Chapter 17
The hot, barely manageable Oan air caused John to sweat profusely before they took off up the long arduous hill. The morning sky was cloudless and the Battlecruisers hovered over the planet protecting Oa from the Decayan Warbirds that performed suicide missions on unsuspecting worlds. There were thousands of ships above the planet, most of the smaller ones part of the Moxian Medical Fleet who aided in triage centers throughout the Dark Corridor.
John looked up at the beautiful lights that floated above the planet and wanted to be part of the war effort as quickly as possible. He began sweating as soon as he exited the barracks, but it was due to the worrying over Ora Nye, the girl he had been dating since he entered the Lantern Academy. He stood directly in front of the barracks with some of the other soldiers. They began stretching and preparing for the arduous race up the hill, and it was something they did quite often. Dorn Dre walked out the barracks with a LEEM in his right hand and stretched.
Some wild, extremely dangerous bugs, approximately twelve inches in length buzzed by John's head, but he didn't dare swat at them because of their man-killing poisonous venom. They were burnt black with long needles that carried a toxic poison that could easily kill man or beast. Slowly, he knelt down outside of the barracks, slipped on his shoes while Dorn Dre stood next to him eating some Madi meat from his LEEM.
"Those damn Dragon Beetles will kill us all," Dorn Dre said as he chewed on his Madi meat. He chewed it slowly as if he were doing a lot of thinking with each bite. He then cleared his throat, and said, "I think your girl is pregnant, John. Yup!" He laughed a little but John continued to tie his shoes quietly and didn't seem to pay much attention to him. "You hear me, pops?"
"Pops?" John asked laughingly. He looked down at Dorn Dre with a scowl. It was obvious that he was worried about Ora Nye and the pain she was having in her midsection, but he wasn't mentally prepared to accept her being pregnant.
"You know what I'm saying?" He said, "Just using slang is all." He laughed a little, and then said, "I could be wrong, but when it comes to her species, they experience serious abdominal pains in the first part of their pregnancy."
John scoffed. Shook his head in disbelief for a moment, and then said, "I'm sure she has some kind of virus." But at the same time, his mind wandered to the time they made love in the closet of one of the Lantern Battlecruisers. It happened without warning when she grabbed him by the collar, pushed him into the closet near the bridge, stripped naked, and started making love without any protection. It was the only time they made love recklessly and without protection.
Ora Nye walked out of the barracks, stretched out her arms, and walked over to John. She showed him affection by grabbing him around the waist. He could feel her breast against his back and it was pleasant. He patted her on her hands for only a split second, and then she walked off to stretch before the trek up the hill.
The rest of the Lanterns in his platoon staggered out of the barracks and Jadicus let his wings span as he yawned. He didn't seem to care that his wings pushed several other Lanterns out of the way; it was his style and he didn't really care what other people thought.
Dorn made sure Ora Nye was far enough away before he began to speak. He looked back at her as she stretched before the run up the hill. "It could be, but …," he said before Jadicus cut him off.
"Morning to you, guys," Jadicus said in his strong, morning voice. He cut Dorn Dre off and John was glad because he didn't want to hear any more pregnancy talk. "It's hotter than a Torillian Lizard's tongue and it's only like four in the morning."
Ora Nye walked over to them, and said, "I don't know about that, but it is hotter than the pits of Hades." She wiped her forehead, placed her right hand in the center of John's back, and then said, "I'm feeling a little better this morning, babe."
"Good. Good," John said. For some reason, he felt some relief because he truly felt she had a stomach virus that she needed to move past while at the same time dealing with Dorn Dre's revelation about her symptoms consistent with pregnancy in her species.
Drill Lantern Katma blew her whistle, and then the platoon of Lanterns raced up the mountain on the first morning of the third phase of training. As soon as the whistle sounded, the Lanterns dropped everything and started racing up the hill in an aggressive manner. It was early in the morning, about four in the morning and it was extremely hot and muggy. Ora Nye's stomach issues flared up again and John had to assist her on the arduous run to the top of the hill. In some ways, he wanted to smack Dorn Dre in the face because all he could think about was what if she were pregnant. It was a painful thought because he wasn't prepared for a child.
"You got this, Ora," John said as he helped her up the hill.
"My stomach is killing me. I think I'm going to die." She was halfway up the hill, holding on to her midsection, and frowning. "Just go without me!"
"You aren't going to die," he said, "We'll take you to the hospital if we have to." He picked her up, and continue to run up the hill with her on his back.
The weather on Oa was unpredictable at times: cold one moment and extremely hot the next. They wore their black Lantern physical fitness uniforms, and they all appeared to have lost at least twenty pounds since the training had begun months earlier. Many of the Lanterns in the other platoons had already washed out of the course, but the ones in John's company were a different breed, a breed of warriors who wanted to be Lanterns. Drill Lantern Katma sat on top of the hill under a large, sage umbrella, eating a LEEM, and drinking hot tea. The grass had grown long. It was a beautiful place with some white flowers that grew on the edges of the compound, but the flowers that grew in the barracks area were called Tallies, a flower that shot tiny needles as a way to defend itself from being plucked.
"You got this Ora," John said as a way to lift her spirits. "Maybe one of those Dragon Beetles stung you."
She scoffed. "I'm not feeling well at all," she said in a grumpy manner. She scoffed again, and then replied, "I've never felt like this in my entire life. It's not a damn Dragon Beetle either. I've been stung by one in my youth, and that was nothing compared to this, John Stewart."
