Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Re: Legion Worlds Six - updated 20 Oct 20

Brainiac 5 had identified a suitable planet for the evacuees to be sent to - Senfrathras Minor 6. The fourth planet in a system on the edge of Rim space, bordering both the UP and the Dominion Empire.

The star it orbited was similar in size and luminosity to Talok. This world itself had a gravity that was only 2.12% less that they would be used to and had a 24% oxygen atmospheric rate so would be slightly higher than they had currently enjoyed. With its axis tilt of 19% it allowed for seasonal shifts in weather, much like Talok viii, though it had shallower seas and a global average temperature of almost 4 degrees less. There were currently a few hundred people on one of the larger continents, though as these were Nu-Independent Settlers there may be some problems with integration in the future. He dispassionately explained the desperate urgency of the situation to the High Council of the United Planets over a holo-call. Querl knew that the galactic spanning empire would support his choice. They had no choice really unless the United Planets were prepared for millions of displaced Talokeans on the Inner worlds...

Henry was given the co-ordinates and the United Planets agreed to send several disaster relief teams there immediately to help set up a staging camp.

<Henry, can you also warp the Talokean Seed Banks from the Twelve City States to Senfrathras Minor 6>

The refugees would at the very least be able to plant their own crops so would stand a significantly higher chance at long term survival if they decided to remain on that world.

Atom Girl activated the distorter on her belt to maximum camouflage mode and slowly regained her full height.

The room she was in smelled of death. She fought the urge to be sick as she willed the eco-protect function of her flight ring to purify the air she breathed in.

It took several seconds for her to realise that the shapes that hung around her were some of her teammates, apparently hanging from the ceiling wrapped in putrid tentacles. Her initial reaction to rip them out of their confinement was tempered with a sick fascination. She approached Hadru, he was clearly unconscious. She walked around him focusing on wherever the tentacles were against his skin - they appeared to be fused together! As she realised this Sylva involuntarily took a step back in disgust and shock. she was grateful that she hadn't just rushed in to try to tear her friends free.

Atom Girl examined several of her teammates. The strange pink and purple organic looking straps of armour they wore seemed to have become fused into their skin as well. Sylva wasn't sure what this meant but had scanned them with her flight ring in the hope that the results would be transferred back to the Senior Team. Remembering her espionage training she made sure to avoid checking the results of the scans, a hard light display might be enough to give her away.

she crept out of the room into a cave-like corridor. Much like the room she came from the uneven floor and walls were riddled with odd tendrils and roots crisscrossing the surfaces. She was careful not to touch any of them. With a thought Atom Girl shrunk to a height of six inches and flew along the corridor to her right - it had a general upwards gradient so she assumed it was most likely to lead to a way out.

She prayed to her ancestors that she wouldn't encounter any more of her teammates as the memory of those disgusting tentacles fused into their skin had shaken her far more than she wanted to admit.

Danielle Foccart had been monitoring the events on Talok viii from Second Base's Command Room.

<Henry, this planetoid has Q-Drive capable of tearing through space. Can we link it to your warp control? It is calculated to give you an 345% boost for nineteen minutes but after that you will damage the system if you continue>

<Danielle, I am quite stretched maintaining the warps for the refugees so cannot calculate...> The holo-man from the 75th century did not appear instead it was only his voice that whispered along the telepathic webways.

<We shall transfer the access for the Q-Drive power stream to you now. If you require it, it will be there for you>

<Thank you. I believe it will be necessary>

Danielle Foccart smiled to herself.

Talok viii

Sun Boy - Senior Team member, Dirk Morgna of Earth, generation of intense light and heat

Imp Master - Dorrolo Capicca Redsail of Zerox - Elven strength, speed and senses, minor mystic, can summon and control imps
Tectonik - Hardal of Granite Falls from Mondriak iv - geokinesis
Non - negative energy being of unknown origin - spaceflight, speed, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, telepathic
Shadowsurfer - Walyed Reeaz of D-1457H234 - strength and durability, teleport through shadows or darkness
The Spoiler - Jorn Golmorton of Naltor - precognition
Ecliptoid 8 from the Shtamitanocci Colonies - manipulation of light and darkness
Droo Vri of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability.


Sun Boy led the team from Home Base Academy to assist Thunder.

This team were mainly from the the Alpha students - those expected to progress to full Legion status without too much delay - along with a pre-cog, one that could operate perfectly in darkness and a Daxamite... Dirk hoped he'd managed to get a decent blend of abilities along with a sound understanding of teamwork on this squad, though there was really only one way to find out.

As they dropped through the warp Tectonik went down onto his knees and placed his hands on the desolated soil, "Sun Boy, there's something under the ground. It's moving this way." The student concentrated as he reached out to sense if he could find out any more detail.

"Can you slow it down? ...Or stop it maybe?" The fiery Legionnaire replied as he took to the air with most of the rest of the squad.

"Will try..." Hardal of Granite Falls didn't sound entirely confident but he closed his eyes and concentrated on moving the rocks below the immediate surface to block channels that the objects beneath appeared to be following. Shadowsurfer stood behind Tektonik, carefully monitoring the area around them to ensure his geokinetic fellow student wasn't attacked while focusing on the task at hand. Walyed Reeaz had decent night vision but even he found it difficult to see more than a couple of hundred metres in the gloom that hung in the air.

Imp Master had summoned a dozen of the small pale blue creatures he commanded and sent them out into the ash thick darkening gloom to search for survivors or Legionnaires. There was sweat pouring from him Elven face after only a minute.

"Sun Boy.... my imps are being destroyed." He twitched and stared into the gloom, "We are not alone!" The mystic put his hands together as if in prayer and muttered a few arcane words before opening his hands out. A flash of red energy erupted into the murky air in front of him that appeared to push the darkness back by several metres before it dissipated. The mystic from the Academy stared. He was obviously aware of something beyond that of human senses.

"What's out there? Can anyone see?" Dirk called out to the team he had assembled.

