With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Story Only)

[Mr Zoat]

13th July
10:24 GMT

"…precise chemical mix to ensure that the optimal…"

The facility may be shielded against power rings from the outside, but the inside is wide open.

"…pseudo-telepathic induction, but with future generations we can simply use…"

A passing touch on one of the 'new-type' Citadelians tells me that they're genetically identical to the old type. They haven't made improvements to the genome. The brain structure looked more or less the same, but I don't have a wide variety of samples to compare him to.

"…education. At this point that's really all they're good for, beyond our recreational..."

More.. implanted Tamaranians. They're not doing menial work. That's all been automated. Rather, they're demonstrating particular points of knowledge. An older, heavily scarred Tamaranian man delivers a lecture on strategy while another with two skeletal cybernetic arms gives one on battlefield medicine. Mostly male, I note. I'm not sure whether the Citadelians are really chauvinistic or not, but… If they're increasing the size of their local population and.. want more.. entertainment...

"…pods, but there is still a hard limit on how rapidly they can be grown. Once we move into the open…"

I didn't see any evidence that they'd dumped the bodies outside. If.. Tamaranians built this place then there should be a far larger number than in evidence so far. I risk a general area scan and note their positions.

"…particularly proud of."

The Admiral waits while the control system for a large vault confirms his identity, then the huge and heavily reinforced doors slide open and he leads the way through. The… Vast, aircraft hangar like chamber beyond… It reminds me a little of the room in which Kon and I found Match. Row upon row of liquid-filled tanks piled up at least twelve high, techno-organic tubes feeding into the partially developed Citadelians within.

"More sophisticated even than the gestation units in the Citadel Complex itself."

I affect an expression of polite interest. "Tamaranian work?"

"Yes, but not their design." He plays with the orange ring in his right hand, appearing momentarily hypnotised by it. For a fleeting moment I notice the same double desire set I saw from his fellow Admiral back on Rashashoon. "We originally tried to copy as near as possible the design the Psions used during the First's creation, but they themselves had improved it since then."

"You have Psions working here? Isn't that a bit of a risk?"

"Only two. They considered-" Two levels above us a Psion is checking a display. He looks down at us, then turns away and heads towards a lift. "-it worth labouring for us in secret in exchange for as many Tamaranian subjects as they could get. Naturally, they can't leave until we are ready to reveal ourselves."

"And then?"

"The Psions are allies. We will stick to the terms of our agreement. Besides, if we kept them here they might decide to try recreating X'Hal. And we could hardly have that." The lift platform descends from the upper level, prompting the Admiral to look around. "Ah, Fon, we were just talking about you."

"Yes, I heard." He looks at me, apparently fascinated. "And an.. Orange Lantern. It seems that I owe Tront a small sum of money."

"You've done some impressive work here." Work I can't let you continue somewhere else. At least there -probably- won't be off-site backups.

"Fon, I'm afraid that I'm going to be ordering the transfer of those two females you wanted to play with."

I see a momentary puff of orange. Frustrated desire, and… Some sort of machine? "That is… Quite inconvenient. The Tamaranians who work here don't have the solar exposure we need for our studies. This could set us back quite considerably."

"Oh, come now! In a few thousand neegaths' time you can go back to the Wombworld with more than enough credit to set up your own research centre and buy your own subjects."

Fon returns his attention to me. "What do you want with them, anyway?"

Admiral Drolyk throws back his head. "HAHAHAHAHA!"

"Admiral?"

"Is it not obvious?" The Admiral calms down a little. "I realise that you are a creature of pure intellect, but some of us relish the functionality of our genitals!"

Fon's mouth falls open in a Psion expression of distaste. "Really? I am to lose valuable research subjects in order to-? What has he offered you?"

The Admiral strides past him, right hand out flat to the side with the Ceebiss ring sat on his palm.

Dismay. "Ahh. That.. does make sense."

"The Admiral agreed to throw in the rest as a bonus, but I will admit to a particular interest in these two." I shrug. "Sorry."

"Frustrating, but… Very well." We're getting closer to the armoured doors on the other side of the chamber. Fon picks up his pace, jogging out ahead and triggering the door mechanism. "We haven't gotten around to.. tidying them up yet, but it you're prepared to accept them 'as they are', you may as well take them now."

"Thank you."

There's a short passageway between the two rooms, and I wouldn't need a power ring to tell that there are automated defence systems embedded in it. Their teleportation system is probably through here as well. I wonder how they disguise it? The Admiral has to be intelligent enough to know that he can't completely trust them. Then… The whole reason why he's working with the Psions is their technical and scientific brilliance. What sort of monitoring could he use that they couldn't bypass?

The far door opens at Fon's order, opening out onto a clean and sterile laboratory. Actually, it's… Almost featureless. I frown as I have the ring scan-.

"The laboratory is programmable. Everything we need folds away. That way we don't trip over equipment we don't need for whatever experiment we're conducting." Fon heads over to a computer terminal. "Hm. I'll have the drones bring up your… New toys for you."

I think… Yes, I think Alan will let me off on this one.

Fon looks at a piece of machinery that looks like… A quidditch goal, maybe? "I may as well pack some of this for transport if I'm not going to get the chance to use it."

"What's that supposed to do?"

"Make them explode, probably. But we'd learn from exactly when and why they exploded. Ah well." He presses a button and the device powers down. "Perhaps some other time."

A door opens in the side of the room and…

And the Universe 16 versions of Komand'r and Koriand'r. They're barely conscious as the drone-platforms they're strapped to float into the main laboratory, though I can see Komand'r's eyes fluttering as she tries to focus. They're both naked, and I can see dried blood-. Some of their wounds are neat, possibly from the Psions' 'investigations'. The rest, a little older, look like blunt object impacts and.. weapon burns. And some-.

"Well, no matter." The Admiral grins at me. "We can float them up to the surface for you and-"

"I had wondered, given the size difference, how you and your men derived 'entertainment' from them."

"Hah! As the saying goes, 'if brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough!'"

I nod. "Yes. So I see. Admiral, thank you. As far as I'm concerned you may now put on that ring."

"Excellent!" He grasps it with his left hand and holds out his right. "For the Citadel and the First!"

He slides it onto his middle right finger, orange light flowing over him and his uniform growing an orange sigil on the chest. He holds out his arms to look at the effect, his eyes glowing with orange sigils embedded in his irises.

"The… The power!" He rises into the air, orange lights flickering around his body. "I am equal to the Green Lanterns! The might of the Citadel will cover the universe with me as its greatest warrior, commander and Emperor! I shall be unstoppable!"

And then he explodes.

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th July
10:29 GMT

Accelerated perception.

Compliance.

Strands of orange light reach out from the Ceebiss ring to the glowing meat-chunks that used to be Admiral Drolyk, grabbing them and turning them construct-orange. The Admiral's head is largely intact, and I wonder for a moment if he's still aware as the tendrils latch onto it and convert it as well. There's a quiet 'fizz' from my environmental shield as it vaporises the spray of blood that hits me, and a quiet 'splat' as the rest of it splashes against the ground and the astonished Fon.

The incandescent ring floats from Admiral Drolyk's phantasmal finger to the approximate centre point of the explosion as I fly back towards Fon, laying my left hand on his right shoulder.

Hellwraith, possess.

I hunger.

The ring on my left hand shimmers for a half-second, but there's no other outward sign as it flows into its new host.

End acceleration.

Compliance.

Chunks of construct-flesh impact on the floor and walls as I frantically start scanning the princesses. Implants, but not dead man's switched. Ring? Good, disintegrate them and absorb the components.

Compliance.

The chunks of construct-flesh begin rolling across the floor to a point just behind the ring. With every remaining part of the Admiral converted, it keeps glowing. A translucent image begins forming next to it, ghostly hands reaching for the ring and a snarling muzzle baring its teeth at the room.

"More thieves! Everyone tries to take what's mine from me!"

Another blast of light from the ring and Larfleeze's construct-self becomes a little more substantial. Behind him, the Construct-Lantern form of Admiral Drolyk begins pulling itself together. Ring, railguns, load crumbler rounds. And heal the princesses as best you can.

Compliance.

Larfleeze clutches the Ceebiss ring to his chest, his eyes moving briefly over the shuddering Fon before fixing on me. "You! You're already dead!"

"Hello, Larfleeze."

He bends over as if trying to mantle the ring as he uses his left hand to conceal it from me completely. Interesting that he only wears one ring himself. His right hand extends towards me, claws reaching out-. That hand collapses into orange mist as my crumbler round hits it.

"I'm still alive and still stealing from you. And there's nothing you can do to stop me."

"No! No! I'm going to find you! I'm going to take everything back! And I'm going to-" He lunges forwards. "-eat you!"

I back up, crumblers striking his face and chest and turning them to orange mist. He falters for a moment, pulling back so that the light from the ring can knit him back together.

Hellwraith, use Fon's knowledge to deactivate the Tamaranians' implants and deactivate all anti-Lantern measures.

I obey.

Admiral Drolyk has fully pulled himself back together, his eyes glowing orange as he glowers at me. Oh, don't even. You had that coming.

"Tear you apart!"

Larfleeze ignores the possessed Fon in favour of trying to rend me with his talons. Retreat and fire, retreat and fire! Chunks of his body disintegrate, but he keeps trying to come on. Shooting the Ceebiss ring might end the fight and it might blow a circular hole a mile across in this facility and take me and the Tamaranians with it.

"I'm stealing your stuff, Larfleeze! And you can't tell where I am, can you? Because I'm clever and you're stupid! Stupid Larfleeze! Big stupid-head Larfleeze!"

"Rraaaaaaggghh!" He jerks his right hand forwards, a beam of orange shitshitshit! I raise my hands, generating a construct shield. Can't let him hit me. Or anything else. There are all sorts of power relay systems and potential poisons, to say nothing of him probably being powerful enough to collapse the rock around us. His beam hits my shield and immediately fractures it. I abandon it and create another. Come on, he's a powerful idiot, how do I-?

I stick out my right hand and call my personal lantern out of subspace as filaments reach out from my left arm and reach around my shield to touch his beam.

The Ophidian Feeds.

"You even stole my Ophidian from me!"

"My Ophidian." Orange incandescence flares from my filaments as Larfleeze's beam fades and falters, the excess power flowing into my personal lantern. "You're not very good at this. Maybe you should ask for help?"

Please do that. I can draw power away from him, but-

Sixty two percent power remaining. Sixty one. Sixty.

-it's doing a number on my power reserves and even Larfleeze isn't dumb enough to let me recharge in the middle of a fight.

Larfleeze drops his beam and darts forward again, and I reward him with a crumbler to the face. Okay, this I can work with. Hellwraith?

Anti-Lantern measures no longer function. The chattels are liberated.

Good work. Now jam all local non-Lantern FTL and communications. Trap them around the planet.

I obey.

I load a tungsten round into the railgun, batter Larfleeze with crumblers until there's little left but mist, then shoot the solid metal slug into the Ceebiss ring. It sails backwards out of the Larfleeze cloud and slams into the far wall, prompting me to generate construct barriers around-

Fifty five percent power remaining.

-the princesses just in case. No, no explosion. Larfleeze remanifests, glowers, snarls, and then notices Admiral Drolyk. Yes, yes, come on! Put one and one together and get x>1!

"I know where you are! I'm going to send the entire Corps after you!"

'All the more to steal from you' might put him off or encourage him to come himself. Something else… "I'm too good for you! You'll never send enough! I'll win!"

"RAAAAAAAAAGHHHHH!" The Larfleeze projection grabs the Ceebiss ring and stares at it for a moment. "Ceebiss, kill him! New Guy, kill him! EVERYONE, KILL HIM!"

Thank you.

Larfleeze tosses the Ceebiss ring aside. It travels a few metres and then stops in the air. It shimmers orange, then expands outwards into the form of the six legged four armed Centaur-like alien I saw when I tried touching it. The Admiral slams his right fist into his left palm while his partner lands and lowers his head to gore me with his horns.

Okay, don't know exactly how long that gives me… Hellwraith, open every internal door.

I obey.

"See you, Larfleeze."

Three crumbler rounds and his construct image dissolves to nothing just as Ceebiss' horns hit my chest plate.

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th July
10:32 GMT

The impact knocks me back, Ceebiss grabbing onto my sides with his upper arms as he tries to shove me into the far wall. I retrain my railguns on his wrists and fire, then pull myself downwards with the ring's flight aura.

"Rueeerh!"

I fly myself feet first between his legs. His front left and middle right hooves manage to stamp on me and there's.. some sort of matter disrupting effect in play, but the fact that I'm moving and he's not flying means that he can't maintain pressure long enough to eat through my armour. Okay, what next? With Larfleeze gone I could theoretically subvert-.

No.

I come upright behind Ceebiss as he tries and fails to arrest his momentum, careening into the far wall face first and managing to dent the metal. I generate construct armour and raise my fists just in time to block a punch from Admiral Drolyk, bracing myself on thin air with the ring's flight aura. His initial swing blocked, Drolyk attempts to grapple me. He certainly.. hasn't.. lost any of the strength that Citadelians are.. infamous for. My railguns shoot Ceebiss in the face as I plant my feet and push back, construct muscle straining against my armour's synthetic musculature. Ceebiss… Some sort of ultra-fine construct barrier appears around him as he remembers that Lanterns can fly and turns himself around. Did his equipment get assimilated with him?

All internal doors open, master.

Good show. Now sound the evacuation alarms.

I obey.

Drolyk pulls his head back, prompting me to drop my construct armour and activate my armour's kinetic barrier. He slams his forehead forwards, pale blue light flaring for a moment as its force vanishes. I bring a railgun to bear on his right hand and fire, the appendage and part of his chest behind it collapsing into a cloud of orange. I plant my feet and pull my right arm back, then punch him directly in the face. His grip on my left side loosens and I yank it free. Ah, no, I can't hang around.

I reach across my chest with my right arm and draw the Sword of the Fallen. I had thought about not bringing it at all, but… The risks of needing it rather outweighed those of somehow losing it. Can't see a ring inside him… I slash at his chest, but he flies backwards out of range and Ceebiss is coming up behind me.

I need to get this finished!

I sidestep before Ceebiss hits me, pulling myself around with the ring's flight aura and stabbing the Sword into his flank. The construct.. material just parts around the blade-

"Raaaaahhhhh!"

-in a way which apparently is quite painful.

"Woooawh. Woooawh."

The alarms start sounding as I create a jump pack construct and thrust myself onto Ceebiss' back. He twists, trying to reach me or toss me off but I grab his left horn with my left hand, yank his head back and slice through his neck with the Sword. All the way through, as he doesn't bleed or breathe. As the head comes free the body beneath me disintegrates into vapour, then vanishes entirely. The head similarly decays as I toss it aside and generate construct armour-

Fifty three percent power remaining.

-in time to block a shot from Drolyk's construct gun. My railguns return fire, vaporising his face and a chunk of his torso. The rest of him stays stuck together well enough for me to trigger my jump pack and slam into it with the Sword outstretched. The blade pierces him directly through the sigil on his chest. Done? His arms and legs begin falling apart as I pull the sword free. Good, good.

I drop the railguns, the barriers around the princesses and my construct armour. Right. Filaments fly away from my body and dart throughout the facility as I-. Right, they need clothes. A quick burst of orange light and I fabricate body suits based on Kon's solar infusion design. Don't know if it will.. help…

My lantern appears from subspace.

"This is my cause, this is my fight."

The filaments reach the inhabited parts of the facility, the Citadelians making a hurried but orderly evacuation and utterly ignoring their chattels. Education, prisoner storage…

"Shine through the void with orange light."

Filaments make contact with the Tamaranians and transition them into the nearby gestation chamber. Service and… 'Entertainment'.

"I've claimed all within my sight."

Oh, I hadn't… There aren't anything like as many as I.. hoped that there would be. Technical and kitchens.

"To keep what is mine, that is my right."

"Recharge complete." / "Recharge complete."

I send my lantern back into subspace as I lift the princesses from their drone platforms, flying the three of us down the corridor into the gestation chamber. A sea of bewildered orange faces turn to greet me as I land, more appearing every second.

"Could I have your attention for a moment, please! Your implants have been deactivated and in a moment or two we will be escaping." Less than a hundred left to come. Come on! "Please remain calm and above all avoid panicking. If any of you have medical experience, please see to the injured."

A few look around at that, zeroing in on those who aren't able to stand on their own. Not much they can really do for them at the moment. There are additional flares of yellow as a handful recognise the princesses. Ten, three, none! Yes!

Hellwraith, kill your host and get back into the ring.

I obey.

Three thousand three hundred and twenty nine Tamaranians. In.. terms of mass, well within my ability to transport. Good job orange rings don't require confidence.

Orange light spreads throughout the group, and…

Transition.

I ignore the screams as my passengers realise that we're in space, just behind Hny'xx's moon. I picked this location in order to-.

Oh…

I feel it in my soul as the Construct Corps arrives. Orange light… Twisted… Compressed. More flares of yellow from the ships as they try to find out what's happening and then find that their communication systems and FTL drives are non-functional. I feel a cluster of lights blink out as the Orange Corps frenziedly tear through the ship, and the ring picks up the radiation spikes as the ships open fire. Can't feel Larfleeze himself, so… Yay me. I guess.

