The Blackest Night

(OOC: Don't post here yet. For one, I waiting for bits of A New Direction to advance. And second, I haven't had the rings raise anybody but Mordred from the dead. When I start bringing a bunch of others back, then you may start posting.)

(OOC: We wouldn't know about any of this yet, right?)

(OOC: Nope. Not yet. You'll know when you suddenly have the skies on your planets turn black and have a bunch of zombies ripping hearts out of people. Long post ahead. Some of it you can actually skip.)

Licking the skull, Mordred says, "Nobody escapes death. Not even you." From Ryut, black power rings fly out of the battery.

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Tribute Day in Coast City, Earth. A day to mourn the incineration of the city almost ten years ago, and the deaths of all the heroes who have fallen. All around, friends and family of the deceased gather to honor them.

In Gotham, Alfred, the Batman's butler, discovers the desecrate grave of his master.

In Bern, headquarters of Justice League Europe (JLE).

Barry Allen: "There's a morgue for the League's enemies three stories below the meeting room?"

Hal Jordan: "Except for your Rogues. Word is they have some kind of graveyard near Central City, but no one's been able to find it."

"I'll find it."

"The plan was to bring over the remains of our friends too, but we didn't want to rob the families of paying their respects. If their true names were public post-mortem, they were buried at the Valhalla Cemetery in Metropolis under high security. If their identities were still secret, they were sent home."

"Why do you need to put their remains in a vault?"

"Dick Grayson uncovered a body snatching operation that was harvesting superhuman parts for re-use."

"You're serious?"

"This is an example of the kind of sick and twisted things we've had to deal with since you were lost to the Speed Force, Barry."

"The guilty have gotten guiltier? And Batman, Aquaman, and the Marrtian Manhunter are dead because of it? So who else? Who else died while I was gone? I want to know, Hal."

Hal sighs and says, "Okay." With his ring, he creates constructs of virtually all the heroes who have died since he was gone.

"Ronnie? Oh, no. God, please, no... ... not them. Not Ralph and Sue too." Crestfallen, he asks, "How, Hal? Why?"

Cue a long explanation about their deaths, concern over the safety of Hal's ex, who Hal is certain is safe (unknown to him, she had rejoined the Star Sapphire Corps (Violet, love) and was engaged in fighting off a squadron of Sinestro Corps soldiers liberating their captured brethren), and a freaked out Alfred calling in about Bruce's desecrated grave.

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On Oa, in the citadel of the Guardians of the Universe, immortal founders of the Green Lantern Corps, the Guardians kick themselves verbally.

"We have failed," says one. "The War of Light has erupted. In nearly every sector, the Lanterns clash. Emotions run rampant. But look here, fellow Guardians. I see a shadow moving across the universe. A shadow from Space Sector 666?"

"Yes. And it's approaching us."

Outside, Lanterns Gardner, Rayner, Iolande, and Natu hurry back to warn the other Lanterns of the swarm of black rings coming in.

"I fear Ganthet was correct. The coming of the Blackest Night cannot be prevented, only confronted."

"We must call a Code Black. We must call for all our Green Lanterns to return to Oa."

The Scarred Guardian speaks, "No, 'fellow' Guardians. They will never receive our call for help."

"Why not?"

Eyes glowing with the Black Lantern emblem, she says, "Because it will never be made." She jumps and bites into the shoulder of the nearest Guardian and tears his heart out.

Outside, the Lanterns attempt to keep the black power rings out while hailing the Guardians, to no avail.

The Scarred Guardian: "Empty. The darkness cannot feast on your hearts. They need to hunt full one." She vomits up black slime that encases the other Guardians.

All around the universe, black rings plunge into the graves, all saying, "Flesh."

"J'onn J'onnz of Mars."
"Katma Tui of Korugar."
"Ronnie Raymond of Earth."
"Dee Tyler of Earth."
"Ryan Kendall of Earth."
"Roy Lincoln of Earth."
"Al Pratt of Earth."
"Jennie-Lynn Hayden of Earth."
"Roscoe Dillon of Earth."
"Lisa Snart of Earth."
"Digger Harkness of Earth."
"Arthur Curry of Earth."
"Robert Valorum of Rhea."
"Nathaniel Luthor of Rhea."
"Oroku Nagi of Rhea."
"Joseph Kerr of Rhea."
"Baruch Wane of Rhea."
"Earl Incinerator of Burnination."
"Glock Remberg of Burnination."
"Halger of Burnination"
"Nicolai Albel of Rutia."

