While the cavalry is speeding toward Rann, the team conferences; however, some problems and old recriminations arise that cause some concern for several of the brave and the bold.

#

Notes:

In the comic books, Superman's power grew tremendously when he was exposed to a blue star to the point he had the extra vision power that could empower a mere human to Kryptonian power levels while they were both under the influence of the blue star (he empowered his adopted father, Jonathan, that way). So, in this story, we're using the comic book capabilities and are consciously steering away from the lame power down of the show. Since a blue star is more energetic than our Sun and our Sun is far more energetic than an ancient Red sun (like Rao) it makes more sense the blue star would increase a Kryptonian's power.

Can you figure out the movie shout outs in this chapter? Let us know in the comments!

#

The Planet Rann

Local Time Unknown

"Green Lantern, the citizens of the new city-state of Narzam had to abandon it when Starbreaker's Mechanix horde overran the business and financial districts."

Adam Strange, the displaced man from Earth who now called the planet Rann his home, had led the trio of star-lost heroes to a large estate on the outskirts of some futuristic city, at least in the eyes of both Jesse and Diana, where they'd spied its gleaming towers off in the distance. Once they'd entered the residence and were provided refreshments by Sardath, the leader of the planet's ruling body, and the elder man's daughter Alanna, the Terran adventurer's girlfriend. Then Adam briefed Diana, Jesse, Arisia and the golden-skinned Lantern's three fellow Corpsmen about the dire situation facing Rann through her ring.

Now Diana abruptly cleared her throat to gain her old friend's attention. "Can you tell us more about these Mechanix, Adam?"

"They're eight-legged robotic ants of immense size and power that appear to be constructed from very strong metal alloys. Normal lasers barely are able to scratch their surfaces. Only heavy energy weapons like neutron cannons appear to be capable of taking them down; however, the collateral damage caused by those weapons to our infrastructure is almost as bad as that caused by those rampaging monsters."

"Um…excuse me, Dr. Strange," Jesse Quick drawled. "Since I'm just a poor, dumb Earth girl, can you help me out here? Despite the title of the movie, I'm not easy, well most of the time, that is. However, I freely admit I'm hopelessly lost at sea and completely out of my element. So, could you please explain exactly who or what this 'Starbreaker' is?"

"I think I can help you out with that, Jesse. Give me a moment," Arisia said. Then she commanded her ring to link with the Guardians' great computer system that had been constructed ten kilometers below the surface of Oa eons ago. It practically encircled that planet's entire core. Moments later, her ring summarized all of the data the immortal humanoids had managed to compile regarding the cosmic villain.

The information regarding Starbreaker is relatively incomplete due to the fact there have been only a handful of survivors after the destruction of all the worlds the entity has used to provide for his sustenance. He has been described as an immensely powerful humanoid far beyond the capabilities of a Kryptonian under a yellow star. He has skin pigmentation that is very similar to that of a native of Korugar. This creature has the ability to absorb enormous amounts of energy and use this retained energy at will. It is also possible he possesses the ability to travel in time and warp reality as he sees fit. He has been observed to create matter directly from energy and, unlike the energy constructs of a Green Lantern ring, the created matter continues to exist with no further input of energy or manifestation of will by him. He uses this ability to create the Mechanix horde that appears to act as terror weapons during his assault on a planet, although they may serve other purposes on his behalf.

Instilling fear in the target planet's population is a crucial part of the process during Starbreaker's assaults. Many millennia ago, the creature learned that the energy released during the destruction of a planet inhabited by sentient beings whose minds and emotions produce a particular kind of psychic energy provided far more sustenance to him that the destruction of an uninhabited world. Once the planet's inhabitants have been terrorized and demoralized, Starbreaker hurls the entire planet into its star. At that point, robotic spacecraft under the creature's control processes the psychic energy of the life forms and energy produced from the destruction of the planet and transfers all of it into Starbreaker's body. As a result, he is one of the most powerful beings in the universe, more than a match for even the most advanced stellar empires.