<This event is unnatural> It was the most sense that Sun Boy had ever heard from the strange being they called Non, though he didn't think it was particularly helpful at that precise moment. The Negative Energy being had flown straight into the dark ashen cloud to observe what was happening. Its senses went far beyond those of humans though even it had trouble deciphering what it felt.

"Can't hold this much longer... it's going to break through..." Tectonik said. He had been crouched over the ground, his face tight with concentration. He started to sway as the ground trembled underneath them.

Shadowsurfer grabbed his fellow student and they disappeared in a pop! a second before several large thorned tentacles tore through the ground directly underneath where they had been standing.

Sun boy ordered the team into the air beside him, and flew upwards away from the tendrils that were shooting through the ground around them. Non had darted down and flown through them, exploding them as it passed through them. Dirk continued to fly up, his team of students close by.

A scream from below drew their attention.

Standing on one of the few remaining thorny tendril, Grev Mallor was shouting at them. Around him Tyroc, Gazelle, Karate Kid and the Spear of Artemis gazed upwards, their eyes were an unnatural red full of a disturbing hunger.

The student called the Spoiler was nearest to this strange group of Legionnaires and Dirk reacted instinctively, shouting at the young Naltorian to get away from them. Jorn Golmorton looked up at the senior Legionnaire and broke into a grin - this was the vision that had sent him here coming into fruition. He had made it happen, he was flying with the Legionnaires! This was the last thought that passed through his mind as Grev Mallor sent a wave of darkness that disorientated the young Naltorian. In a moment of panic the academy student willed his flight ring to propel him away from the darkness. As the darkness had confused his senses Jorn was unaware which diection he was facing so his panicked thought sent him crashing down into to the rubble below.

There was an awful bone crunching crash. It was obvious to Sun Boy and the student team that Jorn Golmorton had been killed.

"If you continue to run I will murder you all..." Grev's ultimatum rang out through their flight rings.

Hey Raquel, thanks for your review, it's appreciated.

Mysa is kind of thinking like a surgeon - cut out the unhealthy bit before it spreads and infects the rest. Unfortunately Talok viii s very sick...

Brainy will pop up a few more times, the man has to earn his pay

More coming as Atom Girl makes a discovery, Kara gets into a fight and we see what happens when there's an academy full of metas at hand who think they can do some good.

Oh, sorry meant to say that Grev and Lady Memory announced their engagement at the start of the Legion Worlds series while he was the Talokean Shadow Champion as Tasmia was with the team. They see it as a way to try to calm down some of the racial hatered between their two peoples, and they do kind of like each other, so they were welcomng Jeffari into the Talokean Planetary Champions 'club' as she's the current champion of the Forest People.

Thanks again,

C

hey Harbi, I have been gone a while so just breaking my lurking now to say this is really intense and I am looking forward to seeing how much darker it's going to get before we see a way clear...you're handling a large arena very well!

Raz yu stellar being you - how nice to hear from you, I hope everything is going well with you. There's more coming - it's going to get pretty dark I'm afraid,so better have your flashlight ready

Good to see you posting, hope you'll be carrying on with your storyline soon as I'm still hanging on waiting to find out how Strut, Gravity Kid, Crystal Kid, PG and most importanty King Canary will save the day against the vast army of Robotica! I'm not sure how much more my poor fingernails can take

Here's some more for you now, hope you enjoy

C

Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user
Atomsmasher - Ergus Wraithcat of Betelgeuse, spaceflight, invulnerability, hyper senses, telepathy, radiation manipulation

The Black Witch of Zerox - Mysa Nal of Naltor, channels immense magic energies


Southern Lights sensed the sudden appearance of awesome magical energies from half a planet away.

Mysa Nal, the Black Witch of Zerox, had arrived alongside the magical gods of this reality and the young mystic from Starhaven knew he would need to warn them that their friends had been taken over by the darkness below on Talok viii.

Atomsmasher, for all its incredible sensory skills, could not feel the Zeroxian magic users. Nevertheless, the Wraithcat followed behind its winged colleague fully aware that among the Legion there were many that had access to things that it did not understand. As the concept of magic was strange to it this would be something for it to learn from, perhaps something to share with its people when it returned to them.

The two new Legionnaires were within a hundred metres before the beings that Southern Lights had senses thousands of klicks away became visible to Atomsmasher. It was as if a curtain had been moved and light allowed to enter... the glorious energies that swam in the ether around these divine beings momentarily stunned the Wraithcat.

<Legionnaires, you may approach> The voice belonged to Mysa Nal, a former Legionnaire herself. Both of the new Legionnaires knew that though didn't understand where that knowledge had come from. Both Southern Lights and Atomsmasher felt somewhat cowed in the presence of such hugely powerful beings yet they flew on towards the macabre group of mystics without pausing.

Southern Lights approached the Black witch, his head lowered in genuine reverence.

<Legionnaires, you must leave this place> Mysa Nal told them <Take all you can and remove yourselves from this world> Even as she gave this warning dark shapes coalesced around the Legionnaires as the gods of Zerox approached them.

<You have the soul of a faraway place within you Southern Lights of Starhaven, it watches your choices...> The voice was of far away thunder, threatening but not yet dangerous. It belonged to a being that looked like a wild bearded man dressed in black leathers under a long fur cloak. The bearded man appeared to stand in front of the Black Witch and then he was beside the winged mystic in a single step. Right behind him one of the Red Goddesses followed. The two gods stood either side of Southern Lights and looked him up and down as if he were banquet waiting for them to start.

<Approaching entities... former colleagues Legionnaires! Location compromised> Atomsmasher sent out across the flight ring generated telepathic grid.

Southern Lights turned away from the gods of Zerox and saw several of his teammates approaching - Kid Quantum, Captain Tuk Shir, Tellus and Dragonmage.

The Red Goddess disappeared and reappeared in among the Legionnaires. With a casual elegance she reached out a hand and touched each of them with a fingertip upon their faces. The Legionnaires stopped, frozen in space.