"RISE."

In the Crypt of the Green Lantern Corps, every single interred Green Lantern is back as a Black Lantern.

On Earth, Hal and Barry, at the grave of Bruce Wayne, encounter the undead Martian Manhunter. Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders, the constantly reincarnating lovers known as Hawkman and Hawkgirl, are murdered by Black Lanterns Ralph and Sue Dibny, bringing power levels to 0.02% as Mordred, holding Wayne's skull watches. Two more rings fly out and resurrect them as Black Lanterns.

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Rutia.

"Shanika Darson of Rutia. RI--" A bolt of lightning strikes the ring, crumbling it.

"Adriane Lessa of Rutia, RI--" "Adriane Lessa of Rutia at peace." "Adriane Lessa of Rutia, RI--" "Adriane Lessa of Rutia at peace." "Adriane Lessa of Rutia, RI--" "Adriane Lessa of Rutia at peace." This goes on and on.

Black Lantern Albel, along with other Black Lanterns whom Shein and Arren would know in life, attempt to break in to the Citadel, proving very frustrating to any guard to tries to kill them, as they regenerate whatever part of them is destroyed. Should Shein attempt an escape, the Black Lanterns will home in on him, killing whoever is in their way. "Hello, Shein."

On Burnination, Black Lantern Halger, Glock and Earl greet a probably very surprised Thorgood the same way.

(OOC: There will be more "RISE" in a later post for Sela, Altayr, and Ace, provided they tell me who is to be resurrected, and others for the Enclave and the other MT/PMT nations and the PT planet.)

(OOC: How did they get in the Citadel? Shein's in the Citadel which is the most secure and heavily guarded location. They're also on Dreva, not Rutia.)

Shein and Arren both heard the alarms and calls in the Citadel that they were under attack of some kind. Of course, they're both running. Kennah and the children are taken along a different route to a nearby transport.

Arren spots the Lanterns coming before Shein. He's completely blown away by the fact he's staring at Albel. He killed the bastard. He actually tries to kill him again before realising that's a stupid idea.

When Albel speaks, Shein whirls around and glares. He doesn't even state the obvious. "So, I see you managed to crawl out of your grave. Looking good, Nicolai, but were I you, I'd have to eat a bullet."

Arren stays in front of Shein, keeping him blocked from any attack. They're backing up. Both of them. Right into the transport where Kennah and the kids are. Once on board, they're gone.

This is probably the only time Shein and Arren both actually ran from a fight. Chances are, they're going to stay on the move now.

Rutianas

He flies on and latches on to the car and rips a hole in it. He looks inside and sees the family as green, red, violet, and yellow."WILL" "RAGE" "LOVE" "FEAR"

"So I see your slut of an ex-wife won't be joining us. No matter. I'm going to feast on your delicious hearts." He reaches for Kennah and attempts to pull out her heart.

Elsewhere, the recent war dead have their bodies stolen by the black rings. They too come out to attack.

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Selathorn

"Frederic Holand. Mathias Selatin. Truman Goldenfield. Matilda Ivanov. Melissa Vanderbilt. RISE."

They move out to hunt down Andreus Aaron, Taras Sidorov, Adelaide Lansing, Joseph Gonzalez, Ani Steele, and Damian Rosbalt. Any dead friends of these people will also rise and seek them out.

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Burnination

Remember the woman whose husband was nailed upside down by the Legion of Batmen? She has been hunted down by Black Lantern Legionnaires, who tear out her heart. More sweep around Burnination, terrorizing the locals, in conjunction with dead Burninites from Slaaneesh's attack and the war.

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Rhea

The Green Apple is back from the dead and is a very rotten apple now. Loki, Fenrir, Jormugand, Ophidian, Robert Valorum, risen soldiers from the war, dead members of the Knights of the Old Republic, dead members of the Assassin Clan, dead members of the White Mask Society, and other minor villains all come out on the attack.

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Earth

The Enclave

"Megaton, RISE." "Arefu, RISE." "Canterbury Commons, RISE." "Big Town, RISE." "Sarah Lyons of Earth, RISE."

