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>