The stars burned cold in the void above Altair-7, a jagged mining planet that spun like a cracked gear in the galaxy's forgotten machinery. Kael Varn leaned back in the cockpit of his battered scout ship, Razor's Edge, the hum of its engines a low growl beneath his boots. The asteroid field ahead glittered with promise tungsten deposits, maybe even rare xentium if he got lucky. His scanners flickered, painting the rocks in shades of green and amber, but Kael's eyes were on the horizon, where Altair-7's rings cast shadows like claw marks across the void.
"Another day, another dive," he muttered, cracking his knuckles. The job was simple: tag the richest asteroids for the mining guild, dodge the pirates who'd gut him for a single crate of ore, and get paid enough to keep his ship's fuel cells from coughing their last. It wasn't glamorous, but it was his.
The comms crackled, spitting static. "Varn, you reading me?" came the gravelly voice of Taz, his guild contact back on Altair-7's orbital station. "Got a priority ping. Big haul, sector 9-K. You in?"
Kael grinned, the kind of grin that belonged to someone who'd flown too close to death and liked the view. "Taz, you know I'm always in. Send the coords."
"Already did. And Kael? Watch your six. Rumor is, Crimson Blades are sniffing around out there."
"Pirates?" Kael snorted, adjusting his flight harness. "They'll have to catch me first."
He punched the coordinates into the nav, and Razor's Edge surged forward, weaving through the asteroid field with the grace of a drunk dancer. Kael's hands danced over the controls, his instincts sharper than the ship's sensors. He'd been flying these runs since he was sixteen, dodging guild politics and pirate traps alike. Altair-7 wasn't home it was just where he parked his ship but out here, in the black, he was king.
The scanner pinged, locking onto a massive asteroid in sector 9-K. Kael squinted at the readings. "Xentium, huh? Jackpot." He angled the ship for a closer pass, but a flicker on the edge of his screen made him pause. A shadow, too smooth to be a rock, darted between two asteroids. His gut tightened.
"Crimson Blades, my ass," he muttered, flipping on the ship's targeting array. "Show yourself."
Before he could lock on, a blast of green light erupted from the asteroid field, bright enough to sear his retinas. Kael yanked the controls, banking hard as the shockwave hit. Razor's Edge groaned, alarms blaring as the hull took a beating from flying debris. He wrestled the ship into a spin, narrowly dodging a chunk of rock the size of a house.
"What the hell was that?" he shouted, heart pounding. The scanners were useless, overwhelmed by interference, but through the cockpit canopy, he saw it a figure hovering in the void, wreathed in emerald fire. Humanoid, maybe, but glowing like a star about to go nova. Green armor shimmered around them, and at their side, a ring pulsed with light.
Kael's jaw dropped. "No way. A Green Lantern?"
He'd heard stories everyone had. The Green Lantern Corps, guardians of the galaxy, wielding rings that turned willpower into reality. They were legends, the kind of thing you whispered about in dive bars, not something you stumbled across in a backwater like Altair-7. But there they were, floating in front of him, and they looked... hurt.
The Lantern's glow flickered, their body slumping as if gravity had suddenly remembered them. Kael's scanners caught a faint distress signal, coded in a frequency he didn't recognize. He hesitated. Every instinct screamed to get out, to leave the glowing stranger to their fate. Lanterns meant trouble big trouble. But then the figure turned, and through the haze of light, Kael saw their face. Alien, with angular features and eyes like dying coals. They were reaching out, their hand trembling.
"Damn it," Kael growled, slamming the throttle forward. "Hold on, glowstick."
He maneuvered Razor's Edge closer, ignoring the alarms screaming about hull stress. The asteroid field was a death trap, and whatever had hit the Lantern was still out there. He activated the cargo bay's grapple, aiming to scoop the figure before they drifted into a rock. The Lantern's glow dimmed further, their body going limp.
"Come on, come on," Kael muttered, sweat beading on his brow. The grapple locked on, and he hauled them into the bay, sealing it tight. He didn't have time to think about what came next another blast of light tore through the field, this time red and jagged, like a wound in space. A ship, sleek and spiked, emerged from the shadows, its hull painted with the Crimson Blades' sigil.
"Pirates with laser cannons. Great." Kael spun the ship, diving behind an asteroid for cover. The red blast had been too precise, too powerful for a standard raider. Something was wrong here, something bigger than a quick score.
The comms crackled again, but this time it wasn't Taz. A voice, cold and metallic, cut through the static. "Surrender the Lantern, human. Or we burn your ship to ash."
Kael's hands froze on the controls. They knew about the Lantern. This wasn't a random hit they were hunting. He glanced at the cargo bay feed on his monitor. The Lantern was slumped against the wall, their glow barely a flicker now. The ring on their finger pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
"Yeah, not today," Kael said, more to himself than the voice. He flipped the ship into a corkscrew, dodging another red blast that obliterated the asteroid he'd been hiding behind. Razor's Edge wasn't built for combat, but it was fast, and Kael knew how to make it dance. He wove through the field, pushing the engines until they screamed, aiming for the open void beyond Altair-7's rings. If he could lose them in deep space, he might have a chance.
