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

jonasquinn · Aug 29, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Darkstar armour would have shut down by now because its exotic energy systems would have faile

Honestly this feels really weird, it's like there's a completely arbitrary level of technology that this stuff shuts down. Why would technology like Power Rings and Darkstar armour be shut down but crumbler gauntlets aren't?

This whole section also highlights how weirdly shitty OL's power armour is, he's had countless examples of good power armour, near limitless resources and a family of geniuses that would be more than happy to help him design something better. The fact that he's using a terrible knock off even just as a backup feels so unlike him, especially since pretty much anything else he could use would only possibly be worse in this exact situation.

Vaermina · Aug 29, 2022

jonasquinn said:
Honestly this feels really weird, it's like there's a completely arbitrary level of technology that this stuff shuts down. Why would technology like Power Rings and Darkstar armour be shut down but crumbler gauntlets aren't?

This whole section also highlights how weirdly shitty OL's power armour is, he's had countless examples of good power armour, near limitless resources and a family of geniuses that would be more than happy to help him design something better. The fact that he's using a terrible knock off even just as a backup feels so unlike him, especially since pretty much anything else he could use would only possibly be worse in this exact situation.

The problem is LePaul doesn't think any of the examples of power armor that he has seen are good.

So while yes it's a terrible knockoff, because he think's it's the best design ever he will never try to improve it unless some new bit of shiny catches his attention that could add.

Stsword · Aug 29, 2022

jonasquinn said:
Honestly this feels really weird, it's like there's a completely arbitrary level of technology that this stuff shuts down. Why would technology like Power Rings and Darkstar armour be shut down but crumbler gauntlets aren't?

Crumbler technology is weird tech, but that's all, even the "powered by the central nervous system" thing makes more sense as a reference to bio-electricity than psychic energy.

Power rings and Darkstar armor aren't just weird tech, they're psi-tech.

The Central Power Battery was created as crystalized psychic energy from the Maltusians, the green crystal then carved into the central power battery. The individual power batteries carved from smaller pieces, the rings from even smaller fragments.

The Darkstar armor? That's because the Controllers are control freak assholes. Instead of putting "bobblehead malware" to control the Darkstars, the Darkstar safeguards are hardware- the armors don't have built in power sources, the Controllers power them with their own psychic power. So when a Darkstar gets uppity the Controllers cut them off, so no force fields, no masers, no flight. Still provide armor and strength enhancement, but everything else goes away.

In the comics there was next gen Darkstar armor that had its own power source- mini-black holes. Since there is no esoteric energy involved, I'd assume those Darkstar armors would work just fine in the Obsidian null field.

So it's not about technology level, it's about technology nature. Anything that would block psychic powers would of course block technology dependent on psychic energy.

xSieg · Aug 29, 2022

jonasquinn said:
Honestly this feels really weird, it's like there's a completely arbitrary level of technology that this stuff shuts down. Why would technology like Power Rings and Darkstar armour be shut down but crumbler gauntlets aren't?

This whole section also highlights how weirdly shitty OL's power armour is, he's had countless examples of good power armour, near limitless resources and a family of geniuses that would be more than happy to help him design something better. The fact that he's using a terrible knock off even just as a backup feels so unlike him, especially since pretty much anything else he could use would only possibly be worse in this exact situation.

OL isn't a miracle worker, he works with what he has. He can't use metamaterials because he can't mantain them and having armor you cannot repair is just stupid, and having a backup armor so elaborate that it gets turned off by power nullifiers or people that can make reality stable just defeats the point.

It's telling that the few better armors we've seen are all metamaterials like Kon's Nth metal fullplate, New God tech (which uses the owner's Godhead as its energy), Diana's new fullplate armor, the Anti-Monitor fragment from Devlos, etc. Paul has already basically hit the softcap of non-enchanted materials and non-exotic energy features; Anything else is far too much excessiveness for a backup designed only to let him retreat from a nullifying threat imo

Vaermina · Aug 29, 2022

xSieg said:
OL isn't a miracle worker, he works with what he has. He can't use metamaterials because he can't mantain them and having armor you cannot repair is just stupid, and having a backup armor so elaborate that it gets turned off by power nullifiers or people that can make reality stable just defeats the point.

