December, 1st, 2020

Outer orbit of Saturn

It was supposed to be a regular day for the Green Lantern of sector 2814. The Earth was finally at peace after four years of hard work by not only him, but the rest of his colleagues. It had almost three years since the previous Green Lantern of Earth's sector, Abin Sur was killed, leaving him as the protector of this sector. It also marked the beginning of a new era on Earth. With the annihilation of every terrorist group and criminal cartel, the nations of the world could focus on more important matters. And it was made easier after the League had uncovered the secrets of every government on the planet, which resulted in a serious house cleaning project which resulted in many world leaders and politicians across the world being arrested for their crimes. Now, aside from occasional intrusions into Earth space by travelling spacecraft, life was fairly boring. He had just turned 20 years old and was in active service with the United States Marine Corps. He and many of his friends had joined the military after high school, although they had to get creative about keeping their identity a secret. It wasn't an easy task hiding it from family members and even harder from the government. But eventually their loved ones and governments had found out about them, which caused more than a few problems.

Being a Green Lantern had it's ups and downs, especially when they all had family to worry about back home. He already knew many of the Leaguers before any of them had gained their abilities. Even some of the people that his friends knew were given their own as well. This made things complicated originally when there was nearly 100 of them initially. That number had grown and shrunk over the last two years, but now sat at just under 200 members, across six continents. But the overwhelming majority of the League was American. Not that it mattered, because at the end of the day, Earth was their home. Their only home, one that had come under attack many times. But they had always triumphed over their enemies. Even at the cost of their own friends. When a threat had exposed itself to the world, they didn't hold back. They had no qualms about killing a dangerous being, but that didn't mean they killed just anyone. They needed to have a very good reason to cross such a line. Many members of the League had killed at least once. Whether it was a terrorist, superpowered individual, or one of their own who had gone rogue and mad with power. Even the three Green Lanterns of Earth had to kill at one point or another. But it was to keep not only their planet safe, but their whole space sector.

"Are you sure the readings were correct, Bats? Because I ain't picking up squat out here." Zach took another scan with his ring over the surrounding region of space, but still came up blank. "Maybe I need to upgrade the defense grid, because that's the third time this week it's gone off and I've had to check. And since I'm the only Lantern within 150 light years, it's up to me to do it."

"Does your redneck ass always bitch about everything?" He asked in a snarky tone. "And I thought li-"

"I'm going to stop you before you say it. And enough politics, I'm sure everyone in the League has had enough, especially after we started cleaning house with every government back in early 2019. There's a reason most governments hate us with a passion right now." Zach rebutted. "Aside from Iceland, New Zealand, and a few other small nation's, we're on everyone's shit list."

"Fair enough, but I've picked up a new reading. It's just behind Rhea." he informed. "And this net is secure dude, just call me EJ."

"Yeah, sure man. But as I was saying, I can't keep ditching my post over in Okinawa. Sure, command knows about me and the others, but it's obvious they're getting annoyed at this shit.

"Yes, but they should understand that our jobs are just as important. We're Earth's first line of defense."

"Still, I'd like to spend more time on the ground right now. Besides, with JB and QS currently on assignment, I'm supposed to use this time to get my work done before I'm back on the beat."

"You should take some more MCMAP classes while your at it, because you can't fight worth shit."

"Of course you'd say that while I'm out here, because you won't say that to my face."

"Sure, take that ring off and we'll see how long you last in a fight."

"Green Lanterns are trained how to fight. You of all people should know that, after all, Laira kicked your ass that one time." Zach chuckled in amusement over that day. A cross training exercise between the League and Green Lantern Corps best hand to hand combat instructors. While being trained in multiple martial arts meant he was better trained than most in close quarters, he was still a young adult like many others. So when the fight started, it didn't take long for Laira's superior size and experience to put him down. Some members of the League, who had previous military training, had fared better than the rest. By the end of the exercise, both sides went home with new techniques that would prove invaluable in later engagements.

