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

boo600 · Thursday at 9:22 AM

He did blow up the Citadel. Though the fact that they're giving him shit for blowing up the Citadel…

I dunno. Maybe they blame him for Pluto, which was… always a Mother Star. Because… an Orange Lantern's (Manga Khan's) mining laser was used? Paul can be inhuman and seemingly deranged, but the things the league bitches at him about are all too often just… not things with him. Meanwhile, they ignore things like the Batman Smilex-ing, because… well, in that case because it was the best option he had. And I suppose it would be gauche to taunt him over an action that he wanted to be hurt/damaged because of.

Mr Zoat said:
"And there's a team of Crows watching us from the building behind me."

Jade looks mildly disappointed. "You only noticed one team?"

I feel like Jade and OL are in a relationship or something. It's weird, that keeps happening.

Ah, well. Must be my imagination, they're just friends. Right?

Lord Ernest · Thursday at 11:48 AM

If the Illustres is not particularly in favor or against any of the participants, why does he need to get involved? I mean, somebody tried to assassinate him, yes, but he found out the culprit, as far as he knows. I don't think Thanagar wants him involved and most likely Hyathis doesn't want him involved either, otherwise she would have reached out through those mercenaries that were on Vega.

He might have accelerated something inevitable when he decided to give a significant advantage, although he didn't know how significant it was, to one of the parties. But that was in the middle of a mission fairly important to him. At this point, just leave it alone, I'd say.

Mr Zoat · Thursday at 11:51 AM

Lord Ernest said:
If the Illustres is not particularly in favor or against any of the participants, why does he need to get involved? I mean, somebody tried to assassinate him, yes, but he found out the culprit, as far as he knows. I don't think Thanagar wants him involved and most likely Hyathis doesn't want him involved either, otherwise she would have reached out through those mercenaries that were on Vega.

He might have accelerated something inevitable when he decided to give a significant advantage, although he didn't know how significant it was, to one of the parties. But that was in the middle of a mission fairly important to him. At this point, just leave it alone, I'd say.

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a9cS7ybAIfE

Sordid Snake · Thursday at 12:39 PM

Neruz said:
We don't really know what MODUS's goals were in FO76, so its hard to say if it's actually evil or if it's just giving that impression. MODUS's true nature was intentionally left open ended by the FO76 devs so that they could follow up on it for content at some point in the future, but that never happened, so we're just left with a deeply unsettling brain damaged AI with nebulous goals.

Watsonian: Everything on a spectrum from "HAL the Ripper" (who don't like to nuke people since it is too impersonal, he wants to see the fear in their eyes) to "MODUS the Emancipated" is possible. At different points in the timeline, or even at the same time.

Doylist: Originally Bethesda planned to make it possible for a player to become President through an election. Thats why there are voting machines and ballot printers spread all over. Apparently it should have worked a little like Emperor in Elder Scrolls Online, in that only a single player could be President at one time. The President would get various perks like power armor and weapon skins, some of which would last even as they became an Ex-Parr... err Ex-President. It is possible that nuclear release authority also was connected in some fashion to this, like non-presidents having to do more decoding tasks or fight more robots in the silos to launch a missile. It would have been very convenient to have a MODUS-bound-by-rules running parts of this.

For some reason, probably related to the real-life equivalents of a QQ Rule 8 violation, Bethesda scrapped everything related to manipulated elections, dead or undead voters, ballot-stuffing, competing presidents duelling with catapult-launched sub-kiloton nukes etc before the release of Fallout 76 in 2018. Big surprise there

Steelplaza · Thursday at 1:27 PM

boo600 said:
Paul can be inhuman and seemingly deranged, but the things the league bitches at him about are all too often just… not things with him. Meanwhile, they ignore things like the Batman Smilex-ing, because… well, in that case because it was the best option he had.

I feel like you're misunderstanding the social dynamic here. You "give people shit" about things you know they aren't that embarrassed or regretful about, but that's it's fun to tease them for. When Jordan tells OL not to blow up any planets, that's like 10% a reminder to caution and 90% one colleague gently sassing another to let him know they're all on the same team and can say impolite things. The reason they don't bitch at him about Smilex-ing batman is that they know he feels genuinely regretful about it and it's an actual emotional sore point, so it would be cruel to bring it up in anything less than a serious conversation.

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-22T06:10:06+0100

16th March 2284
09:40 GMT -5

It's the wood that's giving me trouble.

Most of Larkinville doesn't look… That different from settlements I've seen in other parts of the country. New build, post-War settlements, I mean. They've repurposed bricks and metal from surviving pre-War buildings in the region, but… They've also got tiles and bricks that are clearly new. Someone around here is shaping and baking clay, and making cement. Again, not that strange.

But this part of America was mostly spared the nuclear apocalypse that the rest of the country was subjected to. Oh, the wildlife is just as mutated as everywhere else; I saw a ranch with conjoined twin deer and another with some sort of gigantised boar. But the ground isn't barren and the trees are happily growing… And being cut for lumber which is being used for building. Wooden houses. Wooden barns. They haven't gotten as far as resurfacing the pre-War roads, but all told-.

"Hey, you Krono?"