It's telling that the few better armors we've seen are all metamaterials like Kon's Nth metal fullplate, New God tech (which uses the owner's Godhead as its energy), Diana's new fullplate armor, the Anti-Monitor fragment from Devlos, etc. Paul has already basically hit the softcap of non-enchanted materials and non-exotic energy features; Anything else is far too much excessiveness for a backup designed only to let him retreat from a nullifying threat imo

No he hasn't...

Do I really need to pull up a list of all the various Power Suit designs from DC comics that don't rely on metamaterials or magic that are just straight up better then what LePaul is currently using?

Because I can.

Hell, there are a couple that are just straight up better then Power Rings... Like Amazo Armor.

w34v3r · Aug 29, 2022

Exotic energy was specified as shut down. Amazo-tech is all kinds of exotic energy.

Bramble Thorn · Aug 29, 2022

jonasquinn said:
Honestly this feels really weird, it's like there's a completely arbitrary level of technology that this stuff shuts down. Why would technology like Power Rings and Darkstar armour be shut down but crumbler gauntlets aren't?

This whole section also highlights how weirdly shitty OL's power armour is, he's had countless examples of good power armour, near limitless resources and a family of geniuses that would be more than happy to help him design something better. The fact that he's using a terrible knock off even just as a backup feels so unlike him, especially since pretty much anything else he could use would only possibly be worse in this exact situation.

Feels like it is disabling parts of the 'Reality's Physics Engine' that allowing the esoteric stuff to work.
(If you wanted you emotional light to keep working, should have brought a portable Reality Engine with you, and had it running at the time the trap was sprung.)

And allows mundane tech to work either because that stuff is more problematic to shut off without making the interior reality uninhabitable (Like people are using those parts to keep their atoms bound together, and their blood carrying oxygen analogs. etc.)

Also relevant, the Dominators use the tech, but not so much the other stuff.
So if they can fine tune the effect, turning off physics support for the stuff they don't use much, but leaving it on for the stuff their standard equipment, is just smart tactics to maximize their home field advantage.

Sockmonkey · Aug 29, 2022

xSieg said:
He can't use metamaterials because he can't maintain them and having armor you cannot repair is just stupid,

Military personnel don't personally work on every bit of gear they use. They have technicians and mechanics that do that. OL has Io and Sephtian for any magic-based gear. He does in fact use such things as mage slayer rounds and spell-eater amulets regularly.

Mr Zoat · Aug 29, 2022

21st November 2012
11:59 GMT -5

"INTERNAL ADJUST SHIELDS ADJUST SHIElds oh thank you."

Ah, gah! I think that was a sonic attack, so either someone just hit me with a grenade, or-.

My shield flickers in a way which says that someone just hit it with an electromagnetic pulse. A decent guess, but my shield isn't all that vulnerable to EMP disruption. Sonic sensors… Aren't working. Damaged or wrecked, I don't know. This suit has a self-repair function, but it's not as good as a power ring would be.

Okay, activate flight and shift… I have a partial map of the room from a moment ago. I'll go up and left, away from Interceptor and Commander Scott. I… Don't know where the attack came from, though dominator habits suggests that there's a dominator in the room now and they're carrying some sort of multi-output gun.

Don't know if Interceptor or Commander Scott are still alive.

"Gahkahkakhaak."

Because I never considered creating a Dominion to English translator and adding it to my armour.

"Ak-ak akakh."

I don't even know how their intonation works. The speaker could be pleading for their life, offering a ceasefire or mocking us and I wouldn't be able to tell.

"Kakrkakrak."

There's a flare of heat as probably-Interceptor takes a shot, and I'm still able to see heat but my sonics haven't come back yet which means that I'm stuck floating around until I bump into something.

"Blue Lantern to Orange Lantern."

"Internal. Go ahead."

"Got a small ship flying away from the facility. I need to do something about it?"

"Most probable possibility is that it's some of the high caste dominators. If you can do so safely, detain them."

