"Kevin, we won't make it. But you still can. Leave me, please!"
…
…
"WE ARE GOING TO MAKE IT! NOW SIT STILL AND ENDURE THE SCRUB!"
Blindfolded. Various chemical bottles are around. Giant green energy brush on one hand. Speedy water hose on the other.
Here in the bathroom, one flabby man and one crystal ball. The man is scrubbing down the ball.
Bastard lots. Bullying douches. Some trainees dump a bunch of dirt and sticky materials onto Chaselon for the lol.
Even worse, our first field mission is up next. The debriefing with the mission's assigned commander is going to start soon.
"Please, Kevin. Just go. It's gonna take hours."
I'm down to only my shorts. He's down to nothing. Which is why I am blindfolded because he's embarrassed. Though in all honesty, he wears barely anything in the first place.
The irony isn't lost on me at all. I asked for permission to only pat him once last time, and now I'm touching him all over.
"Shut you! You are going to be pristine and dazzling. And then you are gonna go with us. On the mission! Now sit still. Got it?" I lower my voice, trying to sound intimidating. But my monotone-ish voice doesn't really jell the way I want it to.
"Sir, yes, sir."
Thankfully, Chaselon is the type that is easily intimidated.
"I think this is good enough." Chaselon looks at himself in the bathroom mirror.
"Great, lemme check the time." I pop my head out of the bathroom to check the time.
"Crap, we're cutting it very close. Ring on! You two, C!"
I call the ring nearby to my finger and so does he. Transforming into our uniforms, the two of us take off as fast as possible.
We make it! We make it to the debriefing.
Screw the bastards who are whispering and chuckling among themselves, we still make it!
I turn to look at the supervisor.
…
My first impression is: "Wow, that's one big square chin."
My second impression is: "Holy crap, it's Hal Jordan."
"Some late joiners, I see. I was wondering where the two missing cadets on the list are."
Oh dang it, are we in trouble again?
"Don't worry about being late. Some tardiness is okay in my class."
Yay, he's already better than Kilowog!
After the brief, we take off for the planet Demrakk 7, home planet of the Azgcherians. It was a colonized planet under the Zaphers Empire a long time ago.
Progress has been made since then, and Demrakk 7 is technically classified as independent. But the presence of Zaphers is still there, and they are a part of the higher social class in Demrakk 7 society.
There's an important convention that is going to take place on Demrakk 7. The treaty is going to be about settling the dispute of inequality and rights between the two races.
The representative of Zaphers is viceroy Babonnu, acting on behalf of the Sovereign of Zaphers. And he was the one to request the Green Lantern Corps presence.
This is a diplomatic operation, and we trainees are here to learn from it. Skills that aren't just for policing around. Hal Jordan is going to be the representative and spokesman of the Green Lantern Corps at the convention.
But we do have a secondary objective, and that's where the cadets come in. They need a whole squad of GL who isn't busy, they got the trainees. We are going to be there for security and safety during the event.
Essentially, it's a crucial police peacekeeping mission.
To be honest, the situation sounds way beyond my comprehension. I'm not one to be asked to handle anything remotely political. The whole thing smells complicated upon complicated.
I can only hope things will be okay, for the good people that need them.
We arrive on the planet. Immediately upon our arrival, we are brought to meet viceroy Babonnu.
"Greetings, viceroy." Hal walks up to him.
A pudgy man, the viceroy is. But still taller than Hal, it seems.
"Greetings, Green Lanterns."
"I wish to formally pay tribute to the Zaphers. You're in safe hands under the Green Lantern Corps' protection."
"Thank you, Green Lantern. But please, this is an important matter. Have a seat."
Everyone is confused, even Jordan. A servant of the viceroy comes over and presents a sealed document with some kind of special stamp on it.
"Is that a stamp?"
"That's a chip. First time seeing the fabled Zaphers' chip technology? You guys are uncultured." One of the engineers in our group says.
The viceroy pulls out a device and then scans the chip. It does a ding, and the document bursts open.
"And what's that?"
"That's a process called dechipping. Which means the document must require the highest levels of security clearance if the viceroy has to use his own personal dechipping device to crack it himself."