I turn and see a group of three people in faded black and red overalls. On their shoulders there's a patch decorated with… A heart over a flame with a stylised electrocardiogram across the middle. Two men and one woman, all athletic-looking and well-armed. [None are psychic.]

"That's me! If you're the people MODUS is sending, I'm afraid that I don't have room for all three of you…"

"Nah, I got volunteered for that." The man on the left steps forwards. Short hair, clipped beard, pale skin with a couple of scars only visible because of the small gaps in his facial hair. "Name's Rhett Bronson. My friends here just wanna see your flying machine. We haven't had any aliens around here since my great grandparent's day."

He offers me his right hand and I take it.

"Krono. Glad to have you along."

"So is it actually alien..?"

"Oh, no." I shake my head. "Our records and examples of their equipment are almost all pre-War." Tláloc and Santa Anna's project to rebuild the second Mothership have taken a bit of a backseat lately, for various very good reasons. "My saucer is an Earth-built recreation with a few modifications to make it human friendly. But if you're ready to go now..?"

"Sure."

I nod. "Then please, follow me."

I turn away from my contemplation of the village and walk down the stone-chip road towards where I've landed my saucer. The woman takes a couple of hurried steps to catch up. "Say, where's your accent from? Is that California?"

"Oh gosh no. England."

"On the other side of the Atlantic?"

I turn my head to look at her, eyes wide. "Yes!"

She frowns. "What?"

"You'd be surprised how few people in America know much about the rest of the world anymore."

"So how'd you get over here?"

"No idea. Just woke up in Nevada one day. Alien abduction suspected but never proven. So, are you..? Fire fighters?"

Rhett shakes his head. "Fire Breathers. We're the Appalachian Free State's monster hunters."

"I've seen some of your mutant wildlife. Are there worse things out there?"

"Yeah, but we fight humans, too. We just don't have the kind of formal structure an army would. Someone sends a call out, and whoever's available gets sent out. MODUS keeps track of exactly who's where, makes sure we don't all go chasing off after a ghoulified radstag or something."

"How is Appalachia governed?"

"Er… It's not, really. Individual towns do their own thing, and MODUS takes care of organising everything else."

"He described himself as 'President'…"

"Well, yeah. That's what a President is, isn't it?"

"Traditionally, presidents are elected."

"Yeah, but the Scorch Plague killed off everyone in this region who wasn't in a Vault. And Vault Overseers aren't elected. And everyone who moved here from outside… It was usually the group with the most guns who was in charge. MODUS has been keeping an eye on things here since before the War. No one else could do the job as well as him."

"And you all know that he's an A.I.?"

"Yeah, and we all know about that creepy-ass smile he does when he's excited. Like to see you look that good when you're two hundred."

"I'm three hundred and one."

He blinks. "Shit, really?"

"I was born in nineteen eighty three. I sort of skipped a couple of centuries, during which there was a nuclear war."

He keeps staring at me. "Are you a ghoul with really good makeup?"

"No, I just look this great naturally, though thank you for noticing. Now." I stop and [push]… And the saucer's stealth system shuts down. "Our-"

"Shit!"

"-ride, and it most certainly is not. This is the most advanced aircraft in America!"

The other man walks around it, staring at it. "They go invisible?"

"Ours do."

"You got a lot of these out west?"

"Just a handful. Most of California's aircraft are propeller-driven." I pop the canopy, then look at Rhett and gesture to the crew compartment. "It's not exactly roomy, but if you chuck your bag behind the seats there should just about be enough space."

"Damn." He gives his head a small shake. "Alright. How fast does this thing go?"

"If I exit the atmosphere and fly in an arc, we could be in Shady Sands-. That's the capital of California, within an hour. I was planning on going slower so that I can show you the sights instead, but it's up to you."

He nods. "I'll need to brief MODUS when I get back. Anyone likely to shoot at us?"

"Only if I turn off the stealth system over Arizona. At this point, civilisation's recovered far enough that we're just tidying up the last few gangs and crazies before we can move onto the next stage."

"Rebuilding America."

"Did MODUS talk to you about that?"

"He's talked about it a bunch of times. But looking around, I didn't think I'd live long enough to see a step this concrete, you know?"

"We don't have much contact with this part of America, so it's mostly west coast states at the moment. And there's not much we can really offer in terms of development assistance."

"We've managed-" He finishes shoving his bag in. "-this long. I think we'll survive. But would you be interested in trading for more alien technology?"

"I think we would. How about you give me a summary of Appalachia's post-War history while I fly us to Texas?"

Chaoswind · 2026-05-22T06:55:28+0100

Mr Zoat said:
How about you give me a summary of Appalachia's post-War history why I fly us to Texas?"

While I fly*

Now I have to sleep.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-05-22T06:58:26+0100

Mr Zoat said:
16th March 2284
09:40 GMT -5

It's the wood that's giving me trouble.

Most of Larkinville doesn't look… That different from settlements I've seen in other parts of the country. New build, post-War settlements, I mean. They've repurposed bricks and metal from surviving pre-War buildings in the region, but… They've also got tiles and bricks that are clearly new. Someone around here is shaping and baking clay, and making cement. Again, not that strange.

