Sentinel was stuck playing defense. The attacks were coming so fast he had no chance to plan a counter attack. All he could do was fight to Survive. This Sinestro had the combat skills of an assassin. The Sentinel had been playing businessman too long. He wasn't ready for this. He was at a loss.

Captain America and the Batman were trapped in a bubble of green energy. Cap's shield couldn't make a dent in it. "There seems to be no way through this." He grabbed his JLA communicator. "This is Captain America. Report on signal. Priority Beta Red."

Batman studied the field and tried to come up with a possible escape. He looked up at the fight. "Sentinel isn't doing well."

"He's a good man. Don't underestimate him. I've seen him do amazing things. He may pull it out."

"Mister sunshine," the Dark Knight said. "I wish I had your optimism."

"I wish you did too," Cap countered.

Sentinel was on the ropes when he spotted someone else. It looked like another Green Lantern. Oh no! Two of them! I'm in deep trouble!

Nearby, Hal Jordan had arrived. He hovered, observing the situation. He recognized Captain America, Batman, and Sentinel. They were heroes he admired. Whoever this purple guy was who was fighting them, he was the bad guy. Besides, the purple guy was wearing a Green Lantern costume. If Abin Sur was telling the truth - and it sure looked like he was right on the money - the Green Lanterns were not nice guys. Hal's morality, as well as his love of adventure, compelled him to join the fray and help the JLA.

Hal hesitated. He wondered about letting people see that he had such power. Copying his heroes, he created a small mask for himself, enough to make his identity questionable. He charged into battle, excited.

Sinestro was started when his force field was hit from the side by a green energy beam. He turned and spotted the human with the power ring. "Who are you, human? How did you get that ring?"

"I am . . . Green Lantern!" Hal said. "And I inherited this ring from Abin Sur!"

'Ah! I see." Sinestro said. "He passed it off, did he? Foolish to give such a weapon to a primitive."

"I may be primitive, but I've got the same ring as you do," the Earth Green Lantern said. "En Gard!"

Sinestro smugly prepared for the new Green Lantern's attack, but he was hit from the rear. He had forgotten about the Sentinel. The two ring-wielding Earthmen hit Sinestro from opposite sides. But Hal was a novice and the Sentinel was fatigued. Sinestro created a dozen duplicates of himself who converged on the two humans. They were surprised, allowing Sinestro to counter attack. He was skillful and vicious enough to hold his own against both of his opponents. They fought to a draw.

Soon, however, the stalemate was broken by the arrival of J'Onn's team of JLA members. Thor threw his hammer, which hit Sinestro's force field with staggering impact. Sinestro was rattled. The Martian Manhunter tried to get into Sinestro's mind, hoping to disorient him. Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman, Iron Man, and Icon attacked from various sides.

Sinestro couldn't believe the power they possessed together. It was clear to him that even he couldn't defeat all of them. He decided to retreat and come back with reinforcements. He shot off for the heavens.

"I'll see you again, my terran friends," he said. "And as for you, Green Lantern, the Master won't let you keep that ring! Your life is counting down quickly to extinction."

He laughed as he darted away, vanishing from sight. Cap ordered the team not to pursue. He needed to consider things. The orb surrounding him was gone. It was time for a conference.

Captain Marvel studied the worm creature that the Green Lantern had found in Abin Sur's hand. "I've seen this kind of thing before. Doctor Sivana had one once. He claimed it came from outer space. It called it Mr. Mind and he used it to control people's minds. It affects the cerebral cortex and make people subservient."

"That's useful. Thank you," Captain America said. "Why would Abin Sur have one of those things?"

Green Lantern scratched his head. "Abin Sur said that he got freed from a worm parasite. Some sort of gas killed it. It may have been controlling him."

"Making him a pawn for this Master of his," Batman said. "Logical."

"Taking that logic further, the whole Green Lantern Corps may be controlled by those worm things," Vision said.

Giant-Man nodded. "It's sensible to assume that there are a lot more of those worm things. Enough for the whole Green Lantern Corps, however many of them there are." "Then that's the weakness we were looking for," Iron Man said. "We get rid of these worms, and the Master loses his army."

"I should remind you all that this is just a theory," Icon said. "We really don't know anything yet."

"But it is a sound premise," Wonder Woman said. "My instincts tell me we should follow this path."

"If it's good enough for Wonder Woman, it's good enough for me," Firebird said, agreeing with her idol.

"I'd rather go after the GLs than hang around here and wait for them to hit us first," the Flash said.

