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

"we didn't fight the evil sorceror because of his dark powers, we fought him because the source of his dark powers was ritual human sacrifice" dude what the fuck is this hair you're splitting, like yes things are more detailed on the geopolitical layer but if they hadn't been getting power from ritual human sacrifice are we saying the war would have happened anyway? prolly NOT

"we didn't fight the evil sorceror because of his dark powers, we fought him because the source of his dark powers was ritual human sacrifice" dude what the fuck is this hair you're splitting, like yes things are more detailed on the geopolitical layer but if they hadn't been getting power from ritual human sacrifice are we saying the war would have happened anyway? prolly NOT

(yes I posted the same response, and will likely continue to do so as long as people post this nonsense. once you start using ritual human sacrifice for your own power, your precise motivations stop mattering, at all, you are now the villain of the piece and whatever valid points you may or many not have also had are now tainted, good job)

v0v

they repeat nonsense, I repeat nonsense, it's only fair

Rule 1 and 5. Play nice with others; and Stay on topic.
When I look at these posts I see someone playing the troll.
 
"Rule 8 - No Politics" is not a shield
Moderation
I'm going to step in here for a moment.
This isn't just an academic matter, either. This misrepresentation of history has led to ongoing discrimination in the modern day, and aspects of the modern state of politics resemble the politics of the mid-1800s in dangerous ways, but I will refrain from elucidating upon either of those out of respect for the rules of this forum.
Stating that further discussion of a topic would be in violation of the rules, implicitly using it as a shield for your argument, is not in keeping with rule 8's objective of avoiding thread derails and heated arguments over politics. The rules are no more a weapon to wield in this manner than threats of reporting.

If you must address a topic, address it. If addressing a topic properly would unavoidably spill over into prohibited territory, then don't bring it up.
 
More like Zoat is reading DC stuff's since that it a standard Black Adam story.
Haven't looked at DC comics themselves in years. Last I remember Black Adam was a villain through and through and runs his country as a despot.

The movie's trailer looked like he was going to be a hero that is going to over throw a tyrant and Dr. Fate is a pretentious dick.
 
Haven't looked at DC comics themselves in years. Last I remember Black Adam was a villain through and through and runs his country as a despot.

The movie's trailer looked like he was going to be a hero that is going to over throw a tyrant and Dr. Fate is a pretentious dick.

DC likes to treat Black Adam as an anti-hero, that is when he isn't committing genocide and pedicide.

He was a member of the JSA in New Earth, he was a JL member post flashpoint.

In fact the reason he isn't a leaguer still is that he doesn't think the current league is good enough. "You're right, the world needs a Justice League. Not children playing dress up."
 
Stating that further discussion of a topic would be in violation of the rules, implicitly using it as a shield for your argument, is not in keeping with rule 8's objective of avoiding thread derails and heated arguments over politics. The rules are no more a weapon to wield in this manner than threats of reporting.

If you must address a topic, address it. If addressing a topic properly would unavoidably spill over into prohibited territory, then don't bring it up.
Fair point. It was only intended to illustrate my motivations instead of to support what I was arguing. I didn't need to bring up the modern-day implications to defend the argument, so it really wasn't an appropriate direction to have gone with it.
 
Fallout: Iowa (part 9)
5th November 2282
10:13 CDT


**Y'know, sergeant.** Corporal Iverson takes careful aim with his gauss rifle **[at a target on the other side of two walls as I share my psychic proprioception with him]** **I could get used to having a psycho-mutie on the squad.**

Chnk!

We **[both feel it]** as the robot collapses.

**DO YOU WANT TO RETHINK THAT STATEMENT, CORPORAL?**

Iverson reloads his rifle. This model of gauss weapon was intended as a marksman's rifle, the extra power coming at the expense of needing to have each round loaded individually. All of the mechanoids we've encountered so far have been in 'rest mode', and he and Private Simmons have been shooting then from long range. Unfortunately, the shockwaves passing through their chassis haven't left much in the way of functioning brains, but… We're all still alive.

**No, sergeant, it's like… When America expanded west, right? The army hired Indian scouts and guides. Mutie guides. Same thing.**

A while ago I read a book. I forget the title, but the main character was a black British man, altered genetically to be the soldier the soft western world could no longer create any other way. At one point he finds himself in the southern part of what was once the United States, and while drunk agrees to fund a prostitute's abortion. Unfortunately for him, it was an entrapment operation and he is promptly sent to prison. While in there people refer to him as being a nigger, and he says that he's not offended by that because it's too strange. It's as if someone came up to him and challenged him to a duel by slapping him with a riding glove.

