Vell wasn't one to succumb to the anxieties and fears of failure, but she was certainly uneasy about her current situation. Tomar-Re, a senior Green Lantern officer, was overseeing her final assessment period; the results of which would dictate whether she graduated, was dismissed entirely from service, or underwent continued training. Two of those three options would be seen as failure to the Bekkorian. She wanted to succeed. Worst of all though, if she was kicked out of the Corps one might say that it would be difficult for her to regularly see her newfound partner Hal Jordan, who lived several galaxies away from her and anywhere she'd be able to travel without a GL ring. So yes, Vell was not entirely calm despite the fact that her favourite teacher was assessing her performance.

A Green lantern Initiate's final assessment could be literally any assignment of the instructor's choosing. The Initiate was required to complete said task in a desirable manner whilst adhering to and applying all concepts taught to them during their corpsman studies. The examination could be based on extracting and analysing raw materials from radioactive asteroid fragments, destroying hostile vessels attacking innocent targets, navigating and charting high-risk regions, keeping the peace during interstellar political meetings, or literally anything else.

Suffice to say, it was the mystery behind her exam that Vell didn't like. She might need to broker peace between two peoples or manage a population of homeless and displaced victims of war; things that she would be absolutely terrible at. And knowing Tomar-Re, he'd probably choose something like that to best test the versatility of this very brash, aggressive and violently-inclined Lantern cadet.

Tomar decided to select an assignment from his home sector of 2813 since he knew the area extremely well and wanted to place Vell in an environment completely foreign to her. He was leading the way by following a complex flight path in an effort to both gauge Vell's level of navigational skill and keep her sharp. "You must relax, Vell. I sense fear in you."

"I don't want to fail. I'm afraid of screwing this up. And I'm afraid that in being afraid, I've already failed. Have I already failed?"

Tomar laughed. "No. We are not machines, Vell. Feeling fear is natural; it is impossible to be brave without first feeling fear. A good Green Lantern acknowledges their fear, then musters the strength to overcome it. They are not immune to it."

Vell understood what he was saying; she remembered from her classes that the GL rings' trigger mechanisms were the wearer's mind, specifically the part of the brain that urged them into action. The direct opposite of that signal is the anxiety that causes someone to freeze and not act. GLs who freeze up or doubt themselves produce constructs at less effective rates compared to those who don't. It was a matter of psychological training to overcome these things.

"What are you afraid of?" Tomar asked his pupil.

She swallowed. "Being alone."

"This stems from your being sold into slavery, does it not? You were abandoned. You do not wish for it to happen again, which you feel will if you fail your final assessment."

"Yeah...basically."

Tomar chose his next words carefully. "You must become confident in your actions. This is not something I can assist you with. You must do so on your own accord. You must trust in yourself that you will not fall short of what is expected of you."

"Okay...I think I understand." She said quietly.

"Only experience will assist you in such an undertaking."

The pair passed through a golden, globular nebular on their path through Sector 2813. The particles that culminated in the cosmic event twirled about as their ion trails whisked them across the stars like missiles. "Kal-El and Kara Zor-El are currently occupied with the cosmic storm approaching Sector 2814 from dead space, so it is imperative that we maintain a vigilant watch on all areas of Guardian space. There are those who would seek to take advantage of the Kryptonians' absence."

"So we're just going on patrol? Is that all?"

"For now, yes. Something will arise, something always does."

Flying was starting to feel second nature to her. She devoted her otherwise unused mental capacities to thinking about Hal. He was, as promised, covering for Superman on their homeworld of Earth while he was occupied. While Vell was studying all of her notes on Oa, Hal found the time to call her, wish her luck, and joke about how it would be hilarious if she failed the test and had to repeat her training period. Vell didn't appreciate this sentiment and hung up on him after calling him an elkosh. She found the thought of flying solo, without a mentor, both enticing and worrying. Vell was able to find solace in the fact that she didn't have to make her own calls previously, as Hal would issue commands to her and all she had to do was listen. Now if she passed and became a Sentry, she would have to decide how to solve her own problems and make sure her conclusions conformed to Green Lantern policy. She didn't really trust herself with that kind of responsibility.

