Ch. 8 Hostile Encounters

Only that of a higher power knew how many shots had been fired at that time and only they alone knew how many had actually hit their mark. However, the force that sent the rouge Reach Infiltrator flying backwards to the wall had been anything but weak. The bone crushing impact left a definite imprint on said wall before the armored body bounced off and fell hard on the floor. The second wave struck him down with such intensity that his protective armor had actually begun to break and crumble. Enough that a small section of the nigh impenetrable armor disintegrated and the burning hot intensity of the attack managed to scorch the exposed flesh at his side. The scream that ripped out from his lungs might as well have been a death cry.

"BLUE!"

The new Kid Flash reacted instantly and charged the first line of cadets on the ground, sending all them toppling every which way from the force. Doubling back he managed to knock around a second line of grunts before the rest fell back to keep from getting attacked from the hostile blur that suddenly made itself known. Superboy launched himself into the air with a mighty leap and took down three of the larger cadets hovering up front. After slamming to the ground, the Kryptonian grabbed a hold of two of the downed Lanterns in training and used them as living projectiles to break up the dragnet in the air, quickly followed by the third, taking down another dozen in the process. Beast Boy took the form of a large bull moose and made a dead run to clear a path to their downed friend and teammate. Static Shock followed the animorph close behind and forced every other grunt back with a low electrical blast that stunned anyone unlucky enough to get hit. Their combined actions abruptly cut the attack and allowed Blue Beetle to fall to the floor stunned while diverting the attention to themselves.

The sudden sneak attack easily caught the attention of the Corp's Sergeant. Seeing his new recruits get tossed around like toys, and that the new blood was actually protecting a Reach Beetle Warrior, Kilowog took to the air to respond to the assault. His ring flared brightly as the green light morphed and hardened to form his signature weapon; a giant sledge hammer. Once high enough in the air, the mighty Bolovaxian singled out the largest of the offenders and began to drop with the hammer posed and ready.

"No! Stop!" John shouted as he flew forward and held the Sergeant's personalized construct up and back before he could use the melee weapon. "It's not what you think!"

As Earth's second appointed Lantern tried to reason with the Corp's top training Sergeant, Hal Jordan was desperately trying to act as a shield for both the grunts and the X squad. Forming a thick wall between the attacking grunts and Static Shock, the Honor guard did his best to keep each side from getting hurt while shouting for the cadets to cease fire. Salaak and Tomar-Re followed suite, constructing walls to his left and right in order the stop the assault. However the inexperienced soldiers in training misunderstood the actions of their superiors and instead believed it was a defensive strategy against the enemy. Several grunts aimed in between the narrow spaces of the walls while several more hovered just above to catch the enemy in the cross fire. Yet as many began to take aim they were all surprise to discover that their powers suddenly stopped working. Those that moved to inspect their rings were shocked to find them missing from their fingers.

"Lose something?" A voiced called out and many turned to find the yellow and red clad speedster sporting several rings on each finger of each hand. "Gotta run."

Before any of them could react, the meta-human became a blur and made his way up to the grunts hovering above. Jumping from one to the other, removing their rings as such high velocity that none of them realized they've been robbed of their versatile weapons until their uniforms faded along with their flight capabilities. One of the cadets in the back saw what was happening and targeted the blur, shooting just ahead of its path and managing to at least push it off he's fellow Lanterns in training. The minor blast caught the hyper speed runner right on his red boots and took his footing right out from under him and having him fall right at the wall construct Jordan was controlling. Bart's bright yellow costume instantly destabilized the hard-light structure and caused it to collapse with his momentum before he finally hit the ground hard; spilling rings every which way as the speedster rolled to a halt. The hard-light debris flew everywhere, clipping the human Lantern in the head hard enough to knock him over stunned. His concentration lost, his construct faded away leaving a gaping hole in the protective barrier. Salaak immediately rushed to the aide of his fellow senior Lantern, dropping his concentration for his section of the wall as well.