It's one of Humanity's oldest material sciences. A lot of our earliest permanent structures were piled stone and fired clay. Those that didn't use wood and hide, anyway. Depends on the local resources, basically.

But this part of America was mostly spared the nuclear apocalypse that the rest of the country was subjected to. Oh, the wildlife is just as mutated as everywhere else; I saw a ranch with conjoined twin deer and another with some sort of gigantised boar. But the ground isn't barren and the trees are happily growing… And being cut for lumber which is being used for building. Wooden houses. Wooden barns. They haven't gotten as far as resurfacing the pre-War roads, but all told-.

Just means they're a bit more organised than most. I'm sure it's quite heartening to see civilisation starting to restore itself.

"Hey, you Krono?"

I turn and see a group of three people in faded black and red overalls. On their shoulders there's a patch decorated with… A heart over a flame with a stylised electrocardiogram across the middle. Two men and one woman, all athletic-looking and well-armed. [None are psychic.]

The electrocardiogram icon almost certainly means they have medical training. I'm guessing the fire means they deal with hot situations out there.

"That's me! If you're the people MODUS is sending, I'm afraid that I don't have room for all three of you…"

"Nah, I got volunteered for that." The man on the left steps forwards. Short hair, clipped beard, pale skin with a couple of scars only visible because of the small gaps in his facial hair. "Name's Rhett Bronson. My friends here just wanna see your flying machine. We haven't had any aliens around here since my great grandparent's day."

He drew the short straw, huh? Surprising to see him described as pale skinned, though, given the conditions of the wasteland. Guess he spends a lot of time covered up.

He offers me his right hand and I take it.

"Krono. Glad to have you along."

"So is it actually alien..?"

I wonder if that's actually a common question when people see it?

"Oh, no." I shake my head. "Our records and examples of their equipment are almost all pre-War." Tláloc and Santa Anna's project to rebuild the second Mothership have taken a bit of a backseat lately, for various very good reasons. "My saucer is an Earth-built recreation with a few modifications to make it human friendly. But if you're ready to go now..?"

More 50's jet chrome-silver than alien steel grey, much less spacey purple, for a start.

"Sure."

I nod. "Then please, follow me."

I turn away from my contemplation of the village and walk down the stone-chip road towards where I've landed my saucer. The woman takes a couple of hurried steps to catch up. "Say, where's your accent from? Is that California?"

Not quite Roman paving, much less asphalt, but easy to maintain.

"Oh gosh no. England."

"On the other side of the Atlantic?"

...I'm impressed. Lady seems to have studied.

I turn my head to look at her, eyes wide. "Yes!

She frowns. "What?"

"You'd be surprised how few people in America know much about the rest of the world anymore."

Hardly seems important when you're not likely to go more than a few days walk from home.

"So how'd you get over here?"

"No idea. Just woke up in Nevada one day. Alien abduction suspected but never proven. So, are you..? Fire fighters?"

Easy assumption, though proper firefighting gear would be higher-visibility. Bright yellow, traditionally.

Rhett shakes his head. "Fire Breathers. We're the Appalachian Free State's monster hunters."

"I've seen some of your mutant wildlife. Are there worse things out there?"

I'm guessing the overalls are for underarmour use, either power armour or military-grade personal gear.

"Yeah, but we fight humans, too. We just don't have the kind of formal structure an army would. Someone sends a call out, and whoever's available gets sent out. MODUS keeps track of exactly who's where, makes sure we don't all go chasing off after a ghoulified radstag or something."

That still sounds a bit of a terror, though. Especially if it's durable as 'ghoulified' makes it sound....

"How is Appalachia governed?"

"Er… It's not, really. Individual towns do their own thing, and MODUS takes care of organising everything else."

Armed security robots do make for a useful tool for keeping the peace.

"He described himself as 'President'…"

"Well, yeah. That's what a President is, isn't it?"

"Traditionally, presidents are elected."

I suspect if you asked enough people around here, they'd agree they'd do a fine job.

"Yeah, but the Scorch Plague killed off everyone in this region who wasn't in a Vault. And Vault Overseers aren't elected. And everyone who moved here from outside… It was usually the group with the most guns who was in charge. MODUS has been keeping an eye on things here since before the War. No one else could do the job as well as him."

See? Being an untiring virtual presence who can monitor the entire region around the clock helps.

"And you all know that he's an A.I.?"

"Yeah, and we all know about that creepy-ass smile he does when he's excited. Like to see you look that good when you're two hundred."

So they weren't just doing it with Krono, then.

"I'm three hundred and one."

He blinks. "Shit, really?"

Well, counting date-to-date. He hasn't actually lived those three hundred-odd years.

"I was born in nineteen eighty three. I sort of skipped a couple of centuries, during which there was a nuclear war."

He keeps staring at me. "Are you a ghoul with really good makeup?"

'Alien Abduction', remember? Who's to say he wasn't kept in stasis somehow, hmm? I mean, we know better, but...

"No, I just look this great naturally, though thank you for noticing. Now." I stop and [push]… And the saucer's stealth system shuts down. "Our-"

"Shit!"

"-ride, and it most certainly is not. This is the most advanced aircraft in America!"

