Control

16th July
11:27 GMT

Busy, busy.

I do a fly-by of The Space Station Formerly Known As Scratching Post, letting the rings display a detailed image on the inside of my helmet. Thanagarian work crews are already hard at work, ferrying materials back and forth from their carrier and the docking section. It'll be a while before it's turned into something they can conveniently dock with, so they're using shuttles to go back and forth for the moment. A few point me out as I pass, and I give them a wave.

It'll be… I don't even know how long until Tamaran is a functioning space age civilisation again, but at least they're starting to head in the right direction now. The Princes and Princesses Regent of the other states were beginning to arrive in Tamarus for talks as I left. How to rebuild, who gets to focus on what and who profits are going to have to be hashed out at the beginning.. and… Probably again and again as power relationships shift. Myand'r sounded pretty upbeat about the talks and Karras said that he'd try to stop his parents doing anything foolishly confrontational… I hope it goes well, but at this point it isn't strictly speaking my problem any longer.

Transition.

And I'm outside of the Liot'r system. With the interdiction fields fully engaged even I can't warp where I please in-system any longer. They'd probably turn it off if I asked -me being just about the most popular person on the planet at the moment- but I don't think it's worth the risk in case someone in Citadel Complex turns out to be unusually on the ball. And it's not as if I'm aware of time passing while I transition anyway. But, warping is faster and the next leg of my journey is a lot longer than the brief flight here from Earth.

I could fly directly to Maltus. I know where it is, and I could enter it at a crawl while shooting messages towards it so that they have plenty of advanced knowledge that I'm on the way. The thing is… If they didn't respond to that Guardian ship I sent them, I'm worried that I might have seriously misjudged them. Maybe they know about Larfleeze and don't want anything to do with the orange light. Maybe they think I'm more likely to be a threat or a hindrance than a boon and they don't want anything to do with me in particular.

So, I need more information. Going to Oa seemed like a bad plan, at least until I know for certain whether these Guardians are the Alpha Lantern-Third Army creating versions or the stern but basically reasonable versions. Going to Zamaron? Hah, no. Where does that leave?

Ring, plot warp for the border of Reach space.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

The Reach is… Huge. Not galaxy-huge, but according to the records -an orange tunnel forms around me as the warp activates- that were on John's ring, pretty darn big. The periphery zone, the area they're attempting to subvert but haven't formally seized yet, is wider than the Vega systems at their broadest point. From those reports I had access to from Lanterns in that general area, that appears to be where Darkstars are most active. In fact, their membership appears to be split evenly between some sort of pseudo-insect and species whose worlds are falling under Reach control. Or which already have.

Reach ships are good. Advanced technology and highly skilled crews. Not peak technology; a Psion or Qwardian warship would be more dangerous, but I wouldn't want to have to fight more than two or three of their actual war cruisers. The ships they use in the periphery zone tend to be more like armed merchantmen, so unless they actually have a Beetle onboard I'm not all that worried about them. Sure, they can kill me with weight of fire, but they have the advantage of being Reach; I have no problem whatsoever with destroying them and killing everyone on board.

Of course, if they do have a Beetle… They used to be the Reach's go-to Lantern killers, and they're still allowed to serve as bodyguards to Reach 'Negotiators'. If I go to a planet they're trying to absorb there will be one. I'm not… Sure how much of their kill count came from Lantern reticence in using lethal force and lack of practice at large scale engagements and how much from their own power. I'd rather avoid fighting one until I can check.

And… Now my longest warp so far. Maltus is on the other side of the galactic core from Earth, and Reach space is beyond that. If we take Games Workshop orientation as 'correct' then Earth is in the galactic west, Maltus is east and Oa is northeast. That sounds a bit like they should be close together but they're really not. The galaxy is about a hundred thousand light years across and -outside the core and ignoring the halo- about a thousand light years thick. There's more than enough space between them for even their egos.

Of course, the thing about space is, there's lots of space in it. Most of everything is nothing, and most of the rest is black holes, stars and gas giants. Actual small habitable worlds are rare enough that they're not worth fighting over. A species evolving in a system with small rocky worlds will almost always find it easier to render the others habitable than to take a small rocky world somewhere else. And then they'll find it easier to build their own space habitats than conquer someone else's planets. Unless they're absurdly close together as they are in Vega at least…

The only reason to try conquering someone is that you're an arsehole.

And the Reach… Are massive arseholes.

{orange}Warp terminating in three, two, one.{/}

Space snaps back into focus.

{orange}We have arrived at our destination.{/}

Hm. Haven't made bad time. Thirty thousand light years in a few minutes. Ring, scan.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

Nothing nearby. I mean, turning around, the starfield looks different as the core is now in the 'wrong' direction. Heh, I wave in the direction of Earth. See me in thirty thousand years. Right then. Ring, scan… Scan the planets around the border. I'm looking for Darkstars, anywhere they've been active. Preferably fighting the Reach.

A sensor array construct appears as the ring gets to work. The Reach are perfectly capable of shielding their secure installations and core worlds, but places on the periphery should be a bit more accessible. Particularly since I already know where to look.

Hm.

{orange}Darkstar activity detected on Urrigen.{/}

Show me.

A planet appears in my mind. Post-industrial, maybe a century more advanced than Earth-. Than Earth Prime. Asteroid mining and some off-planet settlement. The inhabitants are standard pattern humanoids with green skin. No contact with other intelligent species until the Reach arrived. Looks like Reach presence is relatively recent… Good show, the societal dependency shouldn't be all that advanced yet.

Ring, plot warp to-.

{orange}Warning: will detected.{/}

I raise my left eyebrow at the same time as my construct armour. Sure, I know that Green Lanterns patrol the border-.

There's a small {green}flare{/} of green as the Green Lantern appears. Oh dear. Green swimsuit, gloves and thigh boots? Someone failed-. And a red cloak. This is a member of their Honour Guard. However daft she looks, she knows what she's doing with that ring.

Though it doesn't look like she's been to the anti-me lectures yet.

Stewart-ring, who is she?

{orange}Honour Guard Lantern K'ryssma, formerly of Sector One Eight Nine Zero.{/}

Ring, open channel.

{orange}Compliance.

"{/}Hello there, Lantern K'ryssma. What can I do for you?"

The glow around her ring {green}brightens{/} for a moment. A scan, probably. "Oh. You."

"Me indeed."

"I had intended to warn you that you were about to enter Reach space, in case you were an innocent traveller or merchant. Since it is you, I imagine that you think you know exactly what you're doing."

"An accurate surmise."

"Therefore, my only concern is that the Reach may see your presence as a breach of their treaty with the Guardians."

"I'm going to be aiding Controller agents. It should be fairly obvious who I work for."

"True." She pauses. "Orange Lantern, I have seen Reach space expand by twelve systems during my time overseeing this region. The Guardians' treaty may be better than all out war, but I would be more than happy to see the Reach suffer a reversal of fortunes."

I nod inside my armour. "I'll see what I can do."

16th July
11:49 GMT

Is it worth trying to creep around?

Detecting a warp doesn't tell you what warped in, though the power being employed might give you a rough idea. Transitioning is Lantern only. Warping is easier to detect, but the Reach have a history of fighting Lanterns. They almost certainly have a way of tracking them. Us. Now, whatever that technique or technology might be might only work on Greens and it might fail due to my tattoos -that would be nice- but I don't know that. It might be something they have to set up over an area…

Or I could go in hard and fast. The Reach's response to unpleasant surprises is usually to try negotiating with whoever is causing it. If it looks like I might get overwhelmed I could probably just back out again-. No, I'm being silly. If I'm happy to just kill any Reach people without regard to local politics I've really got no reason to worry about most of the things I've been trained to worry about.

Heh.

Ring, we're on military order. Warp in and target any Reach vessels, personnel and property.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

And find me the local Darkstar contingent.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

Space bends, the rings glowing brilliantly as the cloud of confusion obscuring my desires evaporates. Shouldn't take-

{orange}Warp terminating.{/}

-long. Space flattens out, Urrigen appearing in the centre of my field of view. Without looking hard I can already see thirty or so sub-light space barges carrying raw materials from around the system back to Urrigen itself. The Reach vessel -just one- is in low orbit, its weapons firing down at what looks like a.. cave complex. It's not going all out, just-

{orange}Incoming communication from Reach vessel.{/}

-firing off the occasional shot. Hm. Anywhere else and I'd give them a minute or two to evacuate. Darkstars in the caves?

{orange}Unknown. Reach communications state that they are lawfully assisting local government in neutralising a terrorist organisation. Reach soldiers and weapons fire detected in the caves.{/}

I begin accelerating towards the ship. Masers?

{orange}Damage consistent with maser fire detected.{/}

Good-oh.

{orange}Message incoming from Urrigen government.{/}

Hm. There's nothing on this side of the planet that has any chance of hitting me and all of their military ships are too far away. Ignore.

I watch as the Reach ship ceases firing and starts to turn in order to pull away from the planet. One really nice thing about fighting this sort of Reach ship?

All of their guns point in the same direction.

Ring? Eddy pulse.

A fat beam of orange light blasts from my right hand at near-light speed. Rather than a single unified beam, this one is comprised of hundreds of tiny strands all bunched up. It occurred to me before I arrived that the Reach might have construct-disrupting technology, at least in a form they could deploy over a small area. And one place they would logically put it would be on ships operating near the periphery. Thus, eddy pulse.

Not that I tried using it on a ship before. I'm quite interested-.

The beam hits the Reach vessel's shields on the upper surface. And then it goes to work. Unlike a destructive pulse, an eddy pulse doesn't work by draining energy from the target area and therefore causing matter to decay. Rather, it acts like a warp biotic power in Mass Effect, applying massive gravitational stress to tear whatever it hits apart. The beam doesn't get absorbed or turned aside. Rather, the strands spread out across the surface of the shield. And then?

Twist.

The shield shimmers and fails as it tries to cope with five hundred instances of intense gravitational shear. The barrier gone, the strands surge forwards and latch onto the ship's hull. Reach hulls are pretty tough, but unlike true warships this ship doesn't have the thickness or exotic defences to even try and survive this attack. The ship jerks as a chunk of the hull just collapses, torn to pieces by the gravitational eddies generated by my filaments.

I see escape pods launch from the underside of the ship towards the rear. Hm. Ordinarily I'd try picking them up and either handing them over to a competent authority or marooning them. In this case, however… The only authorities in the local environment are the Reach and their suborned governments. And I don't have the time or inclination to take them to Maltus. And if I let them land they'll be back in action in a few days. Guess they're out of luck then. A railgun appears next to me, loaded with crumbler rounds. Track… Fire a volley at each.

I feel the hum of the gun through my construct tether as it sends the rounds towards the pods. At this range it's possible that they might evade individual shots. Shouldn't be a problem; crumbler rounds crumble themselves when they hit so there's next to no risk of them getting captured and reverse engineered.

There's an explosion from the ship as something volatile gets hit, and lights in two thirds of the ship go out. Main drive also appears to be inoperative, so it-. Ring, calculate? No, it doesn't have escape velocity, but it'll keep going for a while before crashing… Into one of the planet's oceans. Weapons have also lost power. It's mission-killed, ignore it.

I transition past it and head for the planet's surface. Stewart-ring, do you have Darkstar communication protocols?

{orange}Protocols on file. However, they are not recent and are unlikely to elicit a response.{/}

Fine. Broadcast to combat zone.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

Escape pods start taking hits, their weak shields failing and their hulls breaking up either from the follow-up strikes or from re-entry.

"Darkstars, are you in need of assistance? Please transmit location. I'm coming in anyway, but you're in caves and those can collapse." The ring gives me a more precise scan of the caves. Those look rather fortified… If somewhat shot up. "Collapse more. It would also be a big help to know who I was going to be shooting at."

Around what appears to be the staging area Reach troopers are manning heavy weapon emplacements and aircraft -local ones by the look of it- are taking off. Following apparently legitimate orders or subordinated? Ring, compare physiology with on-file records for the local species. Also, railguns, fire crumblers at those emplacements.

{orange}Compliance.{/} Two more railgun constructs appear as a beam of purple plasma shoots past me harmlessly, and I feel the humming once more as the three of my guns open fire. {orange}Minor nanostructure alteration to pilot brains detected. Modification is in accordance with standard Reach methodology.{/}

Symptoms?

{orange}Traits common to Reach personnel and technology will seem to possess greater natural authority.{/}

A nudge rather than outright control. It would let them gradually redesign a society merely by making suggestions.

Hm. Not sure that a purple healing ray would remove something like that… Ring, fry their computers in such a way as allows them time to eject.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

A pale orange beam flickers out, passing over the aircraft one by one as the railgun rounds begin hitting the emplacements. The force fields covering them flare and die, and a moment later so do the crew. The aircraft wobble and go ballistic… Come on, come on, get out-. There we go. Ring, track their landing zones. I'll purge them if I get time.

{orange}Compliance. Incoming message.{/}

Oh, who is it this time?

"This is Operative Lotta of the Darkstars. We're up against about forty Reach infantry-" Easy enough. "-and one Scarab Warrior. Any further help you can give would be much appreciated."

"Understood, Operative Lotta. En route."

Ring, Praexis Demons.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

16th July
11:53 GMT

The Praexis Demons surge ahead of me into the cave network. From the residual heat and melted appearance of the walls of the entrance tunnel I'm going to assume that they used the ship to cut their way in through the surrounding rock. I do a brief inspection of the emplacements-. One of the horribly burned soldiers is still alive.

Railgun.

I turn away as the impact of the tungsten round causes his head to disintegrate. Decent armour, decent personal force fields, but… Nothing exceptional. Nothing that beats what I already have. There was a comic I read years ago now, where a group of B-listers ended up fighting… Someone. I don't remember his name. Point is, though he was far more powerful than them he pointed out that while it had taken his people millennia to gain the abilities that he had they were able to hold him off with powers they'd more or less tripped over. Hard work versus luck. Reach soldiers could quite happily walk through light machinegun fire without being harmed, but they actually aren't better equipped than someone like Mister Metcalf.

I think it might be a good idea if that news didn't get around.

The Praexis Demons boil out of the main shaft and encounter the Reach's rearguard. Maybe it's like the 'Humanity, Fuck Yeah' section on 4chan said. The thing about evolving on a death world is that you don't know that it's a death world. I mean, the Praexis Demons are munching their way through the soldiers, stopping briefly to suck the power out of their force fields. We evolved on a planet where Praexis Demons roam freely. And more powerful Demons could appear from Hell if we chanted a few phrases and killed a few people in their names. And, yes, maybe being turned into Construct Lanterns has enhanced them a bit, but the Reach is the largest interstellar polity presently existing and bottom tier Demons can eat their soldiers.

I reach the bottom of the shaft myself as the Praexis Demons swarm onwards. Mapping says-. There's a release of energy from a chamber much further inside the complex, and for the first time I get clear returns from the Darkstars. The Reach appear to be advancing on their last redoubt, placing force field projectors as they go. The woman in yellow organic-looking power armour leading the assault isn't bothering to hide. Her left arm has taken the form of a tower shield and she uses that to block a charged beam from one of the Darkstars, lighter shots barely making an impression on her armour.

That would be.. Yellow Beetle, then.

Ring, anything stopping me from transitioning into the corridor behind them?

{orange}None detected.{/}

I pull half of my Praexis Demons back into the ring, and wince slightly as I learn what the Reach taste like.

A huge Dog-faced Darkstar flares his personal shield and charges out of cover, his comrades rising to give him covering fire. Without missing a beat Yellow Beetle turns her right hand into a gun and returns fire, striking another Darkstar in the chest and causing her to collapse to the ground. Then the gun shifts into a power fist looking appendage as she meets the charging Darkstar, brings him to a stop with her shield and slams her gauntlet hand into his ribs.

Transition.

"…clumsy meat."

Demons, go.

"{red}Rahh{/}!"

The big Darkstar throws punches and point-blank maser bolts and the Beetle dances around them. A sidestep and a shield block to evade a punch, a half-second buzz of her wings to dodge a shot from another Darkstar and a punch to the big fellow's leg which causes him to stagger and stumble. She's grinning.

Right up until the eddy pulse hits her in the back.

"Agh!"

Beetle armour is tough. My pulse envelops her right wing, upper right back and upper right arm, but all that I see happen is her armour discolour slightly and her wing collapse.

{orange}Resistance detected.{/}

There's a pulse of white-blue light as she turns her fall from the air into a tumble, my attack construct evaporating as she lands. She's not laughing now.

"A Lantern?"

Two railguns form as my construct-armour absorbs a few shots from Reach soldiers before they're assailed by my demonic retinue. While it might be better to keep crumbler rounds as a secret, I think this time I'll take the short term gain.

Fire.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

The air burns as the railguns fire faster than I've ever had them do before. I probably shouldn't get used to this intensity of violence but -Yellow Beetle doubles up on her shields and grows additional armour- there's something to be said for not having other considerations to take into account. The shields start turning sandy brown almost immediately, the material they're comprised of visibly abrading as the Darkstars take full advantage of the fact that she's facing me to shoot her undefended back.

"{red}No{/}, you-! {red}Gah{/}!"

She shudders, ducking back behind her right shield so that she can morph her left arm into… Something or other. The moment I see her start to move I generate another railgun off to the side and shoot the shifting arm right in the glowy bit. There's a small explosion-

"Uh!"

