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

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 11:40 AM

Steelplaza said:
It's been literal years, but I think this is a lie, right? I definitely recall a Weaponeer being involved. Or did she just build the power battery? Shit, I really am having trouble remembering. There was a claim that the ring was "minimum capability" and not a very sophisticated model.

He means 'the person I contacted in order to get it', not that Sinestro literally made it himself.

CrazyNoVa · Tuesday at 4:01 PM

Z000 said:
if he beat the guy up and steal his yellow ring, he could then use it to help fight Yellow-Bat god of prep

Either that, or get a really good precog on your side.

Prep time doesn't work on a guy who can see the future, because their power is basically prep time on crack.

Ngamer11 said:
That should say 'an'.

I never considered the possibility of Sinestro trying to make his followers more like Batman. That'd be terrifying to think about.

You joke, but in the comics, Sinestro did admit that Batman would make a wonderful yellow lantern, so a yellow lantern Batman just might be what Sinestro would consider to be a model yellow lantern for his corps (after himself, of course).

Neruz · Tuesday at 4:26 PM

CrazyNoVa said:
You joke, but in the comics, Sinestro did admit that Batman would make a wonderful yellow lantern, so a yellow lantern Batman just might be what Sinestro would consider to be a model yellow lantern for his corps (after himself, of course).

IIRC in the comics there has a few times that Batman got a yellow ring, and it actually goes poorly because Batman's willpower is by far his strongest feature.

For example; in Forever Evil #4, Batman used a yellow ring out of desperation, struggled to form solid constructs, and ultimately discarded it, noting it is "not my style".

Paul had to literally alter Batman's brain to make him compatible with the yellow ring, after all.

Jankl · Tuesday at 4:52 PM

Neruz said:
Paul had to literally alter Batman's brain to make him compatible with the yellow ring, after all.

Sure but in this story it was noted that Batman used to be compatible before his change in mindset. Paul altering his brain was just to speed up the process of taking up that old mindset again.

CrazyNoVa · Tuesday at 5:51 PM

Neruz said:
IIRC in the comics there has a few times that Batman got a yellow ring, and it actually goes poorly because Batman's willpower is by far his strongest feature.

For example; in Forever Evil #4, Batman used a yellow ring out of desperation, struggled to form solid constructs, and ultimately discarded it, noting it is "not my style".

Paul had to literally alter Batman's brain to make him compatible with the yellow ring, after all.

That's not what happened in Forever Evil. Batman tried to fight Power Ring and lost, and Sinestro had to save him. After this, in that same story, Sinestro then told Batman that if he ever learned how to use the yellow ring, he would make a wonderful yellow lantern.

Neruz · Tuesday at 6:18 PM

CrazyNoVa said:
That's not what happened in Forever Evil. Batmam tried to fight Power Ring and lost, and Sinestro had to save him. After this, in that same story, Sinestro then told Batman that if he ever learned to use the yellow ring, he would make a wonderful yellow lantern.

Huh, must have got my storylines mixed up.

Mr Zoat · Tuesday at 6:36 PM

The first time a yellow ring finds its way to Batman, it rejects him due to sensing green energy in his body. Otherwise he was a straight-up superior choice to Jonathan Crane.

NightmareWarden · Tuesday at 10:02 PM

Mr Zoat said:
"How is the new guy worse than Mongul?"

"Mongul was violent, prideful, vain and callous. But he had ambitions to rule more than one world, and to do that he needed skilled labourers, fighters, scientists… All the parts of a complex civilisation. The Arkymandryte decreed that we have developed our civilisation contrary to the will of the gods. His fanatical followers targetted the most educated first, aiming to destroy all knowledge that has been earned since the death of our last prophet. By his command, we have torn our civilisation down and flagellated ourselves for our moral failings in not doing so sooner."

(skip)

"I made a better harness for my family's farm animals, to make it easier for them to plough the soil. Such a thing did not exist in the Godly Days, and so I was punished."

Narran, the alien from Mongul's world, is being played here. Paul gave his soul a quick look to determine if he is an avaricious sort, but he didn't do a deep dive. I think Paul's wrapped up in a Batman plot. He MIGHT not be the target. But look at the scenario here on Debstam Four with its new warlord.

