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

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-09-25T06:45:24+0100

Mr Zoat said:
26th July 2013
17:33 GMT

I try not to let it show on my face as my ring reports that Cara Yat is indeed experiencing full kryptonian power, despite her ship only just passing through the Oort Cloud. She's frowning like she's trying to work out why I'm here. Her ship's meeting room looks… Old? Faded? I can see dust in a few places, but in a sealed environment like a starship there's only so much dust too pile up. They might not have even thrown dust sheets on things before mothballing it as 'forbidden technology'.

I mean, Daxamites did show they could reproduce yellow sun radiation under combat conditions (a 'solar flare' device, I believe?) That or even a tiny amount of solar wind through the ship's hull is enough to charge them up...

Mrs. Yat's eyes widen slightly. "It was you. You're the one who abducted my son."

I smile faintly. I'm going to try and avoid openly provoking her, because I know that Diana's either going to watch this later or is watching it right now, but keeping my face completely blank would probably be worse. Likewise, even though I could cause her significant discomfort by generating ultra high or ultra low frequency sound because she can hear that and doesn't know how to ignore it yet, I don't.

That much being known to Daxam because of her husband's involvement with said 'abduction'. And yes, OL, pissing off the super-strong, very upset woman isn't going to do you any favours.

"Nearly. How is your husband and his execution squad? I didn't intend to do any permanent damage, but since you're here I should probably ask."

"They have recovered." She turns to Arisia. "Why hasn't he been arrested?"

Yes, that would be an interesting complication. Arresting the Illustres of a moderately-friendly Lantern Corps.

"Well, that's-. That's because we only just found out that he-." Her eyes flick in my direction. "He's been accused of kidnapping."

"Do you think I'm hiding my son?"

I would hope that Daxamite law at least includes the same sort of 'Innocent until proven guilty' clause that most Earth law provides.

"To be clear: no. I know precisely where Lantern Yat-"

"Lantern!?"

Yes, Sodam's not sitting around doing nothing. I wonder if that's what Cara was assuming...

"-is at the moment. This issue is the implication that I forced him to leave. I didn't. I gave him the option to leave and he took it. And he's been free to return ever since."

Her face hardens. "He's a child. Even if I believed you -which I don't- that doesn't justify what you did!"

...And threatening to kill a friend of his was justified? The likely memory-editing he would have been given afterwards if he'd stayed?

I nod, clenching my left fist and bringing it to my mouth. "Illustres to Wonder Woman. Could we please borrow your lasso? I feel it would speed things up."

"What lasso?"

Ah, right. Daxam isn't exactly in the habit of bothering to learn about alien things. Certainly not Earth Bullshit™.

I lower my fist, laying my hand flat on the table. "Wonder Woman's lasso compels honesty in those touching it. You and I don't trust each other and have no reason to believe that the other is being honest. Having the lasso would bypass trust issues. I feel our conversation will be more productive if we can't lie and know that the other can't either."

And if she doesn't believe it at first, they can demonstrate by having her answer a few innocuous 'blatant lies'-type questions.

She frowns the frown of someone who has yet to encounter 'Earth nonsense', and finds herself looking to Arisia for confirmation.

Arisia nods. "It really works. But I don't think that assuming that the other person is lying is going to.. help."

Definitely putting the discussion on the wrong foot from the start.

I just shrug, watching to see if Mrs. Yat is going to comment.

"Why isn't my son here?"

"Because I thought that giving him a few hours to calm down would be a good idea."

And sadly, I don't think he's overly excitedly happy to see her.

She snorts, scowling. "I don't believe for a moment than Sodam is afraid of me."

"No, that wasn't what I meant. Afraid of being taken away from the life he's made which he really likes. You being here in particular didn't appear to be a factor. Did you husband relay to you how our encounter went?"

Or was it skewed much more in the line of 'damn aliens ganged up on us and hauled our boy off!'

"Yes."

I turn to Arisia. "Would you like to see my recording? I feel that you may find it informative."

It has the advantage of being fairly accurate. I would assume Ring recordings aren't impossible to edit, but doing so would leave traces another Ring could identify.

