Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Beginnings-- A Story by EDE

Wow, lots of things happening here.

A mystery girl.
Vidar as President!
And just what happened to the Legion, anyway?

That's what I'd hope to fit into this section, but couldn't find room.

I wouldn't worry about it. It adds to the suspense.

I agree with Arachne...

Well, then, it's a fortunate accident, I suppose... I hope the answer is worth the wait...

The next section returns to Graym, and we meet a new character, as well as an old one...

IV.

Graym noticed the girl watching him, and was uncomfortable. He had hoped to preserve anonymity for the duration of the flight, to keep to himself as much as possible. She was cute, however. Her hair was long and black, and her skin slightly pale. She reminded him of Lydda Krinn, wife of Rokk Krinn, the president of Braal who had long ago founded the Legion alongside his parents. Lydda was Kathooni, born on the world of perpetual midnight. Maybe this girl was as well?

The girl was traveling with someone, a plump, older man who silently scolded her for staring at Graym. He seemed somehow familiar, like someone from his parents' holos... could it be?

“By damn!” R. J. Brande thought. “The boy has recognized me!”

“Well, you might as well go introduce yourself now,” he said to his companion. “You've drawn attention to us.”

The girl moved to the seat next to Graym, which had remained unoccupied since leaving Winath.

“Hi,” she said with a smile. “My name is Kleanna. I've been looking forward to meeting you.”

“Is that...?” Graym asked.

“Yes, it is,” Kleanna answered as her smile widened. “He'll want to talk to you when we land, but for now you and I should get acquainted. We're going to be wonderful friends, you know?”

“I don't understand.”

“It's our destiny. I'm here to help you find your brother.”

“How do you know...?”

“Shhh... they'll be plenty of time for that later. What's your favorite movie?”

“What?”

“Your favorite movie, silly. We're supposed to be getting acquainted.”

“I've always liked "The Cosmic Cloud that Swallowed Earth'.”

“I like the older holos as well...”

R. J. Brande watched as the two continued to chat. He was feeling very old, and very tired. He hoped the girl was all she was supposed to be. He'd sure as hell payed enough to get her off Ventura. He didn't really buy into all this prophecy nonsense, but there was no way he was going to leave her in the custody of the Venturan slave-traders. And if she was right... well, he owed it to his son to at least find out. And, so far, everything she'd said had been reasonably accurate. And now here was Graym. He remembered when the boy was born. He was feeling old even then. What would he say to the son of the two kids who'd saved his life all those years ago? What could he say to the child of the living embodiments of his craziest dream ever? And could this really be the start of a new phase in the dream?

“By damn, I'm getting too old for this,” he whispered to himself.

Curiouser and curiouser.

V.

Hari watched as the crowd gathered in Weisinger Plaza. This is the third riot he'd witnessed, but the first he'd been this close to. The rhetoric of the rioters was a vague jumble of complaints that seemed to lack any coherent theme. There were the standard “Earth for Earthers” slogans, and calls for better jobs at higher pay, but mostly the people seemed to be rioting just out of a vague sense of unease. They were angry at the United Planets; they were angry at the Vidar administration; they were angry at the Science Police; they seemed to be angry at anyone in a position of power. Hari wondered why.

His brother had been a Legionnaire. One of the Lost. That of course was the New Legion, the one that had been formed to protect the citizens of Earth when it was merely a collection of cities that had survived the Destruction. The Old Legion had disbanded several years before, and despite a brief reunion to participate in the liberation of Earth and the final defeat of two of their greatest enemies, Mordru and Glorith, most of its surviving members had dispersed to a wide variety of careers throughout the United Planets. A number had entered politics. Some were active in law enforcement. A few were running successful businesses. Several had disappeared into almost complete obscurity. Most were raising families.

The new Legion had been lost merely a week after Jag joined. No one knew exactly what had happened, only that they had been protecting the U.P. consulate on Earth from the Fatal Five, a collection of some of the most ruthless thugs in the galaxy, who had been among the greatest adversaries of the Old Legion. There had been a massive explosion, and only the body of the Legion's illusion-caster Kid Psycho had been found afterwards. Neither the other Legionnaires nor the Fatal Five had been heard from since.

Hari wished that he could say that he missed his brother, but they really hadn't been that close. Jag had always been the family's pride and joy. One of the brightest young scientists Zwen had produced in quite awhile, or so they said. Not only smart, but handsome, athletic, and sociable. When he answered the call for the best and brightest super-powered teens from throughout the United Planets to try out for the Legion, it was no surprise that he'd impressed them as much as he'd impressed everyone else. By contrast, Hari had always been more of a loner. He preferred to observe events rather than participate in them.

The S.P.'s seemed to be keeping today's riot under control quite well, but he could tell they were cautious after the incident yesterday. One of their number was still hospitalized with burn wounds. The holo-news was pretty vague on exactly what had happened, but Hari had pretty much surmised what it must have been. He knew the girl would be trouble when he'd met with her. His report to his employer had indicated that she was certainly unstable, though probably not a major threat. He hoped he was right.

