Green Lantern Justice League
Abin Sur came out of hyperspace in the outer solar system. He scanned the system for any satellites, spacecraft, or space stations. His scans came back with minor early satellites that seemed to be focused on exploration. There was a very primitive space station in orbit and many communication satellites. His ship's computer started analyzing the various languages and translated them. It took Abin Sur a little while to sort out the kinds of broadcasts. Many of them looked like they were covering real events only to discover that they were situational comedies.
His system scanned for candidates. There were about 25 candidates spread across the whole planet. This will be an important planet, he thought. Then he scanned for metahumans and aliens. He discovered a huge number. Most of them only had minor abilities or potential. Others were at the highest end of the scale. He even discovered a Kryptonian! He would have to deal with that later. He chose one of the candidates and took his ship down.
Abin Sur landed out in the desert, away from any urban development. Then he sent a small probe to seek out the nearest candidate. It was a small green light that left from his ship. It oriented itself and took off at high speed. After a few moments it found the candidate in a primitive jet fighter. The probe moved around the jet and scanned the pilot. He seemed to be moderately distressed by the probe but mostly healthy and possessing of a strong will and psyche. The probe found that he was ethically sound, mentally stable, creative, and sufficiently open minded to act as a good candidate for the Green Lantern Corp.
The probe cloaked itself once it had finished it's close scan. It followed the craft down and waited, following only a few meters behind him for the rest of the day. There was some agitated conversations with other humans, especially with a human female, but no violence was suggested. The probe followed the subject for several hours while he performed other duties and left his job. Then he spent some time in a building with others drinking something that was moderately impairing his psyche. Then he left and went to another building alone and fell asleep.
The probe uncloaked in his sleeping chamber. The candidate knocked over his lamp in his sleep. Then he tried to cover his head with a pillow.
"Carol, what's the bright idea? Turn off the lights!" said Hal. He grumbled and sat up on one side of the bed. Then he stood up with his eyes closed and staggered over to the light switch. He flipped the light on, stopped for a moment of confusion, then turned it off again. "What the hell?" He looked up at the probe while shielding his eyes. Then he staggered back into the living room.
The probe followed silently along. Hal staggered back to his couch and stared at it. He looked away and stared back at his hand and moved it back and forth checking for problems with his vision. Then he looked back at the probe. "Did somebody slip something to me at the bar?"
The probe moved forward and scanned him. Then it spoke, "You have ingested alcohol with several trace ingredients. However your constitution is sufficiently robust to handle any of the toxins. You are in no danger as long as you do not put yourself in a dangerous situation given your temporarily impairment."
When Hal heard it speak he jumped a bit and said, "Did the little green light just tell me not to drink and drive?"
"Essentially yes" said the probe.
"I must be having a really weird dream." said Hal.
"Incorrect. You are no longer in your sleeping cycle. You are awake, however you are still impaired by your daily fatigue and recreational toxin consumption."
"Umm.. okay. What are you? Are you a little green fairy?" said Hal.
"My linguistic database is incomplete but your word usage provides a context. No, I am not a fairy. I am a probe sent by Abin Sur of the Green Lantern Corp to invite you to meet him."
"What is an Abin Sur again?" said Hal, scratching his head.
"Abin Sur is an Ungaran and the Green Lantern Ambassador for sector 2814."
"And is he a little green light as well?" said Hal.
"No! He is not a little green light."
"Well you said he was a Green Lantern. Are you a Green Lantern?" said Hal
"No! I am not a Green Lantern."
"Isn't a Lantern a type of light. You are some kind of light." said Hal, amusing himself.
"NO! I am a light construct but I am not a Green Lantern. I was created BY the Green Lantern Abin Sur." said the probe.
"So the King of little green lights wants to see me huh?" said Hal. This was obviously a weird dream but at least it was amusing.
"NO Abin Sur is not the king of the Green Lanterns!"
"But you admit that Green Lanterns are a type of little green lights then?" said Hal.
"NOO!" said the probe.
Hal laughed at it.
"I must have some difficulties with my translation matrix. Will you meet with Abin Sur?" said the probe.
"Sure. I don't want to offend anybody." said Hal conversationally. "Should I change..." Hal was interrupted by the probe surrounding him in green light and lifting him off the couch. "Wait, right now? Maybe I should.." The probe opened the porch door and carried them out into the night. They started flying above the city and out into the desert.
"Whoa! Put me down!" said Hal.
"You have already agreed to meet Abin Sur. Beyond that initial acceptance I do not have to obey you, yet."
"Yet? What do you mean yet? Put me down!" said Hal.
The probe descended to the desert floor.
"I thought that you didn't have to obey me?" said Hal.
"That was a coincidence. We are here."
Hall looked around. He was standing near a large rock but otherwise the desert was empty. "Okay so where is he?"
"I am here." said Abin Sur. The rock turned out to be an illusion hiding a strange white and green spacecraft. A purple skinned alien wearing some kind of green suit stood in front of it. The suit seemed to be made of energy.
