Ch. 7 Boot Camp
Oa had to have been one of, if not, the most amazing planet the young heroes have ever came across. The city was a gleaming pristine white with the occasional emerald green highlights. It was vast and wide like any major city you would find on Earth, only minus the trash, pollution, and traffic. Everyone wore the uniformed GL Corp colors, and the majority of the attire were the one piece suite design like Jordan and Stewart's. Most of the residences preferred to fly to their location, yet there were a few that were out and about at ground level.
The five boys couldn't take in the sights fast enough. Kid Flash and Beast Boy were all over the place pointing and exclaiming at just about everything that fell into their line of vision. Static Shock had to recharge his digital camera and switch memory cards once already before wisely deciding to wait until something really interesting should appear. Which came around about every three minutes or so he decided to limit himself to at least three shots per block. Jaime had to switch between the sightseeing and keeping track of what Scar was saying as she regaled him with the history of the Corp. His genuine interest and curiosity seemed to have won a few more points with his host, whom had been more than willing to answer his questions.
Superboy took it all in his usual neutral manner. Every so often he would quietly glance at Jaime out of the corner of his eye to make sure he wasn't bothered by anything and so far it looked like the youth had the scarab well and truly trained. It hadn't tried to armored up or weaponized itself when a small squad flew overhead during a drill practice. Nor did it seem to be verbally harassing the Latino with its 'advice'. No doubt about it, the frequent meditations were working miraculously for his control over the A.I. Admittingly there had been a close call when some new grunt that was learning how to use his flight ability practically dived bombed them in the street. This, of course, triggered the alien armor's defensive protocols and caused it to spread under his clothes. Naturally, this forced Jaime to slip into a silent mantra of "Shh… It's alright… Everything's okay…" under his breath while rubbing at his temples, but it did keep the armor from spreading any further and had it receded shortly afterwards. When the Lanterns glanced over in the beetle's direction Conner quickly covered for him by offering some water for his 'jetlag induced headache', to which the younger boy caught on and gave an appreciated smile. The Kryptonian wasn't about to risk his friend losing his mental grip so soon after such a knee jerked reaction. Whatever Jaime was trying to accomplish by coming to Oa, Conner was going to help him see it through.
Oaen Training Hall
Soon enough the group came upon a large dome shape building that took up almost a solid block of road. Their planetary host guided them right into the building without pause and soon they were all standing in a vast open area carefully divided and organized for different activities. There was a shooting gallery at the very end of the room where several Lanterns were taking aim at fixated targets. Off to the left of that was a small hard light obstacle course that warped and changed to keep whomever ran it guessing and adapting. Across from that, two sparring matches were in full swing with one being with the use of rings and the other without. A little ways before that was a section used apparently by grunts whom were learning how to from the constructs their rings could create. One side was for basic geometric shapes and another was for more complex constructs. Finally right around the entire room and above their heads where a few grunts flying/running laps on the ground and near the ceiling.
"This is the Corp's training facility, where new recruits are assigned and instructed on the usage of their rings." The Guardian explained as literally dozens of newly knighted Lanterns were busy running drills all around them. Hand to hand, combat strategy, aerial maneuvers, basic targeting, and even some energy manipulation; anything and everything one would expect from a Lantern boot camp. "It ought to provide you all with an ideal setting for training."
"You call that shooting?!" A loud and angry voice suddenly yelled harshly from above startled them and caused everyone to look up. What they saw was a large uniformed alien that seemed to resemble a cross between a boar and a bull hippopotamus was scowling down at the many recruits that were practicing shooting at fixed targets. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a Tritonian Bowaleg!"
Beast Boy found the sight of the large, bulky, alien Lantern was instinctually intimidating. "W-who's that?"
It was easy enough to tell whom the green child was speaking of. "Sergeant Kilwog." The Guardian informed as she studied the refined soldier. "He is in charge of basic training for the new recruits and ought to provide plenty of challenges to test your skills." This location ought to provide ideal opportunities for their guest to indulge in as well as a decent enough distraction for the entourage to keep them occupied.
The Sergeant sure looked formidable enough, and apparently had a very low tolerance for poor performances. His piercing red eyes always searching for any flaws to weed out, reprimand, and correct. "Are you actually trying to aim or do you not get that you're supposed to hit the target?!" He shouted from his position above after witnessing several wild shots from two of the grunts at the shooting gallery. That kind of sloppy marksmanship would do nothing against a single armed opponent and will certainly not cover and squad members in the field.
