Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Re: Legion Worlds Seven (finished 27 July 21)

More soon as things will start to go wrong

oh Harbi, how brilliant, simply warping the whole laboratory into a cell! (also some nice character work on Gru Al Moothi, what an unsavory character!)

I love this practical approach

great acting from Solar Gorilla and team! Otaki's mind-sense is formidable here as well! great idea using their acting to catch other, uh, interested parties

loving all the practical approaches the teams are taking, with each playing a part. of course, things won't run smoothly for long - poor Titan's words! hee hee. looking forward to the next bit, as always!

Dirk's scene made me believe he could end up like his 5YL counterpart way more than anything in the comics leading up to that point ever did...let's hope it doesn't get to that stage! I do like how you brought up that the classic Legionnaires have been superheroes since they were young and how most of them haven't had the chance to develop career skills outside of that. We can't all be princesses and planetary champions, huh?

I really enjoy how professional and capable your Legionnaires are, it makes sense that most of them are so good at this that a lot of extraordinary things would be BAU

Tyroc ? Deputy Leader - Troy Stewart of Marzal city pocket dimension, sonic control
Glorith of Zerox - manipulation of magical energies
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic, creation of personal spherical force field
intern: Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg, split into three separate bodies, each with either strength and durability, speed and reflexes, or laser vision


The third and fourth gene-mod shops were neutralised just as quickly as the first two. Duplicate Girl led one of the missions while Lightning Lass had led the other. Both reported successes within a couple of minutes, without any major disturbances being recorded. The Legionnaires and interns on the ground in the streets around these establishments all managed to catch the staff and clientele, as well as the gang members that hung around as unpaid security.

Kid Quantum, XS and Cosmic Kid were at hand as Henry's warps brought them one after the other to the holding areas that had been built on Tarkon-Galtos to accommodate them. The dozen students at hand hoping to have a bit of the action themselves were not impressed that they were not asked to help other than to move those caught in the premises to their waiting cells. Jazmin probably didn't help matters much when, in an off the cuff manner, she described this chore to them as 'character building'.

The capture of the fifth and final planetary gene-mod shop didn't go so smoothly. This operation was set in an industrial estate in the city of Oldchurch, almost 500 klicks south west of the edges of the sprawling metropolis of Rimbor City. It was said to be on the site of one of the first settlements on Nu-australia when it had been established as a penal colony, centuries before Rimbor had become the world it is now.

Glorith was sat on a rooftop close-by, hidden by her distorter, muttering a spell of similarity that highlighted to her those with an active meta gene-mod. With concentration she sent this information through the shared flight ring generated telepathic matrix to her colleagues on the street below.

In the same large building not 50 yards away sat Jastor N'berru, a young member of the Black Street Boys, the local gang that were in debt to the owner of the gene-mod shop. He had never received any treatment to gain abilities, but then he didn't need to as by a quirk of fate he was born with a singular ability that would prove useful to his gang this night. Jastor was descended from a long line of warlocks and witches and so had inherited the ability to sense magic. He'd aware of this ability since he was eight and had been troubled by a traveling show that his family had taken him into. The Ringmaster's costume had glowed an unhealthy green, which he initially thought was part of the show, until he found out that no-one else saw it. His step-father was one of the Council of the local gang and used his connections to help figure out the boy's strange visions. It took a couple of years but eventually they discovered it was due to his sensitivity to the mystical. In his life he had seen the magical glow a maximum of three dozen times but tonight it was flaring in his eyes like never before on the roof above the Business the gang were protecting... Jastor knew he needed to investigate as, where anything to happen and the Council found out he had spotted something, he would regret his inaction. With a quick call to his gang, he rounded up half a dozen of them and they made their way to the spot where Jastor insisted he saw tendril of glowing green lights erupting from.

One of the gang members that had joined Jastor to investigate had received a gene-mod treatment making her able to mimic Tharrite cryokinesis. As they stepped onto the dark roof courtyard, she let out a blast of intense cold in front of her that coated everything in sight with a layer of biting frost. Glorith was aware that they had been approaching so was ready for the group and with a word that pre-dated known history and hand signal the Legionnaire rendered them all unconscious. Unfortunately, she was too late to stop the blast of intense cold from spreading over the rooftop and spilling down the walls of the buildings around them. Many of the gang members keeping a watch out saw that something had happened and almost immediately an alert was raised.

<Tyroc, I have been discovered> Glorith sent across the telepathic link.

<are you okay?> he replied immediately.

<of course,> Glorith sounded slightly indignant <though I do not believe it will have gone unnoticed>

<no, no it hasn't> Tyroc paused for a second <it's gettin' nasty here, you'd best get outta there>

Glorith could hear shouts and angry voices from the street below so cast a pall of darkness around herself and gently levitated up from the roof into the sky above. She would try to keep watch on the team below in case they needed her help.

On the street things weren't going so easily. The group of people from the local gang that were hanging around were already agitated by the sudden burst of cold that had crept down the wall when a security guard ran out of the entrance to the huge building where the gene-mod shop had set up shouting that the laboratory had vanished. That's when pandemonium erupted!

Tyroc told his team to remain calm, just act like everyone else and mingle in the crowds while trying to keep close to those that Glorith had identified as gene-modified. Unfortunately, the spell that had located these had been broken when Glorith had left the roof. As more and more people quickly took to the streets though keeping tabs on the half -dozen meta gang members became an almost impossible task.

<Glorith, can you put some sorta mark on those we need to catch?> Tyroc sent to the sorceress as she levitated a hundred metres above.

<Everyone shall see it once it's done> She counseled.

<Just do it, team get ready t' grab everyone with Glorith's sign, an' set y'r eco-protect to shelter you from sonics as I'm gonna do somet'in' loud. Glorith, you need to get into the shop too so we can all catch the warp out>

Tyroc took several deep breaths and, as Glorith had warned, glowing rings of light appeared above the heads of those with meta gene-mods. Several of the crowd started to panic, aware that they were somehow being marked, but before they could do much more the Legion's team leader let loose a tremendous howl that threw those nearest to him across the street.

As the team leader acted, Bouncing Boy charged up his force field and smashed into the largest person he could see with the tell-tale magical halo, throwing them towards the shopfront. In seconds Stoor had bounced his way into three of those marked by Glorith, throwing them towards where the team wanted them.

The majority of the crowd were cowering from the ferocity of Tyroc's attack, covering their ears and trying to avoid glass that had been shattered and was falling onto the street so Bouncing Boy's actions were mostly ignored as the resident's primal urge at that precise moment was to reach some sort of safety.

One of the guards from the gene-mod shop was a broad woman with dark blue skin that appeared to be untouched by the sonic assault. She saw through the crowd that Tyroc appeared to be whistling and the crowds were covering their ears and running in fear, so started to charge towards the Legionnaire. As she was aware the inter-gang politics of Rimbor could be sometimes life-threatening if one were to mis-guess an action she figured that if she was wrong no-one would notice in the chaos that was erupting around them. If she was right though she might get a promotion!