She was also curious about Earth. She hadn't spent too much time there, and the majority of that aforementioned time was inside Hal's small apartment. Mainly, she wanted more yoghurt. It wasn't the best tasting substance she had consumed, but for some reason she'd been thinking about nothing else.

As the two peacekeepers wound their way deeper into sector 2813, Vell's scanning subsystems identified the signature of a spacecraft engaged in a level 20 thrust jump. This speed was well beyond what was the established safety limit for a ship of its size in this immediate area; it was susceptible to the occasional wave of asteroid debris due to a nearby supermassive star's high gravitational field. A ship going too fast could collide with one of these fast-moving pieces of ore and be destroyed without a chance to perform evasive manoeuvres.

"Walk me through your chain of logic, Initiate." Tomar-Re demanded.

Vell squinted at the vessel, altered her course to a direct intercept, then explained "That vessel's speed is exceeding the maximum safety threshold for a debris-heavy region. I'm going to get closer, initiate communications and see if I need to do anything else."

The Bekkorian took off with great speed with her Xudarian instructor in tow. Once she entered contact range, Vell initiated a systems scan of the ship, which cross-referenced its identification credentials with the Oan archives. Half a second passed, and she was presented with a document describing the craft with great detail.

"The ship is a cargo freighter called the Mestorius Gale...and...is labelled as stolen from the nearby planet of Oxidien IX." Vell announced. "Okay, so I'm going to hail them and tell them to cease all operations or else I'll disable the ship without their consent. After that, I'll apprehend the thieves for questioning, then return them to their point of origin."

Tomar nodded. "Excellent. Proceed."

Vell commanded her ring to open a secure channel to the Mestorius Gale, then warned "Attention Mestorius Gale, this is Green Lantern 921. Your vehicle has been identified as a model declared stolen from Oxidien IX. I'm ordering you to drop out of your unsanctioned level 20 jump and prepare for boarding. If you refuse to comply, I'm going to permanently disable your engines and come aboard anyway." Needless to say, Vell polished up her speech for her assessment. Her usual warnings would be a little less fancy-sounding.

There were several seconds of static. Suddenly, a fear-ridden voice responded "W-We can't stop...they'll catch us...! They'll k-kill us all!"

Normally, Vell would've kept pushing and probably yelled at them until they stopped, but considering that her performance was being scrutinised, she bit her tongue and rethought that course of action. "Tell me what happened. Who's going to catch you?"

"The demons. From the pits of Ceortenul itself...! They came to punish us for our sins!" The alien on the comm explained. Vell's ring identified Ceortenul as the Oxidien equivalent of Hell and other realms where the guilty were banished for punishment.

"Can I come aboard? Just slow down two levels. My partner and I would like to help you. Maybe we can deal with these demons." Vell said calmly and smoothly, in an effort to impress her supervising officer.

"Y-Yes...we can't slow down too much. We have to keep r-running!"

After the channel closed, Vell looked to Tomar with great concern. "This sounds pretty serious."

"Indeed. 'Demon' isn't a particularly useful descriptor; humanoid lifeforms tend to attribute anything that makes them afraid with evil creatures from dark realms. Perhaps questioning the passengers will reap more tangible testimony. Lead the way." Tomar said to Vell.

"Okay. Let's do it."

The two Lanterns made their way to one of the airlocks highlighted in their scans of the Mestorius Gale and entered with the approval of the ship's crew. The interior was intensely cramped and laden with an enormous number of lifeforms. Vell saw men, women, children, and the elderly wrapped in dirty clothes and burns. Their grey skin and yellow eyes matched the database entry for Oxidien IX natives. The docking hangar, which was what the airlock was connected to, was absolutely packed with refugees instead of the usual docked ships and storage containers.

Vell said to Tomar "This...looks like an ark."

"Indeed." He replied, looking at woman and her five crying children amongst the dense crowd.

