CHAPTER 2:
The Guardians
"Now, I'm gonna warn ya, Warp flight can be a bit disorienting for newbies. But it shaves about a million light years off the trip to OA, so it's a must. Are you ready?" Kilowog asked Hal.
"I was born ready big guy."
"Heh, yeah, right. Alright, you need to concentrate on OA. Put all your willpower behind it... and don't break your concentration. The trip will take about 5 of your Earth minutes... Lose your concentration & you could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova..."
"...and that would end my trip real quick, wouldn't it? OK, got it, Han. Let's do this!"
Kilowog looked at Hal, confused, and decided it must be an Earth thing. “Alright wise guy, don't get lost & I'll see you on the other side."
With a flash of green light Hal was alone. Hal took a moment to look at his surroundings. He had been so wrapped up in the conversation he hadn't realized he was outside of the atmosphere. Looking to his left he saw the moon, so close he thought he could reach out & touch it... He looked behind him and saw the Earth.
"Hey, kid... you comin'?" Kilowog's voice came from his ring.
"Never been this close to the moon before...or so far from home."
"You will get used to it. Now move it junior!"
Placing his ringed glove out before him, Hal concentrates on OA. In flash of green light, he is suddenly transported into what he can only think of as an enormous green wormhole. Every muscle in his body felt stretched beyond their normal limit. And he was sure his stomach was left back in the Earth's orbit.
Oh God, I think I'm going to be sick... got to concentrate on OA. OA. OA. OA... O. A...After what feels like an eternity (4 minutes later), he emerged on the other side of the wormhole. Before him was a small gray planet, not unlike Earth's moon, which he hoped was OA. As barren as the planet surface was, the atmosphere was more of the same. There was no weather. There was a steady stream of spacecraft & creatures alien to Hal going to & from the planet.
A tall humanoid figure with a birdlike beak & a fin on the top of his head approaches Hal from the right. "Greetings, Green Lantern of 2814, I am Tomar Re of the planet Xudar in sector 2813. It was, unfortunate, to learn of Abin Sur's demise, but it is always a pleasure to meet a new corpsman. Especially since we are neighbors!"
"Thanks... I'm... Hal... gonna puke. Blllarrrgh..."
"Well, that was not pleasant at all," Tomar said to himself, staring at Hal & the mess he had made.
"Oh, don't worry about him, Tomar, he grows on you... like a tarrelian fungus," Kilowog roared. “Born ready, huh? HA!..."
The three Lanterns fly through the non-existent Oan atmosphere and touch down before the Central Power Battery. In essence, the main power battery resembled a giant green lantern, not unlike the one he uses to charge his ring. Below the power battery was a building draped in flags bearing the GL symbol, above the door a sign read "The Hall of Remembrance"... a thought suddenly dawning on Hal. With the many Green Lanterns walking about the grounds, he could understand what everyone was saying, no matter what species was speaking. He could read every posted sign, which were all printed in English.
"Excuse me for a minute poozers..." Kilowog excused himself.
"Tomar, is English, like, the universal language or what?" Hal asked.
"Oh, heavens no, Hal... our rings act as universal translators. It will translate any word written, or spoken, by every race in the galaxy, and some beyond. It will not, however, translate words that have no direct translation to your language... Hence, the 'Sprocking Poozer' & such that you hear from Kilowog all the time," the bird-like Green Lantern explained.
"Huh, I actually thought I knew the translation for those. This is pretty cool."
Directly across from the Central Power Battery was the main citadel. Home of the Guardians of the Universe. As Hal entered the Citadel an enormous hand smacked him on the back...
"Hey tough guy," Kilowog shouted, "come with me, the Guardians are about to meet with the corps elite. And they want you there as well."
As they made their way into the main audience chamber, Hal felt like he had entered a massive courtroom. The circular room was surrounded on all sides by a 12 foot yellow wall... in fact as he thought about it, all the buildings on this planet were yellow. Curious. The floor of the main audience chamber had a massive Green Lantern symbol in the center. Behind the walls encircling the chamber sat 36 raised chairs, Hal assumed they were for the Guardians. Within the chamber were 5 other Green Lanterns (including Kilowog), none paying him much attention.
No two Lanterns seemed to be the same... except for a pink skinned female that looked as if she could have been related to Sinestro. That's when Hal noticed there was a 6th Lantern, that looked, oddly enough, like a 2 foot tall chipmunk.
Hal nudged Kilowog and whispered, "Is that a giant chipmunk Lantern?"
"That's Ch'p, and it would be best not to say that too loud, he's got a bit of a mean streak when someone comments on his size. Matter-a-fact, one of the toughest sprocks I ever trained."
"OK, this is so bizarre..."
The doors behind them closed and all lights, except one green light focusing directly on them, went out. The ceiling of the hall and the walls behind the Guardians Dais became a map of the Universe, the light in the center of the ceiling signifying OA. This was one of the most amazing things Hal had ever seen. Then, one by one the Guardians of the Universe filtered into the room, each of the 36 members floating down from the center light. The Guardians were approximately 4 feet tall, with light blue skin (whom he couldn't shake the thought that they looked like big Smurfs), white balding hair, wearing robes of black and green, with red cloaks. The black on their uniforms was covered in Stars, matching the background behind each seat. The Green Lanterns gathered around knelt down & bowed their heads in acknowledgment of the Guardians. The Guardian in the center of the room stepped forward and spoke telepathically and the corpsmen rose in unison.
