They were coming in from the city. There was not telling what kind of damage they had done on the way in. They were here — on my planet!

Mine!

I put everything I had into a burst of speed. “Ring whatever you have to do…”

“Done.”

I didn’t recognize the faces of the Yellows as being from the no-battle above Oa, but that didn’t mean anything. There were hundreds there and I was sure there were more nightmarish creatures that I hadn’t begun to conceive as of yet. Before we came within decent fighting range, a giant violet mace or hammer slammed at them from over the top of me. I didn’t bother to look back. It was obviously one of my Sapphires.

A dozen thin lances of light erupted from my ring and connected with the lead’s shield. Within moments they’d burrowed their way through the Yellow’s shield and then through the Yellow’s body, forming into barbed hooks and pulling in twelve different directions. The result was catastrophic to the creature’s body.

Violet and Yellow constructs filled the area. I heard automatic gunfire to my left and caught a glimpse of Sharon holding a seriously big violet automatic weapon of some sort, mowing away at one of the Yellows. It wasn’t doing any damage, but it was forcing the creature back and away from me.

Sarl appeared and grappled with a large beetle-like insect with two of his arms while the other two slammed construct-enhanced fists into its outer shell over and again. Suu and Lyja were taking on the last one while I helped Sharon with hers.

Its body was humanoid, but that was about it. A long blue-furred sinuous neck never formed into a head, but ended in a maw filled with needle-sharp teeth that were snapping at her, trying their best to make contact. It shaped a Yellow ball-like construct around her with spikes turned inward and I could tell that they were constricting with massive force.

Before I brought my ring around to the target, I was slammed into from behind.

Pain spiked through my lower back, but Ring strengthened my shield and spun me around, lashing out with those same thin lances, but didn’t have a chance to burrow through the shield of the beetle creature that Sarl was wrestling with. It rolled and I saw what it was that had struck me: a five foot long arm with a single stinger on the end dripping with a greenish fluid.

Sharon screamed. I didn’t know if it was with anger or pain until she was thrown past me. Something clamped down on my left shoulder, breaking through my shield. Ring didn’t waste any time making a circular saw construct and separating the neck from the creature with the teeth Sharon was fighting. More than two dozen lances tore the thing apart while four more pried the tooth-filled mouth from my shoulder.

“Jade this isn’t good.”

A yell from my right, brought my head around and I saw Sarl peel back the shell of his opponent, sinking two of his hands into its back to rip away whatever was underneath.

My entire left arm felt like it was on fire. “Oh crap…” I said as I dropped.

~O~

“My queen,” Sarl’s voice dug through the darkness bringing me back to consciousness.

I blinked away the fog in my brain to see I was in the medical bay of the Jordan. His face was hovering over me with a play of emotions I hadn’t seen before dancing in his eyes.

“How do you feel?”

My mouth was dry and I swallowed before answering. “My arm is numb.”

“Good. There was much damage; however your medical facilities were able to repair most of them.”

“Sit me up.”

The bed back rose slowly and I was finally able to concentrate on what was happening. “Is everyone okay?”

“Your guards are whole though not uninjured. They were treated and then released to resume their duties.”

Looking to my left I saw a series of jagged scars on my shoulder that looked awful. “Was that thing’s teeth poisoned or something?”

“It was a parasite. After draining you of approximately two pints of your blood, it was in the process of impregnating you with two hundred and four of its eggs.” My eyes widened at the thought. “They’ve all been removed and destroyed.”

“It did all of this in like five seconds?”

Sarl sighed. “Another five and you would have been dead.”

I closed my eyes and just breathed. This had become far too real for me.

“There was a fifth yellow in hiding that your ring sniffed out. She is our captive for your pleasure.”

My pleasure? “Pardon?”

“Questioning, execution, torture, whatever you desire, my queen.”

I shook my head and pulled away from the bed. “No torture, ever, Sarl. I mean it. We’re not like the Yellows. Either punish your enemies or kill them.” When he saw the look on my face, he backed off.

“As you command.”

I didn’t argue with his choice of words this time, because that’s exactly what they were. “What about their rings?”