"Indeed, the one in the back is correct." The viceroy finally speaks again. "This document is top secret. Not a word of what you are about to hear is to leave this room."
"I assume that's the real reason why the Guardians agreed to your request for a full squad of Green Lanterns ." Hal comments.
Babonnu nods, and he reveals the document. It's about an escapee from prison. A former scientist-turned-terrorist known as Bak'Sar.
From what we can get from the document, Bak'Sar is an Azgcherian. They look like elves with orc tusks mixed with Wookiees. The guy in question, though, looks to be black-furred and yellow-eyed. Bak'Sar is a member of a terrorist Azgcherian group. Bak'Sar is the only one left after the terrorists' base was discovered by a Green Lantern and self-destructed. Afterward, he was tried and put in prison.
"It's just one guy, right?" A Lantern giggles.
"Don't underestimate Bek'Sar's ingenuity. He somehow overcame the robust system of our most secure prison complex and escaped. Whatever he is planning, it must be treated with caution. We have ample reason to believe that Bak'Sar might strike this convention."
The viceroy puts the document back under its seal.
"One last request: I wish to have a Lantern as my personal bodyguard during the convention."
Everyone exchanges glances until all eyes fall on Chaselon. The little guy looks ready to beg to do anything else, but he soon resigns himself to the boring job of sitting inside the conference and listening to old people ramble about politics.
Poor Chaselon.
"One last thing, Viceroy, why the secrecy?" Hal asks. "Surely we would find Bek'Sar faster if the people know to look out for him."
"And risk sowing panic that could get the convention canceled? I think not, Green Lanterns. This is a historic moment a long time in the making. Zatharians are going to obtain the same rights as Zaphers, and I wish for nothing more than to see this to fruition."
'That's a lot of responsibility here.'
"I wish the Green Lanterns good luck, and may we all be blessed with safety."
I end up getting the day shift. All of us are assigned different areas, along with time tables, to guard and scan around. I got assigned to one hallway area. It's among the non-vital sections of the building.
The task of going around and scanning stuff and people is a bit boring. It doesn't look like there's any strangeness.
Workers shift around, setting up the places. Something I notice is that they are all Azgcherians. I always wonder whether their fuzzy, hairy alien races do any shedding.
A worker in an unique-looking red-lensed protective glasses opens the door from the other side and enters the hallway. He gazes at me and then approaches:
"Woh! Are you a human?"
"Wuh?"
"A human. From Earth. Sector 2814."
"Erm-"
'That's weird. How does he know?'
"Yes, I am a human." I confirm his deduction.
"That's cool. Always curious about humans."
"How did you know I am a human?"
"I watch and read up on a lot of stuff about civilization around our sector, got to learn about our neighbors, isn't that right?"
"Erm-hehe. I only knew about Demrakk 7 until today. Sorry about that then, sector neighbor."
"You should brush up on your knowledge more."
"Yeah. Eh hem. Standard protocol. May I scan you?"
"Sure, go ahead."
He's a tad suspicious, this ponytail-brown-fur Azgcherian. He isn't an exact match to the image, but hey, I assume it has been years and with fur, you can trim and dye them. But I'm not jumping to conclusions yet. I hold out my ring to scan him.
He's not carrying around or hiding anything dangerous. Standard worker clothing and equipment that I see around these parts. But there is something.
"What are these chemicals on your arms?" I point to the residue on his fuzzy arms..
"Oh, these? My bad, I got messy. It's called ####."
'Wut? I can't pronounce that.'
"It's like oil, basically. It's for a lot of equipment around here." He continues, then holds up the thing on his hand. "Here, same thing as this bottle I'm carrying."
I scanned it. Yep, the same chemical matrix as the stuff on his hand.
"You sure this is safe?" I squint.
"You can ask the lots around here. This stuff is normal, and it's legit."
"Okay then, I will. But last but not least, can you raise up your glasses?"
He did so, revealing his red eyes underneath. Boop, the ring flares up, and scan his eyes.
"Argh!" He gets blinded by the light.
"Sorry sorry."
They're not eye contacts. Not yellow eyes, not black-fur. He doesn't fit the description. Still a bit sus, but he can go for now.
