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

Mr Zoat · Sep 5, 2021

Coda said:
affect
chide

Thank you, corrected.

jasonh23761 · Sep 5, 2021

Bud-E · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
"He gets his own Corps." Guy frowns. "I don't even know how I feel abowt that."

"I don't think it's ever happened before. I'll be interested to see how it works out."

Paul really just said "sounds like a you problem" right to Guy's face.

moralrelativity · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
A place build during

build -> built

Mr Zoat said:
"Found the-?"

"I ain't tawkin' ta you, yet."

So it's like that.

...

Mr Zoat said:
"Found the concentration camps yet?"

"No."

That didn't last long. I think it's sweet how Guy can't stay mad at Paul for long. They're a cute couple.

Cuchulin · Sep 5, 2021

Bud-E said:
Paul really just said "sounds like a you problem" right to Guy's face.

Paul is far to British to ever say such a thing.

Handlewithcare · Sep 5, 2021

Wow, look at Guy's progress

Immediately gets where the ring came from, can check out Lanterns with his mind...

Our boy is growing up sniff

Queshire · Sep 5, 2021

If clicking on that link messes up my YouTube recommendations then I'm blaming you.

Darko · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
"Found the-?"

"I ain't tawkin' ta you, yet."

So it's like that.

Yep, it's like that.

And I think you knew it was going to be like that.

Mr Zoat said:
A place build during a very nasty

'built'

Mr Zoat said:
unified civilisation was build around the vision of one man."

'built'

Mr Zoat said:
"I don't think it's ever happened before. I'll be interested to see how it works out."

Well it may have happened before, what with Abin and the Indigos.

Mr Zoat said:
No, something that actually happened often enough that they build or rebuild

'built'

'rebuilt'

Irked · Sep 5, 2021

The fact that Guy Gardner is the Earths (possibly the GL corps too at this point) most competent green Lantern in this fic never ceases to amuse me.

Plus i love the casual friendship him and Paul have developed over time, even if they disagree they can usually talk it out afterwards like what happened here.

Chojin Patriarch · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
10th September 2012
20:58 GMT

"Found the-?"

"I ain't tawkin' ta you, yet."

So it's like that.

Don't feel too bad about it, OL. Guy may have thought he had the moral high ground, but he didn't have all the information. You can lay the blame for his belligerence as much on the Guardian who briefed him for this (or more likely Salaak, who can be excused for not looking much deeper than needed) as on Guy himself. After all, it's his nature to be gruff and punchy...

I turn away, looking down at the.. seventh? Largest city on Padrook, planet of origin of the fourth most significant species in this Sector. There are warships in orbit above us, but they've making a point of not taking position directly above us. Perhaps because they don't want to look too menacing, but more likely because they know that if they open fire from that position every missed shot would kill thousands of their own people. Far better to come at us from below or from the side.

Man, that is a really sloppy approach they took. Like so much else about the series. Every missed shot would look like this scene... Earth was not going to be a pleasant place afterwards...

I found it revolting that the Tearing Bite ships around Tamaran had kinetic harpoon launchers, because those were only any use against soft ground targets. This city is the opposite in some ways. It has levels of anti-air weapons usually only seen in places where their enemies either make mass use of assault skimmers or where their enemies are other people living on the planet. The buildings aren't strictly fortified, but they are clearly built to be tough enough that they won't collapse if someone has a fire fight in one. The city has some pretty powerful force field generators and impressive capacitors to power them under full bombardment, but no ground to space weapons I can see.

That's what the fleets are for, I guess. Evidently things are not pleasant once the planet's space is under enemy control, though...

Everything here is purely defensive, but… It's designed to keep people alive while their fleet deals with the fleet of whoever's attacking them. It's not efficient to use your ships to attack civilians somewhere that has a fleet defending it. Even if your fleet is superior, it's always more sensible to hit the enemy fleet first.

Especially since attacking the thing the fleets are defending is likely to piss said fleet off something fierce.

Oh, you might threaten civilians with bombardment in order to force the enemy fleet to move into a disadvantageous position; that would explain the shields. But the AA and the structural reinforcement suggest that these people thought that being attacked by a ground army was a risk. No, something that actually happened often enough that they build or rebuild entire cities with that in mind. Deploying an army to a world where you don't have orbital supremacy is generally a stupid thing to do, because you're putting men and materiel somewhere where it's hard for you to get it back and easy for your enemy to shoot it.

