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

King of Frost · 2026-01-28T02:09:40+0000

Oh shit yeah I didn't even clock that Usagi is dead. Unless she can be revived, or Venus can use the Silver Crystal and replace Usagi somehow this world is probably fucked beyond repair.

Not even Metalia without Usagi no one is surviving the Great Freeze, and that's if they somehow get through Galaxia which also seems extremely low.

Frozen20XX · 2026-01-28T06:16:22+0000

I'm just sad Artemis isn't with Minako. I'm not the most knowledgeable about Sailor Moon, but their bond was one of my favourites from what little I have seen.

Mr Zoat · 2026-01-28T06:22:07+0000

18th August 2013
09:48 GMT

Through the Doomsday's sensors I watch very closely as the Green Lantern leaves the system. Orange Lantern's gone missing, which means that Nam-Ek is going to have to put up with his mutated body for a little longer. He'll live with it. Having him around to be able to subtly punish people by forcing them to work with him is useful, anyway.

And then I plot course for Lilaarn.

For a moment I'm surprised by just how easy it is. Not just because the joints in my fingers don't ache, but because the Doomsday's mind-machine interface means that I'm not having to manually input data like I do on my ship; a cut-and-shut job I haven't even bothered naming. And with the course plotted, all it takes to get us underway is another thought. No rerouting power, charging the capacitors and hoping that the oxygen recycler doesn't crap out again. No hoping the expensive parts of the drive aren't time-expired, or are just time-expired and not going to leave me smeared across three systems. Just Kryptonian…

A dead civilization's finest engineering.

Couldn't Orange Lantern have just turned Jax-Ur into a construct? Most kryptonians don't seriously believe in afterlives or souls anyway. No one would have objected, and his scientific abilities would have let us rebuild far faster.

Engage.

Or maybe that's the point. I'm thinking about this in the sense of keeping Krypton going. I wrote it off when I left… Sure, when we met up most of us admitted to listening for a recall signal, but… We knew it wasn't coming. And then when it finally exploded… I was surprised, but I'd… Stopped thinking of it as 'home' well before that.

And then Amalak…

What was it that guy said in that British film? He had a job to do. We just happened to be the enemy. But if I met him in the street and I thought I could get away with it…

And there it is. The planet where Amalak nearly caught u-. Caught me. They had a nasty problem with interstellar piracy before the Kryptonian Stellar Navy ended it for good. And we actually helped them rebuild; it wasn't like we were needed anywhere else, and it… It was nice to be appreciated.

A channel opens as they use their own transmission systems to access our frequencies.

"Kryptonian warship, this is Lilaarn Control. Please… Identify? Because you're reading as-."

"This is… Sub-Commander Karsta Wor-Ul, commanding the Doomsday."

"Then… Welcome back. I'm glad that you're.. still alive."

"That situation has been resolved. I'd like to meet with officials from your government to discuss things."

"Of course. Will you need a berth on the orbital dock, or landing space on the surface?"

"Surface."

"That-. I'm sorry, but that will take slightly longer to arrange."

"That's fine. I did just turn up out of nowhere. Give me an orbital path until the landing zone is ready."

"Transmitting now. Is it just you? I know that Kryptonian ships don't need a lot of crew."

"No. One other."

"Understood. I hope that you enjoy your stay. Lilaarn Control out."

That channel closes, and the Doomsday's computer registered thousands of low-level alerts. In some places those can be signs of hostile surface weapon stations trying to lock on, or at least point in our general direction. Here it's just curious or excited civilians. I deprioritise them, set the ship to follow the indicated approach and orbital path, and then disconnect.

And then I leave the command module, and head out into what used to be the medical suspension section.

Dru-Zod-. Admiral Dru-Zod could have smuggled most of us out in this. Except he didn't know we were leaving, and we didn't know he was sending the ship away until we found out it was gone.

I take a moment to look at Ursa's staring eyes. Didn't expect that, did you? The dominators teleported her onto their ship a fraction of a second before I could, but when they switched their priorities to trying to hem Orange Lantern in… It turns out that they weren't prepared to jam all of Krypton's teleportation techniques.