Tyroc kept up the modulating assault on the crowds senses unaware of the danger he was in. Thankfully one of the selves of the intern Triple Nova was close-by and noticed in time. While the strong self was hurling the gang members that Glorith had marked as gene-mod'ed into the shop doorway and his fast self slapped incapacity cuffs on them as soon as they landed, the self that had laser vision stood close to the team leader using his ability to temporarily blind anyone that got too close. The dark blue skinned woman charged through the crowd towards them and so Triple Nova pulsed a burst of intense light into her face. She shook her head, as if to clear it then continued. All the other gang members he had struck like this had been blinded and further incapacitated so the intern was momentarily taken aback. He quickly realised she must have a physical durability that would make any direct attacks ineffective. Instead, he directed his optic lasers to the ground at her feet, melting the ferro-concrete into a sticky heated hole. She fell up to her knees in it and yelled in pain as the intense heat scorched her. As she desperately scrambled to get free the young intern from Carggg ran up and slapped incapacity cuffs on her arm.

Tyroc saw what the intern had done and gave him the thumbs up before levitating across to the shop front where Bounding Boy and two of Triple Nova's selves were finishing cuffing the gang members they had caught. As far as Tyroc could see the only one that Glorith's spell had marked that wasn't in the now emptied gene-mod shop was the woman stuck in the melted ferro-concrete that had just been cuffed. He was quite prepared to leave her if it meant getting his team out safely.

<Glorith, can you come join us, we need to leave now> As he sent this message Tyroc saw the sorceress had taken the initiative to levitate towards the trapped guard and weave a spell that released her from the still bubbling floor. Triple Nova's strongest self bounded across and picked the unconscious guard up, slinging the blue skinned woman over his shoulder before flying back to the entrance of the gene-mod shop.

Tyroc was continuing to generate a loud disorientating screech that had the few people left in the surrounds desperately searching for cover.

<Well done for getting through that team, ah'm proud o' y'all> Tyroc slammed down the shutters of the gene-mod operation and stopped his howling. With a big smile he called on Henry to transport them to Tarkon-Galtos and the waiting Science Police.

It may not have gone as smoothly as they had hoped but at least they managed to close down another of these gene-mod shops. Although he didn't admit it, Tyroc was happy that they had been the last of the planetside missions, as had they been the first there would have been no way to stop word of what happened getting out to alert the other establishments...

Rimbor System Oort cloud:

Mon El ? Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Dawnstar of Starhaven - Senior Team member, space flight, incredible speed, tracking
Green Lantern - Dkyun Mu of Xudar, wearer of a Green Lantern power ring
Starkling ? telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user
Atomsmasher - Ergus Wraithcat of Betelgeuse, spaceflight, durability, hyper senses, telepathy, radiation manipulation

Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World Bases:
Power Lass - Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Captain Phantom - Senior Team liaison, Science Police Captain Gryal Vrizza of Bgztl Dimension, intangibility

interns:
Non - negative energy being - spaceflight, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, limited telepathy
Poltergeist -Jaun Vineo of Titan, alpha-level telekinesis
Impact - Dillon Blackstream of Myar, incredible strength, speed, durability, stamina, motion sense

While the gene-mod set ups had been targeted on Rimbor, Mon El's group in the Oort cloud had been preceded by Starkling.

The composite being had floated close to their target: a small planetoid that Mon El estimated was two thirds as big as Home Base. It been created almost a century before to be an exclusive spa catering for the uber-wealthy on the edge of Rimbor's Oort cloud. Over the following decades it had become something a lot less wholesome and currently it housed a gene-mod shop as well as a military-like training base for those with newly given meta-abilities. It was most likely central to Sa Lok's operation. That the corrupt former politician could have his own version of Home Base scared the team's leader. With the warrants signed by the Rimborian Senator and backed by the Science Police Tinya aimed to close it down as quickly and quietly as possible.

Starkling circled close enough to the planetoid to passively pick up thoughts telepathically. The team didn't want to scan the planetoid directly in case it had alarms for this sort of intrusion. Starkling's components were scattered across almost a klick of space as they slowly passed the planetoid. Any sensors should note them as a small shower of space debris so Lar was quietly confident that they would get the information they needed.

After several long minutes the composite Legionnaire reported that it could sense sixty-one beings within. This matched what Gear's nannites had reported. Atomsmasher could have confirmed if there were any doubts though the Wraithcat was not able to get as close due to sensor drones that swarmed near to the planetoid. Atomsmasher had though used its incredible senses to locate precisely where inbuilt weapons had been arranged around the small planetoid. Due to a high percentage of lead and other heavy metals in the original rock that this base had been carved into neither Mon El or Power Lass could see them with their enhanced vision. The Legionnaires now knew where to strike first to maximise their chances of completing the mission unscathed.

As Gear's nannites had sent through what schematics they could of this small planetoid the team where still not completely able to establish where the command area was. The nannites had managed to take full control of the life support control in the engineering section. On command they would switch off all lights and artificial gravity. The team each had their own mission, and Mon El hoped it would all be over in a matter of minutes...

The one problem was that there appeared to be an organic component to the control systems that ran the command deck. They assumed it was Dominion bio-tech from the details that the nannites had sent back. The risk of what could happen if they didn't attempt to take the base was greatly outweighed by the risk that they might not gain full control so the Senior Team had decided to go ahead with the mission.

Lar was waiting for the signal to say Henry was ready to spin a warp into the planetoid. Other than Starkling and Atomsmasher the rest of the team were stood around him in a crater on a nearby Asteroid, not much bigger than a Moopball pitch. As they had warped straight here, they were fairly sure they had remained unseen so far.

Southern Lights had approached all of the team that were going into the planetoid; in his hands were five long black hairs he had pulled out from his scalp. He wrapped a single hair around the right middle finger of Mon El, Captain Phantom, Power Lass, Impact and Poltergeist, assuring them as he did that this would keep them immune to the spell he would be casting when they arrived. Impact appeared a little bit anxious though the winged mystic reassured her with a gentle smile as he muttered the arcane words that would extend the protection to them.

<I probably won't be able to put them all into a slumber but at least those not asleep won't be fully awake either. It should slow them all down enough for you to have to face only minimal resistance. It's an exhausting spell so I'll only be able to hold it for a few minutes over the distances involved> Southern Lights smiled once more as he explained.

<You'll do fine> Mon El sent. The Daxamite gave a reassuring grin to Southern Lights and turned towards Impact. The young intern from Myar smiled back though he could tell she was worrying.

<Dillon> Mon El sent across a personal bandwith only shared between the two of them <Either the plan will work and we'll be in the clear in minutes, or it won't and we'll improvise. Either way we know how capable you are so take a deep breath and have faith in yourself... we do>

<uh, thanks Lar. I... I'm sure we'll be okay, I just... yeah, actually I was worrying a bit> She gave a quick embarrassed smile to the Daxamite; he nodded and smiled back reassuringly.

<you'll be fine, we all will> Mon El's flight ring vibrated - it was the signal he had been waiting for.

<Right, you all know what to do, let's get this place shut down> As the team leader sent this message Henry's warp spun into existence before the team and Mon El led the way into it.

Thanks for your kind words guys, they are appreciated.

More soon as Mon El gives some villainous characters a chance of escape, we meet a sort of new member of the cast, and Danielle to the rescue...

Hope you are all enjoying the summer (Though Raz, did you once say you are in Australia, in which case I hope you're enjoying the winter )

C

Heh, I sympathize with the students who felt a little let down by the exercise. Jazmin's tone-deaf remark was comedy gold.

The Black Street Boys! Oldchurch! You have such a knack for coming up with funny names that reference real life things.

