 | SHIREA VAAS | BIOGRAPHY |
| Created by Christopher Moeller |
Shirea Vaas; Art by Christopher Moeller
PERSONAL DATA
Occupation: Green Lantern
Homeworld: Penumbra
Space Sector: Unidentified
Race: Ghoji
Group Affiliation(s): Green Lantern Corps
Gender: Female
Eyes: Green
Hair: Black
First Appearance: JLA Classified: Cold Steel #1 (2005): "Chapter One – The Hidden World"
Creators: Christopher Moeller
HISTORY
A space faring species, the Ghoji had wandered the stars for countless generations as refugees. They adapted to the weightlessness but this left their physical forms quite delicate and fragile. Massive robotic armatures were created to help them with tasks. After untold years of traveling, the Ghoji eventually found a world to call home. Hidden deep within the Lagoon Nebula approximately six thousand light years from Earth, the planet Penumbra was to be their paradise.
Nearly a generation ago, an aggressive species called the Voruk arrived on Penumbra to build a colony. A species of water breathers, the Voruk based their technology on biological modifications and used slaves for work as well as sustenance for their ships. Their living warships descended into the ocean depths. It was not long before the Voruk rose from the sea to enslave the Ghoji in a bloody massacre which tortured and devoured untold numbers of Ghoji. Despite the Voruk show of force, the Ghoji would not work for their oppressors. It would have meant the complete destruction of the Ghoji had this seemingly harmless, pacifist species not possessed the means to harness the energy of their bodies to fuel a violent psychic attack. Called "Shai-Tar," the attack would forever scar their Voruk enemies with pain and madness as well as infect any Voruk they came in contact with. The Ghoji sacrificed themselves by the thousands. Many of the Voruk invaders were effectively crippled by Shai-Tar. As the effect of the Shai-Tar spread amongst the Voruk those who had been involved with the occupation of Penumbra were banished from the rest of their race.
Three years after their arrival the Voruk left Penumbra but not without taking vengeance on the Ghoji. The leader of the Voruk "Banished Squadron," Mhak-Lord Gordoruk, ordered the Infinity Coil to be unleashed on Penumbra. Tapping into the planet’s gravity well, the coil was designed to keep everything on the planet in timeless stasis for all eternity. Similar in concept to the Voruk star drives' gate technology, in which two points of reality are hooked together for an instant allowing passage through the gate, the Infinity Coil hooks a singular point in reality back upon itself. Since the Infinity Coil gate would never close, a temporal paradox was created. The brief time compression felt during space travel became ongoing and planet-wide. Though Voruk technicians had warned Gordoruk the coil was inherently unstable, he would not let the Ghoji Shai-Tar go unanswered.
The Ghoji that escaped Penumbra before the Coil was activated lived in hiding from their Voruk enemies. They carved out the inside of an asteroid and turned their attentions inward. Those that had been maimed on Penumbra but had not sacrificed themselves in Shai-Tar were considered cowards, beneath contempt to the rest of the Ghoji. It was from within this society that arose Shirea Vaas. Considered by some to be the greatest Ghoji in living memory, Shirea Vaas challenged Ghoji customs she thought unfair or harmful. It is said by her followers that she would have been queen had she not joined the Green Lantern Corps. Now wielding a power ring, Shirea Vaas returned to Penumbra to free her people, but was overcome by the effects of the Infinity Coil. She would remain in stasis on the planet's surface for twenty years.
The Voruk technicians had been correct in their advice to Mhak-Lord Gordoruk. The wide spread corruption in the Penumbra gravity well was increasing. Nearby systems were experiencing distortion events and the unwinding of the time/space matrix threatened dimensional implosion. The Ghoji-in-Exile were aware that the Infinity Coil must be shut down or it would mean the end of everything. Ghoji Councilman Genshi Mian, a follower of Shirea Vaas, organized an expedition to seek out the Green Lantern Corps for assistance, only to find the Corps was no more. It had been destroyed by Parallax. Genshi Mian and Tsaru Kar were escaping a Voruk scout ship when they encountered the Justice League on Earth's moon. A member of the Justice League, Kyle Rayner, was one of the few remaining Green Lanterns and would do anything in his power to aid a fellow ring wielder. The League did not want to get dragged into a war, but they decided to help rescue the Ghoji from the Infinity Coil.
On Penumbra, trapped in the timeless stasis of the Infinity Coil, Shirea Vaas believed she was dreaming of Green Lantern Kyle Rayner. In truth, Rayner was with the Justice League within the Ghoji asteroid. He had contacted his fellow Green Lantern through her power battery.
To prevent being trapped on Penumbra, the Ghoji modified their robotic armatures to carry the massive shield generators needed to protect the operators from the effects of the coil. Each member of the JLA would operate a robot enhanced by Batman and Ghoji technicians to match their individual powers and fighting styles. Each would have a Ghoji technician accompany them to co-pilot the massive construct.
Arriving on Penumbra, they came under attack by the Voruk as well as a species of shadowy, snake like creatures somehow brought to Penumbra by the effects of the Infinity Coil. The coil was no longer generating the gate, it was containing it. The creatures wanted to destroy the coil, but the League was preventing them. Kyle Rayner was able to find and revive Shirea Vaas and together they paired their rings' energies into holding the gate from tearing open.
To break the paradox, the gate would need to be hooked somewhere else. The only star drive massive enough to do so was the Voruk God-class dreadnought the God-of-Storms, but the living ship would not allow itself to be destroyed. To force the nine hundred year old ship to sacrifice itself, Tsaru Kar's would use Shai-Tar while Mhak-Lord Gordoruk piloted the God-of-Storms. The massive blast swept across Penumbra. The snake creatures were gone.
The destruction of the Infinity Coil meant the revival of life on Penumbra. Time could now move forward and presumably the Ghoji-in-Exile returned to their world. It can be assumed Shirea Vaas remained on Penumbra for a time to help her people rebuild their lives. What her status is now that the Green Lantern Corps has been restored has yet to be recorded.
POWERS AND WEAPONS
As a Green Lantern, Shirea Vaas possesses a power ring and power battery.
CHRONOLOGY
For a definitive list of appearances of Shirea Vaas in chronological order click here