Any other dead Brotherhood of Steel knights Aisha and Jericho have killed will come after them, as will pretty much all their other victims.

Hew

"Herregods of Earth, RISE."
"Sonny of Earth, RISE."
"Veradux of Earth, RISE."

Kahndaq

"Amon Tomaz of Earth, RISE."

Bismouth
Fill in later.

Alanda and Alexia
Fill in later

Altayr
Fill in later.

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P'Taria

New Ermarian

"Limoncelli of Ermarian, RISE."
"Sathis of P'Taria, RISE."
"Hawthorn II of Ermarian, RISE."
"Gabor Krizsan of Ermarian, RISE."
"Patrick Padraig of Ermarian, RISE."
"Erika Redmark of Ermarian, RISE."
"Garzahd of Ermarian, RISE."
"Rentar-Ihrno of Ermarian, RISE."

(OOC: Yup, they're boned. Empire general with superspeed, Sinestro Corps Slith, former Emperor, great Empire general, powerful wizard, powerful mage, powerful wizard, powerful Vahnatai mage.)

Orilana
Fill in later.

Konosis
"Emperor Aristeo I, RISE."
"Emperor Morifet I, RISE."

Blolrus
"(Dragon name), RISE."
Fill in others.

Themyscira
Fill in later when I think of Amazons to bring back.

(OOC: More Switzerland will be handled in a later post. Oh, and if you don't really want to RP out all of these, I'm OK with that.)

(OOC: Ignoring those in Blolrus. If you want to take this to the MT/PMT planet though, I'm OK with that. But I won't be the first to respond on that planet.)

In The City of the Rebirth, the 'Black Lanterns' viciously attack the hologram image of Thorgood used to protect his actual location. Upon its attack, The room auto-seals, and sleeping gas immediately floods the airtight, titanium room.

The City is put on high alert, and the army is called up. Cloaked Jumpers are scrambled, and the People are told to go indoors.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TO: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev
(CC: Shein Darson)
FROM: Consul Jenova Incinerator

Security cams show these lanterns attempting to attack ProtoConsul Thorgood.

Further, the countryside seems to be under attack by Black Lantern Legionnaires.

I know you're not affiliated with Lanterns, but you know about them. Explain please. And how do we kill them efficiently?

Sincerely,
Consul Jenova Incinerator

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Individual Lanterns and undeads are targeted by long range precision Sunblast Cannons, which essentially fire super-powerful precision radiation at a specific target. Not survivable, even if you've just taken 20 Rad-Xes, and happen to be immune to fire.

Dire Avengers hide behind Simmershields and begin to protect civilian centers. The military is called into action to defend the country.

The Black Lanterns completely ignore the hologram. Their vision is based entirely on sensing the emotions of other beings. The Black Lantern Earl pauses and flies off to go after Jenova.

To: Consul Jenova Incinerator
(CC: Shein Darson, Andreus Aaron)

I do not know. We haven't been able to stop any of them. We shoot them and they regenerate. The only thing that seems to work so far is hiding your emotions entirely. To these Black Lanterns, it appears that emotions are to them what blood is to sharks.

Lantern Borkowski is on Oa and from what we have been able to get, it appears that they are under attack by the same Black Lanterns and are having no effect, either.

Sorry,
Emperor Dmitri Medvedev

--------------------------

These are not survivable for anything alive. The Black Lanterns take the hit, regenerate, and keep going. The best it seems to do is slow them down. Simmershields, it appears, hold them off entirely. They cannot penetrate them.

It's a military transport. No windows. Heavily shielded. Anyone getting close would be fired upon with fire fragmentation grenades (in the atmosphere at least) and kinetic weapons because of the threat to the Imperial Family. No exceptions. Even a Rutian citizen would have been fired upon at this point.

(Encrypted)

TO: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev; Consul Jenova Incinerator
FROM: Emperor Shein Darson

Yeah, I nearly got whacked by Nicolai Albel of all people. I'm in a military transport now and trying to get the hell out of here. They're still attacking the transport. Can't say where I'm headed, for obvious reasons. I'd work on controlling emotions, but I've got young children, you know. Even if I can blank myself out, they can't, and I am not about to let them be separated from me and Arren right now. I'll be meeting up with a telepath that can hopefully hide us.