Glorith's indignant "of course I'm ok", a nice touch of fire to the shy young lass (based on the canon characterization!) glad you added some fire to yours.

Nice look into the blue-skinned woman's thinking re "well, not much risk if I'm wrong, but great rewards if I am right!"

Love Bouncing Boy II's power in action! Bounce, off you go...

Triple Nova's unique Carggite ability is a great touch.

Tyroc's team still got out unscathed and with minimal damage/attention, nice outing!

Ooh, Mon giving some a chance of escape... part of the plan? Or, things going south? looking forward to more more more!

Dawnstar of Starhaven - Senior Team member, space flight, incredible speed, tracking
Green Lantern - Dkyun Mu of Xudar, wearer of a Green Lantern power ring
Starkling - telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Atomsmasher - Ergus Wraithcat of Betelgeuse, spaceflight, durability, hyper senses, telepathy, radiation manipulation

intern: Non - negative energy being - spaceflight, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, limited telepathy

Dawnstar signalled the Green Lantern, Atomsmasher and Non to follow her as she tore through space towards the planetoid.

The Green Lantern used her Oan power ring to generate a swarm of metre-long arrowheads that tore through the defensive drone network that surrounded the small planetoid. The drones were smashed in a wave of emerald destruction that ran around the small world on the dark edge of this system like a wave of primal force. Dkyun flew behind the wave collecting the debris in a sphere of energy that she then flung at a silo on the northern-most point of the small planetoid, blocking it from opening and discharging its deadly missiles.

Atomsmasher and Non knew their role on this mission was to destroy as many weapons as possible so they dived towards the planetoids surface just a ridge of x-laser guns, each as big as a workhorse rose up from the ancient rocks and began to turn to target the Legionnaires. The Negative Energy being tore through them at supersonic speed leaving a trail of exploding weapons in its wake. Phasing itself into the power conduit that led to the weapon silo proved to be simple; the conduit had shielding against the electro-magnetic spectrum but had no defense to Non's Negative energy form. As the intern reached a convergence of six of these power-supply lines it caused an explosion that rocked the base and effectively crippled the entire energy network that crisscrossed over the planetoid powering its weapons.

As Non dealt with these, Atomsmasher approached a large sensor array and stroked it almost gently with one of its whip-like tails. A trail of sparks followed the tail as the Wraithcat disrupted the electro-magnetic currents within the sensors - whomever had been watching them would now be blind. With its incredible senses Ergus was aware of another array hidden amongst the rocky surface so it flew across these nodes and continued to manipulate the ambient radiation around the planetoid to distort beyond any hope of usefulness any signal that the control deck had been receiving.

Starkling had assembled its disparate parts and crushed several Hyper K-cannons, leaving a debris cloud in its wake. The swarm of its parts flew towards the planetoids docking bay where it tore through the centre of the bay doors, buckling them out of shape and leaving them unusable. If there was anyone onboard that wished to flee or launch an attack from within, they would find themselves unable to leave. Inside the bay it encountered two people but within seconds it had knocked them senseless and reported to Dawnstar that its mission had been completed so it would enter the planetoid to help Mon El. She thanked the composite being and wished it luck.

Dawnstar flew under the planetoid, searching for any escape pods and vessels that tried to escape. Instead she ran into one of the inhabitants. Her senses alerted her just in time to avoid the burst of energy that flew at her. The winged tracked knew immediately what this meant; at least one of the inhabitants could transform into an energy form... The intern known as Strobe had been given similar abilities. Without a thought she few away from the planetoid, well aware that her immense speed was the only advantage she had and close to the small world she would be hampered.

She could sense the approaching energy being and with deft ease she twisted and turned back towards the small world she had just left. Dawnstar knew how to defeat this attacker, and the Legionnaire she had mentored would prove essential to this plan. As she expected, the energy being followed close behind her so the tracker from Starhaven made sure to follow a circuit with many sharp twists and turns to keep them from catching her as she approached Atomsmasher. The Wraithcat had sensed the flight that its former mentor was taking and sent a telepathic message to her that shared it was prepared.

As Dawnstar had hoped, the being blasting behind her had realised that they were unlikely to catch the winged tracker so, as they approached the planetoid, it switched targets to the nearest Legionnaire - Atomsmasher was floating several metres above a destroyed sensor array. Dawnstar twisted away from Atomsmasher and the energy being dived towards the Wraithcat. As it struck Ergus used its natural abilities to shred the radiation stream, tearing it apart into small streaks of light. There was a sudden explosive burst of energy and an unconscious naked man appeared; the attacker had not been able to hold his energy form cohesively after the Wraithcat had used its abilities on him.

Dawnstar whipped a set of incapacity cuffs onto the naked man's wrist and asked Henry for an urgent warp - the man would die in the vacuum of space if he was not immediately taken away from them. The honey and violet disc appeared close-by and Dawnstar unceremoniously kicked him through it.

Mon El - Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user

Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World Bases:
Power Lass - Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Captain Phantom - Senior Team liaison, Science Police Captain Gryal Vrizza of Bgztl Dimension, intangibility

intern:
Poltergeist -Jaun Vineo of Titan, alpha-level telekinesis
Impact - Dillon Blackstream of Myar, incredible strength, speed, durability, stamina, motion sense

Even before the whole team had crossed through Henry's warp Mon El had taken off one way while Power Lass sped away in the opposite direction. As they did, Gear's nannites struck in the engineering bay causing all lights to switch off and the planetoid's artificial gravity to stop working. The next few minutes would be confusing for everyone on board...

Mon El and Power Lass had sped off at hyper-velocity to the known locations of the largest groups within the sixty-one beings Starkling had sensed, each with a big pouch full of incapacity cuffs ready to use on them. Southern Lights took a step back from his colleagues and began his incantation. His mystical training allowed him to use a language that seems both too low and too complex to be made by the human mouth; with it he cast a spell of dreamless unconsciousness upon the entire planetoid. The spell itself was quite basic, it was keeping it in place over such a large area that was going to tax the young sorcerer. Impact was to remain close by and protect him as he kept his spell going. Her abilities include an ability to sense motion, with a range of only about ten metres but she was certain it would be enough... She desperately tried not to think about how frikkin' exciting and scary this mission was, though knew that when she got back to First Base, she couldn't wait to catch up with the other interns to share her experience. They had all gone through the Academy together and been placed in these positions with the team at the same time and so had developed a friendly rivalry whereby they would get together and talk after every mission to see whose had been on the most outrageous! Impact thought to herself that she was part of a team that was taking on a whole planetoid of meta-beings; it didn't get more outrageous than that, did it?

Captain Phantom took Poltergeist and they flew towards the command deck. Henry's warp had sent them to a point quite near to the centre of the planetoid and, from the information Gear's spying had given them, they knew the area that the nannites were unable to infiltrate was close by. They expected to have a fight on their hands though with the lights and gravity off and Southern Light's sleep spell in effect the two hoped that anyone inside would be disorientated enough that the Legion would have the advantage. Also, by the time they got there, ETA one minute, it was likely either Mon El or Power Lass would be back to help.

Several unconscious men and women were floating in the corridor ahead of them. The intern telekinetically strapped incapacity cuffs to their wrists as they passed; the spell wouldn't last indefinitely so better safe than sorry, he thought. Ahead of them, along the darkened corridor, they could see a large round door. There didn't appear to be any obvious way to open it but they both knew that wouldn't stop them.

