Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Legion Worlds Eight (end 19 Dec 22)

The Esse Statum Stroid Retreat, home of the Magus, on the outskirts of the U-Vabbishte Toktrec Settlements, galactic north of the Great White Asteroid Field, Raptor Nebula


Element Lad - Senior Team member, Jan Arrah of Trom - elemental transmutation

Support staff:
Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare - Impulse – Chief Medical Officer and Support Team manager - enhanced strength, speed, durability, stamina

Quantum Queen - Queen Helanna Regina-Winzzor of the Eternal Empire of the Nomadic Sunkind, enhanced strength, flight, can assume the form of and manipulate ambient electro-magnetic spectrum energy
Psyche - Meena Estelli of the Firgrove settlements of Homestar 3, empathic emotional reading and manipulation
Blockbuster - Ardren Kent of Earth, super strong and invulnerable


The Magus' retreat was on the very fringe of the settlement.

Neither the transport tubes nor the great river that connected the majority of the planetoids came close: It was a retreat in every sense! As they approached it became clear why Timber wolf had described the planetoid looking as if it were covered in a silvery pelt as row after row of crystals were laid across its surface reflecting the nearby nebulas light.

"Tsarin crystals... we used them as grave markers on Trom." Jan said quietly. Kent nodded and continued to watch the screen. An automated announcement welcomed them and gave their shuttle a flight path to take them into the docking bay on the small world's southern pole.

"This is Jan Arrah of Trom," the Legionnaire announced across the comm link, "I'd very much like to meet the Magus."

Only silence followed as their shuttle followed the flight path and they docked. It took several minutes for the automated systems to fully connect the ship to the bay and fill the area below with air so they could disembark safely. As the two men watched half a dozen monks on saffron coloured robes came towards the shuttle.

"Right, let's meet him." Kent said, determined to get them moving. Jan stood still for another second watching the screen before turning towards the grav-lift that would take them to the bay's floor.

"Thank you, Kent." He said with a small quick smile before stepping into the gravity stream that would take him down.

The two men floated down. Just before the reached the floor an older man in a grey robe, accompanied by two women and a muscular man entered the bay.

<that's Quantum Queen and Psyche from the Wanderers> Jan sent to Kent. Even though the Legion's doctor knew this empath was not the same one that had taken over the Titanian refugees council in Naltor and caused so many problems for the team he stiffened and his eyes widened momentarily.

The reached the floor in five seconds though it felt a lot longer to both.

"Hello, I am Jan Arrah..."

The man in the grey robe pushed his hood back and gave a small smile, "I know who you are."

"Uncle Tarl?" Jan felt his knees go weak as he recognised the man before him. He had been a close friend of his parents, a trader and often seen as a bit odd by Trommite standards as he eagerly left their world to seek out markets where they could trade. It had been rumoured that he was involved in some suspicious activities though no-one had ever proven anything. Jan and his sisters adored him as he always dropped by to visit their family when he was back from an excursion and would share tall tales and often brought small gifts.

The two men hugged each other fiercely.

...................................


Fifteen minutes later and Kent was in a small garden.

After a quick introduction Jan had been led away. He had reassured Kent that it was Trommite custom to be 'cleansed' if one had been off world. Ardren Kent and Quantum Queen were eager hosts to the Legion's doctor, while Psyche had smiled warmly and walked behind them. Kent had initially been wary, not expecting Jan to leave him, but he quickly realised that the three people with him were genuinely interested in spending time with him.

As they reached the garden, Quantum Queen had vanished in a beam of light, promising to return with breakfast.

Kent quickly apologised to Psyche if he was uncomfortable around her, explaining what her counterpart frm the Dark Circle controlled reality had done to the team. She was genuinely shocked and looked tearful.

"I know you are not her, from everything the team has said about you I know you could never act like that." He added and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Thank you for telling me, Kent." She gave him a sad smile.

"How's my daughter and Brin doing?" Ardren asked, breaking the tense atmosphere.

"Wait... of course, you're Laurel's father!" Kent exclaimed, "I don't know if she told you but we're related."

They spoke about how Ardren was only four generations separated from their Kryptonian ancestor, while Kent had worked out that his own family tree was thirty generations distant.

"So how many times removed cousins are we?"

"Oh, no idea but quite a few." Kent replied as Ardren gave the doctor a hug.

"Welcome to the family Kent." He said as he slapped him on the back.

Several women joined them and Kent was introduced to four of the Magus' wives. They could all see his expression had changed as this was said and Psyche laughed. The empath explained that women of child bearing age were asked to become the Magus' wife and any conception they had would have some of his DNA added so the Trommite race could be reborn. They weren't actually intimate with him; it was more to do with Trommite standards and customs. In fact, she added, only two of the wives and one of the monks shared their bed with him, all the others were in relationships with the monks.

Kent nodded as he processed this information. He knew that Jan's people were known to have complex relationships and family set-ups. Their culture was renowned for its stoic openness and belief in personal responsibility and freedom. Still, Kent thought, he was unsure how he would feel if Jan decided to take on another partner or two.

Kent doubted he would be very happy.

........................................................


Rimbor

Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath, electrical generation and manipulation
Backlash - Mrruaw MNau of Simballi - enhanced strength, speed, senses, absorbs kinetic energy to boost own size and mass
Atom Girl - Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk - can shrink to microscopic size

Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):
Solar Gorilla - D'Nadka Endarooga of Dmansca - generate and project extreme heat and light (Lightning Lass)

Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg - creation of multiple identical duplicates
The Huntress - Ambassador Amynta of Nostos ii - incredible strength, speed, invulnerability, space flight
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic - creation of personal spherical force field

Intern:
Haze - Science Police Cadet Tkemwa Autmi-Hu of Ungara - strength, durability, induce confusion and senselessness
Impact - Dillon Blackstream of Myar - incredible strength, speed, durability, stamina, motion sense

Laipas - hunting dog from Nostos ii - enchanted to never lose a trail, fast and tough, far smarter than she looks!



Atom girl flew above the warehouse.

The first thing she noticed was that its flat roof had a low wall around it hiding half a dozen auto-security turrets. She let the team know as she flew towards a door. It was clearly securely locked but she crept through a miniscule gap at its side and made her way down the stairwell that was behind it. She could hear a couple of voices on the first floor, though their dialect sounded Rimborian, not Khundian, so she alerted the team to potential trouble on the first floor and carried on going down.

At the bottom of the stairs were two sets of swing doors, one either side. Sylva took a breath and considered her options. She grew to six inces in height and scanned with her flight ring in both directions, hoping it would pick up traces of Khundian DNA. No life signs to the right so she shrunk down again and flew through the gap between the doors on her left.

The room before her was massive, filled with stacked pallets holding large crates. The light was poor so she risked growing up to six inches again and rested on one of the raised pallets, hopeful that between the shadows, her height and the distorter on her belt she would be difficult to spot. The Imskian closed her eyes and concentrated on any sounds she could hear.

In the distance someone laughed and she quickly flew in that direction.

"Who are they? There's another group at the back too... are the Green Hogs movin' in on our territory?" The voice came from a woman with a thick Rimbor accent.

"Eliminate them, whoever they are. Let your gangs know we are not to be targetted." This voice was harsh, with the clipped burr that identified it as Khundian.

<Team, they're goona attack you! watch out!> She sent as she flew above the crates and pallets towards the voices. At the end of the cavernous room there was a space cleared with a table and chairs and a range of hard light screens. There were four people dressed like gang members and the two Khunds that the team were here to capture.

<four gang members and the Khunds...>

<be careful Atom Girl, we're coming in> Duplicate Girl replied.

<of course> Sylva replied unconvincingly. She shrunk down to a tiny size again and flew down towards the Khunds.

There was a loud crash from above then a booming noise from the side wall! The Legion had arrived!

....................................


The Huntress had flown up to the roof of the warehouse, drawing fire from the automated pulse cannons in the security turrets.

The blasts barely phased her as she smashed through the nearest of the security casings that had popped up from behind the wall that ran around the top of the roof. The explosion was unexpected and threw Amynta into the air. Behind her Bouncing Boy had activated his forcefield and was pounding between two of the turrets, smashing them into pieces. The fourth had been blasting at Amynta but changed its focus onto Stoor instead. He was fast enough to avoid its blast and instead he smashed into the extended arm of the blaster destroying it. A cloud of toxic gas blew out from the turret though behind his force field the young Legionnaire only laughed as he continued to pound the last of the security turrets into smithereens.

Duplicate Girl, Haze and Laipas were at the front of the building below them where several security blasters sprung out of the wall. Haze concentrated on these using his ability to confuse electronic systems - both artificial and organic. There were several wild shots as the blasters were unable to aim properly. As they fired above the Legionnaires Haze flew as fast as his flight ring would carry him towards the door. Just before he reached it the intern twisted to shoulder charge his way through, smashing the double doors off their hinges.

<Good job Tkemwa!> Lu sent. As she did Laipas barked and jumped through the door before running down one of the corridors.

<We'd best get after that hound or Amynta will kill us if anything happens to her> Duplicate Girl flew as fast as she could behind the hunting dog, cursing to herself that she should have asked for a leash before sending the Huntress to the rooftop.

.......................................


Atom Girl swooped towards the Khunds as they started to fade into invisibility.

All four of the gang members had started to run towards the door as the noises from outside got louder.

As Sylva got close, she quickly expanded to her full height and, using that momentum, kneed the nearest of the Khunds in the solar plexus with as much force as she could muster before snapping a set of incapacity cuffs on their arm. The other had thrown a punch at her back but the Legionnaire had already shrunk out of sight before it came close to connecting.

<caught one, other has vanished. There are four gang members coming your way team> Atom Girl used her flight ring to scan for Khund DNA, aware that at her size the relativistic range of the scanner would be seriously compromised. She had a reading for something very close by and then the world went dark. The invisible Khund had been swinging his muscular arms around and struck the Legionnaire, throwing her against the wall. She regained her full height as she slid unconscious to the floor.

There were sounds of a scuffle, which alerted the Khund to Laipas as the great hunting dog from the Amazon world of Nostos ii ran towards him, her teeth showing as she readied to attack. As the twins had operated within the United Planets as mercenaries for many years before joining the Shadowmancer's foolish quest he knew what a dog was and how they had acute senses of smell and hearing that his invisibility wouldn't fool.

Laipas stopped six feet from the Khund and started barking loudly, drawing attention to where he was.

The Khund had never seen a dog so large, and was wary of approaching it as it snapped at him. Instead he turned and ran towards his brother, hoping to get the cuff off his arm and make their escape. The hunting dog jumped and caught his left arm in her jaws, biting ferociously through his armour and into the flesh. The Khund punched Laipas as hard as he could while shaking his arm and she dropped to the floor, snarling at him.

"Now little dog, I don't like shooting beasts unless I have to... but you deserve this." The Khund muttered as he drew a blaster from the holster on his thigh

Raz, thanks for your kind words, always appreciated.

Backlash and starkling are two of my favourite OCs too, so when I do include them it's important to me that they actually contribute something so expect more soon

And yes, unfortunately poverty is a baseline that in the future, on Rimbor anyway, hasn't progessed by much unfortunately.

More soon as I introduce a new character (whooh! You're going to love him, I promise), Amynta get her hands dirty, Laipas to the rescue... maybe, and a surprise encounter will rock the team.

Hope you are still enjoying reading this as much as I am writing it

C

yay! more great stuff, Harbi!

ooh, a personal connection between Jan and the Magus, nice backstory!

I appreciate Kent opening up to Psyche, that was decent of him - and Psyche's reaction made me like her too! I like em both

also cool that you worked a Kryptonian line into Kent's lineage. I wonder if those Kryptonian genes give em all their muscle

ah, thanks for clearing up about the "wives" bit. only 2 of the wives and 1 of the monks seems more reasonable... and thanks for showing a realistic bisexual character in the Magus (I assume the monks are male?) and thanks also for adding the cultural differences, and also a look into Kent's view vs. Jan's, again this is very realistic (oh, the couples I know who had issues because one wanted monogamy and the other wanted to be open!) a big thumbs up and a big hand Harbi, for this realistic depiction!

ah, more nice action! great that Haze can also affect electronic systems! lol at Lu cursing about Laipas running free... good of Atom Girl to keep the rest of the team informed like that.

