58

2,963Chapter 58: Feeling of Defeat

There was a sense of power that came with being a hero. It wasn't anything like Emperor Palpatine shouting 'unlimited powahh' at the top of his lungs, but it was more of… a slow creeping sense of empowerment. When you were constantly in dangerous situations that would kill a normal person in about a second flat, and not only did you survive, but you saved other people's lives while kicking the butt of the person that made that dangerous situation…

You felt powerful. Because you were. Before Hal earned the ring on his finger, the closest thing he could compare it to was flying planes. The sense of control that he felt - he pushed the test planes to their limits, his survival determined by his skill. All the while he took hold of that old fear of flying after watching his father die in a plane.

It was something that crept up on you the more time you spend in those situations simply because each time some jerk tries to blow up a city, you gain experience. You learn how to handle it. You trust what you've learned, and you learn to expect that you'll not only live, but you'll also save the day. Because that's what being a hero was all about.

Yet, as Prince Tarble shattered a construct with his fists, that sense of power and control was pulled out from underneath Hal. All around him, his comrades were dying, completely overwhelmed by the Sinestro Corps and the Frieza-force. Dying. Each time a Green Lantern died, it sent a ripple through the community, and now hundreds had died in a handful of minutes.

The culprit was Hal's current opponent - A young boy that grew up at war and it turned him into an absolute monster. Both physically and mentally.

Hal cut off the construct, sailing to the left while Kilowog went right. The best was on his trail like a bloodhound, closing the distance at speeds that he could only compare to Barry Allen, the Flash, and that wasn't a comparison that Hal liked to make on an enemy. Tarble moved in a blur, blue energy gathering in his hands. Hastily, Hal threw up a kite shield between him and the powerful blue blast. It was short-lived thanks to Kilowog, but in that few short seconds, the edges of his shield chipped.

Was his will wavering that much? Or was it because of the will that Tarble possessed? The fact that he had to ask that question at all meant the first was happening if only a little.

People were dying all around him. Stel was trying to organize a retreat, but they couldn't warp out. The only option was FTL, but the enemy also had Power Rings. And there's what Tarble said, a handful of sentences that wormed doubt into his resolve. Just because of how much sense that it made. The ones on probation being the ones to fight in the war? He figured it was them giving in and letting those that wanted to fight to fight.

Now, Hal had doubts. His kite shield faded as Hal threw himself back into the fight, knowing that he had to at least stall Tarble for as long as possible. If he got past them, then every Green Lantern was going to die. Hal could feel it in his bones. Kilowog shot at Tarble with some kind of ray gun - every Green Lantern was different. Hal perfected simple objects that were perfect for the job that he wanted done, but Kilowog was a scientist at heart. Admittedly, he specialized in genealogy, but years of being a Latearn have him a taste for replicating advanced tech.

Tarble dodged the blasts with ease, a blue disk forming in his hands before he flung it at Hal. It crossed the space between them in a blur, forcing him to dodge, only for the thing to try to dodge with him. Given that it looked like a buzzsaw, the first thing Hal thought of was wood, so a plank of wood acted as a shield to allow him to dodge. It was a poor response given that saws were meant to chew through wood, but whatever. It worked.

The Saiyan general rushed towards Kilowog, ignoring the blasts that came from Hal's ring to drive him off. Kilowog formed a shield, but Tarble blasted right through it to plant a foot in his friend's gut. Kilowog shot away, alive according to his ring, but he slammed into an asteroid hard enough that it shattered upon impact. Hal grit his teeth and dove in, his ring flashing while his mind wandered.

It made too much sense. Sending them all here… sending them here to fight and die. To clean house. Wartime measures were being activated to make up for the thousand Lanterns that would be fighting. Temporary rings were being issued to cover the sectors… but what if they weren't temporary? What if the Guardians planned on using the thousand Lanterns fighting as soldiers and once the war was done, they'd take the ring because they showed they couldn't follow orders unquestioningly? Hal could see it happening. He could see it so easily that it scares the shit out of him.

Tarble led Hal on a merry chase through the asteroid field - with so many moving pieces because of the battle, he was forced to focus. But, even then, doubts tugged at his mind.

What did Tarble mean that he owned Earth? Hal saw the planet from orbit and he didn't see the punk's name on it. His knee jerk reaction was to assume it was a lie to get in his head, but why lie about that? And how he said it - Tarble spoke with confidence. He talked like he assumed that Hal knew. That he should have known… but he didn't because the Guardians were keeping secrets from him.

