It was a ranged combat attack...

Also, it would appear (since you haven't updated the map thelast two turns) that you overlooked the HO that the Circle Captain is standing on/in, i.e. hindering terrain, which means that Hal's attack missed... I have NOT adjusted your IAPs...



Amon Sur et al turn 8b

- Sniper attacks Fatality/Mantis > 9 vs 14 +2 (Combat Reflexes) +1 (Perplex) > roll: 3+3=6 MISS.

- (free) Amon Sur uses Outwit to counter Hal's Special Power Lantern's Will.
- Circle Captain/Dum Dum Dugan pushes (with Willpower) and attacks Green Lantern > 8 vs 17 > roll: 3+1=4 MISS.



The Green Lantern Corps:

1) [3+2+2ko] Hal Jordan (V Cr Green Lantern) - 157 E19 @
2) [3+2+2ko] LE Jennifer Lynn-Hayden - ""KO""

-And-

3) [5+2+2ko] Katma Tui (B:A Batgirl) - R10 @@
4) [6+2+2ko] John Stewart (E Arwyn) - L11 @
5) [1+2ko] G'nort (V Con Artist) - (3/4) K7 @
6) [1/4] Fatality (R Mantis) - (4/6) Q5


Vs.

The Flagship:
1) Amon Sur (V Ic The Joker) (6/7) L20
2) Circle Captain (V Dum Dum Dugan [Skrull]) (2/5) L19 @@
3) Circle Lieutenant (E Jarvis) Koed

-And-

The Black Circle:
4) Field Commander (V Hydra Officer) Koed
5) Commando "Xava" (R Hydra Footsoldier) P10 @
6) Commando "Yella" (R Hydra Footsoldier) ""KO""
7) Commando "Zodo" (R Hydra Footsoldier) ""KO""
8) Sniper "Agatha" (E SHIELD Sniper) ""KO""
9) Sniper "Bertha" (E SHIELD Sniper) (4/4) P4

HOs: S19, L19, P12
LOs: L14, P4, R9

Map:
http://www.ianparmenter.com/hcutils/...24&z2=x-220y60

Scenario Rules:

--> The game is split into two halves, and the dividing line is along squares 12-13. The ground team fights the Black Circle in the northern section of the map while Hal and Jade battle Amon Sur in the southern section. No figure may cross the boundaries separating the sections of the map.

--> Amon Sur is protected by mysterious tech devices which absorb and deflect the energy of a Green Lantern’s power ring, though it is slightly less effective against the Starheart.

Amon Sur is not affected by the following powers: RCE, TK, Energy Explosion, Pulse Wave, or Perplex. If Jennifer-Lynn Hayden attempts to use one of these powers against him, roll 1d6. On a roll of 5-6, the power is successful.

--> The Skrull TA, Stealth, Shape Change, and Outwit powers on any member of the Black Circle represents the ability of their tech to counter GL power rings. So if a target can’t be attacked because of a roll of the Skrull TA or Shape Change, it’s because their tech disrupted and ignored the power ring. Ditto Stealth or Outwit.

Ops. Mixed up who was doing what in the upper game. You are correct.

Forgot the hindering dang it. I tried to update the map this time (thought I did last turn though) but it bombed out on me. I was running late for class and because Lightshear threatened to hold up the game I threw it up planning to updated it at break (now [earlier, now it is lunch, not enough time at break]). Sorry about that. [IAP fixed]

Turn 9a:
Free) Hal will Perpex his attack incase he has to attack Amon.

1) Hal will go ahead an push and try to attack Circle Captain rolls a 6, glad I Perplexed (didn't have much else to do with it anyways). Switches the attack to Amon. Ops the Perplex doesn't work on him dang it so no plus. 17 - 10 = need 7. Rolled 4,5=9 hit. He masterminds it over do Circle Captain who takes 3 now and is koed. Hal takes a click for the push.

Free) G'Nort will Perplex Fatality's attack to 9.

2) Fatality will attack Sniper "Bertha". 15 - 9 = need 6. Rolled 6,1=7 hit. "Bertha" takes 2 clicks.

