Author's Note: My apologies for the delay (again), a combination work/writers block did me in while trying to write this. But we're back in the saddle now and looking to close this case! Enjoy!
Chapter 8: On a Wing and a Prayer
Streaking across the stars, two contrails of blue and violet light darted between planets and through the expanse of the cosmos. As before, Michael Ryker and Princess Ghia'ta followed the call of their rings from sector to sector. This time, however, things were far less copacetic between the pair.
Ghia'ta was acting sullen, gloomy. She wasn't talking, wasn't being her usual bright and cheery self. The tension made Michael incredibly uncomfortable. He wasn't used to Ghia'ta being this dour or this quiet. They had long left Barnath 7 behind them and Ghia'ta had scarcely spoken more than five words in that time. Michael wasn't sure if she was mad at him but he couldn't help but wonder given his adamance in sleeping on different surfaces.
We need to talk. She needs to air this out. That's the only way we're gonna be able to move forward. Any more of this silence and it'll wreck whatever camaraderie we had going on. We won't be able to function together.
A simple plan formed in his mind and, pulling just ahead of her, Michael turned to his power ring. "Ring, where's the nearest planet with a breathable atmosphere?" He quietly asked. A moments scan revealed a world not too far away, isolated and alone. Perfect for his intentions. Michael looked over his shoulder to Ghia'ta. "Follow me," He banked right and followed the guiding of his ring. He glanced over his shoulder. To his relief, the Zamaron was right behind him.
It took approximately two minutes of travel to discover a world savannahs and mountains. While there was no indication of sentient life, the functional green ecosystem was enough to provide a breathable atmosphere to the benefit of any carbon-based life form. Michael descended along withGhia'ta touching down amid a sprawling grassland framed by distant mountains. The sky was an orange-gold.
"What's going on?" Ghia'ta softly asked. Michael turned to her.
"I just wanted to find a quiet place where we can talk." He explained.
"Talk about what?"
"About you." He said and he noted the way she jolted at the notion and looked away. Michael strode closer. "You're not smiling all the time like you used to. Your ears are drooping. Your eyes have lost their brightness." He stated in observation. Ghia'ta said nothing and continued to avert his gaze. "Please, Ghia'ta, you haven't been the same since Barnath. What's wrong?"
The princess huffed. "What isn't wrong?" She muttered, pacing away from him. "Tiran was right. Everywhere I go, all the places I've been to before, everyone's expecting me to just climb into bed and spread my legs again. I've done too much with the old Star Sapphires to be known for anything else. Being a whore is all I'll ever be known for."
Michael winced at her words, her pain being felt second-hand. He approached her, reaching out. "Don't say things like that about yourself."
"But it's true, Michael!" Ghia'ta exclaimed, spinning around and staying just out of reach of his hand. "What do you think the Gordanians did when they found out I was literally naked without my ring? Being a Star Sapphire, what do you think they did?"
Such despicable thoughts had never once crossed Michael's mind and now he couldn't help but visibly react at her open-ended question. The terrible- no… The gut-wrenching reality of what she had endured in the time between her capture and his arrival sank like a weight into the pit of his stomach. His shoulders sagged as his appall was made known.
Ghia'ta loosely hugged herself and looked away agin, a soft breeze rustling her lavender bangs. "No matter how much I change my ways or how strongly I believe in my Corps new direction, I'll only ever be known for my past." She whispered in a distraught voice. "I only wish you didn't have to find out about it."
"Why?" Michael asked.
Ghia'ta sighed. "You were… innocent. You didn't know. I wanted to keep it that way! Finally, someone who wouldn't look at me and think of me as the galaxy's biggest slut and now that's all gone to hell!" She threw up her hands in exasperation. Her entire body seemed to sag. "You… being you… you're so nice. You're so calm and careful and gentle. I just… I just hoped that maybe I could really be someone new with you. And now I can't because now you know the truth."
Michael could sense her tumult. Her emotions spread across a bandwidth of realities but his ring picked out the most apparent; self-loathing, despair, fear, hate, loss, regret… so much regret. He stepped forward. He had to say something. "That truth is irrelevant. Never lose hope, Ghia'ta. There's always something to look forward to." At last her aquamarine eyes turned up, sparing him the briefest of glances.
"Like what?"
Michael thought to himself and, in a moment of deja vu, smiled slightly. This had taken a mirror to his own conversation with Ganthet and Sayd. Her question was once his question. "That's the beauty of it. It can take any shape or any form. You just have to believe in the hope that something will come along that will make your life better." He replied.
Ghia'ta slowly shifted towards him, a single arm around herself. "I thought that could be you." She quietly admitted, her expression and voice downcast. "All I want is for someone to see me for who I'm trying to be. I… I-I had hope you would be my clean slate. And then I let my guard down and let the influence of the violet light…" Her voice broke, her lip quavered as a myriad of wishful possibilities crossed her mind only to flee a second later, and Ghia'ta turned away as the tears started to fall. She sniffled, hands covering her face in a vain attempt to muffle her sobs. Michael approached, his heart breaking for her despair. Ghia'ta's tears slipped past her hands. His ring flashed and Michael conjured a blue handkerchief into his open hand, offering it to Ghia'ta. The princess accepted and wiped away her tears, her eyes faintly red.
