Control
16th July
11:27 GMT
Busy, busy.
I do a fly-by of The Space Station Formerly Known As Scratching Post, letting the rings display a detailed image on the inside of my helmet. Thanagarian work crews are already hard at work, ferrying materials back and forth from their carrier and the docking section. It'll be a while before it's turned into something they can conveniently dock with, so they're using shuttles to go back and forth for the moment. A few point me out as I pass, and I give them a wave.
It'll be… I don't even know
how long until Tamaran is a functioning space age civilisation again, but at least they're
starting to head in the right direction now. The Princes and Princesses Regent of the other states were beginning to arrive in Tamarus for talks as I left. How to rebuild, who gets to focus on what and who profits are going to have to be hashed out at the beginning.. and… Probably again and again as power relationships shift. Myand'r sounded pretty upbeat about the talks and Karras said that he'd try to stop his parents doing anything foolishly confrontational… I hope it goes well, but at this point it isn't strictly speaking my problem any longer.
Transition.
And I'm outside of the Liot'r system. With the interdiction fields fully engaged even
I can't warp where I please in-system any longer. They'd probably turn it off if I
asked -me being just about the most popular person on the planet at the moment- but I don't think it's worth the risk in case someone in Citadel Complex turns out to be unusually on the ball. And it's not as if I'm aware of time passing while I transition
anyway. But, warping is faster and the next leg of my journey is a
lot longer than the brief flight here from Earth.
I
could fly directly to Maltus. I know where it is, and I could enter it at a crawl while shooting messages towards it so that they have plenty of advanced knowledge that I'm on the way. The thing is… If they didn't respond to that Guardian ship I sent them, I'm worried that I might have seriously misjudged them. Maybe they know about Larfleeze and don't want anything to do with the orange light. Maybe they think I'm more likely to be a threat or a hindrance than a boon and they don't want anything to do with
me in particular.
So, I need more information. Going to Oa seemed like a bad plan, at least until I know for certain whether these Guardians are the Alpha Lantern-Third Army creating versions or the stern but basically reasonable versions. Going to Zamaron? Hah, no. Where does that leave?
Ring, plot warp for the border of Reach space.
Compliance.
The Reach is… Huge. Not galaxy-huge, but according to the records -an orange tunnel forms around me as the warp activates- that were on John's ring, pretty darn big. The periphery zone, the area they're attempting to subvert but haven't formally seized yet, is wider than the Vega systems at their broadest point. From those reports I had access to from Lanterns in that general area, that appears to be where Darkstars are most active. In fact, their membership appears to be split evenly between some sort of pseudo-insect and species whose worlds are falling under Reach control. Or which already
have.
Reach ships are
good. Advanced technology and highly skilled crews. Not
peak technology; a Psion or Qwardian warship would be more dangerous, but I wouldn't want to have to fight more than two or three of their actual
war cruisers. The ships they use in the periphery zone tend to be more like
armed merchantmen, so unless they actually have a Beetle onboard I'm not all that worried about them. Sure, they
can kill me with weight of fire, but they have the advantage of being Reach; I have no problem whatsoever with destroying them and killing everyone on board.
Of course, if they
do have a Beetle… They used to be the Reach's go-to Lantern killers, and they're still allowed to serve as bodyguards to Reach 'Negotiators'. If I go to a planet they're trying to absorb there
will be one. I'm not…
Sure how much of their kill count came from Lantern reticence in using lethal force and lack of practice at large scale engagements and how much from their own power. I'd rather avoid fighting one until I can
check.
And… Now my longest warp so far. Maltus is on the other side of the galactic core from Earth, and Reach space is beyond
that. If we take Games Workshop orientation as 'correct' then
Earth is in the galactic west, Maltus is east and Oa is northeast. That sounds a bit like they should be close together but they're really
not. The galaxy is about a hundred thousand light years across and -outside the core and ignoring the halo- about a thousand light years thick. There's more than enough space between them for even
their egos.
Of course, the thing about
space is, there's lots of
space in it. Most of everything is nothing, and most of the rest is black holes, stars and gas giants. Actual small habitable worlds are rare enough that they're not worth fighting over. A species evolving in a system with small rocky worlds will almost
always find it easier to render the others habitable than to take a small rocky world somewhere else. And then they'll find it easier to build their own space habitats than conquer someone else's planets. Unless they're absurdly close together as they are in Vega at least…
The only reason to try conquering someone is that you're an arsehole.
And the Reach… Are
massive arseholes.
Warp terminating in three, two, one.
Space
snaps back into focus.
We have arrived at our destination.
Hm. Haven't made
bad time. Thirty thousand light years in a few minutes. Ring, scan.
Compliance.
Nothing nearby. I mean, turning around, the starfield looks different as the core is now in the 'wrong' direction. Heh, I wave in the direction of Earth. See me in thirty thousand years. Right then. Ring, scan… Scan the planets around the border. I'm looking for Darkstars, anywhere they've been active. Preferably fighting the Reach.
A sensor array construct appears as the ring gets to work. The Reach are perfectly capable of shielding their secure installations and core worlds, but places on the periphery should be a bit more accessible. Particularly since I already know where to look.
Hm.
Darkstar activity detected on Urrigen.
Show me.
A planet appears in my mind. Post-industrial, maybe a century more advanced than Earth-. Than Earth Prime. Asteroid mining and some off-planet settlement. The inhabitants are standard pattern humanoids with green skin. No contact with other intelligent species until the Reach arrived. Looks like Reach presence is
relatively recent… Good show, the societal dependency shouldn't be all that advanced yet.
Ring, plot warp to-.
Warning: will detected.
I raise my left eyebrow at the same time as my construct armour. Sure, I know that Green Lanterns
patrol the border-.
There's a small
flare of green as the
Green Lantern appears. Oh dear. Green swimsuit, gloves and thigh boots?
Someone failed-. And a red cloak. This is a member of their Honour Guard. However daft she looks, she knows what she's doing with that ring.
Though it doesn't look like she's been to the anti-me lectures yet.
Stewart-ring, who is she?
Honour Guard Lantern K'ryssma, formerly of Sector One Eight Nine Zero.
Ring, open channel.
Compliance.
"Hello there, Lantern K'ryssma. What can I do for you?
"
The glow around her ring
brightens for a moment. A scan, probably. "Oh. You."
"Me indeed.
"
"I had intended to warn you that you were about to enter Reach space, in case you were an innocent traveller or merchant. Since it is
you, I imagine that you think you know exactly what you're doing."
"An accurate surmise.
"
"Therefore, my only concern is that the Reach may see your presence as a breach of their treaty with the Guardians."
"I'm going to be aiding Controller agents. It should be fairly obvious who I work for.
"
"True." She pauses. "Orange Lantern, I have seen Reach space expand by twelve systems during my time overseeing this region. The Guardians' treaty may be better than all out war, but I would be more than happy to see the Reach suffer a reversal of fortunes."
I nod inside my armour.
"I'll see what I can do.
"