Indeed. Even without orbital bombardment, the locals would surely have craft capable of aerospace operations. Smaller classes or fighters that could easily rip enemy landing sites to shreds... Especially if planet-side bases are even more well-protected than the civilian cities...

This means that no only did the local fighting get to the point where they were prioritising killing each others' civilians, but that their soldiers hated their enemies so much that they would gladly drop to certain death just to kill some of them.

That's not-. Unless the stellar nations fighting had regressed technologically to the point where the only way they could get through force fields was on the ground, that's a terribly inefficient way of fighting. But I guess that sometimes it's not about being efficient.

To be fair, there are plenty of fictional examples of races that worked out interstellar travel out too damn quick to bring their military doctrine along with it. Like in Turtledove's The Road Not Taken. Or like in Dune, where the Shield technology available doesn't play nice with high-energy weaponry, forcing warfare to play out with projectile weapons and knives. And the occasional highly-illegal nuke...

"Found the concentration camps yet?"

"No."

I think he's getting a little frustrated by the lack of any evildoing on Malvolio's part, don't you?

"Did you know they were invented by the British?"

Guy frowns, then glances my way for a second before returning to staring at the city.

For later perusal, no comment. Though the concept is older, I expect. It just wasn't usually applied to general civilian populations on that level.

"No. How come?"

"During the Boer War, when we fought Dutch settlers for control of South Africa. Their civilian population wasn't best pleased to see us, so… The decision was made that moving them from their homes and putting them in camps where their population could be concentrated in one place was a sensible way to manage them and avoid problems with partisans. A bit like the villages America made for Vietnamese people they displaced during the Vietnam War."

Ah, these random bits of trivia. I presume OL is bringing this up to make conversation...

"What're we lookin' at, Paul?"

"A place build during a very nasty war, which is now over."

Though I have no doubt the effects of said war will be felt for centuries to come by the locals.

"Been takin' a look at their internet. They really like Mally."

"And I'd guess that it's not just in the official records that they say that."

...Malvolio has fan-pages, doesn't he? And no doubt fan-fiction.

"No. It ain't."

"Why didn't this Sector have a Lantern after Priest quit?"

Yes, that is a very good question. It can't have been a manpower shortage. Just send a ring out to the locals and drum home the important stuff during Basic...

"Yeah. I been wonderin' that, too."

"There was no one primary instigator in the war. It's not like when Abin Sur stopped Devlos Ungol. Their unified civilisation was build around the vision of one man."

And then someone had that man locked away for several centuries... A bit short-sighted for such a long-lived people...

"What'd'ya think I'm thinkin'?"

"Same thing I am. If things fell apart like this, the Guardians should have left him in place."

Better a benevolent tyrant than the utter anarchy they unleashed, eh?

We each glance at the other.

"Or removed him earlier, before he could become that important."

I'm guessing one of the more curious Guardians allowed him to be trained by Priest, not foreseeing this...

"Would'a been bettah."

"For who? Because looking around…" I pointedly look around. "The locals consider further war inconceivable."

Mostly because none of them want Malvolio 'Coming Over There'... That way lies pain for everyone...

"See if they still think that aftah they get t'know him." He contemplates the city for a moment. "What were you an' him tawkin' abowt, anyhow?"

I smile, raising my right hand. "Check it out."

Let's see how observant he is, then...

He looks, then frowns. "Though you were seein' that assassin chick?"

"Larfleeze's ring. Or at least a manifestation of the desires that went into it."

Besides, it's the wrong hand for an engagement ring, you dipstick.

"So it didn't get destroyed by qwa energy. Or… Only tha physical part did. How'd you get it?"

"Reaching around inside the Honden, looking for a ring. That might work for you; a lot more green rings have been destroyed than orange ones."

Comes from their wielders being too stubborn to abandon a fight they realise they can't win, though a lot of those cases would probably have been in the defence of innocent lives...

He nods. "Give it a shot. Anythin' else?"

"Remember how the first personal lantern I made looked?"

"Like a melted pile a' scrap?"

...He's not wrong.

I take my latest effort out of subspace. "This is my second attempt. As you can see, it's a little better."

Guy looks it over carefully, his eyes flickering green.

Nice, he has improved. Scanning the Lantern in detail, checking the operating code, and so on...