Oy what a cliffhanger!!

looking forward to seeing the next bit!!

The U-Vabbishte Toktrec Settlements, galactic north of the Great White Asteroid Field, Raptor Nebula

Kid Quantum - Jazmin Cullen of Xanthu - creation of temporal quantum bubbles, flight
Starkling – telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Green Lantern - Dkyun Mu of Xudar - wearer of a Green Lantern power ring


The Green Lantern scanned the mighty river that flowed through the depths of space amongst the thousands of satellites and planetoids that made up this settlement on the very edge the United Planets.

As an engineer Dkyun desperately wanted to find out how such an incredible feat could be achieved - there was enough water to cover a moderate sized planet kept from freezing with a breathable atmosphere around it while running through hundreds of thousands of klicks of the hard vacuum in the depths of space. There were small boxes every few hundred klicks within the mighty river that perhaps contained the technology that kept the river running, but the Green Lantern had no idea where it had come from originally as she could find no record of this level of technology existing with humankind in the 27th century. Even now, four centuries later, it would take an incredible level of skill to create and maintain this. When she scanned the boxes she had found neither her Oan ring of her Legion flight ring database could discern what they were made from.

Ultimately, it was her ring that gave her the clue to figuring it out. Oolangan Matsha, one of the twin 27th century Green Lanterns that had helped with the exodus to this previously desolate place had kept meticulous recordings all of their adventures. As Kid Quantum and Starkling had finished talking to the crew of the latest boat they had met and were flying around the white crested waves that ran along the river and enjoying themselves, Dkyun quickly ran through the records her Oan power ring had stored from the earliest days of this settlement.

<It was Daramulum!> she exclaimed.

<What was that Dkyun?> Jazmin asked as she flew up underneath her teammate. Starkling's swarm followed close behind.

<Daramulum created this river... watch...> Dkyun held out her right hand and an emerald hued holo sprung up from her ring.

Several images whizzed past until one showed the Aboriginal deity standing on the command deck of a space craft with technology that neither Dkyun or Jazmin had seen before.

"We need to help them become self-sustainable...they are mining for raw elements in the great asteroid field but don't have the resources yet to properly access everything they need. I believe I can get the basics to them that'll buy them some time so they survive long enough but it'll cost..." The grey skinned being looked away.

"Do what you can, we'll dissuade the Terran fleet from attempting any more attack runs. If you can give them something the colonists will stand a chance."

"Leave it with me, good luck. Don't be too gentle with those thugs now." Daramulum was smiling viciously as the holo faded. The twin Green Lanterns must have left to deter the forces from the Inner Worlds from harassing the colonists any further.

Jazmin remained quiet as another holo came to life.

The view of the asteroid field before the current settlement had been established was astonishing! This was more than a simple standard asteroid field. The edge was within five hundred AU of limits of the Raptor Nebula though it stretched for several thousand AU from there; this area was clearly a birthing ground for planets as much as the nebula was for stars! Jazmin audibly gasped! She had always loved astronomy, being from Xanthu it was almost a cultural expectation, but had never imagined seeing anything as truly awe-inspiring as this. For thousands and thousands of klicks there were planetoids and asteroids and large broken chucks of solid matter that she expected were huge masses of raw elements expelled during the dying gasp of some long dead super nova. This would have been an amazing place to colonise, with everything a properly equipped expedition could use to create their new home.

<this is seventeen days after the last holo> Dkyun sent across the telepathic matrix.

As the twins flew in towards the asteroid field, they could see a long ribbon shimmering with reflected light from the nearby nebula. It meandered and twisted and turned as it moved.

As the Green Lanterns flew closer, they could see that the shimmering ribbon was a truly immense amount of water, with smaller tributaries leaking into it from dozens of icy asteroids along its length. There were small shuttles flying past it scooping up supplies for the settlers.

As they watched, down near the surface of this most incredible sea in the middle of space, Daramulum swung a bullroarer and as it spun over his head he levitated up from the roiling watery mass towards them. The Green Lanterns created an emerald bubble around themselves and the grey skinned being.

"What...?" Shenshen started to ask a question but before she could finish Oolangan, always the more expressive of the two, had wrapped her arms around the Aboriginal deity in a tight hug.

"How did you do this? It's... it's incredible!" She asked.

"They have a good chance now; I'm creating fresh water and useable atmosphere around it from the frozen rocks out there. It took a bit of work but we had to cannibalise a lot of the systems on the Rainbow Serpent to build the structure field to contain it ...but look at the result."

"Daramulum, what have you done? You need your craft to get back to the Dreamtime, don't you? You're stuck here if you do that..." Shenshen sounded horrified.

“I won't be able to leave this plane now, no, but it's worth it... isn’t it? My people will have to build another ship that can make the journey if they want to find me ...but until they do, this reality will have to do." Although he smiled at his Green Lantern comrades there was a bitter resignation in the deity's expression.

They knew that by using the craft that had carried him here from his Dreamtime dimension he had just sacrificed his only way back to his own reality. He had given away his only link to his people to ensure the desperate refugees that had fled from the barbaric regime of the newly formed United Planets had a chance at survival.

The holo faded.

.........................


Rimbor

Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath, electrical generation and manipulation
Backlash - Mrruaw MNau of Simballi - enhanced strength, speed, senses, absorbs kinetic energy to boost own size and mass
Atom Girl - Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk - can shrink to microscopic size

Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):
Solar Gorilla - D'Nadka Endarooga of Dmansca - generate and project extreme heat and light (Lightning Lass)

Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg - creation of multiple identical duplicates
The Huntress - Ambassador Amynta of Nostos ii - incredible strength, speed, invulnerability, space flight
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic - creation of personal spherical force field

Intern:
Haze - Science Police Cadet Tkemwa Autmi-Hu of Ungara - strength, durability, induce confusion and senselessness
Impact - Dillon Blackstream of Myar - incredible strength, speed, durability, stamina, motion sense

Laipas - hunting dog from Nostos ii - enchanted to never lose a trail, fast and tough, far smarter than she looks!


Lightning Lass unleashed a huge bolt of electricity towards the rear of the building.

All of the windows at this side blew out and several chunks of masonry fell loose. Backlash charged ahead, jumping through one of the shattered windows and vanishing into the darkness inside.

<Mrrauw, wait up there!> Ayla sent after the great horned feline. Impact, the intern from Myar led the way into the darkness, her motion sense meant she would be least likely to be surprised by any sudden attack from the gang members and Khunds that the Legionnaires knew were in the warehouse.

Solar gorilla brought up the rear, her body aflame to deter anyone from trying to strike her from behind. The light from her flames created dancing shadows across the large room they found themselves in making it seem as if they were on a moving vessel as streaks of dark and light swung back and fore across the walls and floor.

<I find it most embarrassing but could one of you cuff these two please. The incapacity cuffs design is most inconvenient for one with paws such as mine> Backlash stood with his front paws pinning down two gang members; one was still conscious though didn't struggle against the horned tiger that had caught him.

Impact flew over and quickly cuffed them while Ayla ruffled the fur on Backlash's head and neck affectionately.

"We're a team Mrrauw, so don't be doing that please. Now, you and Dillon take the lead and go lets catch us some Khunds."

Impact smiled at the obvious affection between the Winathian and the great horned tiger as she moved to the door.

While the rest of the team had been dealing with Backlash and his captives, Solar Gorilla had been looking around the room they were in. There were pallets with large secured boxes on them. She carefully extended a finger of plasma towards one the locks on a crate and it pinged open.

"Uhh... Ayla, you gotta see this, we've got ourselves an arms cache here."

"You'd better not slag it D'Nadka, just in case it causes a major explosion..." Lightning Lass said as she came over to examine the contents, "this is some heavy grade shit!"

She thought for a second, aware that the Rimborian Science Police would most likely be called at some point but felt unsure exactly where their loyalties might lie. This sort of weaponry would create a huge profit on the back market...

"Henry..." Lightning Lass spoke into her flight ring, "We've got a weapons horde here I'd like to see deposited somewhere safe, like the surface of Rimbor star, can you oblige?" There was a silence for two seconds before the holo-mam from the far future appeared before them.

"Of course, Ayla, though are you sure this is all of it? Perhaps once you have secured this establishment and ensured everyone has been removed, I can warp the entire place..."

"Great idea Henry, thank you. Oh, can you deposit those two on T-G first please?" She pointed at the two gang members that Backlash had subdued.

"Right, let's get on with it..." Ayla said happily as she flew across the warehouse store room towards where she could here a scuffle taking place along with barking from Amynta's hound Laipas.

..............................


Bouncing Boy and the Huntress flew through a hole in the roof that one of the security blasters had created when it had mis-fired.

Below were four gang members. Three were fully conscious while the last was clearly dazed and stumbling about in the debris from the collapsed ceiling.

"Children, I have no desire to hurt..." Before Amynta could finish she was struck by twin blasts of immense heat that threw her into the far wall and set the surrounds ablaze. Bouncing Boy's spherical force field was already activated so he dived in the way of the energy beams to deflect them. The young man who had projected the energy from his eyes screamed at the Legionnaires as his colleagues started to attack.

"My pa left my ma because o' you do-gooders. You ain't welcome here on Rimbor!"

One of the gang members had taken the opportunity to jump at Bouncing Boy, her hands glowing with a sickly lime green energy. She grabbed hold of the Legionnaire's force field and unleashed two blasts. These ricocheted off and she was thrown to the ground where she landed heavily. Stoor leaned over her and snapped a set of cuffs on her arm, their anaesthetic rendering her unconscious. As he did Amynta flew forward and struck at the young man who had blasted her. He flew against the far wall, smashing through it in a cloud of dust and debris.

The last remaining fully conscious gang member held his hands up in surrender. Amynta approached him with a set of cuffs in her hand but as she got close, he dissipated into a green cloud that engulfed the Amazon Legionnaire.

<you okay there Amynta>

<of course, this idiot thinks I need to breathe like other mortals. Cuff the one that went through the wall Stoor while I teach this impertinent youth some manners>

Bouncing Boy felt a momentary flash of pity for the gaseous gang member. As Amynta took to the air and flew outside, dragging the noxious cloud with her, Stoor went to check that the young gang member the Amazon had just thrown through the warehouse wall was okay. As he got close there was a figure making their way through the dust cloud, the young man appeared slightly dazed but unhurt.

"Hey, come on, you know we're Legionnaires, right? You don't want to get into a fight." Stoor was trying to stall as he had seen the damage this gang member could do and thought there would be a far less destructive outcome if he had some back-up. "I don't know what we did to your father but..."

"My father was a Legionnaire you cretin! That moron Jo Nah was my daddy, not that he ever knew. He ran away to join you freaks and left my ma pregnant and alone to bring me up by hersel' an' after she died the gangs took care o' me, but at least I got one thing from him... his powers!" And in a blur the young man was gone in a split second of hyper-velocity.

Hey IB, thanks again for your very kind review above.

It was established that Kent was related to Laurel and Kara in LW2, and I think I covered the reson why he is like he is in his first appearance in the first LW though will be recapping it soon. There will be more about Jan and Kent's relationship soon as I see them holding very different ideas on some fairly basic things so that needs to be addressed.

More soon as we clear up on Rimbor, Jan and Kent's journey continues and coming up - a leadership election!


C

thanks for pinging me Harbi, always a treat to read more of your good stuff!

and thank you for the recap re some of the family background.

awesome tidbit re Xanthu and astronomy ties into Thom's origins too!

wow, quite a bit of heroism and sacrifice from Daramulum. that's what a deity should be, in my book! (I also like your earlier mention, of how it was only his followers who corrupted their beliefs to allow human sacrifices and the like)

ah, Henry is so convenient and helpful. smart thinking of Solar Gorilla, Ayla and Henry re checking for weapons and making sure they will be disposed of!

"My pa left ma ma because of you", like what?! Now I'm interested in the story behind that! could it be because... and Yes, nice curveball re it being Jo Nah! why am I not super surprised? oooh looking forward to see where you take this one!

as always, another great installment, looking for more more more!

