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

This is part eight of my ongoing Legion Worlds saga. It follows immediatey on from part seven and is set in the Retro-Boot:


The Legion Academy's planetoid is situated 2 light minutes galactic north of Saturn's northern pole and is called HOME BASE. They have an average of 300 students at one time, of which 270 or so are meta-staff from the Science Police or UP militia on three-month long secondments.


Former Legionnaires:

Triplicate Girl - Luornu Durgo of Carggg - able to split into three identical duplicates (part of Duplicate Girl)
Cosmic Boy - Rokk Krinn of Braal - manipulation of magnetic fields
Night Girl - Lydda Jath of Kathoon - incredible strength and durability out of direct sunlight
Colossal Boy - Gim Allon of Earth - increase personal size and mass at will
Wildfire - Drake Burroughs of Earth - composed of sapient anti-energy, extreme strength, speed, durability, space flight, anti-energy blasts
Chameleon Girl - Yera Allon of Durla - shape changer
Shadow Lass - Tasmia Mallor of Talok viii - summon and manipulate total darkness

Science Police training staff:

Jumping Jack - Science Police Senior Training Officer Jaxi Delgrado-Hynd of Morshesh 5 - hyper-awareness, reflexes and agility
Ms Big - Science Police Officer Erikka Chowdrey of Venus - increase her own muscle mass and density at will, combat specialist
Brain Girl - Science Police Officer Ella Drottmi of Titan - telepathy and telekinesis
Dream Boy - Pre-Commando Sergeant Rol Purtha of Naltor - precognition
Tues El - Science Police Officer Vae Loct of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability.

Support Staff on LWHB:

I.Z.O.R. - Gear ii - infrastructure manager - nannite collective being, technomorph
Henry - Anti Lad - Spatial warp controller
Numbers Guy - M'Rissey of Earth - super-efficient business management skills
Dr Boom - senior physician and United Planets Government envoy - Danii Schwartz-Geltt of Myar - physician and alchemist

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


Phantom Girl and her junior deputy leader Thunder have taken half of the team out into the United Planets in the former Tyrazzian battle planet they call FIRST BASE.

Their remit is to actively defend the United Planets, so this part of the team stays very much within the UP's sphere of influence and generally have high profile missions. As the team suffered badly as a result of the negative media manipulation by Psyche from the Dark Circle ruled alternate reality, they often invite journalists to report on missions from this base.

Legion World First Base:

Phantom Girl - Team Leader, Tinya Wazzo of Bgtzl Dimension - intangibility
Thunder - Deputy Leader, Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth, immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom
Chameleon Boy - Espionage Squad leader, Reep Daggle of Durla - shape changer
Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation
Tellus - Ganglios of Hykraius - telepathy and telekinesis
Comet Queen - Grava of Extal colony - spaceflight, comet gas extrusion
Otaki - Bina Nawoti of Earth - mindsense
Kid Quantum - Jazmin Cullen of Xanthu - creation of temporal quantum bubbles, flight
Ferro - Douglas Nolan of Earth - can assume invulnerable iron isotope form
Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics
XS - Jenni Ognats of an alternate dimension Aarok - phenomenal speed
Kinetix - Zoe Saugin of Aleph - telekinetic animation
MWindaji - Gahaji of Kiringyaga - super tracker, carries the Ruby of Life allowing tactile transformative magic
Backlash - Mrruaw MNau of Simballi - enhanced strength, speed, senses, absorbs kinetic energy to boost own size and mass
Comet King - Drinchnar Lamment of Extal colony - spaceflight, comet gas extrusion
Atom Girl - Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk - can shrink to microscopic size
Ultra Girl - Li-Fahn Qiong of Xanthu - incredible strength, speed, indestructibility, spaceflight, and projection of force blasts, effectively limited to one at a time
Polar Girl - Mel Lassar of Tharr - cryokinesis
Friction - Janee Whittakka of Xanthu - manipulates the force of friction
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations


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)
Strobe - Denal Lort of Dryad - assume electro-magnetic energy form (Chameleon Boy)
Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg - split into three separate bodies, each with either strength and durability, 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
Gravity Kid - Science Police Officer Tel Vole of Earth - manipulation of personal or nearby gravity
Power Boy - Science Police Officer Jedidiah Rikane of Earth - personal density control


Other seconded members currently based on Legion World First Base:

Gazelle - J'izl Dtutuu from the Khundian Battle Brigade, of Khundia Prime - enhanced strength, speed, agility and metabolic control
Cosmic Kid - Po Miman, Justice Legionnaire of alternate dimension Mars - energy manipulation and flight


Support Staff on Legion World First Base:

Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare - Impulse - Chief Medical Officer and Support Team manager - enhanced strength, speed, durability, stamina
I.Z.O.R. - Gear iii - infrastructure manager - nannite collective being, technomorph
Danielle Foccart - Kid Computo - Technical support - technopathic communication and control over advanced technology
Henry - Anti Lad - Spatial warp controller
Ming Sul - Amp Girl - investigative officer - hyper-enhancement of her own sensory capacities
Shardwurd Gandussen of the Ten Peaks from Avalon - Silver Shaman - Medical Officer - biokinetic healing
Science Police Psychiatrist - Doctor Anje Falkner - alpha-level telepath
Flaurianarelle of Zerox - Greensleeves - orchard and farm caregiver - magical manipulation of plant life
Theena Greglenn of Silgor Marregorraus - Network - Communications Officer - hyper-pathic communication through symbiote
Solstin Wang of Earth - Booster - medical support - awareness and manipulation of physical properties of those around him
Gloriana Crestellen of Grighshtall iv - Glory - medical support - awareness and manipulation of bio-auras


Missing in action:

Captain Heavyweight - Senior Team liaison, Science Police Captain Tuk Shir of Daxam, Senior Team liaison - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability

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


Tyroc has taken the remaining team members with him onto SECOND BASE, another battle planet won from the Tyrazzian warmongers. Their remit is a bit looser than the team on First Base in that they do not necessarily have such high-profile missions and they are not fixed within the United Planets.

They rarely invite journalists onto their missions.

Legion World Second Base team:

Tyroc - Deputy Leader - Troy Stewart of Marzal city pocket dimension - sonic control
Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg - creation of multiple identical duplicates
Element Lad - Senior Team member, Jan Arrah of Trom - elemental transmutation
Mon El - Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Dawnstar of Starhaven - Senior Team member - space flight, incredible speed, tracking
Timber Wolf - Brin Londo of Zuun - enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes and senses
Dragonwing - Marya Pai of Earth - breathes dragon fire and acid
Glorith of Zerox - manipulation of magical energies
Shield - Laurel Kent of Earth - physical invulnerability, tactile psychometry
Monica Sade of Rimbor - strength, reflexes - line of sight teleportation
Lexikon - Princess Daheenisha of Tamaran iv - enhanced speed, strength, durability, flight, omni-linguist
The Huntress - Ambassador Amynta of Nostos ii - incredible strength, speed, invulnerability, space flight
Karate Kid iii - Mithindrivithis Ngandraffa of Lythyl - strength, reflexes, mimetic motor learning giving incredible combat skills
Thirteen - Dann Hortra of Naltor - line of sight probability manipulation
Babbage- I-45ENG/Nth Series, of the Robotica Confederated Worlds - strength, durability, internalised weapons, hyper awareness and analytical skills.
Starkling - telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Retro - Deen Toro of Ventura - limited reversal of personal timeline
Spy (also team counsellor) - Dr Noah Kabbo - heightened awareness and limited telepathy
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic - creation of personal spherical force field
Atomsmasher - Ergus Wraithcat of Betelgeuse - spaceflight, durability, hyper senses, limited telepathy, radiation manipulation
Kid Pulsar - Neel Koduah of Earth - incredible strength, invulnerability, projection of explosive blasts


Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):

Mindbender - Marmud Illic of Titan - alpha-level telepath (Duplicate Girl)
Poltergeist -Jaun Vineo of Titan - alpha-level telekinesis (Element Lad)
Non - negative energy being - spaceflight, speed, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, limited telepathy (Mon El)


Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World Second Base:

Captain Phantom - Senior Team liaison, Science Police Captain Gryal Vrizza of Bgztl Dimension - intangibility
Power Lass - Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Magno - Science Police Officer Dyrk Magz of Braal - manipulation of magnetic fields
Changer - Science Police Investigative Officer Urill Yagthal of Durla - shape changer


Other seconded members currently based on Legion World Second Base:

Green Lantern - Dkyun Mu of Xudar - wearer of a Green Lantern power ring


Support Staff on Legion World Second Base:

I.Z.O.R. - Gear iii - infrastructure manager - nannite collective being, technomorph
Henry - Anti Lad - Spatial warp controller
Hethuk Bran Drommsi - Smith from the Green Rift Forge of Talok viii - weapon maker and engineer
Dr Shoodixi Singh - Science Police Medical Officer - bio-empathic

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

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


HOPE WORLD is the latest planetoid base, specialising solely in disaster relief.

Dream Girl- Team leader - Nura Nal of Naltor - precognition
Star Boy - Senior Team member, Thom Kallor of Xanthu - stellar mass transference
Harmonia - Senior Team member, Professor Harmonia Li of Earth - manipulation of the natural environment
Invisible Kid - Jacques Foccart of Earth - personal and tactile invisibility
Titan - Nasir N'Cube of Titan - alpha-level telepathy
Sister Eclipse - of Rhoohanisett iii - durability, heightened senses, physical possession of any living being
Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user

Interns:

Dragon Lass - Mari Baertling of Rimbor - enhanced strength, durability, echolocation and flight
Orion -Science Police Cadet Tw'gg of H'lven - tracking skills, agility, enhanced senses and awareness of flaws or weaknesses
Tesseract - Sar Jerash Mor Toark of Mars - access to intra-dimensional space
Army of One - Ashia Servito of Luzonus Prime - self-replication

Support Staff on Hope World:

I.Z.O.R. - Gear iv - infrastructure manager - nannite collective being, technomoh
Drura Sehpt - Infectious Lass - medical officer - containment and control over bacteria and viruses
Henry - Anti Lad - Spatial warp controller
J2351 of the Dominion - Ivy - bio-manipulation of Hope World's chloro-technology
The Bludgers - clone-grown Dominion workforce with enhanced strength and durability but 28 hour lifespan


Science Police Liaison Team:

'Smart Boy' - Senior Team liaison, Strategic Analyst Graq Maurus of Colu - 10th level intelligence specialising in disaster relief scenarios
Groovy - Science Police Officer Droo Vri of Daxam. of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Magnetix - Science Police Officer Jooli Esra of Braal - manipulation of magnetic fields
Mama Tank - Science Police Lieutenant Lolla Grayfrau of Badenhoff vi - cybernetics giving incredible strength, invulnerability, AI manipulation

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


The most successful students from Home Base are offered an internship that allows them special privileges including joining the Legion on selected missions, with potential to join the team as full Legionnaires once their internship is successfully completed. Currently there are 12 interns:

Imp Master - Dorrolo Capicca Redsail of Zerox - Elven strength, speed and senses, minor mystic specialising in summoning and controlling imps
Tectonik - Hardal of Granite Falls from Mondriak iv - geokinesis
Bloom - Lavender of Schentanhaumma iii - pheromone manipulation, enhanced senses
Shadowsurfer - Walyed Reeaz of D-1457H234 - strength and durability, teleport through shadows or darkness
Impact - Dillon Blackstream of Myar - incredible strength, speed, durability, stamina, motion sense
Little Loki - Magnus Laviksen of Nordhelm - illusion casting
Mosaic - Science Police Officer Rish'ha Nor of Lallor - tactile mimicry of material properties
Thunderbolt - Ness Strakinos of Gardenhome - assumes electrical energy form
Haze - Science Police Cadet Tkemwa Autmi-Hu of Ungara - strength, durability, induce confusion and senselessness
Polestar - Science Police Cadet Nykko Rine of Braal - magnokinesis
Zero - Science Police Cadet Amrendra Mayasinghar of Zuyar - multi-dimensional shifting
Snoop - Science Police Cadet Horol Gyllaspi of the Galentorio Satellites - astral projection

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


Legionnaire on secondment to the Khund Battle Brigade:

Gates - Ti'Julk Mr'Asz of an alternate dimension Vyrga - creation of spatial warps

Academy Student currently within the Khundian Empire:

Inferno - Sandy Anderson of Earth - fire generation and manipulation


Other affiliated teams:

Weber's World ambassadorial team:

Quislet, . of Teall dimension - able to animate inorganic matter though this causes the matters destruction
I.Z.O.R. - Gear i, Chief Maitre D' - nannite collective being, technomorph
Oodoo Shanair of Lallor - empath
Sentinel of the Khund Battle Brigade - strength, durability, manipulation of magnetic fields
Princess Shooradel of Tamaran iv - enhanced speed, strength, durability, flight, omni-linguist
Proty iii of Antares - shape changer, limited telepathy


The League of Super-Heroes (former Academy Students):

Kid Dynamo - Ja Vlo of Dryad - incredible strength and invulnerability
Ballistix - Crishtrakrek 714 of Zuun - synthezoid with great strength, speed, durability, stamina and spaceflight
Magno Lass - Josi Rista of Braal - Magnokinesis
Kid Nimbus - Kendall Mekensy-Wolff the Fifth of Dryad - assume gaseous form
Flipside - Drannananna Otticolli of Grathvarth V - fast, agile, manipulate personal gravity orientation
Slingshot - Prince Alfon Gundrix Maunheesta of the Grindlaw Colonies of System Mondarsh - hyper-charge kinetic potential of objects by touch

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


On long term leave:

Brainiac 5 (Personal leave) - Senior Team member, Legion Worlds Operational Manager and chief scientist - Professor Querl Dox of Colu - 12th level intelligence
Sun Boy (resigned) - Senior Team member, Dirk Morgna of Earth - generation of intense light and heat
Matter-Eater Lad (Medical leave) - Senator Tenzil Kem of Bismoll - mega-omnivorous consumption
Chemical Kid (removed from active duty) - Hadru Jamik of Phlon - catalyzes chemical reactions
Polar Boy (removed from active duty)- Brek Banning of Tharr - cryokinesis
Loutrahim Mango (Personal leave) - 'Death Boy' - Professor Li?s laboratory assistant, exemplary biochemist - sweat activated neuro-toxic palm secretions

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

Gadgets and paraphernalia:

Flight Rings: as well as giving their wearer the power of flight, Brainiac 5 tinkered with the rings over the years so they are choc-full of useful functions. These apps include an eco-protect setting that automatically protects the wearer in hostile environments, the rings create a link to the artificial telepathic grid between fellow Legionnaires and their bases, and include a loud hailer, an alarm function that automatically broadcasts to the Bases if a Legionnaire is injured including sending appropriate medical data, a scanner, access to the Legion's AI database and, can call up hard light holo's to display requested data.

The Legionnaire's belt buckle includes an image distorter that projects a life-like holo around the wearer to disguise them, and can give a 'stealth' effect that, while far from invisibility, helps blend the wearer into their surroundings. The belt buckles also have a spotlight setting that projects a bright beam of light.

Incapacity Cuffs are standard kit for all Legionnaires. These are small tubes that when flicked release a chord that adheres to whomever they touch, analyses their bio-signature before releasing an appropriate anaesthetic to knock them out. Virtually all Legionnaires carry a supply in pouches on their belt.

Phantom Girl - Team Leader, Tinya Wazzo of Bgtzl Dimension - intangibility
Chameleon Boy - Espionage Squad leader, Reep Daggle of Durla - shape changer


As the meeting concluded Tinya had called the senior staff with mentoring duties to her and asked they spend the next couple of hours getting to know their trainees and give her a quick report the next day.

They had all met them when the new trainees were interns of course, but she felt a more in-depth personal assessment out-with a mission would be handy. After the Senior Team had left Tinya decided to find Tasmia.

As much as she had smiled throughout the meeting, Phantom Girl was definitely feeling as if her nose were out of joint. She smiled as the Senior team had left and phased through the floor rather than leave by the corridors with everyone else.

All Tinya could think of was that Nura had just walked into a meeting and stolen the team's latest planetoid along with a handful of her team! And the more she thought about it the angier she felt...

Tinya really wanted to like Nura but her entitled attitude rubbed Tinya up the wrong way - it was the level of arrogance Nura displayed that her point of view was automatically the correct one which meant no-one else had a right to make a different choice. And it was always only when it suited the pre-cog to act like that that she behaved so badly, the rest of the time Nura would be at best indifferent, time after time... and why hadn't Nura contacted the Senior Team first to let them know what was going on? She must have known that Tinya wouldn't argue with her in front of the assembled team, not after so many had said they'd join her. Was that why she did it like that? Because Tinya wouldn't embarrass her in front of the team and risk creating a schism in the ranks?

Tinya was on her way to the central gymnasium when she ran into Chameleon Boy. As much as the Durlan could be difficult to read sometimes, Tinya had known him long enough to know that he wasn't happy.

"Before you say it Reep, I had no idea Nura was going to do that either. It's a good idea but her presentation left a lot to be desired if you ask me, just waltzing back and taking Sa Lok's planetoid and teammates from us like that."

"I thought that might be the case... and also agree." His face softened, "Nura is right though, it's the perfect use for that base. It'll help a lot of innocents out there... and it'll be a media feel-good coup for us. It's frustrating when Nura is right, isn't it?" He gave her a small smile which she instinctively echoed. "Anyway, I'm away to meet with Denal, I'll let you know if I find anything out later."

Tinya watched Reep as he walked away from her. She was in disbelief that he had been waiting just to check out that she didn't know about Nura's plans when they had met the night before. Somehow, it made her feel sad that Reep, one of her oldest friends needed reassurance that she wasn't playing him.

What, she thought, had being the leader of this team turned her into in the eyes of her teammates that Reep was checking up on her like that?

Phantom Girl really, really wanted to punch something now.

Gear had been monitoring the Boards while the team had been at the meeting and gladly handed over the responsibility as Legionnaires returned to duty.