A party of armoured and armed people strode in from one of the accessways. Their suits were horrifically damaged, and many seemed to have sustained deep injuries. The lead soldier introduced himself to the Lanterns. "Apologies for the...eccentric Captain, officers. We've...been through much."

"What happened to you? There has to be hundreds of thousands of people on this ship if its packed like this." Vell asked.

The guard sergeant swallowed. "We're an evac ship from Oxidien IX. Our government was eradicated by invaders...so I took command of my detachment and focused on getting as many survivors off the planet as I could. Yeah...I guess we stole this ship since everything went to shit."

Tomar pressed "Do not worry about the ship. These invaders, the captain called them demons."

"They descended from the skies and set our world alight with their mere gaze. Nothing we retaliated with could slow their onslaught. We don't know anything else about them." The guard recounted.

Vell exhaled, crossing her arms. "I'm sending coordinates to your navigational computer and requesting for an escort to take you there."

"Where? Where are you taking us?"

"Oa. You'll be safe there while we take care of your planet." She summoned a series of holograms, swiped and tapped at the interface for several seconds, then closed them. "Okay, officers are en route. Tomar-Re and I will leave for Oxidien. Keep your people safe."

With that, the Green Lanterns departed the Gale and set course for Oxidien IX. "I've called for additional reinforcements. Lanterns should be rendezvousing with us on the planet."

"Good call. Now let us investigate."

Minutes zipped by and Vell's eyes fell onto Oxidien IX upon her arrival in-system. Sections of the world seemed to be glowing...as if they had been set alight. Black smoke turned the white clouds grey, and clusters of destroyed starships littered orbit. There were no signs of hostile vessels anywhere in the entire solar system. The GLs entered the planet's atmosphere and witnessed an unseen level of destruction.

Buildings were toppled, rendered into piles of rubble, and scorched corpses littered the ruins as far as the eye could see. Some bodies had been torn apart and were no unrecognisable as any form of life; they looked like squishy piles of flesh with no shape. "Grakk...what in the name of Forgtor's beard could have done all this...?"

Vell landed in the centre of a body-strewn plaza. Tomar-Re struggled to retain his professionalism in light of the atrocities around him, but nevertheless he did so. "Crime scene assessment?"

Vell knelt by the bodies and inspected the damage. Some had been burnt so badly that what little remained of their flesh was boiled into the skeletal systems. These skeletons were encrusted onto the ground like roadkill. Other bodies were torn into pieces; the muscle damage noted sheer force was used to pull them apart. Military vehicles were littered about, showing signs of incredible force damage. Their hull plating was torn open and crushed so badly that all occupants had to have died immediately.

The blast points of the heat energy, as extrapolated by Vell's ring computer, determined that most of the scorching attacks were conducted from above. This denoted some kind of flight technology or ability in the attacking group.

"...Severe burns...exhibits of great physical strength...flight..." Vell trailed off.

Tomar bluntly pressed her. "Spit it out, Initiate." He knew what she was going to say.

"They appear to point toward...Kryptonian involvement."

Tomar growled under his breath.

Without a single sound, a figure descended from the clouds. Vell thrusted her ring hand out, ready to blast it with a burst of energy. The man was dressed in a Kryptonian body suit, adorned with a triangular family crest, much like Superman's. Instead of being shaped like an 'S' however, it was a completely foreign shape. He had a head of black hair, slicked back, and a black beard. Vell's ring instantly tied-into the Oan archive to identify the person.

They had a previous criminal record...including acts of terrorism, murder, attempted murder, and attempted subjugation of populations. His name: Dru-Zod, former military general of the Kryptonian Science Council. One of the most dangerous criminals the universe has ever known.

"Tomar-Re. Do you know why we have sought you out?" The man asked calmly.

Vell made to take a step forward, but Tomar's hand pushed her back. "Yes, General. But this death...this slaughter was uncalled for. You have committed crimes against the people of my sector and will be subject to the laws of the Guardians. Submit yourself for disciplinary action or face lethal force."

General Zod sighed. "You owe my people a debt, Lantern. The people you failed to save. Your condemning of them to death does not conflict with your laws?"

