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Chapter 17 - Agent Orange
🕑 Added 2025-06-16 15:28:03 +0000 UTCWatchtower
The Javelin docked in the hangar of the Watchtower, and Claire followed Miles out to go and find Hawkgirl.
His reason?
To help Thanagar win their war against the Gordonians.
Claire had a suspicion it wasn’t for purely altruistic reasons.
The said alien woman was in the training room, turning metal training posts to scrap with her Nth metal mace. Miles decided not to interrupt the heroine’s training, and the two sat down in the observation lounge, waiting for Hawkgirl to finish.
—
“Miles.” Shayera nodded at him while cleaning her face with a towel.
“Shayera. We didn’t really have any opportunity to talk. How are you doing?” Miles couldn’t read anything from Shayera's face, as years of war and military training gave her an excellent poker face.
“I am well.”
“And how is the war against the Gordonians going?” That got her eye to twitch, and he could guess it wasn’t good.
“I thought you knew everything.” Snark was strong with this one, though Miles couldn’t blame her.
"I know a lot of things, certainly, but I am not omniscient.”
“How can I help you?” Miles shook his head at Shayera. “Actually, I was going to offer my help, though perhaps we should speak somewhere more private?”
“Agreed.”
—
Since Batman was unlikely to not monitor every room in the Watchtower, going down to Earth was their best choice.
They were in his car, driving to a place out of sight, when Sheara spoke, “You may have offered to help, but Thanagar already has plans in motion.” which Miles shook his head at.
“Ah yes, the insipid little Hyperspace Bypass Generators plan. Really, it is something straight out of the plot of a second-rate sci-fi movie.” There was actually an old movie like that, but he couldn’t remember its name now.
Shayera's confusion was understandable, though what General Talak was thinking when he sent in an agent to infiltrate a planet's defense forces without giving clear mission parameters wasn't clear.
Explaining the plan to Shayera, who had thought she was only here to assess Earth's defenses to prepare them against the Gordonians, Miles offered a better alternative.
“Fortunately for you, I have a much better idea to defeat the Gordonians. I just need to speak to your commanding officers, someone with the authority to make deals.” Shayera naturally had her doubts, as it was her promised who had sent her here, though she agreed to relay his offer.
“And why should we agree to this?” The Thanagarian female did not pull her mace but was still holding it tightly.
Miles stopped the car as they had arrived. “Why? Because you can’t deceive or defeat the Justice League if they know you are coming.” and turned around to give Shayera an “isn’t it obvious?” look.
He spent the next hour explaining his plan.
—
Four days later, General Hro Talak came to Earth on a shuttle built for clandestine operations.
Shayera had to burn a lot of goodwill to convince the general to step away from the war and come to Earth, claiming it could end the war faster than the Hyperspace Bypass program.
He finally agreed against his better judgment.
“General Talak.” Miles gestured to the seat, but the Thanagarian general preferred to stand.
He was tall and muscled and wore green, black, and red armor with the golden-winged helmet covering his head and, most importantly, his scar.
“So, you are the one Shayera says can end this war. Tell me, why should I even bother to listen to someone whose species hasn’t even left their solar system?” Talak was angry at having been taken away from war, all just to listen to a human.
He only agreed because of Shayera but wasn’t happy about it at all.
“Because Gordonians will take Thanagar before you can finish your generators. Even if you defeat the Justice League and take Earth without any issues, it will be too late.” Hro’s eyes narrowed at the mention of their secret plan, though he opted to observe for now. “I, on the other hand, offer you a much faster and more immediate solution to this war.” Miles explained, and the general finally took a seat.
“Even if your Justice League agreed to help, it wouldn’t be possible.” Shayera had sent him records on the Justice League, as it was her mission, and while they were impressive individuals, they weren’t enough to defeat the Gordonians.
“What if a Lantern Corps decided to help you, General?” Miles had the general’s attention now as Hro began to consider it, especially if the human was as dangerous as Shayera reported him to be.
“Green Lanterns? They can defeat the Gordonians, but the Guardians would never agree to it.” They had, in fact, reached out to the Guardians before but were met with refusal.
“I had the Orange Lantern Corps in mind.” His claim was met with confusion. Claire didn’t know any other lanterns than the green ones.
“Orange Lanterns? Never heard of them.” Hro had heard rumors of other lantern corps, but not these Orange Lanterns, and if they existed and were strong enough to destroy the Gordonians, they should be well known across the galaxy, just as the Green Lanterns are.
“You wouldn’t. The Orange Lantern Corps has only one member, as he killed the rest and took all the power for himself. He is extremely dangerous and volatile, so much so the Guardians had no choice but to make an arrangement with him rather than destroy him and his rings.” Larfleeze had some ridiculous feats, and for all their strength, Gordonians shouldn’t be able to match him.
“Who is this individual?” Anyone the Guardians were wary enough of would make a worthwhile ally.
“His name is Larfleeze. He is one person in the Lantern Corps, and believe me, Gordonians won’t stand a chance against him.” Miles was confident enough that General Talak decided to listen more.
“Let’s say I am interested. What do you want in return?” Nothing in this galaxy was ever for free, and Hro didn’t think this human was an outlier in that regard.
“Here is a list of what I need.”