"Ah…"

"Problem?"

"No, I can do that. I'm just wondering if you're being generous because we're not in our own universe."

"Generous?"

"Or is it just because you don't think I'd be okay with killing them?"

"It's because we haven't confirmed the target yet. If you had that big a problem with killing people who did things like this then you wouldn't be here. Incidentally, Commander Scott has children."

"Well, he did say that he remarried."

"Akh! Akh!"

"Kakh!"

Which is the guy in here talking to the guys outside, neither of whom can see the hole I made. On the other hand, I can't tell where the noise is coming from because my sonic imaging system is down and my armour's default auditory system doesn't precisely transmit direction because it was designed for reliability rather than precision.

"We think one of them is here, being used to create this darkness field."

"Huh."

Okay, so I know roughly where the plug from the doorway is. Dominators are actually slightly weaker than humans, so if I pick it up and plug the hole that might actually give them some trouble. On the other hand, the noise will definitely relay my position. Alternately, I could drift around the room. That's actually a pretty safe option, with a low chance of actually doing anything useful. I could communicate directly with Interceptor's headset-.

"Internal, activate headset-. Ah, quiet. Orange Lantern to Interceptor, that hit messed up my sonic imaging. Do you know where the target is? One beep for yes, two for no."

"Huuh huuh."

Darn it.

Optical searching it is, then.

I change orientation so that I'm facing the floor and plot out a search pattern. If the dominator hasn't shot again I'd.. guess that it's because they don't want to shoot their rescuers.

"I'm hunting them. I suggest moving around the room and trying to find the door they came in through."

"Huuh."

Of course, I'm assuming that the dominator doesn't have a personal flight system. Based on how they usually equip their soldiers, that's not too likely. Dominators use aircraft, not soldiers with jetpacks. But I'm not sure if-.

I see a flicker of yellow.

I swing my right fist, knuckles hitting a yellow energy field, which flares-! Dah! My right fist is-! OwOW!

"Target located!"

Right fist gone, bleeding? Bleeding. In considerable pain!

Dominator looks up as the yellow glow fades, weapon-.

Punch with left hand! Yellow field flickers and dies, but gauntlet smoking. Crumbler non-functional, but power support working fine. Punch.

"KEKH!"

The helmet fractures and the dominator wearing it drops to the floor! "INTERNAL DEACTIVATE FLIGHT!"

I drop-. Fuck, missed, dominator scrambling away! I swing my left fist around anyway, hit something-

"KEHK!"

"ACTIVATE FLIGHT!"

-and float towards the sound of the squawking! Flares of heat-. Armour fine. SLAP SLAP!

"KEHKK!"

"Upri-!"

AAAGH!

SOMETHING-! HIT MY HAND-STUMP!

"Upright!"

Dominator shredded leg gun knock it aside-!

PSHOOM!

Right shoulder armour melted head armour melted dominator lost hold of gun punch!

"Kk-!"

Dominator armour damaged but dominator alive. Flares of heat-. Error messages, armour internal systems being damag-ged!

Punch again!

No, won't move! Side arm side arm emergency release-. Jammed. Can't-.

Grey shape Interceptor, grabs dominator leg? Blood. Covers hands. Points dominator gun towards source of shots.

Fires.

CTrees · Aug 29, 2022

This is going remarkably poorly for OL.

moralrelativity · Aug 29, 2022

Woah! Is this the toughest fight OL's had?

I can only imagine what he's going to be like after this. Totally over-the-top perparations for all contingencies; much more over-the-top than we've seen before.

Ngamer11 · Aug 29, 2022

moralrelativity said:
Woah! Is this the toughest fight OL's had?

The fight against Heaven was tougher. It's just that OL isn't used to fighting like this.

Vaermina · Aug 29, 2022

Moral of this story.

LePaul is really bad at fighting when he can't just hand everything off to his Ring AI.

BR549 · Aug 29, 2022

I'm getting the feeling Earth-16's Dominators might be moving up Paul's poop list.

Handlewithcare · Aug 29, 2022

So, how does full-on Transhumanism sound now, Paul?

