These mechs were incredibly expensive to build, though they did have real advantages. The only downside was that smaller nations couldn't manufacture them on their own—but for the military and government, that was actually a plus.
The group exchanged glances and quickly reached consensus. "We'll take three of the same model."
Both sides tacitly avoided discussing pilots. The military had taken her brainwave simulator long ago and was already selecting elite candidates from the lower ranks. None of that was Thea's concern.
The field demonstration was a complete success. The other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council each ordered one unit.
Their intentions weren't hard to guess—they'd buy one and reverse-engineer it to extract Thea's technology.
Unfortunately, their plan had a critical flaw: Earth was too small, and resources were finite. Gideon had calculated that if global resources were fully integrated, they could build about eighty of these giant mechs. But global unity? That was pure fantasy.
Even under optimistic assumptions, if every major power operated at full industrial capacity, fifty units would be the limit. No major power could tolerate others having them while they went without. Even for pure arms race purposes, they'd have to grit their teeth and keep up. When that moment came, resource scarcity would force them into the space age.
After a period of lying low, Thea's subordinates and the Sinestro Corps lived up to expectations, secretly taking control of the Ibn Trade Consortium. They now completely controlled six of this neutral merchant alliance's fifteen planets and could influence several more.
The machine soldier rebellion had devastated this consortium that prided itself on neutrality. At the critical moment, the Sinestro Corps showed up as 'saviors' and pulled the Ibn Trade Consortium back from the brink.
These merchants who navigated between various powers weren't fools. To balance the Sinestro Corps' military might, they cultivated another force to oppose them—a mercenary organization led by Deathstroke...
They had no idea both groups shared the same boss and smugly played their balance-of-power games.
By controlling this interstellar commercial alliance, Thea effectively had the resources of dozens of planets at her disposal. Earth's politicians could only dream of cutting her out.
...
Time flowed onward, and Thea's life gradually settled into routine. The resilient people of Metropolis cleared away the rubble from their homes and resumed normal work and life.
Thea was also reviewing her gains and losses from the Doomsday battle. Many of her prepared contingencies hadn't been needed, suggesting she'd underestimated her own strength.
However, the battle had exposed plenty of issues. She'd used the emotion of fear to wield the Holy Sword—a fundamental mismatch.
The Holy Sword could accommodate fear-based energy, but this negative emotion still canceled out much of the sword's power. Thea wasn't happy about that.
Finding a positive energy source became an urgent priority.
Logically, the Green Lantern's courage would be perfect for powering the Holy Sword, but Thea's Yellow Lantern identity was awkward. On another level, she didn't want to be controlled by the Guardians.
Rage, avarice, fear, will, hope, compassion, love.
The first three of these seven emotional spectrum energies were negative. The middle one—will—wasn't currently an option. That left Thea eyeing the last three.
Love should be beautiful, but the emotional spectrum's concept of love was too grand—both good and bad could be described as love. That ambiguity didn't sit well with Thea's rational side.
That left only hope's Blue Lantern and compassion's Indigo Lantern.
Considering that Ganthet and Sayd had left Oa and were forming the Blue Lantern Corps, rushing over there to demand leadership was essentially suicide. Ganthet couldn't beat the Spectre, but beating Thea wouldn't be too difficult. The Blue Lantern option was out.
The only remaining choice was compassion's Indigo Tribe. She'd originally planned to have secretary Macy try it, but the Holy Sword had solidified her thinking. Instead of just taking one Indigo ring, she now wanted to swallow the entire Indigo Tribe.
They had no particularly powerful Guardian backing them, and their own combat capabilities weren't high. Their survival depended more on secrecy.
The Indigo Tribe was a covert force established by Abin Sur to prepare for the ancient prophecy of Blackest Night.
Their planet had always been unknown to outsiders. Fortunately, Thea had worn Abin Sur's ring and knew this planet's coordinates.
After handling Earth's affairs, she flew toward the target coordinates alone, bringing no one.
"What a godforsaken place..." After several wormholes, she finally reached this planet Abin Sur had called Nok.
The planet wasn't large, and its climate had nothing to do with comfort. The planet was illuminated by weak light from some kind of plant. The air was filled with impurities—ordinary Earthlings couldn't survive here without oxygen masks.
The humid climate left her long coat covered in fine water droplets. The ground was muddy and difficult to traverse. Thea, who'd originally planned to scout covertly, could only fly into the air and survey her surroundings.
This planet showed traces of once having a prosperous civilization. A vast building complex spanning hundreds of thousands of square miles formed a single interconnected structure, with massive artificial constructions occupying nearly half the planet's surface.
But now it was all abandoned. The ruins still proclaimed the glory this place once possessed.
Thea gave it a cursory glance—she wasn't here for archaeology. She was contemplating a more practical problem. Her memories about the Indigo Lanterns were sparse—she only knew they were mysterious and friends of justice, but specifically how mysterious or how just, she had no idea.
As she pondered, an indigo flash passed and three figures blocked her path.
The leader was a woman—Indigo-1. Her skin was purple like a violet, and her aura seemed insubstantial. Most striking was her forehead, which bore the Indigo Tribe's symbol. Yes, they called themselves a tribe, not a corps.
A circle with two lines extending outward from top and bottom, forming two arrows. Thea wasn't well-versed in symbology, but she vaguely felt it represented caring and giving.
Unlike the abstract symbol of the Sinestro Corps, the Indigo Tribe's symbol was simple and humble, conveying compassion, charity, and caring for others through self-sacrifice.
The woman appeared silently and soundlessly. Behind her stood two burly men—well, they could be called "men" if you ignored that one had four arms and the other had an eagle-like head.
All three held pipe-like long staves that could serve as weapons or recharge their rings.
In her memories, they were extremely skilled at teleportation. Seeing them now confirmed it. Thea, who had some expertise in teleportation herself, hadn't initially detected any trace of their arrival. Though they were using ring power, this seamless teleportation impressed her greatly.
Both sides sized each other up. Thea faced a dilemma before speaking.
What language did they speak? She had no idea. English was out of the question. Using her Yellow Lantern ring for translation wouldn't be appropriate—after all, she wasn't here to pick a fight.
After some thought, she decided to lead with cosmic common tongue.