For those like Kilowag, whom have seen and even experienced hardships than any one being ought to, becoming a Lantern wasn't something to be taken likely. Life in the Corp meant being prepared to face overwhelming odds at any given time. The moment one is knighted as a Lantern, their life is no longer their own but instead devoted to those whom can't defend themselves. It meant being expected to fight at a moment's notice. To uphold and enforce the laws that kept the universe in peace and order. To aide and defend your fellow soldiers in times of war. One Lantern could mean the difference between life and death out on the field. It was a huge responsibility and a great honor. Yet because of the dangers one could easily run into out there in the vast openness of space, growing old in the Corp was privileged luxury few could claim. Although Kilowag himself was still in his prime for his species, he too was a veteran of war and violence, and understood all too well the importance of training. These grunts will learn in time, but until then they will give him 110% even if it kills them!
Bart couldn't help but shiver at the scene before him. "Ooooh, you know they're feeling the mode." Back in his time the Big Bad Blue had watched over the slaves with equal vigor and hostility. Being reminded of such a memory sent a chill down the auburn's back and had him instinctively shying closer to his best friend to secretly glance at his back as if he could spot if and when the hidden scarab would try something with his pal.
Static couldn't help but agreed. "No doubt." His grandfather had served in the military before and told him stories of the training regiments. A lot of this was familiar enough, but still, from the point of view of a civilian, it was kinda boarder line abusive.
"This is a military organization." John Stewart explained as he thought back to his years in the navy and later his earlier days in the Corp. "Tough love's part of the territory."
Even so Virgil wasn't sure if the flaring nostrils on the behemoth were a good sign for whomever he was barking at the moment. "He looks ready to go postal on'em." If anything it was like watch a bull before the charge.
"Kilowog?" Hal Jordan quipped in a mocked surprised tone, as if he couldn't understand how anyone could come to such a conclusion on his friend. "Ah-naw, he's really a big softy once you get to know'em."
"You're all worthless sacks of Ooglum splat, all of ya!" The alien roared angrily from his position over the trainees whom failed to scale a hard light wall that tended to morph every few minutes. "You Poozars better scale that wall before I come down there and throw you over it!"
"I like'em." Superboy quipped with a slight smirk. He's obviously trying to push this troops hard in order to bring out their potential. The question was: would they all rise to the challenge? Maybe he could learn a thing or two from this trip after all.
As the small squad watched the on goings of the facility, Scar had been quietly observing their honored guest. He seemed to be expressing genuine interest in several on the activities in their training facility. Particularly the firing range, sparring matches, and basic construct formation. Could he be considering taking part in the regiments? According to the rumors a scarab could morph into whatever arsenal its host would require for any occasion. There were also speculations of it imbuing the host body with immense strength and unparallel accuracy with projectiles. It would be a proper and controlled setting to observe his mastering over the Reach's technology if he chose to take part in the training activities. Why wasn't he asking permission-Wait. Of course! He was young! Added to that his respectful mannerism, it wasn't his place to ask of such things from his elders, permission has to be offered.
"We have ample time before the banquet." The small blue female alien informed the young human with as she hovered up his eye level. "Would you care to experience some of our training methods?" She glanced over towards the firing range he had been studying before nodding in its direction in the Earthian custom of encouragement. "Each is tailored to a specific method combat."
However, it had been the auburn human to answer when he heard the offer. "Sure!" Track had become his favorite after school activities and although he had to hold back a great deal in order to keep his family identity a secret in this era, now it looked like he had a chance to just cut loose!
The green one had followed suite having heard the tail end of the offer. "Cool!" That morphing wall looked like it might be fun to scale.
"Sweet!" Even the newest meta human on the Team got hyped up at the prospect of trying out a military style alien gym. "I'm so in!" Maybe if he played his cards right, maybe he could learn a trick or two about manipulating his bioelectric energy similar to how the Lantern manipulate their green energy into different shapes and stuff.
Despite wanting to test his metal in the sparring ring, Superboy glanced over at his shorter Latino friend. "That alright with you, Blue?" Engaging in even a mocked combat could be risky. It might have the Scarab taking things to the extreme.