"I…" Her eyes move from me to Mrs. Yat. "I think we're skipping a few stages. Cara, what do you want to get out of this meeting?"

"My son, on this ship, returning to Daxam."

May as well wish for Daxam's sun to be yellow. It's about as likely.

"O-kay. And… Just 'for instance'… What if he doesn't want to go back?"

She shakes her head. "Irrelevant. Our civilisation exists to keep us safe from the corruption of the rest of the universe. He's a child. It's best for him, it's best for all of us."

And there's some of that cultural bias on full display.

"And… Um, for how long?"

"What?"

"I know kryptonian men could go through their rite of passage-."

How distinctly 'Science Guild'-ish. Would a Military Guild version involve overcoming Savagery through Discipline?

Not that either was really a thing when that was written, I bet.

"We abandoned that tradition. It was an insult to the idea of the virtue of physical labour. Of dealing with people directly rather than with machines and telescreens. He would be recognised as an adult when he can do the work of an adult."

"Ah. Well, you'll be pleased to know that the surviving kryptonians have abandoned that part of their culture as well."

Mostly in favour of human cultural equivalents. And Sodam can easily do adult work if he wanted to, killing involved or not. That they aren't making him do it is a sign in the Corps' favour.

"I don't care about them at all."

"I just thought that you might be concerned about how Lantern Yat was being raised and wanted to put your mind at ease."

Oh, she has concerns all right. But it probably runs more...

"You have no right-" Her hands clamp down on her side of the table and squeeze the metal between them. "-to raise my son at all!"

"Good news, then: I'm not. Lantern Coutara is. And her daughter, Lantern Taranna. According to his teachers he's doing well in school, despite the primitive standard of his education before he escaped Daxam. I understand if you-"

...As I expected, she's probably pissed about them introducing him to 'foreign' concepts like, say, personal freedoms. And cooperation with other species.

Crunch!

"-would-."

The table has been broken in half where Mrs. Yat hit it. She's.. not attacking me, though. Instead she's sort of blinking in confusion at the table and her own right hand.

Probably surprised herself with that. She's certainly not trained in the safe use of her Yellow-sun-enhanced abilities.

"Yes, that takes a little getting used to, doesn't it? Would you.. like me to put it back together?"

She hesitates for a moment, then gives me a small and awkward nod. A wave of orange and the table is back in one piece.

See, Aliens are quite helpful if you don't act like a total fanatic about it.

"We do have a kryptonian on Earth who only arrived a month ago. If you want help growing accustomed to your strength-."

She overcomes her surprise, face hardening. "I won't be here for long enough for it to be worthwhile."

Ah, see, that is a hasty assumption.

"No? Because that's actually a solution. I don't have any objection to you talking to Lantern Yat, and I admit that we haven't had him doing 'adult work', so he's still a child by that definition. There's no force that could force him to go back to Daxam so that's not happening, but you're free to stick around if you want to involve yourself in his life."

It would mean him not being involved in Daxamite life, though, which is probably unacceptable.

"Absolutely not."

"Would you accept him basing himself on Daxam while commuting? Until he becomes a full adult at least."

Oh, yes, I can see that working well. First night he goes to sleep, they'll have his Ring off and him mind-wiped...

"Only if you removed his ring."

"He can hardly commute with no ring."

And to paraphrase, 'You'll have his Ring when you pry it from his cold-dead hand'.

"Um." Arisia leans forward. "I think… I should see what happened when you recruited him?"

"Certainly." I connect my ring to the holoprojector. "I hope that you find it illuminating."

God, that was a while back, wasn't it?

Somehow, I doubt Cara will accept the recording as legitimate. Especially if it counters her husband's story. Still, better that it be shared, especially as it shows the Daxamites' xenophobic behaviour. Demonstrating that they wouldn't be likely to treat Sodam kindly if he returned would definitely be a good angle for his defence.

