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

Rin · Jul 19, 2024

PJCG said:
No, I think it's right.

Liche as in plant organism.

Are you sure? Lichen is a kind of plant organism, as is a Lychee, but Liche is just an alternative spelling of Lich, and 'Litch', as far as I can tell, doesn't mean anything? Google is certainly not returning any results except an obscure attack in a scottish sport.

Mr Zoat · Jul 19, 2024

moralrelativity said:
liche -> litch?

What?

Chojin Patriarch said:
Double Space.
Either delete 'it' or 'change to 'in space'?
One more cut-.

Thank you, corrected.

Rin said:
Lich

Not in my country, Colonial. Next you'll try telling me that gryphon has a 'f' in it!

PJCG said:
No, I think it's right.

Liche as in plant organism.

That's lichen.

Rin · Jul 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
What?

Thank you, corrected.

Not in my country, Colonial. Next you'll try telling me that gryphon has a 'f' in it!

That's lichen.

I acknowledge Liche as the superior spelling. It sounds significantly more arcane for one thing. I just couldn't let 'Litch' stand.

Although, if we're combining the word with vaguely plant sounding things for this new creature, my submission is 'Lychee', for maximum fruitiness.

PDV · Jul 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
-me both me and Bleez's ship.

Seems wrong somehow

monochromaticPrism · Jul 19, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"So it.. that a liche..?"

"So is.. that a liche..?"

Mr Zoat · Jul 19, 2024

PDV said:
Seems wrong somehow

monochromaticPrism said:
"So is.. that a liche..?"

Thank you, corrected.

CrazyNoVa · Jul 19, 2024

Space parasites in a giant, planet-sized organism?

Oh, HELL NO! This is some Dead Space meets Aliens shit right there!

Oh wait, Green Lantern had a crossover with Aliens in the past, so I guess it kind of checks out.

Well, if this is your attempt at making space horror, then congratulations, because I'm horrified!

Mr Zoat · Jul 20, 2024

16th April 2013
02:50 GMT -5

"Bleez, why did you come b-?"

"I didn't! I set course back to Mars! And then I was just back here!"

Huh. Unusual, but possible. There are ways to interfere with faster than light travel of course, that's what interdiction fields do. But doing what this… Thing appeared to do and just move someone travelling faster than light from one place to another… When the target's ship has an Nth metal hull which blocks a lot of exotic techniques…

I… Actually don't know how to do that. I mean, technically it could be done with sufficiently strong gravity but that would also do a lot of other stuff and almost certainly pancake the ship.

Three… Metre-wide glass balls with.. circuitry-like etchings on their surfaces, strange machinery inside and frantically waggling flagellum behind them crest a rise and surge towards-.

My railgun is slightly faster than Bleez's plasma pulse turret, left and right glass orbs shattering and melting, remains reduced to aimless mass. An electrical discharge from the third… In space, somehow, fails to penetrate my construct barrier and cuts out as my construct tendrils grapple it.

"Alright, one chance. Explain what the hell is going on here or I assimilate you and absorb the knowledge directly."

Bleez has her turret trained on it. "Is that intelligent?"

"I don't know, but I like to make the offer." I scan the remains of the other two, not really understanding what I'm seeing. Perhaps Dox can do something with it. "Three, two-."

"We work to make the Great-Mother whole."

That certainly sounded intelligent.

"And what does that involve?"

"Converting dead-parts into Great-Mother-parts. Repairs and sutures."

"Does your species have a name?"

"The Inside."

"Inside what?"

"Inside. Where we are made. Where we function in service to Great-Mother, that she and her daughters may live and breed. Inside which is not The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

"Is your mother the mother star?"

"No."

"Alright, are the vines part of your mother?"

"No. Added. Unwanted. Strange engrammatic programs changing Great-Mother. We try to make repairs, but are we repairing as she was or as she may become?"

"Were the three of you attacking us?"

"We would use you as parts to make repairs."

"Even though we're people?"

"Great-Mother is all. We must make repairs."

"Is Great-Mother this whole place?"

"Yes. But some parts are truer to Great-Mother than others."

"Describe Great-Mother."

"Great-Mother defines the Inside. Beyond Great-Mother is The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

"Does Great-Mother have defined physical characteristics?"

"The form of Great-Mother is malleable. Some systems are constants, but all can change."

"Why is Great-Mother here?"

"Aliens come to Great-Mother. My brothers and anti-body security drones destroy them. But then there came aliens that we could not destroy. We were blind to them. I do not know why. We sought them ferociously but only made targets of one another. They did something to Great-Mother and then the changes came. To us. To her. To Inside and Outside."

"Paul… What does any of that mean?"

"I'm not completely sure."

I've been thinking that a lot today.

"What do the aliens want Great-Mother to do?"

"To become something new for them."

"They brought her here?"

"She brought them here."

"Because they forced her to?"

"They altered Great-Mother and she brought them and us here. This is where she must be because they made it so."

"Do you know who these aliens are?"

"No."

"Would you recognise them if you saw them again?"

"My analytic equipment is designed to sustain Great-Mother, not study aliens of Outside."

So no, because he's task-specialised.

"Can you take us either to the aliens or to… Great-Mother's core intelligence?"

"No. I flashed my memories of both locations the moment I was captured by you."

…

Yeah, okay. Reasonably clever. But fortunately for me, the remains of his brothers are reasonably intact. Reading the brain of a corpse would require someone with a very specific skill set, but with a techno-organic brain and with a worked example already thoroughly scanned…

Bingo.

"Do you get attacked, flying around here?"

"No. I am part of the system. The aliens no longer delude us into attacking each other."

