Issue #212

FDC presents “The WARMONGER COMETH”

by TJ Burns and Dale Glaser 

Red Square was afire. Fusion cannons mounted on Gordanian battle cruisers were firing searing lances into the Russian capital and laying waste to it. MIGs flew in and out of the Gordanian formations, firing sidewinder missiles that splashed harmlessly against the armored spacefaring hulls. One MIG climbed higher and higher into the Moscow sky, then reversed into a dive and aimed for the lead battle cruiser's command bridge. The fighter jet impacted with the Gordanian ship in a spectacular fireball that blew the command bridge apart. The Gordanian cruiser began to list to the side as its weapons ceased firing.

A glowing emerald sphere was left behind as the flames from the exploding MIG subsided. The jet pilot was contained within, and the sphere was lowered gently to the ground. The sphere dissolved at the mental command of Hollika Rahn, who had willed her power ring to protect the MIG's pilot as she saw its kamikaze approach. She set the Russian pilot down on the street below.

Hollika Rahn flew nearer to her fellow Green Lantern, Kilowog, whose own power ring was projecting hulking fists of solid green light which battered at the Gordanian ships. Hollika could tell that Kilowog fought with no concern for his own safety, even as one of the battle cruisers executed a sharp, high-velocity turn behind him to bring Kilowog into its sights. Hollika aimed her ring at the ship and projected a giant green lariat as quickly as she could, snaring the front of the battle cruiser. She jerked her arm back and the lassooed front end of the ship followed, even as its weapons fired.

The fusion blasts barely missed Kilowog, and winged another cruiser, which began its descent toward the earth as it lost power due to the damage. Kilowog spun around toward the ship which had shot at him. "Try'n stab me in the back, huh, poozers?" Kilowog barked furiously, as his ring created a monstrously oversized emerald hunting knife directly over the offending cruiser. The knife thrust down and skewered the ship, then gutted it. Kilowog immediately turned to seek another target.

Hollika Rahn reached Kilowog's side. "Are you all right, my friend?"

"Good people live here, Hol," Kilowog answered stonily. "They don't deserve anything but t'live their lives out in peace."

"No one deserves any less," Hollika Rahn agreed. "What could make so many forces descend on Earth with such ferocity?"

The only answers were the Gordanians desperate attempts to destroy the Green Lanterns before their own forces were wiped out. Hollika Rahn and Kilowog floated back to back and fought on.

Rot Lop Fan knew the giant warship hovering over Modora was barely operational. The pale, eyeless alien could not see the billowing black smoke pouring steadily from the ship's aft engine chambers, nor the tremendous gouges in the armor of the star-faring vessel. Rot Lop Fan, the Green Lantern from a lightless world, had never known any kind of sight perception, and so could not even visualize the warship's nose sinking slowly toward the ground as it was in fact doing now. Yet he could hear the whine of interstellar engines struggling to keep the warship aloft. He could smell the scorched metal just as he had listened to the crunching and tearing of the ship's hull each time one of his power ring's energy construct's had vibrated like a buzz saw through the ship's defenses. And when the massive vessel of destruction finally lost all power and crashed into the surface of the Baltic Sea below, Rot Lop Fan could feel the shockwaves from the impact as his ear membranes resonated with the sound of the warship's heavy splashdown. Even without the benefit of seeing the spacecraft sink beneath the surface of the sea, Rot Lop Fan was satisfied.

Some of the aliens on board the ship had escaped before its ultimate destruction, and Rot Lop Fan now turned to seek them out. His power ring cast a green light paired with a tonal frequency akin to a bell ringing out the note F sharp. Rot Lop Fan could hear discrepancies in the sound and used the ring as an echo locator. Before too long, he had found one battalion of alien troops.

The aliens saw the uniform of a member of the Green Lantern Corps and opened fire immediately. Rot Lop Fan willed his power ring to place a wall of concentrated sound between himself and his attackers which absorbed the impact of their weapons' blasts. The low rumbling pitch of the defensive barrier then rose octave after octave until it was an extremely high piercing scream which lanced down on shafts of green light to penetrate the skulls of the alien warriors. They fell to the ground, writhing in pain until the sonic assault rendered them unconscious.