"I am so sorry that things in your life have gone this way, Ghia'ta." Michael whispered to her, doing his utmost to keep track of her eyes and look her in them. "But I want you to know that I don't care about your past. I've seen you, the real you, and I know you're nothing like what Tiran described." He offered. Ghia'ta sniffed, still drying her tears. "Please, don't beat yourself up over this. I can see that you're trying to be better. I know you can be better." Ghia'ta said nothing. Michael's ring revealed she was still despondent. He blinked. A thought came to mind and he gave it voice, opening the window to his soul and the confines of his heart.
"The day I became a Blue Lantern was the day I wanted to end my life. I lost everything. My job. My home. The woman I thought was the love of my life. My best friend. I thought I had nothing to live for. I thought I was better off dead. I stood on a bridge, looking into black water, and wanted to hurl myself in. I had no love, I had no willpower, only a fear of what was to come and a rage against my life. That wasn't life, I thought. That was nothing. I wanted to do away with it all." Ghia'ta studied him now, her gaze focused, her lips slightly parted in a look of awe. "But that's when I held out hope… and something wonderful happened that changed my life." Michael held up his hand, his ring prominent and shining metallic blue in the sunlight.
Ghia'ta dabbed at her sparse tears. "Michael…"
"Ghia'ta…" He gently took hold of her shoulders. "I know you're going through a rough time. I know you feel like you're at the end of your rope. But I want you to know that I will stand with you. Because I know who you are. And who you're going to be." He whispered, a finger reaching up to catch her last tear and wipe it away. "All will be well."
Her ring must have sensed the resolute nature of his statement for she looked upon him now with a sense of reassurance. Bursting into tears again, tears of relief this time, Ghia'ta threw her arms around him and hugged him. Michael reciprocated, hugging her close as her cheek pressed against the symbol of his Corps. He could feel it again; the swelling surge of her hope for a brighter future.
"I am… so glad I met you, Michael Ryker." Ghia'ta whispered between sniffling sobs. With one hand, Michael patted her back and, with the other, he stroked her hair. They stood together and Michael held Ghia'ta for as long as she cried. When her tears finally ran dry, she looked up at him with a smile and streaks down her cheeks. A fresh handkerchief appeared his Michael's hand and he cleaned her up. Ghia'ta wished she had the words to say to properly articulate her feelings. She tried to the best of her ability, "I only wish I'd met you sooner; someone I'm so privileged to call my friend. I thought for sure you had written me off." Michael smiled and opened his mouth to say something,
Alert. Multiple Green Lantern energy signatures detected within planet vicinity.
Michael shut his mouth and looked upwards, Ghia'ta did too. "Green Lanterns? Here?"
"And it sounds like there's multiple." Michael surmised. He took flight with Ghia'ta right beside him, shooting through the skies and atmosphere as their bodies were enveloped in colorful auras. The canvas of space unfolded before them and they followed the guidance of Michael's ring towards a series of bright green orbs streaking across the skies above.
Scans indicate six biological life forms.
Arrayed before them were a Jaydian, a Grendan, two humans, a Toomeyan, and a-
"Oh Khu-Fu! Look how cute this little guy is!" Ghia'ta squealed, forgetting herself for a moment as she bolted forward and wrapped her arms around the sentient rodent dressed in the garb of a Green Lantern. "Mmmm! He's so fluffy!" She hummed, trapping him in a bear-hug while the corpsman flailed about in her grip.
"What the scrub-frakkin'-!" He swore, trying to weasel himself free. "Lady, you better put me down unless you want a biff up the hooter! I don't care who the frak you are, you get your mitts offa me ya pointy-eared broad!" The lantern gruffly snapped. Ghia'ta recoiled, hands raised. Her expression promptly soured into a pout as she crossed her arms.
"So much for cute and fluffy." She huffed, glaring at the squirrel-like alien who glared back at her. What looked like an earthen squirrel was in reality a H'lvenite from the planet H'lven. This particular one was named Ch'p and he had been the Green Lantern of his sector for many years.
"Still friendly and outgoing, eh princess?" One of the humans announced. Both Michael and Ghia'ta looked to the Caucasian man with short brown hair cut in the typical square-back Air Force shape, dressed in a Green Lantern uniform that clung to his muscular physique and rippled with glowing veins of willpower energy. A green domino mask that would hide his identity on Earth, but was pretty needless in space, hugged the skin around his eyes. Ghia'ta beamed.
"Green Lantern Hal Jordan! It is a pleasure to see you again." She greeted with a bow.
"Likewise, Ghi." Hal winked. Michael was taken aback on multiple fronts.
"You're Hal Jordan… You're Green Lantern!" He realized. "Of the Justice League!"
Hal grinned. "My reputation precedes me. But I don't believe we've met. I'm pretty sure I'd remember a human Blue Lantern."
"This guy," Guy Gardner began, slapping an arm around Michael's shoulders, "is that fella I was telling you about, Jordan. Mike Ryker. Pretty sure he's the first human blue. Helped me kick some serious Khund ass."
"Nice to see you too, Guy." Michael replied.
"You should count yourself lucky. Gardner rarely speaks so highly of someone he just met." Hal remarked.
"Well, I can certainly speak highly of Michael. He rescued me from Gordanian slavers." Ghia'ta piped up.