That's Paul-bait.

It's possible this detail, the world we are going to, is pulled from the comics. But look at where the biggest source of info came from. I smell something.

BR549 · 2026-10-28T04:29:59+0000

NightmareWarden said:
It's possible this detail, the world we are going to, is pulled from the comics.

It is. "They overthrew Mongul, and that is widely considered a bad move." was a comics plot.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Oh, yes, that would be awkward. 'She's from... Canada.'

"But isn't she a little-"

"Marvel Canada."

"Ah."

Mr Zoat · 2026-10-28T06:17:58+0000

16th October 2013
17:11 G.M.T.

Jordan appears next to us, frowning.

"Problem?"

"Yeah." I'm mildly pleased to see him armour up as he nods. "I can't get a hold of the local Sector Lanterns. Checked out the Sector House on the way here, nothing out of the ordinary."

I scan the planet below us, supposedly the homeworld of Lantern Gaart. No obvious problems that would call for Lantern intervention, and… There's the white-flag-with-green-sigil flag marking his family home.

"Is the protocol to contact his family?"

"I… Look, I wanted to go after Sinestro without Salaak looking over my shoulder, but if two Sector Lanterns are out of contact-."

I raise my hands. "You're right. You're right. Call it in."

He nods, and raises his right hand to his face. "Honor Guard Lantern Hal Jordan to Lantern Salaak."

I smile as he omits Salaak's full title.

"I'm in Sector Two Eight One One and the Sector Lanterns aren't responding."

No face appears…

"Problem?"

"Sure looks like it." He stares at his ring like it's personally betrayed him, then turns to me. "Not that I can do maintenance on these things any more than Batman can. Could be overdue for its million year service."

Jade's face appears over my ring.

"I just got off the comms to Lantern Gaart's wife. He hasn't been home in a month."

Jordan nods. "That's not-. Necessarily unusual, but I am getting a little more worried. She say what he was doing?"

"His last message had him in the Cygnus system. Which is-."

Jordan's already turning away. "Where the parademon training world is. If they're gotten in over their heads…"

I grab Jade's ship with a construct and plot the course. "Let's go."

Space bends, and with a little finessing I manage to synchronise my warp corridor with Jordan's. "Do the Apokoliptians often cause them trouble?"

"No. Never. They keep an eye out, but all they really do is kill each other. They don't even give them ships."

"Anything else going on in this Sector?"

"No, it's been pretty peaceful since-"

We drop out of warp and that's a lot of ships!

"-Mongul left. Who-?"

"Ships are broadcasting Dread Horde identification codes."

"Mongul." Ships on the outer part of the formation begin pulling away from their position and heading towards us. "What are they doing?"

I generate railgun constructs and load crumbler rounds. Those worked well enough last time I fought Mongul's ships. I also let go of Jade's ship, and I see her pilot it away for a moment before she engages the stealth system.

"Scans are inconclusive. Either mining or testing their ground strike capacity."

I see Jordan's hands clench. "Look on the bright side. If he was dead, his ring's seeker protocol would have directed it to a new bearer."

"Yeah, but everyone who fights us knows that. You'd be surprised what you can live through."

"Alright, other bright side. I'm not seeing Sinestro."

"That's more of a downside. Your girlfriend gunna be okay?"

"This isn't her first fleet engagement. And space is a thaumically isolated environment. If she dies here, it shouldn't be that hard to transfer her soul into a new body."

"Right, I forgot who I was talking to, there." He looks across the void towards the largest starship. Dreadnought class, but not Warworld itself. "This is Honor Guard Lantern Harold Jordan to whoever's in command of the Dread Horde fleet. Leave this system immediately, or be destroyed."

"This is Mongul the Second. Do not dare disappoint me."

Jordan looks at me, and I shrug. "Maybe he really wants to be destroyed?"

Alert! / Warning.

I transition a mile left, and Jordan forms a jetpack construct and flings himself across local space just as a spatial charge goes off behind us!