"Aye, the clarion call of battle doth ring in mine ears," Thor cried. "I volunteer to undertake this task!"

"Then we're decided," J'Onn said. "We take the battle to the Green Lanterns and their Master!"

Sentinel stood up. "If Green Lantern will help me, I think I can trace Sinestro to his home base."

"I'll help," Green Lantern said.

"And I shall open a vortex to speed our winged charge!" Thor said.

"Fine then," Cap said. "My instincts tell me that we shouldn't leave Earth undefended. I'm wary of those Starfish things, and this talk of a Star Conqueror. I think its someone other than the master. We should split up. J'Onn, you'll take a team into space. Thor, Sentinel, and Green Lantern will go with you. Batman, you go too. Your insight will be invaluable. Vision, Giant Man, and Wasp will round out the team. The rest of us will stay here. I get the nasty feeling that something is coming, and we need to be ready!"

Sinestro used a wormhole to cut down his traveling time. He reached the planet Oa in less than a day. He had to report his failure to the Master. He wasn't looking forward to that. The Master didn't like failure. Sinestro hoped that the Master would take his record into account. He had never failed before. In fact, if not for Sinestro, the Master might never have succeeded in taking over Oa.

Unbeknownst to Sinestro, he had been followed. Sentinel and Green Lantern had managed to trace his energy. Thor had created an inter-dimensional portal that allowed them to reach Oa immediately after Sinestro did.

Sinestro sensed them and looked down, seeing them emerge from a portal on the planet below. He sneered, furious at their impertinence. "Presumptuous Earthmen! Now they've got me annoyed!"

Sinestro summoned the roving patrol of Green Lanterns who were assigned to protect Oa from invaders. They were led by Kilowog, the official drill sergeant of the Corps. He had three other, well-trained Green Lanterns with him. One was the attractive female Lantern called Katma Tui. With her were Tomar-Re, one of the Master's Honor Guard, and finally, the tiny Ch'p from Havlon D. The five defending Green Lanterns made a beeline for the seven JLA members who were determined not to be stopped.

Sinestro dived toward them, moving at ramming speed, turning his force filed into a giant ram's head. But he outwitted himself. Thor quickly used his magic hammer to open a portal to the anti-matter universe of Qward. Before Sinestro could stop his momentum, he found himself passing into the vortex. Thor closed the portal. "Twill take the varlet some considerable time to return, methinks."

J'Onn used his mental powers to disorient Tomar-Re. Since the ring operated on will power and concentration, his power fizzled. This left him vulnerable for punch from Giant Man's giant hand.

Batman stood on a rooftop, with his cape spread, catching the attention of Katma Tui. As she focused her attention on the Dark Knight, the Wasp distracted her by sneaking up on Tui and blasting her with a bio-sting. Katma was surprised. The double distraction of the Wasp and Batman allowed the Sentinel to hit her with a formidable blast. Her force filed was momentarily weakened. The Vision put his intangible hand through her body and solidified it. Katma Tui screamed and passed out.

Kilowog was battling Hal Jordan. Jordan was not doing well against the experienced Kilowog, until J'Onn assisted him. Soon, the others joined in. Even the formidable Kilowog couldn't stop this combined assault.

After Kilowog fell, the JLA members moved unhindered through the seemingly uninhabited Capital city of Oa. They were searching for the mysterious Master. Quickly enough - They found him!

The being known as the Master rose up from behind the glimmering architecture of the capital city. He towered over the buildings, immense in size. He was 200 feet high and clad in a colossal suit of futuristic armor. A shaded dome covered the giant's face. He carried a staff that was a tall as the Chrysler Building. He radiated a sense of power and was a daunting sight for even the bravest hero.

He spoke in a fearsome, echoing voice, "You have intruded upon my world and assaulted my personal guard. For this, you must face the unparalleled wrath of Terminus!"

The Starfish shaped leviathan landed off the coast of the British Isles. It was larger than some of the islands themselves. It caused massive floods over parts of England and Scotland. It opened its sole, monstrous eye. It was an eye the size of a city. No one on Earth had ever seen anything like the Star Conqueror!

It opened a pore in its flesh and suddenly, hundreds of thousands of smaller starfish - like the face huggers from earlier - were spit up into the sky. Carried off on the winds, they spread all over Europe. As they floated to the ground, they latched onto living things. They homed in on the faces of humans. Once the face huggers latched on, they controlled the minds of the victim.

Soon, tens of thousands of people were under the thrall of the hive-mind of the Star conqueror!