Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business The Long Way Home (FanFic) Updated 10/29/05

Now I'm clueless to the Whys and Wherefores but am totally hooked on your characters. Another great installment ANK, thanks!

Thanks Sonnie.

The 'whys' and 'wherefores' are coming soon, there's only been hints so far. Keep reading.

Oh, do me a favor (if you would) and tell Bel... umm... I mean Harbinger that she just might show up in the next installment... That'll teach the little tease...

Aboard the SP Cruiser “G’nortt”

“Belinda, Umm… I mean… Lt. H’Bin’gr, I don’t understand why I was brought along on this mission.”

Seated at his communications console, Ron-Karr nervously made some last minute adjustments before settling his cyber-helmet into place. As the main com-spec assigned to the mission he would be wearing the helmet the entire time they were deployed, best to have everything set up properly before launch. After launch – no matter how irritating an improperly set up helmet became – he could not remove it. There was no provision for an alternate communications link and even a few seconds out of the net could be disastrous.

“I mean, we’ve got Saturn Girl and Gear aboard. Both of them have alternate communications methods. Why do you need an Alpha Communications Specialist on top of that? And why me? I’m just a rookie, and the lowest rated ACS in the battalion.”

Mission Commander H’Bin’gr slid her lean frame into the command chair and began her own preparations for launch, fastening the restraints around her legs and torso. Sprocking things aren’t designed for female commanders, she thought as she loosened the particularly uncomfortable torso harness slightly. She squirmed and made small adjustments until she was satisfied that she was properly restrained, Old G’Nortt was an in system fighter capable of incredible acceleration and maneuverability. But the command deck wasn’t inertia dampened. If they got into a fight she and her ACS would feel every Delta-Vee change; unlike the passengers in the aft compartment. The ship could go through the wildest set of combat gyrations her nasty little combat computer of a mind could dream up and they wouldn't feel a thing.

“Hummph,” She might pay for loosening the torso straps later, but she wasn’t about to ride all the way to Neptune being pinched there. Finally she set her command helmet in place, and keyed the private channel to her crew.

“All stations report when ready for launch.”

On her heads up display each of the seven crew icons flashed green, without a word being said she knew her ship’s status. They were probably waiting on me, she smiled to herself.

“Chief Zendak reports that the VIP’s are on board and settled into the lounge.” Ron-Karr’s voice interrupted her checklist. “Five legionnaires and two U.P. Diplomats, along with the Chief, the passenger manifest has been filed.”

“Tell the Chief that our revised ETA is five hours, thirteen minutes from Now.”

As she spoke she glanced at the command interface icon and she and the ship became one. Instantly her field of vision expanded to 360 degrees external to the ship as the ship’s external sensors replaced her normal human senses. It was an incredibly exhilarating feeling almost as if she were ‘one with the universe.’ Now, she could feel the fabric of space/time surrounding the ship. Instinctively she grabbed on to a fold and launched herself into the void.

The acceleration pressed both of them deeply into their consoles. Ron-Karr was caught in mid breath when it hit, and for a few seconds he wondered if he would ever breathe again, if the sudden weight would ever lift off of his chest. He had trained extensively in simulators but the pilots in those simulations had never hurled themselves into a launch like this.

Then as just quickly as they had accelerated the ship settled to cruising speed. The world lurched around him as the weight on his body eased and he began to breathe again.

Zendak’s voice jumped into his ear. “Tell Lt. H’Bin’gr she’s loosing her touch, I didn’t feel anything at launch.”

Her musical laughter filled the command deck; telling Ron that she was monitoring all channels as she flew.

He cleared his throat and shook his head to settle himself after that wild launch. “Umm… Lt. isn’t normal transit time to Neptune fifteen hours?”

“That’s why I’m flying this buggy, Rook, Normal for me is three times faster than it is for anyone else. We need to be out there yesterday, so I’m the girl for this job.”

“Oh… By the way you’re here because every rookie has to break his cherry sometime.”

Her laughter was infectious and despite his initial embarrassment it drew him into the joke.

Very impressed with your skill ANK, and chuffed to bits (like the proverbial man who fell under a train) by my inclusion!!Wow! Thanks, you're right about the lean frame (ha) but I do quite enjoy being pinched there.

Very good, keep it coming for us please!

