Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Legion Worlds (fanfic - Finished 23 April)

Thanks again IB, loads more, more and more to come

Hope you are still enjoying this.

Great uses of powers by Quislet and Chemical Kid and Gear, giving each a moment to shine.

I like seeing less-used characters like these get some good screentime, and especially creative non-combat applications for their abilities!

I really like what you're doing with Chemical Kid, he is proving to be very effective! Plus I think you've got his 'kind of rattled at being out of his depth' personality down pat! I also like seeing GEAR do stuff...he always had a lot of potential but aside from that one time the Legion found Warworld, I can't think of any time that potential has ever really been utilised...

Nura was genuinely pleased to see Jacques as he stepped out of the small cruiser.

Glorith floated out after him, her facial markings were pulsing with spectral light that threw her face with moody shadows. The young sorceress nodded towards Dream Girl as she reached the landing platform though Nura could tell from her clenched jaw that Glorith’s mind was dealing with another far more serious matter than the basic polite manners she would normally exhibit. Mwindaji shook Invisible Kid’s hand and gave a mock salute to Glorith as she started to assume a lotus position, floating three feet from the deck.

Danielle Foccart popped her head out from the small cruiser that had taken her from the medical facility on Zardon and exclaimed with excitement when she saw Nura Nal. The young girl ran towards the legionnaire and hugged her in genuine happiness.

“Danielle, it’s so good to see you my dear.” Nura smiled broadly and held the girl gently. When Danielle’s neuropathic illness had been diagnosed on Earth and Brainiac 5 had offered to help he had sent Nura Nal to visit the family to establish whether or not they could practically assist her recovery. Danielle, a shy girl whose personality edged onto the autistic spectrum, had warmed surprisingly quickly to the Naltorian. Querl had arranged that Nura would be there throughout the treatment at all times to help reassure Danielle, and her family, that she was in safe hands. Nura had developed a deep fondness for Danielle over that period.

“They have made a mistake with it Nura, it’s telling me. Can you let me see what they built?”

Nura started to ask Danielle what she meant when the future once more visited visions upon her. Jacques Foccart put his arm around his fellow Legionnaire to stop her falling over. Danielle stepped back, eyes wide and hands over her mouth.

Meanwhile Mwindaji had approached Glorith and asked her if she needed any assistance. The young sorceress had not directly acknowledged the Academy student but gave a small smile and said “There is one who follows the path of the Great Binding Hand and another who once stepped through her planet’s fire to earn her honours. I need them here. My magicks won’t be sufficient.” She looked directly to Mwindaji as she finished and gave him a brief smile before closing her eyes and beginning to mutter an incantation. The tracker from Kiringvaga took a second to catch his breath before answering “.. .um... okaaay.”

Nura stood up, brusquely pulling away from Jacques support.

“Danielle, we need to get you upstairs now. Brainy and his little friend will need you. Jacques, trust me, you need to help Mwindaji get the Khund with blue hair and the UP girl who never smiles. You’ll know them when you see them. They need to help Glorith.”

“Nura? What are...”

“Jacques, we don’t have time to talk about this. Help Glorith. I’ll look after Danielle. You have my word. Please, mon ami.” Dream Girl smiled as she used Jacque’s usual colloquialism.

Lightning Lass and Dragonwing pursued a fleeing speeder.

Their flight rings had established their comrade’s position and they flew as fast as they could to find her. In the distance they could see the small craft descend into a high walled compound. Marya reached across and get Ayla’s attention.

“You know this is a trap don’t you?” Lightning Lass looked grim for a second before nodding.

“I’m just saying because Jath will kick my ass if we walk straight into it, you know.”

Ayla Ranzz had never been particularly close to Lydda Jath. They had never really socialised and Ayla had to admit she found the former Substitute Legionnaire to have a singular focus that could come across as sometimes a bit direct, verging on the obsessive. Still, she acknowledged, that didn’t mean the training Night Girl had given at the Academy was necessarily flawed.

Pointing downwards Ayla Ranzz started to descent towards the rough scrub land below. Marya Pai followed. It took them a couple of seconds to reach the ground and Ayla had a rough plan by then that she shared with the new recruit.

Harmonia had responded to Invisible Kid’s request.

The holo image of Jacques Foccart explained to the ancient elemental that he had urgent need of the Khundian Battle Brigade’s mystic, he even said it was a girl with blue hair. After he had ended the message Harmonia and Deathstorm shared a look before she called out to Pressure Point. The blue haired mystic looked up from her incantations wearily. Spyke and Chameleon Boy approached Harmonia to find out what was happening. The Battle Brigade’s co-leader looked disappointed that the Legion seemed to be coming up with action plans though nodded her assent when Pressure Point asked if she could be released to visit the UP craft.

“Maybe we should all go.” Chameleon Boy made the statement sound light but expected a refusal.

There was an awkward second before Spyke agreed. The large Khundish woman realised that any field command decisions would come from the Starfleet vessel. That simple choice ultimately saved all of their lives.