"Huh. Though it'd take long t'get this good at it."

"It wasn't quick, and I haven't had Hinon check it over yet. But it looks better."

Well, it's not bad for an afternoon's work, really. Still, I wouldn't risk charging off it yet.

"Can Malvolio do that? I know he had that big Lantern in his space station, but if that took three hundred years I ain't too worried."

"It's a Central Power Battery. He doesn't make personal lanterns because he doesn't need them."

Either half of that response should have Guy very interested. Both together...

"A Cen-? Does that even..?"

"As far as he knows, yes. He hasn't got the hang of making rings yet. But when he does-."

Yeah, some very concerning implications for the Guardians, isn't it?

"He gets his own Corps." Guy frowns. "I don't even know how I feel abowt that."

"I don't think it's ever happened before. I'll be interested to see how it works out."

Two parties in competition for one Light. I suppose it remains to be seen how Malvolio organises his force.

I see OL is talking Guy around to at least tolerating Malvolio's freedom. I expect the Guardians might choose to take the long view based on Broome's recommendation, too. Hopefully things go better than the last time they acted against him. Especially if OL stays in touch and serves as a suitable peer for Malvolio to keep grounded with. So ultimately... All's well that ends well?

"Huh. Though it'd take long t'get this good at it."

"Huh. Though it'd take longer t'get this good at it."

PrinceJonathan · Sep 5, 2021

jasonh23761 said:
Go go Malvolio!

Mighty Marvelous Malvolio Rangers. And they're all Green. An army of Green Rangers. I don't think the universe can contain that level of awesome.

Damn, now I kind of want to see a Power Rangers crossover. I wonder if the Morphing Grid has some connection to the Emotional Spectrum? Maybe that's why Rangers are all different colors?

Imagine if the Ophidian and the other Emotional Entities were able to assume Zord form and combine.

Mr Zoat · Sep 5, 2021

moralrelativity said:
build -> built

Darko said:
'built'
'built'
'rebuilt'

Chojin Patriarch said:
"Huh. Though it'd take longer t'get this good at it."

Thank you, corrected.

PrinceJonathan said:
Damn, now I kind of want to see a Power Rangers crossover. I wonder if the Morphing Grid has some connection to the Emotional Spectrum? Maybe that's why Rangers are all different colors?

Next 1st of April.

PrinceJonathan · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
Next 1st of April.

If the Emotional Entites do form a Megazord, should it look like a giant Care Bear because it's powered by feelings?

Darko · Sep 5, 2021

PrinceJonathan said:
If the Emotional Entites do form a Megazord, should it look like a giant Care Bear because it's powered by feelings?

I'm now thinking of this.

BR549 · Sep 5, 2021

jasonh23761 said:
Go go Malvolio!

You had one job.

One job.

It's 'Go Go Power Ringers'.

PrinceJonathan said:
Mighty Marvelous Malvolio Rangers. And they're all Green. An army of Green Rangers. I don't think the universe can contain that level of awesome.

...or that. Also, at least it's not Pink Rangers.

Silveraith · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
This means that no only did the local fighting get to the point where they were prioritising killing each others' civilians, but that their soldiers hated their enemies so much that they would gladly drop to certain death just to kill some of them.

Not.

Doccer · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
means that no only did the local

not

cereal_lurker · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
regressed technologically to the point where the only way they could get through force fields was on the ground, that's a terribly inefficient way of fighting. But I guess that sometimes it's not about being efficient.

Chojin Patriarch said:
To be fair, there are plenty of fictional examples of races that worked out interstellar travel out too damn quick to bring their military doctrine along with it. Like in Turtledove's The Road Not Taken. Or like in Dune, where the Shield technology available doesn't play nice with high-energy weaponry, forcing warfare to play out with projectile weapons and knives. And the occasional highly-illegal nuke...

I had honestly thought the link was going to be a clip of Star Wars' Imperial Walkers on Hoth... since that is actually what they were deployed to do. And Star Wars is all about the dramatics.

Coda · Sep 5, 2021

Queshire said:
If clicking on that link messes up my YouTube recommendations then I'm blaming you.

If you go to your History you can delete entries from there to remove them from the recommendations algorithm.

Mr Zoat · Sep 5, 2021

Silveraith said:
Not.