The nannite being effectively ran the majority of the day-to-day operations on all of the Legion's planetoid bases. It was a full-time job for a small army but the Linsnarian was certainly up for the task.

At that point, Gear was also running an experiment in the laboratory on Second Base that used a scanning system installed several months before on the border world of Panopoles. This scanner had been designed by Brainiac 5 to give the maximum possible warning against any invasion and had been built with Gears assistance. It was used generally by the United Planets military based on Panopoles but right now its sole purpose was to track certain very rare minerals that the Daxamite High Command had informed the team were included within the serum they used to give a few of their SP Officer and soldiers immunity from heavy metal poisoning and therefore their abilities under yellow stars. The Legion had pointed the long-range sensors towards the Dominion in the hope they would get a clue that may help them find their missing colleague, Captain Tuk Shir.

The task was not as easy as it sounded as the Dominion Empire included over three hundred unique star systems and all of the immense space between them. The number of planets and planetoids where a base could be located that may hold the missing Daxamite was astronomical. To add to the expansive odds of ever finding Captain Shir, the elements and chemicals they were searching for were only present in his system in truly minuscule amounts so the chances of locating them accurately was fairly tiny as well... the Linsnarian smiled at this thought, being composed of microscopic particles Gear felt rather fondly towards the tiny and miniscule.

The serum that the Daxamite used to suppress his natural allergy to heavy metals would fully protect him for five standard days. As Captain Shir had taken it the day before he had vanished team that meant they had only one whole day left before it would stop being efficient. No-one had openly said how worrying this was but they all knew it and was clear by the determination the team had shown in following up every lead they had, that no-one wanted to leave it too late to find him.

The search continued; the missing Science Police Captain was one of the Legion now so they would never give up on him.

Chameleon Boy - Espionage Squad leader, Reep Daggle of Durla - shape changer
Strobe - Denal Lort of Dryad - assume electro-magnetic energy form


Reep sat on a patch of grass.

After catching up with Tinya to reassure her that he realised Nura had blindsided them all with her Hope World team, he had called Strobe and asked to meet here. As usual Chameleon Boy was early. He had chosen this spot as it was out of the way and wanted to see if the rumours were true - the faery they called Greensleeves that Mysa Nal had sent to assist them had indeed been working magic - quite literally - throughout the team's planetoid bases. There had been twelve reports so far from the three bases and the latest, by Hethuk Bran Drommsi, had led Reep here to investigate for himself.

Here on Level 51 of First Base, which had previously been used as a storage silo for the technology they had inherited from Tyr's people when they took control of this base, was a rather glorious green patch - three fine looking Giant Ballosian ferns, two apple trees and a pear tree shaded a thicket of plump raspberry bushes and a selection of rather delightful Aarokian poppies in a small grassy glade. The air, previously stale and generally unpleasant, now tasted delightful; fresh, with a tease of life. Reep made a mental note to take a bench here so whomever followed would have somewhere to sit and admire this bucolic slice of paradise.

There was a flash of light and the young trainee from the dead world of Dryad appeared before the senior Legionnaire.

"Hi... I'm not late, am I?"

"Not at all Denal, thank you for coming." Chameleon Boy noted how the trainee was taking in the pastoral sight before him, "...Though before you take a seat you should really try some of those raspberries, they're rather delicious."

As Strobe tentatively started picking the plump, soft berries Reep began to talk.

"I'm going to get straight down to it, I think you have one of the most amazing abilities on the team."

"What? ....ummm... thank you." Denal looked at little startled as he sat down on the grass next to the Legionnaire. He held out a cupped hand full of yellow raspberries to offer to his mentor. Reep declined and told him to tuck in. The trainee had obviously never eaten freshly picked berries before but gingerly plopped one in his mouth. Reep watched as his expression changed from trepidation to delight as the tart sweetness of the berries filled his mouth.

"From what I can tell you're at least a match for Phantom Girl, Invisible Kid, and XS and can generate energy blasts that almost rival Sun Boy or Lightning Lass... and I know you took out a Dominion Battle Cruiser single-handedly. It's doubtful many of the team could do that. I certainly couldn't."

The trainee almost choked as he tried to talk back, caught between the excitement of the Durlan giving him such high praise and not wanting to spit out the tasty pulp of the berries. He had always rather admired Chameleon Boy, and since joining the Academy that respect had only grown - he had seen that despite facing appalling xenophobia Reep always kept such incredible integrity, had an understated intelligence, and was always unfailingly professional. Denal thought to himself that if he worked hard and listened to the senior team member that he was lucky to have as a mentor, then one day he might be half the Legionnaire that Chameleon Boy was.

"Keep eating Denal, enjoy. Let me speak for now as you'll get a chance very soon." Reep smiled warmly at the young man as he coughed into his empty hand. As the trainee regained his composure Chameleon Boy plucked a couple of raspberries from his other hand and threw them into his own mouth.

"Actually, maybe I'll have just a couple, thanks... anyway," he said, munching on berries as he spoke, "I'm hoping that between missions I can give you some one-to-one training in the next month on espionage that might help develop the nuances of your abilities, then after that we'll see where we are and look at what options remain. Of course, if there's anything else you'd like to focus on then please let me know. How does that sound to you?"

At this point Denal couldn't contain himself anymore and coughed the yellow juicy pulp from his mouth straight onto the grass at his side and emphatically said "Amazing! Yes, thank you!"

"These really are delicious, aren't they?" Chameleon Boy said as he swiped the last of the yellow raspberries from the trainee's hand.

Mon El - Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Non - negative energy being - spaceflight, speed, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, limited telepathy


Mon El had suggested to Non they meet at a point ten klicks from the northernmost point of second Base.

Currently the planetoid was at the westerly edge of the Northern Arm of the Milky Way, right on the very fringe of their home galaxy. The nearest occupied planet was three light years away and Tyroc had called for the base to call a pause out here as Hethuk the engineer from Talok viii and Thirteen were tinkering with their Q-Drive.

As the Negative Energy being approached the Daxamite, Mon El had a momentary panic that they might not find anything to communicate about, certainly Non had proven itself but it was not renowned for being particularly sociable... Mon El worried that he might have a dreary three months ahead as they worked through the mentorship.

<Non, hi, as I'm going to mentor you for the next three months, I was hoping we could get to know each other a bit better... hmm, so, why don't we ask each other questions and see what we learn, how does that sound to you?>

There was an awkward silence for about five seconds before Non replied <affirmative>

<Okay, thank you. so, if you don't mind, I'll start... can you let me know something about you that you don't believe any senior Legionnaire knows?>

The Negative Energy being nodded its head and replied <follow> and with that it flew away from the base, heading out towards open space. Mon El followed as they continued for several minutes until Non stopped. As the Daxamite drew level the trainee pointed out towards the vastness of universal space. The distant lights of other galaxies and gas clouds so far away as to make the distance unfathomable was all that disturbed the infinite velvet blackness. Underneath them, spread out below their feet was the dazzling, dancing lights of their home galaxy as it spun along its path through creation.

<this>

Mon El glanced at Non before staring out into the immense field of eternal darkness that the trainee had indicated. The Legionnaire knew then that he understood the trainee he had been asked to mentor perfectly!

They stayed there for forty minutes without a word being exchanged between them.

Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg - creation of multiple identical duplicates
Dawnstar of Starhaven - Senior Team member - space flight, incredible speed, tracking
The Huntress - Ambassador Amynta of Nostos ii - incredible strength, speed, invulnerability, space flight
Retro - Deen Toro of Ventura - limited reversal of personal timeline

Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):
Mindbender - Marmud Illic of Titan - alpha-level telepath (Duplicate Girl)

Support Staff:
Ming Sul - Amp Girl - investigative officer - hyper-enhancement of her own sensory capacities

Trainee:
Zero - Science Police Cadet Amrendra Mayasinghar of Zuyar - multi-dimensional shifting

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


Duplicate Girl walked through the warp to Lallor first.

Evolvo and Gas Girl stood in front of her. Both looked serious, there were no friendly 'hellos' as the team leader of the Lallorian mutant team got straight down to business.

"Legionnaires, five young mutants were kidnapped from this training facility yesterday. The AI monitoring security didn't register anything. We were only alerted when a weather satellite registered a lightning bolt in an otherwise clear sky."

"Ah, I think we may know who was behind this... Mekt Ranzz escaped from Takron-Galtos three days ago along with a group of thugs. Though why he'd want to kidnap your people is a mystery. Is this where they were?" Luornu looked around at the immaculate gardens. The building was thirty metres away and it reminded Lu of an old-fashioned schoolhouse - square, with regularly spaced windows; a large building but nothing really out of the ordinary.

Dawnstar flew into the air and spiralled the site before flying higher up into the pale sky above. Duplicate Girl noted that the tracker hadn't alerted them to finding a trail so knew that it was unlikely she would be successful.

The intern called Zero walked across to a rhododendron bush and pointed.

"Ma'am, I believe it happened here, there's some displacement residue on the ether... it feels familiar."

Amp Girl had joined him, sniffing the air.

"Smells like Slasher, Titania and another I don't recognise... sorry, their scent wasn't on the bio-file the SPs sent through."

Amynta's hound Laipas had followed Ming across to the rhododendron bush and sniffed at the ground, stopping every few seconds at particular points as if to precisely note where the villains had stood. The Amazon warrior placed her hand on the dog's back. Laipas raised her head and gave a small throaty yelp.

"Seriously, you Legionnaires are smelling for people now?" Gas Girl said with disgust to Retro. The pair had entered into a fairly easy-going relationship several months before and this was the first time Deen had heard her complain. In a bid to comfort her, he put an arm around her waist but she moved away with a jerk.

"We've got Dawnstar too using her powers to help..." Retro said, more to take attention away from the awkwardness of the situation between them.

"Ord copied Dawnstar's skillset, said it got him nowhere." she replied flatly.

"Where is Duplicate Boy anyway?" Deen asked, trying to change the subject some more. Gas Girl gave him a small smile followed by a shrug.

"We don't know, he flew into space saying Mon El's powers would help him... last I checked he was out past the moons trying telescopic vision."

"Ah... so... um that's helpful, he'll see them if they're close by." Deen said in as hopefully a manner as he could.

"We all know they're not." The Lallorian said quietly. Retro wanted to put an arm around her as it obvious how scared she was feeling but knew this was not the time nor place for such demonstrable support again. They stood in awkward silence watching their teammates.

While Gas Girl and Retro had been talking Duplicate Girl, Evolvo and Zero had been walking around the spot where the trainee had indicated. Mindbender stood at the side looking up into the sky, using his telepathy to scan for any minds that appeared out of place. The trainee doubted it would do much good but as he had Luornu as his mentor he wanted to show her he had the work ethic a full Legionnaire needed. He had a brief conversation with Luornu before this meeting where she had set out what her expectations were for him over the next few months and asked if he had any requirements before they went any further. He had replied 'no' and that had been that, she had called a mission and they had come here. Marmud knew her reputation from the academy was tough but had never really had her for one-to-one training so was a little bit nervous of what might be coming.

Evolvo held out his right hand and Duplicate Girl was happy to see he wore the flight ring that Sun Boy had given him months before.

"We have one security holo with an image, though it was as they left. Whatever they had used to cover themselves from the security AI was no longer working at that point... or more likely they knew it wouldn't matter." A holo spang from the golden ring. Though it was indistinct who was in it, there was the edge of a circular warp that they could make out clearly.

"Of course, I know what that is... it's a Gil'Dishpan Warpsmith teleportation signature." Zero said.

"Our first clue..." Evolvo muttered.

Yay, more nice stuff Harbi!

I am curious about how you decided which Legionnaires go on First Base vs. Second Base. Home Base and Hope World I get, as most made their choice based on the missions. But First and Second are a bit more similar to each other, with the difference being how high-profile the missions are... and - this may just be me, but my Second Base impression is a bit that they're a little more Black Ops while still being quite within the Legion constitution and rules (i.e. no killing etc.)

but maybe i'm wrong and I apologize if so!

i'm just genuinely curious how you decided who goes where, as I find a writer's thinking process very interesting.

Some things that struck:

Cham is on First Base, but as Espionage Squad leader I always thought a lower profile would suit him.

Element Lad on 2nd Base stood out as well, I don't know, maybe because he's a former Legion leader. But maybe he wants to be out of the limelight a bit more, considering he was ill for a while!

ah the burdens of leadership, but I like Tinya's focus on the newer Legionnaires. It's very important for a leader to consider the people element.

I was really looking forward to seeing Tinya react to Nura's actions at the end of 7. And indeed it was very disrespectful, having her just walk in like that without so much as a pre-call to Tinya... I also agree with what Tiinya did, not arguing in front of the whole assembly. But it was infuriating eh? Nura could certainly have handled it better. the WHAT was a good suggestion, but the HOW was terrible

Ouch, poor Tinya! yeah, Reep's chessmaster side is showing. It's nice that they both hated how Nura did, but it's sad that Reep felt like he had to check on Tinya knowing... after all, he originally wanted the planetoid for himself. Oooph. I felt Reep's little bit of empathy re "Nura can be so annoying" was nice, but small comfort for poor Tinya

I like how the Science Police colleagues, like Captain Heavyweight, are very much considered part of the team now

aww, poor Reep's point of view made me sad. Reep wanted to reassure his friend Tinya, but poor Tinya took it the wrong way. I have to admit, I also thought Reep was going for reassurance - considering how he smiled at Tinya and empathized re Nura being annoying - but I can see how Tinya took it the wrong way. And i can also see how maybe, deep down, Reep was a little angry as he did originally want that planetoid for the Espionage Squad!

Nice bit of mentorship between Cham and Strobe. And indeed Strobe is exceedingly versatile, great at both espionaqe and at sheer power!

Mon and Non (heh they rhyme) are a perfect pair, love how they connected over their love of solitude and beauty

Amp sniffing was cute.

What exactly does Zero do? Sorry, I must have forgotten

Poor Gas Girl's fear and anxiety is showing. But it is scary, 5 super powered students being kidnapped just like that

also poor Mindbender, hee hee. I guess Lu is just extremely business-like.

nice seeing the Heroes of Lallor here. Also, your Duplicate Boy seems smarter than the comics one - at least yours is taking initiative and choosing some good power sets!

looking forward to more more more!

Hi Harbi! I had heaps to catch up on so a lot of this is gonna be about LW7, but here goes:

- The Kirinyaga adventure was a fun read! Even though it was handled very quickly, I like that we got a good look at how it's a different place culturally to what most of the Legion are used to...Zoe was the standout character here, I love the way she took charge and that one move where she made the floor ripple out to knock people over was an awesome visual! One thing that cracked me up (because I'm so used to writing Mwindaji as being more formal in his speech) is when he said high falutin'...I love seeing how everyone interprets these characters that never really had much exploration in canon

- you've done a great job utilising all of the interns who became full members in your writing, none of them were a surprise and they all deserve it. I'm also v happy with Solar Gorilla and Non making it to trainee Legionnaire status, and Non's little scene with Mon-El was a nice interlude.

- Nura's entrance was AMAZING! She's so brassy, I love it Tinya's reaction was very characteristic too I think...not making a scene in public but also recognising that it was actually pretty disrespectful. I do feel bad about how her chat with Cham went because I don't actually think Cham was trying to do anything underhanded but Tinya's obviously pretty stressed and maybe not giving her friends the benefit of the doubt that she normally would.

- re the foreboding mention of Tinya's sacrifice.....I'm not so much worried about her as I am that she's gonna have to choose teammates to send to their deaths. Either way, seems like there's bad times coming! I liked the interplay between Nura and Henry, makes sense that she'd have a different relationship with him than the others do.

- finally, "Groovy the Daxamite Soldier Boy" =

Phantom Girl - Team Leader, Tinya Wazzo of Bgtzl Dimension - intangibility
Thunder - Deputy Leader, Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth - immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom

The Black Witch - Mysa Nal of Naltor - elemental magic-user


The face in her mirror made Phantom Girl jump!

"Mysa! My god..." Tinya took a deep breath before continuing, "you have a flight ring, why not simply use that if you want to talk?"

Phantom Girl had been standing in her bedroom, picking out an outfit for the next night as she had arranged to meet Soddam Yat... And instead of checking which of her many clothes to wear she stared at the image of the Black Witch of Zerox with a stern expression.

"Tinya Wazzo, I request a favour..." The tone of the witch's voice made it clear she was not used to asking for help, "The Lords of Mis-Rule have made it difficult for me to leave Zerox so you must act in my stead... There has been a massacre on one of the Thousand Sacred Sites and a powerful talisman taken by one we thought would never return. The assassin known as the War-Wolf brought mercenaries..."

"He was broken out of Takron-Galtos recently Mysa. Glorith says it was the Shadowmancer..." Tinya said softly. She felt concerned for her former teammate. Mysa was always serious and studious, but since absorbing Mordru's essence she had become intense... and right now she looked angry, which alarmed the Legion leader. Though what worried Tinya more was the thought that someone on Zerox had the power to stop Mysa from taking action when she was in such a mood.

"Yes, the Shadowmancer would crave the Spear of Light... Tinya, you must retrieve it so the Balance remains intact. It must be used only by those that walk its righteous path."

"Who...? What is the Shadowmancer? Is there anything you can tell us Mysa that will help?"

"It is the dark shade of a cursed king from the Gem World's distant history; a foul vampire that absorbs the essence of unique beings. Be careful who you take with you when you confront it as it will use your unique teammates strengths against you."

"How do we find it? Glorith said the warps it used were ...warded? Blocked somehow..."

Mysa stared intently for a couple of seconds and muttered a few arcane expressions before her hand reached out through the mirror. On her palm was a small blue egg covered in silver runes.

"Xao will lead you. Give him this. It will guide him when you need it to."

Tinya rather tentatively took the pale egg from the witch's hand.

"You have seven days until the Balance shifts again, and it will not help our cause if it does." And with that the image of Mysa Nal faded. Tinya waited until the image had totally gone before taking a deep breath and counting to five. She ran her hands through her hair and called on Dragonmage, requesting the young sorcerer join her in the First Base Senior Staff briefing room in fifteen minutes. After calling Xao she holo-called Cece.

