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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. Stsword

    Stsword Versed in the lewd.

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    A third party just boomtubed in, someone Astarte, the leader of the Citizenry, wasn't expecting.

    Grayven not trusting the Citizenry to get the job done? Someone from New Genesis or Apokalips deciding to interfere? Anarky choosing an odd time to worm his way into the story?

    Boomtubes don't really narrow it down much, Motherboxes have adopted as diverse people as Superman to Iron Man in a crossover. Heck I believe Zoat had Dox figure out how to create boomtubes with his orange ring.
     
  2. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    I'm thinking that this may potentially be New Genesis sending someone to interfere.

    Their treaty with Apokolips could prevent them from fighting them, but it's questionable if the treaty is still valid after Scott escaped, or it's possible that since Grayven went independent, then he lacks any of the protections the treaty gives Apokaliptians.
     
  3. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    This is from the point of view of one of the Citizenry's soldiers and then from Astarte. Turns out that the SI's plan didn't really work.
     
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  4. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    I'm still hoping that Paul will do something incredible and terrifying to defeat the Citizenry. I'd be find if he assimilated their entire leadership, because there's nothing sympathetic about them at this point.
     
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  5. Chojin Patriarch

    Chojin Patriarch Veteran Lurker

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    Ah, stepping back a moment for another perspective on things? And then from the viewpoint of Astarte herself, I see? Probably using her divine heritage a little more aggressively, now that someone with godly power has educated her on it.

    I suppose wasting food like that would send a message. ;) ...Because the fallen would normally be fed to their pet slop-factories.

    At least Grayven's takeover hasn't been universally accepted by the Citizenry...

    Well, that's going to throw a spanner in things...

    Gee, such a nice leader... I suppose that was being merciful by letting her live...

    ...I'm not sure Grayven's forces work that way. Very few sane cultures would.

    Ah, there's a weak spot. Let's hope it gets taken advantage of at some point, then. Be a shame to hang it above the mantelpiece and not take it down later to shoot...

    Not just any member, thank you. But I don't expect them to be that well-informed...

    Well. Looks like OL-chan's Boss Rush plan is a washout, and they don't even know it yet.

    :confused: Crap. Well, that's really going to put a crimp in things. OL just got outmanoeuvred.

    And there goes the rescue party, then.

    Yeah, not everyone lives in the darwinist dystopia you call a people.

    Oh, I hope you do. And get more than you bargained for...

    Ah, hello, Sparta.

    Double-crap.

    Triple-crap. This is especially bad.

    Funny how not brutalising a student gets better results, isn't it?

    And if this one is Grayven's... Oh, that's all kinds of concerning. Hopefully it won't come to pass.

    Ah, living up to the Starscream role, I see. And no doubt Grayven is well aware she'll try her luck, giving him a chance to put her down and place a more pliable subject on the Citizenry's throne.


    How ironic. The daughter of Ares, not willing to lead the initial assault herself? I suppose she justifies it as 'not risking her more valuable personage' or something.

    Tough luck for them, I guess. This is the kind of thing I was talking about when I spoke of Boom Tubing into unknown locations...

    :rolleyes: Gee, how nice of you...

    Hmm... Perhaps the ritual is already having some effect on the Ascendants, reinforcing their divine toughness?

    Ah, good, we're all caught up to OL's thread. Now to see who's shown up...

    Disappointing that OL-chan's plan has turned out to be unwise, but with any luck, the Ascendants can withstand the assault long enough for Athyns and the other ritual members to finish up. Which will presumably render the Titan Seeds useless for that Astarte wants them for. And the question still remains: Who's this now, and is it good or bad for our heroes?
     
  6. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    Since most of them aren't divine in some way, they may lack the instinct to submit to a higher power like that Ascendant guy had.

    Ares wasn't exactly the bravest god around.
     
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  7. Cuchulin

    Cuchulin Versed in the lewd.

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    Indeed, he is known to have run away very fast during the Trojan war after a mortal hero injured him.
     
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  8. moralrelativity

    moralrelativity Recovering pendant.

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    not sure what it should be but "lost of" doesn't sound quite right - "lots of"? "lost to"?
     
  9. lancelot

    lancelot Grand High Poobah

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    Paul is being a fucking idiot again and was played like a fool. Nothing new for the sand bagger.
     
  10. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    ‘casual’
    ‘was almost’
    ’It was a’

    I didn’t realise that the Reach didn’t have female warriors. Now that I think about it, have we seen any female reachians in this story?
     
  11. jaelin910

    jaelin910 habitual lurker

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    I mean, you'd expect Athena to be better at it but it'd be weird if he didn't know to pick his battles. It might not be what you'd necessarily expect but it makes sense when you think about it.
     
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  12. AR760

    AR760 Experienced.

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    Keep in mind that most of the surviving works we have from that time come from Athens. So, you know, a source not likely to portray their geopolitical and religious rivals in the best of light lmao. The descriptions of Ares and Sparta that come from there have been questioned as to whether or not propagandist elements might have made their way in.
     
