One of the five Green Lantern contingents sent to canvass Guardian space for signs of General Zod found themselves following a trail of sightings leading into the vicinity of a binary star system; Bogos Qin. Two yellow stars, designated Bogos Qin A and B, danced around each other, permanently within arm's reach of each other but never to touch. The team spread about the half a dozen civilised planets in orbit of this system to conduct their investigation. In command of Contingent 1023 was Mogo, officer of Sector 2261. Each contingent was led by a Lantern with the rank of Warden, the highest attainable position for a field officer. Mogo was one such Warden.

Vell had heard many stories about the legendary Mogo but possessed nothing too detailed about the mighty warrior, soshe was quite excited to meet him.

Once the rogue coalition headed by Hal Jordan left, they had to figure out which contingent Zod was going to take on first. The dispersal of the manhunt teams meant that Zod had to plough into at least one of them before he could blaze a path to Oa, which he most likely knew the location of now since there was so much GL traffic to and from it in recent cycles. A Kryptonian army didn't need to gather intelligence on the enemy, all they needed was to use their incredible enhanced vision and look up into the stars.

John proposed that Zod chose this specific system in Sector 121; the only one in the given range of entry points to Oa with a binary yellow star system. Because of this, the Kryptonians were going to have an incredible advantage. They would havetwice the normal amount of radiation to absorb, and that meant that whatever amounts of their physical energy that the GLs could burn out in a fight would be replenished twice as quickly.

Hal had taken John, Chaselon, and Arisia to intercept and alertthe members of Contingent 1023, leaving Vell, Guy, Archon, Laira, Brin, Bloobert and Katma in sentry positions around the far orbit of Bogos Qin A and B. On one hand, Vell was annoyed that she couldn't stay by his side but was flattered that he trusted her amongst her other GL comrades.

These sentry units were so far apart that they couldn't even see each other without visual assistance from their rings. Vell could see nothing but the blackness of space, the stars that dotted it, and the incredible brightness of the Bogos Qin system that would have blinded her at this range if her ring hadn't provided ocular protection.

"Screw this waitin' around... This sucks." Guy snapped.

Katma was instantaneous with her rebuttal "Patience. There'll be plenty of action to come for all of us."

"Doesn't make sittin' on the bench any easier, lady."

"Shut up before I rip your tongue out, stupid human." Laira jabbed.

Vell snorted in amusement at her comrade's remark as she kept her eyes pinned on her scan data. Kryptonians, due to their immense energy storage capabilities, could register on specialised scanning equipment on the same scale as small suns. It wasn't any harmful type of energy though and most type 1 civilisations hadn't developed the technology to track them yet; that's why Superman is still able to maintain a secret identity. They were easy to detect with Lantern scans, but the tricky part was locating them before they crossed ten light years in ten seconds. They moved like patrons of the speed force in deep space.

Guy chuckled. "I'd like you to try, hot stuff."

"I suggest that for once in his life, Guy Gardner cease his endless bickering." Archon Z'gmora scalded.

Vell added "Wow, everyone really does hate you. I thought Hal was exaggerating as usual."

"Hal's an asshat."

"You followed him here, you idiot. And he's not an asshat." The Bekkorian replied.

"I didn't come 'ere for that square, I came 'ere for the fight."

Katma raised her voice "Stop this, now! Everyone needs to stay focused. We face an incredibly dangerous foe. We cannot afford to be distracted by petty arguments."

Everyone fell silent promptly after that. Vell sighed in boredom, staring out into the blackness of space with keen eyes. Her energy detection scans were conducting a background refresh every micro-cycle and would notify her when any notable concentrations of yellow radiation entered the system. Vell then found herself wondering if the yellow nature of this radiation made Kryptonians more effective against rookie Green Lanterns.

The chemicals that make the colour yellow are potent at reflecting and refracting the green particles of ion energy. The central power reactor, the source of every GL's ion power, used yellow parts in its interior construction to better concentrate the energy by folding it in on itself thousands of times. This was why GL newbies had trouble using their rings on yellow objects; it took a little practice to get around the refraction.

However, this ion-refracting quality was only applicable with physical objects since the chemicals themselves that comprised yellow needed to be tangible; yellow star radiation is a form of light and in its natural state could do little more than 'fog' up an ion beam. However, when absorbed by a Kryptonian and converted into bodily sustenance, it ceases being yellow. So...in theory, Vell realised that the yellow impurity had nothing to do with why Zod almost killed her. He was just so incredibly powerful that the ring's high-power output, which could gut starships, asteroids, and even planets if multiple officers converged fire, had close to no effect.