-Shein

TO: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev, Emperor Shein Darson
FROM: ProtoConsul Thorgood

We've discovered that the lanterns cannot penetrate a simmershield, and are simply moving our civilians to safety at the moment.

Sincerely,
ProtoConsul Thorgood

(HEAVILY ENCRYPTED)
From: Consul Jenova
To: Emperor Darson

We've got stockpiles of old simmershields. Drop by and we'll give you personal ones, and you can take as many of them as you want. We've found them very effective, because the lanterns seem unable to penetrate them. Maybe something about them blocking emotions.

Also, myself, Thorgood, and most of the government have taken shelter in the Craftworld. If you'd like a safe spot, this is it. We've got ample room for anyone you want to send, including yourself.

Sincerely,
Consul Jenova

Lockdown is called immediately. High government officials begin hiding in various safespots in the city guarded by the military, which attempts to hunt them down in vain. Once Aaron recieves the message from Dimitri, he immediately sends back a message of his own.

***

(Encrypted)

To: Emperor Dmitri Medvedev
(CC: Emperor Shein Darson)

We on Selathorn are hiding in various safespots and hoping to outlast them. I'm going to speak to Joseph Gonzales, my scientific minister, to try to find out what we can do.

***

Aaron manages to get on a secure com-link with Gonzales, and they have a quick exchange...

"Alright Joseph, what do we have that might stand a chance against these things? I hope the billions we've poured into your department haven't gone to waste."

"We have a few items of interest. One is our latest development in stranglet research, a directed instant controlled-decay stranglet ray. If it works it should convert these 'Black Lanterns' to a pile of stranglets."

"OK, next."

"We have a warp drive that can propel an object faster then light at a distance, and they are barely about the right size. That's all we have for now, but I'll keep looking over all of our experimental ideas and machines."

/end conversation

***

What few prototypes there are of these weapons are brought out and used. No one seems very confident but they are doing what they can to be as stoic as possible (Aaron's passed on the message).

[Encrypted]
To: Shein
From: Dmitri

Good luck, Shein. The best I've been able to do right now is run and hack them apart with my lightsaber, but it does nothing but slow them down.

-Dmitri

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The Black Lantern Albel, though shrugging off the kinetic weaponry and frags, regenerating on the way, is finally knocked back. It takes a moment to regenerate himself before he goes after them again.

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The Black Lanterns of Burnination pound on the simmershields fruitlessly. The Black Lanterns Halger and Glock seek out Thorgood and try to get him before he can get behind one, while Earl goes after Jenova.

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The stranglet appears to work, but again, the black ring regenerates the Black Lantern's body. The warp drive should work better, though they will return very soon, as they, too are capable of faster than light travel when in space.

They crash in with a "Hello."

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On Earth, Green Lantern Hal Jordan and the Flash (Barry Allen) fight off the Black Lantern Martian Manhunter. Jordan is unable to raise Oa. During the fight, Barry is thrown into the water, Hal into the air, where he lands on the Batsignal.

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On Oa, an imprisoned Guardian speaks to the Scarred one. "Guardian... Why? Why are you betraying us?"

In the background, "Power Levels 0.75%" can be heard.

"Betraying you? I am simply carrying out the mission we began together billions of years ago: I am bringing ORDER to the universe. The Manhunters failed. The Green Lantern Corps failed. It is time for a new army to save this universe.

"Emotions cause chaos. They push beings to places they shouldn't go. To want things they shouldn't want. They are the source of chaos. And the only way to eliminate chaos, to halt the continued growth of the emotional spectrum, is the annihilation of sentient life.

"I learned this as my body died from the poisonous burn of the Anti-Monitor. The voice of Death grew louder. It echoes across the universe even now -- RISE. The Black Lanterns are collecting hearts full of the splintered light -- and soon it will be his turn to rise. Now, you will need your rest for what's to come. Back to sleep -- fellow Guardian."

During her speech, power levels increased to 1.20%.

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On Ysmault, the homeworld of the Red Lantern Corps, a team of Green Lanterns recovers the body of one of their former members, Laira.

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On Okaara, the world of the Orange Lantern, Larfleeze watches his Corps of constructs attack the Blue Lantern homeworld.

