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

[moralrelativity]

"Lantern Koriand'r and I will take a look."

"Very well. Report what you see as you see it."

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Well, OL has quickly forgotten to do what Batman asked him to do. There's no way that can possibly backfire, is there???

 

[Darko]

"How would I tell?"

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Well he may have some self awareness after all.

Not a lot, but some.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Don't know how to put a new quote in a sentence after I already posted that sentence. If you know then I'd appreciate you telling me.

Zoat is it possible for us to see a version of the SI that ended up in the YJ universe, but years before the start of the series, like say when the League was formed, like a decade before the Team was formed, or just a few years before canon?

It would be interesting to see the SI be a member of the League and how he interacts with them, as well as what butterflies he sets off with his presence, like maybe getting Luthor to adopt a more sensible method of doing things before he goes full on super villain.

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The SI's start would be more or less the same. Alan's been retired for a while. If Diana was still on Themyscira then Alan would either have to visit her, or... Maybe ask Jay to ask Barry to tutor him.

Remember: the initial Justice League line-up was selected by the Appellaxians. The only way for the SI to be a founding Justice League member would be if he was known as a warrior so that they targetted him.

Luthor is the main variable. The SI could achieve some very interesting things with him.

...Koriand'r has done the same...
Extra space.
Perhaps: ...seeing their corpses gives him...

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Thank you, corrected.

 

[Darko]

The SI's start would be more or less the same. Alan's been retired for a while. If Diana was still on Themyscira then Alan would either have to visit her, or... Maybe ask Jay to ask Barry to tutor him.

Remember: the initial Justice League line-up was selected by the Appellaxians. The only way for the SI to be a founding Justice League member would be if he was known as a warrior so that they targetted him.

Luthor is the main variable. The SI could achieve some very interesting things with him.

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The SI doesn't need to be a founding member, just showed up after it's founding, but several years before the founding of the Team.

If he comes before the League was formed, say several months before, then he could create a reputation for himself and the Appellaxians decide to target him and that could be a way for him to be a founder.

If you decide to do a version of him like this in the future, then good luck.

Would be interesting to see how the League is shaped if he's a member of it from an early stage.

 

[inglorius]

She gives it a small frown, then puts it over her left forearm and actives the auto-fit function.

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"activates"?
There was a lot of mistakes around orange girl, is she that distracting?

 

[Mr Zoat]

"activates"?

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Thank you, corrected.

There was a lot of mistakes around orange girl, is she that distracting?

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Um, no.

 

[Darko]

Um, no.

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Don't worry, none of us are judging you if you got distracted when you were writing about her.

She can be a rather... distracting figure when you're thinking about her, just ask Detective Montoya, those hooligans in Gotham that she was reprimanding, and basically anyone that is even remotely interested in women, and a few that probably aren't.

 

[Dakkan Sall]

Is he just randomly shouting stuff, because it's highly unlikely he's read the American Constitution. Unless ClusterCorp's personnel manual starts the same way.

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Well, it could just be a 'closest equivalent to English' translation going on, much like his designated title. Since he got cured/fixed before we saw the end of what he was saying it's unknown if he was actually quoting the DoI intentionally or not.

Though the fact that he came so close to doing so had me thinking for a moment or three that the Starro angle might be a decoy (in-story or out); this was actually done by a secret cabal of super-nationalistic/McCarthy-era American wizards who are upset one way or another that there were Russian spaceships flying about.

 

[Darko]

Though the fact that he came so close to doing so had me thinking for a moment or three that the Starro angle might be a decoy (in-story or out); this was actually done by a secret cabal of super-nationalistic/McCarthy-era American wizards who are upset one way or another that there were Russian spaceships flying about.

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Someone said that it may be Uncle Sam who is responsible for this.

 

[Eponymic]

Ah. He's lost all reason.

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Ha!

 

[Ngamer11]

Hi Mr Zoat. Here are a few more corrections.