Thank you, corrected.

cereal_lurker said:
I had honestly thought the link was going to be a clip of Star Wars' Imperial Walkers on Hoth... since that is actually what they were deployed to do. And Star Wars is all about the dramatics.

As I understand it, the walkers in Star Wars are a product of an in-universe arms restriction treaty. All the non-stupid vehicles got banned.

SirKaid · Sep 5, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
As I understand it, the walkers in Star Wars are a product of an in-universe arms restriction treaty. All the non-stupid vehicles got banned.

But... The Empire is twenty years old in the original trilogy. Why the Force does the Empire still give a fig for Republic era arms treaties?

cereal_lurker · Sep 5, 2021

SirKaid said:
The Empire is twenty years old in the original trilogy. Why the Force does the Empire still give a fig for Republic era arms treaties?

They probably wouldn't (it took the Emperor then 20 years to dissolve the Senate permanently). And war fleets don't get produced overnight and it takes time to create new designs and get them into production. And getting all those new designs created, staffed, trained, and distributed across the galaxy takes time. The Empire would have a lot of Space to cover with what resources they had available. I mean you might think it's a long way to the chemists, but that's just peanuts.

Stsword · Sep 5, 2021

Nah, the Morphing Grid makes more sense as a Lifeweb equivalent.

Rangers are better known for elemental powers and totemic patronages-water, air, fire, earth, animals prehistoric or otherwise.

And in DC all elemental powers are aspects of the Lifeweb.

Although considering how many elemental powers aren't traditionally about life I'd have preferred another name for the elemental powers in toto.

Someguy Somewhere · Sep 5, 2021

Pre Clone Wars Era Walkers, before the All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AP-TE) were designed originally for mining companies on an arctic world, thus the big stompy snow shoes for crossing overland. Used as a patrol and defense craft. Those early machines were used as the template for the the company that the Kaminoans outsourced their war gear production to.

Part of the old lore that came in with Ep1 was that airborne craft couldn't cross defensive energy barriers, while people and craft 'on foot' could. Hence the battle of Naboo the tanks and droid carriers didn't try to cross the gungan shields after testing them with bombardment. Once the infantry droids passed through the shields and eventually took out the generators, the tanks rolled in guns blazing.

Same logic was retroactively applied to the AT-AT walker assault and Hoth. Imperial drop ships landed the AT-At's beyond the shield and they had to walk all the way to the combat zone and the shield generators, and once again when the shield goes down things go from a pitched battle to a slaughter as other craft join the attack.

As to why the AT-AT's are huge with spindly legs, there's 2 'technical' arguments. Their were cases where the lower slung AP-TE's had stepped on mines and had the craft destroyed, thus making bigger heavier armored feet that could absorb the blast, and moving the body higher away from the blast gave it a better distance from the crew section and lower impact on vital parts. The other argument was for raising the gun positions, so that the Walker can shoot over or down into defended positions, since they use direct LoS heavy weapons, they can shoot over barricades and down into trenches where a shorter walker couldn't.

Now there is one other point. The Tarkin Doctrine. The Empire was big into psychological warfare, with Tarkin being really focused on making Everything Bigger and Scarier, so that no one would even consider attacking imperial forces. The AT-AT is so big just to make others stand in awe and dread seeing and hearing these things coming. This of course is STUPID, when the enemy just doesn't care any more, or actually look at the spec's of what their fighting and see the flaws that 'make it bigger' leads to.

Edit:

The Treaty I think you're referring to is the Ruusan Reformations, about 1000 years before the clone wars. It rewrote a lot of military stuff for the republic (and the jedi, this is when they started recruiting/indoctrinating babies and not adults). I don't remember what it had for land forces, but they stopped centralized military command and started using sector based militia with reduced and highly regulated fleet requirements.

ForeverShogo · Sep 6, 2021

Indeed. And the Death Star was supposed to be the ultimate realization of the Tarkin Doctrine. Of making people more afraid of what you might do than what you actually do.

Despite the expense of building the damn thing, technically the Empire never actually intended to use the thing on a planet of importance like Alderaan. They were going to demonstrate what it could do on some throwaway planet with little or no habitation. Preferably whichever one the Rebellion decided to use as their headquarters, since the Rebels did tend to pick uninhabited planets like Yavin 4 or Hoth to use as their headquarters. Well, usually. Their first HQ was on Dantooine, which was very lightly inhabited despite being a planet suitable for habitation. So much so that I think even in universe people are confused as to why it was never heavily settled or developed.