Seeing that his aim held true, the aspiring rookie dashed forward through the opening in the barricade to capture the downed runner. Just he was about to pounce on the unsuspecting boy, suddenly a blast shot out, just missing KF's head and shoulder, and hit the would-be assailant. The speedster had to double take to realize what had happened before looking in the direction of the blast. An injured Blue Beetle, still lying on his stomach, had managed to activate one of his cannon features and fired it to save his friend. Yet there was something off with his eyes… Were they… glowing? The armored warrior pushed himself up to a kneeled position and shot wide range blast of sound in a half circle, hitting anyone in uniform and knocking them away. Including Tomar-Re, and thus causing the final barrier to fade into non-existence. However the rotating maneuver caused him the stretch too far and a surge of pain and dizziness caused the beetle to hiss and curled in on himself. One arm wrapped around his abdomen while the sonic cannon morphed back into a hand as he held it to his head.

In that moment of distraction, the collective will of the momentarily disarmed grunts called out to their rings. The near mystical bits of metal responded to their owners by flying back to them, even slipping themselves off neo Kid Flash's finger and making them way back to their true masters. Even as the auburn realized what was happening any attempt he made to hold onto the rings only resulted in him nearly getting dragged into the fray. At any point he was more concern for his friend to really care about his grip and so let the blasted things fly off and dash over to the struggling beetle. Bart immediately grabbed onto his friend's arm and quickly got under it in order to pull him back to his feet. Meanwhile some of the grunts had gotten the bright idea to combine their efforts into blasting Superboy from a distance and with enough force to throw him back to where KF and Blue were barely standing, knocking them right over. Beast Boy was soon to follow and then Static as they all fell into a pile on their companions, stunned. Now with their opponents down for the count, and the protective barriers down, all of the surrounded the X squad, took aim with their rings and prepared for a final blast.

"NO!"

Wanting to protect his teammates, the injured Blue Beetle lunged forward and threw himself over his friends. Reacting to its host's defensiveness, the armor expanded, stretched and surrounded the entire group in a large plated sphere. The grunts all fired just as the shield went up and thought the force managed to slam the circular barrier into the wall, each and every shot was deflected and redirected off the curved surface and sent careening towards a new target; the majority being attacking Lanterns. Wither in the air or on the ground the cadets dropped like flies after getting hit by their teammates own energy blasts as they continued to pour on the assault.

In the mist of this senseless onslaught, Jordan was able to come to his senses and beheld the sight before him. "Stop!" Flying over the grunts and throwing himself into the combined blast, Hal used his power to try and push back on the attacking beam. "Disengage!" He shouted as he willed a slightly bent wall to appear between him and the recruits. With the Reach sphere directly behind him, he barely managed to keep it from getting touched by the blasting hot blast.

The Honor Huard was soon accompanied by Stewart, Tomar-Re and Salaak as they added their power to his own in order to extend and fortify the shield until it became a thick half circle. The shape allowed the attack to be distributed and diverted around the embedded Reach ball. Seeing that the new recruits were only making things worse for their fellow Lanterns, Kilowog decided to end the madness by flying over the sphere and unleashing a wide berthed stream of green energy across the entire front line of grunts and sent them all tumbling back a good few feet. Shocked and confused the stunned trainees barely had time to recover before a second blast pushed them even further back as the Sergeant landed between them and his friends.

"STAND DOWN!" The enraged Bolovaxian practically roared in all his fury, startling the remaining grunts into backing down. As rough and tumble the Sergeant tended to be, this was the first time any of the new recruits seen him angry. "Have you all lost you Grozt blasting minds?!"

"But, Sir, the bug-!" A random cadet tried to explain; not at all understanding why their superiors' actions.

"I have eyes, poozer; I see it's a bug! You know what else I saw?! The lot of ya breaking protocol!" Kilowog appeared absolutely livid as he pointed out the four senior Lanterns that were surrounding the metal sphere in a defensive half circle. "You all just fired on superior ranking Lanterns!"

