Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Legion Worlds Nine updated 16 April 24

This is part nine of my fan-fic set in the Retro-Boot.

As I've been writing this for almost a decade the team have changed and advanced quite a bit from where they started off from in canon - Retroboot issue 14. Currently, the team are split across several planetoid bases - Home Base is in orbit around Saturn and hosts the Academy, Thunder leads First Base as that part of the team focus on protecting the United Planets, Second Base is run by Tyroc and they are having adventures further afield, while Dream Girl runs Hope World whose remit is purely disaster relief and support.

The team has been greatly expanded from canon and I'll add roll calls at the start of each section, though if you want to see a full list of who's who and where then it's at the end of Legion Worlds Eight.

Where we are now: Duplicate Girl was mentoring a new member of the Second Base team, Marmud Illic - a telepath they call Mindbender - though accusations of bullying have meant her place on the team is in jeopardy unless she attends a mandatory psych evaluation and counselling session.

.....................................


First Base, private office of Dr Falkner:

Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg - creation of multiple identical duplicates
Science Police Psychiatrist - Doctor Anje Falkner - alpha-level telepath


Luornu looked at Anje and smiled.

It was not a smile that imparted any feeling of particular warmth and Anje felt the Legionnaire tense up. The Cargggite had been ordered to attend counselling the day before by Tyroc and was clearly unhappy about it.

"So, Luornu… or do you prefer Lu?" Duplicate Girl shrugged as Dr Falkner asked this indicating she didn't mind either, "can you tell me about your family when you were growing up, please?"

"All of that is on file…"

"Not your thoughts on them, only dry facts. And it’ll give you an opportunity to discuss…"

"This is rubbish, I’m sorry Anje but I don’t see the point of being here."

Anje allowed a silence to build before she replied, "I’m sure you’re aware, you’re here because you have been witnessed and reported as bullying a junior member of the team. It is only because of your long standing with the team that you have not been sent to the academy for remedial training in expected behaviours. It was thought rather than embarrass you by having you be publicly shamed in front of students and your peers you might want to talk things through confidentially here instead. So, once again, tell me about your family."

When Lu smiled this time, it was predatory.

"Marmud is a manipulative ego-tripper."

"That is not how I assessed him, though something we can both agree on is that he is a full legionnaire deserving of respect for having earned his position on the team." If her words hadn't been enough, Anje's expression as she replied made it perfectly clear she would not tolerate such outbursts from Lu again. "Please, Lu, can you put what you are feeling aside and tell me about your family? I have had to re-arrange my diary to give you two hours today, let's make good use of this time, eh?"

"Oh, if I must..."

Again, there was silence but Anje decided that she wouldn't let Lu set the pace on this so had another option to pry her into a meaningful conversation.

"Perhaps... instead, you could tell me about Carggg, I've never been though have met a few SPOs from there."

………………………..


Encyclopaedia Galactica:

The planet Carggg sits in a system with three suns, nine planets and twenty seven moons. It was the three hundred and thirty third planet settled by human colonists, by the late 27th century.

The settlers had arrived on a terraforming Bubble Arc that had left the Sol system two hundred and ten years before. The massive craft had been damaged by a huge meteor strike while on its journey and minute amounts of various forms of radiation seeped into the craft over the next seventy two years. Of the twenty thousand plus settlers that had joined the mission and submitted to cryogenic stasis, only nine hundred and forty two survived.

The survivors awoke to a very different world than the initial settlers had envisioned and the first thirty years were much harder than many imagined possible as they set up their distant colony world to be self-sufficient. Thankfully, the data banks on their Bubble Arc contained enough information about the skills they had lost with the settlers that had not survived the transit.

The first native to triplicate was a baby born nine standard months to the day after the initial settlers had arrived. They were the first human child conceived and born on the far-off planet. After that, all children that were born on the planet descended from these first group of settlers shared this ability. It was never fully discerned if the cause of this mutation was the radiation leak on board the Bubble Arc had affected the survivors, or if it was something emanating from the new world they stood upon that was responsible. Truth be told, the Cargggites didn't care, they were too grateful that the mutation was so benign.

It also reinforced the religious element amongst the settlers. There was already an undercurrent of spirituality amongst them, as a large percentage saw their own survival as a true miracle, and as their progeny appearing to create a trinity of themselves it triggered a wave of religious fervour.

Their beliefs centred around the triple stars and soon horoscopes were drawn up for every child born under those celestial bodies. A new religion was born; the Children of Three. Several hundred three sided pyramids were built in honour of their new faith throughout the areas that the settlers cultivated and urbanised.

Since joining the United Planets, religion has become less important to the day-to-day life of the average Cargggite, though horoscopes are still routinely drawn up on the birth of every child.

Famous Cargggites include Luornu Durgo, originally known as Triplicate Girl then Duo Damsel and most recently Duplicate Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes, Martioni Lefrantois of the Laser Ball Championship team New Venus Uprising, and renowned Quark Stream Shock-Jock Rattucan Marble.

…………….


Anje had spent five minutes listening to Luornu deliver a very dry history of her home world before the Cargggite finally opened up. She started talking more in depth about the hardships that the settlers endured and how it meant over a century of hardship that fed into the culture of the world and most importantly to Anje, how that influenced her own family.

"My father was an asteroid miner and had a serious stroke while piloting in the middle asteroid belt. As his three selves were unified at the time all three of them suffered. I was five when it happened so don’t really remember much but I know we moved out of our home and in with my maternal grandparents... suddenly I didn’t play with schoolmates so much as I had to help my mother and grandmothers more. He lost movement in the entire left side of his body. He was sixteen hours away from Carggg when it happened so by the time his autopilot got him back it was too late to fix him properly. Though from what I found out later, no-one actually expected him to survive."

Anje remained quiet, aware that there was more to come.

"I… I kind of resented him for a while after that. He was the parent that the other parents were oh-so polite with but never got close to, and the kids at school were brutal. After I’d been sent home with a bloody nose and ripped clothes because I’d been fighting the kids that were teasing me for the fourth or fifth time, my grandfather... Papa Jiggers, suggested that I learn tri-jitsu. My mother hated the idea but my father agreed, so despite their disagreement I was allowed to attend the classes. I think that stopped me going off the rails."

"What was it about martial arts that appealed to you?"

"Initially… it was that I had permission to hit people." Lu laughed genuinely after saying this. "Though looking back on it, it gave me a purpose and introduced me to a bunch of characters who opened my eyes to opportunities beyond my family and immediate surroundings. Tri-jitsu wasn’t really taken seriously by most Cargggites to be honest, not then anyway, it didn’t really have the same draw as Triple Ball or Three Strike… team sports were more appealing to those that naturally formed their own team. I suppose. Tri-jitsu appealed to the more eccentric in the community."

"I don’t understand…" Anje interjected softly.

"Cargggites are never alone Anje, we have ourselves to support us. It can make us appear quite aloof, even arrogant sometimes, as we usually don’t require much assistance. We are our own team and support network. And it means we naturally see team sports as more ...natural, I guess." Lu gave Anje a small smile as she said this. "Although it’s rarely said out loud, those that can’t triplicate are seen as a bit pathetic because of it. Like children, they need help more often than a Cargggite ever would. On Carggg the rest of mankind are called the One-Bods amongst ourselves, and it isn't always meant nicely... that’s the unspoken view of many of my people you won't read on an official file."

"I’ve met a few of your people and, yes, I have to agree that they all have a degree of self-sufficiency." Anje gave a small smile as she spoke which Lu returned.

"Anyway… tri-jitsu, yeah, it probably saved me, certainly gave me discipline and confidence that I was lacking. My father died before I took the planetary trophy… at fourteen I had a shot at the title but got knocked out in the quarterfinals. He died before I had another chance at the title."