-and what's left of her left forearm crackles, sparks and drips what's either blood or whatever the Beetles use instead.

"Lantern! This violates the treaty!"

Aim for the head.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

The first hit knocks her head sideways, her full helm discolouring. The second hits her left eye, causing her to shudder and collapse. Then the big Darkstar lumbers over, hauls her up by the head and squeezes.

"{red}Owwwrrrraaaaaaghh{/}!"

I hear the crack as her helmet fails and her head is pulped between his palms.

"I've never fought a Beetle before. She dead?"

He glances at me, then tosses the body into a clear part of the cavern. "Yeah. But she's not done yet."

The armour covering her shakes and slowly retracts. The skin beneath is pale purple… Zambaii? Makes sense, the Reach absorbed their world about seventy years ago. I'd rather assumed that they used their own species, but I suppose they must keep other races around for something.

"Was she a volunteer, or-?"

"Don't know. Don't care. You kill the rest?"

"Just the ones attacking this site."

"That a real power ring?"

"They're two real power rings, yes."

"Hey, Tarant!" A Khundian Darkstar with a shaved head and scalp tattoos tosses a small device over to his large colleague… Tarant, presumably. "Use mine!"

"Thanks Phil." The armour has almost totally retracted now, just the broken parts around the head and the left arm giving it trouble. The woman beneath is wearing just her underwear, and the scarab thingy that makes the armour is clearly visible where it's attached to her back. Tarant leans down, presses the device to the scarab and then steps back. "Might want to cover your eyes."

There's a sort of a… Hissing noise, green vapour rising from the scarab device. Then space bends around the device as a flash of green light consumes the scarab.

Tarant huffs in satisfaction, then turns to face me. "Thanks. Now who the Hell are you and what the Hell are you doing here?"

16th July
11:55 GMT

"Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four." I pull all but a handful of Praexis Demons back into the rings and send the rest to the entrance to keep watch. "Do you have injured?"

Tarant glowers. "That doesn't-."

"Yes, we do." Another Darkstar strides past their defences. Another Zambaii. Ooh, this could get awkward if they knew one another. "We will gratefully accept any assistance-" I transition to the other side of their barricade. "-you feel able-" The shot that hit the woman I saw earlier burned through her armour, skin and muscle and lightly charred her organs. Another fellow… I think that's a fellow, has numerous burns all across his body where his armour has been punctured by multiple smaller strikes. "-to give."

"Medical records please!" Okay, scanning. Nothing on the second guy's species but the woman conforms more closely to the standard humanoid template. I still need to copy her body chemistry but at least I know where everything is supposed to go. Huh, and no temptation to 'improve' things. Blackened and roasted organ tissue evaporates and is replaced by fresh brown/green. That looks… About right. Anything obviously toxic in the blood..? No, right, best I can do then. Fat, muscle and skin and I hope her species doesn't have belly buttons.

"Here." The man who asked for my help thrusts a data pad at me, then starts as he sees what I've already done for his colleague. Another Darkstar is applying some sort of purple gel to the man with the… Odd head.

"Thank you."

Ring, absorb all data.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

Ah, good, their umbilical cord equivalents attach to their arms. And the other fellow… The gel is a sterile wound cover and regeneration aid, but it won't do anything to prevent the internal damage killing him now. Orange light flares again-. Amphibious filter-feeder? Curious, but alright. Major blood vessels are the most important thing, hearts… Okay, good. Nerves… His eye snaps open, {yellow}staring at me{/}-.

"Calm down, Threllian." The blue skinned woman next to me waves her left hand in front of his field of vision to be sure that she's got his attention. "He's on our side."

"Reach? Scarab?"

"Dead."

His ears wiggle in a way I don't have information on. "S-scarab, dead?"

Phil strolls over and drops down next to him. "Yeah, buddy. New guy and Tarant squished her good." His armour's battered as well, but the energy field is throwing off my scans so I can't tell whether or not he's carrying injuries.

Threllian suddenly relaxes, {yellow}and I scan him{/} to try and work out why. Everything.. seems to be in order. If it's some sort of brain shutdown thing-.

The Zambaii rests his right hand on my armour's shoulder. "Thank you. If-."

"I don't know why he's not more alert." I hold up the datapad. "Are you sure this is complete?"

The blue-skinned woman who had been ministering to him stands, pushing her hair back as she does so. "We've been fighting constantly for three days. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that any of us are still on our feet."

I straighten up. "If your physiology is anything like mine, you'll crash in a little while." I turn around in the air. "Anyone got any non-critical injuries they want me to look at?"

Tarant uses his armour's force field to float past the barricades. "Yeah, my leg, where she hit me. Feels like she fried the nerves and broke the bones."

"I'll need you to deactivate your personal shield. I can't scan through it and you don't want me best-guessing something-"

"Hahahahahaha!" The Khundian throws his head back and guffaws.

"-like.. that."

The Zambaii moves to support Tarant as he sits on a fortification and deactivates his shield. The moment it's no longer contained his leg flops limply, though the man himself gives no indication of discomfort. Scan… I generate a construct-brace to hold his leg in the correct position as I push bone fragments into place and fuse them into a whole.

"How is any of this funny?" I recognise the voice as belonging to Operative Lotta. She's a green-skinned woman with… Sort of… Pink things dangling down the side of her head. Too thin to really be described as lekku. "We nearly died, we could-."

"I know! Ha! Wasn't it great!?"

I shut off my construct. "Try putting weight on it now."

He gingerly puts it on the ground, testing it before standing under his own power. "Good work. Lot better than the last robot doctor I had."

Robot..? I look at my own armour-encased right arm. "Oh, right. Sorry, let me just…" My armour disappears into subspace, replaced by my lighter version. "There. Now, as I said:-" I bring my hands to my chest. "-Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four. Or-"

Ring.

{orange}"Paul."

"{/}-if we're being informal. I'm here because I need an introduction to the Controllers. And because the-" I half-turn to take in the rest of the room, battered corpse of the former Beetle and the half-eaten Reach soldiers. "-Reach are dreadful people, obviously."

"Yeah. They are." The green-skinned man takes a step forward. "Operative Munchukk."

The Zambaii nods. "Operative Ferrin."

I point out the ones I know. "Operative Phil, Operative Tarant, Operative Threllian and Operative Lotta…"

The blue woman nods. "The woman you healed is Operative Rayyana. I am Senior Operative Merayn Dethalis." Her eyes narrow slightly. "And I would very much like to know what you are. If the Guardians have {blue}repudiated their treaty{/}, we need to know about it."

I shake my head. "Sorry, but I am -currently- a free agent. That's rather what I want to talk to the Controllers about. I… Sent a ship to Maltus? Should have arrived about half a year ago?"

She shrugs. "I haven't been back to Maltus for three. We're only based there in a technical sense. It's so hard to get into Reach territory undetected…" I nod. "But providing you with an introduction is the least we can do. We need to evacuate anyway; with our cover blown-."

"Weren't you listening, Mery?" Phil sits up, clearly struggling to remain straight-faced. "He blew up their ship. No ship and no Scarab Warrior. And with all the soldiers who died here, that means-."

Tarant's eyes widen. "No real defences around their embassy or brainwashing factory. If we hit them now-."

Operative Ferrin nods. "No reinforcements. It might be two years before they can send replacements."

"I'm in." I raise my eyebrows at Senior Operative Dethalis. "If you want me. I want to make a good impression."

"You realise that you'll be making an enemy of the Reach?"

"Bit late for that. Besides, people like the Reach? If I've become their enemy… Then I'm probably doing the right thing."

She nods and holds out her right hand, a holographic image of an industrial plant appearing in the air. "Then this is where we're going…"

16th July
15:37 GMT

"How do you know about us, anyway?"

The Darkstars' exo-mantles might not have the raw power to let them fight Beetles, but it turns out that they're very good at hiding. So good that they've ordered me to keep back just in case my systems show up more than theirs do while they move into position around the building containing the Reach's trade mission. I'm not sure whether or not I should be offended by the fact that they trust Phil the Khundian, a member of a species for whom violence serves the same social role as sex does in my own, with command of our part of this task.

Then again, given how much violence I've engaged in and how little intimacy, maybe I shouldn't be quite so quick-.

"Hey, you awake in there?"

"Sorry, yes." Concealing information is contrary to my interests, but there's the question of presentation… "I gained access to a partial Green Lantern Corps database a while ago. They monitor Reach activity fairly closely."

I half expect him to make some insulting comment. The Guardians may have made the sensible decision where the Reach are concerned, but I doubt that anyone left fighting Reach soldiers, ships or Beetles is exactly going to thank them for it.

"Right."

He keeps his attention focused on the monitors the other Darkstars are wearing. Ultra-secure feeds interpreted by their computer systems to allow near-perfect monitoring… Still something I could probably set up back on Earth, though the computer would be far larger and the communications less secure. I watch over his shoulder as the group moves past the internal security monitors and personnel like ghosts as they move towards the control systems.

"We're a… Way from Khund here."

"Yeah."

More importantly, they're dodging the actual monitors. The Reach know full well that regular security wouldn't stop a Darkstar, but apparently they hold out hope that it would distract them from the real threat, stealthed detection systems designed to report their presence to either the ship or the local Beetle. The Reach would happily sacrifice what they've built here to stop a Darkstar team, but -Operative Lotta isolates the first suicide demolition charge before evading a scanner- as things stand they're just going to sacrifice everything.

"So what brought you here?"

"Fighting. Those power rings you're wearing?"

"Yes."

"Guardians trying to work out a way around the treaty?"

"Not as far as I know."

"So where'd you get those rings?"

"Second one I got from a fight with a Green Lantern. First one, I still don't know. I just woke up and there it was."

He nods. "I met my first wife like that."

"Which?"

"Both! Which was awkward, because I hadn't actually killed her husband!" He turns to look at me, grinning. "Eh? Hahaha!"

I shake my head politely. "Honestly. What sort of woman doesn't check the body first?"

Operatives Ferrin, Munchukk and Tarant get into position to use their exo-mantles to generate false signals while Operative Dethalis accesses the central computer.

"Yeah, and that's why basic education should be universal." He returns his attention to the screen. "You get anything from those pilots?"

"Yes. I'd ideally like more information on this species' neurophysiology to be certain, but it shouldn't be too hard for me to reverse the physical alterations. But that doesn't do anything for the socialisation aspect, for modes of thought they've already adopted."

"Right." He turns away and walks towards the balcony. "Come on then. Our turn."

My armour reappears around me. "I haven't been able to scan the chief negotiator since we arrived. How are you sure that she's there?"

"I've spent a lot of time working out how Negotiators think. I don't know if they're actually clones or not, but they all do the same sort of thing in situations like this." We pass through the dampening field and he fades from view as his exo-mantle's stealth systems activate. I follow his lead and activate my armour's phasing and invisibility systems. "Right now, she's in the Principal Building trying to assure the government of the Reach's commitment to their.. relationship." He lifts off to fly over the capital and I follow on behind him. "There'll probably be a joint public statement as soon as his boss has told him that a new ship is on the way. You showing up has probably delayed that, because they don't want to risk it if the Guardians are doing something."

"So why are we going there the slow way?"

"Because if they think there's a Lantern around, they wouldn't go anywhere without every bit of Lantern-disrupting technology they can get together. You know what happens when you Lantern-FTL into-?"

"Yes, I do."

I see the clear dome of the Grand Assembly auditorium ahead of us. In theory, Urrigen's government is supposed to be open and transparent. As such, they meet and debate in a chamber that can be viewed from the outside. In practice, the growth in central government function during the post-unification era means that the citizenry only see the top of the dome poking out from the surrounding office complexes.

Obvious metaphor is obvious.

Looks like the Assembly is in session… Phil starts to lose altitude, heading for the near side of the dome. I accelerate, flying over the apex and turning, dropping down until I'm precisely opposite him. I remove one of the Darkstar's teleport jammers from my left leg. Clever little multiphasic thing; I can attach it to a structure without coming back into phase and rendering myself detectable.

"Done."

A new party begins filtering into the auditorium, various aides and… The Convenor, with the Negotiator not far behind. And a small squad of Reach soldiers not far behind her. The assembled representatives quieten down and rise to their feet as the two of them approach the podium.

"Ready?"

I fly upwards once again, extending my arms towards the dome.

"I think so."

Hooray for terrorism.

"Enter on four. One-two-"

There's a flare as his breaching charge activates, cutting a hole in the dome and allowing him entry. A maser shot hits a Reach soldier in the neck and another slices off the Negotiator's right forearm.

"-three-"

A third shot hits a Reach soldier's gun just as he brings it to bear, causing an explosion which sends him flying backwards with his chest burned to a crisp. Another soldier deploys a force field barrier while a fourth tries to run to the Negotiator. Phil drops his stealth and increases power to his masers, both hands coming together to generate a shot powerful enough to burn through the braver soldier's chest plate. He falls to the ground, shuddering in pain.

"-four."

I come back into phase, giant construct talons pulling at the dome even as I grab control of the broadcast systems to prevent them cutting the feed. Huge chunks of bombproof material fly away as the dome fails before my attack, and I toss it behind me as I float inward and release the Praexis Demons. Assembly security storm inside only to be forced to duck and hide as my horde makes its attack runs. They're under strict instructions not to eat anything that isn't Reach, but they can actually deliver quite precise bite wounds.

Phil storms up to the Reach soldier behind the force field, using it to partially cover his approach. As the soldier comes out to take a shot he accelerates, drawing a long blue-glowing knife. He takes a shot to his force field and stabs, blade passing easily through the soldier's own defences. The soldier falls back and starts collapsing, so Phil grabs hold and slashes his blade through his foe's chest before tossing him back and turning to face the horrified Convenor.

"I got the floor?"

16th July
15:43 GMT

The Reach Negotiator tries to covertly reach under her robes and activate her emergency teleporter, freezing as she realises that it's inoperative. Another button press gives her emergency anaesthetic, causing her to gasp with relief.

The Convenor makes a vague twisting motion with his right hand. "Security, stand down."

"Aw, really?" Phil grins and heads towards the Convenor's podium. "You sure? I'll spot you my masers?"

"What do you want, terrorist?"

I drop my own invisibility and hold out my hands, projecting a construct image of an Urrigenian brain.

"No one?" Phil looks around hopefully for a moment, then sheathes his sword. "Alright, fine. Business it is. My orange friend up there is showing a picture of your brains." I generate a second image. "And this is your brain on Reach neurotech. Please pay careful attention to that bit near the front." I switch to a cutaway image which more clearly indicates the issue. "A lot of people in your military… And more than a few of your representatives in here have had this done. Improved short term memory and spatial awareness… And an inclination to be subservient to their Reach masters." He reaches the podium, kicking the body of a Reach soldier out of the way as he does so.

"Fortunately for all of you, we Darkstars know a Reach plot when we see it. We know everyone who's had this done and we know how to reverse it." There's a ping inside my armour. Our colleagues have hit the Reach planetside command centre. "And we also have recordings proving that the Reach violated what your government told you was their deal and used their military forces -including a Scarab Warrior- on your planet." He slouches against the podium. "Not to labour the point, but they've done everything we told you they would when we first got in contact eight years ago. We're releasing all of this onto your planet's communications network now. Check what I've said. Check our evidence. Ask your representatives why they've spent eight years lying to you."

He looks up at me. "Orange!"

I extend my right hand to my right, one representative glowing orange. A cut away image of his brain appears just above him. Clean. Another is highlighted, his brain showing the characteristics of Reach modification. I purge them and he collapses bonelessly into his chair. I know from the pilots that he'll be fine once his brain has had a few minutes to adjust. And the next…

As the assembled representatives see their colleague collapse there's a concerted charge for the exit. Phil shakes his head as I have the Hellwraith manifest between them and the doorway, then create an orange barrier just behind that.

The ground rumbles as I continue to work my way around the representatives, flashes of {yellow}fear{/} from those who know they're on my target list matched by the {blue}relief{/} of those whom I pass over. One or two of the more intelligent ones are no doubt noticing that I'm not just striking down those in favour of more cooperation with the Reach… Or maybe that won't be evident until they've had time to review events.

"And that was the Reach trade mission. Hey, guess what?" He turns to the Negotiator. "That makes you the last Reachian left alive on the planet."

"We are a peaceful.. trading empire." She does her best to scowl, but her species don't have the most expressive faces and the drugs in her system are making it even harder. "We're trying to help this world advance. To meet its full potential."

"Just like all of the other places you wiped out. We'll be including them in the data packet too."

"No one will trust your word. You are a murderous thug."

"No." Phil raises his right arm and points it at her head. "I'm not a thug. I'm a soldier. I've got a cause and I've got discipline."

There's a hiss from his maser, then her body collapses as her head evaporates.

He watches her body for a moment as I continue to purge Reach technology from government officials. "Damn. I thought she might have some kind of super mode or something."

"She was a peaceful diplomatic envoy!" The Convenor finally recovers his voice. "You have no idea what you've done to our world by killing her!"

Phil turns back to him, a slightly saddened look on his face. "And you actually believe that, don't you?" He looks up towards me. "You nearly done?"

"I think so." Done, done, done, and a last beam illuminates the Convenor himself.

Nothing.

His brain is unmodified.

He looks up at me as I come in to land. "{red}Surprised{/}?"