Seeing that the no nonsense Sergeant of the Corp now had the grunts under control, the Earth Lantern turned their immediate attention to the Reach ball behind them. "We got to get them out!" The Honor Guard soon felt along the surface for any hint of a switch, button, or panel that could activate a door of some kind. Nothing. "How do you open this thing?!" The enlarge scarab shell was thick, seamless, and from the beating to took so easily earlier, possibly indestructible. If they didn't find a way inside, the kids could suffocate.

"Boys!" Stewart shouted as he pounded on the armored ball and tried to hear for any signs of life from within the sphere. "Boys, can you hear me!?"

Sealed inside the protective alien metal ball, the rest of the members of the X squad were coming to their senses. Only to find that it was suddenly very dark, they were virtually crammed into a very small space, and wherever they were being held was severely off balanced. "What just happened?!" Superboy's voice cried out in utter confusion as he and his team tried to find some kind of foot hold in this small enclosed area. A small enclosed area that couldn't seem to stay quite still as everyone tried to hastily get back up on their feet.

"Who turned out the lights?!" Static Shock shouted in question as he struggled to keep his balance while trying to create a spark to see.

"Daah! Watch it!" The new Kid Flash could be heard screaming as the sphere suddenly rocked in indication that he had jump up against the curved walls. Most likely in startled surprise from having en electrical spark go off so close to him.

The sudden action dislodged the round prison and sent it into a roll among the unprepared Lanterns. "Whaaaaoooo!" The series of protesting cries from being suddenly mobile soon erupted from the now mobile Reach ball. "Ow! My tail!" Garfield's voice painfully shouted out again from within the now semi rolling sphere before it suddenly jerked in a random direction.

"Ouch, my eye!" Bart shouted during yet another full roll, causing the sphere to jerk yet again. It was all their chaperones could do to control the large rolling ball and not get ran over.

"Whose hand is that?!" Virgil shouted as the ball was finally made stable due to Stewart creating a base construct to keep the sphere stable and secured.

This was getting ridiculous. What was worse Conner was sure he was starting to get claustrophobic. "Blue, power down already!"

"Lo siento, lo siento!" The equally distraught Hispanic pleaded as he tried to get his wits about him and calm down. The burning in his side wasn't helping in the least, and nether was getting randomly slammed into since it only aggravated the injury all the more. Since the sphere was literally made from his armor, he was stuck in place as part of the wall which made it impossible to dodge. "Give me a minute!" He knew from experience that unless he got himself under control emotionally in a situation like this, Khaji-Da would only fight to keep them all encased as they were.

He had to calm himself down. Needed to breath deep deeply and clear his head. To ignore the pain and focus. He began to block out all other sounds and focused solely on his breathing, heartbeat, and soon he could hear Khaji-Da's subtle vibrations radiating from within his mind. Once his adrenaline began to subside, the boy began to mentally communicate with the A.I. and gave the command to release everyone from their shared cocoon. At first Scarab didn't respond to its host mental request until the Earth Lanterns were recognized and had their associates under control. It debated about whether or not to only allow the entourage go as a test to see if the Lanterns would fire the moment they thought its host was exposed, however experience has taught the sentient devise that its host won't tolerate using such pawns for expendable means. So instead it merely corrected the trajectory so that Jaime would be right side up, made sure he was safely behind the selected bodyguards once exposed, and then began to retract.

The group spilled out randomly like a toys out of a chest. Superboy found himself tangled in a four person pile up. Somehow he wound up on top of Static, with Kid Flash draped over his stomach and Beast Boy tangled up in his legs. Blue was crouched down on his hunches just over them, his eyes wide open and glowing as the extra plating that made up the shield gradually drew back into the scarab. The Kyptonian could tell at a glance that Jaime was on autopilot, most likely making sure the scarab wouldn't go on a slaughter fest. Bart had noticed the glowing too and immediately felt a rock settle in his stomach. He hadn't imagined it earlier! Once the extended plating had been called back and the beetle was back to his default form, Blue came out of his trance. At first he seemed back to normal, but then seconds later tumbled back exhausted and most definitely down for the count. His head was pounding! The pain in his side was killing him. He felt horribly dizzy and was ready to lose his lunch entirely!