Once the Lanterns made it to the top of the hill they formed into a large formation, and Drill Lantern Katma stood in front of the group of Lanterns, and said, "Pay attention, Lanterns!" Her voice was stern and strong. "It's race time." She looked directly at Ora for a moment while the rest of the platoon showed agreement with the speed challenges.
"Yes!" Half the formation said loudly. They clapped hands until Drill Lantern Katma motioned for them to quiet down. She waved her right hand in front of her neck, and the entire group of Lanterns went silent immediately.
"Once we finish with our races, we'll head to the Lantern Battle Cruisers and visit Boda Gus."
"Boda Gus?" Dorn Dre said with glee. "My Boda Gus?" He asked.
Drill Lantern Katma looked directly at Dorn Dre, and then said in a condescending manner, "Yes. Your Boda Gus." She then rolled her eyes.
Ora Nye stood next to John in the formation, and she nudged him a couple of times, and then said, "I'm not feeling well at all, Stewart." He didn't seem to pay her much attention because he already knew she was ill, but as he tapped his right foot, she knelt down and slammed her left fist on it. It came down like a hammer hand, and John chirped. She looked up at him, and then asked, "Did you hear me, Stewart?"
"Yes! But you didn't have to hit me," he said with agitation in his voice. "I'm sure it's just the Moxian chili. It gave me gas and I'm a little bloated too."
Jadicus scoffed, and then said, "That chili was some of the best I've ever eaten."
"Will you guys hush up?" Dorn Dre said as he motioned for them to keep quiet. "I'm not trying to get hemmed up today, folks. Drill Lantern Katmas already has it out for me."
"John Stewart and Dorn Dre?" Drill Lantern Katma said. She was walking back and forth in front of the formation with her hands behind her back.
"Yes, Drill Lantern!" They said at the same time.
"Shut the hell up and Post!" She said in a strong voice. "You two idiots best quit yapping in my formation." Her eyes narrowed and she had a mean look on her face. The two Lanterns stepped out of formation, ran over to her, and saluted. She saluted back quickly, and then they all dropped their hands. "Do you see Mount Lantern?" She asked. It was off in the distance almost hidden behind the morning fog that moved in quickly.
"Yes, Drill Lantern," they said in unison.
"You'll race to Mount Lantern, wave to Leetha, and race back," she said, "This is a speed test."
"Yes, ma'am," John said, "Is that it?"
"Yes, Lantern Stewart! That's it!" She snapped. She raised her right hand in the air and the two Lanterns were in the ready position. She was off to the side, so both of the Lanterns could see her. When her right hand dropped, they took off at mach six, and within seconds, they were standing on Mount Lantern.
Leetha stood on her front porch eating what appeared to be some bread and soup, and when John and Dorn waved at her, she grunted and said, "Go!" The men took off but John was slightly in front of Dorn Dre. They landed down in front of Drill Lantern Katma, and then she released two other Lanterns.
"You're one of the fastest Lanterns in this class, Pops," Dorn Dre said when they finished. "You have the heart."
"You're pretty fast yourself," he said with a smile as he watched Ora bend over as if she was in pain. He tapped Dorn on his right shoulder, and then said, "She's really sick."
Quickly, John ran over to his lover, and asked, "Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay?" She asked, "I'm in a bad way." She slumped to the ground and started moaning loudly.
"What's going on over there?" Drill Lantern Katma asked.
John knelt beside Ora Nye and said, "She's pain, Drill Lantern."
"Take her to sick call," Drill Lantern Katma ordered, "Report back to me in an hour."
"Yes, Drill Lantern," he said. He swooped her up in his arms, flew with her to sick call, and put her on a gurney. It was a large facility in Maltus with hundreds of doctors of all races roaming through the hallways.
He realized the hospital was part of the war effort and many of the wounded soldiers from Moxia and Gorgonia were taking up rooms in the alien hospital. When a slender brown nurse walked by him, he thought she was an American black woman, but she wasn't. He realized she was Moxian by the emblem on her uniform.
"Are you a nurse?" John asked with a serious visage.
She scoffed. "No, human. I'm a doctor," she said with a grimace on her face. She looked over at Ora on the gurney, and then asked, "How can I help you, Lantern?"
"One of my Lantern comrades is sick," he said, "She's having severe stomach pains."
Quickly, the doctor pulled out a tubular device and ran it over Ora Nye's body. She then adjusted the device, and the Lantern stopped complaining. The doctor looked up at John and asked, "Are you the father?" She asked with a smile.
"What?" He asked, and it was obvious that he was in a state of shock by the look on his face. But at the same time, he knew.
"Are you the father of the baby?" She asked with a serious visage. "She's a Coralexian and within the first trimester of pregnancy, they have sharp pains in their midsections."
Ora Nye grabbed John by the arm and said, "What are we going to do?"
"Listen, you'll need some meds," the doctor said, "But you can continue to finish your Lantern training and It won't hurt the fetus."
John Stewart, Ora Nye, Dorn Dre, and Jadicus stood on the deck of a Lantern Battlecruiser, a ship about two times the speed of an Interceptor class ship, but when it came to a Lantern Battlecruiser, it could easily house fifty Lantern soldiers.
The bridge on the ship looked like a sea of Christmas tree lights with all the different colored buttons and panels that stretched around the room. He gazed out at the deep space from the viewport, watched the stars, and at the same time, he worried about the outcome of Ora Nye's pregnancy. He watched her as she sat in the pilot's chair, and familiarized herself with the control buttons. "Are you ready, Ora?" John asked.
"Yes, sir," she said, "I'm putting in the coordinates for Boda Gus," she said.
He looked over at Dorn Dre who sat at the communication center, and asked, "How long has it been since you've seen your home?"