Right, was that a teleport or a spatial warp-? Teleport, okay, and jam the sensors, track the incoming… Corvette squadron… Yes, they're coming in without any evasive manoeuvring at all. Scan, empathic vision… Yes, they're not using sensor baffling or other stealth technology. Target and fire.

Teleport attempt jammed.

A… Long way away from me, another charge goes off. Too far from me to do anything-. Another goes off, and another-.

Ring, scan for residue?

None found.

Wait, none? There should be-.

I release a hydra head Construct Lantern, and send it off towards the closest blast region. Then I take a moment to observe my shots hit the corvette squadron. The first corvette loses its frontal shield from the first hit and then takes the second to its hull. The kinetic force makes it look like the ship explodes, the metal undulating and bursting in a wave away from the initial impact site.

The other four ships in the squadron-. One tries to peel off, aiming to take a more evasive course. At this range my shots will miss if they vary their approach even slightly, so it's a sound tactic-.

The other three ships shoot them, rapidly draining their shield and then battering their hull.

Ah. Mongul II's one of those commanders.

Teleport attempt jammed. Teleport attempt jammed. Alert!

I transition closer as another spatial charge goes off, and I spot the telltale ripple in the stars around me that indicate they used a spatial warping corridor to throw it at me. Optical scan of the capital ship-

Alert!

Transition left, teleport jammer, spatial stabiliser.

-shows that it has a frontal spatial charge launcher. Not what I'd expect from someone like Mongul, who was reputedly as brave as he was murderous, but alright. I-.

I wince as the hydra head returns to my ring, confirming my suspicion.

"Jordan, the spatial charges nullify constructs."

Darko · 2026-10-28T06:27:06+0000

Mr Zoat said:
I just got off the comms to Lantern Gaart's wife. He hasn't been home in a month."

Jordan nods. "That's not-. Necessarily unusual, but I am getting a little more worried. She say what he was doing?"

"His last message had him in the Cygnus system. Which is-.

Jade's second sentence should be in orange.

Mr Zoat said:
also let go of Jade's ships, and I

"ship"

Mr Zoat said:
I see Jordan's hands clench. "Look on the bright side. If he was dead, his ring's seeker protocol would have directed it to a new bearer."

"Yeah, but everyone who fights us knows that. You'd be surprised what you can live through

Not to mention the possibility that it was destroyed.

Mr Zoat said:
shots will miss it they vary their approach even

"miss if they"

Mr Zoat · 2026-10-28T06:33:16+0000

Darko said:
Jade's second sentence should be in orange.
"ship"
"miss if they"

Thank you, corrected.

NameOrdane · 2026-10-28T06:33:53+0000

Mr Zoat said:
in the starts around me

Stars

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-10-28T06:57:35+0000

Mr Zoat said:
16th October 2013
17:11 G.M.T.

Jordan appears next to us, frowning.

"Problem?"

"Yeah." I'm mildly pleased to see him armour up as he nods. "I can't get a hold of the local Sector Lanterns. Checked out the Sector House on the way here, nothing out of the ordinary."

That's concerning. Sector Lanterns usually don't drop out of contact except under very rare circumstances. Could be they're somewhere distant, but Jordan would certainly try to contact them via Ring. And if that failed...

I scan the planet below us, supposedly the homeworld of Lantern Gaart. No obvious problems that would call for Lantern intervention, and… There's the white-flag-with-green-sigil flag marking his family home.

"Is the protocol to contact his family?"

If nothing else, they should be aware of the last time they were seen locally.

"I… Look, I wanted to go after Sinestro without Salaak looking over my shoulder, but if two Sector Lanterns are out of contact-."

I raise my hands. "You're right. You're right. Call it in."

That's the sort of thing that gets additional Honor Guard deployed. Especially if said Sector lanterns haven't been logged as slain.

He nods, and raises his right hand to his face. "Honor Guard Lantern Hal Jordan to Lantern Salaak."

I smile as he omits Salaak's full title.

This is a potential emergency situation, after all. And Hal probably enjoys messing with him.

"I'm in Sector Two Eight One One and the Sector Lanterns aren't responding."

No face appears…

...Did the message at least go through? If he didn't make contact at all, that suggests a deeper issue in the region.

"Problem?"