"Be still, Jaime Reyes." Scarab commanded as it assessed the damage that had been done to its host. Its host could not possibly function in this condition; not without severe limitations to his movements. It would have to inject its assimilated antibodies into the boy's bloodstream in order to reconstruct the section of flesh on the cellular level. "Do not move." This was beyond unacceptable. It would seem that it must take a more active role in its host defense if they were going to survive this planetary visit. This could not, will not be allowed to happen again.

"Dude!" Beat Boy exclaimed in his utter shock over the experience. It had happened so fast that he almost wasn't sure if it had happened at all, but there they were, still standing and very much in one piece. "How'd you do that?" He asked as he looked up at his teammate whom sat in a semi reclined positions so as not the fall flat on his back.

However, a dazed Jaime had been just as confused as his animorph teammate. "N-no se." He honestly didn't know what he did to expand his armor the way it did in order to cover them all at once. "I-i just reacted." All he had been thinking about was protecting his friends from the oncoming attack.

Virgil had to rapidly blink a few times to get his eyes to adjust from the instant switch in lighting before noticing that their attackers were getting back up. "Well ya might want to react again." Being alerted to the danger, the rattled X-squad began to brace themselves for round two.

Superboy immediately took point and blocked everyone with his body. If anyone could better withstand the force of an attack of this magnitude, it was him. Kid Flash stood to just off to the right, his body vibrating fast enough to cause the electrons on the air to spark. An intimidation static his grandfather had taught him that gave the illusion of some attack being powered up. Beast Boy took the left side and morphed into his Silverback Gorilla form, pounding his chest in challenge. He even through in a few good slams on the ground for good measure, effectively startling a few grunts to the point of their personal light shields dimming. Static Shock charged up his retractable hover disk and covered the sixth, ready to either stun or stick as many to the wall as he could. Even Blue Beetle managed to force himself up right enough to summon twin sonic cannons; though not completely of his will.

"Multiple target acquisition engaged." Khaji-Da announced as it took aim of all hostiles within firing proximity.

Jaime Reyes was barely staying conscious as he tried to figure out exactly what was going on. His head was pounding, his side burned and throbbed, his vision was on the verge of doubling, and he was fairly sure he wanted to throw up. Not to mention the bizarre sensation of feeling overheated, without actually being hot. Speaking of weird sensation, was his body moving without him? He was so out of it that he couldn't rightly tell. Yet he didn't object to the fact that they were in trouble and had to do something to defend themselves. The sentient A.I. could easily sense its lethargic host trying hard to overcome his current weakness and join the fight, which only further cemented the scarab's defensive protocols. They were surrounded by enemy hostiles, they were cornered and being targeted, they were injured, weakened, and unless full force was initiated they were going to be destroyed. Khaji-Da knew that Jaime wouldn't approve, but there was no other option. It will simply have to put the boy to sleep until the danger has past and their wound is repaired.

"Targets locked." The sentient artificial conscious aimed for the thickest cluster in the room in its preparation of diminishing their numbers in order to gain a tactical advantage. "Wide range distribution set." Instant deaths will be painless enough so as to give its host some form of consolation. In time he will moved on. "Plasma cannons powering up." The powerful weapons hummed to life. The barrels glowed with heat and light. The cannons began to chime as they were about to be fired.

"DISENGAGE!" Hal Jordan yelled loudly as he leaped and landed squarely between the two squads, his power flared up like fire, completely infused with all of his will to defend the innocent. His impressive display both awed and frightened all those in the room, especially his closest comrades whom never saw such an act of hostility from him before. "Power down and lower your rings!" The Honor Guard commanded with all the authority that came with his position; showing that he wasn't going to stand for anymore quarreling.