Mon El - Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability

Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World Bases:
Power Lass - Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability

Lar Gand operated at speeds far beyond the human norm, so even the few beings he encountered that weren't completely unconscious were not given the chance to put up much resistance.

With the lights going out, the artificial gravity being turned off and Southern Lights' sleep spell all happening at the same time, the Daxamite quickly scooped up two dozen of the inhabitants of the planetoid and flew them to the large docking bay where the team had pre-arranged to dump their incapacitated prisoners, ready for Henry warp them out. Starkling was swarming through the door as Mon El approached. The Daxamite said 'hi' as he passed. Unsurpingly, there were a couple of unconscious bodies floating ahead of them - the composite Legionnaire had obviously dealt with them when it entered the bay. After quickly snapping incapacity cuffs on these two, Mon El turned and sped back out to find more.

On one of the lower levels, he encountered a small group that were struggling to stay awake. He stopped and observed them for a couple of seconds before one of them noticed him. The room they were in was obviously a target practice gallery of some sort and Lar was wondering what exactly they had been practicing as the team had struck. From what he could see, the far wall had been heavily reinforced though was covered in multiple scorch marks. It was a good idea, he thought, a d wondered if Lu a d Rokk had something like this on Home Base for the students.

An electric bolt exploded against the ceiling, illuminating the room for a second as one of the peoplepresent saw the Legionnaire. The group all turned towards Mon El and attempted to blast him - they had clearly been down here practicing their energy casting gene-mods. None of them got close.

<You actually going to deal with them, or do you need a hand?> Power Lass sent as she flew into the room behind him, her humour was obvious.

<Oh, I don't know... Yeah, y'know what I think I'll manage, thanks though> Lar turned to the Daxamite Science Police Officer and gave a smile and a mock salute. She smiled, saluted back and left the gallery at hyper velocity to look for other stragglers on these lower regions of the planetoid.

"Gentlemen..." Mon El said, "You are the nearest thing I've had to a challenge all day so what say I give you a three second head start?" Even as he spoke one of their heads dropped and they started snoring. "Oh well, you can't say you weren't given enough chances..." And with that Mon El had cuffed them and bundled them in front of him as he flew out of the room.

The Daxamite Legionnaire gave a rare grin as he left the shooting gallery.

Mon El - Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Babbage- I-45ENG/Nth Series, of the Robotica Confederated Worlds, strength and durability, internalised weapons, hyper awareness and analytical skills.

Support Staff on Legion World First Base:
Danielle Foccart - "Kid Computo", Technical support - technopathic communication and control over advanced technology


Mon El was feeling particularly happy with himself.

By his estimate they had caught all sixty one beings on the planetoid, had full control over the life support functions, Dawnstar reported her team had wiped out the weapon arrays that had bristled on the outer skin of this small world, and none of his team appeared to have been hurt, and all in a few minutes flat!

He knew that even two years ago this mission would not have gone as smoothly. Under Harmonia and tjen Tinya's leadership they had established a far tighter controlled group which utilized the experience of their most senior members, and this had translated into better run, safer, missions. Part of the process had been to allow the more junior team support and encouragement within a disciplined framework the team had developed through their shared life experiences; the mentor scheme had proven to be a success. The Legion had once been a club for super-kids that had been set up to stroke the ego of an unimaginably wealthy man. Now, with a lot more years' experience, a more open approach towards shared learning amongst the team and resources with other law enforcement agencies, and (it had to be admitted he included himself in this last part) a mellowing of some of the egos, the Legion had turned a corner and become something of a genuine force for good in the galaxy.

<Southern Lights, I believe that's everyone caught now so you can stop casting your spell. Good job there, by the way, it definitely helped> As he sent this Lar Gand hoped that they really had caught everyone. He knew though that there were enough Legionnaires on the base now that one or two stragglers would get caught quickly. After the mystic from Starhaven had confirmed that he was stopping the spell Mon El thanked him again and decided it was time to tighten their grip on this small world.

<Henry> Lar sent through the telepathic grid <Can you bring Danielle here. We would be grateful for her assistance>

A spinning violet and honey coloured warp appeared before the Daxamite. Babbage stepped through first, the Robotican nodded his head towards Mon El in acknowledgement, then Danielle Foccart stepped through. The young woman glanced around the dark corridor and wrapped her arms around her herself.

"They aren't happy we're here..." She said as she communed with the AI that ran this planetoid.

"You'll need to have a stern talk to them. thank you, Danielle." Mon El didn't expect a reply though he saw the edges of her lips curl up into a small smile.

"Are you okay staying here with Danielle?" He asked Babbage.

"This unit is present to ensure her protection while the planetoid is cleared." Babbage replied.

"That's great, I'll get Impact and Southern Lights to join you. I'm going to check to see if there're any stragglers and get Henry to warp them over to T-G for the Science Police to process. Take care and call if you need any help." And with that Mon El was gone in a blur of super speed.

Babbage sank part of its artificial consciousness into the ambient AI feed and was once again amazed at the deft skill Danielle exhibited. While the Robotican could easily slip past the security features, it could not manipulate the data streams in such a dramatic way like the young woman that was stood at its side. While part of its consciousness scanned the physical surrounds with radar to ensure they were not sneaked up upon, another was monitoring Danielle's progress as she scanned and remodelled the digital landscape that operated this planetoid. It helped, of course, that Gear's nannites were present, though Babbage had no doubts Danielle could just as easily taken control of the majority of the base's resident AI's without the nannites invasion.

<the Dominator's biological chloro-tech is awkward to navigate> Babbage sent, not expecting a reply.

<It is a trap. Our colleagues are away to make a mistake> Danielle did not sound particularly surprised. Babbage knew that by the time it replied she would have acted so it remained quiet and continued to watch her as she endeavoured to take control of the planetoids AI networks.

Whew! must be inconvenient having to be naked to use one's powers

nice to see Mon enjoying himself for a bit

I like Mon's happiness with the Legion's development too. and indeed, these missions are very professionally run!

a trap... dun dun dun!

Spy (also team counsellor) - Dr Noah Kabbo, heightened awareness and limited telepathy

Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World Bases:
Captain Phantom - Senior Team liaison, Science Police Captain Gryal Vrizza of Bgztl Dimension, intangibility
Power Lass - Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability

intern:
Poltergeist -Jaun Vineo of Titan, alpha-level telekinesis


<Let me> Captain Phantom sent as he phased through the door.

Seconds later it irised open and the Bgztlan Science Police Captain floated in the doorway, a wide grin on his face. Poltergeist gave a grateful smile and flew in. Both activated the searchlights on their belt buckles and looked around. The room was bigger than they expected and, as they had thought, there was clearly Dominion chloro-tech on display. What surprised them in amongst the half dozen other people, was the three unconscious Dominators that floated in the middle of the room.

Jaun used his telekinesis to snap incapacity cuffs on their arms.

<Y'know, I'd get so fat so-o-o quickly if I used my thoughts like you to move everything... maybe it's just as well you're the psychic one> Captain Phantom sent across the telepathic grid; the humour was unexpected. Poltergeist laughed to himself as he made his way around the room scanning every surface with his flight ring. For a couple of minutes they scanned the entire control deck, making sure that First Base had as much data as they could possibly send.