"Sure looks like it." He stares at his ring like it's personally betrayed him, then turns to me. "Not that I can do maintenance on these things any more than Batman can. Could be overdue for its million year service."

Trying to be optimistic won't help, Hal. This is bad.

Jade's face appears over my ring.

"I just got off the comms to Lantern Gaart's wife. He hasn't been home in a month."

And no-one noticed their absence at all? Salaak would take note of a sudden cessation of incoming reports, at the least.

Jordan nods. "That's not-. Necessarily unusual, but I am getting a little more worried. She say what he was doing?"

"His last message had him in the Cygnus system. Which is-."

Home of Debstam IV, Mongul's homeworld. I'd say they captured the Lanterns somehow and prevented their Rings from going into emergency mode.

Jordan's already turning away. "Where the parademon training world is. If they're gotten in over their heads…"

I grab Jade's ship with a construct and plot the course. "Let's go."

That would be Cygnus 4019. Aka 'Salvation', it apparently also served as Checkmate's off-world prison. I think we just found out where Batman's alien OMACs are coming from...

Space bends, and with a little finessing I manage to synchronise my warp corridor with Jordan's. "Do the Apokoliptians often cause them trouble?"

"No. Never. They keep an eye out, but all they really do is kill each other. They don't even give them ships."

Good neighbours, or as close as Apokolips gets...

"Anything else going on in this Sector?"

"No, it's been pretty peaceful since-"

Well, looks like it's not so peaceful now.

We drop out of warp and that's a lot of ships!

"-Mongul left. Who-?"

"Ships are broadcasting Dread Horde identification codes."

Mongul's army. Looks liek they're still operating without him, or someone has taken up his mantle.

"Mongul." Ships on the outer part of the formation begin pulling away from their position and heading towards us. "What are they doing?"

I generate railgun constructs and load crumbler rounds. Those worked well enough last time I fought Mongul's ships. I also let go of Jade's ship, and I see her pilot it away for a moment before she engages the stealth system.

Good, she's likely to become collateral damage if she sticks close to the Lanterns when combat breaks out. This way she can sneak in and maybe raid an outlying ship for intel.

"Scans are inconclusive. Either mining or testing their ground strike capacity."

I see Jordan's hands clench. "Look on the bright side. If he was dead, his ring's seeker protocol would have directed it to a new bearer."

But he and his partner are likely being held captive by these folks, if Narrative simplicity applies.

"Yeah, but everyone who fights us knows that. You'd be surprised what you can live through."

"Alright, other bright side. I'm not seeing Sinestro."

Any sign of Yellow Rings, though? That's a big concern too.

"That's more of a downside. Your girlfriend gunna be okay?"

"This isn't her first fleet engagement. And space is a thaumically isolated environment. If she dies here, it shouldn't be that hard to transfer her soul into a new body."

Still not reassuring.

"Right, I forgot who I was talking to, there." He looks across the void towards the largest starship. Dreadnought class, but not Warworld itself. "This is Honor Guard Lantern Harold Jordan to whoever's in command of the Dread Horde fleet. Leave this system immediately, or be destroyed."

And out come the sigil beacons. All sirens blazing.

"This is Mongul the Second. Do not dare disappoint me."

Jordan looks at me, and I shrug. "Maybe he really wants to be destroyed?"

Ah, the son of Mongul. And a possible Yellow Lantern, given his comics history.

Alert! / Warning.

I transition a mile left, and Jordan forms a jetpack construct and flings himself across local space just as a spatial charge goes off behind us!

Not the most efficient method, but if it works for him, it works.

Right, was that a teleport or a spatial warp-? Teleport, okay, and jam the sensors, track the incoming… Corvette squadron… Yes, they're coming in without any evasive manoeuvring at all. Scan, empathic vision… Yes, they're not using sensor baffling or other stealth technology. Target and fire.

Overconfident, or they have defences sufficient to protect them from Lanterns.

Teleport attempt jammer.

A… Long way away from me, another charge goes off. Too far from me to do anything-. Another goes off, and another-.

...That seems suspicious. IF they can teleport munitions, why scatter them so badly? Either their targetting is really bad, or it's really good and they're doing that on purpose.

