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

[Signaller]

Are we going to discover that something like Blutz Waves exist here?

 

[Ardy]

My money is that the stupidity effect was some BS Kryptonian force field effect, Torque-whatever

 

[AverusBlack]

This seems like a targeted attack. Are we sure it's Dru-Zod and Ursa that were stopped and not some decoy?

 

[Zig]

This seems like a targeted attack. Are we sure it's Dru-Zod and Ursa that were stopped and not some decoy?

Click to shrink...

No, De-Coy i still in the phantom zone.

 

[AverusBlack]

No, De-Coy i still in the phantom zone.

Click to shrink...

 

[CrazyNoVa]

No, De-Coy i still in the phantom zone.

Click to shrink...

The best part about that sentence is that because of how batshit crazy DC lore is, I legitimately can't tell if you're joking or if there actually is a character named De-Coy out there.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Universe 191
22nd May 1954
01:01 GMT

Mr. Evans takes a sip from his coffee mug with a moue of distaste. "Are you sure that you don't want one, sir?"

I shake my head as I wait for the call. "You know I've never had a taste for it."

"It is rather early in the morning."

Mr. Murrow expressed a preference for a live interview. Or rather, his management team did, probably assuming that I'd decline, or that if I said 'yes' that I'd go to America and they could do the interview there. Since I rather like the Foreign Secretary and didn't want to give him a heart attack I didn't agree to that, but I did say that I'd be willing to do an interview if they wanted to send their team here. But since the program is live, we're forced to be active before dawn to make their broadcast slot.

"Oh, I can manage an interview. Remind me to thank the technicians in person."

He looks a little concerned. "The… British technicians, you mean?"

Recording and transmitting the interview in real time to the United States via satellite required a little extra work at our end, but working out how to send that signal out to American households from theirs was far more difficult. Aside from anything else, our equipment isn't remotely compatible. But, they managed it, and-.

The producer gives me the nod, and I stroll out of the wings and onto the stage. I can't quite prevent myself glancing at the camera pointing at me, and raise my right hand in a polite wave.

No audience and no applause. This isn't The Tonight Show, run by comedians and frequently interviewing them. And my handlers are a bit concerned about someone taking a shot. The actual noise is… Hums from the machinery, footsteps, muffled speaking that hopefully won't get picked up by the microphones. And the subtle movement of rifle straps from my protection detail, because we weren't able to screen the whole crew in the sort of detail that we'd like to.

They did all have their taints checked, however.

I turn my attention to my interviewer as I approach the seating. Originally from North Carolina, he moved to the United States as Featherstone's media restrictions began to bite and became one of their harshest critics. As a result, he's just about the only Southerner in the Reunited States media. I haven't watched much of his work, but his interview with former Confederate General Clarence Potter was fair and balanced, and he kept his cool when Potter recounted his intention to assassinate President Featherstone which was only foiled by another clumsier assassin.

How these little things change events.

"Mister Talwyn." Mr. Murrow nods politely as I sit down, his expression neutral. "Thank you for joining us."

I smile, drawing upon sixty years worth of advancement in media manipulation techniques. "Mister Murrow, thank you for having me."

"Mister Talwyn, you are the owner and Chairman of Black Arrow, the British company responsible for Britain's journeys into outer space. Is that correct?"

I nod. "Chairman and largest shareholder, yes. I founded the company only a.. few months after the end of the last war, and I'm very proud of what we've been able to achieve."

"How do you explain the tremendous advancements you've been able to make in the field of rocketry?"

"Well, there's a number of factors. Having hundreds of highly qualified engineers leaving military service with all the skills they'd acquired was a big help. The.. support of the British government in ensuring a favourable legislative environment. But in terms of social impact, I think it was due to the British people needing something to look forwards to, to believe in, that wasn't the inevitability of Great War Three. Presenting them with a positive vision of our nation's future was enough to make them get behind us, support us, and… Well, avoid the sorts of social upsets that other nations on the losing side saw after the dust settled."

Like the German army having to step in to prevent the French government getting guillotined by a French mob, or former General Patton having to gun down fanatical Freedom Party stalwarts when they tried ambushing him. Though I'm honestly a little sceptical about that one; to my nose it reeks of a bungled O.S.S. operation.

"And what does that vision consist of?"

"Peaceful exploration of our solar system, the exploitation of the natural resources contained therein, and an effective military deterrence for the purpose of self-defence."

"And what form does that military deterrence take?"

"The greatest weapons held by the United States of America and the German Empire are fission bombs. 'Superbombs', as they're colloquially known. Each of them is capable of demolishing a town, and I'm sure that both nations have plans for larger ones, or for mounting them on large rockets so that they no longer have to worry about their bombers being intercepted by enemy aircraft before they reach their target. The greatest weapons currently in the possession of The Kingdom of Great Britain are our orbital railguns. Each of them are similarly capable of demolishing a town."