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At the remains of Xanshi, Sector 1313, Star Sapphire Fatality chides John Stewart to forgive himself for failing to prevent the destruction of her homeworld. Suddenly, a swarm of black rings fly in.

"Xanshi. RISE."

The entire planet Xanshi reforms itself with a big Black Lantern emblem glowing on its surface.

(Encrypted)

To: Jenova
From: Shein

As much as I hate to say it, I'll take you up on that. I owe you for this. Big time. For my family, though. If it were just me, I'd deal with running since nothing we have works on these guys. But then again, I haven't tried MIDAS on one of them.

-Shein

***************************

So what happens then? Yeah, you guessed it. The order is given to find one or more of those Black Lanterns and hit them with a small MIDAS bomb. Well, Shein doesn't expect it to work, but it'll make a pretty light show if nothing else.

And the transport disappears along with the Imperial Family, probably heading no where in specific until they can rendezvous with Jenova.

MIDAS weaponry is most effective in slowing them down. If the Black Lantern is completely encased in an explosion, it will appear to be totally destroyed but the ring will regenerate it, though it takes time and enables them to escape. In Shein's case, this is exactly what happens. By the time the Black Lantern Albel fully regenerates, he has lost track of Shein and it will take a long time to pick up Shein's trail again.

The Craftworld pops in close enough to be on the scanners of the transport.

(ENCRYPTED)
TO: Shein
FROM: Jenova

Understand completely; you may land that transport in the open hangar on the bottom right of what you can see of the Craftworld out of the cameras in the front of your transport.

Sincerely,
Jenova

Upon landing, they'd be taken to their own private staying areas, or taken to see Jenova if they want. They'd also be given what would be recognizable as simmershields, but the devices look different. Probably outdated versions; the newer ones are smaller and more efficient.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Unfortunately, the MDDevice will chain its effects to all matter nearby, and can therefore not be used on the Lanterns on Burnination.

Swooping Hawks attempt to stop them by firing barrages of Shruikens into the Lanterns. Groups of Rangers and Striking Scorpions appear to be setting up traps of some sort, though it's difficult to tell exactly what they're doing.

And Shein would want to see Jenova after being shown where his family would be staying. He'd tell her what MIDAS did. Of course, he has no clue that it only partially worked. He thinks it was completely successful and he's happy about it.

The military continues using these prototypes on the Lanterns if only to slow them down, and Aaron manages to get yet another com link with Joseph Gonzales...

***

"Any other ideas?"

"From what we've seen, the rings are impervious to everything, but if we can put them into stasis, perhaps we can stop them from regenerating..."

"Well, take out whatever prototypes you have and try. If you don't, you have total access to all of our resources to make one."

/end conversation

***

Joseph manages to create what looks to be a very jury-rigged ray over a few hours, and sends it to the military to be used in conjunction with the stranglets, hoping it can keep them from regenerating. More likely though it's going to break in their faces.

Jenova nods. "You should tell Dmitri about that fix."

(OOC: Not going to make any more moves until Panzer replies.)

Albel picks up Shein again and moves in with a buttload of other Black Lanterns to assault the Craftworld.

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Stasis works in keeping them from regenerating. Melissa and Matilda have found Joseph and are at the perimeters of wherever he is. The same with Frederic, Mattias, and Truman and their hunt for Andreus Aaron.

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In P'taria, the Ermarians have resorted to summoning demons to hold off the Black Lanterns.

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On Earth, Hal Jordan lands on the Batsignal after being chucked into the air. Barry had gotten himself out of the water and started spreading various chemicals around at high speeds to keep him safe from telepathic attacks. Hal catches on to the plan, picks up a car and throws it at the chemicals, igniting them. Barry runs in a circle catching the Martian Manhunter, who would still be vulnerable to fire, in a vortex. The fire fails to stop him and the Martian is shown with some backup.

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In Kahndaq, strangely, it is a case of two Black Lanterns fighting each other, Herregods and Osiris. Somehow, Osiris had maintained his original personality even as a Black Lantern and began duking it out with Herregods, finally ending when Osiris utters the word, "Shazam." The magic lightning comes down from the sky and strikes both of them, rendering them inert with a loud "CONNECTION SEVERED." Unfortunately, nobody else witnessed this.