Ring, scan for residue?

None found.

Wait, none? There should be-.

Concerning. Something baffling the Ring sensors?

I release a hydra head Construct Lantern, and send it off towards the closest blast region. Then I take a moment to observe my shots hit the corvette squadron. The first corvette loses its frontal shield from the first hit and then takes the second to its hull. The kinetic force makes it look like the ship explodes, the metal undulating and bursting in a wave away from the initial impact site.

At least their defences aren't up to OL's assault. Unless this was a stalking horse and he fell into a trap.

The other four ships in the squadron-. One tries to peel off, aiming to take a more evasive course. At this range my shots will miss it they vary their approach even slightly, so it's a sound tactic-.

The other three ships shoot them, rapidly draining their shield and then battering their hull.

Hmm... Cocky or foolish. Hard to tell with these aggressive horde types.

Ah. Mongul II's one of those commanders.

Teleport attempt jammed. Teleport attempt jammed. Alert!

...Okay, simply more terrified of their commander than they are OL.

I transition closer as another spatial charge goes off, and I spot the telltale ripple in the stars around me that indicate they used a spatial warping corridor to throw it at me. Optical scan of the capital ship-

Alert!

Effectively reducing the distance travelled via gravitational crushing. A crude way of doing it, though.

Transition left, teleport jammer, spatial stabiliser.

-shows that it has a frontal spatial charge launcher. Not what I'd expect from someone like Mongul, who was reputedly as brave as he was murderous, but alright. I-.

Which means this is some sort of tricksy plan they're playing at.

I wince as the hydra head returns to my ring, confirming my suspicion.

"Jordan, the spatial charges nullify constructs."

...And now we get an idea of how they caught the Sector Lanterns. Drop a charge or two dozen around them, disrupt their environmental field long enough to cause them exposure damage and snag their writhing body before they can recover.

It looks like this branch of the Dread Horde has been exploring anti-Spectrum techniques. I have the feeling Mongul Junior has received a Yellow Ring and has been putting it to good use for weapons research. Which means Jordan is at higher risk of injury and/or capture compared to OL, since he's probably not using space-capable armour.

Frozen20s · 2026-10-28T07:02:39+0000

Mother of Mercy might be jealous she's not here to kick Mobgul II's butt.

thebishop8 · 2026-10-28T07:08:37+0000

A rematch with Mongul's forces has been a long time coming. I can't help but notice that Mongul II's wiki page shows him getting a yellow ring after killing a member of the Sinestro Corps.

Mr Zoat said:
I slumps slightly.

This is from the end of Penal (part 5) and 'slumps' should be 'slump'

Mr Zoat said:
Teleport attempt jammer.

'jammer' should be 'jammed'

Mr Zoat said:
Jade's face appears over my ring.

"I just got off the comms to Lantern Gaart's wife. He hasn't been home in a month."

If Jade is talking through the ring like this, her text should be orange. Darko already mentioned this, but it looks like you removed the orange text instead of adding more.

Mr Zoat · 2026-10-28T08:29:07+0000

NameOrdane said:
Stars

thebishop8 said:
This is from the end of Penal (part 5) and 'slumps' should be 'slump'
'jammer' should be 'jammed'

Thank you, corrected.

If Jade is talking through the ring like this, her text should be orange. Darko already mentioned this, but it looks like you removed the orange text instead of adding more.

That's only for ring-to-ring communication. I... Think I've been consistent about that.

thebishop8 · 2026-10-28T19:29:32+0000

Mr Zoat said:
More radical transformations… I do remember something from the comics called a 'purple death ray', but I've got no idea how it worked. Could you change a load of things and blast unhealth into someone? Maybe? Probably? But again, there must be easier ways to do it. Nothing else immediately comes to mind.

I just happened to notice Paragon using the purple death ray here:

Mr Zoat said:
step out

before emerging from the Honden and decapitating the vessel's captain with an x-ionised sword. I send the sword at the navigation officer and take a purple death ray out of subspace, firing it at the bridge's marines.

Mr Zoat said:
even as small death ray turrets begin sniping crew in what I think are vital positions.

Even the comments at the time note that it's the first time Paragon ever used them.