3) John will Push (Willpower) to RS to M9 and shoot "Bertha". 13 + 1 Hindering - 9 = need 5. Rolled 4,6=10 (dice are real hot! WOW!). That hits and "Bertha" takes 2 and is koed.

(I hope Lightshear didn't post while this was sitting on my laptop waiting for my return to finish!)

The Green Lantern Corps:

1) [3+3+2ko] Hal Jordan (V Cr Green Lantern) - 157 (6/7) E19 @
2) [3+2+2ko] LE Jennifer Lynn-Hayden - ""KO""

-And-

3) [5+2+2ko] Katma Tui (B:A Batgirl) - R10
4) [10+2+2ko] John Stewart (E Arwyn) - M9 @@
5) [1+2ko] G'nort (V Con Artist) - (3/4) K7
6) [1/4+2] Fatality (R Mantis) - (4/6) Q5 @


Vs.

The Flagship:
1) Amon Sur (V Ic The Joker) (6/7) L20
2) Circle Captain (V Dum Dum Dugan [Skrull]) Koed
3) Circle Lieutenant (E Jarvis) Koed

-And-

The Black Circle:
4) Field Commander (V Hydra Officer) Koed
5) Commando "Xava" (R Hydra Footsoldier) P10 @
6) Commando "Yella" (R Hydra Footsoldier) ""KO""
7) Commando "Zodo" (R Hydra Footsoldier) ""KO""
8) Sniper "Agatha" (E SHIELD Sniper) ""KO""
9) Sniper "Bertha" (E SHIELD Sniper) ""KO""

HOs: S19, L19, P12
LOs: L14, P4, R9

Map:
http://www.ianparmenter.com/hcutils/...24&z2=x-220y60

Scenario Rules:

--> The game is split into two halves, and the dividing line is along squares 12-13. The ground team fights the Black Circle in the northern section of the map while Hal and Jade battle Amon Sur in the southern section. No figure may cross the boundaries separating the sections of the map.

--> Amon Sur is protected by mysterious tech devices which absorb and deflect the energy of a Green Lantern’s power ring, though it is slightly less effective against the Starheart.

Amon Sur is not affected by the following powers: RCE, TK, Energy Explosion, Pulse Wave, or Perplex. If Jennifer-Lynn Hayden attempts to use one of these powers against him, roll 1d6. On a roll of 5-6, the power is successful.

--> The Skrull TA, Stealth, Shape Change, and Outwit powers on any member of the Black Circle represents the ability of their tech to counter GL power rings. So if a target can’t be attacked because of a roll of the Skrull TA or Shape Change, it’s because their tech disrupted and ignored the power ring. Ditto Stealth or Outwit.[/quote]

Realised that I forgot to update the map. Tried to update it and it bombed out again. I can't seem to get the Map Link button to work. Every time I hit it it crashes out. I will try to get it to work and update the map. So sorry for the inconvenience.

Ok, finally got it to work. I updated the map. Down to just Hal and Amon now. I think unfortunately that Amon will be able to take him down. I forced you to work at it though!

Alright, ALC - you had a good run, but it's gotta end. New issue will start Monday or Tuesday; here's your ending...

End Post:

Katma had become surrounded by the Circle soldiers, but showed no emotion as they closed in. In one fluid move, she swept her foot across the forest floor, kicking dust and leaves up into the faces of two of the men. Continuing her motion, she leapt in a corkscrew-twist in the air, each fist striking a different man and her foot kicking out at the one behind her.

By the time the machine-gun fire began, she had dropped low to the floor, allowing their shots to pass by overhead and strike their stunned allies. Just as they realized what she’d done, she was swinging her rifle up from where it had been slung on her back, firing quick bursts into their chests and knocking them off their feet.

Elsewhere in the forest, John was trading gunfire with another soldier behind cover. When he leaned back out to fire off another round, his target flew out from behind a tree, slamming to the ground. In an instant, Yrra flipped from behind the tree and landed on his chest, slamming a stiff palm into his nose. She spared John a single look before breaking into a full sprint straight at him.

There was one short moment when he thought she would attack him, but then she was in the air again, flipping over his head and landing a side-kick to the head of a Circle soldier behind him.