"Cece, sorry to disturb you but I need your advice." The deputy leader gave a smile to her deputy but before she could answer Tinya carried on talking, "Mysa Nal just requested our help against the Shadowmancer. He has an artefact that Mysa says will tip the balance out of our favour and as you understand magical stuff more than me... if I'm honest I feel out of my depth here Cece. Can I give this over to you to lead on?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, I'm meeting Xao in quarter of an hour in the Senior Staff briefing room. Mysa gave me this to give to him, said it would guide us..." Phantom Girl held out her hand to show the small egg the Black Witch had somehow passed through the mirror.

"Wow! That looks like a dragon egg ... probably of the southern winds." Cece's eyes were wide as she peered at the holo of the pristine egg, "They were revered guides to sailors that wished to travel across storming seas."

"Mysa gave it to me, said the War-Wolf had taken the Spear of Light from a Monastery..."

"The Spear of Light? Oh, okay, that is worrying. If I remember correctly, it holds the essences of those that have given their lives for the cause of Light. It is one of the Thousand Sacred Artefacts."

"See, you're definitely the person for this job, I was clueless." Tinya gave an embarrassed smile.

"I'll get to you in five minutes. I've a feeling we'll get to the bottom of this quite quickly now." Cece Becks gave Tinya a warm smile and closed the call.

Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation
Solar Gorilla - D'Nadka Endarooga of Dmansca - generate and project extreme heat and light


Ayla suggested the two of them should meet in a booth at Shakes for a cocktail.

They both sipped on non-alcoholic concoctions as in a couple of hours they would be on active mission ready status. Still, they enjoyed the unusual and exciting tastes of the drinks that the bar-bot suggested.

Ayla had been telling silly stories from when she had not long joined the team, as D'Nadka laughed and tried to guess which Legionnaires her mentor was talking about. While Ayla wouldn't name her colleagues a couple of the stories were pretty obviously about certain former teammates.

"What I'm saying, in a roundabout way, is that it doesn't much matter if you make a mistake so long as you learn from it and try to make good." Ayla smiled and the trainee smiled back. "So... I guess the obvious question I have for you is why did you attend the academy and want to become a Legionnaire?"

"Ahh, actually I didn't really..." the trainee looked around the empty bar as she continued, obviously finding this conversation uncomfortable. "My big sister applied to the academy but was killed when Black Adam's Daughters attacked it. She always wanted the fame and excitement she thought she'd get being a Legionnaire. I kinda... to be honest I wanted to be a teacher growing up, so when Dmansca Council asked if I would take her place I nearly refused. Now that I'm here though I'm glad I did it."

"I'm glad you said yes as well." Ayla said softly, not wanting to interrupt the trainee's flow, but feeling the need to acknowledge her. D'Nadka smiled before she continued.

"Yeah, I didn't expect to enjoy it so much. It's a crazy ride, isn't it? After K'Lami died, well my thoughts weren't too... it was painful Ayla, but..." She looked away and rubbed a hand quickly across her eyes.

"I know how awful it is to lose a sibling, though I never knew your sister. What was she like?"

"Bossy..." As Solar Gorilla said this, she cracked up laughing, which Ayla joined in with.

"Older siblings are always so-o-o bossy, aren't they?" Ayla said which gave them both another laugh.

The two of them spent the next half an hour sharing stories of their childhoods and the troubles they had and perhaps even caused with their families. It involved many laughs and both admitted that they now felt a huge amount of sympathy for their parents for having to deal with the dramas and in-fighting and mischief that they caused. This led to more laughter... Ayla realised that, as far as she was aware, she had the most positive and well-grounded of the trainees to mentor.

The electric Legionnaire decided there and then that she would do everything possible to support D'Nadka through the training period and prepare her to be the best new Legionnaire of the group!

Element Lad - Senior Team member, Jan Arrah of Trom - elemental transmutation
Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare - Impulse - Chief Medical Officer and Support Team manager - enhanced strength, speed, durability, stamina


The mentor and trainee had spoken for only twenty minutes before Element Lad excused himself, saying he had a prior appointment.

As he got back to his quarters the Trommite was worried what he would say to Tinya... and Kent. Not that he had long to wait for the latter. Jan walked through the front door of his apartment and could hear Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare in the kitchen humming to himself as he concocted a meal for the couple to enjoy this evening.

"Hey Jan, you're back early, how'd it go?" Kent walked across the dining area to give his partner a hug. Jan happily reciprocated before sitting at the end chair of the dining table nearest the auto-chef and cooking facilities where Kent had been.

"Ah... interesting Kent, the word I would use is interesting."

"Yeah? Jaun's got a tasty powerset and is a real smart kid." Kent had returned to the chopping board where he sliced some peppers and herbs he had plucked on his way here. Greensleeves had magically encouraged a wide range of edible plants to sprout along the corridor that led to the Medi-bay and Kent did not want to miss the opportunity to try eating them. The doctor's attention was on the blade he held as he carefully picked out seeds from the plump red peppers.

"Yeah, he's a smart kid but I worry..."

Kent turned back to Jan, obviously concerned, "Is he okay? Blighted...?"

"No, no, still having his mandated therapy and that wasn't an issue. He made me feel quite uncomfortable actually. I think... no, I know... he's got a major crush on me."

"Oh!" Kent looked startled for two seconds before adding, "...that poor, poor boy! He's going to be so terribly disappointed!" And with this the doctor laughed.

"Hey!" Jan exclaimed before giving a smile and continuing. "He's... yeah, it was really awkward Kent. He as good as said he wanted to join me back here tonight, y'know...?"

"Well, ummm... Trommites were renowned for being openly poly-amorous so, I dunno, perhaps he thought his luck was in? And let's be honest, Legionnaires have been known to ...dally." Dr Shakespeare had moved over and sat on the seat next to the Legionnaire.

"I'm not looking for anyone else and definitely not someone I'm probably old enough to be the father of."

"Really...? Oh, c'mere Papi!" And with that Dr Shakespeare pulled the Legionnaire into a hug.

They were enjoying that embrace moments later when Thunder called Kent to ask for assistance.

Cece and Xao had developed a plan of sorts.

They knew that the Shadowmancer could feed on any of their colleagues with unique abilities so they drew up a list of fellow Legionnaires that they could call upon if they found a way to wherever the dark mage was hiding out. They also needed those who could also deal with the escaped villains. It would be even better, they agreed, if they could catch the villains in the act somewhere away from the Shadowmancer, thereby splitting the force they'd have to eventually deal with.

They had a broad idea of the parameters they would need to search for the escaped villains - they targeted unique meta beings, so Cece quickly sent an alert through to the other bases and personally holoed Luornu Durgo on Home Base - if the Shadowmancer wanted a smorgasbord of meta-folks to feast upon then the Academy would be its prime target...

Cece also wanted to see the destroyed monastery as they might pick up some more information there. Xao cautioned that a team might draw unwanted attention as any survivors would be wary of strangers. Thunder agreed, though suggested that perhaps if the team was mainly magical and any others offered help... they would just have to risk it!

As deputy leader she knew that she could call up Legionnaires from either base if needed so Thunder checked who was available and five minutes later, they were ready in Henry's warp Control room.

Alongside Thunder and Dragonmage, were Glorith, MWindaji, Shield and the new member that Cece was mentoring, Triple Nova. It was a magic-heavy team, and Laurel Kent's psychometry may well prove useful as well. They all secretly hoped the villains they were looking for would still be there as they walked through the warp...

It was snowing lightly and the sky was darkening in twilight but they could all make out the appalling tableau before them: the monastery was in ruins and, despite dozens of people trying to clean up while processing the obvious horror of what had happened, the Legionnaires saw the remains of some of the Sisterhood that had guarded the magical relic. Strips of cloth stained in gore, blood sprayed across the rubble, torn limbs, carcasses that looked as if they had been savaged by dogs... the horrific detritus of massacre was strewn all around them.

<Okay team, we're here to get information so let's see what we can find out. I'll find whoever is in charge and offer Elthur's and my assistance cleaning up. The rest of you... good luck>

Although the locals were initially wary of the Legionnaires within minutes the team were welcomed. Glorith and Laurel used their skills to identify those responsible while Dragonmage tries to urge the egg to hatch, releasing the dragon spirit to guide them. Deep within his core the Jade Dragon that lived within Xao's being cautioned the young sorcerer to be patient; their guide would come when the moment was right, and it would be soon.

Triple Nova had tears streaming down his face as he helped dig graves for those killed at the monastery. Meanwhile, Thunder called upon Dr Shakespeare to assist and then used her immense power to move rubble, put out fires and offer whatever medical support she could. The team's chief clinician arrived a few minutes later carrying a dozen emergency packs followed by Element Lad and several students that were medically gifted and trained.

The Legionnaires were at the ruins of the monastery for a further hour before Thunder decided it was time to return to First Base with the information they had gathered.

Saturn Girl - Imra Ardeen of Titan - alpha-level telepathy
Lightning Lad - Garth Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation


The security measures built into the Lightning Ring Plantation's Ranch were second to none in the Winath system.

When Garth and Imra had said they were moving here permanently Querl and Reep had taken the time to construct a multi-layered defensive protocol in case any of their former enemies came calling. Garth had mocked them, hiding his gratitude with a macho gruffness that didn't fool anyone even slightly. Over the years several Legionnaires and Science Police Technicians had updated their security system.

It was 0245 standard when the AI-alarm protocol first activated. Garth struggled to wake up though Imra was already stood at a window, her face tight with concentration.

"There's about twelve beings running rampage in the lower mushroom fields... difficult to get a lock on them though, somethings interfering with my telepathy. I think they're a distraction but have sent defence drones to deal with them. The kids are all asleep still, do you want to get them while I monitor this?" She had spoken softly but even before she had finished her husband was at the door of their suite dashing to grab their children and bring them to the suite's relative safety.

He returned less than a minutes later with their daughters, both wrapped in warm blankets and still sound asleep - Imra gazed in wonder at how her husband had managed to not wake one or both of them. Garth gently lay them on the bed and then rushed out to grab their sons.

Imra concentrated - she could sense the beings outside their ranch house flickering in and out of existence like a Cargggite triplicating and then reforming, or some form of personal replication like that. She was also aware that there were others too, though their positions were being masked by a powerful telepath. It seemed to her that someone was trying to drag the two former Legionnaires out into the open. Imra doubted it would be long before a more direct attack happened... and as she thought that a lightning bolt of epic proportions smashed against the front of the house.

<Garth, I think it's your brother outside. Can't quite get a lock on him but we've been struck by lightning from out of a clear sky ...and these hysterics suit his character>

<Blast! Mekt is such a pest! I'll call for help>

<It's done already, the Legion should be here any second. I've sent out more security drones. They'll delay whoever's out there until the team arrive>

<Imra! Garridan is gone! I can't find him... the house AI says he's in his bed but he's not>

<Stay calm Garth, we'll find him> Imra withdrew her psychic senses from their estate and focussed entirely on locating her son. She could sense Garth's panic as he clutched onto Graym. After several intense seconds she came to the conclusion that her husband was right; Garridan was nowhere nearby. The attack on the estate had been a rouse to distract them... but who would want to take their son? And where was he?

Ten seconds later a warp materialised on the front porch and Chameleon Boy charged out, leading a large team of the Ranzz's former colleagues behind him out of a spinning violet and honey disc and into the Winathian night.

By then, the beings Imra had sensed outside were all gone.

As was her son.

IB and Raz, thank you for your kind feedback.

IB, the teams kind of chose themselves when I was working out who goes where, and I think your descriptions of their remits is kind of spot on with the caveat that Second Base often works outside of the UPs jurisdiction so they have a little bit more latitude to act when thinggs get really nasty. The way I saw it, Cham would have chosen First Base as he want's the general public to have a visible Durlan hero. Jan was moved onto Second Base to take up Chemical Kid's spot after Hadru was shifted across to First base so Tinya could keep a closer eye on him, give a bit of support to Tyroc as the second Base team are a bit rougher around the edges than First Base team, and as you say he probably enjoys the quieter life there, though thankfully Henry is at hand so he can still keep his relationhip with Kent going strong. And Zero has just been introduced - he's got transdimensional shifting - I'm going to write his abilities like how I imagine Tinya's would work if there wasn't the weight of 50 years of canon history weighing her down.

Raz, Tnya's sacrifice... well, you're not wrong, but not right either. It'll happen soon enough, once the Devil's Dozen are out of the way.

More soon as we deal with the consequences of the last post above, we catch up with one of the new iterns, romance may be in the air, and a student gives the team access to information they would never otherwise know. Oh, and another Legionnaire goes missing!

More, more, more next week

Hi Harbi! Great to see more great stuff. Just some random comments after catching up here:

First of all, I continue to be blown away by the sheer number of characters you're juggling. The Legion in most times has 20-some members, which is crazy to deal with plus the villains and background characters. But you have this all rolling out so that it seems easy - and I know it's not! Big Kudos there!

What I really enjoyed right off the bat was the idea of friction in the team between Tinya and Nura. A team as large as the Legion will never have EVERYONE getting along, and will likely have specific cliques that are opposed to each other, so its good to see here. It adds a degree of humanistic realism, and the potential for inter-team drama.

I had a nice laugh when Gas Girl complained about the Legion sniffing for people!

I'm a sucker for artifact related quests in stories - maybe its all the gaming I've done, so I'm looking forward to see where this goes.

Really nice bits with Ayla and her trainee, as well as Jan & Kent.

And super-awesome cliffhanger to leave on. I LOVE Mekt as a villain and a threat, so this is really cool. Can't wait for the next part!!

hi Harbi,

more goodness! I'm so happy!

Nice seeing Thunder's magical background come into play here - and props, as I don't really recall Marvel family members drawing much on magical knowledge before, despite being magically-empowered!

Solar Gorilla is a treat, and I love your Ayla! This was one of my favorite mentor-mentee bonding scenes, though honestly I loved em all

Trommites were known for being openly poly-amorous, that's an interesting tidbit! I love how Kent was kinda like "oh, I wonder where Jan is going with this, let's see before I start reacting" lol

Triple Nova crying while helping was heartbreaking. I think I would cry too, if I were in his position.

Very smart of the Legion, to add security systems to the Lightning Ring Plantation! Of course, makes perfect sense!

Garridan/Validus is gone! Oh dear... lovely suspenseful scene Harbi, and I look forward to seeing Imra and Garth in action I hope

and thanks for walking me through your thinking re the teams!

Cham wanting the public to have a visible Durlan hero makes sense, and is a nice nod to the Reboot! also having Hadru and Jan on separate bases due to similar powersets.

looking forward to more more more!

Hi Harbinger,

I'm loving the beginning of Vol. 8.

I was happy to see that Tinya did have an issue with Nura's announcement. You kept true to your word for that pay off. But I'm glad to see that she wasn't the only one. I know Lu had issues but as you explained that's because of the student and less about her announcement.

Cham's skepticism makes sense but I understand how Tinya could be hurt by that. But how close are the two of them really? you can be "co-workers" and trust each other without really knowing each other. For maybe if she did know him better she wouldn't be so surprised by his needing reassurance.
I also think Tinya is a bit too hard on herself about being Leader and how they perceive her.

I get how great Hope World is gonna be. But at the same point i still can't help but be annoyed with Nura. She really could have just talked to the team. Yes, there would have been some push back but ultimately i think the team would have gone alone with it.

I enjoyed your moment with Gear and checking in with him. I liked his thought about enjoying looking for the minuscule ingredients in Capt. Heavyweights' blood because he was minuscule.

Wow, i didn't think the Dominon's space was that large. this search could take a while for sure.

The moment with Cham and Strobe was well done. A nice quiet moment and i like that Cham is taking a real interest. Strobe reaction to the berries was cute. its easy to forget to enjoy the small things. Cham's really wanting to step up the Espionage game for the team. I hope he doesn't pull a reverse Nura and covertly take people from the team.
I'm with IB and surprised that he's not on Second Base, which does seem to be more inline with what he wants to do.

Mon-el and Non's meeting:
Haha. you were right. Stoic meets Stoic. But much like the ending it was oddly satisfying. Seeing Non take Mon to his "home" and watch the dazzling lights of the system was well done. So Non is from a "living galaxy" or is it that their galaxy is made of light/energy and travels through the universe intertwining with other galaxies?

the investigation to the Shadowmancer is getting started and I'm here for it.
I can't tell if Gas Girl is playing a little hard to get or if she's just upset because of their students being taken.
I like that Mindbender is trying even if he already knows the answer.
The "Now you got people sniffing for answers" part was funny. i chuckled at that.
Yay they got a clue!!!

Of course every time Tinya gets a moment to relax someone comes along to mess with it. Choosing an outfit and Black Witch appears.
I'm with Tinya, i want to know what kind of force could keep Mysa from completing her own missions.
There are a Thousand Sacred Sites? That's a lot of places that could be hit next.

reading this section makes me wonder, did I mix up the Shadowmancer with someone else? wasn't Shadowmancer the one who held Sister Eclipse captive?
Thanks for the gift and the fright Mysa.

A shade of a cursed king from Gemworld huh? So what is a shade exactly? like a piece of ones soul? Evil doppelganger of some sort? What's left after the cursed one has died?

Seven Days until the balance shifts again? That's not good. That also means there's been other shift. Has so much of what the teams been going through because of the Spear of Light? Has it been shifting hands to often?

I'm glad Tinya called in Thunder to deal with this. Magic is defiantly in her wheelhouse.

Ayla and Solar Gorilla was a really sweet moment. Ayla is so nice and personable. I'm glad Solar Gorilla is able to both mourn and honor her sister's memory.

I couldn't help but laugh throughout this entire exchange. Jan is so nervous about it and Kent's so cool and calm. He's very confident in their relationship. Its sweet to see. I wonder if he'll request a transfer of Mentorees as it seems to unnerve Jan a lot.

And so the mission really starts.
Be careful what you wish for Dragonmage. who knows what hell could break loose once that dragon egg leads you to where you need to go.
that poor Monastery and all those people. Triple Nova crying while digging graves was heartbreaking.