Dream Girl took Danielle’s hand as they approached Brainiac 5, the Dead Brain, Nimbus and the Psion advisor. The young girl didn’t seem to acknowledge any of them. She approached the large machine that they had created and started to stroke a large string of tubing as if soothing a nervous pet.

“Nura, why is Danielle here?” Querl had raised an eyebrow in surprise though his tone was even. The Dead Brain approached the girl though didn’t say anything. She turned and looked him up and down before smiling and returning to stroke the conduit tubing.

“I had another vision. Danielle will help you Querl, don’t ask me why but I know she will save us all.”

“That’s unexpected. Did you see anything else?” He could tell his Naltorian comrade was upset. Whatever her vision had shown her had upset her badly. She was fighting the tears that were pooling in her eyes.

“We have a minute or so before they arrive and we will have losses. I also saw Weber’s World Querl. Everyone’s dead, except for Tenzil. He was surrounded by piles of ash and he looked mad. Mad like when he ate the Miracle Machine.”

Ayla and Marya approached the compound cautiously.

As the seconds ticked slowly into minutes both women were beginning to feel anxious that they may have missedtheir chance to rescue Shadow Lass. An approaching low level skimmer gave them the ‘in’ they were looking for. Ayla shorted the small crafts electrics and they followed it as it crashed a couple of hundred metres from where they had hidden.

They overcame the driver easily and while Ayla quickly fixed the electrics Marya used the Distorter pad on her Legion belt buckle to scan the unconscious man and create a holo that mimicked him perfectly. She then dumped the driver into a nearby shallow gully and took his place at the controls. Ayla waved her goodbye and allowed the skimmer to take off and drift towards the compound where their flight rings had told them their comrade Tasmia Mallor had been taken.

The controls, thankfully, were UP standard and Marya Pai flew the skimmer in towards the compound easily. On the roof a landing zone had been set up and an automatic beacon took control when she was 50 metres away and guided her into a spot on the edge of the building.

She had approximately three minutes to get going before Ayla Ranzz would make herself known. Dragonwing leapt from the craft and as casually as she could strode across to a spiraling stairwell that led into the building below. The stone stairs led her to an empty corridor though she could hear talking from the far end. A quick glance the other way reassured her that no-one was coming and she walked towards the muffled voices.

“Yeah, we thought we saw you Gullganes and your dodgy skimmer!” A young Talokean stepped out towards her, obvious mirth in his voice. Marya smiled, a reaction echoed on the holo that surrounded her. The young man stepped aside, looking a little confused that his playful barb hadn’t gotten the reaction he expected and allowed Marya to step into the room where the voices had come from.

There is a distant galaxy from the Milky Way called 121333HDSFR. It is approximately nine billion light years from Earth and it has never been visited by any living being from the Terran system. This was the galaxy that the Llorn originated from. In what passed as a language amongst their race they called themselves simply The Hunters.

Were mankind to ever reach it they would be surprised to find a strip approximately 200 light years across and 90 light years deep that is totally bereft of any forms of life, even the most simple single cell creatures. It was almost 100 million years ago when the beings that would be called the Llorn left their home system. Over the next three million years they evolved into an almost entirely energy based race that still followed its primitive hunting urges and as a result effectively stripped half of their distant home galaxy of all life.

In this period of time they drew the attention of the Eternal Oans. After a battle that raged for over 1000 years the so called Guardians of the Galaxy used their god like abilities to encase the beings in a dampening field that drew their energy away and left the Llorn unable to commit the gross acts of mass genocide that they had perpetrated for so long. Ultimately, as the Oans hoped, the species fought so hard against the restraints that they wasted their energy leaving their physical aspects vulnerable to the effects of time and within a century they had all died out. Unfortunately, while the Oans believed this was a fact they were mistaken. The Llorn had developed a way of separating what could be called their souls and distilled their race’s essence into three entities and they sent these out towards distant galaxies.

They had reached the Milky Way many million years later. It was under the glare of stars in this new galaxy that they regained corporeal forms after discovering a young race who manipulated energy. The Llorn spirits possessed three of the race and set about wiping out every living being they could find. The rush of physically fulfilling their evolutionary urges set them back into space and they soon discovered the star Antares that had four planets with life.

The Protean’s homeworld was unlucky enough to attract the Llorn’s immediate attention. The beings from a far distant galaxy took pleasure in tipping the world’s axis creating geological disasters unprecedented in the small world’s history. They then set about eradicating all life, starting with the hugest creatures. The prey was too easy to catch, and they found it pathetic that there was no life that could give them the thrill they craved. They took several members of a small semi-telepathic protoplasmic race and twisted the creative enzymes within their cell structure allowing the creatures to alter their form. The Llorn released these changelings and waited a solar cycle to see if their new prey could develop the skills needed to give them the entertainment they needed. To encourage the race to develop they threw a few natural disasters their way. They melted the ice caps so the six inhabited all continents flooded then they spun the planet towards their home star creating climate change on a truly horrific scale.

