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

Chojin Patriarch · Feb 7, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
27th August 2013
Midday

Uuuuuuuuuuuugh…

Alright. Alright. Organise.

And another Paul discovers the delight of having the equivalent of a liquified encyclopedia poured into his brain.

Good thing he can't get a headache unless he wants to now. Right, then. Let's see if it had anything useful in it...

It was a ship, a Cheops class warship. And I also got enough of the technical schematics to know that it's never going to fly again. It would literally be easier to just build a new ship. The upper part of the bridge and Mammon's private quarters, which is probably why the fire was focused there. It being destroyed means that the controls for the entire ship no longer exist.

Huh.

Not really an impediment to him, especially if he can find specs for the systems. Outside of truly exotic materials, it's trivial to fabricate what he needs.

I could probably run cables from the generators to jump-start an industrial revolution. The power supply is actually designed to be maintained by ignorant peasants and so is heavily idiot-proof-. Idiot-resistant. I mean, the ship got shot out of orbit, slammed into the ground and then got bombarded by something, and the worst that happened was a radiation leak that was contained in the engineering section.

Nothing is truly Idiot-proof, after all. It might seem to be, until nature breeds a better (worse?) idiot.

But more to the point, as far as I can tell, the Cheops is an older class of ship that is outclassed by just about everything these days. Mammon put it here because it wasn't worth taking with him on his travels because the other 'gods' he visited had ships that were superior to it but which were inferior to the ships given too him by the 'Supreme God' Ra.

And if he's got any memories of the franchise (reasonably possible, given there's two alternate continuities, effectively,) that should be ringing a bell.

Pyramid ship. Ra.

No, that-.

Ding ding, we have a winner.

Glowing eyes.

This is… It's sounding like Stargate.

But is it the movie or the TV series? As I said, there are differences. Minor ones, and ones largely ignored by the fans.

Ring… Scan for… Scan for large ring structures.

Nothing back.

So, no stargate on the planet. Removed by another party, or simply deployed and removed by Mammon's people after the locals were placed?

Okay. In the film Ra just flies to… Ah, whatever that planet was called, and he had those ring teleporters. There probably… No, it's an interstellar civilisation. Logically, every world they're actually using would have a gate, probably in a fortified location surrounded by guns, barricades and force fields somewhere within convenient travelling distance of a city. Except-. The gate activated, stayed open for a few minutes and then… They needed to enter coordinate on their side to open a portal back. That's no use for mass transit. It wouldn't be able to handle enough throughput. So the stargates are just… Convenient for small groups of people? And the one on that mining world was only there because it wasn't worth picking up and moving to somewhere more productive?

It's amusing how many TV stargate locations are entirely the opposite of that. Mostly because those worlds were nominally still controlled by Goa'uld.

Did Ra only turn up because he detected it activating when it wasn't supposed to?

Alright, so having them mine… Whatever they were mining, and sending a ship every few years makes more sense. That also matches what Mammon is described as doing: touring Ra's vassals and collecting their tax payments. I've got logs of what he picked up and the locations of those planets… But I don't have anything explaining what those coordinates mean.

Ah, I was right: The tax records of the Systems Lords.

There are also a few mentions of people called 'jaffa'. Apparently, most 'gods' use them as soldiers and naval crew, but Ra didn't, preferring to use humans. So when I encounter other gods I'll have no idea what their soldiers look like because all the images on file show humans.

Mammon used human soldiers as well, though that's because he couldn't get something called 'prim'ta' which the 'jaffa' need. Maybe that's what they eat? Or a drug, like ketracel-white? Ra appears to the supplier for most of Mammon's advanced technology, so if it wasn't something he used it would make sense that Mammon couldn't get it. Whatever it is.

Ah, if only he knew... And I so see him pronouncing it like the candy. (with a short 'a': 'Jaff-fah', rather than the 'jah-far' of the warriors.)

There are census records here for the planets Mammon visited, and… These populations seem very low for industrial worlds. Which might just mean that they have a high degree of automation and so don't need manpower?

So what happened to the planet in the film? Did they suffer from some sort of environmental disaster, and Ra decided that it wasn't worth moving them? But… The settlement wasn't that big. It would only have taken a few days at most to move them all, and this census shows that there were plenty of places that could have taken them. Did he… Forget about them? That might explain the lack of technology…

Smaller populations, less risk of rebellion or advancing unexpectedly. And it's easy for single planets to fall through the cracks, really.