This time though, she was happy to know that they had several tricks up their sleeves. She had thoroughly studied the layout of red solar energy, one of the few things that could sap the strength from a charged Kryptonian, and Lantern Chaselon possessed a supply of synthetic Kryptonite that he had manufactured on his homeworld of Barrio III using a single chunk of natural Kryptonite as the blueprint. Kryptonite was a lethal poison to any organic forms of matter that matched its cellular makeup, meaning any living thing from the planet Krypton. These two things should negate the advantage that the two yellow stars gave the Kryptonians...hopefully.

"This is Brin...I think I've got something. Yellow radiation mass entering from bearing two sixty-six, mark forty-two." A gravelly voice reported through the squad-link comm system.

Vell immediately pointed her scans in that direction to validate Brin's declaration. After a couple seconds her ring chirped, identifying the mass as a biological organism emitting high levels of yellow star radiation. "Grakk. I'm reading it too. What's the plan, Katma?"

"Already?!" Exclaimed Bloobert. "That was fast...what's it doing?"

"Staying put...for now." Answered Brin.

Katma eventually replied "I'll try to get a handle on Jordan. Maybe...maybe he has an idea."

Vell groaned. "There isn't time for that! They're out there watching us, waiting for an opening. We need to go all-out now."

"Listen Initiate, taking the offensive didn't work out so well for you last time. We need to be smart about this."

"There are six inhabited worlds in this system. If we don't buy them some time, the Kryptonians will smash them all to bits!"

Katma thinned her lips. "...We don't know that. Zod is methodical...he won't do something unless he needs to."

"I'm not willing to bet on that. If I'm the only one who wants to try and save these people, I don't care. I'll just know that I'm the only Lantern worth their ring here." Vell snapped.

There was a moment of long silence. Laira laughed in amusement. "You're a funny one. You aren't, because I'm coming with you."

Guy shrugged "Yeah...me too. I'm not sittin' on my hands all day, ya' hear? Just stay outta my way."

Katma groaned under her breath. "...This is mutiny, you all know that?"

"File a report. I'm sure the Guardians will get to it eventually." Guy quipped.

Brin finally added "I don't know about engaging in a head-on assault...but we need to do something, Sentry Tui."

Katma rolled her eyes and finally commanded "Bloobert, hold your position and contact Lantern Jordan until he responds. Everyone else, converge on the energy signature."

"Alright! Let's get this show on the road!" Guy whistled.

"You shouldn't be so enthusiastic about meeting Kryptonians in the field of battle. That is the final mistake of a fool." Lairasaid.

Vell plotted a course for the rendezvous point mapped out by Katma and hit the transluminal thrust as she said "We have a couple things for the poozers this time though. I've got that red solar laser printed on the back of my brain by now."

"We've got some pieces of synth-kryptonite too. Less focused than the real thing, but it'll mess them up good." Guy said.

"I suppose...but it is hard to imagine a rock being able to hurt beings that powerful." Replied Laira.

Brin chuckled. "In a few millicycles, you'll be able to see it with your very eyes, Sentry."

All the Lanterns on system watch met up at the rendezvous point at the same time, since they all made their way there at their rings' top speed. Vell's ring zoomed in on a handful of flickering specks, identifying them as Kryptonians. In less than a second, they disappeared and reappeared mere metres away from the Lanterns.

General Dru-Zod was at the head of the triangular formation. The other behind him were Faora Hu-Ul, Non, Quex-Ul, Mala, Dev-Em, and Jax-Ur, all extremely dangerous Kryptonian criminals logged in the GL archives. Zod wasn't wearing any kind of breathing apparatus as his biology dictated that all he needed was solar power.

Each Lantern's ring used lipreading protocols to translate. "You are loyal soldiers, I am humbled. Because of your dedication, I will ask you to stand aside. No one need die here. All we wish is to remove the Guardians from your command structure. You will then answer to me, and me alone. We will ensure that no more suffering will come to the citizens of the universe."

Guy scoffed. "Take a hike, bozo."

"He can't hear you, idiot." Vell snapped. "There's no air out here."

Katma floated forward and projected a message via hologram in Kryptonian script. It read 'We cannot allow you to pass.'

