Second Chances: Green Lantern

Chapter 35

James was granted an immediate audience with the Guardians when he and Jenny arrived on Oa and he honestly suspected that they'd been expecting him.

"Welcome back Lantern James Olsen. We suspect you come with grim news." Ganthet said when they approached and Jenny just had to roll her eyes at how the Guardians didn't even give her a second glance, since after all, James and Hal had explained to her that they had earned the Guardians' respect. She hadn't yet.

"No, I don't. I think you know what this is." James said as he held out Hal's ring.

"Hal Jordan's lantern ring." Ganthet said and James nodded.

"He's turned on us. Sinestro somehow managed to corrupt him." James said.

"We've been worried about this possibility for a while now." Ranakar said.

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"We feared that during Hal Jordan's famous battle with Parallax, that he may have been affected by the yellow energy of fear, but we'd seen no signs of it until now." Ganthet said.

"Hal's wife Carol said that Sinestor blasted Hal with something that caused him to go bad." Jenny said, speaking despite her instincts not to.

"Really. Perhaps Hal Jordan's ring can provide us with some answers about what happened to him." Appa Ali Apsa said and the other Guardians nodded as Hal's ring was levitated out of James's hand for examination.

"I see. It appears that a tiny sliver of Parallax's evil energies latched itself into Hal Jordan's body during their battle, but his will was so strong that it became inert, especially after the defeat of Parallax. But Sinestro learned of this and had a weapon developed that amplified the fear enough to allow Parallax's energy to overwhelm Hal's will and bend him to Sinestro's will." Ganthet said.

"We need to recall all Green Lanterns immediately and prepare for an attack, since Hal knows all of Oa's security measures and the codes to deactivate them and with nearly all the Lanterns scattered throughout their sectors." James said and Ganthet nodded.

"Send out a message to all Lanterns telling them that unless they're presently engaged in battle, they are to return to Oa immediately to help prepare it's defenses while we transfer all essential items, including the primary battery, offworld to a secure location as a safeguard, since that will no doubt be a target. Lantern Jenny Kord, your technological skills will be of much use to us in resetting Oa's defense system to remove Hal Jordan's access to our system and change all the security codes so he can't disable it. Lantern James Olsen, you will begin rallying the Lanterns who are presently on Oa to serve as the first line of defense. I suspect that Hal and Sinestro are on their way here to attempt to launch their assault before we can rally a proper defense." Ganthet said and both James and Jenny nodded and the other Guardians moved to execute their responsibilities.

"What about Hal's ring?" James asked.

"It would appear that the energy blast that hit Hal damaged the ring and made it inert. Once we've repaired it, we will send it to find a successor." Ranakar explained and James nodded.

"I'll start rallying the troops. The second our scanners detect Hal or Sinestro incoming, the alarms will sound and we'll be ready." James said as he and Jenny left the Guardians' chambers.

"I feel bad for Carol. She lost her husband like that and her ring." Jenny said and James nodded.

"So do I. But right now we have to focus on our current mission, not the past. Hopefully we'll find a way to save him, but until we find a cure for him, we can't go easy on him. And we will find a cure for him." James said, and while he could tell Jenny didn't believe him, James had seen enough to know that anything was possible. Even undoing what Sinestro did to Hal.