"Kilowog of sector 674, Tomar Re of sector 2813, Chaselon of sector 3319, Katma Tui of sector 1417, Salakk of sector 1418 & Ch'p of sector 1014. Elite corpsman, you have been gathered here for a most grievous assignment. One which may result in your deaths."
Each sentence was spoken by different Guardian, as if they all shared the same thought. Each voice was discernibly different, yet always the same in tone.
"The new Green Lantern of sector 2814 was able to defeat Sinestro, original Green Lantern of sector 1417. In the fight, Sinestro perished. We have learned something of the origins of the LEGION virus through the body of Sinestro."
Hal shifted uncomfortably when he noticed he was being glared at from the female GL that looked a bit like Sinestro.
The Guardians continued, "The genetic makeup of the virus contained within his body suggests that it came from the Anti-Matter Universe Qward. According to the report from Green Lantern 2814, the virus alters the defensive powers of the ring. This is most likely done in order to stop the ring from automatically expelling the virus. An unfortunate byproduct, at least from the viruses point of view, of this change is the ring no longer automatically protects the barer from harm. The barer must produce shielding in order to protect himself. This is fortunate for us."
"We believe that the Qwardians are infecting Corpsmen to create their own army. Once this army swells to its desired number, they will use this army to attack OA directly. Once we have been destroyed, the Corps will effectively be neutralized. The Qwardians will swarm this universe and without the Corps to defend it, they will conquer."
"According to our calculations, the infected Lanterns will attack OA within the next 36 cycles (48 Earth hours, according to the translation heard by Hal). We have sent out a call to arms. Every remaining uninfected Lantern will be here within one cycle. They will be our last line of defense. But know this, if you do not succeed, and the defending Lanterns cannot stop these marauders, we will be forced to destroy the main power battery."
A collective gasp reverberated through all the Lanterns at the mere thought of this. Hal just stood there trying to soak in everything he was hearing.
The same Guardian spoke again, "We are aware that this will, in effect, destroy the corps. It will also stop the infected rings, we will then use our power to stop the Qwardians from advancing into our Universe. We would much rather not destroy the Corps if possible. To that end, as the elite force, it is your charge to stop this from happening. You will enter the Anti- Matter Universe, find the source of the Legion virus, destroy it and get out. According to our research, once this is done, all the infected rings will be cured."
Kilowog stepped forward, his large chest heaving, "Masters, we accept the assignment and we will stop the Qwardians from invading!"
Hal stepped up next to Kilowog and placed his hand on the larger GL's arm, and stepped in, "Hang on there big fella... Excuse me, Guardians... sirs. How are we supposed to defend ourselves against an army that wields power like this? Before I figured out how to beat him, which I still attribute to blind luck, Sinestro was kicking my butt in a bad way. We won't even have the element of surprise on our side, don't these rings, infected or not, speak to each other? And why is it that I'm included in the elite Corps? I barely know what I am doing..."
Kilowog roughly pulls Hal back and whispers, "whattaya think you're doin' Jordan?"
“We have developed armor that each of you will don, this armor has multiple functions. First, it will help to protect you from the brunt of any attack. It will not protect you fully from harm, it will only lessen the damage. Second, the armor has been designed to shield your rings from the others. The armor was constructed much like this Citadel... your thoughts & your rings emissions cannot be read by anyone outside these walls. You will don the armor before leaving here. With that, we come to the third function of the armor, it contains life support and propulsion systems. We will open a dimensional rift and deposit you as close to the planet Qward as we safely can. It will then be up to you to get there undetected and carry out the mission."
The Guardian lifts from the raised dais and floats to the floor of the auditorium. "Harold Jordan of Sector 2814, step forward." Hal did as he was asked. The Guardian continued speaking to all gathered, but looked only at Hal. "Due to the necessary impurity of your rings, you will not be able to use them to destroy the source, which we assume is yellow. You will attach this explosive device to the source and detonate it with this remote when you are clear." A large size explosive charge materializes before the group. "As to why you have been chosen to accompany the elite, the main reason is obvious... you were the only member to defeat an infected barer. Otherwise, we feel that you have.. (he looks back up towards the other Guardians before continuing) potential."
The Guardian lifts up from the floor and rejoins his brothers. "You will all depart within the next cycle. Do not fail, the fate of our Universe is in your hands." With that, the Guardians arose from their seats and floated back to the top center of the chamber. Katma Tui turning to Hal with an irritated expression on her face.
"I don't know how the military works on Earth, Jordan. But around here we do not question the authority of our leaders. Your duty is to take & follow orders, understood?" she spat, then stormed off.
"Hey, I don't know what..." Hal was stopped mid sentence by Kilowog.
"Better to stop while she's ahead pooz. You may not agree, but she's right. Besides, she's got a special bit of dislike for you. Katma was Sinestro's alternate."
"His what?"
"In heavily populated sectors it's necessary for Green Lantern's to select someone to stand in for them when the Lantern is called away. The alternate would also assume the role of Green Lantern if the original was killed. Abin Sur had an alternate, but that alternate was killed in a battle shortly before Abin took on his final mission. He hadn't had the time to select another. You will have to select one as well. According to your ring though, you were one of 3 possible GL's on Earth. That's pretty unheard of," Kilowog explained.
"Two others? Who and why was I selected? Is it because of the potential the Guardians said I had."
Kilowog just chuckled to himself and walked in the same direction Katma went. Tomar Re stood next to Hal.
"What?" Hal called after Kilowog.
"You were simply the closest to ground zero," Tomar Re explained patting Hal on the shoulder.
"Oh, that's reassuring."
Continued...