Non laughed, and the shaking of his body almost made it so Vell could hear his booming in the vacuum. Zod responded promptly "Very well. Then our passage will be taken."

"Now!" Vell roared, conjuring a red solar laser with her ring, setting it to wide spread, then discharging. As she did, Lairaand Z'gmora joined in blasting their foes with the energy. Guy, Katma and Brin however, brandished their shards of synth-kryptonite. Katma built a similar laser around her kryptonite core and opened fire, Brin began shredding slivers off and firing them at the soldiers, while Guy just charged in with it grasped firmly in his hand.

Vell's eyes widened as she saw Zod and his followers writhe in pain. Her fear began to recede...they could hurt them. She finally halted her stream of laser fire and darted into reach of Non, the largest and most intimidating of the Kryptonians. Vell reeled her right hand back, charged up a field of ions around it, then let it fly into Non's face. Her knuckles impacted against the man's jaw, loosing a tooth which twirled outward intensely in the dead of space.

Non slowly turned his head back to face Vell, who smirked bloodthirstily at the massive brute. The solar system was now subject to a blazing green lightshow as lasers, missiles, kryptonite shrapnel, and more were slung about like confetti.

The Bekkorian rammed her knee into Non's gut, slammed an elbow into the back of his skull as he reeled over from the previous attack, then seized him with both her arms. She took out at trans-light speed once again, maxing out her ring's speed. She suddenly spun, then released Non. He was thrown at impossible speeds into an asteroid that made up the belt that orbited Bogos Qin.

He shrunk little by little and vanished onto the mass of a huge asteroid. It then rumbled and shattered under the immense force and sprayed its innards all around. Its chunks exploded outward, knocking into the other asteroids nearby, loosening them from their fixed positions. Before she could urge herself forward to track down Non, she was embraced by a familiar sight.

Two beams of fire lanced outward from the debris and impacted on her shields. The heat caused Vell to cringe in pain, but she endured as she brought her red laser to arms. She fired into the shattered rock as she boosted forward. However, Non met her halfway. He barged into her like a torpedo, breaking her collarbone through her still-standing shields.

Non's momentum outweighed Vell's, so she was speared backwards by his tremendous tackle. Vell turned her laser around and fired on his backside as she continuously brought her knee up into his stomach. After every blow, she could feel him losing strength. They ploughed through asteroids on their chaotic flight path, each floating rock taking a chunk out of Vell's shield until it burst and failed.

Vell managed to break his control of the fight by wrenching Non around by the neck. As she held him in a headlock, her red solar laser floated to Non's front and unleashed its power. He opened his mouth in what would have been a roar, but there was no atmosphere to carry the sound. Vell instead only noticed the vibrating of his throat.

The Kryptonian grasped for Vell's face with his immense hands, scratching her face with his still formidable strength. The Bekkorian growled as his fingers tore down her face, seeing bubbles of her yellow blood brushed out into space. Still, she continued blasting her foe.

Without warning, Non managed to seize purchase on Vell's uniform and tore her from the lock she held him in. He twirled her around like a ragdoll, slamming her against pieces of rubble. She felt her flesh bruise, more bones break. After tenderising her, Non planted both hands on the sides of Vell's skull and applied pressure. As he did, he looked into her eyes.

His face was wildly battered. It bore bruises, was red with his own blood, and was beginning to turn purple. However, as every second ticked by, Vell could see those injuries slowly fading. The yellow suns. They were helping him regenerate.

Non laughed in silence as he pressed harder and harder.

There was a sudden impact that shook Non. Vell's eyes fell to his chest, where a sharp needle made of kryptonite had pierced through his skin and uniform. She looked behind Non to see Hal, covered in blood, who smiled weakly. "Into the sun. Quick!" He said.

Vell slammed Non with vicious punches as she asked "Isn't that the source of their power?"

"With a chunk of kryptonite in him like that, that sun will burn him up before he can draw any kind of energy from it. Hurry!"

Vell, without hesitation, followed Hal's recommendation. She constructed a large rail gun around Non's near-unconscious body. As each component secured itself in place, Hal continued fighting Mala, who fought even more ferociously than Non did. Vell found it difficult to concentrate. "Hal...you need help!"

"N-No! Take care of Non! I got this!" He formed a baseball bat the size of a truck, wound back, then cracked it across Mala's face. She soared into the asteroid belt as Hal followed.