- Jan knowing the Magus is a nice touch! It could come across as too convenient in other circumstances that the last two survivors of Trom just happen to know each other, but I like it here as it's a subtle way of showing that Trom was a really small community of people to begin with!

- seeing Laurel's dad again was a treat too, especially with figuring out how he's related to Kent - something I am still wondering how I wanna handle in my writing

- I am guessing the Khund threatening Laipas has never seen John Wick or they'd know better than to hurt someone's dog...

- I really liked the extra background on Daramulum, and the note that it was his sacrifice which allowed this community to flourish! Suitably mythical!

- Backlash's paws being too big and unweildy to use the incapacitator cuffs was a nice touch, I like little elements like that which show how different non-humanoid characters are just in normal day to day scenarios we'd take for granted

- and the big one! Maybe I have been watching too much Ozark but I am hearing Ruth Langmore in Jo's alleged daughter's voice....ooh, I wonder if that makes her mama An Ryd??? Eyes glued for this development!!!

Also: leadership election sounds like it will be a good opportunity to mix things up, hope it's not a bad omen for Tinya though!

The U-Vabbishte Toktrec Settlements, galactic north of the Great White Asteroid Field, Raptor Nebula


Support staff:
Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare - Impulse – Chief Medical Officer and Support Team manager - enhanced strength, speed, durability, stamina

From the Wanderers:
Blockbuster - Ardren Kent of Earth, super strong and invulnerable


Kent felt tired.

Not really physically tired of course, as that was virtually impossible with his physique, but the vicarious stress he had felt on Jan's behalf while trying to remain strong and positive for his partner had made the last few days quite exhausting. Even after he had been shown to a guest suite and had enjoyed a rather stimulating sonic shower he still didn't feel totally relaxed.

Kent had enjoyed a spicy stew and spoken to several of the Magus' wives and monks before being shown to his quarters. They all told him they were very happy living on this isolated retreat and seemed genuinely overjoyed as the news spread that another survivor from Trom had joined them. Most had heard of the Legion and so knew that Element Lad was from the same home world as the planetoid's owner. Still, none had ever expected him to visit them. One of the wives eyed Kent up quite salacious and smiled flirtatiously with him, which Arden laughed at, telling the doctor not to be embarrassed as no-one minded if he was or wasn't interested in reciprocating her obvious intentions. Kent didn't say anything but he did wonder how, within such a small community of only 60 or so adults they stopped anyone from getting jealous or possessive around their relationships. He also wondered at what age were the children involved in the flirting and apparent fun?

And now, an hour later as he lay down on the massive bed in the centre of the suite the muscular doctor had to admit that for all of his open mindedness and capacity to not judge other's life choices, he felt on edge by the culture and easy relationships that were on clear display within this planetoid, it all just felt off to him somehow...

He wondered if Psyche being here somehow was adding to his discomfort? Despite knowing full well this version of the empath wasn't the person who had done so much harm, his instincts were to avoid her... in spite of every bit of evidence pointing out that she really was as kind and sweet as the Legionnaires who had met her previously said, her being close to him made triggered an instinct to run away.

He was well aware that usually the occupants relationships wouldn't even have registered as anything other than simply what it was - a group of adults deciding what made them happy and living it - but Jan investing in rediscovering his heritage from the Magus, who also happened to be someone Jan already knew and looked up to, had somehow rattled the team's doctors confidence!

Okay, Kent thought to himself, Trom had a population of under two thousand when Roxxas had brutalised it so chances were that Jan would at least recognise anyone else that had managed to survive the massacre there, but still "Uncle Tarl" had worried Kent more than he expected. The genuine expression of warmth and love on Jan's face when he realised who the Magus actually was... Kent couldn't get that out of his mind, that moment frozen in front of him.

Was it that the doctor felt his relationship was under threat if Jan decided to follow the Trommite practice of opening it out to others? He couldn't quite put his finger on this as the source of the discomfort as he knew he didn't want to share his partner, so if Jan wanted to do that then Kent would walk. That was a relatively safe bet as far as Kent thought, so he was kind of fine with that... well, maybe not fine exactly but resolute at least.

Was it that... and Kent paused as he thought this as he knew that while he hated to admit it, there was more than an iota of truth within this thought... he knew with Jan meeting his Uncle Tarl, the Legionnaire would no longer be so dependent on him to be his 'family'? Did he feel that there was a threat to the close bonds they shared perhaps? Were the doctor's own control issues being tested and that was why he felt threatened? Kent ground his teeth as he mulled this over.

He knew that he would need to talk to Jan about this and that also worried him. He usually wasn't one to catastrophise, instead feeling that if there was an issue to deal with then the best thing one could do was to face it head on and get past it, but still... Kent smiled as it dawned on him that ultimately it all boiled down to one simple fact - and that brought a realisation of a point of fact that he knew somewhere inside himself but had never taken the time to acknowledge...

The culture on this planetoid reminded him that people make choices every single day who to spend their time with, and whether it was due to Jan's choice or his, Kent was feeling rattled as he simply didn't want to think of any choice being made that would result in his life not including his Legionnaire partner at his side. For the first time in his adult life, Doctor Richard Kent Shakespeare was in love with someone else and didn't want to contemplate how bad he would feel if he lost them.

There was a knock on the door and Ardren Kent walked in, without waiting for a response. As usual, Laurel Kent's father was wearing a pair of blue board shorts and a simple red cut away vest with sandals on his feet, looking casual and relaxed. He had an easy confidence about him that made him remarkably charismatic. Kent realised that their famous ancestor Kal El must have had the same effect on people.

"If you're up for it, thirty times removed cousin," Ardren grinned as he said this, "Helena and I are going to shuttle across to the Affiemmaton Deep Blue Social 'Stroid as they have the best views and food for a dozen AU around here. You wanna join us?" There was a clear expectation that Kent would say 'yes' writ across his face.

"Ah... Is Jan back yet? I want to speak to him before going anywhere... so, hope you don't mind but I'd rather leave it until after that." Kent sat up on his bed, where he had been laying as he stared at the ceiling, and blinked a couple of times as he gave his distant relative a small smile.

"No sign of them yet. Trommites are funny beggars ... nice, don't get me wrong, but funny. The Magus has been known to meditate for three days at a time. I reckon there must be more exciting things to do than that, eh?" Again, Ardren smiled.

"Yeah... hey, look, I can call Jazmin and Dkyun and ask them to join you if you want, but I'd rather stay here for now, Thanks anyway Ardren, I do appreciate the offer."

"Yeah..." Ardren Kent didn't sound terribly convinced, "So... ah... I hope you don't mind me asking this, but what're you afraid of son? You look like you want to bolt out of here." Ardren's voice was soft as his expression turned serious and, Kent thought his blue eyes seemed to look right into the doctor's heart.

"Really, ah, I'm fine, just tired, I guess. It's been a journey getting here, y'know?" Kent struggled to stop himself from fidgeting.

"Yeah, okay... only, see when I first came here the ...the ambience really surprised me and I was a bit on edge for a while too. What I'm saying is don't let this place spook you too much son, these are good folk here, genuinely golden people. You and Jan will be looked after and no-one will impose anything on either of you that you are not totally comfortable doing yourself. You might be asked but it's fine to say 'no', no-one will mind. I know their free-love and honest community approach is a bit ...ah, non-standard," Ardren smiled and shrugged, "but listen, that doesn't mean you two guys need to join in if you don't want as it isn't that sort of a place. Okay? You and Jan are strong, right? ...in your relationship?" Kent nodded his response to the question, before Ardren continued "...well then, you'll be totally fine. So, stop worrying son, you'll be good. And, if you change your mind and you do fancy a decent meal this evening you know where to find us." With that he smiled and turned to leave.

Kent gave his distant relative a relieved smile and thanked him. After Ardren had left, Kent lay back on his bed feeling much less tired than he had only minutes before.

........................


Rimbor

Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath, electrical generation and manipulation
Backlash - Mrruaw MNau of Simballi - enhanced strength, speed, senses, absorbs kinetic energy to boost own size and mass
Atom Girl - Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk - can shrink to microscopic size

Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):
Solar Gorilla - D'Nadka Endarooga of Dmansca - generate and project extreme heat and light (Lightning Lass)

Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg - creation of multiple identical duplicates
The Huntress - Ambassador Amynta of Nostos ii - incredible strength, speed, invulnerability, space flight
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic - creation of personal spherical force field

Intern:
Haze - Science Police Cadet Tkemwa Autmi-Hu of Ungara - strength, durability, induce confusion and senselessness
Impact - Dillon Blackstream of Myar - incredible strength, speed, durability, stamina, motion sense

Laipas - hunting dog from Nostos ii - enchanted to never lose a trail, fast and tough, far smarter than she looks!


Haze took the lead as he joined Duplicate Girl searching for Laipas.

Lu didn't mind Tkemwa flying in front of her as he was easily ten times stronger and tougher than she and his reactions were at least twice as fast so he was the obvious choice to fly at point position.

Just around the corner they encountered two gang members while a third was on the floor trying to get up - a clear sign they thought that the Amazon hunting dog had been this way. The gang members all stumbled about as Haze confused them giving Lu the opportunity to quickly slap incapacity cuffs onto their arms. As Lu finished doing that they heard Laipas bark from the back of the huge store room they were in.

"Let's go!" Lu said as she flew over the top of the rows of stacked crates towards where the sound was coming from. As she flew the Cargggite triplicated, getting ready for a fight.

Duplicate Girl and Haze flew over the last row. Below they could see Laipas barking at thin air... there was one of the Khunds on the floor with a cuff around his arm, while Atom Girl was slumped against the wall not far away. As the Legionnaires were well aware, these two Khunds could become invisible so neither thought for a second that the dog was mad, they just couldn't see what she was telling them was there.

"Stop there!" Lu shouted as she sent a telepathic message to the intern to use his power to confuse their invisible opponent.

A blaster fired from out of nowhere nearly striking Lu and she scrambled to get out of the way. As the Legionnaires jumped aside of the blaster fire Laipas pounced at the invisible Khund but was struck aside by a powerful blow before she could get her teeth into him.

Haze dived down to the dog to check it was okay as he pushed his psychic attack out towards the general area where the invisible blaster was firing upon Duplicate Girl. The cyborg started to fade into view as he stumbled towards the intern but before Tkemwa could slap incapacity cuffs upon him there was a loud whoosh of air and a hand slapped the intern across the face at tremendous speed knocking him backwards.

...and then the Khunds were gone!

Debris flew out the doors as the wind sucked it behind the escaping speedster and the two cyborg mercenaries they had plucked from out of the Legionnaires grasp.

"Are you okay?" Duplicate Girl settled next to the intern as he picked himself off the floor. Her two other selves were flying along the corridor behind the escaping mercenaries trying to track where they were fleeing to.

<uh... g... guys, there's a kid claiming to be Jo Nah's son. He just got away from me at super speed. He's very fast and tough and has flash vision so be c... c.. safe now> Bouncing Boy's message unexpectedly interrupted them.

<What?> Ayla responded, <We'll look out for him, thanks for letting us know Stoor.... Wow, I'm glad Tinya isn't around right now to hear that...> It was obvious that Ayla had not meant to share that last part of her thoughts and she quickly apologised.

<I think we just met him. He's taken the Khunds and fled> Duplicate Girl replied.

As Laipas got back on her feet the hunting dog shook her head and shoulders before trying to chase after the long-gone mercenaries. Haze grabbed her by the scruff of the neck and picked her up, sweeping her legs from under her and holding her next to his torso firmly. She struggled for a bit, barking loudly, before finally settling down and turned to lick the intern's cheek. As much as Tkemwa found this uncomfortable, especially as Lu laughed at the face he pulled, he didn't put the dog down in case she ran off after the escaped villains trail again.

Within moments Backlash and Impact ran through the warehouse to join them, while Lightning Lass and Solar Gorilla had instead followed the stairwell down to the basement level, in case there were any more gang members lurking there. They came up only two minutes later, both looking disappointed as they hadn't found anyone.

Less than ten minutes later, after the Huntress had returned with an unconscious youth in her hand and the Legionnaires had double-checked there was no-one left inside the building, Henry opened a spinning warp that tore through the warehouse emptying its contents into a very close orbit to Rimbor's home star. Within hours the arms cache was nothing more than super-heated free-floating molecules.

