When the time came for action, Kori had managed to round up a total of thirty-two Star Sapphires that were close enough and willing to volunteer to battle the Sinestro Corps without much training. Guy was nice enough to allow his bar to be our meeting place considering that a lot of the area was over-occupied with Oan refugees.

Frankly I think he was just doing it to ogle the girls, but Kori was keeping him on a tight leash. She’d already claimed him as hers for the time being and he was more than a willing to be claimed.

The Star Sapphires were predominately female, but there were a few guys in there as well. From my point of view, they didn’t wear the uniforms as well as the girls did. Yes, they were pretty much the same style. Seeing some of the overly large alien males wearing the skimpy outfits was a little disconcerting.

I poured over the details of my Sapphires. Kori was pretty good about only allowing those with significant battle experience to participate; though strangely enough that was the large majority of the current recruits. I suppose it had to something to do with the way the rings searched for wielders. The original ring told me that they were looking for soldiers to fight the darkness ahead. I suppose that even the most hardcore soldier would be loving in their own way.

When she finished with the briefing, the floor got turned over to me.

I stood up from Guy’s table. When I did, all of them went down on one knee, even Kori, who was still beside me.

Respect their devotion to you and the Corps, Jade. Even if they do not personally know you, they joined us for a reason. I suspect a lot of it can be attributed to the terror that Sinestro has wrought in the universe over the years. They’ve been waiting for a leader and the power to avenge themselves and their lost loves. You’ve given that to them.

Ring had a point, but I didn’t have to like being bowed to or kneeled or whatever it was.

“Stand… please.”

They rose and most of them stood in what I recognized as different forms of parade rest, which spoke of their military training. However this wasn’t a conventional war with ordinary weapons, and they weren’t trained very well in their use. It had been quite a long time since I felt fear, but I did feel fear for them.

Sora’nik stood by the entrance to the bar along with Guy, watching the proceedings. I looked to her face for the courage that I needed to tell my Sapphires what they deserved to hear from a competent leader.

“Star Sapphires, there has been a plague festering in the universe for far too long. It has found its way into virtually every known sector and it is merciless. It has destroyed lives, innocent and pure. Up until now it has been difficult to fight, but at this moment we have the advantage.

“It thinks we’re weak, that love is a simple emotion without teeth or claws. We’re here to show them different.”

Miri was by the bar, and I could swear I saw her eyes flash.

“Love can be the most tender of emotions given to those that we care for, but it can also be most vicious and deadly when those same people are threatened, when our homes have been invaded, when our friends and family have disappeared with no trace, when tyrannical rule has been imposed and kept us down in the mud or face the consequences.”

Several faces steeled hard when I mentioned some of the crimes my Corps had personally suffered. It spoke to them and reminded them why they were there.

“Unsheathe your claws, Star Sapphires. Sharpen them, and when you see Yellow on this day, remind them of the price that will be paid for the fear they sought to bring. Show them that they hold no power over us. Their shields are weak, and their desires corrupt. Let them experience the price of our vengeance this day.”

Nodding my head to Kori, I said, “Commander, they’re all yours.”

“Star Sapphires. Bring your rings to full power. Your Oath!”

The oath that the GL’s took every day was personal and sometimes differed from person to person. I continued this tradition and made sure my Corps could choose their own or make up a new one that spoke to them. Imagine my pride when they all had chosen mine to repeat.

~O~

Kori and Guy had been seeding the communications off planet with messages of the Green Lanterns situation. Even though the Green and Yellow rings shielded themselves so one wouldn’t be able to overhear another, that strength had not yet been known about the Violet rings. Adding in some generic planetary communications and we created our own manufactured leak.

Like the Guardian’s we were hoping that Sinestro would think that we were a weak link, that love was not worth worrying about.

The messages that were sent were notifying the planets that the Green was out of action for a short time only. That in another twelve hours a new power source would be created and online. Of course, that was twelve hours after it really was operational.

~O~

We pulled our patrols back at the first sign of Yellow incursion into Sector Zero. They were rebuilding their ranks, we assumed to make one more strike, one that would finish the job they started, the annihilation of the Guardians and whatever Greens they could find.