Late evening here at the moment, Tamaran's rotational period being more or less the same as Earth's. Actually, all of the inhabited worlds in Vega have more or less the same day-length. Just another oddity of the place. King Myand'r is.. in the Hall of X'Hal, a sort of… Combination of museum and temple. Tamaranians tend to regard X'Hal as being a war goddess, which… Probably isn't really true to her historical character. On the other hand, religion, historical authenticity…

I transition to the Hall's entrance and then land, the Tamaranian soldiers outside bringing their weapons to bear with commendable haste. I wave and they lower them again.

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King Myand'r nods, then looks up at the statue of his father. King Korithus is depicted as a proud warrior in his middle years, not the broken old man he died as when the Tamaranian home defence fleet was overwhelmed and shot to pieces. I can understand why he considered himself honour bound to resist, but I can't help but thinking that kowtowing could have prevented… So much death.

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I'm still flaming, but not quite as badly as before. The shock of being.. confronted with this arrangement has dimmed the intensity of my response a little. From the way Myand'r was talking I assume that arranged marriages are a relatively unremarkable thing amongst Tamaranians. My own exposure to them comes from the reactionary parts of the British Asian community, honour killings and kidnap-marriages. If I'd had a bit more exposure to functional examples I might feel less strongly. But as it stands this is very definitely triggering my 'This Will Not Happen' response.

The whole situation reminds me of the Meiji Restoration. And the end of the first series of Gundam. In both of those, both sides were trying to accomplish basically the same thing but decided that they couldn't until one or the other was defeated. There was no real benefit to the fighting, just the assumption that it had to happen. Here, there's no benefit to the marriage, just an assumption that it needs to occur.

And now I'm flaming again. Good job that Tamaranians generally don't fly at night. They can, but as they're solar powered they find it draining and can dry up completely if they keep at it. Hope I'm not keeping anyone awake.

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I stride over to it and yank open the door, the woman trying to duck behind some sort of robe. A mission somewhat impeded by Tamaranian ideas of modesty. "Oh, come out. I may as well have this discussion with both of you."

"Ah…" She looks past me to Karras, looking for some clue as to what she should do. I just turn away and walk back across the room.

"How did you know that she was there?"

"Karras, I have many abilities. The ability to detect the emotions of those about me isn't one of the most noticeable ones but it is fairly useful. I knew that the two of you were in love before you spoke a single word to me."

I turn back and.. she's wearing harem pants and nothing else as well. She's in pretty good shape, though I think that exposure to Diana has left me a little jaded about the female musculature. "I don't believe that anyone has told me your name."

"Corporal Taryia. Sir."

They don't look at each other or try and move together. Assuming that Tamaranian facial expressions are sufficiently similar to Human ones I'd say both are feeling guilty.

"And how long have the pair of you been intimately involved?" She doesn't immediately respond, so I turn my eyes towards Karras.

"I.. really don't see what concern that is of yours."

"Because I don't know enough about the way Tamaranians process emotions. Because I intend to find an acceptable way to break the betrothal of yourself and Princess Koriand'r and prevent the marriage. Can I assume that you're both interested?"

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"I was thinking about taking them with me when I smash the Citadel Complex and steal their shipyards. Do you think that would work? Revenge, recovering the remains of their uncles and grandmother if they're still there, massively speed up the rate of Tamaranian shipbuilding?" They blink at me. "Assessment for ring compatibility and basic training could take a while, I'd like an answer reasonably quickly?"

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Komand'r flashes me a mildly irritated glance, then returns her attention to her weapon. An elderly Tamaranian plasma pulse gun, restored to operating condition. The Thanagarians have similar weapons but the Tamaranian version fires larger pulses, designed as it was to burn through the thick armour of Citadelian infantry. She inserts a new hydrogen flask, twists and then presses the activation switch. There's an audible hum and the central section of the weapon glows faint blue.

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"I want this gun-" She plants it on the workbench with more force than is strictly necessary. "-to behave itself. We're trying to bring weapons wielded by the old Tamaranian marine corps back into working order."

"Difficult?"

"With the neglect they've suffered, I find it a minor miracle that any of them still function. A tiny deformation of the plasma chamber and they leak waste heat into their own mantle."

"Do you find the work satisfying?"