Finally, with her construct complete, Vell activated it. The rail slid forward, powered by faux-electromagnets, which ejected Non outward at a speed invisible to the human eye. Vell tracked him with her scanners, and was satisfied when his body pierced the surface of the sun. His life signs were still strong at first...but slowly and surely, they faded until nothing remained. "He...He's dead..."

"Beetles! Great work!" Hal yelled. He then opened a channel to someone else. "Alright, what we planned. Do it now!"

"Affirmative. Initiating construction of dyson sphere." A booming voice bellowed.

Vell, panting from her fight with Non, asked "Who's that?"

With a smile, Hal answered "My lady, I give you...Mogo." He gestured towards a planet...a seventh planet, in what was a six-planet system only moments ago.

The planet glowed verdant with charged ion, then a beam erupted from its surface like a green water spout. It stretched all the way from this planet to both stars of Bogos Qin. Eventually, the beam took on solid shapes; hundreds of thousands of panels that snapped together around the two stars until it covered each and every inch of their light.

Vell zoomed in with her ring and noticed a colossal symbol on the planet's surface; the sigil of the Green Lantern Corps. "H-He's...a planet? A sentient planet?"

"Weird right? Come on, rookie. We got work to do."

The pair traced their way back to the main fight, as Vell appreciated the intricacies of Mogo's construct. Hal called it a dyson sphere, a theoretical structure in human science. It was a proposed device that could be built around a sun to absorb its energy. The one that Mogo constructed covered the rest of the system from its yellow light, meaning that the Kryptonians were now on their own.

"Jordan to all hands in Bogos Qin, General Zod has been engaged at my co-ordinates. This is the signal, boys; lay out the welcome wagon." Hal said into his ring.

"Is Mogo pulling that off on his own? That sphere...it's bigger than any construct I've ever seen."

"It's taking him a lot of focus. We need to make sure he stays safe so he can concentrate. And hey...that was some great work back there."

Vell smiled. However, she didn't have time to say anything before Mala came crashing into Hal, propelling the pair of them out of sight. Vell's first instinct was to break off and follow, but she caught sight of Faora holding one of her comrades by the neck. She had her hand tightly wrapped around Brin's neck, as Arisia blasted her with red solar power. She grimaced in exertion, but she managed to tighten her grip just enough.

There was a pop as Brin's shield collapsed. Faora made one precise strike with her other hand. It pulverised Brin's head, sending gore funnelling backwards in a bloody mess. Brin's ring slipped off his finger, and as it did, Faora reached out for it.

Both Vell and Arisia charged into her like raged bulls, drowning her in pure ion energy.

"She's not going down as easy as the others!" Arisia bellowed.

"The others? Easy?" Vell remarked.

Arisia thinned her lips. "I guess you're right. Come on, sync with me!"

She charged up a ball of ion, and upon seeing what her friend was doing, Vell did the same.

"One...two...three!!" Arisia cried.

On three, the pair hurled beams of immense energy into Faorafor five seconds straight. When the light dimmed, the two Lantern Initiates saw Faora's body floating in the void. She was knocked out, but still out of the fight. "By the Guardians...she still isn't dead!?" Arisia exclaimed.

Vell sighed "I had to throw one into one of the stars to kill him. I'd say this is still a win."

Arisia and Vell immediately sought out more allies to assist. They came across Zod, who was duelling with Z'gmora, Guy, and a handful of freshly arrived Lanterns from Contingent 1023 who had answered Hal's signal. This group consisted of Lanterns Eddore, Arkkis Chummuck, Gallius Zed, Zborra, K'ryssma, and Medphyll. Zod seemed almost unaffected by the solar energy he was being attacked with. The only thing that Vell could say was a sign of his declining health was the look of madness in his eyes.

"Shit...we're starting to run low on juice!" Guy howled.

"Fall back to a safe distance! We shall cover your recharge!" K'ryssma barked, weaving in and out of heat vision fire.

Z'gmora and Guy heeded K'ryssma's instruction and floated a few measures back from the fight. However, when Z'gmoramaterialised his battery seconds before Guy would have, Zod's eyes lit up...literally.

Vell's stomach dropped as she tackled Arisia and propelled away in the opposite direction.

"Oh fuck." Guy snarled.

Zod's eyes ignited and drew a path towards Z'gmora's ion battery. When the twin beams connected with the device, it only took a second. Every planet in Bogos Qin could've seen the resulting reaction, in which it appeared that a new sun had appeared in the sky for a split second.