Thanks 'Binger, even though I had to go buy a Scots/American English Dictionary (and they are hard to find let me tell ya) to find out if "Chuffed to Bits" was a good thing or not. And I really don't believe you would enjoy it all the way to Neptune. Although I have been wrong before...

Unfortunately, Ron-Karr and Lt. H'Bin'gr have some tuff times ahead. Keep reading.

And!!! Don't you keep the rest of us waiting for more, either.

where's Ronn gone ANK?

He'll be back tomorrow, Sonnie, just need to get a little more re-writing done.

cannae wait!

Neptune Orbit - +10 Deg. Rt Ascension

“Captain, The fleet has shifted its course and formation to cut off our departure route. We can’t reach the null gravity point before they complete their maneuver.”

Dean’s voice sounded harsh in her ears. She understood that his disagreement with her decision to leave before establishing full contact with the Neptune Colonies. Maybe he is right, she thought, maybe we should…

Her thought was cut off by a new report.

“Captain four small craft have disengaged from the Earth Flagship and are approaching on an attack vector. Commander Greene requests permission to engage Defender’s weapons systems.”
An attack doesn’t make sense, she thought turning to the tactical screen. We are within range of the fleet’s heavy weapons, why would they deploy fighters?

“Request denied. Give me a full scan of the incoming small craft. Are they fighters or transports?”

“Too small for transports, but other than that they don’t match anything I’ve ever seen… energy readings on two of them are off the scale, but it appears to be solar energy, they read out as miniature suns, the other two have very low emissions, mostly bio-electrical… all four are…”

She saw the readings as they came up on the screen, just as Dean did, their reactions were identical.

“That’s not possible… They can’t be alive…”


Aboard the SP Cruiser “G’nortt”

“Lt. we have incoming traffic from the Navy Fleet. I’m duplicating the message in real time to Chief Zendak and the Legion Contingent. New orders, they want us there now, maximum overdrive is authorized.”

Ron-Karr turned to look at Lt. H’Bin’gr as he spoke, waiting for the remark that the confusion in his voice was sure to bring. Surprisingly she didn’t seem to have heard him and was staring out the small view-port at something he couldn’t see. Before he could repeat the message, Chief Zendak’s voice interrupted.

“Lt. H’Bin’gr, the passengers are secure, time for you to show off.”

Ron suddenly realized that there was a reason he was on this mission. Maximum overdrive – used inside the gravity fields of a solar system – was a killer. The acceleration was more than the inertial dampening fields of the G’Nortt could handle, the passengers would be OK, provided they were strapped down properly, and when he become two dimensional he had length and width, but almost no mass, so the acceleration would have very little effect on him. But what about Lt. H’Bin’gr?

As he watched a grim smile appeared on her face and she activated the manual steering system. Small bursts of white light began to play over her body. She’s a meta, he thought in amazement.
The universe seemed to blink and suddenly they were elsewhere, but before he could grasp the new concepts of this altered space, they were somewhere else again.

Com traffic assaulted him. Suddenly they were in the midst of the fleet laser com grid.

Instinctively he let his training take over. He glanced at the correct icons and G’Nortt was integrated into the net. He heard Chief Zendak’s voice but couldn’t grasp the words. Without a conscious thought he shifted the Chief to the Admirals secure channel, and placed the G’Nortt under the command of the Flagship’s controllers. Piloting and positioning of the small transport within the navy’s formation would now be handled by the Space Traffic Controllers aboard the Bruce Wayne.

An after image of a Negative universe, brilliantly white space punctuated by the equally blinding effects of a million black stars danced in his vision. He shifted his equipment to remote operation mode, and allowed his mass to return.

The Lt. was slumped in her chair pale white and shivering, hands still clenching the steering yoke.

“Lt. … Belinda?” He started moving toward her but she waved him back to his station.

“I’m fine Rookie, in fact I'm ticketieboo! I just never AMPED a ship this big before. Wheew…”

“Huh? What does ticketstoboobs mean, and AMPED?”

She giggled at his broken pronunciation of the first word. “Ticketieboo,” she said it slowly, “It means wonderful in an old Earth dialect called Scots, and AMPING is what I do. It means increasing the capabilities of something, anything mechanical. I can make any ship I fly into the fastest thing in space.”

