know how different the Corps are...

    The question is, do they care. As for the growing numbers of the Orange Lantern Corps... I suspect the Guardians will be watching very closely from here on out, if they haven't been already.

    Laying it out nice and clear, aren't you? I suppose when they're this paranoid, stubborn and flat-out annoying, even OL's patience can be worn down...

    So if their answer isn't to his liking, they'll be getting some personal face time with OL. :sneaky: Whether they like it or not.

    Heh. If they only knew... Well, they might well decide to suicide their entire race, no way of being sure... Again, getting a strong Quarian Bad End here. (Bad End from our and OL's perspective, anyway. We don't know these people well enough to be sure how they'd see it.)

    And usually only to the people writing the books. The peoples who get the 'for your own good' treatment generally end up with hard feelings lingering.

    They haven't proved themselves completely worthless yet. If they can change, if they can get along with their neighbours, wherever they end up, then they get to live.

    I'll bet they do. One they won't ask out loud is probably 'What will make you leave us alone?'

    Good, this part will be easy. There's a lot NEMO can give them, if they play nice...

    I suspect a homeworld far from the Reach will be a big factor in convincing them...

    Even couching the bad in terms that make allying with NEMO sound better than the alternative...

    Hmm... That could carry a lot of weight with the leadership. If they can look past their xenophobia...

    And the dice are in the air... We'll see tomorrow how they land. Will we see enough successes to convince them, or will there be some snake-eyes in their future? Good thing OL favours the Diplomancer skillset... :D
     
  6. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Or killed for having her body altered by an alien.
     
  7. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Did we conquer the Celts? After a while all of the savage tribes just blend together.
     
  8. Idkusername

    Idkusername Versed in the lewd.

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    A certain rabid Irish Hound would like a word with you.
     
  9. Sceptic

    Sceptic Critical Irrationalist

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    And then they start referring to themselves as English.
     
  10. hkim

    hkim Know what you're doing yet?

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    He said "better". Not "good".
     
  11. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    And suddenly Paul's idea's about certain things makes perfect sense...
     
  12. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Oh gosh no. England as a political entity dates frm the 10th century, after the Romans left and the various successor kingdoms merged and fought off the Scandanavians. Barely lasted a century before a French viking conquered it.
     
  13. frommerman

    frommerman Getting out there.

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    I guess it looks slightly better than, "We wanted your stuff and you couldn't stop us from taking it."

    Both are really bad, but "for your good" implies that the population you are feeding it to as propaganda has empathy you need to crush if you're going to carry out your imperialist aims. If you're straight-up telling your people that theft and murder are good, there's probably nothing of your culture or people worth saving at this point.
     
  14. FeepingCreature

    FeepingCreature Not too sore, are you?

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    On the other hand, consider C.S. Lewis:

    Of course, OL has the approval of his conscience regardless.
     
  15. Xelloss

    Xelloss Know what you're doing yet?

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    Normands weren't Vikings by the time of Guillaume II Duc de Normandie (later Guillaume I Roi d'Angleterre, dit le Conquérant).
    Those who were given lands quickly adopted Frankish customs, married into the Frankish nobility, and by the time of Guillaume I de Normandy, they were pretty much as much Francs that any other Francs - and that was a century before Guillaume le Conquérant invaded England.
     
  16. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    The Welsh and Scottish would like to have a word with you about that...
     
  17. Maxx Crowley

    Maxx Crowley I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Not that you'll understand a word they say XD.
     
  18. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    The British aren't exactly much better in that category.

     
  19. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    Yes, English English is all but incomprehensible and far worse than the dumbed down stuff they share with everyone else.
     
  20. Threadmarks: Back Door (part 17)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    9th July 2012
    06:52 GMT


    "…because we're not stupid and that's obviously a world it would be easy to flee from."

    I shift the construct map back to the area closer to Reach territory.

    "Please ask your Masters to stop insulting me. If you take the cooperation deal, and you try and leave, see 'bad option'. Do you understand that I will be the guarantor of this treaty? Do you understand that while I will aggressively prosecute a war if you initiate one, I will respond to bad faith with extermination?"

    "I will remind them."

    As the force field reappears I reflect on the fact that I'm not seeing any yellow at all. No concern for her personal safety I'd understand; she's dying and she's devoted to her people. To such a person, dying in service would be far more satisfying than dying in bed. Desirable, even. As for the Masters themselves I see bubbling yellow, though only on the level of a critical negotiation.

    Do they think I won't..?

    The force field vanishes.

    "My Masters believe that-" She points. "-this system will be suitable for our needs."