The battery detonated with incredible range, killing Z'gmora, fatally wounding Guy, and smashing the Contingent 1023 formation apart. The explosion washed over Guy, shredding his shields into nothing and burning his flesh. Zod copped some damage too, but it was minimal compared to what Guyhad sustained. Vell, Arisia and the 1023 Lanterns were smashed by the wave of energy, flung so far apart that they could no longer see each other.

Vell wasn't sure how much time had passed by the time she was fully aware of her surroundings, but she saw the signatures of multiple rings as they departed the system in search of replacements. "Grakk...!" She growled. With that, she zeroed in on Guy's position just in time to catch Zod in the middle of a coup de grace. He held Guy by the head, andwas about to burn a hole through his eyes and into his brain.

The Bekkorian, feeling the fear from her least encounter with Zod but choosing to overcome it, armed her laser, charged forward, and opened fire.

The energy beams seared her target's face, deforming it in pained expressions. He released Guy, who floated weightlessly backwards. Vell found herself yelling at the top of her lungs, despite knowing full well that Zod couldn't hear. "You son of a ugork!! Die! Grakking die!" The Initiate slammed volley after volley of ion at him, as she simultaneously maintained the red laser fire.

Her power count was getting dangerously low, but as Z'gmorafound out the hard way, recharging around a foe this incredibly powerful wasn't wise.

Zod managed to power through the onslaught and punched Vell square in the nose with one incredible strike. With a crack, Vell's vision blurred and her body went limp. Her construct faded into green embers that were swept away in the black void.

Zod was wounded, but not as wounded as those who faced him. Vell's nose was now broken, her face bore the scars of Non's desperate clawing, her ribs were cracked once again, and bruises littered her body. Zod however, had loose strands of hair hanging over his forehead, a trickle of red blood flowing from his nose, and a single black eye. He wound back to unleash one final, lethal strike, but froze.

A green beam pierced the General's shoulder, spraying blood around the immediate area. Vell mustered enough energy to peer over her shoulder, and what she saw confused her. It was a being with yellow skin, a bird-like beak, and a webbed fin on its head. It was slightly shorter and skinnier than her old mentor, but Vell was too delirious to tell. "Tomar...Re?" She asked wearily.

The Lantern straightened his back and held his ring out at Zod. "I am Tomar-Tu, Green Lantern of Sector 2813. You killed my father."

He fired one last shot of blunt force energy that would've rocked a planet to its core, which cracked the General's skull, stunning him and pushing him back. Vell shook her head, trying to work off the daze she was in. "I...I didn't know he had a son."

Tomar-Tu floated towards Vell and scanned her vitals. "Funny. I'm fairly certain he mentioned it all the time. He sure did mention you."

"Really? What did he say?"

Tomar huffed. "He told me that you're brilliant. He also said that you're lazy."

He quickly used a handful of constructs to apply mental stimulants to Vell's system, which helped to balance her current hazy state.

Quex-Ul, Faora, and Dev-Em formed up at their General's position. Faora and Quex appeared in between Zod and the two Lanterns whilst Dev braced him and assisted him in recovering from Tomar-Tu's attacks. All three Kryptonians were noticeably battered but showed no signs of giving up anytime soon. The only ones missing were Non and Mala, the latter of which was shot up with so many shards of Kryptonite projectiles that the poisoning eventually ate away at her and stopped her heart.

At that moment, Hal, Laira, Katma, John, Chaselon, Guy, and Arisia converged upon the newly christened Lantern of 2813. They were promptly joined by Gallius Zed, ArkkisChummuck, Medphyll, Zborra, K'ryssma and Eddore who were the last members of Contingent 1023. Like the rest of their team, they joined the fight as soon as Hal sent out his report. Bloobert was felled in the large-scale battle while Vell was occupied with Non.

Jordan immediately laid a hand on Vell's shoulder, where the Bekkorian pulse could be found, and exhaled when he noticed that it was steady.

"She should be up and running in a few millicycles, sir. I applied several stimulants that should return her mental to state to normal for a while at least." Tomar-Tu reported.

Hal's eyes locked onto Tomar, and his mouth dropped in disbelief. "Tomar-Tu...?"

"Wait...." Tomar pointed out. He squinted as he struggled to remember Hal's face. "You...worked with my father."

John cut into the exchange. "We'll have to save the reunion 'til later. They're up to something."