The Llorn had started to hunt again when the Guardians of the Galaxy discovered them. This time the fight lasted under a minute as the mighty Oans opened a warp into a previously un accessible dimension that was bereft of life and threw the Llorn into it, closing the warp behind them so the hunters could never escape. They then righted the Protean’s planet path around Antares and vanished.

Until the Legionnaire known as Quislet had travelled between the dimension of the Teall to the reality that the Legion existed within the Llorn had been trapped. Unfortunately Quislet’s ship had left a small tear in its wake and through this they had a scent to follow. Quislet had been on Earth, battling the Legion of Super Villains with his comrades when the Llorn had caught up with him. They had pulled him into an adjacent dimension as they watched the reality that they had briefly started to hunt in. They soon established that their ancient enemies the Oans were no longer involved and set their sights on finding the centre of power for this galaxy and decimating it. They would show the Milky Way that The Hunters had returned.

Senator Kem knew none of this as he watched in silent horror as streaks of violet stretched out from the malignant creatures before him and turned any living being they encountered into falling ash.

IB, Razsolo and Set, thank you for your support, it is truly appreciated. Hopefully these two stories will be coming to an end quite soon and I'll be taking you off to a couple more worlds to join in the exploration.

Thanks guys!

PS I've written a few happy endings recently so don't expect one this time.

She strode into the room unsure what to expect.

Three Talokean men in olive green and orange military uniforms stood over hard light consoles briefly looked up from their tasks at hand, one muttered a ‘hullo’. This was obviously a security hub of some sorts - she had struck pay dirt on the first attempt! Behind Dragonwing the young man who had commented about the skimmer started to ask what it was she wanted when they all heard a terrific boom from above.

Ayla Ranzz had arrived and wasn’t using the stealthy route like her fellow Legionnaire. All four men started shouting into small microphones hat they wore on their collars. Displays erupted in the air showing Lightning Lass’s pyrotechnic display. Dragonwing casually turned to the young man who was trying to squeeze past her in the doorway and elbowed him firmly under the chin sending him flying into a wall and unconsciousness.

One of the guards pulled a weapon from his belt but a spit of Dragon acid and he dropped it quickly as the weapon dissolved in his hand with an evil sounding hiss. Another turned from his work station and ran towards the young Legionnaire, still unaware who he was fighting he threw a punch aiming it for the face of the holographic image the Distorter had produced. The punch went over Marya’s head as she tackled the man, sending them both crashing into a console, disrupting its sensitive photonic network. A breath of her flame and a second opponent curled up on the floor, hands covering his face. The third, which had pulled the gun, kicked out and Marya rolled from the blow, though she knew from the pain that screamed across her side that at least one rib was broken.

She kicked out, catching him behind his knees and sending him careering into a wall. Quickly she checked that the two unconscious guards weren’t either too badly injured or likely to wake up soon. The third was still curled up groaning to himself but she pulled him up by the throat and while he looked aghast she switched off the Distorter holograph allowing him to see her for the first time.

Holding up her right hand so he could see her Flight Ring she growled into his face “Where is Tasmia Mallor?” Out of the corners of her mouth leaked small curls of flame. The guard looked terrified and nodded towards the central display.

Marya threw him across the room, his body bouncing off the wall before he crumpled onto the floor. She strode over and examined the central console. After a moment or two as she worked out the controls it brought up 3D holographic map of the compound. Using the mnemonic tricks she had learned at the Legion Academy to remember the lay out she started to turn to leave. The ache in her sides started to kick in and she knew that her ribs would need examining quickly.

She didn’t see the young man she had elbowed into the corridor had gotten to his feet and was aiming a fierce looking blaster directly at her face.

Em and Ru Haza looked at each other.

Their telepathic bond meant that they always knew what the other was thinking and feeling, so often their minds were so intertwined that they had no need to really communicate in a way that would be meaningful to someone unaware of their mental link. Currently they were both terrified though underneath there was an anger that made them want to do something to somehow stop the beings that were killing everyone on Weber’s World.

The twin’s mutation had started to alter them when they were 12 standard years old. Their skin had hardened so they became almost impossible to hurt and their minds had reached out and began to interact with others around them. They had been encouraged to join a Lallorian government funded school where they met 14 others like themselves who had been mutated by the high radiation levels on their previously warring home planet. Five had gone on to form the planetary champions, the Heroes of Lallor. The twins were never close with any of them as they thought the five chosen were all attention seekers. They were relieved when the so-called Heroes had left. Within the school the numbers never went above twenty and by the time the twins left there were only six left. For the most part most of the mutants at the school had abilities that were not particularly demonstrative or flamboyant. One could alter the colour of his urine at will; another could speak with native plant life; while a third could change her hair into icy spikes.