My Sapphires stood guard, ten of us including me, were backed up by several of the robots at the entrance to the sphere that surrounded the Oan homeworld.

They were ready; we just needed our uninvited guests.

“Status check,” I said for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

Every fifteen minutes for the last seven hours I kept up with the movements of the Yellow.

“They’re up to three hundred and twenty-two, Jade,” Guy said. “And they’re getting antsy. Sinestro still hasn’t showed. There is already some infighting, but it’s being put down pretty quick.”

My nerves were on edge and I was still tired from the last couple of days stress. I swore to myself that I was getting a full night’s rest after this, regardless of the outcome.

“I spoke too soon. He’s here.”

“Gotcha. Ring, patch me through to everyone.”

“Proceed.”

“This is Jade. Stay on your game. Sinestro has joined the other Yellows. It shouldn’t be too much longer.”

The Green Lantern symbol on the side of the sphere shield was dark where normally it glowed the green of the Corps. Mogo looked hard at work as sentient planet could look, putting on a simple lightshow against the side of the planet shield.

“Okay, Mogo, you’re clear to begin,” Guy said. “They’re sending a scout and you’re within scanning range.”

The planet waited for another long minute before making its lightshow sputter to halt appearing like it had run out of power.

“Game on!” said guy. “They’re heading your way, Jade. Try not to get killed.”

I frowned. “Thanks for the confidence there, Guy.”

Lifting up and away from the planet shield, I was flanked by Kori and one of the more intimidating male Sapphires, Sarl Rathbone who was a brother to Garl, a Green Lantern. The Daffathan could give Kilowog a run for his money in a size competition, not to mention he had four heavily muscled arms to go along with his heavily muscled body.

It wasn’t long before the Yellow’s came into visual range, with Sinestro in the lead. It looked like a whole lot more than three hundred and twenty-two.

“That is the correct count, Jade. Remember, we have the advantage.”

“Sapphires,” Kori called out. “Position one!”

Five stayed behind, guarding the entrance to the shield and the rest spread out above, below and to the sides, leaving me at the center and slightly in front.

As the yellows neared, they all slowed when Sinestro held up a hand. It was the first time I got a real look at the man. He was tall and trim, well-muscled and red colored as Satan himself. When I caught sight of the pencil thin mustache I almost laughed. The oddest thing was the size of his enormous forehead, at least twice as big as any I’d seen, looking vastly disproportionate to the rest of his body.

“This is Sora’nik’s biological father?”

Affirmative.

“I guess she takes after her mom’s side of the family.”

Sinestro approached slowly, with his arms crossed looking my Corps over with a moderate amount of distain and aloofness.

“You would be the leader of these… new lanterns?”

The tone of his voice told me he didn’t think much of our display. At eleven to one odds we weren’t all that impressive, though we were nice to look at.

I almost cringed at what I was going to say. I really hate puffing myself up. “I am Jade, Queen of the Star Sapphires. You have one chance to surrender your power rings peacefully before I destroy you.”

The side of his mouth twitched ever so slightly.

“I’ve faced more threatening opponents than you, little girl. I have faced overwhelming odds and emerged victorious a number of times.” He let his eyes travel around. “You only have thirty-three here. Is this the extent of your Corps?”

“Yeah, but you’ve never taken on me before.”

Anytime now, Jade.

“Hold on, I have a movie quote that I thought might be appropriate.”

“Enough of this, dalliance. Come, my fear-mongers, we feast on blue flesh this day.”

“Ah screw it,” the bad guys never seem to give me a good straight line. “Engage!”

“Lanterns!” yelled Guy. “Now!”

Every Green Lantern that could make it to the party solidified, previously invisible, surrounding the Yellow. It was around seventeen-hundred of them, so not everyone could attend.

I didn’t wait for the Yellows to realize what had happened and try to bolt. Instead, I lashed out at the closest, which was the man himself. Violet light surrounded him, but not before he thickened his shields.

The symbol of the Corps lit up along the planet shield.

“Surprise!”