And yet something felt terribly wrong. He couldn't identify what it was, but the sudden sense of foreboding made him wish that he was anywhere but in Weisinger Plaza at this place and time. Inwardly he cursed the recession on Zwen that made him come to Earth to seek employment. He hated this planet. He hated his job. He hated having to constantly second-guess people and their motivations. It was so frustrating that everyone seemed so disingenuous. He just wished he was certain who he could trust, who he could depend on to be straightforward with him. He feared the crowd of people around him, and just wanted to get away.

He managed to control his desire to flee, and to slowly walk away from Weisinger Plaze. As he turned a corner, his mood began to lighten. He walked into a local café, ordered some Kono juice, and began to compose his report on his omnicom. His employer would be glad to know there was no serious trouble associated with today's riot.

More mysteries. I'm looking forward to reading what happens next. (A Zwenian, hmm? Interesting.)

VI.

Ivy had enjoyed playing moopsball, but was enjoying walking home in the rain with Ami even more. It was a gentle shower, nice for washing the sweat off. Ami was funny, that was one of the things she liked about him. There was a sort of kindness in his brown eyes as well. He was a great friend, and she was glad to have met him. They often stopped by the Nine Planets on their way home, and she wondered if he would suggest it today.

“Jillian was playing pretty aggressively today,” Ivy said.

“Yeah, I think he needs learn the meaning of "a friendly game'.”

“I think something was bothering him. Trouble at home perhaps?”

“Maybe. His family's pretty crazy.”

There was a pause in the conversation.

“So, I was thinking about going to see "Last Chance on Thaun' this weekend,” Ami said. “Would you like to come?”

“Sure, I'd love to!” Ivy responded.

The grass shouted out a warning to her seconds before the lightning struck. She tried to push Ami out of the way as she moved herself, but it was too late. As she hit the ground she saw him collapsing. She thought he was still breathing, but wasn't sure. As she rolled over she saw the creeper vines coming off the wall to attack their assailant. Her friends were trying to protect her.

“Ga... Garridan?” she muttered as she identified the figure struggling in the vines. She wondered why her best friend in the galaxy had just attacked her.

She watched as he broke free of the creeper vines. “Where did he get such strength?” she thought. She managed to struggle to her feet. She thought about running, but this was her best friend.

“Garridan?” she called out as he slowly advanced towards her.

The sound of her voice seemed to make him pause. He looked at her, or, rather, seemed to look through her. Something else else in his eyes was just not right. They glowed with energy. She expected another burst of his “mental lightning”, but instead he turned. And then he flew. She didn't know how, but he flew away.

She ran over to Ami. He was still breathing, and his pulse seemed fine. She called the Medtechs, and they quickly arrived. They seemed to think he would be okay, but would need to be hospitalized for a couple of days for observation.

She thought about Garridan. What the hell was going on with him? She knew she needed to find out. He was her best friend, after all.

Excellent as usuall, EDE.

Great story, Eryk! Needless to say, that's not Garridan attacking Ivy (or is it?). I loved the twist at the beginning.

Another great chapter, EDE. Can't wait for what's yet to come.

VII.

As they landed at Metropolis Spaceport, Graym wondered what R. J. Brande would say to him. He'd learned a great deal and yet very little about his new “friend” Kleanna on the way here. They'd discovered a number of common interests, yet he still knew very little about who she was and why she seemed to know so much about him and his quest to find his brother. He'd hoped that a chat with Brande would enlighten him.

Once they disembarked from the ship, however, Brande seemed very eager to get down to business.

“The first thing we'll need is to employ the services of someone who can help us locate your brother,” Brande said. “And I happen to know of a little detective agency that should work...”

It was a short hover-taxi ride to the Rockfish Detective Agency. As R.J., Graym, and Kleanna entered the office, they were met by a tall, handsome man in his early twenties whose complexion and features, not to mention the wings sprouting out of his back, indicated that he was a descendant of the Amerindian settlers of the planet Starhaven. He seemed a bit surprised when he saw them.

“By damn, Greybird! It's good to see you!” R. J. exclaimed.

“And you as well, Mr. Brande. But I find your unexpected arrival a bit disheartening. If we had known you were coming, we would have made better preparations to welcome you. As it is, my sister is currently absent on a case.”

“Ahh... that's a shame. How's she doing, these days?”

“Her wings have completely regrown, and the scars are almost healed, but she is still suffering from nightmares. She visits Drake quite frequently, and I think that helps.”

“I wish I could do more for that boy...” R. J. began.

Just then a strange metal object, like some abstract sculpture of a model spaceship, came flying out of the back room.

“Whoooppeeeee!” came a voice from the metal object as it began circling R. J. repeatedly.

