From the trenches

[guy_lantern]

"...WE'VE GOT A SNIPER!!!"

That was hours ago, and there's still trainee brains and blood on his face.

It's a bad situation and it could have been worse. He doesn't do 'scared' but Guy is grim. The rookies are spooked and there are too few of the vets around to bolster their morale

Comments

[toraolafsdotter]

*ping*

Tora's head whips around at the sound. She'd been pacing the apartment, home after spending the day with Beatriz.

Green Lantern Guy Gardner on the line for you

"Put him through, please." Trying not to sound relieved, and failing miserably.

"Guy?"

[guy_lantern]

Something in his shoulders unclench when he hears her.

"Hey hon." The relief in his voice is apparent as well.

"I'm really missin you right now."

[toraolafsdotter]

"It's good to hear your voice, Guy. You sound..."

Tired.
Unhappy.
Angry.

"You sound exhausted."

[guy_lantern]

He really is. It just now caught up with him how much.

"Tough day at the office."

Gurneys bearing the wounded and dead float past nearby.

He sits.
"Real tough."

Earth seems even farther away than usual.

Shortly..

[beware_my_power]

Hal wanders into the barracks, nodding when he spots Guy there.

"Stel's going to make it. The advantage of artificial life, I suppose. He's none too happy that Mongul ripped his limbs off, though."

Re: Shortly..

[guy_lantern]

Well there was some good news. Guy was pretty sure Stel had been put down for good.

He finds a place to sit and gestures to a cooler nearby. The last six beers on Oa reside there. Well, five now. He's got one of 'em already.

"What's he gonna do fer arms now? Kin Soranik put 'em back on? or do we need a mechanic?"

Re: Shortly..

[beware_my_power]

"Kilowog can handle it, I think he's helped Stel out before."

He moves to the cooler, ringing the lid open, and picking up a beer the old-fashioned way.

"We lost a lot of rookies out there, and as near as I can tell, all Sinestro wanted was Parallax."

Re: Shortly..

[guy_lantern]

Parallax.
Crap.

"Well that sucks." Eloquent as ever.

He takes a draw on the dark beer, looking at nothing in particular.

"Ya know the evil eggplant's got some sorta plan, right?
Any idea on where he's holdin up?"

[last_lantern]

Kyle was a latecomer to the impromptu summons, arriving only a few minutes before Soranik, and he has remained almost totally silent up until now, arms crossed over his chest, standing apart from the group, back pressed up against the barracks wall.

"This is insane," Rayner finally says, the opaque eyelets of his mask turning first to Hal, then Guy. "The only reason I'm still here listening to this is because you're my partner, Guy."

No, he shouldn't be arguing with his fellow Honor Lantern in front of the rook, but this was a harebrained scheme of the highest order, even by Guy Gardner's standards. In truth, Kyle agrees with Kilowog and Stewart.

"Sinestro is going to have the entire area around Qward monitored so heavily that he'll notice if a few stray quarks are out of alignment," Kyle continues, pushing away from the wall and taking a few steps toward the other Lanterns. "Surprise will be on our side for about thirty nanoseconds before Captain Eggplant knows we're there. This is suicide."

[guy_lantern]

So of course Guy is only encouraged.

"See??!! Totally unexpected! It's only suicide if we blow it."

[last_lantern]

"So, what's your goal, then, Guy?" Kyle asks, stepping a little closer to the group, his eyes narrowed behind his mask. "We ride in like the Magnificent Seven and grab Parallax right out from under the noses of a few thousand of Sinestro's Corps? That's not just crazy, it's impossible."

Then he jabs a gloved finger in Soranik's direction, keeping his eyes focused on Guy. "And now you're going to drag a damn rook into this? This is beyond crazy, it's freaking irresponsible."

A pause, and then he says something that he really knows he shouldn't. "What would Tora think of you going off half-cocked like this?"

[guy_lantern]

"Hey Natu's not a rook anymore. Not after this. 'side, nobody's draggin her anywhere. She volunteered.

Sinestro's playin fer keeps, we gotta do tha same or he's gonna come out on top in the end. I didn't say this wasn't dangerous, but unless we go outside the box Hal's ex teacher is gonna be settin the pace. We gotta shake up the playin feild."

Kyle's last query stings and the shade of Guy's face nearly matches his hair.
"Tora doesn't know about this. She does know I've got a dangerous job though, just like I know the same 'bout her as a Leaguer. "

Temper rises and he grits his teeth. Getting up, he's maybe but a few feet from Kyle.
"Ya know why Sinestro won't see this commin?
It's cause he's thinkin we'd be too scared.
Will beats Fear in my book."