With a serious visage, he said, "Too long."
The other Lanterns were in different areas of the ship inspecting every inch of it because the ships were prevalent in the war and used by Lanterns due to the heavy possibility of their rings failing them in space.
"I thought all we needed were our rings," Jadicus said as he looked down at his emerald weapon. His wings had a golden glow to them and his hawk mask fit tightly to his face. "What's with all these powerful ships?"
Drill Lantern Katma stood at the threshold of the bridge and listened closely. She looked over at Ora Nye in the pilot's chair for a moment, and then had a look of concern on her face.
Ora Nye held on to her midsection, and then said, "We can travel through space with our rings with no problem, but it's a risk. Our rings can lose power," she said, "The ships give us an extra layer of protection and a powerful weapon system to assist us in battle."
Katma walked into the room with her hands behind her back, and then said, "That's correct." She paused for a moment, and then said, "I once fought a Parallax in Sector Thirty Four without access to a ship. I was only a teenager but was a strong Lantern according to Leetha. She trained me the way she now helps me train you guys." She paused for a moment, and then said, "The monster was about to consume a planet of Nymphs called Quarolix, but I defeated the beast with a stroke of luck. Unfortunately, it drained my ring, and I couldn't access my Lantern Battery."
"What did you do?" John asked with an inquisitive look on his face.
Drill Lantern Katma looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Tomar Re came to my rescue," she said with a sad visage. "He brought me my battery. It only took a few minutes to charge my ring, but I felt helpless long enough that it still bothers me today."
John looked down at his ring, and said, "Tomar Re was a good Lantern. I have his ring."
"The best," She said, "Definitely the best. He was an honest Lantern who always fought for the greater good." She looked back at John and then said, "I expect the same from you, John Stewart. From all of you. That's why you will make up the new order of Sage Warriors."
"Yes, Drill Lantern," he said. He nodded toward Ora Nye, and said, "Let's take her out."
When Ora Nye flew the Lantern Battlecruiser into Boda Gus's airspace, John counted at least two thousand Battleships from Moxia, Vega Star, and Yendoria. Many of the ships had experienced heavy damage because some of the hulls had tears in them. "What's happening here?" He looked on with awe at all the worlds involved in the military maneuver, and it caused him some apprehension. "Are we going into battle?" He looked directly at Drill Lantern Katma when he asked the question. She stood near the front of the bridge while watching the viewer closely.
"Look at it all?" Dorn Dre said, "It's beautiful but scary at the same time."
"Not even the Thanagarian Space Force can go up against an armada of this size," Jadicus said, "Look at all the Lanterns flying about?"
"Are we ready for battle?" Ora Nye asked.
"Of course you're ready for battle," Drill Lantern Katma replied, "This is war, people." She stepped over to the viewer, and then said, "We are here for a week, and then the next platoon of Lanterns will take over. Right now, we have five hundred Lanterns on duty in the area."
"So, Boda Gus is under imminent threat?" Dorn Dre asked.
"Yes, she is," Drill Lantern Katma said, "There was a Decayan attack on Gratis that killed nearly three thousand Boda Gustians."
Dorn Dre seemed almost underwhelmed when he heard the news. He lowered his head and seemed to say a prayer. "So many lives lost." He looked down at his hands, felt his face, and then said, "I didn't think the Decayans would attack Boda Gus."
"Nobody is immune from the war, Lantern Dre," Katma said, "Not even Oa."
Later in the day, John, Dre, Jadicus, and Ora Nye flew down to the planet, to Gratis, a nation full of cities that floated in the clouds. The city called Paritis flew high in the sky, nearly two miles from the surface of the planet and it had the tallest buildings of all the cities. The metropolis was nearly one hundred miles above the planet, and the wealthier class of people lived there; it was where Dorn Dre was born.
"It's been a long time," Dorn Dre said. He placed his right hand over his chest, and then said, "A real long time." The Lanterns landed in Silver Springs Square, the center of Paritis with large skyscrapers in the four corners of the inner city. The area was noisy with all the pedestrians and loud cars. It was noisy, noisy, and far too noisy to carry on a conversation without the help of their rings to amplify their abilities to hear one another.
"You haven't been in Lantern school that long," Jadicus said as a matter of factly. They all stood next to each other, watching the busy streets and the hover cars racing by.
John laughed. "It does feel like a long time in Lantern school, but we're at the end of it now." He patted Dorn Dre on his right shoulder. "I understand you, Dorn."
"That's all I'm saying," Dorn Dre said with a serious visage. "Lantern school has me missing home."
The streets, full of straight-faced Boda Gustians, were crowded to the point of congestion, and the hover cars raced by to the point of annoyance. When John looked back at Dorn Dre, he was gone. "Where did Dorn go?" He asked.
"He was right here," Ora Nye said. She quickly walked up to John, held his hand, and then said, "He's been acting funny since we arrived at Boda Gus."
Suddenly, John's emerald, protective glow encompassed his body, and then a powerful laser struck him in the chest. All the Lanterns flew backward onto the hard, concrete surface. "What was that?"
"Is it a test?" Jadicus asked.
Almost like magic, six large Decayans flew in front of the dazed Lanterns, and they fired several more lasers at them, but their protective shields took the brunt of the force. The only thing John knew about the Decays was what his ring told him, and he knew that if one of the creatures touched him, he'd be dead within seconds. When the crowd tried to disburse, one of the Decayans grabbed a male and a female in the crowd, and then the woman screamed at her child. She said, "Run, Dorn! Run." Before she finished her words, the Decayans rotted their bodies, and then threw them to the ground.