I should probably be offended, but I actually find it funny. And the sad thing is that I can feel that Iverson means it and I know that it represents real progress.

**You some kinda magical Indian, mutie chief?**

**I'm British.**

**Ah… Are they from Utah? A Utah tribe?**

You know, I'm going to be glad when the Enclave's a little less Enclave and they can accept school teachers from other places.

**Put it this way, Corporal. You know the Declaration of Independence?**

**Yeah?**

**Who do you think the Founding Fathers were declaring independence from?**

**Er… China?**

**KRONO, ARE THERE ANY MORE OF THOSE DAMN ROBOTS AROUND?**

I close my eyes for a moment, reaching out through the dust.

**No, sergeant. None within my range.**

**That last one in any state for you to read its mind?**

**I'll check.**

I activate my armour's stealthy system and become translucent, which isn't the same as invisible and I suspect that senior Enclave soldiers are probably capable of spotting me. Probably don't need to use it, but since the Chinese version doesn't have the same dementia-inducing problem as the American rip-off I think I'll play it safe. The walls of Cedar Rapids reduce the effect of the dust storms… Somewhat. The place is still radioactive and the dust is still blowing everywhere, but the circling gyre causes the dust to build up against the windward walls and only pass through the more central parts of the town as a fine particulate mist. Maintaining my situational awareness as best I can, I pick my way through the rubble that was once a shopping precinct towards the fallen mechanoid.

It's half-buried in its charging foxhole, like most of the rest we've encountered. Energy shield… Intact, helpfully, and though it's not practical for us to incorporate them into our equipment I'm sure that Doctor Rubens and her team will be working on that once salvage teams recover the wrecks. The gauss round has punched through the… Lower chassis this time, suggesting that it was starting to rise when Corporal Iverson pulled the trigger.

If there's been an alert…

I grab the robot by the shoulders and pull, turning it over. The exit wound is smaller than the entry would, so I shove the fingers of my right hand into the gap and **[feel for any still-functioning systems]** Nothing from the living brain, though whether that's because the shockwave killed it or the loss of power will have to be determined by autopsy.

But… This one has a data store that's a little more intact than the others. Accessing machine intelligences isn't fun, but I should be able to connect well enough to get navigational data at least.

**Area clear. Attempting to read database.**

**Squad moving up.**

I give them a moment to get into overwatch position. Power armour doesn't move like you might expect. It's not clumsy or ponderous; the servos mean that the people inside are faster and more agile than they are out of it. Once they get used to dealing with the momentum, anyway.

They're all in position, so…

Ugh.

I… Twitch, alien thoughts intruding on my consciousness. Human thoughts are… Messy, thousands of connections between everything and anything making the whole canvas merge together into a unified whole. Robots -even the ones I regard as people- don't have that. Each piece of data exists in isolation, connected… Perhaps by two or three strands. Or none at all, until their central control program searches for a file name and creates the connection. It makes reading a single file relatively easy but getting anything out of the system

Vector, completely shorn of context. And another. And another. Vector… Is that an actual patrol route, or is it just..? No, that's how long it can walk before settling down to recharge. Which is a duration I know. Follow back the timestamps…

**I have an origin.**

Dornan doesn't look around. **Then that's where we're going. Look alive, people.**

A series of beeps over the radio as the other soldiers signal readiness.

**But I'm not sure exactly how fast this mechanoid was moving, so until I can work that out I'm going to have to follow its route exactly.**

One of the soldiers with a plasma gun glances my way. **That sounds like a good way to end up in a horde of those things.**

**If we're lucky. Automated minefields are more likely. If anyone can think of a good way to get an intact brain, that would help. Otherwise, it's canary time.**

**The fuck's a canary?**

**Oh, I know this one.** Iverson nods. **It's where they can food. You know, stick it in a tin so it doesn't get moldy.**

Resist the urge to roll your eyes.

**No, that's a cannery. A canary is a type of small bird that used to be used in mines to check for poisonous gas.**

**How?**

**Well, the bird is much smaller than a human, so if there was poisonous gas, it would die first and the humans would know to evacuate.**

**Huh.**

The squad engages in a moment of silent contemplation.