Wipe out the rebel leadership, prove they can just blow up a planet whenever they want, and make other planets afraid of the possibility that they might send in the Death Star if you provide sanctuary to the Rebellion. Especially when they'd be selling the idea that stopping the Death Star is all but impossible to achieve. But, you know, it just had to have that one fatal weakspot. (Kind of surprised no one ever detected it on the plans, after it had been built, before the rebels took a look at it.)

But I guess Leia is just that fucking annoying and Tarkin just that fucking petty that her mouthing off to him made him decide Dantooine wasn't good enough as a demonstration. So he blows up Alderaan just to be a dick, which just pissed off a bunch of people and made the Rebellion's numbers swell.

Though now that I think about it, man, that was kind of a bitch move, Leia. Dantooine may have been lightly inhabited, but it was still inhabited and she still tried to throw it under the bus. She couldn't have tried to bullshit a world that didn't have people on it?

Mr Zoat · Sep 6, 2021

10th September 2012
16:30 GMT -7

"You do not think that he will take umbrage at your equine form?"

I wing-shrug, and take a moment to be smug about how naturally I can pull off the gesture now.

"Metron is interested in novel phenomena. I doubt that he's ever seen a New God pony before. And if a few tissue samples and a thorough physical examination are all I have to give, I'll consider myself to have come out ahead."

We're standing on the upper hull of the Absolute Dominion a very long way away from anything very much. If I squinted really hard and waited a few million years I might just be able to spot the dim light emanating from Mageddon as it lurks around the edge of the universe. Down below us is a long-destroyed bastion of the Old Gods, people of the Third World and our predecessors in terms of a species who could connect to the Source. There's nothing much left there now, which is why Hinon was willing to give me the location, but hopefully it will put Metron in a receptive frame of mind.

That, and the tiny amount of x-element that Himon was willing to part with in exchange for food and children's books. A risk… With Amazing Grace revealed, Darkseid has no real reason to allow any sort of resistance to remain active… Until he gets around to creating a new patsy, at least. But at this point, I'm introducing a source of wonder and joy and Darkseid has no immediate counter. Will he object? Will he see this as a provocative escalation?

I don't know. I can't tell.

"Mother Box."

"Ping."

"Call him."

"… Ping."

I frown. "Seriously?"

"Ping."

"Is yon box having some manner of difficulty?"

"Ah… She doesn't have his details. I mean, he can usually detect open transmissions, but if he's in the arse end of the vibrational spectrum again we won't hear from him until he gets out."

She frowns. "Vibrational… What?"

"Metron knows more about the underlying structure of reality than anyone I know. But it's gotten to the point where no one else can understand what he's going on about. Very definitely including me. Okay, Mother Box, give it a try anyway. We're ageless. We can wait."

"Ping."

"We may be ageless, but We have things that We wish to do this night."

I smile lasciviously. "Oh yeah?"

"Indeed. We have taken your idea of local petitions to heart, and will begin negotiations with the City of Trottingham to hold court there for three nights."

"I suppose you need to send out heralds, dress the audience chamber…"

"Information shall be made available at the Town Hall, and notices shall be sent out in newspapers. The audience chamber shall be left as it is, to emphasise that We are there representing the government of the nation and not on a tour of self-aggrandisement. And…" She coughs quietly. "We hath not… Discussed… That."

"'That'?"

She looks awkwardly away. "You knowst of what We speak."

"I might, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to hear you say it." I look her directly in the eye. "I shouldn't think it would be difficult for you."

She awkwardly paws the hull with her right forehoof.

"When… Two adults have become… Close, as we have become close… There comes a point in their… Relationship. Whereupon they mayst-."

BOOM!

She looks away.

"-decide to continue this later."

Assuming that she was going where I think she was going, I need to find out more about how Equestrians handle intimate relations, both now and a thousand years ago. And… Probably some literature on horse mating, both from Earth and from…

I wonder how awkward I can make it for Sunset?

Metron's chair floats out of the tube, heading towards us at a leisurely pace. It looks… Simpler than I remember from the comics, and its pilot far less human. Tron lines, a chest emblem I don't remember and the blue colour is far lighter. But that's definitely him.

He steeples his hands, leaning back in his chair with an air of disinterest about him.