Mr Zoat · 2026-10-28T22:53:34+0000

thebishop8 said:
I just happened to notice Paragon using the purple death ray here:

Even the comments at the time note that it's the first time Paragon ever used them.

Amended.

Mr Zoat · 2026-10-29T06:19:11+0000

16th October 2013
17:14 G.M.T.

"Yeah, I noticed!"

The corvette squadron alters their bearing slightly, still heading for my location at what I suspect is their best possible acceleration.

Railguns.

So how is this fleet supposed to work?

Corvettes are cheap to build and crew. That dreadnought wasn't, and neither were the two battleships of similar configuration flanking it. Same prow weapons… So… Send in corvettes crewed by the least capable and/or least loyal that you have to act as a distraction or hem in your target, and then drop spatial charges on top of them. Collateral damage doesn't matter because it's not costing you anything you weren't planning on throwing away anyway. And if the corvettes get ideas, you can just drop spatial charges on them.

"Jordan, anything to tell me-"

From his general direction, I see the blasts of more spatial charges.

"-about-?"

"BUSY!"

Okay. Ring, narrow beam to the corvette at the rear of the squadron.

Compliance.

"If you'd rather consider other opportunities, I can help you escape."

"I'm one mission away from earning my own holding! You think I'd throw that away now! BEG, and perhaps you will live long enough to-."

Cancel. Are there any other channels on that ship?

No.

Oh well. Railgun that guy.

Compliance.

"Hey, how come-. Uh! They're not shooting at you?"

"They are, but at this range their light speed weapons are going to take about two minutes to actually hit me, so as long as I move a little-."

"The explosives!"

"Jam the teleport scanner, jam warp drives. I'm having to monitor the construct nullification zones, but space is-"

"You can do that?"

"-pretty big. Yes? You can too."

"I don't know I can."

"If you can warp space then you can stop space warping. And you must be able to understand sensor jamming; you're a pilot."

"These things are a little more sophisticated than radar!"

The rear corvette crumples, and the rest start firing… Gravitic catapults and masers, attempting to fill the area around me. They must know that's unlikely to work. Just… Showing the boss that they're trying?

"I mean, yes, but it's the same principle."

"God damn orange A.I. assist-."

I wince empathetically as another series of explosion mark his approximate location. Ah, maybe I should-.

Alert!

Huh-? Dodge-!

Alertalertalertalert-!

Bchtzzzzzzz!

D-uh.

Uh…

Construct armour… Gone. Armour… A bit battered, but basically whole. Kinetic barrier fine, but that's only really any use if I run into debris. I kick my armour's impeller into gear… Random bursts, because I'm not currently fast enough to just transition out of the way of-.

I'm not jamming the spatial charge launching mechanism any longer. Hopefully, they won't notice.

I try dumping a hydra head out, but it shimmers and fails almost immediately. Okay, how about inside my armour? Yes-. Yes, the flight aura is engaging, good. Move faster.

"Paul-?"

"Jade, I'm down to my armour's sensors. Fastest route out of the blast-?"

"Down from your current orientation and slightly to the right."

I immediately follow her suggestion. "Thank you."

Kinetic barrier is flickering, so I'm flying through something physical. Never thought to put a chemistry suite in this armour. Armour's sensors can tell me roughly where the corvettes are, but I can't see exactly what they're doing and I don't imagine that I'm a convincing potential protector when I'm like this. Evacuating via the Honden should be possible, but I'm pretty sure that Mongul II isn't afraid of friendly fire and… If he's got an anti-construct technology, he's obviously going to have it deployed close to himself. I mean, the first place Grand Admiral Thrawn put a ysalamiri was his own office. Other places… The corvettes are probably clear, but, friendly fire.

There's a flicker on the edge of my vision as something explodes above me. Ah, kinetic barrier controls, expand it above me… Yes, that should stop whatever's in the explosions contaminating the direction I'm heading in.

"Time to free space?"

"Three. Two."

"Thank you."

I try to recreate my construct armour, and for a moment nothing happens. Then it flickers and we're back. Now, is Mongul merely 'ruthless', or is he the 'fail me and die' type?

Alert!