“Get this dab-blasted thing to settle down, will you!” R. J. shouted.

“Quislet!” Greybird called.

The tiny spaceship flew over to Greybird's shoulder and hovered.

“But Quislet loves reunions of old friends! So much fun!” came the voice from the ship.

Graym knew that Quislet was an interdimensional traveler, an energy being from a micro-dimension that had joined the Legion for awhile before being exiled back to its own dimension when its spaceship was destroyed. It had been rescued from imprisonment by its own race by Celeste McCauley, the founder of Rockfish Detective Agency, in an effort to save the life of the Legionnaire Drake Burroughs, whose own anti-energy body was in danger of permanently decomposing. While they had only partial success, they had managed to stabilize Drake's condition for the time being.

“Unfortunately we're here for more than just a reunion,” Brande explained. “We need to hire you...”

Greybird and Quislet, probably the last two characters I expected to show up. Nice twist.

{"Her wings have completely regrown [...]"}

Thank you.

Nice to have a new job, too. I look forward to finding out what I'll make of it {g}

VIII.

As the girl sat in the small cell, she noted just how uncomfortable the neck brace that nullified her meta-human talents was. But besides the itching and the restrictions on neck movement, there was a feeling of heat boiling up inside her, and being completely unable to release it. She thought about how she might escape. No clear plan seemed available, and even if she could get out of the Science Police detention center, there was still the problem of how to safely remove the neck brace.

She wondered how badly she had hurt the Sci-Cop. They really shouldn't have been hassling her. Dumb Sci-Cops. The one who'd been in here a couple of hours ago lecturing her on “getting her life straightened out” was the dumbest of them all. Who the sprock did he think he was? And why did he pretend as though he cared?

Things might have been different had she and her mom won the paternity suit. But the Legionnaire had friends in the upper echelon of Earthgov, and it had gotten pretty much nowhere. Her mom had died when the Earth blew up. Sandy was on her own after that. She'd made out okay thus far.

She heard the noise coming from the hallway, like some sort of struggle was going on. Two blows and her door was ripped open. There stood a young woman dressed in a black body suit, a black mask covering her face. She carried what appeared to be an archaic weapon, some sort of spiked ball attached to a handle.

“I've got the key to your brace,” the new girl says. “I'll free you.”

With that she waved the small device near Sandy's neck and the neck brace popped off.

“Thanks,” Sandy said. “Who are you?”

“Black Mace,” the girl responded. “My employer sent me to free you. He's been very interested in you for quite awhile.”

Sandy quickly decided she go with this “Black Mace”, to find out who her employer was. As they quickly left the detention center, Sandy noted that her rescuer had apparently taken out the entire squad of Sci-Cops on duty at the detention center, as well as disabling a number of crimebots who'd been guarding the prisoners.

“We've got to hurry,” Black Mace told her. “It won't be long before more Sci-Cops show up.”

They rushed out of the detention center, boarded a hover-cycle that was parked outside, and took off. A Sci-Cop landcruiser was quickly in pursuit, however. A couple of well-aimed laser bursts disabled the engines on the hover-cycle, causing it skid to the ground. Before the cycle had stopped moving, Black Mace had leapt off it, flipped, and was facing the oncoming cruiser. She jumped again, high in the air, spun around once more, and landed on top of the cruiser. A few well-aimed blows from her weapon quickly brought the Sci-Cops to the ground as well. The officers staggered out, and a quick kick took one of them down as she used her weapon to deflect the beam from the other's raygun. As the officer tried to fire again, she found her gun melting in her hand, and quickly dropped it. Sandy had controlled her heat nicely to avoid actually hurting the Sci-Cop this time, though she felt the temptation to simply burn her. Another quick kick from Black Mace and the second Sci-Cop was down. Within seconds Black Mace had managed to rewire the engines of the hover-cycle, restoring power to them, and the two were back on their way.

Another twist and more questions. I love it.

This is lots of fun EDE! Great stuff, keep us guessing!

Black Mace! Wow talk about a blast from the past. Are you bringing Sandy to meet a revivied Taurus Gang? Maybe with GiGi as its leader since pre-boot it was headed by Science Police Chief Zoltorus (hence the interest in Sandy?)

And about that paternity suit? Seems to me I recall a rather frolicsome male Legionnaire back in the day!

I could keep guessing all day but I can't wait to see what you have planned next. This is great EDE!

Damn, I like the GiGi leading a revived Taurus gang idea so much, I wish that's what was going on!

And anyone who has read the early issues of v4 carefully will note that the paternity suit in question is actually mentioned therein.

EDE!!! I've been stuck at the office with Quislet for six weeks now! This is getting frustrating {g}

Seriously, I hope you've had a chance to let another installment percolate and slowly brew.

I've been meaning to get back to this. I promise a new section tomorrow!

EDE : LOVE the Story!!
Please keep going!!!

Make that early this week! And I promise you'll get out of the office, Grey!