"Sounds like a helluva story." Hal mused. "Introductions, then. Michael, Ghia'ta, these are Green Lanterns Stel, Laira Otomo, and Arkkis Chummuck. You've already met Ch'p." The mechanical Stel and 'wolf-man' Arkkis nodded in greeted, the latter with a growl. The Jaydian Laira remained stoic and distant, seemingly studying them with a warrior's intent.
"That's one 'hello' I could do without." The snarky rodent huffed. Ghia'ta stuck out her tongue in retort.
"What brings a crew of Green Lanterns this way?" Michael asked.
"We're on our way to Thanagar, there's reports coming in of hostilities brewing between them and the Rannians again." Hal explained. Some information from Michael's ring filled his head, detail the history of Rann and Thanagar.
"The little blue men want us to try and head off a war before it starts. Otherwise, half the sectors in the galaxy will join in. Lotta folks got alliances and stakes with both Rann and Thanagar." Guy chipped in. "You up for some peacekeeping-slash-making, Mike?" Before the Blue Lantern could speak, Ghia'ta quickly piped up,
"We would be happy to assist you. It's been a long time since we've worked together, Hal Jordan."
Hal smirked. "Wouldn't say no to your company, princess." Michael glanced back and forth between them. 'She seems awfully excited to work with him again.' His mind cranked out various explanations, not all of them wholesome.
"I wouldn't say no to working with the Green Lantern." He added, a little less enthusiastically. "Plus, the Thanagarians would appreciate more than just Greens, since they tend to view you and the Rannians as friends."
"The more the merrier then," Hal concurred, "hope you can keep up. Let's move Green Lanterns!" The squad of corpsmen took flight with Michael and Ghia'ta shooting off alongside, their rings propelling them at lightspeed across the cosmos…
Later…
Sector 2682. A tumultuous sector of space inhabited by the warring worlds of Rann and Thanagar. Originally light years away from one another, Rannian experiments with Zeta-Beam technology to move their warships more quickly across vast distances resulted in a fatal error when the entirety of planet Rann was teleported into Thanagar's orbit.
Such sudden cosmic upheaval resulted in ecological devastation across both planets and brought the Rann-Thanagar war to a grinding halt. The Green Lantern Corps got involved when two of their members, Rayn Kral from Rann and Vath Sarn from Thanagar, were killed during the devastation.
Facing potential mutual destruction, Rannians and Thanagarians agreed to a tentative truce while peace talks were held under the guidance of visiting Green Lantern Isamot Kol. However, transmissions from Isamot Kol had fallen silent and the Guardians only received word about flaring tensions between the two planets from extragalactic news sources; hence the prompt response team led by the fierce and legendary Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner.
When they dropped out of lightspeed, the travelling Lanterns expected to find a world embroiled in shouting matches between bitter dignitaries. What they found instead… was nothing short of total war!
"I thought you said they were trying to establish peace talks!" Ghia'ta yelped as she watched a Rannian battlecruiser be strafed by a squadron of Thanagarian starfighters.
"That's what we were told!" Hal Jordan exclaimed.
All before them spread a chaotic naval battle between warships of every size. Explosions dotted the vacuum of space as burning hulks cascaded through the void amid streaks of laser fire. A full-scale war was underway.
"Guess those peace talks deteriorated faster than the Guardians anticipated." Laira observed.
"It would be logical to our mission objective to attempt to renew negotiations." Stel stated.
"And just how in Oa are we supposed to do that? Ya see the frakkin' explosions everywhere?!" Ch'p retorted.
"He is correct. It will be difficult to stem the tide of battle." Arkkis growled.
"We're gonna have to try. We're not leaving until this mess has calmed down." Hal stated. "Michael, Ghia'ta, try to talk down the Thanagarians. Guy and I will talk to the Rannians. The rest of you try to slow down the fighting, the less lives lost the better." Without argument, the Lanterns split off to enter the fray. With mechanical precision, Stel dove in and generated solid walls to destroy missiles before they could meet their mark, Thanagarian and Rannian alike. Ch'p moved against the larger cruisers, using his small size to go in undetected and short out their big guns with small constructs capable of disabling the cybernetics. Moving as a duo, Laira and Arkkis intercepted spaceborne squadrons of armor-clad Thanagarians and Rannians, subduing the warriors with non-lethal constructs.
Using their rings, Hal and Guy navigated the chaos of space combat, bobbing and weaving between cruisers and spacecraft as explosions dotted the expanse of space that spanned the twin worlds, each one red with fire and death from the upheaval unfolding on the surface. "Ring, locate Rannian command ship." Hal ordered. Following the prompting of his ring, he and Guy made for a massive rectangular vessel flanked by smaller battlecruisers. "Rannian Command Ship, this is Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner of the Green Lantern Corps!" Hal called out as his ring established contact with the communications array. He hovered before the bridge, spying a human-like figure dressed in silver and black on the other side.
"I am Sardath of Rann. I would say your presence is welcome, Green Lanterns, were it not for these damnable hawkmen!" The Rannian responded.
"Yeah, about that… you mind telling us what the hell is going on?" Hal demanded. "I thought Rann and Thanagar were in the middle of negotiations?"
"We were." Sardath affirmed. "But the hawkmen cannot be reasoned with! The damnable fools insisted on war and we gave it to them!" He snarled angrily.
"What happened to Green Lantern Kol?" Hal questioned.