"Alright. Let her out."

The crystal melts and Ursa-.

Caught herself in the air. Okay, I'm almost impressed. Her eyes flick around at blur-speed as she takes everything in.

"Ursa Dou-Ka."

She takes a moment to steady herself… And deals with the cocktail of combat hormones still in her system. And only when she thinks she can think with a clear head does she meet my eyes.

"How long?"

"A few days. You're innocent, by the way."

She actually looks offended. "I'm not. Dru-Zod and I planned-."

"No. You didn't. Am I clear?"

This time she actually thinks. "Yes, Sub-Commander."

"Good. As far as anyone knows, you're on the way to the Dominion now. The Dominion know you aren't, but they're not going to tell anyone."

She nods slowly. "Then they're not looking for me."

"The Lanterns aren't. The Dominion might be. Which is why you can't live on the colony on Tartarath."

"You're right. Then where?"

"I'm going to sort something out with the Lilaarn government. I lived here for years, and with Amalak calling off the hunt, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to either."

"Lilaarn." She thinks for a moment. "For how long?"

"For however long it takes for everyone to stop caring. There are just about enough of us on Tartarath that I'll be able to bring you there, but only when things have been built up enough and there are a few more children."

She frowns. "My child will grow up surrounded by aliens."

"Yeah." I shake my head. She doesn't get it. "All our children will. Tartarath isn't Krypton. This isn't a temporary thing, until we get back on our feet. Our civilization was made of a billion parts all working together and we've got maybe a dozen left. We'll build back up like our ancestors did after the vrang and after the Clone War, but we're not going to be continuing that civilization. We can't. By the time our children reach adulthood they'll have a whole new culture, and it won't be anything like what either of us grew up with."

"But we will do it."

I nod slowly. "Long after we're both dead, but we will." I step back from her booth, and she follows me.

"I don't remember how advanced Lilaarn is."

"Space faring. Slow F.T.L., but they're mostly colonising their own system."

"The sun?"

"Orange. I'll give you your medical reports, but you shouldn't need it. And this should go without saying, but do not take over this planet. These people actually like us. We're the ones who enabled them to build up this much. Help them, and in five or six years you can leave."

"Yes, Sub-Commander."

"Didn't you hear? Our civilization ended. There's no military for me to be a Sub-Commander in. I'm the Governor of Tartarath, until-."

I was actually thinking about assembling a ruling council. Doing the Kryptonian thing. Ridiculous.

"Until I'm not. I'll give you the cultural briefing before we land."

Ngamer11 · 2026-01-28T06:26:57+0000

I'm not entirely surprised by this. At least they're self-aware enough to realize they can't let the next generation inherit their speciesism.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-01-28T06:57:36+0000

Mr Zoat said:
18th August 2013
09:48 GMT

Through the Doomsday's sensors I watch very closely as the Green Lantern leaves the system. Orange Lantern's gone missing, which means that Nam-Ek is going to have to put up with his mutated body for a little longer. He'll live with it. Having him around to be able to subtly punish people by forcing them to work with him is useful, anyway.

Ah, Karsta War-Ul. And good, OL's disappearance has been noted. A bit sad that Nam-Ek is playing that role, but I suppose he's wise enough to understand the usefulness of it. Even if it emotionally hurts him...

And then I plot course for Lilaarn.

For a moment I'm surprised by just how easy it is. Not just because the joints in my fingers don't ache, but because the Doomsday's mind-machine interface means that I'm not having to manually input data like I do on my ship; a cut-and-shut job I haven't even bothered naming. And with the course plotted, all it takes to get us underway is another thought. No rerouting power, charging the capacitors and hoping that the oxygen recycler doesn't crap out again. No hoping the expensive parts of the drive aren't time-expired, or are just time-expired and not going to leave me smeared across three systems. Just Kryptonian…

Because of course the expensive parts of the drive system have a built-in obsolescence feature? The manufacturers can't keep people coming back for upgrades otherwise, can they?