Bloodalchemy · Aug 29, 2022

Vaermina said:
Moral of this story.

LePaul is really bad at fighting when he can't just hand everything off to his Ring AI.

More that he cant see anything. He relys on the ring for all sorts of esoteric sensors, so his armor is specced for physical defenses with only minor sensor abilities.

Chojin Patriarch · Aug 29, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
21st November 2012
11:59 GMT -5

"INTERNAL AJUST SHIELDS AJUST SHIElds oh thank you."

Ah, gah! I think that was a sonic attack, so either someone just hit me with a grenade, or-.

Which would be as effective as a proper flashbang, given that he's stuck with sonar for his main method of perception. So now he's not just fighting without Ring support, he's practically deaf and blind too. Time to grope, rip and tear, then.

My shield flickers in a way which says that someone just hit it with an electromagnetic pulse. A decent guess, but my shield isn't all that vulnerable to EMP disruption. Sonic sensors… Aren't working. Damaged or wrecked, I don't know. This suit has a self-repair function, but it's not as good as a power ring would be.

Okay, activate flight and shift… I have a partial map of the room from a moment ago. I'll go up and left, away from Interceptor and Commander Scott. I… Don't know where the attack came from, though dominator habits suggests that there's a dominator in the room now and they're carrying some sort of multi-output gun.

A directed EMP, eh? Let's hope Interceptor and Commander Scott weren't caught in the line of fire before he moved. Anything that could make an EMP wouldn't be fun for unprotected humans.

Don't know if Interceptor or Commander Scott are still alive.

"Gahkahkakhaak."

...I hope that's not one of them breathing their last...

Because I never considered creation a Dominion to English translator and adding it to my armour.

"Ak-ak akakh."

And of course they sound like the 'Mars Attacks' Martians to you? Then again, with their mouth structure, that might be the only form of vocalisation they can manage without translation hardware.

I don't even know how their intonation works. The speaker could be pleading for their life, offering a ceasefire or mocking us and I wouldn't be able to tell.

"Kakrkakrak."

Given their temperament, I suspect he's gloating because he feels in control of the situation. After all, you're blind, nearly deaf and presumably depowered.

There's a flare of heat as probably-Interceptor takes a shot, and I'm still able to see heat but my sonics haven't come back yet which means that I'm stuck floating around until I bump into something.

"Blue Lantern to Orange Lantern."

And now shit's going down outside. Alan's going to have to handle things out there.

"Internal. Go ahead."

"Got a small ship flying away from the facility. I need to do something about it?"

Probability of that being OL's guess about the leader caste making a break for it under cover of darkness? High, I bet.

"Most probable possibility is that it's some of the high caste dominators. If you can do so safely, detain them."

"Ah…"

...Define 'safely'? Because you can survive a lot without dying.

"Problem?"

"No, I can do that. I'm just wondering if you're being generous because we're not in our own universe."

I suspect if Commander Scott were fit to command, he'd probably have said the same as OL did.

"Generous?"

"Or is it just because you don't think I'd be okay with killing them?"

Well, you are a nice guy.

"It's because we haven't confirmed the target yet. If you had that big a problem with killing people who did things like this then you wouldn't be here. Incidentally, Commander Scott has children."

"Well, he did say that he remarried."

I don't think that's what OL is implying, Alan.

"Akh! Akh!"

"Kakh!"

And now the dominator groups are talking to each other. Sheesh. Another thing for the 'fix later' list on your suit, OL.

Which is the guy in here talking to the guys outside, neither of whom can see the hole I made. On the other hand, I can't tell where the noise is coming from because my sonic imaging system is down and my armour's default auditory system doesn't precisely transmit direction because it was designed for reliability rather than precision.

"We think one of them is here, being used to create this darkness field."

Let me guess, OL: You skipped on the directional surround sound feature because you prefer 2.0?

"Huh."

Okay, so I know roughly where the plug from the doorway is. Dominators are actually slightly weaker than humans, so if I pick it up and plug the hole that might actually give them some trouble. On the other hand, the noise will definitely relay my position. Alternately, I could drift around the room. That's actually a pretty safe option, with a low chance of actually doing anything useful. I could communicate directly with Interceptor's headset-.