<The Jade Dragon should join us> The bearded man sent. The Red Goddess touched her mouth against Dragonmage's ear as if tenderly whispering to the young sorcerer.

<Even it has been compromised! Our opponent below has poisoned its senses with dreams of the final end of all. Once it is cut off from the source of that rot though it will return to its senses... they all will>

<Are you saying our colleagues will be okay as long as we defeat the... whatever it is that caused this?> Southern Lights asked, hoping that Brainiac 5 was still monitoring them as the Coluan genius would know what to do or at least formulate the plan that would help them.

<Legionnaires, you must leave now> Mysa Nal stood before them, the bearded man and Red Goddess had disappeared <Gather your comrades and as many innocents from below as you can quickly and then leave. Leave this world before you are unable to>

Even as she sent these words of warning the atmosphere of the planet below appeared to erupt and a bolt of pink lightning, easily wider than a star cruiser blasted out into space. The mystical beings all moved back out of the poisonous glow that surrounded it. It crackled for several seconds before appearing to vanish into a tear in space.

<Our enemy seeks to spread its vile touch beyond this poor world. We must stop it from infecting further globes lest we all lose!> The Thunder God roared.

<Brainiac 5, did you see that? What shall we do?> Southern Lights sent to the distant Coluan genius, hoping that he had just not witnessed their losing the battle before they even had a chance to figure out what it was they were actually fighting against.

<I believe that will be taken care of, meanwhile I need more information Southern Lights. Atomsmasher and you need to get closer to the world so I can observe>

The mystic from Starhaven was unsure what else the Coluan could divine but the two Legionnaires flew away from the mages and gods of Zerox. Behind them not even Mysa Nal noticed the two new Legionnaires were gone as the Zeroxian mystics focused on their powerful binding wards.

Atom Girl - Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk, can shrink herself to microscopic size


As Atom Girl flew along the corridor she became aware of a muffled sound.

It took her a minute or so to find where the noise came from - a dingy cavernous hall where a dozen or so Green Lanterns hung from the ceiling. They were still semi-conscious and several had wriggled and fought against the creepy tendrils that wrapped around them and fused into their skin. Their rings had all been removed and these were held in other tendrils from the centre of the room. They gave off a weak flickering light that only added to the horror before her. she recognised Soddam Yat and a couple of thunder's sisters from one of the recent history classes she had been obliged to attend at the academy.

As Sylva stared at the sight before her a worrying thought came into her mind - If a Daxamite and several of Black Adam's Daughters all wearing Oan power rings could be trussed up like this how could she be a credible threat to their enemy? Tears formed in her eyes and she forced herself to take deep breaths.

She quickly backed out of the chamber and flew as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

Andromeda - Kara Zor-El of Krypton, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Monica Sade of Rimbor, strength, reflexes, line of sight teleportation
Retro - Deen Toro of Ventura, limited reversal of personal timeline

Replicator - Science Police Officer Tarev Jusool of Talok viii, can mimic meta-abilities of those nearby for limited periods of time


Kara took the lead.

Behind her Monica Sade and Retro floated close-by with SPO Jusool mimicking Kara's strength and invulnerability at the rear.

They had gotten perhaps three hundred metres into the strangely organic corridor when Kara heard someone approaching. She signalled them to join her into the tangle of root like tendrils that laced the ceiling, hoping that their distorters would provide enough of a disguise for hem to escape a confrontation this early into their adventure.

Below them Mon El, Thunder and Ultra Girl came into view. All three were wearing ugly organic looking strips of armour across their bodies.

Thunder looked up at the group and smiled a humourless smile, "Hello" she said.

Before anyone could react Retro rewound time around them by ten seconds.

"Trap! We gotta go..." Kara picked up Retro while Tarev Jusool put an arm around Sade. In a blur of speed they shot away though they could hear their former comrades crashing along the corridor not far behind them.

SPO Jusool had been practicing mimicked super speed with XS but still was caught quite quickly by Mon El. He didn't stand a chance as the Blight controlled Daxamite punched him so hard that the Talokean Science Police Officer crunched through eight walls before crashing unconscious. Monica Sade used her teleporting agility and guns at their maximum setting to keep her former teammates away from her but it took only five seconds until she was swatted unconscious by a blast of Ultra Girl's Red Energy.

"Andromeda and Retro will be hidden by now." Thunder said in a voice not her own.

"They will not get far." Ultra Girl replied.

The three Blighted Legionnaires smiled as they flew up the dingy tendril covered corridor after their former friends.

Sun Boy - Senior Team member, Dirk Morgna of Earth, generation of intense light and heat

Academy students:

Imp Master - Dorrolo Capicca Redsail of Zerox - Elven strength, speed and senses, minor mystic, can summon and control imps
Tectonik - Hardal of Granite Falls from Mondriak iv - geokinesis
Non - negative energy being of unknown origin - spaceflight, speed, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, telepathic
Shadowsurfer - Walyed Reeaz of D-1457H234 - strength and durability, teleport through shadows or darkness
The Spoiler - DECEASED - Jorn Golmorton of Naltor - precognition
Ecliptoid 8 from the Shtamitanocci Colonies - manipulation of light and darkness
Droo Vri of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability.



Droo Vri of Daxam dived down to retrieve the body of his fallen fellow student.

The young soldier from Daxam scanned the Spoiler's corpse with his enhanced senses in the hope that somehow the young Naltorian had survived. It was very apparent that his crash into the rough terrain had been fatal. Droo had never seen a dead body so close up before and felt his gorge rise. In a blur of speed he picked up his fallen comrade and flew up to join Sun Boy and the other students.

The Blight infected Legionnaires were approaching the student group like hunters assured of their kill. The Spear of Artemis pulled her arm back, her enchanted god-given spear that she took her name from already in her hand, ready to throw. The negative energy being called Non tore through her. The Amazonian powerhouse collapsed in obvious pain as it phased out of her back and spun up into the air towards Grev Mallor.