I go in and check the room. Just a restroom with some furniture, a spinning fan, a big sink with some kind of plastic-y tube connected to it, a shambled shelf and cracks on the paint of the wall. Scanning the room. Doesn't see anything weird, it's a standard closed room layout. It's a tad dirty. Maybe that's why people don't use it.
Afterward, I asked around, and it's true. The chemical is indeed used as an oil for a number of things. That's cool to know, I guess.
The rest of the guard session is uneventful.
After our day shift, we switch with the other cadets who are going to take on night duty.
I get to hang out with Chaselon in an alien society. This is my first, and I'm going to try and visit as much as I can. Especially foods, I want to try alien foods. As long as it's safe for a human such as me to eat, I mean.
We wander around the upper section of the city, where the convention building is. It's clean. It's marbling. There are a lot of Zaphers around, with a few sights of residential Azgcherians; they look fancy.
The monuments and travelers' locations in the cities are something to behold. But we end up not buying any souvenirs or eating anything here because these prices are a rip-off. Have some mercy on a bunch of space firefighter/police volunteers, please.
We head to the hotel that's assigned to the rest of the Green Lantern Corps.
"What do you mean there's no room left?"
"I'm sorry, sir. It's traveling season, and with such a big event like the treaty convention. We don't have any rooms left.
"But the rest of the Green Lantern Corps get their rooms!"
"We did save up the free rooms this early morning just for your company. I thought the GL members that booked in at that time had written up every member to be known of. My apology."
'Cái quái gì thế này?'
So yeah, the night duty GL was free this morning. When they checked in, none of them wrote down our names. Consequences of being unpopular among the cadets, I imagine. I can't help but feel a level of sarcasm and dismay. Nice prank, guy. Niiiiiiiceeeee~
"If it helps, I can recommend an associated hotel in the lower section of the city. Lantern Hal Jordan comes in earlier, and he's forwarded there as well."
Hah! They also didn't write in our commander's name. Okay, this is an actual nice prank! The level of disrespect.
We wander to the lower section of the city, and it has a different look. It's the place where most Azgcherians live. Disarray but closely tight together. Ugh, definitely shows the social class difference here.
We continue moving in silence. It's hard to comment on anything when it's such a harsh sight that you wish it didn't have to be this way.
"Hey, Kevin." Chaselon breaks the silence.
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"For the scrubbing? I should be the one to apologize. I thought you were miserable. I wasn't being gentle at all, as we were trying to do it as fast as possible."
"No no, like yeah, not how I would clean myself normally, it's a much more delicate process. Which I can't wait to share more."
"I have noticed I have been better at personal hygiene when I come to Oa. Ah, the wonder of quick, high-tech, and efficient cleaning. As long as it's not those sticky materials you were stuck in."
"That's great. But yeah, thank you. Without you, I think I might have missed our first field mission. I would have definitely sat in my shower for days. Us crystal life forms just hate anything that is dirty on our bodies."
"It's nothing, C." I can't help but act a tad embarrassed. I really don't deserve that credit.
My mind wanders again to the event earlier. That's when I realized something. I'm still in my shorts under the uniform. Holy crap, I have been in nothing but my shorts the entire time.
"I would have missed the chance to see a real GL operation too. I looked up Lantern Hal Jordan's record, and he sounds so impressive. There's a lot I can learn from him." Chaselon starts acting like an impressionable youth. Again, damn the emotive eyes.
"You think the guy is awesome?"
"Well, he's definitely more approachable than Sergeant Kilowog."
"No rebuttal there. Real fact."
"Speaking of Lantern Hal Jordan-" Chaselon points at the guy in question. "There he is."
'Urp, he's here? Well, here we go. My first human contact for weeks. A famous superhero at that.'
Why is he looking like someone who is snooping around?
We move over to the dude. Again, such a square chin.
"Yo, commander Hal. Same bad luck with the hotel, huh?"
He notices us and then signals us to get behind him. We are puzzled, but quickly follow orders.
"Perfect. You two come in at such the right time."
"Wait, were you actually snooping?" I question.
"Quiet down."
"What's going on?" Chaselon asks.
"Illegal stuff. It's unbelievable how unsubtle they are. It's like they know they can get away with it."