There was a burst of air as Power Lass sped into the control deck. She looked around and straightened herself up, her posture became far more relaxed as she saw that everything was under control.

<You guys good?> She asked.

<All's well, thanks Nel. Did you and Lar clear up the rest of them?> Poltergeist asked.

<Lar was dealing with a small group on the lower levels when I last saw him, think he was enjoying himself so I left him to his fun>

<You left him?> Captain Phantom asked, incredulously.

<yeah, three or four semi-conscious low-level energy blasters firing in the darkness against a Daxamite Legionnaire... do you reckon he needed my help?> Her reply was edged with flippant cheek making Poltergeist laugh again.

<Okay... yeah, that's fair enough. What do you think the Dominators are doing here? Do you think they're working with Sa Lok or is he working for them?> The Bgztlar sent, smoothly changing the subject.

<They love their bio-tech and the human genome is pretty mutable so I suppose it makes sense. And didn't Lar catch one of them a week ago or so? It probably means this goes way beyond a thug on Rimbor wanting his own army of supers...> Poltergeist sent. He realised that he had been adding more to the conversation than usual and he hoped it wasn't obvious that it was his way to deflect his attention from the nervousness he felt about being on this enemy planetoid, in the dark. Thankfully the two Science Police officers agreed with his assessment and went about the business of scanning the controls so they could figure out how to use them.

"Umm... I think I know why this Dominator was here at least." Nel Duwi said, her voice startling her colleagues after they had been using the telepathic grid to communicate all mission. She pointed to the single female Dominator, floating above a ring of chloro-tech. On her for foreehead was a stylized mark that clearly represented a leaf.

"Going by that brand on her face I reckon she controlled the tech in this place. We need to interrogate her quickly, make sure there's no booby-traps."

"Yeah, if you like I'll call Dr Kabbo, he can help with that." As Poltergeist spoke Captain Phantom smiled at the young man, obviously impressed with his initiative.

"Okay guys, you deal with this, I'm going take out the trash." And with that Power Lass flew around the room collecting the unconscious bodies except for the one Dominator with the leaf shaped imprint on her forehead, and flew them out of the door. Poltergeist wished her luck then sent a message across the telepathic matrix asking if Noah Kabbo was free to help them with a prisoner. Seconds later a warp opened and Dr Noah Kabbo strolled through, a half-eaten apple in one hand.

"Hi, what can I help you with?" The counselor asked as he looked around the control deck. He took a bite from the apple as he turned to Captain Phantom and Poltergeist.

"We believe this being controls the chloro-tech. If so, it would definitely help having her on side. We need to know if she is loyal to Sa Lok's ethos... does that make sense?" Captain Phantom could see the team's counselor knit his brows as if unsure.

"Oh, perfectly. Yeah... her mind is ...strange, not the usual Dominator thought architecture." He took a nibble of his apple as he finished speaking and the room was quiet for several long seconds. "I'd say Dominators generally are nasty bits of work. Their minds are full of hunger and rather unpleasant control issues. They're bred to enforce the commands of the upper caste I believe. Anyway, she's quite passive... and with a... it's like telepathy but not what I'm used to."

"She communicates with chloro-tech, maybe?" As Poltergeist said this, he noticed a certain humorous look in the team counselor's eyes; Dr Kabbo knew how nervous and excited the intern felt. The intern smiled at him, took a deep breath and got back to scanning the room.

Dr Kabbo started to speak, a confident smile on his face, "I'll just call up a warp to the Titanian enclave on Naltor and she can be examined..."

<Stop!> The urgent telepathic warning was all the more surprising as it came from Danielle Foccart.

As Danielle sent the relevant information to the team's flight rings, they could see what a mistake it would have been to try to take the small Dominator away from here.

Danielle had discovered that there was a fail-safe hidden deep in the planetoids mainframe that would activate an explosive chemical reaction from a set of proteins injected into the Dominators spine if she were ever to have her control-root tampered with or was removed from this small world. The control-root was a particularly nasty piece of Dominion technology that wrapped itself around the brainstem and meant the recipient had no control over their actions. This was usually used to keep the most basic of the caste's docile, though in this case it meant that the unconscious girl would only follow orders from her Dominator handlers. As one of the few members of this rare subservient caste bred to have a telepathic-like control over the Dominions chloro-tech, she would be highly prized amongst her people. Her placement on the planetoid clearly pointed to a serious investment and involvement by the Dominion as this chloro-controlling caste needed to be grown within the environment that they would interact with; consequently, this unusual caste were reserved as staff and playthings for only the highest of the Dominion's ruling castes.

It also pointed to further evidence of the Dominion being actively involved in the rise in access to these street level gene-modification operations for some time.

Dr Kabbo called for a warp for Dr Shakespeare to join them instead. Whatever happened afterwards, they had responsibilities to the young Dominator before them, and liberating her from the bio-tech that made her a slave was first and foremost of these

While the clinical team helped release the young Dominator from her bio-explosives and control-root, the remainder of the team ensured the planetoid was cleared of inhabitants and helped the Science Police process them on Tarkon-Galtos. Between the five shops from Rimbor and the planetoid the team had caught fifty-two beings with existing warrants against them, a further one hundred and twenty that had never been on the police system including two professional athletes and their mistresses who had been having a 'spa retreat', twenty-two scientific staff, forty security personnel - most with dubious records, and from the planetoid in Rimbor's Oort cloud they added four Dominators.

Phantom Girl didn't hang around to wait for the final tally from the Science Police, instead she took the majority of the team and students back to First Base. She was eager to monitor Thunder's mission - At that very moment Cece was leading a team to take down the man they thought was behind the proliferation of street level gene-mod tech - the man who previously used United Planets' resources to support the Dark Circle dimensions Psyche when she tried to persecute the team.

Thunder was going after the former Under Secretary to the United Planets Security Council, Sa Lok of Rimbor.

Thunder was comfortable leading her team into what they knew would be incredibly dangerous territory.

She had split her team into two smaller teams - one would join her into the actual compound. They had a schematic from the data Chameleon Boy had previously acquired that had been confirmed by Gear's nannites sent through overnight, so the team knew there were two bunkers that potentially Sa Lok was likely to try to run to if their assault raised too much noise. Cece planned on taking them both out of commission with the first strike. The other part of the team were to capture as many of the security staff as possible that the team learned were being housed in neighbouring properties.

Cece has asked Henry if he could just warp them, buildings and all, straight to T-G but the holo-man had only raised his eyebrows and gave a slightly disdainful look as reply. She appreciated he was being stretched with all the warps he was creating for the other teams, so she thanked him anyway.

Captain Tuk Shir was to lockdown the westerly bunker. From the information they had, it would be the least likely to be used as a hold-out. It was only a single room several dozen metres across, used as storage for supplies and held a small armoury. They expected a few guards but not enough to give the powerful Daxamite too much trouble. Once it was dealt with, he would re-join the team in the main house.

Element Lad was to lead a small team to the second bunker where they expected much heavier resistance. There were about a dozen guards, all of whom were expected to have gene-mods. Jan had smiled when he had been told this, his mind quickly planning how to arrange the assault in their favour. Cece had no doubts that he would be able to deal with the situation.