Aboard the Neptune Rising

Gathered around the airlock stood Captain Tamara Frake, Commander Greene, Lt. Cmdr Dean Karr, and the Podarian, all watching curiously as the chamber filled with atmosphere, anxious to see for themselves the four beings within, people who could survive in space unaided.

Inside the airlock Lar Gand signaled his distant cousin Laurel and the two Starhavenites, Greybird and Dawnstar, to stay back and allow him to make first contact. He had no doubt of any of their abilities, in particular the older Starhavenite, Greybird. The man seemed to be very level headed and scholarly, if a slight bit pompous. But he knew Laurel’s temper, and the younger Starhavenite, Dawnstar, had the look of a hunter, almost feral at times. He wanted to ensure that the meeting started out well.

“Wait.” Greybird’s hand gripped his shoulder just as he started to reach for the airlock door. “More of your Legionnaires have arrived in the area. I sense the presence of two beings who can bend space-time to their will. Perhaps you should contact them.”

Lar held his face neutral by sheer force of will. He was astonished by the bold statement the man had just made. He knew of the legendary tracking prowess of the Starhavenites, but to detect the presence of two unknown individuals among the multitude of beings occupying nearby space…

“Imra, are you in range,” he sent a thought.

“Just arrived, M’onel,” her reply was instantaneous. “I’ll Keep in the background and ride along, if you don’t mind.”

“Did you catch Greybird’s comment? Who is he talking about?”

“I’m not sure, but it might be our two Science Police pilots, they pulled a very impressive stunt to get us here this fast, worry about it later, Lar.”

He looked back at Greybird. “They’re monitoring our progress,” he stated.

The older man seemed satisfied by that response so Lar again reached for the airlock inner door.

Inside the ship, the Podarian’s eyes flashed a bright yellow. “There is a very high level telepath operating nearby. I detected an extremely well focused and shielded telepathic transmission.”

“There’s also another ship that just appeared on the scanners. It’s positioned directly between us and the closest null gravity point. Very small and not well armored, but the energy levels it’s putting out are impressive. Maybe these people are powerful enough to stand up to the Council.”

As Tamara’s eyes moved from the Podarian to Dean, who was now intently studying the small remote readout screen he held in his hand, she began, for the first time in many years, to hope.

The airlock began to cycle.

And you said I wasa tease!!! Where's the rest of it Chuck?

Later, tonight, the fun will start with the arrival of the Council.

Am waiting....<drums fingers>

whenever you're ready Chuck

Someone interupted my chain of thought earlier today. but I'll get it back sometime.

Legion World 24 Hours Later

“Brainiac, have you found Anything? Anything at all?”

Jazmin’s question sounded harsh, even to her, but looking down into the docking bay at the wrecked ships and visiting the med-lab had put her in a harsh mood. The debacle at the Neptune Colonies yesterday was total. Everything that could go wrong did, and worse they still didn’t know the identity of the fleet that had attacked them.

That fleet had dropped out of Hyper-Space firing everything they had at the returning explorers. No warning, just a sudden eruption and attack.

Thankfully M’onel and Andromeda were on the scene along with the two Starhavenites, Greybird and Dawnstar, Greybird sensed the Hyper-Spatial disruption seconds before the fleet emerged and gave Lar and Laurel enough warning to get them out into open space before the attack. Between the two of them they drove the attackers back into Hyper-Space but not before five of the six returning ships were destroyed and everyone aboard them killed.

On their side the casualties were much lighter; three ships damaged including the G'Nortt, over two hundred injured, but only four deaths – Science Police Lt. H’Bin’gr, SP Officer Ron-Karr, Starhaven Diplomatic Special Envoy Greybird, and Starhaven Special Forces Operative Dawnstar – if they were dead, officially they were listed as Missing.

Funny, she thought, I didn’t even know that Starhaven had any military forces. The idea of a Starhaven Military operation just didn’t fit with what she knew of their society, but with what had happened during the past few years…

“Jazmin, two of the patients are awake.” Lyle’s voice was almost overcome by Dr, Gym’ll’s protests. “Not ready to be Interrogated, not strong en…”

Jazmin cut off the communicator and sped towards sickbay. Realizing as she did so that Brainiac 5 had never even acknowledged her question or gave her any form of an answer. She tapped her comm. Unit to the private frequency she and her deputy, Triad, shared.

“Lu, I need some answers from Brainiac 5 about that ‘Crystalline Man.’ Please go to his lab, and see if you can shake any form of an answer out of him.”