Rot Lop Fan flew higher into the air to resume his search. Abruptly he was overwhelmed by a concentrated column of noise the likes of which Rot Lop Fan had never heard. It was as if near-infinite decibels of sound were slamming into him bodily, and the tones generated by his own power ring were not enough interference to keep them away. The cacophonous assault hammered away at Rot Lop Fan until he passed out, and fell gracelessly from the sky to the ground below. A few moments later, two human figures approached the prone alien, strapped him into yellow restraints, and took him away.

 

Apros and Shilandra Thane prepared to mount their final counterattack on the invading alien force. The city of Sydney had suffered sever damage, but the two Green Lanterns who had raced to its defense had done much to minimize the devastation. Most of the city's population had been safely evacuated to the west, while the invaders - several divisions of the Khundian forces - were systematically slashing and burning through the city from the east. After escorting the Earthling inhabitants out, Apros and Shilandra Thane had returned, taken up positions atop the Sydney Opera House and begun to beat back the Khunds.

The Khunds had responded directly at first, aiming all weapons at the two Green Lanterns and returning fire. Even under the hail of plasma bolts, however, Apros and Shilandra Thane were able to continue projecting their own energy constructs, assaulting the Khunds from all sides. The legendary berserker rages of the Khunds might have led to a standstill as every last warrior tried to bring down the two emerald protectors high above them. Yet ultimately the Khundian commanders rallied their troops and forced them to follow their original battle plan. Now the Khunds spared only a few warriors to combat the solid light threats created by Apros and Shilandra Thane, and those few warriors held their own.

The vast majority of the Khundian force, however, worked like a well-oiled machine to deploy hundreds and hundreds of explosive units throughout the eastern edge of the city. If all of the units were to be detonated at once, the destructive force would be incalculable. Even the people beyond the far side of the city limits might not be safe.
"We must press our attack, Apros!" Shilandra Thane warned loudly. "The Khunds must be stopped before their bombs send this city into orbit!"

Agreed, Apros' answer came telepathically. He waved a cluster of tentacles at the activity below. Perhaps if you are able to engage the demolition team directly, I can gather the explosives …

Apros was cut short by a firestorm of plasma bolts, coming from above. Shilandra Thane looked up to see a new detachment of Khundian warriors, wearing jetpack harnesses and flying to meet the Green Lanterns head-on atop the Opera House. Shilandra Thane and Apros took to the air as well, protected by their power rings' forcefields, and then the flying Khunds were upon them, overwhelming them by size and numbers, attacking with plasma bolts and even the butt-end of rifles.

Shilandra Thane screamed and swung an emerald green executioner's axe all around her, clearing away several Khund soldiers before the head of the axe cleaved one warrior's jetpack in two and sent him falling to the water below. The Khunds were only momentarily deterred, however, and their assault was renewed almost immediately.

Shilandra, hear me, Apros thought to his fellow Corps member. We must combine our willpower to prevail. Let my thoughts guide yours … Shilandra Thane allowed Apros to show her mind's eye what he wanted, and she agreed.

Shilandra Thane and Aprosd aimed their rings at one another, and the emerald light shining from each one merged and then blazed down to the Sydney streets. Suddenly, standing in the midst of the Khund army, was a fifty-foot tall warrior. It was humanoid, like Shilandra Thane, but its skin was gourd-like, resembling Apros' husk. It had no facial features at all, but its head was covered with long mane of hair. Six gigantic pseudopods extended from the green warrior avatar's back, and it carried a huge morning star in one hand, which came crashing down on the heads of several Khundian soldiers, knocking them into the pavement. The pseudopods unfurled and scooped up the explosives which had already been deployed, as the warrior's morningstar swept through the Khunds' ranks again. Each in turn, the pseudopods tightened their grips on the explosives, detonating them above the city street. The Green Lantern energy of which the avatar was composed then channelled the force of the bomb blasts into the head of the morning star, and the warrior struck with more power and ferocity than ever. The warrior pointed its morningstar skyward and channelled two explosions through it, knocking the airborne Khund soldiers out of flight.