I warp, space bending around me as I fly under the corvettes, as well as whatever that was that my ring just alerted me to. Jammers, railgun, less power, and alternate the crumbler with solid slugs. Target primary drives and fire.

I wince slightly as the first shot hits the hull directly. Apparently they put all their power into their forward shield emitters. Could be a design issue, could be a tactical decision, but it does mean that my second shot hits harder than I intended as already buckled armour comes apart entirely. The shot hits something vital, and-.

The ship erupts from the rear as… Main reaction mass storage, I assume, catches fire, rapidly turning the ship into a cloud of charred scrap.

Just crumblers for the rest of the-.

Alert!

For an instant I see the spatial charge materialise in the middle of their formation. And then it detonates, and there's… Nothing left.

Squadron.

I guess that answers that question.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-10-29T06:52:29+0000

Mr Zoat said:
16th October 2013
17:14 G.M.T.

"Yeah, I noticed!"

The corvette squadron alters their bearing slightly, still heading for my location at what I suspect is their best possible acceleration.

Not top speed, of course, as that isn't a concern in vacuum, short of solar wind or debris impacts. The hard part of accelerating, though, is slowing down afterwards. I don't think these ships are too concerned with that right now, though.

Railguns.

So how is this fleet supposed to work?

So that you can calculate the best way to dismantle it, of course...

Corvettes are cheap to build and crew. That dreadnought wasn't, and neither were the two battleships of similar configuration flanking it. Same prow weapons… So… Send in corvettes crewed by the least capable and/or least loyal that you have to act as a distraction or hem in your target, and then drop spatial charges on top of them. Collateral damage doesn't matter because it's not costing you anything you weren't planning on throwing away anyway. And if the corvettes get ideas, you can just drop spatial charges on them.

Which we know Mongul Junior is likely to do, if he's anything like his old man. And given the way the comics version apparently idolised him...

"Jordan, anything to tell me-"

From his general direction, I see the blasts of more spatial charges.

Can't be making it easy for him to launch attacks at his pursuers. The fields disrupt constructs and probably destructive pulses, dumb munitions can't adjust for their movement and smart ones would be spotted and shot down.

"-about-?"

"BUSY!"

Come on, OL, you know he has to do his shit manually. Don't distract him.

Okay. Ring, narrow beam to the corvette at the rear of the squadron.

Compliance.

"If you'd rather consider other opportunities, I can help you escape."

You're going for the 'if you're not here willingly' angle, I see.

"I'm one mission away from earning my own holding! You think I'd throw that away now! BEG, and perhaps you will live long enough to-."

Cancel. Are there any other channels on that ship?

Looks like there's hopes for advancement in the Horde, I see. It just means being willing to do some terrible things first...

No.

Oh well. Railgun that guy.

Didn't sound like a nice fellow anyway, if he was that eager to get ahead.

Compliance.

"Hey, how come-. Uh! They're not shooting at you?"

"They are, but at this range their light speed weapons are going to take about two minutes to actually hit me, so as long as I move a little-."

Yep. I doubt they'd give these guys anything FTL-capable, either, so this is really just a dodge challenge with skeet.

"The explosives!"

"Jam the teleport scanner, jam warp drives. I'm having to monitor the construct nullification zones, but space is-"

Again, OL, do you know if Hal can manage that while fighting?

"You can do that?"

"-pretty big. Yes? You can too."

"I don't know I can."

Won't know if you don't try. Though trying to learn in live-fire conditions is probably not the best time.

"If you can warp space then you can stop space warping. And you must be able to understand sensor jamming; you're a pilot."

"These things are a little more sophisticated than radar!"

But they are sending active pings, right? Relying on purely light-speed monitoring would givem them seconds-old targetting data...

The rear corvette crumples, and the rest start firing… Gravitic catapults and masers, attempting to fill the area around me. They must know that's unlikely to work. Just… Showing the boss that they're trying?

"I mean, yes, but it's the same principle."

Could also be annoyed. 'Oh my god, he killed Kenny! You bastard!' 'We didn't like Kenny.' 'It's the principle of the thing, dammit!'

"God damn orange A.I. assist-."