"We don't know. But it was likely the fault of those accursed Thanagarians!" Sardath said through gritted teeth. Hal could see just how livid the man was and how determined he was to go to war with Thanagar. "They are not men but bloodthirsty beasts, Green Lantern! Not just Rannian blood will slake their hunger! With the fates of our worlds at stake, there can only be one winner of this conflict! We will be victorious or dead!"
"You'll all be dead if you don't cut this out!" Guy cut in. "You don't have the resources to fight another war. Neither does Thanagar."
"Then it is an even fight! One that will see Rannians crush the hawk bastards under our boots!" Sardath snapped. "Rann would welcome your aid, Green Lanterns!"
"We're here to see negotiations resumed, not fight your war." Hal said firmly. "I'm ordering you to stand down. We have others commanding the same of the Thanagarians. We'll make landfall and start talking again."
"Haven't you been listening, Green Lantern? The damn hawkmen cannot be reasoned with! All they want is war and Rann's desolation! I will not waste another ounce of my breath on these bastards, not when I can take it from them!" Sardath roared. "If you will not help us, then stay out of our way!" With a wave of his hand, Sardath ordered a volley of cannons rounds that went streaking towards the Thanagarian fleet. Hal Jordan moved to react, using his ring to construct a squadron of Earth fighter jets to dive into the outgoing shells, detonating them all long before they could endanger the Thanagarians.
"Well, that went swimmingly. What now, fearless leader?" Guy questioned as he fired off emerald bolts to intercept more cannonfire.
"I just hope Mike and Ghia'ta are having better luck." Hal sighed. "Try and stem the tide then we'll make contact with them."
Across the expanse of space, Michael and Ghia'ta pinpointed the lead Thanagarian warship much as Hal had and sought an audience with the leader of Thanagar's forces. "I am Michael Ryker of the Blue Lanterns and this is Princess Ghia'ta of the Star Sapphires. Your crisis has been felt far and wide." He greeted the armored hawkman standing on the bridge.
"I would bid you kinder greetings, Blue Lantern, were I not embroiled in this bitter struggle with these cursed Rannian scum." He replied. "I am General Hro Talak of the Wingmen of Thanagar."
"General, I must insist that you lay down your arms and resume your peace talks. For the sake of your planet, you must!" Ghia'ta insisted.
"I have wasted enough of my time trying to speak rationally with Rannian savages!" Hro retorted angrily. "They want nothing but the total annihilation of Thanagar and we will not stand idly by while they take up arms against us!"
"But-"
"No 'buts', Star Sapphire! This war will be waged until only one side stands! And that will be Thanagar!" Hro vehemently interjected. Michael narrowed his eyes as his ring revealed fresh insights to him. Everything about Hro Talak's biometrics was way off the charts. Heartrate, adrenaline, higher functions, all of it was scream symptoms of a bitter, vengeful man hellbent on a path of destruction.
And it was even more obvious through the Emotional Spectrum.
Flames of dull scarlet seemed to lick at every inch of Hro Talak and that was not limited to just the General. The rest of his bridge staff were also infected, all of them chomping at the proverbial bit to take action against the Rannians. His ring glowed and fed suggestions telepathically. Michael knew what he had to do.
"I understand your patriotism, General, but you must calm yourself." He said, his voice one filled with eternal patience and understanding. Michael reached out with his ring. one of its many powers included manifesting the innate hope of the sentient to order to calm them down and heal their minds.
But as Michael channeled his ring… his power failed to manifest.
Aghast, Michael tried again to no avail. "What…? Why isn't it working…?" A sudden thought occurred to him that made too much sense for it to be random chance.
'He has no hope. No hope for his situation, no hope for his future. Nothing beyond this war.'
He drifted aimlessly for a moment as Talak started giving orders.
"Kragger! I want all batteries targeting the first line of warships! Paran Dul! Order fighter command to make deeper incursions into the Rannian lines! Their cowardly command dogs are hiding near the rear of the formation!"
The words echoed in Michael's mind as he watched the ship pass him by, feeling helpless amid the sheer mount of hopelessness opened up to him. Michael had never felt so… cold before. the warmth of hope had always been somewhere to seek out, it's light just waiting for him to stoke it to fruition. Instead he felt nothing. As his ring fueled his senses and swept them across the Thanagarian fleet, all he felt was nothing.
"Michael? Michael, what's wrong?" Ghia'ta asked. Michael didn't answer her, shooting towards the Rannian lines and reaching out with his ring, looking for some glimmer of hope to fuel his power and held him turn this tide around.
But he found nothing. Not so much as a sliver of the blue light was to be found. The Rannians were hopeless. The Thanagarians were hopeless.
This war… was hopeless.
"No… Nothing… Nothing at all…" He muttered, totally lost to void he found consuming his very soul. His own hope was all that remained but he struggled to see its usefulness in this plight. This darkness was too much for him. "There's no winners… only losers…"
"Michael!" Ghia'ta shook him, worried for his wellbeing. She'd never seen him so spaced out before. So directionless. Michael looked to her, his face pale.
"There's nothing. They… They have no hope." Michael whispered, looking back across the vast array of warships. "None of them do." Ghia'ta followed his gaze. She could sense no love here but it did not affect her as sharply. She was used to worlds and people who had no love, it was her job to give it to them. Michael, however, was a Blue Lantern. Blue Lantern's salvaged situations by turning the hopes of people into a fuel. But this was a dry source.