  13. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
     
  14. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    Oh, they do. But the inhabitants of the planets Grayven has been attacking lack any martial inclination.
    With lines? One, I think.
     
  15. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    If I remember correctly it was the one in charge of the planet where they held the eggs of the populace hostage.
     
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  16. FuzzyZergling

    FuzzyZergling Getting out there.

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    dealt her for responding
     
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  17. Huttj509

    Huttj509 Getting sticky.

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    "I'll fight to distract them"
    "This fight will distract him"
    and while everyone's busy being distracted...
     
  18. Bud-E

    Bud-E Stand up so I can push you down!

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    Hey Mr. Zoat how far do Lantern scans reach? I know there are way's to trick or even ignore them but is there a specific distance they can't scan to and does an individual Lantern's skill factor in?
     
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  19. Chaoswind

    Chaoswind Lord of nonsense

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    Two, the admiral was a female kid (I think) and the administrative leader of the one with the kidnapped eggs as collateral.
     
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  20. Duke Long

    Duke Long Glomerulus

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    I think it was implied that the child was just using a voice changer to psych out Paragon. They weren’t actually a child and may or may not have been female.
    IIRC Paragon scanned Oa from Earth one time when he was merged with the Ophidian, so it seems like the range might just be dependent on emotional strength.
     
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  21. Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    Thank you, corrected.
    Skill and power affect it, as well as what they're scanning for.
     
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  22. Bramble Thorn

    Bramble Thorn Verified Silhouette

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    We saw her thoughts, where her intentions were to take the seeds and use them to defeat Grayven.

    She is currently trying to take the Seeds.
    This is someone who previously fought lost to Grayven, and bent the knee.

    It seems to me his developed Conquest powers would be able to detect all this.
    With her personal thaumic potency making it especially visible.

    So my guess would be him BOOMing in to deal with her intended/attempted disobedience.
     
    Last edited: Dec 19, 2022
  23. Chaoswind

    Chaoswind Lord of nonsense

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    Unlikely to be a voice changer the reach do not care about service age only competency, and that fleet had low expectations to run into Paul while they launched an attack on Grayven. You'll note the admiral never stopped "changing" their voice despite Paul saying he didn't care about it. The admiral said it was good data to know Paul claims killing children doesn't matter to him and yet made note of the fact the admiral had the voice of a child (and very likely was one), thus demonstrating he actually does care about fighting children.

    The child being female is just an assumption on my part, but hardly an unreasonable one.
     
  24. Artemisnemo

    Artemisnemo Getting sticky.

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    Graven might be weak currently. He just t took a couple of solid shots to his soul infused place of power. Conquerors must always present strength, lest a subordinate attempt to become the conqueror.
     
  25. Threadmarks: Fleet Traction (part 25)
    Mr Zoat

    Mr Zoat Dedicated ragequitter

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    1st January 2013
    22:10 GMT

    Preservation.
    Pontico staggers, presumably as a result of the effort needed to block the radiation with his New God armour. I cut it out immediately, flying out of-.

    Aramis hits my construct bunker and cracks it, giving me the opportunity to stick a cold zone around her. She draws back her fist and freezes, a thin film of ice covering her body.

    Her eyes are still moving, slowly shifting towards me-.

    Oh, they're not moving slowly. They're moving at normal speed, I'm just accelerated.

    Front rows of seating have burned faces and arms, where their armour doesn’t cover. But they're going for their weapons.

    "Laaaaannt-"

    Rebuild construct bunker around the boom tube aperture, construct cold gun and shoot Aramis again to try and keep her out of the fight.

    "-ern, they're attacking New Orthys!"

    "Understood."

    I shove him back through the boom tube and then fly through after him. We're back on the command deck of New Chronus, and-
    Duty
    -Pontico shuts down the boom tube before pointing to the holographic display.

    "They covertly attacked the prison holding Sparta, and now they're cutting down the garrison. Our strongest Ascendants are occupied with the ritual, and we can't-."

    "Understood."

    Because they didn't have enough of a reason to focus on me. This wasn't about presenting an ultimatum to the planet or following their normal rules of engagement. This was about getting New God stuff. Or maybe it became that because Grayven wants the Seeds to increase his power? If he'd come to me with a plan for using them to beat Darkseid… I'd have negotiated for him to visit Earth first, but I'd have been on board and I'd have argued his case.

    But no. Smash and grab.

    "Boom tube me there, and keep me updat-"

    BOOM!

    "-ed."

    Quick fix on my armour's more stressed components, construct armour and construct plasma gun set to bypass their armour and go! I fly through the boom tube and-

    PHZP!

    -take a respectable amount of fire because Pontico isn't a combat specialist and deployed me directly into combat rather than letting me approach from further away. I evade, generating construct shields to block fire and return fire myself. My first hit melts off a woman's arm, and-. And she doesn't cry out. She just drops her two-handed gun and flies through the air towards me, forearm-mounted weapon charging.