I wince empathetically as another series of explosion mark his approximate location. Ah, maybe I should-.

Yes, Orange Rings are busted like that. But given the state of the ordinary person when using it, it's probably necessary.

Alert!

Huh-? Dodge-!

Alertalertalertalert-!

Let that be a lesson, OL. Don't get distracted.

Bchtzzzzzzz!

D-uh.

Uh…

I'm guessing they bracketed his general position, rather than try aiming directly. Get him with splash damage, as it were.

Construct armour… Gone. Armour… A bit battered, but basically whole. Kinetic barrier fine, but that's only really any use if I run into debris. I kick my armour's impeller into gear… Random bursts, because I'm not currently fast enough to just transition out of the way of-.

At least they didn't score a direct hit, because whatever's ripping up space-time like that can't be healthy to experience up close.

I'm not jamming the spatial charge launching mechanism any longer. Hopefully, they won't notice.

I try dumping a hydra head out, but it shimmers and fails almost immediately. Okay, how about inside my armour? Yes-. Yes, the flight aura is engaging, good. Move faster.

And this, folks, is why you have armour in the first place. To keep you from dying if your environmental field collapses.

"Paul-?"

"Jade, I'm down to my armour's sensors. Fastest route out of the blast-?"

Lucky it doesn't disrupt comms too.

"Down from your current orientation and slightly to the right."

I immediately follow her suggestion. "Thank you."

I'd have engaged stealth systems too, but at this point, OL seems a little shaken up, enough to not be thinking perfectly straight.

Kinetic barrier is flickering, so I'm flying through something physical. Never thought to put a chemistry suite in this armour. Armour's sensors can tell me roughly where the corvettes are, but I can't see exactly what they're doing and I don't imagine that I'm a convincing potential protector when I'm like this. Evacuating via the Honden should be possible, but I'm pretty sure that Mongul II isn't afraid of friendly fire and… If he's got an anti-construct technology, he's obviously going to have it deployed close to himself. I mean, the first place Grand Admiral Thrawn put a ysalamiri was his own office. Other places… The corvettes are probably clear, but, friendly fire.

So it's not ripping up space time, it's just scattering something exotic around the area, like smoke grenades or chaff.

There's a flicker on the edge of my vision as something explodes above me. Ah, kinetic barrier controls, expand it above me… Yes, that should stop whatever's in the explosions contaminating the direction I'm heading in.

"Time to free space?"

No time to stop and scan right now. Maybe once you have a second to breath.

"Three. Two."

"Thank you."

I try to recreate my construct armour, and for a moment nothing happens. Then it flickers and we're back. Now, is Mongul merely 'ruthless', or is he the 'fail me and die' type?

Careful, that little light show is probably telling them you survived.

Alert!

I warp, space bending around me as I fly under the corvettes, as well as whatever that was that my ring just alerted me to. Jammers, railgun, less power, and alternate the crumbler with solid slugs. Target primary drives and fire.

Good old armour-stripping conga-line double-tap.

I wince slightly as the first shot hits the hull directly. Apparently they put all their power into their forward shield emitters. Could be a design issue, could be a tactical decision, but it does mean that my second shot hits harder than I intended as already buckled armour comes apart entirely. The shot hits something vital, and-.

...Ooops. Annoying, especially if you're trying to take one alive so you can interrogate them.

The ship erupts from the rear as… Main reaction mass storage, I assume, catches fire, rapidly turning the ship into a cloud of charred scrap.

Just crumblers for the rest of the-.

Whatever they use for fuel would have to be highly-excitable, after all. Sci-fi stardrives tend to be power hogs.

Alert!

For an instant I see the spatial charge materialise in the middle of their formation. And then it detonates, and there's… Nothing left.

Damn, shot in the back in hopes of getting him. Bad luck, folks.

Squadron.

I guess that answers that question.

As if you expected anything less from someone of Mongul's lineage?

So, whatever blocking constructs is physical, like a smoke grenade. What's the bet they might have acquired it from the Apokoliptian weapons depositories on the planet? Assuming they've been down there first. Or is Mongul one of those generals who likes to work his tech-tree economy hard so that he's overpowered before combat starts...

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

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