Hal stared. He didn't really know what to say. All he could think of was 'We come in peace' but that was something the visiting alien was supposed to say. He didn't know what to say for this side of First Contact.
"Hi?" Hal waved.
"I am Abin Sur, ambassador for the League of Planets for sector 2814. You have been chosen as a candidate for the Green Lantern Corp."
"What does that mean?" said Hal.
Abin Sur brought up his closed fist and a green hologram from a ring appeared above their heads. It showed the galaxy divided into smaller sections. "This is the galaxy we are in. The League of Planets occupies roughly 76% of this galaxy. It is a collection of planets that work together for the common good. Once a planet has gained a certain technological level then it is evaluated for contact and eventual inclusion in the League. This is one of the first steps in that evaluation process. An ambassador makes contact with some of the inhabitants in order to help facilitate this process."
"So you want me to help you understand Earthlings? I guess so. Wait. You're not going to invade us or something, are you?" said Hal.
"No. The League of Planets stands against invasion of one planet by another. That is part of the purpose of the Green Lantern Corp. We are the peacekeepers of the League of Planets. We help new worlds prepare to join the League and help them defend themselves from rogue interstellar nations. We also help new planets deal with any criminals with unusual abilities that prevents their law enforcement from safely handling the the criminals themselves." said Abin Sur.
"So you are some sort of intergalactic Marshals?" said Hal.
"Essentially yes. We are a sort of law enforcement group."
"So what would I have to do?" asked Hal.
"If you choose to join you would learn and train under myself. You would help save lives and you would be a part of building a future for your species." said Abin Sur.
"What happens if I don't want to join?" asked Hal.
"Then I would erase your memory of this night and you would awaken in your sleeping chamber in the morning." said Abin Sur.
Hal thought about it for all of ten seconds. "Alright sure, sign me up!"
Abin Sur smiled. "There is no contract."
The probe, that was stationary during the conversation dimmed down and floated in front of Hal Jordan. He reached out to it and the probe touched his hand and became a ring on his finger. Warm green light passed over his body. He felt it energize him and touch his mind. He saw the green light change his clothes into green and black clothes made of green energy.
Abin Sur said quietly, "There is an oath."
The light touched Hal's mind and he saw the galaxy. He caught glimpses of the incredible deeds of the Green Lantern Corp. He saw them fighting evil and chaos all over inhabited space. He saw their nobility and self sacrifice. He saw an entire corp of heroes!
He could see them stand as a group and hold their fists in the air, green light pouring straight up, thousands of them. He could hear the same words in different languages and with some variations and he could not help but join in!
"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
Hal Jordan slumped to his knees, understanding heavy on his mind. He looked up and smiled, "Well I guess this wasn't a dream after all."
"No, you are quite awake."
"So what do we do now?" ask Hal.
"First we must train you to use the Ring of Will." said Abin Sur.
Hall stood up. He looked at the ring and saw the symbol on it. Then he saw that symbol on Abin Sur. He looked down and didn't see it on himself.
Abin Sur said, "The symbol represents that you have become a full Green Lantern. You are a trainee at this point."
Hal then noticed that Abin Sur had several different rings on his fingers. "Why do you have so many?"
Abin Sur held out his hand. "There are several different types of power rings. They all do different things. I have a Ring of Will as do you. It is the most versatile of the power rings and the first one you are to learn to control. It can do a little of everything and once you learn how to use it and become a full member then you can earn the others. You must master your willpower in order to direct a single ring. It takes a great deal of self mastery to be able to control several at once."
Hal nodded. "So I am in first grade at this point."
Abin Sur pointed his fist into the air and a construct of light formed out of the Ring of Will. It was shaped like a short staff. "Close your eyes and visualize the same kind of staff in your hands."
Hal did so and a glowing green stick appeared in his hand. It looked more like a stick fresh off a tree.
"Calm your focus and smooth out the staff."
Hal shook his shoulders out and relaxed. The stick became a smooth staff.
"Now strike the staff against the ground."
Hal hit it on the ground and it shattered and disappeared.
"You didn't believe that it was solid." Abin Sur lengthen his and stuck it against the ground several times. "Try again."
Hal concentrated again but thought about making it more solid. Then he stuck it against the ground a few times to test it out.
"Excellent. Now we will strike the constructs against each other. Feel how the shock of the impact feeds back to your focus and eliminate it."
Hal and Abin Sur struck the staves several times. Hal could hear the changes in pitch as he adjusted the density of the staff. After a while he no longer felt the impact at all.
"Good. Now I will increase the density of my construct. Feel the weight of the impact and adjust until you no longer feel it."
Abin Sur made his staff much larger and heavier looking but he wielded it will no effort. He smacked down on Hal several times. At first Hal's staff cracked but he fixed it before the next strike. He started by lengthening his staff so that he could hold it in both hands. After a while he realized that Abin Sur was wielding his with no effort and it finally occurred to him that the constructs were made of light! They had no weight to them. He stopped tensing up so much and relaxed. It was no longer any effort.