In the first week at the strange school they had met the older student Oodoo Shanair who would have a dramatic influence on their lives. The three of them had become solid friends almost immediately when they learned they were the only proper psychics at the school. When Oodoo had been fast tracked to join the Ambassadorial programme he had strongly recommended they join him, initially as body guards though also as he knew he would be able to trust their discretion in any circumstance. For the last six years the Haza twins had worked closely with Oodoo and traveled throughout the United Planets and Affiliated Worlds in his wake.

Em and Ru saw their recent posting to Weber’s World as the pinnacle of their career though they were very ambitious and felt they had so much they still wanted to do. They were not going to allow these Llorn abominations destroy everything. With the knowledge that Gear had implanted earlier they knew how to operate the weapons in this Defence Station. With a nod they both jumped from their seats and started accessing the control panels looking for the most offensive weapons they could find. Ru’s fingers flew across the screen activating defence drones that flew out from their housing pods on the outside of the artificial planet. She ordered them to locate and attack the Llorn. Em activated the segregation fields – force shields inbuilt to the various sections on the planet in case of atmospheric breaches. She hoped that the energy screens would stop the vile fingers of violet that the Llorn were using to murder everyone.

Neither saw the violet smoke curl out of the floor. Em died instantly as it brushed against her skin. For the first time in Ru’s life she knew what it was like to be truly alone as she turned and watched her beloved twin sister crumble into dust beside her. She did not have long to feel this as two seconds later the Llorn’s violet cloud touched her.

Chemical Kid had left the yurt in the centre of the Green Rift Forge’s camp when the Science Police had arrived.

Salu Digby had asked him to track down a specific source of the Strontium 90 while the rest of them made sure the Persuader and the traitorous Forest Champion Milnak Hortenshai were taken away safely. Hadru was tired. The dry heat and the many uses of his ability today had left him wanting to retire into a cool pool somewhere quiet but he knew there would be no chance of then for a while. Concentrating again he realised that the ground underneath him radiated the poison that had attracted his attention. What was under the camp that could give out such a huge amount of energy?

A crowd were gathering outside the camp. Word must have spread that Legionnaires where here alongside their returned Champion of the Shadow and now the planetary Science Police had turned up. This would be a Decade Challenge to remember, and that was before the traditional three days of combat started. The SP cruiser parked itself in front of the Forge Smith’s tent effectively blocking the view from the crowds outside the camp. Rumours flew but none of the witnesses that day knew exactly what was happening.

It struck Hadru as strange that they had come to this Forge’s encampment but hadn’t seen the Smith who had built the armours that their people would be fighting over the coming few days. Lady Memory had said that the Persuader was just sticking around to watch how many people would die. Sure that wouldn’t be from the radiation as the ambient levels while dangerous wouldn’t kill anyone immediately.

Then it stuck him. “Grife, it’s got to be a dirty bomb!”

Senator Kem was on his knees howling in rage.

Around him the opulent Great Hall was ruined. The air was thick with falling ash where there had once been his comrades and fellow ambassadors. The three beings who had caused this atrocity hung in the air before him and he knew that they were taunting him. They had left him alive to bear witness to their murder spree.

Tenzil Kem knew he was beginning to lose his mind as he realised that he may well be the only living being left on this world. The political fallout would plunge this arm of the galaxy into at best a war against these evil beings that could leave many more dead, and worst... his mind couldn’t even begin to comprehend how powerful they were and what they could do once they left Weber’s World.

At the back of his mind an impulse that he thought he had buried so long ago it should have died long ago started to be heard. The whisper of insanity was beginning to raise its voice.

And as he watched the three beings simply popped out of existence and he knew... he knew that they had finished their horrific slaughter on this one world and planned to continue it in the greater galaxy outside.

The whisper of insanity at the base of his consciousness became a scream.

The young man didn’t know who Marya Pai was so was surprised when instead of surrendering to his threat she disarmed him easily with a quick kick.

“Take me to the lower section where you have Tasmia Mallor and I’ll let you keep your skin.” As she gave the threat she turned to the opposite wall and spat a great glob of Dragon acid that burned through the stone blocks in seconds.

His eyes widened and he tried to squirm away from her in horror. She asked one more time, her tone was much more level and even scarier for it. The young man started to babble and she knew he wouldn’t be any help. A quick blow to his jaw and he was asleep again on the floor. She reached into his jacket pockets and took out an internal comm pod and his ID fob. The Distorter function Brainiac 5 had installed into the Legion's belt buckles were programmable to produce one holo at a time so she could appear to be the tall man they had taken from the skimmer again if need be and this young guards ID would help get through doors without drawing attention to herself.

Remembering the route to the underground section that the holo map had said were the Secure Area she quickly let Ayla know what was happening. Lightning Lasses reply holo was streaked with lines of static. She could tell that her comrade was enjoying herself as she drew fire above the compound giving Marya the chance to find and retrieve Shadow Lass.

Marya knew where the anti-grav elevators were so found the nearest one and using the young guards ID ordered it to take her down into the belly of the compound.

Outside Weber’s World the three Llorn appeared and immediately turned their attention to the nearest space ship.