I can only sigh. This is to be expected, to be fair. Hal takes a moment to think.
"It's good that you two are here because we need to split up. Cover both grounds. I got a location that needs searching, but I need you two to be as discreet as possible."
My hands are shaking a little. The real thing is about to start. Real combat.
Crap, he notices my hands.
"I'm okay. I just need to hype myself up a little. First mission and all." I instinctively defend myself.
"Nervousness is fine. But don't let it consume you."
"That we can do, sir." Chaselon replies.
"Got it. Will try." I tried to steel myself.
"And don't report to the authorities, even if the matter is settled. Contact me instead. In case you can't reach me, then tell the rest of the lanterns to go to the other location. You got that?"
'I want to ask why there is a need for discretion and secrecy. But if Hal freaking Jordan thinks this is the best course of action, who am I to argue? Just stay alive, Kevin.'
"Yes, sir."
The destination ends up being a warehouse.
Some Azgcherians hang around with their ineffectual weapons. Easy to deal with. I imagine it would have been faster if we had decided to go up front and take them all down in one big swoop. But we are being sneaky here.
And so, maybe it would have been sufficient to fly normally. But what I do is that I end up using my energy to essentially pretend to stick myself to the ceiling. And start levitating close to the roof.
They just don't look up, man. And if they do, these beams are great for hiding. Plus, with this maneuver, I only have to worry about one direction, downward. Which I can actively see and defend myself if they start shooting. I pick them off one by one by just shooting down a construct of some grappling chains, grabbing their weapons and taping their mouths, then pulling them up.
I wrap them up hard so they don't drop their items or clothing when they're up with me. Move them and their things to an isolated corner and leave them there, knocked out.
It is incredibly inefficient, and I was being way too cautious (and cowardly, in a way).
Chaselon, though, is on a roll. He takes care of the outside while I sneak inside. I only manage to get my third guy before he comes in and starts making the "I'm a quiet rolling crystal ball" maneuver. It's absurd, but it works. He comes right up to or close to a guard, whips out an energy string from his ring, and pulls their heads smacking right onto his crystal body. With that, they are knocked out.
"I thought people of your world go really triggered by getting taints onto their bodies?"
He shifts his head to me. He gives me such serious eyes that I have never seen before from him.
"This is combat, Kevin. We get down and dirty."
"Duly noted."
I'm just amazed and ashamed.
It's a grim reality, and me and my crystal buddy agree. Yep, it's trafficking. Azgcherian slave trafficking. Azgcherians selling their own kind. Not that different from humans, I guess.
This is just frustrating. I hate this. I am disgusted with these heinous acts. So blatant at that.
We free and secure the victims. They looks disheveledly quiet and their eyes give me the chill of them already had given up. Under orders though, we still have to wait for contact with our commander first before doing anything else.
"Calling Lantern Hal Jordan?" Chaselon asks me.
I nod, but then proceed to knock over a can of that chemical from earlier. Oh, come on.
"Oh hey, it's ####."
"Ugh, yeah, that thing. Like oils, right?"
'Cool, maybe an interesting distraction from the grim reminder right now.'
"Interesting chemical. It's used for a lot of things, like oiling the Galiont chain wiring, oiling the Galiont runner, expanding the Galiont tube,..."
"Yes yes." I doze off.
"For safety reasons, it's recommended you operate the oil with Galiont protective mask which is the standard around here…"
Neeeeerd. Gosh, I'm being such a hypocrite.
"…or a Torszae crystal lens. A little known fun fact, the Torszae crystal emits a red light on very close contact, affecting the vitreous humour's color temporarily in a few minutes.."
"What the, so there's some crystal that affects the puppet's color? Cool trick for the ventriloquist then?"
"No, vitreous humor. Those things in a lot of species' eyes."
"Wait what?" My eyes snap open. "NO!"
My hands start spazzling out. I become incoherent.
"Erm erm, errrr…"
"What's wrong, Kevin?"
"Call Hal Jordan!"
"Huh?"
"CALL HIM NOW!"
"You two! Finally! This is important. I-"
"Hal! I think I found out who Bak'Sar is. It's a bit flimsy and I'm gonna be looking into it. But he might be a worker named Tybalt. Tybalt might be Bak'Sar. Tybalt Bak'Sar!"