GigaVanguard · 2025-09-25T06:47:35+0100

Z000 said:
7/8 years ago

AHHHHHH

turn to dust

And that's closer to the end of the SV period than the beginning, I think. Zoat got kicked off SB for… I think it was an argument about Star Wars somewhere around 2014? May not have that right

Vaermina · 2025-09-25T06:51:44+0100

Mr Zoat said:
26th July 2013
17:33 GMT

You know... Technically speaking giving a child an Orange Lantern ring is both brainwashing and abusing them because of the corruptive effects of the Orange Light.

Agumentic · 2025-09-25T07:27:19+0100

GigaVanguard said:
And that's closer to the end of the SV period than the beginning, I think. Zoat got kicked off SB for… I think it was an argument about Star Wars somewhere around 2014? May not have that right

Force Awakens spoilers or "spoilers" in the very last days of 2015.

NightmareWarden · 2025-09-25T07:32:13+0100

Mr Zoat said:
I look around for Lantern Taranna, and… She and Kara are painting each other's nails next door, while Bleez is trying to find a film she likes. Ah, how wholesome.

Kara definitely isn't looking for a boyfriend or husband right now. But she could still give Taranna some advice, and experience some giddiness second-hand. And provide a helpful ear if Taranna's wary of the guy Paragon-Paul is gonna introduce.

Was the prophecy we're talking about in the Book of Oa? I'm not asking if the conversation was read from the book, just if it is in the book, and has likely influenced how the Guardians have watched Paul over the years.

Additionally, I wonder if the Guardian that Highfather is going to restore is going to wind up bridging the Green and Orange, after some time to recover. Basically provide a link between the factions that allows the prophecy to happen, or begin to happen, in some convoluted fashion. It is ALSO possible that Destiny of the Endless has some connection to the Book of Oa, and the prophecy written there has changed since Destiny visited and received files from Paul. That'd be a fun consequence of Paul meeting another of the Endless.

xSieg · 2025-09-25T07:38:11+0100

Mr Zoat said:
There's no force that could force him to go back to Daxam so that's not happening, but you're free to stick around if you want to involve yourself in his life.

It's over. Paul's already treating her like a Supergirl to collect on his planet just because her name's Cara and she's a kryptonian.

Not that I'd mind! Psycho racist not-Cara would make a fine addition to his collection.

BR549 · 2025-09-25T07:53:31+0100

Steelplaza said:
Hilarious thoughts:

1. The SI has two of those four working for him.

I mean, he also has at least one Weaponer on quasi-friendly-by-Weaponer-standards ("I will destroy you second to last, just before myself") with him, too!

GigaVanguard said:
And that's closer to the end of the SV period than the beginning, I think. Zoat got kicked off SB for… I think it was an argument about Star Wars somewhere around 2014? May not have that right

Agumentic said:
Force Awakens spoilers or "spoilers" in the very last days of 2015.

Specifically observing, as I recall, that the Millenium Falcon was in the movie.

The Falcon that was, y'know, on the movie poster.

Nervaqus987 · 2025-09-25T08:28:28+0100

BR549 said:
I mean, he also has at least one Weaponer on quasi-friendly-by-Weaponer-standards ("I will destroy you second to last, just before myself") with him, too!

That would be part of the two he has.

OL has (a) Weaponer and Ranx in his corps, plus Sodam Yat who is by prophecy supposed to be the ultimate Green Lantern.*

The Empire of Tears was destroyed and the ones left are the Five Inversions, aka Atrocitus and his homies currently imprisoned on Ysmult until he taps the Red Light and beats rest to death. The Children of the White Lobe meanwhile haven't gotten a whole lot of mention in the comics or this fic.

The Lobespawn are occasionally described as "mutants" and are a fanatical religious organization perfectly happy to use terrorism to get what they want and to die to see it through. They've got "psychokinetic" abilities strong enough to fight and kill Green Lanterns and there's one or two mentions that their powers are Will based.

*Sodam in comics is a Daxamite, a Green Lantern, and a host of Ion.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-25T08:37:25+0100

BR549 said:
Specifically observing, as I recall, that the Millenium Falcon was in the movie.

The Falcon that was, y'know, on the movie poster.

