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

[Darko]

Boy, the Reach just put their foot in a deep ol' mess. Evidently a chance to take down the Illustres of the Orange Lanterns and secure a valuable Spectrum weapon proved too much for the Reach command to resist going full super-villain... Which does certainly feel not right. There's got to be something more going on... Hopefully we'll learn more tomorrow

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To be fair to them, getting rid of a powerful enemy and acquiring a powerful weapon does seem like a good reason for doing this.

 

[Ej190]

This feels very false flag... Because no way would a group as careful and methodical as the Reach attempt a broad daylight public assassination like that...

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Ahem.

Supervillains.

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I don't know why I even bother replying to Vaermina, but...

Ahem.
Comicbook Supervillains.


Especially cocky ones, who've never really faced serious set backs.

 

[Mr Zoat]

They will be directed to the opposite side of the planet to your ships...

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[CTrees]

I actually like the false flag idea. The Darkstars capture a few Reach ships, Dox has them appear in system and make an attack Paul can easily handle (but which will kill some local govvies). The Orange Lanterns go and annihilate the ships. Oh look, they had a self-destruct system that prevented bodies from being recovered. Suddenly the Reach looks a lot worse to the local population...

 

[Impartial Panic]

What do you want to bet that this is exactly what Dox planned?

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at this point I think Dox's plans involving Paul are if Paul is there only Chaos will follow.
then he makes the preparations for when things get worse.

Paul going to negotiations, some idiot will send a fleet to kill him.

Paul on patrol, he'll likely encounter some SCP.

Paul is buying ice cream, the city gets a giant fruit cake.

 

[Grimnar]

While it Could be a false flag operation, there's also the possibility it's not.

OL is their heaviest hitter, someone who can bring an Embodiment to bear on them if need be. That's a strategic weapon on a massive scale. They have already tried to knock him off the play field once before.

Maybe they justified it as OL escaping the previous one. Maybe they don't really believe he can reconstitute his body.

If not, gaining the Ire of trading planet that's exceedingly pacifist for his assassination is a good deal. These people are sheep. The Reach could appologise, pay some fines, renegotiate some trade deals, and then continue on as normal. They hardly lose anything on a strategic level, while striking a major victory.

 

[webxro]

Are the Reach even capable of FTL beam weapons ? I mean are we sure it's not Gravy ? Or least some other party that is coercing the green lantern lady.

 

[jonasquinn]

And how will he prove it to the Yunians?

They aren't idiots on earth who don't know that power rings can just fabricate any sort of digital information Paragon wants. And orange ring mind control abilities are well known at this point. So that's a no to any sort of first hand witness. I suppose he could kidnap some of them and show them the planet's... But even then the Reach will just deny it and say Legion fabricated everything...

Nope. This was the time to play the politics game... And Paul's just really bad at it...

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Of course you're conveniently forgetting that Orange Lantern mind control is very obvious, there being dozens if not hundreds of survivors of Reach genocides in N.E.M.O refugee camps that would happily confirm his reports not to mention all the neighbouring planets that have witnessed them and the Controllers keeping extremely precise records about their conflict with the Reach

 

[Mr Zoat]

Are the Reach even capable of FTL beam weapons ? I mean are we sure it's not Gravy ? Or least some other party that is coercing the green lantern lady.

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It isn't that hard to make an FTL beam weapon. It's just not part of normal Reach doctrine as they're not that good.

 

[Ngamer11]

For a moment I remember what Supergirl flew around wearing in the comics. Fortunately, all of the super women I've seen here are realistically proportioned. That would have been one weirdness too many.

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Found a broken link. Not sure what you would replace it with though.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Found a broken link. Not sure what you would replace it with though.

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Works for me. Anyone else?

 

[Darko]

Works for me. Anyone else?

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It it's a picture with a red WTF?! pointing at Rogues breasts, then it works for me too.

 

[Vaermina]

While it Could be a false flag operation, there's also the possibility it's not.

OL is their heaviest hitter, someone who can bring an Embodiment to bear on them if need be. That's a strategic weapon on a massive scale. They have already tried to knock him off the play field once before.

Maybe they justified it as OL escaping the previous one. Maybe they don't really believe he can reconstitute his body.

If not, gaining the Ire of trading planet that's exceedingly pacifist for his assassination is a good deal. These people are sheep. The Reach could appologise, pay some fines, renegotiate some trade deals, and then continue on as normal. They hardly lose anything on a strategic level, while striking a major victory.

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Okay... So then why did they try with a weapon even Zoat admits is both pathetic and the Reach suck at instead of just blowing up the entire planet?