With the attention now squarely on him, there could be no doubt that the famed Earth Lantern had in fact sided with the rouges. "Sir, it's a Bug!" One of the recruits protested, completely bewildered by the Honor Guard's actions to protect the enemy.

"I said disengage, cadet!" Hal growled as he ring radiated to match his fury. Normally he hated flaunt his authority around in this manner, but to an extent he was charged with safeguarding the League's protégés on top of making a personal promise to himself to watch over the beetle.

He was soon joined by John Stewart, Salaak, and Tomar-Re in a united front, causing many of the bewildered grunts to lower their rings. As confusion spread across the room, none noticed that their dilemma was being observed. "What do you think you are doing?!" An aged, but strong voice echoed from above, demanding the attention of everyone in the room. Scar could be seen gradually hover down from the opening in the roof until she placed herself squarely between the recruits and the visiting group. "Stand down!" She commanded firmly and emphasized it with a sharp swipe of her hand. "That is not how our honored guest is to be treated during his stay and it will certainly not be tolerated."

"B-but Ma'm, it's a-!"

"Disengage." The ancient co-founder of the Green Lantern Corp repeated the order a second time; her tone making it very clear that disobedience would not be condoned.

"You heard the lady!" Kilowog bellowed harshly when the grunts didn't disengage their attack stances fast enough. It was bad enough these grunts had questioned senior ranking, there was no way he was about to allow out right disobedience towards the higher chain on command. "Rings down! NOW!"

With that final command and the clear support of the higher chain of command, all of the new recruits finally disengaged and back down. None of them were sure what in the cosmos was going on, but all knew that they were most certainly in trouble for their actions. The X-squad, seeing that they were finally out of danger, practically relaxed, most of them buckling to their knees from exhaustion. With the situation finally brought under some form of control, Khaji-Da could at last shift priorities and tend to its ailing host, allowing the boy to fall to his hands and knees so as to better distribute his weight. Both Beast Boy and Static Shock happily fell to their knees in order to catch their breath. Static still wasn't used to battle multiple opponents like this, and BB was sure he pulled a muscle from having to morph so many times in one fight. Taking on a small army of 160 to their five was not the best idea to have had. Neo Kid Flash merely bended over, hands on knees, and breathed deeply to slow his heart rate down. That had to have been the longest he had ever been able to use that trick his grandfather taught him. He was sure to be proud to hear about it, though maybe not how he had managed it. Superboy, unable to simply come down from his fight mode as easily as the others, chose to stand guard over the freshmen. Several of the grunts were still giving them the dirty eye, of which he returned with his own steel glare; making it clear that he still had plenty of fight left in him. Hal could only breathe a sigh of relief that it was finally over and took the lead in debriefing Scar as to what had happened in her absence. Which, naturally, left John to see to the kids.

"You kids alright?" Stewart asked, concern lacing his voice, as he began help the two youngest of the group get back up on their feet. None of those blasts were set to a low stun, he could tell by their density and each of the boys were hit at least once.

"We're crash." Bart declared as he rubbed his slightly injured eye before aiming an appreciated grin at his best friend. "Thanks to Blue." He won. Jaime won and was in control again. Now all he had to do was keep an eye on him and make sure it didn't happen again.

Beast Boy was simply energized by the whole experience. "Did you see how he shielded all of us?!" It was as if he had been inside a rolled up armadillo without morphing.

Virgil, being the closest, noticed that their fully armored teammate hadn't stood up yet. From what he could tell the guy was still stunned by the initial attack. "Here man." He soon offered the dazed beetle his hand in order to help him back up to his feet. "Up ya go." However when he began to pull his teammate back up, the blue bug cried out in pain and grabbed at his side. "Blue!" Instantly, Virgil dropped with the Latino in order to keep him from toppling over. Pain filled golden eyes looked up at him before drawing attention to his hurting side, which was exposed, burned and wet. "He's wounded!"

Conner instantly responded and rushed forward. "Lay him down!" Militaristic programming kicked in and had him taking his armored friend and laying him on the floor on his back. "Burn marks. Third degrees." He reported after checking the injury.