No, it wasn't that. It was that there were rebels in the film.

boo600 · 2025-09-25T09:10:35+0100

Well. At the very least, Mrs. Yat doesn't seem to believe her son would be terrified of her - not that delusional abusers aren't a thing, but it means less planned malice and a bit of distance for me. More importantly, Arisia is - for whatever reason - much less interested in making assumptions. (Perhaps she feels out of her depth, and thus feels obligated to actually find out what's going on? As opposed to 'fuck, Paul's causing us trouble again, let's get him!')

BR549 · 2025-09-25T10:03:06+0100

boo600 said:
More importantly, Arisia is - for whatever reason - much less interested in making assumptions. (Perhaps she feels out of her depth, and thus feels obligated to actually find out what's going on? As opposed to 'fuck, Paul's causing us trouble again, let's get him!')

To be fair, when it comes to Things Not Involving The Personal Space Of Hal Jordan, Arisia is a very good Lantern.

WereDragon · 2025-09-25T10:50:52+0100

boo600 said:
Well. At the very least, Mrs. Yat doesn't seem to believe her son would be terrified of her - not that delusional abusers aren't a thing, but it means less planned malice and a bit of distance for me. More importantly, Arisia is - for whatever reason - much less interested in making assumptions. (Perhaps she feels out of her depth, and thus feels obligated to actually find out what's going on? As opposed to 'fuck, Paul's causing us trouble again, let's get him!')

To Clark and Diana Paul is 'the kid we used to mentor'.
To Arisia Paul is 'a mystic super-lantern and high ranking leader of a galactic paramilitary'.

She is also fully aware that her opinion on this matter has little to no bearing on what Paul will do. She is there as a glorified witness, not to enforce a ruling as Mrs. Yat believes.

BartlettMagic · 2025-09-25T11:52:28+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Certainly." I connect my ring to the holoprojector. "I hope that you find it illuminating."

thank you for this reference. it warms the cockles of my heart to see Ranx so happy.

xSieg said:
It's over. Paul's already treating her like a Supergirl to collect on his planet just because her name's Cara and she's a kryptonian.

Not that I'd mind! Psycho racist not-Cara would make a fine addition to his collection.

oof i didn't even think of it that way but now... that doesn't work for me, brother

Chaoswind · 2025-09-25T11:57:16+0100

I wonder if Lantern Jordan is doing some arithmetic in his head in regards to the current situation and the prophecy of the destruction of the green lantern corps.

Jordan: So lantern Sodam Yat gets dragged back home to live as an Amish and his Will grows from the experience and he eventually gets a green ring from his sector, he becomes the greatest green lantern, but we somehow end in a war that ends up with us being hunted down... Or Sodam stays as an orange lantern then a future corps collaboration ends up with him dual wielding orange and green hence he becomes the greatest green lantern that ultimately falls to our enemies?

Jordan already knows dual wielding power rings is possible and he has the reports of Paul using other colors.

Darko · 2025-09-25T12:58:20+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Absolutely not."
"Would you accept him basing himself on Daxam while commuting? Until he becomes a full adult at least."

Add a space between the two.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-25T13:11:06+0100

Darko said:
Add a space between the two.

Thank you, corrected.

Steelplaza · 2025-09-25T13:11:58+0100

How old is Sodam, anyway? I read the link to his first appearance, and even there when OL asks him old he is he just says "old enough". There have been a lot of references to Sodam as a child and a youth, etc., but it's unclear to me if he's 10, 12, 14 or what. Even in just an approximate sense.

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-25T13:16:20+0100

Steelplaza said:
How old is Sodam, anyway? I read the link to his first appearance, and even there when OL asks him old he is he just says "old enough". There have been a lot of references to Sodam as a child and a youth, etc., but it's unclear to me if he's 10, 12, 14 or what. Even in just an approximate sense.

Yes, one of those.

I'd assume that he's about 14 now, but that's not a hard number.

CrazyNoVa · 2025-09-25T13:31:19+0100

Vaermina said:
You know... Technically speaking giving a child an Orange Lantern ring is both brainwashing and abusing them because of the corruptive effects of the Orange Light.

Not in this universe, it isn't. The recruits who actually go crazy are vastly in the minority, and even if they recover from that, their rings are taken away permanently.

