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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.
    No, I think that's okay.
     
  2. Threadmarks: Negetiations (part 8)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    12th August 2012
    12:56 GMT


    Reach ships.

    My breath hisses through my teeth.

    There are Reach ships over there.

    And Drusa goes still in the background as she picks up on my feelings on the issue.

    Our pilots have had the good sense to park us in high orbit on the opposite side of the planet. I noticed orbital patterns getting rearranged on our way in as they moved 'docked' ships around and rearranged their orbital defences in such a way as to imply that us moving would be unwise. I mean, it's nothing that we couldn't deal with… Which means that they're probably doing it to reassure other people.

    Seriously, I could understand if they didn't know anything about the Reach, but they do. What exactly are they telling themselves about the likely results of having them here?

    "And out." I turn to look at the-. "Cap-." The captain, who has apparently found something to occupy their attention on the far side of the bridge.

    He looks up.

    "My lord Illustres?"

    "So are we allowed to use our own shuttles, or do we have to wait for a local pilot for that as well?"

    "We can.. use our own, so long as the flight path is confirmed in advance. But your meeting with their delegation isn't until tomorrow."

    "It doesn't take four days to arrange a meeting with a junior civil servant. I'm going to scare them into pulling their fingers out." I turn away. "Lantern Drusa, you are free to accompany me or continue researching local conditions as you choose."

    I march out of the bridge, and after a moment's hesitation she follows me. Though from the way her eyes are glowing I suspect that she's chosen 'why can't I do both?'.

    "What will you do?"

    "At this point, there's no good reason not to meet with me. Even if it's just offering up the office gopher as a sacrifice. Either they should have that ready, or they should directly tell me that they don't want to meet me. The only reason for prevarication is panic. I will bet my right arm that they're running around like headless chickens down there."

    She nods slowly. "So you intend to do something that will make them want to talk to you."

    "Any guesses?"

    "The Reach. You're going to… Walk into their embassy and make polite conversation until someone comes to get you."

    "You're good at that." We step into the elevator and I press the button for 'personnel shuttle bay'. "There are people who've known me for years who can't predict me like that."

    "It was a survival skill."

    "Oh, ow."

    "I'm not comparing you to them, I'm saying that I needed to learn how to predict what people with power over me would do."

    "Do you find being right satisfying?"

    She hesitates.

    "Yes."

    "Okay, so exactly what am I going to talk to the Reach 'negotiator' about?"

    "At first, you will make polite conversation about local politics. You will say something self-depreciating. On the surface you will mean it as humour, as self-depreciation is a sign of admirable modesty in your culture. But they will see it as you playing with them, and you are intelligent enough to know that. Then… I'm not sure. Either you will directly ask them about what they're actually planning, or ask them a searching question about their personal desires. You will ask the other once you're happy that you've got a complete answer with whichever one you asked first."

    I puff out my lips, nodding. "That's a pretty-"

    The lift doors open and we head towards a shuttle.

    "-good guess. You don't think I'll start a fight?"

    "No."

    "Why not?"

    "Because it doesn't help you complete your mission."

    "And if I encountered a scarab?"

    "Apparently polite conversation filled with snide comments, while you implied that you could kill them all without any difficulty. Unless they were a slave dominated by their scarab, in which case you would escalate as much as you could under local law."

    "Yeah, basically."

    We board a waiting shuttle and I wave at the pilot.

    "Surface, please. Don't really care where."

    "Yes, lord."

    We take seats on opposite sides of the small passenger compartment.

    "You know, I could probably get you moved to working with Ratchet and Dox if you want." Then I jerk forward. "Initial thought."

    "You want something in return."

    I lean back.

    "Reflected thought?"

    She makes a point of relaxing herself. "You're honestly just trying to put me somewhere where my desires will do the most good."

    "And that's why I'm not going to do those things with the Reach that you said I would." She makes a small frown. "You're going to." She keeps frowning. "Your theory of mind is clearly good enough that you can accurately predict my actions. Nothing about going there actually needs me to go there."

    "Other than the fact that you're far more intimidating than I am."

    "They know that I'm on the planet."

    "They won't trust the Yunan report or sensor readings. Not for something this important."

    I take a couple of glamour pendants out of subspace and float one over to her. When I put mine on my entire body appears to change.

    "It can't disguise the presence of a ring, and a sufficiently skilled magic user would spot it. But the Reach don’t have any of those."

    She puts hers on, and then I'm sitting opposite myself. She takes a moment to check it over, then has her own ring scan her to make certain.

    "And if they do discover that I'm not you?"

    I grin.

    "Then won't it be extra funny when they find out that I am me?"
     
    Last edited: May 7, 2021
  3. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    'to park us'

    Maybe because crazy is difficult to predict.
     