"I’m sorry to hear that, Lu. What happened?"

"After his stroke he was greatly weakened… to be honest, I’m amazed he lived as long as he did. My mother had to take a promotion as he could no longer work and needed a lot of medical care which meant she worked long hours to pay for it. Carggg wasn't part of the United Planets at that point so healthcare was prohibitively expensive back then. Even though there was some paid help, from about the age of eight I was his main care-giver. Or at least, I spent the most time with him."

"Was that your choice?" Anje leaned forward as she asked.

"Mine and his, really. We were close. I was a real 'daddy's girl' at that age." Lu gave a small smile and continued. "He couldn't be left alone for long as he had developed lung problems so rather than me miss out on what I wanted to do he... he’d insist I took him to the dojo and he would watch as I trained. He knew how important it was for me. I think he knew better than I did... If he thought I wasn’t trying hard enough he’d give me a right telling off afterwards." Again, Lu laughed, though this time there was definite sadness in her expression.

"The first time I went for the Tri-Jitsu World Championship I was knocked out after four rounds... I was real pissed but my dad told me how proud he was and strongly encouraged me to stick at it. I was fourteen and at that age... well, it isn't easy being beaten in a public tournament. So, I trained even harder after that as I knew I'd get it next time. My dad died two months after my first attempt though so never saw me lift that trophy... I know he would've been so proud."

Lu blinked several times before she reached for a tissue and dabbed the corner of her eyes.

"I haven't thought about how much he encouraged me and how proud he was in years. He was such a big part of my childhood... he made sure I always studied hard, and played fair."

......................


"So, tell me about the Legion, how did you come to join the team?"

"Three days after I won the tri-jitsu tournament it was announced that Carggg had officially, finally joined the United Planets as a full member and as a result we had new freedoms to travel." Lu smiled at this memory. "I knew that Carggg didn't have enough for me... or perhaps I didn't want what it had to offer. I spent the next eight months getting my qualifications. Did you know that I've a degree in Forensics with additional distinctions in Athletics and Psychology?"

"I am not surprised at all. No-one who has met you would doubt your intelligence or drive." Anje smiled warmly. She knew this already from the file she had read earlier in the day.

"I inherited some money after my Nan Jiggers passed and some more after my father... well, I had already made up my mind to go. My mother didn't say more than half a dozen words when I told her, but then my mother and I were never too close, which is still the case. She didn't even contact me after Chuck... I haven't spoken to her in eight months now, we normally only holo-message every Three Cross Eve, every fifteen months when the Trinity stars cross..."

"Does that bother you?"

"Not really. I'm not missing out on too much, and she probably feels the same." Lu shrugged nonchalantly before she continued, "Anyway, I was just sixteen and had decided to go travelling and was on Earth when the story broke about the attempted assassination of R. J. Brande. Well, I thought Imra, Garth and Rokk looked really amazing, like they were my age and could do something so... cool. And that was it, I decided I wanted to meet these incredible kids my age who did that amazing rescue."

"Do you ever regret that decision?"

"Are you kidding?" Luornu looked genuinely surprised by the question.

..........................


They had been talking for ten minutes about the early days of the Legion when Lu said something that Anje had been waiting for.

"Until Val joined, I was the team's martial artist and regularly ran training sessions in the old gym for the team. I think after we had Karate Kid to run those sessions, I realised I wasn't enjoying being on the team so much... it took me a while to realise I missed teaching. The adventures were great, don't get me wrong, but seeing people improve... perhaps it comes back to that belief that, I guess, the One-Bods were never as competent as a Cargggite of a comparable age. Which makes sense in a way as we do have three times the life experience."

"And the Academy... is that why you and Chuck took over running it?"

"That was several years later, after Chuck and I had married. We had tried to start over, joining a new colony out on Wondil 9, in the Fringe, but it didn't work out. We were too famous and it detracted from the experience so... I decided... Chuck wanted to stay and make it work, but no, I decided we should return to the UP proper. It's one of the few real arguments we ever had, but in the end I won. And, you know what, it was a good choice... right up to his death. Since then, I've regretted forcing him to come back every single day."

"Oh Lu, you know logically that..."

"Yes, of course!" Lu snapped. She took a second to compose herself before apologising. Anje gave her a supportive smile but remained silent, allowing Lu to continue.

"I find it hard to talk about Chuck." The small grin she gave Anje as she said this was filled with her pain. Anje nodded but didn't say a thing.

"Cargggites are taught from a very early age to be self-sufficient, which isn't... ah, it seems compared to the majority of UP worlds we're pretty hard-ass, I guess. It probably goes back to those initial colonists tying to built a world with only a fraction of the people needed."

There was another silence for half a minute before Anje spoke again.

"I’ve just had a thought. Lu, you say being able to triplicate gives Cargggites additional life experience to lean into, and by extension greater confidence and determination. How do you feel since your abilities were increased? Has your confidence increased exponentially as your self-duplication has?"

"I… I suppose so, though I’m not sure…" It was obvious that this question had thrown Lournu and before she could take her answer any further Anje wanted to distract her to allow her subconscious time to mull it over without intrusion from the Legionnaire's conscious mind, or her ego.

"We’ll leave that then. I have another question regarding your unique heritage; do your people still use horoscopes? Do you?" Anje had researched Duplicate Girl's home world before the session and could see that Lu would need time to answer her previous question so decided it was time to change direction.

"Hah! I haven't thought of that for quite a while... I knew you'd do your research but didn't expect that." Lu smiled again before she continued. "My parents werent part of the more fundamentalists followers of the Three but, yes, they had one made for me after i was born. Funnily rnough, right after Projectra joined she offered to do a horoscope for all of us. I showed her the one that had been drawn up for me... she was impressed as I recall. In case you're wondering, mine said that basically I would only be totally happy when I was looking for something to do to keep busy, would be a neat freak, would fall in love twice in my life and never be without friends around me. Even for a Cargggite, it said I would be fiercely independent though." Luornu gave a warm laugh as she thought about it.

"Well, you aren’t one to sit back on your laurels so don’t stay still for long, you definitely have a large group of friends… Have you fallen in love twice?" Anje wanted to know more about Luornu's feelings for Chuck as she believed that not dealing with her grief and pain over the loss of her husband was one of the primary causes of the current stress and aggression that the Cargggite was exhibiting.

"No, not yet. I had quite a few crushes back in the day. Gim was my first crush when he joined... actually, we took each other's virginity, though to be honest we didn't click as people, he was too much of a 'lad', a nice enough young man but had a lot of growing up to do. Really, looking back now I see he was too keen to prove himself, you know what I mean? Just like me at the Tri-Jitsu championship..." Lu smiled again before she continued. "Then I fell for Kal El, though who wouldn't? He's a truly unique man. He was always the very best of us... Your husband kind of reminds me of him in some ways, to be honest."

"Wow! Thank you. Tuk would be delighted to hear that."

"I'm not planning to steal him, by the way, just thought you'd like to know." Both women laughed.

"To get back to your question, other than Chuck there's been no-one who has ever gotten close to me. I'm not looking for anyone else either."

"What do you think he would say to that?"

"That's an unfair question, though I understand why you ask it... Chuck would tease me for missing out on further adventures because he wasn't around to share them. He would be disappointed actually. We made a pact back in the day. We knew we were nowhere near the most powerful of our teammates, and after Lyle was killed... well, we knew that our time could easily be cut short." Lu paused and reached for another tissue to wipe her eyes with.

"Yeah, so, we agreed that if anything ever happened to the other, we would mourn for the maximum of a month then pick ourselves up and get on with it."