And now were at the home of Legionnaires on Winath...oh boy.
Loved seeing Imra calm and doing her thing while Garth grabbed the kids.
Is Garridan the one who was turned into Validus in cannon? I'm surprised they only wanted one child. But damn I can't believe they got away with Garridan.
I'm super excited for what's to come, especially with Garth and Imra on the warpath to get their son back

Can't wait for more, more, more!

Chameleon Boy led Imra, Garth and three of their children through the warp onto First Base.

The majority of the team the Durlan had led to Winath had stayed behind in the hope of catching whoever was behind Garridan's kidnapping. Before leaving Reep requested both Dawnstar and M'Windaji join them to aid with the search for the missing boy.

Reep felt conflicted as he also wanted to stay but knew the priority right now was making sure Garth, Imra and their children were safe. He led them to an empty apartment where Gear had arranged for enough furnishings that the family would be comfortable. The twin girls had woken up and were crying and Grayam had begun to question where his brother was with increasing vexation. Imra looked at Garth as he held onto their girls and he nodded.

"You go, I'll look after the little monsters. Let me know if you find anything though, I want to be there when we get Mekt."

"Of course... and we will get him." She kissed the girls on the top of their heads then bent down so she was eye level with her son.

"Grayam, you need to be good for daddy. I'm away to get Garridan, and I just know that until I get back, you'll be on your best behaviour... won't you?" The young boy nodded, his eyes beginning to fill with tears. Imra hugged him tightly and stood up. Garth leant forward and they had a quick kiss.

<Garth, thank you. I couldn't do this without knowing you were here looking after them>

<I couldn't stay here if it was anyone but you looking for him. Remember though, I want to Mekt> He replied.

<I know... I'll keep in touch>

" Bye bye babies," she waved to the girls, sending a light telepathic reassuring pulse across their minds, "and I'll see you soon gorgeous boy," Imra smiled at Grayam, "...and no sugar for any of them, okay Garth?" she said with a teasing smile. Garth laughed and promised they would all eat healthily until she returned.

Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam was walking on air - figuratively speaking.

She had been helping out on Hope World, loading supplies from orbiting shuttles into their designated storage areas. Her casual manner as she threw various containers in towards the planetoid and then sped to catch them before they crashed had been commented upon by her fellow officer, Dyrk Magz. He had been teasing her for a solid hour about how she had changed from being a typical pragmatic Daxamite into a love-sick puppy after just one date, Nel had grinned from ear to ear as a response which had prompted the Braalian to put his fingers into his mouth and pretend to retch.

Nel didn't mind.

The night before she had taken over a lower-level storage unit on Second Base and with some help from Gear, had decorated it to look like one of the famous Lunar London Faux-French restaurants. She had started by painting the walls with a rich purple, adding plush dark grey drapes and prints of artwork from throughout the centuries from the area of the European continent called France. Nel had spent time earlier in the evening researching all the top restaurants from Bina's home so she hoped her creation would reference them accurately.

She had then taken a wooden table from one of the Rec Rooms, broke it down and reassembled it so it looked somewhat like one of the small round tables that those restaurants used to seat couples and placed it in the centre of the room, before finding chairs that matched.

Gear had very kindly supplied a pale linen tablecloth, rather fine-looking cutlery and plates, a candle that had been jammed into an empty bottle that he had somehow made to look as if it had years of use as it was covered in layers of old wax, two small vases with dainty flowers in them, and a 100% genuine bottle of rather expensive wine - from France! The Linsnarian used his nannites to move the lighting around, creating a chandelier above the table and offered a soundtrack to play that he believed was ethnically correct, and to Nel's eternal gratitude he announced that he would be their waiting staff that evening once Nel's date arrived. After two hours of super speed decorations Nel was finally happy with the end result. Gear had smiled broadly and complimented her on both her taste and work.

When Bina Nawoti had walked into what she thought was a storage locker she was met be Nel wearing a pale blue summer dress instead of her usual drab standard Daxam SP uniform, and the psychic Legionnaire burst into happy laughter. Nel had cleverly sent the holo invite and not taken Bina there herself - well aware the psychic would pick up on her excitement - and also nerves - and therefore spoil the surprise.

"We can't go off base unless it's in a group so I thought you might appreciate a little taste of home here instead." Bina could see the nerves on Nel's face as the Daxamite said this, and decided to let her actions speak for her rather than words. The lithe psychic walked up to the tall Daxamite Science Police Officer and standing on her tiptoes, pulled Nel's face down towards her for their first kiss.

Nel unconsciously started to float and the two pirouetted on the air for several seconds before breaking apart and laughing.

They had planned on going to see a classic 2D film being shown in Shakes later on with a group of their colleagues that night but the two young women never made it...

And so today, Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam, usually so pragmatic, orderly, detached even, was walking on air.

The Gil'Dishpan student called pH Zero was summoned to the Senior Staff meeting room on First Base.

The student levitated into the room surrounded by the methane bubble that its races' technology created around it. Seated at the table was Phantom Girl, Thunder, Chameleon Boy, Duplicate Girl and Mon El. Standing at their side was the former Legionnaire Saturn Girl alongside Cosmic Boy. Shawyryn had a talent called Social Empathy whereby it could assess the temperament of groups and act accordingly. It could feel the anxiety, fear and anger in the room, despite none of the humanoids present signalling that their moods were so bleak.

"Presenting as requested, this one is." its speech modulator said, translating the Gil'Dishpan's natural guttural language.

"Thank you Shawyryn," Luornu said, "We need advice about your people's Warpsmiths as we believe there is at least one involved in ...a case we are investigating."

"Mercenary, they are. To that caste money and status are important." The student began to speak, "Ruled by their own Prime Egg-Giver... Matriarch as you say."

"How do we contact these ...Matriarchs?" Saturn Girl asked.

"Guidance from The Ones Who Thought you must seek."

"Can you arrange that for us? We know you have contact with ...senior Gil-Dishpan, It's vital." The student could sense the desperation in this request from Saturn Girl. It had studied the Legion extensively and intuited that something must have happened to the Titanian as by all accounts she was pragmatic and focussed, yet this was not what it felt emanating from her.

"Difficult, it will be, impossible it is not though. As requested, this one shall endeavour."

"We'd rather not go through formal channels Shawyryn... that would take too long and it is a matter of some urgency." Saturn Girl's voice cracked as she spoke.

The Gil'Dishpan remained still for several long seconds. "Only females may address The Ones Who Thought." the student said before it appeared to release a long reverberating burp, causing the Legionnaires to look surprised, though by the time it was finished the air at the side of the student was beginning to coalesce. Shawyryn curled into a ball as a holo came into focus before the Senior Legionnaires.

Saturn Girl walked to the front of the group. She respectfully lowered her head before the holo.

<Important, this must be> The Senior Team were surprised at how human the telepathic voice seemed.

<Ma'am... I hope I have addressed you correctly... we request your assistance>

<Imra Ardeen, you are known to us. What can we offer one who has moved through distance and moment like a runaway star?> There was mockery in the tone.

<We seek the warpsmith that is assisting the one that kidnapped my child>

<That Prime Egg-Giver values their progeny. Great wealth to their caste, they bring. For this help what would you offer them?>

Both Mon El and Duplicate Girl resisted the urge to interrupt and ask the holo if they didn't believe the Legion had done enough over the years to help the Gil-Dishpan alongside the rest of the galaxy...

<How much do they value their own... progeny? That is what I would offer>

<Come> and with that a warp appeared where the holo had been before Imra. Without a word she stepped through and it closed in a blink before her colleagues and friends could either join or stop her or the student called pH Zero from disappearing.

more great stuff, Harbi!

it's very practical that Imra, the telepath, goes on the hunt for Garridan, while Garth stays behind. so happy they are in progressive/modern parental roles, none of that "wife should stay home and look after the kids" stuff that has become outdated

what a lovely romantic date between Nel and Bina. Gear helping out so much was cute and a nice expansion of his character! I hope I understand right, but Bina's home then has some French influences? really cool! as someone who lived in Paris for a bit, you definitely captured the Parisian cafe with the little round table and all that

Lovely scene with ph Zero, loved the lead up with Shawyryn assessing the group, commenting on Imra's desperation, and deciding to just suddenly call for help.

"How much do they value their own progeny?" gosh, this is an ominous question! I know Imra will be fine, but I do wonder what sort of bargaining they would have to do...!

as usual, more great entries, and I'm on the edge of my seat for more more more!

Grava allowed the tears to flow as she flew.

She was currently slamming through a holo-assault course that was being timed against Comet King's previous attempt. He had made two errors that incurred a ten second time penalty, so her target was to clear the holo-burning building, rescue the three holo-children and cross the holo-drone filled holo-sky in under three minutes and nine seconds. Whoever lost would be expected to cook dinner that night.

The feelings had crept up on her all morning and as she was watching Drinchnar race through the course she had started to cry. Grava wouldn't have been able to tell you what prompted the sudden rush of emotion but she knew if she asked Comet King for a break she would be teased for the rest of the day. As he crossed the finish line, she yelled that he was gonna lose and assumed the position of a sprinter on the blocks. She knew that Drinchnar would see her tears and she was determined to get past them and win this race...

Drinchnar understood where her sadness came from; it was the residue of the Blight eating into her system. His military upbringing meant he didn't approve of crying - as much as he hated to admit it to her when she felt this way, he thought it was a sign of weakness. Haltingly, he had come to accept that as much as Grava was the cosmic queen he would dedicate his life to, she had a very different personality to his and as such would express her emotions in ways he would often not understand or even appreciate. The one session of therapy that they had attended together had resulted in Grava truly expressing how she felt and Drinchnar realising that his queen had far more depth and compassion than he had ever guessed. After that he had never criticised her again for crying, instead he allowed her the space to show her emotions... well, when you heart was nebula-sized, he thought, a few freefalling tears were understandable.

"Come on babe, you got this!" He yelled as she spun around a tricky corridor that he had incurred a penalty on after bashing the holo-child he carried against a wall as he spun. Grava gracefully pirouetted around the tight bend, holding tightly onto the holo-children she had rescued, before carrying on at rocket speed.

Grava ground her teeth as the tears fell and she sped through the holo-drone filled holo-sky, her arms tightly wrapped around the holo-children.

"You did it! My Grava-licious! You're glorious red-shift starlight!" Drinchnar shouted as she flew across the line, a full eighteen seconds faster than he had.

As the holo's faded she gently settled her feet back down to the training areas floor. Comet King swooped across and wrapped his arms around her. Grava's eyes still streamed with tears but she laughed and cheered as Drinchnar lifted her up and they spun in the air.

Rokk stood before Garth in the Winathian's temporary quarters on First Base.

D'Arcy and Dorrit were sound asleep in cots at the side of the room. Grayam was sat to Garth's side absently playing with a toy Agri-sprayer. The Braalian had insisted he be the one to tell his friend that Imra had vanished. Rokk was silently bracing himself for an explosive outburst but instead the man who was once called Lightning Lad nodded his head solemnly.

"Imra will get back with the information we need. We just need to wait, she'll be fine.? And then picked up his young son and hugged the obviously very tired boy.

"Oh... okay. We've traced her flight ring to a world called H64448172 in the Gil'Dishpan's expanse. Tinya was thinking of sending a team if Imra isn't back soon."

"Nah, don't do that. It won't help Imra if an invading force charges in after her. Tell Tinya to have some patience." Garth looked tired but there was no doubt that he fully believed in his wife's capabilities to find out the information they needed and return to them with it.

Rokk smiled, understanding his friend's faith. He would tell Tinya what Garth had said and hoped it would be enough to dissuade the team from taking any direct action and potentially causing a problem for Imra.

"Oh, I'll contact Ayla too, perhaps she can help..." Rokk nodded towards the sleepy Grayam, "she's on a mission right now but we can easily get her back."

"Thanks, Rokk, we'd all appreciate that." Garth looked down at his son and ruffled his hair affectionately, not meeting his old friend's eyes as he did. Rokk knew his friend well enough that he could tell Garth Ranzz's heart was aching.

Rimbor

Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation
Kid Quantum - Jazmin Cullen of Xanthu - creation of temporal quantum bubbles, flight
Backlash - Mrruaw MNau of Simballi - enhanced strength, speed, senses, absorbs kinetic energy to boost own size and mass
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations

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)

Science Police meta-squad seconded to Legion World First Base:
Power Boy - Science Police Officer Jedidiah Rikane of Earth - personal density control
Gravity Kid - Science Police Officer Tel Vole of Earth - manipulation of personal or nearby gravity

Intern:
Tectonik - Hardal of Granite Falls from Mondriak iv - geokinesis


With the loss of the gene-mod shops of Rimbor several gangs had started to riot.

Those gangs that were tasked with guarding the gene-mod operations had lost what they perceived as the source of their authority, and several smaller gangs saw this as an opportunity for them to take control of the other groups turf. Tyroc was leading a group from his base while Lightning Lass led a team from First Base. They had an informal bet; who would arrest the most gang members.

Ayla had insisted her team take pouches full of incapacity cuffs with them and they were going through them at an alarming rate. The gangs were obviously feeling brave to take on a group of Legionnaires! Ayla's team had appeared through a warp in the Central Guild Plaza of Rimbor City where a running pitched battle was underway between rival gangs. The local Science Police were overwhelmed and had called for urgent help as there were just too many empowered gang members in the fray.

<target the metas first okay team.. I'm taking point up here. They don't look too organised yet so let's make sure they don't get the chance to be> Ayla sent as she flew above the scene. She directed blasts of electricity towards the larger skirmishes splitting them into more manageable sized groups. She could see a lot of bodies and was unable to tell if they were unconscious or worse. There would be time to help the wounded once they got the mob under control. A few energy blasts fired her way but she easily dodged them. A couple of gene-mod recipients that could fly attempted to get to her but she was too accurate with her electric blasts to let them near to her.

One had nearly got the drop on Ayla. A young woman with a cruel smile used her gene-mod to make the Winathian feel as if her entire existence was worthless and Lightning Lass had slowly dropped from the sky. Before she could reach the ground though Spoiler sprung out from the crowd and whacked the girl responsible for Ayla's dark mood on the head with a pre-commando baton, knocking her unconscious. Ayla could see Backlash was right behind the Naltorian, easily brushing the crowds aside as his size was double that of normal.

"Ayla, snap out of it. This one was messing with your mind." Gord yelled as he slipped cuffs on the unconscious gang member.

The electric Legionnaire felt her mood return to normal with a snap and with it came a blast of anger! She hated having her mind tampered with. Right, she thought, no more miss Nice Legionnaire, and with that thought she released a massive bolt of lightning that tore out of her and up into the sky above with a loud crash of thunder. The crowd stepped back in awe of the display. Spoiler and Backlash took advantage of the crowd's reaction to force them back.

Tel and Jed were proving how effective they were together as they faced an angry crowd that had come roaring out of one of the many side streets onto the plaza where they had arrived. Tel levitated several people at the front of the crowd two feet up into the air and pushing them backwards causing the mob behind them to step back. Even as the crowd retreated, he continued to levitate those that had made their way to the front to push them onto the oncoming mob. Before long there was a groaning mass of bodies piled up. Meanwhile Jed phased through the crowd which led to several people trying to strike him either with fists or energy blasts, all of which passed harmlessly through him and struck other gang members, leading to scuffles and brawls which helped break the crowd up further. If Jed spotted anyone using a gene-mod he targeted them, and would solidify himself just enough to slip incapacity cuffs on them, taking their potential threat out. One was a man that appeared to be made of iron; it took three cuffs to knock him out but Jed easily managed.

Jazmin, D'Nadka and Hadral had fun as the trainee blinded any attackers with a burst of pure light while the intern shook the ground underneath their feet knocking them off-balance and the Legionnaire would encase them in a quantum bubble and slap cuffs on their arms. They had needed to dodge some blaster fire from a building overlooking the plaza but Kid Quantum was able to create a stasis bubble around the area it had come from and the three of them flew up and dealt with the two men with rifle blasters they found. While above the plaza below Hadral noticed a mob moving from a side street towards a solo Science Police Officer. He alerted Jazmin and and D'Nadka, and without a word they knew saving the officer and dealing with this incoming mob would be their next job. The swooped down towards the oncoming mass of gang members.

The Legionnaires were on Rimbor for forty minutes and the plaza had been virtually cleared and medics were arriving on the scene when a holo of Rokk Krinn appeared before Ayla.

"You gotta come back to First Base. Your brother needs you."

She didn't need to know the details as Rokk would never interrupt an active mission unless it was serious so she agreed to be back in minutes.

After quickly speaking to the Science Police Officers on the scene, Ayla called her team to her and asked Henry for a warp.

Imra Ardeen was reputed to be the most pragmatic of the Legionnaires.

There was good reason for this reputation, as she had shown time and again, the Legion Founder would do everything she could to resolve a mission in the most efficient and practical manner she could find. Currently she was feeling foolish, though grateful that she had worn her flight ring as she found herself in a methane atmosphere on a very different planet. The Ones Who Had Thought had created a bubble of air around her but Imra was relieved that the eco-protect function would ensure there was nothing suspicious in her environment. Around her, in the dingy murk where she found herself, she could sense several massive presences though did not want to push too hard with her telepathy at this point; she had after all willingly stepped through the warp. Still, the mental pressure from these enormous minds was difficult to shut out entirely. Imra had a sense that they watching her with some amusement.

The ground underneath her feet had a spring to it as if it were a carpet on moss on a forest floor, though the air was thick with some sort of smoke that obscured her vision just enough that when she glanced down, she could not clearly see what she was standing on. The air felt heavy and moist and the strange smoke obscured the beings that she knew were around her. The student was at her side but they did not respond to the gentle telepathic message she sent asking if this was where they needed to be to find information about who had taken her son.

There was silence for several minutes and Imra was beginning to feel a gnawing worry. The student known as pH Zero floated at her side and unexpectedly asked her to have patience saying negotiations were taking place around them. The student's calmness helped Imra focus - she was here for Garridan and she would spend an eternity here if it got her him back home.