"..."
"Good job! You look into it. But now-"
"You have to send the engineers on the team to scout out the area again; who knows what he planted in there!"
"Already did."
"Oh, oh?"
"Got some information from my side as well. Things are more complicated than they seem."
"What is it, then?"
"Which is why I'm going to ask you to do something important, Kevin. The rest can't leave their posts unguarded, including Chaselon. In case there's an element of surprise we didn't expect."
"What are you talking about?"
"First thing first, I have to ask: Do you want to change things around here?"
"Huh?"
A full area can with the night team goes on. No Bak'Sar. Which mean he's not hiding and waiting inside the building. And I doubt he would risk it with the number of patrolling lanterns. That means he has to break into the place somehow during the convention. But how?
I come back to the hallway that I guarded and first met Tybalt.
He must have picked this section for a reason. Non-vital area. Clearly didn't expect me there. Maybe that's why he's surprised by my presence.
I did some proper poking around in the room where he comes in. Strangely, the ring doesn't detect anything weird. The only opening inside this room is this sink. Nah, there's no way, the tube is too small.
I look at the drainage from above and scan it. What the… The same unpronounceable oil. I mean, it's used to smooth things out, so it shouldn't be weird, right?
There's some production model naming on the side of the tube. Let me read this, ring. Galiont Model 32 Tube? Wait, 'Galiont'?
Oh, oh no. No way. No way in hecking Bollywood.
I quickly grab a can of that oil thingy and pour it down the drain. The tube rapidly expands, to the size that a humanoid figure can fit through.
I facepalm for a moment before accepting that this is real. It's a big world out there. A big and strange world.
So Hal is right. This is a conspiracy.
Well, then, I'm going to do my part to the best of my ability. I hype myself up-
-then jump in...
…
It's a sewer. It leads right into a sewer tunnel! A brick and rusty sewer with shallow water. I try to keep my mind away from the content of the liquid.
I wave around the ring to scan the tunnel, reading data from its reading on the wall.
Bricks and cracks, huh?
I may have an idea. Going to be a wee bit more complicated than usual, Kev. So keep the shape simple.
Could be a very stupid decision but-
"Chaselon, can you send me a lantern battery? Long night ahead here."
I heard footsteps, moving and shifting through the shallow water.
Holding a green lantern battery in one hand. The other hand with the ring, which is in a knuckle, lies resting on the brick wall next to me. I stand still.
And in front of me, the criminal himself, is Tybalt Bak'Sar.
"This is the end of the line, Bak'Sar." I speak up.
"It's you, huh?"
"Yes, sector neighbor."
"How did you know it was me?"
"The red protective glasses you were wearing. The lens is made of a special illuminated red material, and when moved from its position temporarily, it still leaves behind residue light. It's how you change your eyes to red, it was a light trick. You must have pulled that move and tricked so many lantern scans."
'Start spouting, Kevin.'
"That's all it took, huh?"
"Nope, I already had my suspicions that fur dye is going to be something a fuzzy fugitive is going to use. Heck, I would use them if I were an escapee ."
"Impressive deduction." He compliments.
'I jumped to the conclusion immediately upon hearing about the red lenses. Thank the Lord, I wasn't wrong in the end.'
"Your biggest mistake was talking to me. Non-vital as the hallway is. I treat the place with the same seriousness as any other place. And unfortunately, you just get stuck in my mind."
'I'm talking out of my ass here. Totally wasn't bored during the hallway guarding.'
"So all the mechanisms to start up the explosion must have been nullified already."
"Exactly. Now stand down, Tybalt. You won't get hurt if you just surrender."
"It's always gotta be you. If not you, it has to be your successor, doesn't it?" Tybalt starts speaking to himself in a deranged way.
My sweat falls down my cheeks. I'm really nervous here.
"What are you talking about, Bak'Sar?"
"So you didn't even know then, human?"
"You have something against humans?"
"The moment I got out, I immediately checked up on my mortal enemy. To only learn that he's dead. The Lantern of Sector 2814."
'Alan Scott?'
"Abin Sur. The man who denies my chance of dying alongside my comrades and throw me into prison."