"Have you mourned... really?" As Anje asked this Lu looked away.

.................................


"I'm fine Anje." Lu said, a tight expression on her face.

"You know, the acronym 'fine' in some psychology circles stands for Fucked up, Insecure and Nuerotic. I'm sure you learned that at university on Carggg, didn't you Luornu?"

Lu gave a bitter laugh to herself before miming a florid bow to Anje.

"Yeah... and I am coping, just working everything out piece by piece,"

"I understand. Truly, I do. Grief is not an easy emotion to reconcile with. No-one can tell you how you should feel or for how long... though we can help you if you want to let us."

"Not really. To be honest I remember how the kids at school's parents looked at my dad after his stroke and I see the same look in a fair few of my colleague's eyes. Pity doesn't help anyone."

"Is it pity? Any one of your colleagues... your friends would do anything to help you, you know that. They’re grieving too and they do love you, but have you considered that perhaps your Cargggite self-reliance means you don't create space for them that makes it easy to approach you to help when you are clearly in pain?"

"Boom! There it is." Lu's expression slipped back into the cold neutral she had worn when she arrived as she looked directly at the team's counsellor.

"Have I said something you didn't expect?" Anje asked, her expression was one of concern.

"Hell, no!"

....................


There was a silence between them that stretched out.

Anje Faulkner waited patiently, and hoped her disappointment didn’t show. This sort of silent behaviour was a form of bullying; claiming dominance by trying to force the other person to speak first. After almost a full minute of silence Anje decided to take control of the issue.

"After today I do not have free time to see you for at least another twelve days. You will not be allowed to resume active duty until I decide you are fit. Do you want to resume your role as a Legionnaire today or do you want an enforced holiday?"

The silence continued.

"Lournu. I know you are at least as smart as 90% of your colleagues, and this petulance is a child’s tool. Passive aggression is a weak persons response to a problem, so please don’t use it against me again. Do you understand? I'm here to help you but ultimately the good of the team takes precedence. That is something I'm quite sure you understand. I am not going to molly-coddle you, you’re too smart to take it if I did. If I say something you dislike or disagree with then you are free to challenge me. So… please, can we continue?"

"Yes, of course." Luornu sounded huffy as she answered.

"So, let's cut to the chase; do you feel you have allowed your teammates to assist and support you?"

Lournu shook her head and looked away.

"You've had an exceptional time in the last few years; you gained additional powers of self-replication after living as a One-Bod... your word, not mine... for quite some time, you lost your husband Chuck, you lost the Montauk Point Academy and have returned to active duty as a Legionnaire. I don't mind saying, there are several of your colleagues that I doubt would have coped, but according to you, you're 'fine'. You understand why I want us to examine this further, don't you?" Anje pressed. Luornu looked away again and lowered her head before she replied.

"Some days I'm barely hanging on but I always get through...." once more there was an awkward silence before eventually Lu carried on. "All those things you said are true Anje. But it isn't everything... we've also lost Vi and Jo and Kara, Dirk left, even Brainy left. Tinya has vanished... Then the mission on Talok viii was just horrible... we lost the entire world and billions of innocents, Brek and Hadru's trial hurt too. Having many sister-selves to rely on keeps me going. And I want to set an example..."

"Example? What, that it's okay to struggle in silence, and that it's not okay to be vulnerable or ask for help?"

Lournu took a deep breath before she answered softly. "Ah... you're probably right."

"You mentioned others that have died, and that have left... how do you feel about them Lu?"

Lournu smiled as she started to reply. "Bringing Kara to the 31st century was only my third mission on the team and I really admired her. She was a bit of a mess to be honest, always in her cousin's shadow, but she had the heart of a lion. In some ways she was even more magnificent than Kal, she felt she had so much to prove. Kara was a unifying presence amongst the girls back then, we all aspired to be like her. She might've been able to punch a moon out of orbit but was a sweetheart really." Lu gave a wistful smile as she finished and took a drink from the glass of water on the table beside her. Anje remained quiet until she continued.

"Vi and I were quite close as we were seen as the weak links on the team, so we looked out for each other for the first few years after she joined... she would come to me for advice from time to time. After that business with Yera impersonating her she... she was hurting real badly and I tried to reach out but she didn't take me up on my offer."

"How did that make you feel?"

"Worried, but I knew Vi was stronger than she was given credit for so I assumed she would be okay."

"Okay, and what about the others you mentioned? Jo, Dirk, Querl... how do you feel about their loss and leaving?"

"Ah, Jo... well despite his rufty-tufty exterior he was alright, a good egg at heart. He cared a lot more than most people realised. Tinya saw it first, and the rest of us were a bit sceptical to be honest but he more than proved himself, didn't he?"

"I never met him, I'm afraid. What about the others you said have left?"

"Well... Dirk was an arse. Actually, that's probably unfair as he's as messed up in his own way as the rest of us, he just hid his neuroses behind the big smiles and rich-kid privilege. He had that easy confidence that I... I was jealous of, I think. And, I had a love-hate relationship with Querl. He was sort of responsible for killing me... twice. Ha, you'd think I would hate him really but he was someone that everyone underestimated... the depth of his compassion is incredible. Tinya... I've been friends with Tinya longer than anyone and I know Nura says she'll be back but its still a huge worry... So, on the whole their deaths, and leaving all hurt. Yes, I miss them all. I've been friends with them for all my adult life. I don't know how Tinya and Ayla cope so well... though who knows, perhaps they're not."

"Have you spoken to your teammates about any of this?"

"Do you need to ask?"

"Okay, fair enough." Anje gave Lu a smile.

"So... you're away to suggest something, aren't you?" Lu echoed Anje's smile back at her as she asked.

"I suggest you speak to one person by the end of tomorrow about how you really feel. It can be anyone you feel safe with, but I really do insist you do this Lu. You can let me know how that felt at our next session. We will also be discussing your reactions to Marmud and other junior teammates, so expect some hard questions. I will suggest that you are allowed to keep your active duty status, though perhaps not lead any potentially life-threatening missions. So, if you can make time in your calendar again in a week, we'll meet up then. How does that sound?"

"Oh? You sure you have the time?" Luornu smiled mockingly as she asked.

"I'll make it." Anje smiled in response.

After Luornu left Anje made notes. At the end of these she wrote two sentences to sum up her thoughts after their meeting:

"Luornu Durga is fit for mission active status though I would suggest removal of a full leadership role until further examination of her current mental state is conducted - in particular, the effects that having many multiple duplicates has on her sense of self. It is clear that Lournu has given the majority of life to the betterment and care of others and consequently her considerable energies have never been healthily focussed on herself resulting in, ironically given her Cargggite heritage, her being one of the loneliest people I have ever met."

what a lovely start to the year Harbi, LW 9! also a nice treat for me, as I am a big fan of your work

also love how you've grown and evolved your team. Hope World is so inspirational, I would love it if superheroes in canon did more of that stuff too

you've done great things with Luornu. and I am digging your Anje, she is so good at what she does.

brilliant Galactica entry on Cargg! 333rd planet settled by Terrans is a nice touch and I love how you picked elements from the different boots: the religion of the Reboot and I think SW6 (Great Valor!), the radiation from the Threeboot. also the evolution of their religious beliefs here is very realistic.

ooh, I never imagined there could be Carggites unable to triplicate. And I like your thinking re how triplicating would affect Carggites' view of the world. also like how you play up Lu's trijitsu skills, TBH I don't recall being particularly impressed by her fighting skills in the Reboot - I think it was only under SW6 where we began to see elements of that

also the bit about Cargg joining the UP, we see that in our time too - like Croatia joining the Euro and Schengen zones.