"Excellent. You are starting to understand. Now I will make larger and larger shapes. You can create any shape you want to in order to defend against it." said Abin Sur.
Hal nodded and turned his stick into a medieval kite shield. Abin Sur created a stick that was at least 20 ft. long. Then he smacked Hal with it. Hal took the shock. He had to force himself to not think of it as a big stick. The next time he stopped it without it feeling like he was really hit. The third time it was just stopped by his shield. No impact. No noise. It just stopped at his shield.
Abin Sur turned it into a huge hammer and struck down with it. Hal relaxed and stopped it. Abin Sur created the construct of a building! Hal started to tense up but he stopped himself and he felt nothing when it hit.
"Excellent. You are able to overcome your preconceptions. Now we will practice flight!"
After a few weeks of training, Abin Sur was finished with the first phase of his job on Earth. Hal and Abin Sur landed out in the desert after testing Hal.
"Excellent. You have learned the basics well. You know how to use the Ring of Will. You are no longer a trainee. However you are still under my command and you will continue to work in this sector for at least another solar cycle. Then we will go to Oa and I will introduce you to the Guardians of Oa and you will get your own Ring of Will. Then you will spend some time in other sectors to learn from other Green Lanterns." said Abin Sur.
"Wait. You said my own Ring of Will. What about this one?" Hal looked at his ring.
"That ring is a construct that I created."
"Wow! So you have had enough focus to control all of your rings as well as create mine?" said Hal.
"That is why it takes years to master your focus enough to become a teacher. I can only teach a few students at a time. That is why we haven't found all the others at once. It takes much less focus once your student has mastered their ring. The teacher doesn't need to monitor their safety all the time." Abin Sur smiled.
"Well thanks for watching out for me." said Hal.
"It is my duty and privilege to teach others. You are now a Green Lantern!" Abin Sur waved his hand and the Green Lantern symbol appeared on Hal's uniform.
Hal looked down on it in pride, but then looked up, "So what now?"
"Now we form the Justice League of this world."
"Who is first?" asked Hal. They had talked about the concept of a Justice League several times.
"The Kryptonian – we need to identify if he is a threat or an ally." said Abin Sur.
"Is he really going to be that much of a problem to us?" Hal looked at his ring. "I think that we can take him, no problem."
"Do not under estimate Kryptonians. They are an extremely dangerous race. They have killed many Green Lanterns in the past."
"Why are they so powerful?" asked Hal.
"They were a technologically advanced race of heavy worlders. They modified themselves to deal with various environments and gave themselves various powers. They are amazingly strong, they can fly, and they create lasers from their eyes. However their most dangerous power is their near invulnerability to damage." said Abin Sur
"So they are hard to take down. What happened to them?"
"They tried to take over the galaxy and they mostly succeeded. The League of Planets was originally formed from a rebellion against them. We Green Lanterns fought them as well, but it was the Kryptonians themselves that solved the problem. Not all all of them were Empire builders. Many of them were noble souls, so the good ones dragged most of the evil ones to a planet that was filled with harmful radiation that weakened their powers. It was a planet that was around an unstable star. They sacrificed themselves to protect the galaxy." said Abin Sur sadly.
"So we don't know if this Kryptonian is one of the good guys who didn't decide to sacrifice themselves or one of the bad guys who tried to take over the galaxy. Great!" said Hal.
"That is our dilemma." said Abin Sur.
"So where is this wonderful ball of kittens?"
"Metropolis" said Abin Sur and they took off. "What is a kitten?"
As they approached Metropolis they noticed a lot of planes in the air above the city as well as a column of smoke from the airport. They diverted to check it out. As they flew over they saw a trench cut across most of the runways with a damaged cargo plane at the end of it. Emergency crews were swarming all over. They found someone who looked like he was directing others and landed near him.
The emergency crews stopped and stared at the two Green Lanterns. The chief saw them and then yelled into his radio, "Get back to work!" They got moving again but they watched the two strangers.
The chief came over to them, "More of you guys huh?"
Abin Sur stepped forward, "Greetings, we are Green Lanterns. How can we assist you?"
"Well you can get off my tarmac and out of my way. We have enough problems without you show boats getting in our way."
"We don't mean to offend but we have the ability to help. Would you ignore that and let people die in order for you to shield your bruised ego?" Abin Sur said.
"My bruised..." the chief sputtered, "Fine then. We have to get this cargo plane off the tarmac and figure out a way to repair the damage to the runways so that we can land a bunch of planes that are almost out of fuel. So unless you have a way to fix all that then get out of my way!"
Abin Sur nodded to the chief and turned to Hal. "I will focus on the runways. You move anything else that needs to be moved and then see about helping any other planes down that are out of fuel." Hal nodded and moved over to the cargo plane.
Abin Sur flew over the runways and created a large scraper to scrape all the debris off the runways. He created a new probe and had it create a field that covered the gaps in the runways. He flew back to the bewildered chief.