Vell shook her head, finally feeling the effects of the adrenaline shots that Tomar administered to her. She spied Zod and his surviving Kryptonians who were communicating via hand signals. There was no match in the Oan database...so the gestures must have been a code that Zod devised himself to avoid interpretation by the GLs.

"Wait...he just pointed at Mogo." Vell announced.

John scoffed "Dammit. He spotted Mogo's ion beam. We gotta stop those bastards from reaching him."

"Why hasn't Mogo been fighting? He's one of our strongest." Katma prodded.

"He's had two separate dyson spheres over those stars for the last ten minutes." Said K'yssma. "If even one of those Kryptonians reaches him, his concentration would be broken...."

"...And what damage we dealt to Zod and his zealots will beundone when their cells begin to absorb sunlight again." Arkkis added with a frown.

Guy snarled. "They'll just...heal up straight away? Screw that...!"

"I've seen it happen, Guy. A couple years ago, Superman got nuked in the upper stratosphere by H.I.V.E. Sapped most of his energy... He looked like a starved zombie. But as soon as his body drifted into direct sunlight, the exact second it hit his skin, he started to regenerate." Hal recounted. "Ten seconds later, he opened his eyes and shrugged off that direct nuclear blast."

Arisia huffed in exasperation "We took down two of them...they took down three of us. Don't mean to sound morbid but...that's pretty good running so far."

"When you start makin' jokes at a time like this, you've made the big time." Guy quipped. His skin was seared red by the explosion of Z'gmora's battery.

Hal thinned his lips upon seeing his fellow human's injuries. "Maybe you should fall back, Gardner."

"If you talk to me again, I'm gonna deck you." He snapped with a furious twitch of his eyebrow.

With a laugh, Hal replied "You're an idiot, Guy. That's why we love you."

The Kryptonians finished their signed discussion and sent their glowing red eyes to the GLs. John hollered "Alright, Lanterns! Y'all ready to lay it down!?"

Vell snarled with a surging desire to charge forth into the jaws of death, which supercharged the idle glow of her power ring. The rest of the Green Lanterns roared in agreement, the chorus echoing through the airless void.

John raised his ring hand. A human sniper rifle formed; every plastic part, every metal part, each and every screw, materialised one by one, and slipped together to form the sleek weapon. "Show these assholes how real soldiers get it done!"

The squad of Lanterns simultaneously burst into level 20 transluminal speed. They lanced toward their foes a full second before the Kryptonians could urge their weary bodies to move. Even with his immense head start, the Lanterns were racing the unbeatable. The two parties moved faster than the unaided human eye could process, and faster than the human mind could comprehend. Faora slowly trickled ahead of her comrades, and Vell's predictive software mapped her flight path out; she was heading directly for Mogo.

Tomar cursed "Spiralling galaxies...they're faster than comets...!"

Promptly, Chaselon declared "General Zod and Quex-Ul's trajectories are slightly deviant to Faora's. Their projected destination is the incoming moon of planet five."

"What are they up to...?" Hal muttered.

"Whatever it is, I am certain it will bear us ill fortune." Medphyll answered grimly.

John took no longer than three seconds to send commands to his team members "Hal, Vell, Laira and Arkkis; intercept the two targeting Mogo. The rest of you are with me; Zod and the big guy are breaking off to do something. Let's make sure they don't get the chance."

"Roger that. Ready for this, rook?" Hal asked Vell affectionately.

She bore her teeth. "Of course I am, shut up! Let's go!"

Laira laughed over the comm "Ha, I like this one. Let us find victory, or die with honour!"

"How about we keep the dying part for later, huh?" Retorted Arkkis.

The four Lanterns shot straight forward in the void as their compatriots veered away in pursuit of General Zod. Vell's power was now under 20% capacity...she thought she'd better recharge now that they weren't in any immediate danger. "I'm gonna reload." She reported.

"Good idea. We all should. Everyone else stay alert while you do it though...we don't want to end up like Z'gmora." Said Hal.

Vell complied, summoning her power battery from the subspace pocket it was stored inside and firmly pressing her ring against the output node. A Lantern didn't need to recite the oath in order to recharge. The verse was a battle cry, and some senior officers noticed that it helped to steel the resolve of some of their less experienced subordinates and assist them in charging their rings more efficiently, so it became a ritual among Recruits and Initiates. Her ring, which fed information directly into her mind, told her that the power level was steadily climbing. The GLs accompanying her did the same.

Arkkis arched a furry eyebrow. "Energy's at one hundred percent."