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At the desecrated grave of Boston Brand, aka Deadman (he's a ghost who can possess another person's body), a group of magic users, Zatanna (a powerful magician), the Phantom Stranger, Blue Devil (a demon), and the Spectre (the Spirit of Wrath for the Christian God who must take a dead man as a host, lest he lose control) are gathered around his grave. A voice speaks out, "Worlds have died. Worlds will rise."

Blue Devil, as he sees a cloaked Black Lantern: "Who the Hell?"

"You know me, Blue Devil. All of you do. For my past sins, I have been cursed a Pariah, drawn to worlds to witness suffering and slaughter of unfathomable levels." He takes off his hood and continues. "Even in death, I cannot escape my penance. And this time, neither will you." He explodes and Black Lanterns rings fly out.

Mordred appears. "I can taste it in the air surrounding the Spectre. Death. Surrounding Zatanna and Blue Devil. Life. But you, Phantom Stranger? You're neither dead or alive, are you? You're something else entirely. Something... strange."

A ring flies into the Spectre. "Crispus Allen of Earth. RISE."

"Your magic is ineffectual against my Lord's power. But the ones that have lived beyond death like Hawkman and Hawkgirl... Like you, Spectre... You must be moved out of the way if the universe is going to finally find silence, darkness and peace."

"No! No, I will NOT be used! I am the Spirit of Vengeance! I am the SPECTRRRRRRRE!"

Blue Devil: "We still have time to hold hands, Stranger?"

Phantom Stranger: "No."

Spectre: "I... I want Hal Jordan back!"

Blue Devil: "Didn't think so."

(OOC: Hal Jordan died while possessed by Parallax. The Spectre took him as his host to expunge Parallax from his soul, and when it finally happened, Hal was brought back from the dead.)

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On Oa, big battle goes on.

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(OOC: Copied and pasted from Annotated Blackest Night.)

On Zamaron, the Sinestro Corps loyal to Sinestro battle against the Star Sapphires, attempting to free their imprisoned compatriots with the child-snatcher Kryb the first to break free just as Sinestro himself arrives to confront Carol Ferris. Though he gives her a warning and an opportunity to stand aside, Carol rejects it and continues to fight.

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On Ysmault, the Lost Lanterns attempt to reclaim the body of Laira but the Alpha Lantern Boodikka insists on fighting both the Red Lanterns and the SInestro Corps members. As they attack, black Power Rings arrive, turning the recently killed - including Laira - into Black Lanterns.

--------------------------------------------

Back on Zamaron, Kryb flees the battle to return to her children. Battling Sinestro, Carol discovers that there is still love left within him, finding a memory of his feelings for Arin, the sister of Abin Sur. Striking back, he and his Corps members capture her just as black Power Rings appear, accompanied by Black Lanterns made up of dead Sinestro Corps members. Back on Qward, the Black Lanterns have attacked Sinestro's base camp.

---------------------------------------------

On Odym, the Orange Lanterns manage to wrench the Blue Central Power Battery from its foundations in order to return it to Okaara and Agent Orange. He in turn watches the success of his constructs but his joy is short lived as more black Power Rings arrive. Finding the corpses of those Agent Orange has killed and consumed, Agent Orange finds himself surrounded by Black Lanterns.

Sensors detect them as they begin coming towards them and Direct Operations begins protecting the two officials by stalling the Lanterns (with their own lives if need be) while they evacuate to other safespots. Unfortunately however Joseph orders the research base to be destroyed, so they will have no more access to prototypes (data however is still available in various government and military archives)

And when Albel attacks the Craftworld, Shein just goes blank. Completely. No emotion. Nothing. He comments to Jenova. "Well, I thought it worked." He's facing an enemy that MIDAS didn't destroy. One that's relentless. One that has the ability to destroy him and his family. And he's dead inside now. He knows he can't win at this point. Not unless a miracle occurs.

Jenova just smiles and presses a button.

The Lanterns are gone.

"Ahh, TransWarp. One of the few things I admire Thorgood for," Jenova says. They're in an alternate dimension, thanks to TransWarp. Now, assuming the Lanterns can even get to the parallel dimension, they'd have quite a bit to contend with. Jenova looks at Shein seriously. "You've protected my life when I thought it was forfeit. My nation when I thought it was dead. I'll never allow you or your family to die while I live."