Lu not really caring about being close to her mother, also seems realistic. if there was never anything there...

Also great bit about Lu being "displaced" by Val joining, as the martial artist. (and thinking about the Adventure team, indeed... can't really think of anyone besides Val who would rival Lu for best martial artist!)

haha I think Lu's horoscope is spot on. the business... falling in love twice (Kal, and Chuck?).

I was also thinking that Lu was still grieving over Chuck, so that might have to do with her behavior recently! Nice exploration of it!

ooh, Lu and Gim. but yeah I could not really see that working out indeed. Chuck is also a nice guy, but Chuck had more of a worldliness than Gim does!

also a very great progression in the conversation, with Lu slowly softening up, and bits of humor starting to be injected, and rapport building up. well done!

great reference to how Lyle's death would have shaken up Lu and Chuck!

yes, thank you for calling out that the silent treatment IS a form of bullying

I wanted to applaud Anje for her addressing Lu's silence head on

my heart broke a little when Lu listed all the tragedies and difficulties recently. also makes sense that she'd mention Hadru, as he was one of her early students!

that bit about Kara was sweet and the examination of her friendship with Vi. and also Lu's thoughts on Jo, Dirk, Querl, Tinya...

I'm loving this a lot, Harbi. what a masterpiece, from digging deep into Lu and the interaction of her powers + motivations with her self, to the evolving conversation between Lu and Anje. very very very well done, and I am so eager for more!

Straight into Lu's therapy session, BAM! I have some more in-depth thoughts about the session, but first of all I just wanna say I love that Carggg write-up - take a bow!



...onto the session itself, and Harbi this was so well written! I am super impressed, I can tell you have put a lot of thought into how it would go from both sides and I really really like that Anje didn't take Lu's crap for a second.

Grown-up Luornu is honestly one of the Legionnaires I would find most intimidating one on one and I think it says a lot for Anje's skill that she knew she wouldn't get anywhere walking on egg shells around her.

Everything Lu said also rings really true for her character; this was a really immersive read!

Home Base:

Cosmic Boy – Rokk Krinn of Braal - manipulation of magnetic fields

Probational tutor: Sun Boy ii - Sky-Lieutenant Annach’ha of the Tamaranean Sun-Corps - combat specialist - flight, strength, solar energy absorption and projection, tactile telepathy.


Sky-Lieutenant Annach'ha had arrived in UP space seventy two hours prior to setting foot on Home Base on his first day of training.

Princess Daheenisha, or Lexikon as her Legion teammates called her, had joined him to Henry's warp control room on Second Base and after wishing him luck at the academy, kissed him rather firmly before the warp to take him to Home Base spun into existence before them. He had been given a tour around the bases very briefly when he had first arrived, but since then he had been spending his time exclusively with his princess fiancé. Were he to be totally honest, he hadn't really given the bases much thought.

As he stepped through Henry's warp, the young Tamaranean soldier once again marvelled at how smooth the transition was between where he had been and where he appeared. The Vegans had their own teleportation system but it was nowhere as comfortable as the warps Henry created.

"You're early," Rokk Krinn said as he looked up from a hard light screen.

"Of course, sir..."

"It's Rokk, not sir, please. So, as you know, we're giving you a month's intensive training and if it goes well, we'll have you on the tutor's team afterwards. Today though, we're going to give you a few hours to get acclimatised..."

"Thank you, that's incredibly generous, si... Rokk." The young Tamaranean soldier looked surprised and happy at this news. Rokk Krinn marvelled at how open Annach'ha was with his emotions, so unlike his fiancé.

"And, so," Rok continued, "we've asked one of the Legionnaires who was also a military man to give you a tour this morning."

.................................


Comet King - Drinchnar Lamment of Extal colony - spaceflight, comet gas extrusion
Night Girl - Lydda Jath of Kathoon - incredible strength and durability out of direct sunlight


Comet King was flying through a holo-assault course in the Second Base main gymnasium designed to test his agility and reflexes.

The gymnasium AI had generated the course as part of his on-going training; it adapted using the results from previous training to increase the difficulty and to monitor his responses. The AI algorithm used the same process with each Legionnaire and results were shared on a large holo-board in the changing rooms - the thinking being it would foster healthy competition within the team if they could see how well their colleagues were doing.

Currently on the board, Timber Wolf was in the lead, though there were quite a few of his teammates close to his score that were pushing themselves to knock him off the top spot. Drinchnar Lamment was in joint fourth alongside Atom Girl and he was not impressed with himself. The former soldier knew he had the determination and discipline to get higher up the ratings, if he put his mind to it, and being here without the galaxilious Grava to distract him, Comet King knew this morning would be the day he did it!

As he spun through the course, Drinchnar realised he only had forty minutes before he was due to start a training session over on the Academy. Like all active Legionnaires, he was obliged to spend one day a month helping the tutors on Home Base. He rather enjoyed it, if he was being honest. His own career had started in the military so he appreciated his opportunity to mix with current members of the UP armed forces. They reminded him of not so long ago when he had happily been in their ranks. He spun through his course in record time, pushing his strength and speed to desperately grab the finish line holo-ribbon.

Comet King took a couple of sharp breaths and looked up at the holo-score - it was four whole seconds faster than his previous time on a course with a steeper rating than any he had run before - He knew that Atom Girl wouldn't beat that score and he was certain he'd go up through the rankings now!

Today was going to be a good day, he thought as he flew to the sonic showers, definitely a good day!

As Drinchnar stepped through the warp from Second Base to Home Base he was met by a team of students queuing up to take a warp through to their training assignment. Chameleon Girl was speaking to them, letting them know what was expected from their field trip.

Drinchnar thought the student's mission sounded boring as it was an Observation mission... he had always hated sentry duty, or most non-combat duties actually, preferring the thrill of physical action... of battle. And, he was very happy that the Legion was set up to play to the team members individual strengths so he would never realistically sent to spy on anyone, for one thing he was pretty distinctive looking, instead he was generally sent where the team needed a strong response.

He made his way from the warp control chamber to the main meeting room to check his assignment for the day. Drinchnar hoped he would be looking after a group from the UP military today, though he knew it might be his turn to help out the tutors with one of their special teams... these were the students that were trying solely for Legionhood... they could be a mixed bag, often with powers he didn't really understand, if he was being honest. As he strolled through the corridors, he remembered the first time he had been here, well over a year ago now. This planetoid had been carved out by a religious cult and nearly every wall had frescoes or some fancy scroll work - it was so unlike anywhere he had lived before that he had found it daunting, overwhelming. Grava had got him through that disorientating time so well with her kindness and beauty...

"Hey Comet King!" a voice called out from behind and he turned to see Night Girl striding along the corridor towards him.

"Lydda, hey!" He gave a lopsided grin as he waited for her to catch up.

"So, we're giving you a special task today. You're working with Sun Boy..."

"Dirk's back? Stratospheric news!" He interrupted, clearly happy.

"Oh, no, not Dirk. It's Lexikon's fiancé, Annach'ha. That's his new code-name. Well, since Dirk left... y'know we've not heard much from him, and it's unlikely he'll be back, so why waste a perfectly good name?"

"Ah... okay, so what's the stellar-scope?" Drinchnar didn't sound entirely convinced but knew how to take orders, so would approach this task professionally.

"He's being fast tracked through the Academy, and as he's Vegan military in background, we thought you two might get along. It would be good for him, I think, to know there is another with a similar life experience... Do you mind spending the morning giving him a proper tour and introducing him to the set-up here?"

"yah... that'd be nova-bright, my pleasure."