"Tell your people to start landing those planes. Then tell those planes that any of them that are in particular trouble should start flashing their lights and we will help them." said Abin Sur. The chief just nodded his head and then started talking into his radio. He looked over and saw something else that made his already raised eyebrows try to climb off his forehead.
"Superman!" said several people.
Abin Sur turned to see Superman carrying a 747 down to the runway. Superman brought it down and came over to see Abin Sur.
"Greetings, I am Abin Sur, Ambassador to Sector 2814 and Green Lantern. I have come to assist."
Superman was taken aback a bit. "Umm. Hi, they call me Superman. I would be grateful for any help."
"Excellent! I have taken care of the damage to the runway for the moment. My partner is moving the cargo plane over there. I have been told by this gentleman that there are planes in the air that are almost out of fuel. We should go and bring them down safely." said Abin Sur.
"Sounds good. We can talk after we finish." said Superman.
Abin Sur nodded, "We have much to discuss." and they took off.
Hal finished with the cargo plane and came back to the chief. "Where did he go?"
The chief looked up.
Once they got all the planes down they met again over the airport. Everything seemed to be running smoothly again. Superman turned to the Green Lanterns and said, "So what brings you to Metropolis?"
"You do, Kryptonian. We are here to speak with you." said Abin Sur.
"You are not the first Green Lantern I have met but you are certainly the nicest." said Superman. "Most Green Lanterns were happy to see me out of their sectors."
"We are not here to drive you from your chosen home. I am familiar with your species and I can see that you are not one of the Empire building Kryptonians. How did you escape the destruction of your people?" asked Abin Sur.
"My parents sent me away just before the planet exploded. I was raised here by human parents."
"So do you know of your people's history?" asked Abin Sur.
"I know enough of it. I know that some of my people were cruel and tried to dominate others. I spent some time traveling around the galaxy and most people were afraid of me based on what my people did to them." said Superman. "I came back here since most people didn't know of kryptonians here. I thought that I could do some good here."
"I understand." said Abin Sur. He looked over at Hal then back to Superman. "The reason that we came to you is that we are putting together a network of heroes called the Justice League. This will help put the right abilities to use in the right place and it will help many of the heroes with training and direction. The Justice League will function as a local node for defense of the planet and this sector from aggressive species. It will also help deal with powerful criminals that the normal justice system can not contain or deal with. We would like you to join."
Superman thought about it for a few moments. "What do you get out it?"
"Well it's actually my job. The purpose of the Green Lantern Corp is to act as a peacekeeper force for the League of Planets. I am the Ambassador for this sector. I am charged with the defense of the sector, training of new candidates into the Green Lantern Corp," Abin Sur gestured at Hal Jordan, "organizing local forces for the defense of their planets," then he gestured towards Superman, "and evaluation of when a planet is ready for further contact with other planets of the League."
"So you decide when humans can contact this League?" Superman accused.
"No, if humans are able to find a way to contact the League on their own then they are free to. I decide when other planets are allowed to come into this space so that they don't take advantage of humanity. I also want to make sure that humanity is comfortable enough with aliens that they don't automatically attack all aliens that they encounter." said Abin Sur, "We have been doing this for a long time and we don't want either side harmed by first contact."
Superman thought about it for a while, then Hal stepped in, "If you don't trust our motives then don't you think that being with us to monitor us would be better then not knowing?"
Superman smiled at that. "That's a good point. Okay, I'll join."
"Excellent! We are the only ones at this point and we don't have a base of operations yet so there is little to do now." said Abin Sur. He pulled out a bracelet. "This will allow you to communicate with us and we will hear you through our rings." He handed it to Superman. "It is also a computer and a sensor so it will be able to help you. It is voice controlled and it is now set to only function for you."
Superman put it on his left wrist and looked at it. "Does it come in any other colors? It doesn't quite match my uniform."
Abin Sur looked offended, "What's wrong with green?"
Two more Green Lanterns were recruited soon after. The first one was John Stewart, an ex-marine. The other was Kyle Rayner, a comic book artist. John Stewart became known for his extremely strong will and Kyle Rayner became known for his extreme imagination. Together with Hal Jordan they trained under Abin Sur day after day. There was so much to learn from both directions. Abin Sur taught them about the galactic society and the humans taught him about Earth.
They continued to recruit superheroes and fight villains but they also started working on the next phase of work. They started building the Watchtower. This was an advanced space station in high Earth orbit that will serve as the headquarters for the Justice League and the Sentinel program.
The four Green Lanterns were able to work together to take material from the main asteroid belt and convert it into main structural parts for the Watchtower. They would take some parts down to Earth to refine them in an atmosphere if they needed to. They would also take trips in Abin Sur's ship out to other planets in the sector to get more advanced parts that they could not get locally or make. After a while they had several reactors and an artificial gravity system set up.