Okay, can't take these people back to Tamaran. There's too much risk that the Gordanians present will spot me or them. Transitioning is a risk. Larfleeze can't detect me directly, but ambient orange light and visible light are both well within the abilities of his slaves to notice. But a warp will probably be too generic to notice, as space is warped by the ring rather than by a distant construct. Or at least to notice quickly. I hope. I move the Tamaranians around into an approximate sphere, eliciting more shrieks… And more dull resignation from all too many. I remember reading that.. Tamaranians live in the now more than Humans do, but… I'm not sure how that works with massive psychological trauma.

Ring, plot course for Rilsomtine. Minimum safe distance.

Compliance.

Warp.

Space.. ripples as the ring distorts a far larger area than I'm used to. Come. On! This is the first significant heroic thing I've done away from Earth and it is going to happen!

The moon vanishes behind us as the starfield blurs around us. The panic dies down slightly, though the helplessness is still present. That can… I'll worry about that later. Or… Hire someone who knows how to fix it.

Emergence in three, two, one.

The warp terminates well inside the 'acceptable' boundary which the Crown Imperium enforces around its worlds, but I cleared my approach in advance. The Crown Imperium is governed by an aristocratic oligarchy, and when the Chief Minister says that you're good people, everyone lower down bends over themselves to make things easier for you. Given that the Imperium would have been the first target of a Citadel expansion wave, I think they probably owed me anyway.

Transition down.

Compliance. Warning: low power.

Space vanishes, and we appear just above the fields of the rehabilitation centre. Tamaranians from my last delivery look around in alarm, some fleeing but others either heading in the direction of the staff buildings or flying closer to offer their help. A large number of those I'm holding immediately try to fly away, so I release my hold on them and try and land the rest as rapidly as I can. Local ambulance vehicles are already heading our way…

I did it. I did it. It worked.

But I'm still not finished.

I hold out my hands palms forwards as my lantern appears from subspace once more.

"This is my cause…"

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th July
16:46 GMT

"Well? You wanted to talk to them."

I nod. He's right. It's just… "Commander Andar… My duties haven't required me to… Get in this situation before. Is it..? Common, to be acting against people you.. think you might quite like if things were a little different?"

"My entire company is comprised of the descendants of those who remained loyal to Hyathis after the High Council deposed her. I feel that way whenever we operate in Thanagarian space."

"Okay, but… With people you fight?"

"In regions like this, that is the nature of the work. Is this the first time you have been in combat?"

"No, but that was mostly law enforcement. There was an… Attack on a city on my homeworld. I killed dozens without hesitation, but the people involved… They had suicide charges which destroyed their bodies. We still don't really know who they were." I pause. "Slavery as it's practised in Vega is a despicable institution. I felt that even before I gained the ability to see the desires of the people around me. But… For these Gordanians, it's simply part of their society. If they'd grown up somewhere where it didn't happen, they probably wouldn't do it."

"In my experience, thinking about it in those terms doesn't help."

"I'm sure you're right…" Well. He is. "Orange Lantern to King Myand'r. We're in position."

"The interdiction fields which block the Gordanian drives are now active, as is the communications jammer. Make those fiends pay for what they and their Citadel masters have done to us."

"Understood." I end the transmission. And that's why communication between Tamaran and the Thanagarians is going through me. I'm not sure exactly how Commander Andar would respond to getting conflicting orders from his fixer and the man who is technically his employer. "Remember, Commander. That space station is your deposit. If it explodes you'll be stuck living out of your ships for the next three hundred years."

"Hah! Have no fear, Orange Lantern. Should it come to it, a simple breach and clear of an ageing space station is well within our abilities."

"I'm glad to hear it. Ring, hail them."

A screen lights up inside my helmet, a bored looking Gordanian staring back at me. "Who is it and what do-? Oh, it's you. You want to talk to Zaark?"

"I think it would probably be better if I spoke to Weezak."

"Hold on." The screen goes black. I'm on hold. How about that? The screen lights up again. "He wants to know what it's about."

"It's about the reason why your faster than light drives aren't working."

"What are you talking about?"

"Try them."

The screen goes black again.

"Any progress?"

"I think I'm talking to a receptionist."

"A comms officer."

"I used to work in an office. I know a receptionist when one puts me on hold."

The screen lights back up. Finally, Weezak. "What do you know, Lantern?"

"I know that I just spent three hours building interdiction field generators, and they just got turned on. And now I'm-"

"YOU DARE?!"

"-going to ask you to surrender, please. I'm prepared to offer-."

"COME AND DIE, LANTERN! I WILL DISEMBOWEL YOU WITH YOUR OWN AXE! ALL SHIPS, TRIANGULATE THE SOURCE OF THIS TRANSMISSION-" A buoy that's nowhere near my physical location. "-AND REDUCE IT TO CINDERS!"

"Chief Weezak, please, be rational. You don't have anything like enough force-."

"My clan is MIGHTY, Lantern. Our military-."

"Died to a man when Larfleeze attacked Hny'xx. Aside from the picket force around Karna, and you couldn't reach them to call for help even if they could get here fast enough. Which they can't."

"Lies. We will coat the stars with your internal organs and I will take your rings for myself. Open fire!"

Screen off.

"Commander-."

"The hard way, then."

"I'm afraid so. Target-" I transmit an image of the Gordanian's fleet deployment. Two ships, the one furthest from Tamaran accelerating back towards the Scratching Post and the closer one heading for the buoy. The third is in dock, inactive while the parts I traded are being fitted. "-this vessel." I indicate the one going after the buoy. "I want the station to see it. Shoot to disable if at all possible. Squadron ready?"

"Yes, Orange Lantern. We all went on high alert the moment you hired us."

"Right, sorry. I didn't mean to imply that you weren't… Orange Lantern to squadron, prepare for micro warp jump. Sending you emergence points now. I will shoot to disable their shields, you will destroy their weapons. In the event that they don't surrender, feel free to shoot them until they're very sorry. Confirm."

"Message received and understood. Drift on the warp?"

"Zero, Flight Leader Karn. I'm a Lantern. Warp in three, two, one, warping."

Space bends around the squadron of six and myself. For such a short jump it's barely noticeable, but I'm accelerating-. The Gordanian ship appears ahead of me, my construct railguns loaded with crumbler rounds appearing next to me. I noticed last time I was here that the Gordanians have a double shield system, an outer shield covering the whole ship and several smaller ones covering critical areas. Normally, that's a sensible design, but -my first crumbler strikes home and drops the main shield, overloading the emitters- it means that they have basically no defence against this. My railguns track and fire, marking off each weapon hardpoint one by one. As the shields fall I relay the information back to the Thanagarian attack craft swooping in behind me. Their formation spreads out even as the Gordanian guns try to traverse, shots from their proton guns neatly coring each of the ship's guns.

"Orange Lantern to whoever's in charge of-" One of the guns on the ship's upper surface suffers a flashback, the hull section nearby suddenly heating up. That shouldn't happen. Some sort of..? Overload? "-that Gordanian ship. As of-" Flight Leader Karn pings me. "-right now, you have no functioning exterior guns and your teleport scanners are slag. Surrender at once or you will be boarded and all resisting crew killed."

There's a delay. "Ragh. What terms?"

"Cowards! Fight them!"

"Chew your tail, Weezak. This is my ship and we can't win."

"You'll be marooned on a habitable world with no FTL drive or FTL comms. And I don't recommend ever coming anywhere near either Tamaran or me afterwards."

"Accepted. We yield. And…" There's a pause. "Ignore Weezak. The rest of us would take those terms."

I nod. "I won't kill anyone I don't have to. Hold here. Orange Lantern to the commanding officer of the other effective Gordanian ship. How do you like your chances?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

13th July
22:56 GMT

"And what-" There's a horrifically loud tearing sound as a macro construct-chainsaw with x-ionised teeth gouges through the outer armour of the beached Gordanian clanship. "-did we learn from this experience?"

A large part of the Gordanian clanfolk watch from a minimum distance marked out by the line the Thanagarian ships acting as my air cover will shoot if they cross. I only really saw the young and middle aged adults on my original visit, but here are the young and old watching me cut their home apart. With their main warfleet gone and their hold over Tamaran evaporated, Tearing Bite might come to be glad that I'm putting them somewhere no-one is going to bother to look for them. Gordanians aren't exactly shy about sticking the boot in to clans that fall from power, and they're nearly as ready to enslave other Gordanians are they are aliens.

Might. Eventually. At the moment the fact that I'm breaking up their home and primary means of defence is rather crowding out deeper reflection.

The chastened anthropologist I rescued when we arrived looks suitably bashful. "That… No matter how curious I am, no matter how friendly the locals appear to be or physically attractive I find them, I should remain at the observational stage of my studies until I have a firm grasp of their physiology and lifecycle."

"Good show, Miss Leelyu."

There's a ringing thump as the clanship's FTL drive comes free. I return the blades to subspace, drop the chainsaw construct and move the drive over to one of the Thanagarian cargo transports. I tore the larger weapons from their mountings while still in Tamaran orbit, but I wanted to leave the hull of the ship intact until we arrived to make the job of transporting them easier. I'm not taking everything, but I don't want them even getting back into orbit this generation. There aren't any Culacao on this continent yet, but I don't want the Gordanians flying over to their grassland habitat and enslaving them.

"How did you even get here?"

"I bought passage from Meat Barter clan. They're due to pick me up in half a local year's time."

Meat… Barter. They're mostly semi-legitimate traders who largely operate outside of Vega. They'll probably… Stick to their agreement, but I don't really want word about what I did to Tearing Bite leaking out just yet, in case someone who hears it decides to take advantage. Hm.

Okay, the ships aren't structurally sound enough for them to try flying them even if they had fuel, which they don't. Leaving them enough food to keep them going until the next local harvest -as long as they start planting as soon as possible- and some generators… Think I'm done.

"Do you have any plans until then? I doubt that going back to the village-."

"Wouldn't be a good idea since word has gotten around that I'm some sort of talking, two-legged mollusc." She looks down at the ground with a quiet huff. "It's such a shame; there's so little research on the peoples of the Vega systems, particularly the more isolated ones. I'll just.. have to try another tribe. And this time keep my distance."

"Would you..? Be interested in spending time on Tamaran instead? I've just removed the Citadel-aligned picket and… The locals are friendly, attractive and… Don't reproduce using mobile incubation chambers which they stab to death with spears in an annual ritual hunt."

She raises her eyebrows slightly. "How much choice do I actually have here?"

"I'd… Try and work around you if you said no. But I would very much prefer it if you said yes." I turn away from the beached hulks and start walking in the direction of the clan leaders. After a moment's hesitation Leelyu follows on behind me. "It could be an interesting case study on re-industrialisation after a period of occupation. And it'll be a good deal safer than Asryx or here."

"And it might be nice to stop somewhere with heated baths."

"I didn't want to mention it."

"Alright. I accept your generous offer. Where should I-?"

"I took the liberty of having your possessions moved onto transport five. You may as well jump on board now, we'll be leaving shortly."

"Ah."

She stops, looks around for a moment and then jogs off in the direction of the Thanagarians' ships. I float up off the ground and then accelerate, slamming to a halt in front of the senior maroonee.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to your new home."

Weezak is still heavily bandaged from where a group of Thanagarian marines laid into him with their maces. His closest supporters and Zaark were the only ones who tried to fight back, and when I removed Zaark's implant he gave up on that idea quickly enough. Thanagarian 'pacification' doesn't involve low lethality weapons so much as high lethality weapons turned down a little. Several members of Weezak's retinue were killed, and the man himself won't be entering a beauty pageant anytime soon. Still, any fight your still-breathing carcass can be dragged away from…

Somehow, I couldn't quite work up the enthusiasm to heal him.

Zaark takes a half-step forwards, eying the Thanagarian guards warily. When that doesn't provoke a response he takes the opportunity to scowl at me. "Why did you do this? We had a business relationship. I thought that you-."

"I lied constantly throughout our discussion and used the ring to disguise how I really felt. My homeworld formally abolished slavery worldwide ninety years ago, all major nation states having long since abandoned the practice. I told you what I needed to in order to secure the release of the Tamaranians."

"What's so great about them?"

"They're not slavers and pirates. In fact, from what I know about their history they never were. They are a people I want to encourage."

"And what about us? Are we your slaves now?"

"No. I don't own slaves. This…" I look around us for a moment. "Is a test to see if you can become anything other than what you are. To see if you can manage on your own resources."

He gives a slight shudder, his eyes unfocusing slightly. "Trogaar really dead?"

"I saw his corpse myself." Larfleeze's Construct-Lanterns didn't seem to bother assimilating anyone during their charge through the fleet. Maybe Larfleeze needs to be physically present for that to happen? Don't know. "He's dead and no one's coming for you." I take the axe I traded to Weezak out of subspace and hold it out to him. "Here."

His eyes narrow. "You attack my clan, my people… You take everything we have, and you offer me an axe? The only way I have to resist you is to refuse it."

"I suppose you could look at it like that. Are you going to?"

He reaches out with his right hand and takes hold of the haft. "It's a useful tool." I raise my right hand, and the Thanagarians back up a little. Zaark's eyes move over the line, then return to me. "That it?"

"That's it. If we're both fortunate, we'll never see each other again."

"Yeah." He shifts his hold on the axe slightly. "We probably won't. But we'll remember you, Lantern. If we ever get the chance to do to you what you just did to us, we'll take it."

I drift backwards without taking my eyes off him. "Good luck with that, Zaark." Once I'm outside of axe range, I turn around and head in the direction of the Thanagarian transport vehicles and raise my left hand to my ear. "Commander, we're ready to depart. And I believe that King Myand'r wants to talk to us."

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th July
23:14 GMT

"…when you started singing!" King Myand'r beams as he waves his goblet in my direction. "I thought that you were a total buffoon! Tell me, do your people commonly share points of personal philosophy in lyrical form?"

My eyes dip. "No, your majesty, but most people don't worship their people's Goddess of Chaos."

After my actions in rescuing their people and protecting their planet, King Myand'r and Queen Luand'r were more than happy to put me up in the palace. Commander Andar is breakfasting with us as well. They'll be negotiating their actual working relationship today, the Tamaranian side apparently not having given it much thought after they wrote me off as an incompetent. And I'm included, since I'm the only way for the Thanagarians to get out without deactivating the interdiction system.

Prince Karras raises his eyebrows. "The Goddess of Chaos? Does she include music as part of her domain?"

Karras is with us as well, serving as his parents' representative in the negotiations. Just the five of us at breakfast on the balcony, though there'll be a formal banquet later… Today. I haven't quite adjusted to Tamarus time yet. I suppose that the Princesses are still recovering. They were both awake and alert when I flew everyone back…

"No, but she… Isn't keen on impulse control. I wanted to demonstrate a point and… That was the first thing that came into my head. Um, sorry."

Queen Luand'r nods. "That is a very Tamaranian attitude. We are not a people given much to dissembling. Singing is not the usual result, but it is hardly offensive in itself."

Commander Andar slices the top off a soft boiled egg. It looks a lot like a chicken egg, except that it's slightly larger and has a pale purple shell. "Were you able to confirm that the Citadel facility on Hny'xx was destroyed?"

I nod. "All of the ships that I saw on my arrival were wrecks or wreckage. The facility itself had… It was like someone had scooped out a chunk of planet where it used to be. There was some stuff left, but nothing useable."

"And the Beast's-." He stops himself and inclines his head slightly. "Larfleeze's slaves?"

"There were a few still there. Including Blume, who I suspect was the one that tore the facility out of the planet. They didn't see me."

"Are you certain? If I understand our position, those things are the only outside force that can threaten Tamaran."

"And.. maybe.. Apokolips, with boom tubes. I don't know how to block those. But.. I know, because they didn't immediately come after me. Larfleeze doesn't do deferred gratification or patience or.. strategy. If he did, he'd have found me already. And if his people haven't been to Tamaran already, I doubt that they're going to now."

King Myand'r nods. "Having heard your tale of what became of the Citadel Admiral, I am very glad that I didn't try wearing that ring."

"Oh, I weighted that with a pulse from-" I raise my left hand slightly. "-this ring. I've known how to get Larfleeze's attention for a while. It's just that it's usually a really bad idea. But, yes, if you come across any others, don't put them on without talking to me first."

Karras tilts his head slightly to the side. "And once you have killed Larfleeze?"

"Then they'll still be very dangerous, just from the psychological effects of the orange light exposure. I.. hope to be able to recruit, once I have a better idea about how they affect people. If you… Want to be on the long list-"

"Yes, very much so."

"-then I-. Oh. Ah, okay. Um." I wave my left hand, my old 'potential recruits' book appearing from subspace. "Okay, I'll… Put your name down. Please understand that this isn't a guarantee."

"I can adapt to any method of war, and will learn any skill set that they require."

"That's… Skill.. isn't.. the main thing. Power rings respond to… To particular ways of thinking. And if your mind doesn't work in the right way, you won't be able to use it well. That doesn't.. mean that you think in the wrong ways, each ring colour works best with different outlooks. It just might mean that you're not right for orange." I slide my now-empty bowl forwards. I had a mixture of nuts and grains in warm farm animal lactation. I guess I'm.. just a.. man of habit. "And I really don't know when or even if I'm going to be in a position to do that." I slide my chair back. "If you'll excuse me?"

The Tamaranians look a little puzzled. Oh, I.. guess that's not a tradition they have. "I thought I'd go for a flight around the city. Do some sightseeing, get my thoughts in order a little…"

King Myand'r waves his right hand. "By all means. Do you require the escort of a guide?"

I stand and step away from the table. "No, I… Thank you, but I think I can manage. I'll be back in time for the meeting."