 

[ironbabyjones]

From an earlier chapter:

"Now, how do you feel about pets?"

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I half expected OL's survey to end in "Now, how do you feel about tabletop wargaming?"

Regarding the latest chapter: it's a nice, exciting twist! I'm really enjoying this plotline, trying to convince the indifferent and uninformed population that this distant-seeming issue is really important and affects them. Also, FTL beams? I'm sure OL will be happy to examine the wreckage if he gets the chance.

I have the ring put a map of the system in my head. Given the.. angles…

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*Given the... angles...

 

[Grimnar]

Okay... So then why did they try with a weapon even Zoat admits is both pathetic and the Reach suck at instead of just blowing up the entire planet?

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That's... not what he said.

If OL had come alone, or his subordinate didn't inform him of a Reach fleet arriving, he wouldn't have put up a shield. And he would be dead.

It was a pretty good shot, and they lose a flottila and some goodwill with some rando isolationists. Well worth the shot.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Regarding the latest chapter: it's a nice, exciting twist! I'm really enjoying this plotline, trying to convince the indifferent and uninformed population that this distant-seeming issue is really important and affects them. Also, FTL beams? I'm sure OL will be happy to examine the wreckage if he gets the chance.

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No, he's encountered those before. Remember when he was looking at some of the Traitor's ships? Those were actually designed around sniper cannons.

*Given the... angles...

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No, I use two dots to indicate a brief unplanned pause. Three indicates that they trailed off and stopped.

 

[Ngamer11]

Works for me. Anyone else?

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When I click it, it shows me this:
This site can't be reached

The webpage at https://www.cbr.com/wordpress/scrip...=2012/02/21/she-has-no-head-no-its-not-equal/ might be temporarily down or it may have moved permanently to a new web address.
ERR_HTTP2_PROTOCOL_ERROR

 

[Cuchulin]

Works for me. Anyone else?

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Same here.

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th August 2012
22:28 GMT

"…doing, you off-mode writ-wrangler!?"

I lean closer to one of the Reach functionaries who was backing away from the irate Negotiator but didn't keep an eye on the door.

"Having trouble?"

She freezes up, not daring to respond. The Negotiator looks around, eyes wide, and then returns his attention to his communicator.

"And you didn't even manage to kill him!" … "Oh, and how is it better if he's a fake!? That just means they can all survive it!"

"Negotiator?"

"…that even-? No, my orders are clear. Die, and let your stupidity die with you." He deactivates his communicator, breathes in, straightens his robes, and then turns to me with a relaxed smile on his face. "It is my sad duty to inform you that the commanding officer of the gunboat that just entered your system is doing so in an ex-communial manner."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that they have gone beyond their authority and do not represent the Reach. You may-." He cranes his neck slightly to look at Miss Arfat. "Your government is fully empowered to dispose of them as you see fit."

"What's this actually about? I thought you'd at least wait-."

"Can you at least credit us with being cunning enough not to shoot through four buildings on an unaligned world?"

…

"I suppose that I can."

"Yes, yes." Miss Arfat looks at me. "Given the known capacities of-."

The roof evaporates, the second shot being blocked from hitting us by my construct barrier. As the light dies the damage-. There were six floors above us and it's gone right through, a crater about eight metres across having been blasted down until it hit my shield.

"CAPACITIES of Reach warships, the Yuna government authorises the forces of N.E.M.O. to undertake hostile action under an Extraordinary Contract."

"Thank you."

I add a crosshairs to my visual field, centred on the cruiser that's taking the shots.

"Back soon."

I fly upwards and then warp, my passage jerking and then stabilising as the still active interdiction systems shut down. Space snaps back as I reach high orbit, the ships around me making best speed away from where they are.

"Illustres to Lantern K'ryssma, in your own time."

Can't really risk flying at faster than light speed right up to a Reach ship, but a low warp will take me to them at-

My construct shield lights up with turquoise fury, which dies a few moments later.

-a reasonable pace. Okay, they put an FTL gun on a cruiser. It's not that big and it's not that powerful, which is why they don't usually do this sort of thing. Why are they still shooting at me? Possibility one:-

I fire a series of lightspeed energy pulses at them. If they've got FTL sensors -and they should- then I might get a lucky hit. But for the most part I want to keep their attention on me and off the unshielded planet and lightly protected ships.

-they're trying to take my shield down with sustained fire. Not a terrible idea in the ordinary run of things, but their ship is undergunned and I'm me. Possibility two, the ship's on autopilot to shoot me. Or the people on board have stupid orders they're not willing to ignore.

"Drusa?"

"We're not all as fast as you, Illustres. I was needed to shield our ships against their escorts."