Might not work, but…

I roughly replicate the structure of the Ball Brothers' exterior, the strange glass-like substance and those circuits that my rings can decipher, and cover my armour in it before coating the hull of Bleez's ship in the same stuff. It won't fool a general intelligence, but hopefully any automated systems won't know the difference.

"Bleez, we're going to say 'hello' to Great Mother, and hopefully the people in control. Follow me closely, and stay alert."

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 20, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
16th April 2013
02:50 GMT -5

"Bleez, why did you come b-?"

"I didn't! I set course back to Mars! And then I was just back here!"

I'm still guessing some kind of space-fold thing. How it did so is still a mystery, but we can guess why. Whatever this thing is, it doesn't want them getting away. Though that still leaves us the question of what it is.

Huh. Unusual, but possible. There are ways to interfere with faster than light travel of course, that's what interdiction fields do. But doing what this… Thing appeared to do and just move someone travelling faster than light from one place to another… When the target's ship has an Nth metal hull which blocks a lot of exotic techniques…

Including magic, of course. So whatever this was, it was purely technological or psionic in nature... Unless it has abilities outside of the big three categories.

I… Actually don't know how to do that. I mean, technically it could be done with sufficiently strong gravity but that would also do a lot of other stuff and almost certainly pancake the ship.

Three… Metre-wide glass balls with.. circuitry-like etchings on their surfaces, strange machinery inside and frantically waggling flagellum behind them crest a rise and surge towards-.

...Attack drones of some kind? Interesting. And a logical alternative to splattering them with telekinesis.

My railgun is slightly faster than Bleez's plasma pulse turret, left and right glass orbs shattering and melting, remains reduced to aimless mass. An electrical discharge from the third… In space, somehow, fails to penetrate my construct barrier and cuts out as my construct tendrils grapple it.

"Alright, one chance. Explain what the hell is going on here or I assimilate you and absorb the knowledge directly."

Some sort of electrolaser, perhaps? Maybe there's enough ambient matter around the Mother Star to support ionisation. Still impressive.

Bleez has her turret trained on it. "Is that intelligent?"

"I don't know, but I like to make the offer." I scan the remains of the other two, not really understanding what I'm seeing. Perhaps Dox can do something with it. "Three, two-."

And if nothing else, it is possible to assimilate technology, learning all information in any databanks it may have.

"We work to make the Great-Mother whole."

That certainly sounded intelligent.

...Oh, that's just worrying. Some manner of hive organism. ...Made of glass...

"And what does that involve?"

"Converting dead-parts into Great-Mother-parts. Repairs and sutures."

Wait, wait, wait... This description sounds kind of familiar...

"Does your species have a name?"

"The Inside."

...Not ruling out my guess yet. Either of them (the Star Conqueror gut flora or the alien biomechanical entity...)

"Inside what?"

"Inside. Where we are made. Where we function in service to Great-Mother, that she and her daughters may live and breed. Inside which is not The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

So, something that normally exists solely within the body of its maker-mother thing. Like a blood cell.

"Is your mother the mother star?"

"No."

All right, not related to the Star Conqueror, then. Then how did it end up in it?

"Alright, are the vines part of your mother?"

"No. Added. Unwanted. Strange engrammatic programs changing Great-Mother. We try to make repairs, but are we repairing as she was or as she may become?"

Possibly 'infected' by a Plant Elemental trying to form an avatar body...

"Were the three of you attacking us?"

"We would use you as parts to make repairs."

...And that brings a nasty meaning to 'human resources.'

"Even though we're people?"

"Great-Mother is all. We must make repairs."

Not a complex intellect, I see. It has a purpose, it fulfils that purpose and enjoys doing so.

"Is Great-Mother this whole place?"

"Yes. But some parts are truer to Great-Mother than others."

In the sense of what they're made of, I take it.

"Describe Great-Mother."

"Great-Mother defines the Inside. Beyond Great-Mother is The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

Circular logic. Sort of a 'It is what it is' definition. What do they call that?

"Does Great-Mother have defined physical characteristics?"

"The form of Great-Mother is malleable. Some systems are constants, but all can change."

Adaption and conversion, eh?

"Why is Great-Mother here?"

"Aliens come to Great-Mother. My brothers and anti-body security drones destroy them. But then there came aliens that we could not destroy. We were blind to them. I do not know why. We sought them ferociously but only made targets of one another. They did something to Great-Mother and then the changes came. To us. To her. To Inside and Outside."

Sounds like the Dominators, perhaps? Using some sort of perception filter tuned to the 'antibody' constructs.

"Paul… What does any of that mean?"

"I'm not completely sure."

I've been thinking that a lot today.

IT must be sooo annoying for you.

"What do the aliens want Great-Mother to do?"

"To become something new for them."

Trying to weaponise it/her/them, eh?

"They brought her here?"

"She brought them here."

I'm guessing in the sense of using it/her/them as a transport vessel.

"Because they forced her to?"

"They altered Great-Mother and she brought them and us here. The is where she must be because they made it so."

Yeah, looks like this fellow isn't smart enough to care or wonder about anything outside its purpose.

"Do you know who these aliens are?"

"No."

Bugger. Would have saved some time and effort.

"Would you recognise them if you saw them again?"

"My analytic equipment is designed to sustain Great-Mother, not study aliens of Outside."

That would be a 'no', then.

So no, because he's task-specialised.

"Can you take us either to the aliens or to… Great-Mother's core intelligence?"

"No. I flashed my memories of both locations the moment I was captured by you."

...Logical, really. If it can't escape you, it doesn't give away anything. It if can, it can reacquire that data from its' 'siblings'.

…

Yeah, okay. Reasonably clever. But fortunately for me, the remains of his brothers are reasonably intact. Reading the brain of a corpse would require someone with a very specific skill set, but with a techno-organic brain and with a worked example already thoroughly scanned…

Just a matter of hacking the right spots, then.