Tomar was made silent. He agreed with Zod. He still felt guilty.

"Tomar-Re didn't destroy your planet; you did it to yourselves." Vell snapped.

Zod grimaced at the pale alien before him. "I do not expect a whelp from a primitive society like yours to understand. Stand aside or die."

"I'm not afraid of you." Vell snarled.

Zod, somehow not sounding obnoxious but instead seeming as if he was issuing a genuine heart-felt warning, told her "You should be."

Tomar turned to face Vell. "Stop. He is much too powerful. Leave. I shall keep him at bay."

Zod held his hands behind his back patiently. Vell answered her mentor "I'm on assessment. That wouldn't look good on record."

Vell threw herself at the General with maximum thrust. A glowing green mechanical gauntlet assembled itself as she pushed her arm forward just as she came into contact with the Kryptonian. Faster than any eye present could comprehend, Zod raised a hand and caught the construct without any sign of exertion. His eyes flared bright red.

He squeezed and Vell's construct buckled. She manifested a sword in her left hand and swung it at the General's face. The blade impacted much like how a branch would against solid concrete; the weapon shattered. Vell, rightfully so, finally felt fear of her opponent.

With a roar, Tomar-Re entered the fight, discharging volleys of energy at the Kryptonian soldier. The bolts hit their target, but nothing more than a slight frown of discomfort was warranted by Zod. He slightly reeled his head back then released it forward directly into Vell's face.

The impact was akin to the payload of a heavy-duty ballistic missile. Vell was propelled backwards so fast that her brain couldn't process what exactly happened. The next few seconds were blurs of grey, blue, black that swirled endlessly amongst each other. Her ring howled, denoting that its shield integrity was below fifty percent. She was in complete and utter disbelief. A single blow reduced her shields by 73%...a blow that didn't even seem to be the tiniest potential of Zod's true strength. She had never seen a Kryptonian in battle before...and it seemed that she grossly underestimated them. When Vell's rolling through the debris finally stopped, she rerouted power from her ring's propulsion system to shields and offensive capabilities, then looked upward. According to her tracker, she was hurtled hundreds of kilometres away from the fight...

She leapt into the sky and lanced as fast as she could back to Tomar and Zod. Streaks of red tore through the sky and impacted against Tomar's shield, causing sparks to fly into the blue atmosphere. Vell willed two twin pulse cannon turrets into existence and set their sights on the Kryptonian General. She fired at will, staggering Zod but causing no real injury. However, she did give the attack pause and free Tomar from the onslaught.

"What are you doing?! Run! We stand no chance, you have to mobilise the Corps!" Tomar commanded.

Vell continued unleashing her flurry of fire, allowing Tomar's shield time to recharge. "Reinforcements are already on the way, remember!? No way this guy can stand against ten GLs, no way!"

Still under constant fire from Vell's construct, Zod manages to compose himself during the attack and leap through the air. Vell's heart stopped as she saw the General spear upwards and directly into her, seizing her by the throat. He punched her once in the face, and the energy shield protecting her splintered into millions of pieces. An alarm hollered in her mind. Without the energy shield, the GL ring still provided a level of protection, but it only reduced incoming damage instead of negating it. Zod was now able to harm her.

His face was drooped in a reluctant but determined grimace. Without warning, Vell's eyes were overcome with an indescribable brightness; if her eyes weren't passively protected by the ring, she would've been rendered permanently blind. Her skin was boiled with incapacitating heat that was well beyond anything she'd ever felt before. The sheer inferno made the sodium capsule from the Gornian encounter feel like a tickle.

She screamed, mustered two focused gauntlets on her hands, then planted them onto Zod's eyes. Although the pain on her body abated, her hands were now subject to an even sharper burning. Already, Vell's uniform was beginning to be scorched away. Patches of it that covered her abdomen, legs and neck had been ripped away by Zod's heat vision. Instead of focusing long enough to reconstitute the garb, she blasted Zod's eyes with concentrated ion from her hands. The Kryptonian growled, stumbling back and shutting his eyes.