I perform a short bow, then rise at speed up into the sky.

There are a lot more people outside than there were during my first visit. That isn't the same all over the planet, of course. The king sent out word to the major cities but it'll be some time before their communications infrastructure is up to scratch. I doubt.. that outlying villages will know that they're safe until the end of this month. I wonder what sort of route rebuilding will take? On Earth, plenty of places skipped building copper wire type phone lines because mobile phone technology was already available. Tamaran has the knowledge required to ramp up quickly… Might end up looking a bit like the 2002 version of He-Man: cybernetics and flying vehicles existing in a world where most villages use animal drawn ploughs.

Though I suppose Earth looks like that in a lot of places, too.

A few people point up, but no one flies up to say hello. I'm not sure what the social convention is… They probably don't.. actually know who I am. The king wanted to do a single announcement for everything, so it's.. pretty much just going to be rumour at this stage.

Oh.

Without really meaning to, I've drifted over the part of the city the Gordanians shot. It's been.. nearly two decades now and what ruins are left are well overgrown. Give the force of the impact I might have expected a shallow lake to have formed, but the soil here is too free-draining. It's just an… Just a scar on the cityscape. I'm sure that when the rebuilding begins in earnest it'll be one of the first-.

I catch a glimpse of white amongst the foliage, the ring showing me-. Princess Komand'r sitting amongst the walls of an abandoned building, the walls covering her on four sides and the foliage concealing her from above. No one.. else around. And I… Need to both check up on her and.. find out what version of her I'm dealing with.

I fly over to directly above her, extending my environmental shield so that I disrupt local air currents. She looks up, her eyes narrowing slightly as I descend into her grove. She's still wearing the solar bodysuit I made for her.

"I hope that I'm not bothering you."

Her attention remains fully focused on me, studying me carefully. "No more here than you were anywhere else."

She's standing at ground level, so I drop down to stand on the ground as well. I keep a.. little distance. "I hope you don't mind me not copying Tamaranian styles." A slight puzzled frown from her and I gesture to her clothing with my right hand. "You haven't changed…"

"Okaara is colder than Tamaran. I had become accustomed to wearing more. Does it have some special significance?"

"A friend of mine is solar powered, and he-" A mild snarl, and she half-turns away. "-used to.. wear something similar..? I'm sorry, is there something-?"

"I am not solar powered." Oh. "Clearly, you did not know that, so I will endeavour not to hold it against you. Did you wish to speak about something in particular?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

14th July
23:19 GMT

"How..? Are you..?"

"I am filled with a bitter and burning hate." She huffs quietly. "It is almost as if I had never left."

I see red and green, isolation, alienation and determination. I search for images of Koriand'r… Red, she thinks that Koriand'r was their parents' favourite, their people's favourite. Scenes of sparring… Enthusiastic sparring on Komand'r's part… But despite the hate, I'm not seeing anything about handing her over to the Citadel. And if their brother's defection was really what triggered them both getting picked up… It's not as if their location was a secret…

"I…" I look at her rather than into her. Expression, eye movements… Nothing that suggests that she's recovering from being… Being tortured, raped and experimented on. "I meant… In yourself. About-?"

Her head turns in my direction, a frown on her face. "Speak. What are you trying to ask?"

"I realise that different species process events differently, but a Human woman who had experienced what.. you and your sister did would be traumatised. It would be.. years before they could function normally, and there would be a wide variety of behavioural-."

Her face relaxes slightly. "Is that why you are here? To ensure that I have not been driven mad?"

"When I do something, I stick with it until it is done. My aim was to help you. If there is more that you require in order to-."

"No." Her attention drifts away from me, towards the sky above us. She takes a moment before continuing. "Perhaps it is a species difference. What is the point of continuing to be hurt by something that has stopped happening?"

"I don't know. If I had to guess, it's something to do with how the Human brain learns. In a normal situation, learning to associate pain with a thing that harms you teaches you to avoid it. But in a situation where the pain can't be avoided, it's… Maladaptive. The brain tries to associate pain with… Everything."

"Tortured by your own brain." She looks back at me, looking… Contemplative. "If that is what would happen then I am glad that I am not Human. That is the name of your species?"

"Yes. In the short form."

"And in the long form?"

"My species uses a classification system which describes every species on our homeworld precisely in terms of its relationship to every other. Mine is Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Haplorhini Hominidae Homo Sapiens Sapiens."

"The last part repeated itself."

I raise my hands. "I didn't come up with the system."

"Human, then. At least you had the privilege of choosing your own name, however strange it sounds. Did you know that our name and that of our world was dictated to us by the Psions?"

"No, I didn't."

"When our people still lived on Okaara we had another name. Now we are known by the Psion name for this world… At least by those who do not call us.. other things. Most of my people are not even aware of it."

"Well… I'm.. sure that your government is going to be developing a new education system fairly soon. You could try and get the.. original language included?"

"It hardly seems relevant. I take it that your people's homeworld is not called 'Hue'?"

"No, Earth. Literally, 'the ground'."

"There is sense in calling it that." She regards me for a moment. "Are they all dead?"

"Who?"

"Those who manned the base on Hny'xx. I assumed that you would have had to kill them, but you may not have been thorough."

"When I went back to check I didn't see anything still alive. The Psion Tront might still be alive, he had some sort of teleportation system I didn't recognise, but I think you can assume that no one else is."

She nods. "Then it seems that I am at a loss as to what to do next. I had thought to revenge myself upon them. Not that I regret your killing them."

"While I'm certainly responsible, it was mostly Larfleeze's Construct-Lanterns who killed them. I've never been much good at unrestrained wanton destruction." My eyes dip. "And I… Think I'd prefer to stay like that."

"I thought that you planned to destroy the Citadel?"

"I… Do. But… Thinking about it? I think I need to deal with Larfleeze first. And given the technology that the Citadel has… I think that I'm going to need more Lanterns on my side."

"Gathering resources is a wise move. The Citadel Complex will not fall swiftly or easily, and I doubt that the Beast will either. How will you do this?"

"I assume that you've.. heard of the Green Lanterns?" A small nod. "The people who run the Green Lantern Corps are called the Guardians of the Galaxy, but their species is called Maltusian. I have their original homeworld's location and I know that a large number of them are still there. I'm hoping that some of them will be willing to help me."

"And if they refuse?"

"If all of them refuse? Then.. I'm.. probably going to have to take a series of quite foolish risks. On the other hand, I did bait the most powerful Lantern in the universe into attacking me yesterday, so…" I shrug, chuckling to myself.

"It must be nice to have such power."

I think about giving her a flippant reply, but there's something about the way she's looking at me… "Yes, it is."

"Oh? No qualification? No comment on the burdens of your station?"

"No, not really. I'm here because I want to be, doing this because I want to do it. If I didn't, I wouldn't. And if you're going to do something, it's better to be well equipped and well supported."

She nods and looks away again. "Do you know why this place exists?"

"Orbital bombardment on the day you were born."

"And everyone was too afraid of annoying our conquerors to do anything with it afterwards." She runs her right hand along an exposed section of wall, her face suddenly twisting into a snarl as she rips away a piece of alien concrete and tosses it aside. Then she stops completely still, the passion completely vanishing from her. "I used to come here when I was a little girl to get away from people. They never openly blamed me. Not exactly. But I heard the muttering. Especially after I fell ill and lost the ability to fly. Such a stupid little thing; before the most recent war with the Citadel we never bothered exterminating the disease which causes us to lose the ability to absorb ultraviolet light because it can only infect a person once in their lifetime and it was far easier to restore the damage. Then, we lost the ability and no one else had records of how to do it." A look of distaste passes across her face. "Except the Psions, presumably. I used to think there wasn't anything that I would not do to regain it. One thing I will take away from this experience is the knowledge that that is no longer correct." She turns to face me again. "Will you kill them as well? And the Branx, and the Gordanians?"

"I'm not sure. Probably. Certainly, I'll need to reduce their ability to interfere with other peoples. The Branx, I don't know. The Gordanians, I expect so."

She nods, then turns away and starts walking out through the overgrown ruins. "I will let you know if I think I have anything meaningful to contribute."

 

[Mr Zoat]

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."

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th July
11:49 GMT

Is it worth trying to creep around?

Detecting a warp doesn't tell you what warped in, though the power being employed might give you a rough idea. Transitioning is Lantern only. Warping is easier to detect, but the Reach have a history of fighting Lanterns. They almost certainly have a way of tracking them. Us. Now, whatever that technique or technology might be might only work on Greens and it might fail due to my tattoos -that would be nice- but I don't know that. It might be something they have to set up over an area…

Or I could go in hard and fast. The Reach's response to unpleasant surprises is usually to try negotiating with whoever is causing it. If it looks like I might get overwhelmed I could probably just back out again-. No, I'm being silly. If I'm happy to just kill any Reach people without regard to local politics I've really got no reason to worry about most of the things I've been trained to worry about.

Heh.

Ring, we're on military order. Warp in and target any Reach vessels, personnel and property.

Compliance.

And find me the local Darkstar contingent.

Compliance.

Space bends, the rings glowing brilliantly as the cloud of confusion obscuring my desires evaporates. Shouldn't take-

Warp terminating.

-long. Space flattens out, Urrigen appearing in the centre of my field of view. Without looking hard I can already see thirty or so sub-light space barges carrying raw materials from around the system back to Urrigen itself. The Reach vessel -just one- is in low orbit, its weapons firing down at what looks like a.. cave complex. It's not going all out, just-

Incoming communication from Reach vessel.

-firing off the occasional shot. Hm. Anywhere else and I'd give them a minute or two to evacuate. Darkstars in the caves?

Unknown. Reach communications state that they are lawfully assisting local government in neutralising a terrorist organisation. Reach soldiers and weapons fire detected in the caves.

I begin accelerating towards the ship. Masers?

Damage consistent with maser fire detected.

Good-oh.

Message incoming from Urrigen government.

Hm. There's nothing on this side of the planet that has any chance of hitting me and all of their military ships are too far away. Ignore.

I watch as the Reach ship ceases firing and starts to turn in order to pull away from the planet. One really nice thing about fighting this sort of Reach ship?

All of their guns point in the same direction.

Ring? Eddy pulse.

A fat beam of orange light blasts from my right hand at near-light speed. Rather than a single unified beam, this one is comprised of hundreds of tiny strands all bunched up. It occurred to me before I arrived that the Reach might have construct-disrupting technology, at least in a form they could deploy over a small area. And one place they would logically put it would be on ships operating near the periphery. Thus, eddy pulse.

Not that I tried using it on a ship before. I'm quite interested-.

The beam hits the Reach vessel's shields on the upper surface. And then it goes to work. Unlike a destructive pulse, an eddy pulse doesn't work by draining energy from the target area and therefore causing matter to decay. Rather, it acts like a warp biotic power in Mass Effect, applying massive gravitational stress to tear whatever it hits apart. The beam doesn't get absorbed or turned aside. Rather, the strands spread out across the surface of the shield. And then?

Twist.

The shield shimmers and fails as it tries to cope with five hundred instances of intense gravitational shear. The barrier gone, the strands surge forwards and latch onto the ship's hull. Reach hulls are pretty tough, but unlike true warships this ship doesn't have the thickness or exotic defences to even try and survive this attack. The ship jerks as a chunk of the hull just collapses, torn to pieces by the gravitational eddies generated by my filaments.

I see escape pods launch from the underside of the ship towards the rear. Hm. Ordinarily I'd try picking them up and either handing them over to a competent authority or marooning them. In this case, however… The only authorities in the local environment are the Reach and their suborned governments. And I don't have the time or inclination to take them to Maltus. And if I let them land they'll be back in action in a few days. Guess they're out of luck then. A railgun appears next to me, loaded with crumbler rounds. Track… Fire a volley at each.

I feel the hum of the gun through my construct tether as it sends the rounds towards the pods. At this range it's possible that they might evade individual shots. Shouldn't be a problem; crumbler rounds crumble themselves when they hit so there's next to no risk of them getting captured and reverse engineered.

There's an explosion from the ship as something volatile gets hit, and lights in two thirds of the ship go out. Main drive also appears to be inoperative, so it-. Ring, calculate? No, it doesn't have escape velocity, but it'll keep going for a while before crashing… Into one of the planet's oceans. Weapons have also lost power. It's mission-killed, ignore it.

I transition past it and head for the planet's surface. Stewart-ring, do you have Darkstar communication protocols?

Protocols on file. However, they are not recent and are unlikely to elicit a response.

Fine. Broadcast to combat zone.

Compliance.

Escape pods start taking hits, their weak shields failing and their hulls breaking up either from the follow-up strikes or from re-entry.

"Darkstars, are you in need of assistance? Please transmit location. I'm coming in anyway, but you're in caves and those can collapse." The ring gives me a more precise scan of the caves. Those look rather fortified… If somewhat shot up. "Collapse more. It would also be a big help to know who I was going to be shooting at."

Around what appears to be the staging area Reach troopers are manning heavy weapon emplacements and aircraft -local ones by the look of it- are taking off. Following apparently legitimate orders or subordinated? Ring, compare physiology with on-file records for the local species. Also, railguns, fire crumblers at those emplacements.

Compliance. Two more railgun constructs appear as a beam of purple plasma shoots past me harmlessly, and I feel the humming once more as the three of my guns open fire. Minor nanostructure alteration to pilot brains detected. Modification is in accordance with standard Reach methodology.

Symptoms?

Traits common to Reach personnel and technology will seem to possess greater natural authority.

A nudge rather than outright control. It would let them gradually redesign a society merely by making suggestions.

Hm. Not sure that a purple healing ray would remove something like that… Ring, fry their computers in such a way as allows them time to eject.

Compliance.

A pale orange beam flickers out, passing over the aircraft one by one as the railgun rounds begin hitting the emplacements. The force fields covering them flare and die, and a moment later so do the crew. The aircraft wobble and go ballistic… Come on, come on, get out-. There we go. Ring, track their landing zones. I'll purge them if I get time.

Compliance. Incoming message.

Oh, who is it this time?

"This is Operative Lotta of the Darkstars. We're up against about forty Reach infantry-" Easy enough. "-and one Scarab Warrior. Any further help you can give would be much appreciated."

"Understood, Operative Lotta. En route."

Ring, Praexis Demons.

Compliance.

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th July
11:53 GMT

The Praexis Demons surge ahead of me into the cave network. From the residual heat and melted appearance of the walls of the entrance tunnel I'm going to assume that they used the ship to cut their way in through the surrounding rock. I do a brief inspection of the emplacements-. One of the horribly burned soldiers is still alive.

Railgun.

I turn away as the impact of the tungsten round causes his head to disintegrate. Decent armour, decent personal force fields, but… Nothing exceptional. Nothing that beats what I already have. There was a comic I read years ago now, where a group of B-listers ended up fighting… Someone. I don't remember his name. Point is, though he was far more powerful than them he pointed out that while it had taken his people millennia to gain the abilities that he had they were able to hold him off with powers they'd more or less tripped over. Hard work versus luck. Reach soldiers could quite happily walk through light machinegun fire without being harmed, but they actually aren't better equipped than someone like Mister Metcalf.

I think it might be a good idea if that news didn't get around.

The Praexis Demons boil out of the main shaft and encounter the Reach's rearguard. Maybe it's like the 'Humanity, Fuck Yeah' section on 4chan said. The thing about evolving on a death world is that you don't know that it's a death world. I mean, the Praexis Demons are munching their way through the soldiers, stopping briefly to suck the power out of their force fields. We evolved on a planet where Praexis Demons roam freely. And more powerful Demons could appear from Hell if we chanted a few phrases and killed a few people in their names. And, yes, maybe being turned into Construct Lanterns has enhanced them a bit, but the Reach is the largest interstellar polity presently existing and bottom tier Demons can eat their soldiers.

I reach the bottom of the shaft myself as the Praexis Demons swarm onwards. Mapping says-. There's a release of energy from a chamber much further inside the complex, and for the first time I get clear returns from the Darkstars. The Reach appear to be advancing on their last redoubt, placing force field projectors as they go. The woman in yellow organic-looking power armour leading the assault isn't bothering to hide. Her left arm has taken the form of a tower shield and she uses that to block a charged beam from one of the Darkstars, lighter shots barely making an impression on her armour.

That would be.. Yellow Beetle, then.

Ring, anything stopping me from transitioning into the corridor behind them?

None detected.

I pull half of my Praexis Demons back into the ring, and wince slightly as I learn what the Reach taste like.

A huge Dog-faced Darkstar flares his personal shield and charges out of cover, his comrades rising to give him covering fire. Without missing a beat Yellow Beetle turns her right hand into a gun and returns fire, striking another Darkstar in the chest and causing her to collapse to the ground. Then the gun shifts into a power fist looking appendage as she meets the charging Darkstar, brings him to a stop with her shield and slams her gauntlet hand into his ribs.

Transition.

"…clumsy meat."

Demons, go.

"Rahh!"

The big Darkstar throws punches and point-blank maser bolts and the Beetle dances around them. A sidestep and a shield block to evade a punch, a half-second buzz of her wings to dodge a shot from another Darkstar and a punch to the big fellow's leg which causes him to stagger and stumble. She's grinning.

Right up until the eddy pulse hits her in the back.

"Agh!"

Beetle armour is tough. My pulse envelops her right wing, upper right back and upper right arm, but all that I see happen is her armour discolour slightly and her wing collapse.

Resistance detected.

There's a pulse of white-blue light as she turns her fall from the air into a tumble, my attack construct evaporating as she lands. She's not laughing now.