"Regrettably, no. Still, I would like to hear why you sold out your world."

"Sold out…" He shakes his head. "I read your files when you people first arrived. You know full well that no world has ever successfully resisted the Reach. I knew that they would take us, one way or another. So I decided to help them conquer us with the least resistance in the hope that they would leave us to manage our own affairs under their dominion. I know from your own records that there are worlds that are permitted that much freedom."

"Yeah." Phil nods. "Until the Reach decide to take it away and their minds are too altered to think of resisting."

"{red}And how many worlds have bled and died and been abandoned by your Darkstars{/}?! {red}How many knew they were lost the moment they started fighting{/}?!"

"Every. Single. One." Phil looks contemplative. "Sometimes the Darkstars die with them, sometimes they fall back to fight again. We've resettled billions away from Reach space, but those places who wanted to fight to the last, they all knew what it would mean. They prepare, they train… Then… Someone in their government gets controlled or turns traitor and the next thing you know there's a whole fleet in orbit because apparently that's enough to make it Reach territory. Then they die, probably killed by expendable soldiers from other slave species. I've seen it happen three times and I admire the people who did it more than I can articulate. But… You?"

Another hiss, and another headless body hits the floor.

"You sicken me."

He floats up into the air, force field shimmering. "Alright! You all know what we've done and why. If any of you escape being killed by your own citizens, get in touch."

I pull in the Hellwraith and the Praexis Demons, following him up and through the hole in the dome. Police attack drones have formed a perimeter, but we both go into stealth mode far too quickly to get a weapons lock. Then we're both heading up, up and away, aiming for a point far above the city.

"I thought that went well."

"I bow to your superior experience. What happens now?"

"Not sure. Depends on their government. A planet that keeps its head can stay free of the Reach for hundreds of years."

"You really evacuate worlds? There wasn't anything about that in the Guardians' database."

"The Controllers can reshape worlds. It's not easy for them and it's not quick, but… Yeah. We can. We get about half of our recruits from those worlds. Threllian comes from there. The Reach butchered most of his people to use their brains as computers."

"Oh."

"If they weren't evil, I wouldn't be fighting them. Alright." He comes to a halt. "I'm staying on-planet, but Ferrin and Rayyana are taking our cruiser back to Maltus. They can introduce you to our bosses."

There's a ping inside my helmet as I receive the coordinates of the ship.

"Thank you."

"Any chance of the rest of us getting rings like yours? I know it's probably a big deal, but one or two-."

"Phil. I intend to do everything I can to ensure that the Darkstars get as many rings as they can handle."

17th July
03:06 GMT

The thing about not being a Lantern is that you're limited to the speed your ship's drive can manage. And when your ship is designed more for stealth than speed -and when there's a good chance that the Reach are sending ships after you because shooting criminals isn't covered by their treaty with the Guardians- it can take a good deal longer than I'm accustomed to in order to get anywhere. Having my awareness of the universe external to the ship blocked by those same stealth systems is also a little unnerving, but… Well. That's what most people deal with when travelling.

I exhale slowly as I sit on the floor in one of the ship's empty cabins, hands palm upwards on my knees with a ring floating above each one.

Finally, after over a year, I'm going to meet the Controllers.

This is either going to be a start of something magnificent or a complete car crash.

I mean, I sent them a Guardian ship with a request for a meeting. I'm having a hard time believing that they couldn't send a single person to Earth to say hello. I mean, there are only nine Guardians left and they still managed to send Appa Ali Apsa to spend a couple of weeks just.. driving around America with Lantern Jordan and Mister Queen. There's no way them ignoring me isn't supposed to be sending some sort of message. I just don't know-.

There's a chime from the door. "Orange Lantern, we've arrived in the Sto-Maltus system."

"Thank you for letting me know, Operative Rayyana."

"May I come in for a moment?"

"If Operative Ferrin can spare you, by all means."

The blue metal of the doorway.. vanishes, Operative Rayyana standing behind the space it occupied. Standard pattern humanoid female with skin that's a sort of.. pale orange, a black strip tattooed across her nose and cheeks. With her exo-mantle thoroughly wrecked by the same shot that nearly killed her she's wearing a partially armoured spacesuit decorated in Darkstar colours. Her eyes take in the room and then drop to me with an expression of mild embarrassment. "I'm not.. interrupting you, am I?"

"Oh, no. I completed the essential part of my meditations hours ago." Rings still floating over my palms I rise to my feet. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I wanted to thank you in person for healing me."

"You're welcome."

She looks away from me, the slight movement of her fingers where they rest against her thighs betraying her discomfort. "I should have said something sooner, but with the rush to get everything together, then you closeted yourself in here…"

"It's not a problem."

Her eyes move to the rings. "I've never seen a Green Lantern do that before."

"Most don't learn remote ring control beyond what they need to call their ring to their finger from a few metres away. I used to find dimming the orange light's influence on my mind… Helpful. Now it's more a habit." I close my hands around them. "How long will it take us to reach the planet?"

"Only a few minutes. Since we don't have to worry about the Reach here they're going to reach out and grab us."

I frown. "Reach out and grab-?"

The ship shudders and oh that's weird.

Operative Rayyana nods. "Like that. No one gets to use FTL inside the system, but our bosses don't want to wait for us to report in."

I nod and walk slowly towards the exit, Operative Rayyana stepping back to allow me into the corridor. "Where will you be going?"

"We'll submit our report and recommendation to Regional Administrator Sleer Prigatz. He's the officer responsible for the part of the Reach periphery where we work. It'll be his job to decide how to prevent the Reach coming back."

I nod. "That's-. Oh, ah, which way to the nearest airlock?"

"This way." She gestures with her right hand. "I'll show you."

"Thank you."

"He'll probably want to meet you. If you're planning on sticking around there are plenty of places that could use someone who can fight Scarab Warriors."

"You can't?"

"Standard protocol for encounters with Scarab Warriors is to run and hide. We just don't have the raw power to fight them. When we can't do that… A squad of maxim-suits attacking from ambush can take one down if they catch them alone, but… It wouldn't be a sure thing."

I nod as we walk down the corridor. "Maxim-suits?"

"Like Tarant wears. They're the heavy combat variety. The rest of us are optimised for other things. Exo-mantles… I could fight a whole army from my homeworld wearing mine. The Reach just make better systems for their Scarab Warriors."

"Will you be reporting to the Controllers at any point?"

"If they ask for us. But I doubt they will. I've been a Darkstar for nine years and I haven't even seen one up close before. The only Darkstar who regularly speaks to them is the Director, Huvah Jeddigar. If you can wait a few days, he should be able to arrange an meeting."

"There are Controllers on planet now?"

"I… Think so? I don't really think about them too much." We come to a halt next to an airlock and she calls up a holoscreen. "Welcome to Maltus."

First good look at the place I've had. Huge, hive-like cities appear dotted across the continent below us. At the periphery they cut off suddenly, the area outside of them being what looks like pristine nature. In other places settlements in a strange mishmash of styles are visible.

"Population, twenty billion."

What? "There are that many Controllers? I assumed that they'd be like the Guardians, only a few of them."

"No, most of that's…" She hesitates. "Clickers."

"Clickers?"

"Their actual name is more like.. 'click, click-click, scrape click', but since most of us can't make that sound we just call them Clickers and have our translators worry about it. They're a pseudo-insectoid race that the Controllers… Indentured, in exchange for helping them alter their physiology. The other places are inhabited by Darkstars and our support personnel, and refugees. Not all Maltusians are Controllers. The Controllers only have about thirty or so members, and there are hundreds of other Maltusians all doing their own thing." She expands one of the mixed-design cities, focusing the holographic display on one particular building. "This is the Darkstar headquarters, where we'll be heading."

"And the Controllers?"

She moves the image to focus on a.. fairly nondescript building made out of what looks like red stone. "Here. This is where they spend their time when they're not busy with something else. I assume they live there, as much as they live anywhere."

"Thank you. Would you mind terribly letting me off here, then? I think I can probably get their attention and I do rather need to speak to them as soon as possible."

17th July
03:11 GMT

"You want..?" She glances at the airlock door and then back at me. "The Controllers are ancient, powerful and from what I've heard not the easiest people to get along with. Do you really think just turning up is the right approach?"

"I've got a creature more ancient and powerful than them inside my personal lantern. I want to establish a very particular dynamic in my relationship with the Controllers and… We have a saying on my world: start as you mean to go on." I fully focus on her, eyes glowing orange. "Why is it that you work for them?"

"My people's homeworld was taken over by the Reach centuries ago. The descendants of the refugees they helped get away live on a world they made for us. I owe them, and I {red}owe{/} the Reach."

"I don't owe them anything, as far as I know. I want to suggest something… Help them do something that's far more in their interests than mine. I'm not approaching them as a supplicant."

"I don't know what you could offer people who can build planets-."

"A Central Power Battery. An object that would let them stand as equals of their Guardian cousins. Not to-."

"{blue}More Lanterns{/}! The exo-mantle's powerful, but it's nothing compared to a power ring!"

"Just so. So I'm going to be a little pushy." Rings settling on my ring fingers I wave my right forefinger at the airlock door. "So, would you mind?"

She nods and starts pressing buttons. "I'll let the defence systems know that you're coming."

I smile. "Appreciated. Being shot would rather put a dampener on things."

The inner door fades to nothing and I step through. Hm. What else could I do to make my point..? Ah, of course. My armour and robes vanish into subspace, the cloth which emerges to replace them pulling itself tight around me to create a uniform obviously designed to match what the Green Lanterns wear. A bright orange patch front and back, a little like a female one piece swimming costume. Dark grey for the arms and legs, then orange boots and… White gloves, I think. And… Okay, and a tiny mask. I'm labouring a point, not dressing in a way that makes any sense at all.

I open and close my hands, getting used to the pull of the fabric. I look like a… A superhero. Oh well, it had to happen eventually. At least there's next to no chance of me seeing combat around here.

"Good luck!"

"Thank you." The door behind me fades back into existence, then the atmosphere begins being sucked out. I float off the ground, drifting towards the outer door. So close. I hold out my right hand and call my personal lantern out of subspace, taking a firm grip on its handle. Having the lantern on hand should further reinforce the parallel.

You ready in there, Ophidian?

{orange}We will get many you now? And then squash the Gnat?{/}

I like to think that it will take you a little while to find someone as good as-

{orange}You will always be my favourite.{/}

-me… Um, thank you. It will probably still be a little while before there are any other Orange Lanterns, but dealing with Larfleeze should probably happen a little sooner. Hopefully days at most.

{orange}I will be patient.{/}

You should also remember that-

The outer door fades away, giving me a clear view of the planet below. Sto-Maltus is shining brightly today, making the greys and pale browns of the inhabited areas blend into the surrounding countryside. At night I imagine that the density of inhabitation means that the cities are brightly illuminated while the other areas are pitch black.

-the people we're going to meet are the Guardians' cousins. They'll probably look fairly similar to you.

{orange}They will be mine?{/}

In the sense that they'll be working to establish the Orange Lantern Corps, I hope so. Please don't try eating them.

{orange}I will not eat them.{/}

Okay then.

I float out of the ship, immediately altering my velocity relative to the ship so that it pulls away. Right, mapping? Orange lines appear in my vision, marking out cities, busy areas of sky and my eventual destination. I begin flying towards the planet… Nah.

Ophidian.

{orange}Yes, my Agent?{/}

Out you come.

{orange}Yes, my Agent! The Green Cousins will quake at my magnificence!{/}

The core of my lantern erupts with orange light as the Ophidian pulls herself outward and into the material universe. She starts small, her head easily fitting through the aperture as she undulates into space. The ring starts sending me 'weapon lock detected' messages immediately… But if they had anything that could stop an Embodiment I doubt that the Reach would be giving them such trouble. The Ophidian continues to grow as she pulls more and more body free. Her head is now as wide as my shoulders and her body is now broad enough that it can't come directly out of my lantern. Rather, it emerges from the orange glow just in front of the core.

The Ophidian coils upwards into the space 'above' me, her face constantly pointing towards the planet. It is a fascinating sight when looked upon with empathic vision; more dots than I can casually count paired with areas where the colours just cut out. I'm not surprised that the Controllers have ways of blocking it. In fact, it's reassuring that they haven't abandoned emotional spectrum technology completely. That means that it's a virtual certainty that they can make rings. I wasn't significantly worried about that, but it's nice to know that I don't need to.

My lantern has one last blast of orange light as the Ophidian pulls the tip of her tail free, then drops down to its usual levels of illumination. Doesn't.. look.. any the worse for wear. Good. I tighten my hold and accelerate upwards, generating a construct saddle just behind the Ophidian's head.

{orange}"You wish to ride me, my Agent?"

"{/}It would probably make a stronger impression."

She bends, her head descending underneath me. Then she stops. {orange}"Let them never forget our arrival."

"{/}Tally-ho, then."

The planet's surface wheels past as she dips her head again, then we're shooting forwards in a way which would have utterly terrified me a little over a year ago. The Ophidian wants to go somewhere and we're going there. It takes seconds before the atmosphere is being shoved aside by a faintly glowing orange barrier, then a handful more for the closer two hive cities to shoot by as we head towards our destination. More weapon locks every second and I'm fairly confident that the Ophidian doesn't have my scry immunity. I can see our target growing larger ahead and the Ophidian dips again, aiming herself between the largest rows of buildings. The Controllers' building is in the exact centre of the city now flashing past us, showing that they haven't completely abandoned the Guardians' ideas on order and structure.

We're moving too fast for my eyes to really pick up on individual things. The air cars are clearing the skies, but the Ophidian casually flows around any that haven't got the message. I see… Oh, those are the click click-click scrape clicks. They look a bit like armoured caterpillars, their forelegs and mandibles acting as manipulator appendages. Interesting.

Up ahead I see our ultimate destination, and… A single individual stands before the front entrance, arms folded behind his back. I'm assuming his based on the lack of breasts; my scan isn't showing me a thing. His robes are blue and red and show a courageous amount of thigh. His eyes seem to be blank white spaces while the glow from the talisman around his neck is matched by the glow from the centre of his forehead.

Finally. A Controller.

17th July
03:14 GMT

The Ophidian slows, turning aside to fly into the space around the Controllers' building. As my saddle passes the point closest to the main entrance I unclamp myself and leap free, descending in a controlled manner towards the bottom of the steps leading up to it. The Controller's face is inscrutable, motionless but for the oscillation of the light coming from the dot on his forehead. I land lightly, keeping my eyes on the Controller as I begin walking up the steps.

What other traffic is in the area has come to a halt or is frantically pulling back in order to get out of the Ophidian's way. Having already completed a circuit of the building her head pulls upwards slightly for another circuit. Still no reaction from the Controller and no sign of any others. This isn't a sensible way to behave. If they think I'm a threat there should be more of them than this. If they've accepted my version of events they should have been a good deal friendlier.

On the other hand, these are the Guardians' cousins.

I reach the broad plaza before the entrance, the Controller about twelve metres away from me. Three steps later I stop, holding his gaze. Then I look upwards and slowly turn around, taking in our environment. The people of various species pressed to the overlooking windows or staring down from their air cars. Mostly -ugh- Clickers, but dozens of other species as well. Including a small group of three bald mauve-skinned humanoids with scalp tattoos. Unaligned Maltusians. Interesting.

I complete my circuit and return my gaze to the Controller. Then I bow my head and genuflect.

"Orange Lantern Two Eight One Four reporting for duty, sir."

The sense of yellow I'd been getting from our audience noticeably dips. Ring-based facial analysis -of the humanoids anyway- suggests curiosity and wonder. Perhaps they think the Controllers were expecting me? At least I don't appear to be seeking a fight.

…

How long is he going to-?

"Come."

There's a faint rustle from his robes as he turns, floating just above the ground. That's it? 'Come'? Well. Alright then. I come to my feet and raise my lantern high with my left hand.

"Ophidian. Return.{orange}"

"Yes, my Agent."{/}

She twists in the air, shrinking as she comes closer. The Controller slows in his passage, turning his head slightly to catch a glimpse of the Embodiment of Avarice flying back into my personal lantern.

No, he's not looking at the lantern. The lack of pupils makes it hard to tell-.

He looks away again.

My lantern flickers as the Ophidian completes her entry, some of the air cars around us resuming their journeys. Most seem content to watch me follow my nominal superior inside the Controllers' building. Through the entrance and… From this side there isn't a door. Very nice.

"I was hoping for a little more than a 'come'. You did get the ship I-."

"It was the property of the Guardians of the Universe. I assume that the wooden boxes were part of your species' funerary traditions."

"Yes. I didn't know anything-" He continues moving, floating up a slight of stairs towards a doorway on the first floor. "-about yours. It didn't seem inappropriate."

"We are above casual offence. Only a deliberate insult would be received as such."

"You got the Burning Martian?"

He stops. "A fascinating specimen."

"Would you like to add anything to that?"

"We had already parted ways with our Guardian brothers when those events occurred. Your missive implied that you were interested in undoing the damage to their planet. This may be possible."

"Good, because I was-" He starts moving away again. "-hoping to-" I try flying directly after him. And I can't, I just stop when I get a certain distance from the floor. Inwardly rolling my eyes I fly towards the stairs and try catching up. "-establish a working relationship. I'd like your advice on recovering the Orange Central Power Battery from-" He moves through a doorway and turns a corner. "-Larfleeze and will you please stop and listen?"