    So I shoot her again before moving onto a new target.

    A group are trying to cut their way into the ship still docked in the upper part of the tower. Point defence guns are trying to hit them, but they're not designed for people attacking the ship with melee weapons and the Citizens are intelligent enough to stay out of their arc of fire.

    I switch targets. From the scans I'm getting of the interior of the building, the Citizens opened a boom tube on one of the lower floors and then attacked upwards-. And that's Astarte, and that's Sparta. They probably don't have any other New Gods, so killing both of those will stop this strike. Might result in their whole fleet turning up-.

    New God technology. They've just got Astarte and maybe Theana, though if I remember correctly they don't generally let her out. Which means that they probably have only one ship that can open a boom tube. And it may not be able to do that when its captain isn't on board.

    Interesting.

    My first shot hits an unexpecting Citizen, bursting through her cuirass and causing crippling burns to the flesh beneath. Strong-willed though the citizens are, when your nerve fibres are literally cooked there isn't much you can do to keep fighting. She drops, quiet croaking sounds coming from partially-fried lungs. Theoretically survivable, with treatment that she might get if the fight is concluded quickly enough.

    My second shot hits a Citizen as she turns and raises the thicker material of her forearm mounted gun. My plasma bolt punches through easily and explodes the capacitor before carrying on into her neck. That… That's not survivable. Her jaw and neck have been incinerated and her brain's been cooked.

    The rest begin to leave the hull, trying to either close the distance with me or get the hull between themselves and my gun construct.

    Come.

    Alright, ship's making best time down, and with two ships on hand the point defences should actually be able to defend the exterior of the tower.

    Charging Citizen one. I take x-ionised blades out of subspace and wince when I realise that I left the others on the Citizenry mothership. They probably can't reverse engineer the process from a few examples, but that's not a sure thing. Stab through the flesh of her bare arms and into her nerves. The super-sharp nature of x-ionised knives mean that she'll barely feel the stabs, but she can't aim her weapons any longer as her arms fall nervelessly to her sides. Fixable by space age medicine, but permanent otherwise.

    Charging Citizen two-. The point defences behind her fire. Most of the shots hit her armour and -without an Ascendant to reinforce them- do nothing, but one hits her upper left arm and burns through the flesh. She instinctively jerks away from the source of the injury, which is why my blades cut her arms off rather than rendering them nerveless.

    She drops, the sudden loss of blood pressure from the vigorous arterial blood expulsion causing her to lose consciousness. It's almost beautiful, seen from the air and in three dimensions as she spins around. Like liquid wings.

    I redirect my constructs, shoving her onto the tower's upper gantry as I cauterise her blood vessels. She probably won't die, and we can always make her new arms.

    Third Citizen-. Already closed the distance. I punch as she comes in with her short sword, hitting her in the face hard enough to concuss her, fracture her nose, teeth, jaw and vertebrae. She joins Amanda Armless on the gantry as I fly up to get a clear shot against the Citizens hiding behind the ship.

    PHZP!

    Their shots fly past me as I reposition, considering-.

    Animals.

    I blink as knowledge… That was technically in my head already pushes itself to the front of my mind. Huh. A really nasty fungal spore that will do a number on the humanoid respiratory system. And the Citizenry don't wear ABC protection. I can… Fabricate that.

    And I can make it live. Release me.

    Don't make me regret this, fungoid. I don't want them dead.

    The longer they live, the longer we feed.

    As you like.

    The fungoid Construct Lantern leaves my ring and lunges upwards through the air, a barely visible trail of highly dangerous spores following in his wake. A moment later and it adds construct leaf fronds to blow it towards the Citizens.

    Right, that's handled. Now I can-.
    Die.
    Astarte's shots catch me straight in the chest, burning through my defences and leaving me gasping for breath!
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2022
  26. Ngamer11

    Ngamer11 Experienced.

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    Okay, I didn't realize that Paul can use that Construct-Lantern to act as a sort of super disease. Will he be using biological warfare more in the future? Also, he's still gender inverted, isn't he? Or she, as is the case.
     
  27. BlueMangoAdea

    BlueMangoAdea Alive. For now.

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    Parasites don’t want their hosts to die. Not until they reproduce.
     
  28. LanguagAe

    LanguagAe Getting sticky.

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    I have to wonder how much of the black it’s connected to, or if it’s emulating it’s old connection.
     
  29. Darko

    Darko Connoisseur.

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    "but I'd have"

    That seems to be a fairly standard Apokoliptiab action.

    It's missing something between "of" and "because"

    Remove "already"
     
  30. MajorPane

    MajorPane Getting sticky.

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    Yay Gary, look at you, already innovating and proving yourself a up and coming go getter. The Praexis demons never showed this kind of initiative! At this rate he'll wind up as Paul's second in command.
     
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