    I take a look. No easily habitable planet, but I suppose that since they're used to living in ships that won't be an issue. Some mining is taking place there now, though it isn't anything vital to anyone's strategic objectives. Neighbours… Will probably be happy to accept payment for any piracy they've suffered. Nothing I need to preserve in the system so it won't matter if they strip mine the place. The only obvious drawback is that there isn't a L.E.G.I.O.N. fleet within convenient distance for cross-training. We'll have to either reposition one or wait until we can build enough ships for another. This region isn't exactly a combat-hotspot, and it's not like the Leentniar can't defend themselves.

    "Acceptable. Since you have a clear cultural preference for isolation we won't try to compel you to mix with your new allies, but we will need to assign an ambassador-" Because it sounds better than 'governor' or 'parole officer'. "-to smooth over any problems. We'll begin providing you with technical information once you're settled in."

    And we've filled the system full of spy drones.

    "We have additional requirements."

    "You're not in a particularly strong position here, but you can ask."

    "To retool our industry we require more raw materials than can be accessed in that system. We require mineral rights to-" She points. "-this system and this system."

    Hm. Again, those aren't heavily mined, but three gas giants have limited automatic metallic hydrogen harvesting operations. I can probably talk the rights-holders to the rest into giving them up, but those would be a sticking point. Of course, depending on what they need it might turn out to be more efficient to just buy whatever they need and ship it in.

    "Why? There's nothing in those systems that isn't in the system you're already getting."

    "This eventuality was not unforeseen. The Masters of the Leentniar have contingency plans which we are now activating. The best outcome for the Leentniar comes from beginning manufacturing at once. Deposits of titanium and various rare earth metals are more accessible in the asteroids here-" She points. "-and the moon here and here, than they are in our own system. We will build mine works as fast as we can, but bringing in material from outside of the system for the first four thousand work cycles will prevent delays in ship-building."

    "And after that you won't need it?"

    "We can always build more ships, but a larger fleet would be impractical to create during a war due to crew requirements."

    "You mean that you don't have enough people to crew a larger fleet."

    "We can increase our population size with the aim of building a larger fleet, but the time lag involved means that we could not do it quickly and the necessary expansion of food, crèche and education facilities would require resources that would otherwise go into ship building."

    Not unreasonable. On a habitable planet it's quite easy to increase the amount of agricultural output. On spaceships it's really not. Especially if you want anything with actual flavour. I can't calculate exactly what their output is likely to be without seeing their civilian ships. Honestly, once they're in full production it might be worth having them just build ships for other people. A society like this is going to have far more experience of ship building than almost anyone.

    Ring, message to Lantern Gozzi. How quickly would you be able to assess how the Leentniar could best support our offensive?

    Message sent.

    "Compile an exact list and I'll start negotiations with the current rights-holders. It might be easier to have them supply you with the material you want directly."

    "There are ways that could be made acceptable."

    "Good. Next issue. Piracy. When you become a L.E.G.I.O.N. affiliate you will cease all raiding of other L.E.G.I.O.N. members permanently and all non-L.E.G.I.O.N. worlds for the duration of the war with the Reach. You will pay proportionate reparations to extant civilisations whose property you have expropriated and whose citizens you have killed."

    "We acknowledge that all military activity must be conducted through L.E.G.I.O.N., but we have few fungible assets."

    "Payment can be deferred, and be made in the form of ships once you're at capacity."

    "Acceptable."

    "What will you do with the Leentniar currently assigned to pirate duties and their crew?"

    "The crew will be killed. The outwards-facing Leentniar will be kept in semi-isolation for interface duties like this."

    That would depend on how well organised their demographic and industrial data is. Perhaps half an hour. I assume that you want me to go?

    Yes.

    "My Masters wish me to discuss data transfer regarding L.E.G.I.O.N. ship types."

    "I will transfer data on smaller ship types once you're situated. Additional data will be provided once your construction work is shown to be up to specifications. The underlying technologies don't vary much."

    "You will not prohibit us building other classes of ship?"

    "The L.E.G.I.O.N. ships are designed to be optimised for fighting the Reach. If you want to customise it or you think you can improve upon it, good for you. And you can build other ships if the local situation requires it, but we'll expect those ships to be your focus."

    A noticeable decrease in fear from both their negotiator and the Masters. They must really like their existing ship classes. I'm sure that they'll be able to switch without too much trouble; several of the smaller classes of ship were designed for lower technology bases than Maltus has. It's mostly the larger ones which are more sophisticated because we plan to use them offensively and anything that can't actually fight Reach warships and survive scarab warriors will be dead weight. We'll have to see what the Leentniar are capable of before we start placing orders.

    "We need to maintain cultural security."

    "We've seen what the Reach can do. We will need some contact in your new home system, and your offensive fleets will be integrated into the L.E.G.I.O.N. command structure. However, there's no need for mass immigration unless you want it. I would recommend that you abandon your current 'exile or suicide' tradition, but I suppose you can keep it if you really want."