"A Lantern?"

Two railguns form as my construct-armour absorbs a few shots from Reach soldiers before they're assailed by my demonic retinue. While it might be better to keep crumbler rounds as a secret, I think this time I'll take the short term gain.

Fire.

Compliance.

The air burns as the railguns fire faster than I've ever had them do before. I probably shouldn't get used to this intensity of violence but -Yellow Beetle doubles up on her shields and grows additional armour- there's something to be said for not having other considerations to take into account. The shields start turning sandy brown almost immediately, the material they're comprised of visibly abrading as the Darkstars take full advantage of the fact that she's facing me to shoot her undefended back.

"No, you-! Gah!"

She shudders, ducking back behind her right shield so that she can morph her left arm into… Something or other. The moment I see her start to move I generate another railgun off to the side and shoot the shifting arm right in the glowy bit. There's a small explosion-

"Uh!"

-and what's left of her left forearm crackles, sparks and drips what's either blood or whatever the Beetles use instead.

"Lantern! This violates the treaty!"

Aim for the head.

Compliance.

The first hit knocks her head sideways, her full helm discolouring. The second hits her left eye, causing her to shudder and collapse. Then the big Darkstar lumbers over, hauls her up by the head and squeezes.

"Owwwrrrraaaaaaghh!"

I hear the crack as her helmet fails and her head is pulped between his palms.

"I've never fought a Beetle before. She dead?"

He glances at me, then tosses the body into a clear part of the cavern. "Yeah. But she's not done yet."

The armour covering her shakes and slowly retracts. The skin beneath is pale purple… Zambaii? Makes sense, the Reach absorbed their world about seventy years ago. I'd rather assumed that they used their own species, but I suppose they must keep other races around for something.

"Was she a volunteer, or-?"

"Don't know. Don't care. You kill the rest?"

"Just the ones attacking this site."

"That a real power ring?"

"They're two real power rings, yes."

"Hey, Tarant!" A Khundian Darkstar with a shaved head and scalp tattoos tosses a small device over to his large colleague… Tarant, presumably. "Use mine!"

"Thanks Phil." The armour has almost totally retracted now, just the broken parts around the head and the left arm giving it trouble. The woman beneath is wearing just her underwear, and the scarab thingy that makes the armour is clearly visible where it's attached to her back. Tarant leans down, presses the device to the scarab and then steps back. "Might want to cover your eyes."

There's a sort of a… Hissing noise, green vapour rising from the scarab device. Then space bends around the device as a flash of green light consumes the scarab.

Tarant huffs in satisfaction, then turns to face me. "Thanks. Now who the Hell are you and what the Hell are you doing here?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th July
11:55 GMT

"Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four." I pull all but a handful of Praexis Demons back into the rings and send the rest to the entrance to keep watch. "Do you have injured?"

Tarant glowers. "That doesn't-."

"Yes, we do." Another Darkstar strides past their defences. Another Zambaii. Ooh, this could get awkward if they knew one another. "We will gratefully accept any assistance-" I transition to the other side of their barricade. "-you feel able-" The shot that hit the woman I saw earlier burned through her armour, skin and muscle and lightly charred her organs. Another fellow… I think that's a fellow, has numerous burns all across his body where his armour has been punctured by multiple smaller strikes. "-to give."

"Medical records please!" Okay, scanning. Nothing on the second guy's species but the woman conforms more closely to the standard humanoid template. I still need to copy her body chemistry but at least I know where everything is supposed to go. Huh, and no temptation to 'improve' things. Blackened and roasted organ tissue evaporates and is replaced by fresh brown/green. That looks… About right. Anything obviously toxic in the blood..? No, right, best I can do then. Fat, muscle and skin and I hope her species doesn't have belly buttons.

"Here." The man who asked for my help thrusts a data pad at me, then starts as he sees what I've already done for his colleague. Another Darkstar is applying some sort of purple gel to the man with the… Odd head.

"Thank you."

Ring, absorb all data.

Compliance.

Ah, good, their umbilical cord equivalents attach to their arms. And the other fellow… The gel is a sterile wound cover and regeneration aid, but it won't do anything to prevent the internal damage killing him now. Orange light flares again-. Amphibious filter-feeder? Curious, but alright. Major blood vessels are the most important thing, hearts… Okay, good. Nerves… His eye snaps open, staring at me-.

"Calm down, Threllian." The blue skinned woman next to me waves her left hand in front of his field of vision to be sure that she's got his attention. "He's on our side."

"Reach? Scarab?"

"Dead."

His ears wiggle in a way I don't have information on. "S-scarab, dead?"

Phil strolls over and drops down next to him. "Yeah, buddy. New guy and Tarant squished her good." His armour's battered as well, but the energy field is throwing off my scans so I can't tell whether or not he's carrying injuries.

Threllian suddenly relaxes, and I scan him to try and work out why. Everything.. seems to be in order. If it's some sort of brain shutdown thing-.

The Zambaii rests his right hand on my armour's shoulder. "Thank you. If-."

"I don't know why he's not more alert." I hold up the datapad. "Are you sure this is complete?"

The blue-skinned woman who had been ministering to him stands, pushing her hair back as she does so. "We've been fighting constantly for three days. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that any of us are still on our feet."

I straighten up. "If your physiology is anything like mine, you'll crash in a little while." I turn around in the air. "Anyone got any non-critical injuries they want me to look at?"

Tarant uses his armour's force field to float past the barricades. "Yeah, my leg, where she hit me. Feels like she fried the nerves and broke the bones."

"I'll need you to deactivate your personal shield. I can't scan through it and you don't want me best-guessing something-"

"Hahahahahaha!" The Khundian throws his head back and guffaws.

"-like.. that."

The Zambaii moves to support Tarant as he sits on a fortification and deactivates his shield. The moment it's no longer contained his leg flops limply, though the man himself gives no indication of discomfort. Scan… I generate a construct-brace to hold his leg in the correct position as I push bone fragments into place and fuse them into a whole.

"How is any of this funny?" I recognise the voice as belonging to Operative Lotta. She's a green-skinned woman with… Sort of… Pink things dangling down the side of her head. Too thin to really be described as lekku. "We nearly died, we could-."

"I know! Ha! Wasn't it great!?"

I shut off my construct. "Try putting weight on it now."

He gingerly puts it on the ground, testing it before standing under his own power. "Good work. Lot better than the last robot doctor I had."

Robot..? I look at my own armour-encased right arm. "Oh, right. Sorry, let me just…" My armour disappears into subspace, replaced by my lighter version. "There. Now, as I said:-" I bring my hands to my chest. "-Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four. Or-"

Ring.

"Paul."

"-if we're being informal. I'm here because I need an introduction to the Controllers. And because the-" I half-turn to take in the rest of the room, battered corpse of the former Beetle and the half-eaten Reach soldiers. "-Reach are dreadful people, obviously."

"Yeah. They are." The green-skinned man takes a step forward. "Operative Munchukk."

The Zambaii nods. "Operative Ferrin."

I point out the ones I know. "Operative Phil, Operative Tarant, Operative Threllian and Operative Lotta…"

The blue woman nods. "The woman you healed is Operative Rayyana. I am Senior Operative Merayn Dethalis." Her eyes narrow slightly. "And I would very much like to know what you are. If the Guardians have repudiated their treaty, we need to know about it."

I shake my head. "Sorry, but I am -currently- a free agent. That's rather what I want to talk to the Controllers about. I… Sent a ship to Maltus? Should have arrived about half a year ago?"

She shrugs. "I haven't been back to Maltus for three. We're only based there in a technical sense. It's so hard to get into Reach territory undetected…" I nod. "But providing you with an introduction is the least we can do. We need to evacuate anyway; with our cover blown-."

"Weren't you listening, Mery?" Phil sits up, clearly struggling to remain straight-faced. "He blew up their ship. No ship and no Scarab Warrior. And with all the soldiers who died here, that means-."

Tarant's eyes widen. "No real defences around their embassy or brainwashing factory. If we hit them now-."

Operative Ferrin nods. "No reinforcements. It might be two years before they can send replacements."

"I'm in." I raise my eyebrows at Senior Operative Dethalis. "If you want me. I want to make a good impression."

"You realise that you'll be making an enemy of the Reach?"

"Bit late for that. Besides, people like the Reach? If I've become their enemy… Then I'm probably doing the right thing."

She nods and holds out her right hand, a holographic image of an industrial plant appearing in the air. "Then this is where we're going…"

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th July
15:37 GMT

"How do you know about us, anyway?"

The Darkstars' exo-mantles might not have the raw power to let them fight Beetles, but it turns out that they're very good at hiding. So good that they've ordered me to keep back just in case my systems show up more than theirs do while they move into position around the building containing the Reach's trade mission. I'm not sure whether or not I should be offended by the fact that they trust Phil the Khundian, a member of a species for whom violence serves the same social role as sex does in my own, with command of our part of this task.

Then again, given how much violence I've engaged in and how little intimacy, maybe I shouldn't be quite so quick-.

"Hey, you awake in there?"

"Sorry, yes." Concealing information is contrary to my interests, but there's the question of presentation… "I gained access to a partial Green Lantern Corps database a while ago. They monitor Reach activity fairly closely."

I half expect him to make some insulting comment. The Guardians may have made the sensible decision where the Reach are concerned, but I doubt that anyone left fighting Reach soldiers, ships or Beetles is exactly going to thank them for it.

"Right."

He keeps his attention focused on the monitors the other Darkstars are wearing. Ultra-secure feeds interpreted by their computer systems to allow near-perfect monitoring… Still something I could probably set up back on Earth, though the computer would be far larger and the communications less secure. I watch over his shoulder as the group moves past the internal security monitors and personnel like ghosts as they move towards the control systems.

"We're a… Way from Khund here."

"Yeah."

More importantly, they're dodging the actual monitors. The Reach know full well that regular security wouldn't stop a Darkstar, but apparently they hold out hope that it would distract them from the real threat, stealthed detection systems designed to report their presence to either the ship or the local Beetle. The Reach would happily sacrifice what they've built here to stop a Darkstar team, but -Operative Lotta isolates the first suicide demolition charge before evading a scanner- as things stand they're just going to sacrifice everything.

"So what brought you here?"

"Fighting. Those power rings you're wearing?"

"Yes."

"Guardians trying to work out a way around the treaty?"

"Not as far as I know."

"So where'd you get those rings?"

"Second one I got from a fight with a Green Lantern. First one, I still don't know. I just woke up and there it was."

He nods. "I met my first wife like that."

"Which?"

"Both! Which was awkward, because I hadn't actually killed her husband!" He turns to look at me, grinning. "Eh? Hahaha!"

I shake my head politely. "Honestly. What sort of woman doesn't check the body first?"

Operatives Ferrin, Munchukk and Tarant get into position to use their exo-mantles to generate false signals while Operative Dethalis accesses the central computer.

"Yeah, and that's why basic education should be universal." He returns his attention to the screen. "You get anything from those pilots?"

"Yes. I'd ideally like more information on this species' neurophysiology to be certain, but it shouldn't be too hard for me to reverse the physical alterations. But that doesn't do anything for the socialisation aspect, for modes of thought they've already adopted."

"Right." He turns away and walks towards the balcony. "Come on then. Our turn."

My armour reappears around me. "I haven't been able to scan the chief negotiator since we arrived. How are you sure that she's there?"

"I've spent a lot of time working out how Negotiators think. I don't know if they're actually clones or not, but they all do the same sort of thing in situations like this." We pass through the dampening field and he fades from view as his exo-mantle's stealth systems activate. I follow his lead and activate my armour's phasing and invisibility systems. "Right now, she's in the Principal Building trying to assure the government of the Reach's commitment to their.. relationship." He lifts off to fly over the capital and I follow on behind him. "There'll probably be a joint public statement as soon as his boss has told him that a new ship is on the way. You showing up has probably delayed that, because they don't want to risk it if the Guardians are doing something."

"So why are we going there the slow way?"

"Because if they think there's a Lantern around, they wouldn't go anywhere without every bit of Lantern-disrupting technology they can get together. You know what happens when you Lantern-FTL into-?"

"Yes, I do."

I see the clear dome of the Grand Assembly auditorium ahead of us. In theory, Urrigen's government is supposed to be open and transparent. As such, they meet and debate in a chamber that can be viewed from the outside. In practice, the growth in central government function during the post-unification era means that the citizenry only see the top of the dome poking out from the surrounding office complexes.

Obvious metaphor is obvious.

Looks like the Assembly is in session… Phil starts to lose altitude, heading for the near side of the dome. I accelerate, flying over the apex and turning, dropping down until I'm precisely opposite him. I remove one of the Darkstar's teleport jammers from my left leg. Clever little multiphasic thing; I can attach it to a structure without coming back into phase and rendering myself detectable.

"Done."

A new party begins filtering into the auditorium, various aides and… The Convenor, with the Negotiator not far behind. And a small squad of Reach soldiers not far behind her. The assembled representatives quieten down and rise to their feet as the two of them approach the podium.

"Ready?"

I fly upwards once again, extending my arms towards the dome.

"I think so."

Hooray for terrorism.

"Enter on four. One-two-"

There's a flare as his breaching charge activates, cutting a hole in the dome and allowing him entry. A maser shot hits a Reach soldier in the neck and another slices off the Negotiator's right forearm.

"-three-"

A third shot hits a Reach soldier's gun just as he brings it to bear, causing an explosion which sends him flying backwards with his chest burned to a crisp. Another soldier deploys a force field barrier while a fourth tries to run to the Negotiator. Phil drops his stealth and increases power to his masers, both hands coming together to generate a shot powerful enough to burn through the braver soldier's chest plate. He falls to the ground, shuddering in pain.

"-four."

I come back into phase, giant construct talons pulling at the dome even as I grab control of the broadcast systems to prevent them cutting the feed. Huge chunks of bombproof material fly away as the dome fails before my attack, and I toss it behind me as I float inward and release the Praexis Demons. Assembly security storm inside only to be forced to duck and hide as my horde makes its attack runs. They're under strict instructions not to eat anything that isn't Reach, but they can actually deliver quite precise bite wounds.

Phil storms up to the Reach soldier behind the force field, using it to partially cover his approach. As the soldier comes out to take a shot he accelerates, drawing a long blue-glowing knife. He takes a shot to his force field and stabs, blade passing easily through the soldier's own defences. The soldier falls back and starts collapsing, so Phil grabs hold and slashes his blade through his foe's chest before tossing him back and turning to face the horrified Convenor.

"I got the floor?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

16th July
15:43 GMT

The Reach Negotiator tries to covertly reach under her robes and activate her emergency teleporter, freezing as she realises that it's inoperative. Another button press gives her emergency anaesthetic, causing her to gasp with relief.

The Convenor makes a vague twisting motion with his right hand. "Security, stand down."

"Aw, really?" Phil grins and heads towards the Convenor's podium. "You sure? I'll spot you my masers?"

"What do you want, terrorist?"

I drop my own invisibility and hold out my hands, projecting a construct image of an Urrigenian brain.

"No one?" Phil looks around hopefully for a moment, then sheathes his sword. "Alright, fine. Business it is. My orange friend up there is showing a picture of your brains." I generate a second image. "And this is your brain on Reach neurotech. Please pay careful attention to that bit near the front." I switch to a cutaway image which more clearly indicates the issue. "A lot of people in your military… And more than a few of your representatives in here have had this done. Improved short term memory and spatial awareness… And an inclination to be subservient to their Reach masters." He reaches the podium, kicking the body of a Reach soldier out of the way as he does so.

"Fortunately for all of you, we Darkstars know a Reach plot when we see it. We know everyone who's had this done and we know how to reverse it." There's a ping inside my armour. Our colleagues have hit the Reach planetside command centre. "And we also have recordings proving that the Reach violated what your government told you was their deal and used their military forces -including a Scarab Warrior- on your planet." He slouches against the podium. "Not to labour the point, but they've done everything we told you they would when we first got in contact eight years ago. We're releasing all of this onto your planet's communications network now. Check what I've said. Check our evidence. Ask your representatives why they've spent eight years lying to you."

He looks up at me. "Orange!"

I extend my right hand to my right, one representative glowing orange. A cut away image of his brain appears just above him. Clean. Another is highlighted, his brain showing the characteristics of Reach modification. I purge them and he collapses bonelessly into his chair. I know from the pilots that he'll be fine once his brain has had a few minutes to adjust. And the next…

As the assembled representatives see their colleague collapse there's a concerted charge for the exit. Phil shakes his head as I have the Hellwraith manifest between them and the doorway, then create an orange barrier just behind that.

The ground rumbles as I continue to work my way around the representatives, flashes of fear from those who know they're on my target list matched by the relief of those whom I pass over. One or two of the more intelligent ones are no doubt noticing that I'm not just striking down those in favour of more cooperation with the Reach… Or maybe that won't be evident until they've had time to review events.

"And that was the Reach trade mission. Hey, guess what?" He turns to the Negotiator. "That makes you the last Reachian left alive on the planet."

"We are a peaceful.. trading empire." She does her best to scowl, but her species don't have the most expressive faces and the drugs in her system are making it even harder. "We're trying to help this world advance. To meet its full potential."

"Just like all of the other places you wiped out. We'll be including them in the data packet too."

"No one will trust your word. You are a murderous thug."

"No." Phil raises his right arm and points it at her head. "I'm not a thug. I'm a soldier. I've got a cause and I've got discipline."

