Green Lantern (1960) issue #198
Fun Fact: When Tomar-Re died in Crisis on Infinite Earths he passed his ring on to John Stewart. This was more or less done to elevate John from backup status to full GL alongside Hal and Guy, but it does also imply a closer relationship between Tomar and John, which led to the following story idea...
Under normal circumstances, news of Xanshi's destruction would have spread quickly through the Corps. Billions of innocents snuffed out in an instant by the reckless arrogance of a human. But in the midst of the Anti-Life Equation's threat, even the annihilation of an entire planet was not something that anyone had time to dwell on. And in the aftermath, most of the Corps were simply too relieved at the universe's continued survival.
Most, but not all.
John Stewart stood in the antechamber outside of the Guardians' council chamber. The only noise was the tapping of Salaak's busy fingers on his monitoring panels. Neither of the Green Lanterns spoke. It seemed pointless to, given the circumstances.
"Ah, John. I thought I might find you here." Tomar-Re's voice broke through the silence, startling John.
"Tomar, I-" John swallowed and squared his shoulders. "Yes. I've come to turn in my ring and resign from the Corps."
"Because of what happened on Xanshi?" Being a Xudarian, Tomar-Re did not possess eyebrows to raise, but John had known him long enough to recognize the tilt of his head and slight widening of one eye to be an equivalent expression.
"Yes." John said. "It... It's the right thing to do."
"Hmm." Tomar-Re did not respond immediately, instead turning to the administrator. "Are the Guardians busy?"
"They will likely be occupied for some time." Salaak responded crisply, not even looking up from his station.
"Good. Come with me, John." Tomar-Re did not wait for an answer, instead turning on his heel and striding out of the antechamber. John considered protesting for a moment, but then quickly followed after the elder Lantern.
"Where are we going, Tomar?"
"To the Archival Opticon." Tomar-Re replied, stopping at a door and tapping at it with his ring until it slid open with a pneumatic hiss. He led John inside the room, which contained an array of complex machinery.
"What is all this?"
"The Guardians of the Universe rarely need the assistance of tools to look across the cosmos. But on the occasions they need to show others, this is the equipment they use." Tomar-Re went over to the largest machine in the center of the room. "Opticon. Display mission log 2813-S257."
The device made a whirring noise, then the top slid open to reveal diodes that lit up to create a hologram of a younger Tomar-Re using construct hands to claw through the surface of a barren planet and gather minerals into a containment bubble. As the recording continued to play, the present Tomar-Re spoke.
"Over twenty of your Earth years ago, I was tasked with stabilizing a planet with an unstable magnetic core so that the inhabitants could have time to evacuate. Toward this end, I went to the neighboring star Ariel and gathered as much stellarium as I could. But I was careless."
The holographic Tomar-Re cried out suddenly as a blaze of light washed over him, falling to his knees and clutching at his eyes.
"Ariel itself was in its death throes, and I did not take enough caution. The light from the nova eruption blinded me temporarily, forcing me to fly to Krypton by radar guidance alone."
"Krypton?!" John exclaimed in surprise. "You mean, you were-"
"Yes, I was the Green Lantern who failed to save Superman's people." Tomar-Re pointed at his holographic duplicate, who was now flailing blindly through an asteroid field. "Had I not been so careless, I might have arrived in time to save the billions of lives that were lost in that terrible tragedy."
John thought he understood then, why Tomar-Re had brought him here, and he shook his head. "I appreciate you telling me this, Tomar. But I... it's not the same as what I did. I was cocky and tried to take out the bomb alone when I didn't have to. You did everything you could to save Krypton. If the star hadn't gone nova-"
"If, if, if. There are a million ifs in a man's mind- and not one in his actions." Tomar-Re made a clicking noise with his beak- the equivalent of a snort for his species. "I failed Krypton as surely as you failed Xanshi. And like you, I sought to resign from my post, believing myself to be unworthy."
"Why didn't you?"
"One of your predecessors, Abin Sur, convinced me not to. He told me of his own failing early in his career, when he could not stop a telepathic plague from wiping out the Desert Dwellers of Ma'aleca'andra, which you know as Mars."
John inhaled sharply. "The Green Martians."
"Yes. Abin considered it to be his greatest shame. So he understood my shame completely, as I do yours. And what he told me then, I now repeat to you."
"These rings we wear, they grant us many powers. But the ability to alter the past is not one of them. Ma'aleca'andra and Krypton and Xanshi? That was then. This is now. And so long as you continue to wear this ring, you can atone. But if you give it up, then you also give up on the billions of lives you will save in the future."
For a few long moments, John twisted the power ring on his finger. Then he nodded and hurried back to the antechamber, Tomar-Re following after him. "Salaak. I need to withdraw my resignation."
"I take it Tomar-Re talked some sense into you?" The administrator didn't even look up from his monitoring panels. "Good. If every officer who made an error in judgment resigned, we'd be constantly training rookies who make more mistakes out of inexperience."
"Pragmatic as always." John sighed. "Thanks for the pep talk, Tomar. I'd better get back to my sector."
"It takes courage to admit your own failings, John." Salaak finally stopped typing and looked up from his screens. "But it takes even more courage to seek redemption afterward. Katma would be proud of you."
"I..." John stumbled at the mention of his late wife. He'd forgotten that she and the Corps administrator had been close. "Thank you, Salaak."
"Get going, Stewart." Salaak returned to tapping away at his screens. Once John had left, he looked back up at Tomar-Re. "Excellent work, Tomar-Re."
"Just passing on Abin's wisdom." Tomar-Re hummed, "Shouldn't you be telling the Guardians that John will be staying?"
"I never told them of Stewart's resignation in the first place." Salaak let out a low warble- a noise that few of the Corps had ever heard, for it was how Slyggians laughed. "I was counting on you to get through to him."