Also, no offense, but you're a little late on complaining about child abuse, considering that this is an SI story about a show essentially featuring children doing black ops work and being sent by adults to fight superpowered psychopaths and terrorists.

Chaoswind said:
I wonder if Lantern Jordan is doing some arithmetic in his head in regards to the current situation and the prophecy of the destruction of the green lantern corps.

Jordan: So lantern Sodam Yat gets dragged back home to live as an Amish and his Will grows from the experience and he eventually gets a green ring from his sector, he becomes the greatest green lantern, but we somehow end in a war that ends up with us being hunted down... Or Sodam stays as an orange lantern then a future corps collaboration ends up with him dual wielding orange and green hence he becomes the greatest green lantern that ultimately falls to our enemies?

Jordan already knows dual wielding power rings is possible and he has the reports of Paul using other colors.

Do you think Hal learned from Paul and used his ring to upgrade his own brain to turn himself into some kind of genius chessmaster mastermind?

Because not gonna lie, Magnificent Bastard Hal Jordan would be unexpectedly awesome.

Someguy Somewhere · 2025-09-25T13:43:37+0100

For the local archive entry for that flasback

Mr Zoat · 2025-09-26T06:15:20+0100

26th July 2013
17:40 GMT

The recording stops, and Arisia nods slowly.

"Cara Yat, do you..? Dispute the accuracy of-?"

"It is probably accurate."

"Why did Mister Yat try and kill Mister Tessog? Or.. Orange Lantern?"

"Because they were on Daxam."

I briefly consider shouting 'neat!' and generating a nuclear bomb construct, but think better of it. I mean, the only person it would hurt would be Arisia, and wrecking the ship would slow the daxamites leaving.

Arisia looks stern. "Killing someone who crash landed on your planet is completely immoral. At most you could have detained him until his government sent someone to collect him."

"The very first daxamites put up warning beacons and orbital defences precisely to ensure that no one visited us! The only reason anyone could have to ignore them is theft or spying."

"Or they crashed. Did your husband check the crash site? Did you find evidence-?"

"What other reason is there? Have other worlds in the region forgotten that we do not wish to be disturbed?"

Arisia looks away for a moment, her eyes glowing. "No, but worlds further away like the one Mister Tessog came from don't always know."

"It was a military spacecraft."

"I could accept that Orange Lantern appearing like that could look like an attack, but Mister Tessog was clearly injured and standing next to what was obviously a crashed ship. Did he attack anything on Daxam before he crashed?"

Mrs. Yat doesn't answer, looking away awkwardly.

"Did he attack anyone on Daxam?"

"… No."

Arisia's face hardens slightly. I think she's trying to look tough, but she doesn't really have the physiology for it.

"You can't expect everyone else to treat you according to the normal rules of interstellar society when you don't follow them yourself." She huffs. "Orange Lantern."

"Lantern Rrab."

"Why did you give Sodam Yat a power ring?"

"Because he was qualified and he wanted it. Tell me, do your people consider you an adult? I never thought to ask."

"Just about. But I had more of an idea about what I was getting into."

I flick my left hand in her direction, a copy of Lantern Yat's service history flying over to her ring.

"I assure you that Lantern Yat was given plenty of time to accustom himself to his new abilities before being given anything to do, much less being sent somewhere that might see combat. Unlike you."

"I-." I get a mild glare as she reviews the file. "We're getting off-topic."

"Sorry. But… Look. Different civilisations consider people to be capable of making decisions for themselves at different ages. As far as Maltus is concerned, Lantern Yat can make his own decisions. We would have absolutely no objection to him returning to Daxam if he wanted to, but he doesn't. So far as I'm concerned, Missus Yat is placing her desire for social conformity ahead of the needs of her son, which isn't something I can respect."

"So there's no way that you'd send Lantern Yat to Daxam?"

"Well, if the Reach stopped existing tomorrow I suppose I could assign him as the Sector Lantern, but it would still be up to him how much time he spent on the planet. I could mind control him into wanting to go home, but-" I chuckle to myself. "-I'm not going to do that."