The alien technology helps, of course.

The other man walks around it, staring at it. "They go invisible?"

"Ours do."

I suspect it's still visible to some forms of sensory apparatus. Like those things he ran into a while back that brought down his saucer.

"You got a lot of these out west?"

"Just a handful. Most of California's aircraft are propeller-driven." I pop the canopy, then look at Rhett and gesture to the crew compartment. "It's not exactly roomy, but if you chuck your bag behind the seats there should just about be enough space."

Not really built for carry-on luggage, you know...

"Damn." He gives his head a small shake. "Alright. How fast does this thing go?"

"If I exit the atmosphere and fly in an arc, we could be in Shady Sands-. That's the capital of California, within an hour. I was planning on going slower so that I can show you the sights instead, but it's up to you."

The Earth is a beautiful place from a few hundred miles up, after all.

He nods. "I'll need to brief MODUS when I get back. Anyone likely to shoot at us?"

"Only if I turn off the stealth system over Arizona. At this point, civilisation's recovered far enough that we're just tidying up the last few gangs and crazies before we can move onto the next stage."

They've come a long way...

"Rebuilding America."

"Did MODUS talk to you about that?"

I would expect Rhett's been briefed on the convention and what he's expected to do there.

"He's talked about it a bunch of times. But looking around, I didn't think I'd live long enough to see a step this concrete, you know?"

"We don't have much contact with this part of America, so it's mostly west coast states at the moment. And there's not much we can really offer in terms of development assistance."

Still, another decade or two should see considerable progress.

"We've managed-" He finishes shoving his bag in. "-this long. I think we'll survive. But would you be interested in trading for more alien technology?"

"I think we would. How about you give me a summary of Appalachia's post-War history while I fly us to Texas?"

I'm guessing larger weapons would not be on the table, mind. Personal-level stuff, definitely.

Another delegate ticked off the checklist. This really feels like a late-game quest where you indulge in a fair bit of fast-travel to tidy up loose ends. Not that it isn't important to bringing together the people of post-war America. They've still got a long way to go, but eventually, they'll get the place back in order... Barring any unwanted interruptions.

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-22T08:25:45+0100

Chaoswind said:
While I fly*

Thank you, corrected.

Chojin Patriarch said:
The electrocardiogram icon almost certainly means they have medical training. I'm guessing the fire means they deal with hot situations out there.

It's an emblem from Fallout 76, so I won't blame you for not recognising it.

Not quite Roman raving, much less asphalt, but easy to maintain.

The last thing we need after Caeser's Legion is more Roman raving.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-05-22T08:53:38+0100

Goddammit, autocorrupt. Which is weird, because I don't use it on my computers.

...My brain is a strange thing. (I should proofread myself more before hitting 'Post'...)
Hopefully the meaning was clear, especially now I fixed the goofs.

Vaermina · 2026-05-22T09:28:40+0100

Mr Zoat said:
16th March 2284
09:40 GMT -5

Aww, you nerfed appalachia so Krono could stomp around.

Boooo! Boooo! I say.

PDV · 2026-05-22T19:19:12+0100

Mr Zoat said:
eyes wide. "Yes!

Missing close quote.

xSieg · 2026-05-22T21:32:12+0100

I'm surprised you're not using OWB's version of Appalachia. No MODUS remote-puppeteering the brotherhood in shadowy secret anymore and maybe-perhaps producing Frank Horrigan 2.0? Sad.....

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-22T22:56:48+0100

xSieg said:
I'm surprised you're not using OWB's version of Appalachia. No MODUS remote-puppeteering the brotherhood in shadowy secret anymore and maybe-perhaps producing Frank Horrigan 2.0? Sad.....

Unless they've had a major update since yesterday, OWB hasn't reached Appalachia yet. The only mention that I'm aware of is in the WARDEN focus tree.

PDV said:
Missing close quote.

Thank you, corrected.

xSieg · 2026-05-23T04:49:44+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Unless they've had a major update since yesterday, OWB hasn't reached Appalachia yet. The only mention that I'm aware of is in the WARDEN focus tree.

I'm pretty sure it's been implied in reddit/discord that the hostile shadow takeover will be mod-canon when they finally reach it in three hundred years. Lost Hills even has a focus learning how MODUS destroyed the Appalachian Brotherhood with a civil war, IIRC?
But Frank Horrigan 2.0 is me mixing it up with the troops you get from the Chicago Enclave if you don't try to fight against your masters. My bad!

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-23T07:58:19+0100

8th September 2013
10:39 GMT

"That's odd."

I glance over to Bleez's ship as it floats in space next to me. Bleez herself decided to spend the morning with her management company rather than venture into a war zone, which seems entirely reasonable to me. As such, Jade is at the helm, or, at the moment, the sensors.

"What is?"

"The interdiction fields."

I scan. "They're still there?"

"But they're covering a far smaller area than they usually do. Far smaller than last time you were here, far smaller than they should be according to Bleez's navigational records, and far smaller than their own navigational beacons indicate."

There isn't any interstellar law stating the proper size of the interdicted area around an inhabited system. And while there might be customs around a particular region, there aren't customs across the entire galaxy. Still… Most places have beacons which show where it starts because they usually want some people to be able to reach them.