“All but one was destroyed, and we have that in our possession.”

My brows furrowed as I swung my legs off the bed. “Why isn’t it destroyed?”

“Your ring asked us to contain it until it spoke to you.”

“Ring, uniform, please.”

The violet suit reformed on her body along with a moderate sling forming to support my left arm until it was fully healed. I stood and gathered my balance. “Status report.”

“Sinestro Corps members at the lead of Low, the creature that injured you, attacked with the singular purpose of killing you, Jade. It seems as if Sapphire Rathbone’s suspicions have been justified. Your full guard has arrived on Earth and has taken measures to insure your safety. The Command Cruiser Phy’zzon is in geosynchronous orbit above this position.”

Gheeze. “How long was I out?”

“Eight hours and seventeen minutes. I’m not through yet.”

I licked my lips and leaned back on the bed. “Sorry, go ahead.”

“Sapphire Koriand’r has taken the entirety of the Sapphire Corps to Oa for training. The offer was made by the Guardians at the behest of Lantern Gardner. In their absence, Lanterns Natu and Gardner have been dispatched to train your guards. The rest of the details can wait.”

It was a lot to take in. “Where are we?”

“Still on Earth, my queen. Your… friends have been most insistent in knowing the progress of your health.”

I gave him a placating smile. “They’re my friends. Of course they’re worried.”

He frowned. “It is not only that, my queen. There is a…” He looked lost as he searched for the correct word. “A warrant has been issued for your arrest and that of myself and Sapphire Agathon for the murder of the Yellows.”

My eyes narrowed. “Murder?”

“Indeed. From their eyes, it was you that struck first and most decisively, even though it was my hammer that began the fight. Our battle is currently being broadcast over the entirety of your planet’s communications networks.”

I didn’t have time for this. “We need to leave, before anymore of Sinestro’s Corps show up.”

“Agreed. The ship is prepared and ready for launch.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m leaving it here for my team.”

Sarl’s low brow rose, but he didn’t say anything.

“I need to go talk to them, Sarl.”

He nodded. “May I suggest you make your arm restraint invisible, for the moral of the Corps?”

A chuckle almost escaped my lips. “I’m not invulnerable, Sarl. Today proved that if nothing else.”

“Only the closest to you know that, my queen.”

I shrugged. “Them and about six billion other people on the planet if they filmed the battle.”

“Displaying an injury and resilience in battle are two totally different things. As a leader it’s best to always display yourself through a position of strength.”

~O~

Taking his advice, I altered the sling so that my arm was held by my side in a relaxed position by an invisible sling. When we left the medical bay, I noticed two new guards at the door that preceded me while Sarl took up the rear. Two more were at the airlock inside and outside. The display of my guard was overwhelming. There were more than twenty-five present. Four of them had shields encircling the Jordan, layered between me, them, and two on the exterior to prevent anyone from being able to approach or to even get a clear glimpse of what was going on underneath the shield. It was that thick.

At the rear of the Jordan, on the concrete was a Yellow Lantern heavily restrained and caged in a small jail-like construct.

“Who is she?”

“Fatality of Sector 1313. Hunter-born, very deadly. It took the combined might of four of your guard to bring her in. Her wounds have been healed and she has been placed in our custody.”

I didn’t feel pity for her. If she was a Yellow Lantern then she’d already earned a death sentence.

“If I may, Jade.”

“Why is she still alive, Ring?”

“Conversion. We could use the knowledge she holds of the Sinestro homeworld, and it would be acquired much easier if given willingly.”

I nearly choked. “You want to her to be a Star Sapphire? How?”

“As you were encased in the Violet Crystal, so can she be, however it will be a different process that she undergoes.”

The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. “You want me to brainwash her into being a good guy? I can’t do that.”

“Should we release her then, or perhaps simply kill her while she is restrained?”

Grinding my teeth, I looked at the helpless hunter in the cage. It was an impossible decision where no option was sufficient. “I don’t like being manipulated into a corner, Ring.”

My apologies, it was not my intension to do so, only to strengthen our Corps. I did not take your injury… lightly.