"We need to find the Green Lanterns." She insisted, tugging him along. The Zamaron pulled him into the cacophony of space combat, blue and pink streaks shooting between vessels of every size as they sought out their allies. Hal and Guy were easy to track down, the rest of the Greens were busy trying to slow down the conflict.
"Well, no dice with the Rannians. You?" The human asked.
"The Thanagarian General refuses to listen to us." Ghia'ta explained.
"Same goes for these starfighters." Laira added over comms. "They are hellbent in pursuing the destruction of their enemy."
"I just wanna know what the hell happened that turned this into such a shitshow." Guy remarked.
"Maybe someone is deliberately trying to flare tensions on both sides." Michael quietly suggested. The hopelessness of the situation remained close around him, like a tangible darkness clinging to every limb.
"There's been reports of radicals on both sides before." Laira affirmed, supporting his notion.
"But to spark this? Such dedication to decimation?" Stel wondered. Michael paused as his ring intercepted new signals from both fleets. They were outbound, destined for somewhere in the void of space.
"I'm picking up transmissions from multiple command vessels," he announced.
"Me too." Hal concurred, looking to his ring. "The Thanagarians are calling for reinforcements… from Tamaran, Durla, and the Psions of Vega."
"Just like the Rannians are reaching out to Throneworld, the Warlords of Okaara, and The Dominion for backup." Guy echoed. The dawning realization sank deep into the pit of each Lantern, all of them examining the unfolding conflict before them and coming to the conclusion that things would only get worse.
"A galaxy divided… and soon to be up in flames." Michael whispered, sounding devastated.
"The Blue's right. This little spark's 'boutta become a galactic inferno if we don't stamp it out!" Ch'p exclaimed.
"It doesn't make any sense! With their homeworlds ravaged by natural disasters, they don't have the resources for another war. They're supposed to be negotiating peace talks and trying to help one another." Hal muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"There is no hope…" Michael trailed off, his aura dimming. "They have no hope for an end to the conflict. There's… nothing. Nothing for me to work with… What can I do for people who have no hope?" He asked aloud. "I… I'm useless here." He hung his head, totally crestfallen.
"No! Michael, we'll figure something out. You're not useless." Ghia'ta insisted, rounding in front of him to try and rouse his spirits. "Rannians and Thanagarians have been at war for years. Now that both homeworlds are within range of the other, that natural amnesty is boiling over." She told him. "These environmental collapses, the bad blood, the bitter and angry feelings, resentment, it's all coming to-"
Michael's head shot up. "Say that again?" Ghia'ta scrunched up her brow, trying to backpedal her sentence.
"The bad blood? The bitter angry feelings, resentment-"
"That's it…!" Michael interrupted again. He knew emotional activity seemed faintly familiar. What his ring registered was starting to boil down to a singular constant. This wasn't just any war, this was a question of annihilation; one species over the other. It was impulsive, driven not by strategy or logic, but by one of the most base and primal emotions…
Anger.
"Ring, scan for high concentrations of emotion spectrum activity." He ordered, reaching out with his arm. His ring scanned the width of space around Rann and Thanagar returning with a viable solution moments later.
"Detecting higher than normal concentrates within Rannian and Thanagarian personnel. A cluster of unusually similar signals has been pinpointed in orbit around Polara." Michael looked up, following the direction of his ring.
"A neighbouring world… close enough for a Lantern." He muttered to himself. Michael looked back to his allies, his aura brighter as his own hope was renewed. "There's still a way to salvage this, but it can't be done here. We have to go to Polara, I'm detecting a high concentration of emotional bandwidth."
"Maybe you're on to something about instigators, Mike." Hal agreed. "Stel, Arkkis, Laira, Ch'p, break off and follow us to Polara. We're tracking a lead that might bear fruit." He ordered his team as they collectively took flight. Travelling at lightspeed, they left the war behind and made a beeline for the closest neighbouring system in the system. Polara was formerly a stronghold world that had been abandoned during the need to secure Rann and Thanagar. To note a similar emotional presence indicated the planet might not have been abandoned entirely.
The green-blue world of Polara came into view, seemingly idyllic if not for the brewing conflict so close by. "I don't see anything. You sure about this?" Guy wondered.
"I'm not looking with my eyes, Guy," Michael responded. A pulse from his blue ring generated a sonar-like wave that momentarily lit up Polara and exposed a large piece of rock orbiting the planet. One would have easily mistaken it for an asteroid, were it not for the towering black spires jutting out of one side, like a city built into rocky surface.
"Now what is that…?" Hal wondered.
"Tactical analysis indicates it is a vessel of some kind." Laira proffered. "My ring tells me its designation is Shard."
"Doesn't look like it belongs to the bird-boys or the Rannians." Ch'p remarked.
"It's presence here suggests outlying interference. There's is a cause without honor." Arkkis snarled.
"We should proceed with caution." Stel added.
"The Grendan's right, fearless leader. As much as I want practice my golf swing on this hunk of rock, we better see what they want with Rann and Thanagar." Guy told Hal.
"Yeah, I agree. Mike, since you found this, you can take us in." The leading Green replied. Michael nodded and led them down towards an airlock near the front of Shard. It led to a vast space, almost like a communal meeting room, that was dimly lit save for a few dark red lights scattered throughout.
"Why am I getting all spooked out all of a sudden?" Guy asked aloud.
"This place gives me the creeps, too."