"You are not reporting to me."

"No, but I'm trying to? Did you not-" I turn the corner and he's a little way ahead. "-read the rest of my message? I want to establish a Lantern Corps to fight the Reach."

"That is not how we conduct our affairs. You are not my direct concern. You are the concern of one of my sisters. Approaching you without her would have been inappropriate."

"Okay, so, why didn't she come and talk to me?"

"Physical incapacity."

I'm right behind him as he turns through another doorway, leading us to… Some sort of high technology laboratory. I don't have any record of what most of this stuff does but the ring's picking up about seven different sorts of exotic energy-.

That I do know. That's a bleed portal generator. Those are pretty darn uncommon. Usually the aim is to get through the Bleed, not get into it directly.

Further in I see a bier… No, a medical station of some kind. Another Controller lies upon it, motionless. She's also wearing blue and red, not robes but simple trousers and pullover. Thin white hair is bound in a tight bun. There are screens around the bier, and I walk past the first Controller to get a better look.

"Can you read it?"

I nod. "Hinon Hee Hannanan. Controller. Researcher. Forger of.. rings..." Oh. My eyes widening, I hold up my left hand slightly. "She made this ring."

"Yes. Doing so without the Orange Central Power Battery undid her connection to the orange light. She has remained in this state ever since."

"How long-?"

"Long enough. If we are to work together, we will do so through her. She forged the ring you now wear as a sign of her hope in the future. She believed that a bearer would appear, and so you have. Restore her."

"And if I can't?"

"Then you are not worth our time."

Okay… I walk over to stand right next to her. If she's lost her connection to the orange light, clearly what she needs is a replacement. I look down at the ring she made for.. someone. Maybe, but I'm really rather attached to it.

"Original ring? Stewart ring? Separate file and charge reserve.{orange}"

"Compliance."{/} / {orange}"Task complete."

"{/}Stewart ring, blank database. Original ring, copy all files you had before I woke up in space onto the Stewart ring.{orange}"

"Task complete."{/} / {orange}"Compliance."{/}

I put my lantern down on the floor and pull the Stewart ring from my right ring finger. Fingers crossed. Gently as I can I take hold of her left hand and lift it from the bier, then slide the Stewart ring onto her middle finger before laying it back down.

A wave of orange light passes through her, her eyes slowly opening to take in my face.

She blinks, then tries {orange}focusing{/} again.

Then she sees me.

Her face remains neutral as she considers me for a moment.

"You shall have to do."

17th July
03:19 GMT

"I'll do? I think I'll do rather better than-."

"What happened to the database?"

"W-? I deleted it."

Her body shimmers as she pushes herself into a sitting position. I {indigo}offer her my now-ringless right hand{/} but she ignores it in favour of staring at the ring I just gave her.

"Whatever for?"

"I didn't know why you were unconscious and I don't know enough about Controllers to be sure what would happen when I put that ring on you. I thought that only having the data-"

"This isn't the ring I made." She frowns at me. "Where did you get it?"

"I had to disarm a Green Lantern who was being mind controlled. He didn't want it back afterwards."

"Green… Lantern..? Oh, they finally got around to upgunning those Halla people." She looks past me to the other Controller. "Who are you?"

I frown. "Halla peop-? They discontinued the Halla three bill-."

"Ah-t!" She gives me a stern look. "Wait your turn." She points at the other Controller with her right forefinger. "You. Speak."

"We no longer commonly use names."

"Oh, that nonsense. I've no idea what Kontross was thinking. And… Robes." Another shimmer and outer robes matching the male's garments appear around her, though she keeps her simpler clothes underneath. "What did you used to be called?"

"Jevek Jos Jar."

"Oh! I remember you now." She leans a little closer. "I do hope that face isn't standard issue. I had enough of that when I was a Guardian."

"If you are comfortable with your present form, you are welcome to maintain it. The Gathering will wish to acknowledge your accomplishment when you have finished interrogating your test subject. I will leave you until then."

He turns away and drifts back towards the doorway… Which disappears once he has moved through it.

"And you." She eases herself off the bier and stands on the floor. "Why did you give me this purloined ring instead of my original one?"

"Because I've gotten rather fond of it."

"Hmmm."

"Do you want it back?"

She turns away and starts walking towards a piece of machinery whose function I.. have.. no idea how to discern. "No. You can keep it. {orange}It's yours{/}."

{orange}Propriety unlocked.{/}

My ring flickers for a moment, then stills. Um. Okay?

"Thank..? You..? Okay… Mister Jar said that you made this ring-" She begins checking the device over. "-using your own orange light because you didn't have access to the Orange Central Power Battery-."

"Partially correct. I thought that the risk associated with sustaining my consciousness without it was too great to make the attempt."

"Okay, and that's a Bleed portal… Did you just throw it in and hope for the best?"

"Not quite, but that's not far from the truth. Where are you from?"

"Earth… Prime."

"And whereabouts is that?"

"The unfashionable end of the Western Spiral Arm. In a parallel universe."

"Ah. I wasn't sure that would happen. Which one?"

"Prime…"

She looks around from the thing she's working on. "Using standard notation?"

"That's… The only name I've ever heard used for it."

"And no one had it before you?"

"If they did, I don't have any record of them. You didn't send it to me?"

"I cast it into the void. I did so on the basis that it had to eventually come out somewhere and as I am immortal I would live to see it. I wouldn't have been able to aim it anywhere even if I wanted to."

I sag slightly. "Darn."

"Concerned that you're not quite so special?"

"I've been unable to contact my home plane for a year. I was hoping that you'd be able to guide me back. At least… Temporarily."

"Not immediately, but I can put it on the slate for you. Now, come over here."

"Why?"

"Because I haven't seen many examples of people exposed to the orange light before. A handful of thieves and Krona aren't really-."

"Krona!?"

"Oh." She smiles. "Have you met him? We worked together on the power ring project."

"He used time travel technology to try and view the alpha event, saw a giant hand and somehow fucked up the universe's development. The Guardians stripped him of corporeality, but he still manages to make a nuisance of himself."

"Ugh, there's always one. Though, in retrospect, that makes his interest in orange in particular make a good deal more sense." She picks up the device. "Now, hold still."

"What does that do?"

"Since you still haven't given me a database I'm going to have to work out how you're staying so stable manually. It shouldn't hurt, but if it does-."

A construct yanks it out of her hands at the same time as I flick an orange data packet towards her ring. "Here! Just ask!"

She blinks, tiny {orange}flickers of orange{/} flashing across her eyes. "Then how would I confirm that you still had the ability to give people things? I saw the recordings made by the Guardians who confronted the ones who stole the Orange Light Fountain. Clearly they had been overwhelmed. You -on the other hand- haven't tried to take anything or to turn me into a construct. And I've been needling you in case your control was fragile."

"It's not about control. It's about achieving unity with your desires and-."

"Yes. 'Enlightenment' you call it. What fascinating soul structures your species must have. And you don't have any trouble with it at all?"

"I have the Ophidian in my personal lantern!"

She smiles. "Good show. Now, why are you here?"

17th July
03:23 GMT

"The Guardians have -at various times- reached the conclusion that there are groups whom… It's not that the Green Lantern Corps couldn't beat them. In most cases. It's that the casualties they'd take doing it and the devastation that would be unleashed are such that… They decide it isn't a good idea to take things that far. One such group are the Reach. As long as they capture systems through negotiation the Guardians won't stop them."

"You have a problem with that?"

"When the definition of 'negotiation' can be stretched to include drugging the planet's population so that they believe everything you say and when accession eventually results in the subjugated species being broken up for parts, yes."

"Oh dear. That wasn't a clever contract."

"I'm too far away from the time to judge it properly. In any case, the Controllers -via the medium of their Darkstar agents- are contesting the Reach's expansion. I think they could do better if they had a Lantern Corps to use either instead of or as well as."

"More to the point, we ourselves would be more powerful. But I'm not hearing why that matters to you."

"I have certain beliefs about the way the universe should operate."

"We've all got those. You still aren't-." Her eyes widen.

"What?"

"Nine. Only nine of them left."

"The.. Guardians? Yes."

"When we parted company there were thirty three. Even after the Manhunters did their level best to kill us." She winces, her right hand going to her forehead. "I should have.. realised that some of my old colleagues would have been killed. It simply shocks me that it's been so many."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

She lowers her hand. "You didn't know them well enough to be saddened by it." She twitches in irritation. "And they're all names and faces I recognise, they haven't recruited at all. Or had babies. Foolish."

"And that's one of the reasons why it's so important to put you on an equal footing. As peers, you could call them out on their follies. I tried asking my local Green Lanterns about what they would do if the last of the Guardians died and they couldn't come up with an answer."

"Yes, we're a stubborn people. But I think Ganthet at least would listen to me. What's in it for you?"

"Self-actualisation. I used a-."

"Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Interesting concept, though I don't think it's accurate. Not for all species, at least."

"I used it as a tool. Early on, structuring my desires helped me cope with the orange light. The point is, having dealt with most of the basic things, I'm left with… Altering the universe to be more pleasing to me. The fact that places like the Reach exist does not please me. They destroy the sorts of things I value existing, affront ideals I hold to be true. And if what a few time travellers have told me is accurate, they'll be coming for my homeworld… Ah, Earth Sixteen-"

"You can use standard notation!"

"-is due to be invaded by them at… Some point. I like my homeworld. My friends live there. I keep my stuff there and we're doing some really interesting arcanotechnological research and development… I've invested in the place and I'm not having someone mess it up for me."

"You want to deal with them while they're someone else's problem because they'll eventually become yours."

"You could put it like that. I doubt that the species about to be overrun by the Reach will be all that fussed. Look, I thought I made a pretty good guess about what the Controllers would want out of this. Given that you can see how mentally stable I am I really don't understand why we're still discussing this."

"Because putting you on the back foot is advantageous to me."

I blink, my mouth opening slightly and then closing again. "Thank you for letting me know. "

"And I'm interested in the sort of person the ring I created found. I'll have a look, later. See if I can track down that 'Earth Prime' of yours."

"You see? A convergence of interests. We both want things and the other can supply them. This is how a properly composed Orange Lantern Corps should work."

She tilts her head slightly to the side. "You don't have the Orange Light Fountain yet. It's a little premature to speak as if this is a done deal. There were reasons why the Guardians were reluctant to press Larfleeze after he killed Ogandu Onna Oslan."

"Which is why I'm talking to you rather than just taking it from him." I frown. "And why are you calling it a Light Fountain?"

"Haven't you noticed how much smaller it is than the Green Central Power Battery? According to the database you acquired the Green Central Power Battery is fifteen metres tall. The device Larfleeze clasps to his bosom is little larger than a normal personal lantern. Did you think all that extra mass was decoration?"

"I… Hadn't really thought about it."

"The green light was… Least complicated. It did as we willed it. Even the Manhunters could use it without experiencing further.. disruption to their systems. And their emotional range was extremely limited." She turns away, heading towards another piece of equipment. "Our studies in harnessing the orange light were far less advanced. It certainly wasn't ready for… Ring application."

"What do the extra mechanisms do?"

"Oh, thousands of things. Stopping the power constantly radiating outwards, for a start. I see that Larfleeze has had some interesting… Visitors, over the millennia? We could also make the flow of power a little less… Corrosive to the minds of its users. Not.. completely. We focused our efforts on the green-" She reaches the device and waves at it, a shimmer passing through its numerous spines. "-light for good reasons."

I remember Richard and Jade's reactions. "That would be helpful. Would it help Larfleeze?"

"Would it-?" She turns to me with a frown. "Help. Larfleeze?"

"Would it?"

She blinks. "An immortal marinated on the orange light for three billion years with only his own madness for company?" Her face relaxes slightly. "It would make a fascinating case study, but I honestly have no idea. Perhaps…" She strokes her chin with her right hand. "If we created a shielded environment and weaned him off it…"

I take a neural chaff generator out of subspace and float it over to her. "I was thinking… If we used something like this? Interfered with his mind so he couldn't use his power, then stuck the Battery-. Ah, Fountain, in something that blocked it off..?"

The chaff generator shimmers and disappears, reappearing in front of her. "Hm. No, this wouldn't work on his brain. Not anymore. Still, it's not a bad approach. Assuming you don't want to try wresting it from his cold dead hands..?"

"Knowing his life story, {indigo}I just feel sorry for him{/}. If I had to kill him I'd do it. He's too much of a menace to leave as he is, regardless of other considerations. But if taking him alive is a possibility…"

Another shimmer, and the chaff generator opens up in an exploded view.

"What a fascinating device…"

"So..? Is this something we can work on together..?"

"Perhaps. I'm certainly interested. Tell me how you see our working relationship developing in future."

17th July
03:27 GMT

"What, you and me?"

"I was rather thinking of you and the Lantern Corps you're intent on gifting us with. But yes, I rather imagine that I'll be taking a lead from the Controller side." She looks at me curiously. "Do you know why?"

"Social cachet from your gamble actually paying off. I'd…" I look away for a second as I consider it. "You're a post-scarcity society. You have been for virtually all of your history."

"No, there's always a scarcity of something."

"Not food, shelter or consumer goods. Not the things most species -even quite advanced ones- think of when they hear the term. Why are there so few of you?"

"We intentionally limited our expansion so that we wouldn't overrun the universe. Something that was well within our abilities. We stopped breeding voluntarily to give the rest of you a chance."

"So… You value… What? Influence? Creativity?"

"Influence, mostly. As a species… We never really got fiction." Her face creases up. "I don't know why. Heru once suggested that it was because we'd never needed myths to explain things… That seemed a bit 'neat' to me, but he might have been on to something."

"Power rings -and my orange one in particular- are your development. Which means that you've earned the right to.. control how this happens."

"Well done. Six out of seven."

"And out of nine?"

She narrows her eyes slightly. "You know about those, do you?"

"Three guesses where the Guardians put the-" I make the 'seven-lines-radiating-outwards' sign with my fingers. "-for safe keeping. And which has at least one person capable of tapping into the black?"

She sighs in frustration. "What a fascinating planet you come from."

"Live on. I come from the Prime version, remember?"

She waves it off and returns her attention to her equipment. "Bah, we're getting off topic. My plans for this depended a great deal on exactly who turned up. You've been planning this for a while and you know you better than I do. How do you want this to go?"

"Three other members of my species have worn orange rings. Two started exhibiting extremely unusual behaviour almost immediately. The third had a mission… I didn't have the opportunity to talk to him while he was wearing it. And the Gordanian Admiral had an attack of megalomania when he put one on. I'm concerned about how stable potential recruits will be. And I don't want Controllers handing out rings to create fire-and-forget weapons out of people who want the Reach destroyed more than they want to live."

"Not unreasonable. But there seems to be a war going on."

"I have a list of names. People I think might work well for the first batch of recruits. I would teach them my techniques myself, and be on hand to bring them down if they started going off the rails. Though from what you were saying, having a proper Central Power Battery might help with that. Perhaps… Most importantly, I've also got the name of a man whom I think could run the organisation."

"You don't want to do it, but you know a man who does."

"I think he will. I need to.. check some things. Once we've got the Central Power Battery secured. And… Once that's done, he can probably come up with a way to screen potential recruits for the right psychological characteristics better than I can."

She looks back at me for a moment. "I may possibly have something to add to that."

"Most of the species we'll be recruiting from weren't even sophonts when you were last awake. And he's going to want to know that he has control over the organisation which he's organising."

"I'm.. not.. sure.. I.. like.. where.. this is going."

"The way I see it, orange rings -and the people who use them- work best when they're doing what they want to. We won't be finding the most avaricious people we can, we'll be selecting those who want things useful to us. Someone who wants to be in charge is going to want to be in charge."

"And what do you think we Controllers are going to do? Sit around looking pretty?"

"In theory, anyone with a connection to the orange light can make new rings. But it isn't quite that easy, is it?" She gives her head a small shake. "Larfleeze has piles of rings, but they all used to be people. We'll-."

"Except for the prototype Krona and I created. The very first orange ring. Bit of a kludge job, to be honest. We never thought that we'd use it in the field."

"Does it have any special abilities?"

"No! It was a first effort! I'd be embarrassed to see it now. No AI worth talking about, no control assistance… I'm much more pleased with the one I made for you."

"In future, you'll have the other Controllers to assist you. But my point was, your hold over the Corps comes from the fact that they need you for rings and guidance as well as everything you-. Ah, the other Controllers do for the Darkstars now."

"Unless you do that. I can feel the Ophidian in your personal lantern."

"Even better! You're very useful to them, they're very useful to you, but if relations totally break down you can both survive. Weakened by the separation, until you get over yourselves and patch relations over."

"You don't want us being in total control?"

"No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Did you miss the nameplate on the door when you came in? I can't see the Guardians accepting that sort of deal with their Corps."

"Is it better for your ego to have people follow you because they have no choice, or for them to have a choice and choose to follow you? And in any case, I like to think that the Controllers still have the social skills necessary to negotiate the power arrangement."

"I wouldn't be so quick to overestimate us. We used to be Guardians, remember?"

"And then there's the Darkstars-."

"Who are used to us being in charge and will probably provide the majority of our recruits."

"I was going to say, who will need a new focus. And who don't have much direct contact with the Controllers save via their Director. They run virtually all operations themselves because that's the only practical way to do it. If the war was going to come more into the open… Well. You Controllers are capable of reshaping planets. How quickly can you build warships?"