Closing my eyes, I sighed. “Of course you didn’t. We have a lot to learn and there’s no room to apply a curve. Mistakes are going to happen. Let’s deal with this and move on.”

“Let’s give her the choice.”

As I approached the cage, I noticed she didn’t have a whole lot of room to move as she was pretty much locked into place on her knees. Her eyes found mine. There was contempt in them, but she held the gaze.

“Fatality. For your past crimes and for your attempt on my life and those of my fellow Corps members I give you one of two choices: conversion to a Star Sapphire or death.”

Her eyelids half closed and she chuckled. “You have larger balls than your Green counterparts, Star Sapphire. I’ll give you that much.”

Sarl was standing beside me, clenching his hands.

When she reopened them her stare was deadly. “You cannot purge my desire to cause great fear in others.”

“I beg to differ; I believe we can do just that. Take the offer, Fatality, if you do not wish to have your existence end here.”

The light went out from behind her eyes. “Do what you must. I’m dead either way. I always have been.”

Concentrate your Will and Love through your Sapphire crystal, Jade.

It was difficult to think of love when I looked at her, but I brought up in, my mind’s eye, the moment I knew that Sora’nik wasn’t dead anymore, the process I used to urge a portion of my life to bring her back and I pushed it through the crystal in my tiara.

A wide cone of light melted away the construct encasing Fatality and bathed her in its radiance. In the span of a second, crystals formed and thickened around her body until she was entirely incased, frozen in time like an insect in amber.

A sick feeling came over me. This was wrong in so many ways.

“Never again, Ring. I won’t ever do this again.”

Understood.

It was the look in Sarl’s eyes that threw me. He didn’t think I’d do it, and now he knew what I was capable of. He was uneasy. I think he would have had more respect for me if I would have killed her. This way was… to erase what made a person who they were was inhumane. I’d crossed a line that I never thought I’d ever even conceive of.

God help me.

~O~

They let Terra through the shield thinking she was the weakest of my team and easily controlled. In truth, she was one of the strongest Metas in existence. With the power to control the body of the Earth itself she wielded the strength to crack the world in half if she had the time and the ability to concentrate for long enough.

“You’re okay?” she asked.

I nodded. “We have to leave.”

Her face fell. “Yeah. Courtney and Gemma have orders to take you into custody. Like that’s going to happen. Court actually laughed at her boss when he said that. Gemma flipped him off with the Middle Finger of Doom.”

A giggle rose up from my stomach. Trust Terra to make me feel like I wasn’t entirely a monster.

“Am I going to see you again?”

I nodded. “This is a speed bump. What they don’t understand is that this is Corps business. They don’t get a say in what happens.”

Leaning in, she gave me a hug. “Take care of yourself, Jade. Oh, and bring me a rock from Mars when you get a chance. I have a science project due at the end of the year and I’d totally get an A if I could pull that one off.”

“Consider it done.”

As I watched her walk away, I felt a portion of my life had ended and another one had begun. “Let’s get out of here, Sarl.”

~O~

When we hit the outer atmosphere there was someone waiting for me. Before any of my Sapphires could become violent I stopped them and shot forward.

Megan was waiting for me with her arms crossed and concerned look in her eye. I didn’t waste any time in forming a violet bubble around the both of us so we could talk without having to resort to the mental thing which threw me at times.

She looked behind me and then at my new outfit. “I’m hearing some bad things about you, Jade. Tell me they’re not true.”

“They’re true from their perspective. They don’t know the whole story.”

In a few moments we were entirely surrounded by my guards along with a few layers of protection to go along with mine.

She looked around. “New friends?”

I sighed. “It’s a long story and we need to get back to Mars.” Then a thought came to me. “Want to come with us?”

A look drew across her face at my offer. “You driving?”

Shaking my head, I pointed over her shoulder. Megan turned around and saw the Command Cruiser coming out from behind a cloak of invisibility.

There were a lot of orange-skinned people aboard the Phy’zzon, and I came to the conclusion that the height and beauty I saw in Kori wasn’t because of good genes. All of them were just as stunning, male and female alike. Megan and I were escorted to what I found out was my permanent quarters on board. The size of the room was about twice the area of my room on the Jordan. The addition of an office made it so.

