[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/xo9ZKcF.png?1[/img][/center] [b]Unknown Planet[/b] [b]Unknown Sector[/b] “There’s someone out there in the wastes…” The soldier looked out from his trench after his partner’s comment. Sure enough, a figure could be seen through the shimmering desert air. The soldier spat and pulled out his telespecs. There was never anyone out here in this section. This part of the wastes stretched on for miles. So many miles no one had been able to traverse them all and live to tell about it. The soldiers were only on sentry duty here because it was where they sent troops when they rotated off the front. So little action it counted as R&R. “It’s an alien,” he said to his partner. “Unidentified type.” They slid ther rifles off their shoulders and trained them on the figure as it approached. The alien’s long black hair dangled over its sunburned face. It shuffled seemingly unaware of the two weapons the soldiers were pointing at it. “Halt!” The soldier yelled. “Halt and identify yourself.” “Water…” The alien collapsed in front of them. The soldiers climbed out of their trench and inspected it. It was covered in a hard exoskeleton that, after vigorous poking, revealed itself to be body armor. It looked a lot like them, at least on the surface. On the chest of the armor was a strange sigil neither one of them recognized. “Water?” one of the soldiers asked. "What the hell kind of name is that?" "What side is it on?" The soldier's partner said, a finger cocked at the emerald symbol on the armor. “I have no idea,” he said to his partner. “But this is officially beyond our paygrade. We need to take it to the captain.” [hr] [b]Cromica C21[/b] [b]Space Sector 2814[/b] Jelcs sighed deeply as he looked himself over in the mirror. He felt like a fool in the chief constable’s tunic, the blaster on his hip so heavy that it weighed down his trousers. There was still blood on the side of the shirt where Melm had bled out. Melm had been a real lawman, a former MP in the Shi’ar navy before a long career as city cop in the Shi'ar homeworld. He was picked by the provisional government to keep the peace because he was hands down the best candidate. Jelcs was an afterthought, picked as deputy because they needed someone and he was once a paralegal back home. He knew laws and rules. But enforcing them? That was Melm’s department. At least it had been up until a week ago. Now it was Jelcs’ job. He tried to recruit a deputy, but every time it was brought up people ran the other way after politely declining. They were the smart ones, Jelcs figured. Whoever ended up as his deputy knew it would only be a matter of time before they took Jecls’ place as chief constable. He was in the rickety building that served as the jailhouse, little more than two cells and just enough room for a desk. The cells were where the rowdy drunks went. They’d never had anything more serious than a wifebeater in the cells. Anything above that? Well Pax’s people took care of them. Jelcs looked up when he felt the shaking. His first thought was that it was an earthquake. Cromica didn’t have that kind of geological instability, he thought. But with all the mining who he hell knew what kind of shape the planet was in now? A loud boom cracked and Jelcs raced towards the door with his heart in his throat. It was a dropship, he figured. Had to be the Kree coming to take the planet over after so many years of speculation. There was no way in hell they could even begin to put up a fight-- The townspeople outside were gathered and staring up at the sky. When Jelcs saw what it was, he almost wished a Kree dropshop had appeared instead. An honest to god Green Lantern hovered a few hundred feet above the town. He looked down at theme with something Jelcs could only describe as detached curiosity. Like a kid back home playing with a nest of darnuks. There were a few screams as the Lantern began his descent down to the ground. The group of people scattered and took cover. By the time he touched down, only Jelcs remained to meet him. “Lantern Jordan, 2814.1,” he announced to Jelcs. “I’m searching for Chief Constable Korvus Melm.” “He’s dead,” Jelcs croaked out. “He… was killed last week.” Jelcs saw the Lantern’s eyes take him in. He noticed the blaster on Jelcs’ hip and the logo stitched into the breast of the tunic. “And my powers of observation tell me you’re his replacement?” “You can’t replace Melm,” said Jelcs. “But… I am the new chief constable, yes.” “I have been ordered by the Guardians of Oa to take over peacekeeping duties for this planet and system. You are hereby relieved of your duties.” He felt a wave of relief wash over him. It was now someone else’s problem. More specifically, it was a [i]Green Lantern’s[/i] problem. He could now go back to his family and burgeoning farm on the outskirts of town and--- “But I am using the powers vested in me by the Guardians of Oa to declare you a temporary auxiliary member of the Green Lantern Corps.” Jelcs looked up at the Lantern and furrowed his brow. “What?!” “I was told the situation here is tricky,” said Jordan. “That’s… one way of putting it, yes.” “Well I’ll need someone to use as a guide,” he said with a hint of a smirk “And since you’re both the planet's top lawman and the first lifeform who didn’t run at the sight of me, that someone is you.” Jelcs sighed. He could say no. May be a bit foolish to say no to Green Lantern… but it was now his mess to deal with. It was his job, literally. Jelcs hadn’t asked for any of this, but yet here he was. Why, exactly? Because he believed in the law. He believed in justice and duty and all that other stuff a cynic would call silly. But Jelcs was a believer. He