Hate intensified on his face. “You didn’t think it would be this easy, did you?”

Green and Violet constructs went forth and broke through the ranks of the Yellow’s far too easily. They weren’t even fighting back.

“Jade! They’re yellow light constructs. They aren’t real.”

Sinestro moved in. “The Green Lanterns have fallen to disrepair if this is the best they can come up with. And now there’s a new player on the field of battle. Go back to your home, Star Sapphire. Leave the warring to the adults.”

My ring shot out several more bands of violet light and crushed the construct as Sinestro laughed at me.

Guy was yelling orders to his Corps. The constructs had to come from somewhere.

~O~

The search proved fruitless. While Guy assured me that this wasn’t the first time their enemy had sniffed out a trap, I still felt like a failure.

I gave another speech to my Corps, but my heart wasn’t in it. They’d come for vengeance and instead I gave them frustration. I’d been duped. We thought we were so smart and our plan virtually foolproof. Only we were the fools. Sinestro had been a master of deceit for decades and I was his latest conquest.

The Green Lanterns were back to full strength and we had their thanks even if things didn’t turn out well in the end.

Kori continued on, making plans to organize and train the Corps. She took the whole thing in stride, admitting we’d been outsmarted and vowed to do better in the future.

There was only one thing I wanted to do differently, organization-wise, than the Green Lanterns. We couldn’t be caught with our pants down like they were. A single power source that, with effort, could be compromised was simply dumb. Taking a suggestion from my ring, Kori, Sarl, Miri, Dela, and five others accompanied me back to Zamaron.

Sora’nik and Guy stayed behind to get their own affairs in order. The Guardians would want retribution for the embarrassment Sinestro caused them. For an emotionless race they took their pride very seriously.

When we exited the wormhole, I led my small squad to the surface and let them witness where our power originated while Ring communicated with the Violet Crystal Entities.

During my short stay during the conversion, I absorbed what knowledge they chose to give me though some funky form of osmosis, or something close to it. This meant the way they chose to communicate really didn’t mesh well with the translation matrix provided by the ring. Simply put, the ring or I had to commune with them and then we could talk.

Thankfully, it didn’t take that much time.

“They agree to our plans, Jade.”

“Great, so how do we do this?”

“Each of us will take one metric ton of crystal with us to an uninhabited planet or moon, deposit it there and stand back. If an emotion can be attributed to this decision it would be eagerness. They were quite bored.”

“Did everyone get that?”

I received nods from all around. “Take them to your sector. I eventually want one in every sector if we can manage it. That way it will be virtually impossible for anyone to make us totally powerless.”

“That will take quite some time. The growth rate of the crystal is impressive, but each new growth must cure for a number of years before it can be distributed again.”

“Even if it takes a hundred years to do this then it’ll be worth it. Every year that passes, we’ll be that much more secure.”

“Acknowledged.”

Kori looked around, like she didn’t know where to begin. “Will what we’re doing harm them?”

“No, Sapphire Koriand’r, each crystal is part of the whole, no matter how small. You will understand when you find your portion a new home. They welcome this new adventure.

She seemed more agreeable to the idea knowing this. “Jade, if I might have a word in private with you.”

I nodded and we both took to the sky while the others sought out a reasonable place to remove their portions.

“Is something wrong?”

She lowered herself until we were at eyelevel. “I have asked for volunteers to act as your person guard.” My eyes widened, but before I had a chance to respond Kori continued. “All of the Sapphires that were on Oa were eager to accept the honor. I have taken it upon myself to choose two of the best. Considering how you don’t seem to enjoy the role of Queen, I thought it best to inform you of this in private.”

I palmed my face and dragged my hand down. “Kori, where I come from, every person, no matter who they are, is considered equal to the other. I don’t mind being referred to as a leader, but being Queen…”

“Is an honor,” she finished for me. “It is you the Violet Crystal Entities chose to rule. If you were to be killed during your tenure and having bodyguards would have prevented it, then it would be a severe blow to our fledgling Corps.”

She turned in place and looked down. “Believe me when I say I know what it is like to be a Royal. However, I have a duty to my people and one day I too will be a queen.”