  4. The Unaligned Player

    The Unaligned Player Agony that desires to meet Extinction

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    Ah, I see enlightenment gives you a bonus to the school of Clear Communication.
     
  5. FourthPear

    FourthPear Frequent Flier. Muted

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    This is such a cliche dumb comic book plot and I love it.
     
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  6. hance1986

    hance1986 A pitiful excuse for a man.

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    This is like Inception trolling.
     
  7. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  8. NightmareWarden

    NightmareWarden Versed in the lewd.

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    Is Guy allowed to have one of these pendants?
     
  9. MagnumForce

    MagnumForce Making the rounds.

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    Makes one wonder if they are already compromised to some degree...
     
  10. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Yes? You knew they'd be there. The official you communicated with made that quite clear. Is the concern that they've slipped some agents in without the Gyuanites noticing? Because that would be a given either way.

    I would probably be thinking 'Well, shit. Flashback to his last death or about to go on a murderous rampage? Hell, why not both?'

    Probably something like 'Oh, I'm sure they won't try anything, we're too valuable an ally to risk antagonising.'

    Wise man, not wanting to be too close to the clearly mad person.

    I take it just flying down under their own power would be completely out of the question... Probably a bit hard to track a Lantern who doesn't want to be noticed.

    OL... Oh, fuck it, I can't even be mad. :rolleyes: OL gonna OL.

    At least the lady knows how to multitask. Probably not a good idea to let OL out of her sight, after all. Who know what trouble he'll get into without a minder? Not that having a minder will stop him...

    To be fair, consider the last few diplomatic missions you've been on. If the Gyuanites have been getting the Reach's side of that, they're probably expecting you to fly up and rip the roof of the Diplomatic Offices...

    And nothing would scare them more. Heck, they might start shooting the second you open the door.

    :oops: ...Ouch, Drusa, ouch. On the upside, you've probably got a better life expectancy than most around OL. He likes you, so he'll endeavour to keep you alive.

    Not improving your position here, Lantern.

    Well, that's good.

    Great, she's playing Xanatos Speed Chess, using imaginary players. And yet she's got OL pegged so well.

    Given Dox asked you not to? No, you'll wait for them to get spooked and try something. :rolleyes: Then you'll have the moral high ground of a self-defence claim...

    'Want the end, want the means' indeed. I guess she spent the last week in transit building up a solid psychological profile of her boss, then.

    Because a Scarab on-planet would be a gross violation of the Gyuanite's hospitality, and a feather in OL's cap?

    Since you can get anywhere you like quickly enough anyway. Plus the trip gives you time to remotely observe Gyuanite Desire Networks, eh?

    All the while the pilot is quietly praying to whatever he, she or they believe in for mercy and a greater likelihood of survival...

    Stop poking the rookie, OL. But I suppose that would be her initial suspicion of intent.

    Ah, she's good.

    OL's like a walking bomb. Him merely existing in the same star system is intimidating, especially to the Reach.

    So they'll be looking to covertly locate and scan him? Just to be sure it's not a clone, robot or shapeshifter?

    Oh, sneaky, sneaky. Now, who do you look like, I wonder? Lantern Drusa? OR just a generic grunt Lantern? Ooh, why not make yourself look like Mr Spock, for the lulz?

    Hope they don't pull out the big guns right away? Because I doubt your personal shields are up to OL's level.

    :confused: ...Okay, now you lost me. Are you counting on their paranoia sending them into a spiral of 'oh, shit!' as a distraction? Or just as a prank?

    Well, at least it's better than a 'Mission Impossible' impossibly-lifelike latex mask... Still, it's putting Drusa in a dangerous spot, especially if the Reach try a covert assassination. I'm guessing OL will be close at hand just in case. Hopefully this does stop the Gyuanites messing around and actually get him what he wants.
     
  11. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    I think it will be a way to lower the Reach's guard, as they will think Paul was never there and it was always a fake, before Paul reveals himself and subverts whatever they were going to use against Lantern Drusa.
     
  12. Handlewithcare

    Handlewithcare Versed in the lewd.

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    Ooooh, I'm loving this.

    Paul is discovering whole new layers of being a troll-mentor and I. Am. Here for it!
     
  13. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    A truly wise man.

    This might be why he got along so well with Constantine.

    Both of them are walking disasters.
     
  14. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    Oh my, I'm loving Drusa's accurate prediction of OL's actions. She's going to be a real asset.

    Good assumption given the Reach's methods.
     
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  15. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    So... I guess this means they are on a thaumatically active world of those pendants work.
     
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  16. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    Prank for sure. He is a Discordian after all.
     
  17. Mquz

    Mquz Versed in the lewd.