'Ah, the one Hal's ring belonged-'
"And you, you must be his successor. The new Lantern of Sector 2814."
…
'I am not Abin Sur's successor. I'm not even the Lantern of Sector 2814. Whatever, that explains why he's so distracted. Good!'
"If I can't take my vengeance on The Zaphers today, then you will be the substitute for my fury."
He goes for the weapons he had holstered in his back. Only to find that they aren't there. He turns around to see there's a bundle of a green energy ball holding his equipment. The ball is connected to a green energy source protruding out from inside the brick wall.
I have been stalling to just secretly disarm him of all the stuff he carried behind his back.
He moves his hand to the front to reach into his coat.
'Now!'
I jerked my knuckles back away from the wall. The entire brick wall around these sections has been under my green light all along. With my pull, like pulling onto a green string attached to my ring, every surrounding brick comes down upon the Azgcherian, smacks into him, and encases the guy inside a cluster of bricks and green energy.
Hiding behind the loose bricks on the upper ceiling of the tunnel is a manhole. I drag the brick tomb and the equipment through the circle on top. And we speed off into the sky.
First order of business-
"Goodbye dangerous equipments!"
I swing the ball around and throw them all into space. Now for the brick man, I feel like a giant ass for this. But safety is the priority-
So I start stripping him inside my energy cage. Throw everything he has on him into space. And lastly, even the bricks go to space too. I will clean them up later. Can't risk any of them being explosive devices.
What's left of him are only his shorts.
'I guess I have to say thank you to Kilowog for a lesson about exploiting an opponent's distraction and hyper focus.'
"How dare you!"
'Elf-orc-wookiee dude. I do dare. I'm in only my shorts right now, ignoring the green uniform from the ring.'
"You're going to bomb a lot of innocents, including your Azgcherian brethrens that are fighting for their rights to equality. What's wrong with you?"
"You think The Zaphers is gonna let it happen? You're one naive lantern."
'He's not wrong about one part. Still-'
I pull him closer and get all up in his face.
"Again, innocents."
"Better the grave than chains."
…
This guy-
"Thằng thần kinh!!! Are you crazy?!"
I'm at the limit of my patience with this mad man. So close to just decking him in the jaw right now. But I need him to be unhurt and conscious.
Ugh, bastard.
As if to save the Azgcherian by the bell, my ring starts ringing. Hal is calling. It's showtime.
"How dare you accuse me of such a conspiracy?" The viceroy slams the table in the middle of the convention.
Azgcherians and Zaphers are standing around, with Hal Jordan, right in the middle of the room. I am just right by the door.
"Let me remind you that the renovation company is an Azgcherian company with ties to the terrorist, Bak'Sar. Yes, I did indeed authorize the renovation, but I was duped. I clearly don't authorize the setting up of such an intricate explosion mechanism. This is the work of the Azgcherian terrorists trying to frame me!"
"The traffickers, some of whom are also workers of the company, have sworn otherwise."
"More proof that they are a bunch of criminals with no integrity, and I was tricked. They are covering their own asses for the crimes they commit. You're going to trust the words of those criminals?"
'Hal Jordan was covering ground, huh? I didn't know this.'
"There's even more. Look at how the explosives are set up in this diagram here."
He projects the diagram from his ring.
"There are a lot of explosive triggers within this very room. My associates and I have disarmed them, but during our search, we noticed a particular safe point. The place where you're standing right now." Hal points at the floor beneath the viceroy.
"That doesn't prove anything."
"You personally request a lantern to act as your bodyguard and set them up standing right next to you."
Chaselon, next to the viceroy, waves at Hal and me. Then the crystal ball lifts the viceroy's shirt up.
"That's not all; you are wearing body armor underneath. The specific kind with specs that coincidentally work best against the set-up explosives. You set yourself to have the maximum chances of surviving the explosion while leaving everyone else."
The viceroy glares at the Chaselon behind him and jerks back his shirt. He turns to the crowd again.
"Of course I wear body armor; I already suspect a terrorist attack. Why wouldn't I? You have nothing but coincidences and conjectures as evidence!"
"That's the least damning evidence, sir viceroy. For you see-"
'That's my cue.'
