20121/Sunrise on Vellara-9

Sunrise on Vellara-9
Date of Scene:	23 February 2025
Location:	Vellara-9
Synopsis:	The sunrise after the battle against the Dominators on Vellara-9, Hal and Carol reflect on the physical and emotional cost of the fight, the fragile alliance with Sinestro and his new yellow emotional spectrum, and the many battles that may be yet to come.
Cast of Characters:	Carol Ferris, Hal Jordan

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Carol Ferris has posed:
The battle for Vellara-9 had burned for three days. It wasn't even supposed to be a battlefield -- just another planet on the edge of known space, insignificant in the grander scheme. Until the Dominators decided it was strategic and Sinestro decided it was useful.

The Zamarons sent Carol in to protect the native Vellari, a species with no standing army and no real chance at fighting off an invasion. The Guardians sent the Corps for the same reason. The Lanterns worked together -- mostly. A fragile, uneasy truce while they handled the bigger threat.

And it worked. Eventually.

Now, Vellara-9 is quiet, the wreckage of war still smoldering around them. Carol's exhausted. She's not used to admitting that, but the fight drained her more than she'd like. Holding the defensive line for an entire city against Dominator warships will do that. The Star Sapphire ring hums low at her side, flickering -- nothing dangerous, just depleted. Carol understands the feeling.

She walks across the rubble, boots leaving faint imprints in the fresh ash. Around her, the landscape shifts, trying to be something else. The Vellari homeworld is sentient, built on an ecosystem that bends and breathes with its people. Even now, it's rebuilding, pulling stone and vine over the broken city.

Carol looks up. The sky is different than it was an hour ago. The first sunrise in days. Warm gold bleeding through the horizon, catching against the dust still thick in the air. It shouldn't matter. A sunrise is a sunrise. But after the last seventy-two hours, after the weight of holding a planet together, she feels it.

A shift. A pause. A breath.

Carol exhales, presses a hand over her ribs where the impact of a Dominator blast still lingers. Not a wound -- s he caught the brunt of it in a shield -- but enough. She should rest, but stopping means letting herself think, and she's not ready for that.

Instead, she watches the light stretch over the ruins, watches the planet start to heal. And for the first time in what feels like forever, there's peace.

Hal Jordan has posed:
Given how much of a threat that Earth has lingered under with the imminent arrival of Galactus and his sole remaining Herald, it is easy to forget that just because their home is in danger, doesn't mean that all the threats to the billions of other 'homes' out there in the galaxy don't just go away.

The Dominators can be annoyingly persistent.

Their constant ambitions to expand their territory have been slapped down by the Green Lantern Corps and others countless times, but always they return with some new scheme, some new set of invasion plans, looking to seize upon some small foothold and begin to establish themselves as an even greater force in the galaxy again. To join the great galactic super powers like the Shi'ar.

And when they do, the aftermath frequently looks like Vellara-9.

Worse really. Not every world is fortunate enough to have the 'Queen' of the Star Sapphires directing her fellow 'Violet Lanterns'. Nor are the Green Lantern Corps always turning out in such large numbers.

It is questionable if they would have turned out this time either. At least not over two dozen strong if it hadn't been the interest shown from Sinestro and his new Corp of Yellow Lanterns.

So far the truce between them has held. So far Sinestro has proven to be true to his word, willing to stand with them against Galactus. Willing to prove that his way -- the way of Fear -- is more dependable then the Guardians of the Universe.

A few Green Lanterns have even been inclined to listen after one too many frustrating run-ins with the founders of their COrps. But most -- including Hal -- are wary.

Still, like the Dominators themselves, the Sinestro Corps are gone too, vanished from Vellara-9, leaving the clean up to the inhabitants, to the sentient world itself. At the the Star Sapphires and Green Lanterns who remain.

Including Hal and Carol.

Coming up behind her as she stands there, watching the sun rise over the nearby ruins, Hal slips an arm around her waist, extending a hand that grips a mug full of steaming dark coffee, holding it out for her.

"How are you feeling?" he asks quietly, concern coloring his words.

Carol Ferris has posed:
She doesn't have to look. She doesn't even have to wonder.

She can feel him.

It's one benefit of being a Star Sapphire. The Guardians may have created a seemingly infinite catalog of knowledge that spans eons and galaxies. Big woop. The Sapphires have a connection to love powerful enough to know the instant true love is in peril anywhere in the known universe -- especially their own true love.