It was there that I updated Megan on what had happened in my absence on Earth, with a holographic replay of the battle that took out the Central Power Battery and the replay of what Miri went through. Once I’d gotten to the portion where Low tried to make me into his baby momma I ended the projection.

She looked torn. I knew about what she went though only a couple of weeks past. The loss was clear on her face and he way she moved, but I suppose it was fairly well hidden to those that didn’t know what to look for.

What she wasn’t able to hide was the way her jaw locked and tightened when she watched Miri’s tale. There were simply too many similarities that mirrored her own.

“Ring, duplicate yourself.”

Without saying anything, another ring appeared on the desk we sat at. It rose without direction and moved in front of her.

“Megan Morse of Sector 2814, you have great loss in your heart.”

I whipped my hand out and grabbed the ring, already with an apology on my lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean for that to happen.”

She blinked. “The ring or its really ill-timed announcement?”

Looking sheepishly at the violet ring in my hand I closed my fingers around it. “The last part. Look, one of the things that this thing can do is help you deal with…” I could bring myself to even say her name. “…her death.”

Megan pushed her chair back and stood, turning away from me. I couldn’t tell if she was hiding her face, looking around, or if she was just plain angry.

“I’m offering you a place with the Star Sapphires, Megan.”

The intercom to the room took that moment to chime with Suu’s voice following soon after. “We are in orbit above Mars, Jade.”

“Thank you. We’ll be out in a minute.”

My friend was already turned around. Her eyes were a bit glassy. “Keep your ring Jade.”

“But…”

“I’m not all that convinced that hunk of purple on your hand hasn’t changed you in some way. You would have never considered killing someone when you were going green.”

I flinched, stung by her words.

“Believe me, I know how cruel the universe can be. I know how much you can want to strike out at those responsible, but you aren’t a god, Jade. The pretty crown on your head doesn’t give you the right to end someone’s life just because you deem it unrepentant and irredeemable.”

Gripping the ring in my hand, I tried to stand a little taller. “The first Yellow Lantern I killed, I did so with a green ring, and I don’t regret it. Given it or me, I’ll choose me every time.” I raised my hand and pointed at her. “Those things I killed on Earth, Megan? They were sent to kill me, and one of them almost did. ME! It sank its teeth in me and decided I’d make a good host for its two-hundred killer little babies. Pardon me if I don’t have any compassion left for things like them. I can’t afford it.”

Spinning around I slammed my fist on the desk.

“You don’t think I’m going to have nightmares about this? Every time I close my eyes too long I see Sora’nik’s dead body. I feel those teeth ripping into my shoulder.”

Before I turned around I felt a hand on my back. “I think you have plenty of nightmares to keep you busy. I also think that you’ve been pushing yourself for far too long. I’ve seen it too often, Jade. I used to be a cop, remember?”

Dropping the ring on the desk, I wiped at my eyes. “Yeah.”

“You can’t bear the entire weight of the universe on your shoulders and it not affect you. What I’m telling you is you need a break.”

Shaking my head, I discounted her advice immediately. “Too much is happening.”

“And it always will. It never stops. Pretty soon, you’ll be finding yourself considering things in a different way, letting minor crimes go on because it benefits you, but accepting them because it’s for the greater good. Then you step up to the next level. Pretty soon the most monstrous thing imaginable becomes a possible tool in your arsenal. When does it end, Jade?”

Remembering what I just got finished doing on Earth I knew that I’d already arrived at that point. I took up the ring once more and turned, holding it out to her. “Then take it. Be my conscious. Tell me when I’ve gone too far and kick my butt until I can see straight. Please.”

Her hand twitched. I could see she was considering it, but she held on to her resolve. “You need to deal with this on your own.” She backed away and went to stand in front of the door to the room. “In the end, if we can’t step away from the edge then all the advice in the world can’t help us. I have my own issues that I have to deal with before I could make a commitment to you like that.”