Night Girl didn't entirely believe Comet King but gave him a bright encouraging smile anyway as she led him towards Rokk's office where the Tamaranean was waiting.

..................................


Three and a half hours later and Drinchnar Lamment and Sky-Lieutenant Annach'ha were in a rec room laughing as they shared stories about their time in their respective military forces.

They had visited the mini-training spaces - classrooms and combat zones, they had been to the docking bays and Henry's warp control room, discussed the role of a tutor and a Legionnaire and how it related and compared to the soldier's life, and finally they had stopped for a quick lunchbreak. It was here that Drinchnar had commented on one of his previous commanding officers, taking particular joy in calling for unexpected drills in the middle of the night. Annach'ha immediately agreed and sympathised as he too had to deal with such unlikeable treatment.

It was two hours later when they finally resumed their tour. By then, a few students that were on placements from the UP Military had joined them and shared their stories. The two former soldiers had thrown away all pretence of formality at this point and were laughing as they flew around the corridors of Home Base.

As Rokk and Lydda monitored the situation from their holo-deck in their personal quarters, they both smiled. Rokk complimented Lydda on the idea to introduce Comet King to their new Sun Boy.

Knowing that Annach'ha had made friends this morning made it far more likely that he would succeed at the Academy.

...................................


Home Base, Tutors Rec Room

Shadow Lass - Tasmia Mallor of Talok viii - summon and manipulate total darkness
Lady Memory - Kahnya Nahtahnie of Talok viii. Memory manipulation

Shadow Lass and Lady Memory had met at the Academy an hour earlier.

Though traditionally from warring tribes on their home world, the two Champions of their respective peoples had made peace between themselves and were working together to assist the survivors from the destruction of Talok viii.

Part of that involved Lady Memory helping with the training of students on Home Base. She gladly did this as the student body had saved thousands of lives on Talok viii before the world was lost to the Blight. She knew that without the bravery and selflessness that the student body had shown it would be doubtful if many of her people would have survived. Certainly none that were on the planet would have...

"It is amazing how much the settlements have come on already. The United Planets have really helped... even the Forge Smiths are happy." As she said this Kahnya laughed and Tasmia joined in.

"Yes, I was there two days ago. There's smoke belching out from the Forges already and I heard that they are sharing resources... I would never have believed it possible two years ago. And many of the new settlements are of mixed tribes, sharing their knowledge and skills. I believe our peoples are at the start of a renaissance that will benefit us all in the future."

"I have a question Tasmia..." Kahnya looked down for a split second, a moment of unexpected vulnerability that alerted the Shadow Champion that this question might be troubling answers.

"Please, Kahnya, what is it that troubles you?" Tasmia's voice was low, even though they were alone in the rec room.

"We lost our Sacred Spring in which all of those that access our history come to their power... you lost your Cave of Ancestors. The Forest Folk lost their Holy Glade... will our people have further Champions or are we the last?"

Tasmia felt her blood freeze! She had not considered this. She knew now that Atrophos of the Blight was ultimately responsible for the meta-powers that her bloodline carried the potential for, yet had not thought about what it would mean now that the Blight had been eliminated from this reality.

There was a long pause before Tasmia replied.

"Kahnya, our people are warriors be nature and the Forges create the best armour in the known galaxy. Perhaps... perhaps we no longer need Champions? Perhaps it is time for the old Tribes to ...simply become one people? Humans and Khunds have different coloured skins amongst their races yet they are not differentiated because of it, so why shouldn't Talokeans be the same?" As she said it, Tasmia knew that only a few years ago she would have thought such options as heresy, treasonous!

Lady Memory of the Desert People, ancestral enemy to Tasmia Mallor of the City Folk, smiled and nodded as she replied.

"I had the same thought."

"Let's make it so." Tasmia said.

"I knew there was a reason I liked you." Kahnya laughed after she said this.

"That's perfectly understandable." Tasmia replied with a sly grin.

IB and Raz, thank you for your kind words above, I'm really glad you liked it as Lu is a tricky character to get into the mind of so I kept my fingers crossed I'd done her justice when I posted it.

Things are still a bit busy in my personal life so I'm not sure when I'll get back, but wanted to at least post something so these have been sitting on draft folder for a while and I hope you enjoy them.

Next will be a night out for seven of the newer team members that includes a battle unlike anything I have ever seen in a comic or fan-fic! I do believe it's an all time first

Anyway, thanks again guys,

C

ooh more goodness! you definitely did Lu justice, Harbi.

as always, eager to read more from you - hope things settle down in personal life soon!

and now my comments on the latest bits:

Interesting how Sun Boy II and Lexikon are so different with their emotions, is it because Lexikon (as royalty) needed to be much more guarded?

Comet King! of course! military man to military man! I love the healthy competition bit, and nice bit having Brin be 1 and Sylva/Comet King be 4th. wonder who 2nd and 3rd are? I bet Titan is high up there

also love that whole "Legion caters to your strengths" bit, indeed! instead of stressing people out to be something they're not...

ah, the Sun Boy code name is going to continue to cause confusion methinks I like how you write this snag!

and good going Lydda, good going!

you always right Tasmia and Lady Memory so well, they have such a good working relationship. Lots of mutual respect there. and good exploration of the implications of the Blight... ooh, I lvoe that comparison re humans, skin color, that sort of thing. perhaps these two can lead Talok VIII into a new future...

awesome stuff Harbi, awesome stuff!

Comet King and (the new) Sun Boy becoming fast friends is fun to see - especially throwing in the bit about Drinchnar being a little cagey on him using Dirk's codename, it was nice to see him come around so quick.

I liked the quick mention of the holoboard ranking as well - Brin being on top isn't surprising, but it makes me wonder what the rest of the top 10 would look like!

I also really like Shady and Lady Memory's developing friendship...it will be interesting to see how this develops!

And you have me very curious about this battle coming up, looking forward to seeing what you have come up with!

First Base:

Ultra Girl - Li-Fahn Qiong of Xanthu - incredible strength, speed, indestructibility, spaceflight, and projection of force blasts, effectively limited to one at a time
Polar Girl - Mel Lassar of Tharr - cryokinesis
Friction - Janee Whittakka of Xanthu - manipulates the force of friction
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic - creation of personal spherical force field
Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg - split into three separate bodies, each with either strength and durability, speed and reflexes, or laser vision
Glory - Gloriana Crestellen of Grighshtall iv - medical support - awareness and manipulation of bio-auras
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations


Ultra Girl, Polar Girl and Friction had all known each other when they attended the Academy and, now that they had progressed to being full Legionnaires, they regularly liked to catch up with each other. As they didn't feel they were in competition for a place on the main team anymore they had become close friends.

The three young women had met up earlier and Friction insisted they were overdue an outing away from their bases that didn't involve being on a mission. They were not only overdue but needed to do it tonight! Her friends agreed.

As the current policy was to have groups leave in a minimum of four, they invited Bouncing Boy to join them. The three young women knew that Stoor was so laid back he wouldn't mind spending the day with them. Polar Girl also found him kind of cute, "in a dorky sort of way" she said to her friends with a slightly embarrassed grin. Friction had shrugged blandly as if understanding perfectly while Ultra Girl gave an approving smile.

When they holoed Stoor to ask if he wanted a night out, he told them that he'd had a similar conversation with Elthur and Glory just that morning at breakfast so the three young women invited them as well. The more the merrier!

Tyroc had given Stoor permission to leave their base but asked that he wear his distorter or some disguise just to be sure. The young man from Pasnic happily agreed before thanking the team leader and hopping through one of Henry's warps to First Base. The three young women were waiting for him in the Romper Room with a suggestion of what to do before leaving - Mel and Janee had decided that instead of hiding behind a distorter they all needed a makeover!