On those trips out Abin Sur started to introduce the Green Lantern trainees to alien races and how to deal with various situations. He let them see the areas that they would be helping with soon. They were able to speak with many strange aliens and they had a different perspective on life once they came back.
On of these times they were out they were visiting the massive ship yards of Talkor. The ship yards reminded the humans of the rings of Saturn with thousands of stations in a locked orbit over a greyish green sky. The ship's systems automatically communicated with the orbital control and they were given a flight path with a moderate amount of priority. Abin Sur had Hal Jordan land at the specified coordinates. Each of them had been taking turns learning to fly Abin Sur's ship.
"Don't forget the ..." Kyle pointed at one of the controls.
Hal swatted his hand away, "I know, I know.."
John sat back and looked out the view ports.
"What about that..." Kyle pointed again.
"I've GOT it!" said Hal, "I've flown before you know."
"Okay," Kyle held up his hands.
John said, "Will you two get a room!" without looking over at them.
"You missed..." Kyle pointed at another control.
"Oh umm... good eye; I was just about to do that." said Hal.
John chuckled and looked over at Abin Sur, who was watching them carefully at the controls. He glanced at John and winked.
The ship settled down on to the landing pad and a large space door closed above them. It signaled that the atmosphere was safe. They shut down several other systems and lowered the aft boarding ramp.
Everyone else started getting up from their seat except Abin Sur. They turned and looked at him.
Abin Sur said, "So are you planning on jumping to Hyperspace this close to that planet with the ramp down?"
Hal turned and panicked. He started hitting controls to shut down the hyperdrive capacitor that he had accidentally been charging for 5 minutes. Since he had shut down the navigation system and several other systems that would have stopped it from discharging on it's own, it would have fired a graviton beam into the station in front of them and sucked them all into hyperspace.
Kyle laughed at him but Abin Sur looked disapprovingly at him, "You set yourself as the co-pilot but you let Hal intimidate you away from doing that duty to the best of your abilities. You both need to learn to work together better."
Abin Sur stood and floated out of the ship.
Kyle looked over at Hal, "Sorry," and offered to shake his hand.
Hal smiled, "I shouldn't have snapped at you" and shook his hand.
John started down the ramp, "Do you two need some time alone or can we get this show on the road?"
Abin Sur was talking to someone over his ring. It was showing a hologram of some kind of bald creature with blue glowing lines all over his face and head similar to circuit patterns. "We will meet you there in five subcycles." Their rings translated that literally but also supplied that a subcycle is about equal to 2.5 minutes. The hologram disappeared. He turned to them and said, "We are here to pick up 16 hyperdrive generators, various artificial intelligence system parts, and a passenger. He will meet us with the AI parts since he will be the one who will be installing them in the Watchtower."
"Is he another Green Lantern?" asked Hal.
"No but he has his own abilities. He is what you call a Cyborg." said Abin Sur.
"So wait, a cyborg is coming to Earth to install an artificial intelligence system in a satellite? Have you seen Terminator?" said Kyle.
"No why do you ask?" said Abin Sur.
They landed a few minutes later in a market district. Abin Sur walked up to humanoid with glowing blue lines all over his body as well as a red left eye. "Greetings my friend," said Abin Sur. "Let me introduce you to my new trainees: This is Hal Jordan, this is John Stewart, and this is Kyle Rayner." Abin Sur gestured to each one. "This is Vector Cyperion of Technis, one of my oldest friends."
"So you are a cyborg? Is that common among your people?" asked Hal.
"It is relatively common but different people have different specialties." said Vector.
"What is yours?" asked Kyle.
"I was a detective with the Citizen Protection Bureau on Technis. My cyberware is focused on sensors and low level combat. I have augmented reflexes and hidden weapons for use in street combat." said Vector.
"That will be helpful," said John appreciatively.
Abin Sur said, "He has help me set up the last four Sentinel systems and has brought in criminals all over this sector with me. He has been a great help."
"Now if you ring slingers would be a great help and please carry all this stuff back to the ship I would appreciate it. I've been gathering this stuff for a while." He turned to Abin Sur. "If you will come this way you can pay for all this." They turned and went inside the shop they were in front of.
The three Green Lanterns used their rings to pick up all the goods and they took off back towards the ship.
Kyle said, "Maybe we can come back at some point and shop here. That reminds me – do we get paid?" Kyle looked over at John and they both looked over at Hal since he was the elder student.
Hal said, "Once we get our own rings then our pay in League credits will be accessible through them."
"Oh, will it be a lot of pay?" said Kyle.
Hal said, "If I told you a pay scale in credits would it make any sense to you?"
"Um no." said Kyle, "Hey wait! You wouldn't know either. He told you the same thing didn't he!"
John said, "It still amazes me that Abin Sur is actually running all of our rings as constructs of his own. I have a hard enough time keeping a couple of constructs going at the same time."
"He told me that after a while it will be more of a subconscious thing." said Hal.
"So if he gets knocked unconscious does that mean that we loose our powers?" asked Kyle.
