Wait, who was Common Sense Paul dating?
3rd September 2010
23:02 GMT +3
"Artemis-."
Artemis wheels around to glare at me, jerking her hands up to the sides of her head in a sort of grabbing gesture. "Don't even talk to me."
I bow my head and raise my right hand in surrender. "Okay."
She lowers her hands, maintains her glare for a few moments to ensure that she's made her point, then turns away to stalk over to a dune on the far side of our temporary base of operations, Superboy and M'gann stepping back to give her room.
Wallace looks up from the sensor array he and Richard are working on. "What's her problem? Y'know, now."
"I'm.. afraid that it's personal." Kaldur frowns slightly at me. "And I'm sure that it won't be a problem going forward. I.. just gave Artemis a bit of a surprise and she's… Adjusting."
Wallace smirks. "What, did she ask you out without knowing you're the team token adult?"
"No, though I am meeting up with Patrick Dugan in a couple of days so we can compare notes."
Superboy frowns. "Who's that?"
"Stripesy." Richard doesn't look around from the scanner array. He also isn't having to look the name up. "The Star Spangled Kid's sidekick. They were both members of the All-Star Squadron during the Second World War. I think he was twice the Kid's age."
I nod. "A little over, actually. Robin, is that thing picking up anything my scans didn't?"
"You heard Batman, Oh El. Power ring scans aren't admissible as evidence."
"Right. Except that the reason why we're here is that the Justice League doesn't have legal authority to act in Bialya. We don't either, but… For reasons which I'm.. still not clear on, that isn't a problem because as a League-affiliated auxiliary body we aren't covered by the League's UN Charter in which they agreed not to do exactly what we're doing right now."
"That's about the size of-."
"But as we're a black operation squad, this can't ever come to court anyway. The League can't say that they took those scans without admitting to violating their Charter. They can't say that we did without drawing attention to a huge Charter-bypass that Batman is hoping that no one is going to spot and admitting that this team exists. Boom tube radiation requires specialist equipment to detect, so he can't claim that it was picked up by… I don't know, local physicists or something. And unless one of Bialya's neighbours decides that whatever's happening here is bad enough to declare war over, any follow up activity will have to come from us, because… Charter, black operation."
Wallace stands back from the machine, probably frowning under his mask. "So… This is… A complete waste of time."
"No… Ah… Maybe? Batman can get more of those sensors made and he can't get hold of more power rings, so maybe we're here to test it? Or this is a test for us?"
Superboy folds his arms across his chest and huffs contemptuously.
"Is there a…" Wallace waves his right arm. "Reason you're bringing this up now, rather than when we were in the cave?"
"Because Batman doesn't stop being intimidating just because you reach eighteen. Or, indeed, twenty nine. I didn't really think about it until we'd… Been here for a while."
"Oh man, this is exactly what Red Arrow said would happen!"
"Kid Flash." Kaldur regards him with mild displeasure. "Control yourself. We are in enemy territory."
"Yeah, and this…" He glances at the sensor array. "Thing, and Oh El's ring and Miss Em's telepathy and Supey's hearing will all pick up anything heading our way before either of us notice them."
"Even if this is simply a test, I do not want us to fail it. And neither should you."
"Huh." Wallace thinks for a moment. "Okay. So if this is a test, and we need to do these scans to pass, how do we ace it?"
Oh dear.
Superboy perks up slightly. "We could attack the site, beat up the guards and get them to tell us what's going on."
Oh dear.
Richard turns away from the sensor. "This isn't supposed to be an overt mission. It's not even a vert mission. And since it's covert, losing the 'co' means co-failing the mission."
Hm.
"Miss Martian? How good is your mind control?"
"Aaaahh…" She looks around the group. "Bad. Really really bad. Like I could maybe make someone move their arm when they didn't want to or something but I couldn't make them obey me permanently."
I nod. "I suspect that I can permanently alter someone's desires with this ring, but I don't really know how to do it either. Aqualad? Does the Conservatory teach mental domination magic?"
"Yes, but it is a specialist course, and only available to the most advanced students." He bows his head slightly. "My time studying combat under Aquaman has limited the time I have for arcane study."
I nod. "So we can't mind control Queen Bee into telling us what she's doing, stopping, and reforming the Bialyan government. I could try lecturing her on political theory, but I'm not sure that she'd listen."
Superboy frowns. "They're using the boom tube to bring stuff here from… Apokolips, right?"
I nod again. "Probably."
"So why don't we just blow it up?"
"Not very 'co', Superboy."
"Why? I mean, as long as they don't see us they still don't know the Justice League are the ones who stopped them. We can get Batman's readings and still stop them doing whatever they're doing."