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    Didn’t Zoat say at one point that any world that life evolved on is thaumically active to some extent?
     
  18. Prince Charon

    Prince Charon Just zis guy, you know?

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    Thinking about it, this could make them more paranoid later, knowing that any Orange Lantern could be the Illustris.
     
  19. CTrees

    CTrees Chasing the ring

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    Yet. They don't have any of those yet. But LEGION and Grayven (actual Grayven, not Renegade) are demonstrating how useful magic is in war, and the Reach are adaptable. So just like the proliferation of anti-scry wards on Earth, eventually they will adapt, and it's going to be very annoying for OL when they do.

    Which is going to be rough for the Corps, when the Reach changes their tactics to "maximum overkill" against all Lanterns, because any of them might secretly be the Illustres.
     
  20. Joelseph14

    Joelseph14 Know what you're doing yet?

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    Yeaassssss i am a big fan of fucking with the Reach
     
  21. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    The problem they have is that they sort of can't. They have no native magic ability, and they can't do what most empires do and recruit from conquered people becasue they generally end up wiping them out. Certainly, they don't leave them with enough mental freedom to do any magic worthwhile. The only option left is hiring from outside their territory, and... They're surrounded, magic users are hard to get hold of anyway and no one likes them.
     
  22. Zig

    Zig Not too sore, are you?

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    Wouldn't scarrabing a few magicians work? It's far from an army but would give them a few specialists. We also know they have more subtle mind control techniques they can use on worlds they are on, which against isn't gonna give them an army but would give them willing researchers who can supply the magic scarabs.
     
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  23. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    If Jaime Reyes is representative, no. The scarab wouldn't be able to control the host's soul any more than it could control his mind.

    But if we assume that they've got a magic-capable population somewhere who still have some sense of self, they've still got the problem that space is mostly thaumically inert and they certainly haven't left magic R&D intact anywhere.
     
  24. Coda

    Coda Versed in the lewd.

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    Your renegade counterpart already tried that.

    He lost that bet...

    self-deprecating (twice)
     
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  25. Rafin

    Rafin Not too sore, are you?

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    If they have an internal battery they should function anywhere. They just won't recharge on their own.
     
  26. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    What?

    ...

    I've...

    I've been saying it wrong for years.

    ...

    I need a moment.
     
  27. Zig

    Zig Not too sore, are you?

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    I was thinking more of Green Beetle who was functioning 100% on mode and had all of his powers. I was also considering the mind altering soda from canon season 2, but I don't remember if that was 100% a reach invention or if the Light helped make it.
     
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  28. Lord Ernest

    Lord Ernest At the End...

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    The Martian abilities of Green Beetle are biological functions, though, even the psychic ones. So the Scarab was just puppeteering the body, while Barsoom (I can't recall the actual name of the character, just the inspiration) was just locked inside his mind, same as Jaime I think.

    The Reach drink was a Reach technique but developed by the Light, I believe. If I understood correctly, the Light just seemed to want to learn the Reach techniques in chemical mind subversion practices, since afterwards they just introduced the same drink under a different name.
     
  29. Threadmarks: Negetiations (supplementary, Renegade Option)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    12th August 2012
    14:38 GMT


    I sigh as Pren remains silent.

    "Yes, yes, I get it. You don't like me and I don't like you. But you need to be able to do this if you want to be able to use an orange ring without going insane."

    I throw up my right hand.

    "Heck, for me, you going insane is perfectly fine. I'm pretty sure that you sticking around is only going to make my life difficult, and if I can justify sticking you in a lunatic asylum my life gets measurably easier."

    He looks at me suspiciously.

    "Why?"

    "Why what?"

    "Why do you think that me remaining active in Vega will make your life difficult?"

    "Because I plan to conquer Vega. Because I'm working with Alonzo and have no interest-" He blinks in surprise. "-in helping you or Kalista getting home and taking control. I don't want Euphorix contesting our suzerainty and I don't want our access to their skilled personnel disrupted."

    "Why are you.. just telling me that?"

    "Because you're going to find out eventually anyway and I'd rather it didn't come as a surprise." I shrug. "You can't really do anything about it until after the other Grayven is dealt with, and I don't want you distracted."

    He snorts, shaking his head.

    "Why wouldn't I just let you kill each other?"

    "Because I'm using tamaraneans. Have you… Spent a lot of time with tamaraneans?"

    "Zirral of the Omega Men was tamaranean. I'm familiar with the culture."

    "Right. Can you imagine them embracing slavery? Using intelligent beings as test subjects?"

    "I suppose it seems unlikely."

    "Someone's got to be in charge. I pick us. We have the strength to establish an order beneficial to all, and the social dynamics of tamaranean society will cause them to integrate weaker cultures rather than simply repressing them." I shrug. "So shall we try again?"