Bingo.

"Do you get attacked, flying around here?"

"No. I am part of the system. The aliens no longer delude us into attacking each other."

So it came out as directed in order to contain and capture them. I wonder if the 'Aliens' are still here?

Might not work, but…

I roughly replicate the structure of the Ball Brothers' exterior, the strange glass-like substance and those circuits that my rings can decipher, and cover my armour in it before coating the hull of Bleez's ship in the same stuff. It won't fool a general intelligence, but hopefully any automated systems won't know the difference.

"Bleez, we're going to say 'hello' to Great Mother, and hopefully the people in control. Follow me closely, and stay alert."

Since he can't even be sure this trick will work, after all.

So... Some 'Aliens' brought the 'Great Mother' here and shoved it into the Mother Star, presumably to consume and convert it into a new body. Then something else crashed in and is now disrupting things by unleashing plant matter all over the place. Chances that's either Gumbo Man or Swamp Thing? My guess is one or both of them...

moralrelativity · Jul 20, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
My brothers and anti-body security drones destroy them.

'antibody' is the common usage these days

Mr Zoat · Jul 20, 2024

moralrelativity said:
'antibody' is the common usage these days

'Antibodies' are proteins. These are anti-body drones. They destroy bodies.

Vaermina · Jul 20, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Might not work, but…

I roughly replicate the structure of the Ball Brothers' exterior, the strange glass-like substance and those circuits that my rings can decipher, and cover my armour in it before coating the hull of Bleez's ship in the same stuff. It won't fool a general intelligence, but hopefully any automated systems won't know the difference.

"Bleez, we're going to say 'hello' to Great Mother, and hopefully the people in control. Follow me closely, and stay alert."

It really shouldn't work given IFF systems should be a thing.

Neruz · Jul 20, 2024

Vaermina said:
It really shouldn't work given IFF systems should be a thing.

Given the 'macro-scale internal biology' theme that's going on here, the crystal thingy probably is the IFF system.

Which is why it won't fool a general intelligence; a proper intelligence will notice the inconsistencies in the system, but an automated intelligence might not have that level of analysis capability.

Vaermina · Jul 20, 2024

Neruz said:
Given the 'macro-scale internal biology' theme that's going on here, the crystal thingy probably is the IFF system.

Which is why it won't fool a general intelligence; a proper intelligence will notice the inconsistencies in the system, but an automated intelligence might not have that level of analysis capability.

No? IFF is an active system not passive. It would be sending out a signal that the automated system would pick up. It would also be the hardest part to falsify.

In addition, that's actually the opposite of how it would work. An automated system would see "this isn't an exact match" and slap a red checkmark on it. While a general intelligence would be more likely to glance at the sensor readings and miss that there's something like a 0.001% impurity in the crystal matrix and wave it through.

Jus4532 · Jul 21, 2024

Since I don't want to look over a decade of posts of this story, does anyone know if Indigo Lantern Paul ever met the Boys before the Homelander incident at the White House?

moralrelativity · Jul 21, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
'Antibodies' are proteins. These are anti-body drones. They destroy bodies.

Makes perfect sense, thanks.

Prince Charon · Jul 21, 2024

Yeah, Bleez is going to have one hell of a report after this.

LordVishnu · Jul 21, 2024

Jus4532 said:
Since I don't want to look over a decade of posts of this story, does anyone know if Indigo Lantern Paul ever met the Boys before the Homelander incident at the White House?

Gosh, I wish this side story had been continued. We got so little of it and yet it's one of the few that has always lived in the back of my brain.

Ngamer11 · Jul 21, 2024

Jus4532 said:
Since I don't want to look over a decade of posts of this story, does anyone know if Indigo Lantern Paul ever met the Boys before the Homelander incident at the White House?

Do you count Starlight? Because of Saul's influence, she decided to stay with Vought under the belief that they can slowly change things from the inside.

Neruz · Jul 21, 2024

Vaermina said:
No? IFF is an active system not passive. It would be sending out a signal that the automated system would pick up. It would also be the hardest part to falsify.

In addition, that's actually the opposite of how it would work. An automated system would see "this isn't an exact match" and slap a red checkmark on it. While a general intelligence would be more likely to glance at the sensor readings and miss that there's something like a 0.001% impurity in the crystal matrix and wave it through.

Depends entirely on how it works; my body is an automated system with various methods in place to recognize foreign bodies, yet those methods can still be spoofed despite the fact that any intelligence directly examining the bodies in question would be able to easily discern that they are foreign.

Don't assume that just because it seems to be at least partly mechanical that it will operate the same way human computer systems do.

And no IFF systems are not active, they are reactive: An IFF system listens for a specific interrogation signal and sends a response to that signal when it receives it, which may be exactly what the crystal sphere thingy does.

You do not want your aircraft to be actively broadcasting radio waves the whole time, that is called "painting a target on yourself" and is widely regarded to be a bad idea.

Someguy Somewhere · Jul 21, 2024

Jus4532 said:
Since I don't want to look over a decade of posts of this story, does anyone know if Indigo Lantern Paul ever met the Boys before the Homelander incident at the White House?

I believe there was a point where he wished to send them flowers in thanks for their actions.

EDIT: From the first entry in the Boyz 'verse:

He started by merely being rude to the group and finished by attempting to rape the female members, only being prevented from doing so by the intervention of a man named William Butcher. Apparently Mister Butcher is part of some sort of anti-Vought CIA team. I've never met him myself. What he was doing there is anyone's guess, but I'm bloody glad he was. I sent him a thank-you note and some flowers at their office before I left New York.

Jirachi · Jul 21, 2024

I wonder if way back when Renegade could have just saved Alan's life via awakening or lazarus pit-ing - I do think that - it makes sense dramatically and even probably psychologically for him to just not think of that, but gosh, what a missed opportunity. It seems like he wouldn't nesscarily be that much harder to awaken then stewart-50, say.