"Grayven." "Junior Tyrant."

"Metron." "I don't know your name."

"And companion."

He regards Luna for a moment, carefully feeling out her essence.

"Ascendancy brought about by the manipulation of collective belief. Hardly unique. Quadruped herbivore sophont species are rarer, but not especially interesting."

"But have you looked down?"

"Yes, and that was the sole reason why I answered your summons." He holds out his right hand, causing the cube of x-element to float up to him. "I am nowhere near to requiring more fuel, but I suppose that equity requires that I hear you out. What is your request?"

"I have access to the Omega Force."

"Fascinating."

"I want to lose that access. If anyone has a record of the Infinity Pit, the device which once contained the Omega Force before my father bound himself to it, it would be you." Knowledge Desires To Be Spread.

"That is what you want? Not a way to siphon Darkseid's portion?"

"No. I've had enough of weird energies messing around with me. I want it gone." All Control Starts With Self.

"I suppose that such a device could be used to take the Force from Darkseid himself, in time."

"Could it?" I raise my eyebrows. "I hope so, but I genuinely don't know. Has something like that ever been attempted before?"

"I do not believe that it has. Interesting. Should you find a way to make it happen, I would be willing to trade a great deal for that knowledge."

Drat.

"So… You don't have it."

"Queen Heggra did not allow me to study it. She held that it was the rightful domain of the Apokoliptian royal family alone. And now Yuga Khan is on the Source Wall, Heggra is dead and Darkseid is."

"So the only person who would know and might actually tell me is Uncle Drax."

"Who is also dead." He notices my expression. "Or am I misinformed?"

"I hear things." I turn away. "Thank you for your input, Metron. I'll be certain to let you know if I'm successful."

Chojin Patriarch · Sep 6, 2021

Some between the lines comments!

He steeples his hands, leaning back in his chair with an air of disinterest about him.

"Grayven." "Junior Tyrant."

"Metron." "I don't know your name."

"And companion."

He regards Luna for a moment, carefully feeling out her essence.

"I want to lose that access. If anyone has a record of the Infinity Pit, the device which once contained the Omega Force before my father bound himself to it, it would be you." Knowledge Desires To Be Spread.

"That is what you want? Not a way to siphon Darkseid's portion?"

"No. I've had enough of weird energies messing around with me. I want it gone." All Control Starts With Self.

Darko · Sep 6, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
seen a New God pony

Of course that'd exist.

Mr Zoat said:
And if a few tissue samples and a thorough physical examination are all I have to give, I'll consider myself to have come out ahead."

I don't think that's all you'll have to give.

Mr Zoat said:
"We may be ageless, but We have things that We wish to do this night."

I smile lasciviously. "Oh yeah?"

Get your head out of the gutter, pony boy.

Mr Zoat said:
When… Two adults have become… Close, as we have become close… There comes a point in their… Relationship. Whereupon they mayst-."

BOOM!

She looks away.

"-decide to continue this later."

I bet she's either really thankful that he came or really pissed because now she'll have to do it again.

Mr Zoat said:
Assuming that she was going where I think she was going, I need to find out more about how Equestrians handle intimate relations, both now and a thousand years ago. And… Probably some literature on horse mating, both from Earth and from…

I wonder how awkward I can make it for Sunset?

Probably very awkward.

Mr Zoat said:
. It looks… Simple

'simpler'

Mr Zoat said:
He steeples his hands,

Like Gendo.

Mr Zoat said:
Grayven." "Junior Tyrant."

Clown face has sass.

Mr Zoat said:
He regards Luna for a moment, carefully feeling out her essence.

"Ascendancy brought about by the manipulation of collective belie

I'm assuming he's talking about the whole becoming an Alicorn through connecting with your friends.

Mr Zoat said:
"So the only person who would know and might actually tell me is Uncle Drax."

"Who is also dead." He notices my expression. "Or am I misinformed."

"I hear things." I turn away. "Thank you for your input, Metron. I'll be certain to let you know if I'm successful."

Looks like we'll be seeing Infinity Man.

Chojin Patriarch · Sep 6, 2021

Mr Zoat said:
10th September 2012
16:30 GMT -7

"You do not think that he will take umbrage at your equine form?"

I wing-shrug, and take a moment to be smug about how naturally I can pull off the gesture now.