"Doesn't matter I'll still kick your ass." He snarked back the the Lantern. "Anyway, your getting closer to the anomaly." Zachary stopped as he parked himself over Rhea and observed what the sensors had picked up. A vortex lay in front of him. He couldn't see through it, but it appeared to be a wormhole. As he flew closer to it, he could feel something pulling himself closer to it. In reflex, he flew back away from the vortex, not knowing who created it or where it led. It resembled a boom tube, but it wasn't white.

"You still there man? Scanners say your on top of the anomaly."

"Yeah, I'm here and I found what's been fucking with the grid." He reached his right arm out and began scanning the vortex in front of him. "Ring, scan and identify!" He ordered. A construct formed around it and began to process it's characteristics.

"Initiating scan. Processing. Unable to identify."

The construct faded back into his ring as Zach gave a puzzled look at what just happened.

"Impossible, the ring knows what the Guardians know and they know everything."

"What's going on?"

"I found some type of wormhole here, but my ring can't figure out it's origin. It looks like a boom tube, but there's features it lacks that would make it one."

"You think it's just the equivalent of some drunk teenagers trying to fuck with us?"

"I don't think so, our region of space is fairly isolated, so to speak. No one would be fucking around out here just to screw with us. How about you get a team and get out here so you can help me study this thing."

"Affirmative, I'm on the way with a team now, just give us fifteen minutes to gear up."

"Roger that, I'll be waiting." Something wasn't right about this. A mysterious wormhole opens up near Saturn and there isn't a hint that anyone had opened it up, or at least not anyone know to them. In his guy, he knew there was something was wrong about this. As he looked into the vortex, he could make out a bright flash of light. As he looked closer, he could make out what appeared to be a solar flare emitting from a star of unknown origin. He could he panicked screaming from millions of souls soon to be obliterated. Assuming this wasn't an allusion to trick him, he couldn't just sit by while a planet died. He knew he'd be going in alone and had no idea if the wormhole would still be there. Summoning his power battery, he took one look back towards the direction of Earth and passed through the vortex. "What the hell am I thinking?" He asked himself as he passed through.

When he arrived on the other side, he found himself in front of a beautiful planet. The world had two moons and large oceans on the surface. Aside from major cities on the surface, the natural terrain was mostly jungles and forests. Above the planet stood a massive shipyard which was constructing a dozen strange dagger shaped vessels, with dozens more flanking it in a defensive position. He could also make out hundreds of ships rapidly entering and exiting the atmosphere in a great hurry. As he took a closer look towards the star, he could see why. A massive coronal mass ejection was approaching the world below. This was far larger than any CME he had ever seen before. With it's size, it would scorch half of the planet before it finished itself off.

He knew what he had to do. It was suicidal, especially given the sheer amount of energy given off by CME's, but he had no choice. He took one last look back towards the planet before darting towards the star. The planet was nine light minutes from it's parent star, and with how far it had already traveled, it would hit in five minutes. Even if he failed, he would buy the world below valuable time in evacuation. He took a deep breath before bracing his right arm with his left and got to work. Mustering all of his willpower, he shot a construct out in front of the CME. A construct wall as large as the width and height of the incoming flare. Big enough to block it's energy and prevent it from reaching the planet. It took him a minute to create such a large construct, but by the time it was finished, it was truly massive. There was no way someone didn't know he was here.

As the flare got closer and closer, he focused intently on his construct and hoped it would hold out against what was to come. As it made contact with the barrier, he found himself strained more than he ever had in his life. He struggled to hold back the incredible power of the flare as it completely engulfed his vision. All he could see was green and orange flashes of light as he held his place against the flare. But even it was starting to prove to much, even for him. The sheer energy began to push him back further and further. He exerted more energy to ensure his construct didn't break, but it was futile. Only 30 seconds in and his construct shattered, blowing him back. He regained his balance and darted out of the path of the flare directly, watching as it continued it's path to the planet below.

The stress of holding the flare back had taken a toll on him and forced him to catch his breath for a few seconds, unable to get back into action immediately. "No." He spoke softly." He watched as the flare, in all it's size and strength continued it's path undeterred. "No, I won't fail. Not when so many lives are at stake." He raced out front of the flare until he was light minute between it and the planet. He had one shot left and he knew he couldn't fail. He summoned his power battery, stuck his ring into it, and reciting the oath he had learned years ago, gave it his all.