Before Vell could answer with another attack, Tomar-Re lashed out with a vicious, unfiltered blast of ion that vaporised everything within a five-metre radius. The pulse pushed Zod backwards several steps in a stagger, doing nothing but buying them some time.

"W-What do we do now?"

Tomar looked to Vell sombrely. "I want you to retreat. You have no part in this."

"Yes I do. You're my friend and my comrade. I'm not deserting you. Don't ask me again."

Tomar swallowed and looked back at Zod. "Keep him off-balance. Despite his strength and speed, he can only focus on one of us at a time. He only has one pair of eyes. Reroute power to propulsion systems; we need to be able to avoid his attacks."

Without question, Vell obeyed Tomar's command.

Zod opened his eyes, showing no sign of damage. His uniform was not even scuffed in the slightest. "This is your final warning, Bekkorian. I do not wish to kill another innocent, but I shall if I am so forced."

This being could kill her. Easily. Despite the protection offered by her ring. Vell, panting, defiantly answered. "I'm not scared of death. If I'm going to die, just make sure it's a good one."

"I admire your resolve. Now come. I will grant you that one concession."

Zod's next moves were done at incredulous speeds. First he zipped forth, pounded Tomar with a fierce punch that tossed him into the gut of a still-standing building, then grappled Vell's right arm. Before she had enough time to retaliate, Zod wrenched the limb backwards at an unnatural angle with a sudden crack. Vell screamed in pain, but it didn't last.

The General rammed a fist into Vell's gut once, twice, thrice. Vell gagged and coughed up smatterings of bright, sickly yellow blood. The fourth strike surely would have pierced her skin and flesh, impaling her, but by this time Tomar had recovered from the previous blow and bolted back into the fray. A series of pistons formed in front of Zod and simultaneously snapped forward with immense force. The attack cancelled his next strike on Vell, and she found herself floating free from his grip. Her insides were incredibly strained; her ring indicated that as well as a broken arm, she suffered from fractured ribs, internal bleeding and extreme muscle bruising. She was also incredibly dehydrated from Zod's heat vision on her unshielded body.

Zod growled "I'll get to you later, destroyer of worlds." He planted a fist into Tomar's head, spraying blood around the ruins and turning his body limp. Finally, he looked skyward, primed himself for a throw, then motioned up with blinding speed. His incredible peg forced Tomar out of the atmosphere. Now with Tomar out of the field of battle, his attention returned to Vell. "You've distracted me long enough."

Red beams of fire slammed into Vell once again, shredding at her skin. Her ring hand wearily flopped up in an effort to bring any kind of construct to life...but nothing happened. She was sent backwards by the sheer energy, slamming into a grey block of structural support. Still the pain continued, and she could feel herself beginning to melt away. However, a resounding battle cry caused the dwindling hope in her heart to regenerate "In brightest day, in blackest night!" Four different voices called in unison. An equal number of Green Lanterns entered the fight, securing a wide array of restrictive constructs around Zod.

Bands of green light blinded him, preventing the use of his heat vision. Verdant chains sprouted from the ground, binding his arms to his side. All the while, beams of pure ion bombarded the alien military leader. "No evil shall escape my sight!" The chorus called.

The Lantern reinforcements were all strangers to Vell, but that didn't stop her from assisting them in blasting the General with as much ion energy as she could muster. She joined them in reciting their battle cry "For those who worship evil's might...beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"

When the last word of the oath was recited, each Lantern's morale was bolstered. Each beam grew in density and output, so much so that the Kryptonian was obscured from view by the incredible beams of energy. For five seconds, the onslaught continued.

After this, each Lantern's energy attacks ceased, and they floated slightly away from the smoky crater. Vell wiped the blood from her mouth but kept her focus pinned on the smoke. Her uniform had been reduced to a ragged blackened mess by General Zod's heat vision. It was pocked with holes and hung upon one shoulder. The parts of her body that showed were bruised, burned and beaten. Her face was terribly bruised as well.