And so what if the occasional ship blows up because of it, the lawyers can settle that.
EDIT: Ah, right, 'time-expired' means simple wear and tear. Though I don't doubt the manufacturer's recommended lifespan is much shorter than the actual functional lifetime, increased risk of malfunction aside.

A dead civilization's finest engineering.

Couldn't Orange Lantern have just turned Jax-Ur into a construct? Most kryptonians don't seriously believe in afterlives or souls anyway. No one would have objected, and his scientific abilities would have let us rebuild far faster.

No, he really couldn't have.

Engage.

Or maybe that's the point. I'm thinking about this in the sense of keeping krypton going. I wrote it off when I left… Sure, when we met up most of us admitted to listening for a recall signal, but… We knew it wasn't coming. And then when it finally exploded… I was surprised, but I'd… Stopped thinking of it as 'home' well before that.

Fair enough. The cultural shift was probably too much for her or her colleagues to put up with anyway.

And then Amalak…

What was it that guy said in that British film? He had a job to do. We just happened to be the enemy. But if I met him in the street and I thought I could get away with it…

Also kind of fair, even if she had nothing to do with it. Anger, hatred and revenge are rarely rational.

And there it is. The planet where Amalak nearly caught u-. Caught me. They had a nasty problem with interstellar piracy before the Kryptonian Stellar Navy ended it for good. And we actually helped them rebuild; it wasn't like we were needed anywhere else, and it… It was nice to be appreciated.

Which has no doubt left them with very good feelings towards kryptonians.

A channel opens as they used their own transmission systems to access our frequencies.

"Kryptonian warship, this is Lilaarn Control. Please… Identify? Because you're reading as-."

Likely having to dust off protocols not used in decades.

"This is… Sub-Commander Karsta Wor-Ul, commanding the Doomsday."

"Then… Welcome back. I'm glad that you're.. still alive."

You can just feel their involuntary release of tension, can't you? Probably not audible, but I bet the older command centre staff are sitting a lot less stiffly all of a sudden.

"That situation has been resolved. I'd like to meet with officials from your government to discuss things."

"Of course. Will you need a berth on the orbital dock, or landing space on the surface?"

Honestly, she doesn't even need a ride to the ground, given a charged sunstone and a breathing mask.

"Surface."

"That-. I'm sorry, but that will take slightly longer to arrange."

I expect it's been a while since they had to accommodate a ship as large as the Doomsday. Their own craft are probably much more reasonably-sized.

"That's fine. I did just turn up out of nowhere. Give me an orbital path until the landing zone is ready."

"Transmitting now. Is it just you? I know that Kryptonian ships don't need a lot of crew."

Man, you can almost hear the hopefulness in their voice. The unspoken 'how many still live?' they want to ask.

"No. One other."

"Understood. I hope that you enjoy your stay. Lilaarn Control out."

Oh-ho. A surprise passenger? Looks like the Dominion didn't get the prize everyone thought they did.

That channel closes, and the Doomsday's computer registered thousands of low-level alerts. In some places those can be signs of hostile surface weapon stations trying to lock on, or at least point in our general direction. Here it's just curious or excited civilians. I deprioritise them, set the ship to follow the indicated approach and orbital path, and then disconnect.

Many from older citizens who remember the old times, perhaps? Depending on their overall lifespan, there could be some still living who were born under the occupation.

And then I leave the command module, and head out into what used to be the medical suspension section.

Dru-Zod-. Admiral Dru-Zod could have smuggled most of us out in this. Except he didn't know we were leaving, and we didn't know he was sending the ship away until we found out it was gone.

The problem of a rushed response to other people's actions. No-one had time to coordinate.

I take a moment to look at Ursa's staring eyes. Didn't expect that, did you? The dominators teleported her onto their ship a fraction of a second before I could, but when they switched their priorities to trying to hem Orange Lantern in… It turns out that they weren't prepared to jam all of Krypton's teleportation techniques.

Nicely done. Snatched victory from the Dominator's pointy maws while they weren't looking.

"Alright. Let her out."

The crystal melts and Ursa-.

Caught herself in the air. Okay, I'm almost impressed. Her eyes flick around and blur-speed as she takes everything in.