"A good deal faster than we can now if we could replenish ourselves from a Central Power Battery." She looks pensive for a moment. "It's not a terrible idea. I'll want to talk to this Director-."

"Clarissi."

"Hah! Very well. This Clarissi candidate. Because your whole plan rather falls through if they can't hack it."

"Reasonable. Now, about Larfleeze…"

{red}17th July
03:27 GMT -5{/}

"…nice to meet a couple who are so open in their {violet}love for one another{/}."

I watch the devices Scott is waving at me as I lie back in what feels unnervingly like a dentist's chair. I've never really had much of a fear of dentists, but I used to deal with the discomfort of having them prod and poke at the interior of my mouth by going completely limp. Now, that isn't happening.

"Uh-huh."

Barda isn't the tough-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside type. She's tough the whole way through, and having Ghia'ta chirping at her about her one emotional 'indulgence' isn't doing much to improve the usually surly attitude she adopts when forced to spend any time in my presence. Still, after 'still in love with his dead wife', 'in love with a woman who'll be spending the rest of her life in a supermax prison' and… My own… I suppose it's only fair that I show her a relationship that's actually working as it's supposed to.

To be honest, I'm not totally sure where I'm going with Ghia'ta. She has the potential to be tremendously useful, particularly if my ultimate plan is going to revolve around white light manipulation. Or just generally; that staff isn't a power ring but it's only one step down, and her combat skills are notable. I wonder if she can learn to use New God-.

"Ping!"

Scott glances at his Mother Box, then back at me.

"Alright Scott, what's the news?"

"You're recovering pretty well, actually. I was pretty sceptical about your violet light infusion, but it actually looks like it's really helped."

I nod sagely. "You see-."

"Though it was still pretty stupid." He leans back against a nearby bench, folding his arms across his chest. "You should have asked me to come along and check what they were going to do. Zamarons might be ancient and wise but they don't know New Gods like I do."

"Scott, that was an act of desperation and confusion. I clearly wasn't thinking straight."

"Should the fact that your instinctive response was to dash off without the guy who spent two weeks putting you back together make me feel better? Or worse?"

"Ahhh." I dip my eyes for a moment. "You… Have a point."

"When you first greeted me as your brother, I was pretty sceptical. And Barda…" He glances at his wife, who raises her eyebrows a little. "She was fairly sceptical too."

"I thought I was growing on her, after our sparring sessions. Though I suppose that may have been the concussion."

"My point is, if you want us to have an actual family relationship… You're going to have to trust me with a few things."

"I-. I do. I'm not… Used to having family I can trust either. Not… New God family. I mean… When I was on… Earth Prime…" Can't honestly say I had a particularly close relationship with my sister, either. We didn't get on badly or anything, just… Not much in common. I nod. "Okay… You have a reasonable point."

Scott looks up a the ceiling for a moment. "That wasn't as painful as I thought it would be."

"If you're missing that Apokoliptian flavour we could beat each other with pain sticks for a while… Though even.. now I'm still quite a bit stronger than you." Barda shifts slightly, a thin smile on her lips. "Probably not… Stronger than her…"

"Let's not. Look, Zatara tells me that you've got some kind of Vampire/Succubus hybrid in your mountain."

"Yes, I picked them up on an island-."

"And you're trying to teach them how to rise above their instincts."

"Yes?"

He sighs. {trans}"To free themselves from themselves?"{/}

I flop back, my head hitting the headrest. {trans}"Ooooooh. Damn."{/} "Ah. Sorry. That… Should have occurred to me… But it didn't." Um. "Are you free now?"

He bows his head, smiling. "I can be. But in the interests of honesty-."

"The Justice League want us to spy on you." Barda nudges Ghia'ta aside as she walks closer. "They want to be sure that you're not up to something."

I roll my eyes. "Yes, Barda, getting Anti-Lifed was all part of my master plan. You might want to avoid eating any jelly babies for the next few months."

She doesn't look impressed. "They'd probably be less worried if Darkseid hadn't paid you a visit. You nearly destroyed the whole Light perfectly, then you misjudged Darkseid. What happened to you could have happened to everyone."

"What Barda means is-."

"No, she's being pretty clear." I nod. Not as if I had anything critical planned that I need to hide from the League. "Alright. A bit of fraternal bonding wouldn't go amiss. And… In the interest of deepening our relationship… There's… Something I've been planning on doing for a while for which your help would be invaluable."

Scott looks mildly interested. "Oh? What's that?"

"I destroyed Father Box for betraying me to Darkseid. Thus: I need a new Box."

"Ping!"

"Alright, if you want to be pedantic about it: I'd like a new Box."

Scott strokes his chin with his right hand. "Any Box you got from Apokolips would have the same loyalty problem as the one you stole from Desaad. And I don't think you can really afford to steal one from New Genesis."

"That would be sub-optimal anyway. What I {orange}really want{/} is {orange}a Box designed for me from the ground up{/}." I smile faintly as I look from Scott to Barda. "I understand that you're both acquainted with their creator."

"You want Himon to make-?" Scott seems to find the idea amusing. "That's not going to happen."

"Why not? I mean, I can manufacture element x, which I don't imagine is easy for him to do on Apokolips. I can.. pay him." Scott and Barda glance at each other. "Oh, come on, the guy helped the flipping Captain of the Female Furies escape Apokolips and his daughter married Orion. I somehow don't think that he'll hold Darkseid against me."

"You can't go to Apokolips." Barda appears to be taking the idea seriously. "With that much Anti-Life in you, Darkseid will know the moment you step through the hush tube."

"Then it's a good job my brother is the sneakiest New God in existence, isn't it?"

Scott nods to himself. "Grayven having a Mother Box would help with-." Barda narrows her eyes at him. "It would. A Mother Box could monitor him to make sure Darkseid wasn't influencing him. She might even be able to work out how to exorcise the Anti-Life fragment completely."

"Ping!"

"Yes, I know it's optimistic, but it's possible. Okay. We just need to get in touch with Amazing Grace and then-."

I frown. "Why would you want to do that?"

"She's a resistance organiser. Himon has to move constantly to stay ahead of Darkseid's troops, but-."

"Wait no wait.. no. Amazing Grace is a plant. Darkseid has her draw people willing to resist him to her so that he can kill them and use their deaths as an intimidation tool." Scott and Barda stare at me. "She's completely loyal to him. I.. thought you knew that."

Barda's jaw tightens. "No. We didn't."

"Well… Shit." Um. "You have to-."

Scott nods. "We'll need your hush tube. Let's go!"

18th July
21:04 GMT

"…understand that 'indenture' is one of those words that puts me on edge. Particularly given who we're fighting."

There's a sort of.. wave of motion from the upper legs of the Clicker opposite me. Comprehension/appreciation. "Were you told what they did for us?"

Hinon went into closed session with her fellow Controllers, which gave me the time to do a little sight-seeing. Then I got to try finding a hotel on a planet that doesn't have tourism, which was mildly amusing. Then I found out that Director Jeddigar wanted to talk to me, but couldn't get in touch because no one knew where I was. And I only found that out by walking through the front doors of the Darkstar headquarters.

"A little while afterwards, yes."

"Please restate as you understand?"

"Your species used to have four sexes, three involved in reproduction and.. neutral, without any significant reproductive attributes. Your reproductive genders generally lived about a third to a quarter as long as the neutrals, and represented about one hundredth of your total population."

"Greater genders also reached physical maturity faster and lost mental acuity well before their final expiration age."

I nod. My current conversational companion is the veteran Darkstar who got the job of babysitting me until the Director becomes available. Perhaps most importantly, he-. Um. Oh, let's go with 'he'. Perhaps most importantly, he also gave me a Darkstar communications device, as it turns out that most Darkstar communications occur using techniques that are rather hard to eavesdrop on with a power ring.

"Okay. And your people regarded that as perfectly normal until you started encountering aliens… Humanoid aliens, whose reproductive systems didn't work like that."

"Yes. Strange though the idea of having live young erupt from your bodily orifices must have seemed, it was realised almost immediately that not condemning our progenitors to mind-rot and premature death was far more desirable than the arrangement we had."

"It was really that quick?"

"Yes. Why would it not be?"

"Because your evolutionary history would have adapted you towards accepting the way you did things already? I mean, your genetic-. Ah, your forebears' genetic parents didn't play any part in raising them, the way you did things was necessary for continuing your species…"

"Did your species never suffer deaths during childbirth?"

"Yes, but the rate was never that high."

"And did you regard a percentage as inevitable?"

"It… Kind of is."

"But you attempt to reduce them? Things that would have killed your gestators now seldom kill them?"

"Yes, but we haven't totally reengineered our reproductive systems to do it. We don't even do pre-conception genetic screening anything like as much as we could."

He rears back slightly. "That is strange to me. What is the reason?"

"I think the feeling is that it would be claiming that people with the characteristics not selected for are… Less people than the ones with the characteristics considered desirable. I mean…" I wave my left hand in a circle, showing off my power ring. "I'd have no compunction about using it if I were having a child, but… Some events that occurred in my species' history before we understood how genetics work rather gave that sort of thing a bad name. But… Anyway, how did your people get from that to this?"

"Originally we attempted to moderate the negative effects through drugs and surgery. There was some success, but there were clear limits to what could be achieved. Later, our efforts focused around reproductive cloning. Though not ideal, cloning either adult individuals or sex cells would have removed the requirement for sexed genders. Regrettably, we were unable to develop either technique to the point where it could reliably replace the existing method."

"Then you ran into the Controllers?"

"Yes. Their agents were looking for systems with small rocky worlds and they encountered one of our smaller warrens. We asked to trade for biotechnological knowledge. Two Controllers examined our problem and offered a solution."

"In exchange for your service."

"They have no need for conventional exchange media. In exchange for a reproductive system which would not kill us, we work for them for a span of time. Virtually all warrens considered it a fair exchange."

"That…"

"Are you alarmed? Some humanoid species react with great vehemence to interference in their reproductive practices."

"If you made the decision freely… No, not really. It must be fascinating how your society has changed in the interim."

"Our forebears gave the matter some considerable thought-"

There's a chime from both of our communicators.

"-before…" I rise to my feet as he uncurls into a walking posture. "The Director is ready for you. Please follow me."

He leads the way across the wide open interior space towards the internal teleportation system. While it is perfectly possible to walk around the building, the place is large enough that it would be too time consuming for the people involved. They also don't have stairwells or stairs, ramps between different floors being the norm. Probably something to do with the Clickers being the ones to build it.

"Will you be joining us?"

Flying inside appears to be a no-no. Clicker bodies aren't flexible enough to move in the way that caterpillars do, but on an even surface they can manage to move at a reasonable speed by having each foot touch the ground every third or fourth 'step', sort of like how running Humans don't have either foot on the ground for large parts of the motion.

"No, though I am being assigned to the analytics pool who will be trying to deduce what the Reach's response to your appearance will be."

"I.. hope you have fun with that."

He circles around as I step onto the teleporter. "I might. Usually new occurrences are not in our favour. Good fortune in your discussions."

I feel a tug a little like the one I felt as the ship came in, and then the room has been replaced by an office. The Director is standing at a small console in front of a circular holopit, another Controller part of the way around the circle. This Controller is dressed similarly to Jevek Jos Jar, but his robes are slightly longer and.. he has a greater physical presence. Perhaps he works out? No, more likely he maintains it through bio-control because he has to deal with fighters on a regular basis.

Noting the symmetry I walk over to a position an equal distance from both. "Director. Controller."

Director Jeddigar's eyes scrutinise my face. "Orange Lantern. Thank you for coming to see us."

"It's only sensible. I imagine that we're going to be working together quite a lot for the foreseeable future."

He nods, summoning up an image of the fight with Yellow Beetle. "You and Tarant made short work of that Scarab Warrior, but I wouldn't get too confident. From what we've been able to determine, she was probably a recent recruit. Certainly, she wouldn't ever have fought a Lantern before."

"If fighting the Reach with a power ring was easy, the Green Lantern Corps would have done it."

"Just so long as you understand that." He glances at the Controller. "This is Manu Mia Mosopo, the founder of the Darkstar organisation."

"Yes, I've gained… Some understanding of how that works in Controller society."

"I am glad." His voice sounds slightly… African, perhaps? "My interest therefore is how the organisation you hope to build and the one which I have built will exist together. I do hope that you have thought about it."

"But of course."

18th July
21:09 GMT

"Firstly, I should say that doing… The possibility of doing anything with orange light is going to depend on us being able to neutralise Larfleeze. And while Hinon Hee Hannanan sounded fairly optimistic about our chances, I wouldn't want you to assume anything."

"Of all of us, she is most familiar with the orange light. If she believes that it can be done then she is most likely correct."

"If you don't mind me asking, sir? Why haven't you gone after the Orange Central Power Battery before now?"

"It was stolen from our research centre after our split from the Guardians. If it is true that they located it and chose to allow him to keep it, they did not share that information with us."

"I'm pretty sure that I included its location on the file I sent you with the Guardian's ship."

"Yes. Along with a warning on the nature of its current owner and a recommendation that we not investigate it ourselves. I do not know what you were expecting, but we Controllers are not incapable of taking advice."

"And it was Hinon's thing."

"Waiting until she could be consulted was judged to be appropriate."

"I would be fascinated to know what the Guardians said about it."

"That they stood by the decision. That the orange light is inherently unstable and should not be used directly in the manner you intend. And that once we split from them we lost the right to be involved in their decision-making."

"Hm." I nod. "They don't intend to prevent you trying though, right?"

"They have never had the right to be involved in our decision-making."

"Fair enough." I return my attention to the Director. "If we assume that Controller Hinon and I are going to be back on Maltus in a few days with a Central Power Battery, I'd like your organisation to run psychological checks on its members for individuals who might be capable of using the orange light without going crazy. Hinon is probably better placed than me to describe what the precise trigger factors are. Once we have a list, we can request volunteers and start testing and training."

"And if they are people in vital roles in my organisation?"

"Then.. you.. should be glad that people who you know and have worked with will be playing such an important role in setting up an allied organisation. If Green Lantern recruitment is anything to go by a vanishingly small proportion of people possess the right mindset to use power rings. I'm not trying to poach your best and your brightest, I'm trying to get anyone who can use orange rings and stay sane. You just happen to have a large pool of well-trained people with detailed psychological profiles who are already motivated to fight the Reach."

The Director gives me a shallow nod. "That's… Reasonable. And how do you see these new Lanterns supporting my Darkstars in combat?"

"I don't know exactly what sort of Lantern-detection technology the Reach have. Lanterns are good at large effects, but giant glowing constructs are terrible for concealment. On the other hand, Lanterns can fight Beetles one on one."

"We could deploy a Darkstar infiltration team with a single power ring trained Operative. If they encountered a Scarab Warrior they could put the ring on and kill them, but otherwise carry on as normal."

I shake my head. "That would work… And maybe in the short term that's what we'll do. But in the longer term there are other things Lanterns can do that.. even your current generation maxim suits can't. Look, Darkstars are very good at getting onto worlds coming under or about to come under Reach control and operating there for extended periods. Heck, even attacking their naval docks further in upon occasion. But they don't have the power to fight off an actual attack, let alone push the Reach back."

"Do you know how many Lanterns it would require to do that?" He presses a button and a map of the Reach appears. "How big the Reach is?"

"Yes. And I know that we'd never get enough Lanterns to do it in time. But something I've discovered about orange rings-" My armour appears around me and I phase out and go invisible for a moment before reappearing. I take a cold gun and a purple healing ray out of subspace and brandish them. "-is that we can use them to build things. If we're going to take the war to the Reach, we're going to need a fleet. And a proper army."

He narrows his eyes slightly as he considers it. "We have ships now."

"Ships for transporting Darkstars and performing ambushes of opportunity. I'm talking about building up to the point where we can fight them openly and directly. It's an entirely different philosophy of design and action."

"If we press the Reach on one front they'll simply fortify and expand elsewhere."

I wave my left hand, an image of the worlds around Reach space appearing around the hologram. "Then we build up everywhere. We share technology, we police potential defectors-."

"If I had the people to do that I'd already be doing it."

"So we get them. Darkstars require very specific training, instruction and equipment. To say nothing of Controllers personally empowering their exo-mantles."

"That will become less draining once we have a Central Power Battery with which to replenish ourselves."

"A standard navy won't have that problem. We can pass technology to worlds under Reach threat… Not immediately threatened, but in the next decade or so. Build them up and coordinate them."

"A division of responsibility. Each part doing the thing it can do best while coordinating with the rest."

"Somewhat optimistically, yes. The Darkstars would keep doing what they do best-."

"While no longer being put into situations where they need to do things which they cannot." He nods slowly. "I admit, I had been preparing myself to compete with you and your Lantern Corps."

And nothing I said had anything to do with me seeing that clearly with empathic vision, no not at all.

"But this sounds like an arrangement I can support. Tell me, do you have someone in mind for organising this fleet?"

"Yes. But I'm holding off on making contact with him until after we get control of the Orange Central Power Battery, because without it we're not in a position to create the post."

"And what place is there in your grand vision for we Controllers?"

"We'll need rings, ships and equipment. And I understand that you can reshape matter on vast scales."

"I can accept that in good humour. But I imagine that my brethren will want an organisation they can control."