“Oh, I think he’ll answer,” came the reply, immediately followed by a second voice exactly matching the first, “Or else.”

Well, Purple’s in a mood, Jazmin thought as she entered the med-lab, not that I’m in a much better one.

Lyle Norg met her at the door and directed her to a darkened alcove. Inside sat a middle aged woman, wearing an antiquated UESF Uniform. She wore her hair down over the right side of her face and seemed to be consciously keeping the right half of her body as deep in the shadows as possible. She glanced at Lyle, but he only muttered a quick, “you’ll understand in a minute.”


Somewhere in Hyper-Space

Ambassador Greybird placed his hands on the walls of the crystalline tube that confined him and shoved with every ounce of his strength. He could feel a slight give in the walls and his hyper-sensitive hearing could detect a faint cracking. On his tenth try he was finally achieving some results, but he was still recovering from the effects of the shockwave that had rendered him unconscious during the battle. He was far weaker than he cared to admit, but at least he was conscious. His fellow captives, his sister Dawnstar and two Science Police Officers were all still unconscious, slumped in the bottom of similar tubes.

When he could no longer maintain the pressure against the walls of the tube he allowed his muscles to slowly relax, feeling and listening for the results of his latest effort. The faint cracking noise rewarded him. Soon, he thought, very soon, as he slid down into the lotus position and began to gather his strength for another try.


Legion World

“Why didn’t you let us leave? Why? We would have been able to draw them away. They wouldn’t have found your system.”

The woman looked bleakly into Jazmin’s face as she spoke. Her voice was low and halting, she seemed ready to burst into tears. She gave Jazmin the distinct impression that she was tired of being hunted but relieved that once again, she had escaped without being caught.

“How did they find us? How do they always find us? How many died this time? How many died?”

Jazmin had entered the room ready to tear into the woman, ready to demand hard answers, but as she watched her crumble into a sobbing heap on the medi-bench she found that she couldn’t even bring herself to speak. The Captain’s insignia on her collar told Jazmin that this had once been a strong, proud person. What could have brought her to this? This woman and her people had been through something horrible. She appeared broken, a shattered shell of a woman.

A slight rustling noise announced Sensor’s arrival. Jazmin turned to the mutated snake-woman and nodded.

“How much have you heard?”

“Enough to know that she needs rest.” Sensor moved her head to indicate two people on the other side of the room, “Cham and Lyle have completed downloading her ships records… You need to see them Jazmin… To see what they went through…”

Jazmin simply nodded at Sensor in reply to her comments, she was disturbed by the solemn tone of her friend’s voice and didn’t want to show the emotions starting to build up within her.

Somewhere in Hyper-Space


Ambassador Greybird watched in amazement as his sister rose from her slumped position and with a single kick shattered the tube she was imprisoned in.

The guard, a member of a race that Greybird had never seen before, seemingly a feline centaur, moved quickly to recapture her but receiver a boot in the face for his trouble. He (or should I say it, Greybird wondered) went down in a crumpled heap from the force of that single blow.

Dawnstar flew to the guard station and deftly entered a series of commands into the computer station. The other three confinement tubes opened and without speaking Greybird moved to aid the Science Police Lieutenant while Dawnstar went to help the young officer. A quick examination revealed that neither was seriously injured. A few judicious slaps brought both around, and earned Greybird a return slap from H’Bin’gr.

Greybird looked around nervously, he knew they didn’t have much time.

Loving it ANK, you deliver perfect 'bitesized' segments! Nice to see Dawny back in action too!

The returned slap sounds right too!

I'm enjoying this immensely ANK, love how you're slowly moving away from established Legion history - with both Lyle Norg and Grey Bird being active participants in this story.

I liked KQ and Triad Purple's anger though my favourite line is Dawnstar having "the look of a hunter, almost feral" - it's so spot on! I am there.....

Very good matey, can't wait for more!

K

This is just a cheap plot device to bump the story up.

Cheap is the word Chuckles.

Yeah, now that "I'm" in the thick of the well-turned action, and I've caught up on some of my Bits-section reading, I wanna see them thay-yar prisoners KICK MORE ASS!

("A bit pompous"? he asked himself. It's become only a "bit"? Well, that's progress, then ... {g})

Legion World

“Will you please listen to reason for once,” Brainiac 5 spoke slowly, “I can’t give her answers that I don’t have.”