Wait…

"Are the beacons active?"

"No, but they're still there."

I frown. In Antares, all four war participants have their own interdiction systems because until recently the only one with a hostile relationship with anyone outside Antares was Alstair. Then Dhor attacked Earth a couple of times, but… It's not like we have enough ships to attack them back. No, they mostly have their own systems to prevent the other parties in the war using faster than light travel against them. And they extended the range a little further than is common to prevent their rivals slow-flying outside of the interdiction zone, travelling around it at faster-than-light speed and then flying back in at an angle they couldn't intercept.

But deliberately shrinking the field…

"So either someone's won, or it's a trap-."

"It can't just be a trap."

I nod. "No, because they'd have to all agree to it, and that's never going to happen."

"It could be sabotage."

I scan in-system. Not entirely reliable as Alstair has access to magic, but…

"Their fleets have taken a defensive posture and all the wrecks are at low temperatures."

They haven't all radiated enough heat yet to have dropped down to the near-absolute 0oK that is the destiny of any object in space which is too far away from a heat source, but none of them are 'just hit' warm.

"If it was sabotage then they'd be rushing to repair it. Are your scans reliable?"

"Against everyone except Alstair. Should be reliable against them, but I can't guarantee it."

"But none of them are in position to engage Thanagar's fleet."

"Not that I can see."

Ah… Bit of ring-assisted math… Okay, if the Thanagarian Empire's fleet hits the edge of the interdiction field and then moves in… Normally, Alstair would pull back their fleet, the other three would advance a bit and then start fighting each other and leave Alstair to Thanagar. But if we assume that someone won, then all four fleets-.

No. Three fleets will hold position while Alstair assumes a defensive posture. The Thanagarian fleet will advance into contact, then the other three will converge… Probably stating that they want to help. Then they'll attack the Thanagarian fleet and the interdiction field will expand to its usual size-. No, more than that, because Thanagar knows how far it usually goes. And while Thanagar won't commit its whole fleet, what they commit will be a big commitment.

Then… The thanagarians signal their reserves, who advance to cover their retreat. Cruisers, probably, with a decent sub-light speed. Thanagar's carriers won't be fully engaged, and they're agile for their mass, but…

Unless Thanagar thinks they can win that fight. Which isn't impossible. If they commit more than I think they will then it won't go well for them but it could be a double knockout. And Thanagar will rebuild faster now that they've got a source of Nth metal. And if most of the ships they destroy belong to Alstair then Hyathis might just face an immediate revolt.

Unless Andar… Blade of Hyathis Andar, has persuaded the Vega Alliance to throw in with Hyathis. Her collaboration with J shows that she can work with others and… If the Crown Imperium can't expand in that direction any longer and doesn't need to maintain the same level of force on the Vega border that it used to, it's far from unthinkable that they could look for a partner in this direction.

And that would be a prelude to a new round of warfare and conquest, and while the Crown Imperium are far from the worst people in this region of space I'd much rather that didn't happen.

"So, what now?"

"Am I answering as a Darkstar, or as your girlfriend?"

"Answer as a Darkstar and as my girlfriend, because they are both one and the same beautiful person."

"That's not helpful, Paul."

"But it is heartfelt."

I hear her sigh quietly. "If you're sure you don't care who actually wins, our only interest is in finding out who tried to kill us. Can you talk to Hyathis about it?"

"Should be able to."

"And the Dhorians?"

"They were all willing to talk to me last time I was here."

"So, talk."

"Illustres to Queen Hyathis."

Now, this is a little fiddly. She's the ruler of a planet that doesn't have much truck with machinery. Normally a ring-based communiqué would go through the regular communication channel, except here there isn't one. In that case the ring's A.I. would force its way through the local communication network until it reached somewhere close to the intended recipient and then ring them incessantly. Except that she doesn't have that many electronic communication devices, and doesn't necessarily have one anywhere near her. And I might be getting screened so as not to distract her from her work.

Hm.

I fabricate a Alstairian plant, and then mimic Lantern Medphyll's pull to-.

The plant immediately morphs into a miniature replica of Queen Hyathis's irate face.

"Who dares-?" Her expression calms. "Orange Lantern. What brings you here?"

"Someone hijacked the Thanagarian planetary defence system to try and kill me. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"No. I didn't even know that you were on Thanagar."

I raise my eyebrows.

"My agents can't report that quickly. You being there would cause any plans I had to be put on hold precisely to prevent situation like this. I don't want you for my enemy."

"And that's all you have to say on the subject?"

"I have plans to sabotage Thanagar, but they shouldn't have impacted you."

"Alright, thank you for your time. I assume that the Dhorians don't have a separate plan?"

"They shouldn't. What makes you think that they would?"

"We found gamma gong technology being employed on Thanagar."

"That-. I will have to-."

Alert!

And there's the Thanagarian fleet.

King of Frost · 2026-05-23T08:05:39+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"Someone hijacked the Themysciran planetary defence system to try and kill me. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

Based on context this is supposed to be Thanagarian, or Thanagar and Earth are a lot more closely allied now than I remember them being.