Atom Girl looked annoyed as she stepped through the warp back to First Base.

"Today was a victory Sylva." Lu said as she walked alongside the Imskian.

"Very nearly a victory Lu, we let three of them go."

"We didn't let anything of the sort, three escaped because we didn't know about their power set - we will next time though. And don't forget what we actually achieved; we disposed of a horrific store of weapons making that part of Rimbor that much safer, we caught nine gene-mod gang members and weakened those Khund bastards standing with the gangs. It'll take time before we hear from them again, I bet, they've got wounds to lick right now... speaking of which, you need clearance from the medical team before you can return to active status, okay?"

"Yeah, I know..." Sylva looked a little crest-fallen before she turned to Lu and asked, "So, what about that kid who said he was Ultra Boy's son? Do you believe it?"

"Yeah... that could get tricky. We know Jo had a life before joining the Legion ...if I remember right he had a girlfriend called An Ryd, I think, but Pulsar Stargrave murdered her. From what Stoor said the kid would be around sixteen so he'd be about the right age... ah, who knows, I guess we'll find out next time we meet him. Hopefully, if he is Jo's long lost child, we can persuade him to follow in his father's footsteps."

"Seems he's pretty deep in with the gangs and those two Khunds though..."

"Let's deal with him when we next meet him Sylva, we've got enough on our plates to get on with without going looking for more trouble." From her tone of voice it was clear Lu was ending the discussion.

Atom Girl could see that the Cargggite was obviously upset by the news that Jo Nah may have had a child that the Legion never knew about, but Sylva was sure that now the team knew about him they would be hearing more from him soon.

hey guys, thanks again for your kind feedback, as always t is appreciated!

The Rimbor story is over for now though obviously it will be picked up again at some point soon as Jo's son will come looking for answers...

Raz, yup Jan knowing who the Magus is was always going to happen, in a previous story I'd established that the population of Trom was always small as the way I see it is a planet with millions or even billions of transmutators wouldn't have had any trouble repulsing Roxxas.

Next up, a little side story on Earth and we'll find out some more about the Magus and about Daramulum, then it's election time again - who do you think will get the top spots?

Thanks again,

C

more great stuff Harbi!

I love how insightful Ardren is. Kent's self-reflection was very well-done, and indeed I can say from my and friends' experience, those are the kinds of issues and questions that open relationships (or the discussion thereof!) tend to bring!


heh re Ayla mistakenly sharing her thoughts re Tinya not being around to hear about Jo's son

aw re Haze carrying Laipas

As always, I am keeping a strong eye on Lu, and she does not show much, if any, of the behavior Marmud has been accusing her of. I'm super invested in that plotline!

nice resolution for now, eager to see where you take the hunt for the two Khunds and Jo's son! was a great outing, Sylva's disappointment vs. Lu's determination was great!


and yay elections, always exciting!

Kent's whole dilemma kind of reminds me in a way of something I went through with my ex, I thought you did a really good job of elaborating on the reason for his insecurity without making one side or the other look morally superior...it will be interesting to see how his talk with Jan goes!

Also, I don't know why I thought Jo's mystery kid was a girl last time but either way I am looking forward to seeing more of him!

The U-Vabbishte Toktrec Settlements, galactic north of the Great White Asteroid Field, Raptor Nebula


Element Lad - Senior Team member, Jan Arrah of Trom - elemental transmutation
Kid Quantum - Jazmin Cullen of Xanthu - creation of temporal quantum bubbles, flight
Starkling – telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Green Lantern - Dkyun Mu of Xudar - wearer of a Green Lantern power ring

Support staff:
Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare - Impulse – Chief Medical Officer and Support Team manager - enhanced strength, speed, durability, stamina

the Wanderers:
Quantum Queen - Queen Helenna Regina-Winzzor of the Eternal Empire of the Nomadic Sunkind, enhanced strength, flight, can assume the form of and manipulate ambient electro-magnetic spectrum energy
Blockbuster - Ardren Kent of Earth, super strong and invulnerable


Just over two hours later, Jan had still not returned so Kent decided to give him a call.

<Jan, sorry to interrupt but I'm...>

<Kent? Hey, we're running through guided meditation and it's been a long time since I've tried this, so I'll contact you once we're finished here... there's nothing important come us, is there?>

<Ah, no, but I wondered...>

<Okay, see you later, bye> Jan's message was rushed and abruptly ended

"Oka-a-ay," Kent said out loud, "that's enough of this waiting game... I'm definitely going out to enjoy myself now." He took a deep breath and smiled, calling up the holo-comm from his flight ring to contact Jazmin Cullen.

"Hey Doc, you guys okay there?" Her holo looked startled, as if he had interrupted the young woman from Xanthu in the middle of some activity.

"Yeah... well kind of. Jan's off meditating and I'm left here waiting and..."

"We'll come pick you up if you like? We've been following the river, it's absolutely amazing! We've met a total legend too, you remember Daramulum from your history lessons? The 27th Century hero? You know who I mean, right? Well, he's alive and crewing a small cargo boat."

"You been sampling the local stims there Jaz?" Dr Shakespeare retorted with a laugh.

"Nope, seriously! Dkyun's ring identified him and we spoke for an hour or so... he was really, really cool." Kent could see the beginnings of some serious hero adoration in Jazmin's tone of voice and body language. Whoever they had met had made an impression on her!

"Oh, well, sounds cool. Anyway, Ardren invited me for supper, and I was wondering if you wanted to join us too? You and Dkyun are probably in need of something to eat by now..."

"Daramulum fed us. Really nice it was too, he's a great cook y'know." Jazmin enthused.

"Wow, whoever he was, he really made an impression on you, eh?" Kent didn't mean his tone to sound so dismissive but he could see immediately by Jazmin's reaction that she had been upset by his comment's implications.

"Yeah, so we don't need supper, thanks anyway. You have fun with Ardren, your new family and you must have a lot to catch up on, right?" Jazmin went to break the communication link but Kent spoke quickly before she could.

"Jazmin, I'm sorry, that came out all wrong. I'm going a bit bonkers here by myself and wanted some pals to hang out with... I'm so sorry I took my frustration out on you there. "

"Sure, that's fair enough, boredom is horrid isn't it, Kent? So... we can be there in... fifteen or twenty minutes, would that do?"

"That'll be great, thanks Jaz, really grateful for this."


.....................................


An hour later and Kent was sharing an emerald bubble with Jasmin while Starkling and the Green Lantern flew outside.

Jasmin asked if they could fly by some of the more exotic planetoids to investigate and perhaps see if they could get permission to have a look around.

"We need a guide." Kent said to no-one in particular as he marvelled at a perfect sphere, three quarters as big as Legion World Home Base, it looked like it had been made from speckled quartz. It was not the most outrageous thing they had seen but the craftsmanship was still mind blowing. They had flown within metres of the sphere and there were no signs of workmanship; no notches or grooves from any tools - the stone appeared to be perfectly smooth and precise.

"Yeah, I agree. Let's go grab that ...whatever relation he is of yours. Ardren was an explorer, right? He's bound to know a few interesting things." Jazmin smiled as she said it, though Kent never saw it as they both were staring out of the green Lantern's protective bubble at the marvels around them.

<my ring has located Ardren and Helenna, shall we go to them?>

<please> Kent replied.

And with that they pulled away from the enormous polished quartz sphere and flew out towards the direction of the Raptor Nebula, where the majority of the settlement was located. They approached a relatively small asymmetrical planetoid much smaller than those around it. As they got closer they could see it had two of the tube network connections attached and a large docking bay that looked something like a flat leafed tree sprouting from the far side. They all noticed that two thirds of the bay spaces were taken. This "Social 'Stroid" as Ardren had called it was obviously popular.

It was Dkyun that recognised the small yacht that floated above one of the landing pads.

<Daramulum is here> she sent through to her teammates as she flew them into an airlock. Jazmin became excited by the prospect of meeting the grey skinned former deity again, and insisted they track him down to introduce Kent to him. Kent said that after they had met up with Ardren and Helenna they might. His tone made it clear he didn't think it was a good idea and he hoped Jazmin would forget. He smiled to himself remembering what he had been like at nineteen, Jazmin Cullen's current age in standard years. He regretted how he acted as a teenager, and was rather impressed when he thought about how mature she was by comparison. Still, that was no excuse to disturb the person who had said he was Daramulum...

A maître-d droid asked them which level and service they required and after Kent had mentioned who they were looking for it activated a luminous streak on the floor to lead them to the appropriate grav-lift to the restaurant level, wishing them a pleasant stay as it turned away to deal with the next guests.

It took ten minutes to reach the two Wanderers, but by the then the Legionnaires had followed the guiding illumination through eighteen different levels, each with their own specialised service. The Green Lantern had drawn the most attention - Dkyun knew it had been two of her Corps that had helped set up this settlement centuries before but didn't realise how much their actions were now the stuff of legend and how highly appreciated they were. At least a dozen of the diverse patrons had approached her to thank her for her predecessor's actions. Two of whom also recognised Starkling and Kid Quantum so the team smiled and shook hands, making sure to give their fans a pleasant story to tell later.

Ardren Kent and Queen Helenna Regina-Winzorr were sat at the only table on a wooden veranda surrounded by lush tropical plants that overlooked the nebula. Even at the immense distance away it filled have of everything they could see with a billow mass glowing in burnt hues of ruddy amber with pops of new-born starlight. It was a truly breath-taking vista.

"Hey, hope you don't mind us joining you." Kent said as he walked out f the main restaurant floor to join them.

"See, I told you he'd come join us." Ardren said with a laugh as he stood up to shake their hands.

As the Legionnaires made their way out onto the decking, they heard a crash behind them.

Dkyun had been the last to arrive so turned quickly, her Oan power ring flashing with energy. Other patrons were quickly moving aside as running towards them was Daramulum, closely followed by a woman in a Daxamite armour that looked like it belonged in a museum.

"Legionnaires! Quickly, we need your help! The Worldmith has found us. He'll destroy everything we've worked so hard to build. Help us get rid of him..."

.......................................


Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics
Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user

Szenlong - newly hatched Spirit-Dragon of the Southern Seas


Southern Lights and Dragonmage had arranged to meet to discuss their training with each other.

They had arranged to meet at a large storage room on Second Base that they had learned from the cargo manifest was currently empty. Inside they found the floor was thick with lush grass and wildflowers and a small grove of fruit trees to one side. Both young men smiled, aware that Flaurianarelle, the Faery that Mysa Nal had sent to assist the Legion, had worked her magic on this otherwise barren space. She was so adept with her chloromancy that there was only the smallest of residual tastes of her magics in the room. To any non-mystically sensitive, it would appear as if this storage locker had always held this bucolic green space.

Szenlong flew over their heads into the room and spun around the tops of the trees making happy purring noises. The young dragon had been familiarising itself with the Legion's bases, obviously happy to be around the people it had chosen.

The two Legionnaires sat on the meadow and discussed their magicks for twenty five minutes, both surprised by how the other accessed their talent as they approached it in such very different ways. After Xao had failed to astrally project, despite Southern Lights positive reassurances and surprisingly up-beat approach, they started to talk about how Xao's connection to the Eternal Jade Dragon influenced which magicks he could actually use. With the mention of the Jade Dragon, Szenlong swam down through the air from the branches of the trees where it had been chasing butterflies to eye level to the two men and started to purr again. Xao held a hand out to let the young dragon rub its flank against.

"You are both in synch with each other, aren't you?"

"No... I don't believe a person can ever truly be in synch with a dragon, but we do ...ah, care for each other I think is the best way to describe it." Xao gave a brief smile as he answered. He could see Southern Lights confusion so started to explain how a dragon's senses were far more attuned to the elemental, timeless and intrinsic cosmic nature of reality so humans and dragons really had little reference points to start a true understanding, let along bond successfully.

"Szenlong is happy to be with you though, they did choose to be here." Southern Lights gave a broad grin.

"That's true. I was thinking of taking it to visit an ocean on Earth, the spirit-dragon is after all a water elemental. Its kind had ruled the Great Southern Sea for millennia. It'd be nice if you could join us, would you like to?" Xao asked the winged mystic. Szenlong gave a joyous yelp and undulated and twisted in a dance around them, obviously understanding what had just been said.