**Hoines, your Hellfire armour's the toughest here, right?**

**Fuck you, Iverson.**

**Hey, I'm going to have to snipe their legs off once they come after you. How do you think I'll feel if I miss? Sergeant?**

**Spread out. Krono, you and Hoines are gonna be our lures. You got EMP grenades?**

**Yes.**

**Good. Because you are going to need them.**
 
Last edited:
Ok, I understand the propaganda. But if you're living under the delusion that your faction is the continuation of the previous official government/country, how the hell do you not know some basic facts about said country/government?

I'm not asking for them to unravel the gordian knot that is how the US government used to work, but really? They don't know how their country started? At this point they probably don't even know what 4th of July is!
 
Ok, I understand the propaganda. But if you're living under the delusion that your faction is the continuation of the previous official government/country, how the hell do you not know some basic facts about said country/government?

I'm not asking for them to unravel the gordian knot that is how the US government used to work, but really? They don't know how their country started? At this point they probably don't even know what 4th of July is!

This isn't exactly the first time a group that's been heavily influenced by propaganda wouldn't recognize any facts about the thing they supposedly represent.

If anything, lacking factual knowledge on what they represent is a fundamental part of such groups.
 
5th November 2282
10:13 CDT


**Y'know, sergeant.** Corporal Iverson takes careful aim with his gauss rifle **[at a target on the other side of two walls as I share my psychic proprioception with him]** **I could get used to having a psycho-mutie on the squad.**

Chnk!

We **[both feel it]** as the robot collapses.
Ah, psychic targetting. The next best thing to a Wall-hack cheat code. Or being the omniscient overwatch commander for a team of soldiers in a tactical RPG. You tell them where to shoot, they don't argue even if they need to shoot a rocket into the side of a building.

**DO YOU WANT TO RETHINK THAT STATEMENT, CORPORAL?**
:confused: Ow. I wonder how he can get that sort of volume into telepathic communications. There's not even a volume knob!

Iverson reloads his rifle. This model of gauss weapon was intended as a marksman's rifle, the extra power coming at the expense of needing to have each round loaded individually. All of the mechanoids we've encountered so far have been in 'rest mode', and he and Private Simmons have been shooting then from long range. Unfortunately, the shockwaves passing through their chassis haven't left much in the way of functioning brains, but… We're all still alive.

**No, sergeant, it's like… When America expanded west, right? The army hired Indian scouts and guides. Mutie guides Same thing.**
Better dead Battle-bots than dead friendlies. And I like this Iverson kid. He's not a completely indoctrinated patsy of the Enclave.

A while ago I read a book. I forget the title, but the main character was a black British man, altered genetically to be the soldier the soft western world could no longer create any other way. At one point he finds himself in the southern part of what was once the United States, and while drunk agrees to fund a prostitute's abortion. Unfortunately for him, it was an entrapment operation and he is promptly sent to prison. While in there people refer to him as being a nigger, and he says that he's not offended by that because it's too strange. It's as if someone came up to him and challenged him to a duel by slapping him with a riding glove.
I always liked the 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' version of that sort of exchange. The bad guy slaps Robin with a riding glove. He replies by picking up a metal gauntlet and doing the same. :p Naturally, the fellow is gobsmacked.

I should probably be offended, but I actually find it funny. And the sad thing is that I can feel that Iverson means it and I know that it represents real progress.

**You some kinda magical Indian, mutie chief?**
And Krono would probably confuse him by expounding on the difference between American Indians and the Continental variety.

**I'm British.**

**Ah… Are they from Utah? A Utah tribe?**
Remember, he's been taught via a very focused curriculum.

You know, I'm going to be glad when the Enclave's a little less Enclave and they can accept school teachers from other places.

**Put it this way, Corporal. You know the Declaration of Independence?**
And I'm sure his teachers put great focus on that bit of history...

**Yeah?**

**Who do you think the Founding Fathers were declaring independence from?**

**Er… China?**
Yes, that feeling of wanting to facepalm is completely understandable, Krono. :rolleyes:

**KRONO, ARE THERE ANY MORE OF THOSE DAMN ROBOTS AROUND?**

I close my eyes for a moment, reaching out through the dust.
At least they have enough human brains left for his power to sense them.

**No, sergeant. None within my range.**

**That last one in any state for you to read its mind?**

**I'll check.**
Eh, getting short by a gun capable of punching through two walls and its armour isn't going to be kind to any squishy bits inside.