"It needs to be done. And… I doubt that I could serve as a symbol of Tamaranian optimism and unity."

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Koriand'r darts through the arches leading to the dining area. I decided that it would be more dignified -perhaps not by Tamaranian standards but certainly by mine- to enter on foot instead. I'm overdressed for a Tamaranian breakfast, but no one said anything last time. Is it advantageous to look more like one of the group? Perhaps, slightly, but it would be dishonest. I'm not joining their team, I'm asking them to join mine.

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[LostPath]

Damn Protheans stealing muh ships!

 

[Darko]

Damn Protheans stealing muh ships!

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And if they come to Earth then they're going to steal our jobs!

That redneck from South Park was right!

 

[iamnuff]

"Khan, don't do anything stupid."

"How would I tell?"

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Is... is he becoming self-aware?

 

[jaelin910]

I honestly smart response, what do you know.

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Well he may have some self awareness after all.

Not a lot, but some.

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Right? That actually reminds me of a question I came across recently which was "what does it feel like to be wrong?" And while the obvious answer is something along the lines of "bad" the correct answer is that it feels just like being right. So yeah, I'm actually rather impressed.

 

[Mr Zoat]

Hi Mr Zoat. Here are a few more corrections.

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It's not you. It's me I hate.

Damn Protheans stealing muh ships!

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Spoiler: Protheans stealing your ship

 

[Stsword]

Come to think of it, it's pretty weird how magic isn't a universally permeating force and needs dense clusters of life, but that the lights of emotion are seemingly everywhere.

Does this imply magic is...unstable in some way? A life-energy isotope so to speak?

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Zoat made magic come from the Dreaming.

Why that leads to magic not working in outer space when the domains of the Endless extend to planets and stars, comets, meteors, black holes, and nebulae, I remain unsure of.

In Vertigo, it was claimed that Earth has life because Dream inspired Earth by giving the planet the dream of containing life, I understand.

 

[Darko]

Zoat made magic come from the Dreaming.

Why that leads to magic not working in outer space when the domains of the Endless extend to planets and stars, comets, meteors, black holes, and nebulae, I remain unsure of.

In Vertigo, it was claimed that Earth has life because Dream inspired Earth by giving the planet the dream of containing life, I understand.

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The metaphysics of the comics may not count in this story.

Also I think its more like magic is more easier to use on a planet, especially one with people on it, because those people have shaped it through the Dreaming, while in space, where there are no people, it would be virtually impossible.

Magic may exist in deep space, but it may be so thin and alien that it's impossible to make use of.

Just because the domains of the Endless extend to space, that doesn't mean mortals will be able to use magic in space. There is an entire universe of difference between a mortal and something like the Endless.

 

[Jacen]

Come to think of it, it's pretty weird how magic isn't a universally permeating force and needs dense clusters of life, but that the lights of emotion are seemingly everywhere.

Does this imply magic is...unstable in some way? A life-energy isotope so to speak?

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Are the lights of emotion everywhere? Remember that lanterns carry batteries and charged rings that let them use it.

Many different fictional sources use the idea that magic doesn't work unless it's in some kind of mana rich environment. I imagine that if a caster was able to bottle magical energy in the same way a lantern has one of the emotions that they would be quite capable anywhere they went.

 

[Mr Zoat]

12th April
11:32 GMT

"Russian ships clear. No crew on board, some signs of phasing. Lantern Khan assures me that while they could build phasing equipment with what's on board the ClusterShip, they didn't have anything already constructed."

My ears metaphorically twitch as I fail to hear Comic King correcting me about his name. I look around to see him accessing the docking bay's internal monitoring computer.

"We're about to proceed further into the ClusterShip."

Batman nods. "Has there been any reaction from the crew, or the automated systems?"

"No. No one has tried to get in here, and no one has tried to repair the damage Khan did getting in. He said that repair robots should have gotten to work almost immediately."

"Is there anyone onboard?"

"I don't know. Our scans and my empathic sense are still being blocked. We can examine the ClusterShip more forcefully if you think it best. I was holding off in case we triggered a response."