Garfield could easily smell the burnt flesh, the scent of it sending his mind back to his life on the nature preserve when that grass fire broke out during the dry season. "KF, get the first aid kit in my bag!" They had to clean and dress the wounds before an infection sets in.

The speedster rushed right over to where they had dropped their bags earlier and began rummaging through Garfield's backpack. Miss Martian, being the nurturing mother hen she tended to be around the Animorph, had made sure that her adopted littler brother had a few extra items in his bag for emergency before he even started packing for the trip. Although she had doubted that it would even be needed, seeing as Oa is the most secure planet one could ever come across, for her own peace of mind she had hassled Garfield into taking it with him. Never will he ever complain about his adopted sister's worrying again after this as he crouched next to Superboy to inspect the burn. If his first aid training for people was anything to by, they weren't in danger of Blue bleeding out, but the wound had to be treated fast. They were on an alien world for crying out loud, there was no telling what kind of foreign bodies could get in his system.

"I don't see it!" Impulse suddenly shouted in near hysterics from his position among the now ravaged overnight bags. "It's not here!"

The shape-shifter's head shot up like a startled squirrel at the news. "It's has to be there!" Beast Boy declared in a panic before running over to the speedster's location himself. "M'gann wouldn't let me come without it!" The morphing green boy franticly dug through his duffle bag for the fully stocked medical supply box his adopted sister had made sure to stuff in with his change of clothes.

While the rest of the world was hustling about and around them, the sentient A.I. merely continued its diagnostics. "Damage minimal, Jaime Reyes." Scarab reported after completing a full body scan on its host for serious injuries and injecting its own ani-bodies into his blood stream to begin the healing process. Including regenerating the armor around the injured side. "Initiating self repair." That had been far too close. Another micro second too slow or a few decimals higher and the armor may have been completely compromised. "However, this scarab insists on keeping the armor activated for the duration of this visit." Still, now that the sentient device had a firsthand experience on just how strong a blast from a Power Ring can be, it can better prepare for a second assault and calculate counter measures for much stronger means of attack.

Jaime couldn't respond right away since he had to breathe through the pain in order to keep calm and not give anyone the idea that he was losing it. He considered himself very lucky that Khaji-Da hadn't tried to eviscerate half the troops when he caught his second wind earlier. He really had to hold back the A.I.'s automatic response to such an aggressive attack. It was almost as if Scarab was trying to overshadow him again, not so much as when he was forced to side with the Reach, but more like when Jaime gave him control to fight when he wasn't able to. Only more automatic since the boy was literally knocked senseless.

"I can't find my kit!" Beast Boy shouted in pure unbelief. The small, well stocked, white box that was meticulously packed along with his overnight stuff had actually disappeared. "It's gone!" This didn't make any sense, he had checked before coming off the hard-light plane to make sure it was still there. It was supposed to be there!

"Someone get a medic!" Salaak commanded as he kneeled down to inspect the burn injury better. It may have appeared to be shallow, yet the random spasms could be an indication of nerve damage. Earth biology always did confound him so.

A medic? No, no that would be a very bad idea. Khaji-Da was still targeting every Lantern in the room and had labeled all of them as hostile. It was all he could do to negate the command to have the pincers shoot forward when the four armed alien was hovering over him. "N-no... No, esta bien…" The Hispanic tiredly waved off the suggestion. Not very convincing in the least, but he had to make himself be heard. "Scarab's already healing me." Scarab wouldn't let anyone anywhere near him in this condition, and at any point any further close contact would only prompt a violent attack from the sentient device. "I just… Necesito un momento..." He just needed to lie still a little longer and let his secret partner work without any interruptions or alterations in the procedure.

This was an utter disaster and it was a miracle the youth hadn't been killed. "Your wounds need to be checked." Tomar-Re stated firmly so there would be no more augments as he began to activate his ring to call for a medic.