"No, remember the rings have safety protocols in place. However he can countermand any order we give our rings. That way if he can't handle the pressure or we decide to go rouge then he can just shut them off. Apparently the Guardians of Oa can do that to the regular rings as well." said Hal. "That way if I, for instance, went nuts, I couldn't go and wipe out the Guardians or other Green Lanterns."
John said, "That's a pretty smart safety system. Imagine if they didn't do that. They start handing out rings and someone goes ballistic and they didn't have something like that in place. They are choosing people based on having a strong will. That could be a dangerous set up."
"Plus once we get our own rings, we are always connected to the battery on Oa so they always know what we do and they can limit or stop us." said Hal. "If we had our own power source then we could do a lot of damage on our own."
"I guess they have been doing this for a while." said Kyle.
They arrived at the ship and loaded up the supplies. They spent the rest of the day loading parts for various systems. Once they were finished Cyborg and the Green Lanterns took off for Earth.
After about a month of construction the Watchtower was ready for use. It had artificial gravity on all decks, including the ability to vary gravity in certain sections for cargo control or exercise. Twelve Javelin surface to orbit shuttles had been constructed with the help of Farris Aircraft, using the specifications given to them by Abin Sur. They would serve as a way to deal with moving supplies and personnel all over the world or to get teams of heroes to a conflict anywhere in the world as quickly as possible. Computer systems and satellites sorted information from all over the world to notify them of any dangerous superhuman attacks. They were ready to move on to the Sentinel program.
Javelins were sent down to several nations to bring back those that had been invited to come up. Most of them were ambassadors or representatives of a nation's military or some other branch, depending on the nature of the nation. They were not allowed to bring weapons, which precluded many of the actual national leaders. Sometimes the invitations included specific people as representatives of a certain community or company. Other times it was just a limit of a number of people in that nation's party.
The Javelins came up from the surface of the Earth in one stage, which was largely beyond the capabilities of any of the nations. They had artificial gravity, which was way beyond them. Some were amazed, some were concerned, and not a few of them were frightened by this display of technological superiority. So on that day thirty people came up to what was in effect the new Mount Olympus floating in space above the Earthlings.
They came in and landed in the docking bays. They were escorted into a conference room aboard the Watchtower. The room was set up with several smaller tables facing each other with the name of each nation on a banner in front. It was written in several languages and had a small flag of that nation on one side. They were all arranged in a circle with a large symbol of the League of Planets in the floor. The table at the door had the symbol of the Green Lantern Corp on it. No one was sitting there yet.
Along the back of the room were several smaller doors that their guides pointed out. Each nation had a personal room that they could go into for private communications and they contained restrooms. They were provided with some snacks and water to drink. After a few minutes four Green Lanterns came into the room.
Abin Sur sat down at the table and the other Green Lanterns spread out a little behind him.
"Greetings, I have talked with several of you before but let me introduce myself. My name is Abin Sur, ambassador from the League of Planets. Welcome to the Watchtower." said Abin Sur.
The delegates applauded.
"The League of Planets is an organization of planets that work together for mutual defense and trade." The lights went off and a hologram of the galaxy appeared above the symbol of the League of Planets on the floor. The image of the galaxy had several color coded sections. It was also divided by white lines into sectors. "Approximately 78% of this galaxy is aligned with the League of Planets. The rest are either independent communities or aggressor states. The Earth lies in Sector 2814." The hologram zoomed into the sector map. "There are several aggressive races nearby here as well. There is even an ongoing war in this sector we are trying to resolve." The holograms disappeared and the lights came up.
"What we are offering is a protected planet status leading to eventual membership in the League. We will help you set up defenses around your planet and provide some technological advancement. We like to reach out to younger races when they get to a certain technological level so that we can help them connect with galactic society with a little warfare as possible. We are here to make this transition as easy for everyone as possible."
"We have treaties with each one of your nations which allow us to help you in your territory. We provide help in dealing with and rebuilding from disasters and metahuman attacks. We deal with the metahumans in your area, either to have them work with us or to deal with criminals. And in exchange all of our representatives gain diplomatic immunity in your territories. This allows us to help you without problems with local law enforcement agencies."
"This is the basic treaty level. Now we would like to talk with you about the next treaty level. This is called the Probationary treaty level. A nation that goes through this level will be allowed to go to the next level once stipulations in the treaty have been met. In this level we will help that nation improve it's infrastructure, medical, and economic conditions. They will become members of the Sentinel program, which will will talk about in a minute." said Abin Sur.
Amanda Waller interrupted him at this point, "What kind of stipulations would there be?"
Abin Sur looked over at her, "Mostly ethical stipulations."
"What do you mean ethical stipulations?" said Waller.
"The requirements for proceeding within the treaty are based on how you treat your own people." said Abin Sur.
"How we treat our own people is our own business." said the Russian delegate. "You have no right to dictate how we treat our own people. You act just like the Americans. You say that you will give us aid but then you say we have 'human rights violations'! HA! American streets are filled with criminals and corruption and they have tried to spread it to us."