Still empowered enough to manage that much. Though I don't doubt the ship is broadcasting optimum wavelengths to keep the crew empowered fully.

"Ursa Dou-Ka."

She takes a moment to steady herself… And deals with the cocktail of combat hormones still in her system. And only when she thinks she can think with a clear head does she meet my eyes.

Adrenaline, or the kryptonian equivalent. Hell of a thing, of course.

"How long?"

"A few days. You're innocent, by the way."

Well, that'll be the story, I take it. The locals will almost certainly have been watching the trial very closely.

She actually looks offended. "I'm not. Dru-Zod and I planned-."

"No. You didn't. Am I clear?"

She'll play her part, even if it has to be a direct order.

This time she actually thinks. "Yes, Sub-Commander."

"Good. As far as anyone knows, you're on the way to the Dominion now. The Dominion know you aren't, but they're not going to tell anyone."

Even if they started screaming it to the galaxy when someone came looking for her, they wouldn't be believed.

She nods slowly. "Then they're not looking for me."

"The Lanterns aren't. The Dominion might be. Which is why you can't live on the colony on Tartarath."

Hence why she's here, on a world very friendly to kryptonians.

"You're right. Then where?"

"I'm going to sort something out with the Lilaarn government. I lived here for years, and with Amalak calling off the hunt, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to either."

As a respected guest, I expect, being a representative of the fleet that saved them so long ago.

"Lilaarn." She thinks for a moment. "For how long?"

"For however long it takes for everyone to stop caring. There are just about enough of us on Tartarath that I'll be able to bring you there, but only when things have been built up enough and there are a few more children."

She frowns. "My child will grow up surrounded by aliens."

As long as he doesn't come out of it with a raging superiority complex, that's tolerable.

"Yeah." I shake my head. She doesn't get it. "All our children will. Tartarath isn't Krypton. This isn't a temporary thing, until we get back on our feet. Our civilization was made of a billion parts all working together and we've got maybe a dozen left. We'll build back up like our ancestors did after the vrang and after the Clone War, but we're not going to be continuing that civilization. We can't. By the time our children reach adulthood they'll have a whole new culture, and it won't be anything like what either of us grew up with."

A new Krypton for a new age, eh? If they even bother to keep that name.

"But we will do it."

I nod slowly. "Long after we're both dead, but we will." I step back from her booth, and she follows me.

And with any moderate amount of empowerment, that will be a long time coming.

"I don't remember how advanced Lilaarn is."

"Space faring. Slow F.T.L., but they're mostly colonising their own system."

But strong enough now to protect itself and protect her and her child.

"The sun?"

"Orange. I'll give you your medical reports, but you shouldn't need it. And this should go without saying, but do not take over this planet. These people actually like us. We're the ones who enabled them to build up this much. Help them, and in five or six years you can leave."

Annoying that she had to give that order, but better safe than sorry and having to deal with a Kryptonian despot.

"Yes, Sub-Commander."

"Didn't you hear? Our civilization ended. There's no military for me to be a Sub-Commander in. I'm the Governor of Tartarath, until-."

Well, until someone deposes her, she steps down, or they have enough people for proper democracy.

I was actually thinking about assembling a ruling council. Doing the Kryptonian thing. Ridiculous.

"Until I'm not. I'll give you the cultural briefing before we land."

Better to head off any potential gaffes now, definitely...

Well, she managed it. Saved Ursa and her unborn child just like she wanted to. And now they'll be sequestered in a place that will want to keep them safe to stay on the kryptonians' good side, even if that gives no benefit anytime soon. The bigger worry will be what happens when it's revealed that Ursa isn't in Dominator hands...

Duke Long · 2026-01-28T07:37:58+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Or maybe that's the point. I'm thinking about this in the sense of keeping krypton going. I wrote it off when I left… Sure, when we met up most of us admitted to listening for a recall signal, but… We knew it wasn't coming. And then when it finally exploded… I was surprised, but I'd… Stopped thinking of it as 'home' well before that.

'Krypton'

Mr Zoat said:
A channel opens as they used their own transmission systems to access our frequencies.