However a hand fell on the alien's ring hand and lowered it down before contact could be made. "No. Blue took worse hits than this before." Superboy stated the crossed arms while standing close by to his friend's form much like a guard dog. "If he says he'll heal in a few minutes he will." Conner could only guess what the scarab was prepared to do if anyone got too close to Jaime right now. "Besides, it's not exactly a good idea for anyone with a power ring to get near him right now." To emphasize the point, the Kryptonian took the Lantern's wrist and held the ring hand over the beetle and as expected, the armor armed its host with talons, sharpened pincers, and a chest plasma cannon. Hopefully Jamie would forgive him for the involuntary spasm that probably sent his body into one very painful ride.

Convinced, the fish like alien pulled back along with Salaak so as to not aggravate the rouge Reach agent any further. If the devise truly has imprinted upon the human as its master before then the resulting attack could have altered that impression if pushed any further. From the looks of it; that pained expression was more of a result of hard concentration rather than physical pain.

"Self-defense is one thing. Firing unprovoked is another!" Kilowog shouted after seeing the strong reaction from the armored youth. If the assault had gone on any further, they would have had a real incident on their hands. "You poozers just earned yourselves not only a mess of demerits but an extra 500 laps around the whole planet for that stunt!" Jumping from the command, the grunts quickly fell in line and soon flew in formation for the opening in the ceiling. "Move-move-move!" Before long every new recruit was out and flying laps.

In the mist of all of this Blue Beetle finally began to relax, the surging pain from his wound had subsided, no doubt numbed by whatever microscopic treatment Khaji-Da was using to heal him. Now that it had time to adjust and repair itself, the living armor soon began to spread over the injury to protect and support the weakened area. It allowed the Latino to be able to at least sit up, in spite of some stiffness. The process was going to take some time, but knowing Scarab as well had he did, he would want them to be in a secure location to allow for uninterrupted recovery time. That and he would insist on him keeping up appearances. With a little help from Conner and Virgil, Jaime was soon on his feet again, with the formal still holding on to steady him.

"I apologize profoundly for this misunderstanding, young Scarab Master." Scar stated as she hovered in close to Jaime a he held a hand to his armored head. "I assure you it will not happen again." Her eyes scanning for any damage to the armor, and surprisingly found none.

"Its Blue Beetle…" The dazed hero trailed has he shook his dizziness away. At least Khaji-Da seemed to be taking it all in relative stride and wasn't insisting that they wipe out every living thing within a five miles radius. "And it's okay..." The way the Hispanic had trailed off again, caught Bart's attention almost instantly and had him tensing when he noticed his friend subtly retreat into himself. "I kinda expected this to happen… Sorry…"

Within seconds Neo Kid Flash was right at his side. "Blue, it's not your fault!" The speedster proclaimed as he shook the armored teen a little as if to dislodge the elder's feelings of ineptitude. "You didn't do anything wrong!" The scarab may have been triggered by the attacking Lanterns, but Jaime kept it from attacking anyone. He had protected them all.

"Well… He did kinda over did it with the whole slicing and dicing deal." Virgil commented as he pointed his thumb behind him in the direction of the destroyed chunk of ceiling supporter.

If looks could kill, then the evil eye Bart gave him would have had him buried as well. "That meathead was about to be a pancake!" The speedster had turned right when the beetle reacted to the danger and flew to the rescue. He had moved to protect the cadet, not harm him. "Blue saved him!" He couldn't, wouldn't, let that victory be robbed from his best friend; especially now.

"How did that chunk even fall off anyway?" John inquired as he looked up where the ceiling piece had been dislodged. Oa was literally one big military compound. Every building structure was built to code and could even take a level six gamma blast without even chipping the paint.

"Must have been a wild miss-shot." Hal suggested as he looked back up at the missing section of ceiling that now laid spread across the floor as pebbles.

Although it had been a sensible enough assumption, Conner was more focused on a more pressing matter. "What I want to know is: Why did they all attack Blue in the first place?" That had been an extreme reaction toward the Latino and the force used was severely unnecessary for a single opponent. "I thought these guys knew we were coming." Even if this group had been new recruits, they all should have been debriefed about their arrival. Something just wasn't adding up at all.