"Fair enough. Are they dead?"

"Three are. I've lost track of the fourth."

"Notify the Yuna Defence Force and keep your eyes open. I've got the cruiser."

"As you wish."

Standard Reach communication protocols.

Compliance.

"You in the cruiser. Surrender and live on as organic beings. Resist and I will assimilate you. You have five seconds now."

Okay, scans of the cruiser… I did get a couple of hits. Looks like I breached their hull. That… Shouldn't have happened. Standard shields would-. They didn't have standard shields. FTL weapons take a lot of power, but… That doesn't sound right. I mean, if this is their first cruiser with an FTL weapon they might not have finalised the design. I might be such a juicy target that they thought that the chance to off me was worth a few ships. Lucky me.

Unlucky them.

Empathic vision-. Oh. There are minds on board, but they've had their thought processes messed around with in a fairly brute force sort of way. I doubt that they're Reachians, but it should only take me-

I block another shot.

-a few moments to find out for certain.

A volley of crumbler rounds punches through their weak… Environmental barrier, not even a weak military force field. Chunks of their fore gun vanish, and ring scans show it lose power. Right, interdiction field generators are usually there in that hull type… I'm close enough that I can fire orange beams and reliably pierce the hull and puncture them.

I increase the degree to which I'm warping space, and then the ship is there just in front of me. In a pretty sorry state, but the hull is largely in one piece. I draw back my shield so that it just protects me… Looks like they gave up on point defences as well, but that's no reason to take stupid risks. Locate the crew, send out the filaments-.

Two go out as they kill themselves, but I connect to the other seven just in time. Undermanned for a ship-

"Identity theft in progress."

-of this class. I'm convinced that the Negotiator on Yuna genuinely didn't know, but someone put work into this.

"Identity theft complete."

I pull my thralls into my ring… Ugh. Simplified thought processes. I can't even see who gave them their orders. I'll check the computer-.

"K'ryssma to Illustres. I need help!"

I turn in space, looking for the emerald glow-.

There are two of them. And they're fighting near the location of the Free Lancers' ship. Marvellous.

I warp, the intervening space vanishing into nothing as I pull my barrier around me as construct armour. If we've eliminated ships as a threat, that leaves either a Lantern -and if one of the Free Lancers has put the ring on I'm not helping- or a Scarab. Or-.

A green blast destabilises my warp and knocks me back into normal space, the ring-wielding Scarab Warrior pointing her new ring at me.

 

[Darko]

I might be such a juicy target that they thought that the chance to off me was worth a few ships. Lucky me.

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Your luck is blessed by Eris.

...

...Actually...that explains a lot...

and if one of the Free Lancers has put the ring on I'm not helping

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Still not sure why you wouldn't help get it back.

By getting it back you can earn some good points with the GLC, prevent criminals from getting their hands, claws or tentacles on it and causing major damage by either using the ring or studying it and making anti-Lantern weaponry that can harm Lanterns and could lead to the GLC suffering damage and thus making their duty to protect the galaxy a whole lot harder and difficult, or it can end up in the hands of the Reach who may use it to harm the OLC, your organization, and who knows, they may decide that they would like another war with the GLC, but now they have rings and Scarabs.

 

[DAT_NOOB]

OL: "It's either a lantern or a scarab"

*Turns out to be a scarab lantern*

That's actually pretty concerning...

 

[Shotiegun11]

I don't see this ending up being a hard fight.

Adding a Power Ring to a Scarab does surprisingly little in terms of combat ability. There aren't many weapons a Scarab can't make that a Ring can. Especially with a Green Ring.

She may have overwhelmed one Senior Lantern, but against 2 with no Power Ring training? I see this defaulting to a (Senior?) Scarab Vs (2) Senior Lanterns very quickly.

 

[FreeGod]

OL: "It's either a lantern or a scarab"

*Turns out to be a scarab lantern*

That's actually pretty concerning...

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Well it doesn't even have an hour worth of experience with a power ring and Paul has crumbler tech.

Also he can likely just get the scarab to self destruct by trying to assimilate.

 

[Handlewithcare]

Well it doesn't even have an hour worth of experience with a power ring and Paul has crumbler tech.

Also he can likely just get the scarab to self destruct by trying to assimilate.

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All assuming this is a real Scarab Warrior

If it is, then this shoddy warship was a distraction to get the Ring and the Reach just wanted not to waste resources

If it isn't, than this might very well be a false flag operation by Dox

 

[Ganurath]

I can't imagine the meat core of a mind control suit has much in the way of willpower.

 

[Ngamer11]

I can't imagine the meat core of a mind control suit has much in the way of willpower.

