Ult. GL Corps #12 - Bloodlines Part 2 of 4

[liquidsword34]

Ultimate Green Lantern Corps #12
Bloodlines Part 2 of 4

The Dominion's high council sit around their metal table, raised up on a platform some twenty feet from the ground. Behind each of the four leaders stand bodyguards from their respective tribes. The numbers differ, with Pritor, the dominator with a red mark, having ten hulking Dominators behind him, while the Dominator with a blue mark sat across from him has only a pair of guards at his back.

"In a short time we will be within striking distance," Pritor waves a hand up across the table, creating a hologram displaying the Dominion's fleet and Xanshi.

"For ground forces?" Gemir, the Dominator with a yellow marking on his forehead, says. "Or shall we perform an orbital strike?"

"Does it matter?" Pritor replies angrily.

"Gemir is never willing to put himself in the line of fire," Angon, the Dominator with a green marking on his forehead, chimes in. Angon is dressed in the same robes as other Dominators, but he and the other Dominators with green markings also wear jewels, such as rings and necklaces, looted from other planets. "Gemir, one might say, is a coward."

"Nonsense", Gemir spits across the table. "I simply do not wish for more of our people to die than is necessary. You, on the other hand, only wish to horde riches."

"Is that so wrong?" Angon laughs.

"When you care more about petty items such as crowns than you do our righteous conquest, yes. If you and your kind weren't so busy looting every gem and stone from every planet, we could already have reached our rightful place."

"And if we had your way we would never leave our ships, we w-"

"Do you wish to continue squabbling like younglings?" Slodd, the Dominator with a blue mark, calls. Slodd's expression is one of boredom, in comparison to his more excited companions. His pair of bodyguards are similarly relaxed. His words cause Angon and Gemir to fall silent. "Good. What we should be discussing isn't how we strike, but if we should."

"More cowards talk?" Pritot growls, rapping his fingers against the able impatiently.

"Not cowardly, I simply do not wish to kill when we do not have to. We can better ourselves through creating new technology, building alliances, not killing anything we come across. The people of Xanshi are harmless, we have no need to harm them."

"We voted on this," Angon clenches his teeth in frustration. "I wish for riches, Pritor wishes for war and Gemir wishes to remove any who may harm us. You were outvoted three to one, and now we are carrying out the course of action we agreed on."

"Can you not come to your senses and see that this is wrong?" Slodd stands up from his chair, yelling at the other three tribe leaders. His guards stand firm behind him, while the soldiers for the other leaders seem more relaxed due to their numerical advantage. "What if people fight back? What if the Green Lantern Corps isn't too happy about you three running over everything in your path?"

"Then we kill them," Angon replies angrily. "Their book says that our crusade will end with us extinguishing 'the brightest light'. We'd be moronic not to take this chance!"

"This discussion isn't going anywhere," Gemir says as he climbs out of his chair. "We will reconvene once Slodd remembers how the Dominion operates."

"Agreed," adds as he stands and walks away from the table, descending down the stairs behind his chair followed by his guards. The other three leaders follow suit.

"My friend", Slodd turns to one of his bodyguards as they reach the bottom of the steps and make their way down a narrow corridor. "Send message to Empress Yrra of Xanshi."

"Slodd?" his guard seems somewhat confused by the request.

"Explain what is happening. Tell her that I am attempting to secure her planets safety, and tell her not to attack. Pritor especially will be more than willing to retaliate with the full force of the Dominion. Go yourself, the others must not know that I am sending word. Treason would not improve my standing in the high council," Slodd chuckles slightly, trying to find humour in the situation as the bodyguard he spoke to sprints down the corridor.

***

Hal and Sinesro sit at the high table in the commune's dining room, eating the green gelatine style food in front of them. Empress Yrra's throne, carved from a gigantic lime green crystal and curling upwards to form arm rests, is positioned at the centre of the long wooden table, where Yrra's high council and the green lanterns are seated. Hal and Sinestro are positioned far off to the side, while Yrra is surrounded by her advisers and warriors. The empress wears a green full body cloak, distinguishing her from the others at her high tables whom are dressed in the same war gear that Yrra was when she first met the lanterns. In the rest of the hall, hundreds, maybe even over a thousand beings eat simultaneously, seated at similar wooden tables. While Hal pokes at his food with the wooden utensil provided with a disgusted look on his face, Sinestro casually eats it by the mouthful. He stops for a second to watch Hal prod the green substance and chuckles. Every time Hal touches it, the goo seems to slip away from him, slowly making Hal more and more frustrated.

"It's moving because you haven't killed it yet," Sinestro reaches over, holding the wooden stick in his hand. In one swift movement he drives it down through the green glob, instantly making it shudder and stop moving. Sinestro calmly hands the stick back to Hal, who's eyes have widened in shock. "Xanshi's plant life is somewhat more evolved than the plans on Earth, or Korugar."