There's a slight… Not a twitch, but he goes a little more still for an instant than he had been. The demonstration a little over a week ago was the first demonstration of the weapon, the first time it had been fired at an Earthly target, but we couldn't cover something like that up completely. Far too many people worked on the project for something like that, though I'm confident that no one knew exactly what we were up to.

Because it was all assembled in space.

"The principles involved are quite simple. If you take a pebble and drop it into a sandpit, it makes a divot and throws-" I make an expanding motion with both hands. "-the sand it displaced outwards. Our railguns use magnetic repulsion to throw metal rods into the Earth's atmosphere from outside of it."

"If you don't mind me saying so, that sounds like something out of Buck Rogers."

"Oh, not at all. The physics of the railgun are common knowledge amongst physicists, much as the basic principles of the fission bomb were known during the First Great War. It's only more recently that our knowledge of practical matters has advanced to the point where it becomes possible to use it as a weapon. Honestly, our measuring device which measures using rays of light or our oven which cooks using radio waves are far stranger. But probably a bit less significant to the field of geopolitics. No, we won't be in Buck Rogers territory until we produce laser or plasma weapons, and those are both a long way off."

"Perhaps you could explain for our viewers what those are?"

"'Laser' stands for 'light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation'. In effect, you get a very powerful ray of light. To weaponize it, you would need a ray powerful enough to outperform a bullet, which would have to be very powerful indeed, and well beyond our capabilities. Likewise, plasma is a sort of energised gas, and in our work the creation of plasma is more the unintended consequence of inefficiency rather than a goal itself."

"That doesn't sound particularly peaceful."

I shrug. "The same rockets that carry explosives into enemy cities can carry people to the moon or to Mars. Likewise, a powerful industrial laser in a factory can be used to create precise cuts in sheet metal, and a weak one can be pulsed extremely rapidly to convey messages from place to place. I think that after the last forty years the world can do without novel weapon systems for a little while."

"I believe that your company makes those as well. In fact, you recently conducted a sales demonstration for interested parties."

I nod. "Sending rocket into space is quite expensive. Selling time on our communications satellites doesn't begin to cover our costs. And while the Second Great War may be over for our countries, there's still fighting in a lot of places. Or places that are concerned that fighting might start."

"Such as?"

"I believe that Brazil and Mexico are concerned about the possibility that the United States might start to lean on them. When one country can destroy a city with a single bomb, any country that can't return the favour desperately needs to make sure that such a bomb can't get through or it can't guarantee its people's safety. How would the people of the northern United States have felt if Featherstone had put more resources into the Confederacy's nuclear program before the war, and demonstrated a bomb before things kicked off?"

"Extremely scared, I would imagine."

"Quite so. And while I suspect that the War Office are too realistic to think that they could afford to invade the Empire of Brazil, I'm sure that someone has brought up the idea of detonating a fission bomb nearby just to remind them who's in charge. Of course, there was an American party at our demonstration as well, and we're happy to sell to anyone with money."

He nods. "Speaking of the former President of the Confederacy, I know that the people of the United States are interested in Britain's involvement with his crimes."

Ah. Sounds like the warm up's over.

 

[Darko]

households from theires was far

Click to shrink...

"theirs"

They did all have their taints checked, however

Click to shrink...

I'm sure that was something they'll never forget, no matter how much they try.

 

[Artificial_Icecube]

Do you write these in batches or do you actually sit and write a new chapter every single day?

 

[Duke Long]

I nod. "Sending rocket into space is quite expensive. Selling time on our communications satellites doesn't begin to cover our costs. And while the Second Great War may be over for our countries, there's still fight in a lot of places. Or places that are concerned that fight might start."

Click to shrink...

'fighting'?
'fighting'?

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

Universe 191
22nd May 1954
01:01 GMT

Mr. Evans takes a sip from his coffee mug with a moue of distaste. "Are you sure that you don't want one, sir?"

I shake my head as I wait for the call. "You know I've never had a taste for it."

"It is rather early in the morning."

Click to shrink...

Very much in the 'Oh my God what am I doing awake?' hours. A time that only night-shift folks would be reasonably busy. Which means something is afoot and it looks like Talwyn is enjoying folk's discomfort.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

Mr. Murrow expressed a preference for a live interview. Or rather, his management team did, probably assuming that I'd decline, or that if I said 'yes' that I'd go to America and they could do the interview there. Since I rather like the Foreign Secretary and didn't want to give him a heart attack I didn't agree to that, but I did say that I'd be willing to do an interview if they wanted to send their team here. But since the program is live, we're forced to be active before dawn to make their broadcast slot.

Click to shrink...