"Yes, yes I would love to join you. That sounds superb. Thank you." Southern Lights gave a broad smile as he replied.

Xao smiled coyly and asked, "You know, you don't seem quite yourself today, it's like you're... bubbly. What's distracting you, my friend? I mean it's great to see you so happy... is there something going on?"

"I... yes, I've recently gotten close to someone..."

"Dawnstar." Dragonmage said with a smile.

"Yes, how did you...?"

"You've been fixated by her since you joined the academy." Xao laughed as he answered.

"Was it that obvious?" he laughed, "She's so ... beyond beautiful!"

"She is very attractive." Xao agreed, smiling at his friend's news.

Southern Lights expression darkened for a second and Dragonmage asked his friend if everything was okay.

"Of course.... well, I hope so. It's just I've spent the last ten years ...since I was chosen by the Sky-Keepers to follow the Higher Pathways... so I haven't... I haven't had the experience... y'know..." Southern Lights dipped his head, his long hair falling over his face.

"Oh... Hey, so what? I'm sure she'll understand."

Above them, Szenlong started blowing loud raspberries and flicking the young men's hair with its tail as it hovered above their heads.

"Perhaps we should look into making our way to Earth's oceans, before he gets too disruptive." Southern Lights said, grateful for the interruption.

"Yes, yes you're right. Let's get going." Dragonmage replied with a smile towards the young dragon.

And with that the two mystics left the cargo hold and made their way to the warp control room.

Less than fifteen minutes later an alarm screeched across First Base monitor board - a typhoon had materialised out of nowhere in the South China Sea and was away to make imminent landfall in one of the densest populations on Earth...

Oh my the Worldsmith, haven’t seen that nuisance in a while.. more than a nuisance, a danger

Jan is understandably distracted, poor bored Kent

A typhoon sounds right up the alley of these two

Looking forward to more more more as always Harbi!

The U-Vabbishte Toktrec Settlements, galactic north of the Great White Asteroid Field, Raptor Nebula

Kid Quantum - Jazmin Cullen of Xanthu - creation of temporal quantum bubbles, flight
Starkling – telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Green Lantern - Dkyun Mu of Xudar - wearer of a Green Lantern power ring

Support staff:
Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare - Impulse – Chief Medical Officer and Support Team manager - enhanced strength, speed, durability, stamina

the Wanderers:
Quantum Queen - Queen Helanna Regina-Winzzor of the Eternal Empire of the Nomadic Sunkind, enhanced strength, flight, can assume the form of and manipulate ambient electro-magnetic spectrum energy
Psyche - Meena Estelli of the Firgrove settlements of Homestar 3, empathic emotional reading and manipulation
Blockbuster - Ardren Kent of Earth, super strong and invulnerable

Daramulum of the Dreamtime - great strength, durability, speed, shape changing, telepathy, and energy generation and manipulation
Ruby Huru of the U-Vabbishte Toktrec Settlements - half-Daxamite physiology, minor mystical abilities



"You're the Daughter of Mr Power and Topaz Storm from Universal Justice? For real? You're like... superhero royalty!" Jazmin Cullen exclaimed.

Daramulum had made quick introductions before explaining to the Legionnaires and Wanderers why he needed their assistance. Ruby Huru, the older woman in atiquated Daxamite armour that Jazmin had spoken to, gave the Legionnaire a mirthless smile and turned back to Daramulum as he told the team about the threat the settlement faced.

"The Worldsmith will alter the settlement, ruin centuries of work." Ruby said to the group.

"What's the game plan then?" Ardren asked.

"My sister Yhi got him to leave Earth many centuries ago. He was sent there to alter environments to suit an invading force from another reality though he didn't seem aware that his masters had been wiped out... he still gets sent through random space warps every time he completes a task, totally unaware that his 'clients' are long gone." Daramulum looked slightly sad as he spoke.

"Okay, so let's go punch him until he runs away." Ardren said, rubbing a fist into his palm. Kent smiled to himself as he watched his distant relative, reminded of Laurel Kent - like father like daughter!

Quantum Queen put an arm around Ardren's muscular torso and smiled as she announced "I will call Psyche as well. Between us we should be able to deal with this miscreant."

Kent almost laughed; he had never heard anyone use the word 'miscreant' before but coming from the blond Wanderer it somehow sounded appropriate. For all of her positivity and friendliness, it was clear by her bearing that the Quantum Queen really did have a royal background.

The group had made its way to Daramulum's yacht, which he assured them was more than a simple vessel for travelling the river. Kent felt a suspicion that the grey skinned man was keeping rather a lot from them.

"Are there any other meta-powered residents out here that could help?" Kent asked as he stepped up the ladder onto the deck of the small craft. While Quantum Queen, Jazmin and Dkyun had flown straight onto the small craft he resisted using his flight ring.

"Probably dozens... but getting them together would be difficult."

"I can move at light speed if you can tell me where they are." Quantum Queen said.

"Maybe later... I'd need to collate my data sources, and right now we don't have time to sift through three centuries of information. Sorry, if we had time that would be a good idea but right now... not so much."

While they spoke Kid Quantum called up information from her flight ring. A hard light image of the Worldsmith appeared in her hand, alongside a scrolling data stream that gave the limited information the Legion had on the strange being. Ruby Huru stood next to her and read the data as it scrolled down. The Green Lantern approached them and nodded in agreement as she read the data stream.

"The Corps hasn't much more information... only that he always retreats to a pocket reality when bested. How did your sister learn so much about this Worldsmith, Daramulum?" Dkyun asked.

The grey skinned man had called up a holo-wheel and was steering the small craft out from the landing bay and ignored the Green Lantern as he punched at a hard light screen to release the docking clamp field that hung above them.

"His people're all telepathic. From what he told me before Yhi was pretty powerful so..." Ruby started to reply.

"Tsk tsk kiddo, I've told you before not to tell my stories." He growled over the steering wheel at her. There was a glance between them that clearly held a lot of meaning. Ruby Huru turned away and looked out into the depth of space, clearly embarrassed. As this exchange took place, Green Lantern and Starkling took off from the deck of the strange yacht and flew at its side. Jazmin felt embarrassed for Ruby and considered joining Dkyun but instead went over to Ruby's side and stood in silent support. When Ruby turned her face towards the Legionnaire Jazmin gave her a brief smile before staring off into space.

"Hang on now." Daramulum said.

The space around them went blank - totally without colour or form - and they reappeared several hundred AU away at the fringes of the settlement.

Before them, not 250 metres away, hung an obese green skinned being in a black and white pinstriped suit. They were close to an immense satellite that from where they had materialised seemed to go on forever made from layers of stratified rock, separated out into platforms clearly used for farming. Each layer had hundreds of acres of crops growing. Just below them the great river that ran throughout this strange settlement roared past.

Behind the yacht the being they were here to stop hung in space. Energy crackled from the Worldsmith's fingertips as he transformed the huge multi-layered farmstead satellite into a beachhead for the long-dead invading force.

....................................


The Green Lantern and Starkling approached the Worldsmith.

He ignored them as energy crackled around the edges of the immense floating farming platform before him. Dkyun sent a message across a broad telepathic range, channeling the matrix from her flight ring through the Oan power ring but the Worldsmith ignored her. As she did Dramulum steered his craft between the green skinned being and its target.

Ardren Kent dived off the side of the yacht, his hands balled into fists, closely followed by Ruby Huru. Within seconds the two brawlers had reached the Worldsmith. Ardren Kent managed to get one punch onto the large being's shoulder before a tendril of matter spun out from the farming satellite and wrapped around his head, dragging him away.

Quantum Queen materialised in front of the Worldsmith as the Green Lantern swooped off to help the damaged satellite. Queen Helenna put her hands out and a blast of concentrated radiation struck the Worldsmith in the face, blowing him backwards. Ruby Huru flew in at speed and struck at him multiple times before a wave of energy erupted out from his torso throwing her and the Wanderer backwards.

Starkling dived into the fray and surrounded the Worldsmith's bulbous head with its component parts and slowly tightened then until they squeezed tight. The green being reached up with both hands and tried to snatch at Starkling's marble sized parts but instead the composite Legionnaire wrapped itself around the hands as well and held them in place on the Worldsmith's head. They could hear the Worldsmith yelp in pain. As this happened Daramulum steered his yacht in towards the struggling invader. At his side on the deck, Kid Quantum stretched out her hands.

<Starkling, I'm going to stasis his fat ass, get clear now!>

The swarm of diamond hard pieces that made up the composite Legionnaire flew off the Worldsmith's head as a quantum field surrounded him, freezing him in place.

<We must fix this> Dkyun sent to her teammates as she used her power ring to create a barrier at the side of the farming platform that the Worldsmith had disrupted. There was at least a klick of damage that was cracking and beginning to fall off the side into space.

<Any ideas?> Jazmin replied.

<has anyone tried simply talking to him> Kent sent.

<centuries ago, that was how my sister got him to leave Earth. I've met him a couple of times since and he seems angrier each time> Daramulum added his thoughts into the Legion's silent conversation, surprising Kent.

<oh yeah, he's telepathic> Jazmin said with a feeling of humour as she spotted Kent's startled expression at the deity intruding onto the Legion's flight ring generated telepathic matrix.

<we sensed no malice, only purpose> Starkling added, <we do not believe it intentionally means harm, though there is anger and disappointment within it's thoughts>

<perhaps I could try> Daramulum sent, <can you drop your field Jazmin and we will see if I can do what Yhi managed to do> He didn't sound too hopeful, though as he was clearly the one with the most life experience the Legionnaires deferred to the one-legged deity.

<let's get this fixed and everyone in place first> Dkyun suggested as she struggled to contain the tumbling rocks and earth from the farming platform.

As the team had been using the telepathic matrix to communicate, Ardren Kent, the Quantum Queen and Ruby Huru had got close to Jazmin's field and were waiting for further action. Jazmin signalled for them to wait. In the distance they could see a shuttle approaching. It took less than ten seconds before it was close enough for them to see Psyche was piloting it. Quantum Queen vanished in a blur of radiation and reappeared inside.

Dkyun used her flight ring to contact the shuttle and relayed their plan. Jazmin would drop her stasis field and Daramulum would try to persuade the worldsmith to stop its senseless activities. If that didn't work, then they would need to drive it away.

Both of the Wanderers gave a thumbs up in response.

<Okay, shall we do this now?> Kid Quantum asked.

...................................


The Green Lantern approached the yacht and extended a bubble of emerald energy to surround them all.

There was a tube linking it to the platform nearest to them. They could hear the air as it rushed in to fill the bubble from the immense farming platform.

"Perhaps now we can all talk?" She gave a chittering laugh as she said this out loud. Jazmin quickly explained the plan to Ardren, Ruby Huru, Quantum Queen and Psyche, telling them that if they couldn't persuade the Worldsmith to stop with words then they would need to get physical. Ardren smiled at this.

"Okay, you ready there?" Everyone either nodded or said yes in response. With a wave of her hands, Jazmin cancelled her quantum field.

"You are getting in the way of my work, my clients will..." The Worldsmith said with quiet menace.

"They are long gone." Daramulum interrupted the worldsmith's rant, "You know this so why do you continue in your tasks?"

"Great Glmoren will rise and join us when I have prepared the way! They are my clients..."

"They were your creators... and they lost a war many, many centuries ago so won't be joining you." There was no emotion in Daramulum's response, only the relaying of facts.

"No! No, you lie you puny godling. I remember you; you ran like a Shlumfrit on Slaughter Day, you coward."

"Not this time, this time we need to put an end to your ...your mission. So, please stop this. We don't want to hurt you but we can. You know you are outnumbered so..."

"This is a farce!" With that the Worldsmith crackled with energy though before he could direct it Ruby Huru flew up to his face.

"You will stop or I will break you!" She yelled into his large green face. The Worldsmith blinked and looked momentarily stunned.

"We just want to talk Worldsmith." Daramulum said, his tone neutral. He glanced aside at Ruby who caught the look and backed off.