I'm not seeing any mention of Earth by name. References to an original human homeworld mention that there was a rebellion and the gate was cut off, but… There's no reason that I can think of why they couldn't just send a couple of ships to re-establish control. Maybe the fact that they had enough humans to populate their empires already and didn't think it was worth keeping? But then, why turn up for the American military if he'd abandoned the planet?

Probably because it's not called 'Earth' by the Goa'uld. As for why Ra turned up on Abydos... Good question. Maybe the unexpected gate activation, as Mammon-Paul theorised. He'd probably have presumed it to be another Lord poking their nose in...

The picture of Ra on file matches what I remember of the film.

I'm… Disturbed by what that means for me being here.

Ah, his first realisation of his transfictional insertion. The understanding that he's in a science-fiction story, but it's all very real.

I mean, is he still alive? Is killing the ruler of an interstellar empire where everyone else is kept in line by him objectively a good thing? I mean, yes, him super-nuking Earth is worse, but not getting into that position in the first place seems best of all.

No. That's a problem for another… Another year.

Certainly, the lack of oversight on this world will make it easier to go unnoticed.

I still haven't found something that can tell me what the date is. Oh, all these files have dates, but there's nothing to tell me what that relates to. There are images of the planet, and I can tell that some settlements that exist now hadn't been started yet, but an impact like this could have sent enough dust into the atmosphere to cause a year-long winter. That could have caused them to retract-.

Pointless.

Even if he asked the locals how long they'd been here, he has no way to guess how long ago they lived on Earth to calculate the difference.

Equipment is also a bit of a bust. Since this ship was just supposed to be a glorified space station, Mammon didn't keep much stuff here. And I'm not sure which of the things listed in the manifest are weapons, because the people working with them would just know that and wouldn't need it stated explicitly. The images show the human soldiers carrying staffs and wearing the headdresses I remember from the film, but the staffs could just be ceremonial and the headdress…

So, no obvious weapons, no armour he'd consider worth it, and who knows what requirements to get any of it back online if he wanted to.

Oh, there's actually an analysis of its internal systems here. Looks like it had sophisticated scanners and target assistance built into it, meaning that unlike a Stormtrooper helmet it actually makes it easier to hit the target. Must take a little getting used to-. Oh, and Ra didn't share those upgrades. So most of them-.

Oh.

I was half expecting that scene from 'A New Hope' where one bangs his head on the doorway.

That suggests… That the gods don't understand their technology either? Or maybe whatever these jaffa are don't need them? I don't see what advantage animal-head helmets have… Except intimidating uneducated peasants, perhaps? But the gods don't wear them… Don't know.

A full search of this ship should be first-. Second on my agenda. First should be letting Menelik know that I've made this part of the ship safe. And take him with me. Watching me open up crushed passages should reinforce the 'god' thing and let me ask some questions without making him suspicious.

To be fair, the helmets are kind of silly. Intimidating, but silly. And really, I've heard it put thusly: The Jaffa weapons are weapons of fear, for terrorising simple peasants. Which is why they look so sloppy against human soldiers trained to kill.

And then… Find some of the worlds on this list. Once I know where they are relative to here, I should be able to calculate where the rest are. And see which of them are worth visiting. Is there any point getting a stargate? Even if I could find one, I don't know the symbols I need to go anywhere or to get back. And this world doesn't have anything worth trading yet.

But I'm not qualified to perform an uplift by myself.

True, one man with the ultimate tool does not an uplift make.

How about I start with mapping? Once I know where iron and coal can be found, I can offer to take people there to build… Farms first. I can chip in with a road-. No, a canal-. Or whatever makes most sense. And then a mining settlement can be built. And I can work on building this world's first steam engine, which gets us mine pumps and trains. And steam ships for travelling the world.

Big ideas. Just a matter of working out how, since an office assistant isn't exactly an engineer. Regardless of what eclectic knowledge our dear author learned before he began writing.

And…

And that's not enough for a civilisation, is it? They don't need any of those things. No rivals to out-compete. No predators to kill or diseases to overcome. They're growing because more children are surviving than dying and they need more stuff, but…

It's more about quality of life, at this point. Making daily lives better for the average person.