Tectonik pulled several large boulders out of the ground below and flung them with all his geokinetic might at the approaching group. Karate Kid kicked one of the large rocks apart and dived towards him. Tyroc destroyed the others with a yell that made all of their ears ring afterwards. A bubble of sand and small rocky debris flew up and swirled around Karate Kid as the student flew away from her attack, well aware that he was no match for her in a physical confrontation. It bought him a few seconds grace as the Legion's martial artist chased and ultimately caught up to subdue him.

Imp Master sent a dozen of the small blue beings he controlled towards Gazelle. The Khundian managed to easily avoid them and somersaulted in front of the young mystic. She was surprised as he punched her stoutly on the chin throwing her backwards - he may have looked slim and unassuming but Dorrolo Capicca Redsail was of true Elven blood with strength and speed enough to defend himself. Gazelle rubbed her chin and smiled ferociously at him as she approached. Taking a second to summon a magical force bolt distracted the student for long enough for her to pounce and bash him unconscious with a single solid blow.

Ecliptoid 8 wove a veil of darkness around themself in a bid to hide while they took stock of the battle. Tyroc stuck them down with one blow.

Shadowsurfer didn't enjoy being in mid air, there was no darkness immediately available to teleport through and while he was easily stronger than most of his opponents he was current behind Sun Boy who was firing off bolts of plasma so had little option to engage in the fight. Taking a risk the student dived down towards the ground where he could see some large boulders casting patches of darkness. As he reached them he quickly scanned the sky above and picked his target. There was a field of darkness swirling around Grev Mallor and so Walyed Reeaz decided to launch a surprise attack against him. He flew into the darkness and came out behind the Talokean. As he did Non flew through his opponent though Grev did not collapse as the Spear of Artemis had. Instead the former Shadow Champion held out a hand and Non was flung away by some invisible force. Shadowsurfer took the opportunity to leap at his opponent and deliver a mighty punch at the back of his head. Even as he swung his fist he could feel the energy leach out of his blow before it struck. Grev turned and smiled. A blast of Sun Boy's plasma exploded nearby throwing the scene into a stark relief. It was the last thing Shadowsurfer saw before the darkness that had always been so useful to him surrounded and overcame his senses.

Droo Vri used his heat vision to explode the ground around the Spear of Artemis as she regained her feet and looked as if she were away to leap. He didn't want to engage directly with the Legionnaire as he still carried Jorn Golmorton in one hand he would be seriously compromised. Even as she flipped out of the exploding rubble Amynta threw her spear at the Daxamite student. He was not quick enough to dodge the enchanted spear as it tore through his left thigh and sent him crashing into the debris strewn ground below. The Blight infected Legionnaire pounced upon him and knocked him unconscious in seconds.

Sun Boy continued firing off blasts of plasma, hoping against common sense that he could somehow push back the darkness that was spreading through the air. Around him the students fell until he was the only one left. In a fit of rage he flew towards Grev Mallor while generating a blinding corona around himself. The air burned. Gazelle bounded off his back painfully twisting him into a spin before Tyroc unleashed a yell that smashed into his senses sending him reeling. Despite his best efforts Dirk found himself on the ground. Grev Mallor and his former colleagues floated down around him. He didn't have time to say any final words before Karate Kid kicked him unconscious.

Home Base Academy staff

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

Science Police training staff:

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


Pre-Commando Sergeant Rol Purtha of Naltor had offered to stay behind to monitor the evacuation. His natural precognition appeared to have stopped working, he said, so it would be best if he used his technical skills to assist. Lu nodded and the rest of the tutors quickly called out lists of the students the required to support them.

Chameleon Girl led a team into one of the Desert People's major cave systems. She had brought ten students including a memory-caster from this tribe. The tribes folk quickly packed essentials and followed the Legionnaires to their way out. Henry spun a warp that allowed the many scared tribes folk to travel through twenty wide at a time.

Colossal Boy led a team into the most northerly of the city states. The peoples within had activated their security system and as the former Legionnaire and his students walked through the spinning honey and violet warp a loud automated voice told them to stop where they were. With years of experience the former Legionnaire activated his flight ring ID and asked to issue a city wide alert calling for evacuation. The ambassadorial status that his ring gave him was enough to ensure the AI security complied. Within minutes they had crowds of scared Talokeans crowded around them. Gim grew in size to just over forty feet tall and as gently as possible directed them to the warp that Henry had created for their evacuation.

Science Police Officer Vae Loct of Daxam, or Tues El as the majority of the students preferred to call him, led a team of ten into the smallest of the Ten City States. The peoples were rioting along the thirteen block long main strip as the warp opened though judicious use of the Daxamite's powerful freezing breath and Dragon Lass and Glory using their loudhailer functions on their flight ring, soon had the city folks running towards the warp Henry had spun into existence.

Science Police Officer Ella Drottmi had twelve students on her team. They calmly dealt with the frightened inhabitants of one of the Forest People's small cities. Her telepathy was pushed to almost breaking point as she broadcast a feeling of calm relief onto the crowds as they strode through Henry's warp.

Cosmic Boy had a small team of only four but they were quick to take charge and evacuate the desert township they had warped into. The people were scared as even in their remote settlement the news had spread that there was something destroying their planet. The tribes cheered as the Legionnaire and his student team arrived with an offer to help. Elthur Mundo, the student from Carggg called Triple Nova, proved invaluable as he stopped a massive supplies truck from crushing a family that were rushing towards the warp to safety. Still, Rokk knew this was only the start of a long road to safety and security for the Talokeans but he kept smiling as he helped move objects with his magno-kinesis through the warp Henry had spun for them.

Science Police Senior Training Officer Jaxi Delgrado-Hynd had a large team of students at hand to help move as many items of cultural and historic importance as possible from the many museums and libraries on Talok viii. There were two Braalians and two telekinetics that proved invaluable. The world may very well perish but that didn't mean the people's history would.