On the shuttle Psyche reached out to calm the Worldsmith's raging mind. She could sense the frustration, fear and anger that the large being felt, though the over-riding feeling she had from him was of loneliness. Psyche did her best to unruffle the raging emotions. She turned to the Quantum Queen and quickly told her what she was feeling and asked her to relay it to Daramulum. Queen Helenna gave a tight smile and vanished in a beam of radiation to reappear at the grey skinned deity's side.

Ardren Kent had been watching the scene before him, getting ready to pounce. He almost jumped when a hand gripped his shoulder. Dr Shakespeare had flown over to his distant relative and could see how eager he was to start fighting.

"We need to give Daramulum a chance here. The Worldsmith may a bit crazy but he can cause a lot of damage if provoked." Kent said quietly.

"So can I." Ardren replied curtly.

"Now's not the time to show that, let's give them a chance." The doctor kept his hand on Ardren's shoulder as the extra-dimensional deity from ancient Earth and the terraforming invader faced each other.

.....................................


The gray skinned god and the green skinned planet-shaper faced each other within the giant emerald bubble.

Below them they could see the great river was filling with a multitude of vessels as the local community of settlers responded to the alarm that the Worldsmith's presence had created. None tried to approach too close though many assisted with shoring up the damaged farming platform.

The Legionnaires and Wanderers watched as the conversation quickly stretched out to include their lived history and its place within the greater galactic lifespan, and both gave smiles. Kid Quantum was initially surprised the Daramulum would allow such a tangent but after twenty minutes it became clear that the grey skinned deity was giving the Worldsmith a reason to show empathy... it was a master class in aggressive diplomacy.

Jazmin noticed that Dr Shakespeare, Ardren Kent and Ruby Huru had retreated to the shuttle where they waited alongside Psyche. There was nothing more for them to do while Daramulum tried to broker for a peaceful solution though none wanted to leave in case the diplomatic approach failed.

Jazmin and Quantum Queen had stayed at Daramulum's side, with Starkling hovering above them. Dkyun had flown off to shore up the crumbling edges of the farming platform. Jazmin felt kind of guilty for not helping the Green Lantern but as her abilities could stop the Worldsmith she felt obliged to stay. She also knew that she was too fascinated by the exchange happening before her to leave. The conversation had shifted onto the history of the U-Vabbishte Toktrec Settlements and how this small corner of space had changed over the last three centuries. Daramulum was describing some of their achievements like a poet might, his voice changing in tone and cadence and emotional emphasis. He told of the Silver Chapel and the Black Ferry, of the Gru'um Collective of Elements and the Perfect Sphere made from hand polished granite, of the Monument to a Dying Princess and the Gardens of Infinite Views...

"Almighty Vrersch! Can you show me this place you speak of?"

"Of course, the settlement has always encouraged individuality and there are many more marvels... though construction is obviously slow as we work only with the technology we have at hand." There was a sly grin on Daramulum's face as he said thus which was echoed by the Worldsmith.

"Ah... if my clients truly are no more do you wish me to assist with this tremendous program of works?" The Worldsmith said. His expression was unreadable.

"I would be honoured to have you help me assist these poor short-lived creatures as they reach out for true beauty." Daramulum beamed back.

And so, the Worldsmith smiled and held out a hand.

"I believe his is how they signal an agreement has been made."

Daramulum looked momentarily surprised before quickly grasping at the hand.

"Ummm... hate to interrupt but if we aren't gong to fight do you mind helping us fix that?" Jazmin spoke before she could think and she pointed to wards the immense farming platform that was still crumbling behind them.

"Oh shoosh, that is a trifling act..." with a wave of his hand the platform that he had altered started to re-form into its previous form.

"So... umm we done here?"

"We are indeed 'done here' Jazmin. Thank you for your assistance." Daramulum smiled warmly.

.........................

Two hours later and they were all on or close to Daramulum's yacht as he gave a guided tour of the settlements to the Worldsmith.

The grey skinned deity had been the perfect tour-guide as he told his guests about the history of each of the amazing satellites and planetoids that they had passed. Ardren Kent and Quantum Queen had spent most of the time talking to Ruby Huru trying to persuade her to join the Wanderers as their team currently only had three members. Ruby laughed and declined, glancing at Daramulum as she did. Her expression was unreadable.

Kent Shakespeare had taken a turn at steering the yacht and laughed heartily as they swerved uncomfortably a few times before he got the hang of it.

Daramulum offered to whip up some refreshments and went below deck. Jazmin followed him.

"Hey, sorry hope you don't mind but I thought I'd give you a hand." She said with a small smile.

"Of course Jazmin. Today was pretty ...outrageous, eh? Though it's probably nothing special to you Legionnaires, I bet you live the most adventurous lives." He had turned away to punch an order into the auto-chef.

"Not so much really, I think this'll be a day I remember for a lo-o-ong time. You were really skillful... the way you spoke back there. It ...you inspired me."

"That's very kind. We all do what we can, and you were skillful too you know. Those stasis bubbles... now, they are truly impressive."

"Yeah..." Jazmin glanced behind her to make sure there was no-one else there before she carried on, "I think I know how you know so much about the Worldsmith. It was your people that wiped out his creators, wasn't it?"

There was a sudden silence as Daramulum turned towards her.

"It would be easy to make you forget that, but you deserve the truth. Yes, we encountered the Vrersch, they were an awful bloodthirsty bunch. They brutalised their home dimension and burned their way through several more." His expression was distant as he remembered the ancient battle. "They didn't give us a choice. It was our biggest regret, that we couldn't solve it without... well, to our eternal shame they are no more now. The Worldsmith though... he was just a being they manipulated and used. His natural abilities were twisted and they sent him out to prepare the way for them. Yhi tried to explain all this to him but it... I think it snapped his conditioning and drove him a bit mad." Jazmin could see the pain in his expression as he told her his story. This ancient history still haunted him and as Jazmin saw this another thought occurred to her.

"So you called him here today didn't you and then used us as a distraction while your telepathy fixed his mind? You fixed the problem your ancient war had left behind?"

"You are astute... yes," he gave her a surprisingly warm smile, as if proud of her, "though the woman you call Psyche was helping me to ease his pain too, though she didn't know that it was for this reason. She is incredibly powerful. I doubt it would have been so easy without her."

"Okay, so what now?" Jazmin began loading plates of food that were coming out of the auto-chef onto a platter as she asked.

"Now? Well, let's see... the settlement will continue to grow and with his help we will flourish beyond any dreams I once held."

"And Ruby? Is she really...?"

"When Gra Huru... Mr Power, and Topaz Storm of Universal Justice were murdered she was only six months old. We knew she would be special, half Daxamite and half Elfen elemental, there's never been anyone like her and we knew the damned United Planets couldn't get their hands on her so I took her here. She's become my daughter Jazmin, I have raised her and supported her and ...and I love her like the family I lost."

"She's lucky to have you Daramulum." Kid Quantum said gently.

They both looked at each other, an understanding that the information shared here couldn't go any further was very clear.

"So... one more question..."

"Of course, one more." Daramulum's expression slipped back into neutral.

"What the hell does the Worldsmith actually eat?" She smiled and nodded towards the pates that the auto-chef had produced.

"To be honest I don't know, though it does look like he eats a lot."

Jazmin and Daramulum both laughed as they carried the platters of food up to the yacht's deck and their waiting friends.

Hey IB, thanks for your review.

The Worldsmith was a nuisance wasn't he? Hopefully he'll be a bit more helpful going forward The Wanderers, Daramulum and Ruby Huru are drafted to reappear later on down the line, but for now that's about it for them.

More soon as we find out what's causing a typhoon and watch as the team try to stop it from reaching land, Southern Lights asks for help, Thunder is outclassed and, we look into Szenlong's destiny.

C

a wonderful conclusion, Harbi!

Love how Jazmin is so knowledgeable, and geeking-out on all these superheroes. also cool that there were other teams out there besides the Legion, as a sort of inspiration / pre-cursor. After all, 1000 years is a long time for there to be nothing in between the Justice League and the Legion

great discussion re getting help now vs. not. Good teamwork displayed too

aw Jaz, so sweet re Ruby. curious as to that exchange between Ruby and Daramulum re the stories...

great teamwork, love how Starkling and Jaz (after everyone else distracted Worldsmith of course) finally stopped him. and also talking to him. but indeed, also curious why he seems angrier now... ah! it was loneliness. poor thing...

great resolution, Harbi, using diplomacy and inclusion as a way to solve a problem!

and another great bit for Jazmin, she really is canny and clever and observant!

I also like the contrast between more level-headed Kent and more gung-ho Ardren! and love how everyone played a key role. loved that last little joke re Worldsmith, and Jaz definitely earned Daramulum's respect today!

Great entry Harbi, and you created and used some very good characters!

Hi Harbi, sorry I didn't get a chance to read this sooner! I have really enjoyed the team's time on this settlement, it's such an awesome setting for stories! Very good addition to the mythos, pat yourself on the back

Okay, comments as we go:

- I love that you have a little sorcery clique growing in your Legion, and watching Xao and Southern Lights become friends is great to see! I'm glad you're exploring the different ways the magic users of the Legion access their power, it's one of the things I would like to focus on sometimes but I never seem to have my sorcerors in the same place together long enough to really interact lol

- Southern Lights being worried about his lack of experience is relatable, but considering Dawny's main squeeze has been a sack of anti-energy since forever I think he'll find he's worried about nothing

- I have a bad feeling Szenlong might have something to do with the typhoon, I hope I'm wrong!

- I am enjoying Kid Q being starstruck by all the old-school hero connections, it's showing a side of her we don't get to always see

- re Kent seeing Laurel in her dad's "let's go punch him till he runs away" - I had the same thought haha

- man, I have to admit I feel sorry for anyone having to go up against this crew, with Daramulum, Quantum Queen, Kid Q, Psyche and a Green Lantern they're VERY powerful!

- clever of Jazmin to figure out the connection between Daramulum and the Worldsmith! I like that they solved it with empathy as well, not what I expected given how physically powerful this crew are!

Very much looking forward to seeing what this typhoon situation is all about next!

Thunder - Deputy Leader, Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth, immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom
Tellus - Ganglios of Hykraius - telepathy and telekinesis
Otaki - Bina Nawoti of Earth - mindsense
XS - Jenni Ognats of an alternate dimension Aarok - phenomenal speed
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations
Cosmic Kid - Po Miman, Justice Legionnaire of alternate dimension Mars - energy manipulation and flight

Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):
Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg - split into three separate bodies, each with either enhanced strength and durability, increased speed and reflexes, or laser vision (Thunder)

Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World First Base:
Replicator - Science Police Officer Tarev Jusool of Talok viii - can mimic meta-abilities of those nearby for limited periods of time

Interns:
Imp Master - Dorrolo Capicca Redsail of Zerox - Elven strength, speed and senses, minor mystic specialising in summoning and controlling imps
Shadowsurfer - Walyed Reeaz of D-1457H234 - strength and durability, teleport through shadows or darkness
Thunderbolt - Ness Strakinos of Gardenhome - assumes electrical energy form

Already on site:

Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics
Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user

Szenlong - newly hatched Spirit-Dragon of the Southern Seas


Thunder hit the alarm and asked for a team to help her immediately with a problem on Earth.

Within a minute, there were Legionnaires in the warp control room as Henry asked the mission leader for co-ordinates. Thunder had called up three interns as well - this could easily get nasty if they didn't get a handle on it quickly so she called for the interns she thought might give the most appropriate support.

Henry's warp spun into existence before the team. Thunder quickly gave the team their orders before leading them through.

Otaki and Shadowsurfer were to get to high ground and co-ordinate the rest of the team's responses - with Bina's mindsense she was the best placed to locate anyone in a dire situation. Tellus was to get into the water and check for anyone that might be in need of assistance. Cosmic Kid and Thunderbolt were to join Thunder into the air to see what they could do, while the rest were to help everyone they could around the shoreline. As she was giving the team their orders a second alert appeared - Dragonmage was at the scene, injured... Cece asked Henry to send the warp to where their colleague was, they would check he was okay and perhaps they could get an on-site assessment from him before continuing with their mission.

Cece checked that everyone knew what was expected before leading them through the spinning warp.