"Except they defer to you on matters concerning the Darkstars, and to Controller Hinon on matters concerning me. We're fighting a fight they want fought, one which will earn them the acclaim that the Green Lantern Corps has earned the Guardians. If they wanted operatives incapable of having their own initiative then they shouldn't have voted to destroy the Manhunters."

The gem on his chest crackles slightly. "I would recommend not making that particular observation to the other Controllers."

"I shouldn't need to make it. Give good orders and people will follow them. Demonstrate sagacity and people will listen to what you have to say. Do things for people and they will feel grateful. Do not demand obedience as your right; show that you've earned it and continue to earn it."

"I should meet with this.. 'individual' you have in mind for Grand Admiral as soon as possible. With you as head of the Orange Lantern Corps-."

I shake my head. "Ah, no. I don't have the administrative skills for that. I can teach other Lanterns and I can fight, but the job requires abilities I don't have. I was planning to recruit someone for that as well."

"Very well. You have my provisional support. I will begin the vetting process you requested."

"Thank you."

Now all I need to do is defeat Larfleeze. And how hard can that be?

20th July
17:48 GMT

"So how hard is this going to be?"

We're standing at the entrance to a small amphitheatre, the stalls around us populated by Controllers. I'm not completely sure whether this is all of the Controllers, or just all the ones on Maltus or even just the ones who could be bothered to turn up. Most look roughly like Controller Jevek, though there is a degree of individual variation. Longer robes and slightly softer face here, shorter and with hair there. Skin colour ranges from Guardian blue to purply-red and hair comes in black and white with nothing in between.

The general style of the robes appears to be set, but precise length, cut and colouration vary in a number of cases. The glowing crystal and glowing forehead are universal, though the one Controller Hinon wears is dimmer as she draws power from her ring. There are far more males than females… But I'm wondering if some of those I mentally designated as 'male' are actually gender neutral.

"I really couldn't say for certain." Hinon looks down at her ring. "Oh, if only Ganthet was answering me. We always worked so well together."

"Sorry, but I think they blacklisted orange rings."

"I'll go and bother him in person later. We will need to send a formal deputation once everything's up and running, and I do so want to see what they've done with Oa since I've been gone."

"Made lots of green stuff."

"But all of the people! I find it astonishing to think that they're prepared to tolerate an actual population when-. Oh, they're ready for us." The portal melts away in front of us to allow us access. "Follow me."

She floats through the air, feet trailing a little behind her as she goes. I fly after her while maintaining my upright posture. I didn't think that armour was appropriate, but with my initial impression made I've switched to grey robes with orange trim. I've only met a few of the Controllers while I've been here, and I'm not… I left Earth after haranguing the Justice League. Superman has been the iconic superhero on Earth Prime since the forties and I didn't think twice. So while even Guy hesitates to make cracks about the Guardians, to me? They're.. just some people in robes.

Maybe I'd feel differently if they weren't jamming my empathic vision…

Hinon occupies the centre and looks up and around at her fellow Controllers. "Brethren. You've all had the chance to consider the matter under contention. The Orange Lantern and I have given the matter a considerable degree of thought, and we believe that we have a methodology which offers us the best possible chance to recover the Orange Light Fountain. And neutralise its present owner."

There's a flash from the gem at the neck of one of the blue-skinned female Controllers. "The Guardians?"

Jevek's gem glitters. "What does it matter? The Vega Systems have been off-limits to the Green Lanterns since their inception. And now we know why." He looks around the room. "The light will be ours. The Controllers will be in control."

Another flicker from another Controller. "The continuous presence of Green Lanterns on the borders of Reach space slows the Reach advance. It would be advantageous for them to remain."

Another. "Alienating our Guardian brethren would serve no useful purpose, but it is a secondary matter. The orange light must be recovered and put to our use."

One of Jevek's look-alikes. "How do you intend to remove the Orange Light Fountain from Larfleeze's control? Your equations indicated that after so much direct exposure he will have become even more powerful than he was when he enslaved our brother Ogandu Onna Oslan."

"I'm glad you ask." Hinon raises her right hand and generates… I think that's the Maltus version of Atlantean rune equations. "I won't know for certain until we can observe him directly, but I believe that I have a model for how Larfleeze could survive his experiences, even remaining capable of coherent speech. The most likely possibility is that he had what we might call a natural affinity for avarice, for seeing everything in terms of wants and needs. Without anything very much to get in the way of it, the orange light could form a most intense bond with him. At this point I'm not certain he needs either ring or lantern."

A glimmer from Jevek. "But his link can be severed."

"Yes. With difficulty. Over time. In the short term we're going to attempt to neutralise his capacity to focus his desires on any one object, and so paralyse him. That should enable us to transfer the Light Fountain into a proper Central Power Battery housing."

"And we can control the link. Cut him off."

"Perhaps. Eventually. If we actually want to do that, we'd have to wean him off it and then feed in other colours gradually. It wouldn't be a quick process."

I form an orange gem on my own chest and forehead and flash it before anyone else can get in. "Yes, we do want to. Orange light damage is something we're going to end up having to treat amongst Orange Lanterns. We don't need crazy ones running around the place and making the rest of us look bad. Anything we learn from treating the worst case in existence would be invaluable in that regard."

"If it is inevitable, how did you manage?"

"I didn't-."

"Very weak desires, possibly aided by his lack of an attendant arcane construct. There was so little opportunity for the egress of orange energy that he had nearly enough time to learn to channel it without being overwhelmed." She brings up another chart. Me, presumably. "Then he had a construct created in such a way that it would encourage proper interfacing. Unfortunately, for those future Lanterns not fortunate enough to spend a great deal of time in high magic regions, it won't be practical to use it on others."

And also because you'd need to destroy their existing souls in order to do so.

"Larfleeze's current slaves?"

"Once we disrupt him, he should become listless and apathetic. He won't be able to direct them."

"I would very much like to see if restoring them is possible. If nothing else, Ogandu Onna Oslan's restoration to flesh would assist us in maintaining good relations with the Guardians."

Various Controllers look around the room, and there's a shining of gems.

Then a short, Guardian-looking one nods. "We have a consensus. You are to proceed. We will begin constructing a Central Power Battery and holding cell in line with your specifications."

Hinon looks pleased. "Thank you, brothers. The Orange Lantern and I will make our final preparations and depart."

She turns and heads back towards the door, me close at her heels. She eyes me sidelong as the door closes. "I thought you weren't going to talk."

"You told me not to. It isn't quite the same thing."

"Starting as you mean to go on?"

"Yes. I told you that I don't intend for the Controllers to completely control the Orange Lantern Corps in the way that the Guardians do the Green."

"And I agreed that their sort of control wouldn't work with orange light users. But we need to lure the other Controllers into accepting that situation. Tempt them into committing to it fully."

I give my head a small shake. "What's left to do?"

"I want to check the system with the Ophidian once more. Then, nothing. We're off to see the Beast."

"'We'? I thought you were keeping out of sight?"

She pats me on the shoulder. "I'll be with you in spirit. Ready to begin again more intelligently if you lose."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

21th July
02:57 GMT

Space bends around-.

"Are you sure you wouldn't-?"

"I'm sure."

03:04 GMT

Space bends-.

"I'm perfectly capable of-?"

"I know."

03:21 GMT

"You did say that it took you mere moments-?"

Space continues to bend around us, despite Hinon trying to be a back seat Controller.

"Yes. It did. I had been waiting to come and see you for a long time and the Reach represented the perfect mix of acceptable targets and no one I knew being in the firing line. My drive to return for a showdown with Larfleeze is much weaker."

"I would have thought that you would want to get it out of your way."

"Not really. On two occasions I have outthought Larfleeze, now I'm deliberately confronting him in a situation where I can't do that and where his advantages are strongest.{orange}"

"I will eat the Gnat!"{/}

"Not a good idea. I still don't really understand how he trapped you in the first place, but I would not want to rely on a technique we suspect that he can beat." Hinon looks around from where the Ophidian swims through space just behind us. "I don't remember her being that affectionate."

"Remember? You.. met her before?"

"Yes. Krona insisted on studying each of the Embodiments. We didn't find them all… Though, now that I consider what he's been up to while I was indisposed, perhaps he just didn't tell the rest of us."

{orange}"I do not remember you."{/}

"I didn't look quite as I do now. I wore my hair long. And-."

{orange}"Warp terminating in three, two, one."{/}

Normal space snaps back into being around us. We're just a little outside of the Moat. Ring update-.

"It seems that your recent travails remain largely unnoticed. Pirates are staying calm and the Citadel isn't doing much of anything. Oh, my word, this region used to be a lot quieter. There's some lovely music coming out of-."

"What are you… Doing?"

"Getting out and about for the first time in three billion years. I've already reviewed everything on the database you gave me." She looks me in the eyes. "You know that party trick some AIs like to do to show off to organic creatures, processing a few hundred lines of communication all at the same time?"

"The AIs I've met have been patterned after Humans."

"Ah. Well, one of the many things we Maltus-originating groups can do is process data in a similar way. Not multi-threading so much as multifaceted awareness. We're rather clever, you see."

"So you just..?"

"Checked out the entire region, yes. Except the area on Okaara you warned me about. It's so convenient to be facing people who aren't quite so good at countering our technology as the Reach are."

"The Construct-Lanterns?"

"A few are still loitering around Hny'xx, but as far as I can tell the rest have gone back to Okaara."

"And Larfleeze isn't reacting to the Ophidian?"

"Not so far as I can tell. I think my device is working." An orange line appears in space. "Check for me?"

I fly past the line, then turn around and raise my left hand. "Scan for orange light.{orange}"

"Not found."{/}

And I can see the Embodiment of Avarice just behind Hinon. Whatever that device is doing it isn't blocking my empathic vision… Any more than she was by default, at least.

"And visible light?{orange}"

"Power ring-like object and Ophidian-like object found."{/}

"I wasn't trying to stop visible light. Now, come on." She flies past me. "We have a Light Fountain to acquire."

"People on my homeworld can do that with a bit of paper and a circuit pen."

"People from your homeworld should try doing that in a low magic environment. My device-" She holds up the machine, which resembles two glowing metallic Frisbees stuck together. "-should function anywhere."

"Alright. Ring, plot course for Okaara.{orange}"

"Course plotted."

"{/}Warp."

Space bends again, and a moment later Okaara lies before us.

"Doesn't look like much."

"They had a nuclear war. And a Larfleeze. I got the impression that several challengers stopped off in various places to get some practice in."

"And Larfleeze lives.. down.. there."

"Even during what is now referred to as 'The Time of X'Hal', no one dared launch weapons anywhere near it. There are a few plant species that survive there that no longer exist anywhere else on Okaara."

"Yes, so I see. If everything goes wrong, try not to destroy them. Now." She passes me a device which looks a little like a pair of headphones. "Put this on Larfleeze when you reach him. That should keep him in a daze until we can come back for him. Getting the Orange Light Well is your only objective."

"I know. Alright, wish me-."

"Oh." Something occurs to her. "And thank you for not making any Sleeping Beauty references. I understand that they're culturally expected, but I used to be a Guardian and I fear that my sense of humour will never quite recover."

"Ah..."

"Off you go. Shoo. I'll be waiting for you outside to receive Larfleeze."

"Right. Although, in case I do die... I think that I'm glad that you're not still a Guardian." She gives me a look of mild reproach. "Going."

I drop towards the planet, the thin air around me burning as I fall towards the small fort the Okaarans maintain to observe the Forest of Weeds.

21th July
03:52 GMT

Invisible and phased I float through the Forbidden Forest of Weeds. No sign that anyone has been this way… Ever. It turns out that it's called the Forbidden Forest of Weeds because a plant that is a combination of ivy and Japanese Knotweed covers… Pretty much the whole place. And it pretty much defines the ecosystem as well; just glancing around I can see four different types of creepy crawly feeding on it or cutting through it for building material. As far as I can tell it attaches itself parasitically to the local tree-analogs somewhere near the top and then drapes down, wrapping itself around anything it can reach. It's extinct everywhere else on the planet.

Lovely place. The way the canopy of leaves and vines almost completely blocks out the light really adds to the {yellow}ambience{/}.

I think I'm dithering, but at least I'm dithering with a purpose. The fort told me where the 'orange ghosts' usually appear from, but no one knows exactly where Larfleeze lives due to him killing everyone who comes looking for him. His presence here predates the Time of X'Hal and while they could do geophysics scans… Why poke the monster? I'm not using ring-scans for much the same reason.

I remember from the comics that the Controllers brushed aside a group of Okaarans on their way in, then went through the Forest and into a cave complex. Assuming the people in the fort were the same as the ones they barged through in the comic that was another example of Maltusian-descendant highhandedness. All I had to do was ask. They're not here to stop people, just give warning to the rest of the planet of anything Larfleeze does.

Thinking about it, that might well have been what killed the Controllers' comic counterparts as well. If they'd thought to stop and ask, they would have gained some idea of what they were walking into. Then again, if they'd done that they might have lost their Worf Effect awa-.

{yellow}I see{/} a flicker of orange through the foliage. I {yellow}stop dead{/}, increasing my armour's magnification…

That's a weird one. Sort of… Undead Battle-Dragonfly-Wasp? It appears to be drifting somewhat aimlessly, its construct-body rippling slightly as it phases through the tree trunks. I'm not seeing any other orange light… I could try usurping Larfleeze's control-. No. Ah. It came from that direction, so I'll try that way. At least I can check whether my stealth systems are achieving anything.

I drift closer. Its flight pattern isn't so much erratic as odd, swooping in one direction and then stopping dead before reorientating and surging into a swoop in the new direction. An apparently random movement causes it to head towards me and I float back, {yellow}tensing{/} as its… Is that a head? I don't have a record of this species and it isn't immediately obvious where its sensory organs are. One, two… And it carries on its way.

Okay. Scry wards are a problem for other people as well, good to know.

Ring, if you can do it using visible light scans only, try and work out if there's any pattern to how it's flying.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

So this way.

I accelerate, not even flinching as I pass through trees and vines. Come on, caves, tunnels… Some sort of building..? There aren't that many areas within the Forest that should have caves. Wrong sort of soil and rock for the most part. On the other hand, it wouldn't have been hard for Larfleeze to just transmute whatever was around him… Ugh, a proper stealth search of this place could take days. I can't go faster in case I miss something and I can't do wide area scans in case Larfleeze picks up on it.

Some sort of ridgeline up ahead, the vines trailing down its side turning what looks like a sheer slope into something that would probably be climbable. Assuming that the vines held. I'll break away from my search pattern to look along its entire length, and then circle…

That bit looks darker than the rest.

Might just be a natural cleft in the rock, but I need to take a closer look. I alter my approach angle and accelerate again, moving through the outer layers of still-living vine, through the dead and hardened layer serving as their support framework and…

The passageway within is roughly-hewn, the floor covered in loose soil with a few ragged plants trying to grow in the faint light which pierces the vine-curtain. No orange. Ring, visible light enhancement.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

The passageway continues downwards and to the right. If there were once steps here they've been eroded down or covered over long ago, but the fact that the cave moves steadily in a particular direction suggest that this isn't a natural tunnel. Could be a large creature of some kind, but there aren't any of that sort native to Okaara and I imagine that Larfleeze would have killed it by now anyway.

Accelerate.

The passageway continues for about fifty metres and then starts to head downwards at a steep incline. From the look of the rocks making up the side wall I'd say that whoever made it was trying to go around a patch of harder rock. Maybe it… Originally followed the path of natural caves and then got widened out? I'm definitely well below the surface level now. Yes, this is… Going to be it. Somewhere at the end of this tunnel is Larfleeze and the Orange Central… Light Fountain. I'm a little surprised that I'm not feeling drawn to it, but I genuinely can't feel a thing-.

I notice that I'm slowing down and make an effort to speed up.

The end of the passage ahead is dark, and I briefly wonder if it's a dead end. I'd be surprised, but...

No. Not a dead end.

The cavern-. No, the chamber beyond the end of the tunnel is vast in all dimensions. There are shallow stone stairs leading downwards to the floor twenty metres below me, and from there great pillars rise up a good sixty metres to support the chamber roof. The walls themselves have crumbled in places to reveal the rock and earth beneath, but in those places where they remain whole I can see pictograms in dozens of forms… A quick analysis from the ring shows a few to be taken from the myth cycles of species not native to this region of space. The others… The best the ring's translation system can do is translate concepts with no context. Wealth. Travelling.

Danger.

Stalactites point down from the ceiling, their mirrors on the ground appearing to be permitted to reach only a short height before being smashed down. I can see where two pillars have also suffered the same fate, the stump of one flattened to serve as a… Table? There are broken bits of bone on the upper surface and scattered around the base. The other has been left as a jagged spike of stone.

Scattered here and there are small braziers and fire pits, though at the moment only one or two still burn. The rest are only marked by blackened smears of ash and charred wood.

Not that seeing is a problem with all of the Construct-Lanterns around.

A woman with no eyes and a distended jaw floats in the air to my right. A regal looking… Thing floats in the centre of the chamber, near to the roof. Others sit, stand or float in all parts of the ro-.