"Well…" Admit-ly, his friends' enthusiasms was contagious and the Hispanic found himself being drawn towards the firing range ag-.
"Caution, Jaime Reyes." Khaji-Da suddenly spoke out in his mind for the first time since they landed on Oa. So suddenly that the boy had actually jumped subtly since he honestly didn't expect him to talk since he had kept quiet for the most part. "Recall our current location." The tactical advice had the youth glancing around at the rather full room and all its uniformed occupants. Due to Scarab's initial protocol codes, it used the visual readings from its host to identify not only which Lanterns were armed, but which ones species had past encounters with the Reach. "Revealing our identity here may lead to extreme consequences"
However minor the flinch had been it had been noticed by both Superboy and the two Earth Lanterns. Conner caught it because of he had been looking for any slight sign of the Scarab intruding into the boy's thoughts. It probably didn't like the fact that it was surrounded by 'enemies' was 'advising' lethal force. Hal noticed do to the fact that the kid's positive mood suddenly changed into of caution and immediately wondered if it was because he had been put on the spot. John took note of it because all his years in the military service taught to be well aware of a person's physical tells, and looked around the room to see if someone or something had caused the boy to go on guard. Although only one was fully aware to the exact situation, all of them were of the same mind that something had just gotten triggered, and Jaime was now struggling with it. However, before any of them could come up with convincing escape for the teen, a fourth observer suddenly made himself known.
"Of course it's alright with him!" The new Kid Flash stated after dashing over to and under Jaime's arm while resting his own over the Hispanic's shoulders. "Blue loves a good training round, don't'cha her-man-oh?" He padded his pal's shoulder in encouragement. All this prime and proper acting was obviously getting to Jaime, so it was up to him to get him to loosen up. "Think you can take me in a race?" Some exercise was bound to wake him up and release any hidden stress induced tension that may be lingering in his muscles. "I'll even let ya fly."
The familiar action pulled a chuckle out of the older teen before he went about playfully pushing the speedster away. "Heh, maybe later, hermano." As much as the Hispanic youth wanted to join in his friends' enthusiasm, he had to agree with his, not so silent, silent partner. It was simply too crowded there at the time. "Jetlag's kinda settling in right now." He fibbed while adding rubbing the back of his neck for empathies of his minor travelling fatigue. "But you guys go ahead if ya feel up to it. I'll watch." He may not want to be crowed, but that didn't mean his friend should hold back on his account.
Conner nodded in both understanding and acceptance before addressing the rest of the team. "Alright then, X squad, let's spread out." If Jaime needed some time to mentally wrestle with his inner demon quietly, then the Kryptonian will just have to distract the rest of the group so that he could do so without too many interruptions.
"Dibs on the track!" Bart shouted before sprinting off in a blur of yellow and a few cheers that had the other young heroes running after him.
Wanting to support the youth's choice of wanting to keep his 'quirk' under control, Hal placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder before anyone else could try to talk him out of missing out with his friends. "C'mon, Jaime." The Honor Guard gently began to guide the youth up towards the catwalk overlooking the entire room. The same spot where his best friend in the Corp was overseeing the grunts. "You can get the best view from over here." Scarab, by no means, approved of the physical contact and so spread over its host shoulder just underneath the hoodie so as to act as a barrier. Jaime had easily felt the shift and couldn't help but glance over at the Honor Guard. If Hal had noticed that something had bulged under his hand, he made no indication of.
Meanwhile Khaji-Da had been monitoring the Lantern for any indication of malicious intent. That was twice now this particular Lantern had violated the boy's personal space and this time had gone as far as to physically touched him. Although the sentient alien tech hadn't detected any trace of apprehension from its chosen host at the contact, it understood from Jaime's memories and past experience that such familiarity is only appropriate between those whom have a history together. Since the Latino was of a demographic whose cultural norm involved open physical contact, Scarab had been able to conclude that unless Jaime, himself, disapproved of having his personal space invaded by someone then there was no reason for the A.I. to interject. Truth be told there have been a few inconclusive moments with the Impulse/Kid Flash during their first encounter, but that was mainly because he had that habit of just randomly appearing without warning. However, the Impulse/Kid Flash and Jaime Reyes shared similar age groups and it was not unheard of for such members to be so familiar with each other. The Lantern belonged to a much older generation and non-hostile or not, no history existed between its host and the Lantern, so such familiarity won't be approved of until more data could be collected.