Mr Zoat said:
"Regard emotions as things for primitives like us. The issue the Controllers have is that even starting a Central Power Battery requires an intense focus of emotion and most maltusians are fairly jaded. The emotion would have to come from-."

"Primitives like us." Lantern Dul nods. "Apart from you and Larfleeze, and Malvolio, who could do it?"

"I think that my friend Alan could help create a Blue Central Power Battery, if it came to it. The Zamarons don't like me enough to explain how they did it."

Onik nods. "What about Kalmin?"

"He didn't create one. Sinestro's personal lantern is designed to maintain its own link, though it's weaker than it would be with a Central Power Battery. Neither Sinestro nor Kalmin had the sort of intensity of fear in them that would allow them to make a Central Power Battery, even if they knew how to."

He did create the anti-green central power battery, for what it's worth, so even before coming to maltus he would have had the technical expertise for the job - I think that he was hijacking a bunch of green lantern equipment so I'm not too sure that that method would have had the same spiritual requirements.
After reading the bit about Jade's desires for what she wanted, I have a bit of a gremlin desire for her to be handed off John's chaos powers ^^. Though probably that's already been arranged off-screen, by now?
Wonder what the sackvilles have gotten up to offscreen - been I think close to two years w/ the danner formula.
It's interesting how much paragon's focused on sharing exactly atlantean magic elsewhere - he I think has access to the tower of fate's library and shadowcrest's, I believe? He already has a lot of atlanteans whereas more order magic users might fill in some gaps in the skillset he can call upon, and more lords of order later down the line could be very helpful.
Best guess for the sort of thing to counter what's going in is Guy's technique to stop the universe from changing with the green light, but who knows at this point - definitely doesn't sound like this is going to be a brute force thing, but who knows ^^

Mr Zoat · Jul 21, 2024

22nd June 2014
14:00 GMT +5:30

"Ladies and gentlemechs. Thank you for coming."

The giant robots cautiously examining each other in the giant briefing room turn their attention to where Slipstream stands on the stage. Then they realise that she's not talking and move their gaze to me, the tiny organic standing on the platform next to her.

"And for those of you who haven't visited before, welcome to Earth."

I tap a button and generate a hologram of my head to make things a little easier for them, prompting Heatseeker to grin, then tap Flywheels on their shoulder.

"Hey, check out how tiny that thing is!"

"The reason why we asked you here is simple: we are currently standing on a thin crust of rock spread over the recumbent body of Unicron. It's filled with dark energon-fuelled mechanimals and the local intelligent species -hello!- are worried about what happens if they ever get out."

Flywheels twitches, then slaps themselves.

"And why should you care? Because there's quite a lot of energon on this planet and the locals are happy to mine it for you. They're paying a bounty for just about anything involving Unicron; for mapping his interior, recovering useful technology-"

Axlegrease… Flexes her tools. Their placement seems almost random across her body, but they're clearly all plumbed in.

"-or just killing anything you find."

Heatseeker frowns, then takes a half step away and turns to his other side to ask if his other neighbour has noticed how tiny I am. Unfortunately for him, his other neighbour is the recently resurrected and decidedly unamused Dreadwing, who scowls and motions towards me with his head.

"More to the point, I imagine that you all have reasons to not want to be on Cyberton at the moment."

Dreadwing nods. Finding out what happened to his brother, then having Megatron execute him for trying to kill the one responsible… There are several good reasons why Ratchet was wiling to recommend him for resurrection. With Megatron inching his way back into a position of authority, Dreadwing has no desire to be on the same planet any longer.

"To be clear: this is a private enterprise apart from the Decepticon hierarchy that you're used to. You don't have to work here. If you work here for a while and later decide to leave, that's fine: you can leave at the end of the current mission."

Axlegrease shrugs. With transformer corpses across Cybertron being brought in so they can be destroyed if they were infected with dark energon or resurrected if they weren't, salvage options are running low for the first time since the war started. She doesn't really have anywhere else to go to get what she wants.

"And because this is a private enterprise, you get paid." I press another button and show a price list, finally getting Heatseeker's attention. "Here's a list of bounties we've already been offered. The total bounties accrued on a mission will be split evenly between all participants."

"I don't wanna share with him." / "Well, I don't wanna share with you."

The group… Stares at Flywheels for a moment. As a self-propelled gun/jet fighter Duocon, he's noticeably bigger than everyone else here, and it's more than a little unsettling to hear robots that size start arguing with themselves. We invited them because Shockwave asked us to, feeling… If not actually guilty, then at least accepting that their mental state is his fault. And naturally, not getting help from Shockwave is one of the few things both of them agree on. According to Shockwave, Flywheels and Battletrap both had similar problems with their split form, but while Battletrap learned to cope, Flywheels got gradually worse. They function fine in actual combat, but otherwise…

They slap themselves again.

Heatseeker frowns. "Okay, but seriously, does he get two shares or one?"

"One."

"Is that true for all Combiners, because…"

"Flywheels isn't a Combiner, they're a Duocon. One transformer in two bodies."

Heatseeker takes a closer look at them as their argument continues at a mutter. "Doesn't sound like one bot."

Slipstream shrugs. "He never said they weren't crazy."

Heatseeker flaps his arms to the side. "Yeah, 'cause that's the kinda guy I want in charge of a electron breacher."

Flywheels turns their head towards Heatseeker, hefting both of their guns. "We shoot straight." / "Both of us."

"Sure, buddy. I'm completely reassured."

Dreadwing looks thoughtful. "Breaching Unicron's interior took the combined might of Lord Megatron and Optimus Prime, as well as their most devoted followers. I am not convinced that this group will be able to replicate that feat."