"They did." Scar stated firmly with her hands folded behind her. A deep frown marred the scar on her face all the more. "The announcement was given the moment we have received confirmation of your acceptance to our invitation." Soon enough the Head Scientist of the Guardians turned her attention over to the resident boot camp instructor. "Clearly they were not informed well enough." She stated in a rather disapproving tone as she hovered over to the Bolovaxian until she was at eye level with him. "Sergeant Kilowog, you will do well to debrief the new recruits more effectively in the future."

The soldier stated automatically as he stood at attention. "Yes Ma'm."

Satisfied with the confirmation Scar then turned back to her honored guest. "Come now. Let us resume our initial tour." She proceeded to usher the youths out the door with Salaak and Tomar-Re guarding either side of the group. Particularly around the spot Blue Beetle had been positioned among his friends. "I believe a visit to the recreation center is in order." Leading the way, the Guardian started a detailed explanation of what the room was generally used for and even suggested to get something to eat in order to ease any remaining tension among them.

Both Earth Lanterns decided to hang back with Kilowog in the training room. Something about the whole incident wasn't sitting quite well with the two. That had been an extreme reaction from the grunts. Granted the sight of a fully armed Reach Beetle Warrior suddenly appearing and almost instantly turning a five ton boulder into a pile of pebbles would scare the ever living daylights out of anyone, but still. Jaime hadn't exhibited any hostility towards the downed cadet. In fact, quite the opposite, he tried to help him back up after saving him. Even so, why had they all been so surprised to see the Blue Beetle?

The Bolovaxian, himself, had been rubbing at his temple after his superior had left. "The kid really is a Bug?" He asked out loud to his fellow GLs, not quite comprehending what had just happened earlier. They had an enemy agent among them this whole time and he was to be treated and a guest of honor?

"Not exactly." Hal stated as he rubbed the back of his neck in some awkwardness. How exactly does one explain the idea of an ally that happens to utilize enemy alien weaponry, to a soldier with pre-existing prejudices? "Let's just say he defected over to our side."

The large, red-eyed alien blinked at his human comrade in disbelief. "You're kidding." When he received a shake of the head as a reply instead of a wise crack, the drill sergeant knew that his friend had to be serious. "Is that even possible?" Never, in the history of the Corp, not even in the ancient pages of the Book of Oa, has there ever been a record of a rouge Reach beetle.

"He's proof of it." John stated indefinitely before glancing over towards the door where the small rattled group had long since left through. "What I want to know is why did the grunts tried to light him up?"

Kilowog could only shake his head. "Chalk it up to bad timing." The Bolovaxian began to explain as he looked towards the spot on the wall where it caved in from the impacted of the ex-Reach agent hitting it after getting blasted. "This batch just finished a history viewing on the Reach just yesterday." A viewing that included old recordings that depicted what soldiers of the Reach would look like and how dangerous they could be if not taken down quickly.

"But they were debriefed about Blue Beetle coming to Oa, weren't they?" Jordan inquired as he studied his old friend and drill sergeant. Kilowog was not the type to miss a report from HQ, especially if made by the Guardians.

The GL sergeant's brow crinkled with thought as he tried to recollect any such information. "I remember there being mention of an honored guest… but didn't hear anything about'em being a bug." Yet it was abundantly clear from Scar's reaction and four fellow senior guards that the Guardians were fully aware of the boy's true identity so there had to have been mentioned of it. How did he miss it?! There had been only one possible reason he could think of and it made him sigh with frustration. "Then again I had to take a squad out on an early training run so I could have easily missed that part." Of all the careless things he could have done in preparation for the outing, it just had to be failing to get the full Intel on their visitors. "Won't happen again." Such mistakes cost dearly to make. He won't be so careless the next time. Needing to check on trainees, Kilowog excused himself and flew off to find them, leaving the two Earth Lanterns alone to ponder.