Meanwhile the GL Sergeant had been double taking every which way since his grunts were suddenly joined by four unknown youths. He would have demanded what in Grot's name had been going on, if one of them hadn't just lapped the uniformed track runners three times in five seconds. A little show offish but impressive none the less. Another targeted and hit two targets with some crude bio-electrical attack. Effective, but could be better with improvement. Another one transformed into some kind of flying creature he wasn't familiar with before landing and morphing back to his original form in the line for the wall, and then morphing into a small even more animalistic version of said form and scaled the constant moving obstacle with more ease than the rest. Very resourceful. Finally, the largest of them was now going hand to hand with one of the bigger and stronger cadets he had. And on par with him! Who are these guys?! And why the narks haven't they been in-dieted?!
A familiar whistle had the Bolovaxian turning around to find that his friend in the Honor Guard and his other friend in the Corp coming up the way with boy his did not recognize. "Hey, Jordan! Stewart!" The group was flank by two other respectful senior Lanterns and the Head Scientist of Oa, which meant that they were aware of the young strangers running around among them.
"Hey Kilowag!" The Honor Guard greeted his old Sergeant and friend with his signature grin in place as he continued to lightly nudge Jaime along. "How's the new blood?"
Almost instantly the large Sergeant smiled proudly. "Pretty good batch actually." He glance over the edge toward a few that have already shown great potential for life in the Corp. "Might even have a few that could give you a run for your money." He added with a smirk before double checking on the new-new kids that had literally came out of nowhere and started attaching themselves to different regiments. "What's with the kids? New GLs?" It wasn't completely uncommon for Power Rings to choose adolescents to become Lanterns, but these one weren't even in proper GL Corp uniform.
"Members of the League's Jr. covert operatives." John Stewart informed with a smirk of his own, knowing full well how the Senior Lantern would react.
The large male Bolovaxian blinked his red eyes at the human raising a brow in disbelief. "Riiight." He may not have had much experience working with the League himself, but one good glance told him that the only one that may have had the least bit of training from such organization was the big one that was obviously full grown as far as he was concern. He then glanced over at the young human whom politely stood quietly while the adults spoke. "And I suppose this little guy's the field leader?" He asked in a friendly enough tone since it was obvious the boy never seen anything like him before.
Remembering that he was being addressed by the Green Lantern version of a drill sergeant, Jaime instantly straightened out and stood at attention. "No sir. I'm technically still a freshman." At Kilowag's confused raised brow, the tanned human realized his slip of tongue. "A cadet." He corrected himself with the proper terminology and then quickly looked straight ahead when he realized he made a slight eye contact.
The conscious show of respect towards the Sergeant and the change of posture only further cemented the idea of the boy having a military training in his background. "Your modesty is quite amiable considering your part in repelling the Reach invasion from Earth." Scar stated respectfully and as a point of fact.
"After what they put me through, I was only too glad to help send them packing." The teenage boy stated with a scowl of distain as he recalled his months under the Reach's rule. Needing a moment to calm himself down, Jaime took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "But I owe it all to my friends and teammates." The Latino allowed a more relaxed smile to grace his features as he glanced down at his buddies trying out their skills against some of the chosen best recruits. "If it wasn't for them, I'd still be a slave."
Kilowag knew that tone very well. A tone the vibrated with both appreciation and loyalty that could have only come from two or more soldiers that had bonded over a life or death incident. "Blasted bugs are always looking to expand their territory and will use every dirty trick in the book to do it." Bolovaxian half growled under his throat. He had studied well on the history of the Corp and their battle with the Reach millennia ago and had learned much of their strategic methods. "If it were just that I wouldn't take it so personally, but from I've heard they were targeting children when they occupied your planet." If he was right about his hunch, then this kid could very well have had such a traumatic experience with their ancient enemy.
"They went after runaways and the homeless so that no one would notice what they were doing until it was too late." That had been more than clear when he and Scarab had been captured the first time. Waking up on a Bioship full of recued civilians that were obviously of no authority, political, or even high social importance makes for a pretty clear cut speculation. "They were trying to see which ones had potential for developing powers so that they could harvest their genes and weaponize them." The fact that Tye had been among them, and considering the fact that the very last time he had spoken with the Native American teen had been when he had been on the verge of running away himself further cemented the theory. "I best friend was one the survivors of who knows how many victims." Jaime still hadn't forgiven himself for arriving too late to have been any help to his oldest childhood friend.
