Chapter 115 : Battle of Oa
Author note : Hello, people ! Head's up : there's a new chapter of 'Reborn as Lex Luthor' that you can check out on my Patréon freely, and another of 'Solinter's tale' which is available for Patrons only.
Copy paste this link while replace the * by an 'o' :
https://www.patre*n.com/user?u=66371596 or you can also search for Cathbel on Patréon's search engine.
Enjoy !… or not. This arc's almost over and the story will go on hiatus for… I don't know how long. 7 chapters left… À la revoyure ! (that's French for « see you later » kind of)
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The first skirmish with the Third Army went well, all things considered. Sure, Ned lost, badly, against a Malthusian. His armor was destroyed and his enemies probably got more intel on them that he managed to gather. Nevertheless, despite his defeat, you could see they won the battle : their weapons worked ! Moreover, the Third Army didn't manage to bolster their numbers with the pirates, so… That was something.
While they continued their journey towards Oa, they gathered metals from the asteroids on the way at Ned's behest. It really helped to have a Kryptonian on your side for heavy labor… Steel helped too, by identifying the compositions of the metals, even though Superman could do it as well. With two people working on it though, it went much faster for the former squib to gather the materials needed to build himself a new armor.
This time, since he knew the nature of the Guardians' powers, he would spend the rest of his journey insulating his armor from the effects of the electromagnetic emotional spectrum. It was… difficult work frankly. If Ned didn't have the expertise of an expert in magic and another genius to help him, he probably would never have had the time. Even with their help however, the finished product was unsatisfactory to Ned.
It was bulky and ugly. Basically, it looked like a mix between Iron Man's prototype armor built in the desert in the first movie, and a knight's armor of old. Not that he could help it with the limited means available on the ship… He did his best to use the expanded space on the ship to reproduce most of the machines in his workshop. Still, it was lacking. That, and the time available was far from enough to build something he would be happy with.
Suddenly the speakers in the room came to life, Wonder Woman speaking urgently :
« We are approaching another battle zone ! All hands to battle station ! » A little lower, she muttered, but still with the speakers on : « Hah ! Always wanted to say that ! »
This time, instead of using the armor's sensors to get a read on the situation, since it was still being worked on, Ned walked toward the monitor by the side of the door and put up the information picked up by the sensors.
If he was right, they should have been closing in on Oa. At least, that's if the datas retrieved from the onboard computers of the diverse pirate groups they encountered was accurate… The fact that a battle was happening near it was… worrying. It meant that the Guardians' masks had fallen. Either their army had enough numbers that they believed they would win, or… the Green Lanterns discovered the truth.
In any case, as a third party in the battle, timing their arrival was a little complicated. In a battle of this size, the morale of the troops had a significant impact on the overall performance of the army. If the Green Lanterns believed them enemies, they could either attack them, or worse, lose faith in their chances to win. Despite the small size of this ship and its crew, it couldn't be said that their strength was insignificant. Their rings would no doubt pick up on the presence of the Kryptonian among their ranks, even if they didn't know who the rest of them were. Also, unlike the Green Lanterns, the side they actually wanted to give reinforcements to, the problem of morale wasn't actually one for the Guardians. Neither they nor their army had any emotions. Fear and despair, discouragement, they didn't know it anymore. All they knew was apathy and logic.
Ned and Batman would have preferred getting in direct contact with someone among their future allies… They carried their handy, all-purpose magic ring, after all ! Unfortunately, although Ned, Constantine and Irons, managed to create a weapon using the electromagnetic emotional spectrum energy, the technology behind the ring was… out of their leagues. Especially since they didn't have a chance to study them. Ned was quite sure that, given the chance, he could unlock all of the rings functions, decipher the encrypted network and even download all the knowledge contained therein. Just thinking about it… He really wanted to get his hands on one !
Ned scanned the informations on the monitor. It was exactly as he expected : two groups were currently fighting over Oa. It wasn't hard to figure out who these two groups were. The first one, who led siege to the planet was the third army, probably by one or more guardians. The second, who was currently on the defensive was the Green Lantern corps.
The ship's sensors also picked up energy fluctuations coming from the rear of the attacking group. Around the unknown phenomenon, there were a few people. Ned believed it to be the guardians trying to access the First Lantern, Volthoom's prison. The First Lantern, as his name implied, was the first person in the entire multiverse to harness the power of the electromagnetic emotional spectrum. He came from the far future of Earth 15 and traveled through time and countless parallel universes in his quest to save his people and mother… Until he became twisted. In typical comic book fashion, Volthoom became a super-villain the Guardians had to stop and imprison since they couldn't kill him.
They used his power to fashion the Green Lantern rings, and later on, Ned believed all the other lights originated in some way or another from him. Maybe even the third army. The guardians, in their hubris, believed they could control the First Lantern in their fight to end all sentient life in the universe. But Ned knew better…
He wanted to prevent them from breaking out Volthoom, in the first place, but…
« I'm not strong enough for that… » He muttered with a sigh.
Probably no one in their group was, not even Superman. The emotional electromagnetic spectrum was one of the seven primordial forces of the universe, meaning it would be effective even against a yellow-powered Kryptonian. And the Malthusians, immortal beings they were, had long learned to manipulate and fight with it. Kal-El on the other hand, was a young Kryptonian who was used to mindlessly pummel his problems away. He probably would be unable to fight them. Worse : if the guardians got his hands on him and turned him in a member of their third army…
He shuddered at the thought. No… The only person who stood a chance here was him ! Unfortunately, although he managed to insulate his armor from the power of the Lights, he had doubts about its effectiveness against a group of them.
Tapping on the monitor a few times to connect with the cockpit and the rest of the crew, Ned started to ask :
« What's the plan, Batman ? »
Shortly after their departure from Earth, they had decided that Batman would be their tactical advisor. Until now, he didn't give many instructions since they agreed on a few strategies before engaging in any battle, but now… This battle was too important for anyone to go about fighting on his or her own. And although Ned wanted to engage the Guardians, he trusted the Dark Knight to formulate a good plan to deal with the situation.
« Currently, the battle is at a stalemate, but it'll only continue until the third army manages to wound a few Green Lanterns. At this point, their defenses will start to crumble in the face of the growing numbers. However, the energy fluctuations at the edge of the battle worries me a little… »
For a moment, there was silence and Ned was actually surprised that Batman spoke so much. He wanted to tease him, but… it wasn't the time to joke around.
« I believe the energy signatures around the fluctuations are the so-called Guardians. Iron Lad… You said you were working on a way to withstand their energy manipulation powers. Have you succeeded ? »
« I have. Though I can't be sure until I've tested it in the field. »
Ned didn't voice his worries that his contingencies would be enough against an entire group of Malthusians. Batman probably guessed anyway.
« Alright, then… Try to find out what they're doing and, if necessary, disrupt their plan. Superman, Wonder Woman, Steel, Constantine and I will be heading for the battle. Constantine and Steel will reinforce the defenses of Oa on the ground, while the rest of us help the Green Lantern. Move out ! »
Ned turned the communication off and smiled a strained smile. He looked behind him at his most disgraceful work yet…
« Alright, then ! Let's get started ! »