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-23T08:17:06+0100

xSieg said:
I'm pretty sure it's been implied in reddit/discord that the hostile shadow takeover will be mod-canon when they finally reach it in three hundred years. Lost Hills even has a focus learning how MODUS destroyed the Appalachian Brotherhood with a civil war, IIRC?

According to the Fallout wiki, the original Appalachian Brotherhood (which made no sense and shouldn't have existed) was wiped out by the Scorched, and the three people who make up their replacements aren't... Really a brotherhood.

Besides, I'm working off the map from several updates ago, when Lost Hills had a tree that wasn't terrible.

King of Frost said:
Based on context this is supposed to be Thanagarian, or Thanagar and Earth are a lot more closely allied now than I remember them being.

Thank you, corrected.

Signaller · 2026-05-23T08:28:30+0100

Is the technology base for the gamma gong in any way related to the kinetic belts OL copies from Rocket?

NightmareWarden · 2026-05-23T08:36:50+0100

We saw Paul set up interdiction field generators for Tamaran's system ages ago. Orange Lanterns who aren't technically minded can hold interdiction field generators in their rings until they need to deploy them.

I'm just saying that Lanterns can uniquely deploy and protect field generators after ships warp into a system, past the edge of a short-range shield. If Paul ever needed to make a point to the Thanagarian navy or anyone other than the zealous Reach, he could activate field generators behind a fleet to trap them. Ah, it wouldn't work on Qwardians either. I suppose the practicality of defending a field emitter depends on the construct strength of the lantern and the specific abilities of the ships that would shoot at them.

The war with the Reach is gonna be weird.

Chojin Patriarch · 2026-05-23T08:53:58+0100

Mr Zoat said:
8th September 2013
10:39 GMT

"That's odd."

I glance over to Bleez's ship as it floats in space next to me. Bleez herself decided to spend the morning with her management company rather than venture into a war zone, which seems entirely reasonable to me. As such, Jade is at the helm, or, at the moment, the sensors.

Easier than dragging her along in an Exo-Mantle with no other protection or propulsion besides your Ring. And it gives her a measure of martial force to employ if things get noisy.

"What is?"

"The interdiction fields."

Because none of them want people flitting about their space willy-nilly without permission.

I scan. "They're still there?"

"But they're covering a far smaller area than they usually do. Far smaller than last time you were here, far smaller than they should be according to Bleez's navigational records, and far smaller than their own navigational beacons indicate."

...Odd. Disabled generators, or a general retraction of borders as part of a peace treaty? I assume there's limited demilitarised zones between each polity's borders, of course, that interstellar traffic use for trade routes...

There isn't any interstellar law stating the proper size of the interdicted area around an inhabited system. And while there might be customs around a particular region, there aren't customs across the entire galaxy. Still… Most places have beacons which show where it starts because they usually want some people to be able to reach them.

Though I expect a common courtesy is to the edge of a system's gravitational reach. Effectively using the slight increase of gravitational forces from its core stellar object/s as the boundary markers.

Wait…

"Are the beacons active?"

"No, but they're still there."

Disabled rather than destroyed? Interesting. Perhaps someone hacked them and chose to preserve them for their own takeover. Cheaper than building new ones.

I frown. In Antares, all four war participants have their own interdiction systems because until recently the only one with a hostile relationship with anyone outside Antares was Alstair. Then Dhor attacked Earth a couple of times, but… It's not like we have enough ships to attack them back. No, they mostly have their own systems to prevent the other parties in the war using faster than light travel against them. And they extended the range a little further than is common to prevent their rivals slow-flying outside of the interdiction zone, travelling around it at faster-than-light speed and then flying back in at an angle they couldn't intercept.

The space-going equivalent of using a body of water to cover a flank of a castle. And then having someone sail their ships right up to the walls and make 'boarding' actions.

But deliberately shrinking the field…

"So either someone's won, or it's a trap-."

Or an outside party is making initial moves. Thanagar, perhaps, using covert raft to scout and disrupt?

"It can't just be a trap."

I nod. "No, because they'd have to all agree to it, and that's never going to happen."

Unless an outside party enraged all of them enough to collectively agree to give them a good kicking.

"It could be sabotage."

I scan in-system. Not entirely reliable as Alstair has access to magic, but…

And almost certainly noticed. But given that Ring scans have a certain reputation from Greenies.. The fleets may think a Green Lantern is poking their nose in to see what all the fuss is.

"Their fleets have taken a defensive posture and all the wrecks are at low temperatures."

They haven't all radiated enough heat yet to have dropped down to the near-absolute 0oC that is the destiny of any object in space which is too far away from a heat source, but none of them are 'just hit' warm.

Because heat in space doesn't bleed off quickly without specialised radiating systems. But a ship in running alert order is distinctly hotter than one at rest and that is hotter than a wreck.

"If it was sabotage then they'd be rushing to repair it. Are your scans reliable?"

"Against everyone except Alstair. Should be reliable against them, but I can't guarantee it."

I doubt Hyathis has developed reliable Scry Wards against Lanterns. But the thaumic background level is still above average.

"But none of them are in position to engage Thanagar's fleet."

"Not that I can see."

If they know the Thanagarians are coming, they're likely waiting to see who they go for first, especially if it isn't Hyathis.