Luornu Durgo and her small team of students had warped into a large plaza of the Central Council building where the planetary senate traditionally sat. There were very few senators present though their staff and the many workers that helped keep their politicians offices and residences were grateful when the Legionnaire offered a way off world.

Invisible Kid and his team of students warped to the Crandrasahaven University campus - a galaxy famous institution that specialised in history and archeological training. They were hard pressed to keep up with the boxes of historical artifacts that the tutors and students wanted to save. Rish'ha Nor of Lallor stepped between two burly men that had drawn knives on each other and calmly persuaded them to forget about fighting each other and instead focus on helping save their world's history and culture and population. He told them that whomever saved the most people's lives would be the winner. To his surprise, the two Talokeans that had moments before been looking to puncture each other agreed. Jacques floated down behind the young mutant student and patted him on the shoulder and praised his good work.

Ms Big, Science Police Officer Erikka Chowdrey, admitted to herself that she was scared. Her abilities seemed particularly useless as she arranged for the residents of the sand city where the largest of the Three Tribes of the desert folk resided to be evacuated. She had nine students with her, including a telepath and a Daxamite, both of whom she thought were exemplary. She remembered her own training and calmly assisted where she could while watching over the growing crowds that pushed their way through Henry's warp.

Lydda Jath led a team to the small southern continent, currently in night. Many of the people in the one City State were asleep but she quickly arranged for an alarm to sound giving directions to Henry's warp. The students she had chosen to accompany her were keen to help the scared populace. She made sure that the two that had speed abilities worked at the outer edges of the city, sweeping the residents in towards the huge crowds that were gathering in the central plaza. Night Girl hoped Henry would be able to maintain the warps they had requested as there were a lot of people still to rescue!

Back on Home Base, Officer Rol Purtha realised that the Forges - the weapon makers of each tribe that often helped shaped their various tribe people's cultural identities - had not been targeted for assistance. He left four students manning the control panel including a young Coluan with an aptitude for collating information and manipulating data within technology and called out for twenty student volunteers to help him with evacuation detail. He had every single remaining student and the four he had left in the control room volunteer.

Southern Lights of Starhaven - spaceflight, magic user
Atomsmasher - Ergus Wraithcat of Betelgeuse, spaceflight, invulnerability, hyper senses, telepathy, radiation manipulation

The Black Witch of Zerox - Mysa Nal of Naltor, channels immense magic energies


High above the Talokean atmosphere a group of magical beings watched the unfolding destruction of the world below.

<We must hurry...> Mysa felt a momentary panic at the Red Goddesses' words, they were close to completing their warding spell. It would stop anything from ever leaving the planet below them again. Whatever was down there would be sacrificed for the greater good of the universe as its own demise would fuel the magic that held the terrifying evil in stasis.

As the Black Witch, the ruler of Zerox, she has access to knowledge that rationalized this planetary sacrifice. She knew how fast and far the cosmic cancer on Talok viii would spread if it was not stopped here and now. As Mysa Nal, the Far-sightless girl from Naltor, she also knew that the death toll would include millions if not billions of innocent beings and destroy the history of peoples that had existed for millennia.

<Wait! We must allow the Legion and their allies to assist as many of the natives off this world as they can> Even as she sent this thought to the magical entities around her Mysa knew that some would disagree. Sacrificing a hero would boost their magic, sacrificing many would ensure it would be unstoppable...

<Daughter of Naltor> there was definitely a tone of displeasure as the Red Lord of Misrule addressed the gathering <You know we cannot save them all, you know that>

<We do not need to sacrifice them all either> She quickly retorted. There was a moments silence as the Lord of Misrule tried to stare down the Black Witch.

<They have as long as these sands fall... then we must complete the spell if we are to save our universe. We cannot wait any longer lest we lose everything> The Speakers of All Things Alive held an ornate timer between their thin hands, spun out of the chilled space the mystics inhabited above the Talokean atmosphere. Within its finely chiseled bone and skin frame tiny grains of pure white sand fell.

Mysa looked at it and with that glance estimated that the sands within it would run out in a just under 17 minutes... the Black Witch nodded her head. Her former allies and friends would have that much time before they would be trapped here alongside the being responsible for this abomination.

<Nura.... listen to me dear sister, you must take heed of this warning> Mysa cast her thoughts out towards her sister in her astronomer's satellite home within the far away Xanthu system <Nura you must warn our friends in the Legion that they have quarter of one standard hour before they will no longer be able to leave Talok viii. Do not let them stay any longer or they will be lost. This is as much as I can do for them. Make sure all who wear a Flight Ring are removed as I cannot save any that choose to remain after that. Please sister, warn our friends that they must hurry>

I really like Retro's power, it's unique and effective while still having definite boundaries...hopefully he and Kara can come up with something to help save the day! (just quietly, I think Atom Girl is gonna find a way to be more useful than she's anticipating as well)

The fall of Sun Boy's squad was well done, and I like the added bit of tension now that they're on a deadline to fix everything! Looking forward to seeing more! My head has not really been in the best space to keep writing stuff myself but I am gonna try and get back into it soon, I am glad to see that y'all have still been going strong while I have been on hiatus

Ms Big - Science Police Officer Erikka Chowdrey of Venus, increase her own muscle mass at will


The Sand City of the largest tribe of the Three Peoples of Desert had a population of about half a million people.

Erikka was glad that they had a telepath on her team who could handle large groups as that student was instrumental in keeping the crowds that grew around the warps reasonably calm. The others on her team where all off helping the desert peoples with collecting urgently needed supplies and giving support to those that were unable to make it to the warp.

The Home Base instructor had just finished thinking to herself that this was all going surprisingly well when the attack happened.

<Ma'am, there's something else... we're not alone!> The message came from Nada Melthurasan, the student telepath that had been helping the crowd.