"Ring," Lena Luthor commanded through their communication's link, "show us an image of Starbreaker."

An image of a fairly tall humanoid with a build and coloring similar to that of Sinestro stood before them. He was dressed in an ebony uniform with a white four pointed star on his chest and a white utility belt around his waist. His gloves and his boots were blood red in color and his ensemble was capped off by a grand ebony cape that had a huge, stiff collar that came up just below his ears. As for his facial features, he was an attractive man except for the sinister smile that plainly showed the two long fangs he had in place of a Rannian's or Terran's incisors.

"Great…" Jesse muttered. "I just had to ask. So, basically, this guy is, well, Dracula in space." Then she shook her head resignedly. "Dammit, guys!" she pinned both Diana and Arisia with faux angry glares, "I told you we'd run across some kind of alien who'd try to suck the life out of someone!" Then she grinned at them and drawled, "How come I feel like we're the red shirts in some late night, science fiction double feature picture show?"

"I understand each one of those popular culture references!" Diana announced proudly. Then she gave the speedster a glance that sought to draw Jesse into the Amazon's conspiracy of naughtiness. "I saw the original production in London at the Royal Court Theatre in 1973!"

The speedster patted the princess' shoulder gently while plainly humoring the warrior woman. "I'm so pleasantly surprised you're such an animal, sweetie! Good for you!"

As Arisia fought to keep from laughing at her best friend's antics because, considering the fact Diana was almost as strong as Kara, it would definitely not be conducive to either of their longevities if the Amazon had realized she was the butt of their joke, Lena asked a question through their link. "Ring, is there any data on the type of mechanism this Starbreaker uses to hurl a target world into its own sun?"

Arisia nodded then grinned. Looks like my partner is allowing her inner science nerd to be large and in charge! she mused inwardly to herself.

The actual mechanism of planetary displacement is unknown at this time, Lantern Luthor. The accounts of the survivors are unclear on this point. There is some speculation that he possesses psionic abilities that allow him to displace the target worlds from their orbits.

"I don't buy that," Lena declared. "I've studied the Guardians' database on information about the cosmic lifeforms that exist and I seriously doubt that any humanoid could contain the immense amounts of energy this Starbreaker is supposed to wield. Why, the only things even close to being able to handle something along these lines would be Sun Eaters, artificial creatures created by an offshoot from the parent race of the Guardians. This other race, unfortunately went in a different, more malevolent direction than our patrons if they thought it was a good idea to create such creatures. Another problem I have with this picture is the amount of energy and time it would take to de-orbit and send a planet hurtling into its sun. Just using Newtonian physics, the energy requirements would be enormous. Not even the largest interstellar power's starship fleet could produce energy on that magnitude, not to mention the amount of time it would take for a planetary body to move from the zone of comfort to plunge into a star at less than luminal speeds. Nope," she mused out loud, "we're missing a crucial piece of the puzzle here."

"You're right, Lantern Luthor," Tomar Re said over their connection. "Normal space-time physics cannot support the alleged abilities of Starbreaker."

Arisia beamed both at the image of her instructor and her partner. She was so happy that Lena had made such a favorable impression on the man who'd taught Arisia how to be an effective Corpsman. She was so proud of her brilliant Terran!

"Thank you, Tomar," Lena said graciously. "And for efficiency's sakes, can we dispense with the formalities and use our given names? I trust you all. So, on my end, I'm Lena. John and Kara are with me."

"Of course, you know Sinestro and me," Tomar added.

"And I've got Adam, Jesse, and Diana with me," Arisia announced.

"Wait a minute!" Jesse snapped. "John, you're with Lena? Can you hear me?"

He chuckled then answered her. "Hey, Speedy!"

"Oh my God! You came!"

"Yes, ma'am! I couldn't stay at home and allow you ladies to have all the fun!"

"Hello, John! It will be so wonderful to fight at your side again," Diana said and Jesse narrowed her eyes at the Amazon then.

"Why, it'll be just like old times, Princess," Hancock said.

Arisia almost laughed out loud at the jealous look the speedster shot at the warrior princess before she asked her fellow Lanterns, "How much time will it be before you get here?"