Looks like there's a large outpost on a planet here, with the entire Burninite fleet above, as well as large military installations below.

"One of the few?" Thorgood says, entering the room. He puts two papers on Jenova's desk. Jenova smiles and adds her signature next to Thorgood's.

Remember those flying grenades the Panzerians used during Blackest Day? Well, they were reverse engineered to an extent, and Thorgood's had a bunch programmed to attack Black Lanterns. They're scattered in Burnination.

And the second paper was the signing into operation of new ground installations that essentially amount to anti-spacecraft artillery. They're like super-Shruiken machine-guns, which fire thousands of Shruikens per second at a spot only a square yard in diameter.

Shein doesn't really look at the papers. He does seem relieved when they've gone to the other dimension. He smiles faintly at Jenova's promise to protect him. How the tables have turned. When Thorgood enters, Shein glances to him briefly and nods. He doesn't speak though. Probably still fairly dead inside at the moment. Worried? He's making a hell of an effort to not worry about things right now.

Though the Black Lanterns are again disoriented, they, after maybe an hour, enter the alternate dimension. They find that planet the Burninites and Shein are hiding on, attack, and proceed to get ripped to shreds faster than they can regenerate. They're just stuck there.

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Though they do kill the men protecting the officials and turn them into Black Lanterns, too, they get frozen in stasis and cease pursuit.

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On Rhea, they pull out the freeze guns and put them on ice and keep them there, which works for most of the Black Lanterns, though not the ones like Greek Fire, who had fire based powers in life. Dmitri tries pulling a ring off of one, but it's rooted on.

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On Earth, Barry Allen attempts the same thing on the Black Lantern Firestorm (power to change atomic structure of things except carbon-based life), only for the ring to reattach to his finger. The Black Lantern yells, "He will rise, invader, and there is nothing you can do to stop it!"

Barry and Hal try to figure out ways to stop the Black Lanterns when out of Black Lantern Hawkman's ring emerges Ray Palmer, the Atom, who got a look at the insides of the Black Lantern rings and explains, "The ring has the same porous structure as bones. Or dark matter: the unseen skeletal anatomy of the universe. It's laces with microscopic wormholes that are channeling some kind of energy to who knows where... who knows why..." (OOC: Hurray, comic book science!)

In the Hall of Justice in Bern, the current Firestorm tries to avoid getting speared by Mera, Aquaman's wife, who had just narrowly escaped the Black Lantern version of him.

Outside, the Flash and Green Lantern and the Atom attempt to flee from more of the Black Lanterns. Black Lantern Sue Dibny, while taunting the Atom, tries to pull out his heart, which is glowing indigo in her eyes. Suddenly, a flash of indigo appears. A woman in strange garb pops out and impales the Black Lantern with her staff.

"Nok Klek. Munk."

Another member of the Indigo tribe appears, apparently named Munk, and starts blasting more of the Black Lanterns. "Klek octa roq?"

"Lekora lek lek."

Hal: "What's she saying?"

Hal's ring: "Unable to translate. Language not recognized."

The Indigo ring speaks: "WILL."

The Indigo tribe woman suddenly has a Green Lantern emblem glowing above her head. "Nok." Her staff fires out a green beam, which hits a Black Lantern.

"Connection severed."

They blast apart more of them before teleporting, as Green Lantern protests, "Hold on. What are you do--"

They reappear at the Hall of Justice in Bern.

They discuss, with the current Firestorm, and Mera, what had happened. Cue a long monologue by Indigo-1 about the emotional spectrum, the darkness fighting back, and why life is the invader in the universe, not the Black Lanterns.

The Atom speculates on the nature of the Black Lanterns. "Maybe the dead aren't wearing the rings. Maybe the rings are wearing the dead. Maybe the rings are some sort of advanced organic computers that download their bodies, becoming some sort of ... of simulator program to attack us... ... but why--?"

Indigo-1: "They feed off emotion. Those that rise do so to elicit a response."

Atom: "But we can stop them. You did. You channeled Hal's power ring."

Indigo-1: "Green light, reinforced with another such as ours, will neutralize the black rings and leave them susceptible to conventional damage. One destroyed, the ring initiates a feedback, which renders the Black Lantern inert. The more shades of the emotional spectrum shining together, the stronger the light.