"You're open," Tarble informed, coming out of absolutely nowhere. Hal put up a shield, and just barely managed to block a blow. He was already down one hand, and he could afford to lose another. Their eyes seemed to meet through the construct and his visor, and if he had to guess, the Prince wasn't impressed. Hal grit his teeth and the construct shifted, a boxing glove shooting out. He half expected the Saiyan to dodge, but the glove slammed into his face hard enough that his head snapped back and he was sent flying.

A crack formed in Tarble's visor as he quickly recovered from the blow, dodging the blasts of light from his ring as Hal attempted to capitalize on the opening. His gaze drifted over to where Kilowog was, hoping that his friend was okay.

Then his ring chummed with a message that froze his blood in his veins. Lantern Stel has fallen in combat. Lantern Kilowog is now in command.

Stel was dead? An honor guard? Hal looked over to where the battle was at its fiercest, and as if his gaze was drawn by a magnet, Hal found Stel's body in the utter chaos. And he saw the one who killed him - Sinestro floated in place, almost oblivious to the battle around him, looking in his direction. Their eyes seemed to meet despite the considerable distance between them.

Sinestro smiled and Hal's blood boiled.

"Quit gawking, Poozer. That's an order," Kilowog said, launching an all-out offensive against Tarble. The Saiyan dodged, retreating but still firing back with blue energy blasts. Hal joined in, trying to nail the brat, but he dodged every one they fired. Perks of being a small target.

"Orders, O captain my captain?" Hal asked, trying to inject some humor into the situation. Stel was dead. Hundreds more were dead. Maybe half of their number. They had no easy method of retreat… Hal couldn't say that he envied Kilowog as being the next link in the chain of command.

Because it really looked like they were all going to die here.

Kilowog failed to answer as they fired off their rings to drive away the Prince, which meant he was probably communicating with what was left of the Corps. Only for Tarble to form a bubble shield of his own to rush forward, letting the shield eat the blows. It cracked and broke before reforging in the few seconds it took to reach Hal. A sword emerged from his ring, taking a swipe at Tarble, only for the attack to be flipped over.

A shine of blue warned him that his life was in danger, but there was no time to retreat. Instead, Hal dove in, cocking his fist back to punch the brat in the face. If Tarble was surprised by the move, Hal couldn't tell, but Hal narrowly avoided having a hole punched through his chest. Tarble dodged the blow, but he reached out to grab the wrist of the hand and it was then that Hal realized his mistake.

"Oh no you don't," Hal shouted, forming armor to protect his arm as Tarble raised a hand to cut it off at the elbow. As the green plates formed, Tarble's plan changed. A fist crashed down on the constructed armor, right on his elbow and Hal's world became pain as his arm was bent in the wrong swallowed a scream and used the pain to fuel his resolve. A buzzsaw launched itself at Tarble from his ring, forcing him to back off with the help of Kilowog and a half dozen others.

"Hal?!" Someone shouted, but Hal didn't recognize the voice. Instead, he shifted the construct to become a brace while he braced himself for pain. Using his ring, he forced his arm back into place, and as soon as he did, Hal felt the pain all but vanish. But given how badly it throbbed, a bone was broken.

Hal caught his breath, noticing that some Green Lanterns were flying over. Then he realized that the some was all that was left. Maybe two hundred, but Hal wouldn't go past three. That's all that was left of the thousand-strong task force sent. "I-" he had to swallow thickly, "I'm good. I just need the ring to be on me to fight."

"Hal," Kilowog spoke, "Can you distract Tarble? One minute." His voice was grave as the few hundred attempted to fight off the thousands of enemies. It sounded like he thought that he was asking Hal to die. And he might as well be. But even if he was, his answer remained the same.

"I'll buy five minutes," Hal decided. His life was worth that much, at least. He looked over at Kilowog and nodded. The big pink guy had a plan, and he was going to get the others out of this slaughter. Hal believed it. If anyone could, then it was Kilowog. Kilowog nodded back at him before Hal blasted off to deliver a well-deserved spanking. As he flew, Hal idly noted that the battle in space was so silent. Like someone had pressed the mute button on a TV.