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It could be similar to the Antithesis Ring, which forcibly strengthens the wearer's willpower.

 

[Darko]

I can't imagine the meat core of a mind control suit has much in the way of willpower.

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It could be similar to the Antithesis Ring, which forcibly strengthens the wearer's willpower.

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The Reach don't just give Scarabs to slaves.

In YJ Black Scarab seemed to have his own free will, so this Scarab could be a loyal Reachian.

 

[Lone Courier 6]

I can't imagine the meat core of a mind control suit has much in the way of willpower.

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The Meat Core might not Matter here, could be the Scarab's Willpower given the sorts of things that can use a Lantern Ring, like Sapient Math Equations.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

12th August 2012
22:28 GMT

"…doing, you off-mode writ-wrangler!?"

I lean closer to one of the Reach functionaries who was backing away from the irate Negotiator but didn't keep an eye on the door.

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Okay, that answers that question: The Negotiator was not aware of this flotilla's mission. And evidently is not happy with whoever did order it. At least OL will be able to get the all-clear from all sides to defend himself.

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

"Having trouble?"

She freezes up, not daring to respond. The Negotiator looks around, eyes wide, and then returns his attention to his communicator.

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Definitely a moment of 'Fornication, not this Excrement too? Fornicate. My. Life... Sideways.'

"And you didn't even manage to kill him!" … "Oh, and how is it better if he's a fake!? That just means they can all survive it!"

"Negotiator?"

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Boy, the Reach are going to have quite the list of responses to OL, now. Mostly consisting of 'retreat on sight' or 'deploy largest possible weapons and pray to the great ledgers of the beyond that he is vulnerable to them.'

"…that even-? No, my orders are clear. Die, and let your stupidity die with you." He deactivates his communicator, breathes in, straightens his robes, and then turns to me with a relaxed smile on his face. "It is my sad duty to inform you that the commanding officer of the gunboat that just entered your system is doing so in an ex-communial manner."

"Meaning?"

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Meaning they just got their asses thrown under the bus. With prejudice.

"Meaning that they have gone beyond their authority and do not represent the Reach. You may-." He cranes his neck slightly to look at Miss Arfat. "Your government is fully empowered to dispose of them as you see fit."

"What's this actually about? I thought you'd at least wait-."

"Can you at least credit us with being cunning enough not to shoot through four buildings on an unaligned world?"

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...The being has a point. From the looks of it, someone higher up panicked.

…

"I suppose that I can."

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Not a thought he ever expected to have about the Reach, I'll bet.

"Yes, yes." Miss Arfat looks at me. "Given the known capacities of-."

The roof evaporates, the second shot being blocked from hitting us by my construct barrier. As the light dies the damage-. There were six floors above us and its gone right through, a crater about eight metres across having been blasted down until it hit my shield.

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Well, they're going for the big Darwin Award, aren't they? Evidently they're believers in the rule of 'Shoot until it's dead!'

"CAPACITIES of Reach warships, the Yuna government authorises the forces of N.E.M.O. to undertake hostile action under an Extraordinary Contract."

"Thank you."

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Both government's arses covered, then. Time for OL to engage in some judicious self-defence.

I add a crosshairs to my visual field, centred on the cruiser that's taking the shots.

"Back soon."

I fly upwards and then warp, my passage jerking and then stabilising as the still active interdiction systems shut down. Space snaps back as I reach high orbit, the ships around me making best speed away from where they are.

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Not wanting to be in the splash zone, I bet. Hope he's at least clear of the planet as a backstop at least.

"Illustres to Lantern K'ryssma, in your own time."

Can't really risk flying at faster than light speed right up to a Reach ship, but a low warp will take me to them at-

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Yeah, not when they're throwing about their own FTL firepower. Not without some very strong shielding up...

My construct shield lights up with turquoise fury, which dies a few moments later.

-a reasonable pace. Okay, they put an FTL gun on a cruiser. It's not that big and it's not that powerful, which is why they don't usually do this sort of thing. Why are they still shooting at me? Possibility one:-

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I am impressed that they're tracking him so easily. Must have some top-of-the-line sensors rigged up to allow them to follow a man-sized object moving at his speeds.

I fire a series of lightspeed energy pulses at them. If they've got FTL sensors -and they should- then I might get a lucky hit. But for the most part I want to keep their attention on me and off the unshielded planet and lightly protected ships.

-they're trying to take my shield down with sustained fire. Not a terrible idea in the ordinary run of things, but their ship is undergunned and I'm me. Possibility two, the ship's on autopilot to shoot me. Or the people on board have stupid orders they're not willing to ignore.