Ah, they're meeting him in pony form, then. Darn, I was hoping we'd finally get to see Luna's humanoid form. Ah, well. At least he's finally getting his lazy flank up, chewing the bit as he is. The lady does him good, methinks.

"Metron is interested in novel phenomena. I doubt that he's ever seen a New God pony before. And if a few tissue samples and a thorough physical examination are all I have to give, I'll consider myself to have come out ahead."

I'll be amused if he's all "Ah, Equestrians. Not an unfamiliar sight." There's very little the New God of Sticky-Beaking hasn't seen after this long, after all.

We're standing on the upper hull of the Absolute Dominion a very long way away from anything very much. If I squinted really hard and waiting a few million years I might just be able to spot the dim light emanating from Mageddon as it lurks around the edge of the universe. Down below us is a long-destroyed bastion of the Old Gods, people of the Third World and our predecessors in terms of a species who could connect to the Source. There's nothing much left there now, which is why Hinon was willing to give me the location, but hopefully it will put Metron in a receptive frame of mind.

Just a few vaguely-Norse-as-drawn-by-Jack-Kirby ruins, I expect. Seriously, the man loved him his 'God were ancient Aliens' ideas. So much he made some for both of the Big Two.

That, and the tiny amount of x-element that Himon was willing to part with in exchange for food and children's books. A risk… With Amazing Grace revealed, Darkseid has no real reason to allow any sort of resistance to remain active… Until he gets around to creating a new patsy, at least. But at this point, I'm introducing a source of wonder and joy and Darkseid has no immediate counter. Will he object? Will he see this as a provocative escalation?

I don't know. I can't tell.

I suspect He will be mildly amused by the inventiveness of your approach... After all, Tyranny is ultimately powerless without some hope of freedom someday.

"Mother Box."

"Ping."

"I still say this is a bad idea. Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Call him."

"… Ping."

"...Um, well... I'm afraid I don't have his number."

I frown. "Seriously?"

"Ping."

"It's not like there's some grand central directory of New God contact details..."

"Is yon box having some manner of difficulty?"

"Ah… She doesn't have his details. I mean, he can usually detect open transmissions, but if he's in the arse end of the vibrational spectrum again we won't hear from him until he gets out."

And you know how he loves poking alternate universes... Always providing such interesting data.

She frowns. "Vibrational… What?"

"Metron knows more about the underlying structure of reality than anyone I know. But it's gotten to the point where no one else can understand what he's going on about. Very definitely including me. Okay, Mother Box, give it a try anyway. We're ageless. We can wait."

The Vibrational Spectrum being a fancy name for things like the Speed Force, and the dividing walls between timelines...

"Ping."

"I'd cross my fingers, if I had any... Here goes."

"We may be ageless, but We have things that We wish to do this night."

I smile lasciviously. "Oh yeah?"

Keep it sheathed, loverboy. Don't want Metron turning up while you're in flagrante delicto.

"Indeed. We have taken your idea of local petitions to heart, and will begin negotiations with the City of Trottingham to hold court there for three nights."

"I suppose you need to send out heralds, dress the audience chamber…"

Let's hope all goes well, then. Though you might want to be prepared for nothing but starstruck fans turning up.

"Information shall be made available at the Town Hall, and notices shall be sent out in newspapers. The audience chamber shall be left as it is, to emphasise that We are there representing the government of the nation and not on a tour of self-aggrandisement. And…" She coughs quietly. "We hath not… Discussed… That."

"'That'?"

Ah, such an old-fashioned lady she is. Though I suspect Grayven here has been more polite than some pony nobility about their intentions...

She looks awkwardly away. "You knowst of what We speak."

"I might, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to hear you say it." I look her directly in the eye. "I shouldn't think it would be difficult for you."

Always tweaking her tail, eh, Grayven? Well, I suppose it helps keep her grounded, unlike Celestia.

She awkwardly paws the hull with her right forehoof.

"When… Two adults have become… Close, as we have become close… There comes a point in their… Relationship. Whereupon they mayst-."

Watch that body language. She's getting annoyed.

BOOM!

She looks away.

"-decide to continue this later."

And now she's offering a silent 'thank you' to whatever gods are listening for the interruption...

Assuming that she was going where I think she was going, I need to find out more about how Equestrians handle intimate relations, both now and a thousand years ago. And… Probably some literature on horse mating, both from Earth and from…

I wonder how awkward I can make it for Sunset?