Yes, like a giant tin-plated parade float. There's an image for you.

"Internal, activate headset-. Ah, quiet. Orange Lantern to Interceptor, that hit messed up my sonic imaging. Do you know where the target is? One beep for yes, two for no."

"Huuh huuh."

...That'll be a no. Well, 'Operation: Bobble About' is a go.

Darn it.

Optical searching it is, then.

Like trying to find your way around a dark house at midnight during a new moon. At least you don't have to worry about stubbing your toe on furniture.

I change orientation so that I'm facing the floor and plot out a search pattern. If the dominator hasn't shot again I'd.. guess that it's because they don't want to shoot their rescuers.

"I'm hunting them. I suggest moving around the room and trying to find the door they came in through."

Or he's assumed you've moved away from the door and has no idea where you are, but doesn't want to waste ammo or make himself a target by bracketing the room.

"Huuh."

Of course, I'm assuming that the dominator doesn't have a personal flight system. Based on how they usually equip their soldiers, that's not too likely. Dominator use aircraft, not soldiers with jetpacks. But I'm not sure if-.

Remember the old saw about flying soldiers? I'd say they ascribe to that philosophy too.

I see a flicker of yellow.

I swing my right fist, knuckles hitting a yellow energy field, which flares-! Dah! My right fist is-! OwOW!

Oh, yeah, without the ring, no pain suppression or instant healing. Bet that's stinging something fierce.

"Target located!"

Right fist gone, bleeding? Bleeding. In considerable pain!

What about the ring on it? I expect it's intact, since they tend to be rather destructive when broken.

Dominator looks up as the yellow glow fades, weapon-.

Punch with left hand! Yellow field flickers and die, but gauntlet smoking. Crumbler non-functional, but power support working fine. Punch.

When in doubt, cast Fist!

"KEKH!"

The helmet fractures and the dominator wearing is drops to the floor! "INTERAL DEACTIVATE FLIGHT!"

Down but not out. And I doubt having a ton of armour drop on you will be any more pleasant than having it punch your helmet in.

I drop-. Fuck, missed, dominator scrambling away! I swing my left fist around anyway, hit something-

"KEHK!"

Well, that's rude, he's laughing at you! Give him a sound thrashing!

"ACTIVATE FLIGHT!"

-and float towards the sound of the squawking! Flares of heat-. Armour fine. SLAP SLAP!

Presumably Interceptor or the Dominator shooting at the noise.

"KEHKK!"

"Upri-!"

AAAGH!

Ooh, did he go for the goolies?

SOMETHING-! HIT MY HAND-STUMP!

"Upright!"

...Ow. Man, you really are not used to pain, are you, OL?

Dominator shredded leg gun knock it aside-!

PSHOOM!

Hard to miss at that range...

Right shoulder armour melted head armour melted dominator lost hold of gun punch!

"Kk-!"

...But if he's close enough to hit you, you can hit him right back.

Dominator armour damaged but dominator alive. Flares of heat-. Error messages, armour internal systems being damag-ged!

Punch again!

Ooof, he is getting mauled.

No, won't move! Side arm side arm emergency release-. Jammed. Can't-.

Grey shape Interceptor, grabs dominator leg? Blood. Covers hands. Points dominator gun towards source of shots.

Fires.

Damn, saved by the belle. And now it looks like you're going to have to ditch the armour, with that much damage.

Really does look like this might be the most severe beatdown OL's taken in some time. Honestly, he is really unused to fighting without his ring, isn't he? Not just the weapons, but also the perception. I wasn't kidding about him being basically deaf and blind here. Never mind the physical pain of whatever the hell's been done to his hand. Maybe OL can spend some time training his physical skills with Ragnar when they get back to Earth 16...

"INTERNAL AJUST SHIELDS AJUST SHIElds oh thank you."

Should those be 'ADJUST', or is that a specific function?

Mr Zoat · Aug 29, 2022

Handlewithcare said:
So, how does full-on Transhumanism sound now, Paul?