Even without probing she could sense the conversation taking place around her, a chorus of voices seemed to be in a deep discussion, though she was unable to tell exactly what they were saying to each other. If she had to guess she would say it was an argument.

<Prime Egg-Giver of Warp, here is> the telepathic voice that had spoken to her moments before suddenly sprung into her mind.

<thank you, I am very grateful for giving me this opportunity>

<Imra Ardeen, what do you want?> This voice did not sound as friendly as the other. The warpsmith caste Prime Egg-Giver was clearly protective of their spawn.

<ma'am... my son was stolen earlier today and we have reason to believe that a Gil'Dishpan warpsmith was involved. As I'm sure you understand, my child is important to me and I want him back. I came here to request information on the whereabouts of the warpsmith involved so the Legion can return my son to me. Will you help me?>

There was a long pause and once again she could sense the uninterpretable conversation around her.

<for this help you must give something in return>

<of course, what do you require?>

<at this moment, nothing. But owe us for this favour your Legion will>

<I cannot speak for the Legion, only myself...>

<speak for our progeny then we cannot... yours is the choice>

Imra remained silent for several seconds before she bowed her head and replied, <of course, the Legion will assist you in the future when you need them. I will personally guarantee it>

Hey IB, sorry, I wasn't finished posting, just wanted to post something incase I didn't have any more time I don't see Lunar London - where I've established this Bina is from - as being particularly 'French' but it has been described as kind of olde world-y, and I imagine it's full of decent restaurants, and a good French restaurant is a match for any other so thought I'd use that theme instead of making up a future cuisine.

It'll be about three weeks until I get back here for any length of time as I have a wadge of overtime coming up. Hope you are enjoying this so far.

C

hi Harbi, yay more good stuff, thanks for pinging me that you had more!

re Bina from Lunar London, oh I'd forgotten where Bina was from, but indeed I can imagine a place like Lunar London having a good French restaurant!

Best wishes on the overtime! I am very much enjoying your work as usual, and so eager to see what comes next!

have caught up with the rest, so here are my stream of consciousness thoughts -

Grava and Drichnar - major kudos, Harbi, for dealing with relationships with such maturity and realism. Even couples with the best intentions can get things wrong about each other, and I really love your use of couples therapy to help some of them sort things out. Especially realistic that someone from a military background like Drichnar, would look down on crying.

Garth's silent confidence in Imra is also realistic. After all, they are husband and wife - Garth fully knows what Imra is capable of! (also found it slightly amusing that even other close friends, like Rokk and Tinya, don't get Imra the way Garth does!)

Rimbor: Excellent use of powers, as usual! Loved seeing everyone take full advantage of their abilities to be as efficient and effective as possible. Also liked seeing Ayla lead the mission, she's fast becoming a fave of mine.

Also great bit with Ayla just wrapping up and charging home to help Garth

Finally, you describe Imra perfectly with the word: pragmatic. Because that's indeed what she is, she's so practical (and creative), and pretty much every incarnation of Imra sticks to that. Also liked Imra's conflict - that she could not speak for the Legion... then giving in. After all, it is her child we're talking about. Although... I imagine Tinya for one will not be completely happy with this (she will understand, but she might not like it!) and... it leaves something hanging over the Legion, a favor to be called in in the future...

as always, this was excellent!!! looking forward to more, more more, but I will patiently wait as good writing should not be rushed

Hope World

Dream Girl- Team leader - Nura Nal of Naltor - precognition

support staff:
J2351 of the Dominion - Ivy - bio-manipulation of Hope World's chloro-technology
'Smart Boy' - Senior Team liaison,Strategic Analyst Graq Maurus of Colu - 10th level intelligence specialising in disaster relief scenarios

Intern:
Dragon Lass - Mari Baertling of Rimbor - enhanced strength, durability, echolocation and flight


Nura had spent a considerable amount of dreaming of this meeting with Ivy.

The young Dominator had been meek and was yet to meet Nura's eyes. The Naltoran knew it would be a while before Ivy shook off the conditioning that had made her a slave to Sa Lok. It would take a lot of coaching and trust on both sides to build up her confidence enough that she could be relied upon to act unsupervised.

Alongside the precognitive and the Dominator stood Strategic Analyst Graq Maurus of Colu, the Science Police Liaison Officer for Hope World. Nura had already decide that she liked the young Coluan as he blushed ever so slightly every time she complimented him. Querl had never been that easy to embarrass...

Ivy had been explaining to Nura and Graq about the facility that had gone operational only a day before the Legion had taken the planetoid to clone-grow workers. They would be strong and durable and could follow basic orders though ultimately were not sapient as such, and would disintegrate into their basic amino acid building blocks after a standard Dominion day, roughly 28 hours. Graq had examined the data stream and thanked Ivy, as, he said, these workers would play a vital part in the teams' mission.

Nura knew that Graq and Ivy would help each other in the weeks and months to come so she had instigated this meeting almost immediately after the Coluan had arrived. Nura needed to ensure there was harmony on the command deck before they left for their first mission. It would be vital the team were ready for what was coming.

She also knew that she would be spending a considerable amount of time later in the day going through the technical findings from the Science Police report into Sa Lok's operation on this planetoid. She had to find some information that Tinya would need if Nura's visions were to come to pass.

She also needed to check in on a group of astro-technicians from Brande Tech that would be working on the Docking Bay at around 1325 that afternoon as they would need her advice, that was before helping Titan set up the gymnasium (though she was sure Nasir could manage by himself but she wanted to get to know him a bit better so an hour in the gym with him was needed), while there Sister Eclipse would ask for assistance concerning the chapel she was designing for Hope World, and UP Councilor Freda Stratfaer would contact them at 1600 regarding some legislative red tape concerning the United Planets Disaster Response Unit that Nura needed to cut through that would require some intellectual cartwheels, oh and Groovy the delightful Daxamite Soldier Boy would arrive at 1745 and she wanted to meet - and tease - him right off the shuttle as Nura knew how vital he would prove in the coming weeks, and after that she had foreseen herself in the hydroponics though was not sure what she was doing there, and she must check in with her sister as she was quite sure there was something going on with Mysa right now... And Thom and little Matti...she definitely needed some quality time with them at some point.

There was just so many spinning plates she had to juggle if this mission was to be a success.

And as she thought that her flight ring pinged, alerting her to an incoming message from Dragon Lass. No rest for the wicked, she thought, then laughed as she had a fleeting thought of how wicked she planned on being once her daughter was asleep tonight. The Rimborian intern was someone Nura was really looking forward to working with. She intended to take the young woman under her wing as there was a streak of something truly heroic underneath her shy demeanour.

"Nura, hi, can I ask a favour?"

"Mari, honey, what is it? I'm busy so can you make it quick please."

"Oh..." Dragon Lass sounded momentarily stumped, "Ah, sorry it's just my friend Sheesa from Rimbor is visiting me here and... well, she's training to be a beautician... and... ah... do we need one on Hope World?" The intern rushed her question, her confidence sapped by the unexpected need to be quick.

"Oh yes! Oh my... we definitely need one! If she wants the job, she's got it! Hmmm... I suppose we can train her up on basic clinical duties too so she can help Drura and the medi-team out as well. Good thinking Mari, yes... that's a really good idea. Is there anything else dear? Sorry, but I am awfully busy."

"Ah, no. Thank you Nura, you're the best!"

Before the link broke Nura could hear Mari and Sheesa as they squealed their delight.

Rimbor:

Tyroc - Deputy Leader - Troy Stewart of Marzal city pocket dimension - sonic control
Element Lad - Senior Team member, Jan Arrah of Trom - elemental transmutation
Monica Sade of Rimbor - strength, reflexes - line of sight teleportation
The Huntress - Ambassador Amynta of Nostos ii - incredible strength, speed, invulnerability, space flight
Starkling - telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Retro - Deen Toro of Ventura - limited reversal of personal timeline

Newly promoted from Academy student to full membership (Mentor in brackets):
Poltergeist -Jaun Vineo of Titan - alpha-level telekinesis (Element Lad)


Mopping up meta gangs on Rimbor would usually have qualified as something that Tyroc enjoyed.

The challenge of facing unknown opponents on their home turf with only his wits and a small team of colleagues to rely upon should have made the leader of Second Base happy. Instead, he had watched a show of remarkable unprofessionalism by a new member of the team who thought that in the middle of dealing with rioting gangbangers was the perfect time to throw a strop...

He had led this team at the same time as Ayla had taken one to Rimbor City's Central Plaza. She had playfully offered a bet on which team would catch the most gang members that had undergone a gene-mod. Tyroc's team had warped into a massive brawl that was taking place on a strip of urban parkland that sat at the junction of three large gangs' turf.

The Huntress dived headlong into the crowds that had stood against the Legionnaires, drawing fire from several meta-gang members. She swiftly dealt with them, Tyroc was glad to see. Monica Sade had smiled as she watched Amynta throw a heavily muscled gang member onto the ground and snap a set of incapacity cuffs on their arm, and with a pop! the Rimborian vanished only to reappear at the edge of the crowd. With her agility and strength, alongside teleportation, Sade made short work of the crowd members that tried to stop her from cuffing the metas that were close by.

<Jan you take Poltergeist. Retro, you're with me. Starkling ...help Monica and Amynta please. We need to shut these idiots down!> And with that Tyroc flew into the air and took a deep breath before unleashing a piercing howl at the crowds below that forced a large percentage of them back.

There was an explosion from within the crowd which threw several bodies up in the air.

<Monica! Amynta!> Troy shouted along the telepathic matrix.

<Stupid little thug thought an explosion would stop Atremis' chosen ambassador in the Man's Worlds!> Amynta sent as a reply. <that is one gene-mod we definitely want to incarcerate>

Monica Sade's laughter overlaid the message as the teleporter continued her mission to cuff as many metas as possible, and perhaps also punch quite a few others while she was at it.

<Ah... okay, be gentle there Amynta. Monica, keep an eye on the situation please and check to see if anybody needs urgent medical attention, please> Tyroc replied.

As he sent this message a young woman with dark blue skin jumped out of the crowd towards the team leader. Retro had spotted her and flew up and grabbed the back of her jacket, spun her around and threw her back towards the ferro-concrete strip pavement below. The woman immediately bounced back to her feet and pounced towards Retro with surprising speed, but Tyroc had seen her move and directed a blast of solid sonics towards her throwing her off balance though not stopping her entirely as he expected. Retro swooped in and slapped incapacity cuffs on her arm knocking her unconscious before she could get any further.

<She's tough, think she has the same meta-gene as that student Rebounder> Retro sent as he joined Tyroc to face a group that were approaching from out of an alley to their left.

In the middle of the largest group Starkling was creating havoc! Separating its component parts into fist sized balls it was crashing through the mass of gang members, throwing them around like toys. Monica Sade teleported around the fallen gang members to cuff them as they struggled to their feet. A young man, thin with a pointed chin and spiky hair jumped at Sade. Rather than teleporting out of his way she stood her ground and threw a punch. While it connected on his chin with a bang his arms elongated into octopus like tentacles and wrapped around her face. As they connected with her skin an anaesthetic slime was smeared into her eyes, nose and mouth. Monica started to feel woozy almost immediately and teleported three feet to her left. The gang member looked surprised as his tentacles dropped, though only for a second before the Legionnaire drew one of her guns and shot him, knocking him unconscious.

<Troy, I need to get to the medi-bay> She sent before calling on a warp to Second Bases' medi-bay.

<Okay, be well honey> Tyroc replied as he fought against two rather burly young men with claws.

As the warp opened up next to the Legionnaire two gang members leapt at her and they all fell through it. Twenty feet above the mob another warp opened and the two gang members fell through and landed painfully on top of a group of gang members engaged in a brawl. Henry was not going to allow them to use his warps to get onto one of the team's bases.

Element Lad and Poltergeist made an effective team as Jan transmuted the ground underneath the mob into chloroform. The ground was suddenly full of holes that made the mob trip over each other, while the air they breathed in left them dazed. The intern used the confusion to telekinetically snap incapacity cuffs onto the arms of the most dangerous looking of the crowd. Both had carried a bag full of the cuffs as the report that brought them here had said that the Science Police reported several hundred people were rioting, but even so their stock was getting low. Element Led could see that the crowd was dissipating and the Legionnaires appeared to be on top of the situation so decided to mention the uncomfortable conversation they had the night before. Despite their working well together there had been very little conversation on this mission and the Legionnaire knew that the silence was not typical.

"Jaun, listen, I understand that you are new to the team and as your mentor I need to advise you that relationships are built on mutual respect, not just attraction, and while I'm very flattered by..."

Poltergeist's head had been buzzing for a couple of minutes and he couldn't help himself as he snapped back at his mentor.

"Yeah, I get it, this is work. You seniors boff who you want but us interns need to wait our turn. I was warned..."

The intern turned away from the Legionnaire and focussed on tripping up a few stragglers that were stumbling around close by. Element Lad took a deep breath as he transmuted the clothing of a tall woman that was running towards them with an axe in her hand into unbending steel.

"Jaun, listen, this isn't the time for..."

"Yeah, fine. You got together with Kent when he joined as support staff. Cosmic Boy took Night Girl when she was just a Sub. Timber Wolf..."

"Enough." Jan turned towards the intern as he spoke but Poltergeist kept on his rant.

"...got with Shield even before she'd actually joined. Tyroc picked Sade when he was her mentor. Yeah, at the Academy word got about that you long-termers take what you want. Doesn't matter if the newbies are keen on someone as we gotta shut up and wait our turn!"

Poltergeist had turned back towards the Legionnaire and was almost yelling as he finished. There were unshed tears in his eyes. Element Lad had remained silent as he looked at him. Jaun Vineo seemed remarkably young as he finished. Element Lad, for all the disappointment he felt at that moment, remembered how confusing being seventeen could be and understood the young man.

"We will discuss this when we get cleared up here." Jan said softly. Before Poltergeist could respond twin bolts of energy blasted out from the retreating mob and struck the Legionnaire between the shoulders throwing him on top of the intern. Poltergeist scrambled out from under his now unconscious mentor. A scrawny looking kid approached, his eyes glowing a malevolent blue. With a thought the ground erupted around the gang member as the intern telekinetically took him and the three other gang members behind him down. As they fell the feelings of anger slipped away from the intern... and he realised that one of the meta gang members must have been affecting his behaviour.

<Wha's going on?> Tyroc yelled across the telepathic grid. The team leader, followed by Retro flew across the damaged park towards them.

<We had an argument and Jan got hurt. I think someone...> The intern was crouched over his mentor.

<Bloody stupid time to g't into one kid. What were you thinking?> Tyroc interrupted, his anger obvious through the telepathic matrix.

Retro landed beside them as Tyroc hovered in the air above, keeping watch for any more attackers.

<My thoughts were... confused> Poltergeist sent lamely.

<He needs urgent medical help. Henry, warp to medi-bay please> Retro sent.

As the warp opened Poltergeist started to follow Retro through as the Legionnaire carried Element Lad to the medi-bay.

<Poltergeist! You're staying here with me son, we're not done yet> The tone of the message made it clear that Tyroc was not amused.

<Won't be long Troy, will get a stock up of cuffs and be right back> Retro sent

<Thanks Deen> Tyroc replied as the warp closed. <Poltergeist, you're with me an' get y'r head in the game, 'kay? We got serious work to do>

First Base:

Xao meditated.

He had asked for Glorith's input about the dragon egg but she had shaken her head: that branch of magic was outside her experience. The young sorcerer knew that but was hoping for some advice. It was embarrassing to admit, given his code-name and energy signature, but Xao had never held a dragon egg before and was feeling a little bit anxious. There was a sense at the back of his mind that the Eternal Jade Dragon found this situation amusing but Xao ignored it as he cleared his thoughts.

The dragon egg sat in the palm of his right hand, slightly warm to the touch. And then without warning, it twitched!

Xao almost dropped it as he scrambled to his feet. As he cupped it in both hands a hairline crack appeared in the precious blue shell. The young sorcerer started to yell before he realised there was no-one nearby to hear.

<Cece! Glorith! I think the egg is hatching! What do we do now?> He hurled his thoughts across the telepathic matrix at his two colleagues.

<Xao, that's brilliant news. Can you bring it up to the Senior Team meeting room, I think we need that bit of hope right now> Thunder replied. Xao wondered very briefly why the senior team would be looking for some hope but he was too focussed on the egg in his hands to give it too much thought. Right now, his priority was to get this dragon out of its egg and leading them to the Shadowmancer.

Xao Jin flew as fast he could to the grav-lift.

Unknown location:

<Do you think we're attracting too much attention> Esper Lass sent the thought to Lightning Lord.

<Yes, he's getting greedy...> Mekt replied, his face didn't express any emotion that might tip off anyone watching him that he was in a psychic conversation. <I am ...uncomfortable with holding my nephew in one of his cages. Garridan has done nothing against us, he is a child. This is not what I meant by punishing Garth>

<He's asleep Mekt, and not in any pain. I made sure of that for you>

<Thank you, Meta... that is appreciated. It appears that the arrangement that gives us our revenge while we work for that thing is entirely slated in its favour>

<What do you suggest we do Mekt?>

<Bide our time, we bide our time. Our moment will come soon enough>

The two villains were in an underground cavern where there were several dozen cages hanging from the dark ceiling. Almost all of them had beings within their bars. When the villains had first been brought here there had only been seven or eight prisoners, now there were almost five times that.

The dark mage that had gathered the group to serve him sat in a large throne carved out of the bedrock at the far end. It was painful to look at this being for too long as his form appeared to be made from a dark shifting bruised light. At his side was the assassin called Miasma, a being that was entirely loyal to the Shadowmancer and appeared like smoke. Lightning Lord had a particularly strong dislike for Miasma despite the fact that it was the assassin that had released them from the prisoner transporter shuttle.