Thunder would personally lead a team to capture Sa Lok. From the information they had, Cece was aware that the former Under Secretary usually woke at 0500 Standard Rimbor Time and had an hour's exercise regime before having breakfast on his South Terrace. As they were striking at 0345 SRT they hoped to catch him unawares. That was the plan... Cece had spent the night going through the list of known meta-security operating on the estate and three in particular stood out as dangerous - two had energy neutralising abilities while the third appeared to be able to mimic the physical abilities of those around him. She sent holos to the team of these three with a warning to strike fast and first if they were spotted. There were also several dozen energy casters and at least two dozen with enhanced strength and durability and ten with some form of alter-form ability.

Every member of the various teams carried at least a dozen incapacity cuffs, even Backlash had a pouch with them despite the tigerram not having the physical dexterity to actually use them. All Cece had to do was give the word and Gear's nannites would cripple the AI mainframe, ensure no alarms or security mechanisms would activate.

Science Police meta-squad seconded to the Legion Worlds:
'Captain Heavyweight' - Science Police Captain Tuk Shir of Daxam, Senior Team liaison, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability


Tuk Shir flew through the warp at hyper speed.

His mission was to ensure the smaller bunker was cleared and the Sa Lok would be unable to retreat here when Thunder went after him.

There were no guards in sight and a quick scan revealed the armoury was bare.... As he scanned the surroundings with his x-ray vision, the Daxamite Science Police captain noticed that the security feeds were piped through a conduit that ran back to the mansion. It was an unexpected low-tech way to operate and it made the Daxamite feel alarmed.

<Cece, somethings wrong...> he quickly sent through the telepathic matrix, aware that the team leader needed to know.
............................

Thunder - Deputy Leader, Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth, immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom

Intern:
Strobe - Denal Lort of Dryad - assume electro-magnetic energy form

Thunder and Strobe tore through the warp straight into Sa Lok's private quarters.

It was empty. It looked immaculately clean and tidy but there was no sign of life at all; no guards, no staff, and most frustratingly of all, no Sa Lok!

Strobe changed into an x-ray and sped through the enormous villa.

<It's empty Cece...>

<Everyone get back to your base right now! Denal, we're leaving now....>

The explosion that tore through the complex would have killed any normal person, including the vast majority of Legionnaires. Had she not given the other members the order to retreat then those on Thunder's strike force would have been through the warp.

As it was, Thunder was thrown half a klick into the air by the force of the blast and the enormous estate of Sa Lok was obliterated, turning into a debris strewn mess with a smoking crater at the centre.

Strobe was relatively unaffected and zoomed up to check on Thunder. She floated in mid-air, a finger in one ear as she tried to stop her ears from ringing.

<is everyone else back on their base?> She sent to the student, fully aware that he wouldn't know but it would distract him enough that he wouldn't fuss around her.

<Oh sacred stars, I didn't check> with that he zipped down into the debris field to make sure none of their teammates were trapped.

While he did that Thunder used her flight ring to contact First Base. After confirming that their teammates had made it safely back to the base Cece realised that they had not heard anything from Captain Heavyweight.

It appeared that their Daxamite colleague had vanished!
.......................

First Base

Anje Falkner ran towards Phantom Girl in the main control room on First Base.

"I can't feel him anymore Tinya. Something has happened to Tuk." She pointed to her head, "...he's gone, there's something wrong. You've got to search for him, he can't've died, you've got to get him back here ...bring him back to me!"

The Psychiatrist did not try to hide her emotions; her fear and concern were writ across her face for all to see in something close to hysteria.

Almost seven light years away, Sa Lok monitored the feed coming through from his estate on Rimbor.

With the Legionnaires acting exactly as the Seer had predicted, the former UP Security Council Under Secretary laughed to himself. He had left his estate 15 minutes before the attack, calmly walking through the skin-crawl inducing warps that his partner from the Dominion had one of its minions create.

The Seer had warned him days ago that his business assets were away to be raided and, overall, he was fine with that.

Sa Lok didn't care that the gene-mod shops on Rimbor were gone, they had served their purpose and he had made the Guilds and Gangs pay well for their use so he had actually made a profit from them even though they had only been open for a few months. He had always accepted they would be temporary. The scientific staff had provided him with all the data he needed and if it also meant that there would be a few more trouble makers with abilities to stir up some trouble for the Science Police and the Legion then that was an added bonus.

The loss of the planetoid stung a little but it was a just collateral damage that his organisation could easily absorb, it could be replaced quickly enough. The staff on there had been the lowest-rung rated so he wouldn't miss them at all. It might cost a Gold Million to replace and refurbish the base but he could easily afford that. The loss of the Dominion's assets onboard might cause a little trouble but it wasn't anything he was particularly worried about. A solution would be worked out with his business partners, he was certain.

The destruction of his personal estate on Rimbor was something he had mixed feelings about - initially Sa Lok had loved that place but over the years he had become increasingly uninterested in it as it limited him to that one world. Still, he didn't want anyone else to benefit from such a prime vantage point so having it be blown up seemed perfectly reasonable. It also helped cover for the one thing he was desperate to achieve before giving up his place on Rimbor to the Legion.

Between the 56 staff he had taken with him, all having received at least one mixed meta-gene treatment or had a pre-existing meta-skill, and the army the Dominion were building using the technology he had been trialling, Sa Lok didn't believe the Legion would be a threat for too much longer. Especially as the Legion had just given him the perfect specimen: having a Daxamite with resistance to heavy metals poisoning to complete his experiments on could very well tip the balance once and for all in their favour.

More great stuff, Harbi!

Poor Dominator slave... I wonder, possible future Academy student?

Oh no, Captain Heavyweight... I like him... poor him, poor Anje...

Good thing Thunder and her wisdom kicked in (and good thing Strobe was so fast...) saved most everyone.

I almost forgot about the Seer!

Ugh, so that was the plan... giving up cannon fodder, and taking the most powerful with him.. this is far from over...

Thunder led the team in the search for Captain Tuk Shir.

Both Dawnstar and M'Windaji scoured the blasted site on Rimbor desperate seeking a trail to follow. Cece made sure they were undisturbed while they searched.

Neither could find a trace of their missing colleague. The only positive note from the search was that their flight ring scanners confirmed there was no organic material located that belonged to him either, so at least they knew he hadn't been somehow destroyed in the blast.

Gahaji had noted that the Ruby of Life had been tingling suspiciously while the tracker had floated over one part of the still smouldering crater where Sa Lok's estate had been. Thunder had felt strangely uneasy around a certain part of the blast site too and M'Windaji confirmed that it was in this same area that the magical gemstone he carried had started feeling odd.

Dawnstar had taken to the upper atmosphere, joined there by Atomsmasher, to continue searching. Neither the tracker from Starhaven not the Wraithcat reported any success despite their considerable sensory abilities.

Shield, Titan, Dragonmage and Glorith joined M'Windaji and Thunder on Rimbor's surface, each hoping that their own area of skill and ability might have some luck in locating the Daxamite: sadly, none did.

Both Xao and Glorith reported sensing magics though neither could place exactly which spell it belonged to. It appeared they were dealing with something from outside of their experience. Neither seemed surprised by this, though both expressed their frustration.

At this point Thunder requested Southern Lights join them as well, as she was aware that the spirit-talker from Starhaven practiced an entirely different branch of the mystical arts from the two other magic-users in the Legion. Again, while it was confirmed that there were some elements of magic lingering on-site the winged mystic was unable to trace it or their missing Daxamite colleague.