“There are few left,” she said.

“We’ve got a clear run to their ship,” he nodded. “Let’s take it.”

The two charged ahead, meeting with Katma and adding her to the retinue. John fired bursts from his rifle as men ducked out ahead of them. At a full sprint, it was little more than cover fire for the ladies, both of whom utilized their martial prowess to disable every enemy that came close enough. Swinging kicks, leaping strikes, rolling blows; the women dropped every Circle squad member that dared try stop them – one way or the other.

When they reached the ship, John pulled up short, raising his fist to stop the others.

“Where’s G’nort?”

“Right here, buddy!” came the G’newtan’s voice from inside the ship. The pilot of the vessel came rolling down the ramp and G’nort hopped into view.

“The ship’s all ready, gang!” he barked happily, with his smile wide and his tail wagging expectantly.

“Good work, guy,” John said, scruffing his head as he passed the canid on his way up the ramp. “Katma, get to the controls. I’ll lay down suppression fire against any inbound hostiles.”

“Affirmative,” she responded, rushing to the cockpit. It was a small craft, but it would be more than enough for them.
_______________________________________

Hal was doing his best to deal with Amon Sur and his men, but it was getting harder and harder to focus tight beams of power through his ring. Not only did their devices drain any power blast that came near them, but they also seemed to warp his projections and constructs, sucking them toward their zone of influence like a black hole sucking in light.

He was instead focusing on keeping the two henchmen distracted by hurling objects at them at rapid speeds while he worked his way around the room to get a clear angle to attack Amon himself. Bring the leader down, he reasoned, and the foot-soldiers crumble too.

“Hal – go now!” Jade shouted, as if reading his mind. She lunged forward, spinning her body and swiping her left arm in a wide chop motion. As it slashed outward, a wave of green power arced out from the path of her arm, cutting hard into the ground and sending a splash of debris into the faces of the henchmen.

He saw his opening and he took it. His ring launched him from the ground in a giant leap that dropped him right on top of the shocked Amon.

“Maybe you can muck up my ring,” Hal said through gritted teeth and a smile, driving Amon to the floor and locking his hands over his head. “But I can take you down with my bare hands!”

“Idiot,” Sur grunted, kicking upward and flipping Hal off of him. “You think I didn’t figure on you trying to go for close combat? I’ve been trained in the martial styles of two different rings of assassins!”

“Right,” Hal said, barely dodging a series of blows from the red-skinned man. “Because… why not?”

It turned into a brawl fairly quickly. The little amount of defense Hal’s ring could provide was enough to more or less balance the playing field. Essentially equally matched, the two threw themselves at each other. Amon was all martial precision; he had form and technical skill, but no flexibility in his forms. He was going through drills and katas, while Hal was taking them and brawling in return. His own style was more pugilistic, relying on punishing body blows and tight punches, while enduring enough of the enemy’s attacks to let them get close enough and winded enough that he could capitalize.

Skin cracked under sweat and blood-slick knuckles. Trails of crimson stained uniforms. Hal’s ring throbbed on his fist, warning him that Amon’s gear was draining its power at an accelerated rate. He knew he didn’t have a lot of time left.

“I’ve had enough play-time,” he said, driving an elbow into Amon’s ribs and feeling them crack. “Time to put baby to bed.”

“Trying to make me angry,” Sur huffed, swinging a foot into Hal’s knee hard enough to buckle the man. “Trying to make me lose my focus? Won’t happen, Jordan! I’ve waited for this too long to let anything stop me now!”

D#mn, Hal thought as he lunged forward and tackled Amon to the ground. This was going to take more out of him than he thought. Hopefully not more than he had…
_______________________________________

“I don’t like this,” Katma said as she flew their stolen ship into a hangar bay on the Black Circle flagship. “There should have been more trouble than this.”

“Did you want to be shot out of space?” Yrra mumbled resentfully.

“No, she’s right,” John nodded, leaning forward as they touched down. “I figured flying one of their ships would keep us covered for a while, but they didn’t even hail us on approach. Why aren’t they at all suspicious of a strange ship wandering into their hangar?”