The War-Wolf was talking to their new master in hushed tones, clearly coveting the enchanted spear that the Shadowmancer held onto. They had stolen it from the monastery that they had recently attacked as part of the War-Wolf's wished-for revenge on. It appeared the mystic had an ulterior motive in attacking the sisterhood that he said once treated him so disrespectfully, but the Shadowmancer had outplayed him and had managed to take the spear for itself instead.

<I believe our Wolven comrade will not be particularly supportive of the dark mage's cause anymore either...> Esper Lass sent across the telepathic link. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a cruel smile creep up Mekt's face.

A warp appeared at the side of the cavern and Titania, the Silver Slasher and Mr Chimes walked through holding two new captives. Both of whom were little more than children, Mekt tutted with disgust.

"Two more for you, boss... so, when you gonna let me kill some Legionnaires?" Titania said in her booming voice as two cages sank to the floor and she threw their captives into them.

"Soon... you will get the chance you desire very, very soon."

pretty cool having a Coluan Science Police officer, I don't think we've really seen one in the comics!

ah, team building. not an easy thing for a leader to do.

Hah I love it, Sheesa joining as a beautician and to support the medi-team! A nice mix showing Nura just how she is, both practical and frivolous... but I think Nura often disguises her practical, calculated moves as frivolity no?

Henry's warping is so cool. You want to jump into Legion World unauthorized? good luck with that!

Ah, young hormones (not even love). Not an easy thing to deal with, either for Poltergeist or for Jan. although yeah, Jan is taken, Jaun... so... and even if he's not, if he doesn't like you back, you can't do anything about it... those examples you raised aren't comparable...

Huh, Mekt having compassion towards children. HUH. that's a bit of depth to him. though I like how he's not just some violent, sadistic kook like Sun Emperor for example

Mekt and Meta have an interesting (working?) relationship. I like how smart they are playing it.

Mr. Chimes? now I'm interested, what does he do?

more kids though at least Mekt (and maybe Meta?) will be looking out for them. I like the depth you are giving even to some of the villains, Harbi! great job!

Hey IB, thanks for the kind feedback, always appreciated.

Yeah, I always wondered why we didn't see more Coluan strategists or the like in Canon, surely they would be in high demand?

Poltergeist may not have been in full control of himself when he blew up, though I may go back and edit in a bit more so that's clearer for the reader. Still, he is a hormonal 17 year old so the occasional blow up quoting salacious rumours as fact when stressed and embarrassed is par for the course.

And Mekt doesn't strike me as a child killer, more opportunist that will kill if anyone gets in his way. And that is his nephew so perhaps there's a little bit of humanity in there in the right circumstances. Things will definitely get going soon for him and hopefully you'll like what's in store.

Mr Chimes was used on Lallor, he's a mystic illusion caster, you'll get to know him better very soon.

More next week as Imra returns and the team get into action.

Thanks again,

C

oh yes don't worry, Poltergeist's age makes his reaction more than realistic. goodness, I was also like that when i was 17!


so looking forward to more, and thanks for the insight into Mekt!

Hey Harbi, some thoughts I scrawled down while reading, my reactions ended up being quite long:

- creepy Mysa is very fun to write, I liked her appearing in Tinya's mirror...I also really dig Tinya's response to it; it amuses me that someone who can routinely travel between dimensions can still be freaked out by someone just being in her face without warning.
- I also really liked Tinya having the humility to hand the egg over to someone who knows more about it than her, and Cece's magical knowledge - it is a good way to show she's more than just a big hitter
- Ayla and D'Nadka bonding over family stuff was nice to see and very much in Ayla's wheelhouse
- I like that Kent wasn't jealous or weird about someone being attracted to Jan; I would like to think that a thousand years from now we should generally be a bit less possessive about relationships
- Garridan's been kidnapped!! I hope someone's not trying to turn him into Validus again, but I'm happy it gets us Garth and Imra back in the thick of things again!
- I love Imra and Garth's scene back at the base, it really shows how much trust and respect there is in their relationship <3
- Nel and Bina's date was so cute!
- the Grava and Drinchnar section got me in my feels...I think "wouldn't have been able to tell you what prompted the sudden rush of emotion" is probably a very familar thing to anyone who's had that level of depression before, and Grava is one of my favourites obviously so I'm glad that Drinchnar is trying to understand it even when it's something he doesn't necessarily understand from first-hand experience (and when he's specifically been taught not to indulge in that kind of "emotional indulgence")
- the scene with Rokk and Garth made me love the three founders' relationship even more; I feel like Garth's transition from hothead to family man is something we never really see in comics, even if a lot of t happened off the printed page. I don't know if there's any other superhero team in comics that owes so much to fandom as the Legion does
- a man made of iron, eh??? Curious!!
- oof, I don't at all blame Imra for promising the Legion's help but I know that ain't gonna go well....though I must say that feels like it would be a desperate gamble for anyone else, but when Imra says it I think it's just because she has faith in the Legion to deal with whatever gets thrown at them.
- the interlude with Nura was cute - leave it to Dreamy to understand the immportance of having a beautician on call ^_^
- I thought it was a weird time for Jan to be bringing up Poltergeist's feelings for him, but seeing that someone was impacting Poltergeist's emotions it's not that much of a leap to assume they'd be doing the same with Jan.
- Dragonmage's nervousness with the dragon egg is fun, and I think very in character going by SW6 Dragonmage
- I actually love that Mekt is uncomfortable with holding Garridan captive...it sort of leans into his 5YL characterisation as someone who cares about his family and is redeeemable despite everything he's done....I am also enjoying the coworker relationship you're building between him and Esper Lass.

Excited to see what comes next!

Hope world:

Sister Eclipse - of Rhoohanisett iii - durability, heightened senses, physical possession of any living being
Interns:
Orion -Science Police Cadet Tw'gg of H'lven - tracking skills, agility, enhanced senses and awareness of flaws or weaknesses
Tesseract - Sar Jerash Mor Toark of Mars - access to intra-dimensional space


Sister Eclipse had been setting up a chapel on Hope World.

This had been a large room she had taken charge of when she had first come aboard the planetoid. Since then, she had made a lot of changes to the once former rather uninspiring and blank former storage space. The walls had been painted an off white and hanging mobiles of triangular stained-glass had been placed in the corners that threw beams of colourful light around the upper walls. Underneath them, in the corners on the floor stood tall soft leafed plants that wafted a scent similar to fresh pine into the air. In the middle were several dozen plain wooden pews set around the central dais that, overall, helped make the ambience feel very relaxed.

The interns had begun to walk past, unaware of what was happening in this space. Sister Eclipse was out of sight in a corner checking one of the plants as they strolled in to investigate.

"Good afternoon. Welcome to Hope World chapel, where those that want to find peace with their higher beings can come." The Legionnaire said, giving both of them a surprise. She smiled warmly and invited them to join her at the benches nearest the dais.

"Sister, I have no understanding of these deities you wish to appease..." Tesseract said, looking around at the stark beauty of the large room.

"I have no desire to appease any deities," again, the reptilian Legionnaire smiled, "...but we should prepare to give support to those that may want to have space to manage their own faiths. From my own experience I've found that those in the direst of situations often wish to call out to their native belief systems."

"You've been involved in this sort of thing before?" Orion leant forward, his paws rubbing together as he asked.

"Before I was a Legionnaire, yes. I was of the Sisterhood of Ensuing Enlightenment. They teach that the One Who Comes Next wishes for us to support those less fortunate. I spent several cycles out in the Rim giving aid to many sapiens in desperate need. I imagine that once Hope World leaves its dock, we will have a similar mission as the Sisterhood..."

"Without all the pointless preaching, hopefully... anyway, time I did some work." Tesseract said as she stood up and started to leave.

"Hey, that wasn't called for!" Orion said as his fellow intern left the chapel. "I'm so sorry Sister, she's... she's got no filter sometimes."

"That's alright," Sister Eclipse replied, "I'm sure she will learn that actions are what matters when we are out there; individual beliefs are of little importance when there are sapiens to help. Still, I believe she will more than prove her worth. We should have faith in our teammates, don't you think? Even those we don't necessarily always agree with."

"Sister, I really hope you're right."

First Base:

Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics

As he held onto the egg it shuddered and cracked until a small pale blue snout peeked through the damaged shell and gave a surprisingly loud snort for air.

<You should assist your young Szenlong> The Eternal Jade Dragon whispered into Xao's mind. The young mystic took a deep breath to calm his nerves before carefully peeling the shell away from the nose of the hatching dragon. There was a mewling sound that echoed in the lift shaft as the young dragon nudged at the shell that Xao so carefully peeled away.

Xao understood that the Szenlong were the keepers of the weather; mighty dragons that his ancestors had justly revered as they would bring smooth seas and fair winds to sailors that offered prayers but could easily become storm bringers to those that offended them. They could be capricious if they were not given the respect that they deserved as spirit dragons, but were ferociously loyal to those that treated them well.

And in the grav-lift a new life arrived on the Legion's First Base.

At first the head popped out, with whiskers matted against its thin muzzle, and carefully it uncoiled itself as the egg shell crumbled in the young mage's hands.

The dragon was thinner than Xao's wrist but easily a meter long, with scales that shimmered from palest blue on its face though to glossy deep indigo at its tail and a long soft frill than ran from the back of its head along the length of its sinuous body. It had five claws on each foot that Xao found to be surprisingly sharp as it clung onto him and shook itself for several seconds before taking to the air to float around the young sorcerer.

Its dark intelligent eyes held a question that Xao immediately understood.

"We thank you oh lord of the weather for appearing to us and humbly ask your assistance in finding our comrade's child that has been rudely taken." Xao said rather quickly, his excitement and nerves were bubbling close to the surface.

The young dragon snorted and flew in circles around Xao. Its whiskers, as long as Xao's hands, twitched as it tasted the air around it. As if from out of nowhere it started to lightly rain in the grav-lift shaft and as Xao laughed the dragon spun faster around him. The air felt warm and tasted of new life...

The rain started to sparkle, shimmering with an azure hue, and in an instant Xao and the dragon were gone!

Second Base:


Kid Pulsar - Neel Koduah of Earth - incredible strength, invulnerability, projection of explosive blasts
Thirteen - Dann Hortra of Naltor - line of sight probability manipulation
Glorith of Zerox - manipulation of magical energies
Henry - Anti Lad - Spatial warp controller


Kid Pulsar and Thirteen had become close friends since the rescue mission on Talok viii.

Although on the surface neither appeared to have much in common with the other they had quickly found that they had a very similar sense of humour, competitive nature and open-minded approach to their time as Legionnaires. Currently the two young men were on monitor duty and enjoying a game of chess. Neel had an old-fashioned wooden board and set of hand-carved pieces that his grandfather had given him almost fifteen years before as a fifth birthday present - it was the young Legionnaires' most prized possession. His grandfather had been in the running to be the Terran Chess Champion when he was younger and insisted that all his grandchildren should learn how to play.

Dann had never played the game before Neel introduced it to him. After some initial confusion the Naltoran proved to be a quick study and was fast becoming an equal to Neel after only a week of playing. He did admit to Neel that he had been researching it in his downtime, which made kid Pulsar feel a little better when he started losing games.

They had taken to call the pieces after teammates - the Knights were Monica Sade and Atom Girl as they tended to pop up in unexpected places, Bishops were Lightning Lass and Lightning Lad for their long-range attacking skills, the Rooks were Lexikon and Backlash as both were pretty direct with their attacks, The Queen was of course Phantom Girl while the King was Tyroc. Dann had made a joke that the pawns were the Science Police, though neither had taken to call those pieces that. The naming of the pieces had led to some confusion when Timber Wolf had been passing a booth in Shakes the other evening just as Dann had shouted out that Ayla and Sade had just trapped Tinya... after explaining it to Brin, who had a surprisingly good grasp on the game, the two young men had been more discrete after that.

And currently, while on monitor duty they had been playing a first-to-ten tournament of speed chess where they only each had five minutes to check-mate their opponent, though whoever ran out of time first would automatically lose. Currently, Kid Pulsar was winning six games to three, though it looked like he was away to be beaten as Thirteen had manoeuvred his queen into a tricky position.

Glorith had just called for a warp to First Base, and before leaving alerted the monitor board that she wanted to meet up with Xao on First Base so would be off-duty for the next few hours. Neel happily swiped at her icon on the board to mark it as off-duty when he noticed Xao's was showing he had just left First Base.

"Wait Glorith, looks like he's not there now. Do you want a warp to wherever he is?"

"Thank you, yes, that would be most kind."

Henry's holo form appeared before Thirteen and Kid Pulsar. "I am unable to open a warp to that location due to mystical interference. I advise you to contact the senior team as a matter of some
urgency."

The young men's chess tournament was forgotten after that, though later on Kid Pulsar was quietly happy when he noticed that he had won as Thirteen's time had run out.

Raz, hi, thanks for your review.

The founders are iconic in my mind so when they get together there shouldn't be anything that could stop them, so look out Shadowmancer as they aredefinitely going to face it soon. Totally agree on Imra's motivation and might get into that in the story in a bit. The Comets are becoming favourites of mine so I keep having really sweet ideas for little stories for them but haven't had room yet for them. Also, you're right about Jan's mood being altered, and again that willl be covered soon and will lead to a story about him and Kent going on a bit of a side mission.

More next week as we find out where Xao has been taken and he gets a well overdue spotlight, and the team goes onto on high alert!

C

SIster Eclipse is such a dear. And "no filter" describes Tesseract perfectly...

What a vivid description of the dragon being born! and indeed, you describe it just like the ancient Chinese stories do! well done!

Bonding over chess, the piece nicknames are hilarious. Brin having a grasp of the game was interesting. I like Kid Pulsar's competitiveness and Dann being a quick study.

looking forward to seeing where this goes!

I liked Sister Eclipse's mature reaction to Tesseract's thoughtlessness...and I loved that whole scene with the dragon hatching! I think you captured really perfectly what a special moment it was, I love the description of Xao's joy when it started raining in the lift!

The chess scene was a nice bit of characterisation too...I like the way you write Brin as not being the moron he was in the Baxter days, I always think of him as being not particularly academically gifted or emotionally intelligent, but he's far from stupid. I doubt he would have survived as long as he has if he was actually unintelligent.

I am looking forward to seeing where Xao's ended up and whether the team are gonna be able to help him in time!

Unkown location:
Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics

And in a blink Xao found himself on top of a cage, suspended by a rusting chain from the ceiling of a dark cavern.

The Szenlong continued to float above him, mewling happily. Xao clung tightly onto the cage and used his flight ring to help him hover while he took in his surroundings. He instantly realised he was somewhere potentially dangerous and unsupported by his teammates so with a thought the young mystic activated the distorter on his belt onto its stealth mode - hopefully, in the darkness here he wouldn't be spotted before he had the opportunity to do ...well, anything.

His head started to feel a little bit fuzzy and his eyes went out of focus for a few seconds. He wasn't sure if it was the teleportation that made him feel weak, but as he thought this the small dragon nudged at his fingers forcing him to let go of the cage and as he did his thoughts started to come back into focus. The small blue dragon swam happily in the air around the Legionnaire as he took stock of the situation he was in. Something about the cage had affected him! He glanced down and, in the cage below him, was an unconscious young boy: Garridan Ranzz!

Dragonmage took a deep breath. He knew he needed to be careful so quickly glanced around, just to make sure he really was alone. If he was then he might be able to get Garridan free and the Szenlong could take them back to the team.

There was a little bit of noise below; some movement perhaps, but try as he might Xao was relieved that he couldn't see anyone. Across from him Xao counted fifty six cages, all hanging from the ceiling like meat being hung to cure. Almost all of them had someone inside, and if the cages all made the captives weak anything like he had felt just by hanging onto one then there was little chance of them escaping from their captivity. Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered tales of an evil shade that practised the dark arts who had strung their prisoners up like this... the Shadowmancer! The stealer of life-force and power that many in the magical community believed was merely a myth created to scare children with. The Legion had dealt with that monster a little over a year ago and it appeared it had returned.

Even as he had this thought a voice rose from the cavern below: "We are no longer alone. I can feel another magic user above us. Find it and put it in one of my cages."

Several other voices started asking questions and there was a sudden flurry of movement on the ground twenty metres below. One voice was particularly alarming.

"If it's a Legionnaire I want to kill them!" A womans voice boomed.

"You may claim it as a kill if you want Titania, there will no doubt be others arriving soon that will sate my hunger." The first voice responded.

And with that, Xao knew the chance of his plan to make a quick escape back to First Base with Garridan had gone from fairly unlikely to virtually impossible to happen in an instant.

Dr Shoodixi Singh - Science Police Medical Officer - bio-empathic
Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare - Impulse ? Chief Medical Officer and Support Team manager - enhanced strength, speed, durability, stamina
Element Lad - Senior Team member, Jan Arrah of Trom - elemental transmutation


Second Base:

Dr Singh looked at the injured Legionnaire's readout and sighed.

Jan Arrah had received serious burns, two broken ribs and a mild concussion while on his latest mission to stop rioting on Rimbor.

It was clear that he had been blasted in the back, which Dr Singh found particularly deplorable. The young doctor had the psychic skill of knowing where physical pain was emanating from within a patient so he quickly set the auto-docs to repair the damaged areas. These though were the least of his worries. The ECG scan results revealed that the Legionnaires limbic system and in particular the amygdala showed signs of being very recently tampered with as well; obviously his attackers had struck both physically and psychically at the Trommite. Given the Legionnaires medical history, in particular the manipulation he had undergone when Psyche from the Dark Circle controlled dimension had damaged his mind, Dr Singh called for assistance.

Kent Shakespeare walked through a warp only minutes later, looking for all the world as if he didn't have a care in the world. His eyes showed something entirely different when he saw Element Lad in the medi-bay.

?You know you shouldn?t be here Kent. You shouldn?t be treating a loved one, conflict of interest...?

?Oh, please...? the muscular doctor said dismissively as he walked over to talk to Element Lad.

"Seems I got hoodwinked again... started talking to Jaun about, well, inappropriate matters for a battle field. He must've been manipulated too as he gave a fair mouthful in return. Do you know if he's okay?"