<Where?>

Even before the student could reply there was a disturbance at the back of the crowd. There were screams and she could see the mass of the crowd start to push away from... something. Erikka Chowdrey took to the air and flew as fast as her flight ring would carry her. As she flew, she used her abilities to increase her muscle mass tenfold. Erikka had a strong gut feeling this wasn't going to be solved by saying please and a smile.

As she approached, she could see that boxes and objects the Talokeans were carrying were shooting ten feet in the air before raining back down upon the
already scared Desert People. It wasn't until she was almost at the scene that she saw the source - a ruffle of blond hair and the blue glow of magnokinesis in action... it was her former Science Police colleague Dyrk Magz!

They had been warned that their colleagues may be compromised but Erikka hadn't expected to encounter one of them, let alone one that she was close friends with. As she got closer, she could see in between the maelstrom of swirling metallic shards that spun around him driving the locals away in fear, that his eyes were bright red and he wore strips of a strange organic armour across his shoulders and torso.

"Dyrk! Stop this nonsense!" As Ms Big shouted at her former colleague a stream of debris flew out of the swirling mass around him targeting her. As the shrapnel almost reached her she dropped from the air crashing loudly into the dirt underneath. Magno smiled as he saw her desperate attempt to avoid his attack. Erikka was well aware that at a distance he had much better offensive capabilities, she needed to get close to stand a chance. She desperately grabbed at a trunk that had been dropped by one of the fleeing crowd and flung it with all her might towards him and then sprung into the air again, narrowly avoiding being impaled by the debris Magno had magnetically turned in the air to target her again.

As she got close several pieces of the metal maelstrom struck her but keeping her arms over her face she powered through. A sharp piece of metal struck her shoulder and as durable as she was while in her massive form it tore through the skin and hurt!

<Cover your eyes!> The voice was from D'Nadka Endorooga, the solar powered student gorilla that had joined the team here. And even through Erikka tightly squeezed shut eyelids she was struck by a blinding flare. The magnetic maelstrom started to fall around the Science Police officer as she clumsily landed ten feet away from her former colleague. Magno was stumbling around, his hands over his eyes as he cursed and swore darkly.

Erikka struggled to see clearly as well despite the warning though could make out the dark form of D'Nadka bounding over some rubble and slamming an arm into the back of Magno's head sending sprawling into the ground. As Dyrk Magz crashed into the ground the last of the debris he had been controlling fell with him in a loud clatter.

"Thank you D'Nadka, that was very brave."

The Gorilla gave a big toothy grin as she picked up one of Magno's arms and slapped an incapacity cuff on his wrist to ensure he stayed unconscious.

Jumping Jack - Science Police Senior Training Officer Jaxi Delgrado-Hynd of Morshesh 5, hyper awareness, reflexes and agility


In the city state of Marranadorun stands the largest museum of Talokean historic artifacts on this doomed world.

Jaxi Delgrado-Hynd had led a team of students to help save as much as possible from the various vaults and exhibition spaces as they could. Initially the staff had been less than helpful until one of the psychic students shared exactly what was happening outside of the museums vaulted walls. Jaxi had given the students ten minutes to get as much as possible through the warp before he planned on taking them to the Polar Museum on the far edge of the Southernmost continent for a final rushed evacuation.

They were finishing up, with minimal accidental damage and virtually no arguments when the air started to swirl and a purple mist coalesced into the form of Glorith.

He could immediately that this was not the quiet and studious young woman he had met previously. Her eyes glowed red and she wore straps of putrid looking armour. Most striking was her body language, it was confident, brash even!

<We have a problem!> He sent to all his students <Glorith is here though she is not our friend. We need her unconscious, stat!>

Even as he sent this message his former colleague spoke "You will stop. If you resist you will..."

One of the telekinetic students, Jaun Vineo, who they called the Poltergeist, reached out with his abilities and wrapped the Legionnaires' cloak tightly around her head to distract her. As Glorith began to struggle Jaxi acrobatically leapt into the air and snapped an incapacity cuff on one of her slender arms. The magical Legionnaire fell unconscious and dropped from where she had stood on the air above them. Poltergeist reached out with his abilities again and caught Glorith, gently resting her upon a plinth where minutes before had been a statue of a long forgotten ancient warlord from this area of Talok viii.

"Good Job! Right... let's get this done and out of here quick as possible now."

Jaxi could see that several of the students looked shocked but thankfully they only froze for a second before carrying on with their tasks. His reputation at the Academy was as one of the "lighter touches" and while that may have been the case while on Home Base, here on a mission they had no time for sentiment when there was a job to get done.

'Brain Girl' - Science Police Officer Ella Drottmi of Titan, telepathy and telekinesis

The Forest People city was spread over several dozen klicks across many levels of the thick forest. Getting all the people and their supplies to a central point where the warp Henry spun would take them to their new home was proving to be a logistical headache. Ella thought that if this was a small city then whichever team was dealing with the larger ones must be struggling. And if that was the case, they had to hurry so they could give support to their colleagues.

Denal Lort of Dryad, who took the name Strobe, was proving invaluable as he shot at light speed between the groups of Talokeans making their way to Henry's warp off planet encouraging them and keeping them informed of what was happening. He had been reappearing at Ella's side every few minutes or so to report on how things were happening in real time. As she was stretching her telepathic abilities keeping the natives calm, she was grateful for the young man's assistance. She had asked the team to not contact her via the flight ring telepathic grid unless it was an emergency as it would impact upon her own abilities. So far none of the twelve students that had joined her had interrupted her that way which she was very grateful to acknowledge.

Strobe had landed at her side and was just away to speak when they both heard an explosion.

Ella reached out with her psionic ability to find the source... There! Kid Pulsar had blown up one of the large green barked trees that the locals lived upon. Bouncing Boy was with him and both had a strange veneer of something unclean overriding their minds.

<Students! Listen up, we have company and it's our former colleagues - keep the locals calm and carry on getting them through the warp. That is your priority> She sent her thoughts out before turning to Strobe.

"We've got to get them away from the crowds, can you get their attention and get them to follow you away from here?"