Why hasn't another god added this world to their domain? I'd guess because there's nothing here apart from a crashed ship so it isn't worth the effort. Before I try changing things here, I need to see some of these worlds. I need to find out what their autocracy looks like, how they treat their people and how those people live. Once I know that, and I know more about how their society works… Then I can work out what I can do to improve this world.

And perhaps he'll run into a certain galaxy-exploring team of soldiers and scientists...

So, a natural spot to leave Mammon-Paul, thinking about how to progress in a real-life game of Civilisation. One with deadly consequences for messing up, though. Meanwhile, we still don't know what's going to be happening in OL's side of the episode. Perhaps he'll poke the Dreaming in an attempt to reach Themyscira. Or perhaps Boss Smiley will show up again to complain about his 'Status Quo' being blown out.

ForeverShogo · Feb 7, 2024

Well, he remembers the Stargate movie. Which gives good odds that he's in the setting of the tv show, since Pauls have their memories of whatever setting they ended up in erased.

Impatient_Quill · Feb 7, 2024

Sockmonkey said:
One rather clever setup used in the show was having the gate on a gimbal to hold it horizontally so they could just dump the grain cargo through to a hopper on the planet they were sending it to.
Gates can stay open for 38 minutes at a time, which is enough to send a lot of cargo through.

If he can find a gate with an intact dial, the ring should be able to access the stellar maps. Those things do regular system updates and would have lists of valid addresses.

Honestly, a train depot type set up with some automated hover train car type cargo haulers would probably be more efficient unless your transporting only a single granular substance.

Darko · Feb 7, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
amusing how many TV stargate locations are entirely the opposite of that. Mostly because those worlds were nominally still controlled by Goa'uld

It does make some sense.

If there are a lot of people around then there's a risk a security team may get spooked and shoot whoever comes through the gate.

Leaving it in a building also brings the risk of someone throwing a bomb through, and the damage would be bigger than if it was just in an open field.

Chojin Patriarch said:
To be fair, the helmets are kind of silly. Intimidating, but silly. And really, I've heard it put thusly: The Jaffa weapons are weapons of fear, for terrorising simple peasants. Which is why they look so sloppy against human soldiers trained to kill.

Yeah, and when the Goa'uld meet a technologically superior foe they tend to just blast them to oblivion.

Luckily for them most of those foes aren't warlike, so they may rely more on their tech rather than strategy, like the Tollan.

Vaermina · Feb 7, 2024

Sockmonkey said:
One rather clever setup used in the show was having the gate on a gimbal to hold it horizontally so they could just dump the grain cargo through to a hopper on the planet they were sending it to.
Gates can stay open for 38 minutes at a time, which is enough to send a lot of cargo through.

If he can find a gate with an intact dial, the ring should be able to access the stellar maps. Those things do regular system updates and would have lists of valid addresses.

Yea, Paul really doesn't get the realities of a Stargate.

I'm pretty sure the Guardians would have killed for technology like that.

Chojin Patriarch said:
Not really an impediment to him, especially if he can find specs for the systems. Outside of truly exotic materials, it's trivial to fabricate what he needs.

Goa'uld ships are literally made out of exotic materials.

So is most Goa'uld technology.

Cuchulin · Feb 7, 2024

I am reminded somewhat of The Endless Pantheon series of Fics by Todeswind, A Dresden Files/Stargate SG-1 crossover where the Goa'uld's tech is partly magic and the Goa'uld used to be actual gods until hubris got the better of them resulting in even higher powers stripping them of most of their godly powers.

Mquz · Feb 7, 2024

From this we can tell that this isn't the actual main Stargate universe - since OL remembers it. Is it some comics universe then?

Vaermina · Feb 7, 2024

Mquz said:
From this we can tell that this isn't the actual main Stargate universe - since OL remembers it. Is it some comics universe then?

Mr Zoat is likely running under the idea that's the movie and TV series are separate continuities.

GhostKing 666 · Feb 7, 2024

Chojin Patriarch said:
To be fair, the helmets are kind of silly. Intimidating, but silly. And really, I've heard it put thusly: The Jaffa weapons are weapons of fear, for terrorising simple peasants. Which is why they look so sloppy against human soldiers trained to kill.