"Stay sharp, people! Keep those bindings tight!" One of the GLs commanded.

Another one looked to Vell and asked "Where's Lantern Tomar?"

"In orbit...last I saw..." Vell wheezed. "Maybe--"

General Zod's ever calm voice interrupted Vell's suggestion. "All I ask...is that one officer. One in exchange for the lives of you and your entire Corps. Why do you resist? I will end you all if you deny me my right for justice."

A single strand of hair hung down the frame of his face. Apart from that, you couldn't have told that he was in a fight at all.

"We don't give up on each other, Zod. You're going back to the Phantom Zone." The lead Lantern threatened.

"No. Not yet. Not before I crush Tomar-Re with my bare hands."

Zod roared, fighting against the wealth of constructs restraining him. He managed to wrench one hand free of one of the cables holding it down, then grasped it tightly, yanking it towards him. The Lantern manifesting the cable was thrown right into Zod's grasp. He snatched him from the air by the face. "I've been holding back long enough. You had your chance to retreat."

The Kryptonian squeezed the head of the GL in his hand, causing him to flail and scream in desperation.

"Hit him!! Hit him now!!" One GL howled.

Every officer present, including Vell, blasted Zod to no avail. The immense strength exhibited by General Zod seemed to bypass the Lantern's energy shield completely. Now however, Zod's face was at least warped in some kind of physical effort. There was a crack that sounded the breakage of the GL's shield, then the wet, sloppy shattering of his skull and the squishing of the brain inside.

The GL's head exploded in Zod's hand, showering gore in every direction. Instantly, the deceased Lantern's ring assumed its pre-programmed path back to Oa, but Zod wasn't going to allow that. The ongoing attacks from the GL reinforcements seemed to affect him only slightly as he tracked the ring on its way up and out of the atmosphere. With one focused gaze, he locked onto the ring with a long stream of heat. With a small pop, the ring's casing was breached, then an incredible green blast covered the entire dead planet in ion energy.

"By the Guardians...!"

Zod then broke out of the constructs since the resolve of the remaining Lanterns was undermined by their witnessing of the death of a friend. He seized a chunk of debris and swung it at the four remaining GLs. Vell and two others were smashed backwards, leaving Zod with the lone officer.

He twisted the block of construction material back and bludgeoned it downward onto the Lantern. The material crumbled into dust under the sheer force, and the Lantern's shield had been breached. Zod inhaled sharply, then sent the air flowing out of his lungs at such a speed that they blew with subzero temperatures. The Lantern was reduced to a frozen statue before Zod rammed a fist into it, detonating it into millions of pieces of shrapnel. With his ring disabled by the ice, it couldn't fly off into space.

"No!! You monster, die!!" An overzealous GL roared as he leapt back into the fight. Vell froze. What could she do? Nothing. Nothing she threw at Zod even gave him pause.

The GL charged forward in the seat of an advanced combat vehicle construct. Zod huffed in amusement as he focused his heat vision to incredible accuracy. There was a small blast of red visible only in Zod's eyes, then the attacking officer's construct dissipated as he fell onto the ground.

His eyes were defocused, and saliva ran from his mouth. There was not a single mark on his body...but Vell's scans indicated that Zod used his heat vision at a very specific wavelength. It passed through his flesh and skeleton, and burned out the region of the Lantern's brain responsible for bodily control. He lobotomised him. Since the GL was technically still alive, only incapable of moving at all, the ring remained on his finger.

Zod was systematic in his elimination of the Lanterns as well as their rings...he planned everything immaculately. He wasn't going to let a single ring return to Oa.

There was only one other Lantern left. He stood by Vell's side as they finally got to their feet, steadfast in his determination. Vell wished she could be as determined as he was. She had no hope in this situation. Zod was too powerful. He could burn with his eyes. He could freeze with his breath. He could shatter planets with a single fist. He could burn out someone's brain without any effort. He was invincible.

Vell swallowed and stood her ground.

Zod stared at the last two GLs. She blinked, then he was gone. She gasped. "Where is he...?"