Strobe gave a cheeky grin and vanished in a beam of light.

Ella reached out again and this time she could feel a third assailant - Science Police Captain Gryal Vrizza of Bgztl, her colleague currently serving under Tyroc on Second Base was phasing through the ground towards her. His mind felt polluted! Ella took a deep breath and focussed her thoughts.

<Gryal> She sent <Come up, out of the ground and speak to me>

The Science Police officer that the Legion had christened Captain Phantom tore through the ground ten feet away from her. His eyes shone a malevolent red and he wore strips of purple armour across his wiry frame. She heard a loud yell followed by a crash from off in the direction of the other two former colleagues but forced herself to keep her full attention on the man in front of her.

"You will serve!" He shouted before lunged towards her.

"Oh, you are so boring..." Ella said in a disappointed tone as she sent a strong telepathic urge into his mind to fall into a deep dreamless sleep. The SP Captain collapsed at her feet.

<Strobe, are you okay?>

"Hey!" There was a flash of light before he appeared at her side, "Yeah, just dealt with those two losers. Howler helped, she distracted them so I blinded Bouncing boy sending him crashing into Pulsar then while they were down we snapped cuffs on them. Both snoozing now."

"Good job Denal!" Ella said enthusiastically.

"So, anyways, they?re over there." He pointed into a thicket, "...and I better get back to making sure the Forest folk are okay." With a big grin he vanished once more in a flash of light.

Ella Drottmi took another deep breath and wiped her hand across her forehead before once again broadcasting calming thoughts at the Talokean people while they hurried towards Henry's warp.

"Querl!"

The holo of Nura Nal appeared before the Coluan genius.

"Nura, have you had a prophetic vision?"

"No, Mysa contacted me. She's at Talok viii..."

"Interesting..."

"And she says you now have quarter of an hour to get everyone off of there."

"That's impossible Nura. I've calculated we have nine hours before full planetary bio-sphere destruction ..."

"No, you don't! Dammit Brainy, you have 15 minutes before Mysa seals that world off forever from the rest of the universe or whatever is on Talok will spread and then there'll be no stopping it. Okay? So, do you want to boost my signal so I can warn the teams there or will you contact them?"

Wildfire's team were closest to the epicentre of the spreading destruction and encountered several of his former colleagues - Comet Queen, Gravity Kid, Power Boy and Ferro. The anti-energy tutor knew that they were under their enemies' control as word had spread that anyone wearing the putrid straps were compromised and so he didn't even bother trying to speak to them. Instead the anti-energy Legionnaire blasted three of them unconscious as soon as they were within range. Power Boy had lowered his molecular density allowing Wildfire's blast to pass through him. Drake Burroughs expected this to happen but wasn't particularly worried as he had the student Marmud Illic, the Mindbender, on his team - an alpha grade telepath - so was confident Jed wouldn't be any trouble. As requested, the psychic student quickly issued a command for the large purple skinned Legionnaire to fall asleep.

At Wildfire's order, Henry opened a warp and deposited the blighted Legionnaires into cells on Takron-Galtos. Wildfire knew that several of the students on his team were struggling - the disaster unfolding in front of them was bad enough but to then fight Legionnaires... he shared a quick <Well done everyone! You're all acting like the Big Team now. Keep goin' and we'll be back at Home Base before y' know it> before picking up an aircar full of a fleeing family and directing them through Henry's warp to safety.

It was Marmud Illic that found the remains of Starkling. The young Titanian started scrabbling around among debris picking up small stones.

<Sir! Quick, I think this is Starkling, there's a residual telepathic field>

His fellow student, Sarjerash Mor Toark of Mars, called Tesseract, flew down to join him. She was known to be a bit of a spoiled princess and Marmud wasn't exactly happy that she had joined him but she took up handfuls of the inert marble sized stones and absorbed them into herself. The young woman was a living doorway to a pocket dimension where she could store an almost limitless amount of inorganic matter - she had often told her fellow students that she contained a huge arsenal of weapons and equipment ready for any situation.

"I'll hold onto him Mindbender... he'll be safe inside me. Pass them up." Her voice sounded as if she genuinely cared. Instinctively Mahmud reached out to feel her thoughts and he was surprised to find that they were genuinely of concern for the legionnaire. Perhaps she wasn't the self-serving batwitch they all thought she was... the two of them spent several desperate minutes scratching around the debris trying to locate as many of the component parts of the swarm legionnaire as they could. Once they were done Henry appeared before them offering a warp to the Titanian settlement on Naltor where he suggested the small marble-like parts of the swarm Legionnaire might find some help in re-establishing the telepathic bonds between the individual parts. Neither student questioned how the 75th century holo-man knew what they were doing.


The Academy tutors and students had been at work for over an hour when Nura Nal's message tore across their flight ring communications grid:

<Legionnaires, you must listen. You have fifteen minutes before you must leave this world. Not a second more or there'll be no escape after that. Be quick, be efficient and most importantly, get your asses off of Talok viii in plenty of time. Good luck and may Cassandra bless you all!>

The planet Colu had been known as the centre of galactic information and learning for millennia.

Primarily a planet of pacifists, the Coluans have dealt with invasion by outside forces that saw them as an easy target as well suffering under the illogical rule of conquering despots in their past which had led them to find a practical solution to dissuade such interruptions to their data gathering and cataloguing work as part of the great intellectual hub. Over a thousand years before they created force field technology that even now in the 31st century was seen as the most advanced defensive screens in existence. It was said that they persuaded a Green Lantern to try to best their shields but that they failed in this task.

After Brainiac 5's warning the ruling Council and AI Controllers initiated their primary defence grid. In doing so they activated a series of long-range sensors from with diverse spots in their solar system - a system with only three planets with a total of seventeen moons. Each of these moons had a system scanner which under usual circumstances gave a real time feed for the Astronomers on Colu. As the defence grid was activated these scans extended their reach and would monitor out to a light year from their home star.