This his focus settled on the task at hand. Tarble realized that he was heading right to him, and he stood his ground. Hal formed a sword, a green tendril connecting the construct to his ring and he sliced down at Tarble. The boy retreated, deftly avoiding the attack as he drew Hal away from the main group. To make matters worse, two others drifted nearby but they made no move to attack.

"What, don't want to repay the favor of me and Kilowog teaming up against you?" Hal asked, really hoping that Tarble was the type that liked to hear himself talk. Hal looked at a petite but well-muscled woman on his right and a short muscular guy with an ugly bowl haircut on his left.

"No," Tarble answered simply. "I was having fun fighting you both." Fun. He was having fun. He called it fun while hundreds of his comrades died around him. "And if you're going to sacrifice yourself like this, then I should at least fight you in single combat. You deserve that much." In any other circumstances, that's exactly what he would need, but it would be a lie to say that Hal wasn't just a little annoyed. He liked it better when the bad guys were irredeemable assholes - how he said that, it reminded him of Wonder Woman. An Amazonian warrior that redefined drop-dead gorgeous.

Tarble glanced at the two at his side before he nodded, and they made to rejoin the fight. But Hal wouldn't let them go so easily. He didn't know who the other two were, but if they were fighting him then they weren't fighting the remaining Green Lanterns. Their odds were bad enough and Hal already decided his fate.

If his life could buy a few hundred lives of his comrades, then that was a bargain. And being broke gave Hal a newfound love for a sale.

His ring responded to his will - his thoughts were pushed to the side as he accepted that this was the end to his story. His resolve strengthened, hardening to the point his will was unbreakable. Hal didn't even have to do anything to make the other two stop in their tracks, his body shining with an ethereal green light.

His Ring?

24.6% charge left His ring chimed. It wasn't much, but it would last for the rest of his life.

"I'm glad you're finally taking this seriously," Tarble said and Hal only realized that he had closed his eyes when he opened them. There was an edge of excitement in his voice as he made a gesture for the two flanking him to back off.

Hal took in a slow breath of the artificial air that his ring produced and let it out slowly. No more banter. No more distractions. It was time for him to die.

With his renewed resolve, Hal flew forward - willing his wing to go faster than he had ever managed before. His Ring seemed to sing on his finger, a pleasant melody rattling his bones as everything became a blur to his eyes. A construct formed, a boxing glove that he launched at Tarble. The boy cocked his fist back, intent on shattering it, but this time it was different. Hal felt the punch land on his boxing glove, but whereas the others fractured and broke, this one was unyielding.

The glove surged forward, pushing Tarble back to give himself some breathing room. The enemy general slammed through an asteroid, obscuring him, but that was fine. The construct faded, but another quickly replaced it. A piece of rope lashed out around a sizable asteroid the size of a skyscraper, easily wrapping around it and sealing its grip with a bow before Hal grit his teeth and slung the asteroid both at the two other Saiyans, but his true target was the Yellow Lanterns behind them.

People always have him crap about his simple designs, but they didn't have a ring so they couldn't get it. In a high stakes fight, you used what you knew. What came naturally to you. Thinking of something complicated or something you didn't understand inside and out was just asking for your constructs to fail. And right now, Hal couldn't afford failure.

With incredible speed, Hal flung the asteroid at the Yellow Lanterns, forcing them to disperse, and as he turned around to face Prince Tarble he saw the child racing towards him. His knuckles were bleeding, his armor was dirty, but if Hal had to describe the kid… Hal would say that he seemed overjoyed. Enthusiastic, even.

He spun out of the way of a few energy blasts as he charged up an attack in his hands. But Hal wasn't idle. He flew forward, forming a shield with his ring to accept the blow. A second later, it slammed into him. The edges of his shield didn't crack, but he felt a hole being drilled through it. Despite his refound resolve, it seemed that Prince Tarble had some tricks up his sleeve.

Throwing himself out of the way, his shield buckled under the energy attack and Tarble was on him a nanosecond later. A fist buried itself in Hal's stomach before Tarble darted up to plant a knee on the underside of his jaw. His mouth filled with blood and he was pretty sure that his jaw was broken. But that didn't matter. So long as he had his ring, he could fight.