"That's rough kid." As the GL sergeant figured, the boy had a very close and personal experience with the enemy. More than likely he came out of it with a few scars as a painful reminder of it as well. Something Kiliwag understood all too well. "Let me tell ya something. I know-ah, 1386!" The Sergeant shouted angrily when caught sight of one of his best current students getting floored by Superboy. "I did not just see you fall for that old move!" The rough and tumble soldier hollered before he began to hover off the ground and flew over towards the sparring section where he proceeded to chew out the cadet for falling for such a basic technique he had master so early in his training, then turned and chewed out Superboy for not having the proper stance when executing the maneuver, corrected him and order them both to redo the entire match.
See how this just might lead to an all-out tournament, John Stewart flew after him to make sure no tempers flared up too much now that the grunts had a Bolovaxian and a Kryptonian on the floor. Jaime leaned over the rail and watched the interaction, hoping that his trusted friend wasn't in any trouble. As military-based as the Team may have been, he really didn't know if they were breaking any protocols by joining the groups in the way they did. Still, it was a great vantage view point to see everything from. Beast Boy was scampering up and down the morphing wall with ease in his spider monkey form obviously having a blast while doing so. Static moved over the construct forming section of the gym and was getting pointers on how he may be able to manipulate his charges. Superboy seemed to have gone into full soldier mode as he followed his instructions to the letter and began schooling the grunts with some of Black Canary's moves. Lastly it looked like the neo Kid Flash decided to slow down enough in order to start a conversation with the other track runners.
Salaak couldn't help but study the young Latino. After hearing such a firsthand telling of exactly what such opponents were capable of inflicting, the four armed alien wondered if the rouge beetle may have been selected for his servitude in another, more grizzly way. "Forgive my boldness, but were you among those captured when the Reach began acquiring their test subjects?"
Jaime instantly stiffened at the question, a visible tell sign that answered it before hand. "Y-yeah." Memories of the night of his abduction and when he first woke up in a Reach containment pod were coming to him and had him rubbing at his left arm.
It would seem that there really was a high probability that the boy had been kidnapped before being forced into military service for the Reach. Obligatory military service isn't uncommon even in this far region of space. "Was that when they fuse the scarab to you?" Perhaps there was a way to remove the tech and in doing so restore some form of normalcy to the youth so that he could move on with his life.
However the four armed Lantern was surprised to find the human shaking his head at his question. "No-no, we've been together long since before that." Talking about his secret and loyal partner really helped to ease his nerves.
The fish like Lantern, Tomar, couldn't help be give the youth a curious look. "We?"
"Ah, Scarab and I." Jaime began to explain for clarity, causing the Earth Lantern to glance at over at him. 'Scarab' has long since been believed to be the name of the beetle's other personality. The more violent and distrusting personality that always insisted on using extreme force out in the field, according to those whom heard his one sided conversations. "I've had'em for eight months before the Reach even knew who I was." Could… Could Jaime be subtly trying to say that he became Schizophrenic when he was fused with the alien device? Or could it be that it had gotten worse since the Reach tried to reprogram him into their ranks?
However, the fact that the boy was referring to an inanimate object as a person was missed completely by Scar. "Wait. The device has been attached to your person for almost a full Earth year and the Reach were unaware of your existence?" According to all historical reports they had on the Reach, it was made clear that they were always in contact with their front runners before they invaded whatever planet a beetle was stationed at. The idea that the Reach had a potential soldier on Earth and weren't even aware of it; seemed downright inconceivable.
Tomar also found the idea to be equally unlikely. "I have always believed once such a devise was fuse with a host it overrides them instantly." Past recorded encounters of beetle warriors all depict a drastic change in the natural persona of the host.
"Perhaps they were simply out of range." Salaak offered as he too tried to theorize the probability of the claim. "The Sol system is the farthest they've ever attempted to expand." It wasn't as if those devices has a means to recharge or even a deep space range of communication like a Power Ring. There had to be limitations.
"Hey Blue!" A familiar enthusiastic voice called out from below.
"They don't need to be close to take control." The Latino stated automatically as he was distracted by his fast running friend suddenly calling for his attention. The showoff-ish speedster had decided to speed up again and added occasional jumping in his running so that his blur would look like a rippling ribbon. "They seeded Mars with one and it took control of its host the minute it was found."