When she looked back up at me, it was with a somber face. “When my time comes, I will do anything for my people so that they will be safe and secure. Can you say the same?”

Jade, a time will come when you will welcome the assistance. Take the bodyguards. Remember what things are like on Earth. You could actually get some sleep from time to time.

I think that last bit is what sold me. Sleep? “What is this elusive sleep you speak of?”

Holding a hand out toward the ground, I gave her a placating smile. “Introduce me?”

I was almost blinded by her bright grin. “It would be my pleasure.”

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out one of them was Sarl Rathbone. All it would take from him was a well-placed scowl and people would be running in the opposite direction. His skin was a dark purple and his face could have been taken from a seriously angry gorilla with long black hair that any shampoo model would sell her right arm for. The uniform actually looked fairly decent on him because of his massive amount of muscles… everywhere. The only thing that was disconcerting was the size of his… um… well it was big, and considering the cut of the uniform I thought it best to see if I could talk him into something a bit more modest.

The second person, I would have never picked in a couple dozen years. She wasn’t tiny, but lithe would have been a better description. She didn’t look like she would hurt a fly. And here’s the thing. I sort of recognized her.

Suu Lawquane was from Sector 3567 on the outer reaches of known space, far, far away. Her pink skin was very becoming. It was the things that were hanging from the back portion of her head that had me questioning reality.

“Um… what’s your race called?”

“Twi-kek, your Majesty.”

“Just Jade, please. Twi-kek… not Twi-lek?”

She shook her head and the things, two things hanging from her head, that looked suspiciously like lekku, moved independently from the gesture. “No, Jade. Twi-kek.”

I twisted my lips to the side, looking at her in question. “And the um…” I pointed to her thick head tentacles.

“My sekku? A portion of them house my species’ brain stem, the rest is used in communication through movement.”

“Uh-huh. Sekku, not lekku?”

Her eyes drifted to Kori like she had done something wrong, but I waved her off. “You wouldn’t by chance happen to have a light saber would you?”

“A what, Majesty?”

She seemed totally clueless, which I suppose was good. “I’ll explain it later. And it’s Jade, not Majesty.”

“Ring, the universe is an odd odd place.”

~O~

I waited until everyone but Kori, Suu, and Sarl left with their haul. “You’re staying here?”

Kori nodded. I have a supply ship that should be here within the day. We’ll build suitable housing and a training ground. Eventually we will call this the Star Sapphire homeworld.”

“The Zamarons are okay with this?” Yes, I’d officially named them. It was becoming annoying to call them the Violet Crystal Entities all the time.

“They are.”

I nodded. “I’ll be back in a few days. I have to check on things at home before I set out again. There is unfinished business that needs taking care of.”

Kori bowed, but kept it respectable. “We will await your return, my queen.”

Sarl got elected to haul the load, since he’d already duplicated his ring and had four hands. It took jumping three separate wormholes in order to make it back to Earth.

They didn’t seem too impressed with the big blue marble, but I felt like I’d been gone for months. Pausing for a few minutes while I took in the sights, I turned around and pointed.

“That’s Earth’s only moon, if you need a name, you can call it Luna or just the Moon.”

Suu looked at me, somewhat unenthusiastic.

“See that shady spot off center in the upper middle. That’s where I want the crystals, right in the middle.”

“The Moon, Jade? Isn’t that a little presumptuous of you considering Earth’s treaties in relation?”

“Treaties?”

“Between the spacefaring nations. They all agreed that the Moon belongs to the people of Earth and to no single nation. Doing this may cause problems in the future.”

“I’m from Earth. That means it’s mine just as much as everyone else, if they want their piece then they can come up and stake a claim. The Sea of Serenity now belongs to the Star Sapphires.”

I had a headache and it was starting to show. “Sorry, I’m being grouchy. I have my reasons for putting our base here.”

“As you wish.”

My ring explained to Sarl how to arrange the crystals just as the sun was appearing on the horizon. The Sea of Serenity is a little over four hundred miles across. I figured that gave room for future growth. With that done, we flew around back and found the Jordan. I pressed my ring against the Green Lantern symbol. It took a few seconds, but eventually the airlock opened and I noticed that the Lantern had been replaced with the violet Starburst of the Corps.