"Blue Lantern and Captain Atom will be with you in a few seconds. Your primary objective is to locate and recover any survivors. Your secondary objectives are to identify the thief or thieves and find out what they were planning."

I nod. "Who has local command?"

Because despite my rank-

"Captain Atom."

-in the Orange Lantern Corps and the fact that three out of five of the people who are going to be here are Orange Lanterns, and despite the fact that we can get a response from base instantly instead of in nine hours, as far as Earth is concerned I'm a glorified sidekick while Captain Atom is a veteran Justice League member.

"Underst-"

There's a flash as Alan and Major Adams appear just outside the docking bay and immediately head our way.

"-ood."

"Batman out."

I lower my left hand.

"Lantern Koriand'r, you remember what I said about some humans having a second name for professional purposes?"

"Yes." She nods, smiling. "I find it adds an element of fantastical whimsy to the tales of their heroism."

Alan and Adams land, Adams taking a careful look at the weapon hardpoints while Alan just gives us a smile and a wave.

"Captain Atom." He gives me his full attention. "You're in charge." He gives a small nod. "Where are we going next?"

"Lantern Khan?"

"Lord and Manga." He flies away from the computer console and lands next to us. "The records are scrambled. L-Ron.. might be able to reassemble them."

Adams frowns. "You couldn't reassemble them with a power ring?"

"Mmmphgh. Upon occasion-."

"You really designed your docking bay computer records to resist power ring scans because you were worried about a Sector Lantern catching you smuggling?"

"Some customs laws are very broad. And for all we know it could be the same thing that's stopping us scanning the ship."

That's a halfway reasonable point. And Sol has no extraplanetary customs laws anyway.

I look at Adams with my eyebrows raised.

"Then I guess we're going on. Orange L-."

His face stills as he considers the obvious identification problem. I guess he's only ever worked with one Green Lantern at a time.

"Try 'Illustres'."

Another small nod. "Illustres, you're on point. Lantern Khan, you know where the closest crew shelter point is?"

"General Crew or Executive? Because the General Crew point is more of a muster point."

"Anyplace you think someone might have sought shelter. This is a rescue mission first."

We four Lanterns nod.

"Call out contacts as you find them." He floats back a little to give me space.

I look at the interior cargo doors. This is mostly a cargo docking bay, so they're pretty large. But since we can all fly I float up above them, generate a large crumbler construct and smash it forwards. A chunk of bulkhead and armoured shutter is erased, and I fly through the newly formed gap-

"We're insured for Act of Lantern. Colour isn't specified."

-and into… The cargo depot.

"In fact, if you want to smash some more things…"

No one… No one…

I send out construct eyes to look at everything and float forward to make myself as tempting a target as possible. Not like this ship's internal weapons are a threat to me.

No, no one and nothing.

"Lantern Khan, where to?"

"The executive transport system is over on the right. That will take us to the Executive Section."

I see it.

"Captain?"

"It's as good a place to start as any."

Maintaining my constructs, I float in the direction indicated. There's a-. Hah! A lift in the docking bay which takes executives to an overpass with transparent sides so that they can look down on the proles toiling beneath them. It still goes to a part of the ClusterShip which is just as easily accessible from the cargo depot…

I crumble my way through the wall and-.

Some of the synthetic potted plants which decorate the place wave in a faint breeze. Another hull breach? Air's moving, but the air purification system they use doesn't make a breeze-.

I attach construct tethers to the floor and walls-.

The hull's vibrating.

The ClusterShip doesn't have chemical thrusters. It would come apart if it used a system that primitive.

"Captain, I believe that we need to get back outside. Now."

He nods.

"Everyone: pull out."

 

[Darko]

into further into

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just 'further into' not 'into further into'

some human

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maybe 'some humans'

Anyplace you thing

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'think' not 'thing'

 

[Z3r0Sama]

At this point, Paul should really take a leaf out of Gravys book and start doing his own thing. Still being a tag along for the JL is just ridiculous.

 

[Vaermina]

"Russian ships clear. No crew on board, some signs of phasing. Lantern Khan assures me that while they could build phasing equipment with what's on board the ClusterShip, they didn't have anything already constructed."