There's a hiss from his maser, then her body collapses as her head evaporates.

He watches her body for a moment as I continue to purge Reach technology from government officials. "Damn. I thought she might have some kind of super mode or something."

"She was a peaceful diplomatic envoy!" The Convenor finally recovers his voice. "You have no idea what you've done to our world by killing her!"

Phil turns back to him, a slightly saddened look on his face. "And you actually believe that, don't you?" He looks up towards me. "You nearly done?"

"I think so." Done, done, done, and a last beam illuminates the Convenor himself.

Nothing.

His brain is unmodified.

He looks up at me as I come in to land. "Surprised?"

"Regrettably, no. Still, I would like to hear why you sold out your world."

"Sold out…" He shakes his head. "I read your files when you people first arrived. You know full well that no world has ever successfully resisted the Reach. I knew that they would take us, one way or another. So I decided to help them conquer us with the least resistance in the hope that they would leave us to manage our own affairs under their dominion. I know from your own records that there are worlds that are permitted that much freedom."

"Yeah." Phil nods. "Until the Reach decide to take it away and their minds are too altered to think of resisting."

"And how many worlds have bled and died and been abandoned by your Darkstars?! How many knew they were lost the moment they started fighting?!"

"Every. Single. One." Phil looks contemplative. "Sometimes the Darkstars die with them, sometimes they fall back to fight again. We've resettled billions away from Reach space, but those places who wanted to fight to the last, they all knew what it would mean. They prepare, they train… Then… Someone in their government gets controlled or turns traitor and the next thing you know there's a whole fleet in orbit because apparently that's enough to make it Reach territory. Then they die, probably killed by expendable soldiers from other slave species. I've seen it happen three times and I admire the people who did it more than I can articulate. But… You?"

Another hiss, and another headless body hits the floor.

"You sicken me."

He floats up into the air, force field shimmering. "Alright! You all know what we've done and why. If any of you escape being killed by your own citizens, get in touch."

I pull in the Hellwraith and the Praexis Demons, following him up and through the hole in the dome. Police attack drones have formed a perimeter, but we both go into stealth mode far too quickly to get a weapons lock. Then we're both heading up, up and away, aiming for a point far above the city.

"I thought that went well."

"I bow to your superior experience. What happens now?"

"Not sure. Depends on their government. A planet that keeps its head can stay free of the Reach for hundreds of years."

"You really evacuate worlds? There wasn't anything about that in the Guardians' database."

"The Controllers can reshape worlds. It's not easy for them and it's not quick, but… Yeah. We can. We get about half of our recruits from those worlds. Threllian comes from there. The Reach butchered most of his people to use their brains as computers."

"Oh."

"If they weren't evil, I wouldn't be fighting them. Alright." He comes to a halt. "I'm staying on-planet, but Ferrin and Rayyana are taking our cruiser back to Maltus. They can introduce you to our bosses."

There's a ping inside my helmet as I receive the coordinates of the ship.

"Thank you."

"Any chance of the rest of us getting rings like yours? I know it's probably a big deal, but one or two-."

"Phil. I intend to do everything I can to ensure that the Darkstars get as many rings as they can handle."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July
03:06 GMT

The thing about not being a Lantern is that you're limited to the speed your ship's drive can manage. And when your ship is designed more for stealth than speed -and when there's a good chance that the Reach are sending ships after you because shooting criminals isn't covered by their treaty with the Guardians- it can take a good deal longer than I'm accustomed to in order to get anywhere. Having my awareness of the universe external to the ship blocked by those same stealth systems is also a little unnerving, but… Well. That's what most people deal with when travelling.

I exhale slowly as I sit on the floor in one of the ship's empty cabins, hands palm upwards on my knees with a ring floating above each one.

Finally, after over a year, I'm going to meet the Controllers.

This is either going to be a start of something magnificent or a complete car crash.

I mean, I sent them a Guardian ship with a request for a meeting. I'm having a hard time believing that they couldn't send a single person to Earth to say hello. I mean, there are only nine Guardians left and they still managed to send Appa Ali Apsa to spend a couple of weeks just.. driving around America with Lantern Jordan and Mister Queen. There's no way them ignoring me isn't supposed to be sending some sort of message. I just don't know-.

There's a chime from the door. "Orange Lantern, we've arrived in the Sto-Maltus system."

"Thank you for letting me know, Operative Rayyana."

"May I come in for a moment?"

"If Operative Ferrin can spare you, by all means."

The blue metal of the doorway.. vanishes, Operative Rayyana standing behind the space it occupied. Standard pattern humanoid female with skin that's a sort of.. pale orange, a black strip tattooed across her nose and cheeks. With her exo-mantle thoroughly wrecked by the same shot that nearly killed her she's wearing a partially armoured spacesuit decorated in Darkstar colours. Her eyes take in the room and then drop to me with an expression of mild embarrassment. "I'm not.. interrupting you, am I?"

"Oh, no. I completed the essential part of my meditations hours ago." Rings still floating over my palms I rise to my feet. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I wanted to thank you in person for healing me."

"You're welcome."

She looks away from me, the slight movement of her fingers where they rest against her thighs betraying her discomfort. "I should have said something sooner, but with the rush to get everything together, then you closeted yourself in here…"

"It's not a problem."

Her eyes move to the rings. "I've never seen a Green Lantern do that before."

"Most don't learn remote ring control beyond what they need to call their ring to their finger from a few metres away. I used to find dimming the orange light's influence on my mind… Helpful. Now it's more a habit." I close my hands around them. "How long will it take us to reach the planet?"

"Only a few minutes. Since we don't have to worry about the Reach here they're going to reach out and grab us."

I frown. "Reach out and grab-?"

The ship shudders and oh that's weird.

Operative Rayyana nods. "Like that. No one gets to use FTL inside the system, but our bosses don't want to wait for us to report in."

I nod and walk slowly towards the exit, Operative Rayyana stepping back to allow me into the corridor. "Where will you be going?"

"We'll submit our report and recommendation to Regional Administrator Sleer Prigatz. He's the officer responsible for the part of the Reach periphery where we work. It'll be his job to decide how to prevent the Reach coming back."

I nod. "That's-. Oh, ah, which way to the nearest airlock?"

"This way." She gestures with her right hand. "I'll show you."

"Thank you."

"He'll probably want to meet you. If you're planning on sticking around there are plenty of places that could use someone who can fight Scarab Warriors."

"You can't?"

"Standard protocol for encounters with Scarab Warriors is to run and hide. We just don't have the raw power to fight them. When we can't do that… A squad of maxim-suits attacking from ambush can take one down if they catch them alone, but… It wouldn't be a sure thing."

I nod as we walk down the corridor. "Maxim-suits?"

"Like Tarant wears. They're the heavy combat variety. The rest of us are optimised for other things. Exo-mantles… I could fight a whole army from my homeworld wearing mine. The Reach just make better systems for their Scarab Warriors."

"Will you be reporting to the Controllers at any point?"

"If they ask for us. But I doubt they will. I've been a Darkstar for nine years and I haven't even seen one up close before. The only Darkstar who regularly speaks to them is the Director, Huvah Jeddigar. If you can wait a few days, he should be able to arrange an meeting."

"There are Controllers on planet now?"

"I… Think so? I don't really think about them too much." We come to a halt next to an airlock and she calls up a holoscreen. "Welcome to Maltus."

First good look at the place I've had. Huge, hive-like cities appear dotted across the continent below us. At the periphery they cut off suddenly, the area outside of them being what looks like pristine nature. In other places settlements in a strange mishmash of styles are visible.

"Population, twenty billion."

What? "There are that many Controllers? I assumed that they'd be like the Guardians, only a few of them."

"No, most of that's…" She hesitates. "Clickers."

"Clickers?"

"Their actual name is more like.. 'click, click-click, scrape click', but since most of us can't make that sound we just call them Clickers and have our translators worry about it. They're a pseudo-insectoid race that the Controllers… Indentured, in exchange for helping them alter their physiology. The other places are inhabited by Darkstars and our support personnel, and refugees. Not all Maltusians are Controllers. The Controllers only have about thirty or so members, and there are hundreds of other Maltusians all doing their own thing." She expands one of the mixed-design cities, focusing the holographic display on one particular building. "This is the Darkstar headquarters, where we'll be heading."

"And the Controllers?"

She moves the image to focus on a.. fairly nondescript building made out of what looks like red stone. "Here. This is where they spend their time when they're not busy with something else. I assume they live there, as much as they live anywhere."

"Thank you. Would you mind terribly letting me off here, then? I think I can probably get their attention and I do rather need to speak to them as soon as possible."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July
03:11 GMT

"You want..?" She glances at the airlock door and then back at me. "The Controllers are ancient, powerful and from what I've heard not the easiest people to get along with. Do you really think just turning up is the right approach?"

"I've got a creature more ancient and powerful than them inside my personal lantern. I want to establish a very particular dynamic in my relationship with the Controllers and… We have a saying on my world: start as you mean to go on." I fully focus on her, eyes glowing orange. "Why is it that you work for them?"

"My people's homeworld was taken over by the Reach centuries ago. The descendants of the refugees they helped get away live on a world they made for us. I owe them, and I owe the Reach."

"I don't owe them anything, as far as I know. I want to suggest something… Help them do something that's far more in their interests than mine. I'm not approaching them as a supplicant."

"I don't know what you could offer people who can build planets-."

"A Central Power Battery. An object that would let them stand as equals of their Guardian cousins. Not to-."

"More Lanterns! The exo-mantle's powerful, but it's nothing compared to a power ring!"

"Just so. So I'm going to be a little pushy." Rings settling on my ring fingers I wave my right forefinger at the airlock door. "So, would you mind?"

She nods and starts pressing buttons. "I'll let the defence systems know that you're coming."

I smile. "Appreciated. Being shot would rather put a dampener on things."

The inner door fades to nothing and I step through. Hm. What else could I do to make my point..? Ah, of course. My armour and robes vanish into subspace, the cloth which emerges to replace them pulling itself tight around me to create a uniform obviously designed to match what the Green Lanterns wear. A bright orange patch front and back, a little like a female one piece swimming costume. Dark grey for the arms and legs, then orange boots and… White gloves, I think. And… Okay, and a tiny mask. I'm labouring a point, not dressing in a way that makes any sense at all.

I open and close my hands, getting used to the pull of the fabric. I look like a… A superhero. Oh well, it had to happen eventually. At least there's next to no chance of me seeing combat around here.

"Good luck!"

"Thank you." The door behind me fades back into existence, then the atmosphere begins being sucked out. I float off the ground, drifting towards the outer door. So close. I hold out my right hand and call my personal lantern out of subspace, taking a firm grip on its handle. Having the lantern on hand should further reinforce the parallel.

You ready in there, Ophidian?

We will get many you now? And then squash the Gnat?

I like to think that it will take you a little while to find someone as good as-

You will always be my favourite.

-me… Um, thank you. It will probably still be a little while before there are any other Orange Lanterns, but dealing with Larfleeze should probably happen a little sooner. Hopefully days at most.

I will be patient.

You should also remember that-

The outer door fades away, giving me a clear view of the planet below. Sto-Maltus is shining brightly today, making the greys and pale browns of the inhabited areas blend into the surrounding countryside. At night I imagine that the density of inhabitation means that the cities are brightly illuminated while the other areas are pitch black.

-the people we're going to meet are the Guardians' cousins. They'll probably look fairly similar to you.

They will be mine?

In the sense that they'll be working to establish the Orange Lantern Corps, I hope so. Please don't try eating them.

I will not eat them.

Okay then.

I float out of the ship, immediately altering my velocity relative to the ship so that it pulls away. Right, mapping? Orange lines appear in my vision, marking out cities, busy areas of sky and my eventual destination. I begin flying towards the planet… Nah.

Ophidian.

Yes, my Agent?

Out you come.

Yes, my Agent! The Green Cousins will quake at my magnificence!

The core of my lantern erupts with orange light as the Ophidian pulls herself outward and into the material universe. She starts small, her head easily fitting through the aperture as she undulates into space. The ring starts sending me 'weapon lock detected' messages immediately… But if they had anything that could stop an Embodiment I doubt that the Reach would be giving them such trouble. The Ophidian continues to grow as she pulls more and more body free. Her head is now as wide as my shoulders and her body is now broad enough that it can't come directly out of my lantern. Rather, it emerges from the orange glow just in front of the core.

The Ophidian coils upwards into the space 'above' me, her face constantly pointing towards the planet. It is a fascinating sight when looked upon with empathic vision; more dots than I can casually count paired with areas where the colours just cut out. I'm not surprised that the Controllers have ways of blocking it. In fact, it's reassuring that they haven't abandoned emotional spectrum technology completely. That means that it's a virtual certainty that they can make rings. I wasn't significantly worried about that, but it's nice to know that I don't need to.

My lantern has one last blast of orange light as the Ophidian pulls the tip of her tail free, then drops down to its usual levels of illumination. Doesn't.. look.. any the worse for wear. Good. I tighten my hold and accelerate upwards, generating a construct saddle just behind the Ophidian's head.

"You wish to ride me, my Agent?"

"It would probably make a stronger impression."

She bends, her head descending underneath me. Then she stops. "Let them never forget our arrival."

"Tally-ho, then."

The planet's surface wheels past as she dips her head again, then we're shooting forwards in a way which would have utterly terrified me a little over a year ago. The Ophidian wants to go somewhere and we're going there. It takes seconds before the atmosphere is being shoved aside by a faintly glowing orange barrier, then a handful more for the closer two hive cities to shoot by as we head towards our destination. More weapon locks every second and I'm fairly confident that the Ophidian doesn't have my scry immunity. I can see our target growing larger ahead and the Ophidian dips again, aiming herself between the largest rows of buildings. The Controllers' building is in the exact centre of the city now flashing past us, showing that they haven't completely abandoned the Guardians' ideas on order and structure.

We're moving too fast for my eyes to really pick up on individual things. The air cars are clearing the skies, but the Ophidian casually flows around any that haven't got the message. I see… Oh, those are the click click-click scrape clicks. They look a bit like armoured caterpillars, their forelegs and mandibles acting as manipulator appendages. Interesting.

Up ahead I see our ultimate destination, and… A single individual stands before the front entrance, arms folded behind his back. I'm assuming his based on the lack of breasts; my scan isn't showing me a thing. His robes are blue and red and show a courageous amount of thigh. His eyes seem to be blank white spaces while the glow from the talisman around his neck is matched by the glow from the centre of his forehead.

Finally. A Controller.

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July
03:14 GMT

The Ophidian slows, turning aside to fly into the space around the Controllers' building. As my saddle passes the point closest to the main entrance I unclamp myself and leap free, descending in a controlled manner towards the bottom of the steps leading up to it. The Controller's face is inscrutable, motionless but for the oscillation of the light coming from the dot on his forehead. I land lightly, keeping my eyes on the Controller as I begin walking up the steps.

What other traffic is in the area has come to a halt or is frantically pulling back in order to get out of the Ophidian's way. Having already completed a circuit of the building her head pulls upwards slightly for another circuit. Still no reaction from the Controller and no sign of any others. This isn't a sensible way to behave. If they think I'm a threat there should be more of them than this. If they've accepted my version of events they should have been a good deal friendlier.

On the other hand, these are the Guardians' cousins.

I reach the broad plaza before the entrance, the Controller about twelve metres away from me. Three steps later I stop, holding his gaze. Then I look upwards and slowly turn around, taking in our environment. The people of various species pressed to the overlooking windows or staring down from their air cars. Mostly -ugh- Clickers, but dozens of other species as well. Including a small group of three bald mauve-skinned humanoids with scalp tattoos. Unaligned Maltusians. Interesting.

I complete my circuit and return my gaze to the Controller. Then I bow my head and genuflect.

"Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four reporting for duty, sir."

The sense of yellow I'd been getting from our audience noticeably dips. Ring-based facial analysis -of the humanoids anyway- suggests curiosity and wonder. Perhaps they think the Controllers were expecting me? At least I don't appear to be seeking a fight.

…

How long is he going to-?

"Come."

There's a faint rustle from his robes as he turns, floating just above the ground. That's it? 'Come'? Well. Alright then. I come to my feet and raise my lantern high with my left hand.

"Ophidian. Return."

"Yes, my Agent."

She twists in the air, shrinking as she comes closer. The Controller slows in his passage, turning his head slightly to catch a glimpse of the Embodiment of Avarice flying back into my personal lantern.

No, he's not looking at the lantern. The lack of pupils makes it hard to tell-.

He looks away again.

My lantern flickers as the Ophidian completes her entry, some of the air cars around us resuming their journeys. Most seem content to watch me follow my nominal superior inside the Controllers' building. Through the entrance and… From this side there isn't a door. Very nice.

"I was hoping for a little more than a 'come'. You did get the ship I-."

"It was the property of the Guardians of the Universe. I assume that the wooden boxes were part of your species' funerary traditions."

"Yes. I didn't know anything-" He continues moving, floating up a slight of stairs towards a doorway on the first floor. "-about yours. It didn't seem inappropriate."

"We are above casual offence. Only a deliberate insult would be received as such."

"You got the Burning Martian?"

He stops. "A fascinating specimen."

"Would you like to add anything to that?"

"We had already parted ways with our Guardian brothers when those events occurred. Your missive implied that you were interested in undoing the damage to their planet. This may be possible."