This tidbit had Scar processing the newly discovered information very carefully. "So what you're saying is; the scarabs are all programmed to enslave their hosts independently." If there was no remote way of sending signals to the weapons, then that would mean that everything was preprogrammed before the scarabs were even sent off. Meaning that each device either had its own power source, or could maybe be using the host as some kind of battery.
"Pretty much." Getting dizzy from watching the yellow and red streak ripple, the teenager turned back towards his chaperones and practically jumped to find that he had been boxed in by Scar.
"Yet yours couldn't take control of your mind." The Guardian pointed out as she hovered up to the beetle's eye level in order to better study his features. "Instead it obeys you."
Not exactly sure what to make of the little alien's sudden impersonation of his speedy friend's semi-imposing behavior, but it still resulted in the same urge to back up for space. "Well, uh, mine's different." Of course since he had been looking over the edge of the safety railing, there was very little place to go.
The sentient Reach scarab was instantly on high alert from Jaime's steadily growing apprehension. "Caution, Jaime Reyes." Khaji-Da advised its host as its biological scanners began to detect the slimmest of emotional reaction from the categorized possible threat. "Do not disclose too much private information in front of the Guardian." Already the alien was taking the unapproved liberty of entering the boy's personal space bubble. Again! Not condoning the behavior at all, Khaji-Da began to target the Guardian and secretly armed the boy.
"How so?" The Head Scientist of the Guardians asked as she hovered even closer to the youth as if attempting to read his mind through his eyes.
"M-mine's not connected to the Reach." The retreating teen stated as his lower back soon hit the metal railing, his hands instinctively grabbing onto the supports, thus preventing any further means of backing away. "Without a direct connection they can't really receive any orders." He wasn't even really giving any real vital information. Everything he mentioned about Scarab and how he worked was pretty generic and rather common knowledge to those whom had any connection to the Reach and their technology. Of course, that meant that it probably would be considered essential anyone that didn't have such knowledge.
There had to be something about the boy that the scarab was feeding off of, the Guardian was sure of it. But what? "Then, how is it possible for it to function without a direct connection?" There were no signs of any physical exhaustion that she could detect. No paling of the skin, no discoloration or thinning of the hair, no dimming of the eye, and the posture was quite stable and solid. If the scarab wasn't using the human as a battery, then where was it getting the energy to function?
This was getting to be more and more personal than Jaime was prepared to deal with. "Scarab sort of response to my mental impulses." The youth very nearly trembled as that analytical stare continued to bore into his own eyes. Did she really have to get into his personal space like that? "Y-you're kinda close…"
Mental impulses. Of course! The scarab must be feeding off of the physic energy created by the boy's mind! Why hadn't she thought of that before? "Ah, I see." Every passing thought, every cunning strategy, every mental command, and even the involuntary one that control breathing, heartbeat; all of them create mental wavelengths that could easily be picked up by such a device. It was connected to the boy's spine after all, right in the path of the never tiring nervous system. "You've managed to have it imprint upon you as its master." Without a doubt this human must possess an advanced mental prowess if he is able to sustain and control the parasitic device. Yet how was he maintaining such a relationship without suffering some kind of side effect?
"Ah, hate to interrupt," The Honor Guard spoke up abruptly at took the attention away from the excitable youth. He didn't have to be a parent to know that the teenager was getting uncomfortable with the Q & A. "…but is this really the time and place for this?" Also, the fact that his hands were getting armored up and transforming into talons again sort indicated that the scarab had began to react to his emotional state as well. "I mean the kids just got here and all, and we are giving them a tour."
The mentioning of the tour seemed to have sparked some form of realization in the aged, bald alien female. "A very valid point 2314." Scar commented as she back up and hovered in front of the young Latino before bowing respectfully in his direction. "Apologies for our ill-timed curiosity, young Scarab Master." To think that she had allowed herself to become so easily indulged in such a sensitive topic so easily was unthinkable; even on her part.
"Ah, it's Blue Beet-."