The conversation occupied only one track of his mind, another track entered observations into his Omnicom as he slowly circled the “Crystalline Man” and a third…

“What are you my friend? You are alive; that much is obvious… but you are a form of life that the greatest minds on Colu would have said was impossible before today.” The words were not spoken, but projected into a hastily modified Sleepnet receiver.

Luornu Durgo (AKA Triad) hastily pulled herself together, literally. The three separate bodies merged into one being. “This is not the time for one of Purple’s tantrums” she muttered as she walked over to the main computer station of the lab and began to look over Brainiac 5’s notes.

“Have you figured out a way to communicate with him yet?”

“No, But…”

“You have. I was unable to respond earlier due to the proximity of the Council’s Fleet. They have moved far enough away now.”


Somewhere in Hyper-Space


“Grey, there is a security force approaching,”

Dawnstar’s words were soft and urgent.

Greybird turned away from the cable junction where he was using his Omnicom in an attempt to access whatever information he could find in their captor’s ship-wide computer system. The programming machine code it used was a form of binary, so his Omnicom would eventually decipher the upper level operating language, if it was given enough time. That didn’t appear to be likely.

“Let me…”

Lt. H’Bin’gr’s arm draped itself over his shoulder as she reached across him to make contact with his Omnicom. He felt a slight jolt as she AMPED the device. She smiled and gave him a wink as two lights flashed green, indicating the retrieval was complete.

Her eyes sparkled as she murmured “You just have to know how to stroke things.”

The girl’s ability to make an innuendo out of absolutely anything left him speechless. Despite the difficulties they had encountered in the past hour, she acted like they were on a class outing. He almost chuckled before Dawnstar’s glare brought him back to reality.

“Will you two please stop clowning?”

Ron-Karr slid into their hiding place in a cramped service tunnel under a hatch and rejoined them. His ability to become two dimensional had saved them all twice already as he found ways around the increasing numbers of security forces searching the ship for them. Even vacuum tight doors and hatches seemed to pose only a minimum difficulty for the young man.

“Six T’Jar, the crocodile/gorillas, checking each service hatch as they go through each area, we either have to move deeper into the service tunnels, or make a break for the lifeboats real soon.”

Dawnstar, utilizing her special forces training, had taken the lead from the moment they (mostly she) had freed themselves. Now she turned to look at Greybird.

“Mr. Ambassador, is there any chance we can reason with them?”

Greybird began rapidly scrolling through the newly acquired information in his Omnicom. A few seconds worth of reading gave him the answer.

“No, according to their basic philosophy, we are only worthwhile to keep alive for two purposes, the first being slave labor.”

“OK, that’s out of the question, what’s the other reason?” Lt. H’Bin’gr spoke before Dawnstar could.

“Fresh Food”

............more?

when? soon? please!

totally enjoying this Chuck, another great installment!

Legion World

“You have. I was unable to respond earlier due to the proximity of the Council’s Fleet. They have moved far enough away now.”

The “crystalline man’s” response came just as Jazmin entered the room, flanking her were Ultra Boy and M’onel, all three walked directly to the dais on which he stood. Jazmin motioned for Brainiac 5 and Triad to join them as she coldly stared directly into the creature’s eyes.

“We just witnessed something very odd in the Medi-lab. It seems that Captain Frake was tortured extensively during her stay on a planet called Antillian. Most of one side of her face was destroyed. But the most interesting things we found were these.”

She held out three crystals.

“They were imbedded in her skull. They resonate on an almost untraceable frequency. The frequency causes her to enter an extreme state of manic depression when they are activated.”

She handed the crystals to Brainiac 5.

“Where did they come from?”

While it was obvious to Brainiac 5 that Jazmin’s question was directed to the ‘crystalline man”, he slipped the crystals into one of the analyzing trays of an Anthrospectrometer on the bench next to him, another tray in that same device held a small crystal flake that had chipped off the “crystalline man” during his transfer to the lab. He studied the reading on the machine for almost a full second before using his force field to make a minute adjustment on the circuitry in the base if the dais on which the “crystalline man” stood.

The yellowish glow in the “crystalline man’s” eyes brightened and expanded to cover its entire body. The outline of its shape within the glow softened and flowed eerily as the blocky and only roughly humanoid shape was quickly replaced by a sleeker more human appearance. The glow faded back to the eyes. The legionnaires watched the process in fascination, but only Jazmin seemed to notice that the form was still sexless.