"I'm betting it's LEGION." Laira suggested.
"I'll take that bet." Ch'p chimed in. "Just let me at those techno-organic freaks."
"No… it is darker than that." Arkkis sniffed the air, his canine senses detecting something yet to be seen. Michael strode forward, his ring sensing no biological life forms in their immediate vicinity. He chose to shed some light on the scene and generated a soft glow from his ring.
What he found before him was utterly ghastly.
A cistern of blood sat before them, ringing an alter upon which lay a freshly cleaned skull… the skull of Green Lantern Isamot Kol.
Ghia'ta recoiled in horror as their power rings' scanned over the biometric residue and revealed the truth. Their revulsion seemed to spark something else within the chamber. A bright red light from higher up began to ignite and swell, bathing them room with a brilliant scarlet glow coming from within an circular orb suspended between two rising towers to create a 'Y'-like shape. Michael's ring registered an immediate emotional surge as the air grew much warmer.
A blast from the central battery swept over them as Michael and Ghia'ta raised their shields to defend themselves. Napalm fire swept across the Green Lanterns, bypassing their auras and infecting them with red flames that licked at their extremities. Each of them fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth in an enraged state. Gone were their coherent senses of higher thought, laid low by primal emotions forced upon them to such an extent their willpower had no time to overcome it.
"This is worse than we feared, Michael." Ghia'ta said, a slight tremble in her voice as they backed away from the cistern.
"And it explains why Rann and Thanagar are suddenly at each other's throats again." The human said. "Their emotional state is not natural but manufactured." He turned as his ring sensed more biometrics entering the room… a swarm of them.
"Manufactured… by Red Lanterns."
From the gloom came dozens of the red-ringed terrorists, flying around the pair like a swarm of predatory birds seeking carrion for a feast. Ghia'ta stuck to Michael's side as though glued there, her power ring primed and watching for one of them to dive. Michael focused on the threat before them as a hulking figure, taller than anyone else present, strode to meet them. His body was wreathed in rock-like armor, a shade lighter than his crimson skin but not nearly as intense as the glowing ring upon his finger. His corps symbol glowed brightly, like a being of magma within his rocky armor.
"I see you have found us." Atrocitus snarled, blood drooling from his open mouth and clenched teeth. "We were not expecting Lanterns to come here."
"Unbridled rage tends to draw a lot of attention." Michael countered. "I knew you Reds were terrorists, but inciting a full-blown war? Why?" He demanded. Atrocitus spoke again, his voice like grating sandpaper mixed with the caustic bubble of molten liquid.
"For countless centuries, Thanagar has made victims of worlds throughout the stars. Their innocent blood cries out for vengeance! Revenge shall be served and Thanagar will pay the price for subjugating others."
"You would doom two worlds to cataclysm!" Michael exclaimed.
"So be it! Rann is no better! They have made deals with empires who grind lesser planets to dust in the name of advancement. Blood is on their hands and it demands retribution! The spark of rage will be fanned, Blue Lantern!" Atrocitus snarled.
"I won't deny the existence of rage but I will deny it's course." Michael retorted. "Rann and Thanagar stand on a precipice. They can move forward without your intervention."
"Unlikely." Atrocitus scoffed, earning snarling snickers from the circling Red Lanterns. "You think defeating me will end this war? Insolent worm! Rage is eternal! Rage is incarnate! Rage leads all to death! Thanagar and Rann have been at war for millennia! What may have come to halt can easily be started up again!" Again, the hopelessness of the situation enveloped Michael and he felt its crushing darkness tightening around him. "Seize them!" Atrocitus roared.
The Red Lanterns swooped down to attack. Ghia'ta fired off half a dozen violet bolts but it seemed hopeless against their sheer numbers.
And then… Michael's power flared.
A cascading wave of blue light extinguished the fires of rage and depowered the Red Lanterns, dropping them to the ground as the red light of the room was replaced with a blinding blue. "You forget, Atrocitus," Michael stated, his body thrumming with the light of hope, "that the red light of rage is easily extinguished by hope. For hope quiets anger, just as it is not greedy nor fearful." He thrust his ring high, generating a pulse of energy that swept across the Green Lanterns and purged the flame consuming their bodies. Steaming and slightly wounded, they picked themselves up as Michael conjured a shield and weathered a powerful blast from Atrocitus.
"With blood and rage of crimson red, ripped from a corpse so freshly dead…" Atrocitus began to incant, summoning blood magics to lift the copious fluid from the room's cistern, "together with our hellish hate, we'll burn you all!" He thundered, generating a bloodnado that battered Michael's shield. "THAT IS YOUR FATE!" Spewing forth with his roaring outburst, napalm blood splattered against Michael's aura, sizzling and steaming as it was extinguished the moment it made contact. But the sudden surge of red rage was enough to empower his Lanterns and raise them to their feet again.
"Red Lanterns! Of course it had to be terrorists!" Hal growled as he primed his ring.
"You cannot hope to stop us, Green Lanterns! Rann and Thanagar have already succumb to their hatred of one another!" Atrocitus thundered. "Soon you will join them!"
"Not on my watch." Michael vowed, he charged his ring again and generated another blast of blue light. Like an EMP being set off it drained the Red Lanterns of their power. "All of you, follow me!" Michael commanded, leading the charge outside the Shard. Fist constructs beat down the doors as the group soon found themselves back in space.