“Lucky break!” G’nort shouted with a pump of his fist. “Finally! We were due, gang.”

“Well, there are definitely going to be guards out there, now,” John said as he handed weapons out to everyone. “Be careful out there. We have to get to a terminal so we can find out where the bridge is.”

“Based on the crater in this baby’s hull,” Katma said, cocking her rifle. “Hal’s definitely here. Maybe all we need to do is listen in on a comm.-link and find out where the action is.”

“Hey, look!” G’nort said, grabbing something from under his seat. It looked like a discarded chocolate bar. “Floor candy! Everything’s coming up G’nort!”

“Come on, G’nort,” Katma said as she took point and led out of the ship. “I told you about floor candy before.”

“I know, I know—don’t eat nothin’ off floors,” he said, shoulders sagging. “It’s just, I haven’t had anything good to eat in so long!”

“Tell you what – when we get out of here and back to Oa, I’ll take you anywhere you want for the biggest dinner you can eat, how’s that?”

She smiled at his excited expression as she thumbed the button to open the hatch. Turning to head down, her eyes shot wide at the presence of two dozen guards waiting for them at the bottom of the ramp.

“Freeze!” their leader shouted, and before any of them could decide whether to fight back or risk a surrender, Yrra had disarmed them and swept their legs out from under them.

Looking up from the floor, John watched as the leader of the guards shook Yrra’s hand and welcomed her back aboard.

“You did well,” he said. “Amon will be happy with you.”

“You took too long,” she replied. “I almost thought you really had abandoned me out here.”

“You knew the rules,” the guard shrugged. “We couldn’t move in until we knew the package was on the way.”

“Then Jordan is here, like the red b#tch thought?”

“Yes, he’s being dealt with right now.”

“Show me where,” Yrra smiled. “I want to deliver these Lanterns to him myself.”

“Whatever you like, Fatality.”
_______________________________________

“How do you like it, Jordan?” Amon shouted with cackling laughter through a bloody-toothed smile as he pummeled Hal’s face. “How do you like having everything you love taken from you? How do you like having your destiny stolen? Doesn’t feel too good, does it? Does it!?”

Suddenly, the room was bathed in emerald light. Amon twisted his neck to see what was happening, only to come face to face with the brilliance of Jade’s glow. She looked like she had on Qward when they fought Krona – a glowing, green elemental force. Light seemed to emanate from deep within her core. The other men in the room, having been taken completely by surprise, were blown off their feet in a shockwave of power that shorted and destroyed their harnesses.

“Let. Him. Go.” she said, her voice different than normal; soft yet booming, resonant yet quiet. It was like it was inside and outside his head at the same time.

“I don’t think I’ll do that, little girl,” Amon said, holding Hal by the collar of his uniform. “I was warned about you, but I was also told that you don’t really know how to control all that power you’ve got yet. I mean, I bet if you were distracted enough, you could be taken out by a simple boot to the head. Am I right?”

Fatality’s foot connected with Jade’s head from behind. She hadn’t even heard the girl coming. With a sigh and a shudder, she collapsed unconscious on the ground. Her blinding glow died out, leaving just a wounded, green skinned young woman on the floor at Fatality’s feet.

“Ka-kow!” Amon shouted, pumping his fist in the air and kicking Hal in the side. “Did you see that?” he shouted down at him. “Did ya see it? My little ace in the hole! Welcome home, Fatality.”

“You gave me everything you promised you would,” she said. “The tools and the training to kill Green Lanterns and the location of John Stewart. So I held up my end of the bargain and gave you Hal Jordan. I keep my word.”

“Of course you do,” he chuckled, fighting off Hal’s attempt to regain control of the situation. “Stop it!” he shouted at the bruised and beaten man. “Quit—fighting—back!”

“Do you need assistance?” Fatality asked.

“From you? Of course not. I see you brought your trophies,” he said, nodding to acknowledge the presence of John, Katma, and G’nort, handcuffed and wearing looks of furious despair. “Shouldn’t they be… dead? Right? Loose ends are liabilities, girl. I taught you better than that.”