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Ah, ah, ah, no crew means that under international law they aren't Russian ships any longer.

There's a flash as Alan and Major Adams appear just outside the docking bay and immediately head our way.

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And that means, that legally speaking the US now possess salvage rights to the formerly Russian space craft.

 

[SotF]

Ah, ah, ah, no crew means that under international law they aren't Russian ships any longer.


And that means, that legally speaking the US now possess salvage rights to the formerly Russian space craft.

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Not necessarily, salvage rights are kind of messed up with regard for ships.

You could locate and claim the rights for a complete wreck, and you'll likely not get much if anything from it legally.

 

[Darko]

Ah, ah, ah, no crew means that under international law they aren't Russian ships any longer.


And that means, that legally speaking the US now possess salvage rights to the formerly Russian space craft.

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Not sure that space ships were covered under international law.

The fact that Russia may go to war for those ships would also put a plug on the attempt at taking them.

Adams is also the only one that works for the US and even he may not try to claim them, as while he may have more faith in the military and the US government than the other members of the League, said faith may have been tempered after the whole Eiling thing with the betrayal.

Also he's smart enough to know that a war could happen if he tried that shit.

The charter the League has with the UN may also cover something like this so that the tech is shared with all.

 

[SotF]

Not sure that space ships were covered under international law.

The fact that Russia may go to war for those ships would also put a plug on the attempt at taking them.

Adams is also the only one that works for the US and even he may not try to claim them, as while he may have more faith in the military and the US government than the other members of the League, said faith may have been tempered after the whole Eiling thing with the betrayal.

Also he's smart enough to know that a war could happen if he tried that shit.

The charter the League has with the UN may also cover something like this so that the tech is shared with all.

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I'm pretty sure there are already salvage laws concerning space craft and other man made things in space.

 

[Vaermina]

Not sure that space ships were covered under international law.

The fact that Russia may go to war for those ships would also put a plug on the attempt at taking them.

Adams is also the only one that works for the US and even he may not try to claim them, as while he may have more faith in the military and the US government than the other members of the League, said faith may have been tempered after the whole Eiling thing with the betrayal.

Also he's smart enough to know that a war could happen if he tried that shit.

The charter the League has with the UN may also cover something like this so that the tech is shared with all.

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You would be right, if Russia was still a part of the Outer Space Treaty, but they they very specifically withdrew from that.

As to causing a War, he's smart enough to know that's unavoidable now that Russia withdrew from the OST.

See, interesting fact, without the legal protections of the OST, sovereign airspace comes into effect in concerns to orbits.

 

[Chojin Patriarch]

12th April
11:32 GMT

"Russian ships clear. No crew on board, some signs of phasing. Lantern Khan assures me that while they could build phasing equipment with what's on board the ClusterShip, they didn't have anything already constructed."

Click to shrink...

But his info is a little behind the times. Who's to say what's been going on aboard-ships in the time it's been absent (less than six hours at this point?)

Spoiler: Commentary spoilered for length

My ears metaphorically twitch as I fail to hear Comic King correcting me about his name. I look around to see him accessing the docking bay's internal monitoring computer.

"We're about to proceed into further into the ClusterShip."

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Ah, Manga Khan. Never underestimate an Orange Lantern's ability to ignore what they don't want to hear...

Batman nods. "Has there been any reaction from the crew, or the automated systems?"

"No. No one has tried to get in here, and no one has tried to repair the damage Khan did getting in. He said that repair robots should have gotten to work almost immediately."

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Itself a significant fact. It appears the ship's systems are completely off-line, then.

"Is there anyone onboard?"

"I don't know. Our scans and my empathic sense are still being blocked. We can examine the ClusterShip more forcefully if you think it best. I was holding off in case we triggered a response."

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Like, say, self-destruct charges planted by whoever was responsible. Because they've no doubt wired it to blow.

"Blue Lantern and Captain Atom will be with you in a few seconds. Your primary objective is to locate and recover any survivors. Your secondary objectives are to identify the thief or thieves and find out what they were planning."