I tug on my ring and pull a detained subject from outside the door into the room. The captured Tybalt Bak'Sar.
He looks at me and then at Hal. His mouth is being covered, but I suspect he's in shock that there are two human lanterns.
"So you captured the Azgcherian terrorist. Good job! But you're still a disgrace to the Green Lantern Corps name. We have a Azgcherian terrorist right here, and you're accusing me?" Babonnu continues his rambling.
"Babonnu, you are the definition of vice in the word viceroy." Hal is calm in his delivery. "I always wonder how one such as our friend Bak'Sar here was able to break through the robust prison of The Zaphers."
"He's a former scientist. He clearly devised a way to trick our technology somehow."
"That's the thing. He should be at the top of the list among high-profile prisoners, but he somehow gets past everyone and escapes. That's where I start digging, the technology of your prison architect utilizes the fabled Zaphers Chip system."
"So what?"
"That means the prisoners are chipped, and the prisoner control system should have been alerted when the chipped one enters areas where they shouldn't be. One such as Bak'Sar must have been chipped with one of the highest authority chips. If his sealed document is anything to go by."
"Are you accusing me of-"
"Exactly, as a viceroy, you should have enough authority in your personal dechipping device to crack Bak'Sar's chip."
"That's insanity of the highest magnitude. I-"
Babonnu reaches to grab his dechipping device inside his pocket, only for it to be missing.
Chaselon is right behind him, his eyes signifying he's amused and giggling. His tube hand twirls on something, it's the viceroy's device.
The twirl flies the item into the air and right into Hal's catch.
"Give it back, you have no right to possess such a highly authorized item."
"On the contrary, I believe this is decisive proof that we will need within the database of this device."
"You will find no proof, I have dechipped tons and tons of highly authorized chips. You will find the data is useless."
"That's if we compare the chip data inside our Azgcherian friend here to the various records within your device."
Hal's ring scans through Bak'Sar and the items. He found Bak'Sar's chip, and cross-referencing it with the information within, he found a particular marked dechipping event with leftover partial artifacts matching Tybalt's chip during the day where he broke out.
"Good enough for you?" Hal walks closer to the viceroy.
"Coincidence all around. It's only a partial match. I most certainly can provide some chips that I have cracked with partial artifacts matching this one. I concede that these coincidences may have demanded a further investigation by the end of the day. But I have full confidence that I will come out on the other side, a poor innocent man who was framed. Face it, Lantern. You have nothing!"
"Would have been a damn shame then, no definitive proof. If that's all I have-"
Hal cracks a smile. Which startle the viceroy finally. This is going to be good.
"This is why I was late to the convention, I have to check it myself. Flying to The Zaphers Prison."
'Which is why he's not with me to take out Tybalt.'
"And I have retrieved the log within the prison, the log that's to keep track of Bak'Sar chip itself. You didn't think the Green Lantern had the authority to look up the log, did you?"
Babonnu is squirming now. It's great to see it.
The viceroy shifts and moves away from Chaselon and Hal. Getting closer to the crowd of watchers.
"If it's to be expected, then the log's last entry should be a match."
And there's the data project running its processing again.
Bam, the previous matched entry also matches the new one. Down to the millisecond of when the dechipping happened.
"You free Bak'Sar, use him as your pawn, and set everything up to create a fabricated attack. Then after, you can blame it all on Azgcherian. All because you don't want them to gain rights, which will harm your slave trafficking operation, do you?"
"Baseless. I said baseless."
"It's over, Babonnu. Guards! Apprehend him until The Zaphers authority I have contacted arrives."
Babonnu moves closer and closer to the crowd. And in a quick moment, he tries to grab onto a person among them.
Crap, he's gonna use them as a hostage. Quick, I-
Hal Jordan is faster, and he yanks Babonnu away from the hostage with a giant mechanical arm projected from his ring. He pulls the viceroy closer and-
Hal slams his punch right into the viceroy's stomach. Babonnu scrunches up from the pain and kneels down, and just about his head reaches Hal's height. Hal delivers a killer headbutt, knocking the viceroy out.
Hal, you're too badass, man.
We return to Oa. That was my first field mission, and I came back with mixed feelings.