Reaching up, she pressed the release to open the door. “Besides, there’s no way I’m calling you my queen. Really, Jade… queen? And the uniforms… purple and green? I’d look like a big walking bruise.”

I snorted and sniffed back the tears that were threatening to fall.

~O~

The Phy’zary had already dropped a lot of equipment on top of Mount Olympus. Megan flew ahead of the rest of us. Sarl had dismissed half of the guard, but my core that I entered Earth’s atmosphere with was surrounding me while others stayed back and performed scans of the system, keeping a watchful eye out for anything threatening.

When Megan landed on the surface we were just a few moments behind. I stayed back and just watched as she walked around taking in the landscape wondering what she was thinking about. From what I knew about her origins they might have been tied back to this planet. There was really no way to be sure.

When she’d had enough she turned and came back. I encased us in another bubble to ensure our privacy.

“Find anything noteworthy?” I asked.

“Maybe. I need to think about it for a while though.”

Looking back at Mount Olympus, I paused. “The offer is still on the table, Megan. Later, if you change your mind, I mean.”

If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear she ignored me. “What you need right now is someone to tell you that you’ve stepped over the line, whenever you do so, or hopefully before it happens.”

She nodded at my guards and vaguely gestured toward them. “Right now you have a bunch of sycophants that look like they’ll do anything you say. That’s too much power for one person to hold, Jade.”

I frowned at that. “Is that any different from what I had on Earth? Just because we have a common goal doesn’t mean they’re mindless.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You implied it. They’re my people, Megan.”

She pointed at herself and then up into the sky. “We’re your people. Terra worships the ground you walk on like a little sister. Courtney’s gone to bat for you so many times against her own government. What happens to them now that you’re out here? What happens the next time one of those yellow things comes to Earth, the things that you brought to our planet?”

Again, her words stung, biting into me. “That wasn’t supposed to happen. That’s one of the reasons I chose Mars, so I’d be close enough to help if something went wrong.”

Megan sighed and scratched at her head. “I didn’t mean to blame you, Jade. I know you wouldn’t want anything to happen to them, but the fact remains it’s a possibility now, and we don’t have the raw power to take care of ourselves anymore. Even the strongest Meta would have serious trouble going up against you, and they came at you with four. What’s next, twenty? Earth could be a wasteland after the end of that battle.”

I reached for anything that I could. “You’re under the protection of the Green Lanterns and the Star Sapphires. If it’s in our power that won’t happen.”

She chuckled. “The same Green Lanterns that got their butts handed to them on Oa, where they should be their strongest?”

“You’re making my point for me, Megan. The biggest threat is the Sinestro Corps and drastic measures have to be taken to eliminate that threat.” I saw the challenge in her eyes and decided to send out my own barbs. “You can stand there and be all holier than thou, but you know I’m right. You saw what they’re capable of. This isn’t some sort of mafia that is out to make a buck. Their sole purpose is to create fear and kill people in the most horrible way possible; that’s it.”

Frustration was on both our faces. We knew we were arguing in circles and that it would solve nothing.

~O~

“You look awful,” Sora’nik said as she landed beside me.

I gave her a weak smile as I watched Megan flying off into the atmoshpere. “Do I? Thanks I feel just as bad.”

“Come on, you’re going straight to the galley for a decent meal and then to bed.”

She didn’t wait for my answer and instead encircled me, along with herself, in a green orb and lifted up off of Mars’ surface for the return trip to the Phy’zzon. Instead of visiting the galley, there was a meal waiting for me in my room.

I stuffed myself and was led soon thereafter to a pretty nice bed that was built for someone a lot taller than I was. When I was changed into something I could sleep in, Sora’nik made sure I was tucked in before she turned to leave the room.

Something deep inside me called out. “Sora’nik.” She turned at the door and I swallowed. “Could you… would you stay for a little while, just until I fall asleep?”

Concern fell across her face. “Perhaps I should call for a sedative?”

“No, just you.”

She looked around the room then lowered the lights before creating a comfortable chair construct beside the bed. When she sat down I reached out my hand and she took it in hers.

“Close your eyes, Jade. I’ll be here.”