Hro Talak took the list written on Sheara’s data pad and began to read. It was a list demanding technical and scientific assistance in developing several technologies this planet did not have yet.
“You want a lot of things.” They were not important enough to outright refuse, but Hro didn’t trust the human.
“General, are you telling me winning the war is not worth that list?” His offer was too good for the general to not at least consider it, but he was just playing coy right now.
“It is, and I can guarantee everything you need. The problem is, can you deliver on your claims?” Hro took a couple of steps forward, staring the human right in the eye with a cold gaze.
“I need Gordonian prisoners and transport to Okaara, and you will see.” Miles returned it with equal force.
—
Vega System
“If this does not work, I will kill you myself.” Tolak warned as the small ship, with a much larger prison ship following, approached the Vega system.
The human’s plan was simple and, if his knowledge of Larfleeze was correct, could have a reasonable chance to succeed.
“Duly noted, general.”
General Tolak gave Miles a scrutinizing look before getting back to guiding the ship to Okaara. Hra started to scan the planet for large energy sources to detect the Orange Lantern central battery, which didn’t take long due to the sheer power it was radiating.
The prison ship’s engine suddenly blew up due to a malfunction, and it was caught by the gravitational pull of the planet.
It began to accelerate out of control, heading close to the cave entrance leading to the energy source they detected while the Thanagarians evacuated the ship.
All part of the plan.
Thanagarians aboard the ship had already evacuated, and upon the crash, all doors unlocked, letting the serpentine aliens out. They watched as the aliens tried to commandeer the vessel, only to find out all systems were dead, before abandoning it as one of them took charge.
Hro opened fire on the prisoners, missing on purpose to herd them towards the caves and into the tender mercies of Larfleeze.
Gordonians scattered, following their leader away from the ship and into the cave ahead.
Now, it was time to wait.
—
Without a strong enough mind, it was easy to be corrupted and drawn by the orange power rings.
The unassuming Gordonians felt the pull and moved deeper into the cave, a primal desire in their hearts guiding them forward.
Too bad Larfleeze didn’t like to share.
When one of the serpentine aliens picked up a ring and almost put it on, Larfleeze woke up.
—
Larfleeze blasted an orange beam from his ring and destroyed the top half of the last thief before he noticed the vessel landing close to him.
Thinking it was more enemies, he got ready for a fight but stopped when he detected a green power ring.
Four people came out of the ship, though only one was carrying a ring.
“Green Lantern! Why are you here?!” Larfleeze approached, snarling at having the deal he made with the Guardians broken.
They would leave him in peace, and Agent Orange wouldn’t leave Okaara in return, but one was here now.
“I am no Green Lantern, Larfleeze. I came here to warn you about a danger to your treasure, but it seems they got here first.” The pink male said, raising his hands in surrender.
“Danger? Them?” Larfleeze scoffed; the thieves weren’t dangerous to him, they were mere bugs.
“That was just a scouting force. The Gordonians want to use your rings to fight the Green Lanterns, and as soon as they are done with Thanagar,” he motioned towards the Thanagarians, “they intend to target you.'"
Larfleeze growled. No one would have his treasure; it was all his, his, his!
He would kill anyone who would try.
“Here, an offering of peace.” The pink male held out a green power ring, and Larfleeze’s eyes glowed—well, glowed even more—as Agent Orange desired the ring. He snatched it from the human, who didn’t offer any resistance, and he began to corrupt the ring, slowly turning it from green to orange.
“What will you do now?”
Larfleeze snarled. He couldn’t let those thieves attack him, but the deal with the Guardians forbade him from leaving the planet.
“If you are worried, I have cleared it with the Guardians. You can leave Okaara for this instance, though you will have to make your decision now, as it won’t be possible after I leave, and the Gordonians will be too close to your treasure.” The pinkie said, "A human," his ring claimed, and took out a datapad from the Gordonian corpse and held it out. Larfleeze scanned it, revealing the Gordonians’ plan to target his treasure, including the time of their assault, which was approaching closely.
“They’ll die; it's all mine!” An energy blast sent wind in all directions, and the pinkies covered their eyes.
“Yes, they will, but why risk one of them getting lucky and taking a ring? Why not destroy the Gordonians before they even have the chance?”
Larfleeze began to pace up and down, considering Miles’ words.
Agent Orange was most likely stuck between agreeing to destroy a danger to his treasure and being away from the said treasure.
“We are leaving now, and remember, this is your only opportunity to destroy the Gordonians before they come for you.” Larfleeze was getting more unhinged, greed fueling his fury at the thought of the Gordonians coming.
“Where are they?” Agent Orange growled, and Miles smiled.
So easy.
“I am sure he can give you the coordinates to their homeworld,” Miles nodded at Hro, who held a datapad out to Larfleeze, letting the ring scan it, “but you should start with the Citadelians, their allies who are in this star system and won’t hesitate to target your rings when you are gone.” Taking the Citadelians would leave the Psions in a place to take over the Vega system, but that was a problem to be solved later.
Perhaps he could convince Larfleeze with something valuable enough later on to destroy them as well.
Larfleeze blasted off to space, turning to an orange streak so fast Miles was sure he would annihilate the Citadelians before they even reached there.
“General, shall we?”