She looked from him back to where her prisoners stood and then back. “Yes. You taught me a lot. How to kill… how to hunt… how a Green Lantern’s power works and how to neutralize it. You took a scared, broken, empty little girl and you filled her with hate and gave her someone to blame.”

“I gave you the truth, Fatality,” he said, looking back over his shoulder with a wary quirk of his brow. He didn’t like the slight turn in her voice. “I told you who was responsible for the death of your people—for the destruction of your planet! I delivered him to you so you could avenge billions of lives.”

“You gave me what you needed to make me a weapon for you,” she said, eyes hardening. “A weapon you could use to get what you wanted.”

“It worked out for both of us,” he said, lifting Hal by the shirt and moving slightly backward toward his control chair – the chair from which he observed and directed all the activities of his Black Circle. Hal struggled against him, but seemed as interested in the scene unfolding in front of them as the rest were.

“We both got what we wanted,” Amon smiled like a crocodile.

“I only got what I was told to want – what I was programmed to want,” she said, her voice like ice-water on his spine. “It almost cost me the only thing I have left!”

“You still have our mission! Our struggle! You still have vengeance and righteousness!”

“No! It was never my mission, and it was never righteous! It was just a knife you used to cut out my soul and replace me with another version of you. I lost myself because of you, but I’m taking me back!”

She started running, crossing the hall so quickly, but Amon was by his command throne and pressed a single button on its arm.

“Alright,” he said as she ran. “Well, then, I guesssss… you can go f### yourself. Bye!”

As she leapt through the air to kick him, he slid through a hole that opened in the floor beneath him. Her flying strike sailed over his head as he and Hal vanished downward and the hole closed behind them.

“No!” she shouted, clawing at the floor. “No, no, no!”

She ran back to where the others stood with confused looks on their faces and clicked off their shackles. They rubbed their raw wrists and Katma moved to check on Jade.

“I still think you should have had us unshackled before we got here,” John said to Yrra.

“Like I told you on the lift,” she said, running back to the command chair. “Amon is as paranoid as he is power-hungry. If he got even a whiff that you weren’t properly bound, I wouldn’t have been able to get close enough to stop him. Not that it worked anyway…”

“You did your best,” Katma said, helping Jade stand. They all moved to where Yrra was desperately pushing buttons, trying to find the one for the escape chute in the floor. “I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you when you explained it all before. It’s just—after you handed us over to those guards…”

“You didn’t have any reason to trust me,” she said, turning to stare daggers at the woman. “You still don’t. I still don’t like you. I would still rather see you dead than alive. But right now, I want Amon Sur more than I want any of you.”

As they punched buttons, screens and monitors fuzzed to life in the air around the chair. Jade stopped them and pointed to one.

“We might not be in such bad shape after all, everybody,” she said, watching the monitors showing the action outside. “It looks like the cavalry came.”

In the space around the Black Circle fleet, a dozen Green Lanterns appeared in full glow, their rings dragging an asteroid field behind them. Stopping just at the edge of the line of drone starcraft, they let loose the asteroids to smash against the ships before they could begin stripping their rings of power. As the rest of the fleet mobilized, the Lanterns were already grabbing debris and asteroids for another salvo.

“I’m being contacted,” Jade said, opening her power to the room so everyone could hear what was being said. “Could you repeat that, please?”

“This is Honor Lantern Tomar Tu, hailing all Green Lanterns in the immediate vicinity,” Tomar’s voice echoed out to them. “We’re here to bring down the Black Circle. Hang tight for an extraction.”

“Tomar, I am so glad to hear your voice, right now,” Katma said. “There’s just one problem… the leader of the Black Circle has Hal in custody.”

“I don’t suspect that’ll last very long,” Tomar laughed. “But I’ll put a rush on the extraction just in case…”
_______________________________________

As they landed at the bottom of the emergency escape chute, Hal was already swinging. His fist caught Amon completely by surprise, twisting his head and stunning him. Hal pushed away and tumbled backward, coming up to his feet in one easy roll.

“Thanks for being so predictable,” Hal smiled, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth. “I was hoping you’d make your escape while that girl was monologing. I’m guessing this is your private control room? You have some kind of convenient escape pod or something?”