{yellow}Oh shit that's{/}-! No. Oh, goodness me. Not Larfleeze. Looks like a member of the same species, but… Just another Construct-Lantern. And-. Oh, I recognise that one! That's Glomulus! None of them are.. reacting to me. Good stuff…

I drift out into the room, taking care not to get too close to any of them. I'm not seeing Blume. Is he too big to fit in this room? Certainly, he would be too big to fit down the tunnel I came in through. Also… I look around again, spotting for the first time that from this side the tunnel entrance is marked with the orange sigil. None of this is what I saw when I called to the Ophidian. No piles of jewels or other valuables. And all of the orange light is coming from the Construct-Lanterns. Given that I'm here for the Orange Light Fountain…

He hasn't moved it, has he? That would be a bit of a bother.

A flicker of light as a Wurm-like Construct-Lantern emerges from an opening in the wall draws my attention to a side passage. Okay. Time to do some exploring.

21st July
04:01 GMT

Narrow confines. Marvellous.

At least the glow will give me plenty of warning if any of the construct Lanterns come this way. The walls of this tunnel are far rougher than the one leading to the main chamber. I wonder how he made them? A ring-blast wouldn't be a good idea for tunnelling, cutting would require a degree of precision I'm not sure that Larfleeze is capable of… Did he get his Construct-Lanterns to dig it out by hand? Or… Maybe a pre-existing natural cave? The Okaarans didn't have any records of what this place was before Larfleeze made it his home. It certainly doesn't look Guardian…

Orange light ahead, and an opening into a large chamber. I stop for a moment to make sure that no Construct Lanterns are heading my way, then move forwards to the very mouth of the opening.

Oh my.

Make that a very large chamber, far larger than the first room. Three things immediately draw my attention. The first is an unknowable depth of stuff on the floor. I see precious metal and jewels along with the occasional weapon and.. what I can best describe as lumps of machinery. Parts of starships, something that looks a.. little like a windmill. All things that a covetous being like Larfleeze would want. This is the chamber I saw in my visions.

Atop the valuables and detritus lie orange power rings. Dozens, certainly. My ring quickly counts 137 visible ones but the piles imply that there are more beneath. A person could start a Lantern Corps with that many, if he were willing to overlook that they used to be people. Between those piles… Biological matter. I didn't think to ask whether the First Ring had a bio-filter. If it doesn't, quite a lot of that is probably Larfleeze's shit. There are also bones… I think those are the shells of exoskeleton-bearing creepy crawlies. Some of the rest… Plant matter? There are small swarms of insects making the refuse piles their home and I can see eggs and maggots too.

I am rather glad that I can't smell like this.

The second thing I notice is Blume. The size of this room is such that he isn't the overwhelming presence that he would be somewhere smaller-. Wait a moment, he stole my cash pile six months ago… Quick check… Yep, a small portion of this is my property. I guess he picked it up and brought it back here. Somehow. Long range warp-vacuuming is well within the abilities of a being like Larfleeze. Or maybe he recalled Blume for long enough to drop it off and then sent him back?

Blume isn't alone. Two significantly smaller Construct Lanterns also stand guard over Larfleeze's treasury. One is a vaguely Twi'lek-looking woman floating at something approaching parade rest near the cavern's ceiling. The second is closer to the glittering floor of the cave, a bandage-wreathed humanoid. As I watch he moves from one pile of rings to another, his single eye darting from ring to ring as if taking an audit.

None of them react to me. Blume has a wide variety of non-standard senses in addition to being a Lantern. If he isn't reacting I think that I can assume that I'm good as far as being spotted is concerned.

Which is good, because the third thing I see is {yellow}Larfleeze{/}.

There's a finger of rock poking out through the piles of stuff near the centre of the room, the upper point about eight metres above me. Orange power rings are scattered around it, a few resting on the spire at various points where they've been knocked aside and happen to have come to rest. Somewhere near the top and just outside my line of sight is a brilliant orange glow which I sincerely hope is the Orange Light Fountain. Closer than that, Larfleeze twitches in his sleep, curled up on the top of the bare rock promontory.

As I watch, his right hand rises to swat at some of the insects buzzing around him.

Hinon was right, his ring does look kind of rubbish. My own ring has a slightly recessed bezel with the sigil resting on it flush to the rest of it, and being made in a slightly different shade of orange. His looks like it was made of a single piece, having a uniform colour and the sigil clearly sticking out from a thicker hoop.

Okay.

{yellow}That's Larfleeze{/}.

…

I float forwards slightly, then begin rising up. Ring, monitor the other three and the opening as best you can with my armour's optical systems.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

My right hand shakes inside my armour as I take hold of Hinon's device. My breathing gets faster, and I daren't do what I normally do and have the ring restore it to my resting rate.

{yellow}That's Larfleeze{/}.

{orange}"Sngrghgrahgrah…"{/}

{yellow}Larfleeze twitches again, his snout wrinkling and his breath coming in snorts{/}. {yellow}I stop dead{/}.

Anything else..?

His right arm thrusts out, waving around until his hand touches the handle of-. Yep, that's the Orange Light Fountain alright. The design is even more archaic than what my personal lantern used to look like when it belonged to Alan. It's even doing the same flaming-effect lightshow thing his ring does when it's fully charged, though the orange flames are bolder and brighter. Larfleeze's fingers brush against the Light Fountain's flame-wreathed handle for a moment, an orange glow running along his arm and into his torso.

{orange}"Recharge complete. One hundred thousand percent regular charge available."

"Sngrgh."{/}

His ring's voice is slow, masculine. Ring, is that Krona's voice?

{orange}Words spoken in ancient Maltusian dialect. However, no record of Krona's voice on file.{/}

Okay, nothing else… Just got to approach the most dangerous Lantern ever and hope that he doesn't wake up. And that if he wakes up that he can't see me. And that if he can {yellow}see me{/}, then… I don't know.

I asked Hinon about doing something to the Light Fountain to weaken their connection, but she didn't think it would be possible in the field. I'm.. {yellow}really{/} wishing that she'd answered differently.

I drift a little closer, the armour's sensors combining with my ring to give me a really detailed view of Larfleeze's face. He isn't blocking my empathic vision, but all that I'm getting is orange. Deep orange, bright orange, connected to more and more orange. There's so much of it that I can't even make out details. I can't tell anything about his life, his past desires, why he… Did this to himself. The only thing I can see within is a clear picture of the Light Fountain, and even that is diffuse, spread out and connected to the rest of that… That mess of a soul.

I'm about four metres away now. Close enough that if I wasn't phased I'd be able to hear his breathing. My left hand strays to the hilt of the Sword of the Fallen. From this distance… A short lunge. I know the Sword nullifies lantern power; I've sent Praexis Demons to oblivion with it. Whatever power he's built up, it'll vanish like everything else. Shorn of that energy his meat body is about as vulnerable as everyone else's. A stab to the head or a decapitation stroke… Heck, just hitting his ring or cutting it off should be enough.

No. There but for the grace of Eris go the rest of us. And she's not the most graceful.

I move my left hand away from the Sword and extend my right, holding it so that it's over Larfleeze's head. Little closer, {green}little closer{/}…

{yellow}A twitch and I back up two metres{/}.

No, sometimes a twitch is just a twitch.

I take a quick look at the exit and the three Construct Lanterns. No change.

{green}Right{/}.

I float around Larfleeze until I'm directly behind him, then lower the device onto his head. There's a tiny shimmer as it moves fully into phase…

I back up. It won't make much difference if he wakes up, but-.

{yellow}Larfleeze's eyes snap open{/}!

21st July
04:08 GMT

{yellow}BACKUPBACKUPBACKUP{/}!

I'm already on the far side of the chamber before his eyelids reach the limits of his eye sockets.

{blue}PLEASEWORKPLEASEWORKPLEASEWORK{/}!

Larfleeze blinks slowly.

{orange}"Uugh?"{/}

{yellow}The Construct Lanterns turn to face him{/}.

Okay, okay, even if he's free and aware, there's {blue}still a good chance that he isn't aware of me{/}.

He blinks, turning slightly so that he can see the Light Fountain.

…

And that's it. His… His eyes are open…

I float around the room, not coming any closer to him or the Construct Lanterns than I have to. He's breathing slowly, his eyes are unfocused… Empathic vision shows… His desires are.. sort of.. {blue}smoosh{/}.. y…

{blue}It worked{/}.

{blue}It wor{/}-. No, time for patting Hinon and myself on the back later. First, I need to check. I float upwards, taking a container from my armour's torso and stopping once I'm more or less in {yellow}Larfleeze's line of sight{/}. We weren't exactly sure what Larfleeze would most value, so we threw in a few possibilities. The gold and platinum coins, small amounts of element x and stellarium were Hinon's contribution. The bowl of beef stew was mine. Yeah, looking at him now… I don't know what Larfleeze's species considers good looking. Or even how they normally look. I mean, my body is totally hairless and that isn't normal for Human males. But while he doesn't exactly look unhealthy, there isn't much fat on him, and his fur looks… Unhealthy, matted, greasy. If I had to guess, I'd say that he hasn't been getting anything like the nutrients that he needs and his ring isn't getting told clearly what it should do about it.

Okay. I hold out the container and activate its spatial grip. That's a lot harder to detect than an anti-gravity device, but he still {yellow}might{/} be able to… No, {blue}looks like that's safe{/}. Delay ten seconds and then back the heck off again.

And wait.

I'm at the far-interior of the room here and-. Oh, that's how Blume gets out. There's a very clearly discoloured part of the ceiling, the outline making a circle which would be large enough for him to pass through. He must have just shoved it out of the way and then put it back into place. Larfleeze must have been aggrieved enough to allow his treasure-trove to be momentarily exposed.

The container shifts {yellow}back into phase{/}. A couple of Blume's tentacles twitch but neither of the other two Construct Lanterns respond. And Larfleeze himself? No response. Okay. A few seconds more… The container releases small platforms, spatially locked in the same way that it is. Coins, ingots and the bowl of food. If he's actually aware of it, the scent alone…

{blue}Nothing{/}.

Some of the orange within him moves a little, but it's sluggish and meandering. He wants as much as he ever did, but without being able to focus on any one…

{yellow}Right{/}. Next step. Depending on what instructions he's given the Construct Lanterns… Or does he {blue}not allow them that much independence{/}? I… Don't remember any but Gromulus having any initiative in the comics. Have to {blue}hope{/}…

I phase in, remaining invisible.

No response from Bandages or Twi'lek. Or {blue}Larfleeze{/}, which is the main thing. Blume's tentacles twitch and he rises off the ground slightly. He doesn't seem to be behaving aggressively but I'm pretty confident that he just became aware of me. But that's okay; if Jordan and company could take him I'm pretty sure that I can.

And drop invisibility and raise railguns! And set the ring to take control of my body again. Oh, better, much better. My heart and lungs are now moving at a reasonable speed and the sweat disappears from my armour's interior. No response from Twi'lek or Larfleeze, a low murmuring from Blume as he rotates in my direction and Bandages is heading right for me. Two railguns immediately focus their attention on him. Can he recognise the threat? He slows so I'm going to assume so, his one eye staring madly at me.

Ring. Scan.

The orange pseudo-flames around the Orange Light Fountain flicker and then flare as my ring fills me in on the state of my environment. The pit below us is deep and filled with all sorts of interesting things. There are also others buried further beneath the rock through other tunnels. Some are sealed, perhaps from when Larfleeze went through a paranoid stage. Genetic material… Fresh meat. Looks like some Citadelians came in here recently and were killed rather than being assimilated.

Guess Larfleeze was hungry.

{orange}"Thief."{/}

Looks like Blume remembers me. I keep one railgun pointed at bandages while the rest point at him.

"Lantern Blume." Tentacles wiggle and twitch, but unlike our first encounter his mouth remains narrow. "Do you want something?{orange}"

"I..."{/} He shudders and actually fades slightly. {orange}"I think..."{/} He turns, his eyes glazed, and floats away from me.

{blue}Oh flip the heck yes{/}.

I cautiously move towards Larfleeze. {blue}Nothing{/}. Great. Now, Hinon thought that the one thing that might break him out of it would be me taking the Orange Light Fountain from him, and having looked into him earlier I think she might well be right. We certainly don't want him storming Maltus to try and recapture it. Which.. means that we have to remove them both together. {blue}Hopefully{/}, without his direction the rest will just float around listlessly as Blume is doing -and gosh he's big in a confined environment- and not follow us. Otherwise I'll have to use the Sword on them. Hinon was pretty clear that she didn't think they could ever be turned back…

Still {blue}no reaction{/} from my main target. I would so very much like to pull this off without any fighting. I mean, I would have to try and kill him, and… The sheer number of things he must have seen in three billion years of life…

The flames from the Light Well are billowing, almost… Reaching out towards me. Larfleeze himself still looks fairly out of it. Okay, construct {yellow}platform underneath him{/} and lift… Still no reaction, good, need to keep him near it…

Making sure that he has an unobstructed view of it, I gently place my gauntleted hands on its outer case.

…

Huh. Nothing. No sudden super surge of desire, no burst of short-termism. Either that means that enlightenment makes me proof against it… Or I've managed to become sufficiently 'productively insane' that the difference isn't noticeable.

{orange}"U-ugh."{/}

Larfleeze reaches out weakly for the Light Well… No harm in it I suppose. I gently lay it on the construct platform next to him and he curls up lightly around it.

Okay! Both objectives secure for now. Time to get the heck out of here. I don't warp -I'm not doing that until Hinon can check that her device is really working as advertised- but I drop my railgun constructs and fly very rapidly through the treasure chamber, along the tunnel, out through the entrance chamber where the Construct Lanterns have stopped still and out through the entrance tunnel. Larfleeze doesn't react until we break through into the tree-shaded air, and even then only to wince and blink as a stray beam of sunlight strikes his eyes.

"Orange Lantern to Controller Hinon. Mission successful."

"Good show. Come up above the canopy and I'll take a look at the 'Beast'."

Orange filaments pierce the foliage above me, shoving it aside as I rise into clear view. No local aircraft go anywhere near this place. I see Hinon in the distance, then up close as she warps to me in order to look at Larfleeze.

"Oh.. what.. a.. mess. "

"Will it hold?"

"With a little help from me. If you focus on getting us-."

{orange}"Warning: avarice detected."{/}

What-?

I get a construct barrier up just fast enough to block an orange energy pulse as four Citadelian Orange Lanterns appear just above us.

21st July
04:15 GMT

The universe slows as they open fire.

Energy pulses rather than beams. They're firing them directly from their rings. Firing directly at me and not at Larfleeze or Hinon. Hinon isn't blasting me, which implies that she didn't set a trap for me. No, she's shielding Larfleeze. Sensible. The Citadelians are aiming and shooting not charging in stupidly. They waited until Larfleeze was down before attacking. No implants-

Bolts begin striking my barrier as construct armour appears around my body.

-visible, which means that they're either lightly modified or unmodified. But their behaviour is too intelligent for that. New Breed, produced in the facility I destroyed. Larfleeze wouldn't let people have rings, so-. They got them due to my summoning. And had the sense to sit on them and not put them on straight away.

I begin forming railguns.

Was Admiral Drolyk just fishing for information? They didn't know how to use them safely? Or know if they could? The Emperor wouldn't have wanted to move out until his new generation soldiers were ready anyway, so they weren't pressed for time… Empathic vision shows… Desire to follow orders and make the Citadel great. Must be why my barrier is holding out so well; they don't know me well enough to want me dead in a personal way.

I jam my complete railgun constructs through my own barrier and fire a one-two combination of a crumbler round followed by a tungsten at the closest. He doesn't have a barrier or construct armour of his own. Neophyte. No experience. The crumbler strikes home, impacting on the left side of his chest. At this speed I can watch both the physical force from the impact move across his armour and flesh and the crumble effect itself propagate across the surrounding matter. He's already reeling in the air as the tungsten round strikes the hole its predecessor created, blasting through the exposed wound. Normally it would overpenetrate, but as I fired as fast as I could rather than letting the power build up it isn't moving anything like as fast as it might have. Combined with the Citadel's high quality infantry armour-

"ARHHHHHHH..!"

-the result is the round bouncing off the inside of his back armour and being deflected back into his body. A perfectly manageable wound for someone with self-preservation instincts and an orange power ring, but he'll struggle to do anything else for the time being.

{orange}Mental pathway damage limit reached. Acceleration discontinued.{/}

Even as I move my railguns to the next target, they're putting up barriers. Three barriers cover all three effectives as the one I shot falls from the sky. Shock rather than death, though I didn't specifically tell Drolyk that rings could be used medicinally. Are they assuming that he's dead, or just that they don't have time to help him during combat? Of course, if they don't know that he can heal himself I'm not going to tell them. Construct armour complete I drop my outer barrier and generate another couple of railguns.

"Would you care to explain to me what this is about?"

They hesitate for a moment as their brother crashes through the canopy. Citadelians are tough, but combined with the internal damage he's going to need to fix himself quickly. Then the one slightly closer to me floats forwards slightly.

"{orange}Fight test{/}."

"Don't feel obliged to keep your answer to two words."

"After Larfleeze attacked our facility on Hny'xx and you fled rather than face him, the Emperor was concerned that you could not fulfil your part in any bargain we of the Citadel Empire made with you." He looks over to where Hinon is checking on our prisoner. "You didn't fight Larfleeze. {orange}We needed to know that you had the stomach for combat{/}."

