Chapter 1
"We not alone in the universe." An emerald lantern sky scraper tall and breathtaking. The Central Battery. Then the breathtaking liquid spires and towers of Oa. "For year now, we've known of a group of extraterrestrials who patrol our universe and keep it safe." Hundreds of Green Lanterns. "Aliens in a universe's worth of variety, each wielding power rings. We don't know where they come from. Or where they get their power. But we know this much… they're good." They spar, mastering assorted weapons of green light.
Fluid. Beautiful. A sci-fi martial art. "And they protect us. Just as they protect all life in the universe." Suddenly flying through space. Hyper-speed. Zipping past planets, slaloming around suns and moons. "Impossible to imagine: No more impossible than when Columbus suggested the Earth was round or when Copernicus posited that it orbited the sun." Then a familiar planet: Neptune. Then Uranus. Saturn. Jupiter. All raging past until arriving at… "There are heroes out there." Earth. Tumbling down into the atmosphere… before landing: It's full. Thousands of people stand in shock and silence, staring up at the trademark Giant Astrovision TV screen. "And now, one of our own
has joined them. Taking up arms against the forces of evil. Here… and every where." On the screen: A weathered graying man, 60's name pipe: He's at the end of a press conference, there seconds from changing the world: "One of us. Now one of them. A Green Lantern." Fifteen Years Ago. "Jim says there's gonna be thousands of people here today." "It's an air show. Not the super bowl." Two massive doors split, pushed by Martin Stoppable and his son Ron, 12. "Does it completely freak you out? All those people coming to watch you fly?" "Nah. It's not me they're coming to see. It's this…" The fluorescents flicker on, revealing a fourth generation jet, the Ramjet. Ron races
toward it. "Sweet. When can I take her up?" "When you're big enough to get in the cockpit without my help. " "Mr. Marie lets me use the simulator. I'm pretty killer." "Anna lets you use the sim. If her pop knew he'd kill you both." Martin lifts Ron onto the wing. "Does it bother you that mom doesn't come watch you fly?" "It's not me the flying planes she has a problem with. It's me testing them." "So… why do you?" "Someone's gotta be first, Ron." The concern in Ron's look draws Martin closer to his son. "Some day, if your brothers let you live long enough, you're gonna be an adult. And you're gonna make a million choices. Like where to live. What kinda car to drive. Who
your friends are. But every now and then if you're really lucky, something chooses you. When that happens, there's no fighting it. Your mother might not agree with what I do, but she understands that much." Martin watches the concept sink in with Ron. "So… wanna check out the cockpit!" Ron leaps up. "Wait. You're gonna need this." Martin strips off his bomber jacket, places it on Ron. The call sign "Sabre" on the chest. As Ron gets in: "You think mom will understand. If I'm chosen to be a samurai?" "She's handled worse." Souring over open fields, cars lined up eight rows deep. Locals sit on hoods and roofs. A banner shouts: "The Marie Air Spectacular – A 5-Year Tradition!" A deafening cheer erupts as the Ramjet buzzes the field. Ron still in the bomber jacket.