Elthur and Glory had said they would meet them in Henry's warp control room in two and a half hours so they had a little bit of time to get ready before going out. As the pair had been in a relationship since their time in the Academy together, they valued some quality alone time. Especially now that she had joined the medical team and he had joined the main team: consequently they had hardly any time together in the last month so were quite insistent that they had this time to themselves first.

Everyone knew that Kinetix was the person to ask for fashion tips but the new Legionnaires decided they were all old enough to make their own mistakes so Janee had grabbed a Hair-Stylatron and programmed in the new cuts and colours for the rest of the group while Mel had been working on getting some outrageous clothes together for them all.

To show she wasn't afraid, Friction went first. Her hair was naturally thick and tightly curled, and she had always kept it practical and short in a style her mother had called Cornrows. But now it was time to let loose, she said, as she pulled the silver cap off her head to reveal the new hairstyle that she had chosen. Her hair flowed down to below her shoulders in a gentle wave, the ends curling inwards, and instead of black it was now several shades of golden blonde with bronzed highlights and a deep umber on the roots which raised the other colours. The other three applauded her bravery and clapped as she shook her head around, showing off the length and softness of her hair as it swung across her face.

Polar Girl was next. The Tharrite usually had a practical rough-cut strawberry blonde bob but knew that Janee wouldn't have programmed anything so plain... she excitedly waited as the silver cap did its work and, three minutes later she lifted it off to find her hair was very different: an asymmetrical sharply cut bob, far longer on the left side as it dipped to her collar bone, that shone in a deep cold metallic blue with evenly spaced sharp white streaks on the top of her head that spiked up and drooped down like spider plant leaves. It was quite a striking change. Mel loved it!

Ultra Girl was a bit hesitant and blushed as her friends placed the Hair-Stylatron onto her head. Her hair was usually straight, long, and dark, and they all knew from several late night heart-to-heart conversations that it was one of the few things Li-Fahn actually liked about herself. It took a few minutes but when the cap was lifted off, the young woman's hair was the same length only now it had a very relaxed wave and there were several red and crimson hues layered up over shades of rose and lavender underlayers giving her usually flat-looking hair the illusion of volume without majorly changing it.

"I know how much you like the length of your hair Li, so I just changed the colour to match your energy signature... is that okay?" Janee, usually so confident, asked quietly.

Li-Fahn checked herself against the mirror-holo and smiled, thanking her friend as she thought it was now perfect! The usually quite stoic Ultra Girl hugged Janee and flipped her hair once more, staring at herself in the mirror-holo with a wide smile.

Bouncing Boy was last. His short hair was an off red and naturally unruly, so he wondered what the girls had in store for him. With his pale blue skin, he hoped it would be anything other than lime green or yellow as he worried those colours would draw whatever warmth he had right out of his face... the cap was on for only two minutes before it pinged to signal it had finished its cycle. They pulled it off, allowing Bouncing Boy to examine himself in the mirror-holo. His hair was now shaved around both sides of his head, and what was left had a deep dark blue hue, verging on black with at least a dozen spikes easily six inches long sticking upwards in a line from the centre of his brows to the nape of his neck. On Pasnic, his homeworld, this would be called a Dark Cut, a punk style that those that wanted to be seen as rebelling against their home world's rather staid culture.

Stoor loved it!

"Now," announced Polar girl, "we need some clothes to match, so get ready to get your freak on!"

................

Two hours later and the four new Legionnaires were waiting for Triple Nova and Glory in the warp room, giggling amongst themselves.

Ultra Girl, usually seen in her bulky red armour while on duty or practical clothes when not, wore a long sleeveless evening dress made from a shiny silk that ranged from pale pink at her neck through darkening hues of red until the bottom quarter was entirely black which elegantly flowed out behind her. The bottom edge had a line of embroidered abstracted flower shapes in shades of red. Polar Girl had given her a fascinator for her hair shaped like a delicate lily. It was a classically feminine look for the young woman that they were used to seeing in battle armour. Li-Fahn held a hand over her mouth and giggled as she looked at herself in the holo-mirror.

Friction had a black leather vest top with a zig-zag motif, red and white leggings with a jagged pattern, metal bands along her arms, leather boots with a row of silver studs around the edging, and a dark red and white pashmina across her shoulders that had wide golden threads at the ends that matched the zig-zags on her top. As her uniform she usually wore was a single colour with black and white boots and gloves, this outfit really popped. She finished her look off with two streaks of gold running from one cheek to the other across the bridge of her nose.

Polar Girl wore a huge white cloak that trailed behind her that appeared to be a thick, deep fur. It was held at the throat by a large dull metal clasp in the shape of a serpent eating its own tail. Underneath the massive cloak she wore a shimmering body stocking that shone in shades of stormy petrol blue with snowflake shapes in a slightly lighter hue running down her left side, and a long white belt at her waist that wrapped around her lithe frame half a dozen times with each loop hanging further down her right hip. Mel Lassar thought she looked like something from a fantasy tale, and she loved it!

Meanwhile, Bouncing Boy had fully embraced the punk aesthetic and wore an over-sized black leather biker jacket with leopard print fake fur in the collar while the arms and back were covered in studs and rhinestones, along with a tight vest top that was ripped across his stomach to show off his pecs, and ripped black trousers held together with lines of safety pins. He remained bare footed. The punk aesthetic was alive and well...

When Glory and Triple Nova arrived, they both did a double take, and Glory clapped her hands in delight. Triple Nova wore a rich sky-blue blazer and collarless white shirt with a chequered mauve and green scarf casually tossed around his neck, deep green freshly pressed dress trousers and brown shoes; smart and preppy, as his teammates expected. Glory had at least tried to cut loose in her flared trousers in stripes of pale lavender and green and a cropped top with her name writ across her chest in sequins, and several strings of multi-coloured bead around her neck and wrists. Her hair, which usual she wore up in a practical bun, was now loose and hung across her shoulders with more beads woven into the curls. Her clothes really shone out against her pale ochre skin.

"So, Janee, why did you especially want to go out tonight? What have you got planned?" Polar Girl gave her colleague a quizzical look as she asked.

Friction gave the widest smile before she replied.

"Telforatus 3 has fourteen moons and once every twenty-six years they align in such a way that it appears from the planet's surface as if they're lined up north to south as they fly across the night sky. It's known locally as The Big Streak Holiday as there's a month or so before when everyone gets ready for the big night... a planet wide celebration! The Encyclopaedia Galactica calls it one of the biggest free parties in the Northern Arm of the Milky Way... And guess when it starts? Three hours from now..."

"So... wh..when are w..we going then?" Stoor said as his teammates agreed.

“Ah, hey there,” a voice from behind them said cheerfully, “hope you don’t mind, but I had a vision that I’d be joining you out partying tonight.” Gord Eno, the precognitive they called the Spoiler stood behind them.

While he had been at the academy at the same time as the others, Gord had not usually been part of their social group. Not because any of them disliked him, it was just that he was a couple of years older than them and had a career as a Naltoran Pre-Commando prior to applying to be a Legionnaire so was a little bit more mature and focussed. Gord had been given the nickname ‘Old Father Time’ by some of the students and had always remained slightly apart from them while they were in training.

The stocky Naltoran was wearing a star-field covered hooded body stocking that left his muscular arms bare, with a white belt and short boots. It showed off just how solid and muscular he really was. He looked like a slab of the night sky given human form.

“Ah, sure, come join the fun Gord.” Triple Nova said. Polar Girl and Friction quickly agreed.