"That's your home planet, right?" Hal says through a mouthful of the sour tasting goop.

"Correct," Sinestro looks up and smiles at one of the halls servers, who brings him over a second plate of food.

"Every time I hear about a planet, it's either being attacked or has just been attacked, so I guess you not mentioning it much is a good sign."

"When I first became a green lantern, Korugar was a cess pool of crime and corruption. I helped stamp all of that out. Now? I'd say it's doing pretty damn well."

"Hmmm," Hal smiles as he finally gets the hang of the cutlery, spearing a large chunk of the food at once. "You think Earth could get that way?"

"In time, as you get more experienced. Lantern's Stewart and Gardner have made a valiant effort, but if you use your full potential, the process would definitely run smoother. Despite your recent...shall we say difficulties interacting with royalty, you're one of the better rookies I've fought alongside."

"Oh stop, you're making me blush," Hal jokes.

"...And I trust that when the time comes," Sinestro continues in a hushed tone, so that nobody else can hear, "you will stand alongside me in the coming conflict."

At the other end of the hall, the sounds of shouting and clattering feet can be heard, drawing the attention of the high table. Two armed guards each wielding a rapier style sword walk behind a Dominator with a blue mark emblazoned on its forehead. The Dominator moves cautiously but quickly, approaching the high table and dropping to one knee.

"We caught this...this thing, sneaking around need the hall." one of the guards calls up to Empress Yrra. Hal turns to Sinestro to find his partner is already on his feet, walking past the table down towards the Dominator. Swallowing one last mouthful of food, Hal follows.

"You two," Yrra pushes the high table, causing it to split in half and allow her to walk through the divide towards the captive. Despite the empress not turning her head or gesturing to them, Hal and Sinestro instantly stop in their tracks. The pair can only watch helplessly as Yrra reaches under her cloak and retrieves a curved dagger.

"Empress Yrra Cynril of Xanshi, I come from the Dominators of the Dominion," the captive says breathlessly, looking up at the empress. His deep blue eyes lock with the Empress's pupils for a few seconds, before her death glare causes him to look away.

"Come with what? Gifts? Great urgency?"

"News. The Dominion...three of the four members of the Dominion's high council have called for an attack on your planet. My king was the lone dissenter, and is attempting to call off the attack. He requests you not to act with hostility towards the Dominion during this time, as it will spark a battle your planet will most likely not survive."

Those seated at the tables let out gasps as Yrra's grip on the dagger tightens. Sinestro spots this and dives forward - directly into the arms of one of Yrra's guards, who holds the lantern away so he can not interject. Hal too finds a sea of hands grasping his arms, holding him so that without causing an all out brawl, he can only watch in horror as the Empress raises her dagger.

"First, you breach our city uninvited. Then, you declare that your people are about to instigate an act of war. And then, you dare insult my beloved armies? You dare question my ability to lead? You dare to even consider questioning my planets ability to defend itself?" Yrra goes to swing the dagger down at the messenger's head, only being stopped by Hal Jordan swooping in and tacking the empress with his shoulder. The two are propelled across the room by Hal's ring and crash through one of the dinner tables, causing a sea of limbs to lash out at Hal. Sinestro angrily pulls his arms away from the guards, who cautiously back away from the lantern as their comrades subdue Hal.

"Let him go," Sinestro growls to Yrra as she picks herself up from the ground, her blade lost somewhere in the scuffle. Yrra's guardsmen and women don't yield, keeping Hal firmly held down with their grasp. Despite his ring, Hal finds the combined strength of the royal guard pinning him to the floor.

"Your friend just attacked me," Yrra straightens her robes. "If it weren't for his affiliation with you, Thaal, I would have already ordered for him to be executed." The two stare at each other in silence for a few seconds as the entire hall watched on in tense silence. "But I would hate to lose my relationship with you over something so trivial as...this," Yrra nods her head to the Domiantor, who is still cowering on the ground.

"He came to deliver a message of peace and you tried to kill him!" Hal yells from the ground. "What was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to respect Empress Yrra," Sinestro replies as he walks over to Hal and offers his hand down, glancing at the guards with a look fierce enough to cause them to each relinquish their grip on Hal. Hal grabs Sinestro's hand and allows himself to be pulled to his feet. "I feel that our continued presence here would...sour the occasion. May be we excused?"

"Go, and take this with you," Yrra nods and Sinestro finds the Dominion messenger being shoved into his chest. "I will discuss what has happened with my subordinates."

"Come on," Sinestro says to both his companions before striding down the centre of the hall. The trio push open the grand metal doors and walk out into the enclosed city, once again hidden from the outside.

"How did you find this place?" Hal asks the messenger as sounds of conversation and shuffling feet follow them out of the door.

"The Dominion's technology is far more advanced than Xanshi's. It's such a shame that some amongst my people wish to only use it for war."