I nod. "Who has local command?"

Click to shrink...

Please be Alan, please be Alan...

Because despite my rank-

"Captain Atom."

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<facepalm> Seniority at work. Even though Alan has twenty-odd years of hero experience on Major Adams.

-in the Orange Lantern Corps and the fact that three out of five of the people who are going to be here are Orange Lanterns, and despite the fact that we can get a response from base instantly instead of in nine hours, as far as Earth is concerned I'm a glorified sidekick while Captain Atom is a veteran Justice League member.

"Underst-"

There's a flash as Alan and Major Adams appear just outside the docking bay and immediately head our way.

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Looks like Alan is getting the hang of the now-standard techniques for Lanterns. Good to see him back in the saddle.

"-ood."

"Batman out."

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Now that the REMFs have bowed out... Let's get serious.

I lower my left hand.

"Lantern Koriand'r, you remember what I said about some human having a second name for professional purposes?"

"Yes." She nods, smiling. "I find it adds an element of fantastical whimsy to the tales of their heroism."

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I'm sure it's a fascinating concept to her. Tamaraneans would never think to conceal their identity that way, would they?

Alan and Adams land, Adams taking a careful look at the weapon hardpoints while Alan just gives us a smile and a wave.

"Captain Atom." He gives me his full attention. "You're in charge." He gives a small nod. "Where are we going next?"

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I doubt he feels relieved, Especially since Adams has minimal experience in this situation. I suppose his military training might useful.

"Lantern Khan?"

"Lord and Manga." He flies away from the computer console and lands next to us. "The records are scrambled. L-Ron.. might be able to reassemble them."

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Yep, someone did a number on them. A crew member trying to protect company secrets, or the ones who hijacked the ship covering their tracks, though?

Adams frowns. "You couldn't reassemble them with a power ring?"

"Mmmphgh. Upon occasion-."

"You really designed your docking bay computer records to resist power ring scans because you were worried about a Sector Lantern catching you smuggling?"

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I bet that makes it awkward for him. No wonder he wasn't using his ring much last episode.

"Some custom laws are very broad. And for all we know it could be the same thing that's stopping us scanning the ship."

That's a half-way reasonable point. And Sol has no extra-planetary customs laws anyway.

Click to shrink...

Not yet. One more thing for the UN's docket concerning off-world stuff.

I look at Adams with my eyebrows raised.

"Then I guess we're going on. Orange L-."

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Which Orange Lantern would that be, Captain?

His face stills as he considers the obvious identification problem. I guess he's only ever worked with one Green Lantern at a time.

"Try 'Illustres'."

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I suspect the League tend to be more casual about the Greenies' identities, at least when no-one who doesn't know them is listening.

Another small nod. "Illustres, you're on point. Lantern Khan, you know where the closest crew shelter point is?"

"General Crew or Executive? Because the General Crew point is more of a muster point."

"Anyplace you thing someone might have sought shelter. This is a rescue mission first."

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So far, it's not looking good on that front, Adams.

We four Lanterns nod.

"Call out contacts as you find them." He floats back a little to give me space.

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I see he recognises that OL knows what he's doing. Sign of a decent leader there. Presumably, he's also holding the only known egress point.

I look at the interior cargo doors. This is mostly a cargo docking bay, so they're pretty large. But since we can all fly I float up above them, generate a large crumbler construct and smash it forwards. A chunk of bulkhead and armoured shutter is erased, and I fly through the newly formed gap-

"We're insured for Act of Lantern. Colour isn't specified."

Click to shrink...

Ah, I bet it won't take long for their insurance company to close that loophole. Probably with an additional surcharge for each additional colour other than Green.

-and into… The cargo depot.

"In fact, if you want to smash some more things…"

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They're not going to assist you in committing insurance fraud, Manga Khan... But, hey, if the ship does happen to be boobytrapped...

No one… No one…

I send out construct eyes to look at everything and float forward to make myself as tempting a target as possible. Not like this ship's internal weapons are a threat to me.

Click to shrink...