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Possibility four: They're not smart enough to be able to ignore those orders, whether through conditioning or simple idiocy.

"Drusa?"

"We're not all as fast as you, Illustres. I was needed to shield our ships against their escorts."

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So, no more escorts, then.

"Fair enough. Are they dead?"

"Three are. I've lost track of the fourth."

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...Shit. Likelihood that they've gone for the other high-value item in-system?

"Notify the Yuna Defence Force and keep your eyes open. I've got the cruiser."

"As you wish."

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And she's probably breathing a sigh of relief right now, knowing that she doesn't have to try and go after that cruiser.

Standard Reach communication protocols.

Compliance.

"You in the cruiser. Surrender and live on as organic beings. Resist and I will assimilate you. You have five seconds now."

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Oof, pulling no punches at all there. They've definitely got his dander up, what with all the collateral damage. Still, the moral obligation to offer a way to not die is done...

Okay, scans of the cruiser… I did get a couple of hits. Looks like I breached their hull. That… Shouldn't have happened. Standard shields would-. They didn't have standard shields. FTL weapons take a lot of power, but… That doesn't sound right. I mean, if this is their first cruiser with an FTL weapon they might not have finalised the design. I might be such a juicy target that they thought that the chance to off me was worth a few ships. Lucky me.

Unlucky them.

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Boy, sending an untested prototype with less-than-ideal defences? This smells fishier and fishier with every moment. There's no way the Reach would be that cocky or arrogant. They don't act openly unless they know that their chance of success is as high as it can be.

Empathic vision-. Oh. There are minds on board, but they've had their thought processes messed around with in a fairly brute force sort of way. I doubt that they're Reachians, but it should only take me-

I block another shot.

-a few moments to find out for certain.

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Probably functionally lobotomised to minimise the effectiveness of any weapons OL is presumed to carry.

A volley of crumbler rounds punches through their weak… Environmental barrier, not even a weak military force field. Chunks of their fore gun vanish, and ring scans show it lose power. Right, interdiction field generators are usually there in that hull type… I'm close enough that I can fire orange beams and reliably pierce the hull and puncture them.

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A literal Glass Cannon boss, eh? Hopefully there's enough of their FTL beam weapon to analyse back on Maltus.

I increase the degree to which I'm warping space, and then the ship is there just in front of me. In a pretty sorry state, but the hull is largely in one piece. I draw back my shield so that it just protects me… Looks like they gave up on point defences as well, but that's no reason to take stupid risks. Locate the crew, send out the filaments-.

Two go out as they kill themselves, but I connect to the other seven just in time. Undermanned for a ship-

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Slow response time, from the looks of it. No automatic defence against Assimilation either...

"Identity theft in progress."

-of this class. I'm convinced that the Negotiator on Yuna genuinely didn't know, but someone put work into this.

"Identity theft complete."

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Apparently they had so little resistance, assimilation was near-instant. Well, that's indicative of something. Throwaway clones, maybe?

I pull my thralls into my ring… Ugh. Simplified thought processes. I can't even see who gave them their orders. I'll check the computer-.

"K'ryssma to Illustres. I need help!"

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Good thing OL can multitask.

I turn in space, looking for the emerald glow-.

There are two of them. And they're fighting near the location of the Free Lancers' ship. Marvellous.

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Well, shit. Either one of the Free Lancers decided to blow their payday, or...

I warp, the intervening space vanishing into nothing as I pull my barrier around me as construct armour. If we've eliminated ships as a threat, that leaves either a Lantern -and if one of the Free Lancers has put the ring on I'm not helping- or a Scarab. Or-.

A green blast destabilises my warp and knocks me back into normal space, the ring-wielding Scarab Warrior pointing her new ring at me.

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...The Reach flotilla's real objective has just been advanced a step.

Well, then. Time to see just how good OL is at real Lantern combat, not just sparring. Good thing he has a few Earth Bullshit™ tricks up his sleeve to throw at the Scarab. Hopefully the Super-Ring's capabilities aren't too far past a regular Green Ring. Or perhaps, worst case scenario, OL takes it for himself, Orange Lantern style. He can assimilate tech, after all.

 

[Darko]

Not a thought he ever expected to have about the Reach, I'll bet.

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First time for everything.

Evidently they're believers in the rule of 'Shoot until it's dead!'

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To be fair, it's a good rule.

There's no way the Reach would be that cocky or arrogant.

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Their comic book villains.

Even the smartest of them have their big moments of stupid.

Hopefully the Super-Ring's capabilities aren't too far past a regular Green Ring

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You will not cease calling to Murphy.

He can assimilate tech, after all

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He did do that to Stewart's ring.