"No." Kaldur shakes his head. "I understand your frustration, but this team is intended to act with subtlety. Unless there is a clear reason to break cover, we will limit ourselves to observation."
"Um." M'gann raises her right hand. "I could take a closer look? I can go invisible so the guards can't see me. And I can keep in contact with telepathy."
I shake my head. "Miss Martian, we know that Doctor Simon Jones is over there. Your invisibility doesn't prevent telepaths from hearing you, does it?"
"It… No."
"And Apokolips is very technologically advanced. If they're trading, then there's a good chance that the Bialyans could detect you even without him."
"They didn't detect the Bio-Ship."
"How do we know that?"
Her eyes widen slightly.
Richard nods. "Oh El's got a point. If they know we're here, and they know that the League won't stop them, and that the League wouldn't send someone unless they knew that something was going on, there's no actual reason for them to attack us."
Kon glowers. "So not only does Batman know this is a waste of time, the Bialyans do too?!"
Kaldur turns my way. "Orange Lantern. Are your scans precise enough to tell when Doctor Jones is asleep?"
"Yes."
"Once he is, Miss Martian will cautiously investigate the camp. Unless we uncover evidence that requires us to act immediately, that is all that we do. If any of you dislike the parameters of the mission, you may take it up with Batman upon our return."
This is what happens when you forget that your dialog choices affect your party members' loyalty, not just the reactions of the NPC you're taking to. She's probably not even a romance option, man.
I note he doesn't say he 'will', just that he 'can'.
And if mild irritation was the only consequence you regret that might actually be true.
scowls
I generally only post from my phone, and it's pretty inconsistent about whether the "quote/reply" button appears. Fairly irritating, but it's a phone.
Thank you, corrected.
No. I can barely believe that they made it into canon. They're a stupid idea; a secret society that runs a city no one else wants.
Except in DC people do want the city because it sits on a mystical nexus point.
There's also so many nods towards Gotham being in the middle of Lovecraft country...Arkham Asylum for instance
No, that's right.
Yes, the philosophy behind the design choices. What they're saying about themselves.
No, that's correct.
Thank you, corrected.
Very good idea, no idea how good their hearing might be. Though I shudder at what might have killed the trees...
Ah, the greatest power in Superherodom: Prep time. Well, it's a toss-up between that and Money...
Especially if you remember to accelerate properly this time.
Good lord, he's finally done it! We've been harping on it for years, and it takes Sheeda to finally make him go that far. No doubt it's temporary, though...
And now I'm picturing really weirdly done chromakey. Like, someone wearing mostly green clothes and green lighting on a green screen...
Yeah, these guys don't sound pleasant at all. I guess they figure intimidation is a better defence than avoidance.
Stealth-mission-agogo. Got to hate levels like this. Any other time, you could shoot or diplomance your way through encounters. But no, the Devs wanted to show off their edgelord cred. So here you go, on a slow walking tour...
He's working up quite a list of 'things to look into later', eh? And all that depends on the Columbians wanting him to come back...
Reminders of the price of disobedience, without a doubt. The Sheeda want to be feared.
Unless it makes it easier for the Sheeda to manipulate them using their magic. That would be bad.
Indeed. Deal with the mobs, then come back and loot, unless there's a one-way gate somewhere ahead.
I can picture them pushing it to continue flying even after it conked out. They certainly don't have any respect for their 'pets'.
Ah, if only you had drones you could leave on station, or something. One edge the Renegade has over you, but excusable, what with having to work with mere Human tech...
Thank you, NPC lockpicker. It's not quite 'Captain Noisy kicking in doors with his boot', but it works.
Be on the alert. Who knows whether they can perceive you like this...
Better to confirm the one possible kill you know about than go haring off after other mobs. That's been the downfall of many a raid.
Gods only know what would happen if you fell into one. Watch your footing, folks...
The cauldron would be a dodgy callback to Celtic Myth. It was said to provide brave men with meat, and could revive dead bodies placed into it as zombie warriors... At least, it did that in Sláine...
Well, that's as good a lead as any. Either someone's having a real good time... Or a real bad one.
Rescue mission/revenge attack go!
At this distance in time I imagine that the entire human species is descended from Aurakles.
I'm not entirely sure what this bit means. Change to it maybe? Or just take out the I part
Thank you, corrected.
Probably. Also Zeus, Odin, Vandal Savage, and anyone else who had children that also had children (et cetra) thousands of years ago. Higher probability with Aurakles and Vandar Adg, of course, but the various gods were around pretty far back, and Zeus in particular really got around.