Cold Iron (part 6)
Mr Zoat
Dedicated ragequitter
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26th June 2012
18:43 GMT
As I fly towards London I feel a momentary twinge of guilt that I'm not… Hunting the Sheeda holdouts down myself. Intellectually, I know that if Sivana's already got all of the answers then this is a far more effective use of my time. But orange is not the colour of the intellect. It's the colour of the stomach, and my stomach is hungry for the destruction of the people trying to take a wrecking ball to my uplift project.
With the provisional agreement of Russia and China and with America thinking about it, I need to work out what other countries I need to speak to directly and which will simply fall in line. Sivana made actual field test attacks in Britain on two occasions, has killed British nationals and caused significant amounts of financial damage, and…
I don't know. I'm pretty sure that Boris would take my advice if the threat here were a little more imminent, but the Sheeda appear to have avoided London. Probably due to Mr Ondaatie's prescience. I'm not sure what his brute force is like, but the Sheeda have been working by utilising their advantages to avoid risky fights. Having him shut down their magic once they're far enough inside the city to trap would doom any attacking force. Not sure what would happen if they parked a Harvest Dreadnought over Downing Street and tried bombarding the place. There are jet fighters over the capital constantly, but as far as I know Britain doesn't have air-to-air nuclear missiles.
Alright, the Prime Minister is expecting-.
"Huuuuman."
I stop in the air, frowning at my rings. Then I check that I'm not too close to a densely populated area, because I suspect that someone-.
A bolt of orange strikes my environmental shield, knocking me back slightly in the air. I frown-.
Another bolt, and this time I get an impression of the desire which created it. The firer wanted.. to.. remove an aggressor, a frustratingly militant distraction-.
That's my desire. How I felt during the fight in Ipswich.
Strange, but… Okay. The third bolt strikes, but this time I absorb it, fitting it neatly into my own desire network.
Charge increased. Eighty eight percent charge available.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of being shot, but this appears to be net harmless.
"Is that it?"
"Huuuuman. I'm n-."
"Well done, you've successfully identified my species."
I vaguely remember from the comics that orange light is weak against attacks from orange light, and that… Appears to hold somewhat true, based on Dox's reports on Orange Lantern training. If my Corps ever fights the Sinestro Corps or the Green Lantern Corps my people are going to be astonished by how well their constructs hold up. But that's due to how clashing desires undermine each other. Using my own drives against me isn't going to work. They're a part of me. And no one knows my desires quite like I do.
"Is there a point to this?"
I look around, empathic vision turned up a little to see if it lets me bypass whatever invisibility system my trying-to-be assailant is using. No such luck. London's only a short hop away if I feel like running for it.
I don't feel like running for it.
I can't really adopt a cross-legged pose while wearing my armour, but I draw my legs in slightly and… Unfocus, trying to reach into the Honden and feel the flows of desire around me.
"You know the bald man. Sivana." The voice is echoing, not really coming from any one place. But it's a form of communication, a desire to send a message from one mind to another. That… Narrows it down ever so slightly. "Where is he, human?"
"One step ahead of you. And I really hope that you've got a better weapon than my own desires to use against me."
Plenty of people want to confront me; a handful of people who have heard about my attempts to get Sivana pardoned and who want to stop me, to explain and share the hurt they've experienced at his hands. Some people still haven't gotten over the eyes. Some people want to know why I -mostly as a representative of the superhero community in general- haven't dealt with this so they can get back to their lives, get back to safety.
"You can't meaningfully threaten me, you can't meaningfully threaten anyone I care about, you can't offer me anything I want and you certainly won't convince me of the righteousness of your cause. What do you want?"
The air a short distance away undulates green, then a female Sheeda is vomited forth. The outline of the armour is… Mostly the same as what Anarawd wore, but I can see patterns of minute runic inscriptions along the edges and over the head. It also has a decidedly female cast to it; the hips are emphasised, the dragonfly wings attached to the back are slender and shimmer with rainbow light and the cuirass is moulded to display her breasts. Reminds me a little of the second Forager, but with iridescent green armour rather than white.