"Alright, we're clear. Any more bright ideas, Blue?" Ch'p wondered.
"We have to move the ship out of here, get the Red Lanterns as far away as possible so the aura of their central battery stops fueling the war." Michael stated. "With enough charge, I might be able to create a spatial warp to send them packing."
"What can we do?" Ghia'ta asked.
"I can open the door but I need you to expand it," Michael replied, "the rest of you need to lend me your willpower so that the warp holds long enough to get the ship through it." Gleaming red emerged from the Shard, indicating the Red Lanterns had given chase.
"Change of plan; Guy and I will help Michael, the rest of you need to fend off the Red Lanterns. Watch that napalm breath!" Hal quickly interjected.
The group split up to engage, Laira forming a pair of scimitars as she collided with the Havanian Red Lantern Bleez. Arkkis summoned a mighty fist that tangoed with the whip-like constructs of the oxen-headed Skallox. Ch'p flew circles around the cycloptic Veon, forcing him to give chase. Stel held his own as he fought back a combined assault from the twin Abyssma and Haggor as their napalm breath battered the oversized shield construct the Grendan created.
Michael dove for the Shard with Guy and Hal flanking him, shooting forth a thin beam from his ring that created a vortex of churning blue light. The Green Lanterns added their own light, fortifying the spatial warp. "Ghia'ta, I'd love to see this grow bigger." Michael remarked.
"I'm on it!" She promised, shooting a violet beam into the dead centre of the vortex as she concentrated her energies to grow the portal until it was bigger than the entirety of Shard.
"Pull! Everyone pull!" He called out. All of a sudden, Hal was shot out of alignment by blast of red light. Michael and Guy looked to see Atrocitus closing in on them, flanked by his insectoid high priest Loran.
"You cannot stop the red light!" Atrocitus snapped as he unleashed wiry constructs from his ring. Guy promptly formed a chainsaw and sliced through each one before they could reach them.
"Rann and Thanagar may not feel hope for their situation," Michael countered, "but all beings deserve a chance to know its light!" Generating an oversized Aztec warclub, he slammed it into Atrocitus from behind as Loran fired upon him from his crozier. Scarlet bolts sizzled off his aura as Michael turned on the centipede-like Red Lantern, only for Hal to send a missile construct slamming into Loran.
"I've got a one-way ticket for you two!" Hal called out, grasping the pair of Red Lanterns with green manacles. "And it's to wherever the hell that portal leads!" Spinning around with all his might, he flung Atrocitus and Loran towards the swirling portal, forming a bazooka construct that pursued them with two projectiles that blasted the Red Lanterns the rest of the way. Michael heaved back on his vortex and consumed them both, half of Shard disappearing within.
Seeing their leader disappear, the Red Lanterns broke off their assault and gave chase, disappearing into the vortex as Michael pulled it the rest of the way over Shard until the vessel was totally consumed by blue light. He relaxed his portal as it disappeared with a flash, the space above Polara empty again.
"They are gone. Not a Red Lantern to be seen." Laira observed, much to their collective relief.
"Rann and Thanagar must've quieted down by now." Ch'p said.
"Not yet." Michael interjected. "The fire of rage can linger for as long as it has a root. It must be purged from all of them before the two sides can come to terms again."
"But you said they have no hope," Ghia'ta piped up, "how are you going to put out the flames?" She asked.
"I will use my hope that I can end this current conflict." Michael decided, glancing down at his ring. "They may feel no hope for their situation, but the least I can do is tamper the Red Lanterns' interference and give them a chance to try again." He looked up at their allies. "To do that, I'm going to need a little more willpower…"
Seeing red was all Sardath and Hro Talak could see as they led their respective fleets in a suicidal quest to exterminate the other. War between Thanagar and Rann was all they ever knew and, they had decided, all that could ever exist between the two worlds.
So when a bright explosion of blue light detonated in the middle of the battle, they were plucked from their mindsets and bathed in awe as it swept over them.
Using his battery, Michael unleashed a sweeping wave of blue light that extinguished the red light infecting all combatants. Returning to their senses, Rannians and Thanagarian called off attacks as though waking from a long dream. They could see and think clearly now and were appalled they had come to blows again.
A ceasefire was called and, as the Green Lanterns divided themselves between Rann and Thanagar, Michael and Ghia'ta joined the hawkmen to provide a hopeful presence amongst them.
The Green Lanterns swiftly negotiated a rest period for the two sides to recuperate from the conflict. The hawkmen, thankful for the intervention, elected to offer lodgings for their redemptor and his cohort. A young Thanagarian woman led Michael and Ghia'ta through the halls of a still-standing high rise. "While our ecosystem is all but lost, a few habitable sectors remain. For your work on behalf of our kind, we offer you the best we can manage during this times." She explained, pausing before a door.
"Thank you for this, Kendra." Ghia'ta said with a polite smile. "We are honored by your generosity in these difficult times."
"It's the least we can do. If not for you, Rann and Thanagar would have fought to the death. We live a little longer now." Kendra replied before taking her leave. Ghia'ta led the way through the doorway, a silent Michael right behind her.
Striding into their Thanagarian accommodations revealed a truly massive room, complete with a very large bed, a broad corner sofa, and an attached shower/bath combination. Ghia'ta was quite impressed. "What are the odds this room is so big is because of their wingspan?" She wondered with a giggle.