After four solid hours Cece called the team together and suggested they return to their bases. She did not believe it was likely that any evidence or clue would appear now. The Science Police had a team going through the wreckage in minute detail so if anything were to be found they would let the Legion know.

Dr Anje Falkner was waiting in the First Base Monitor Board room for information on her husband, and was not surprised when the search team returned with no solid leads or news. The only glimmer of hope she was given was when Southern Lights assured her that he did not sense any trace of a recent death within the vicinity of the blast so the young mystic firmly believed the psychiatrists husband was still very much alive. He added that knowing the Science Police Captain, whomever or whatever that had removed him from Rimbor was in for a tough time. She smiled with unexpected warmth and thanked him for letting her know.

Her eyes were still full of tears as Kent Shakespeare returned with her to her office.

Two days later:


Gravity Kid - Science Police Officer Tel Vole of Earth, manipulation of personal or nearby gravity
Thirteen - Dann Hortra of Naltor, line of sight probability manipulation
Comet Queen - Grava of Extal colony, spaceflight, comet gas extrusion
Comet King - Drinchnar Lamment of Extal colony, spaceflight, comet gas extrusion


Tel Vole took a deep breath.

Standing in this corridor on First Base at this moment was one of the scariest things he had done since becoming a Legionnaire.

He wanted to do this, he really understood that he had to do it, but there was a part of his mind that screamed he should not be the one doing it... deep breath Tel, he thought to himself, just take a deep breath and let it out... whatever the outcome, it'll all be over soon...

"Yo, Gravy-bug...." Comet King called out, "You away tah 'pologise to Danny-boyo after yer rogue-planet bad manners th'other day?" Drinchnar smiled teasingly as he spoke. Comet King and Queen had turned the corner into this residential corridor just as Tel had approached Dann Hortra's apartment. It was clear from Tel's expression that he was not amused!

There was a long awkward silence as Gravity Kid glowered towards the former soldier. Grava elbowed Drinchnar in the ribs and meekly said sorry before dragging her now chuckling boyfriend away.

"Uhh, ok-aaay, ah'm off to spin the grava-licious one 'round..." and with that Comet King strolled down the corridor with an arm around Comet Queen's waist, leaving Gravity Kid alone.

Tel took another deep breath and pushed the door-comm before him. He could hear the buzz from inside the apartment and without realising it the gravity manipulator held his breath. After several long seconds he pushed it a second time. This time there was another noise that followed the buzz, a voice asking the door to open.

Tel Vole quickly wiped a hand across his scalp, and took a step over the threshold into his colleagues' apartment.

Dann Hortra was sat on a couch with his back to the door watching a holo-comedy that Tel recognised - The Three Stoogians - an ongoing series of short films that Jed particularly liked though Tel had never really felt the urge to watch before.

"Hey Dann..."

"Oh, hey Tel, how's things?" The Naltoran's attention was fully focussed on the antics appearing in the holo-pit, his acknowledgement had sounded automatic.

"Yeah, fine thanks. You? I wanted to come to ... ah, apologise to you. I was really rude the other day and you didn't deserve it. I really wanted to ... to make sure things were good between us going forward."

"Yeah?" Thirteen had still not turned to face Gravity Kid, and his tone of voice was still slightly disinterested. "Rumour has it that you're not one to apologise without being made to... izzat right?"

"Look, I don't want to fight you, I did ...genuinely want to say I'm sorry." Tel straightened his back and felt the blush rise on his cheeks.

Dann Hortra turned and gave Tel a wide grin, "I know bud, don't worry, just teasing you. Isn't it rubbish when someone's being cruel ...so let's not do that anymore." There was a silence between them for several long seconds before the Naltoran added, "Listen, if you're still Blight-suffering, I can help. The meditation techniques I know involve placing oneself firmly in the here-and-now and there're quite a few ways to practice this. Right now, though, I reckon you need to lighten up so c'mere and watch this, it's awesome." Thirteen patted the seat beside him on the couch and turned back to the holo.

Tel felt as if he was having an out of body experience as he walked round and sat next to the Naltoran. Thirteen was only wearing a pair of rather short shorts that left very little - or in this case, quite clearly anything but little! - to the imagination. Unselfconsciously, Dann put one of his muscular arms along the back of the couch behind Tel and started to howl with laughter at the slap-stick shenanigans happening in the holo before him. Tel took another deep breath and plastered a smile on his face; all of his senses suddenly going into overdrive at the situation as he felt the slight brush of muscular bicep on his shoulder and could smell the fresh soap that Dann used. As he was too scared to turn to face his colleague Tel focussed his attention very firmly on the holo-show before them.

Over the next fifty-five minutes the two men didn't talk much as they laughed and cheered at the fast-paced comedy show before them. By the end of it, Tel's face actively hurt from laughing so much; he couldn't ever remember having that sensation before and, he was glad to realise, it was actually pleasant.

Dann showed him to the door and said the next session would be at 0900 the next day before waving Tel down the corridor.

Tel thought to himself, Jed will never ever believe this just happened!

Chameleon Boy - Espionage Squad leader, Reep Daggle of Durla, shape changer


Chameleon Boy smiled.

The reports were back and complete, and it appeared that with only one slight potential problem, the planetoid that the Legion had taken from Sa Lok's organisation was official property of the team and could be converted into another Legion world base if they wanted.

And Chameleon Boy wanted!

The only potential problem was the Dominator with the leaf-crest on her forehead that they could not remove from the control deck without most likely killing her. Her entire biology was attuned to that place on a level that was way beyond the skills of Dr Shakespeare or a team from Medicus One to sever without very serious risk. They had established that this being, that they had taken to call Ivy as her Dominator designation was a series of numbers, was a little over eight months old and as she grew older the chloro-tech that she controlled would expand until it became the planetoid itself. It already entwined many of the major functions of the planetoid. Reep read this part of the report twice and it appeared that she would become something equivalent to how Gear had his nanites being part of the fabric of their other bases. Once released from the Dominion's control telepathic conversations and scans had shown her to be intelligent beyond her very young age, scared and definitely keen to support the Legion after expecting a lifetime of brutally enforced servitude. Whatever was going to happen upon the small planetoid, Ivy was most likely going to remain very much at the heart of it.

Chameleon Boy hoped to keep the planetoid off-grid with the most advanced stealth and evasion technology available fitted so it could become an almost super-numerary base, giving the team a stealthy route towards their greater goals of conflict resolution and disaster relief. and a base for espionage operations that wouldn't be at risk by other teammates inadvertently learning of their plans.

He had yet to address this idea with the senior team, but once the initial report on the planetoid's fittings and fixtures had come through Reep knew it could be of great benefit to the Legion.

The Durlan continued to read through the report before him...