"Same here." Vell announced.

Laira spoke next. "If we're all done, I suggest that we attempt to stop those fools from picking a fight with the one Lantern giving us a fighting chance."

"Push those rings as much as you can. Don't worry about staying in formation, just go." Hal ordered.

Space itself seemed to warp around the four Lanterns as their rings discharged an incredible amount of energy to propel them through space faster than light. The stars sprinkled about the blackness seemed to bend, curve, and wobble as Vell gritted her teeth in mental exertion. Her objective tracker, which marked the distance and speed of Faora and Dev-Em, indicated that they were slowly and surely gaining on them.

Suddenly, Vell's scan alarm sounded. "W-Wait, something's happening. Bearing two two seven, mark seventeen."

She turned her head, and her eyes were pried wide open by the sight. An enormous wall that extended as far as the eye could see covered her entire left side. It was pockmarked with craters...and gradually growing larger and larger. It was that moon. Zod and Quex...were throwing the moon at them.

"Stewart to Jordan, danger close!! Get your asses outtathere!!"

Arisia cried "W-We can't stop them...! They're going to--"

The moon was then rocked with a nuclear-level impact as the two strongest Kryptonian criminals struck the relatively small moon with haymakers. Cracks appeared on its surface at first, drawing themselves around each and every corner of the celestial body. Then, after it was suspended in absolute stillness for a second, it twisted apart and spat an incredible wave of asteroid-like debris directly at the Lanterns pursuing Faora.

"Holy shit!!" Hal yelled.

"Fall back! Fall back now!" Katma barked over the comms.

Vell was already pushing her ring to the edge. It was a piece of technology, so it had its limits. She couldn't outrun that asteroid storm that was bearing down on her and her team. Zod and Quex-Ul had struck the moon so hard and so fast that the pieces exceeded the GL top speed. There were so many pieces that navigating it would be close impossible.

The billions of pieces of moon shrapnel whirled into the group, a massive piece slamming straight into Arkkis with a great 'crack'. "Arkkis!! Arkkis, report!!" Hal screamed. The remaining three Lanterns tried their best to weave in and out of the incoming hail.

Arkkis grunted in pain, very obviously wounded by the sudden strike but alive at least. Their evasive manoeuvres wouldn't help, as Laira discovered. Several pieces struck her, causing her to come to a sudden halt.

Hal and Vell swept past in a microsecond. "Argh!!" Lairagrowled, more in frustration than in pain. "I'm fine. I will see to Arkkis. There's no way we're going to catch up with you. Make it to Mogo, or I'll flay you both."

"Grakk...!" She cursed. She wasn't going to give up. This was an impossible situation...but there was no way she was going to let Zod win.

The skin on her right hand tingled unexpectedly. Vell glanced at it, to see that Hal had grasped it tightly. His face was stone-chiselled in sheer determination. He closed his eyes...and Vell's alarm stopped howling in her mind. Her eyes latched onto her objective tracker. What she saw was...not possible. The distance clicked down like they were mere kilometres. Because of the moon's debris, Faora had a time advantage that could not have been lost. But Vell was seeing the data. She was losing it.

"W-What's happening!? What...?" Vell murmured.

Hal roared in effort, and his ring shone as bright as a sun.

A blink later, and Vell opened her eyes to see that she was in very low orbit around a planet. It was Mogo. Right in front of her was Dev-Em, who in turn was right behind Faora. Seeing her chance and not wanting to waste it to ask questions, Vell manifested a deltanium grappling hook and fired it directly at Dev's foot.

Due to his weakened state, having been subjected to both red starlight and kryptonite poisoning, the javelin pierced his flesh and bone as if he were human. Vell tugged on the cable and was thrown into the wounded Kryptonian soldier. They wrestled with each other as they entered Mogo's atmosphere, spinning and flipping uncontrollably. Seconds later, Vell's shield began taking damage from re-entry. On top of that environmental damage, Dev was frantically punching her tooso the energy shield was currently subjected to extreme duress.

Dev, however, was unshielded and low on yellow sunlight. His flesh began to bubble under the heat, but he seemed to press through the pain.

The blunt force trauma to the head made Vell lose some of her situational awareness. She lost track of time for a moment, and in that time the two duelling beings came crashing onto the surface of Mogo like meteors. The impact was minor, much like the constant impacts Mogo was subjected to on a daily basis, so his concentration was not broken. If a Kryptonian deliberately punched him however, it was sure to injure him.