When her eyes fell onto the Lantern beside her, she saw something horrible. Zod was behind him, his hand rammed into his back. He squeezed, crushing the lower part of the GL's spine. He screamed then collapsed, now paralysed from the waist down. Both hands covered in different colours of blood, Zod was a split second away from tearing Vell's head off before he was stopped dead.

A gigantic spacecraft the size of two earth space shuttles plunged out of the sky. Vell only barely managed to leap clear of the vehicle as it impacted the ground and flung Zod away. The Bekkorian went skidding to a halt, the debris around her cutting her tough skin like knives since her energy shield was collapsed. Vell's display highlighted Tomar-Re, who was undoubtedly the source of the massive craft.

"Zod...!" Tomar hissed. "No...no more. This ends."

Vell took to the skies and zeroed in on Zod, who was in the process of picking himself up from the ground. "Too right, Tomar-Re. This will end."

With intense focus, Zod's eye snapped to Vell and her heart once again skipped a beat. The immense heat that followed dwarfed his previous attacks on her. The energy ravaged her nervous systems and stopped her heart. Her smouldering remains hugged loosely by burnt rags dropped out of the sky and landed with a blood-curdling 'snap' on the cold ground.

Tomar screamed with pure rage and charged the General with no regard for his own safety. "Kill me!! K-Kill me so that this madness will end!" He slammed Zod with construct after construct, actually succeeding in knocking him back.

"You face your death with honour, Tomar-Re. You accept your failure?"

Tomar drove a fist into Zod's face, causing his head to swivel to the side. "Yes! Do it now you murderous piece of filth!!"

Zod snapped a hand out and palmed Tomar's chest with a very specific amount of force. The Xudarian gagged and staggered, a hole punched through his chest. Zod, satisfied with what he had achieved, surveyed the battlefield. All Lanterns were either deceased or incapable of re-joining service, including the Bekkorian that was lying motionless in the rubble. He placed a hand to his ear. "I commend you for allowing me to face the Lanterns alone. Standing by whilst your superior officer is attacked is no easy order to fulfil. Allow me several moments more; there are survivors that need to be dispatched."

The voice of Zod's second-in-command, Faora Hu-Ul, promptly responded. "Sir, a Green Lantern response team has already entered the system."

"Faora, none must live. I also must deal with their weapons."

"The plan, General. If we decide to confront them now, we will not be able to carry it out."

There was a moment of silence as Zod considered the words of his Lieutenant. "Apologies, Commander. You speak wisely."

Zod hovered into the sky, as his Kryptonian allies who were hovering in the clouds unseen, followed suite.

Vell's fingers twitched, and her voice whimpered suddenly as she regained consciousness. Her ring, which was on 0.2% power, still had minimal life support active. It only barely managed to resuscitate her heart and reduce the severity of burns to her body. But her wounds were still extremely severe; she'd die without help.

In the coming minutes, a response force of one hundred Green Lanterns arrived on Oxidien IX. The first person to Vell's side was Hal Jordan. Weak life signs emanating from the lobotomised Lantern and the paralysed one meant that they were mere minutes away from death. "Oh my god, no...! No!! Vell?! Vell can you hear me?!" He yelled, holding her burnt body in his arms.

Her struggled breathing only made Hal more anxious. "Don't die on me...don't die! Kilowog!! I need a medic!!"

In a short interval, Kilowog arrived and conjured a series of advanced medical tools. "It's alright, I'm 'ere. You're gonna be okay."

A medical bed appeared and Hal laid Vell onto it gently. A series of life support systems connected themselves to Vell and stabilised her condition. The Bekkorian screamed, finally able to breathe. "H-He killed them all...! He killed Tomar-Re...!"

"Who...?" Kilowog asked angrily. Hal was shocked beyond words. Tomar-Re was the first alien Green Lantern he had met as a rookie. Now he was dead... He turned, using his ring to find Tomar's body. He slowly approached it, seeing the hole blown in his chest by his attacker. His fingers curled into a first as his eyes watered.

Vell's eyes widened. "Z-Zod."