"In brightest day, in blackest night,

No evil shall escape my sight

Let those who worship evil's might,

Beware my power...Green Lantern's light!"

Glowing in the emerald light of willpower and fully charged, he pointed his ring once more towards the flare. This time when his construct made contact with it, it held under the pressure. He still struggled against the sheer energy within it, but he was holding his ground.

"COME ON!" He screamed as the flare pounded on his construct like a barrage of artillery. "HOLD GOD DAMNIT!" The flare had only seemed to have gotten stronger, but he wouldn't break. Not when this many lives were at stake. His will wouldn't break in the face of worse crisis and it won't break now.

After what had seemed like an eternity to him, the flare had finally subsided. He had held the line and saved the world, but he was exhausted from it. His construct faded back and he was left staring into the black abyss around him until he swiveled around back to the planet he had just saved. In his efforts of holding off the flare, he didn't realize that he was slowly being surrounded by a fleet of ships, both large and small. His ring scanned every one of them and none of them showed any sign of preparing any attack against him. He just stood there, floating in the black abyss, until he got tired of being watched by lord knows how many people. Coupled with the fact that he was exhausted, Zach took off away in the direction of where he came from. However when he scanned the area, he found nothing. He even initiated a system wide scan, but it was gone.

"Well that's just fucking great. Now I'm stuck lord knows where with no idea to get back." With the ever increasing amount of eyes focusing on him as he just floated in the vacuum of space, he decided he needed a change of scenery. "Yeah, I'm out of here." With that, he turned back, gave the ships around him a quick salute, and darted off into the unknown, not knowing what he'd find. As he flew through the vastness of space, he wondered just what he had gotten himself into. He just saved a planet and now he was wandering around a galaxy he didn't know a damn thing about. He figured his ring might have some idea about where he was at."

"Ring, where am I?" The ring chimed a reply and began charting the location of the stars into a map in front of him. As the map got more and more complete, his suspicions about this not being his galaxy had been confirmed. The only question now was to figure out if this galaxy was near his own or if he had been sucked into another universe entirely.

"Stars incompatible with all known galaxies in the universe. Galaxy unrecognized, recommend further investigation." The ring chimed in reply.

"Good to know. Are there any recognizable galaxies nearby?" He asked once more just to be sure if he was really stranded in another universe.

"No stars match with current astronomical data. Possibility of a change in universe has occurred. Further investigation is required."

"Fantastic. Now I'm really screwed. I guess I'll make the most of this situation and try to find somewhere to rest, I'm gonna need it." As Zach continued his path through the galaxy he had entered, his ring began picking up communication signals from all over the galaxy. Military and civilian. Some were faint, suggesting a far distance between him and the source. Others were close. Very close. One specific one had caught his attention over the cacophony of signals he was picking up. He tuned in to what seemed to be a military channel, although it's decryption was broken by the ring fairly easily. One one end of the communication, stood a tall man in strange robes. The others were stranger still. A green, short creature, flanked by two individuals, each with similar attire and some type of weapon on their belts.

"Senator, the fleet protecting Ryloth had been destroyed, and the supply lines have been cut."

"So I've stumbled into a war. That's nice. Let's see where this goes." Zach muttered to himself.

"The troops are out of food, fuel, and ammunition. And the civilian population is starving." The bearded man on the right spoke up. What he said had caught his attention. On Earth, naval blockades could easily cripple and starve entire nations into submission. It was even worse in the interstellar conflicts he had participated in. He and other members of the Corps would intervene constantly to save civilian populations from invading forces, who often sought to expand their empires.

"That is grim news."

"Our blockade runners should be able to penetrate the Separatist lines and drop relief supplies." The other human said. For some reason, this person looked an awful lot like an actor back on Earth that he couldn't remember the name of. "But they do not have the range to reach Ryloth."

"The planet Toydaria is 2,000 parsecs closer than the nearest fleet. If the blockade runners could supply from there, they might reach Ryloth in time."