Tectonik - Hardal of Granite Falls from Mondriak iv - geokinesis
Solar Gorilla - D'Nadka Endarooga of Dmansca - generate and project extreme heat and light
Dragon Lass - Mari Baertling of Rimbor - enhanced strength, durability, echolocation and flight
Strobe - Denal Lort of Dryad - assume electro-magnetic energy form
Tesseract - Sar Jerash Mor Toark of Mars, access to intra-dimensional space
Impact - Dillon Blackstream of Myar, incredible strength, speed, durability, stamina, motion sense
Orion - Science Police Cadet Tw'gg of H'lven, tracking skills and awareness of flaws or weaknesses
Poltergeist -Jaun Vineo of Titan, alpha-level telekinesis
Mosaic - Science Police Officer Rish'ha Nor of Lallor, tactile mimicry of material properties
Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg, split into three separate bodies, each with either strength and durability, speed and reflexes, or laser vision
Mindbender - Marmud Illic of Titan, alpha-level telepath

Booster - Solstin Wang of Earth - medical support - awareness and manipulation of physical properties of those around him
Glory - Gloriana Crestellen of Grighshtall iv - medical support - read and manipulate L- and T-auras


The current intake of interns had been sat around a large table on a lower level on Home Base having a deserved break discussing their time with the team. It was Tectonok's birthday so quite a few of them had had a couple of drinks which added to the high spirits. As often happened when young people and alcohol mixed, the conversations were getting louder and rowdier.

The interns usually met in small informal groups to discuss the adventures they had been on and to share tit-bits of gossip gleaned while amongst the Legionnaires. Today all of them except Non, who rarely joined in with these informal meetings, were present. There was no structure or agenda when they met up; the group acting like any meeting of young peers, teammates and friends.

Dragon Lass and Glory had presented Tectonik with a cake, though after thanking them he said his people didn't metabolise sugary foods properly, so while it was a great idea it had sat on the table with its icing slowly melting after that waiting for a knife to cut it into slices.

Hadral of Granite Falls, the short geokinetic intern was telling his peers that he was fed up because the only mission he had gone on other than Hope Squad missions to support the Talokean refugees, had been on a dud-mission on a space ship where there was no soil or rocks or mud or lava or earth or sand or boulders for him to do anything with. Strobe and Poltergeist were laughing as he told his tale of woe, which made him laugh too despite his attempt to appear serious. The three students enjoyed teasing each other as they competed for a potential place on the main team.

Mindbender once again reminded the team that he had been on a mission where he had single-handedly...

"Bored everyone to tears with constant florggin' ego-massaging!" Mosaic said loudly, finishing off the telepath's sentence, much to the appreciation of Tectonik and Strobe who both doubled over with laughter.

"Hey, if you got it then flaunt it... and so, what you done recently to justify your place here?" Marmud sounded more serious than he had intended and the atmosphere in the room dropped for a second until Rish'ha blew a big raspberry in response and started to laugh. Marmud pulled a face, which the Lallorian mirrored back, both now laughing at the other.

Dragon Lass, standing on the other side of the table with the interns that hadn't been drinking, said she missed helping the refugees, which both Orion and Tesseract immediately agreed with. The three of them discussed the happiness and satisfaction they felt when they returned from those missions.

at the end of the table Booster was telling Solar Gorilla about the physiotherapy course he had almost completed while she tied to impress him with her story about being on a mission where the found a missing Bubble Arc... neither were really listening to the other, and they both knew it but didn't mind. These sorts of meetings were the only place where the interns really let their excitement show without feeling that they were making fools of themselves in front of the Legionnaires.

Triple Nova and Glory were sat in a corner, ignoring the rest of the group. They had been close while at the Academy, but since becoming interns their relationship had been put under some strain and they had seen very little of each other. As they both had the next 24 hours off the pair had decided to do something to mend the unexpected gulf that had grown between them. Gloriana sat on Elthur's lap and they spoke to each other in a soft and intimate manner, one reserved for young lovers with nothing to prove to the other except the depth of their feelings... they both knew without saying it that the next 24 hours were unlikely to involve too much interaction with anyone else.

No-one present had any idea that within two days eleven of the fourteen interns currently assigned to the Legion would be off the program.

Phantom Girl - Team Leader, Tinya Wazzo of Bgtzl Dimension, intangibility
Shadow Lass - Tasmia Mallor of Talok viii, summon and manipulate total darkness


Phantom Girl and Shadow Lass met at the gym.

It had been just over forty eight hours since Captain Tuk Shir had vanished and the team leader was beginning to realise that if she didn't hit something soon, she would most likely break down. When Tinya had called Tasmia to ask for a sparring partner, the Talokean had smiled broadly and quickly agreed. And half an hour later, here they were: First Base Second Gymnasium, recent upgraded with a holo-training package created by Gear.

The room was slightly smaller than a Moop-ball pitch with a high ceiling, Tinya had set up a minor privacy code for the next three hours that would stop students from accessing this area. Any Legionnaires that entered would be unlikely to interrupt her training and, according to the senior team rota, the next five hours were under Thunder's remit, and Tinya was quite sure Cece would not bother her for anything less than a planetary extinction level event.

Tasmia joined Tinya in the changing bay and as they stripped and put on their leotards for this session, they quickly discussed the evidence the team had found linking Sa Lok's organisation to the bounty that had been offered against them. Theena had quickly made sure all relevant news-feeds had that information and it was broadcast far and wide. Tinya and tasmia both doubted it would stop every psycho in the galaxy from gunning for them, but it would certainly help dissuade the lower-level thug that hoped to make a quick credit.

Before the conversation got too bogged down on this Tinya asked Tasmia if the rumours that Lady Memory would be joining Home Base as a tutor were true. Tasmia shook her head, saying that she had only managed to arrange a training session for the psychic students, but anything more than that would be unlikely in the near future.

"Still," said Tinya to her friend, "how great is it that she decided to teach for us at all?"

"I know, right?" Tasmia replied with a wide grin. Phantom Girl realised that her friend was genuinely happy at this result and was herself amazed at the turn-around from hereditary blood-sworn enemy to colleague and peer at one of the galaxy's most unique training facilities. Phantom Girl felt immensely proud of her team in that second, proud right down to the marrow of her bones.

As no-one else was present they decided to monopolise on the space available so made their way to the centre of the gym floor and asked the resident AI to create a scenario for them where they would have to fight their way out.

"Calculating... * breep *" the AI replied. It took three seconds before the hard light holo kicked in and the two woman found themselves stood at the centre of an enraged mob with fighter jets bearing down upon them, strafe fire blasting from their undercarriage housed weapons. Tyroc had asked Gear to work on a way to incorporate holo techniques into the gyms in a bid to liven up the team's more physical training. Tinya reminded herself to thank them both for doing this as the results were simply stunning.

"* breep * mission to subdue malcontents now live." The gym's AI announced.

"Now this is therapy!" Tinya said with a laugh as she phased through several attacking members of the holo-crowd, punching at the faces of random members of the hard-light generated angry mob as she did.

She could hear Tasmia laugh from behind her as a ball of darkness expanded from the Talokean and hard-light bodies were punched out.

I really like how you allude to the different branches of magic, Harbi.

I love how Grava is the more embarrassed one compared to Drinchnar!

Quite clearly anything but little! I loved that line. Happy that Tel is getting to lighten up a bit too. Good that he kept himself under control despite all the teasing - the therapy is working I would say Dann's teasing was a way to accept Tel's apology too

Ivy is the Dominator! nice! Glad that she appreciates being free... bright new future for her. And a new base specifically for espionage, nice.

Nice realistic look at the interns, and this is so ominous... off the program because some join the main team... or...

Tinya/Tasmia friendship is still very alive!

More great stuff Harbi. More, more, more...