Fifteen minutes earlier, Henry's previous warp had opened onto a beach of small stones and white sand with a line of trees behind them. A flock of startled bird squawked in the air around them as they took flight. The sun had just risen above the horizon and both the sky and sea had the last traces of the night fading into bands of pale egg-blue.

Szenlong darted out to sea and Southern Lights quickly followed, matching the small dragon's speed. As the small dragon flew the air started to move around it and a gentle shower of rain appeared in the air around the small beast. Southern Lights laughed as he dodged and spun in the air alongside Szenlong. The small dragon gave a tittering giggle as it swooped down into the seas below them, skimming the top of the waves with an obvious childish glee.

Xao Jin had watched from the beach, a big grin on his usually stoic face as he felt the unbridled joy that Szenlong was experiencing. He knew that this was a moment he would remember for a long time as he felt the small spirit-dragon's chi expand and thrum with life. On the periphery of his senses there was something stirring, a small thing but whatever it was it was growing...

<<pay attention little Dragon>>

The voice of the Eternal Jade Dragon rang in his mind, bringing an abrupt end to his moment of shared happiness. Xao looked around and saw that along the horizon dark clouds were building at a rapid rate. There was a major storm approaching and it did not look natural!

<Southern Lights, what's happening ahead of you both? The sky's getting pretty dark out there> Dragonmage took to the sky and flew out towards his teammate and the small dragon.

<we're no longer alone Xao> the winged mystic replied.

Xao could see up ahead that the winged mystic had stopped and was staring out to sea. Szenlong was flying around Southern Lights, clearly excited about something. Southern Lights was concentrating, casting a spell... The sea below them bubbled and pulsed as something huge rose from the depths towards the surface. And with an enormous eruption of seawater and crash of waves, a red and indigo dragon the size of a Legion cruiser tore through the seawater before them with an enormous roar!

.............................


Szenlong tore away obviously terrified, heading back towards the land.

Xao held out his arms and caught the fleeing dragon. Szenlong mewled like a scared cat as it curled around him. Dragonmage looked at the sight before him - an ancient spirit dragon, easily half a klick long was swirling in the air before them, agitating the sea and clouds around it. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed in the distance as the storm Xao had seen on the horizon rushed towards them with alarming speed. Within him, Xao could feel the Eternal Jade Dragon stirring, readying itself in case this situation escalated into a confrontation. The ancient sea dragon that had risen to the sky commanded a powerful force that would take all of its might to counter.

Just above the huge red and indigo dragon, Southern Lights floated, tiny by comparison and virtually invisible to Xao in amongst the squall that had appeared from nowhere. The winged mystic was singing in a low voice as he attempted to cast a communication spell in a bid to create dialogue and hopefully calm the monstrous dragon that was creating the storm around them. The dragon's mind was so complex and full of strange perceptions that Southern Lights found it difficult to bridge the gap between them. Lightning flashed nearby and he thought it might be best to put some distance between them before he was hurt. As the storm clouds raced around him, he gently floated upwards, hoping to get an overview of the situation.

<Southern Lights? Are you alright?> Xao sent, concerned for his friend.

<I am fine, thanks Xao. this beast has an awesome mind, it resists my attempts to communicate with it. What does it want?> Southern Lights asked.

<I think Szenlong disturbed its slumber. Spirit-Dragons are very territorial and I fear it believes our small dragon friend is trying to invade its demesne>

<That is unfortunate. I shall try to calm the storm from above if you can open a dialogue with it... do you think that will be possible>

<We need to try. Good luck!> and with that Xao closed the telepathic channel and concentrated upon the task before him.

"Sihai Longwang! King of all the Seas, Ruler of the Storm and Keeper of the mysteries within the darkest depths, I seek parley. I am Xao Jin, the current mortal host of the aspect of Tian Gong, the Eternal Jade Emperor in his most Divine Dragon form!" The Legionnaire had used the loud hailer app of his flight ring to enhance his voice, unsure if that would be enough to attract the huge dragon's attention.

The clouds twisted and billowed towards the Legionnaire and from out of the gloom the huge face of the dragon appeared.

"Little mortal, tell your Jade Dragon spirit that he is not welcome here." And with that the dragon's mouth pursed into an 'O' and a blast of air blew Dragonmage and Szenlong tumbling away.

...................................


Southern Lights could see the storm clouds were swirling around at an increasingly faster rate.

There seemed to be storm clouds spinning out of clear skies that fed into the dark weather system underneath the winged mystics feet. Even up here on the edges of the mesosphere, eighty clicks above the sea, the winds were howling in turn to the storm raging below. The young mystic knew of two spells that would normally help calm weather systems - neither of which were particularly pleasant for the caster as they drew off physical properties of his body leaving the spell-user weakened and perhaps even unconscious, but with his flight ring on his hand Southern Lights knew that at least he would not plummet to his death.

The edges of the clouds sparkled as the spell touched them but still, they raced across the sky.

Southern Lights grunted as he strained to push the clouds apart, but even as sweat broke upon his forehead with the effort he knew that his gentle magics were no match for the elemental power of the behemoth below him. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind, effectively stopping the weather spell he had attempted to cast... he felt an ache in the small of his back, the cost of the limited time he had been using that particular spell.

<Xao, I can't affect this weather system... Xao?> Southern Lights knew that his telepathic message wasn't reaching his colleague.

With a flap of his great wings the young mystic from Starhaven dived down into the storm below him, intent on finding Dragonmage. As he spun through the dense clouds Southern Lights could feel the immense presence of the dragon as it watched him. Southern Lights knew he shouldn't get too close and so darted off at 90 degrees but the dark presence followed him, circling around the winged mystic with a sinuous agility as he raced out from the storm. Lightning raged in front of him causing him to swerve, thunder boomed all around him.

In an instant, before Southern Lights as he hung in the dark clouds, an enormous dragon's face appeared out of the clouds and opened its mouth swallowing him whole.

.....................................................


Dragonmage was woken by Szenlong licking his eyelids with its raspy tongue.

It took several long seconds before he fully regained consciousness. All the while he could hear a whiney mewling sound that irritated him, above the noise of waves crashing against rocks. It was the annoying noise, and the urge to stop it from disturbing his sleep that eventually forced Xao to open his eyes ad focus them on the presence that was emitting them.

Szenlong gave an excited yelp and yipped happily as the young sorcerer sat up. Xao wiped the water from his hair with a hand though knew it was pointless as heavy rain battered down.

Xao found himself on a rocky buff, his body ached and he realised his shoulder was particularly sore, though his flight ring had obviously pumped him with some pain relief as he had a general numb tingling. As he patted the small dragon on the head, he called up a hard light screen to show his current physical situation. Heavy bruising down his right side and he had broken the neck of his scapula. That explained his aching shoulder... The holo suggested he put his arm in a sling, keeping his hand pointed upwards until he could get clinical assistance. With a grunt he tore off his top and crudely fashioned it into a sling. As he did, he thought to himself that he regretted not carrying a standard medi-kit in his pouches like so many of his collagues...

A warp spun into existence before him and Thunder stepped through, leading a team of his colleagues alongside several interns. XS was at Xao's side in a split second and a sling was properly fixed after she had put his top back on him a superspeed. He grunted in pain but thanked her.

"Xao!Ohmigod!Areyouokay? Whathappenedhere?" she asked as she fussed around him. Szenlong gave a series of yelping barks and turned towards the approaching storm.

"Ah, hi folks." the young mage said as he climbed to his feet. "I think the Dragon King was upset by Szenlong flying over his territory... or maybe it was me, I get the feeling that the Dragon King isn't happy that the Eternal Jade Dragon left Earth so there's some friction there and they kind of don't get on anymore. I think that's the case anyway... "

"Dragon King?" Spoiler said to himself as he gazed around, "like... a real-life Dragon who is a King, of... other dragons? I love this job." The pre-cog gave a small smile as he gazed in to the storm. His glazed expression made it clear he was already scanning the near future to give them clues about how to deal with this situation. He took to the sky and flew inland, towards the city that was close by without another word. None of his teammates minded, they were used to pre-cognitives sometime odd behaviour.

"You okay Xao? If you want to return to the medi-bay on First Base...?" the young mystic shook his head before Thunder could finish asking. "Right then team, you know your roles, so get going please. Xao, you're with me, Cosmic Kid and Thunderbolt. We're going into ...that." Cece pointed towards the dark bank of cloud only a few hundred metres from the shore.

................................


Southern Lights hung in deep space,

...Or a facsimile of it anyway. Around him, amid the eternal velvety darkness stars twinkled in their endlessly glorious patterns.

He was astute enough to know this was the astral plane, though had never seen it so completed altered to mirror one being's will, and he was also sure it must have been created by the Dragon that had erupted out of the clouds that had suspended him here.

The mystic from Starhaven closed his eyes and centred himself, readying himself to cast a spell if needed.

<<this is not reality>>

Southern Lights was momentarily surprised by the voice of the hitchhiking presence he had taken from the Voligaxxian system... it was the voice of the essence of a sapient pocket dimension that wished to experience what this reality had to offer. They had agreed that it could share his experiences but it was not to interfere until asked. The winged mystic hadn't heard from it since that conversation, not long after they had returned from Talok viii months before.

<It is an astral plane, meant to impress ...or perhaps intimidate me, I believe. We're being kept here for a reason, though I am unsure what that is yet>

><Who are you speaking to little blue winged human?><

This time the voice was obviously that of the Dragon, there was no doubting the depth of its power as its mind brushed against Southern Lights'.

<My name is Southern Lights; how should I address you?>

While his mystical training had not included how to address dragons, he was well aware that basic manners were expected from such a being. He did not want to upset any being powerful enough to create an astral construct as sophisticated as the one he found himself within.

><You may call my 'my lord'... did you not hear the Jade Dragon's latest proxy, you are addressing Sihai Longwang, I am the Dragon King><

There was silence for a couple of seconds before it added ><and you did not answer my question, who are you speaking to... little blue winged human?><

Southern Lights stretched his wings out before replying.

<Lord Longwang, I was assessing the situation where I found myself...>

><if you lie to me again it shall be the last thoughts you have>< This time the Dragon King's telepathic voice roared into the winged mystic's mind, sending him spinning.

Thanks again IB and Raz for your very kind reviews.

IB, I meant to put in a little line about how Jaz had re-learned about historic heroes when she was shunted back into the academy for punching Hadru, back in LW2 but forgot, so that's why she knew who the Universal Justice folks were. But since I forgot let's just say she's a geek

Raz, of all the various teammates with similar abilities I reckon the magical kids would hang out with each other. After all, their skills are really odd within the hi-tech universe, they are all studious and a bit shy, and they'd want to compare tricks.

And yeah, diplomacy and little bit of psychic suggestions won the day. As you said Raz, they were a buff selection of heroes so it could easily have gotten messy and probably caused a lot of damage to the settlement - there's no way Daramulum would let that happen though, way I see it he's set himself up as the lo-fi hero for that place and would do whatever he could to protect it.

Next up, Thunder faces something bigger, stronger and smarter than she is, Southern Lights needs help, and there's pandemonium as the typhoon touches land.

Thanks again,

C

I am glad I was wrong about Szenlong causing the typhoon! (I mean I guess none of this would be happening if he wasn't there but at least he's not to blame for any of it!)

Appreciating the spotlight on Southern Lights and Xao, and it's cool to see a continuation of the theme of how they use magic differently...I liked the bit about SL having to consider how the weather control spell would hurt him and deciding against it because it wouldn't be worth going through with anyway.

Also this bit is an awesome visual:
Very exciting!!

such an epic scene, Harbi, you write so descriptively and vividly! like Raz I was taken by Southern Lights being swallowed up

also, brilliant re having a bigger dragon protect its territory, causing the storm... you've done some research on Chinese dragons, well done!

"I love this job," love how Spoiler is revelling in it. and I love how Nura and others (including Spoiler himself?) paved the way for everyone to just be like, "ok, he's a pre-cog so he must know what he's doing!"


eek! Dragon King is angry, good luck Southern Lights! smart bit, having the entity with SL coming into play...