“This galaxy is roughly 4 billion of your years old. My people were created in the cataclysmic explosion that gave birth to this galaxy. We were not born. We do not die. We are as we were at the beginning. We will endure as long as the galaxy itself endures. But we are not immutable. We grow and learn; our experiences change our perspective.”

Brainiac 5 gave a visible start at that statement. The idea of conversing with a being of such immense age instantly intrigued him.

“The Podarian race is the oldest and ablest in this galaxy. Millennia ago we chose to allow other races to develop individually, not to exert out influence on them. That choice was a mistake. Because we chose not to interfere, the Numedians were able to develop the telepathic abilities which allowed them to assimilate my people into their sphere of power.”

“Most of my siblings have been mentally coerced into allying themselves with the Council of Five Races. I am one of a very few who were able to resist the compulsion to join that alliance.”

“Now because we allowed the unfettered development of lesser races, my people have been duped and absorbed by those races. I will change that. I used Captain Frake and her crew to search the galaxy for a race of telepaths able to defeat the Numedians, the race which secretly controls the other Races in the Council. The inhabitants of the world you call Titan are that race.”

Aaaah now it makes sense.

Not!

Are the Council of five races the Dark Circle?

It is great stuff Chuck, again you have shown some nice touches of the character's personality - Brainys shone this time- and as ever you have an easy style to read.

Now where's the rest of the story?

Somewhere in Hyper-Space

“In Hyper-Space No one can hear you scream.” Lt. H’Bin’gr didn’t know why that phrase kept echoing through her thoughts but for the last few minutes it seemed to be the only thought she was capable of formulating.

She looked around the passageway in which they had just fought a bloody battle. The bodies, and body parts, of T’Jar warriors were strewn across the confined area. For some unknown reason the T’Jar who attacked them, as they abandoned the service tunnels in an attempt to reach the ship’s lifeboats and escape, were unarmed.

“If beings with 3 inch razor sharp claws on their hands and feet and spiky projections on the tips of their prehensile tails can be called unarmed,” she thought, as she used a strip torn from her uniform to bind a gash on Ron’s leg.

Next to her Dawnstar was binding Greybird’s wings. He had born the brunt of the first attack and his selfless action, allowed Dawnstar and Ron to decimate the attackers. The ferocity of Dawnstar’s actions hadn’t surprised H’Bin’gr, the Starhavenite special forces operative was a lethal infighter. But at least the bodies of the T’Jar she downed were intact, Ron…

Ron was just behind Greybird when they emerged from the cramped crawlway. Greybird was the first to be hit but he managed to extend his wings in an effort to block the attacking T’Jar from reaching his comrades. He was only partially successful. T’Jar claws raked his right wing and shredded a large section of it. He went down under the heavy body of the lead T’Jar warrior just as Ron emerged from the crawlway. Instantly Ron flattened his forearms and hands and waded into the attackers. The flattened portions of his arms sliced through anything they touched. Screams of pain and outrage erupted from the previously silent T’Jar. It quickly became a battle between their claws and Ron’s sword-like arms. He held them back long enough for the two women to clear the crawlway. They came out fighting.

Suddenly Dawnstar was among the T’Jar. There wasn’t enough room for her to fly but her hand to hand skills and speed far over matched her opponents. Twin blades flashed in her hands, and T’Jar went down in bleeding lumps. H’Bin’gr’ stood over the wounded Greybird and used her AMPED up sidearm to pick off any T’Jar that attempted to break free of the melee. Within seconds it was over.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t escaped without suffering some injuries themselves. Greybird wouldn’t fly again for months, if they managed to make good their escape. And Ron despite the bewildering speed with which he had constantly shifted various parts of his body from 3D to 2D and back had been almost hamstrung by a T’Jar claw.

“I didn’t know you could selectively flatten out parts of yourself like that Ron,” H’Bin’gr murmured as she tightened the bandage around his leg.

“I don’t use that trick, often,” He gritted, “When I flatten just a part of my body it has an odd effect, whichever part I flatten becomes razor-like. I can cut through almost anything.”

She nodded at Ron’s reply then looked over at Dawnstar. It was obvious that the two of them were going to have to move fast in order to get the injured men safely away.