Confident, isn't he? Though I suspect actual anti-lantern weapons have treaties limiting their use...

No, no one and nothing.

"Lantern Khan, where to?"

"The executive transport system is over on the right. That will take us to the Executive Section."

Click to shrink...

Ah, the nobility gets to avoid having to hobnob with the peons, eh?

I see it.

"Captain?"

"It's as good a place to start as any."

Click to shrink...

He really has no plan, does he?

Maintaining my constructs, I float in the direction indicated. There's a-. Hah! A lift in the docking bay which takes executives to an overpass with transparent sides so that they can look down on the proles toiling beneath them. It still goes to a part of the ClusterShip which is just as easily accessible from the cargo depot…

I crumble my way through the wall and-.

Click to shrink...

Careful, careful...

Some of the synthetic potted plants which decorate the place wave in a faint breeze. Another hull breach? Air's moving, but the air purification system they use doesn't make a breeze-.

I attach construct tethers to the floor and walls-.

The hull's vibrating.

Click to shrink...

Oh, that's not good...

The ClusterShip doesn't have chemical thrusters. It would come apart if it used a system that primitive.

"Captain, I believe that we need to get back outside. Now."

Click to shrink...

Oh hey, it is boobytrapped...

He nods.

"Everyone: pull out."

Click to shrink...

And they spend the next five minutes waiting for something to happen. Or the ship explodes!

Hopefully, the vibrations aren't anything major. Surprised OL didn't subspace or otherwise move the Russian ships out of caution (though there's always tomorrow.) I'm sure the Russians will want them back in as intact a shape as they can be...

 

[Darko]

You would be right, if Russia was still a part of the Outer Space Treaty, but they they very specifically withdrew from that.

As to causing a War, he's smart enough to know that's unavoidable now that Russia withdrew from the OST.

See, interesting fact, without the legal protections of the OST, sovereign airspace comes into effect in concerns to orbits.

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Firstly, I think that Zoat mentioned they still haven't withdrawn from the treaty and were just planning on doing it and encouraging others to do it.

Withdrawing from the treaty would not cause a war to break out, especially since even if the Russians withdrew from it before they sent those ships they didn't exactly break any of its rules, like no WMD on them, or claiming space as your own sovereign territory, all they wanted was to establish contact with the Cluster ship, which is a peaceful thing to do and allowed under the treaty.

The various countries of the Earth really have no justification for starting a war with Russia, and why would they want to considering that Russia is one of the most powerful countries on the planet. The most many could hope for is that Russia starts an exchange program where they can share tech.

Yes the US has many superheroes and metas, but Russia has large armies, as well as advanced tech like the Rocker Red suits.

Americas metahuman development program may not be as advanced in the paragon timeline as it's advanced in the renegade timeline because they've developed a reliance on the League for these sorts of things and see no further need to advance.

 

[TheEyes]

At this point, Paul should really take a leaf out of Gravys book and start doing his own thing. Still being a tag along for the JL is just ridiculous.

Click to shrink...

It would be really rather dumb to start asserting independent authority in the middle of an operation.

Afterwards? I mean, yes, Batman and many of the other members of the Justice League (Lanterns Jordan and Stewart especially, but also the Hawks) are showing a remarkable amount of bias against Paul, given his power and proven track record of suggesting and implementing necessary reforms, both within the Justice League and without. If Paul wanted to make a point of it, he could probably get a number of League members to take his side if he attempted to make an issue of it, but maybe not, given that Paul himself has done rather little to soften his sometimes abrasive personality with anyone other than Wonder Woman.

The thing is, Paul himself has been mostly treading water since he came back from Vega, and it really shows. He's pulled back from trying to advance Earth's tech level, has mostly coasted along with few big moves in the past year on terms of making Atlantean magitech more widely available, and punted the issue of determining why Earth isn't advancing on its own over to Georgia Sivana months ago with no follow-up. In general he's downshifted into being the same sort of reactive personality that he had spent his first year lambasting the various members of the League for being; at this point, why should the League treat him as anything other than another random masked face-puncher, one with less than two years of experience under his belt?