    "Alright. For the longest time my greatest desire was to destroy the Citadel/Psion alliance and liberate Vega. And when that was achieved, I… Thought that I would play my part in keeping together whatever alliance of Vega's people achieved it. Instead, you pulled it down without reference to me or the other Omega Men at all."

    "Yes, I know you ended up being almost entirely irrelevant; it's why I resent being in this position with you. But, hey: if I didn't turn up something like that might have ended up happening. Maybe."

    "You should give me that yellow ring: I'm living my greatest fear."

    I raise my left eyebrow.

    "Greatest? Really?" I glance over to where Kalista is struggling to rise from the ground with her ring. "Because…"

    He shakes his head. "Kalista and I both knew that we could die. We were both willing to die if that's what it took. And if we died without achieving that aim, we could at least pave the way for the success of our successors, striking a blow…"

    He bows his head slightly.

    "Instead, we helped.. some people, and we provided the Crown Imperium with intelligence, and we were brushed aside. We could have stayed on Euphorix and events would have taken place in almost the exact same way."

    "Much as I.. hate to buck you up here… There's no way you could have known that was going to happen. And you're… What, in your twenties? Younger than me, certainly. Plenty of time to find a noble cause to die for. Heck, once we've sorted out things with Other Grayven, I'm sure that the Controllers will snap you up." I smile encouragingly. "Probably give you a better ring than the undead version I'm going to be giving you."

    "I'm sure that the Reach are perfectly vile, but Maltus isn't my home."

    "Oh, come on! Euphorix never gave a damn about the Citadel! Once Tamaran fell they just stuck the shield up and forgot the rest of the universe! You think anyone really wanted you to leave? I've been to Euphorix. The people don't cringe whenever they look at the sky. They don't pay it the slightest bit of attention. There's no serious debate about the rightness of leaving it up."

    "Then it's up to me to inspire them."

    That sounded pretty definite, but the ring lying on the table between us doesn't even glimmer.

    I make a shrugging gesture with both arms.

    "That wasn't it. It's a ring of avarice, Pren. Noble intentions don’t mean a thing."

    "That explains you, at least."

    "No, Apokolips explains me and coincidence explains the rings. You can tell me that you acted for the glory of Euphorix, you can tell Oswin, Kalista, everyone on your homeworld… Even Alonzo. But if you try telling yourself that, you'll never be able to use that ring."

    He considers that for a moment.

    "What do you want?"

    "I want to build. I want to guide and control. I want to kill my father and end the threat he poses to all life. I want to grow in power and help my subjects, servants and allies do the same. I want to look upon what I create and know that it is good."

    I raise my left hand and show him my now-blazing ring.

    "See? Like that. It's not complicated, but it requires… Honesty."

    I frown. We can't get access to the Element of Honesty, and I doubt that Applejack would have anything useful to contribute here, but perhaps Pren could… I don't know, pray to the Tree of Harmony or some-

    Pren snatches the ring from the table, rises and walks away. And not towards Kalista.

    -thing?

    I guess he's got some thinking to do.

    "Does that mean it's my turn?"

    Duke Oswin descends through the sky and lands in front of me. He's a natural. Honestly, he's taken to it faster than most of our tamaranean recruits do. I'm not completely sure why, but at least we're getting one decent Lantern out of this.

    "I'm not sure that you need it."

    "Nonsense!" He takes the chair that Pren abandoned, leaning back in it completely at ease. "If we're going to be fighting together against a foe that can actually threaten us, we should get to know one another better!"

    "Alright." I shrug. "Tell me about your desires."

    "I was born the third son of a minor baron, and I wasn't happy with my station in life. So I worked hard and paid attention to my tutors, took a position in the duchy fleet under my father's overlord and worked hard until I got a recommendation to the royal fleet. Once there, I volunteered for every job the time-serving officers who thought themselves my contemporaries didn't want and worked my way upwards that way. Becoming an admiral and then a duke was the next logical step, and now I rule the largest duchy in the Crown Imperium."

    "And the queen is single."

    "Mmmm. No. I thought about it, but then I realised that I have far more power as the duke of a new duchy than I would as king-consort. And I'm going to enjoy building the place up. I created myself through my own efforts. Why would I stoop to sponging off someone else now?"

    "Good for you." I slump slightly "Any ideas on how to help Pren make that sort of realisation?"

    "I'm a naval officer, not a miracle worker."
     
    Last edited: Jun 4, 2021
  30. Vaermina

    Vaermina Well worn.

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    So... Why doesn't he try powering a power ring with the Elements of Harmony instead of the emotional spectrum?
     
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