I rather imagine their reaction to him leaving England for America would be an emphatic 'Pardon my French, but fuck, no." Far too much risk of some intelligence agency making him disappear into a black-site for 'questioning.'

"Oh, I can manage an interview. Remind me to thank the technicians in person."

He looks a little concerned. "The… British technicians, you mean?"

Click to shrink...

Honestly, don't act like they're not experts in their field just because they're foreign, sir...

Recording and transmitting the interview in real time to the United States via satellite required a little extra work at our end, but working out how to send that signal out to American households from theirs was far more difficult. Aside from anything else, our equipment isn't remotely compatible. But, they managed it, and-.

Click to shrink...

No doubt because of different signal standards. American television used the NTSC encoding standard for television, whereas the UK used PAL. For a start, they don't even use the same refresh rate...

The producer gives me the nod, and I stroll out of the wings and onto the stage. I can't quite prevent myself glancing at the camera pointing at me, and raise my right hand in a polite wave.

Click to shrink...

And in any other circumstance, there'd probably be polite applause, but...

No audience and no applause. This isn't The Tonight Show, run by comedians and frequently interviewing them. And my handlers are a bit concerned about someone taking a shot. The actual noise is… Hums from the machinery, footsteps, muffled speaking that hopefully won't get picked up by the microphones. And the subtle movement of rifle straps from my protection detail, because we weren't able to screen the whole crew in the sort of detail that we'd like to.

Click to shrink...

And the guards aren't being paid to clap.

They did all have their taints checked, however.

I turn my attention to my interviewer as I approach the seating. Originally from North Carolina, he moved to the United States as Featherstone's media restrictions began to bite and became one of their harshest critics. As a result, he's just about the only Southerner in the Reunited States media. I haven't watched much of his work, but his interview with former Confederate General Clarence Potter was fair and balanced, and he kept his cool when Potter recounted his intention to assassinate President Featherstone which was only foiled by another clumsier assassin.

Click to shrink...

That's some impressive self-control. I suspect a northerner would have given him a knuckle sandwich to chew on, career bedamned.

How these little things change events.

"Mister Talwyn." Mr. Murrow nods politely as I sit down, his expression neutral. "Thank you for joining us."

Click to shrink...

For folks wanting an idea of how he sounded, this should do nicely.

I smile, drawing upon sixty years worth of advancement in media manipulation techniques. "Mister Murrow, thank you for having me."

"Mister Talwyn, you are the owner and Chairman of Black Arrow, the British company responsible for Britain's journeys into outer space. Is that correct?"

Click to shrink...

On the other hand, Murrow is one of the good ones. If you don't be an asshole with him, he won't be one with you.

I nod. "Chairman and largest shareholder, yes. I founded the company only a.. few months after the end of the last war, and I'm very proud of what we've been able to achieve."

"How do you explain the tremendous advancements you've been able to make in the field of rocketry?"

Click to shrink...

Sadly, it's not like he can say "I stole spaceflight technology from alien lizards." Especially since I'm assuming they're using conventional launch methods... But once they're out of sight of the ground...

"Well, there's a number of factors. Having hundreds of highly qualified engineers leaving military service with all the skills they'd acquired was a big help. The.. support of the British government in ensuring a favourable legislative environment. But in terms of social impact, I think it was due to the British people needing something to look forwards to, to believe in, that wasn't the inevitability of Great War Three. Presenting them with a positive vision of our nation's future was enough to make them get behind us, support us, and… Well, avoid the sorts of social upsets that other nations on the losing side saw after the dust settled."

Click to shrink...

When the lands around you look like shit, you naturally tend to look upwards.

Like the German army having to step in to prevent the French government getting guillotined by a French mob, or former General Patton having to gun down fanatical Freedom Party stalwarts when they tried ambushing him. Though I'm honestly a little sceptical about that one; to my nose it reeks of a bungled O.S.S. operation.

Click to shrink...

...Honestly, I can believe he'd get involved in a gunfight with assassins.

"And what does that vision consist of?"

"Peaceful exploration of our solar system, the exploitation of the natural resources contained therein, and an effective military deterrence for the purpose of self-defence."

Click to shrink...

To maybe-misquote Teddy Roosevelt: 'Speak softly but carry a big stick.' And Britain has a pretty big stick right now.

"And what form does that military deterrence take?"

"The greatest weapons held by the United States of America and the German Empire are fission bombs. 'Superbombs', as they're colloquially known. Each of them is capable of demolishing a town, and I'm sure that both nations have plans for larger ones, or for mounting them on large rockets so that they no longer have to worry about their bombers being intercepted by enemy aircraft before they reach their target. The greatest weapons currently in the possession of The Kingdom of Great Britain are our orbital railguns. Each of them are similarly capable of demolishing a town."

Click to shrink...

And good luck shooting them down. I also wouldn't be surprised if they couldn't be turned outwards as well.