"This is indeed not the ideal place for this discussion." Scar reaffirmed, not hearing the boy as she calculated a few scenarios in her mind before coming the most definite conclusion. "Such a subject is more fitted for the council at a set time before the banquet." They were simply too exposed out and about the city like this. It would be far too easy for misconceptions to occur without the proper controlled setting to allow for accurate observation and research. "The testing room in the Science Tower would be ideal for such a demonstration." There were so many preparations to do make, theories to tests, simulations to set up, and all within a narrow space of time. But first there was the matter of gaining the necessary approvals. "I shall see to the arrangements myself. Excuse me." Before anything else could be said or done, Scar flew off from the catwalk, muttering to herself about how much time she had to work with.
"Aah… ¿Que paso?" Poor Jaime asked to no one in particular, utterly confused by the rapid scheduling rearrangement. "What just happened?" Was he really just volunteered to be put on display?
However, Hal was just as taken aback as the young beetle was. He had worked for the Corp for some years now and had been made to appear before the Council plenty enough time to know that the Guardians have never gotten even close to becoming borderline excitable as that. Sure they each had individual personalities that peek through in spite of their cool calculative demeanor, but that was just bizarre. He suppose that since she was the Head of the Science division it would make some sense… yet experience has taught him long ago that such curiosity had to be watched carefully.
Still, it's probably best not to give the already nervous teen anymore reason to become paranoid. "Heh, scientists." The Honor Guard stated with a shrug and a somewhat casual grin. "Who can ever figure them out? You'd almost have to be one." Hal then began telling a funny story about the Atom and how he had, in a very lengthy way, tried to explain to him how the new Javelin jets worked. To which Jordan, being a test pilot, had to ask on several occasions why the Physicist couldn't just that it ran on a new kind of super fuel.
Khaji-Da monitored both his host's gradually decreasing anxiety levels and the growing suspicion from the Lantern before them. The sentient AI suppose the Oaen enforcer had done them what Jaime would call a favor by distracting his master, yet there was a equal percentage that he had merely been protecting the Guardian as is his duty. Another few second and the sentient would have intervene and force the advancing blue alien back. Granted, skewing her may have provoked an attack from the other Lantern, but its seven other visible appendages to their four in number were still favorable odds. Still, now the man was now entertaining the youth with this irrelevant tale in order to help him relax. All without laying a hand him. Apparently, after feeling the boy's shoulder armoring up, he finally learned that touching wasn't allowed and instead it now using words to offer comfort. Though the words he was using wasn't nearly relatable to this situation, it seemed to be having the desired reaction. It'll have ask Jaime about the relevance later.
"Hey Blue, look at me!" An enthusiastic shout caused everyone to look out over the edge of the catwalk and down towards the designated track. Kid Flash was, naturally, running ahead of grunts. Only he seemed to be taking it easy since he wasn't ahead more than about three meters. Backwards. "I'm back tracking!" The sight of his best friend had sent Jaime into a laughing fit and provided an excellent of forgetting the strange moment.
Kid Flash was soon trying to prompt the older teenager into coming down and joining him on the track, which naturally got the others, minus Superboy, to join in the festivities. Of course the Hispanic playfully resisted with the excuse that they would all beat him anyway, so there was really no point in trying. Which of course only encouraged some light hearted teasing from his companions and a chant of "Her-man-oh!" was started and soon picked up among some of the grunts. The senior Lanterns all found some enjoyment in watching the youths interact with each other. It was always a delightful surprise how resilient the younger generation could be after facing what most would consider a highly traumatic experience.
Finally, after having enough of hearing his native tongue being butchered, the young Hispanic gave in and turned to descend the stairs. This, of course, sent a cheer throughout the crowd along with some round of applauses. Armoring up may not have been a recommended tactic right now, but nothing said he couldn't enjoy a jog around the track as himself. Nor would he necessarily need his 'power suite' to spar and that morphing wall did look fun to scale.
Meanwhile, high above the room, a young cadet was cheering along with his fellow grunts. He was a short, dog-like alien with soft brown fur and a shaggy tail that was currently wagging with excitement. Unlike the other grunts, whom all wore well fitted uniforms, his was loose and a bit baggy. Whereas the other cadets had some fitness to them, he was a little on the pudgy side, which added to his puppy appearance. His hands possessed three fingers, his ring clasped around the two thickest of his right like an knuckle guard. His feet were more like the large back paws of a rabbit, which allowed him to gain some extra air as he executed some form of happy dance when the 'her-man-oh' creature was coached into joining the regiments. Whoever this new guy was suppose to be, it looks like he might be a very impressive recruit. Maybe he was going to do a demonstration! The cadet wouldn't mind a break from practice and maybe he could learn something from it too.