“You’re clever, Jordan,” Amon smiled back, rubbing his jaw. “I’m glad we get to finish this alone.”

“So am I. But we better make it quick – Jade’s going to be able to cut her way to us before long.”

“It’s already over,” Amon smiled. “Remember what I said before? I don’t need to kill you myself – I just need to know it’s been done.”

“What do you…” Hal began, then saw the light glowing all around him. He turned quickly and blasted with his ring, but his power was deflected by a glowing yellow shield.

“Hello, Jordan,” Sinestro sneered.

“Son of a… you’re working together?” he said, ring flaring brightly as he tried to think of a way out of this mess.

“Of course,” Sinestro said, his power ring glowing more brightly by the second, as if he were powering up for something. “Who else could have provided the Black Circle with such intimate knowledge of a Green Lantern’s power ring and its limitations? Who else could have given him the Manhunter technology so he could build his power-draining weapons?”

“And this was all—it was all about me? You did all this so you could kill me?”

“Not at all,” Sinestro said, a small smile threatening the corners of his mouth. “I did it to teach you.”

Then the world went yellow and his vision went white.
_______________________________________

The explosion was so sudden that they were all taken by surprise. Golden light erupted from below them, hurling them across the room. Jade used her power to catch herself, but couldn’t react fast enough to catch the others. G’nort landed nearby and she scooped him up in an emerald net.

“John!” Katma called out, looking for where he’d landed. Her eyes widened when she realized that the blast wasn’t any simple explosion – it was growing. It was like a living ball of sickly-yellow death, expanding and destroying everything it touched.

She tried to get up, but her leg was caught beneath an overturned pillar. She pushed with everything she had, but it was barely moving. She screamed, her cries barely audible over the sound of the widening ball of destruction, and her trembling arms began moving the pillar an agonizing inch at a time.

Then it seemed to get lighter and move faster, and she looked beside her to see Yrra lifting and pushing with her to free her from the rubble. With an animalistic roar, Yrra finally hefted it off and dropped it away from Katma’s legs.

“Can you stand?” she asked. Katma tried and found she barely had the strength to sit upright.

“I—I don’t think so,” she wheezed. “Where is John? Ca—can you see him anywhere?”

Yrra looked around, her eyes sweeping the room and taking it all in with a single glance.

“He must be on the other side of the blast,” she said.

“Find him,” Katma said.

“Do you want—“

“I want you to find him!” she shouted. “I’m not important; I’ll find a way clear. I can crawl if I have to. Do not help me while he’s still out there!”

With a nod, Yrra vanished into the swirling cloud of debris warping around the growing yellow ball of death. Katma winced and cried as she dragged herself away, hands pushing against the metal floor as she tried to put distance between herself and the blast radius. She wasn’t going to be fast enough…

“Need a hand?” Jade asked, scooping her up in an energy field. “Where are John and the girl?”

Before Katma could answer, the outer bulkhead of the room gave way and the room was opened to the vacuum of space. Air roared out along with chunks of metal, cloth, and furniture. The yellow blast grew faster as the room became a torrent of destruction.

G’nort started anxiously pulling on Katma’s arm and pointing ahead. She followed his paw and saw a shadow growing closer against the backlighting of yellow. Propelling herself forward by pushing off of the pieces of the room that were cracking apart, Yrra was leaping toward them one durasteel floe at a time.

Jade reached out with her power to catch the girl, but at the last moment the floor beneath Yrra gave way and she slipped backward. With less than a moment to think, she threw John forward to be caught by Jade’s emerald energy. The air was sucked from her lungs like a fist to the chest as she twisted backward and was sucked into the glowing yellow ball of destruction and death.

“No!” Katma shouted, and Jade was flying forward to grab her, but she had already disappeared in the blast.

Jade wasn’t letting go. She set her jaw, closed her eyes and reached out for Yrra. When she opened herself to the Starheart within her, she was amazed to find Yrra positively alight with sympathetic power inside the blast radius. It was like a pool of fresh water in a desert; precious and rare, but constantly being drained away by the environment around her.