The Khund battle wagon had over 1,000 living souls on it though within seconds their numbers were decimated. The fingers of violet clouds that shone like distant nebulae extending from the Llorn were not stopped by either material or energy barriers as they passed through the great Khund ship turning any being they encountered into dust.

On board the Star Fleet Cruiser Brainiac 5 and the Dead Brain started issuing orders into their respective comms devices. The space between the various vessels that hung in orbit of Weber’s World flared as weapons started to erupt towards the Llorn. In every case the weapons fire never reached them. Missiles froze along their trajectories. Energy beams reversed their flow erupting the very weapons that had fired them.

On a small craft Chameleon Boy extended his arms to pull the Khundian known as Spyke away from the controls. She had tried to turn the ship around to take it back to the much larger Khundian battle wagon.

“They are killing my people” She roared.

Harmonia stepped between Deathstorm and Chameleon Boy and gently said “We will need all our strength soon. We have to get to Querl and your Dead Brain if we are to stand a chance.” Deathstorm, though very much a warrior understood her call to restraint. To fight against an overpowering opponent without any knowledge was suicide. He may have killed more than a few opponents in his time but he did not believe that today was his day to die.

Ayla Ranzz threw another lightning bolt at the struggling Talokeans below who desperately tried to stop her getting into their compound. She had played the part well, once almost landing on the roof where smoking remains of several skimmers and speeders she had destroyed in her initial attack lay. She had allowed the warriors who had come to roof with their strange armours to push her back a little. So long as she had their attention then they hopefully wouldn’t be looking for Dragonwing.

Below her, within the depths of the compound her fellow Legionnaire had finally reached the underground bunker and activated her buckle’s Disruptor holo as she stepped out of the anti-grav lift into a room with a dozen military looking men working on a variety of hard light controls.

She quickly took her bearings and saw on one screen an elderly looking Talokean man with the green tinged skin she knew marked him of the desert people standing over her missing friend Tasmia Mallor. Even as she realised that he must be the memory manipulator who had affected Hadru earlier in the day one of the soldiers turned to her and yelled “What are you doing here?”

Around the room several men stopped what they were doing and looked up.

She quickly mimed shock and pointed to the ceiling, as if terrified by the attack on the compound’s roof. A couple of the men instinctively followed her finger and looked up. She took that opportunity to act, breathing out a huge blast of the Dragon’s emerald fire into the room. As the guards took cover she cart wheeled across to the nearest guard and took her belt off and strapped it around his protesting frame. The Distorter's holo continued, only this time the guard was wearing it. She ducked down under his consol as the other guards turned their hand weapons on their protesting though unfortunately disguised comrade.

A spit of Dragon acid at the feet of the nearest guard sent him into convulsions that distracted his comrades. She tool the opportunity to leap up and punch another as hard as she could on the head, knocking him into a guard that was rushing over to help the one she had spat acid at. Weapons fired and angry shouts rang out. Within a minute it was quiet though and she was the only one left standing. Marya's left ribs where she had been kicked ached worse now and she knew that she really couldn’t push herself that hard again. Checking the consol underneath the screen that had shown Tasmia she worked out where the room was that Shadow Lass was being held.

There were two guards outside the room and she knew that she was pushing her physical limit, but using her retrieved Distorter pad to regenerate the earlier holo she had managed to get to within 6 feet of them before they realised that she was an imposter. A burst of Dragon fire and two punches later and there were still two guards only now they were no longer conscious. The door was locked and neither guards palms released the lock so she took a deep breath and aimed a spit of acid on the lock, waited a couple of seconds then kicked the door down, hoping that there wouldn’t be any more armed men to face. She had yet to turn twenty but genuinely believed at that moment that she was getting too old for all this fighting. Inside the room was blindingly bright as every surface seemed to give off light. Dragonwing leapt into the room attacking the man she saw standing over Shadow Lass, aware that the Memory Clan’s priests abilities could stop her if she gave him a second too long to react. Thankfully the elderly man was overcome easily.

She took the straps off Shadow Lass and held her up. The Talokean Legionnaire was unconscious. Using her Flight ring to contact Ayla Ranzz above Marya told her that she had their comrade and would be taking her out now. Ayla cheerfully acknowledged and there was a huge booming sound from above. Now that they had Shadow Lass the Winathian Legionnaire was no longer pretending that she wasn’t more than powerful enough to flatten this entire compound.

Glorith, the Khundian mystic Pressure Point and the sullen looking Star Fleet officer who had earlier reassured Brainiac 5 that Weber’s Worlds disappearance was not magically related, were sat facing each other.