"I'm about half an hour away," Lena responded.

"The same is true for us," Tomar said.

"So, what's our next move?" Jesse asked.

"We need to figure out how to handle those Mechanix and find out Starbreaker's location," Adam said.

"We need to gather intelligence on both the robots and their master. We need information if we're going to defeat them," Lena reasoned.

"Absolutely," Diana agreed then she turned to Adam and asked, "Can you take us to the city where these robots have run amok? Perhaps we can uncover any weaknesses while we surreptitiously observe them."

"All right then, we'll leave immediately," he said.

"I guess that's my cue, Lanterns!" Arisia announced. "I'll sign off now and fly my team to Narzam. See you soon!"

Then she terminated the signal and strode toward the exit with her companions.

#

Hyperspace Conduit One

Something at the back of Lena's mind had been prodding her while their energy construct bubble hurtled through hyperspace toward Rann.

Unfortunately, the briefing had distracted her attention from determining the exact nature of the problem but that couldn't have been helped.

It was when she admired the striking figure of her girlfriend in the battle armor that the Luthor heir had constructed for Kara when it hit her right between the eyes.

"Shit!"

Now Kara regarded her soulmate with a concerned expression on her lovely face. "Lee? What's wrong?"

"Please give me a moment, baby."

At that moment, she wished she could have taken the last word in her sentence back when she saw Kara's concern change to fear. They both knew Lena only used less formal terms of endearment with her lover when she was worried about Kara's safety.

For a fleeting moment she considered not saying anything to Kara in the hopes her armor's default setting would keep her soulmate from any harm. Then she sighed. She and Kara were a team. They both had sworn there would be no more secrets between them on that glorious night they had revealed their secret identities and declared their love for each other.

So, Lena sighed then said, "Kara…I just realized based on the calculations I had to perform to create the algorithms I used for the AI of your armor that a blue giant like the Polaris A star, due to its energetic fusion reaction in comparison to our Sun, is more than likely to double the strength of all of your abilities. Indeed, it may provide a few new abilities to you, as well. The problem, though, is I don't know if the effects of the exposure to Polaris A will have any lasting harmful side effects to your physiology. Now, if you activate the armor's force field, you'll be shielded from any effects of the star while the suit's reactors will continue to provide you with the solar radiation you need."

Her Supergirl nodded. "We all heard what Arisia's ring had said about Starbreaker. With the immense amount of power he wields, I don't think I could go toe-to-toe with him with my normal abilities."

"Kara…please…I won't…I…I can't ask this of you."

"Lee…I…I have to do this."

Lena began to shake her head but Kara's plaintive gaze stopped her.

"Baby…I saw my homeworld die and I was powerless to stop it. That's a burden I wouldn't wish on even my worst enemy. If I can help the Rannians stop that cosmic vampire by exposing myself to the energy of a blue star, I have to do it. I couldn't live with myself if we lost Rann and I didn't take the risk that would have saved all of those lives."

With tears in her eyes, Lena Luthor slowly crossed the small space between them and tenderly brushed her fingertips over the crest on Kara's chest. Then she stared up into the azure she loved above all else and whispered fiercely, "Kara Zor-El Danvers, you shall always be my hero."

The blonde Kryptonian blinked back tears of her own as she gently cupped her lover's chin in the palm of her mighty hand. "Right back at you, Lee."

They were so lost in themselves, for several moments they'd forgotten John Hancock was inside the bubble with them as they sped along the Dirac Sea that underlay their universe. Then they turned their gaze to their friend and found he'd been moved by their plight, as well.

"During the War," he said, "I thought I'd seen feats of heroism I'd never see again in a world that turned its back on the selfless, innocent men and women who'd risked everything to keep an entire planet from falling to the darkest impulses of humanity. Kara, Lena, the politicians who govern us have become so…so jaded. Then I met Jesse and the both of you. Ladies, thank you from the bottom of my heart for making me believe in heroes again."