"This is why we have come to you, Green Lantern. Together, the seven corps can replicate the white light of creation. Together we will be capable of locating and destroying the source of the black rings. You have personal connections to the most powerful members of the five remaining corps. Such as Carol Ferris."

Long talk about Carol being a Star Sapphire again and the Indigo tribe members leave with Green Lantern as the Black Lanterns return.

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On Zamaraon, the Sinestro Corps continue their battle against the Star Sapphires while the Black Lanterns attack both sides. Queen Aga'po warns the Zamarons that whatever happens, the Predator must not escape the planet.

Sinestro and Carol Ferris battle the Black Lanterns before GL Hal Jordan and the leaders of the Indigo tribe arrive. No sooner have they arrived before the second in command of the Indigos is sent to Oa to help protect it. Jordan and Ferris meet up and, using the knowledge gained from Indigo-1, begin to destroy the Black Lanterns before being interrupted by Sinestro. They in turn are interrupted by Indigo-1 who tells Sinestro that Abin Sur, his late friend and mentor, told her she could trust him. Before Sinestro's questions are answered, however, the black rings find the two immortalised lovers in the Central Power Battery of the Star Sapphire who are revealed to be Prince Khufu and Princess Chay-Ara of Earth - the original incarnations of Hawkman and Hawkgirl. As the two are reborn as Black Lanterns, the Power Batter falls, freeing the Predator.

On the planet Ryut in sector 666, Scar holds the Guardians prisoner and, as Indigo-1 transports Jordan, Ferris and Sinestro away from Zamaron, Scar orders any available Black Lanterns to follow them in the hopes of tracking them down.

Above the reborn planet of Xanshi, John Stewart hears a voice offering help.

Indigo-1 and her passengers arrive on Korugar where she forces Sinestro to face and battle Mongul who had succeeded him as leader of his Corps. While Mongul dominates him throughout the fight, Sinestro eventually reveals he has control over every yellow power ring and impales Mongul with constructs from his own rings. Crushing him beneath the yellow power battery, Sinestro is greeted by his Corps.



As he takes command of the coalition of the various Lanterns, Sinestro is interrupted by the arrival of two Black Lanterns: Abin Sur, his friend, and Arin Sur, Sinestro's dead lover.

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On Oa, Munk, Indigo-1's second-in-command, arrives as the Green Lanterns are just about to be overrun by Black Lanterns of their friends, family, lovers, and mentors.

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A message is sent out across Earth and to Dmitri, who sends it to everybody else, with a few notes added on.

"This is the Flash. If you're receiving this, chances are you already know what we're up against. Black rings have descended on Earth and are raising our friends, family, and enemies from the dead. But these Black Lanterns are not them. And they are not unstoppable. Green Lantern and his Corps have set out to destroy the source behind these black rings. That leaves us here to protect Earth until he does. These things are attracted to all kinds of emotional outbursts -- positive and negative. So first things first, keep your emotions in check. We're asking all of you able to shine, do it as brightly as you can."

Dmitri adds on, "I'm attaching the energy signatures of a Green Lantern ring and those of the other Corps. If you have energy weapons, tune your weapons to replicate these signatures. You need green and at least one other color to permanently put down one of these things. Good luck."

Unaware of this shenanigans until after, the Burninites just continue blasting the crap out of the Lanterns, set up a simmershield ring, stop firing, then turn it on. They now have 36 or so caged Lanterns. Because of the number of simmershields required, this setup takes the better part of an hour.

Once completed, Jenova kicks back, puts her feet up, and smiles at Shein. "Got 'em."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On Burnination, the Striking Scorpions spring their traps. They try to lure lanterns into simmershield traps. When successful, they have more caged Lanterns.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Burnination doesn't have any speakable energy weapons, but Jenova ensures that the message reaches Shein so that he can send any necessary orders.

Well, Rutianas have their personal shields which emit a kind of energy. Unfortunately, Shein has no idea how to recalibrate them. Fortunately, however, Arren does.

About an hour later, Arren's got two of the shields recalibrated to the signatures given to them. Green and one other. Arren gives one to Shein and offers the other to Jenova. He suggests they try them out on the caged Lanterns they have, just to see if it works.