The Khundian commanders lost their ability to keep their troops focused on non-combat tasks. The entire Khund force began to attack the enormous emerald warrior and the two Green Lanterns hovering overhead and directing its rampage. The Khunds fought with a fierceness born partly of desperation, for they knew they answered to authority beyond their army commanders. They had been brought here by one being who would not brook failure, and their very lives depended on fulfilling the orders handed down by …

 

"MONGUL!" Jordan raged, the words seeming to claw their way savagely out of his throat. Kyle Rayner, Jenny Hayden, and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps members in Los Angeles - Salakk, Adam, Zghithii, Stel, M'Dahna and Brik - gathered behind him, but it was as if Jordan and Mongul existed in a world of their own. While Jordan seethed, Mongul stared down impassively from his small hover platform, his broad yellow features betraying only a hint of cruel amusement. When the galactic despot spoke to answer, his words were ponderous with malice.

"Jordan …" Mongul began. "Finally. The sweet revenge I have orchestrated is finally complete. I might only have contented myself with your death along with the destruction of this insignificant planet, but now I have the pleasure of personally assuring you that your world is doomed! For the rest of your pathetically short life, you will know that it was Mongul who first told you, only death awaits the Earth entire!"

"What are you talking about, you deranged monster?" Jordan demanded.

"Burning desire for revenge has brought me here, Green Lantern. Revenge upon you and that fool Superman. To find such revenge, there was, quite literally, hell to pay," Mongul smiled sickeningly. "The life of every inhabitant of Earth was the price, and a small price at that, a pittance. May your hereafter be damnation, Jordan, knowing that my hatred for you consumed not merely your beloved Coast City, but your entire world!"

"You sick bastard, I'll kill you myself!!!" Jordan screamed, throwing himself into the air at Mongul. A raw blast of emerald force exploded out of Jordan's power ring and slammed into Mongul's head. The energy splashed harmlessly across Mongul's yellow visage, and only made impact on the gray and purple armor covering the back of Mongul's skull. Mongul roared with fury and backhanded Jordan, his yellow fist easily passing through Jordan's forcefield and connecting solidly with the Green Lantern's jaw. Jordan's head snapped back.

"Jesus! Everybody, pour it on!" Rayner snapped, breaking the shock which had frozen the Corps. Rayner raised his ring hand and fired at Mongul, a volley of green solid energy bullets fired from a Hollywood-sized green hand cannon. The rest of the Green Lanterns joined the assault with their own ring constructs, and Jade let loose several blasts of her verdant bioenergy.

Mongul recoiled under the attack, then slapped a control on the rail of his hover platform, activating a translucent force bubble around the platform and himself. The barrier withstood the combined Green Lanterns' attacks, including Jordan's frenzied bashing with an endless deluge of unfocused emerald energy.

Mongul smirked icily at Jordan through the force barrier. "I have spent all the time on you I require, Jordan. Other matters demand my attention. I would have allowed you to simply perish along with the rest of Earth's population, but if you wish to die now, I am only too happy to oblige you!" With that, Mongul's hover platform fired a blast at the cluster of Green Lanterns below.

The heroes scattered, and the shot caved in a yard-wide section of the street. A silvery ball sat in the center of the crater, and from an aperture in its surface a sinuous strand of silver whipped out, wrapping around Jordan's leg. Jordan waved his ring hand at the strand and the green energy jetting out of the power ring sliced easily through the metallic whip. Jordan returned his attention to Mongul, raising a huge emerald energy sledgehammer over his head to bring down on the hover platforms force shield. The severed end of the silver whip, however, replicated two new strands. Each strand ensnared one of Jordan's ankles, and pulled him down away from Mongul, while more of the whip-like extensions of the silver ball fired out and wrapped themselves around Jordan's shoulders and waist.

Mongul chuckled mirthlessly. "Enjoy my hydratron as a parting gift, Jordan, while I return to my ship to oversee the end of this campaign" the alien conqueror taunted as his hover platform began to rise higher and higher. "Farewell to you, Green Lanterns … and to all of the Earth!" The shielded hover platform accelerated straight up and shot out of the atmosphere.

Jordan's power ring projected an immense green torch, its top blazing with emerald fire that burned through the cybernetic whip throttling his left arm. The metal thread was cut, but unlike the Hydra of myth it did not fail to regenerate two new deadly tendrils at the break point. The constantly replicating whips began to overwhelm Jordan faster than he could destroy them.