One of the creatures went for the child, but John unleashed a powerful ray, a ray so powerful that it tore through the Decayan killing him on the spot. It tore the creature into pieces, and part of the particle ray from his ring ripped the arm off the second monster. As the other beasts tried to flee from the Lanterns, Ora Nye cut through two of them and killed them in the middle of the street. The rest of the assailants escaped.
The young child was no more than five years old with white hair. He ran directly to John, crying, and wouldn't let go of his leg. "This kid has a grip," John said.
"He's scared," Jadicus said.
"What's your name, child?" Ora Nye asked, but he didn't say anything.
Jadicus used his ring to analyze the child. An emerald ray encompassed in the child's small body but left Jadicus with a look of confusion. He scanned the child a few more times before he scratched his head in disbelief. After scanning the child for the fourth time, he then said, "This can't be right, gang."
"What's wrong?" John asked.
"Somehow the ring is saying this child is Dorn Dre," he said with a look of disbelief in his eyes.
John scoffed. "That can't be right. Do Lantern rings break?"
"There's more," Jadicus said.
"What?" John asked.
"The child is Dorn Dre Stewart," he said, "The adopted son of John Stewart."
Katma walked back and forth in front of John and his Lantern crew. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and her pointy ears were on display. Her visage was one of seriousness, but at the same time, she kept opening and closing her hands, and John knew she was upset. Dorn Dre-the five-year-old kid-sat on John's lap with tears in his eyes. He was eating some sweet bread from a LEEM John gave him earlier.
"Shit!" Katma exclaimed. "Why would a Lantern purposely try to change the past?"
"Did he?" Ora Nye asked. She looked over at John, and then asked, "What do you think, John?"
"I'm not sure," he said, "Dorn called me pops on several occasions. I thought he was just playing around. Other than that, he never once hinted he was a time traveler."
"This is too much," Jadicus said, "So, you're Dorn's father?"
John nodded toward Jadicus. "Looks that way for now."
"A lot of stuff makes sense now," Drill Lantern Katma said, "He was always clinging on to you. I thought he had some kind of man-crush on you."
"Am I prepared to raise a child?" John asked softly.
"Well, you will be raising two," Katma said, as she looked over at Ora Nye.
"I'm a little confused," Ora Nye said with a grimace on her face. "Where's the Time Cops?"
"I don't know," Katma said. "It's possible he didn't change anything at all, or he found out how to escape the censors. I really don't know what to think right now."
…Eight years ago
Croyolo was on Brion Noir deep in the badlands next to the tarn Daxabite. It was basically a lake that sat on top of a hill and the weather in the area was much warmer than usual because the planet was dying. The haze was thick. He could feel it on his amber skin. When he was at home, he loved to bathe in the cool waters of the lake with his girlfriend, Oriola, a water nymph who loved eating raw fish under the light of the silver moon. The tarn was approximately Twenty miles in length and fifteen miles wide, and it was a freshwater tarn that housed several species of water nymphs and mermaids, and for the last three years, Croyolo had Oriola as a girlfriend. The deepest part of the tarn was nearly one hundred and twenty feet deep, and the water nymphs lived in about a ten-mile area around the deepest part.
There was a slew of lake houses in the area with over eight thousand residents of Daxabite Badlands Retreat: four thousand nymphs, twelve hundred mermaids, and deeper into the woods was a mess of cabins where the rest of the residents lived. When Croyolo was a child, his parents worked on keeping the grounds of the resort nice and clean, but after the war, they retired on the land and just wanted to live out their days in peace. Each one of the residents of the area tried to keep the place clean and the water free from contamination because of the environment and they were friends to the water nymphs and mermaids.
When Croyolo walked over to the tarn, Oriola climbed out of it and she was a svelte nymph with long black hair. She had a sapphire hue with green eyes. She lived in the tarn and when she exited the body of water, she was completely nude. Sometimes she would put on clothes if she was going to stay on the surface longer than a few hours, but often she would come up out of the lake just to pay Croyolo a visit.
She stepped in front of Croyolo with her arms folded and with something on her mind. He knew when she had something pertinent to say, especially when it came to the planet. The water nymphs had a knack for being able to communicate with Brion Noir, and they felt her dying on a personal level too. "Brion is worried, love," she said with a serious visage. "The Moon Oriona has spoken with her and she has communicated with me in length."
"About what he asked?" He watched her as she paced back and forth in front of him, and then he held her close to him.
"How long have you worked with the Lantern, Po'Lariet?" She asked as she looked up at him with her emerald eyes.
"About six months now," he said, "But she's a good person. Royalty."
She panicked, pulled away from him, and said, "Brion Noir is saying she can't be trusted, Croyolo. She's planning something that threatens the entire verse."
He scoffed, turned his back to her, and then said, "The Lanterns are an old breed, Oriola. They protected the verse against the cruel gods of old. There's no way one of them would betray their brethren."
"But Brion Noir said it happened multiple times through the years," she said, "Not even the Lantern Corps is all good all the time." She walked up to him, and then said, "Did another Lantern visit her yesterday?"
"Yes," he said, "I was leaving, but I had to go back for my jacket and she was talking to an earthling. They began kissing passionately, so I left without it."
"Brion Noir doesn't want you trusting any of them," she said with a grimace. "They will kill whomever to achieve their evil goals."
He folded his arms as he listened to his beautiful girlfriend. "As you know, I have to take the freighter of metals to Moxia tomorrow," he said, "We leave first thing in the morning and she's leading the way."
"Then wear your protective vest and your sidearm, lover," she said, "Don't trust the Lantern, Po'Lariet no matter how much your good heart wants to."