Reaching in with her power, Jade pulled the girl out. Sparing no time to check on her, she tightened and reinforced the protective wall she made around her friends and blasted out of the ship. She spared only a single look back as they left, watching as the ship was completely consumed by the sickly yellow light and exploded in a fiery conflagration in space.

“Is she alright?” Katma asked, looking down at Yrra.

“Yeah,” John said, shaking his head. “Somehow… she’s made it. It’s bad, but—she’s gonna be okay. She’ll make it.”

Tomar caught up with them at the outer edge of the battlefield, delivering a power battery so Katma and G’nort could finally recharge. At full strength, they looked out at the war before them – the Green Lantern Corps against the Black Circle Syndicate.

“It’s time to end this,” Tomar said.

“Couldn’t agree more,” Katma nodded. Her ring sheathed her legs to protect her wounds and broken bones, but she didn’t need functioning legs to fly. She didn’t need them to fight – she was a Green Lantern.

Leaving Jade to protect John and Yrra, the other three Lanterns charged into the fray.
_______________________________________

It was a long fight, but by the mid-point it was clear that the Lanterns were going to win. The thing that remained unclear, and grew more troubling as the battle went on, was that there was no sign of Hal at all. Even after it was all over and the Lanterns were combing the debris for lifesigns, they found plenty of Circle members to be arrested and detained, and even some Circle prisoners to be processed and returned to their homes and families – but there was no sign of Hal Jordan to be found.

His friends stayed long after, desperately trying to find any sign – any piece of evidence they could for what had happened to him. The fact that whatever had detonated inside the flagship had completely disintegrated most of its hull and the people in its radius left a terrifying possibility in the air that couldn’t be disproven any more than it could be verified.

It took the Guardians sending Salaak as their representative to investigate the scene himself before the case was officially closed.

The Guardians declared Hal Jordan deceased.

The case was closed. No further investigation would be permitted.

All that remained was to prepare his funeral…
_______________________________________

It was silent and black, too far from any sun to have more than distant starlight to see by. As Hal opened his eyes and tried to gather his bearings, he saw Sinestro and Amon Sur floating before him and remembered everything.

“Alright,” he said, coughing. “You got me alone, now. But if you wanted to ask me on a date, you’re going about it the wrong way…”

“Jokes,” Sinestro sneered. “You always deflect a serious situation with poor humor. For all that you’ve gone through, you still haven’t changed. Well—if you can’t find change, then it will find you.”

“I don’t even know what that means,” Hal rolled his eyes, buying time to take stock of his situation. It was bad; his ring was running on backup reserves, which wasn’t nearly enough to engage in a fight with Sinestro, let alone with Amon Sur and his power draining gear. But what was Amon’s part in this? Yeah, he’d been working with Sinestro from the start to get his hands on Hal’s neck, but what now? They were alone in the middle of nowhere and Sinestro was holding using his ring to support Amon and entrap Hal. What was the game?

“What happens now?” Amon asked, apparently as unsure as he was.

“Now… the lesson begins,” he said, moustache twitching. “Jordan has a path to walk, and this is the first step. When it ends, he won’t be the same person. When it ends, everything will be different – for everyone.”

“Aren’t—hold on!” Amon said, wanting to grab Sinestro, but unable to reach through the yellow power-bubble that kept him alive in the vacuum. “The deal was I trap him, we kill him!”

“No,” Sinestro said, not bothering to look at the red-skinned man behind him. “The deal was that I give you the means to capture him, and then I would take care of him. And that is precisely what I’m doing.”

“This is it?! After everything I went through, after all these years of work—everything I went through for this moment, and he doesn’t die?”

“No. That would be too easy. What happens next is something… much worse.”

Hel felt the energy around him shifting. Something was about to happen, and he was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be good.

“So—what, then?” he asked. “I’ve got stuff to learn, so what – are you taking me to school now, Sin?”

“Something like that. But I won’t be your teacher. Not this time. I leave that to the hands of others. Goodbye for now, Jordan – until we meet again. I look forward to the things you will unleash, but know that I do this because it must be done. I am beyond taking pleasure in any of it.”