Ground forces don't really matter for the Goa'uld, not till Kull Warriors became a thing. What you have to remember is that ground combat has not been a serious part of Goa'uld warfare since before the Goa'uld found earth really. Ground combat is part formality, part show for the Goa'uld. The last time the Goa'uld performed large scale ground warfare was back when Unas were the host of choice, long before the Jaffa were created, before the Earth and humanity were even discovered by the Goa'uld. Heck by that time they had already developed sufficient starship technology(read badly copied ancient starship tech and/or stole from other races) that with numbers and what was probably brilliant military command skill and leadership from Ra, that they could fight against and last against the Asgard, even win a few battles of their own. And if their starship technology could do all that against the Asgard, what the hell would all the post-plague native milky races going to do to stop them that weren't nearly on that level? Beg the Nox to come save them? By the time they have found the earth they already had space based dominance among their peers in the milky way that ground warfare started getting less and less important for them. By the time the Jaffa were created, ground troops were just there to hold territory, keep the slaves in line, man the ships and generally be expendable cannon fodder and meatshields. Oh and act as walking Incubators for their young and make it easier for said young to be able to successfully take a human host.

Standard Goa'uld doctrine calls for using your Hat'ak motherships to crush any and all orbital defenses, bombard the major population centers and military installations and only once virtually everything has been reduced to rubble do you send in your legions of Jaffa cannon fodder to shift through the rubble and either enslave or finish off the survivors, with no fucks given about any Jaffa dying against survivors armed with better gear and trained using more modern combat tactics.

The Goa'uld are an extremely conservative society, slow to change or develop new technologies, especially since they have a very limited intellectual, research and development foundation. It was something Ra personally created as a tool to control Goa'uld society and help keep his power as Supreme System Lord. And when your civilization has such a limited R&D capability, what are you going to spend it on? The starship technology that's the lynchpin and backbone of how you fight wars, or the ground troops who only exist to hold territory and keep the slaves in line? The answer of course is the starships and the Jaffa get left with the absolute bottom of the barrel stuff that still leaves them capable of doing the job the Goa'uld created them for, not the shit that would have let them stand up to SG teams and give a good showing against Kull Warriors. Technology doesn't exist for no reason, especially in a society as conservative and slow to change as the Goa'uld.

Even the comics and the RPG only gave the Goa'uld gimmick-tech for ground forces, nothing really revolutionary.

Mars, and his cyborg Jaffa, gladiator monsters and Energy Swords.

The special Lightning and Thunder staff weapons that Raiden equipped his Jaffa with, as well as his modified Kara Kesh

Zeus's own Lightning Thrower Kara Kesh

The Cauldron-Born zombie Jaffa created by Arawn as well as his previous foray's into cybernetically augmented Jaffa

Sokar's Super-Sarcophagus

Cloaking devices

Shikra blades

And the Hand Claws and Dragon Talon melee weapons used by Bastet's Bast Guard and Kur's Dragon Guard respectively

Vaermina · Feb 7, 2024

GhostKing 666 said:
Heck by that time they had already developed sufficient starship technology(read badly copied ancient starship tech and/or stole from other races)

Amusingly the design of the Destiny and Seed class vessels suggests the Goa'uld likely did a really good job reverse enginering early era Ancient technology.

They only really seem to have hit a wall with the mid era Ancient tech seen in Atlantis. And the problem there was likely that mid era Ancient tech won't even turn on if you don't have the ATA gene.

Mr Zoat · Feb 7, 2024

Sockmonkey said:
If he can find a gate with an intact dial, the ring should be able to access the stellar maps. Those things do regular system updates and would have lists of valid addresses.

True, but he doesn't know that dialing devices exist.

Me said:
The upper part contained the bridge and Mammon's private
Alright, so having them mining… Whatever they were mining, and then send a ship every few years, that makes more sense.

Corrected.

Sockmonkey · Feb 7, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
True, but he doesn't know that dialing devices exist.

Not yet, but he will find them if he decides to take a peek at other habitable worlds.

BlackCoat13 · Feb 7, 2024

You know, this Paul is actually quite interesting, remember how... every other Paul (I can remember at least) doesn't remember the specific setting they're put into? Like Red Ring Paul doesn't remember Teen Titans and main Paul didn't know anything about specifically Young Justice timeline?

This Paul actually knows stuff about the setting he ended up in, can remember specific plot stuff. That seems like it's new.