Quite frankly sick of Kryptonians at this point, Vell suddenly regained consciousness in the middle of a blackened crater. She took several ragged breaths as she pushed up to her feet, glancing about. There were flames everywhere from the rough landing, and a trail stretching at least twenty metres was the sign of her and Dev carving through the countryside. Mogo was a lush forest world, and unpopulated by civilised lifeforms. The impact had vaporised trees and killed some indigenous life.

After a moment's inspection, Vell found Dev's barely functioning body at the end of the crater. She panted as she slowly stumbled over to him. Her ring dictated that his heart rate was incredibly low and he was close to death. Vell fell to the ground beside Dev, lay there for a second to catch her breath, then seized his head by wrapping her arms around his neck in a headlock.

It took not only all of her biological strength, but the strength augmentation of the power ring to accomplish what she did next. She wrenched, and tugged, and twisted. She put every ounce of herself into it. She screamed as tendons tore, and her ring burned through more and more energy in assisting her. Eventually, there came a sound that was akin to the crack of thunder. A shockwave fanned outward, blasting the leaves off trees and kicking up dirt.

Dev-Em's neck was broken, and his lifesigns flatlined.

Vell finally relaxed. Several muscles in her right shoulder were torn, and the pain shot through her body like molten lava. She lay in the dirt next to her enemy's corpse with her eyes closed, wincing in pain.

When she opened them, what she saw should've struck fear into her heart. Dru-Zod stood over her, staring sombrely at the body of his loyal soldier. Vell laughed in his face.

The General's eyes instantly locked onto hers in light of her mockery. "You dare...!? You dare!?"

Zod snatched Vell by the throat and lifted her into the air as if she was a ragdoll. His face was battered, bruised, scarred and stained with blood. He whispered to her "You kill my men. My friends. We are doing this because you failed. Because your masters failed." Tears began to well in his eyes. "Then you have the nerve to laugh in our faces!"

Vell gagged under the chokehold but showed no fear. "What's the difference between us right now? We both killed a couple people on the other side, fighting for a cause. We're the same."

"I am nothing like you, pathetic insect." Zod spat.

A wet squelching sound broke the conversation in half. Zod glanced down at his chest and saw a bright green broadsword sticking right through it. He staggered, dropping Vell and coughing up blood.

Vell landed in a heap but managed to see what was happening. Hal pulled the construct sword out of Zod's back and let it fizzle away. "Give it up. You've lost."

Zod didn't turn to face Hal just yet. Instead, he dabbed a finger in the blood that had erupted from his mouth a few seconds earlier, scrutinised it under the faint residual glow of the blocked suns, then smiled weakly. "N-No. I win...I...always win..." Then like a flash of lightning, he spun and threw a devasting punch right at Hal's face. The force from this strike could have instantly killed Mogo in his preoccupied state, but Zod made the wrong choice.

His fist was caught by Hal's ring hand. The pair struggled against each other. Zod's eyes burned with fury. "I...know what those...trinkets are capable of. This...this should not...be possible...!"

Hal's ring only glowed even brighter. He squeezed Zod's hand, and the sound of cracking bones reverberated through the air. Finally, exhausted of his solar energy, Zod fell to his knees. Amazingly, he still tried to fight Hal's grip with his broken hand for several more seconds before he passed out.

It was silent, and the fighting had stopped. Vell stood and looked longingly at Hal, who sighed and glanced skyward. "I think you owe me an explanation."

Hal chuckled. "I...honestly don't know how I did it. I guess...the rings are more than just weapons."

The Bekkorian groggily sauntered over to her partner, wrapped an arm around his shoulder, then leant on him. "I don't think you get it. We should've lost. That asteroid storm should've stopped us. Zod should've killed you. That isn't something you can just gloss over, Hal."

Jordan held Vell as he pressed his lips onto hers. As he pulled back, he received a hail from John, actively derailing his conversation with Vell. "Jordan? Vell? What's your condition?"

"Johnny? Thank god...I assumed Zod tore you guys apart. We're good. How about you?"

"I'm alive. Barely. Zod and Quex put up one hell of a fight. We lost Zborra and Eddore...but everyone else is accounted for."

Hal was silent for a moment, regretting that lives were lost. However, he steeled himself and quipped "Oh man...I was hoping Guy would bite it."

Guy snapped harshly "Hey Jordan. Fuck off."