    She nods. "That should be sufficient for a provisional agreement. I will relay it now."
     
    Last edited: Feb 20, 2021
  21. Sockmonkey

    Sockmonkey I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    I get the feeling they're kind of surprised that an outsider is being so reasonable.
     
  22. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    'her'

    'for mass'
     
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  23. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    They mostly likely use propaganda to paint aliens as monsters.

    Also seeing as most of their relationships with aliens consist of them raiding and killing them they probably thought that if they met one then they'll be there to get revenge/justice or to stop them from hurting someone else.
     
  24. BlueMangoAdea

    BlueMangoAdea Alive. For now.

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    They probably expected to kill themselves if they ever met an alien.
     
  25. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Killing crew without second thought, talking about creating people for the sole purpose of manning ships...I think pre exodus Leentniar would pretty firmly agree thast cultural security was lost a long time ago.
     
  26. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Ah, the fun part of negotiations: pinning down the details. Which in this case means getting the Leentniar to stay put. Bet that's going to be fun...

    Heh. I don't think they've fully grasped what that means. Have they ever seen a Lantern in full assault mode? Seen what they can do to even fairly advanced fleets? If they did, they'd probably be shitting enough bricks to build a Brownstone.

    Interesting. A heavy focus on usefulness to the collective? A learned behaviour, unless they had such a culture before their exodus. I suppose it makes it easier for them to shift directions. The workers don't need to care why they're building, only that they can.

    I bet they're trying not to think bout the threat of destruction.

    And that means a Lantern will have to babysit them until a fleet can arrive. After all, what's to stop them deciding agreements with aliens don't count, and promptly leaving? OL or whoever gets stuck watching them might have to demonstrate...

    Indeed. Like I said, they'll need to be well-guarded to prevent them taking a powder. On the other hand, they seem to be well-suited to industrial work and construction...

    To quote Blade: "Always some motherfuckers trying to ice-skate uphill."

    Or negotiating a service contract? With minimal to no outside contact, of course.

    Well, they're certainly believers in prep-time. Clearly expecting their survival to be dependant on their usefulness, again...

    I suppose they can only reproduce so quickly, especially with as limited resources as they have now. Hopefully it doesn't take them twenty years to turn out worthwhile personnel. Then again, their children are probably expected to pull their won weight aboardships...

    Someone's got to babysit, after all. And teach. I'm guessing they don't have much of a childhood...

    Just as long as they can't use the ships for their own purposes. Don't want to give them top-of-the-line specs only to have them go AWOL in them...

    Ah, the greatest superpower relating to leadership: Delegation. For when you don't want to deal with that shit yourself...

    Automated cargo haulers and work drones, for example. With plenty of computer security, of course.

    I'll bet. What they have is probably used to build new ships or facilities, what with having no external trade.

    In other words, they'll be paying rent and other costs off with work. Another way to minimise the impact on their people's lives, I suppose.

    I presume that's any non-Leentniar crew, like those we saw on that first pirate vessel OL and Gozzi took down. The ones that surrendered... Bad luck for those who weren;t complete monsters, but I suspect they're few in number...

    Given what we've seen of their technology, it'll probably be one quick ring scan of their files and a few minutes to mull over the info. Most of that half-hour is probably just travel time and convincing them to let her do it...

    Gotta prove yourself trustworthy, after all. Like I said above, don't want them to bust out in newly upgraded vessels, whether that be officially sanctioned forays or rebellious teenagers.

    Something to be hashed out with whoever their parole officer ambassador ends up being.

    Don't go a-viking, and you'll be left alone. Mess up or play up, and cultural security will be your last concern...

    Bet there'll be some jackass councillor who objects... Hopefully they don't require unanimous votes.

    Well, negotiation tentatively successful. It remains to be seen if they'll play along in the long term. I'm guessing OL and Gozzi will be stuck babysitting until L.E.G.I.O.N can set up their perimeter... Sounds like a good chance to look in on X-Men!Paul... ;)
     
  27. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Very likely.
     
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  28. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Well their standars of childhood are probably different than ours, so they may have one.

    Or when someone else is better at dealing with that shit.
     
  29. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    doesn't -> don't
     
  30. Fellow

    Fellow Know what you're doing yet?

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    Shouldn't it just be 'rare metals' instead of 'earth metals'? I guess earth literally means dirt, but do people really call things like gold and tungsten earth metals instead of just metals?

    Edit: Color me wrong. There are actually a list of metals specifically called rare-earth metals. They're used for lasers and magnets and stuff. Despite the name they're actually pretty common on earth. Props to Zoat for his geology knowledge! :D
     
    Last edited: Feb 6, 2021
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