Slipstream nods. "You haven't met Nova Storm or Pull yet, but you're right. We wouldn't be able to fly right to Unicron's core while he was trying to stop us. But we don't need to. Unicron's consciousness isn't there anymore. As far as we know, there isn't anything coordinating whatever's in there, and we're not in any kind of hurry. Our only objectives are, most importantly, not dying, and secondarily, making money." She shrugs. "If we see something we can't fight, we mark its location and pull back."

Dreadwing nods. "I am not familiar with Nova Storm and Pull. What are their capacities?"

"Nova Storm is a light frame flier like me. Pull is a heavy transporter. Strong, tough, and… A little slow."

"There is enough space inside parts of Unicron for aerial manoeuvring. But there are also far narrower spaces, as well as sufficient quantities of foes to swarm the larger chambers and hem in attackers." He looks around the group. "I am concerned that we are a little light-frame heavy."

Yeah, it was a blow that Munitions didn't want to take part, even after we made it clear that we could bridge him back to Cybertron after each mission. Dreadwing is a heavyweight flier and Flywheels has a middleweight ground component, but only my Pull body is a true heavyweight. Area effect attacks would be extremely dangerous… If this was a battle. And if Unicron's subsurface parasites were intelligent enough to realise that.

Fortunately, this came up in our rehearsals with Nova Storm, so Slipstream has an answer prepared. "That's so that it's easier to pull out. This isn't a war, and we're not trying to hit a specific objective. If we have to retreat early the only bad result is that we don't get paid as much."

Dreadwing bows his head slightly. "You are correct. I am… Unused to such mercenary behavior."

"And if things do go to the Pit, we just have to make sure we get the body back to Cybertron for resurrection."

Dreadwing's head comes back up, his humour noticeably worse. "And ensure that they are not infected with dark energon."

Slipstream nods sympathetically. "Yeah. Megatron personally infected most of my old team's bodies with dark energon when he tried to overrun Earth with Terrorcons, so I know how you feel."

Dreadwing nods, mollified. "I apologise for my presumption. I thought that you were making light of my loss. I should have appreciated that I was not alone in that regard."

Heatseeker waves at the price list. "What does any of that even mean?"

I glance at it myself. "That's the reward for taking part. The quantity of energon, because I assume that you want to stay fuelled and since this isn't a Decepticon operation, you don't get your expenses covered. Anything you earn after that, you can do what you like with it."

Slipstream nods. "I bought luxury accommodation with a team-sized oil bath, but I'm sure you can work out something to spend it on."

Now he looks interested. "Oh? What are the roads like around here?"

"Human labour is cheap, but they're not exactly Constructicons. It takes a lot longer to lay roads down."

"O-kay." He nods. "I'm interested." He looks at Axlegrease. "But what does the walking scrap yard bring to the table? Doesn't look that tough."

She waves a hydraulic cutting tool attachment. "I'm a salvage engineer. We're getting paid for the salvage we bring back. You don't even have a tow bar."

"I don't even want a tow bar."

"I can also work as a medic. Taking things apart is a good way of learning how they go together."

Heatseeker doesn't look impressed. "I-."

Dreadwing lays his right hand on Heatseeker's left shoulder, silencing him. "A useful combination of skills. Flywheels, have you made a decision?"

Flywheels goes quiet for a moment, then closes their eyes. Gradually, both hands come up with their thumbs raised.

Slipstream smiles. "Great. If we're all agreed, I'll talk to the others and arrange a planning session for our first journey into Unicron."

"Great!" Heatseeker turns to leave. "I'll be-."

I shake my head. "Staying here until I finish your orientation lecture. If you're going to be staying on Earth, you need to learn things about how everything here works."

He sneers at the idea. "Skew that. I'm not going to be lectured to by a squishy."

"They have fission bombs, Heatseeker." He stops. "And they will use them on you if you become a problem." And they will. By hiring Slipstream and I to deliver them, but there's no need to mention that. "I have to tell you how to behave once, then you're not my problem."

Dreadwing nods, gripping a little harder with the hand on Heatseeker's shoulder. "You will remain and you will listen."

Heatseaker turns back, shaking his hand off. "Fine. But this better be interesting."

Chojin Patriarch · Jul 21, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
22nd June 2014
14:00 GMT +5:30

"Ladies and gentlemechs. Thank you for coming."

The giant robots cautiously examining each other in the giant briefing room turn their attention to where Slipstream stands on the stage. Then they realise that she's not talking and move their gaze to me, the tiny organic standing on the platform next to her.

Ah, the most amusing part of a new job: orientation. And while a quick data-upload might get the gist of it across, there's bound to be thigns that need to be said out loud, if only to make sure thick former-Decepticon CPUs get it.

"And for those of you who haven't visited before, welcome to Earth."

I tap a button and generate a hologram of my head to make things a little easier for them, prompting Heatseeker to grin, then tap Flywheels on their shoulder.

Ooh, A Duocon. That's always a fun concept to play with.

"Hey, check out how tiny that thing is!"

"The reason why we asked you here is simple: we are currently standing on a thin crust of rock spread over the recumbent body of Unicron. It's filled with dark energon-fuelled mechanimals and the local intelligent species -hello!- are worried about what happens if they ever get out."

Perfectly reasonable. At least Earth came out of Unicron's wake-up call better than the Movie-verse did.

Flywheels twitches, then slaps themselves.

"And why should you care? Because there's quite a lot of energon on this planet and the locals are happy to mine it for you. They're paying a bounty for just about anything involving Unicron; for mapping his interior, recovering useful technology-"

Dangerous work for big paychecks. Always good.

Axlegrease… Flexes her tools. Their placement seems almost random across her body, but they're clearly all plumbed in.