…

They don't know that was intentional on my part. They think I might still be interested in dealing with them. But… If the Emperor has Lanterns under his command he could just rebuild what Larfleeze destroyed. Unless he doesn't know that he can do that.

"I do. I also have the intelligence to realise that it isn't always the best approach."

He nods. "Good. The Emperor approves."

They might not have developed good Lantern combat skills yet but they've got pretty good focus and coherence. I'm still confident that I could beat them-. Kill them. As long as there aren't any more. And it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the Emperor kept a ring for himself. But what happens if they decide to visit Larfleeze's cave while I'm gone? Even if I left my own Construct-Lanterns, a well equipped strike force could penetrate and get an awful lot of rings. I had been assuming that a fear of the place would keep anyone away, at least for long enough for us to go there and back.

"And?"

"And he wishes to make his offer again. {orange}Join us{/}. {orange}Instruct us to fight as you do{/}. {orange}Lead his fleets and his armies as his mightiest warrior{/}. {orange}The universe can be ours{/}!"

"And if I say 'no'?"

The three of them look at each other for a moment, then back at me. The closest one shru-.

BLOUGHDUGHDOFF!

Uh. I push myself upright in the trench my impact just dug into the Somewhat Less Forbidden Forest of Weeds, the trees around me torn and shattered by the force of my impact. Construct armour held, just about. I generate a new set from beneath and let what's left of the old construct flake away. Giant orange beam. Didn't come from the three talking to me or the one who fell. And it was fast, relativistically fast. I remember from the Stewart ring's database that humanoids generally can't fight like that as they can't get their head around the principles involved well enough. I can just about do it myself -out of combat at least- but there's no way that a rookie Lantern with no database could. Maybe their ring was made from a non-humanoid?

I add a bubble barrier and generate small railgun and cold gun constructs, charging the railgun's capacitors in preparation.

"And what was that in aid of?!"

The three Citadelians drift in my direction, moving apart from one another. They're not surrounding me as yet…

"{orange}I felt that perhaps they were not being clear{/}."

Orange light flares in mid-air, and when it clears another Citadelian Orange Lantern is revealed. This one looks older and far more grizzled, grey streaks from old scars visible against the blue-black of his skin. No implants. Odd. An early prototype, perhaps?

"{orange}You will work with us, or you will die and we will continue our work without you{/}."

Construct armour flares into being around him, and a beam from his ring hits the dying warrior I shot and knits his chest back together. The warrior jerks into a sitting position, hands grabbing at the former site of his injury.

"Emperor Damyn, I presume."

The old warrior gapes at me for a moment before throwing his head back. "{orange}HAHAHA{/}! {orange}Damyn, you think me Damyn{/}?! {orange}Hah{/}!" He wipes his eyes with his right hand. "{orange}This is what happens when your entire species is cloned{/}! {orange}No, Orange Lantern, I am not Damyn, and I will dispense with the illusion that he is in command of my empire soon enough{/}."

Then who-?

"You're the First."

"{orange}Yes indeed{/}! {orange}The first Citadelian, formed by the womb of X'Hal and the technology of the Psions{/}. {orange}For so long I have been reduced to directing my people through their implants, my own aged body barely ticking over, but now{/}..! {orange}Now I lead and fight and kill once more with my own hands{/}! {orange}Restored by this wonderful ring{/}!"

He brings the ring he wears on his right middle finger to his lips and {orange}kisses it{/}.

"{orange}We are a perfect match for the orange light, not merely one people but different iterations of a single person{/}! {orange}I would ask you once more to serve me, but we both know that you will not{/}." He points his ring at me. "{orange}Now die{/}."

21st July
04:19 GMT

His right hand {orange}glows{/} and a spatial lensing effect appears to warp the background but I'm already moving. My crumbler round fires at full power, slamming into the construct armour covering his head even as his own beam flashes out and blasts a hole into the ground behind me. His visor fails, causing him to pull his head back slightly in surprise. As I fire my cold gun he raises his left arm and forms a shield construct, blocking the shot.

Not ablative as the construct armour I use when sparring with Guy and John is, but modular. One part can fail while the rest remains strong. That's actually quite-.

Energy pulses strike my bubble shield as the First pulls back, his escort advancing behind their own floating palisade shields. Not a problem. Just keep moving and-.

A {orange}shockwave{/} of orange radiates outwards from the First, his escort {orange}shooting upwards{/} just before it reaches them. I immediately mirror their action, simultaneously charging and firing my railgun at the closest. His palisade evaporates where I hit but the younger Citadelians have armoured themselves. Okay. I transition behind them and reload my first railgun while forming a second-.

"{orange}Yaarh{/}!"

The Citadelian I shot earlier transitions into my bubble barrier, stabbing with.. an Nth metal cutlass. The bubble buckles and bursts as he fortifies the armour around his right shoulder and barges towards me. I retrain my railguns and dart left, getting a clear shot at the unreinforced armour covering his back. My guns hum as the crumbler rounds strike home, construct armour shattering, armour and flesh dissolving and then the cold beam hits. In a second hoar frost covers the Citadelian's body as he plummets to the ground for a second time.

Orange rings can't fix dead.

The three survivors pull back into formation with the First, forming a combined bubble.. with multiple layers. Okay. I fire a tungsten round at the one I killed, his body exploding into frozen lumps of meat. A filament snatches the ring he carried from the broken remains of his right hand and another grabs onto the pommel of his cutlass.

Holding up my right arm I phase out to allow his ring to pass through my armour and then phase back in, the ring fitting neatly over my right ring finger. Immediately, flashes of the life of a being I can best describe as being a tentacle elephant appear in my mind. He came to Vega to find a world to settle… A long time ago. Instead, he found Larfleeze. I take hold of the cutlass hilt a moment later.

Two rings again.

Inside the Citadelian bubble my enemies appear to reach a decision. Strands connect the First to his minions and then.. for an instant I'm confused as to what I'm doing here. It swiftly passes as orange flashes around one minion and transitions him into stabbing range. I swing my cutlass to intercept his as my railguns fire! There's a tremendous clang as his natural muscles try to overpower the muscle enhancements of my armour. I bring my left hand around to push on the rear of the blade as the railguns fire, the first hit destroying his construct armour and the second-.

I jerk forwards slightly as he disappears, a momentary flicker of orange behind me indicating that one of his brethren have transitioned into melee range as well. Before he can strike I transition myself to directly above the Citadelian dome, then drop so that I'm standing on it.

Corrupt and drain.

{orange}Compliance.{/}

The orange light in the outermost bubble roils and spins for an instant before visibly flowing up my body and into my rings. I drop down slightly onto the next level and being to repeat the process as-

{orange}Alert!{/}

-two Citadelians flicker into being next to me. Accelerating myself I slash at the one to my right with the cutlass while the one above and behind me is met with a destructive pulse. The pulse is met with only limited success; the construct armour covering his chest fractures but doesn't quite break but he's forced to back away and abandon his swing. The swords -ugh- achieve little either. Mine cuts through his construct armour and body armour to cut a thin line across his chest while his cuts through my own construct armour and slices through the power armour covering my left forearm. But since I've got an opening…

{orange}I hunger.{/}

Both of the Citadelians are pulled back inside the bubbles as another layer fails and is sucked into my rings. Okay, in theory I could force my way in like this, but somehow I don't think I'll need to as the Hellwraith takes full control of its new host and stabs another Citadelian in the neck with its cutlass before manifesting construct claws and grappling with him. The other two look around in astonishment, giving me the opportunity to create a laser construct attached to my right leg and fire it through the bubble at the First.

If I can see you, light can pass through your shield. Yes, only orange light in this case but it isn't hard for me to make orange light.

"Graagh!"

The First instinctively jerks aside and creates an extra barrier, neither of which impede my light speed weapon that passes through orange constructs. This is why we wear head armour. Credit to him though; he's pretty darn physically resilient anyway. Finally getting his brain in gear he reaches up into the beam of my laser with his right hand and {orange}bends spac{/}-.

Ah! Cutting that out. He turned the laser back on me. Do I pull back and-? No, the whole area around his body is shimmering now, he can just deflect it wherever.

"{orange}Raah{/}!"

The First drops to the bottom of his bubble where the Hellwraith and the younger Citadelian are wrestling, grabbing the demonhost by the head and… Ew. It looked like he just rubbed the fingers of his left hand across its head, but that head then came apart in blood-pumping slices. I feel a slight tingle as the Hellwraith returns to my ring. The Citadelian he fought is visibly injured, but a glare from the First prompts him to start healing itself.

So I shoot him in the left eye with a laser and fry his brain instead.

There's a puff of burned meat smoke as he collapses dead to the bottom of the inner layer of the bubble shield. The remaining younger Citadelian takes his helmet out of subspace and jams it over his head before I can repeat the process. Maybe he isn't familiar enough with ring scans to rely on them to replace the input of his own eyes in combat?

The bubble shield twitches and I transition to a point fifty metres away without much in the way of conscious consideration, {orange}a black beam{/} piercing my former position. Oh great, he knows how to do beam -I transition again- singularities as well. Under other circumstances I might call upon the Ophidian but Larfleeze is right there. I can't risk destabilising Hinon's control of him. The other surviving Citadelian is gathering up his fallen comrades' rings. Shouldn't help him much, but I can't pierce the shields fast enough -I dodge another black beam, this one passing through a chunk of the forest and violently compressing the terrain- to stop-.

There were three of them maintaining the barrier. I think I've got the First's full attention and the other one isn't giving the matter his full attention. Simple solid shot might be able to get through it now. I dodge again, plotting a random evasion pattern as I charge up my railguns and load tungsten rounds. The First drops his singularity projector for a moment, frowning at me as he tries to work out his next move. I fire orange lasers at his eyes to make sure he has to focus on his own defence, then point my railguns at his remaining junior and firechargefirechargefirechargefire!

The bubble crumbles at the first impact, caves in at the second and then the rounds hit the younger Citadelian in the chest. His armour cracks, and I'm slightly faster with my cold gun than the First is with his barrier.

"{red}RAAAAH{/}!"

The First {red}roars{/} his frustration and his ring momentarily shuts down.

He blinks in confusion for a second, then my cold gun freezes him in that pose permanently.

Haah.

I watch as the bodies fall to the ruined ground. He didn't realise. Focus on something other than avarice and your ring stops cooperating. No, no way he could have known. The Greenies don't advertise it and neither Larfleeze nor his minions ever encountered the problem.

His body and that of his runner-up associate hit the ground and shatter while the other two just… Burst. I hold out my left hand and immediately realise that trying to call the rings is a bad idea. Instead, I transition down and pick them up with filaments.

"Are you finished playing yet?"

Three of the rings show me pictures of species I don't recognise, but the one worn by the First…

Ogandu Onna Oslan.

I nod inside my armour as I turn to face Hinon. "Yes. Yes, I think so."

21st July
06:01 GMT

Larfleeze's.. cell, gives me a mild headache just being near it. A room designed to.. nearly completely blot out the orange light. It won't exactly tear a person's soul apart, but a person would find it increasingly difficult to want things for themselves. In a way it's the opposite of the conversion crystals which the Zamarons used in the comics. Those forcibly converted people to their way of thinking, we're going to cure ours of… Not our… The way of thinking our light encourages if they lose control.

I hope he's the last person I put in here.

I glance at the Light Fountain in my left hand.

I don't believe that he will be.

The cell itself is relatively pleasant. A matter transmuter for food and.. whatever other materials the housekeeping drones require. The drones themselves are created and dismantled by the same device. We don't think that Larfleeze has any particular technical skills, but there's a risk that he might have picked them up from one of the people he assimilated. The walls, floor and furnishings are in various shades of blue. A sonic projection system is hidden behind the heavily reinforced walls and plays barely audible relaxing music. A Controller -one of the standard pattern Jevek-looking ones- is going to be here constantly to monitor Larfleeze.

I nod at… That Controller, as Hinon and I watch the trembling Larfleeze through one of the observation windows. "Did you have trouble getting a volunteer?"

"Not at all. Everyone wants to be my friend at the moment." She frowns. "A refreshing change, actually."

"From being comatose?"

That earns me a sidelong glance. "After the Manhunter Rebellion, a number of my colleagues expressed a degree of scepticism about the whole concept of sharing glow-technology with other species. It wasn't a popular field of research." Her eyes drop to the controls in front of me. "Do you intend to press that or are you going to watch him all day?"

At the moment Larfleeze is still wearing the system I put on his head in the caves. He's still wearing his ring as well. Taking it off in advance was just too much of a risk. Once the.. 'blue cell' starts work the ring will rapidly be drained of power, and there's a small and very secure slot for a drone to drop it into once he's sufficiently out of it for that to be practical.

I press the button and the air in the cell shimmers. Larfleeze himself stills, not even twitching. I can't scan him and I can't see him on empathic vision any longer. I have to stare at his chest for several moments before I'm certain that he's still breathing.

"That should do it." Hinon steps back from the observation window and starts walking towards the exit. "Do you want anything special done with his ring?"

Larfleeze's eyes open for a moment. No orange sigil. Not even any pain. They're just blank. Lifeless. He's gazing out at the universe and he doesn't understand what it is or why it's there.

They close again and I turn away.

"Do you?"

"Oh, I'd just destroy it. I'm not completely without sentimentality-" Her eyes drop to John's former ring. I wonder if she really still needs it? "-but that one doesn't have any good associations."

"No, I think we should keep it. It was the first ever orange ring."

We pass out of the cell block and into the central shaft, then rise off the ground and head upwards towards the night sky.

"All yours, then." She takes a moment to glance over the construction crew still putting this place together. This will eventually serve as our version of the Science Cell block which the Guardians have on Oa. Need to plug the Light Fountain into the Central Power Battery housing first… "I'll have it delivered to you when we finally get it off him."

"I was thinking.. more a museum or something. I don't want anyone forgetting that things like Larfleeze can happen to the rest of us as well."

"I thought you were leaving things like that up to this Clarissi candidate you still haven't told me the name of."

"Oh, sorry. Vril Dox. He's Coluan. Highly intelligent but with poor social skills. He and the other Controller-."

"Yes, the joke rather makes itself, doesn't it?"

We rise over the lip of the central shaft, getting a panoramic view of a formerly-pristine chunk of Maltusian wasteland. Now construction equipment and labourers are everywhere, the outlines of housing, training facilities and office buildings visible in several places. I can also see the dull glow as the Controllers working on the Central Power Battery housing make their last minute checks. Hinon smiles faintly at the sight before flying towards them, and I accelerate to catch up.

"Making sure the Corps is making itself useful will be his job. Making sure that its members stay sane will be mine."

"Mm." She frowns. "Aren't the Coluan people being mind controlled by a group of artificial intelligences?"

"Those were made by his father. The information I have suggests that he's in a Dominator-run prison, but I'll need to take some time to confirm that."

"Be careful if you go anywhere near Colu yourself. Losing you at this point would be awkward."

I nod. "I'd certainly hate for my mind being torn apart by monstrous AIs to be awkward for you."

"Do you intend to make a habit of saying things like that? I can see it rapidly becoming tiresome."

"Of course. You used to be Guardians. I need to make certain that you're not reverting."

"Hm."

We fly in silence for a moment, now close enough to see the detail of the Central Power Battery housing. The oval structure of it puts me in mind of a front-on view of a Portal turret. It's grey and inert at the moment, though that will change shortly. The upper part of the housing at the front is currently hinged up slightly to allow access to the internal systems into which I need to insert the Light Fountain.

"Speaking of the Guardians, I intend to stop off at Oa at some point. Zamaron as well."

"Aren't you bold. We don't have the same recent… Recentish, history with the Zamarons as we do with the Guardians. It should simplify things for you." She stops dead, something occurring to her. "If you see her, be sure to point out to Nadia Safir that she was completely wrong about the orange light necessarily excluding other colours, will you?"

"I think that a demonstration would be more effective than a lecture."

"But far less satisfying. You've no idea what that woman could be like." She turns to face me. "Sufficiently un-Guardiany for you?"

I fly on past her, heading for the opening on the casing. I had thought that the full gathering might want to show up, but it turns out that Controllers aren't big on ceremony. Once Hinon has made her checks each of the Controllers will come here and bind themselves to it individually under her supervision. The whole structure is about fourteen metres tall and about three thick at the widest point. I raise the Light Fountain, placing a hand on each side of the main body. Then I drift forward, holding it out towards the opening in the structure. The interior space looks plain, but from the parts of Hinon's description which I could follow it's a massively complicated partially extra-planar monitoring and projection system that they make look like a Lantern because that's what they used to do and there's no pressing reason to change it now. Bare, curved walls and a small plinth. I land, kneeling down to slot the Fountain in place.

Hm.

I rise off the ground and turn, flying out at speed. Hinon has come closer in order to supervise so I head her way.

"Link.. good."

As I reach her I turn, watching two of the other Controllers lower the front plate and make the unit whole.

"Bonding complete." She raises her left hand, {orange}ring glowing brilliantly{/}. "And… Activate."

The core of the Orange Central Power Battery flares with orange light, shining almost painfully for a moment. Then the orange colour begins seeping into the rest of the structure and the core begins to calm. The light… Puts me in mind of the front of the nacelles on the original Enterprise. Moving, almost burning, but stable.

As stable as orange gets.

"And… Success. We have a functioning Central Power Battery."

We watch it for a moment, then she turns her head to face me.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Go and get me my Clarissi."