"What would you have me do?"

"We've dispatched a ship loaded with relief supplies to meet you on Toydaria. You are a more experienced diplomat than the representative from Naboo, who is already there."

"And I guarantee you those supply ships will get gutted by whoever's in orbit. Ring, narrow down the distance between this transmission." Having already scanned the stars in this galaxy, he had a rough picture of what it looked like and that helped him figure out where he was going. Currently, he was traveling away from the galactic core, which worked out well for him because it meant less eyes on him.

"Source of transmission located. One is located roughly 12,000 light years away, heading away from the core. The other is 14,679 light years away. Planet Toydaria is the likely destination of the signal travelling away from our location. Recommended course of action is to follow it."

"Very well, lock in on the transmission and track it to its destination. In the meantime, it's best that we find a nearby spaceport, I can't do jack unless I have a map for reference. " Zach ordered as he he shifted direction in search of information. "And that means I'll have to go back to that system I just left. Oh well, it's not that far off." After a few minutes of wormhole travel, he found himself above the planet he had just saved only half an hour earlier. Not wanting to linger around longer than he had to, he quickly made his way down to the nearest city and landed in what seemed to be a market place. As he made his way down the streets, he couldn't help but realize that everyone was watching him. A look of shock was visible on the faces of everyone he passed by, as if they didn't know what to make of him. They most likely saw what he did in orbit, so they may have felt some fear towards him. He looked up and saw a large, floating TV that displayed his earlier actions on it. From the moment he first tried to stop it, to his shield breaking, to him finally stopping the flare. All was being played on repeat for the entire city, and likely the whole world.

Seeing an opening he walked up to a nearby shop that was set up, hoping the owner could help him out in his quest for information.

"Excuse me, sir, but do you happen to have a map of the galaxy I can study? I'm not from around here, so I don't know my way around here unfortunately." The man running the shop stared at him with a look of confusion as he asked him the question.

"Are you with the Republic?" The man asked in a curious tone.

He shot a confused glance back at the man before responding. "No, I'm a-" He stopped himself before he said anything else. Since this universe wasn't his own, they wouldn't know what the Green Lantern Corps is, so he had to come up with a different way of explaining this. "I was just passing through the system when I realized what was going on. I wasn't going to let an entire world perish."

"What does that symbol on your chest mean" He heard a voice ask from behind him. As he looked behind, there was a child standing just a few feet away from him. The child was of a species he's never seen before, blue skin and two tails protruding from his head. He simply smiled and gave a short reply.

"It means the ability to overcome great fear." He then focused his attention back on the shopkeeper, who was still eyeing the Lantern. "Anyway, do you have a map of the galaxy? I need to locate some planets. After staring him down for a minute, he tapped some buttons on the console next to him, which caused a large, blue hologram to take shape in front of them both. The galaxy he was in was now in full view of them. Every single major system and planet was listed before him. He scanned the map over with his ring, which then pinpointed exactly where his future destination was located. He'd have to travel halfway across the galaxy to reach it, but that would be a fairly quick trip.

"Thank you for the assistance. I'll be taking my leave now." But before he could take off again, he heard a voice shouting at him from behind. A number of white armoured soldiers had approached him from all sides and surrounded him, pointing their rifles at him as they did. He looked up and saw a dozen transport craft hover above his location, all of which had troops pointing rifles at him from the inside. The civilians had fled the scene the moment the soldiers had arrived, leaving just them in the market place.

"Put your hands in the air immediately!" One of them ordered. He then watched as a two black hooded figure had jumped clean over them and landed directly in front of him. Their figures gave away that they were female, he just didn't understand who they were. As they landed in front of him, he was capable of getting a better look at them. One green and one blue. As their hoods lowered, he could make out their appearance with ease. The youngest one had light greenish yellow skin, with black diamond shaped tattoos running from her cheeks and connecting at her nose, and blue eyes. The older one was definitely the same species, the only difference being her skin was green and her tattoos ran down her chin. They studied him from head to toe as they positioned themselves.