"-or just killing anything you find."

Ah, one of the more interesting subtypes of Cybertronian to come out of the recent years of Generations toys... Transformers with modular bodyparts. Wonder if she'll end up 'acquiring' parts from something on the job?

Heatseeker frowns, then takes a half step away and turns to his other side to ask if his other neighbour has noticed how tiny I am. Unfortunately for him, his other neighbour is the recently resurrected and decidedly unamused Dreadwing, who scowls and motions towards me with his head.

Nice. He was always a favourite, for many reasons. His motivations, his honourable nature, his stylish looks... The honking huge sword and cannon...

"More to the point, I imagine that you all have reasons to not want to be on Cyberton at the moment."

Dreadwing nods. Finding out what happened to his brother, then having Megatron execute him for trying to kill the one responsible… There are several good reasons why Ratchet was wiling to recommend him for resurrection. With Megatron inching his way back into a position of authority, Dreadwing has no desire to be on the same planet any longer.

What happened to his brother, you may ask? Killed, reanimated by Dark Energon as a Terrorcon Zombie, and eventually shunted through a glitching Ground-bridge aperture into a subspace layer of reality... Who knows, maybe he's still running around Nevada as a 'ghost'.

"To be clear: this is a private enterprise apart from the Decepticon hierarchy that you're used to. You don't have to work here. If you work here for a while and later decide to leave, that's fine: you can leave at the end of the current mission."

Axlegrease shrugs. With transformer corpses across Cybertron being brought in so they can be destroyed if they were infected with dark energon or resurrected if they weren't, salvage options are running low for the first time since the war started. She doesn't really have anywhere else to go to get what she wants.

I suppose it's one way to get upgrades on a budget. I guess her particular form of cybertronian can transplant parts with functionally zero chance of 'rejection'. Things like Transformation Cogs tend to be a bit finicky in that respect, after all.

"And because this is a private enterprise, you get paid." I press another button and show a price list, finally getting Heatseeker's attention. "Here's a list of bounties we're already been offered. The total bounties accrued on a mission will be split evenly between all participants."

"I don't wanna share with him." / "Well, I don't wanna share with you."

Heh. Flywheels really putting the 'Duo' in Duocon, eh? Not surprised. Two bodies need two processor sets to operate them. And while his spark may or may not be split between frames, his mind definitely seems to be.

The group… Stares at Flywheels for a moment. As a self-propelled gun/jet fighter Duocon, he's noticeably bigger than everyone else here, and it's more than a little unsettling to hear robots that size start arguing with themselves. We invited them because Shockwave asked us to, feeling… If not actually guilty, then at least accepting that their mental state is his fault. And naturally, not getting help from Shockwave is one of the few things both of them agree on. According to Shockwave, Flywheels and Battletrap both had similar problems with their split form, but while Battletrap learned to cope, Flywheels got gradually worse. They function fine in actual combat, but otherwise…

One thing the toyline didn't reflect about them. Two bodies the size of regular 'bots that merge into one is quite a bit larger than the norm. Especially when aircraft are involved.

They slap themselves again.

Heatseeker frowns. "Okay, but seriously, does he get two shares or one?"

Good question. Best to get details like that worked out before payday rolls around.

"One."

"Is that true for all Combiners, because…"

I suspect it comes down to a 'per spark' basis. A Special Team of five or six bots would probably get five or six shares, one for each of them.

"Flywheels isn't a Combiner, they're a Duocon. One transformer in two bodies."

Heatseeker takes a closer look at them as their argument continues at a mutter. "Doesn't sound like one bot."

Would a single-framed 'bot with multiple heads also suffer that issue?

Looking at you, DoubleCross.

Slipstream shrugs. "He never said they weren't crazy."

Heatseeker flaps his arms to the side. "Yeah, 'cause that's the kinda guy I want in charge of a electron breacher."

Just stay behind the tank and you'll be fine. You're more DPS anyway.

Flywheels turns their head towards Heatseeker, hefting both of their guns. "We shoot straight." / "Both of us."

"Sure, buddy. I'm completely reassured."

Heck, two brains might well enable him to shoot accurately at two different targets, especially if he has secondary optics to aim through.

Dreadwing looks thoughtful. "Breaching Unicron's interior took the combined might of Lord Megatron and Optimus Prime, as well as their most devoted followers. I am not convinced that this group will be able to replicate that feat."

Slipstream nods. "You haven't met Nova Storm or Pull yet, but you're right. We wouldn't be able to fly right to Unicron's core while he was trying to stop us. But we don't need to. Unicron's consciousness isn't there anymore. As far as we know, there isn't anything coordinating whatever's in there, and we're not in any kind of hurry. Our only objectives are, most importantly, not dying, and secondarily, making money." She shrugs. "If we see something we can't fight, we mark its location and pull back."

No need to poke the Spark Chamber when exploring his extremities is sufficient. Remember, he's the size of a planet. Even the tip of his pinky finger is the size of... I wanna say... New York City?

Dreadwing nods. "I am not familiar with Nova Storm and Pull. What are their capacities?"

"Nova Storm is a light frame flier like me. Pull is a heavy transporter. Strong, tough, and… A little slow."

Well, from what I could tell from the art, Nova's a little more solidly-framed. Or that may be variances in aesthetic.

"There is enough space inside parts of Unicron for aerial manoeuvring. But there are also far narrower spaces, as well as sufficient quantities of foes to swarm the larger chambers and hem in attackers." He looks around the group. "I am concerned that we are a little light-frame heavy."

That's what Pull and his brainmaster are for. Also, they can escort human exploration teams, maybe.