Thunder - Deputy Leader, Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth, immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom
Tellus - Ganglios of Hykraius - telepathy and telekinesis
Otaki - Bina Nawoti of Earth - mindsense
XS - Jenni Ognats of an alternate dimension Aarok - phenomenal speed
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations
Cosmic Kid - Po Miman, Justice Legionnaire of alternate dimension Mars - energy manipulation and flight

Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):
Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg - split into three separate bodies, each with either enhanced strength and durability, increased speed and reflexes, or laser vision (Thunder)

Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World First Base:
Replicator - Science Police Officer Tarev Jusool of Talok viii - can mimic meta-abilities of those nearby for limited periods of time

Interns:
Imp Master - Dorrolo Capicca Redsail of Zerox - Elven strength, speed and senses, minor mystic specialising in summoning and controlling imps
Shadowsurfer - Walyed Reeaz of D-1457H234 - strength and durability, teleport through shadows or darkness
Thunderbolt - Ness Strakinos of Gardenhome - assumes electrical energy form

Already on site:

Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics
Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user


Tellus dived into the raging sea.

The Hykraian disliked Earth's seas, they were so polluted and tasted of strange life that he couldn't identify. Today though the ocean around him tasted of burning metals! There was definitely something wrong as he realised he couldn't telepathically pick up the presence of any sea life. Even this close to the shore there should have been something...

As he concentrated on searching for nearby life a huge rolling wave crashed above him pushing the water down in a sharp punchy current. With natural skill, verging on elegance he twisted his body and swerved his way through the currents that pushed and pulled at him. This was a unnatural, he knew, as even here on Earth with its powerful moon affecting gravity, they should have followed a discernible pattern of give and take between the shore and the depths. Instead, the force of the water was almost entirely pushing towards the shore as if the seas were intent on invading the land.

XS sped into the city where it was obvious the residents nearest the shore were panicked by the sudden storm.

Some were trying to affix shutters over doors and windows while others jammed their belongings into their vehicles, getting ready to flee the imminent destruction that the typhoon would inevitably bring. Science Police Officer Tarev Jusool ran alongside her, mimicking her speed as they took in the panicked scenes around them. They had trained extensively together since he had been assigned to the Legion Science Police Liaison team and so they knew if she went further than three quarters of a klick, for more than three or four seconds he would lose the abilities until she was close by again.

They worked in unison, focussing on helping evacuate those that wanted to flee. They had packed up a dozen vehicles within the first minute or so and were on their way to assist with a large air-truck that was encouraging residents to get in when there was a crashing sound from above.

SPO Jusool ran up the side of the fifty-story building as a young woman fell out of a window. She was only a metre out when he reached her and raced back down with her in his arm. As he put her onto solid ground, she started crying.

"You gotta stop him." She pointed up to where she had fallen from. Officer Jusool nodded, took a breath and raced up the side of the building again and flew through the smashed window.

Inside was a young man, broad and muscular, ripping our drawers from a unit at the side of the plain living room. The Science Police Officer knew he didn't really have time to get to the bottom of what was going on so slipped a set of incapacity cuffs on the young man's arm and ran him down the side of the building, dropping him onto the ground next to the crying woman.

"The bastard!" She cried and started to batter the unconscious man with her fists.

"Hold on ma'am, he's under arrest now so you can't interfere." Jusool said as he stepped between the two of them.

"Yeah, he needs locking up. I just got back to pack up and he was in my apartment... thieving scum, and then I screamed at him to get out and he pushed me out the window!"

"I'll see to it he does time, don't worry. You'd best get on one of the vehicles there..." As the young Talokean SPO turned to point towards the air-trucks that were loading on people she flung her arms tightly around him and kissed him passionately.

<notimetofratenizethere!> XS didn't sound too impressed as she zoomed past carrying an elderly lady on her hover-chair.

<I'm well aware, thanks Jenni> he replied dryly.

"Ma'am..." Officer Jusool said as he pushed her gently off, his tone serious, "you must evacuate now!" He pointed towards an air-truck with as much authority as he could muster, well aware that her red lipstick had smudged across his mouth.

The young woman had been looking around, already drenched from the rains in the minute she had been on street level, and knew that it was time to leave. She gave the SPO a wide smile, wiped the wet hair from her face and replied.

"Uh huh... lock that frecker up and... keep in touch hero. I'm owe you one, okay?"

Officer Jusool didn't respond directly, instead he picked up the unconscious burglar and raced to the air-truck and threw him into it before speeding away to help Jenni with the evacuation.

As he ran, he realised he hadn't gotten the name or contact details from the young woman he had just saved.

............................


Spoiler led Imp Master and Triple Nova as they assisted the residents in putting up what defences they could manage in the very limited time they had available. The intern Imp Master proved to be invaluable as the pale blue creatures he summoned added innumerable extra pairs of hands to the physical tasks. As the three of them assisted everyone they could the rain started to fall even heavier and the wind started to tear at anything not fixed down, throwing debris into spinning columns around them.

Some of the residents were terrified as the imps ran towards them but thankfully enough recognised Spoiler and even Triple Nova that word soon spread that there were Legionnaires helping them. Imp Master hovered in the lotus position, seemingly unaware of the wind or rain, as he concentrated, stretching his abilities to the maximum as he kept contol of over five dozen imps.

Otaki almost threw up.

The muscular intern called Shadowsurfer had carried her through one of his darkness activated teleportation warps and it had been a truly horrible experience for her - terrifying! For an eternally long second, they had existed outside of reality as he carried them through the edges of some dark lifeless alter-dimension. Bina Nawoti had spent the majority of her life being able to sense living beings, near or far she was aware of life on a scale that would probably amaze most of her team. And for that awful moment her mind had drawn a blank! It was like unexpectedly going blind and deaf and as she had not expected it, the young psychic felt violently sick as they appeared on the roof of a tall building overlooking the bay and her mindsense was almost overwhelmed with the sudden presence of so many living beings in this built up metropolitan city.

Bina took a deep breath and focussed. The buildings nearest the shore, and therefore likely to take the brunt of the typhoon's force, were mostly evacuated though Bina sent through the location of those left to Triple Nova. The young Cargggite had a pretty calm nature and a range of abilities so she estimated he would be the best suited to give aid if needed.

On top of the building, Otaki could see the dark storm approach; it stretched darkly across the sky like a predator pouncing on its prey. The sky above them was dark and felt too close with an increasing mass of clouds as the rain fell heavier and heavire around them ,aking the buildings nearby appear as mere blurry shapes. The winds tore at her, trying to throw her into the air but Bina held onto an antenna as she concentrated on the job at hand. Shadowsurfer, the intern from the high-G world squatted in front of her, keen to help with the evacuation yet aware that Bina was vulnerable while using her abilities so he stayed close-by in case she needed assistance.

The wind was blowing increasing large objects up into the air and luckily, the intern was at hand when a large sheet of corrugated metal got caught in a spiralling vortex and tore through the air towards the young psychic as she concentrated on co-ordinating her colleague's actions below. Shadowsurfer's people were bred to work on a planet with a five-times-standard gravity, and so he was a lot stronger than the average human. He spotted the metal sheet as it ripped through the air only a second before it almost tore through Otaki and he leaped at it, swatting it aside so it spun off, narrowly missing the Legionnaire.

<Bina, we need to get inside, there's so much debris out here>

<agreed, let's go> As Otaki used her flight ring to lower herself from the antenna a gust tore at her spinning her around. Shadowsurfer popped out of the air next to her and gently folded his muscular arms around her and lowered them to the roof below.

<thank you> Otaki sounded rattled but she ground her teeth as she pulled her focus back.

The flew through a doorway, where the door itself had vanished - presumably taken by the now ferocious wind - into a dark stairwell. Otaki sat on a step and wiped the rain from her face and hair.

The wind screamed around them but at least the stairwell was dry. Shadowsurfer wiped the water off his arms and legs, and ran his hands through his short hair and across his eyes, shaking water all around him as he did.

<what I don't understand> Walyed sent <is if these flight rings have this super advanced eco-protect system that keep us safe in space and dangerous environments, why Brainiac 5 couldn't have designed them to at least stop the rain from soaking us?>

Otaki gave a smile to the intern and nodded in complete agreement.

..........................................


Southern Lights hung in the astral plane.

<<this plane of existence is quite intriguing. It is artifice, yes?>> the essence of the Voligaxxian Realm announced.

><what are you?>< There was genuine wonderment in the Dragon King's query. In the space before Southern Lights a huge dragon's eye appeared, staring at the winged mystic.

<<the individual called Southern Lights allows me to travel within this frame so I may experience the reality you inhabit. This space is not that reality, this is a ...folly?>>

><you are within my mindscape, where you will remain until I have decided what shall become of you><

With that, as if out of the nothingness of space chains spun into existence before wrapping themselves around the winged Legionnaires wrists, ankles and neck.

.............................................


Thunder flew ahead of Dragonmage, Cosmic Kid and Thunderbolt.

She could see that the storm was very localised so even five clicks either side there wouldn't be a drop of rain. It was clear this was not a natural phenomenon. With her wisdom she knew that the Dragon King was an immensely powerful being and if it was angry... well, she doubted they would be able to persuade it to stop without showing it that they were powerful enough to gve it a good reason to stop. And she doubted even more that the team would be.

<Po, are you able to influence magical energies?> Cece asked Cosmic Kid.

<sadly not, it's random nature makes it incredibly dangerous to even try...> He responded, <I saw Jenni stop a tidal wave by running through it at speed and... would that work here? Knock this back out into the sea?>

"Leave my demesne little mortal, there are higher beings who should be respected!" The voice seemed to emanate from the clouds around them, echoing in the rumbling. A dark twisting shadow, darker than the clouds, twisted and turned with the cloudbank that surrounded the Legionnaires.

"Dragon King, I am Cecelia Becks, also called Thunder, from the Legion..."

"LEAVE!"

A bolt of lightning tore through the air and struck Thunder on the chest blasting her backwards. Her colleagues were horrified to see the lightning had returned Cece back into her human form. Dragonmage reacted quickest, casting a spell that sent three emerald dragons to catch her and return the obviously stunned no-longer empowered woman to the shore. Cosmic Kid dived through the clouds to join her, using his energy manipulating abilities to create a bubble of relative stability around her. The intern Thunderbolt looked terrified as she flew closer to Xao. He could see she wanted to flee but thankfully, he thought, she was clever enough not to assume her electric form as it appeared the Dragon King could control lightning, so dreaded to think what could happen to her.

"This is my demesne mortals. The little upstart mage Shazam's proxies are not welcome."

"Thunderbolt...Ness, we need to get out of here now." Xao grabbed hold of the intern's hand and they dropped through the dark cloudbank.

Around them the clouds rumbled as the Dragon King laughed.

Hey guys, thanks again for your kind words, they are always appreciated!

Here's a bit more, my son is visiting next week so I probably won't get much free time until the week after so hope this tides you over until then

Thanks again,

C

enjoy your son's visit, Harbi!

another great installment!

we don't see Tellus in his natural element/s much, so this was a treat

great teamwork between XS and Replicator. I am so glad you kept XS on, unlike in canon where they shunted her off and let her disappear


lol at Replicator wanting to keep in touch with the woman... good grief! no wonder Jenni was not too impressed

you're really good at thinking of power implications - like Otaki being carried through a shadow dimension!

LOL at the flight rings not keeping them from the rain. don't they have transuits here?

yikes, Thunder meets her weakness! Smart of Thunderbolt to be cautious too!



whew, that sure ups the ante... Iwonder if Southern Lights and the entity within can do something from inside...

I had a feeling magic lightning was gonna be Thunder's undoing! All the environmental descriptions are great here, you can really feel the immensity of the storm and how small the Legion are against it!

Otaki and Shadowsurfer's was my favourite segment this time around, as IB said I liked the effect it had on Otaki being taken to a lifeless realm and then having to immediately adjust to being in the centre of a heavily populated city again. Also, Shadowsurfer having an easier time because he's used to a higher gravity world...and complaining about the rain - I am guessing the flight rings' environmental protection function only kicks in when there's an immediate danger rather than it just being uncomfortable?

I am tipping that the Dragon King is gonna regret not giving more respect to Southern Lights and his little friend!

Hope you have a good time with your son!