“Yeah, sure… that makes me feel just—“

In a flash, the yellow light launched him away like a shell from a cannon. Warp space. Amon had no idea where he could have gone, but he couldn’t help but feel that the completion of a lifetime of unfinished labors was just taken from his grasp forever.

“Do not worry, Amon Sur,” Sinestro said, turning to him at last. “I am not here to deny you your birthright. You have proven yourself worthy to wield a ring of power – but it will not shed green light.”

He held out his hand and a golden ring drifted out into the space between them.

“Welcome to my Corps…”

To Be Continued…

Sorry I took so long. Well at least I got those last couple of turns in. It was a swing from almost nothing to a decent haul. Thanks a lot Mike for putting up with the long delays!

Individual:
[8] Hal Jordan (V Cr Green Lantern) 2 TXP
[7] LE Jennifer Lynn-Hayden 1 TXP 3 IAP
[9] Katma Tui (B:A Batgirl) 2 TXP 1 IAP
[14] John Stewart (E Arwyn) 3 TXP 2 IAP
[3] G'nort (V Con Artist) 3 IAP

Guests:
[5] R Fatality

Team
[46] 11 TXP, 2 TAP

KO’s
Circle Captain (V Dum Dum Dugan [Skrull]) 75 pts.
Circle Lieutenant (E Jarvis) 36 pts.
Field Commander (V Hydra Officer) 24 pts.
Commando "Yella" (R Hydra Footsoldier) 14 pts.
Commando "Zodo" (R Hydra Footsoldier) 14 pts.
Sniper "Agatha" (E SHIELD Sniper) 22 pts.
Sniper "Bertha" (E SHIELD Sniper) 22 pts.

Total: 207

Total (207)/4 = 51.75 TAP = 51 TAP = 12 TXP 3 TAP

Totals for this game:
Individual:
Hal Jordan (V Cr Green Lantern) 2 IXP
LE Jennifer Lynn-Hayden 1 IXP 3 IAP
Katma Tui (B:A Batgirl) 2 IXP 1 IAP
John Stewart (E Arwyn) 3 IXP 2 IAP
G'nort (V Con Artist) 3 IAP

Team
24 TXP, 1 TAP

End of Arc Rolls:
Hal Jordan (V Cr Green Lantern) 4 IAP = IXP
LE Jennifer Lynn-Hayden 3 IAP
Katma Tui 1 IAP
John Stewart 6 (Nice!) and 4 IAP = 2 IXP and 2 IAP
G'nort 4 (Good for him!) = 1 IXP

Old Totals:
V CR Green Lantern 8 IXP, 2 IAP (165 points)
* With Force Field
E Katma Tui 48 IXP, 0 IAP (137 points)
V Leg Jade 4 IXP, 3 IAP (111 points)
R G’nort 18 IXP, 1 IAP (88 points)
E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re) 16 IXP, 2 IAP (127 points)
Green Lantern (CJ) John 9 IXP, 1 IAP (90 points)

Team: 99 TXP 3 TAP

New Totals
V CR Green Lantern 9 IXP, 2 IAP (166 points)
* With Force Field
E Katma Tui 50 IXP, 0 IAP (139 points)
V Leg Jade 5 IXP, 3 IAP (112 points)
R G’nort 18 IXP, 0 IAP (88 points)
E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re) 16 IXP, 2 IAP (127 points)
Green Lantern (CJ) John 10 IXP, 1 IAP (89 points)

Team: 124 TXP 0 TAP

Team size calculation:
V CR Green Lantern (Hal) 157
* With Force Field
E Katma Tui 89
V Leg Jade 107
R G’nort 70
E Tomar Tu (Tomar Re) 111
R CJ Green Lantern (John) 81
Total= 615 Round down to 600
Squad Size = 600/2 + 50 = 350 point squad

Things are calming down here. I should start to be more regular.

'Twas my pleasure to play the bad guys, ALC. I can be very patient when it comes to certain things, like the RPSC...

I wish you the best with the new domicile -- and can't help but wonder what it's like for a Midwestern fella to be living in Asia...

Don't forget your end-of-arc bonuses, ALC! You could get a nice boost.