"Getting checked out now on First Base, I believe." Dr Singh said, "I'll leave you two too it but will be back in five minutes, just need to discharge Sade ...before she shoots someone." The doctor muttered that last part but both Jan and Kent heard and smiled.

"So... the readout says you'll be fine to discharge in two hours for all physical damage but... ah, given the team's recent history and yours in particular there's a flag raised because of the psychic manipulation. Perhaps a session with Dr Falkner or Dr Kabbo...?"

Jan stayed silent after Kent had finished, his expression showed he did not entirely agree.

"Actually... I've been thinking, perhaps I need something else."

"Ah, despite what all those dreadful soaps you watch show, the medi-bay really isn't a place to fool around..." Kent looked at Jan and could feel the blush rise, Jan's expression made it clear that wasn't what the Legionnaire meant.

"No, I never thought it would be." Jan had a slight smile as he spoke, enjoying Kent's embarrassment. He let the silence hang until the doctor spoke.

"Yeah, so what are you suggesting?"

"I'm out of balance Kent and feel I need something that standard medicine can't give me. It's time I went to talk to the Magus."

Unkown location:

Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics


In the dark cavern Xao floated above cage that held the sleeping Garridan Ranzz.

"Can you take us back to where we came from Szenlong?" He whispered to the small blue dragon as it danced around him, "Please, we need to take this boy back to his parents. Please..." The young mystic realised he sounded like a child, but was desperate to save the boy in the cage below him as he pleaded. The thin dragon mewled softly as it spun in the air around the Legionnaire, Xao knew it was telling him that the magical energy required would be quite great and it was not certain if it had enough. Xao gave a nervous smile and was just away to offer his support when a mental blast stabbed into the young mystics' head almost knocking him unconscious. He instinctively clung onto the chain that suspended Garridan's cage and moaned in pain.

The Szenlong flew close by and circled him several times before landing in his hair and wrapping itself around his head. It hissed its disapproval as the pain subsided...

"We need to go now, they know where we are!" Xao stated, his eyes were wide with fear. Again, the small dragon hissed and he understood perfectly; it was not yet strong enough to protect him from the psychic attack and also fold space back to where they had come from. Xao Jin knew that while he was relatively secure up here, hidden by his distorter in the darkness of the ceiling of this massive cave he would not be for long as the villains below would be coming for him. He took a deep breath and started to prepare a summoning spell. The villains would not find him an easy mark.

Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw some movement, and across from him, clinging to the wall were two werewolves! Their malevolent gaze swung around the tops of the cages, eager to find their prey. He could hear the claws of more of their ilk as they scurried up the cavern walls around him. The mystic assassin called the War-Wolf was well known as a ruthless hunter that was wanted for his appalling crimes on every world within the magical community. His murderous exploits had made him a figure of almost legendary status. His creation of these lupine terrors had brought so much misery to so many people and mystic beings over the last couple of decades...

The was no escaping it now, Xao Jin - the Legionnaire called Dragonmage - knew he would need to fight his way out of this situation if he wanted to survive.

And as he had this thought it occurred to Xao that the War-Wolf wasn't the only one able to create magical constructs. Xao closed his eyes and released his spell...

A dozen emerald dragons erupted out from his slim frame and tore through the air towards the werewolves climbing up the walls. The Legionnaire's dragons tore at the Lupine forms, ripping great lumps of bleeding flesh from them though when the werewolves struck back their claws passed harmlessly through the emerald attackers. In seconds the werewolves were on the cave floor and Xao's dragon constructs were causing having amongst those beneath him. He could hear shouts and saw blast of energy erupt against walls and the floor - probably as they had passed through his dragons.

Dragonmage's eyes were closed as he focused all of his magical will and strength into the constructs that were below so did not see the smoky figure as it materialised on top of a cage on the opposite side of the cavern from him.

The Shadowmancer's personal assassin, the mystical ninja called Miasma had arrived to find and stop him.

Hey Raz and IB, thanks again for your kind reviews.

Way I see Brin is he's not stupid just not educated, so while there may not be many nuances to his outlook but he's fairly solid. And if memory serves me well (no guarantees!) didn't he play Gim at Chess and kick the board over as he was losing while on a cruiser, just before a Khund warlord attacked them many, many moons ago?

Anyway, here are some more installments and next up we get some action but things aren't always what they seem!

Thanks again guys,

C

More nice bits, Harbi!

Loved Jan and Kent flirting, it is so realistic - those two are such cuties. I'm glad poor Jaun was exonerated, in the sense that he was manipulated; poor guy, if he had not been, I think his Legion career would have had quite a setback. Hopefully Tyroc learns of it so he won't judge the poor guy too harshly.

Jan seeking balance, is something everyone could learn from

yikes, way to up the ante with Dragonmage!

And indeed, Brin is not stupid. Don't particularly recall the chess scene, but I can imagine it!

Looking forward to more, more, more!

I don't really remember that chess scene either, but like IB said I can find it very easy to imagine lol

Dragonmage without backup is interesting to see! Even though his powers are flashy he's generally so introverted he doesn't get a lot of spotlight so I am enjoying this!

I also really like Jan's last line about needing something more than traditional medicine, that seems very in character for him.

The chess scene (which I may have invented) was around the Dave Cockrum era, I think, and Gim and Brin were playing Star Trek 3D chess. As I remember it (or perhaps invented) Brin, Gim and Shady were in a cruiser but got shot down by a Khund and crash landed on an asteroid. The explosion at the end read "Holy Cow! Dig the Fireworks" or something like that.

I really hope I am not imagining it

I hope you're not as well because it sounds great

Unknown location:

Dragonmage - Xao Jin of Earth - dragon magics


Xao never saw the attacker coming towards him as the assassin sprang on light feet from hanging cage to cage towards him.

Miasma was virtually invisible in the gloom but not to the senses of the small blue spirit-dragon that was currently wrapped around the Legionnaires head.

The Szenlong unraveled itself and tore towards the assassin, the dragon's sinuous body as straight as an arrow as it flew. The assassin held onto a sword, ready to swipe but never got the chance as in an instant the air in front of Szenlong became full of cloud and rain and wind, momentarily blinding the smoky assassin. Miasma swiped his sword down in an arc that would have sliced the small dragon in two had it remained flying on the course he had last seen it on. Instead, as his sword clanged against the cage under his feet the small blue dragon appeared from above and dived into the assassins' smoky form.

Miasma could discorporate into a gaseous state but against a reincarnated spirit dragon that controlled the air and the wind this proved no defence as the scrawny assassin was literally blown apart in every direction. The Szenlong hovered where Miasma had been, making satisfied mewling sounds before circling the cages where it had encountered the villain, sniffing at the air for any clues to its whereabouts. The dragon understood that the assassin had been taken care of for now, but not permanently.

Unfortunately, as the small dragon had been protecting the Legionnaire from the psychic assault of Esper Lass, Xao shouted out in pain as the villain's attack broke through his mental shields without the dragon to support them and tore into his mind. The magical emerald dragon constructs that he had created and sent into the cavern below vanished as his concentration broke. Victory howls from werewolves echoed off the walls below the Legionnaire as the dragon-forms they had been struggling with simply disappeared.

Without thinking, Xao gripped onto the bars of Garridan's cage to keep his balance as the psychic attack bit into his thoughts and as he did the foul magic of the cages started to erode at his senses and everything began to blur...

Below the cages, Grachdashg and Narankachg, the twin Khunds both looked up at the dark ceiling above.

With their cybernetic enhancements they could easily see the lone Legionnaire though neither made a move to capture him. They knew that if a Legionnaire could find them then their time here was coming to an end. Their lives had taught them when it was time to cut and run...

Twins were virtually unheard of within the Khundian Empire. Not only was the rate of naturally occurring conception of twins about one in every three million births, but it was something that was seen as a sign of immense bad luck within the Empire. The Twin Gods F'ratshatchakk and K'karaschakk, Lords of Blood Letting and Combat with Blades, were renowned as being jealous gods that did not wish to share this status with mortals. As a result, twin births, if they were to happen within the Empire, usually resulted in the murder of the children and parents and severe reparation paid to the city state where they were born from the extended family as punishment for offending the divine twin gods.

Understandably, there were very, very few twins born within the Khund Empire.

When their mother found she was carrying the two children within her she did not resort to the removal of one of the foetus' as would be expected, instead she fled to a world on the fringe of the Empire and Dominion space where it was said the few Khunds that had already settled there did not follow the old ways. Trechna was not regarded as a particularly safe world under the best of circumstances, and that was especially true for a single woman and her newborn children. As far as their mother was concerned though it was as near to safety as she could afford and at least both of her children would have a chance to survive.

Even out on the edge of so-called civilisation the twin Khunds were shunned. As a result, the two boys grew up with strong anti-social tendencies and a reputation of being savage fighters. At nine years old they were sold to a Baron, under some duress it must be said, to become members of his staff. They did not last long in the kitchens where they were initially placed, but the Chief of Security who captained the Baron's private army saw something in them and took them in. In the next five years the two young Khunds earned a fierce reputation.

As they approached their fifteenth year, the Khund Emperor decided that the rebellious little world on the edge of his Empire needed reminding that it was a vassal state and so sent one of his most feared Warlords to deal with it.

Warlord Dauuchara was renowned for his intelligence as well as owning a successful stable of warriors that fought in the Challenge Courts. His troops captured the twins and the Warlord saw an opportunity that he did not want to squander. The two teenage boys would be killed as soon as they were returned to the Empire so before they returned, he planned on using them as Guinea pigs for prototype cyborg technology he was working on for his current batch of Champions. The boys spent six agonising days under the scalpel of one of the Empire's most eminent surgeons, losing their limbs, part of their brains, spines and eyes as cybernetics were crudely fitted onto them. These were not the full powered additional implants that the Warlord wanted his fighters to use, he was not stupid enough to fully empower his captives, but it was still enough that they made their escape as it turned out that the invisibility circuitry worked better than expected.

Grashashk and Narankacht were not stupid either so they stole the plans for the fully enhanced cybernetics before blowing up the laboratory and a full third of the battle cruiser they had been held captive upon. Warlord Dauuchara only lasted a further twelve days in position after this until he was found hanging in his apartment.

The twins escaped and in the decade that followed they had the full spectrum of enhancements made to the specifications they had stolen and became highly sought-after mercenaries. They operated on the fringes of the United Planets mainly and for over three decades they had been amassing a decent bank balance and reputation until they had taken a job on Ventura protecting a paranoid Lord and went on the run after he threatened to share the technology that had created them. While trying to get the data the Lord had taken off them from a bank vault they had been caught by the Legion. It was the first time they had been caught since the Khund Warlord.

The year or so they had spent on Takron-Galtos had not been pleasant but at least they were treated with some respect from their fellow inmates. And, when Miasma had broken them out from the shuttle craft, they had happily joined the other escaping villains to this place where the Shadowmancer lurked.

Like most Khunds, they had an inherent distrust of magic so found working for the Shadowmancer to be at best uncomfortable. While the dark sorcerer had promised them whatever they desired it had not yet delivered and the twin Khunds were beginning to wonder if it ever would... certainly, when it had helped the War-Wolf, the Shadowmancer had benefited more from that as it had kept the mystical spear that the wolf mage craved for itself, and Lightning Lord was clearly unimpressed that they had taken his nephew and put the young boy into one of the dark mages feeding cages. It appeared that the promises that the one who had freed them from Takron-Galtos made came at a steep price.

And here they were, in the cavern where it appeared that a Legionnaire was above them in the shadows, hidden by several dozen enchanted cages full of captives that the twins had helped to bring here. They exchanged a glance and they both knew they understood the other perfectly. The unreliable promise that maybe, eventually they would get to fulfil their dreams was not enough to keep them here if the Legion were about to attack. They had enough squirreled away in various vaults and banks, and were owed more than enough favours from a wide selection of people in positions of some authority to help them that they didn't need to rely on the words of a dark magic-user to get where they wanted to be. They had helped it capture many of the captives in the cages above so felt that they had repaid any debt they owed it for breaking them out.

Given that several of the Shadowmancers team where away catching more unique beings for their master, if the Legion were to arrive in force the situation would be unlikely to go the twins way. So, at the first hint of an opportunity, the twin Khund cyborgs would be getting as far away from here as they could; they would never allow themselves to be taken as prisoners again.

First Base:, Senior Team briefing room:

Phantom Girl - Team Leader, Tinya Wazzo of Bgtzl Dimension - intangibility
Thunder - Deputy Leader, Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth, immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom
Chameleon Boy - Espionage Squad leader, Reep Daggle of Durla - shape changer
Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation
Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg - creation of multiple identical duplicates
Mon El - Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability

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)
Strobe - Denal Lort of Dryad - assume electro-magnetic energy form (Chameleon Boy)

From Home Base:
Cosmic Boy - Rokk Krinn of Braal - manipulation of magnetic fields

Retired:
Saturn Girl - Imra Ardeen of Titan - Alpha level telepathy
Lightning Lad - Garth Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation


Thunder and Mon El stood before the warp as it spun open, ready to face whatever was coming through.

It was clearly a Gil'Dishpan creation as it took several seconds to materialise fully, unlike Henry's instantaneous warps. Saturn Girl walked through with a small tight smile on her face. Her expression didn't give much away, which was a concern for Tinya and Rokk as they knew their friend well enough to know there had been something that happened to trouble her.

Behind her, the student pH Zero floated into the meeting room, slowly uncurling from the ball it had scrunched into as a sign of submission before the rulers of the Gil'dishpan Expanse. Behind the student floated two other Gil'Dishpan, both slightly smaller than the student though with red markings across their bodies.

"See you brought company back with you Imra." Rokk said with obvious relief.

"Yes, though you need to know what I've agreed to to gt them here..." Imra started to reply.

"It'll be alright, we'll get to it later. We're just relieved you're back with us." Tinya said as she phased through Mon El to give her friend a hug.

Imra explained to the gathered senior team that the warpsmiths would alert them to any warp their clansman working for the Shadowmancer opened up and they would open corresponding warps of their own at the co-ordinates, so the team would be able to hopefully capture the mystic shade and his new Devil's Dozen in one swoop.

While the others discussed who should be on their next mission Rokk contacted Garth to let him know Imra had returned. Garth thanked Rokk before giving a knowing smile and saying he was on his way up there at that moment, stating that Gear had volunteered to nanny the children. Rokk realised that Imra must have telepathically told Garth she had returned as she walked through the warp onto First Base.

Thunder, Phantom Girl and Mon El were discussing the teams they would need as a holo of Thirteen from the Second Base Monitor Board interrupted them.

"Tinya... everyone, Xao has vanished from the grav-lift and Henry says he can't open a warp to where he is as it's being blocked by magic. Here are the co-ordinates..." The holo of the Naltoran flicked his hand and the senior team members flight rings breeped as they received the data.

<Can you create warps to these co-ordinates?> Saturn Girl asked the two Gil'Disgpan.

<Unlikely it is, though try we will. No Z-lemma Matrix co-ordinates given>

"Hold on Imra," Tinya said, clearly reading the body language between the telepath and the warpsmiths, "We need to get a team ready before we leave as the Shadowmancer is powerful and he's not alone."

"Neither is she..." Garth Ranzz said as he strode into the meeting room. There was a tightness to his expression that warned Tinya that the former Legion founder meant business, and whoever got in his way would regret it.

"Thunder," Phantom Girl said to her deputy, "What's the estimate on how long until teams are ready to go?"

"I'm in the process of getting teams together and ready in Henry's warp control room on both First and Second Base. Two or three minutes and we'll be ready."

"Excellent! Right, everyone..." Tinya announced through the comms system for all Legionnaires to hear: "We have a bunch of heavyweight nasties who escaped T-G to deal with and if that's not enough the Shadowmancer is involved too. If it's anything like the last time we faced him there's going to be innocents to protect and rescue as well. I'm sending through the information on the escaped villains and the Shadowmancer so take the time to go through it please. As soon as we know where we're going, we'll be going in hard and I expect you to be ready."

Between Imra's telepathy and the student pH Zero's comprehending the spatial co-ordinates as understood to human perceptions they had managed to clarify to the two Gil'Dishpan exactly where they wanted to go to.

While Saturn Girl and the student communicated with the Warpsmiths, Tinya, Cece and Lar had quickly discussed their plan on how they would tackle the escaped villains and the Shadowmancer - each team member would be given their jobs to do, and the team leaders knew they would be needed to release any captives they discovered as well... none of the senior team thought this would be an easy win. After they had finished their conversation, Thunder had quickly gone to Henry's warp room to ensure her team would be ready and Mon El had warped across to Second Base with Duplicate Girl to prepare the team he had chosen - none of whom were unique beings which, the team leaders hoped, would ensure the Shadowmancer couldn't feed on them. Lu was to stay behind on the base, as the team were worried that her unique abilities would prove a massive boon to the Shadowmancer if she was captured, and though she agreed she was not happy with this decision.

Tinya remained with the founders, Ayla and Reep. She also called for Southern Lights, now stationed on Hope World, to join them; she knew that having a mystic on their team would be a definite advantage. While she had been doing that, Ayla and Reep called for the new Legionnaires that they mentored, requesting they join them in the Senior team briefing room. They would be joining Tinya's team when the time came. Rokk and Garth studied the hard light screen in front of them as it showed all the information that the team had gathered about the Shadowmancer after their last encounter. It was not comfortable reading.

"He's a nasty piece this one, isn't he Garth." Rokk muttered to his old friend.

"Yup, though really he's no nastier than Mordru or a dozen others we took down... and he's got my son, so we don't have much of a choice Rokk; we're taking him in along with the rest of the cronies he's got around him, and Mekt... Mekt needs serious help, I can't allow him to run around like this."

"You and Ayla aren't responsible for his instability. I know you know this..."

"Yeah, still, it's really embarrassing watching him cause all this trouble, especially when we should be able to do something about it." Both men had been studying the screen before them, not looking at each other as they spoke. The depth of understanding between them meant they didn't have to say much to know exactly how he other felt.