Once we were inside, I dropped my personal shield and breathed canned air for the first time in days.

“Welcome to the Jordan. This belonged to a Green Lantern at one time, but it was willed to the owner of his ring, which is me, so make yourselves at home. The Galley is two doors down that way and crew quarters are upstairs, pick any one you want. Get some sleep because that’s what I’m going to do.”

Suu looked around. “We must tour the ship first and make sure it is secure, Jade.”

“Ring, is anyone here?”

“Negative. Ship’s autolog shows access was attempted by Green Lantern John Stewart six hours ago, but he was unsuccessful.”

“There, see. All secure.”

She looked at Sarl and he didn’t look happy, but he never looked happy so it was a toss-up as to what he was actually feeling.

“I’ll inspect the crew quarters, if you want to take this deck,” he said.

Suu nodded. “Meet in the galley after, to work up schedules?”

“Why do I feel like I had just inherited a pair of nannies?”

They would not be performing their duties properly if they did not secure the ship. Let them do their job and go get some sleep, for all our sakes.

Sarl had to check my room first but he allowed me in soon after. I closed the door, deactivated my uniform and took a twenty minute shower with extra attention to the massage feature before slipping into bed and falling straight to sleep.

~O~

A soft two-tone bell sounded twice waking me from my dreamless slumber.

“Jade, Sarl is at the door. We have a visitor.

I sat up, my hand brushing through my hair. After clearing my throat, I said. “Uniform, please.”

When I was clothed, I stood. “Come in.”

The door slid open and Sarl filled the entire entrance. “Apologies, Jade. Green Lantern John Stewart is here and he requests an audience.”

I blinked and rubbed at my eyes. I really had to do something about this whole treating me like royalty thing they had going. “Let me splash some water on my face and I’ll be down. Could you show him to the galley?”

Sarl nodded. “As you command.”

“It’s not a command; it’s a request.”

“As you wish, Jade.”

The door closed and I made my way to the bathroom, cleared the gunk from my eyes, brushed my teeth and brushed out my hair. It wasn’t the greatest job, but I was semi-presentable at least.

When I opened the door to exit my quarters, Sarl was there with his upper two arms crossed and his lower two hanging by his sides, then it came to me.

“Tell me you weren’t standing here all night.”

“I wasn’t. Sapphire Lawquane was here for an equal portion of the time.”

I nearly palmed my face. “Sarl, we’re perfectly safe here. I’ve been living on the Jordan on and off for a year without any problem whatsoever.”

“Understood, Jade,” he conceded. “You had not come to the attention of Thaal Sinestro through that time either. Now he sees you as a threat and an ally of the Green Lanterns. As queen of our Corps your status has risen significantly.”

I sighed. “Okay, you have a point there. But isn’t standing in front of my door a little overkill?”

Sarl release his upper arms and brought them down. “Truthfully, my queen, I would feel much better about your safety if we could triple the guard. I know several of your subjects that would be very eager to serve you in such a role.”

My eyebrows rose. “Triple?”

“Acquiring an adequately armored vessel would advisable as well.”

I would have laughed if I wasn’t one hundred percent positive that he was serious. “Uh… look, I’m not made of money and Earth isn’t as technically advanced as most of the races I’m sure you’re familiar with. This is pretty much the best I can do.”

He looked to the side for a moment. “If you’ll allow me to make the arrangements, there are favors that are owed to me and…”

Reaching a hand out, I set it on his heavily muscled second arms. “Sarl, save your favors for your family and those that are close to you; we’ll make do with what we have.”

His heavy brow lowered and his dissatisfaction was evident on his face.

“Now, let’s go see what John Stewart wants shall we?”

“As you command.”

I rolled my eyes as he turned around and made his way to the stairwell. The sheer size of him filled the width of the hall. It must be pretty claustrophobic for him.

There are ways to acquire wealth, Jade.

“I don’t think he’d be satisfied with anything less than a fleet of battle cruisers… if those exist, I mean.”