Internal only.
"Orange Lantern to Batman. Have encountered Sheeda just outside of London. Will attempt diplomacy, then desire control."
I get an acknowledgement 'blip', so I turn up my empathic vision while continuing to reach for her in the Honden.
"Do you have a name?"
"I am Lady Aeres, Highborn of the Sheeda."
"I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps, and you're intruding. If you surrender, I will see that you are treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention rules on the treatment of prisoners of war."
"If you kneel to the Queen, she will offer you dominion over this-."
"This world? Really? The only reason I don't rule this world now is that I don't want to. Why would Queen Gloriana offering it to me after she's levelled it make the prospect more appealing?"
I shake my head inside my armour.
"Did you think this through?"
"Yes. My Queen ordered me to make the offer, and I did. Now I may kill you without disobeying her."
Add in 'wants to kill me'-. Really? That's petty. But it narrows it down.
"Nice rules lawyering. But I really don't understand why you'd want to. I mean, given all of the destruction the Sheeda will carry out before they're killed off, I'd much prefer to just offer you a new planet to settle. Then you wouldn't need to Harrow the past any longer. You could just build your own civilisation in peace."
"Why would I want peace? I am built for war, bred for it! A billion years of evolution and artifice tell me that I am your superior!"
She thrusts her right hand in my direction, and in a flicker of runes a spear appears in it.
"I am the perfect creature designed to kill you, Harold Jordan!"
…
"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that."
"Do you fear me? Does the knowledge that none of your vaunted skills will matter against me threaten to unman you lest you block it from your mind?"
"No, it's just this thing where people from the future have no idea who I am. It's getting a bit annoying."
"Because we Sheeda have superior intelligence and know your most closely-guarded secrets!"
"Because I'm not Harold Jordan. I am, however, mildly annoyed."
18:43 GMT
As I fly towards London I feel a momentary twinge of guilt that I'm not… Hunting the Sheeda holdouts down myself. Intellectually, I know that if Sivana's already got all of the answers then this is a far more effective use of my time. But orange is not the colour of the intellect. It's the colour of the stomach, and my stomach is hungry for the destruction of the people trying to take a wrecking ball to my uplift project.
With the provisional agreement of Russia and China and with America thinking about it, I need to work out what other countries I need to speak to directly and which will simply fall in line. Sivana made actual field test attacks in Britain on two occasions, has killed British nationals and caused significant amounts of financial damage, and…
I don't know. I'm pretty sure that Boris would take my advice if the threat here were a little more imminent, but the Sheeda appear to have avoided London. Probably due to Mr Ondaatie's prescience. I'm not sure what his brute force is like, but the Sheeda have been working by utilising their advantages to avoid risky fights. Having him shut down their magic once they're far enough inside the city to trap would doom any attacking force. Not sure what would happen if they parked a Harvest Dreadnought over Downing Street and tried bombarding the place. There are jet fighters over the capital constantly, but as far as I know Britain doesn't have air-to-air nuclear missiles.
Alright, the Prime Minister is expecting-.
"Huuuuman."
I stop in the air, frowning at my rings. Then I check that I'm not too close to a densely populated area, because I suspect that someone-.
A bolt of orange strikes my environmental shield, knocking me back slightly in the air. I frown-.
Another bolt, and this time I get an impression of the desire which created it. The firer wanted.. to.. remove an aggressor, a frustratingly militant distraction-.
That's my desire. How I felt during the fight in Ipswich.
Strange, but… Okay. The third bolt strikes, but this time I absorb it, fitting it neatly into my own desire network.
Charge increased. Eighty eight percent charge available.
Normally I'm not a huge fan of being shot, but this appears to be net harmless.
"Is that it?"