"You were treating those people.." started Waller.
"SILENCE!" yelled Abin Sur. "This is not a debate hall! I don't care which one of you joins or doesn't join. I am inviting you to participate in a thousand year old society but these programs can be connected to individuals and not nations if the leadership of this planet is incapable of working together!"
Abin Sur closed his eyes and calmed himself. Then he opened them again and smiled. "As I was saying, if you wish to participate in the probationary treaty level we will help you improve the conditions for your people. Once you show that you can deal with these technologies responsibly then we will help you with development of your space based infrastructure."
A delegate from India raised her hand, "Can you give us an example of the kind of help you are offering?"
Abin Sur smiled at her, "Of course, we can help you eliminate diseases, improve your medical technologies, and lengthen the life span of your species. We can help you with you improve the safety and growth of your food supply. We can help you improve your power systems and switch to alternative power supplies. We can help you eliminate poverty, hunger, and disease."
"And all you need is our first born children?" said the Russian delegate.
Abin Sur looked over at Hal confused, "I don't understand the reference."
"He is just being an asshole. They don't understand why you would want to help them so much. They think that it is a trick." said Hal.
"Oh I see." said Abin Sur. He thought about it for a moment. "Apparently I need to study your culture longer. I retract the offers." He stood up.
Everyone was stunned. They started yelling over each other.
Abin Sur turned and left the room. The three Green Lanterns looked at each other confused, then shrugged and followed.
Abin Sur was talking to Superman when they came out.
Hal said, "Maybe you should..." but he was interrupted by Abin Sur holding up his hand.
He finished talking to Superman and he turned to look at them and smiled. "Don't worry. I've been doing this for a long time. They needed to be shocked out of their fear."
Kyle said, "Oh so this is reverse psychology. All that stuff about not understanding our culture wasn't true."
"I've been studying your culture since I first came here in the 1860s. I understand quite a bit." said Abin Sur.
"Wait you've been here that long ago? How old are you?" said John.
"About 180 of your years old." said Abin Sur.
"You don't look a day over 150." said Kyle.
Hal just shook his head at Kyle, "How did I know you were going to say that?"
"What?" Kyle grinned.
John said, "So what do we do?"
Abin Sur said, "Follow me." and he went back in the room.
Everyone was standing around in clusters but they all stopped talking when they came in.
"I have arranged for the shuttles to take you back down to the planet. It was nice meeting you." Abin Sur bowed and turned to leave.
"Wait! Sir! Wait!" the delegates yelled.
Abin Sur turned.
Several of the delegates surged forward and then stopped. They looked at each other.
The delegate from India said, "I would like to talk to you further about this treaty."
Many of the others said the same. There were some of the delegates that had not come forward including Russia, the US, and China. However they were looking over at Abin Sur as well.
Abin Sur looked at them and said, "I will send a copy of the treaty with everyone and it will have a way for each of your to get in touch with me. You can talk it over with your leadership. In the mean time I can give you a tour of the Watchtower and introduce you to some of the staff and members of the Justice League before you go back down."
The delegates came into the main control center for the Watchtower. It was at least four stories tall and very open. There was a balcony with a smaller control center suspended in the middle of the room. The entire main wall was covered in four story windows showing the Earth with smaller windows projected on to the larger ones showing news broadcasts and various other information. Most of the room was painted white or light gray.
The delegates looked around at all the controls and windows, pointing out things to each other. Then they were brought together to meet the Justice League.
Abin Sur turned to introduce them, "This is Superman, Dr. Fate, The Flash, Cyborg, Mr. Terrific, Aztek, Captain Atom, Vixen, Fire, Zatanna, and Direwolf. You have already met my trainees – Hal Jordan, John Stewart, and Kyle Raynar."
The delegates applauded.
"We are gaining new members all the time." said Abin Sur.
The Russian delegate said, "Why do you have so many American members?"
Abin Sur looked over at him, "I think that has to do with the quantum field instabilities around North America."
"Wait! What?" said Waller. "What kind of quantum field instabilities?"
Cyborg said, "How much do you know about quantum fields?"
"Well nothing." said Waller.
"Then what is the point of your question?" said Cyborg. "If we told you what kind it was you would have no point of reference to understand the answer."
Abin Sur interrupted Cyborg before the conversation got out of hand, "There are quantum field instabilities all over the planet, this is normal, however they are more concentrated around North America and parts of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. They are one of the reasons that so many metahumans have developed in those areas. It also shows up on most advanced sensor systems and this causes many spacecraft to lock on to those areas when landing."
"Are these fields a danger to normal people?" said Waller.
Abin Sur said, "Those with the natural ability to express a special ability will do so. Those people may or may not be a danger to others. That is one of the reasons we are here."
"Can they be blocked?" asked the Russian delegate.
Cyborg said, "Not with your level of technology. Not even with my level."
