26th June 2012
15:50 GMT -5
Mister Allen has already cleared this flight deck, flies and their riders and ground crews torn open by a combination of supersonic fists and thrown projectiles. Blood has been splashed across Mr. Allen's costume, and I notice that he keeps clenching and unclenching his fists.
"Look."
He points out through the magic barrier covering the opening to the outside of the Castle, and as we follow his gesture…
There's a planet. Looks like it's Earth-equivalent, and… Ring? Yes,
some signs of primitive civilisation. Some simple roads, slightly higher levels of illumination in some places than would be expected, signs of deforestation… But not lots of straight roads, not widespread light, no visible…
One visible satellite, big and yellow. But no smaller ones. Which… Could still mean that the world below is primitive, or at least non-industrial. The… Obvious alternative is that it's some sort of resort world and the reasons they don't have roads is a combination of readily-accessible air travel and a desire to get away from that sort of thing.
"
That doesn't look Sheeda."
Ring?
"Nothing in my files on either the precise design or the general appearance.
"
Custom built? That suggests high-end resort, as low-end places will generally just buy a standard build, or… Use a ship. But I… Can't see any docking arms. Teleportation, perhaps? Could it just be an observation post? Someone watching the planet below? The alternative is that the planet's civilisation are fuel-trapped and trade with the more advanced civilisation who made the satellite…
"
Mine either."
Doesn't matter. In any case…
"It doesn't look like the civilisation down there is populous enough for it to be worth the Sheeda harrowing it.
"
Mr. Allen rubs his hands together, inadvertently spreading Sheeda gore around. "Do you think that matters? You already offered them a new planet to settle."
Diana's eyes narrow slightly behind her visor. "Could it be a Sheeda outpost? Could they have left it here during one of their previous attacks?"
"Sheeda technology tends to look a certain way, but there's nothing
stopping them making something a different way.
"
"
It's a space station.
We need to focus on the ship."
He might know something that I don't, but I'm only ninety seven percent confident that it's a station. Macro-teleportation
is possible, so there's no
particular reason why a mobile object would
need an external thruster, or… Otherwise have an external element to its movement system. It's just that the vast majority
do. Even amongst those few civilisations that
can build them… Well, just look at how long it's taking me to convince the Justice League to build a global magic detection network. They
could have built one a decade ago. Heck, the Justice
Society could have built one if they'd been patient.
"Orange Lantern?"
"Wards are still up. I can fly out and have a look, but if the
station's warded it's barely worth my while.
"
Physical directions don't mean much in the Honden, but by searching for desires relating to the planet below, I-.
Out, wyrmling, and dare you not darken my door again.
Gah!
A green aura surrounds me and hurls me across the hangar and into the wall!
"I'm okay!
" I float upright and take a moment to check myself over.
"I'm okay.
"
Diana looks alarmed. "What happened?"
"I tried finding the Sheeda's desire networks in the Honden. Something felt me do it.
"
Jordan's holding his ring out in the place I was standing,
green light strobing through the area as it scans.
"
That was…
Green Lantern energy."
I dart back to the exit portal, looking around… Haven't got a good angle but I can't see any stars. There's
light, so presumably there's a local star somewhere, but that's it. That's not necessarily strange. Plenty of systems towards the galactic rim have a section of the night sky that's empty, and there are more than a few systems that have them obscured.
But.
A sparsely inhabited planet. A yellow space station. And a powerful Green Lantern.
"Jordan, can you reach the Guardians?
"
"
Probably, but they're not sending reinforcements."
"Ask for all information on a human man named Lord Malvolio of the Green Flame. If they say that they don't know who that is, scream at them until they decide to be helpful.
"
"
If you already know-."
"If I knew enough to fight him, do you think I'd have been thrown across the hangar?
"
Jordan manages a small smile. "
I guess not."
"The Guardians and the Controllers barely exchange information about regular operations. They certainly don't talk about their mistakes. Wonder Woman, I strongly suggest that we clear the ship first. Whatever's going on here, disabling the ship denies the Sheeda a lot of tactical options. Destroying it flat out stops them.
"
"What have you heard of this 'Malvolio'?"
"Supposedly -and this
isn't confirmed- he killed one of our Sector's former Green Lanterns, took his ring and kept it.
"
Mister Allen glances at Jordan.
"
That…
Does happen, sometimes.
We don't just take people with clean scorecards.
But if the Guardians let him keep a ring, they must have thought that he'd do an okay job.
Why would the Sheeda be talking to-?
You think they're making him the same offer they meant to make me?"
"If he's the ruling planets sort of Lantern… Like Sinestro, he might go for it. Or he might not. It might not even be him, but Guy can't do what
someone just did to me.
"
Mister Allen nods. "So where next?"
Diana gives a small shrug. "We don't have a layout."
"
Paul and I can fly outside, attack the other launch bays that way.
There won't be any prisoners there, and I'm pretty sure we can handle any fighter defenses."
"It's that, or tear the ship apart from the inside. Faster but riskier for any prisoners.
"
"Attack from the outside. Flash and I will follow the corridors and attempt to find either the holding cells or the bridge."
I nod inside my armour, then
Jordan and I jump through the exit and into space.