Croyolo's home:
Croyolo sat in the main room of his abode, thinking, and trying to figure out his next move. Oriola had reentered the tarn for a bit but had plans to drop by his abode later in the evening. He had the windows of his abode open because it was much warmer than usual as the planet continued to die. Often, he sat in his main room and enjoyed the cool nightly breeze as it blew through the house. The scientists in Brion Noir claimed they only had less than one hundred years before the entire world was nothing more than a dead rock. On the back wall of the main room sat a large fish tank, a tank with plenty of fish of all shapes and sizes, and the reason it was there was for his girlfriend. She would climb into the tank and feed when she would pay him a visit.
He pulled an old, military vest of his father's out of his military chest in the back of his abode, put it on, and it fit, but it was kind of tight in the shoulder area. The vest could absorb up to a level five positronic blast, and since he would be carrying a precious cargo of metals, he thought he would wear it. When he placed the protective gear on, he looked at himself in the mirror to see how it looked. And without his knowledge, Oriola entered into his abode and stood outside the bathroom watching him flex in the mirror.
"You look good," she said with a smile on her face. When she stood on the outside of the bathroom, she was completely nude, but almost every night she came to his abode to eat some freshwater fish from the tank.
"Sheesh, Oriola!" He exclaimed. "You scared me." Quickly, he came out of the bathroom and they walked into the living room where she slid into the fish tank while he walked into the kitchen. He could see her looking around the tank for the best catch of the day, and then he made himself some modu soup with wild onions.
As she searched for the best fish, he grabbed a tangy pink sauce from the refrigerator that she used to dip the fish in before she consumed it. He poured some of it in a white bowl, set it on the side of the counter, and once she grabbed the best fish she could find, she would cut it up in chunks, and dip the chunks in the sauce before consuming it. While she did that, he would sit at the counter between the kitchen and the main room, consume his meal with her by his side, and she would eat her raw fish.
The ground shook. The pots and pans in the cabinets rattled, and the lights flickered. "Brion Noir is in pain," Oriola said when she stepped out of the tank. "So much pain." She looked up at her boyfriend, and asked, "It's rumored within the Tarn that Ptah has returned."
He laughed for a moment, and asked, "Where did the rumor originate?"
"Some of the nymphs have claimed that Brion Noir said her lover resides on a planet on the other side of the galaxy." She paused for a moment, ate some of her fish, and then said, "If he turns into pure energy and connects with the planet, it will restore her to full health."
He sighed. "I can't have hope in fairytales, love," he said, "Ptah's dead. He's not returning to us."
"He's on Gaea," she said as she slapped her right hand on the counter. "It's the talk, Croyolo. The rumor is he's just a child but he will come into his full powers in a few years, and have the strength to make his paramour whole again."
The planet shook again and it almost knocked him off his chair. He held his girlfriend by the hands and said, "If it is Ptah, then he will hear our cries and come to our rescue, but I need more proof than mere words."
Two Light Years from Moxia:
Po'Lariet Von's ship was approximately two light-years from Moxia when eight Decayan ships came out of the void. They were fast movers, hostile, and ominous in appearance, but they traveled in the attack alpha formation with the lead ship in the center of the pack. It was only her and the freighter, and the Moxian style freighters only were equipped with level five positronic weapons, enough power to barely damage one of the enemy vessels.
She pushed a button on the white forearm computer located on her right arm, and it was the button to allow her to communicate on any frequency with any world associated with the Federation of Planets and beyond. The computer had a row of buttons on a black panel that allowed for a personal forcefield, a shield, a level ten positronic laser, and a personalized cloaking device. Her Lantern ring had far more accessories than her forearm weapon, but any Moxian with a forearm weapon was considered armed and dangerous. "Freighter One, this is Lantern One. Do you read me?"
"Yes, Lantern One," he said over the intercom. "I read you loud and clear."
"We have eight Decayan ships headed our way," she said on her communicator. "These ships are far superior to the Thaddican fighters."
"I see them," he said.
The Decayan ships were drastic in their appearance with several strong, positronic cannons that could obliterate the weak hull freighters in one blast. Most of them had missiles located on the undercarriage of the ship for attacking Battle Cruiser level vessels and beyond.
But when it came to Po'Lariet's vessel, She was in a Moxian Attack Cruiser with gamma lasers on it, enough firepower to cripple at least a dozen Decayan ships, but she didn't want a firefight. Immediately, she dropped several mines that floated beneath her ship because she knew several of the Decayan ships would try to attack her from that position.
Croyolo manned the freighter, and as soon as the Decayan ships appeared on radar, he said, "I'm bringing the positronic weapons online, Lantern."
"That's a good idea," she said, "Destroy the freighter before you let it fall into enemy hands."
"Will do," he replied on the radio, "I will go down with this ship if I have to."
She began pushing several buttons on her panel to bring her weapon system online. "They are a little early. I had hoped they would attack closer to Moxia for this ruse, but I'll make a show of it," she whispered with a grimace. She wasn't talking to anybody in particular, but she feared the worst because she'd have to explain how only eight Decayan ships were able to overpower a seasoned Lantern.
She pushed a button on her ship's panel, and then said, "I am the Lantern, Po'Lariet. How can I help you, Decayan Commander?" Four of the ships were directly in front of her, and she had an image of them on her monitor.
"This is Prince Kane Carious, Lantern," he said, "Stand down!" She knew immediately that the interaction between her and the Decayans was serious due to the fact Kane Carious was of royal blood in the Decayan Empire.