I activate my armour's stealthy system and become translucent, which isn't the same as invisible and I suspect that senior Enclave soldiers are probably capable of spotting me. Probably don't need to use it, but since the Chinese version doesn't have the same dementia-inducing problem as the American rip-off I think I'll play it safe. The walls of Cedar Rapids reduce the effect of the dust storms… Somewhat. The place is still radioactive and the dust is still blowing everywhere, but the circling gyre causes the dust to build up against the windward walls and only pass through the more central parts of the town as a fine particulate mist. Maintaining my situational awareness as best I can, I pick my way through the rubble that was once a shopping precinct towards the fallen mechanoid.
Ah, environmental particulates. The bane of many a stealth ability, whether fast-adapting optical camouflage or magical perception-editing...

It's half-buried in its charging foxhole, like most of the rest we've encountered. Energy shield… Intact, helpfully, and though it's not practical for us to incorporate them into our equipment I'm sure that Doctor Rubens and her team will be working on that once salvage teams recover the wrecks. The gauss round has punched through the… Lower chassis this time, suggesting that it was starting to rise when Corporal Iverson pulled the trigger.

If there's been an alert…
Worst case, they could mount the shields on battery modules and use them as portable cover.

I grab the robot by the shoulders and pull, turning it over. The entry wound is smaller than the exit wound, so I shove the fingers of my right hand into the gap and **[feel for any still-functioning systems]** Nothing from the living brain, though whether that's because the shockwave killed it or the loss of power will have to be determined by autopsy.

But… This one has a data store that's a little more intact than the others. Accessing machine intelligences isn't fun, but I should be able to connect well enough to get navigational data at least.
At least you can connect to it. That's probably better than a lot of psychics in the wastelands.

**Area clear. Attempting to read database.**

**Squad moving up.**
Wouldn't to do go into a trance only to get ganked by a Battle-bot buddy you missed...

I given them a moment to get into overwatch position. Power armour doesn't move like you might expect. It's not clumsy or ponderous; the servos mean that the people inside are faster and more agile than they are out of it. Once they get used to dealing with the momentum, anyway.

They're all in position, so…
Of course, said power armour's operating software has to be really well coded to prevent mishaps from people overcompensating for the difference in feedback. Wouldn't want to break your own arm by flexing...

Ugh.

I… Twitch, alien thoughts intruding on my consciousness. Human thoughts are… Messy, thousands of connections between everything and anything making the whole canvass merge together into a unified whole. Robots -even the ones I regard as people- don't have that. Each piece of data exists in isolation, connected… Perhaps by two or three strands. Or none at all, until their central control program searches for a file name and creates the connection. It makes reading a single file relatively easy but getting anything out of the system
Probably a lot easier to work with running software, I guess. That way you just subvert the central processor and make it work for you...

Vector, completely shorn of context. And another. And another. Vector… Is that an actual patrol route, or is it just..? No, that's how long it can walk before settling down to recharge. Which is a duration I know. Follow back the timestamps…

**I have an origin.**
Or at least a possible trail to it. Let's hope the Battle-bot wasn't given to meandering.

Dornan doesn't look around. **Then that's where we're going. Look alive, people.**

A series of beeps over the radio as the other soldiers signal readiness.
Might help to ask where you're running, before you start sprinting. I know, it's almost the opposite of how you normally act...

**But I'm not sure exactly how fast this mechanoid was moving, so until I can work that out I'm going to have to follow its route exactly.**

One of the soldiers with a plasma gun glances my way. **That sounds like a good way to end up in a horde of those things.**
Not a fun time for anyone.

**If we're lucky. Automated minefields are more likely. If anyone can think of a good way to get an intact brain, that would help. Otherwise, it's canary time.**

**The fuck's a canary?**
...Since they'd likely be long extinct by this time. Or mutated into something else entirely.

**Oh, I know this one.** Iverson nods. **It's where they can food. You know, stick it in a tin so it doesn't get mouldy.**

Resist the urge to roll your eyes.
Or start beating your head against the Battle-bot's casing. It's probably loud.

**No, that's a cannery. A canary is a type of small bird that used to be used in mines to check for poisonous gas.**

**How?**
Seriously, boys, did they put more focus on field-stripping your guns than simple historical... Oh, right. They probably did.

**Well, the bird is much smaller than a human, so if there was poisonous gas, it would die first and the humans would know to evacuate.**

**Huh.**
Of course, it often helped to have someone watching the canary, or it might end up being too late.

The squad engages in a moment of silent contemplation.