The pirate ship followed, relentless, its weapons carving trails of fire through the black. Kael's mind raced. Why did they want the Lantern? And why was a Green Lantern, of all things, bleeding out in his cargo bay? He didn't have answers, but he knew one thing: he wasn't about to let some pirate scum take his ship or his unexpected passenger.
A proximity alert blared the pirates were closing in. Kael gritted his teeth, prepping for a desperate jump to lightspeed, when a new sound filled the cockpit. A low, resonant hum, like a tuning fork struck against the stars. He glanced at the cargo bay feed again, and his heart skipped.
The Lantern was standing.
Their glow was faint, but their eyes burned with purpose. They raised their ring, and the hum grew louder, vibrating through the ship's hull. Kael didn't know what was happening, but he felt it a surge of something primal, like courage given form. The Lantern's voice, weak but steady, echoed through the comms.
"Human... protect... the ring."
Before Kael could respond, a green pulse erupted from the cargo bay, washing over the ship. The scanners went haywire, and for a moment, the asteroid field vanished, replaced by a vision of stars stretching into infinity. Then the Lantern collapsed again, their glow snuffed out like a candle.
Kael blinked, shaking off the daze. The pirate ship was still on his tail, but the green pulse had thrown them off, buying him seconds. He didn't waste them. He slammed the jump drive online, praying the coordinates he'd punched in weren't about to send him into a star. Razor's Edge lurched, the stars blurring as the ship tore into hyperspace.
When the universe snapped back into focus, Altair-7 was gone. Kael slumped in his seat, adrenaline burning through his veins. The pirate ship hadn't followed at least, not yet. He checked the nav: they were in uncharted space, a dead zone between systems. Safe, for now.
He unstrapped and stumbled to the cargo bay, his legs shaky. The Lantern lay motionless, their alien features slack. Up close, Kael saw the damage cracks in their armor, burns across their chest. Whatever they'd fought, it had been brutal. He knelt beside them, unsure what to do. He wasn't a medic, and this wasn't exactly a human with a scraped knee.
"Hey, uh... you alive?" he said, wincing at how dumb it sounded.
The Lantern's eyes fluttered open, locking onto his. Their voice was a whisper, barely audible. "The ring... it chooses."
Kael frowned. "Chooses what?"
The Lantern's hand twitched, and the ring on their finger flared, bright enough to make Kael flinch. A voice not the Lantern's, but something deeper, ancient spoke from the light.
"Kael Varn of Earth. You have been chosen. The ring seeks a bearer of great willpower. Will you accept its burden?"
Kael froze. The ring was talking. To him. He laughed, a sharp, nervous sound. "You've got the wrong guy, buddy. I'm just a pilot."
The Lantern's eyes held his, unyielding. "The ring... does not err."
Before Kael could argue, the ring slipped from the Lantern's finger, hovering in the air. It spun, glowing brighter, and then shot toward him. He stumbled back, but there was nowhere to go. The ring slid onto his finger, cold and heavy, and the world exploded into green.
Kael woke to silence. He was sprawled on the cargo bay floor, the Lantern's body still beside him. The ring hummed on his finger, its light steady now, like a heartbeat synced to his own. He sat up, head pounding, and stared at it. The metal or whatever it was felt alive, whispering possibilities he couldn't yet grasp.
"What the hell just happened?" he muttered.
The Lantern was gone, their body still but their spirit extinguished. Kael didn't know how he knew, but he felt it the ring had moved on, and somehow, it had picked him. He wasn't a hero, wasn't a guardian. He was a guy who flew too fast and mouthed off too much. But the ring didn't care about that. It had chosen, and now he was in deeper than he'd ever been.
He stood, flexing his hand. The ring pulsed, and a faint green aura flickered around his fist. He didn't know what it meant, didn't know how to use it, but he knew one thing: the pirates were still out there, and they'd wanted the Lantern. Now, they'd want him.
Half a galaxy away, on the planet Oa, Lirra Syn stood before the Central Power Battery, its emerald light casting her shadow across the chamber's polished stone. She was a Lantern, one of the best, her telepathic mind a blade honed by decades of service. But today, her thoughts were troubled.
The Guardians, ancient beings who oversaw the Corps, had summoned her. Their voices, calm but edged with urgency, echoed in her mind. "A Lantern has fallen. The ring seeks a new bearer. But there is more, Lirra Syn. A darkness stirs, one we have not seen since the Corps' founding."
Lirra's mandibles clicked, a habit when she was uneasy. "What darkness, Guardians?"
They hesitated a rarity that chilled her. "The Voidveil," they said at last. "It consumes. It corrupts. And it knows our weaknesses."
Lirra's grip tightened on her ring. She'd fought wars, faced monsters, but the Guardians' words carried a weight she couldn't ignore. Something was coming, something that threatened not just the Corps, but the universe itself.
"Find the new Lantern," the Guardians commanded. "Guide them. Protect the ring. And beware, Lirra Syn the Voidveil is already watching."
She nodded, her resolve hardening. Whoever this new Lantern was, they were about to get a crash course in destiny. And Lirra Syn, for all her scars and doubts, would be there to make sure they survived it.
Back in the dead zone, Kael Varn stared at the ring, his reflection distorted in its surface. The pirates would come. The galaxy would notice. And he had no idea what he was doing. But for the first time in his life, he felt something bigger than himself, something worth fighting for.
"Let's see what you can do," he said to the ring, and the green light flared in answer.