“We’re going to a free party on Telforatus 3. It's supposed to be awesome!” Ultra Girl added with a grin.

“So, what’re we waiting for?” Gord asked with a smile, "let's go!"

..........................


Encyclopaedia Galactica: Telforatus 3 is a recent addition to the United Planets. It was terraformed and settled in the late 28th century by Terrans of mostly Antipodean heritage. It is an agricultural planet, famous for its production of various wheats and more exotic food plants. There are political factions on both continents that wish to return to a lo-tech culture, though the current planetary government are very much in favour of a pro high-tech society. Once every twenty-six years, the planet's fourteen moons align, appearing in parallel to each other in the night sky. Locally; this event is called The Big Streak. The celebrations around this event are planet-wide, though the Uluru massif hosts a large festival that many travel to. Lonely Galaxy have declared these festivities in their Top Ten Free Events within the United Planets.


The Legionnaires walked through Henry's warp into a small copse of trees.

They could hear the crowds close by and within a few minutes they were on the edge of an enormous field full of large tents and temporary buildings, and hundreds and hundreds of people, all obviously in the party spirit. There were sounds of distant music and smells of food and drink wafted across to them.

“Right, I’m going to find a bar, I’ll get the first round, y’all are joining me, yeah?” Spoiler looked at his teammates and smiled broadly before he added, “C’mon. it's a once in a generation party folks, let’s get twatted!”

Gord confidently led the group towards a broad tent that had dozens of tables and chairs set up around it. He pointed to a round table with a dozen chairs and told Friction she should get ready to pounce as the family group sat at it were away to leave. She responded by telling him she had always loved precognitives, and gave a laugh as she pulled Ultra Girl with her and went to stand at the table. As they reached it the family asked if they wanted to sit there and got up to leave. Polar Girl and Glory ran over to join their two friends and shouted their orders for the guys to get from the bar for them.

As they cleared the debris from the table and arranged the seats, the four young women discussed how their mentorships had finished and each had said that they missed being partnered with their individual mentors, though were enjoying spending more time with a wider range of the Legionnaires. Both Polar Girl and Friction suspected that Ultra Girl had a crush on her former mentor Thunder, and gently teased her about it. Ultra Girl had laughed along with them, while not quite denying that her friend's assumptions were right. Glory tactfully avoided joining in the conversation at this point as she could sense what each of their auras showed about their true feelings, and knew that discretion was advisable.

Triple Nova, Bouncing Boy and Spoiler headed for the bar.

Gord had been on the same training squad as Stoor when they were at the academy and they started reminiscing about their time with Colossal Boy as a team tutor. As they spoke Elthur triplicated and pushed his way through the crowd to the very busy bar. Gord saw the young Carggite go and quickly stepped in to run interference, nudging anyone that was getting close to impeding Elthur as he got close to the bar counter.

It was only a couple of minutes later when they returned to their colleagues with hands full of drinks on trays with small bowls of food to share.

"You guys are the absolute best! Can I marry you? Any of you..." Janee laughed to herself as she said this, reaching for her drink and a bowl of crunchy snacks.

The table all laughed as the guys replied in unison "Nah!"

................


The group had been sat for half an hour, chatting and laughing as they people watched the crowds around them.

The young Legionnaires had expected to be stared at for their eclectic attire but they were nowhere near as outrageous as a lot of the other attendees.

The table they were sat at was next to a large open field; a thoroughfare of sorts ran alongside them though it was also a half makeshift dancefloor. Music piled out of the surrounding tents and large groups were shaking their stuff to it thereby ensuring those walking by were unlikely to have a straight path to follow. A small group of young revellers passed by, sharing jugs of a steaming fluid. A couple of girls from the group approached the table and invited the young Legionnaires to join them as they went to find a decent viewing point. For the most part they politely declined, apart from Spoiler who laughed and said "Hell, why not?"

The Naltorian turned to his teammates, saying to them to have fun and he'd call if anything came up, and with a laugh he put an arm around each of the strangers that had come to their table and left his teammates to join the group looking for a place to watch the moons go past.

"So rude! He tags along but leaves at the first offer he gets." Polar Girl mockingly exclaimed to Ultra Girl sat next to her. Li-Fahn gave a small tight smile as a response and watched as Spoiler laughed and joked with the strangers he had just joined.

"Hey... I wish I was that confident and care-free as well y'know... only we can't see what our future holds so, well... we're still here." She gave her friend a sympathetic smile and patted her hand.

"I'm going to join him." Ultra Girl said as she stood up and turned away from the table.

"What? Wait, I'll come..." As Mel stood up her long cloak caught in her chair and she fell over. Triple Nova, sat at the other side of the awkwardly perched Polar Girl, offered a hand to steady her as she got back onto her chair.

Friction had been watching the scene and as Polar Girl regained her balance, she stood up, "You stay, I'll join Li-Fahn, you stay and enjoy yourself." Janee gave her friend a furtive look towards Bouncing Boy, well aware that the Tharrite had a crush... before Mel could reply, Friction walked to Ultra Girl and took her arm and the pair scurried after the group that Spoiler had just joined.

A hundred metres ahead of them, their Naltorian teammate turned around and waved for them to join him.

......................................................


Ultra Girl - Li-Fahn Qiong of Xanthu - incredible strength, speed, indestructibility, spaceflight, and projection of force blasts, effectively limited to one at a time
Friction - Janee Whittakka of Xanthu - manipulates the force of friction
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations


There were five people in the group that Gord had joined - two guys who chatted amicably, and three girls who walked on ahead, dancing among themselves as the gulped from the steaming jugs they had offered to the Legionnaires. The two young men smiled at Li-Fahn and Janee and held their hands out towards them as they got close.

"Hey ladies, let's find room to dance." The nearest said as he took Janee's hand. She didn't resist though kept him at arms length.

"Sounds great, I'm Janee and this is my friend Li-Fahn." She said with a big smile, "what's you're names?"

"I'm Victa, and that's Bolton. They're Alissia, Megyla and Drimchung." He nodded to the three girls ahead of them as his friend held his hand out for Ultra Girl to take. She had been more hesitant and just smiled as she walked beside him.

"This is ace-ic, isn't it? Got nothing like this in Rimbor..."

"Wow, you're from there?" Janee felt herself stiffen, ready for trouble, "wasn't there some big hassles there recently, like... gangs and the Legion or something... it looked awful."

"Yeah, street gangs are always kicking off, we're merchant guild, we work in sales, so nothing that skeevie going on." The man who had introduced himself as Victa said, with a charming smile.

<do we believe these guys?> Janee gave a small laugh as she sent her message across the telepathic matrix.

<I don't foresee any trouble> Spoiler replied.

"So how about you Bolton... are you in a gang?" Li-Fahn asked with a smile. She watched him as a hawk watches its prey as he replied.

"Nah, no need, I'm a Guildsman. The gangs are for other folks. I'm lucky my family are established merchants." He responded proudly.

Ultra Girl took his hand as she replied, "that's good to hear, tonight's for partying not... well, getting up to no good gang stuff, don't you agree?" She smiled sweetly and looked away.

<I don't think he's lying>

Friction had hung back behind the group and pretended to look around, casually swinging her right arm as if she was stretching her shoulder so her flight ring could scan the people they was with. She then turned her back to them and willed a small hard light screen into existence so she could check the results.

The two men showed definite gene modifications! The only consolation was that neither were on any science Police database for known gang members, so perhaps they really were just Guildsmen... though why would merchants need meta-gene modifications? She blinked several times and took a deep breath before turning back to her teammates and running to catch up with them. As she did, Janee shared her findings across the telepathic matrix. Gord reiterated that he had not foreseen any trouble.