Hanging just overhead was an overhanging bulge of ceiling that served as a source of light at night for the gym. It had stood there since the building's construction and has since then stood strong against wild, miss-fired shots of energy. Yet even with its reinforced plating and reflective layer coat, it has over time succumb to minor cracks on its surface. Such minor damage pose no true cause for worry and could be easily fixed with a simple patch up. Yet, known to everyone below, an energy serge poured into those minor fractures and dug deep into its foundation. Like water, the energy eroded stone and plaster and began to push it away from the rest of the roof. It solid mass strained in protest of being forced to come off its perch, but went unheard over the chants, cheers and clapping of hands. Not even the small bits of debris and rocks falling to the ground was noticed sprinkling around the dog Lantern below. Soon enough, the chuck loosened from its perch and fell.
The Bolovaxian had caught sight of it instantly. "Mort! Watch it!" However the warning came too late.
The dog-like recruit looked back at his instructor confused before feeling an imposing shadow fall over him. He looked up and instantly adopted a deer-in-the-headlight look as the multi-ton hunk of rock came barreling down on him. Before anyone else could react to save their fellow soldier, a blue and black clad figure flew right in front of the scared stiff cadet, causing the pup to trip and fall backwards.
"Assassin Mode: Activate." Khaji-Da announced as it targeted the falling hunk of rock and initiated a long forgotten feature.
The armor expanded and grew until Blue Beetle standing a whole two feet taller. His muscle structure increased until his build was the same as Superboy's. The antenna on his back extended until they curled over his head with glowing blue tips. His armored fingers elongated and sharpened into glowing claws and finally his eyes glowed a bright yellow. The heavy mass of stone was nearly on them when the beetle thrust forward with a powerful swipe of his right. Khaji-Da sent a current through its host, stimulating the young muscles to their maximum level and enhancing them further with its own capabilities. The pinchers shot forward like a pair of retractable fangs and were quickly followed by the plasma claws. Working together, they sliced right through the chuck literally like a hot knife through butter. Immediately after the first swipe came another, and another, and another, each strike causing dust to form and spread. Faster than humanly possible, the armored teenager soon turned the would be mountain into a pile of pebbles raining down around him.
As the dust settled, all bore witnessed to the menacing creature standing tall and victorious. "Threat neutralized." Scarab informed its host as it disengaged the attacking mode and reverted their shared form back to its default setting.
As much as it learned to accept its host bizarre habit of throwing himself into danger for the sake of another, the A.I. still disapproved of the acting, finding the notion to be completely illogical. Still, it has been a while since it has had an opportunity to engage in its neglected battle program. Oddly enough it hadn't been able to access it for quite some time. One would think that considering all the battles they have been engaged in since merging, that it would have been an automatic setting, and yet Scarab couldn't recall having such a feature available until now. Perhaps the reboot did far more than simply place them back on mode. Or it could be a result of their new connection.
Meanwhile the surrounding crowd was completely blown away from what they had just witnessed. No one dared to move, they were so in shock to see such a display of strength and power. "Whoa…" Not even Superboy could fully comprehend what he had just saw and he was the only one that had a full grasp of the sentient device's drive to shield and equip its host. Yet this was beyond anything he had seen before. "That's new." Did Jaime just fully tapped into the scarab's true power? Was this what they could have been facing if they hadn't saved him from the Reach?
The beetle turned towards the cadet slowly… Those deadly looking prongs shrank back to their original form. The plasma claws retracted back into armored fingers. Those soulless glowing yellow eyes looked down on him with an unreadable expression before changing back into something resembling human.
Jaime had to blink a few times and shake off the strange feeling that came over him. He wasn't too sure what had happened, but from the looks of it the little dog thing was safe. So why does he look so terrified just now? "You alright, ese-?" The Latino asked as he kneeled down to the grunt's level.
Realization of exactly how close they were came crashing down on the cadet and had him screaming. "B-Bug!" The terrified bipedal hound yelped in absolute panic. "BUUUG!" Responding to the warning/cry every grunt flew into action and cornered the shocked insect. It hadn't been more than seconds after that, that Blue Beetle was solidly faced with a firing squad. And before anyone could stop it, was shot point blank.