'use'?

Mr Zoat said:
Caught herself in the air. Okay, I'm almost impressed. Her eyes flick around and blur-speed as she takes everything in.

'at'?

Mr Zoat said:
"For however long it takes for everyone to stop caring. There are just about enough of us on Tartarath that I'll be able to bring you there, but only when things have been built up enough and there are a few more children."

We've seen that the Dominion has a very long memory… but I'm not sure if they targeted Ursa for a reason beyond opportunistic acquisition of a kryptonian test subject, so I think it'll be fine.

CrazyNoVa said:
No, the Oceanus thing only happened because someone resurrected Orm by dunking him in a lazarus pit, and then he decided that it would be a good idea to summon a pissed-off water titan. Blaming Paul for this is nonsensical. That would be like deciding to blame Batman every time The Joker commits a crime to draw his attention.

I think you're misunderstanding; I don't think Oh El is being blamed for this in the sense of having made a mistake. It's merely being pointed out that his actions led to these things happening. Maybe I'm the one misunderstanding, though.

Mr Zoat · 2026-01-28T08:35:52+0000

Chojin Patriarch said:
Because of course the expensive parts of the drive system have a built-in obsolescence feature? The manufacturers can't keep people coming back for upgrades otherwise, can they? And so what if the occasional ship blows up because of it, the lawyers can settle that.

No, parts literally wear out. The manufacturers say 'it will be find for this long, after that we suggest replacing it', but that doesn't mean that it will just stop working. They're not Canon Printers, for goodness sake. 'Time expired' means that the chance of it developing a fault is higher.

WHY ARE YOU USING COLOURED INK WHEN I'M PRINTING BLACK TEXT?!?!

Duke Long said:
'Krypton'
'use'?
'at'?

Thank you, corrected.

I think you're misunderstanding; I don't think Oh El is being blamed for this in the sense of having made a mistake. It's merely being pointed out that his actions led to these things happening. Maybe I'm the one misunderstanding, though.

Yes.

WereDragon · 2026-01-28T10:41:53+0000

Mr Zoat said:
Karsta Wor-Ul

Who would have thought that she would turn out to be one of the less xenophobic kryptonians.

I'm the Governor of Tartarath, until-."

I was actually thinking about assembling a ruling council. Doing the Kryptonian thing. Ridiculous.

"Until I'm not. I'll give you the cultural briefing before we land."

I give even odds she will be governor until she forces some other form of government down the populations throat. Nothing more permanent than a temporary solution and all that.

Ngamer11 · 2026-01-28T10:43:09+0000

WereDragon said:
Who would have thought that she would turn out to be one of the less xenophobic kryptonians.

It's to be expected seeing as she's been living with them for decades.

Signaller · 2026-01-28T16:01:41+0000

Mr Zoat said:
WHY ARE YOU USING COLOURED INK WHEN I'M PRINTING BLACK TEXT?!?!

Printer tracking dots - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mr Zoat · 2026-01-28T18:45:23+0000

Signaller said:
Printer tracking dots - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I didn't communicate my point properly. I'm not actually asking what the reason is. I'm complaining about how much money it costs the customer to no benefit to them.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-01-28T19:44:35+0000

Signaller said:
Printer tracking dots - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Mr Zoat said:
I didn't communicate my point properly. I'm not actually asking what the reason is. I'm complaining about how much money it costs the customer to no benefit to them.

What the hell did I just walk into?

Why is everyone talking about printers?

Silveraith · 2026-01-28T20:15:33+0000

CrazyNoVa said:
What the hell did I just walk into?

Why is everyone talking about printers?

Printers are the new hot commodity. Didn't you know that you can now get an HP subscription on a printer. You won't own the printer but it'll do what you need to. Up to 20 pages a month.

CrazyNoVa · 2026-01-28T21:06:50+0000

Silveraith said:
Printers are the new hot commodity. Didn't you know that you can now get an HP subscription on a printer. You won't own the printer but it'll do what you need to. Up to 20 pages a month.

That sounds like a load of garbage to me.

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

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