The Green Lanterns have always been one of the strongest forces in the universe. Before she became a Star Sapphire, Carol might have even said they were the strongest -- and they might very well be. But putting on the ring and feeling the power of love flow through her, being named Queen of the Zamarons, means that she must believe in the power of Love over Will.

Not that she's ever actually bested the Green Lantern of sector 2814 in a fight. The man is just too damn insane when he's fighting -- much like he is in a cockpit. And she's tried to kill him enough times in their past that she knows how good he is.

But now there's Sinestro and his Yellow lanterns.

She agrees with him on certain points. Especially about the little blue gremlins on Oa and their blind, unwavering belief in eradicating all emotion. But how can Sinestro -- a man Hal once looked up to -- believe that Fear should triumph over Willpower? Over Love?!

There's still so much to figure out.

Even attempting to put her bias aside, there has never been a moment of doubt that Hal is the single most impressive Green Lantern she has ever met. Still, she couldn't help testing their connection several times to remind herself that he was okay.

She already knew he was.

But that doesn't lessen the relief when she feels the arm come around her, the way she relaxes into his side and rests her head against his shoulder.

"Tired."

The word is simple, soft, and utterly honest. She reaches for that mug when it's offered, though, and a grateful smile curls her lips as she tilts her head to look up at him.

Her eyes are still violet from the ring, though the light in them is dimmed with fatigue and the Violent Energy in desperate need of a recharge.

"You know me so well," she teases, voice quiet, her smile growing even more as she brings the edge of the mug just to her lips.

"What about you?"

She takes a long, deep draw of the hot liquid, closing her eyes against the faint burn as it slides deliciously down her throat.

One sip. Two. And then she's handing the mug back to him to share.

Hal Jordan has posed:
Once upon a time Hal might have been inclined to argue that Will is clearly the greatest of of the powers in the universe.

It is, of course, the sort of argument that can never truly be settled. An argument that doesn't have any one singular answer. And it's not that he can't make a pretty good case for it even, both from his own victories and those of the Corps. Over seventy-two hundred strong, with a legacy stretching back millennia.

Even few of the great intergalactic powers out there have a legacy to match.

But they have learned a great deal about the true depth of the Emotional Energy Spectrum. They've learned that it doesn't just encompass Green and Violet. That it doesn't just encompass Will and Love.

First was the revelation of the Orange Lantern in the Vega system. The reason that system had been sealed off, had been forbidden to Green Lanterns like so few parts of the galaxy have been. That strange alien being and the power of Greed.

Now there is Yellow too. The power of Fear, that has claimed one of the greatest of the Corps. Or perhaps in fairness he was driven from the green light of Will into the waiting arms of Fear due to the actions of the Guardians. There is validity to that viewpoint, certainly Hal would testify to that.

Where once there was two, now there are four. And Ganthet has at least hinted at the fact that other parts of the spectrum are likely to present themselves as well. Which might be no good thing, given that the two most recent additions have been Greed and Fear. Not generally the sort of emotion that one wants to see embodied. At least Hal would argue that.

But just based on a logical assumption it would seem that they are still missing at least three. Three more colors to make up the light spectrums of a rainbow. Red. Blue. And Indigo. Hal can't help but wonder if the revelation of them will be as fraught and perilous as the two newest additions have already proven to be.

For the moment at least they would appear to have a brief respite. A chance to regroup, to gather their strength. Until the next crisis presents itself.

Maybe it will be finally the appearance of Galactus come to Earth. Maybe it will be some other disaster somewhere else in the wide galaxy that demands one or both of their attentions. There is no way to be sure.

For now though, Hal simply holds Carol gently, that one arm encircling her, clutching her to him, offering what small measure of comfort her can both in his presence and in the hot beverage he supplies.

Leaning over, he kisses the side of her neck before straightening, taking that mug back from her at least briefly and stealing a sip. "I like to think so," he agrees wryly. "And I came through things mostly none the worse for wear," he admits. "But I'm not going to say no to a little rest," he admits.

"As for you, just as soon as I can convince you that you've done all you can, you're going straight back to the Interceptor to get about as much sleep as you can cram into a twenty-four hour period," he asserts firmly before pausing. "Barring some new disaster presenting itself."

Carol Ferris has posed:
A low, pleased chuckle that sounds almost like a purr rumbles from Carol's throat as Hal's lips and breath find the sensitive skin of her neck at the same time. Out of instinct, drawn against him like a magnet, she presses a little closer.

A magnet. It's an interesting metaphor. They're not quite 'opposites' but... they're not quite the same, either. They're far from the only lanterns to have ever fallen in love, but they're not from the same part of the emotional spectrum. In fact, the near immortal creators of their respective power batteries are diametrically opposed. In that sense alone, 'opposites' would be fitting.