**Hoines, your Hellfire armour's the toughest here, right?**

**Fuck you, Iverson.**
Yeah, that is an acceptable response. It's not even insubordinate.

**Hey, I'm going to have to snipe their legs off one they come after you. How do you think I'll feel if I miss? Sergeant?**

**Spread out. Krono, you and Hoines are gonna be our lures. You got EMP grenades?**
:oops: Yay... And Hoines can't tell the sarge to go fuck himself. That'd be a quick ticket to the stockade...

**Yes.**

**Good. Because you are going to need them.**
Well, that's going to be an entertaining way to spend the day.

You know, for inbred, under-educated leather-necks, these Enclave boys are kind of fun. Probably one of the most entertaining groups Krono's interacted with in this setting. We can but hope that they don't get too deep in the tango when the brown stuff hits the fan. At any rate, this makes for a fun palate cleanser after some of the trouble OL got into this last episode. Can't wait to see what he breaks next.
 
Mutie guides Same thing.
Should likely have some punctuation in the middle there. Either a period or a semi-colon.
Resist the urge to roll your eyes.
Is that Krono actually telling himself to resist, or should it be "roll my eyes"?
Ow. I wonder how he can get that sort of volume into telepathic communications. There's not even a volume knob!
My guess is that he's a true-born Sergeant. 'Full shout' is his default volume, and any time he speaks in what others would consider 'normal conversational tone' he's actually whispering.
 
And Krono would probably confuse him by expounding on the difference between American Indians and the Continental variety.

Well, he kinda is part Indian.

Specifically one of his grandparents is Romani, and the Romani are thought to be descended from India, so while a bit convoluted, Krono is a magic, or at least mutant, Indian.

I always liked the 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' version of that sort of exchange. The bad guy slaps Robin with a riding glove. He replies by picking up a metal gauntlet and doing the same. :p Naturally, the fellow is gobsmacked

That's what you get for slapping someone.
 
Mr Zoat Paul still hasn't figured out a way to tell people his last name. Is there a reason why he can't just get his ring to say it as he does with his first name?

He doesn't even know what his last name is.

He apparently figured out that it's somehow connected to candles, but that's it.
 
Entry wound, exit wound.
Thank you, corrected.
Is the next episode renegade focused or SI focused?
SI.
Ok, I understand the propaganda. But if you're living under the delusion that your faction is the continuation of the previous official government/country, how the hell do you not know some basic facts about said country/government?

I'm not asking for them to unravel the gordian knot that is how the US government used to work, but really? They don't know how their country started? At this point they probably don't even know what 4th of July is!
What's left of the Enclave hasn't had a civilian population since the fall of the rig and the NCR/Brotherhood alliance destroying every base they had on the mainland. They don't have teachers. They barely know how to deal with people who aren't Enclave.
Should likely have some punctuation in the middle there. Either a period or a semi-colon.
Thank you, corrected.
Is that Krono actually telling himself to resist, or should it be "roll my eyes"?
He's telling himself.
given -> give
one -> once
Thank you, corrected.
Mr Zoat Paul still hasn't figured out a way to tell people his last name. Is there a reason why he can't just get his ring to say it as he does with his first name?
Because he can't think it coherently enough, and because... Well, how much does it matter at this point?
Specifically one of his grandparents is Romani, and the Romani are thought to be descended from India, so while a bit convoluted, Krono is a magic, or at least mutant, Indian.
Great grandparents. And having spoken to my mum about it it's really more 'we think that's where it comes from'.
 
Aww, the Enclave soldier who wanted to be buffed. But yeah, nobody wants to be the Canary.

RE: not knowing basic facts... well, their education is poor, probably don't have that great of reading material, and it honestly doesn't surprise me given anything else. Though I am surprised they didn't think of New England first.
 
Dear god. What exactly is the Enclave teaching it's kids???

I mean, there is propaganda and then there is this.
Alas all of the enclaves school materials, teachers and most of their intellectuals blew up with the old rig.

All they have left is some remnants of their military arm that survived in their outlying outposts.

and all they needed to know was how to follow orders, shoot whomever they were told to shoot at and maintain their equipment.



The point in time they are in it's been about 40 years give or take since the rig exploded.

Dornan is in his late 70's to mid 80's by now and arcade was a kid when Navarro fell being in his early 40's by new vegas.

so almost two generations of enclave without their full resources and knowledge base have been running around.

the fact there even is an enclave is a small miracle.
 

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