"I can't do it, Prince," she said, "You're in Moxian space. Any attack upon my ship will be an act of war."
"Do you really think your beat-up, Moxian Attack Cruiser, and little ring trinket can stop eight Decayan ships?" He asked with laughter in his voice. "Give me the contents of the freighter, and then go about your business."
"I suggest you stand down," she repeated, "Or face the power of the Lantern Corps."
For a moment, everything seemed quiet, almost as if the enemy ships were nonexistent, but at the same time, she knew the enemy ships were in the process of revving up their weapon systems. She pushed several buttons on her control panel, and then a glass bulb with a handprint appeared in front of her. She placed her ring hand in the handprint, and then it began to glow green. Through the power of her ring, she and the ship merged on a mental level, and now she could use the ship's holographic imaging system with the power of her ring.
Suddenly, the lead Decayan ship fired on the freighter, and she thought of a gigantic fist that manifested into a big, green hand that punched through the lead Decayan vessel. It knocked it toward a stray planet about two thousand miles from her ship's position, a lifeless planet, unknown and inhospitable.
"I'm losing power!" Croyolo screamed on the radio, "Tell my people I died a hero!"
The freighter began to fire upon the other ships with no real aim, but it barely caused any damage. The Decayan ship beneath her vessel fired a gamma-ray directly at the hull and ripped her ship into two pieces.
"Dammit!" She exclaimed as the force of the blow caused her to fly up against her control panel. Immediately, It caused her Lantern ring to put a forcefield around her entire body, but the blast from the gamma-ray, caused her to lose consciousness for a moment. It was only a second in her mind, but when she woke up, the vessel was nothing more than space debris and Croyolo Le destroyed the freighter to keep the Decayans from stealing it. He was sending out a signal from the planet about two thousand miles from her position; it was a hostile planet but his escape pod gave him the ability to survive for at least twenty days.
She hovered above the dead planet, a dark planet with a hostile atmosphere, and as she flew toward the planet, she saw the Decayan ship leaving. All she had was her Lantern ring for protection from the hostile environment of space, and when she saw the Decayan fighter, she hit the invisibility mode until it warped back to Decay. When she left the area of debris, a Decayan collector ship came into the area and gathered all of the debris and all the loose cargo it could find.
It was hard for her to detect Croyolo's escape pod because of the dense, green fog that inhabited the area where it landed. Due to her ring, she could fly into the inhospitable atmosphere of the planet without it hurting her. It took her approximately two hours before she found the pod lodged into a dirt pile near what appeared to be a dried-up ocean bed, but the occupant was standing in the dried ocean bed. The solar system had four suns, and when it came to the solar system where Moxia existed, it had seventy-three suns. Mulling over her losses, she used her ring to shimmy the pod loose, and when she did, water began shooting into the air like an open wound. So, she flew with the pod and grabbed the occupant with the power of her ring, and flew away with them far beyond the dried ocean bed.
She sat the pod down in front of her, and Croyolo opened it up, grabbed his pistol, and placed it on his left hip. When she saw him do that, she smirked, and thought to herself, why is he arming himself?
"Are you okay?" She asked as she watched him closely. He looked disheveled to her.
"The Prince," he said, "The Decayans are headed to Vega Star to kill the Prince."
"They told you this?" She asked with a smirk on her narrow face.
"When my pod landed, I shimmied out of it and a Decayan pilot came over the hill," he said, "They want to cause chaos so they can take over Gorgonia without any pushback from the Lantern Corp and seize Fraragon's mines." He looked up at her with fear in his eyes.
"He just spoke to you without any cajoling?" She asked.
"The Decayans don't have beef with Brion Noir, Lantern," he said, "They have a gripe with Moxia and Vega Star." He paused again, but this time he had his left hand on the handle of his weapon. Po'Lariet glared over at him with squinted eyes, and then he said, "But they said you orchestrated this whole mess."
She smiled, and then said, "I did much more than that." She brought her right forearm to her chest, and said, "You know too much already, Croyolo, don't you? I'm sure you've listened to some of my communication with the Thaddicans."
He stumbled back onto the ground and began trying to pull his weapon out of its holster, but he struggled to remove it. The look on his face was one of utter horror. But right before she shot him, he said, "I knew you were corrupt, and I hope one day somebody brings you to justice. You disgrace the Lantern Corps."
Croyolo had on all his safety gear with a protective vest, and he laid on the ground quietly, like dead, until the evil Lantern, Po'Lariet Von flew away. He didn't want to move at all until he was certain that she left the planet. At the time, he didn't have a clue on how he would make it off the barren rock but he did have a beacon on his pod. Slowly, he stood to his feet, inspected his suit to ensure it was intact, and then tapped on his helmet to confirm it wasn't cracked anywhere. When he looked at his air quality monitor, it only read five percent oxygen in the atmosphere, and he needed at least twice that to breathe, but his spacesuit was designed to extract whatever oxygen it could from the air to replenish the oxygen in his suit.
The wind on the unknown rock was brutal as it blew sand and dust up against his face, but at least the blowing wasn't consistent. Sometimes it blew for only a short while and then other times it blew for hours. He had the ability to return to his pod and go into cryostasis for up to a hundred years if he needed to. He also had an arm computer but his personal assistant didn't have a weapon system installed with it. However, it could detect ships and other objects within four hundred thousand miles of the planet.
With his personal assistant, he could find water beneath the surface of the planet, but he needed unsalted water to survive. For over three hours, he searched the area for water, and just about when he was done for the evening, he found water about three feet down about six miles from his pod, and as he knelt down to brush some of the sand out of the way, he could see the abandoned Decaying fighter about a hundred yards from his location. He watched the ship through the foggy atmosphere and realized quickly that he might be able to repair it with parts from his pod.