But their story started years before either of them knew what a power ring was. Carol, composed and mature, with a practically overwhelming sense of responsibility, even from a young age. Hal, endlessly young and reckless, wild, free, and utterly untamable.

Opposites.

And yet Hal has always softened Carol's belief that the weight of the universe rests on her shoulders -- even when it was just the pressure of doing well in school or running her father's company -- in all the best ways. Early on, he even taught her to stop flying like she was a 747 captain with a full load of passengers and have a little fun.

And Hal? Well, whether he found it within his love for her, the weight of that glowing green ring on his finger, or something else entirely, he even -- sometimes -- shows hints of maturing, taking responsibility for his actions and what they can mean to so many beings across the universe, including Carol. At some point, almost without her realizing it, he grew into a man that Carol didn't simply love despite endless frustration. He grew into someone she respects, trusts, and appreciates.

So, maybe they aren't such 'opposites' after all.

And if the changes -- the possible threats -- on the horizon are as dangerous or more dangerous than what they've already faced, they're going to need that trust in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

"All that I can..."

The words escape her lips in a sigh as she looks up at him, the weight of those words heavy in her voice and her gaze.

She will never have accomplished 'all that she can' to her own satisfaction. Even if she refused to sleep ever again, it still wouldn't be enough.

Slipping around to his front smoothly, making a deliberate attempt not to jostle that arm free, she simply folds herself into him, sets her gloved hands on his chest, and lets a slow smile curve her lips.

"The Interceptor is here?"

It would be. Hal's been using it more and more to zip around even faster -- and more comfortably -- than their rings can take them. Plus, it has its own green energy battery. Aside from all the other benefits, that's a handy asset to have in a battle like this was.

Playful interest flashes in her violet eyes.

"Well, if you promise I'm not going to be alone," she muses, "I might be able to rest... with the proper distraction."

Hal Jordan has posed:
It might be a stretch to imagine Hal Jordan ever fully growing up.

There is a perpetual sense of play about him that has not completely faded, even now as he reaches his mid-thirties. He can still be exuberant and enthusiastic, especially when it comes to all things flying. And he certainly isn't particularly shy about shying that.

He also tends to be pretty exuberant and enthusiastic when it comes to her as well, so perhaps that is one of the reasons Carol might find that just a little bit charming.

Still, there is no doubt that he has grown and matured a great deal since they were kids, in the first bloom of love. And while he has surely made it possible for her to let her hair down every once in awhile, she has no doubt had an effect on him as well.

Even if it took a little longer to take root.

That air force played a small role in that. As too did joining the Corps. Becoming something like that did a great deal to open his eyes. To face the fact that the gift he has been given come with certain responsibilities. That certainly accelerated his growth.

But there is no doubt that Carol has played her role too. First in watching her grow, watching her find a way to hold on to her passion even as she had to devote more and more time to the running of Ferris Air.

But not that alone. Watching her become a Star Sapphire. Watching the Zamarons try to overwhelm her personality, to subsume it beneath the Predator. To have to face her over and over again, before finally helping her fight free, to find herself again, well, coming that close to losing her forever certainly played a part in helping him realize just what kind of man that he really wanted to be.

She knows him better then anyone, but then he can say the same. And it isn't hard for Hal to see that she is feeling the weight of the moment again. She's already done so much for this world. She might be the primary reason that the populace isn't already under the sway of the Dominators. One more servitor race for the would-be galactic power. But it's not enough. It will never be enough.

Hal can sympathize. Maybe it is part of the reason that he is a champion of Will and not Love. He wants to do his best for these people, for this world. But his heart doesn't bleed to.

Still, as she steps around him, to face him, keeping that arm around her his ring flares with that brilliant emerald light for just an instant and a little life preserver appears to ring that mug of coffee, bright green and bobbing on unseen waves beside them, floating in place so that he can bring his suddenly free hand up to her cheek.

"For what it's worth, I've spoken with Salaak," he says, referencing the Lantern's primary liaison to the Guardians and chief administrative officer. "He's already finished negotiations with Vellara-9's closest neighbor and the first relief convoy is already on it's way," he says quietly.

His smile quirks, a hint of a grin sliding over his face. "So this time it's not all on you, Your Majesty," he teases. "So you're going to finish this coffee, you're going to rest those ribs and you're going to get a little R & R," he says firmly, that smile already turning sly. "And you better damn well believe I'm coming with you."