"Hal Jordan!" Brik cried out, throwing herself at the silvery tendrils and pulling at them with all her strength. The thin threads broke, and the twin replacements targeted Brik herself, wrapping around her throat. Salakk and M'Dahna lent their own energy construct attacks to Jordan's, in the form of a bright green spinning blade from Salakk and monstrous emerald crab claws from M'Dahna, but they too soon fell victim to the reproducing silver threads and began to fall behind the mechanical tendrils blinding speed.

"Mongul's madness is boundless, but it seems to have provided a means for my escape nonetheless," Kanjar Ro, all but forgotten by the Green Lanterns since Mongul's arrival, said quietly to himself. He crawled into the alley between two warehouses and hurried away.

Jade flew high into the air and rained down green energy blasts on the bases of the silver whips. The stumps regenerated as double-headed tendrils which lashed out at impossible speed and began to wrap tightly around Jade's hands, spreading up her arms.

"Jenny!" Rayner screamed. "Hang on!"

"We must destroy this evil device at its very heart," Adam announced, creating a giant spear of emerald energy and thrusting it deep into the silvery sphere in the crater. The sphere was ruptured, with a fist-sized hole left behind by Adam's attack. From that hole, a hundred cybernetic strands fairly exploded out, engulfing Adam in a tight death grip.

"What we gotta do is stop breaking this thing!" Rayner called out, his own power ring creating a circus elephant in shades of green. The solid-light animal sat down on the two metallic strands attacking Jade, pinning them to the ground. The elephant's trunk then wrapped around the ends of the strands close to Jade's body, snapped them and stuffed the ends into its mouth like hay. Jade managed a shaky landing on the street, and Rayner gave her a reassuring nod. "If we can subdue this thing, we might be OK …" Before he could finish, the base of the metal strands began straining against the weight of the elephant construct, and snapped themselves apart. The two free separated ends extended now as four lightning-fast whips, and encircled Rayner and Jade both.

Every Green Lantern was now contending with multiple deadly cybernetic whips, realizing that even the most benign defenses were causing the strands to fracture and reproduce. The silvery tendrils clamped tightly around limbs, constricting with immense force that threatened to soon rend the Green Lanterns themselves into unidentifiable pieces. And more and more strands added to the device's assault with every passing moment.

Stel was almost entirely bound in metallic tendrils, with only his left arm, head, and the lower half of his right arm free. The emerald light began to shine from his power ring, and coalesced into a delicate pattern of connected lines in midair, intersecting pathways of light with occasional, circular swells. Slowly, gently, the pattern attached itself to the silver sphere on the ground and all of its menacing whip extensions. Stel's light design flared for a moment, and then all the Green Lanterns could feel the tendrils slackening. They poured all of their willpower into cutting themselves free, and the severed threads fell lifelessly to the street, no longer extending as twin replicated strands when damaged. Soon all were free, peeling off the last strands that still clung to them limply.

"Nice work, Stel," Jordan praised the robotic Lantern.

"Yeah, what'd you do?" Jade asked as Rayner helped her remove a tightly wound whip from her forearm.

"I turned it off," Stel responded in a flat metallic voice. "The technology was fairly primitive, susceptible to an external override circuit."

"Phenomenal," Rayner agreed. Then, he turned to Jordan and fixed him with a grave look. "Hal, man, are you all right? Still with us?"

"I know. I lost my temper back there. I was … blinded," Jordan confessed. His head dropped for a moment, then rose again as he levelled his gaze with Rayner's. "It's not the time or the place to grieve for the past, though," Jordan affirmed. "We've got to stop Mongul at all costs."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Salakk grumbled, crossing both pairs of arms across his thorax.

"For one thing, we need to get back to the Citadel, and gather as many of the other Lanterns as we can. We'll have to leave defending the cities against Mongul's army to everyone else who's capable, while the Corps finds Mongul's ship and stops whatever he's got that he thinks can destroy the planet." Jordan's voice was strong and confident, although some disquiet still darkened his eyes. But the Green Lanterns nodded their agreement, ready to follow him willingly.