Didn't go so well for Commander Scott.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Let me guess, OL: You skipped on the directional surround sound feature because you prefer 2.0?

No, the sonic detection system usually does that. The back up system he's talking about is basically a cluster of armoured grills.

INTERNAL AJUST SHIELDS AJUST SHIElds oh thank you."
Should those be 'ADJUST', or is that a specific function?

Thank you, corrected. For some reason my Word thinks that 'ajust' us a word.

AmericanNumbers · Aug 29, 2022

It's funny when Paragon Paul runs into something that utterly stops him that Renegade Paul would bulldoze over. Builds make fights i guess.

Idkusername · Aug 29, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Gahkahkakhaak."

When did With This Ring turn into a Cambrian story?

Also, didn't OL have Beryl's flight belt, or is that stored inside the ring too?

Sojiko · Aug 29, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Because I never considered creation a Dominion to English translator and adding it to my armour.

Shouldn't that be "creating"?

As for my feedback on the chapter itself: it's all very confusing but it's probably on purpose.

Pez · Aug 29, 2022

So, Paul's next suit of armor is going to be a full on mech, replacing everything his ring does with conventional tech that would be working in this situation? He should totes work with his buddyies the Silvanas on that.

Mr Zoat · Aug 29, 2022

Pez said:
So, Paul's next suit of armor is going to be a full on mech, replacing everything his ring does with conventional tech that would be working in this situation? He should totes work with his buddyies the Silvanas on that.

The Sivanas could make him better armour, certainly. But could they make him better armour that counted as 'conventional'?

Yes, but only by a little.

Old Knife · Aug 29, 2022

When the power turns on..... They will see how scary the cake man is.

Darkstep · Aug 29, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
The helmet fractures and the dominator wearing is drops to the floor! "INTERAL DEACTIVATE FLIGHT!"

"wearing it drops"
"INTERNAL"

Darko · Aug 29, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Dominator use aircraft,

"Dominators'

Mr Zoat said:
Yellow field flickers and die,

'dies'

Mr Zoat said:
dominator wearing is drops to t

'wearing it'

Mr Zoat said:
Grey shape Interceptor,

'shape, Interceptor'

Mr Zoat · Aug 29, 2022

Darkstep said:
"wearing it drops"
"INTERNAL"

Darko said:
"Dominators'
'dies'

Thank you, corrected.

'shape, Interceptor'

That one is deliberate.

Coda · Aug 29, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
aren't quite as affective

effective

Mr Zoat said:
It blinding me for a moment

blinds

Mr Zoat said:
I can't do a full Superman pose in this armour, my shoulders aren't that flexible.

Semicolon instead of comma

Mr Zoat said:
Heywoods Corps

This was "Heywood Corps" in the previous update.

Mr Zoat said:
Thank you, corrected. For some reason my Word thinks that 'ajust' us a word.

It's an archaic spelling that's no longer accepted as standard, but it's in Scrabble dictionaries still, and Microsoft's check tools aren't especially sophisticated.

Impartial Panic · Aug 29, 2022

Idkusername said:
When did With This Ring turn into a Cambrian story?

Ok I just scared my cat by laughing when I saw this.
Well Done.

Bloodalchemy said:
More that he cant see anything. He relys on the ring for all sorts of esoteric sensors, so his armor is specced for physical defenses with only minor sensor abilities.

Pez said:
So, Paul's next suit of armor is going to be a full on mech, replacing everything his ring does with conventional tech that would be working in this situation?

Yeah Paul's probably going to go Full Stark on his next suit after this.

Pez said:
He should totes work with his buddyies the Silvanas on that.

yeah Paul seems to only go to them when he doesn't have better options.

The Sivanas are masters of Science but are morally ambiguous at best.

Mr Zoat · Aug 29, 2022

Coda said:
effective
blinds
Semicolon instead of comma
This was "Heywood Corps" in the previous update.

Thank you, corrected.

It's an archaic spelling that's no longer accepted as standard, but it's in Scrabble dictionaries still, and Microsoft's check tools aren't especially sophisticated.

The more you know!

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

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