There's a slight… Not a twitch, but he goes a little more still for an instant than he had been. The demonstration a little over a week ago was the first demonstration of the weapon, the first time it had been fired at an Earthly target, but we couldn't cover something like that up completely. Far too many people worked on the project for something like that, though I'm confident that no one knew exactly what we were up to.

Click to shrink...

I'm sure this is being recorded as well as going out live. And those recordings are going to be pored over in detail by the intelligence agencies, I bet.

Because it was all assembled in space.

"The principles involved are quite simple. If you take a pebble and drop it into a sandpit, it makes a divot and throws-" I make an expanding motion with both hands. "-the sand it displaced outwards. Our railguns use magnetic repulsion to throw metal rods into the Earth's atmosphere from outside of it."

Click to shrink...

And unlike an air-raid, there's next to no warning when they're coming, as we saw.

"If you don't mind me saying so, that sounds like something out of Buck Rogers."

"Oh, not at all. The physics of the railgun are common knowledge amongst physicists, much as the basic principles of the fission bomb were known during the First Great War. It's only more recently that our knowledge of practical matters has advanced to the point where it becomes possible to use it as a weapon. Honestly, our measuring device which measures using rays of light or our oven which cooks using radio waves are far stranger. But probably a bit less significant to the field of geopolitics. No, we won't be in Buck Rogers territory until we produce laser or plasma weapons, and those are both a long way off."

Click to shrink...

In this case, Science Truth is stranger than Science fiction.

"Perhaps you could explain for our viewers what those are?"

"'Laser' stands for 'light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation'. In effect, you get a very powerful ray of light. To weaponize it, you would need a ray powerful enough to outperform a bullet, which would have to be very powerful indeed, and well beyond our capabilities. Likewise, plasma is a sort of energised gas, and in our work the creation of plasma is more the unintended consequence of inefficiency rather than a goal itself."

Click to shrink...

One of the limiting factors of energy-based weapons: Obscene power requirements. A couple of AAs can run a laser pointer, sure, but to produce enough heat to melt steel? That's gonna take some serious juice.

"That doesn't sound particularly peaceful."

I shrug. "The same rockets that carry explosives into enemy cities can carry people to the moon or to Mars. Likewise, a powerful industrial laser in a factory can be used to create precise cuts in sheet metal, and a weak one can be pulsed extremely rapidly to convey messages from place to place. I think that after the last forty years the world can do without novel weapon systems for a little while."

Click to shrink...

Spitting truths their governments would rather not hear. And after a World War, that sort of sentiment is a lot stronger...

"I believe that your company makes those as well. In fact, you recently conducted a sales demonstration for interested parties."

I nod. "Sending rockets into space is quite expensive. Selling time on our communications satellites doesn't begin to cover our costs. And while the Second Great War may be over for our countries, there's still fighting in a lot of places. Or places that are concerned that fighting might start."

Click to shrink...

And with no Cold War to keep heads cool, some of those fights are going to turn rather hot.

"Such as?"

"I believe that Brazil and Mexico are concerned about the possibility that the United States might start to lean on them. When one country can destroy a city with a single bomb, any country that can't return the favour desperately needs to make sure that such a bomb can't get through or it can't guarantee its people's safety. How would the people of the northern United States have felt if Featherstone had put more resources into the Confederacy's nuclear program before the war, and demonstrated a bomb before things kicked off?"

Click to shrink...

There would definitely be some soiled pants in the halls of power... And making such a demonstration can be a lot more effective than keeping it all secret.

"Extremely scared, I would imagine."

"Quite so. And while I suspect that the War Office are too realistic to think that they could afford to invade the Empire of Brazil, I'm sure that someone has brought up the idea of detonating a fission bomb nearby just to remind them who's in charge. Of course, there was an American party at our demonstration as well, and we're happy to sell to anyone with money."

Click to shrink...

No doubt said War office is drooling over the possibility of getting samples of that tech for the purposes of reverse engineering it and making 'proper' American versions of it.

He nods. "Speaking of the former President of the Confederacy, I know that the people of the United States are interested in Britain's involvement with his crimes."

Ah. Sounds like the warm up's over.

Click to shrink...

Because Murrow was a man not about to not ask the hard questions. Especially during the McCarthy era.

Hopefully Talwyn can navigate the metaphorical minefield and give the Americans a good impression of him. Not just in the name of profits, but perhaps making it a little more troublesome for some nut in a foreign affairs office to decide to 'silence' him... There's already been one assassination attempt so far, and it may not be the last. And that one might aim for the head.

 

[Mr Zoat]

"theirs"

Click to shrink...

'fighting'?
'fighting'?

Click to shrink...

Thank you, corrected.

Do you write these in batches or do you actually sit and write a new chapter every single day?

Click to shrink...

One segment Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Two on Saturday and Sunday.