Invisible Kid and Mwindaji stood back as the three women began to chant in unison in a language that even his Flight Ring universal translator couldn’t comprehend. The Academy student had looked particularly uneasy but remained beside the Legionnaire as they watched as eldritch energies snaked through the air around them. Jacques had no idea what the spell was supposed to do but trusted the new Legionnaire explicitly when it came to magical matters. Mysa Nal had vouched for her and that was enough for Jacques. Both the Khundian, whom Jacques thought had an arrogant air about her, and the Star Fleet officer, who looked as if her puppy had just died, were shocked to see Glorith. The young Legionnaire’s obvious notoriety within the Magical community was something that made them agree unquestioning to her suggested spell. Jacques had to admit to himself that he was surprised that the quiet and unassuming girl he had transported here could command such immediate respect. There was definitely more to Glorith than met the eye.

On the upper level Danielle Foccart was causing a scene. Nura Nal had tried to calm her down but the young girl kept on insisting that Brainiac 5 and the Dead Brain were wrong. Chameleon Boy, Harmonia and the two Khunds Spyke and Deathstorm all looked shocked. It was the Psion who calmed the young girl down by asking her to show them what she meant. Danielle insisted that the Psion’s technology wasn’t speaking clearly and they had to remove it from the machine they had constructed. The Psion, rather patronizingly had nodded. He finally listed when she explained that the interface with *hrr* dimensional algorithms was being delayed because of the Vegan tech’s mis-translation of the Aldeci Quadratic Immersion field equation that helped compress the dark energy power source. The machine was gasping for the power it needed. They had to sort it out or they would lose Weber’s World. The machine had told her! With that the young girl called out “Sphere” and one of the Vegan creations flew out of Nimbus’ smoky body and hovered above her out stretched hand. She stroked the Sphere as if it were a pet and gently asked it “Could you please explain it to him, will you?”

Even as she spoke to the Vegan construct in her hands Brainiac 5 and the Dead Brain were making her suggested alterations to their great machine.

Meanwhile out in space great violet tendrils were stretching out from the three beings known as the Llorn and depopulating the armada around them.

On Talok viii Chemical Kid, Shrinking Violet and Shadow Lad were stood outside the Green Rift Forge Smith’s tent with the local Science Police commanding officer discussing what they should do.

Grev Mallor was slightly distracted, it was obvious he was thinking about the medical treatment Kahnya Nahtahnie was receiving from the SP doctor within the tent. Ayla Ranzz had just finished a flight ring conversation with Vi and she reassured them that they had found Tasmia though would need some assistance when they got back. Hadru was glad to hear that the SP’s cruiser had instrumentation that was currently working on locating the source of the Strontium 90. His head was beginning to hurt from using his powers so much in one afternoon. Alongside the four Science Police officers who had attended the scene they had brought a dozen remote controlled anti-grav arrest harnesses to locate and contain the perpetrators. Currently these cruciform shaped machines floated back and forth between the cruiser and the camp grounds carrying the unconscious bodies of the warriors that Tasmia Mallor had fought against earlier. Vi asked the commanding officer if the SP could send another cruiser to the compound where Ayla and Marya had found Tasmia.

Lady Memory pushed her way through the yurt’s draping doorway and called out to Grev.Without a word Shadow Lad flew across the space between them and gingerly hugged her, careful not to disturb the obvious medical patch across the middle of her chest.

“Milnak wanted to return us to our more primitive ways Grev. I saw it in his memories, he had planted evidence that the Persuader had done this and was going to make sure everyone knew it. He wanted Talok to return to a more primitive way of life and sadly there are sympathisers on all sides. One of my uncles has been helping him as has several of your City folk. They gave him the money to pay for that brute to come here. ”

“And what was Milnak going to do? Did he expect to just stand up and lead a revolution himself?”

“He had the Green Rift Forge Smith killed Grev. The disgusting material the Persuader brought here is in all of their warriors armours. He was gong to sacrifice a third of his warriors to become the martyr that the ignorant and enraged would follow.”

Lady Memory held her head up to stop the tears in her eyes from falling as Shadow Lad flew across to the SP commanding officer. Now they knew why Chemical Kid was having so much trouble finding the source. It would be in the vaulted storerooms below the camp and on the back of every warrior from this Forge that was milling around the Decade Challenge. Grev doubted that they knew they were wearing explosive devices that would render this sacred site uninhabitable for centuries to come.

With a violent roar the air above the three mystics coalesced into a smoking form, part serpent part light, a dazzling dizzy shifting shape that stretched outwards and upwards through the Star Fleet cruiser before imploding into the lithe body of Glorith. Invisible Kid and Mwindaji both ducked for cover, unsure if they would be able to do anything to help in the face of such demonstrative magics if anything were to go wrong.

“I am the Heir to Time. I command the stride of the seconds and the grip of the eternal passing. I deny you the right to my demesne. “

Her voice rippled out as if a physical presence in itself, not just shaking the air but the very structure of reality. Both Pressure Point and the Star Fleet officer continued their chant.

On a floor above, Brainiac 5 stepped away from the front of the machine he had helped build with an eyebrow raised and his fingers resting surreptitiously on his belt controls.