18.1% Charge remaining

A broadsword formed and he made a hasty strike at Tarble, who caught the blade with two of his own in an X. Keeping the blade from him, Tarble surged forward, and this time Hal could absolutely see his blazing yellow eyes on the other side of the visor. Hal fell back, trying to dodge his stumpy leg, but Tarble was hands down his better is CQC. A foot caught him in the chest, directly over the emblem that marked him as a Green Lantern, and he felt every rub creak from the strain.

He had no choice but to accept the blow, but as the construct sword failed, Hal attempted to form a bubble shield. Only for Tarble to shatter it before it could truly form. Defense wasn't an option anymore. He bought the others his promised minute, and he was nearing the five-minute mark. And he just didn't have much more gas in the tank.

That blue energy swirled in Tarble's hands and Hal felt a steering pain in his abdomen. But he wasn't done yet. The kid should have aimed for his arm or his head because Hal wasn't going down until he lost one or the other. Gritting his teeth, not even looking down to inspect the wound, he threw out a fist and sent a boxing glove directly into Tarble's face. His head snapped to the side, his visor breaking, but he wasn't done. To follow the blow-up, he lashed out with his actual fist, intent on punching him in the face again.

50.33% charge. Kilowog has implemented a direct order. 45% of ring charge being consumed. His ring chimed and Hal barely had time to blink, his fist racing towards Tarble's face as he was ready to counter. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Hal realized that he was about to lose his arm, but his focus wasn't on that. He looked away at a crucial moment to see what was beyond him and his fight. His eyes landed on Kilowog, his ring pointed directly at him.

Then he saw nothing at all.

"What the hell?" I muttered, watching as Hal Jordan suddenly vanished from in front of me. Looking beyond the fight, I saw that the meager hundred Lanterns left was cut down to around fifty or so. Maybe a bit more. But the one missing were the ones that vanished just like Hal.

A hand went to my visor, only to reveal that Hal had just broken it. So I replaced it with another, intent of asking that question aloud as I flew towards the remaining Green Lanterns. There was a lull in the slaughter, those few remaining grouped up with their rings pointing at those that surrounded them. "Sinestro, what did they just do?" I demanded to know, feeling robbed.

"Kilowog sacrificed the many to save the few, it would seem. They combined their ring charges into a handful of others to activate a temporal rip. A rather dangerous method of galactic travel - they could be absolutely anywhere in the universe," Sinestro explained, floating nearby the remaining lanterns. With my scouter back in place, I saw that seventy remained of the month that had been left. So out of the thousand Lanterns, twenty managed to escape.

Make that sixty-nine, I corrected as one ring failed, depleted its battery and the Lantern quickly perished to the extremes of space. My gaze found Kilowog, who looked as grim as death. "Of those that got away, how many can we expect to return to battle?"

"Perhaps ten or so," Sinestro said, his hands clasped behind his back as he smiled down at the Lanterns.

I nodded. It wasn't a total wipeout like I had been aiming for, but it was close. "Quick thinking, Kilowog. You managed to save some lives," I commended the large pink alien. I could respect that. His back was against the wall, there was no exit, people were dying by the second, and he managed to make a way out. He sacrificed the many, himself included, so the few could live because the alternative was all of them dying.

Sinestro glanced at me, "Might I recommend taking him alive? He would make an invaluable Yellow Lantern. With the right convincing, if course."

Kilowog scoffed, "I won't ever work for someone like you, Sinestro."

"But you'll work for the Guardians? I'm insulted. They're more monstrous than I could ever hope to be, Kilowog. If you'd open your eyes, you'd see that," Sinestro responded while I considered what was said. In the moment of silence, another Green Lantern died. It would be a simple task - use their lives as leverage to force Kilowog to accept a Yellow Ring. But I didn't want to.

"No," I decided, speaking to Sinestro but I looked at Kilowog as I spoke. "Even if we blackmail him or leverage his obedience, he's never going to be loyal to you. And a guy like him is going to cause trouble at the worst possible moment for us, even if it costs him his life." Kilowog didn't deny the accusation and Sinestro let out a quiet sigh. He seemed honestly disappointed.

But he didn't seem surprised, "A shame. Truly. Amongst all of the Green Lanterns, you were always something special, Kilowog." Kilowog scoffed at the words, likely disregarding them as lies. But that was probably the bad blood between them. Kilowog looked at me, his ring shining brightly and I could only guess how much of a charge that he had.

"Any chance that I can talk you into sparing their lives?" He asked me directly as I drifted forward, coming to the attention of every Green Lantern in the diminishing number of them.