believed in making Cormica a better place, better than the planet they'd come from. It’s why they made the journey here in the first place. “Well, Lantern Jordan,” he finally said. “What can I help you with?” [hr] [b]Oa[/b] [b]Space Sector 0001[/b] Sinestro stared at the galactic map. The holographic display covered the entire wall of the Citadel’s operations room. Thousands of green points of light covered the map. There were so many that an uninformed spectator would think they were stars. But every dot represented the locations of each and every one of the thousands of Green Lanterns operating across the void. With the map Sinestro could zoom in to see the movements of every Lantern and their status. What planet they were on, what their current assignment was, and even how their vital signs were reading. Detailed data on every Lantern under his command. All of them except one. Well, two actually. But Gardner’s lack of appearance on the map was for a reason. “Stare at the map all you like, it won’t make her appear.” Sinestro turned and saw Salaak standing there, all four of his arms crossed and his three eyes staring at Sinestro without blinking. Those eyes unnerved many wrongdoers and Lanterns with something to hide. They seemed to stare into you and see something deep down in your soul. Sinestro once heard Salaak’s species were telepathic, but those rumors were as of yet unfounded. “Two Oan years,” said Sinestro. “That’s how long we’ve been waiting on the New Men to provide us with their report on the incident between their fleet and Lantern Cruz.” “These things take time. Diplomacy works slow, but it is steady.” Sinestro drummed his long fingers on the console in front of the galactic map. He’d read their report on Cruz’s last moments so many times he could recall the details exactly. Elevated heart rate and adrenaline, typical for humans engaged in battle. But then, curiously, her glucose levels dipped as everything spiked. Their default expert on humans, Lantern Jordan, had said, after a quick information search, that glucose was found in the human blood stream and was what they used for energy. After the spike and depletion of glucose, Cruz’s vitals… flatlined. No legacy protocol issued by her ring, no sign of her body when a recovery crew was dispatched. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a body. The recovery crew had been turned away by the Rannians on the grounds of top-secret security. For fear of kicking off an even worse incident they obliged. But whatever had happened above Bion ended wiping out their entire war fleet. Cruz could have easily done that herself. She'd definitely inflicted her fair share of punishment, but had it been at the cost of her own life? Sinestro thought of those ghouls with one of his Lantern’s bodies and it made his blood boil. “Computer,” he announced without warning. “Hail the Rannian government. Encrypted communication, only for the Premier’s eyes.” “What are you doing?” asked Salaak. “Diplomacy, old friend,” said Sinestro with a smirk. After a few moments, the galactic map in front of them disappeared. Replacing it was the image of a Rannian man with slightly reptilian features blinking back at them. His hazy eyes and mussed hair made it clear he had been woken from sleep. Sinestro had no idea what the local time was on Rann, and he didn’t really care. “Your Premiership,” he said with a slight bow. “I am Senior Lantern Thaal Sinestro, and this is Senior Lantern Salaak we are--” [i]“What is the meaning of this?”[/i] the Premier thundered. [i]“We are in talks with your people over the incident. Why are you calling me in the middle of the night. Do you not understand proper channels, Lantern?”[/i] “The time for talk is over,” said Sinestro. He crossed his arms as he spoke. “You’ve wasted enough of our time. A fellow Lantern is missing, something that we do not take lightly. And you and your people are to blame for it. You violated intergalactic law with your attempted invasion of Bion. Our transcripts of the moments before the ‘incident’ as you call it show that your military officers disregarded an order from Lantern Cruz to stand down. You attacked one of our own, Premier. The only reason your planet is still intact is because Lantern Salaak here dictates that the Green Lantern Corps must abide by the rules and regulations set out by the law. A law you and your people openly flaunt.” [i]“The invasion of Bion was undertaken by a rogue military faction,”[/i] said the Premier. [i]“Their actions were not approved by our government. So do not preach to me about intergalactic law.”[/i] “Then release the report,” said Salaak. “Let us know what happened and what happened to our fellow Lantern. The sooner we clear this all up, the calmer it will make my fellow Lantern here, and the sooner we can move on.” [i]“I know what this is,”[/i] the Premier said through gritted teeth. [i]“Good Lantern, Bad Lantern.”[/i] “No,” Sinestro said softly. He held his right hand up so that the Premier could see his power ring crackle with energy. “No mind games, no tricks. This is a simple message to you and the people of Rann. With one Lantern, we destroyed your entire fleet. With [i]two[/i] Lanterns? Who knows what damage we could do. End transmission.” The last thing they saw before the video cut out, was a look of terror on the Premier’s face. “I don’t know if that was wise,” Salaak said after it was over. “Probably not,” Sinestro shrugged. “But at the very least it will get things moving in a direction. The Corps has been around a long time and some seemed to take us for granted. The galaxy has to know, Salaak, that you cannot attack a member of this Corps and walk away unscathed.”