"Well,"Zach said in a mocking tone while putting his hands up. "Looks like I pissed someone off. Not even five minutes on the surface and I've already got people mad at me. Guess I should have cleared my landing with flight control first." The two women looked back at each other, each with a puzzled look on their face before turning back to him, noticing he had his arms crossed.

"And who might you be?" The older one asked as she approached him cautiously. Her accent reminded him of what he'd expect to hear in London, not in a different universe. He found her voice oddly relaxing. "You put on quite the show in orbit, which has made us quite curious about you. Do you mind telling us who you are?"

"My name is Zachary. I'm a member of the Green Lantern Corps. Mind if I ask who you two ladies are?" He raised his hand towards he as a gesture of friendship. "I'd rather not get off on a bad note with someone I just met."

She reached out her own and they both shook. "I am Jedi Master Luminara Unduli of the Galactic Republic." She gestured over to her right, where the younger woman stood. "Barriss, introduce yourself." The girl stepped forward and gave a curtsy bow as she introduced herself.

"Padawan learner, Barriss Offee, at your service." He held out his hand and helped her up from position, to which they both shook.

"It's nice to meet both of you. Although I can't say I'm familiar with either Jedi or the Galactic Republic. It should be obvious I'm not from around here." He explained.

"Well I can't say I'm familiar with the Green Lantern Corps either. Are you from the unknown regions of space? The abilities you displayed have never before been seen, so you can understand our confusion when we first saw you."

"That's understandable," He glanced around at the white armoured soldiers and gunships right above him, giving off an annoying buzzing sound as they hovered above him. "But it's safe to say I'm not from your galaxy. I already charted the stars and nothing here matches anything I'm aware of. Although it seems I've arrived here at a rather interesting time. First I find myself travelling through a spacial anomaly, the next minute I ended up in orbit with a solar flare heading towards the planet."

"And you completely stopped it with just a ring." Barriss interrupted as she looked him over, specifically focusing on the symbol on his chest. "And your rather ridiculous looking costume and mask." She said with a chuckle. However that comment got her a sharp glare from her superior.

"It's my uniform ma'am, I can't help how it looks. Just how I assume you, "Jedi", as you call yourself, seem to wear robes as standard attire. I am wondering, just who are you Jedi supposed to be?, if you don't mind me asking." They both simply smiled at the question asked by the Lantern.

"Of course." Luminara began again. "We're an order of peacekeepers dedicated to the protection of the galaxy. We are the guardians of peace and justice in the Galactic Republic. However," Her voice turned to a more saddened tone as she continued. "The recent events have forced us to give up our position as peacekeepers and become generals. That is something we are not used to and I believe that unless this war meets a quick end, our values will be tainted."

"I can understand your problems, at least partly. The Green Lantern Corps is a military institution dedicated to protecting our galaxy. We know war all to well, but what we deal with is mostly regional conflicts or warlords causing to much trouble. They get put down without much trouble. I understand how it would be difficult for those who are not used to fighting wars, to suddenly find themselves thrust into one."

"Yes. This war has just begun and many of our own have lost their lives."

"I'm sorry to hear that. While this may not be my galaxy, I'll still do everything in my power to help those in need here. And since I have a map of the galaxy, I can go to where I'm needed next. I heard about the destruction of the Republic fleet over a planet called Ryloth. I heard there was a blockade above the world, which is in turn making the population of the planet suffer. I intend to break it and allow your ships through to drop their aid, but they better be quick about it."

"And you think you'll win?" Barriss questioned him, eyeing him with suspicion. At this comment, Zach simply smirked and began floating off the ground.

"Do I think? I know I will. I'm a Green Lantern and we don't go down easy."

"You seem rather sure of yourself?" Luminara commented as she crossed her arms, watching him as he began to take flight. "It would be preferable if you did not leave, we still have much to discuss."

"Maybe some other time, I've got work to do now that I'm here. If your superiors want to talk to me, I'll drop by sometime." With that, he darted off into space, exiting the atmosphere within seconds, leaving both the Jedi and soldiers below dumbfounded at what they just witnessed. However little did he know he had just attracted the attention of not only the Galactic Republic, but also that of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.