It took some time, but eventually I fell asleep.

~O~

By the time I woke, I was feeling more refreshed. Sora’nik was still in her chair construct sleeping peacefully. I wished I could say the same. Measuring my actions over the last twenty-four hours I knew there were things that Megan had said that held some truth to them.

I needed an advisor, someone to ground me, before I did something stupid and unforgivable, much like I did on Earth.

Without waking her, I got up and changed into my uniform. After brushing my hair out I looked back at Sora’nik and exited the room. Suu and Sharon were standing guard.

“Where are we holding Fatality?”

Suu provided that answer. “In the ship’s brig. There’s been no change in her status.”

I nodded. “Call Sarl and Lyja we’re meeting there, now.”

Sharon took her cue and started down the hall toward one of the lifts. After a few moments, Suu acknowledged that my other core guards were on their way.

It didn’t take too long to arrive. Tamaranean guards manned the secure office overlooking the brig and two Sapphire guards were in front of her cell, probably bored to tears. When we entered, I dismissed them. I looked up at the office where the other guards were.

“Could you open the cell, please?”

After a few moments the energy field that served as a door winked out. Using my ring, I lifted the crystal that encased Fatality and backed it out, holding it in front of me. That’s about the time that Sarl and Lyja entered.

“My queen? Is it time for her to emerge?” asked Sarl.

“Ring, how long until the process is complete?”

“It has only just begun, Jade. Altering a person’s personality is a lengthy process. Another five standard days will be required before it is complete.”

“Fine. Sarl, would you lead us to the closest airlock.”

His eyes widened. Instead of questioning me, he turned around and started down to the lift. It was a little crowded and I could feel tension begin to fill the small conveyance. They didn’t have a clue as to what I was going to do.

When we reached the room that held the airlock, I sealed it off and created a shield that would give us privacy.

Holding a hand out to brush along the crystal, I sighed with regret. “What I did was wrong. I knew it the moment I did this, but I justified to by thinking it was for the greater good. One person’s mind in return for the information that could end the suffering of thousands seemed like a fair trade. But it’s not.”

I let the crystal settle to the deck and withdrew the beam that was holding it.

“We’re supposed to be the highest representatives of love in the universe. We were chosen to defend that love in any way possible, but what I’ve forgotten is that it’s our duty to be examples as well. I won’t have us becoming the monsters Sinestro and his fear mongers are.”

Sarl crossed his upper arms. “What are you saying, my queen?”

I looked at him and the others waiting for some sort of direction. “I’m saying that as of this moment, I’m not your queen. That ends today. I need advisors, and I’m volunteering you four for that position. To you four I am simply Jade, the leader of our Corps. I want your opinions, not what you think I want, but what you feel inside yourselves.”

Pointing at the crystal I felt a measure of nausea well in my stomach. “This can’t happen again. We can destroy the Yellows, but I’m not going to enslave them to our will. To do so would make us just as evil as them.”

Lyja moved forward to take a look at Fatality. “You plan on jettisoning her out of the airlock, Jade?”

I shook my head. “I plan on releasing her… with her ring.”

“What if she goes out to kill again?” Sharon stressed.

I was pleased to hear someone question my choice. “What would you suggest?”

“Destroy the yellow ring and return her to her home planet to answer for her crimes,” said Suu.

Sarl grumbled. “Kill her here.”

Lyja nodded toward Suu. “I agree, let her own people decide her punishment.”

“Sharon?”

The former Cylon looked at me. “I’ve seen too much death, Jade, but I don’t know what else to do. Her Corps could find and release her all over again.”

I took a moment to mull over their decisions. “Ring, you’ve been awfully quiet.”

It’s not my place to offer advice in this instance, Jade. I’m the one that got you into this mess to begin with. For that I am truly sorry.

I didn’t bother to correct her, because she was somewhat right. I made the final decision, but some things simply shouldn’t even be conceived.

“Call up two Sapphires to take her to Sector 1313 and break her out of that crystal. Afterward come to my room, we need to talk about the future of the Corps. Changes need to be made before we take another step. Something like this can’t happen again. Ever.”

TBC...