As they rose together into the air, Kyle Rayner raised a hand to his temple. "Hang on here, I'm getting a telepathic contact from J'onn," Rayner announced. His face tensed as he mentally communicated with the Martian Manhunter, and then contact was broken. "Hal," Rayner said, "the Watchtower is under siege. Most of Mongul's fleet is still in orbit and making things on the moon awful ugly. J'onn says they need me back up there five minutes ago."

"Go, Kyle," Jordan said, "and don't feel for one second like you're abandoning us. You are the Green Lantern of the JLA, after all. And we need everyone pulling together to win the day this time. If we're going after Mongul's command ship, giving the rest of his fleet one of the best GLs to contend with can only help us. Go."

Rayner smiled awkwardly at Jordan's praise. Then Jade spoke up. "Hal, I don't think I'll be able to fly into outer space to find Mongul's ship with you. I guess I'm one of the 'capable' ones you said should be fending off the invaders down here on Earth. I'm going to fly up to Frisco, see where there's other trouble spots that need help."

"Sounds good, Jade. Just be careful. I know if Alan were here he'd want to say that himself," Jordan explained.

Jade nodded and reached out to take Rayner's hand in hers. "You be careful, too, roomie," she smiled as bravely as she could.

"Don't worry, Jenny. I'll see you back in New York before you know it," Rayner answered. He squeezed her hand for a moment, almost let go, and then like a man unable to resist a powerful force, he pulled Jade into his arms and kissed her. It was a long, soft kiss on the mouth, long enough for her to twine her fingers around the back of his neck and kiss him back enthusiastically. When they released each other, no more words were spoken. Rayner rocketed up toward the Watchtower on the moon, and Jade sped away up the California coast.

"And that's why Mongul has to be stopped," Jordan said mostly to himself, thinking of Carol. He turned to fly to the Citadel, and the rest of the Corps members fell in formation behind him.

The Green Lanterns reached the Guardian's Citadel a few minutes later. Jordan had spoken to John Stewart via the power ring as they made their way, and Stewart had in turn called back more of the Corps as reinforcements. Now, the Green Lanterns with Jordan landed in the courtyard to find Stewart and two other Guardians, as well as Voz, Tuebeen, Larvox, Galius Zed, and Chaselon.

"Some of the others were in too deep to make it here," Stewart explained the absence of the unaccounted for Corps members.

"We'll make do with what we've got," Jordan stated simply. Then he gestured to Brik, and said, "Besides, we've got one more member we can bring in now. She just needs a ring and a battery."

"Hello, Brik!" Stewart said, his happiness dampened somewhat by the dire circumstances of their reunion.

"Greetings," the alien from Dryad responded.

"Afraid I'm still al little drained from my energy output when this whole thing began," Stewart apologized. "But the other Guardians should be able to help."

In fact, the Guardians' hands had already begun to glow with emerald power, and the Oan energies drew together to form a power ring in one Guardian's hands, and a battery in the other's. They held them out to Brik, who took them reverently, slipping the ring on her finger and hoisting the battery up high at arm's length.

"We'd all better charge up," Jordan suggested. "We're in for one hell of a tussle with Mongul."

All of the assembled Green Lanterns touched their respective rings to Brik's battery, recharging the weapons as they recited their oaths in unison:

"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape our sight,
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware our power … GREEN LANTERN'S LIGHT!!!"

"Mongul thinks he can impose a death sentence on the Earth," Jordan said angrily. "Let's go show him just how wrong he is!" Jordan flew high into the sky, bound for a showdown with a deadly dangerous enemy, and backed up by his fellow wielders of the most powerful weapon in the universe. As the atmosphere thinned and the inky expanse of space was pierced by Green Lanterns' light, the heavens themselves seemed to tremble in anticipation of the final, furious battle about to be waged …

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TO BE CONTINUED … in the pages of SUPERMAN # 12 … and CONCLUDED in COLD ARMAGEDDON: FINAL FURY!!!

NEXT ISSUE: The aftermath of Cold Armageddon! As our heroes try to pick up the pieces left in the wake of Mongul's destructive path, new challenges and triumphs await them at every turn! Be here as Year Two begins … if you thought the past year was full of action and surprises, we're here to tell you it was just getting started!