I shook my head, "No. You're all seasoned and your replacements will be recruits," I answered him. The Guardians would also be down their best trainer that could whip those recruits into a powerful fighting force. Though, I smiled behind my mask, "And I doubt any of you are willing to be taken in alive."

There were grim smiles amongst the Green Lanterns, and I knew I was right. They all resigned themselves to fighting to the death. It really was a shame that they were enemies. It's that kind of attitude that I looked for with my troops - ones that are willing to fight to the absolute bitter end.

"Is there a preference in how you want to die?" I asked, aiming the question to all of the Lanterns, but it was Kilowog that answered. He offered a careless shrug, his eyes narrowing - he looked like he was about to fight. But his ring flickered tellingly. He was running on empty.

"I already have the death that I want - saving the lives of some poozers so they can fight another day," Kilowog answered, and that was the cue for the two corps. The Yellow Lanterns opened fire on the weakening group of Green Lanterns as they surged forward, intent on taking some out with them. Some of their rings failed instantly, others managed to withstand a few blasts, and a few accepted deadly wounds to save power to lash out with the last of their strength.

Kilowog flew towards me, holes in his body that left behind a trail of blood, his ring pointed at me, and his face set in an expression that told me that he didn't even feel the pain.

Ki gathered in my hand as I rushed to meet him. I didn't dodge the green energy bolt that he fired from his ring because he wasn't aiming at me, even if it did scrape my cheekbone as it raced by. "Tyrant Lancer," I spoke the words solemnly as I reached Kilowog before I thrust the technique into his chest. The emblem of the Green Lanterns was destroyed, my fist skewering him. In that same instant, his ring failed him and the uniform faded into nothing.

Yanking it out, I confirmed his death before looking behind me to see Sinestro holding up a disk with a crack in it. The shield he used to block Kilowog's final attack.

It was a good death, I decided. But this was war, and there was no time to linger.

"A true shame," Sinestro remarked, letting the shield fade. He looked at me and nodded slightly, "Sinestro Corps, begin the next operation," He ordered, raising his hand up to display his ring. In response, the over three thousand Yellow Lanterns entered FTL speeds to speed off to their individual targets. Despite the battle, we hadn't lost a single person. Sinestro lingered as he flew closer. "I'm surprised that you can throw away progress so carelessly."

I shook my head, "I learned from the Reach. We have stronger troops, but the fact of the matter is that we don't have the numbers to stall the kind of force they've mustered." The Thanagarian Empire was amongst the largest. It was in the top twenty, and that meant there were millions of planets. Some were more developed than others and could offer more, but the fact of the matter was that my two million troops couldn't protect every planet and halt every advance.

So, I didn't try to. It would suck to lose some progress with the terraforming of my planets, and some of my more developed ones, but for that sacrifice, the Thanagarian Empire would suffer for it. Over three thousand Yellow Lanterns attacking key locations, my armies hitting others, the 501st hitting their own targets - I was sacrificing a dozen planets for crippling their Empire with the window this offered.

It wouldn't kill the Thanagarian Empire. It was too big and like a giant, even when it was falling, it fell forward to crush whatever was before it. Which was unfortunately my fledgling nameless empire.

Hundreds of billions, trillions even. We rip their support from underneath them, and their numbers would be their downfall.

Sinestro chuckled, "You are rather fond of targeting supply lines," He noted. I considered that - I would have to change how I did things a bit after this. It wouldn't do to become predictable. Then Sinestro made a gesture, wanting to know if it was time to get the show on the road. Nodding, I turned to my team. Fasha, Shugesh, and Tora were the ones that accompanied me.

"Lead the kids well. It's their first real engagement," I told them and I got thumbs up in responses and a few chuckles. Each of them was in charge of a thousand Saiyan children and they had come a long way since I first picked them up on Planet Vegeta. The near hundred thousand Saiyans were all elite-class, a feat that had been next to impossible only a few short years ago. But I guess once the mold is broken, it's easier for those that come after to break it further.

Most hadn't mastered the Wrath State, but they were close. And that was more than enough for the enemies that we would be facing.

My team flew off to take command of their own division, and each of them had their own targets. The Thanagarian Empire undoubtedly had a numbers advantage, but we held the advantage of quality. One of ours was worth a thousand of theirs.

And with this opening stroke, I had no doubts that we would win the war.