"I wouldn't be surprised." Michael groaned as he stretched out his arms. Making for the couch, he sat down with a loud exhale and sank into the cushion. He even went so far as to alter his costume, the wrap and circlet around his head fading away in a flash of blue, allowing his hair to be freed as he rubbed his bare jaw. Closing his eyes, he pressed his head back against the cushion. He did not open them even when Ghia'ta took a seat next to him.
"Are you okay? I've never seen you this tired." She asked.
"Today was… draining." Michael surprised, running a hand through his hair. Curling up on the couch, Ghia'ta leaned closer with one arm on the back and the other on Michael's thigh.
"You wanna talk about it?" She wondered.
The human paused, seemingly reluctant to continue. After a few minutes of apparent contemplation, he eased slightly forward out of the couch and spoke again, "Ever since I got my ring, it's been my mission to give hope to those who need it. Usually that means tapping into whatever hope they have and using that to help them. Today was the first day where I… I felt no hope. The Thanagarians and Rannians are so used to war and death and destruction, they felt no hope for anything. Not victory, not even an honorable death. I don't even think that was the red light consuming them. even now I sense their hopelessness. Today was just another battle… just another day." He said. Rubbing his head, Michael appeared calm and quiet, but Ghia'ta could sense with her ring that he was deeply troubled. "How am I supposed to give hope to someone who has no hope? I've never felt more drained, more at a loss. I was the only hopeful person here. This sheer amount of… nothingness I felt… It was discouraging. I'm supposed to answer their hope… but how do you help someone if they have no hope? Without that, I'm… useless." He asked, thinking he was just being rhetorical.
Ghia'ta, however, took his words to heart as a problem to be solved. She could see how much the matter perplexed him, how it pained him to be incapable of fulfilling his calling. He was at a loss, possibly for the first time in his life as a Blue Lantern. Ghia'ta had never seen Michael in such a state before and she was determined to help him.
After a time of thoughtful silence, she had an answer in mind.
"When I was captured by the Gordanians, stuck in that prison cell without my ring, the longer I was in there the more I felt like it was over. To be honest, I was running out of hope. I genuinely thought I'd never be a Star Sapphire again, just some pleasure slave in the Vega system. But then you arrived, with my ring no less. You became my hope, Michael. The hope I needed took the shape of you." She said.
Reaching up with a gentle hand, her dainty fingers caressed his jaw as Ghia'ta turned Michael's face towards hers. "How do you give someone hope who has no hope? Maybe they've lost all hope in their situation until you come along. Could it be that… someone has no hope until you give it to them? Perhaps you don't necessarily need theirs but they need yours. If they have hope your job is easy. If they don't then it's your job to give it to them. Harder, but still on you." She proffered, her eyes meeting his.
"The Blue Lanterns, from what my aunt tells me, are strong enough to stand alone. She went to a world once where the violet light was in peril. Everyone on the planet had lost hope because their sun was dying… their love was in jeopardy. And then a Blue Lantern arrived, I think she said his name was Saint Walker or something like that, and his hope was so great he used his ring to start healing the sun. His hope became their hope and that gave his ring enough charge to reduce the sun's age by, like, three million years or so. I think you discovered what it means to stand alone today, Michael. Maybe the Thanagarians and Rannians had given up hope for a peaceful existence. But you never gave up on the hope that you could save them from their peril. They didn't think there was anything to look forward to… but you did."
Michael's gaze lifted slightly, a thought stirred by her words. "A saint of the universe…" he whispered quietly, reflecting on a conversation that had unfolded what felt like eons ago. The human nodded slowly, looking to the Zamaron princess with a newfound sense of admiration. Earlier today he had helped her find herself again and now she was doing the same for him.
'Seems like she doesn't just want your body, Mike. Seems like she's actually interested in you.'
With a smile, Ghia'ta stood up. "I think after today, though, you could use a little cheering up. You've had a lot to deal with and it's high time you relax." She said.
"I… wouldn't say no to a chance to just breathe." Michael concurred.
"Well, how about you just lean back into that plush seat and let all that stress float away…" Ghia'ta suggested. Michael did so, his power waning as the blue of his costume faded, his body feeling a little less restricted.
Music suddenly met his ears and he looked to see Ghia'ta fiddling with a Thanagarian entertainment system. The song was slow and bouncy, a steady rhythm punctuated with popping bass notes to give the slowness a little burst of potential. "What are you doing?" He asked.
Ghia'ta turned back to him with a grin. "Providing some… distracting entertainment." She answered, strutting towards the open floor before him. The princess began with some simple twirls as she warmed herself up, but soon got into the rhythm and started moving her body to the music. Smirking at Michael, she began a sensual routine, rocking her hips up and down in a hypnotic belly dance. Stretching her arms above her head, Ghia'ta let her body move to the music; slowly rolling around her waist and turning on the spot, rocking her rear in a circular motion.
She moved to the rhythm of the music and put on quite the impressive display: kinking her hips from side to side, twirling on the spot, and rolling her body in tune to the music. Ghia'ta was putting a lot of effort into it; beads of sweat dotted her forehead as she twisted and turned her body. Michael had not witnessed a lot of dancing women in the course of his life so to see Ghia'ta's skill and prowess was breathtaking to say the least.
And then his eyes widened as she used her ring to create a pole construct in the middle of the room and started dancing around it…