Yeah, it was a blow that Munitions didn't want to take part, even after we made it clear that we could bridge him back to Cybertron after each mission. Dreadwing is a heavyweight flier and Flywheels has a middleweight ground component, but only my Pull body is a true heavyweight. Area effect attacks would be extremely dangerous… If this was a battle. And if Unicron's subsurface parasites were intelligent enough to realise that.

To be fair, his smallest miniature bodies were easily the size of Optimus and Megs. And there is a history of smaller Unicron figures to draw on. Such as the Cybertron Deluxe toy which turned into a tank-crab thing....

Fortunately, this came up in our rehearsals with Nova Storm, so Slipstream has an answer prepared. "That's so that it's easier to pull out. This isn't a war, and we're not trying to hit a specific objective. If we have to retreat early the only bad result is that we don't get paid as much."

Still, for some of them... The taste of failure is bitter indeed.

Dreadwing bows his head slightly. "You are correct. I am… Unused to such mercenary behavior."

"And if things do go to the Pit, we just have to make sure we get the body back to Cybertron for resurrection."

Ha! That's assuming things go that well.

Dreadwing's head comes back up, his humour noticeably worse. "And ensure that they are not infected with dark energon."

Slipstream nods sympathetically. "Yeah. Megatron personally infected most of my old team's bodies with dark energon when he tried to overrun Earth with Terrorcons, so I know how you feel."

Big trauma button there for both of them.

Dreadwing nods, mollified. "I apologise for my presumption. I thought that you were making light of my loss. I should have appreciated that I was not alone in that regard."

Heatseeker waves at the price list. "What does any of that even mean?"

Good to see them bonding over said trauma.

I glance at it myself. "That's the reward for taking part. The quantity of energon, because I assume that you want to stay fuelled and since this isn't a Decepticon operation, you don't get your expenses covered. Anything you earn after that, you can do what you like with it."

Slipstream nods. "I bought luxury accommodation with a team-sized oil bath, but I'm sure you can work out something to spend it on."

Custom body mods for your alt-mode, perhaps. I'm sure some 'bots enjoy that kind of cosmetic upgrades.

Now he looks interested. "Oh? What are the roads like around here?"

"Human labour is cheap, but they're not exactly Constructicons. It takes a lot longer to lay roads down."

Now, you want to race? Humans have that covered in spades. I expect a Cybtertronian might make quite the rally racer, perhaps.

"O-kay." He nods. "I'm interested." He looks at Axlegrease. "But what does the walking scrap yard bring to the table? Doesn't look that tough."

She waves a hydraulic cutting tool attachment. "I'm a salvage engineer. We're getting paid for the salvage we bring back. You don't even have a tow bar."

And his alt-mode didn't exactly look cargo-friendly either. Despite turning into a jacked-up SUV-truck hybrid...

"I don't even want a tow bar."

"I can also work as a medic. Taking things apart is a good way of learning how they go together."

Though I don't expect she's too concerned about things like the patient's comfort, or the aesthetics of her repairs...

Heatseeker doesn't look impressed. "I-."

Dreadwing lays his right hand on Heatseeker's left shoulder, silencing him. "A useful combination of skills. Flywheels, have you made a decision?"

Ah, good. He might be useful as a crew boss. If nothing else, he can intimidate unruly 'bots into toeing the line.

Flywheels goes quiet for a moment, then closer their eyes. Gradually, both hands come up with their thumbs raised.

Slipstream smiles. "Great. If we're all agreed, I'll talk to the others and arrange a planning session for our first journey into Unicron."

Man, Flywheels is a peach.

Both of him. So much 'slightly cracked big guy' energy they have.

"Great!" Heatseeker turns to leave. "I'll be-."

I shake my head. "Staying here until I finish your orientation lecture. If you're going to be staying on Earth, you need to learn things about how everything here works."

Among other things, road rules for the major nations you'll be working in, for a start,

He sneers at the idea. "Skew that. I'm not going to be lecture to by a squishy."

"They have fission bombs, Heatseeker." He stops. "And they will use them on you if you become a problem." And they will. By hiring Slipstream and I to deliver them, but there's no need to mention that. "I have to tell you how to behave once, then you're not my problem."

And if they don't feel like tossing some tacical nukes, there's always Dreadwing.

Dreadwing nods, gripping a little harder with the hand on Heatseeker's shoulder. "You will remain and you will listen."

Heatseaker turns back, shaking his hand off. "Fine. But this better be interesting."

I'm sure once you look up human motor sports, you'll be very interested.

Quite the motley crew they've assembled. Then again, they're dealing with the people driven, unwanted or crazy enough to do this work on an alien planet. Perhaps once they get a few paychecks, they can be a little more enthusiastic, maybe even provide some help with recruiting others in future. Depending on whether any of them survive that long...

BartlettMagic · Jul 21, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Dreadwing nods, gripping a little harder with the hand on Heatseeker's shoulder. "You will remain and you will listen."

hm. i like Dreadwing.

BrotherofaStudio · Jul 21, 2024

This will be interesting. Glad to see Dreadwing returning, he deserved better than being killed by Megatron in my opinion. And now he has a chance. It's nice to see Paul has gotten his crew of reasonable Decepticons together but I suspect they won't want to be mercenaries forever and since they are unlikely to want to return to Cybertron the question remains what will they do? Build Decepticon City as a colony on Earth?

ForeverShogo · Jul 21, 2024

Looked at the Axlegrease page. Specifically, the part that says she wore a "makeshift race queen outfit" for a race. Looked at the image of her toy and how blocky it is. Had to see how the hell that was going to work, so I found an image of it.

First of all, it's not so much a race queen outfit as it is simply a bikini. Secondly, they made her a lot smoother and curvier in the comic.

Jus4532 · Jul 22, 2024

BrotherofaStudio said:
Glad to see Dreadwing returning, he deserved better than being killed by Megatron in my opinion. And now he has a chance.