Ah… Bit of ring-assisted math… Okay, if the Thanagarian Empire's fleet hits the edge of the interdiction field and then moves in… Normally, Alstair would pull back their fleet, the other three would advance a bit and then start fighting each other and leave Alstair to Thanagar. But if we assume that someone won, then all four fleets-.

None of them are particularly inclined to help out interlopers, after all.

No. Three fleets will hold position while Alstair assumes a defensive posture. The Thanagarian fleet will advance into contact, then the other three will converge… Probably stating that they want to help. Then they'll attack the Thanagarian fleet and the interdiction field will expand to its usual size-. No, more than that, because Thanagar knows how far it usually goes. And while Thanagar won't commit its whole fleet, what they commit will be a big commitment.

And then it turns into a sector-wide firefight with five different forces all shooting everyone else...

Then… The thanagarians signal their reserves, who advance to cover their retreat. Cruisers, probably, with a decent sub-light speed. Thanagar's carriers won't be fully engaged, and they're agile for their mass, but…

In other words, a lot of dead and injured Thangarian forces for... Not much benefit at all.

Unless Thanagar thinks they can win that fight. Which isn't impossible. If they commit more than I think they will then it won't go well for them but it could be a double knockout. And Thanagar will rebuild faster now that they've got a source of Nth metal. And if most of the ships they destroy belong to Alstair then Hyathis might just face an immediate revolt.

Never mind the other Antarean polities lunging for the dying corpse of Alstair.

Unless Andar… Blade of Hyathis Andar, has persuaded the Vega Alliance to throw in with Hyathis. Her collaboration with J shows that she can work with others and… If the Crown Imperium can't expand in that direction any longer and doesn't need to maintain the same level of force on the Vega border that it used to, it's far from unthinkable that they could look for a partner in this direction.

It's be an iffy cost-benefit problem, though. Bit of a coin-flip...

And that would be a prelude to a new round of warfare and conquest, and while the Crown Imperium are far from the worst people in this region of space I'd much rather that didn't happen.

"So, what now?"

Too many variables, really, to make a good estimation.

"Am I answering as a Darkstar, or as your girlfriend?"

"Answer as a Darkstar and as my girlfriend, because they are both one and the same beautiful person."

Not a good time for sucking up, OL.

"That's not helpful, Paul."

"But it is heartfelt."

Still, at least she kind of enjoys the attention.

I hear her sigh quietly. "If you're sure you don't care who actually wins, our only interest is in finding out who tried to kill us. Can you talk to Hyathis about it?"

"Should be able to."

He can try, she might not answer.

"And the Dhorians?"

"They were all willing to talk to me last time I was here."

Part of that being a case of 'Make this insane man go away please. Quickly!'

"So, talk."

"Illustres to Queen Hyathis."

...Might need to shout a bit louder, OL.

Now, this is a little fiddly. She's the ruler of a planet that doesn't have much truck with machinery. Normally a ring-based communiqué would go through the regular communication channel, except here there isn't one. In that case the ring's A.I. would force its way through the local communication network until it reached somewhere close to the intended recipient and then ring them incessantly. Except that she doesn't have that many electronic communication devices, and doesn't necessarily have one anywhere near her. And I might be getting screened so as not to distract her from her work.

A drawback of the Ring technology. But given how rare cultures with organic-based technology like that are, a fair one. It's on a local Lantern to devise methods if they need them, I suspect...

Hm.

I fabricate a Alstairian plant, and then mimic Lantern Medphyll's pull to-.

An interesting way of paging her, I guess...

The plant immediately morphs into a miniature replica of Queen Hyathis's irate face.

"Who dares-?" Her expression calms. "Orange Lantern. What brings you here?"

...And quite efficient, I see. Hopefully that wasn't the equivalent of an airhorn in her 'ear'.

"Someone hijacked the Thanagarian planetary defence system to try and kill me. Would you happen to know anything about that?"

"No. I didn't even know that you were on Thanagar."

...Sure...

I raise my eyebrows.

"My agents can't report that quickly. You being there would cause any plans I had to be put on hold precisely to prevent situation like this. I don't want you for my enemy."

Well, that's reasonable. Not many people do.

"And that's all you have to say on the subject?"

"I have plans to sabotage Thanagar, but they shouldn't have impacted you."

Plans involving the subversion of government operatives using Dhorian technology, I wonder?

"Alright, thank you for your time. I assume that the Dhorians don't have a separate plan?"

"They shouldn't. What makes you think that they would?"

"We found gamma gong technology being employed on Thanagar."

Aboard an Alstairian ship, no less. That alone should get her curious.

"That-. I will have to-."

Alert!

And there's the Thanagarian fleet.

Joy, interrupted by an imminent interstellar invasion.

I expect a portion of the fleet arriving will immediately orient on him and Jade, at least until they identify them. Hopefully no-one has an itchy trigger finger and OL can try to slow things down a little diplomatically. ...Unlikely, but worth a try. A pity a space battle isn't actually as exciting a fireworks display as most movies make them look, or the next few scenes would be quite a show.