"Good, because I was-" He starts moving away again. "-hoping to-" I try flying directly after him. And I can't, I just stop when I get a certain distance from the floor. Inwardly rolling my eyes I fly towards the stairs and try catching up. "-establish a working relationship. I'd like your advice on recovering the Orange Central Power Battery from-" He moves through a doorway and turns a corner. "-Larfleeze and will you please stop and listen?"

"You are not reporting to me."

"No, but I'm trying to? Did you not-" I turn the corner and he's a little way ahead. "-read the rest of my message? I want to establish a Lantern Corps to fight the Reach."

"That is not how we conduct our affairs. You are not my direct concern. You are the concern of one of my sisters. Approaching you without her would have been inappropriate."

"Okay, so, why didn't she come and talk to me?"

"Physical incapacity."

I'm right behind him as he turns through another doorway, leading us to… Some sort of high technology laboratory. I don't have any record of what most of this stuff does but the ring's picking up about seven different sorts of exotic energy-.

That I do know. That's a bleed portal generator. Those are pretty darn uncommon. Usually the aim is to get through the Bleed, not get into it directly.

Further in I see a bier… No, a medical station of some kind. Another Controller lies upon it, motionless. She's also wearing blue and red, not robes but simple trousers and pullover. Thin white hair is bound in a tight bun. There are screens around the bier, and I walk past the first Controller to get a better look.

"Can you read it?"

I nod. "Hinon Hee Hannanan. Controller. Researcher. Forger of.. rings..." Oh. My eyes widening, I hold up my left hand slightly. "She made this ring."

"Yes. Doing so without the Orange Central Power Battery undid her connection to the orange light. She has remained in this state ever since."

"How long-?"

"Long enough. If we are to work together, we will do so through her. She forged the ring you now wear as a sign of her hope in the future. She believed that a bearer would appear, and so you have. Restore her."

"And if I can't?"

"Then you are not worth our time."

Okay… I walk over to stand right next to her. If she's lost her connection to the orange light, clearly what she needs is a replacement. I look down at the ring she made for.. someone. Maybe, but I'm really rather attached to it.

"Original ring? Stewart ring? Separate file and charge reserve."

"Compliance." / "Task complete."

"Stewart ring, blank database. Original ring, copy all files you had before I woke up in space onto the Stewart ring."

"Task complete." / "Compliance."

I put my lantern down on the floor and pull the Stewart ring from my right ring finger. Fingers crossed. Gently as I can I take hold of her left hand and lift it from the bier, then slide the Stewart ring onto her middle finger before laying it back down.

A wave of orange light passes through her, her eyes slowly opening to take in my face.

She blinks, then tries focusing again.

Then she sees me.

Her face remains neutral as she considers me for a moment.

"You shall have to do."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July
03:19 GMT

"I'll do? I think I'll do rather better than-."

"What happened to the database?"

"W-? I deleted it."

Her body shimmers as she pushes herself into a sitting position. I offer her my now-ringless right hand but she ignores it in favour of staring at the ring I just gave her.

"Whatever for?"

"I didn't know why you were unconscious and I don't know enough about Controllers to be sure what would happen when I put that ring on you. I thought that only having the data-"

"This isn't the ring I made." She frowns at me. "Where did you get it?"

"I had to disarm a Green Lantern who was being mind controlled. He didn't want it back afterwards."

"Green… Lantern..? Oh, they finally got around to upgunning those Halla people." She looks past me to the other Controller. "Who are you?"

I frown. "Halla peop-? They discontinued the Halla three bill-."

"Ah-t!" She gives me a stern look. "Wait your turn." She points at the other Controller with her right forefinger. "You. Speak."

"We no longer commonly use names."

"Oh, that nonsense. I've no idea what Kontross was thinking. And… Robes." Another shimmer and outer robes matching the male's garments appear around her, though she keeps her simpler clothes underneath. "What did you used to be called?"

"Jevek Jos Jar."

"Oh! I remember you now." She leans a little closer. "I do hope that face isn't standard issue. I had enough of that when I was a Guardian."

"If you are comfortable with your present form, you are welcome to maintain it. The Gathering will wish to acknowledge your accomplishment when you have finished interrogating your test subject. I will leave you until then."

He turns away and drifts back towards the doorway… Which disappears once he has moved through it.

"And you." She eases herself off the bier and stands on the floor. "Why did you give me this purloined ring instead of my original one?"

"Because I've gotten rather fond of it."

"Hmmm."

"Do you want it back?"

She turns away and starts walking towards a piece of machinery whose function I.. have.. no idea how to discern. "No. You can keep it. It's yours."

Propriety unlocked.

My ring flickers for a moment, then stills. Um. Okay?

"Thank..? You..? Okay… Mister Jar said that you made this ring-" She begins checking the device over. "-using your own orange light because you didn't have access to the Orange Central Power Battery-."

"Partially correct. I thought that the risk associated with sustaining my consciousness without it was too great to make the attempt."

"Okay, and that's a Bleed portal… Did you just throw it in and hope for the best?"

"Not quite, but that's not far from the truth. Where are you from?"

"Earth… Prime."

"And whereabouts is that?"

"The unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm. In a parallel universe."

"Ah. I wasn't sure that would happen. Which one?"

"Prime…"

She looks around from the thing she's working on. "Using standard notation?"

"That's… The only name I've ever heard used for it."

"And no one had it before you?"

"If they did, I don't have any record of them. You didn't send it to me?"

"I cast it into the void. I did so on the basis that it had to eventually come out somewhere and as I am immortal I would live to see it. I wouldn't have been able to aim it anywhere even if I wanted to."

I sag slightly. "Darn."

"Concerned that you're not quite so special?"

"I've been unable to contact my home plane for a year. I was hoping that you'd be able to guide me back. At least… Temporarily."

"Not immediately, but I can put it on the slate for you. Now, come over here."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't seen many examples of people exposed to the orange light before. A handful of thieves and Krona aren't really-."

"Krona!?"

"Oh." She smiles. "Have you met him? We worked together on the power ring project."

"He used time travel technology to try and view the alpha event, saw a giant hand and somehow fucked up the universe's development. The Guardians stripped him of corporeality, but he still manages to make a nuisance of himself."

"Ugh, there's always one. Though, in retrospect, that makes his interest in orange in particular make a good deal more sense." She picks up the device. "Now, hold still."

"What does that do?"

"Since you still haven't given me a database I'm going to have to work out how you're staying so stable manually. It shouldn't hurt, but if it does-."

A construct yanks it out of her hands at the same time as I flick an orange data packet towards her ring. "Here! Just ask!"

She blinks, tiny flickers of orange flashing across her eyes. "Then how would I confirm that you still had the ability to give people things? I saw the recordings made by the Guardians who confronted the ones who stole the Orange Light Fountain. Clearly they had been overwhelmed. You -on the other hand- haven't tried to take anything or to turn me into a construct. And I've been needling you in case your control was fragile."

"It's not about control. It's about achieving unity with your desires and-."

"Yes. 'Enlightenment' you call it. What fascinating soul structures your species must have. And you don't have any trouble with it at all?"

"I have the Ophidian in my personal lantern!"

She smiles. "Good show. Now, why are you here?"

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July
03:23 GMT

"The Guardians have -at various times- reached the conclusion that there are groups whom… It's not that the Green Lantern Corps couldn't beat them. In most cases. It's that the casualties they'd take doing it and the devastation that would be unleashed are such that… They decide it isn't a good idea to take things that far. One such group are the Reach. As long as they capture systems through negotiation the Guardians won't stop them."

"You have a problem with that?"

"When the definition of 'negotiation' can be stretched to include drugging the planet's population so that they believe everything you say and when accession eventually results in the subjugated species being broken up for parts, yes."

"Oh dear. That wasn't a clever contract."

"I'm too far away from the time to judge it properly. In any case, the Controllers -via the medium of their Darkstar agents- are contesting the Reach's expansion. I think they could do better if they had a Lantern Corps to use either instead of or as well as."

"More to the point, we ourselves would be more powerful. But I'm not hearing why that matters to you."

"I have certain beliefs about the way the universe should operate."

"We've all got those. You still aren't-." Her eyes widen.

"What?"

"Nine. Only nine of them left."

"The.. Guardians? Yes."

"When we parted company there were thirty three. Even after the Manhunters did their level best to kill us." She winces, her right hand going to her forehead. "I should have.. realised that some of my old colleagues would have been killed. It simply shocks me that it's been so many."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

She lowers her hand. "You didn't know them well enough to be saddened by it." She twitches in irritation. "And they're all names and faces I recognise, they haven't recruited at all. Or had babies. Foolish."

"And that's one of the reasons why it's so important to put you on an equal footing. As peers, you could call them out on their follies. I tried asking my local Green Lanterns about what they would do if the last of the Guardians died and they couldn't come up with an answer."

"Yes, we're a stubborn people. But I think Ganthet at least would listen to me. What's in it for you?"

"Self-actualisation. I used a-."

"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Interesting concept, though I don't think it's accurate. Not for all species, at least."

"I used it as a tool. Early on, structuring my desires helped me cope with the orange light. The point is, having dealt with most of the basic things, I'm left with… Altering the universe to be more pleasing to me. The fact that places like the Reach exist does not please me. They destroy the sorts of things I value existing, affront ideals I hold to be true. And if what a few time travellers have told me is accurate, they'll be coming for my homeworld… Ah, Earth Sixteen-"

"You can use standard notation!"

"-is due to be invaded by them at… Some point. I like my homeworld. My friends live there. I keep my stuff there and we're doing some really interesting arcanotechnological research and development… I've invested in the place and I'm not having someone mess it up for me."

"You want to deal with them while they're someone else's problem because they'll eventually become yours."

"You could put it like that. I doubt that the species about to be overrun by the Reach will be all that fussed. Look, I thought I made a pretty good guess about what the Controllers would want out of this. Given that you can see how mentally stable I am I really don't understand why we're still discussing this."

"Because putting you on the back foot is advantageous to me."

I blink, my mouth opening slightly and then closing again. "Thank you for letting me know. "

"And I'm interested in the sort of person the ring I created found. I'll have a look, later. See if I can track down that 'Earth Prime' of yours."

"You see? A convergence of interests. We both want things and the other can supply them. This is how a properly composed Orange Lantern Corps should work."

She tilts her head slightly to the side. "You don't have the Orange Light Fountain yet. It's a little premature to speak as if this is a done deal. There were reasons why the Guardians were reluctant to press Larfleeze after he killed Ogandu Onna Oslan."

"Which is why I'm talking to you rather than just taking it from him." I frown. "And why are you calling it a Light Fountain?"

"Haven't you noticed how much smaller it is than the Green Central Power Battery? According to the database you acquired the Green Central Power Battery is fifteen metres tall. The device Larfleeze clasps to his bosom is little larger than a normal personal lantern. Did you think all that extra mass was decoration?"

"I… Hadn't really thought about it."

"The green light was… Least complicated. It did as we willed it. Even the Manhunters could use it without experiencing further.. disruption to their systems. And their emotional range was extremely limited." She turns away, heading towards another piece of equipment. "Our studies in harnessing the orange light were far less advanced. It certainly wasn't ready for… Ring application."

"What do the extra mechanisms do?"

"Oh, thousands of things. Stopping the power constantly radiating outwards, for a start. I see that Larfleeze has had some interesting… Visitors, over the millennia? We could also make the flow of power a little less… Corrosive to the minds of its users. Not.. completely. We focused our efforts on the green-" She reaches the device and waves at it, a shimmer passing through its numerous spines. "-light for good reasons."

I remember Richard and Jade's reactions. "That would be helpful. Would it help Larfleeze?"

"Would it-?" She turns to me with a frown. "Help. Larfleeze?"

"Would it?"

She blinks. "An immortal marinated on the orange light for three billion years with only his own madness for company?" Her face relaxes slightly. "It would make a fascinating case study, but I honestly have no idea. Perhaps…" She strokes her chin with her right hand. "If we created a shielded environment and weaned him off it…"

I take a neural chaff generator out of subspace and float it over to her. "I was thinking… If we used something like this? Interfered with his mind so he couldn't use his power, then stuck the Battery-. Ah, Fountain, in something that blocked it off..?"

The chaff generator shimmers and disappears, reappearing in front of her. "Hm. No, this wouldn't work on his brain. Not anymore. Still, it's not a bad approach. Assuming you don't want to try wresting it from his cold dead hands..?"

"Knowing his life story, I just feel sorry for him. If I had to kill him I'd do it. He's too much of a menace to leave as he is, regardless of other considerations. But if taking him alive is a possibility…"

Another shimmer, and the chaff generator opens up in an exploded view.

"What a fascinating device…"

"So..? Is this something we can work on together..?"

"Perhaps. I'm certainly interested. Tell me how you see our working relationship developing in future."

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July
03:27 GMT

"What, you and me?"

"I was rather thinking of you and the Lantern Corps you're intent on gifting us with. But yes, I rather imagine that I'll be taking a lead from the Controller side." She looks at me curiously. "Do you know why?"

"Social cachet from your gamble actually paying off. I'd…" I look away for a second as I consider it. "You're a post-scarcity society. You have been for virtually all of your history."

"No, there's always a scarcity of something."

"Not food, shelter or consumer goods. Not the things most species -even quite advanced ones- think of when they hear the term. Why are there so few of you?"

"We intentionally limited our expansion so that we wouldn't overrun the universe. Something that was well within our abilities. We stopped breeding voluntarily to give the rest of you a chance."

"So… You value… What? Influence? Creativity?"

"Influence, mostly. As a species… We never really got fiction." Her face creases up. "I don't know why. Heru once suggested that it was because we'd never needed myths to explain things… That seemed a bit 'neat' to me, but he might have been on to something."

"Power rings -and my orange one in particular- are your development. Which means that you've earned the right to.. control how this happens."

"Well done. Six out of seven."

"And out of nine?"

She narrows her eyes slightly. "You know about those, do you?"

"Three guesses where the Guardians put the-" I make the 'seven-lines-radiating-outwards' sign with my fingers. "-for safe keeping. And which has at least one person capable of tapping into the black?"

She sighs in frustration. "What a fascinating planet you come from."

"Live on. I come from the Prime version, remember?"

She waves it off and returns her attention to her equipment. "Bah, we're getting off topic. My plans for this depended a great deal on exactly who turned up. You've been planning this for a while and you know you better than I do. How do you want this to go?"

"Three other members of my species have worn orange rings. Two started exhibiting extremely unusual behaviour almost immediately. The third had a mission… I didn't have the opportunity to talk to him while he was wearing it. And the Gordanian Admiral had an attack of megalomania when he put one on. I'm concerned about how stable potential recruits will be. And I don't want Controllers handing out rings to create fire-and-forget weapons out of people who want the Reach destroyed more than they want to live."

"Not unreasonable. But there seems to be a war going on."

"I have a list of names. People I think might work well for the first batch of recruits. I would teach them my techniques myself, and be on hand to bring them down if they started going off the rails. Though from what you were saying, having a proper Central Power Battery might help with that. Perhaps… Most importantly, I've also got the name of a man whom I think could run the organisation."

"You don't want to do it, but you know a man who does."

"I think he will. I need to.. check some things. Once we've got the Central Power Battery secured. And… Once that's done, he can probably come up with a way to screen potential recruits for the right psychological characteristics better than I can."

She looks back at me for a moment. "I may possibly have something to add to that."

"Most of the species we'll be recruiting from weren't even sophonts when you were last awake. And he's going to want to know that he has control over the organisation which he's organising."

"I'm.. not.. sure.. I.. like.. where.. this is going."

"The way I see it, orange rings -and the people who use them- work best when they're doing what they want to. We won't be finding the most avaricious people we can, we'll be selecting those who want things useful to us. Someone who wants to be in charge is going to want to be in charge."

"And what do you think we Controllers are going to do? Sit around looking pretty?"

"In theory, anyone with a connection to the orange light can make new rings. But it isn't quite that easy, is it?" She gives her head a small shake. "Larfleeze has piles of rings, but they all used to be people. We'll-."

"Except for the prototype Krona and I created. The very first orange ring. Bit of a kludge job, to be honest. We never thought that we'd use it in the field."

"Does it have any special abilities?"

"No! It was a first effort! I'd be embarrassed to see it now. No AI worth talking about, no control assistance… I'm much more pleased with the one I made for you."

"In future, you'll have the other Controllers to assist you. But my point was, your hold over the Corps comes from the fact that they need you for rings and guidance as well as everything you-. Ah, the other Controllers do for the Darkstars now."

"Unless you do that. I can feel the Ophidian in your personal lantern."

"Even better! You're very useful to them, they're very useful to you, but if relations totally break down you can both survive. Weakened by the separation, until you get over yourselves and patch relations over."

"You don't want us being in total control?"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Did you miss the nameplate on the door when you came in? I can't see the Guardians accepting that sort of deal with their Corps."

"Is it better for your ego to have people follow you because they have no choice, or for them to have a choice and choose to follow you? And in any case, I like to think that the Controllers still have the social skills necessary to negotiate the power arrangement."

"I wouldn't be so quick to overestimate us. We used to be Guardians, remember?"

"And then there's the Darkstars-."

"Who are used to us being in charge and will probably provide the majority of our recruits."

"I was going to say, who will need a new focus. And who don't have much direct contact with the Controllers save via their Director. They run virtually all operations themselves because that's the only practical way to do it. If the war was going to come more into the open… Well. You Controllers are capable of reshaping planets. How quickly can you build warships?"

"A good deal faster than we can now if we could replenish ourselves from a Central Power Battery." She looks pensive for a moment. "It's not a terrible idea. I'll want to talk to this Director-."