The planetary force fields that usually were used as part of a planet wide weather control system were increased to the point that any approaching craft would be unable to enter the planets gravity well.

The governing AI ensured that the protocols for safeguarding down sensitive or dangerous information were in force while the organic residents were alerted of possible lock down.

All in all, these took 7.65 seconds to put in place. The Coluans believed that they were safe. It's true that the action definitely saved some lives but it was not enough to stop the damage that happened.

As the warp ruptured into their upper atmosphere the planetary AI took action lowering their force screens so that these would be between the warp and the world below. The lowering of the shields dramatically increased atmospheric pressure causing problems for any of the 12 billion organic population that were outside of a building at that time. This was calculated as an acceptable risk.

The bolt of pink lightning tore through the spatial warp and smashed into the hastily lowered force field.

The energy that Atrophos had hurled across countless light years raged around the force field cracking it in several places. These rips allowed the destructive energy to fork down onto the city-like information hubs below, though thankfully the majority of the blast was deflected away from the planet's surface. Still the damage was considerable where it struck - over 250,000 organic Coluans were lost as well as a large section of one of the major information hubs that collected galactic population data. The force field generators were blown by the sudden attack, destroying the many thousand year old machines. A large percentage of the planetary atmosphere burned for several minutes causing climatic damage that would stain the Coluan skies for a decade.

Overall, once the world government, both AI and organic realised that a second attack wasn't imminent they minuted in their general council meeting records that the losses were as close to victory as they could expect given the calculated ferocity of the attack.

The population continued uninterrupted with their important work.

Hey Raz, thanks again for your feedback.

Retro is a strange one as he could easily be unbeatable - and so quite boring - so I'm thinking of putting some very firm limits on his abilities. More soon on that.

Fix everything? Nah, very doubtful really... oh well.

Know what you mean about writing burn out I took 6 months off from even reading my notes before starting again and it took a month of an hour a day to get going again. It'll come when it's ready and you know you have a fan base ready to enjoy it when you do so it's all good

More soon,

C

Hi Harbi, glad you're writing again! I've been swamped with work recently, then on holiday now to stave off burnout - will read in more detail later. However, I skimmed through and I'm loving:

1) looks into failed applicants such as Colossal Girl, glad to see em still fighting the good fight

2) brilliant idea having the Science Police meta squad teaming up. Great way to harness their powers, and indeed not something explored enough in the canon books



3) you continue to excel at creating a sense of scale, both by the placement of your scenes and by the reactions/thoughts of your characters!

More, more, more!

Just read more completely!

Loved the mission with the Emperor. Great use of Mon's polite firmness and Sister Eclipse too!

The Magi... nice twist, having him be a Trommite. Nice reference to the peaceful Trommite ways, and how he would find Jan to be violent. I guess he only encased the Legionnaires, not really hurt them, so that fits in... Must have missed his story though, how did he survive the Roxxas massacre?

I like Otaki's uniqueness. Her mind-sense is not as "powerful" as traditional telepathy,but I like how the Titans saw the value of her great range.

Jenni and Po make a sweet couple. And very practical and logical approach to being cast aside from their respective realities. Certainly very realistic that Po would get homesick!

Bittersweet outing for Shardwurd, Magnus and Shessan. I think they did OK, but I can see Lydda's point. Definitely a good learning experience; disarm if you can (though their powers weren't the best suited for that!)

Now on to the Blight and Talok VIII!

1) Loved seeing Tinya take charge. The leader we deserved but hardly ever got in the comics. Thanks for giving her her due.

2) That bit with the Spoiler: a very nice way to show that the hero game is dangerous, and even the best can misinterpret things...

3) psychic assaults coupled with the physical tendrils, eek! good explanation for how people were taken over so quickly... "telepaths are the easiest" was chilling.

4) beautiful scene with Henry explaining to Kent why he shouldn't go to Talok.

5) liking your use of Atom Girl very much! The point on Imskian insecurity (I can relate, my home country has a bit of that). And her using it to overcome the despair.

6) nice interlude with Nura as well. A great scene - giving the scale of the problem but also highlighting Nura's stature and reputation

7) Atrophos as the Shadow Spirit, eek! What does this mean for Tasmia later on...?

8) Thunder's plan and Glorith's protection charm were great touches. Same for Kara's Kryptonite Shield.


9) The Legionnaires' apprehension with risking the students was very well done.

10) And to add to the epic scale, the returns of Mysa and Brek!


11) Thunder's team being dispatched so swiftly (though putting up a fight). Yikes!


12) The exploration into the different tribes of Talok is great...

13)... as is the importance of Colu! And the protocols plus ease with which Brainy convinced the council to accept his reasoning.

14) and i almost missed, but Tharok was the advance agent of Robotica in the Reboot... now he's the vessel for the Blight!

15) The GL Corps AND the mages! oh my!

16) Great evacuation bit. Loved the part about saving items from the museums. And the attacks from Blighted Legionnaires... of course it wouldn't be easy! Thank goodness they managed... some great work from the students and staff there.

IB, hi there, thanks for your lovely feedback, such a treat!

It wasn't explicitly stated but I imagine the Magi just happened to be away from Trom when the massacre happened and he ran. He doesn't strike me as the bravest of men, hiding behind his wives as he did, so before we meet him again I'll have to think it through a bit more and give you some answers.

The Mon El story didn't work out as well as I hoped but it will have ramifications later on, so I'm glad you liked it.

Thank you for your thoughts regarding the Talok situation, I have tried to look at as many different fronts in the battle as possible to reinforce how horrible it is

It'll come to a brutal conclusion soon and not all of our friends will make it through so get your hankies ready.

Thanks again, always grateful for your support

C

re Magi, that makes sense, after all in the Preboot, Trom wasn't quite the insular and undiscovered society that it was in the Reboot. the Reboot explicitly had it that Trom hadn't discovered space travel before RJ Brande came.

oh dear, but I do admire your willingness to kill your characters where it makes sense. definitely looking forward to reading the conclusion!