Quickly, he analyzed the area for the amount of water in the area, and It looked like a lifetime supply of water because the computer suggested nearly thirty-three million gallons of freshwater. He took his entrenching tool, threw it into the sand, and it began drilling down to the water, and once he hit the wet stuff, it began spewing to the top. He took his canteen, filled it up, and then stored it back on his person.
When he returned to his pod, he realized that he needed to carry it closer to his freshwater source, but it weighed nearly eighty pounds, and with his helmet and other gear, he thought it was an impossible mission. But on the front of his pod was a swivel eye pulley; it was easy for him to attach a rope to it so he could pull it, but it still stressed his body. For the first mile, he felt he had a good grip on the rope, but as he hit a slight incline, the pain of pulling it was too much to bear. He fell to the ground by his pod, relaxed for about an hour, and drank some of his water. It took him nearly four hours to position the ship near his water source, and when he finally sat down for the evening, it felt cathartic.
He sat on the ground near his pod while he drank his water through a straw in his suit. Due to the low oxygen in the atmosphere, he wasn't able to pull off his helmet. Deep down, he felt nervous because he only had a week of food at the most, but at the same time, he didn't know what was in the abandoned Decayan fighter. The planet was unknown to him, and it wasn't in his computer's database either. But as he drank his water, he saw some movement out of his peripheral vision, and it immediately caused him dismay. He saw a long, blackleg, an arachnid leg climb out of the hole he made. All of a sudden, the spider-like creature leaped out of the hole and it was about the size of a small hovercar. It caused his heart to race because he had heard of the desert spiders that ate humanoids in the unincorporated areas of Doraxia. He hadn't seen one in his lifetime, but he also heard they were edible.
The spider charged at him, and he fell to the ground when it did. He could hear the spider's growling and it scared him, especially its aggressive behavior. He pulled out his laser pistol but dropped it to the ground, and then the spider flung him into his escape pod. The pistol that got away from him was sticking up in the sand, and he dove over to it, but at the same time, the spider stabbed him in the left leg with its front right leg, and he screamed. Quickly, he limped over to his pistol, but the spider charged him one more time, and when he did, he fired blindly at the beast, and the laser cut it in half. Without hesitation, he ripped the legs from the large monster and began using his laser to heat the meat. He held the leg up to the remaining sunlight and was able to cook it with his laser gun from the beginning to the end roasted until a nice brown color.
(Unknown Planet)
Two days passed since Po'Lariet left Croyolo's body on the unknown planet. She didn't think much about him or care that his Nymph girlfriend left a hundred messages on the office video communicator. She warned Prince Nefare of the possibility of an assault against him to escalate the ongoing conflict in the Dark Corridor, but it didn't phase him at all. In his mind, he wanted to stay the course with his studies and didn't think the Decayings posed much of a threat even though the Lantern's reports on the situation suggested otherwise. He hadn't given the Decayan people much thought because they hadn't been running any maneuvers in Moxian space for a long time.
Po'Lariet stood in front of him while he did several function checks on his vessel to ensure all systems were running properly. He had on some black overalls with the Moxian crescent on his upper right chest. Po'Lariet-on the other hand-wore her Lantern Greens, a fancy uniform that Lanterns donned when they acted in the role of dignitaries, and if she was going to meet with the Prince outside of the royal palace, she had to do so according to Moxian law.
"What are you doing here, Po'Lariet?" Prince Nefare asked as he had engine grease on his face from his ship. He had a silver wrench in his right hand when he spoke with his cousin.
"Checking on you, sir," she said with a soft smile. "Your father wanted to make sure you were okay after the Decayans threatened to kill you." She looked at the grime on his face, frowned, and then asked, "Why are you working on your own vessel? Isn't this beneath you?"
He scoffed. "We're on the brink of war, cousin. We should all be lucky enough to know how to work on our own vessels." He shook his head as if he were disgusted with her. He didn't care too much for his cousin and it was widely known. "Anyway, I'm not worried about the Decayans," he said with a grimace. "The war between Moxia and Decay will most likely happen." He began looking at some of the gauges on the outside panel of the ship, and then said, "But I promise you that Moxia will be ready for anything."
Po'Lairet cringed at his words and then said, "If Sir Thoridic Von wages war with Decay, it will do more harm than good in the Dark Corridor. Don't you understand that? Moxia isn't well."
"Then so be it, Po'Lariet! If war happens then it happens," he said, "Moxia and Gorgonia own the rights to Fraragon and that's the reality of it. We won't capitulate to Thaddica or Decay." He paused for a moment and stepped closer to his cousin. "You shouldn't be so quick to side with the Decayans. It's not a good picture for the Von family."
She looked frustrated for a moment, and then said, "Por Jerric Von is the born negotiator of the family, Nefare," she stressed, "Shouldn't he be the one negotiating with the Decayans and not the King? Look at the mess we're in?"
"Your father is the best negotiator when it comes to money, but we can't risk the life of the Duke of Ishtar," he said, "They'll rot his limbs the way they rotted the Lantern Pin Tortis' limbs. I don't know if you remember, Po'Lariet, but they sent him back with no arms and his fancy little trinket in a box. Do you want to risk Por Jerric's life in the hopes he can talk the Dark Corridor into a peaceful resolution, cousin?"
"I see," she said with a grimace. "You want this war even though it can destroy us all." She shook her head with disgust, and then said, "I must return to Brion Noir for a meeting over the planet's core. "Maybe you should relax, visit Vega Prime, and have a good day, Prince Nefare."