Arisia turns to Mrs. Yat. "Is there any reason other than cultural contamination that you want Sodam Yat to return to Daxam?"

"These.. people you're fighting… The Reach?" I nod. "Are they so honourable that they always leave everyone who isn't a soldier alone? Especially the ones who have your power rings?"

"No. Which is why adult Lanterns and LEGION ships were always on hand. There's no such thing as a guarantee of safety, but it's as close as most places get."

"Is it more dangerous than Daxam?"

"I don't know enough about Daxam to say. Would you object to me visiting to learn more about the place?"

"Yes."

I shrug theatrically. "I came here because I thought we were negotiating. It's difficult to negotiate with someone who won't offer anything. Not that I really need to because… I've got everything I want, and everyone under my command has everything they want. If you won't move at all, then other than a wellness check… I guess you're going home disappointed."

"What..?" Arisia smiles the smile of someone who can see that negotiations are about to collapse. "About..? If one of your Sector's Green Lanterns visited Daxam?"

"No."

"We do have protocols for-."

"No."

"How about if they temporarily gave a daxamite a green ring and had them do the report? If your culture's so great shouldn't everyone know about it?"

Arisia doesn't look comfortable with that suggestion. "Ah…"

"We don't use alien technology."

"Except for the fact that the entire kryptonian technology base started with the Vrang. Let's not get precious here. The only way for you to advance your position is to accept a member of your species temporarily accepting a tiny alien device, which they can give up after a day or two."

"We do not use alien technology."

"Fine! Then I guess we're done. I'll escort you to the meeting with Lantern Yat in… Ten hours, and then you can get out of my home system."

Arisia's eyes widen slightly. "Wait-."

"Thank you for trying, Lantern Rrab."

I

step out, aiming for

Roy, appearing next to him inside his ship. "Boo."

He sticks his head out from under a console. "How'd it go?"

"She wasn't prepared to make any concessions, so she got nothing. Any idea how they got here, or how they knew how 'here' is?"

"No."

"Does this thing have a cloaking system?"

"No..?"

"Do you want it to?"

Roy smiles.

Ngamer11 · 2025-09-26T06:21:39+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Arisia's face hardens slightly. I think he's trying to look tough, but she doesn't really have the physiology for it.

That should say 'she's'.

That honestly went better than I expected. Though I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop on this, as if the Daxamites won't do anything unwise, whoever told them where Sodam Yat is probably will.

Khettien · 2025-09-26T06:27:12+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Let's not get precious here.

Is this just a colloquialism I haven't been exposed to? I can infer the meaning from context, but I've never seen this use of the word precious before.

Z000 · 2025-09-26T06:31:05+0100

man, the Daxam are just intolerable to everything aren't they

TFTwink · 2025-09-26T06:39:30+0100

Khettien said:
Is this just a colloquialism I haven't been exposed to? I can infer the meaning from context, but I've never seen this use of the word precious before.

It's a rare phrase, mostly used (in my experience) in the phrase 'that's so precious' as another way to indicate cuteness or naïveté. It's the first time I've heard a male character use it though.

SpiritualSlacker · 2025-09-26T06:53:27+0100

Khettien said:
Is this just a colloquialism I haven't been exposed to? I can infer the meaning from context, but I've never seen this use of the word precious before.

TFTwink said:
It's a rare phrase, mostly used (in my experience) in the phrase 'that's so precious' as another way to indicate cuteness or naïveté. It's the first time I've heard a male character use it though.

It's maybe a bit of a britishism, but not so rare that I haven't seen it a couple times. It basically means "Let's not get too focused on the meaningless details", or near enough. Twink's interpretation is close enough to work, I think.

Chojin Patriarch · 2025-09-26T06:58:12+0100

Mr Zoat said:
26th July 2013
17:40 GMT

The recording stops, and Arisia nods slowly.

"Cara Yat, do you..? Dispute the accuracy of-?"

"It is probably accurate."

Well, a gracious concession, given it puts her entire side of the argument in a bad light. At least she didn't try to argue that it was doctored to do so, or claim it was outright fabricated.

"Why did Mister Yat try and kill Mister Tessog? Or.. Orange Lantern?"