Go ahead, indulge your troll side. You know you want to. But yes, probably a good idea to double-check these things. After all, the show studiously avoided the physical side of romance.

Metron's chair floats out of the tube, heading towards us at a leisurely pace. It looks… Simple than I remember from the comics, and its pilot far less human. Tron lines, a chest emblem I don't remember and the blue colour is far lighter. But that's definitely him.

He steeples his hands, leaning back in his chair with an air of disinterest about him.

A bit more visually interesting, certainly. Much better than the deep blue-black onesie with silver detailing he wears in the comics.

"Grayven." "Junior Tyrant."

"Metron." "I don't know your name."

Yes, I'm looking forwards to seeing his actual Godname. Only so many times I can give him a cutesy synonym for 'curiosity'...

"And companion."

He regards Luna for a moment, carefully feeling out her essence.

"Ascendancy brought about by the manipulation of collective belief. Hardly unique. Quadruped herbivore sophont species are rarer, but not especially interesting."

And of course he's seen Ponies before. Wonder if they were G1-style or G2.

Or worse, G3. Serious uncanny valley on those abominations...

"But have you looked down?"

"Yes, and that was the sole reason why I answered your summons." He holds out his right hand, causing the cube of x-element to float up to him. "I am nowhere near to requiring more fuel, but I suppose that equity requires that I hear you out. What is your request?"

Not one to turn down a gift, eh? Even if he has to part with a little secret or two for it...

"I have access to the Omega Force."

"Fascinating."

Gee, can you lay the sarcasm on any thicker? I think there's still some uncertainty about it.

"I want to lose that access. If anyone has a record of the Infinity Pit, the device which once contained the Omega Force before my father bound himself to it, it would be you." Knowledge Desires To Be Spread.

"That is what you want? Not a way to siphon Darkseid's portion?"

HEh. That's got him off-balance. An Apokaliptian New God who doesn't kowtow to or plan to overthrow the Great Tyrant?

"No. I've had enough of weird energies messing around with me. I want it gone." All Control Starts With Self.

"I suppose that such a device could be used to take the Force from Darkseid himself, in time."

Of course, it'll just be sitting there, just waiting for someone dumb enough to try and absorb it in full defiance of the Evil Overlord list...

"Could it?" I raise my eyebrows. "I hope so, but I genuinely don't know. Has something like that ever been attempted before?"

"I do not believe that it has. Interesting. Should you find a way to make it happen, I would be willing to trade a great deal for that knowledge."

In other words, "Call me before you try it, I'll bring popcorn."

Drat.

"So… You don't have it."

It'd be too much to hope for that this would be easy, eh? That offer of Harmonising the chunk of Omega Effect still on the table, Luna?

"Queen Heggra did not allow me to study it. She held that it was the rightful domain of the Apokoliptian royal family alone. And now Yuga Khan is on the Source Wall, Heggra is dead and Darkseid is."

"So the only person who would know and might actually tell me is Uncle Drax."

Heh. Uxas was pretty thorough about removing any obstacles in his path to the throne, eh?

"Who is also dead." He notices my expression. "Or am I misinformed."

"I hear things." I turn away. "Thank you for your input, Metron. I'll be certain to let you know if I'm successful."

Nicely baited, Renegade. You got him curious now. And that'll lead him to help you get what you want just so he can learn more...

Well, that went better than expected. I guess the New God of Sticking His Nose In wasn't feeling particularly.. inquisitive, today... Though I can see him poking his head in on the Forever Morons now. And that might well lead to an encounter with the Infinity Man in Grayven's future. Lots of plot hooks raised with just three little words, not even spoken...

Darko · Sep 6, 2021

Chojin Patriarch said:
I suspect He will be mildly amused by the inventiveness of your approach... After all, Tyranny is ultimately powerless without some hope of freedom someday.

Yeah renegade mentioned that Darkseid let's his subjects have some hope so he can crush it.

Chojin Patriarch said:
And now she's offering a silent 'thank you' to whatever gods are listening for the interruption...

Or cursing them since she'll have to do it later instead of now.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Go ahead, indulge your troll side. You know you want to

But he really shouldn't.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Yes, I'm looking forwards to seeing his actual Godname. Only so many times I can give him a cutesy synonym for 'curiosity'...

Knowledge or Inquisitiveness may work.

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