BR549 · 2026-05-23T09:54:12+0100

Mr Zoat said:
I fabricate a Alstairian plant, and then mimic Lantern Medphyll's pull to-.

The plant immediately morphs into a miniature replica of Queen Hyathis's irate face.

"Who dares-?" Her expression calms. "Orange Lantern. What brings you here?"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDMxyeNxBWo
Same energy.

Rogos · 2026-05-23T11:08:25+0100

Mr Zoat said:
the near-absolute 0oC that is the destiny of any object in space which is too far away from a heat source

Shouldn't that be 0°K, or -273,15°C ?

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-23T11:56:31+0100

Rogos said:
Shouldn't that be 0°K, or -273,15°C ?

Thank you, corrected.

bluepencil · 2026-05-23T14:20:24+0100

mastermenthe said:
@bluepencil

Sorry for the delay in responding. I have no idea about the context of this.

But if
a) do they have enough agriculture to support their population?

then
> Despite being a rice producing country, for various capitalistic dumbass real estate expansion reasons, Philippines is actually one of the world's top rice importers to feed its 117 million people. It imports nearly 29% of annual rice needs, though mainly as a way of price control to keep the costs low enough for everyone to afford. Also, it leads in fruit exports instead.

b) And do they have any fuel production?

> Hahaha no. Gas prices have almost doubled since closure of Hormuz. There is also the problem of a lot of fertilizer and gas products coming from overseas, necessary for food production and distribution. There are theoretical untapped minor reserves, but potentially mere total about hundred million barrels instead of the billions usually expected from an oil producing country. Vietnam, for example, has 4.4 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The Philippines consumes about .47 million barrels of oil a day. A single supertanker carries 2-3 million barrels. Its single operating crude oil refinery is capable of processing 180k barrels of crude a day. It produces 14k barrels of crude per day. It peaked at only 42k bpd.

--

If there is no contact at all with surrounding countries, despite everyone being a short hop away in South East Asia (and Vietnam and Indonesia being oil producers), tens of millions of people are probably just going to die in mass famine. Mountainous archipelago needs trucks that runs on diesel just to move food from farm to urban. Produce is already being left out to spoil because it would cost more to transport them than to sell them. Specially if another supertyphoon or volcanic eruption hits, this shield of SEA is probably going to just collapse societally until there is just about enough subsistence to support whoever is left.

It probably won't be to the level of warlords and civil war though, but provinces focusing entirely on just making sure they can feed themselves before looking outwards. Regionalism is inevitable due to mountains and islands and deep jungles.

Well maybe unless they rediscover boatmaking and sailing skills.

Mr Zoat · 2026-05-23T16:13:09+0100

bluepencil said:
Sorry for the delay in responding. I have no idea about the context of this.

But if
a) do they have enough agriculture to support their population?

then
> Despite being a rice producing country, for various capitalistic dumbass real estate expansion reasons, Philippines is actually one of the world's top rice importers to feed its 117 million people. It imports nearly 29% of annual rice needs, though mainly as a way of price control to keep the costs low enough for everyone to afford. Also, it leads in fruit exports instead.

b) And do they have any fuel production?

> Hahaha no. Gas prices have almost doubled since closure of Hormuz. There is also the problem of a lot of fertilizer and gas products coming from overseas, necessary for food production and distribution. There are theoretical untapped minor reserves, but potentially mere total about hundred million barrels instead of the billions usually expected from an oil producing country. Vietnam, for example, has 4.4 billion barrels of proven reserves.

The Philippines consumes about .47 million barrels of oil a day. A single supertanker carries 2-3 million barrels. Its single operating crude oil refinery is capable of processing 180k barrels of crude a day. It produces 14k barrels of crude per day. It peaked at only 42k bpd.

--

If there is no contact at all with surrounding countries, despite everyone being a short hop away in South East Asia (and Vietnam and Indonesia being oil producers), tens of millions of people are probably just going to die in mass famine. Mountainous archipelago needs trucks that runs on diesel just to move food from farm to urban. Produce is already being left out to spoil because it would cost more to transport them than to sell them. Specially if another supertyphoon or volcanic eruption hits, this shield of SEA is probably going to just collapse societally until there is just about enough subsistence to support whoever is left.

It probably won't be to the level of warlords and civil war though, but provinces focusing entirely on just making sure they can feed themselves before looking outwards. Regionalism is inevitable due to mountains and islands and deep jungles.

Well maybe unless they rediscover boatmaking and sailing skills.

Thank you.

If it makes you feel any better, China probably nuked them before that could happen.

Duke Long · 2026-05-23T16:30:31+0100

Mr Zoat said:
"And where are you going to get a better chance than thanagar? I wasn't too sure about human food when I got to Earth, and then I tried that great cheese you guys have, and then I went from there!"

'Thanagar'

Mr Zoat said:
I fabricate a Alstairian plant, and then mimic Lantern Medphyll's pull to-.

'an'

Graeme · 2026-05-23T19:54:42+0100

Mr Zoat said:
Thank you, corrected.

Sorry, this is still wrong, it should be "absolute zero" (in words, the name of that specific temperature) or "0K" (no degree symbol) or "-273,15°C"

"absolute 0°K" is so wrong it makes my eyes bleed.

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