Weeping now, both women hugged their tall friend closely while their bubble continued on its way through the crimson swirling eddies of hyperspace.

#

Hyperspace Conduit Two

"Is something troubling you, my friend?"

Tomar Re shot a wry glance at Sinestro. "Do you mean other than the fact we're racing to a star system that happens to be the main course on the menu of an apocalyptic cosmic entity who's snuffed out the lives of trillions of beings over countless millennia that has never, ever been defeated? Why would I be concerned about a trivial thing such as that?"

Sinestro cocked his eyebrow at him and chuckled. "It's not like we haven't faced circumstances such as this before. Of course, the scale is a bit…different."

"Exactly!"

Sinestro and he were among the best the Corps had to offer. They were many things but they weren't idiots. They both knew it would be a miracle if they could defeat Starbreaker without dying in the process but, with the exception of the Guardians and the cosmic vampire, the two veterans knew that death came with the territory of being a Green Lantern. Despite that fact, a Lantern couldn't do the job if he/she/it wasn't cocky and bordering on the line of arrogance.

Hell, those qualities in spades was implicit in their job description.

Now the friends returned to their companionable silence while Tomar's thoughts turned to a time when he'd faced a situation that had, in some ways, been similar to the one Rann faced today.

#

He'd been in the Corps for five years when the Guardians had reassigned him from his normal sector patrol duties to deal with the homeworld of the most advanced society in his region of space. The planet had grown increasingly unstable and had been due to explode, caused by continually increasing internal pressures deep inside its core as a result of unwise energy consumption of it by the inhabitants. The Exalted Ones had told him to use a rare compound called stellarium to dampen the tectonic pressure and give the planet's inhabitants enough time to recognize the danger and flee the doomed world.

Back then he hadn't been as diplomatic as he was now, so he'd thought nothing of asking the Guardians why they hadn't simply removed the inhabitants from the dying planet. The wise ones had told him that humanoids along the lines of the people of that planet and Lantern Luthor's homeworld tended to be xenophobic and would have resented the Guardians' intrusion into their internal affairs even if their own recalcitrance had led to their civilization's demise.

So, for months, he'd continued to tirelessly gather the stellarium to keep the destructive fires inside the planet's core at bay. Then, on one fateful day, shortly after he'd surreptitiously watched two of the leaders of the planet's ruling council outfit escape vehicles for members of their families, he'd been en route to the planet and exited a wormhole in a nearby star system to avoid detection from their scanners. Unfortunately, that star had emitted a massive yellow solar flare, stunning him and forcing him to drop the stellarium. However, even though he'd quickly recovered from the stellar phenomenon, he'd discovered it had blinded him. Unwilling to give into despair, he'd used his ring to emit radar waves that helped him gather what little stellarium he could find without his sight before he'd proceeded toward the planet.

He'd been only a hundred kilometers away from the outer reaches of the planet's atmosphere when his vision had begun to clear. Then the first thing he'd witnessed upon the return of his sight had been the planet's catastrophic explosion.

Several days later, he'd regained consciousness on Oa. The Guardians had sent Abin Sur to find and recover him once they'd lost all contact with the Lantern of Sector 2813. Then, after he'd rested and recovered from his wounds, he'd faced an inquest. Fortunately, the Guardians had found that not only was he blameless for the planet's destruction, his dogged fortitude and ingenuity in overcoming his blindness and attempting to reach the doomed world had been so gallant they'd held him up as a shining example for the other members of the Corps.

Yet, despite that, nearly every day during the year after Krypton's destruction, he'd wept bitter tears of recrimination for his failure which had led to the loss of an entire culture.

#

"We're almost at the point where we need to exit the hyperspace conduit, Tomar."

The sound of his old friend's voice dissipated the ghosts from his past for the moment.

"What?!"

In response, the Korugarian gave him a faux annoyed look. "Tomar, the time for wool-gathering has come to an end. Once we enter the Polaris system, we're back on the clock."

He blinked twice then resolved to focus all of his attention on the here and now. "You are absolutely right, Sinestro. Now, it's time for action!"

#