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

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...