Waller asked, "Can they be focused or directed?"
Abin Sur looked at her for a moment, "Planning to add to Checkmate?"
Waller looked shocked, "How do you know about that?"
"I'm sorry. Was that supposed to be a secret?" said Abin Sur. "I sometimes have a hard time telling between things that are supposed to be a secret and something that is just a problem with your Internet."
Waller looked angry.
Someone coughed.
"So why don't we look at the holding area?" said Hal.
They led the delegates through to the next section. Waller hung back and said to Abin Sur, "We need to talk."
"You can call me any time. I sent you communications instructions with your treaty packets." said Abin Sur.
The Justice League broke up as they were leaving to go about their business. Cyborg and Mr. Terrific left to talk about quantum fields.
Vixen said to John Stewart as he was passing, "You can call me any time as well."
John blinked and pointed at himself, "Me?"
Vixen nodded.
The Green Lanterns and the delegates went into a large room with several holding cells and some sort of large tube at one end.
"This is our holding area. We prepare any criminals here to enter the prison system in the Phantom Zone. The large device at the end opens a wormhole into the Phantom Zone. Inside there are several cells to handle prisoners of different types." said Abin Sur.
"Why send them there? Why not deal with them here?" said the Indian delegate.
"One of the unique properties of the Phantom Zone is that it suppresses special abilities of most types. It is safer to deal with any prisoners while in there." said Abin Sur.
"So what if they get out?" said Waller.
"Assuming that an extraordinary amount of things go wrong and any of them get out then they will still have to face the Justice League right here. However the prison system was developed to hold criminals of Superman's power level." said Abin Sur.
"So would you be stopped in there?" said the Russian delegate.
"No. Our power rings are not effected by this system. We simply cut power to Green Lantern criminals and deal with them normally." said Abin Sur.
"How long do you hold them in there?" said the Indian delegate.
"Until our treatment systems show that they have been rehabilitated or that they are incapable of rehabilitation. If they are incapable of rehabilitation then we remove their powers permanently and allow them to live out the rest of their lives in virtual reality. They have an enjoyable life inside there but they can no longer harm others." said Abin Sur.
"Do you ever execute anyone?" said Waller.
"Once we have captured them? No. What would be the point?" said Abin Sur.
"To give the family's of the victims some piece of mind!" said Waller. "To make others think twice about doing the same thing!"
"Would you like us to torture them on the news and bleed them to death in front of everyone?" said Abin Sur. "No. We don't kill unless we have to and once we have someone as a prisoner then we treat them responsibly. Using the death of prisoners as an attempt to prevent crime requires that you kill people instantly for any infraction to actually have any real effect on criminal behavior. However at that point you don't have a nation so much as a prison population that you are trying to keep in line."
"As for using the death of someone as a therapeutic aid for victims, that is an extremely damaging thing to do even for the victims. It is telling them that they are made safe by eliminating people that cause them pain. It is telling them that the value of life is attached to obedience to their government. It makes them afraid of the society they are in because their safety is based on following deadly rules." said Abin Sur.
"What makes a people less afraid is when their government shows them that it cares about their well being and any rules are followed consistently and clearly. This is why we judge younger races based on their Ethics. In the long term it is their ethical systems that determine if that race will be stable or become violent or even self-destruct."
One of the other delegates asked, "Have you seen any planets self-destruct?"
"Yes, several, unfortunately." said Abin Sur.
Waller said, "But how do you change human nature?"
"You don't have to change human nature. Human nature is to adapt. You just need to explain the system to them. I know that a lot of people are afraid of change but you continue to experience change all the time." said Abin Sur. "Besides, it's not like these concepts are new ideas. We have the collective experience of millions of worlds to work with. We have experts that have been studying these systems personally for longer then many of your nations have existed. We are not trying to harm you and we are not trying to make you dependent on us." said Abin Sur.
One of the other American delegates said, "This stuff sounds like Socialism to me. What about our companies?"
"There are corporations that own many planets by themselves in the League of Planets. Corporations will still be around. Don't worry about that." said Abin Sur.
Hal piped in, "We just bought some parts from a company several light years from here. They were doing just fine."
Abin Sur escorted them back down to the Javelin bay after they had a nice meal in the cafeteria. Several of them asked him more questions as they left.
Superman stood by watching them leave with the Flash.
Flash said, "Do you think that they will go for it?"
"I don't know. I hope so. It would be nice if we could work together and fix a lot of the problems of this world." said Superman.
"Well I hope so too. I have to say that this is one of the better probabilities that I've seen. In many of them the Green Lanterns and the League of Planets were much more fractured and they didn't found the Justice League." said Flash.
"Was there still a Justice League?" asked Superman.
"In most of them – yes. However we were mostly stopping supervillians instead of dealing with social problems. I think that we will get a lot more done this way." said Flash.
"I think so too." said Superman.
Flash said, "It just feels strange having a Justice League without Batman and Wonder Woman."
"Who are they?" asked Superman.