"Because they were on Daxam."

No, that's merely where they were. Unless their entire existence is such an affront... Oh, wait, militant xenophobic isolationism.

I briefly consider shouting 'neat!' and generating a nuclear bomb construct, but think better of it. I mean, the only person it would hurt would be Arisia, and wrecking the ship would slow the daxamites leaving.

Arisia looks stern. "Killing someone who crash landed on your planet is completely immoral. At most you could have detained him until his government sent someone to collect him."

Could have, didn't want to. Which says so much about them, really.

"The very first daxamites put up warning beacons and orbital defences precisely to ensure that no one visited us! The only reason anyone could have to ignore them is theft or spying."

"Or they crashed. Did your husband check the crash site? Did you find evidence-?"

Honestly, they're lucky he wasn't in FTL when his ship went wobbly. That would have made a lot larger mess. And that must have been a lot of beacons, given a solar system is a big thing. Otherwise, you might fly right past them without even noticing the 'random space junk'.

"What other reason is there? Have other worlds in the region forgotten that we do not wish to be disturbed?"

Arisia looks away for a moment, her eyes glowing. "No, but worlds further away like the one Mister Tessog came from don't always know."

Also, do the beacons broadcast in their language or some universal visual standard? Because beacons no-one can understand are kind of worthless.

"It was a military spacecraft."

"I could accept that Orange Lantern appearing like that could look like an attack, but Mister Tessog was clearly injured and standing next to what was obviously a crashed ship. Did he attack anything on Daxam before he crashed?"

Besides the atmosphere, with the hull of his ship. I mean, I could see them claiming that, like someone moaning about 'your face broke my hand!'

Mrs. Yat doesn't answer, looking away awkwardly.

"Did he attack anyone on Daxam?"

"… No."

I get the feeling it's not just the fact she's having to justify anything to aliens, but dealing with ones that are teenagers. At least in her perception...

Arisia's face hardens slightly. I think he's trying to look tough, but she doesn't really have the physiology for it.

"You can't expect everyone else to treat you according to the normal rules of interstellar society when you don't follow them yourself." She huffs. "Orange Lantern."

Yeah, she's at that age where an angry face either looks cute or like she's exaggerating for comedic effect.

"Lantern Rrab."

"Why did you give Sodam Yat a power ring?"

Ah, that is a good question from her perspective.

"Because he was qualified and he wanted it. Tell me, do your people consider you an adult? I never thought to ask."

"Just about. But I had more of an idea about what I was getting in to."

Right, her entire family have a long history of selection for Green Lantern-hood.

I flick my left hand in her direction, a copy of Lantern Yat's service history flying over to her ring.

"I assure you that Lantern Yat was given plenty of time to accustom himself to his new abilities before being given anything to do, much less being sent somewhere that might see combat. Unlike you."

"I-." I get a mild glare as she reviews the file. "We're getting off-topic."

Yeah, let's not antagonise the arbitrator, OL. you kind of want her on your side, facts or no facts.

"Sorry. But… Look. Different civilisations consider people to be capable of making decisions for themselves at different ages. As far as Maltus is concerned, Lantern Yat can make his own decisions. We would have absolutely no objection to him returning to Daxam if he wanted to, but he doesn't. So far as I'm concerned, Missus Yat is placing her desire for social conformity ahead of the needs of her son, which isn't something I can respect."

And he doesn't even need to look deeper to know that. Though there's something bigger going on. How else could she have known to come here?

"So there's no way that you'd send Lantern Yat to Daxam?"

"Well, if the Reach stopped existing tomorrow I suppose I could assign him as the Sector Lantern, but it would still be up to him how much time he spent on the planet. I could mind control him into wanting to go home, but-" I chuckle to myself. "-I'm not going to do that."

And honestly, if he were less Moral, he could have just zapped Cara to want to give it up and go home the second he saw her. It would have made things a lot simpler.

Arisia turns to Mrs. Yat. "Is there any reason other than cultural contamination that you want Sodam Yat to return to Daxam?"