That would be expensive, however I was thinking of something else.

“What do you have in mind?”

We are not limited to the laws of the Guardians any longer.

Running down the list in my head I paused when I hit the one she was probably talking about. “Are you saying we should use our powers to turn a profit?”

I suggest we use our powers to sustain ourselves. If that means mining Helium-3 on the Moon or on Mars for the production of environmentally safe power on Earth, then we should do so. In return we could set up a profitable trade agreement with other planets, increasing Earth’s presence in the Universe. There are a number of rare minerals located in this system’s asteroid belt that are long sought after on certain planets that would pay handsomely in funds or trade.

There were times that I thought I should just turn everything over to my ring and let her run the Corps.

Nonsense, we are a team, Jade.

“I’ll think about it.”

Before Sarl entered the Galley, he checked to make sure I hadn’t been abducted since we exited the stairwell. The door slid open and he glared at someone inside. I could only guess who that could have been.

I followed after him and saw a tall, very fit, black man standing at one end of the table and Suu standing at the other end, beside a chair that Sarl was leading me to. When I sat down I was flanked by both of them and the man I assumed was John Stewart took his seat with a wary eye on my bodyguards.

“Lantern Stewart?”

He inclined his head in assent. “Queen Jade?”

I gave a sidelong look at Suu. “Just Jade is fine.”

He grunted. “I’ve been in contact with Lantern Gardner and the Guardians regarding your aid over the last two days.”

From his accent, I pegged him as American. What were the odds that all of the Green Lanterns that came from Earth were Americans?

There have been Russian and British Lanterns in the past.

“Oh, really? Good to know.”

Looking at the officer across from me, I could tell he was keeping his cool about something. “What’s on your mind, John?”

He gave another look at Sarl who must have been seriously glowering over my shoulder or something. Maybe he was flexing his muscles. They were impressive enough as it was.

“This is regarding the pink and purple crystals that you’ve seeded the moon with.”

I nodded, finally understanding. “Don’t worry. I’m not here to try and take over the world or anything. It’s just a power backup. We don’t want to be caught with our pants down like the Guardians were with your Central Power Battery.”

He laced his fingers and appeared to understand our point of view. From the looks of him, I thought he was going to be all bluster and strong-arming me, but he seemed pretty together and very diplomatic.

“The thing is that the moon belongs to the people of the Earth.”

I blinked. “Really? Do they have the title or registration? I’d like to see that.” Leaning forward, I rested my forearms on the table. “John, you and I both know that there hasn’t been any formal mission to the moon in decades. NASA is on its last few shuttle missions just to complete the space station, then it’s scraped. Nobody has any formal interest in the moon. All they care about is sending more communication satellites into orbit so people can get their 4G speed for their cell phones.”

“That may be true,” he said. “But the law says that the moons of any planets are the sovereign property of the ruling government of said planet or until such a government can be formed.”

“Who’s law is this?”

He looked up and to the left, like he knew I knew the answer already. “The Guardians.”

“Uh-huh. And I’m a Star Sapphire. I see the problem.”

John really didn’t want to be there. He knew what I did and tried to do for the GL’s. It was obvious that he agreed with me, but it was his duty to fulfill.

You have just recently made allies of one of the most powerful organizations in the universe, Jade. Do you not think that it would be in our best interest to relocate to say, Mars?

I frowned and leaned back. “This is my home, Ring.”

This system is your home. You are not merely responsible for a single planet any longer, my queen.

“Don’t you start on this queen thing too.”

I paused for a few moments and then addressed myself to John. “Would the Guardians have a problem with me claiming Mars?”

His tongue came out briefly to lick his lips. “They shouldn’t. That world’s population died out quite two millennia ago. In fact, I know of a few places on Mars where you could use existing buildings.”

My mouth dropped open and I looked down at my ring. The idea that there actually was life at one time on Mars was more than enough to stun me, but that they had buildings there that weren’t rubble? “Is there anything else that you’ve failed to tell me that might be of use?”

Well, there’s no need to get snippy. I was getting to that part.

TBC...