Firewillreign · Feb 7, 2024

Vaermina said:
Yea, Paul really doesn't get the realities of a Stargate.

I'm pretty sure the Guardians would have killed for technology like that.

Can you explain this?

Cause if the stargates are just teleporters, the Malthusians have sixty seven thousand variations of them.

Taisei · Feb 7, 2024

BlackCoat13 said:
You know, this Paul is actually quite interesting, remember how... every other Paul (I can remember at least) doesn't remember the specific setting they're put into? Like Red Ring Paul doesn't remember Teen Titans and main Paul didn't know anything about specifically Young Justice timeline?

This Paul actually knows stuff about the setting he ended up in, can remember specific plot stuff. That seems like it's new.

It seems like he might know the movie plot but not the TV series.

Mr Zoat · Feb 7, 2024

Taisei said:
It seems like he might know the movie plot but not the TV series.

Yes.

And, technically, the three minutes of the animated series I've watched.

BartlettMagic · Feb 7, 2024

i guess i need some clarity on some aspects of the Power Ring.

based on other Pauls' ability to use their ring like a replicator, couldn't StarPaul do the same? after he gets everything he needs out of the Pyramid ship, just have the ring deconstruct the entire ship to its constituent parts and store it all in subspace. the ring can either fabricate a whole, working pyramid, a customized variation, or something else entirely.

unless the ring is 'blank'? like it has no access or records of any kind of technology in it? meaning StarPaul would have to first have an example of the tech in order to replicate it. is the ring AI smart enough to translate StarPaul's wants into realities? like if StarPaul wants an iPod badly enough, and remembers enough about its functionality, the ring could intuitively create the thing that StarPaul wants out of available resources.

i also don't understand the need to get off-planet and investigate already. he just discovered he's in the Stargate universe, he's a god among mortals now, and there's a whole planet, free of Goa'uld influence, that he can do whatever he wants with. it just feels like there are a thousand more important priorities than getting off-planet and exploring. for example, fortifying the planet and improving planetary defenses, because you know as soon as he steps off-planet, there's going to be some kind of triggered alarm somewhere, somehow, that alerts the Goa'uld to his presence and brings them back. i know it will happen regardless, but it seems like StarPaul has the option of them showing up sooner or later. why not pick later, once you've had a chance to properly prepare? stay under the radar man.

Mr Zoat · Feb 7, 2024

BartlettMagic said:
i guess i need some clarity on some aspects of the Power Ring.

based on other Pauls' ability to use their ring like a replicator, couldn't StarPaul do the same? after he gets everything he needs out of the Pyramid ship, just have the ring deconstruct the entire ship to its constituent parts and store it all in subspace. the ring can either fabricate a whole, working pyramid, a customized variation, or something else entirely.

unless the ring is 'blank'? like it has no access or records of any kind of technology in it? meaning StarPaul would have to first have an example of the tech in order to replicate it. is the ring AI smart enough to translate StarPaul's wants into realities? like if StarPaul wants an iPod badly enough, and remembers enough about its functionality, the ring could intuitively create the thing that StarPaul wants out of available resources.

i also don't understand the need to get off-planet and investigate already. he just discovered he's in the Stargate universe, he's a god among mortals now, and there's a whole planet, free of Goa'uld influence, that he can do whatever he wants with. it just feels like there are a thousand more important priorities than getting off-planet and exploring. for example, fortifying the planet and improving planetary defenses, because you know as soon as he steps off-planet, there's going to be some kind of triggered alarm somewhere, somehow, that alerts the Goa'uld to his presence and brings them back. i know it will happen regardless, but it seems like StarPaul has the option of them showing up sooner or later. why not pick later, once you've had a chance to properly prepare? stay under the radar man.

The only database he has is what he's taking off the data crystals, and that doesn't include everything he needs in order to build a new ship. For example, the maintenance logs of a nuclear submarine could tell you a great deal about it, but you couldn't build a new one with them alone. That and inference lets him make the remains of the ship safe, but that's about it.

He can scan and replicate most things, but that doesn't generally give him any understanding of why they work. Actually seeing things will allow him to build up faster, and gets around the fact that the only engine he knows how to build would be a very early steam engine. His choice is hoping that the planet he's on gets ignored for 400-500 years while he helps them industrialise and build their own ships, or find somewhere he can copy ships from.