"Let's stay with what's important," Sinestro interrupts. "How long do we have until Xanshi is attacked?"

"Little time. You could intervene, try to talk sense into our leaders. Only Slodd, my tribe leader, is willing to talk sense."

"We're needed here," Sinestro answers.

"I'll put out a signal," Hal says as he puts his ring up to his mouth. "All nearby Green Lanterns, this is Hal Jordan of Earth..."

***

"Are you sure this is what Lantern Jordan requested us to do?" Arisia asks Alan as the two stand in an airlock composed of a blue reflective metal. Behind them is a transparent wall hundreds of meters tall and equally as wide giving the duo a view of the rest of the Dominator's fleet, and in front of them is a dull, grey, circular wall, with a spiral pattern carved into it.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Alan replies jokingly. "Walking into the home base of a group who just announced their intention to wipe us out? Sounds like the best course of action."

"You can joke, but they attacked Hannu and put him out of action for some time."

"There's bigger threats out there than a bunch of bullies pushing out their chests."

"My Da told me not to take bullies lightly," Arisia shoots back.

"Well of course, but they're not looking for much of a fight. They're posturing, that's it. Something like Atrocitus or Parallax is a problem. If we can just talk these guys of doing anything stupid like going to war with Xanshi, they won't be a problem. Besides, they were only defending themselves from Hannu," the wall in front of the lanterns starts to turn and the spiral pattern uncurls, eventually evaporating into the air and revealing a see of Dominators from the various tribes, with the four leaders stood tall in front of their allies. "How bad can it go?"

"You have ten seconds to explain why you are here before we take your rings and send you back out the way you came," Pritor calls, the red spot on his forehead pulsating as ideas of declaring war on the Green Lantern Corps fills his head.

"We want to help you avert war with Xanshi's ruling forces," Arisia shouts back. As with her father and his father before him, Arisia had quickly learned how to handle foes such as Pritor - without showing any trace of fear. "And I think you will find both I and Lantern Alan Scott's species capable of surviving in the vacuum of space. At least long enough to bring the full force of the Green Lantern Corps down on your position. You lowered your shields to let us in, I assume you didn't simply kill us to find out how many of us there are." Arisia and Alan stare down Pritor, banking on him not knowing enough about either humans or Graxonite's for Arisia's bluff to work.

"Facing the entire Green Lantern Corps at this time would not be a good decision," Gemir whispers in Pritor's ear. Angon and Slodd nod in agreement to Pritor, who sighs and unclenches his fists. "Their kind may be capable of telepathic communication."

"You may enter," Angon tells the lanterns, who take steps forward. out of the airlock into the main ship. The crowd parts and then reforms behind them, enclosing the duo in a circle of hostiles.

"Follow me to the meeting room," Slodd smiles at Alan, who manages a conservative nod back. "We have much to discuss."

***

"What was it she said? 'I would hate to lose my relationship with you'?" Hal smiled at Sinestro as the two sat to either side of Slodd's messenger.

"Your point?"

"The good Empress seems far too..."

"Willing to cut throats open?" the messenger chimes in and finishes Hal's sentence.

"Yeah, too talk about you like that."

"Your accusation is outrageous, Lantern Jordan," Sinestro chuckles. The trio sit on a bench created by Hal's ring, looking out over a garden full of living plant life. Vines and flowers go about their daily life, crawling across the grass into make shift shelters of wood and scrap metal.

"But true?"

"I ca-" Sinestro starts, but is cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps behind him. Sinestro looks behind him to see Empress Yrra and her royal guard walking towards him, their heavy boots shaking the ground. Her usual black bodysuit is a dark green, and her anti-gravity belt is lit up gold. As the Empress and her guards get closer, the lanterns rings buzz lightly to tell their wielders that she is surrounded by a forcefield. Yrra holds her war axe in one hand over her shoulder, while her guards struggle to hold theirs even in both hands.

"What's this about?" Hal cocks his head back.

"In light of recent events, I have decided to revoke our recent agreement, Thaal," Yrra states simply. "If the Dominator's are as close to our planet as this one says," Yrra points her axe at the messenger, "it is my duty as Empress to defend my people."

"We've sent our allies to try and solve this problem diplomatically," Sinestro stands up, his fists clenched. "You can't ju-"

"I can, Thaal. And I must," Yrra says coldly, before reaching down and pushing the centre button on her belt. She slowly floats up off of the ground as her axe begins to spark softly. "I wish this could have ended without death, but my hand has been forced. If you value your allies life, try to get them as far away from that fleet as possible."

The Empress points her empty hand upwards, and along with her guards majestically rises up. The cave roof hundreds of metres above opens up, allowing her royal convoy to leave the underground settlement. Looking around, Hal sees hundreds of similar groups flying up through the protective ceiling and following their Empress towards the Dominion's fleet.

-To Be Continued-