Satisfaction? Frustration? Nervousness? Happy? Sad? I don't know anymore.
I pray that the conflicts on Demrakk 7 will eventually end. But I am clueless, did I even do the right thing?
"Oi, Kevin."
That's Hal. He found me standing on the rooftop, just staring off into the distance, deep in thought.
"Hey, Hal."
Hal coughs. He extends his hand for me to shake.
"Time for a proper introduction, eh? I'm Hal Jordan, a fellow human who comes in peace."
"Heh." I take Hal's hand and shake it. "I'm Kevin Nguyen. Another human who comes in peace."
"Good to have you here in the corps. Been curious about you for a while when I heard from Salaak."
"Ah, the Guardian gatekeeper guy."
"By the way, why did he tell me not to get a computer virus?"
"Ugh, don't ask."
"So erm… Where are you from?"
"Hmmm. America, same as you, if I know the accent. I'm an immigrant, though."
"Nice. Which state?"
"California."
"Hey, fellow from California as well. Small world, eh?"
"Like our viceroy said, coincidence. Speaking of that douche, how is he?"
"He got diplomatic immunity, so they couldn't try him for his crimes on Demrakk 7. But I have got words in with the Sovereign of Zaphers."
"But what if the Sovereign is in league with Babonnu?"
"Considering how the viceroy has to go behind the Sovereign's back. I have hope that they were truthful about their intention to settle the inner conflicts on the planet."
"Is that so?"
"Yep."
"Hey Hal, did we do the right thing? Us being the third party interfering in such a complex landscape and situation like that?"
Hal takes a moment to think. Then he turns to me and gives me a shrug.
"I don't know. At that moment, it feels like the right thing to do."
"Hmmm. So we can only pray for the best outcome then."
"Sometimes, you have to do something even if it's not the most delicate situation. We won't have all the time in the world to plan things out in every minute detail. That's what Green Lanterns do."
I sigh.
"Also, good job handling Bak'Sar yourself."
"Oh please, I believe a different trainee can do my exact job, if not better. You just need to send someone else out."
"Benefit of hindsight, Kevin. But that doesn't mean we should break vital formations. It's lucky that Tybalt was a one-man attack. Also, without you, I wouldn't have the time to fly to the prison myself and get the log. So, don't be humble."
'I really don't deserve that kind of credit. You handle everything, Hal.'
"Yeah, and he called me the naive one."
'I am naive, just not in this specific circumstance.'
"Pffttt. Yeah, I read the report, you stall hard. Have you taken a shower yet?"
"Jeeze, of course I did. I stood inside that sewer for so long, keeping the trap up along that tunnel with the assistance of the battery. The smell was horrible!"
"Great personal hygiene. Unlike a certain sergeant."
"Oh yeah, Kilowog. I am surprised he's not with us on this mission."
"It was a break, no trainees around. I bet he's mad that he missed the real crop of action. Now he's covering my paperwork for me."
"Bruh." I exclaim. "Oh, will we get into trouble for this?"
"Likely. But it's gonna be my responsibility."
"Ouch."
"Eh, it's a common occurrence, so I've got my way to deal with it. I can just ask the big guy to bail me out."
"Oi, don't take advantage of your friend. Poor guy." I try to give a sympathetic tone.
"I thought you disliked my buddy. As most cadets under him do."
"Excuse me. I may dislike him a bit, but he means well to prepare us for the tasks ahead. I can recognize that."
"Fair point. But yeah, to escape the upcoming heat, I'm hitting back to Earth soon."
"Oh, you're leaving?"
"Yeah, you going too?"
"Erm, I don't think we have free days while under training."
Hal blinks at me.
"You never ask for leaves to visit Earth? How long have you been since you were last on Earth?"
"Erm, I think it was over a month ago."
"My god. You can ask for break days during training, Kevin."
"I-I never thought about it. Oh my god."
"Crap, how's your family?"
"Crap! Yeah, yeah, I should go to-"
"Lemme do you a solid and set up your vacation paper. You go pack up your things, we are leaving today."
"On it. On it. I just need to say goodbye to Chaselon first. See you soon!"
I fly off.
…
…
Holy moly. I'm going back to Earth.