Shotiegun11 · Feb 7, 2024

Firewillreign said:
Can you explain this?

Cause if the stargates are just teleporters, the Malthusians have sixty seven thousand variations of them.

Stargates are not just teleporters.

They create a stable wormhole between 2 points in space, allowing anything that can fit into the ring to go through. It can stay open for 38 minutes safely and longer if an object (like a human arm) if in the event horizon.

The doesn't seem to be a range limit on connecting 2 stat gates, except for avaliable power to establish a stable connection.

2 Milkyway Gates can connect without any external power anywhere in the galaxy.

With a ZPM, the Earth gate was able to connect to Atlantis's stargate in the Pegasus galaxy.

With a planets geomagnetic power source (while it was exploding) a milkyway gate reached the Destiny's stargate 10s to 100s of galaxy's away.

The Alterans has the rings for teleporting, the Lanteans has their transporters in Atlantis, and the Asgard have their iconic white glow teleporting that humanity inherits / earns from them.

I feel the need to point out, because someone will if I don't, that longer ranges introduce SOME danger. And that if you are going through the gate when a solar flare goes off that you could be flung through time or to an alternate reality.

I've always thought this was because Earth didn't have a DHD device with all its safeties, and Atlantis might not have it turned on cause a lot of the time the expedition didn't really know how everything worked there. Or that that place in stargate continuum that recorded Solar fares was turned off until Baal found it so it wasn't streaming that information to Milkyway DHDs for so long.

Mr Zoat · Feb 7, 2024

Shotiegun11 said:
They create a stable wormhole between 2 points in space, allowing anything that can fit into the ring to go through.

Nearly. They create ONE WAY wormholes. You can send radio messages no problem, but if you step into a portal that didn't open at your end? You die.

Celtic Spartan · Feb 7, 2024

GhostKing 666 said:
Energy Swords.
[/spoiler]

Power weapons? do you know how they stack against the 40k equivalent?

MajorPane · Feb 7, 2024

The really weird thing about Stargates? Everyone talks about the wormhole, but nobody talks about how they're also Star Trek transporters. The wormhole? Yea, that macerates you at an atomic level, but transports your bits through. It's just that on the sending end the Stargate scans you as you go through and the receiving gate reorganizes you. The reason you get disintegrated passing the wrong way is that Stargates aren't configured to scan on both ends. Simple stuff like radio transmissions makes it through backwards because the signal survives being jumbled.

But, we've seen people stick their hands into outgoing wormholes, and then pull them back out. Hell, you'd get heart attacks and strokes and worse if internal fluids couldn't flow from inside the horizon as you pass through. So, there's some sort of buffer which handles matter which has entered the Stargate, but might be pulled backwards- Counterpoint! We've also seen stuff like people going through on tethers or firing grappling hooks! How could those arrive on the other side when they could be drawn backwards at any time.

Obviously, this is where the show-writers just forgot most of the subtle mechanics, but if you wanna fridge logic it there's also stuff like Gatespeak and the way ancients used the Dakara superweapon to reseed the Milky Way galaxy after the plague. Stargates seem to have fucking ludicrous sensor and simulation capabilities which can track the genetic heritage of entire planets and manipulate the development of languages. Is it really such a leap to believe that they're capable of context-sensitive buffer simulations which only transmit partial objects if they are going to be cut off by Stargate deactivation?

Vaermina · Feb 7, 2024

Firewillreign said:
Can you explain this?

Cause if the stargates are just teleporters, the Malthusians have sixty seven thousand variations of them.

The Malthusians wish they had teleporters with the range and low power requirements of a Stargate.

Darko · Feb 7, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Nearly. They create ONE WAY wormholes. You can send radio messages no problem, but if you step into a portal that didn't open at your end? You die.

Plus if you stand too close during the opening of a wormhole then that weird splash like effect could kill you.

Shotiegun11 · Feb 7, 2024

Yes, yes. There are prices to pay for reducing upkeep costs to almost 0, and it turns out that OSHA compliance is one of them.

Seriously though, Stargates in the Milkyway haven't been maintenances by an Ancient in millions of years. And they had the Destiny Seed Ships long before that making a gate network in every galaxy they passed through with I imagine 0 plans to do maintenance on them.