Po'Lariet didn't leave Vega Star immediately but traveled to a seedy area of town in the city of Porvo. On the outskirts of the main city set a lower-income area where Vega-Knights pushed the limits of the law and often engaged in activities that the mainstream wouldn't approve of. She came to a rundown apartment complex called Luc'Tod's Apartments, a Vega-Knight who invented the Extra Layer battle uniform that had the ability to amplify a soldier's abilities. About thirteen Vega-Knight kids played on the lawn of the apartment complex and at least twenty were in the pool in the center of the facility.
The lawn of the complex had toys and trash all over the area, and the kids appeared to be somewhat unruly with the way they pushed each other around. But once she walked the halls of the building, she came to apartment number five, knocked, and then opened the door. It was a cheap, two-bedroom apartment, clean, and the vision tube was on and loud. She tapped a few buttons on her forearm computer, and the volume turned down on the vision tube. Slowly, she walked down the hallway, and in the bedroom on the right, she saw Narious and a male Dreg having relations, but when he looked up and saw Po'Lariet by the bedroom door, he hopped to his feet. She hadn't ever seen her half-brother in the nude, but he was a large half-breed and tall.
"Why didn't you knock?" He asked with wide eyes.
She smirked, "You know I did knock, brother," she said with a look of embarrassment on her face. "Who's the Dreg?" She asked as she pointed to the robot. She noticed that the robot had black hair with rubbery-looking skin, and from what she could tell, he was made with inadequate parts.
"I'm Dee'Vox," he said in a smooth, but strong voice.
She smiled, and then said, "Please, leave us, Dee'Vox!" She had a stern look on her face. "This is family business."
"I'll meet up with you later," Narious said to his paramour.
Po'Lariet sat on the couch directly in front of her half-brother's bed, and even though he kept the place clean, she was leery of everything. "You're quite the surprise, little brother," she said with a smirk on her face. "I thought you were asexual."
"I just don't put my business in the streets," he said in a calm voice. "If I get the Prince on Vega Prime, will the Thaddican mercenaries be ready?"
"Yes," she said, "But make sure he doesn't have his personal assistant on him. He's a skilled fighter, but I'm sure the Thaddicans can catch him off guard."
In the center of Prince Nefare's large hotel room was a nice bed with silver bedding and soft pillows on it. He had his black boots neatly situated underneath the bed and barely sticking out. Next to his black boots sat his casual shoes, and he had a row of those underneath the bed. Tre'Yan sat on the bed nude with her head on a pillow. Her hair was wild because they had engaged in coitus, and the room's aroma was one of sexual musk. She had nicely trimmed, v-shaped pubic hairs; it was thick like a Moxian forest but groomed to the Prince's liking. In the evening time since Nefare came to town, her hair had one distinct look: wild, after-sex hair.
Partially nude, he stood in front of the bed for a moment, and Tre'Yan watched the Vision Tube. He didn't have on a shirt, but he did have on some black underwear to cover up his man-business. The only reason he put on some underwear was that he wanted to admire the view on his balcony. He looked over the veranda of his hotel room at all the beautiful hues of gold and watched the fancy cars race by. The Vega-Knights knew how to build a nice, almost indestructible flying car, and even some of them made their way to Moxia. It was a good time on Vega Star because there hadn't been any attacks in over four months, and the country was on the brink of a treaty with the Decayans.
Tre'Yan sat on the Prince's large bed, eating Booshi fruits, watching the Vision Tube, and drinking a cold beverage from his fridge. The Booshi fruit was nice and plump, and when she bit into it, the juices poured over her tanned breast. Often, the Prince and Tre ate Booshi fruit while sitting on the bed and he sometimes licked the sap off her firm breasts.
She often hung out with him in his room because she had nothing better to do, and she also loved him dearly. She still had some beads of sweat on her forehead from where they wrestled in the bed and engaged in coitus.
Tre'Yan walked up to him, kissed him on the back of the neck, gently and softly, and then put her arms around his waist. "Your father is bringing peace to the Dark Corridor," she said with a smile, "In time, all sanctions will be lifted against the Decayans."
"I can only hope that's the case," he said with a smile. Placing his hands over her hands as she kept her arms wrapped around his waist, he enjoyed her touch. "But we've been in this same exact situation with the Decayans previously. They rotted out the reserve food supply in the southern region of Moxia and set the economy back ten years."
"I read about that," she said in a soft voice. Quickly, she chose to change the subject, and said, "We must meet up with the gang tonight," she said, "Broady wants us to hang out on Vega Prime."
He sighed, and then said, "It's been a minute since I've been on Prime."
"That's why it's good to get away sometimes and forget about school work and politics," she said, "Broady and Eli and You and me." She paused for a moment, and then said, "I guess Narious can come too even though he has no girl to speak of."
"It wouldn't be any fun without Narious," he said laughingly. He turned to her for a moment, and said, "It's been eerily quiet lately. It's been school, home, and back to school again. There haven't been any threats on my life at all."
"That's a good thing," she said with a soft smile. "The conflict is at an end, Nefare."
"The Decayans are a treacherous race. Sneaky," he said, "They're planning something. I can feel it."
"They wouldn't dare attack Vega Star," she said as she kissed him on his muscular chest. "One thing we do have is military might." Her words were somewhat muffled as her lips gently caressed his male nipples.
Suddenly, Broady raced into the room with Eli, and the Prince turned to them, and said, "What's going on, Broady?"
"Let's head to Vega Prime for the weekend?" He asked with a grimace. "I've made the reservations and everything."