I wonder if that also means that Soundwave got free from that dimension since Megatron has come back from his exile to take command of the Decepticons.

Actually, I am curious as to what convinced him to even come back at all?

SotF · Jul 22, 2024

Jus4532 said:
I wonder if that also means that Soundwave got free from that dimension since Megatron has come back from his exile to take command of the Decepticons.

Actually, I am curious as to what convinced him to even come back at all?

Possibly, not sure about the timing considering the Robots in Disguise stuff that had him both in the early episode cameo and then what the new autobot council was up to

Mr Zoat · Jul 22, 2024

16th April 2013
02:58 GMT -5

"This is not the entrance to the Great-Mother."

"Sure."

And what gives the game away is that it's clearly not part of the larger creature. Or exactly part of the stuff… Grafted? Onto the larger creature. Oh, some attempt has been made to match colouration and materials but it's far too close to being a normal Dominion hangar door for me to mistake it for a part of… This. Hiding it this close to the Mother Star's mouth was a clever move, because that's something that anyone who's had anything to do with Star Conquerors will instinctively avoid.

I watch as more of the glass ball creatures swim out from the modified Star Conqueror ducts. I'm not sure exactly what they're doing. Something to do with encouraging the growth of the new flesh?

"They should not be being released."

"Oh?"

"They are wrong, altered. They should be dismantled, their errors studied and avoided in future."

Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be a review process for whatever 'safe' signal we're sending out. Which hopefully means that this is a small operation by a small number of dominators.

"Look… What do you want for your mother?"

"I do not want for Great-Mother. She wanted for us. Then the aliens came. Now she wants for them."

"Okay, you seem like a dutiful son. What sort of life does Great Mother want for herself?"

"I do not know. I know that my function was to absorb and convey data, and that that is what she wants from me and for me."

"Is there something that she wants from and for other members of your family?"

"She wants to find someone to sire a daughter. Our sister would then leave and fly into The Great-Black-Outside-That-Is-Everything."

"Is that more or less likely to happen with the aliens in command of her?"

"…" He wiggles a little. "Less… Likely..?"

"You don't sound very confident in that answer."

"I am not made for this."

"But you can learn new skills, right?"

"I… Can learn."

"And if it helped your Great Mother go back to doing the things she wanted to do before the aliens altered her..?"

The glass ball trembles for a moment.

"Is that something that you-?"

"It must be."

"Okay, good. So are you-?"

He space-swims towards the hangar door, lights inside him flickering.

"Hey, is it just me, or-" I turn towards Bleez's ship. "-is he… Kinda like..?"

"A space sperm, yes. I don't know whether he actually is or not, but there are only so many ways to build biological structures."

"So… Queen Hyathis didn't build this?"

"No, of course not. I have a good relationship with Queen Hyathis. If she wanted something from me, she'd just ask for it. Or-. Heck, she had to be invited to Thanagar, didn't she."

"… I mean… Yeah…"

"Even if she wanted to demand something with menaces, well… She did cure the Equality Plague. She could have just kept the equalised thanagarians as serfs. And she's… Busy in Antares right now."

"Are you sure?"

"Unlike you, I can just go there. She's… Consolidating."

"Consolidating, like..? She's rebuilding her forces after an attack..?"

"No, 'consolidating' like she just-." Um. "After she won a battle."

I should not be talking to a Thanagarian Empire intelligence asset about how Antares is now firmly under her control and they're next. I don't… I'm not sure exactly what I want out of that situation, but I doubt that…

"Was it a big battle? Because they have a lot of battles in Antares. It's sort of why we didn't want her as our queen."

Oh, I don't know. They know where she is. I'd be astonished if they didn't have at least a rough idea about what she's doing. So… Does telling her just mean that I don't irritate the Thanagarian government? Imply that I'm not backing her?

"It looked like a pretty big battle, but I can't say I'm an expert in the Antares War. By Reach standards it was barely a skirmish."

"Huh. Yeah, probably just the usual back and forth." The hangar doesn't open, but the… 'Space sperm' swims around to a side entrance and vanishes. "Has he just dumped us?"

"No. I felt his genuine desire. He'll be back. Ah, I've been meaning to ask; now that the Yellow Lantern who was stalking you has been disciplined, are you planning on hanging around? I'm happy to have you of course, but the Earth isn't really at its best right now and no one's really in a concert mood."

"I just… Really want to make sure."

"Fair enough. I-" The hangar door shudders for a moment, then opens at the standard rate. "-think we're in."

It's not that I don't think that Sinestro will keep his word. It's that I don't think that his recruitment tactics will result in him getting well-disciplined Lanterns, and one lacking the foresight to realise that his boss wasn't joking could cause Bleez real trouble.

The inside is… Ah, they've gone with the space-airlock design. Practical, and far easier to hide than a synthetic environmental barrier. The interior of the lock looks like it was cut through the Mother Star's body, and I can see where veins and arteries have been cauterised or blocked while the muscle and fat has been left bare. I suppose that it doesn't have to worry about rotting, exactly, though it's interesting that this part isn't being consumed by whatever's replacing the top side.

"Ew."

Bleez pilots her ship into the opening, and I follow her.

"I will never complain about Thanagarian Empire ship decoration again. Did they just cut a hole in this thing?"

"Looks like." The exterior door begins closing behind us, and I note that there's no interior lighting. I can still see fine and I'm sure that Bleez's ship has some sort of augmented vision system, but it's unusual by human standards. "Does your ship have shields?"

"Basic ones. I could just have waited outside."

"No, I can't mark two locations as friendly. If it comes to a fight, just keep out of the way or abandon your ship as a distraction. I can fly you back once we're done."

"That's what I was planning."

Then the interior door opens, and I see the dominator ship.

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

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