A properly built Stargate can last almost forever as long as it's not intentionally damage, falls into lava, or a black hole.

Coda · Feb 7, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
Imagine taking a pyramid and slicing the top third off.

In case the SI ever gets curious about what that geometric shape is called, it's "frustum."

Yargoth · Feb 7, 2024

Would it be possible to sidestep the one-way travel restriction of a stargate by power ring transition through the wormhole?
I speculate that the one-way travel might be a restriction on the matter dematerialization/reintegration process of the gates, and not the wormhole itself, since some things are in fact transmitted both ways; such as radio waves and gravity.

Ardy · Feb 7, 2024

I know very little of star gate, but what I do know comes solely from this

https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11361802/5/

So maybe all the useful stuff in that chapter they mention could help?

Mr Zoat · Feb 8, 2024

29th March 2013
17:32 GMT -5

Mr. Atom looks at me. He's not blinking because he doesn't have the facility for blinking, but I think he'd be staring anyway.

"I was not informed that the Justice League was taking control of the world. That sounds like something I should have been informed about."

"To the best of my knowledge, the League has no active plan to take over the world."

A holographic screen next to him comes to live.

"…shocking claims a short time ago that governments have failed." The news presenter raises his eyebrows slightly. "And should be replaced, by the Justice League."

"That was fast."

He leans over me slightly. "I was not informed that the Justice League was taking control of the world."

"I am not a member of the Justice League. And… Were you also not aware of the contents of the League's Charter? And how far beyond it the League is currently operating?"

He settles slightly on his feet. "Expand."

"In my experience, League members don't usually realise that they're pushing a boundary. They just do things that seem like a good idea at the time, without really thinking it through and considering the wider consequences or guiding philosophy. It's like the first time you tried to take over the world."

"That did not work."

"Because you didn't think it through. Your current plan is much better informed. But I sent you my analysis of Metropolis policing pre- and post-Superman."

"Yes. They redeployed funding based on the assumption that he would continue to fulfil his current function."

"He didn't mean for that to happen. He…" I frown. "I haven't asked, but I'm not entirely sure that he's actually aware that it's happened. And if he is, I'd be astonished if he's thought about the significance of it."

Mr. Atom takes a moment. He… Might not be as bad about this as the rest of them. At least, not now I've directly drawn his attention to it.

"They replace public services. That undermines the authority of those who provide public services. And that of their employers. And the social structure that gives them their authority."

"And that's why being a supervillain is a mug's game if you want to rule the world. No one wants to be ruled by a supervillain. Lots of people want to be ruled by a superhero."

"Calculating."

"It goes back to when primitive tribes were led by their alpha. We've covered it all over with institutions and traditions, but ultimately, people respond to leadership."

"Recognised, Green Arrow, zero eight, Blue Lantern, two four."

Mr. Queen looks around, his eyes locking onto me almost immediately. He strides in my direction, right forefinger raised.

"We're not taking over the world, Paul."

"Not intentionally, no."

Alan shakes his head. "Paul, we both saw what happens when superheroes take over the world. Did that look like something we should be working towards?"

"Alan, you didn't like it because you didn't like the man you became."

"That was part of it. I… I thought you didn't like it either."

"With me it was more because they didn't systematise things logically, and so threw away their morals without the corresponding gain in efficiency they could have gotten. And… Because I didn't like the man you became either. But-." I close my eyes for a moment and shake my head. "Look. Not.. arguing in favour of it, but name one government that did anything helpful during this entire crisis. One army. My future father-in-law did more good than the entire US military, and he's a serial killer."

"Okay. Okay." Mr. Queen raises his right hand to his forehead. "So what you're saying is, we might end up being in control of things without even meaning to be."

"No, I'm saying that you are in control of things without even meaning to." I shrug. "In the event of a major environmental disaster or a raid from space, who would deal with it?"

"Don't the Russians still have-?" He hesitates. "Okay, we would. Doesn't mean that we rule the world."

"What is it that you want to do that you can't do because someone else has that power?"

Mr. Atom raises his right hand and stares at his own palm. "Have I..? Taken over the world by accident? Was it always this simple?"

"No." Mr. Queen turns to him. "No it's not, and no you haven't. Paul."

"Oliver."

"How do we untake over the world? Without anyone noticing or you doing any more interviews."