"Clarissi."

"Hah! Very well. This Clarissi candidate. Because your whole plan rather falls through if they can't hack it."

"Reasonable. Now, about Larfleeze…"

 

[Mr Zoat]

17th July
03:27 GMT -5

"…nice to meet a couple who are so open in their love for one another."

I watch the devices Scott is waving at me as I lie back in what feels unnervingly like a dentist's chair. I've never really had much of a fear of dentists, but I used to deal with the discomfort of having them prod and poke at the interior of my mouth by going completely limp. Now, that isn't happening.

"Uh-huh."

Barda isn't the tough-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside type. She's tough the whole way through, and having Ghia'ta chirping at her about her one emotional 'indulgence' isn't doing much to improve the usually surly attitude she adopts when forced to spend any time in my presence. Still, after 'still in love with his dead wife', 'in love with a woman who'll be spending the rest of her life in a supermax prison' and… My own… I suppose it's only fair that I show her a relationship that's actually working as it's supposed to.

To be honest, I'm not totally sure where I'm going with Ghia'ta. She has the potential to be tremendously useful, particularly if my ultimate plan is going to revolve around white light manipulation. Or just generally; that staff isn't a power ring but it's only one step down, and her combat skills are notable. I wonder if she can learn to use New God-.

"Ping!"

Scott glances at his Mother Box, then back at me.

"Alright Scott, what's the news?"

"You're recovering pretty well, actually. I was pretty sceptical about your violet light infusion, but it actually looks like it's really helped."

I nod sagely. "You see-."

"Though it was still pretty stupid." He leans back against a nearby bench, folding his arms across his chest. "You should have asked me to come along and check what they were going to do. Zamarons might be ancient and wise but they don't know New Gods like I do."

"Scott, that was an act of desperation and confusion. I clearly wasn't thinking straight."

"Should the fact that your instinctive response was to dash off without the guy who spent two weeks putting you back together make me feel better? Or worse?"

"Ahhh." I dip my eyes for a moment. "You… Have a point."

"When you first greeted me as your brother, I was pretty sceptical. And Barda…" He glances at his wife, who raises her eyebrows a little. "She was fairly sceptical too."

"I thought I was growing on her, after our sparring sessions. Though I suppose that may have been the concussion."

"My point is, if you want us to have an actual family relationship… You're going to have to trust me with a few things."

"I-. I do. I'm not… Used to having family I can trust either. Not… New God family. I mean… When I was on… Earth Prime…" Can't honestly say I had a particularly close relationship with my sister, either. We didn't get on badly or anything, just… Not much in common. I nod. "Okay… You have a reasonable point."

Scott looks up a the ceiling for a moment. "That wasn't as painful as I thought it would be."

"If you're missing that Apokoliptian flavour we could beat each other with pain sticks for a while… Though even.. now I'm still quite a bit stronger than you." Barda shifts slightly, a thin smile on her lips. "Probably not… Stronger than her…"

"Let's not. Look, Zatara tells me that you've got some kind of Vampire/Succubus hybrid in your mountain."

"Yes, I picked them up on an island-."

"And you're trying to teach them how to rise above their instincts."

"Yes?"

He sighs. "To free themselves from themselves?"

I flop back, my head hitting the headrest. "Ooooooh. Damn." "Ah. Sorry. That… Should have occurred to me… But it didn't." Um. "Are you free now?"

He bows his head, smiling. "I can be. But in the interests of honesty-."

"The Justice League want us to spy on you." Barda nudges Ghia'ta aside as she walks closer. "They want to be sure that you're not up to something."

I roll my eyes. "Yes, Barda, getting Anti-Lifed was all part of my master plan. You might want to avoid eating any jelly babies for the next few months."

She doesn't look impressed. "They'd probably be less worried if Darkseid hadn't paid you a visit. You nearly destroyed the whole Light perfectly, then you misjudged Darkseid. What happened to you could have happened to everyone."

"What Barda means is-."

"No, she's being pretty clear." I nod. Not as if I had anything critical planned that I need to hide from the League. "Alright. A bit of fraternal bonding wouldn't go amiss. And… In the interest of deepening our relationship… There's… Something I've been planning on doing for a while for which your help would be invaluable."

Scott looks mildly interested. "Oh? What's that?"

"I destroyed Father Box for betraying me to Darkseid. Thus: I need a new Box."

"Ping!"

"Alright, if you want to be pedantic about it: I'd like a new Box."

Scott strokes his chin with his right hand. "Any Box you got from Apokolips would have the same loyalty problem as the one you stole from Desaad. And I don't think you can really afford to steal one from New Genesis."

"That would be sub-optimal anyway. What I really want is a Box designed for me from the ground up." I smile faintly as I look from Scott to Barda. "I understand that you're both acquainted with their creator."

"You want Himon to make-?" Scott seems to find the idea amusing. "That's not going to happen."

"Why not? I mean, I can manufacture element x, which I don't imagine is easy for him to do on Apokolips. I can.. pay him." Scott and Barda glance at each other. "Oh, come on, the guy helped the flipping Captain of the Female Furies escape Apokolips and his daughter married Orion. I somehow don't think that he'll hold Darkseid against me."

"You can't go to Apokolips." Barda appears to be taking the idea seriously. "With that much Anti-Life in you, Darkseid will know the moment you step through the hush tube."

"Then it's a good job my brother is the sneakiest New God in existence, isn't it?"

Scott nods to himself. "Grayven having a Mother Box would help with-." Barda narrows her eyes at him. "It would. A Mother Box could monitor him to make sure Darkseid wasn't influencing him. She might even be able to work out how to exorcise the Anti-Life fragment completely."

"Ping!"

"Yes, I know it's optimistic, but it's possible. Okay. We just need to get in touch with Amazing Grace and then-."

I frown. "Why would you want to do that?"

"She's a resistance organiser. Himon has to move constantly to stay ahead of Darkseid's troops, but-."

"Wait no wait.. no. Amazing Grace is a plant. Darkseid has her draw people willing to resist him to her so that he can kill them and use their deaths as an intimidation tool." Scott and Barda stare at me. "She's completely loyal to him. I.. thought you knew that."

Barda's jaw tightens. "No. We didn't."

"Well… Shit." Um. "You have to-."

Scott nods. "We'll need your hush tube. Let's go!"

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
21:04 GMT

"…understand that 'indenture' is one of those words that puts me on edge. Particularly given who we're fighting."

There's a sort of.. wave of motion from the upper legs of the Clicker opposite me. Comprehension/appreciation. "Were you told what they did for us?"

Hinon went into closed session with her fellow Controllers, which gave me the time to do a little sight-seeing. Then I got to try finding a hotel on a planet that doesn't have tourism, which was mildly amusing. Then I found out that Director Jeddigar wanted to talk to me, but couldn't get in touch because no one knew where I was. And I only found that out by walking through the front doors of the Darkstar headquarters.

"A little while afterwards, yes."

"Please restate as you understand?"

"Your species used to have four sexes, three involved in reproduction and.. neutral, without any significant reproductive attributes. Your reproductive genders generally lived about a third to a quarter as long as the neutrals, and represented about one hundredth of your total population."

"Greater genders also reached physical maturity faster and lost mental acuity well before their final expiration age."

I nod. My current conversational companion is the veteran Darkstar who got the job of babysitting me until the Director becomes available. Perhaps most importantly, he-. Um. Oh, let's go with 'he'. Perhaps most importantly, he also gave me a Darkstar communications device, as it turns out that most Darkstar communications occur using techniques that are rather hard to eavesdrop on with a power ring.

"Okay. And your people regarded that as perfectly normal until you started encountering aliens… Humanoid aliens, whose reproductive systems didn't work like that."

"Yes. Strange though the idea of having live young erupt from your bodily orifices must have seemed, it was realised almost immediately that not condemning our progenitors to mind-rot and premature death was far more desirable than the arrangement we had."

"It was really that quick?"

"Yes. Why would it not be?"

"Because your evolutionary history would have adapted you towards accepting the way you did things already? I mean, your genetic-. Ah, your forebears' genetic parents didn't play any part in raising them, the way you did things was necessary for continuing your species…"

"Did your species never suffer deaths during childbirth?"

"Yes, but the rate was never that high."

"And did you regard a percentage as inevitable?"

"It… Kind of is."

"But you attempt to reduce them? Things that would have killed your gestators now seldom kill them?"

"Yes, but we haven't totally reengineered our reproductive systems to do it. We don't even do pre-conception genetic screening anything like as much as we could."

He rears back slightly. "That is strange to me. What is the reason?"

"I think the feeling is that it would be claiming that people with the characteristics not selected for are… Less people than the ones with the characteristics considered desirable. I mean…" I wave my left hand in a circle, showing off my power ring. "I'd have no compunction about using it if I were having a child, but… Some events that occurred in my species' history before we understood how genetics work rather gave that sort of thing a bad name. But… Anyway, how did your people get from that to this?"

"Originally we attempted to moderate the negative effects through drugs and surgery. There was some success, but there were clear limits to what could be achieved. Later, our efforts focused around reproductive cloning. Though not ideal, cloning either adult individuals or sex cells would have removed the requirement for sexed genders. Regrettably, we were unable to develop either technique to the point where it could reliably replace the existing method."

"Then you ran into the Controllers?"

"Yes. Their agents were looking for systems with small rocky worlds and they encountered one of our smaller warrens. We asked to trade for biotechnological knowledge. Two Controllers examined our problem and offered a solution."

"In exchange for your service."

"They have no need for conventional exchange media. In exchange for a reproductive system which would not kill us, we work for them for a span of time. Virtually all warrens considered it a fair exchange."

"That…"

"Are you alarmed? Some humanoid species react with great vehemence to interference in their reproductive practices."

"If you made the decision freely… No, not really. It must be fascinating how your society has changed in the interim."

"Our forebears gave the matter some considerable thought-"

There's a chime from both of our communicators.

"-before…" I rise to my feet as he uncurls into a walking posture. "The Director is ready for you. Please follow me."

He leads the way across the wide open interior space towards the internal teleportation system. While it is perfectly possible to walk around the building, the place is large enough that it would be too time consuming for the people involved. They also don't have stairwells or stairs, ramps between different floors being the norm. Probably something to do with the Clickers being the ones to build it.

"Will you be joining us?"

Flying inside appears to be a no-no. Clicker bodies aren't flexible enough to move in the way that caterpillars do, but on an even surface they can manage to move at a reasonable speed by having each foot touch the ground every third or fourth 'step', sort of like how running Humans don't have either foot on the ground for large parts of the motion.

"No, though I am being assigned to the analytics pool who will be trying to deduce what the Reach's response to your appearance will be."

"I.. hope you have fun with that."

He circles around as I step onto the teleporter. "I might. Usually new occurrences are not in our favour. Good fortune in your discussions."

I feel a tug a little like the one I felt as the ship came in, and then the room has been replaced by an office. The Director is standing at a small console in front of a circular holopit, another Controller part of the way around the circle. This Controller is dressed similarly to Jevek Jos Jar, but his robes are slightly longer and.. he has a greater physical presence. Perhaps he works out? No, more likely he maintains it through bio-control because he has to deal with fighters on a regular basis.

Noting the symmetry I walk over to a position an equal distance from both. "Director. Controller."

Director Jeddigar's eyes scrutinise my face. "Orange Lantern. Thank you for coming to see us."

"It's only sensible. I imagine that we're going to be working together quite a lot for the foreseeable future."

He nods, summoning up an image of the fight with Yellow Beetle. "You and Tarant made short work of that Scarab Warrior, but I wouldn't get too confident. From what we've been able to determine, she was probably a recent recruit. Certainly, she wouldn't ever have fought a Lantern before."

"If fighting the Reach with a power ring was easy, the Green Lantern Corps would have done it."

"Just so long as you understand that." He glances at the Controller. "This is Manu Mia Mosopo, the founder of the Darkstar organisation."

"Yes, I've gained… Some understanding of how that works in Controller society."

"I am glad." His voice sounds slightly… African, perhaps? "My interest therefore is how the organisation you hope to build and the one which I have built will exist together. I do hope that you have thought about it."

"But of course."

 

[Mr Zoat]

18th July
21:09 GMT

"Firstly, I should say that doing… The possibility of doing anything with orange light is going to depend on us being able to neutralise Larfleeze. And while Hinon Hee Hannanan sounded fairly optimistic about our chances, I wouldn't want you to assume anything."

"Of all of us, she is most familiar with the orange light. If she believes that it can be done then she is most likely correct."

"If you don't mind me asking, sir? Why haven't you gone after the Orange Central Power Battery before now?"

"It was stolen from our research centre after our split from the Guardians. If it is true that they located it and chose to allow him to keep it, they did not share that information with us."

"I'm pretty sure that I included its location on the file I sent you with the Guardian's ship."

"Yes. Along with a warning on the nature of its current owner and a recommendation that we not investigate it ourselves. I do not know what you were expecting, but we Controllers are not incapable of taking advice."

"And it was Hinon's thing."

"Waiting until she could be consulted was judged to be appropriate."

"I would be fascinated to know what the Guardians said about it."

"That they stood by the decision. That the orange light is inherently unstable and should not be used directly in the manner you intend. And that once we split from them we lost the right to be involved in their decision-making."

"Hm." I nod. "They don't intend to prevent you trying though, right?"

"They have never had the right to be involved in our decision-making."

"Fair enough." I return my attention to the Director. "If we assume that Controller Hinon and I are going to be back on Maltus in a few days with a Central Power Battery, I'd like your organisation to run psychological checks on its members for individuals who might be capable of using the orange light without going crazy. Hinon is probably better placed than me to describe what the precise trigger factors are. Once we have a list, we can request volunteers and start testing and training."

"And if they are people in vital roles in my organisation?"

"Then.. you.. should be glad that people who you know and have worked with will be playing such an important role in setting up an allied organisation. If Green Lantern recruitment is anything to go by a vanishingly small proportion of people possess the right mindset to use power rings. I'm not trying to poach your best and your brightest, I'm trying to get anyone who can use orange rings and stay sane. You just happen to have a large pool of well-trained people with detailed psychological profiles who are already motivated to fight the Reach."

The Director gives me a shallow nod. "That's… Reasonable. And how do you see these new Lanterns supporting my Darkstars in combat?"

"I don't know exactly what sort of Lantern-detection technology the Reach have. Lanterns are good at large effects, but giant glowing constructs are terrible for concealment. On the other hand, Lanterns can fight Beetles one on one."

"We could deploy a Darkstar infiltration team with a single power ring trained Operative. If they encountered a Scarab Warrior they could put the ring on and kill them, but otherwise carry on as normal."

I shake my head. "That would work… And maybe in the short term that's what we'll do. But in the longer term there are other things Lanterns can do that.. even your current generation maxim suits can't. Look, Darkstars are very good at getting onto worlds coming under or about to come under Reach control and operating there for extended periods. Heck, even attacking their naval docks further in upon occasion. But they don't have the power to fight off an actual attack, let alone push the Reach back."

"Do you know how many Lanterns it would require to do that?" He presses a button and a map of the Reach appears. "How big the Reach is?"

"Yes. And I know that we'd never get enough Lanterns to do it in time. But something I've discovered about orange rings-" My armour appears around me and I phase out and go invisible for a moment before reappearing. I take a cold gun and a purple healing ray out of subspace and brandish them. "-is that we can use them to build things. If we're going to take the war to the Reach, we're going to need a fleet. And a proper army."

He narrows his eyes slightly as he considers it. "We have ships now."

"Ships for transporting Darkstars and performing ambushes of opportunity. I'm talking about building up to the point where we can fight them openly and directly. It's an entirely different philosophy of design and action."

"If we press the Reach on one front they'll simply fortify and expand elsewhere."

I wave my left hand, an image of the worlds around Reach space appearing around the hologram. "Then we build up everywhere. We share technology, we police potential defectors-."

"If I had the people to do that I'd already be doing it."

"So we get them. Darkstars require very specific training, instruction and equipment. To say nothing of Controllers personally empowering their exo-mantles."

"That will become less draining once we have a Central Power Battery with which to replenish ourselves."

"A standard navy won't have that problem. We can pass technology to worlds under Reach threat… Not immediately threatened, but in the next decade or so. Build them up and coordinate them."

"A division of responsibility. Each part doing the thing it can do best while coordinating with the rest."

"Somewhat optimistically, yes. The Darkstars would keep doing what they do best-."

"While no longer being put into situations where they need to do things which they cannot." He nods slowly. "I admit, I had been preparing myself to compete with you and your Lantern Corps."

And nothing I said had anything to do with me seeing that clearly with empathic vision, no not at all.

"But this sounds like an arrangement I can support. Tell me, do you have someone in mind for organising this fleet?"

"Yes. But I'm holding off on making contact with him until after we get control of the Orange Central Power Battery, because without it we're not in a position to create the post."

"And what place is there in your grand vision for we Controllers?"

"We'll need rings, ships and equipment. And I understand that you can reshape matter on vast scales."

"I can accept that in good humour. But I imagine that my brethren will want an organisation they can control."

"Except they defer to you on matters concerning the Darkstars, and to Controller Hinon on matters concerning me. We're fighting a fight they want fought, one which will earn them the acclaim that the Green Lantern Corps has earned the Guardians. If they wanted operatives incapable of having their own initiative then they shouldn't have voted to destroy the Manhunters."

The gem on his chest crackles slightly. "I would recommend not making that particular observation to the other Controllers."