Dream Girl had approached Danielle and carefully put her arm around her, congratulating the young girl for her help. Her tone was slightly questioning as, even though her earlier vision had told her Danielle would somehow be involved in helping them she was startled at the change in behavior from Jacques youngest sister. Amongst people Danielle was quiet and unlikely to speak out but here where there was an incredibly complex piece of machinery that perhaps only a handful of beings could ever hope to fully understand she had appeared as confident as a president.

“Right,” it was Deathstorm who spoke, “What do we do now?”

Years ago, after consuming the Controller’s Miracle Machine he had succumbed to the call of insanity.

As the energies of the Miracle Machine infused his body his mind had been shown the infinite possibilities that the device could create. It had altered his perception way beyond anything that a mortal should ever begin to know. It had wrapped its strange and infinite logic around his rational mind and twisted to gain control. The Miracle Machine had something akin to a consciousness of its own and without the Controllers machine like hosting body it needed a new home and the Legionnaire Tenzil Kem became its best option.

The battle of wills was what had thrown the young Legionnaire headlong into a psychotic breakdown where he could no longer differentiate between his reality and the multitudes he was being offered. His breakdown had finally ended after intense assistance from his fellow Legionnaires Querl Dox and Nura Nal though to this day his dreams were still far more lucid, more real, than anyone would ever know. In his dreams the voice of his insanity, the voice of the Miracle Machine spoke to him, enticing him, alluring and uninterpretable at the same time.

His fingers clawed through the ashes on the floor that were all that remained of the Tamarean princess. He screamed again and this time the once strong control over his mind finally snapped releasing the raging alien voices from the invisible depths where he hoped they had died long ago.

And with that release came clarity.

Word spread around the Decade Challenge that the Green Rift Forge warriors were being summoned urgently back to their encampment.

Some warriors willingly approached their Forge’s encampment. Others tried to hide fearing the worst. The Talokian Science Police had every warriors DNA in their database so within an hour the 25 armoured clansmen from the Green Rift Forge were rounded up and brought back within the walls of their home Forge’s base.

In that time Lightning Lass and Dragonwing had returned with the unconscious Shadow Lass. Chemical Kid had joined the medic on the SP cruiser as they examined her to ascertain the damage that had been inflicted while a hostage. Grev Mallor and Kahnya Nahtahnie strode out into the centre of the crowded camp and addressed the men before them. Both were aware that they were not these people’s hereditary champions so their words may not necessarily carry the appropriate gravitas to alleviate their concerns. At first there were cries of treachery towards them both. Accusations that the Decade Challenge was being fixed by the City and Desert peoples. Lady Memory offered to share the recent memory of being betrayed by Milnak Hortensai, that was if any of the doubters wanted to know how being stabbed in the chest felt. There were no takers.

One older warrior asked what the Forge would do now as their Smith had been murdered. Another asked if even the Heir of the Smith had been taken from them. Once again the crowd erupted and the proud warriors realised that their very cultural identity could be under threat if the Forge were without an armour maker. Grev Mallor reassured them that the Green Rift Forge would honour Talok with its strong warriors and beautiful armours for many generations to come. The Smith had indeed been murdered but the Heir had been found alive and the SP were bringing him to them as they spoke.

Grev went on to tell them that from the memories that Kahnya had accessed it was not only the Forest People who had been involved and that all of those found to be seditious would be punished. He swore on his own Shadow that he would personally see to it that the Forest People would not be singled out as responsible for the atrocities that were planned. The warriors once again settled down though it was obvious that not all of them were entirely convinced.

Salu Digby, Ayla Ranzz and Marya Pai had stood back and allowed Grev and Kahnya this opportunity to speak. The three Legionnaires knew that as outsiders to the Clan system they would be viewed with suspicion, still each of them wanted to somehow force the stunned and angered warriors before them that everything they had heard was true.

The crowd had begun to quieten down when one brightly armoured warrior asked the most pressing question:

“So, Champions of the Shadow and Memory, tell us please, who can fight for the Green Rift Forge’s honour over the next three days as our armour is to be taken from us?”

Ayla Ranzz, Salu Digby and Marya Pai all said at the same time “I will.”

“Weber’s World is synchronised now.” The Dead Brain exclaimed happily.

Brainiac 5 sighed in relief before turning to Danielle Foccart, who was still stroking the Vegan Sphere as if it were a family pet, and said, “thank you Danielle, you probably just saved everyone over there.”

Coolly she replied, without making eye contact, “Sorry Professor Dox, the computers over there just told me everyone apart from one Senator is dead already. I’m really sorry.” She had spoken quietly but everyone had heard.

Dream Girl gasped, Nimbus looked shocked, Harmonia bent over to comfort the girl, Spyke spoke into a comm unit on her wrist issuing orders for the remaining Khund ships to immediately attack the Llorn without restraint. Deathstorm started to crackle with energy before erupting into flight, and in a flash he was gone leaving only a blurring trail behind him.