"These.. people you're fighting… The Reach?" I nod. "Are they so honourable that they always leave everyone who isn't a soldier alone? Especially the ones who have your power rings?"

...Eh, no. But they would find Sodam a hard target to kill, between the Ring and innate powers. If he even got into that situation in the first place.

"No. Which is why adult Lanterns and LEGION ships were always on hand. There's no such thing as a guarantee of safety, but it's as close as most places get."

"Is it more dangerous than Daxam?"

Anywhere is dangerous. Especially a place with such a poisonous doctrine...

"I don't know enough about Daxam to say. Would you object to me visiting to learn more about the place?"

"Yes."

They can't just take your word that everything's tickety-boo, you know. Neutral observers would be best. A Greenie or something...

I shrug theatrically. "I came here because I thought we were negotiating. It's difficult to negotiate with someone who won't offer anything. Not that I really need to because… I've got everything I want, and everyone under my command has everything they want. If you won't move at all, then other than a wellness check… I guess you're going home disappointed."

And it'll be because of her own stubbornness.

"What..?" Arisia smiles the smile of someone who can see that negotiations are about to collapse. "About..? If one of your Sector's Green Lanterns visited Daxam?"

"No."

Still the same issue. An alien visiting her precious homeworld? Unfortunately...

"We do have protocols for-."

"No."

"How about if they temporarily gave a daxamite a green ring and had them do the report? If your culture's so great shouldn't everyone know about it?"

...I doubt that would be any kind of impartial showcase.

Arisia doesn't look comfortable with that suggestion. "Ah…"

"We don't use alien technology."

Well, until you guys can develop a Power Ring of your own... Those with better tech kind of have you beat there.

"Except for the fact that the entire kryptonian technology base started with the Vrang. Let's not get precious here. The only way for you to advance your position is to accept a member of your species temporarily accepting a tiny alien device, which they can give up after a day or two."

"We do not use alien technology."

Cultural contamination is their biggest fear, huh? Even something as simple as a Power Ring... Man, I shudder to imagine how they'd have reacted in about half a decade when a Green Power Ring came for Sodam anyway...

"Fine! Then I guess we're done. I'll escort you to the meeting with Lantern Yat in… Ten hours, and then you can get out of my home system."

Arisia's eyes widen slightly. "Wait-."

Don't worry, kiddo. These two weren't going to end this in any way either of them would be happy with.

"Thank you for trying, Lantern Rrab."

I

...Still, that's probably going to be an embarrassing mark on her record. Even factoring in her youth.

step out, aiming for

Roy, appearing next to him inside his ship. "Boo."

He sticks his head out from under a console. "How'd it go?"

Take a wild guess.

"She wasn't prepared to make any concessions, so she got nothing. Any idea how they got here, or how they knew how 'here' is?"

"No."

Sounds like it's time for OL to do some creative investigation.

"Does this thing have a cloaking system?"

"No..?"

Surprising. But then, it is a stylishly designed luxury craft. Stealth was probably not a concept its maker ever envisaged.

"Do you want it to?"

Roy smiles.

No need to even answer that question.

Went about as well as expected, eh? I can't help but feel she expected them to go 'Oh, Daxam? Right this way, your honour, let us cater to your every wish!' Sadly, Daxam is a very small fish in a vast ocean, and even having Kryptonian tech isn't much of a point of interest. So, then, what is she going to do now, I wonder? Something foolish, or is she actually going to be rational about this?

Thundersmight94 · 2025-09-26T07:19:05+0100

Couldn't Paul have peeked into Mrs. Yat's desires to get a better understanding of how to move the conversation?

Silverias · 2025-09-26T07:23:29+0100

Khettien said:
Is this just a colloquialism I haven't been exposed to? I can infer the meaning from context, but I've never seen this use of the word precious before.

Yes, it is used in a few situations, like calling someone squeamish or delicate.

RichardWhereat · 2025-09-26T07:51:20+0100

SpiritualSlacker said:
It's maybe a bit of a britishism, but not so rare that I haven't seen it a couple times. It basically means "Let's not get too focused on the meaningless details", or near enough. Twink's interpretation is close enough to work, I think.

We use it in Australia a bunch.

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