"I shouldn't need to make it. Give good orders and people will follow them. Demonstrate sagacity and people will listen to what you have to say. Do things for people and they will feel grateful. Do not demand obedience as your right; show that you've earned it and continue to earn it."

"I should meet with this.. 'individual' you have in mind for Grand Admiral as soon as possible. With you as head of the Orange Lantern Corps-."

I shake my head. "Ah, no. I don't have the administrative skills for that. I can teach other Lanterns and I can fight, but the job requires abilities I don't have. I was planning to recruit someone for that as well."

"Very well. You have my provisional support. I will begin the vetting process you requested."

"Thank you."

Now all I need to do is defeat Larfleeze. And how hard can that be?

 

[Mr Zoat]

20th July
17:48 GMT

"So how hard is this going to be?"

We're standing at the entrance to a small amphitheatre, the stalls around us populated by Controllers. I'm not completely sure whether this is all of the Controllers, or just all the ones on Maltus or even just the ones who could be bothered to turn up. Most look roughly like Controller Jevek, though there is a degree of individual variation. Longer robes and slightly softer face here, shorter and with hair there. Skin colour ranges from Guardian blue to purply-red and hair comes in black and white with nothing in between.

The general style of the robes appears to be set, but precise length, cut and colouration vary in a number of cases. The glowing crystal and glowing forehead are universal, though the one Controller Hinon wears is dimmer as she draws power from her ring. There are far more males than females… But I'm wondering if some of those I mentally designated as 'male' are actually gender neutral.

"I really couldn't say for certain." Hinon looks down at her ring. "Oh, if only Ganthet was answering me. We always worked so well together."

"Sorry, but I think they blacklisted orange rings."

"I'll go and bother him in person later. We will need to send a formal deputation once everything's up and running, and I do so want to see what they've done with Oa since I've been gone."

"Made lots of green stuff."

"But all of the people! I find it astonishing to think that they're prepared to tolerate an actual population when-. Oh, they're ready for us." The portal melts away in front of us to allow us access. "Follow me."

She floats through the air, feet trailing a little behind her as she goes. I fly after her while maintaining my upright posture. I didn't think that armour was appropriate, but with my initial impression made I've switched to grey robes with orange trim. I've only met a few of the Controllers while I've been here, and I'm not… I left Earth after haranguing the Justice League. Superman has been the iconic superhero on Earth Prime since the forties and I didn't think twice. So while even Guy hesitates to make cracks about the Guardians, to me? They're.. just some people in robes.

Maybe I'd feel differently if they weren't jamming my empathic vision…

Hinon occupies the centre and looks up and around at her fellow Controllers. "Brethren. You've all had the chance to consider the matter under contention. The Orange Lantern and I have given the matter a considerable degree of thought, and we believe that we have a methodology which offers us the best possible chance to recover the Orange Light Fountain. And neutralise its present owner."

There's a flash from the gem at the neck of one of the blue-skinned female Controllers. "The Guardians?"

Jevek's gem glitters. "What does it matter? The Vega Systems have been off-limits to the Green Lanterns since their inception. And now we know why." He looks around the room. "The light will be ours. The Controllers will be in control."

Another flicker from another Controller. "The continuous presence of Green Lanterns on the borders of Reach space slows the Reach advance. It would be advantageous for them to remain."

Another. "Alienating our Guardian brethren would serve no useful purpose, but it is a secondary matter. The orange light must be recovered and put to our use."

One of Jevek's look-alikes. "How do you intend to remove the Orange Light Fountain from Larfleeze's control? Your equations indicated that after so much direct exposure he will have become even more powerful than he was when he enslaved our brother Ogandu Onna Oslan."

"I'm glad you ask." Hinon raises her right hand and generates… I think that's the Maltus version of Atlantean rune equations. "I won't know for certain until we can observe him directly, but I believe that I have a model for how Larfleeze could survive his experiences, even remaining capable of coherent speech. The most likely possibility is that he had what we might call a natural affinity for avarice, for seeing everything in terms of wants and needs. Without anything very much to get in the way of it, the orange light could form a most intense bond with him. At this point I'm not certain he needs either ring or lantern."

A glimmer from Jevek. "But his link can be severed."

"Yes. With difficulty. Over time. In the short term we're going to attempt to neutralise his capacity to focus his desires on any one object, and so paralyse him. That should enable us to transfer the Light Fountain into a proper Central Power Battery housing."

"And we can control the link. Cut him off."

"Perhaps. Eventually. If we actually want to do that, we'd have to wean him off it and then feed in other colours gradually. It wouldn't be a quick process."

I form an orange gem on my own chest and forehead and flash it before anyone else can get in. "Yes, we do want to. Orange light damage is something we're going to end up having to treat amongst Orange Lanterns. We don't need crazy ones running around the place and making the rest of us look bad. Anything we learn from treating the worst case in existence would be invaluable in that regard."

"If it is inevitable, how did you manage?"

"I didn't-."

"Very weak desires, possibly aided by his lack of an attendant arcane construct. There was so little opportunity for the egress of orange energy that he had nearly enough time to learn to channel it without being overwhelmed." She brings up another chart. Me, presumably. "Then he had a construct created in such a way that it would encourage proper interfacing. Unfortunately, for those future Lanterns not fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time in high magic regions, it won't be practical to use it on others."

And also because you'd need to destroy their existing souls in order to do so.

"Larfleeze's current slaves?"

"Once we disrupt him, he should become listless and apathetic. He won't be able to direct them."

"I would very much like to see if restoring them is possible. If nothing else, Ogandu Onna Oslan's restoration to flesh would assist us in maintaining good relations with the Guardians."

Various Controllers look around the room, and there's a shining of gems.

Then a short, Guardian-looking one nods. "We have a consensus. You are to proceed. We will begin constructing a Central Power Battery and holding cell in line with your specifications."

Hinon looks pleased. "Thank you, brothers. The Orange Lantern and I will make our final preparations and depart."

She turns and heads back towards the door, me close at her heels. She eyes me sidelong as the door closes. "I thought you weren't going to talk."

"You told me not to. It isn't quite the same thing."

"Starting as you mean to go on?"

"Yes. I told you that I don't intend for the Controllers to completely control the Orange Lantern Corps in the way that the Guardians do the Green."

"And I agreed that their sort of control wouldn't work with orange light users. But we need to lure the other Controllers into accepting that situation. Tempt them into committing to it fully."

I give my head a small shake. "What's left to do?"

"I want to check the system with the Ophidian once more. Then, nothing. We're off to see the Beast."

"'We'? I thought you were keeping out of sight?"

She pats me on the shoulder. "I'll be with you in spirit. Ready to begin again more intelligently if you lose."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

 

[Mr Zoat]

21th July
02:57 GMT

Space bends around-.

"Are you sure you wouldn't-?"

"I'm sure."

03:04 GMT

Space bends-.

"I'm perfectly capable of-?"

"I know."

03:21 GMT

"You did say that it took you mere moments-?"

Space continues to bend around us, despite Hinon trying to be a back seat Controller.

"Yes. It did. I had been waiting to come and see you for a long time and the Reach represented the perfect mix of acceptable targets and no one I knew being in the firing line. My drive to return for a showdown with Larfleeze is much weaker."

"I would have thought that you would want to get it out of your way."

"Not really. On two occasions I have outthought Larfleeze, now I'm deliberately confronting him in a situation where I can't do that and where his advantages are strongest."

"I will eat the Gnat!"

"Not a good idea. I still don't really understand how he trapped you in the first place, but I would not want to rely on a technique we suspect that he can beat." Hinon looks around from where the Ophidian swims through space just behind us. "I don't remember her being that affectionate."

"Remember? You.. met her before?"

"Yes. Krona insisted on studying each of the Embodiments. We didn't find them all… Though, now that I consider what he's been up to while I was indisposed, perhaps he just didn't tell the rest of us."

"I do not remember you."

"I didn't look quite as I do now. I wore my hair long. And-."

"Warp terminating in three, two, one."

Normal space snaps back into being around us. We're just a little outside of the Moat. Ring update-.

"It seems that your recent travails remain largely unnoticed. Pirates are staying calm and the Citadel isn't doing much of anything. Oh, my word, this region used to be a lot quieter. There's some lovely music coming out of-."

"What are you… Doing?"

"Getting out and about for the first time in three billion years. I've already reviewed everything on the database you gave me." She looks me in the eyes. "You know that party trick some AIs like to do to show off to organic creatures, processing a few hundred lines of communication all at the same time?"

"The AIs I've met have been patterned after Humans."

"Ah. Well, one of the many things we Maltus-originating groups can do is process data in a similar way. Not multi-threading so much as multifaceted awareness. We're rather clever, you see."

"So you just..?"

"Checked out the entire region, yes. Except the area on Okaara you warned me about. It's so convenient to be facing people who aren't quite so good at countering our technology as the Reach are."

"The Construct-Lanterns?"

"A few are still loitering around Hny'xx, but as far as I can tell the rest have gone back to Okaara."

"And Larfleeze isn't reacting to the Ophidian?"

"Not so far as I can tell. I think my device is working." An orange line appears in space. "Check for me?"

I fly past the line, then turn around and raise my left hand. "Scan for orange light."

"Not found."

And I can see the Embodiment of Avarice just behind Hinon. Whatever that device is doing it isn't blocking my empathic vision… Any more than she was by default, at least.

"And visible light?"

"Power ring-like object and Ophidian-like object found."

"I wasn't trying to stop visible light. Now, come on." She flies past me. "We have a Light Fountain to acquire."

"People on my homeworld can do that with a bit of paper and a circuit pen."

"People from your homeworld should try doing that in a low magic environment. My device-" She holds up the machine, which resembles two glowing metallic Frisbees stuck together. "-should function anywhere."

"Alright. Ring, plot course for Okaara."

"Course plotted."

"Warp."

Space bends again, and a moment later Okaara lies before us.

"Doesn't look like much."

"They had a nuclear war. And a Larfleeze. I got the impression that several challengers stopped off in various places to get some practice in."

"And Larfleeze lives.. down.. there."

"Even during what is now referred to as 'The Time of X'Hal', no one dared launch weapons anywhere near it. There are a few plant species that survive there that no longer exist anywhere else on Okaara."

"Yes, so I see. If everything goes wrong, try not to destroy them. Now." She passes me a device which looks a little like a pair of headphones. "Put this on Larfleeze when you reach him. That should keep him in a daze until we can come back for him. Getting the Orange Light Well is your only objective."

"I know. Alright, wish me-."

"Oh." Something occurs to her. "And thank you for not making any Sleeping Beauty references. I understand that they're culturally expected, but I used to be a Guardian and I fear that my sense of humour will never quite recover."

"Ah..."

"Off you go. Shoo. I'll be waiting for you outside to receive Larfleeze."

"Right. Although, in case I do die... I think that I'm glad that you're not still a Guardian." She gives me a look of mild reproach. "Going."

I drop towards the planet, the thin air around me burning as I fall towards the small fort the Okaarans maintain to observe the Forest of Weeds.

 

[Mr Zoat]

21th July
03:52 GMT

Invisible and phased I float through the Forbidden Forest of Weeds. No sign that anyone has been this way… Ever. It turns out that it's called the Forbidden Forest of Weeds because a plant that is a combination of ivy and Japanese Knotweed covers… Pretty much the whole place. And it pretty much defines the ecosystem as well; just glancing around I can see four different types of creepy crawly feeding on it or cutting through it for building material. As far as I can tell it attaches itself parasitically to the local tree-analogs somewhere near the top and then drapes down, wrapping itself around anything it can reach. It's extinct everywhere else on the planet.

Lovely place. The way the canopy of leaves and vines almost completely blocks out the light really adds to the ambience.

I think I'm dithering, but at least I'm dithering with a purpose. The fort told me where the 'orange ghosts' usually appear from, but no one knows exactly where Larfleeze lives due to him killing everyone who comes looking for him. His presence here predates the Time of X'Hal and while they could do geophysics scans… Why poke the monster? I'm not using ring-scans for much the same reason.

I remember from the comics that the Controllers brushed aside a group of Okaarans on their way in, then went through the Forest and into a cave complex. Assuming the people in the fort were the same as the ones they barged through in the comic that was another example of Maltusian-descendant highhandedness. All I had to do was ask. They're not here to stop people, just give warning to the rest of the planet of anything Larfleeze does.

Thinking about it, that might well have been what killed the Controllers' comic counterparts as well. If they'd thought to stop and ask, they would have gained some idea of what they were walking into. Then again, if they'd done that they might have lost their Worf Effect awa-.

I see a flicker of orange through the foliage. I stop dead, increasing my armour's magnification…

That's a weird one. Sort of… Undead Battle-Dragonfly-Wasp? It appears to be drifting somewhat aimlessly, its construct-body rippling slightly as it phases through the tree trunks. I'm not seeing any other orange light… I could try usurping Larfleeze's control-. No. Ah. It came from that direction, so I'll try that way. At least I can check whether my stealth systems are achieving anything.

I drift closer. Its flight pattern isn't so much erratic as odd, swooping in one direction and then stopping dead before reorientating and surging into a swoop in the new direction. An apparently random movement causes it to head towards me and I float back, tensing as its… Is that a head? I don't have a record of this species and it isn't immediately obvious where its sensory organs are. One, two… And it carries on its way.

Okay. Scry wards are a problem for other people as well, good to know.

Ring, if you can do it using visible light scans only, try and work out if there's any pattern to how it's flying.

Compliance.

So this way.

I accelerate, not even flinching as I pass through trees and vines. Come on, caves, tunnels… Some sort of building..? There aren't that many areas within the Forest that should have caves. Wrong sort of soil and rock for the most part. On the other hand, it wouldn't have been hard for Larfleeze to just transmute whatever was around him… Ugh, a proper stealth search of this place could take days. I can't go faster in case I miss something and I can't do wide area scans in case Larfleeze picks up on it.

Some sort of ridgeline up ahead, the vines trailing down its side turning what looks like a sheer slope into something that would probably be climbable. Assuming that the vines held. I'll break away from my search pattern to look along its entire length, and then circle…

That bit looks darker than the rest.

Might just be a natural cleft in the rock, but I need to take a closer look. I alter my approach angle and accelerate again, moving through the outer layers of still-living vine, through the dead and hardened layer serving as their support framework and…

The passageway within is roughly-hewn, the floor covered in loose soil with a few ragged plants trying to grow in the faint light which pierces the vine-curtain. No orange. Ring, visible light enhancement.

Compliance.

The passageway continues downwards and to the right. If there were once steps here they've been eroded down or covered over long ago, but the fact that the cave moves steadily in a particular direction suggest that this isn't a natural tunnel. Could be a large creature of some kind, but there aren't any of that sort native to Okaara and I imagine that Larfleeze would have killed it by now anyway.

Accelerate.

The passageway continues for about fifty metres and then starts to head downwards at a steep incline. From the look of the rocks making up the side wall I'd say that whoever made it was trying to go around a patch of harder rock. Maybe it… Originally followed the path of natural caves and then got widened out? I'm definitely well below the surface level now. Yes, this is… Going to be it. Somewhere at the end of this tunnel is Larfleeze and the Orange Central… Light Fountain. I'm a little surprised that I'm not feeling drawn to it, but I genuinely can't feel a thing-.

I notice that I'm slowing down and make an effort to speed up.

The end of the passage ahead is dark, and I briefly wonder if it's a dead end. I'd be surprised, but...

No. Not a dead end.

The cavern-. No, the chamber beyond the end of the tunnel is vast in all dimensions. There are shallow stone stairs leading downwards to the floor twenty metres below me, and from there great pillars rise up a good sixty metres to support the chamber roof. The walls themselves have crumbled in places to reveal the rock and earth beneath, but in those places where they remain whole I can see pictograms in dozens of forms… A quick analysis from the ring shows a few to be taken from the myth cycles of species not native to this region of space. The others… The best the ring's translation system can do is translate concepts with no context. Wealth. Travelling.

Danger.

Stalactites point down from the ceiling, their mirrors on the ground appearing to be permitted to reach only a short height before being smashed down. I can see where two pillars have also suffered the same fate, the stump of one flattened to serve as a… Table? There are broken bits of bone on the upper surface and scattered around the base. The other has been left as a jagged spike of stone.

Scattered here and there are small braziers and fire pits, though at the moment only one or two still burn. The rest are only marked by blackened smears of ash and charred wood.

Not that seeing is a problem with all of the Construct-Lanterns around.

A woman with no eyes and a distended jaw floats in the air to my right. A regal looking… Thing floats in the centre of the chamber, near to the roof. Others sit, stand or float in all parts of the ro-.

Oh shit that's-! No. Oh, goodness me. Not Larfleeze. Looks like a member of the same species, but… Just another Construct-Lantern. And-. Oh, I recognise that one! That's Glomulus! None of them are.. reacting to me. Good stuff…

I drift out into the room, taking care not to get too close to any of them. I'm not seeing Blume. Is he too big to fit in this room? Certainly, he would be too big to fit down the tunnel I came in through. Also… I look around again, spotting for the first time that from this side the tunnel entrance is marked with the orange sigil. None of this is what I saw when I called to the Ophidian. No piles of jewels or other valuables. And all of the orange light is coming from the Construct-Lanterns. Given that I'm here for the Orange Light Fountain…

He hasn't moved it, has he? That would be a bit of a bother.

A flicker of light as a Wurm-like Construct-Lantern emerges from an opening in the wall draws my attention to a side passage. Okay. Time to do some exploring.