Mr. Atom slowly rotates his hand, still staring at it. "My plan for what do to next involved making a large golden throne for myself. But as Orange Lantern has demonstrated, asteroid mining is not complicated. I could easily obtain the gold to both make the throne and purchase a site in any major metropolitan area."

"Ah…" Alan looks at Mr. Atom in concern. "Mister Atom? Are you okay?"

Actually… I'm a little worried as well. He's raised his hands to either side of his head, clasping it as if he was suffering from a migraine.

"I agreed to work with the League in order to perfect my understanding of human social dynamics. I now believe that I failed to fully comprehend the horizons of my own ignorance."

Alan presses his right hand against Mr. Atom's back.

"That's life, Mister Atom. Some people can just walk right up to you and make you think about things you've done your whole life in a completely new way. But that just means you can go about fixing your oversight more intelligently."

Mr. Queen shakes his head. "Seriously? 'Sit on a golden throne'? That was it?"

"Since the job 'ruler of the world' does not have a description, my conception of it was… Limited."

"Now I see what Paul meant about you being young. But, seriously, Paul, how do we change this?"

"Disband the Justice League and join a conventional military or law enforcement organisation. Let the Security Council appoint a director for the Justice League with complete authority over the organisation and knowledge of your real names. Stand for election and hold power using a pre-existing office."

"We can't-."

"Recognised, Batman, zero two."

Batman walks slowly out of the zeta tube. His body language doesn't suggest that he's irritated, though I note that he's still wearing the yellow ring.

"Hey, Bats." Mr. Queen walks towards him. "Just having my mind blown here. You got something to say about it?"

"Yes. Orange Lantern, the current weakness of world governments is very convenient for our work. Stop drawing public attention to it."

I nod. "Will do."

"Good. Mr. Atom, you and I have work to do."

Ngamer11 · Feb 8, 2024

Mr Zoat said:
"…shocking claims a sort time ago that governments have failed." The news presenter raises his eyebrows slightly. "And should be replaced, by the Justice League."

That should say 'short'.

Mr Zoat said:
Mr. Queen looks around, his eyes locking onto me almost immediately. He strides in my direction, right forefinger raised.

"We're not taking over the world, Paul."

"Not intentionally, no."

I'm so amused at the fact that Paul needs to spell this out to Green Arrow. I'm sure at least a few members of the League realized what happened and are simply not drawing attention to it.

Mr Zoat said:
"That was part of it. I… I though you didn't like it either."

That should say 'thought'.

Mr Zoat said:
"How do we untake over the world? Without anyone noticing or you doing any more interviews."

Mr. Atom slowly rotates his hand, still staring at it. "My plan for what do to next involved making a large golden throne of myself. But as Orange Lantern has demonstrated, asteroid mining is not complicated. I could easily obtain the gold to both make the throne and purchase a site in any major metropolitan area."

"Ah…" Alan looks at Mr. Atom in concern. "Mister Atom? Are you okay?"

Actually… I'm a little worried as well. He's raised his hands to either side of his head, clasping it as if he was suffering from a migraine.

"I agreed to work with the League in order to perfect my understanding of human social dynamics. I now believe that I failed to fully comprehend the horizons of my own ignorance."

Alan presses his right hand against Mr. Atom's back.

"That's life, Mister Atom. Some people can just walk right up to you and make you think about things you've done your whole life in a completely new way. But that just means you can go about fixing your oversight more intelligently."

Mr. Queen shakes his head. "Seriously? 'Sit on a golden throne'? That was it?"

"Since the job 'ruler of the world' does not have a description, my conception of it was… Limited."

"Now I see what Paul meant about you being young. But, seriously, Paul, how do we change this?"

I wasn't expecting Mister Atom having his mind blown by a simple observation and comment from Paul, yet now that it's happened, I'm not surprised.

Mr Zoat said:
"Hey, Bats." Mr. Queen walks towards him. "Just having my mind blown here. You got something to say about it?"

"Yes. Orange Lantern, the current weakness of world governments is very convenient for our work. Stop drawing public attention to it."

I nod. "Will do."

"Good. Mr. Atom, you and I have work to do."

I notice that Batman seems to low key agree with having the Justice League in charge. He just wants to make it so that it isn't completely obvious. Hopefully we'll see JL members talking about this among themselves.

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

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