Henry had warped Southern Lights over to First Base. The winged mystic bowed his head respectfully to Tinya as he stepped through the spinning disc - which drew a side glance and smile from Imra, before plucking hairs from his head. He asked the team leader to hold out her hand and he quickly tied a hair around her right index finger while muttering an enchantment to give her some protection from any magical attack. This was a spell that Glorith had taught him so he was eager to put it to use.

Chameleon Boy stepped up, shook the young mystics hand and asked if he too could be given this magical protection before they went into the shadowmancers lair. Reep knew that Imra and Garth and perhaps even Rokk probably had no idea what Southern Lights was doing so to save any embarrassment Reep had stepped forward and made it clear what the winged mystic was doing.

<Legionnaires!> Imra's voice seemed to echo uncomfortably through the telepathic matrix. Unknown to everyone else, immediately after this message was sent Tinya used a private bandwidth to tell her friend that she shouldn't use her natural telepathy along with the flight ring TP field as it caused that weird echo. The two women shared a glance and Imra gave a nod and grateful smile towards the team leader as she continued - using the flight ring generated telepathic matrix only.

<The Warpsmith's are confident that they now understand and can use the co-ordinates we gave them. I hope you're all ready as we will be leaving momentarily>

very much looking forward to what happens next!

love t he backstories you give to even the villains - the Khund twins, for example.

Nice bit with Imra and the echo in the flight ring matrix. shows that the Legion has grown and evolved with time.

You're not imagining it. The chess game is in Superboy and the LSH 217, Charge of the Doomed Legionnaires. It's Mike Grell art that ends with an explosion from a Legion Cruiser spelling out "Holy cow! Dig the fireworks!"

Brin kicks over the chessboard, but he's playing against Superboy. You can see the panel here: https://comicsarcheology.com/index.php/2021/07/17/superboy-217/ (the exploding Legion Cruiser panel also is uploaded to this page).

nice, thanks for the link, reckless!

Reckless, hi, many thanks for that link it's greatly appreciated. I'm glad my memory wasn't failing too badly Comics archeology is a great resource too so thanks for introducing me to it.

I really liked the aside with the Khund twins, that is some nice world-building stuff as well as characterisation!

I am really looking forward to seeing Garth and Imra in action with the rest of the team too! Garth and Rokk's chat was really well done, I like how Rokk knows that Garth and Ayla don't need to be told they're not responsible for Mekt but he's also known them long enough to know how Garth feels. That really showed how close the founders are.

There were a couple little scenes which highlighted how different the team has become since Garth and Imra stopped being an active part of it...the telepathic echo with Imra and Southern Lights using Glorith's spell - I like that it wasn't anything really dramatic but it does subtly show that as legendary as Garth and Imra might be they are actually a bit out of the loop when it comes to the current Legion. Hopefully that won't bite them at a bad time!

Looking forward to seeing what happens next!!

First Base:

Phantom Girl - Team Leader, Tinya Wazzo of Bgtzl Dimension - intangibility
Chameleon Boy - Espionage Squad leader, Reep Daggle of Durla - shape changer
Lightning Lass - Senior Team member, Ayla Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation
Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user

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)
Strobe - Denal Lort of Dryad - assume electro-magnetic energy form (Chameleon Boy)

Cosmic Boy - Founder and Headmaster at Home Base Academy, Rokk Krinn of Braal - manipulation of magnetic fields
Saturn Girl - Founder and former member, Imra Ardeen of Titan, alpha-level telepathy
Lightning Lad - Founder and former member, Garth Ranzz of Winath - electrical generation and manipulation


As the warp spun into existence Ayla and Tinya took point.

Close behind, Reep, Rokk, Garth and Imra jumped after them. The three newest Legionnaires followed. They all knew that they had ten or twelve seconds until the next Gil'Dishpan warp would open carrying Thunder and the rest of the team from First Base through so they intended to use this time to disrupt what the Shadowmancer and his team of villains were up to.

Ahead of them was a dark cavern, with a high ceiling that had cages hanging from it - they had expected this after the last time the Legion had encountered the Shadowmancer. It is the ironic law of the universe that sudden heroic appearances often lead to their own defeat, and this was certainly true in this case as the warp that the Gil'Dishpan had opened up had taken the Legionnaires into the centre of the Shadowmancer's cavern. Directly behind where the warp opened up, and so out of sight for the Legionnaires were the mystics called the War-Wolf and Mr Chimes.

As Mr Chimes worked on a spell that would confuse the Legionnaires the War-Wolf released half a dozen of his lycanthrope avatars.

Imra resisted the temptation to focus entirely on Garridan, as they expected he was in one of the cages above, instead she sent out a wide ranging telepathic scan to locate any living beings close by. Too late, she recognised one of the minds present as belonging to Meta Ulnoor, the psychic villain called Esper Lass! Imra felt stupid momentarily as Tinya had shared information on the meta-villains that had escaped from Takron-Galtos, and so she should have been prepared as Meta was an accomplished telepath with an Alpha rating in Pushing - the psychic skill of forcing ones own thoughts onto another mind. Before Imra could fully erect a mental shield the psychic villain struck with a savage attack, tearing into Imra's mind like a tiger.

Garth and Ayla had both taken to the air to throw lightning bolts towards the three beings before them - Esper Lass was the only one they recognised from their run-ins with her before, though the Shadowmancer was recognisable from the description from the hard light files they had read before leaving on this mission. The other was a being in a dark hooded cloak wearing a large mask that appeared to give it a hooked beak that stuck out almost two feet from their face. The Shadowmancer had used the Spear of Light, stolen from the Monastery that had guarded this sacred artifact for a millennia, to create a barrier in front of the Legionnaires which deflected their electric blasts.

The air around the Legionnaires seemed to pulse before everything went dark for a long second. When light returned they found themselves in a very different place - their teammates were gone and everywhere they looked there were snarling werewolves! Garth and Ayla started to blast at the wolves as they pounced. As the werewolves appeared to attack out of nowhere Tinya dived into the floor - she had estimated where their opponents were standing and she planned on giving them a surprise!

Chameleon Boy had changed into a three-headed Gurdanuon Rhino and charged at the lycanthropes before him but they spun out of his way. At his side had been Solar Gorilla but she had vanished though he could still feel the heat she generated. Having worked alongside Princess Projectra for many years Reep was certain that the attacking pack were not what they seemed...

<It's a trick, we're facing illusions. Garth and Ayla, can you keep blasting where you saw the Shadowmancer? Ignore the werewolves they're not there> The Durlan sent across the telepathic matrix.

<You sure bud?> Garth responded.

<Oh shut up and do it already Garth> Ayla replied, her message thick with sibling teasing.

Unfortunately, amongst the illusionary wolves there were some that the War-Wolf had created, and as the Legionnaires ignored what their senses told them was happening around them the creatures crept closer getting ready to pounce.

Southern Lights had taken to the air alongside Cosmic Boy - they role on their mission was to release the prisoners while their teammates distracted and hopefully overcame their opponents.

The winged mystic from Starhaven had prepared a chant that would ease the nausea of those they released as well as a defensive spell in case they were attacked while they did their job here. The magnetic hero from Braal was focused on snapping the chains and lowering the cages to the ground. He was quite sure that the team below would keep the Shadowmancer and his gang of thugs busy. They were getting close to the cages when Mr Chimes' illusion spell reached them - the air darkened and then all hell broke loose!

Around the two swarmed flying horrors that dived and charged at them.

Southern Lights was momentarily affected but his years of studying the Higher Pathways of the Spirit Guides gave him an immunity of sorts to falsehood, however it manifested itself, and so could see through the illusion. He quickly flew to Cosmic Boy's side and used the telepathic matrix to reassure the Braalian that this attack was not what it seemed.

<You sure? Okay... can you guide me to the chains so I can snap them and lower them to the ground> The Braalian hero flinched several times as they approached the nearest chain, obviously reacting to whatever image had been implanted onto his senses. Southern Lights gently took Rokk's arm and placed his hand on the chain.

As Cosmic Boy reached out with his magnokinesis to snap the chain they heard a hiss approaching them. In the darkness above the cages something moved towards them... Southern Lights prepared the phrase needed to activate his defensive spell as Cosmic Boy focused on lowering the cage he had just released from the ceiling down to the ground. From out of the corner of his eye Southern Lights saw a sudden movement but he was not fast enough to speak the charm before something struck him, sending him spinning. As the winged mystic regained control and flew up to help Cosmic Boy who was suddenly without a guide to get him through the illusions he heard a familiar voice shout across the top of the cages:

"Szenlong! Stop, they're our friends."

Chameleon Boy had given Strobe the task of getting behind the villains and reporting what he found.

Reep had made it very clear to Denal that he was not to engage unless absolutely necessary - his role was purely reconnaissance. The team needed the information he could get and that would help them win the day. So, in the same second that they stepped through the warp the young man from Dryad assumed the form of microwave radiation and flew across the cavern. His senses were stunned by the Shadowmancer - where Denal would usually have an awareness of mass and the vibrations that denoted texture and colour, where the Shadowmancer stood was a void, an absolute absence of anything at all!

Even deep space wasn't that empty to his altered senses... The young man from the long dead world was shaken. To add to the confusion the spear in the dark mage's hand appeared to be the opposite - it shone with a density of energy that Strobe had only seen before in Q-Drive engines on space faring crafts. Whatever the spear was it was obviously immensely powerful!

And as he watched the spear seemed to pulse and the air around them became something like a solid. His senses informed him of a weave of energy that descended upon them though he had difficulty focusing on exactly what it was. Strobe realised that the Shadowmancer must be using the spear to cast some sort of spell as magic played havoc with his senses when he was in energy form. Knowing that he should report back to Chameleon Boy, Denal tried to fly back to his teammates but the mystic barrier that the dark mage had erected to protect itself from Ayla and Garth's lightning attacks repelled him. The young man in the microwave energy form bounced between opposite sides of the shield until he realised that he couldn't really move away from this immediate area.

<Reep, I'm stuck inside the Shadowmancer's shield... what do you want me to do?> The message echoed in his mind. Denal was fairly certain that meant the message was bouncing off the dark mage's shields.

If he had been in his corporeal form Strobe would have taken a deep breath to calm his nerves... As far as he could see, he was trapped inside a magical dome with one of the deadliest mystics known to the Legion.

Try as he might, at that moment, the young man from Dryad realised they had only been here for seconds and he couldn't remember what his training had taught him. He was so used to the freedom that his abilities gave him that the sudden entrapment badly shook his confidence and he was desperately doing everything he could think off to stop from outright panicking!

As he looked about he saw Phantom Girl phase through the floor, and despite this Denal felt too scared to move as she tackled the villains below.

Phantom Girl slowly phased the top of her head through the floor.

She could see she was only a feet away from the person in the dark cloak with the beaked mask, and ten feet away from Esper Lass. Thankfully neither noticed her as she surreptitiously spied on them. Esper Lass was one of the few villains that could negatively affect Tinya in her phantom form so the team leader knew she needed to be dealt with quickly and firmly. The other person could be dealt with after Meta Ulnoor was safely cuffed...

Tinya slipped back into the ground beneath the villains and estimated where Esper Lass was standing. Tinya flew up out of the ground. She couldn't have picked a better spot as she phased through the psychic villain, snapping her concentration. As Tinya held cuffs in both hands she swiped them towards Esper Lass, catching the psychic as she fell backwards. And before she could hit the ground Phantom Girl turned on the hooded being that stood close by. As she flew towards him she felt dizzy and her vision started to fade.

"Bgztl Flu can be deadly to your kind Tinya Wazzo." A man's voice spoke out from behind the mask, before he started to laugh. The Legion leader was unable from stopping herself from throwing up as she tried to stand up from her knees. Tears were streaming from her eyes as she struggled, her muscles suddenly weak.

"They call me the Plague Doctor miss Wazzo, and I've been so looking forward to meeting you and your team." He reached out to touch her face and as he did Tinya caught a glance of his alabaster white skin between his black gloves and sleeve. She knew that this had given her some clue about him but at that moment her attention was fully on violently vomiting.

"I'm going to enjoy spending time with you." The Plague Doctor said happily as he stroked her hair.

"Enough!" The Shadowmancer said, its voice echoed around the hall as it stood up from its throne.

Ooh nice battle Harbi, the best kind - everyone had a role to play based on their unique talents and abilities, some good fight scenes, and upped the ante. really excited to see more.

And a Somahturan villain, about time!

I'm with IB, this is great so far! I like how Cham was smart enough to figure out there was an illusion but the bad guys in turn were smart enough not to rely on the illusion completely! Also enjoyed Cos flinching; I figure it's like getting a jump scare watching a movie, even though you know it's fake you still instinctively respond like it was a real threat.

Strobe having a bit of a freak out makes sense as well, as I imagine he would probably have come across very little if anything that could affect him in energy form before!

Plague masks are creepy/awesome as hell, and putting a Somahturian in one is such a brilliant idea! I'm jealous I never thought of it first!

I gotta say, Southern Lights grows on me more every time you use him....I really appreciate the effort you have made to have his sorcery feel distinct and not at all generic

Thanks guys, appreciate your kind words.

Yeah, we're well overdue a Somahturian bad guy, so thought it was about time I added one.

Raz, I have some plans for Strobe, bless him for all his power he hasn't had enough on the field experience yet to feel confident against something like the Shadowmancer. And I've sort of kind of worked out the differences in the magical abilities of the various mystics on the team, and will be introducing something else that's entirely new in the next arc when the team go after Sa Lok and the Dominion.

Thanks again, more next week as Thunders team arrive, the twin Khunds make their move and things get chaotic.

Even before the Legionnaires stepped through their warp, Grachdashg and Narankachg, the twin Khund cyborgs had activated their invisibility and were making their move.

With the announcement that a Legionnaire was above on the cages then the appearance of those dragons that chased the War-Wolf's lycanthropes around the cavern it was obvious that they would soon have to deal with a single damned hero! The twins were motivated by money, pure and simple, not revenge or psychopathic impulses like the majority of their team appeared to be. And if there was no chance at securing a decent payout then they didn't want to be a part of this. knew it was time to make a hasty exit.

Shwarashawak, the Dishpan that had been transporting them on missions for the Shadowmancer, was at the other side of the hall, floating beside the dark mage. Without a word the two cyborgs were making their way towards the warpsmith. They would try to persuade it to open a warp to somewhere that the twins knew the lay of the land by saying they were on an urgent mission for their dark master. If that didn't work, they had enough weaponry amongst their cybernetics that they could persuade it in other ways, of that they were certain.

The Legion's warp opened in the middle of the cavern and chaos erupted around the twins.

Electricity arced through the cavern and fiery blasts of plasma followed throwing the whole room into stroboscopic relief.

The twins ran as fast as they could towards the warpsmith. They had just made it to the side of the Gil'Dishpan when the Shadowmancer threw a magical barrier between the Legionnaires and itself.

First Base:

Thunder - Deputy Leader, Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth, immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom
MWindaji - Gahaji of Kiringyaga - super tracker, carries the Ruby of Life allowing tactile transformative magic
Kid Quantum - Jazmin Cullen of Xanthu - creation of temporal quantum bubbles, flight
Polar Girl - Mel Lassar of Tharr - cryokinesis
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations

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)

Support staff:
Henry - Anti Lad - Spatial warp controller


Henry gave a knowing smile.

The holo-man of the 75th century was renowned for being inscrutable, and over the last year and a half there had been calls questioning his loyalty to the team but Tinya had very firmly put an end to those conversations. And still, when he smiled and there was someone present to wonder what he found amusing it often led to rumours and speculation... currently, the holo-avatar stood in both First and Second Bases alongside the teams that Mon El and Thunder had called together. Henry didn't inform the teams present that the Legion's agreement with the Gil'Dishpan Warpsmiths would lead to an increased understanding of the strange technology that these unique methane breathing aliens used over the next century and would ultimately lead to the creation of the warp technology he used.

And Henry certainly didn't mention that he could easily have opened his own warps into the Shadowmancer's lair - history had to be followed after all, even if it did inconvenience the team from time to time. There would be ten or twelve seconds between the warps as the Gil'Dishpan used their abilities to fold space... more than enough time for history to be writ.

Henry's small smile did not go unnoticed.

Triple Nova had heard stories about the holo-man even before joining the Academy on Home Base, and like many of the team he was intrigued. Rumour had it that Henry was here to help lead the fight in some temporal war that the Senior Team knew was coming and that's why they had been building up a bigger team in the last year and a half... Whatever the truth was, Elthur would be telling the other newly promoted teammates when they got together about the expression on the spatial warp controllers face, as any news about Henry, no matter how slight or tenuous, was always a great conversation piece.

"Ethur, you're up front with me." Thunder said to the young man from Carggg, breaking his reverie. The Gil'Dishpan warp began to open up before them, taking a few seconds to completely form.

It felt as if they were being squeezed through the hole in space/time, Triple Nova thought - not nearly as comfortable as Henry's instantaneous transportation's.

As they stepped out they found themselves in a massive poorly lit cavern...

Thunder tore through the warp ahead of the team and immediately saw that the group that had preceded them were not managing the situation well. Lightning Lass and Lightning Lad were blasting almost randomly in front of them roughly towards where there was a magical barrier - she assumed the Shadowmancer was behind it. Meanwhile, Chameleon Boy was struggling against several werewolves and Solar Gorilla was firing off bursts of energy in every direction. Most worrying of all, Saturn Girl appeared to be semi-conscious on the floor amongst them. Around the group were a dozen or so werewolves that were being held at bay by the ambient electricity and heat though the team seemed oblivious to the threat they possessed.

From Thunder's side Triple Nova unleashed a volley of laser vision blasts at the far walls.

<Elthur! What are you doing?>

<The Wolves! There are so many of them...>

<No, it's an illusion. I'll deal with it, stop blasting and save your energy> and with that Thunder was gone in a blur.

In the next few seconds, as her teammates made their way through the warp, Cece blurred as she flew around grabbing the werewolves she could see and aggressively threw them towards the far wall where they crashed into a heap.