"Huuuuman. I'm n-."
"Well done, you've successfully identified my species."
I vaguely remember from the comics that orange light is weak against attacks from orange light, and that… Appears to hold somewhat true, based on Dox's reports on Orange Lantern training. If my Corps ever fights the Sinestro Corps or the Green Lantern Corps my people are going to be astonished by how well their constructs hold up. But that's due to how clashing desires undermine each other. Using my own drives against me isn't going to work. They're a part of me. And no one knows my desires quite like I do.
"Is there a point to this?"
I look around, empathic vision turned up a little to see if it lets me bypass whatever invisibility system my trying-to-be assailant is using. No such luck. London's only a short hop away if I feel like running for it.
I don't feel like running for it.
I can't really adopt a cross-legged pose while wearing my armour, but I draw my legs in slightly and… Unfocus, trying to reach into the Honden and feel the flows of desire around me.
"You know the bald man. Sivana." The voice is echoing, not really coming from any one place. But it's a form of communication, a desire to send a message from one mind to another. That… Narrows it down ever so slightly. "Where is he, human?"
"One step ahead of you. And I really hope that you've got a better weapon than my own desires to use against me."
Plenty of people want to confront me; a handful of people who have heard about my attempts to get Sivana pardoned and who want to stop me, to explain and share the hurt they've experienced at his hands. Some people still haven't gotten over the eyes. Some people want to know why I -mostly as a representative of the superhero community in general- haven't dealt with this so they can get back to their lives, get back to safety.
"You can't meaningfully threaten me, you can't meaningfully threaten anyone I care about, you can't offer me anything I want and you certainly won't convince me of the righteousness of your cause. What do you want?"
The air a short distance away undulates green, then a female Sheeda is vomited forth. The outline of the armour is… Mostly the same as what Anarawd wore, but I can see patterns of minute runic inscriptions along the edges and over the head. It also has a decidedly female cast to it; the hips are emphasised, the dragonfly wings attached to the back are slender and shimmer with rainbow light and the cuirass is moulded to display her breasts. Reminds me a little of the second Forager, but with iridescent green armour rather than white.
Internal only.
"Orange Lantern to Batman. Have encountered Sheeda just outside of London. Will attempt diplomacy, then desire control."
I get an acknowledgement 'blip', so I turn up my empathic vision while continuing to reach for her in the Honden.
"Do you have a name?"
"I am Lady Aeres, Highborn of the Sheeda."
"I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps, and you're intruding. If you surrender, I will see that you are treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention rules on the treatment of prisoners of war."
"If you kneel to the Queen, she will offer you dominion over this-."
"This world? Really? The only reason I don't rule this world now is that I don't want to. Why would Queen Gloriana offering it to me after she's levelled it make the prospect more appealing?"
I shake my head inside my armour.
"Did you think this through?"
"Yes. My Queen ordered me to make the offer, and I did. Now I may kill you without disobeying her."
Add in 'wants to kill me'-. Really? That's petty. But it narrows it down.
"Nice rules lawyering. But I really don't understand why you'd want to. I mean, given all of the destruction the Sheeda will carry out before they're killed off, I'd much prefer to just offer you a new planet to settle. Then you wouldn't need to Harrow the past any longer. You could just build your own civilisation in peace."
"Why would I want peace? I am built for war, bred for it! A billion years of evolution and artifice tell me that I am your superior!"
She thrusts her right hand in my direction, and in a flicker of runes a spear appears in it.
"I am the perfect creature designed to kill you, Harold Jordan!"
…
"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that."
"Do you fear me? Does the knowledge that none of your vaunted skills will matter against me threaten to unman you lest you block it from your mind?"
"No, it's just this thing where people from the future have no idea who I am. It's getting a bit annoying."
"Because we Sheeda have superior intelligence and know your most closely-guarded secrets!"
"Because I'm not Harold Jordan. I am, however, mildly annoyed."
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