On the deck below Pressure Point and the UP officer continued their chanting while Glorith floated before them. Wrapped in cascading magics, her facial markings burned with a blistering light. Invisible Kids hair stood on end as the energies she had summoned flowed through the room. He didn’t comment as he totally understood as the trainee Mwindaji wiped terrified tears from his eyes. Magics were, to Jacques mind, a twisting of universal laws that he would never truly understand. All he knew right now was he had watched something both miraculous and terrifying in equal measure.

In space around the Llorn the missiles they had frozen with the barest of thoughts suddenly erupted back into life, screaming their hyper kinetic paths towards the alien invaders. The effects as they reached their targets caused an explosion that shook the nearest of the armada around them. As their energy discharges started to fade the electromagnetic form of the Khundian known as Deathstorm burst through the deadly corona and attacked the Llorn. In the form of condensed cosmic rays he struck the first in the face and the second in the chest. Even at the speed of radiation though the third caught him with a glance and sent him flying backwards towards the fleet.

Senator Kem stood up and straightened his jacket, wiped his cuffs and brushed down his lapels.

“Enough.”

Enough of the fear. Enough of the chaos. Enough of the death.

He smiled and with it the mask of being human slipped. His eyes glistened with knowledge beyond the minds of mortals. The settled dust motes on the floor around him started to puff into the air and dance in spirals. The alarm that had been ringing consistently since Weber’s World had been taken suddenly stopped. The upturned tables and chairs all righted themselves. Containers of fluids flew back to the rightful places with their contents suddenly intact. the Gil’dishpan plexiglass sphere no longer had cracks, its leaked methane bubbling back to its rightful home within. Flowers that had been trampled underfoot in the rush to evacuate were returned to their former pristine state in glorious vases and pots. The dust that spun in the air started to take on forms of the fallen.

“Right, it’s time we had a little talk.”

The air before him fogged into three shapes. Three beings with a malignant aura that had murdered almost every being on board. The Llorn showed no expression but he knew they were afraid. That thought unexpectedly gave him immense pleasure and he smiled as he started to speak.

“You will leave now. You will go to the place you came from and remain their until all the stars are gone from the sky. You will be unable to touch or see or interfere in anyway with this reality again.” He paused again to smile, “ You will go mad as there is no hope that you will ever be able to infect this galaxy, or any other ever again. You will go mad and you will stay alive as you go mad. I know how madness feels but it is nothing compared to how you will suffer.” He stopped, took a couple of deep breaths and casually waved his hand as if excusing a minor member of a large retinue of staff. “Now go!”

Before him there was a loud Pop!

And they were gone.

Nimbus was the first to arrive.

His smoky form coalesced in the Great Hall. He was as shocked to see the fine room full of living beings as many of them around him were at seeing him. The Tamarean princess Shoordel pushed through the crowds and leapt at him, hugging him with fierce passion. Her eyes were streaming with tears though she smiled and laughed and, he thought, sounded as if she were on the edge of hysteria. The Tamareans were famous for being so emotionally demonstrative but this raw display was more than he had ever seen before. The Princess and several others close by, began to explain to him that they thought they were dead and so were relieved and happy to be alive.

“Were we dreaming?” He heard this question asked many times.

Brainiac 5, Dream Girl, Chameleon Boy and Harmonia, alongside the Psion who had helped build the temporal stabilizing machine, and the Dead Brain and his Khund Battle Brigade arrived shortly after. As their shuttle had left the UP cruiser the Khund known as Deathstorm had materialized on board saying the Llorn were going to be hard to kill. They informed him that while he was recovering from their repulsing his attack the three mysterious beings had vanished. None of them knew if this was a good thing or that they had simply left to find a new killing ground. They surmised the answers lay on Weber’s world.

All of them had believed Danielle Foccart when she has casually announced that everyone on Weber’s World was dead so to arrive at a docking bay that had several staff engineers waving to them had been the first of many surprises. The Dead Brain asked everyone to spread out and check to see if there were any beings needing medical attention. The Legionnaires followed his instructions along with the Khunds.

Harmonia Li and Spyke took an anti-grav lift to the lower levels were their instruments informed them the accommodation sectors for Ambassadors were. Chameleon Boy and Deathstorm went towards the central engineering sector where the majority of the planets supplies and energy were created. The rest headed towards the Great Hall.

Brainiac 5 almost immediately found Queen Projectra. The Orandese Queen was shaken by her experience but explained to the Coluan Legionnaire that whatever the beings were that had attacked them there was no sense of them anymore. The Llorn had definitely vanished without leaving a trace behind.

The Dead Brain was speaking with the Gil’Dishpan representative, the Venturan Primate, ambassadors from Winath and the Okaaran Warlord. He postulated that the combination of the Temporal Stabilising machine that he and Brainiac 5had created alongside the magicks that their comrades Glorith and Pressure Point had conjured up had somehow met on this artificial world and through a twist of fate the two opposing forces turned back time to the point before the Llorn had attacked. He genuinely believed that this was the case and this version of events very quickly spread through the high ranking crowd and into popular history.

It was Dream Girl who found Senator Tenzil Kem.