<we can play it by ear Janee, there's no crime having a gene-mod is there? Let's wait and see> Ultra girl replied

<that's what I hoped you'd say, we're here to have fun so let's get jigging> Spoiler sent with a small smile on his face.

Friction's expression made it clear she disagreed with her teammates. They might be feeling hedonistic but she planned on keeping a watch over the two gene-modified Rimborians.

IB and Raz, once again my thanks for your kind reviews, they are appreciated!

I thought about who could help the new Sun Boy settle in and of course Comet King was the obvious choice - they make a cute couple of buddies so I'll probably look in on them soon. I wonder if Lexikon and Grava will get that close? And there are so many loose ends after the destruction of Talok viii that I'll be checking out various characters throughout this volume.

Next up, a surprise visit by Mon El? really? And while Bouncing Boy and Polar Girl deal with issues Glory has an epiphany, and that battle is coming too, I hope it's as much fun to read as it was to write. Oh, and what is Spoiler really up to?

Anyway, I'm about 25 posts behind on IB's story do I'd best get cracking on that so that's all for now.

Thanks again guys!

hi Harbi, faboo work, you deserve every compliment I give you!

Sun Boy II/Kekixon/Comet Queen & King would make a lovely and fun quartet!

nice to see more of some of your original characters! you've made them all come to life, and for each I can remember a couple of nice moments from earlier posts of yours.

I like how some of them became close friends because they no longer feel they need to compete with one another

also, wise of the Legion to be so security-focused. I wonder, what is the policy for home/family visits? Is the rule of four still in place?

I like Glory and Elthur;s focus on relationship first! and also a nice nod to fashionista Kinetix

and indeed, it takes some bravery to let one's hair be in the mercy of some device lol

aw, I awwwed at poor Li-Fahn. her hair is one of the few things she liked about herself? I want to give her a comforting hug. I'm glad she liked the result!

fab outfits too, you describe them so well, and indeed they tie in well with the new hairdos!

I also love how Spoiler had a vision of partying with the gang, and just showed up lol makes sense a Commando would be super muscular and fit too!

what an interesting concept for a planet! Telforatus 3, with some factions wanting to go lo-tech...

smart of Glory being discreet because of the bio-auras, ooh, lots of potential for drama here!

I like how smart and careful everyone is. Go Friction, especially!

well, this is turning into a very nice outing, Harbi! I'm eager for more!

Polar Girl - Mel Lassar of Tharr - cryokinesis
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic - creation of personal spherical force field


Mel and Stoor had decided to go for a walk.

There were still a couple of hours before the moons would align, so they agreed to meet Glory and Elthur back at the table in ninety minutes.

As they walked through the crowds, Mel slipped her hand into Stoor's and interlocked fingers. It was a couple of seconds later that he realised and quickly pulled his hand away.

"Uh... I'm sorry, M...Mel, d...don't know why I d...did that." He exclaimed.

"It's okay, Stoor." She said with a placating smile. He nodded and walked on ahead. Their hands didn't interlock again.

Mel walked just behind him, her thoughts racing around what a fool she had been thinking he might be attracted to her.

Stoor walked on ahead, a blush across his cheeks. What an idiot, he thought, imagine holding her hand like he would ever stand a chance... there's no way someone as cute and smart as Polar Girl would ever...

Ahead of them, there was a scream that cut through the crowd and sudden aggressive shouting. Mel rushed past Stoor, grabbing his arm as she did. He started to activate his flight ring, but she pulled him down to the ground.

"C'mon, we can deal with this without blowing our cover." She hissed as she dragged Bouncing Boy behind her.

Ahead of them, a small market stall holder was wrestling with two or three guys who were clearly trying to run off with his wares.

"Right, you distract them, I've got an idea..." Polar Girl pushed Stoor forward, towards the trouble. The young man from Pasnic momentarily froze before he remembered his training - in the first instance, they should talk down an opponent if possible...

"Oi!" He bellowed, "wotcha think y...y...you're d...doing?" None of the people fighting noticed. He cupped his hands around his mouth and activated his loudhailer function on his flight ring and tried again.

"OI!" This time, everyone within a hundred metres turned around as his amplified voice echoed around the field. Stoor was as surprised as anyone, he hadn't thought to lower the settings on his loud hailer app, and after blinking several times he regained his composure, "S..stop what you're d..d..doing there! Leave him alone." He didn't use his loudhailer, certain that he had their attention.

"Shut up, moron, until you can speak proper!" One of them shouted back with a cruel laugh before they all started beating on the stall owner again. Stoor rushed forward, but before he reached them, there was a loud voice from above.

"Stop where you are!" This was a voice Stoor immediately recognised - Mon El! The Daxamite Legionnaire hovered twenty metres above them, in an iconic pose with his hands balled into fists resting on his hips.

<Lar... we had it...>

<It's me dummy, I've got my distorter holoing Mon El around me> Polar Girl responded.

Many in the crowd that were stood around looked up and began to cheer.

"I said stop!" This time, Polar Girl had used her loudhailer; several people covered their ears. The three thugs backed away, but before they got far "Mon El" cupped his hand around his mouth and a blast of icy 'breath' blew out and struck the legs of three thugs, freezing their feet to the ground.

"I'll let the local law enforcement deal with you, I can hear something on the other side of the continent. Be kind to each other and enjoy the festivities." And with that, he vanished.

"Wow, look at him go!" Stoor shouted, excitedly pointing towards the horizon, as if the Daxamite legionnaire had used his hyper velocity to cross the sky. Many in the crowd looked to where the young man from Pasnic had indicated. Stoor was aware that Mel had changed her belt distorter to its Hide mode, and while it was good, it wouldn't stop people from seeing her outline against the sky if they really looked hard.

<You good?> He sent to Polar Girl.

<Yeah, just landing behind the big chill-out barn, a hundred metres to your seven o'clock.>

<Be there in a mo...>

Before joining Mel, Stoor walked up to the stall holder and asked if they were okay. The man was straightening his clothes, his face red from being punched. The stall holder thanked him for stepping in before saying he had never imagined he would ever see a Legionnaire, let alone be saved by one. Over the ambient noise of the festival around them, they could hear a siren approaching, and Stoor knew that the local constabulary might blow his cover so he wished the stall holder all the best and walked away. He smiled as he cut through the crowd to the barn where Polar Girl waited for him.

She rushed towards him and flung her arms around him. "That was amazing!" She said, looking up into his face.

"Y...y...you were amazing!" He replied with a big grin.

They started walking back towards the table where their teammates would be waiting.

"Stoor, look, I'm so sorry..." Mel had a conversation all mapped out, how she would apologise for being so forward. She hoped he didn't avoid her after this as she really did enjoy his company; he was so kind and easygoing that he was one of the few people she felt really relaxed around.

"No, listen... I'm sorry, b..b..'cause you aren't..."

"What? Tall enough? Your type?" Mel looked up at him. There was a challenge in the way she held her chin up.

"No! F...F...Fiery Gods, no. I know y...you aren't interested, y...you're too good for me, y...you're so smart and c...cute, and what would you ever see in..."

"Oh, shut your mouth!" With that, Mel used her flight ring to levitate off the ground until she faced him, pulling him in for a kiss.

She tried hard not to laugh at his expression as she pulled away but couldn't hold it in. Stoor Chamble was stunned!

"C'mon, let's go rejoin the others." She said, taking his hand.

"Yeah... or..." He started to smile.

"Or?"

"Or we can do that a bit more, then rejoin the team in a b... bit." He gave a cheeky grin.

Mel Lassar threw her arms around his chest and stretched her chin up towards his face. Stoor Chamble looked glorious, she thought, as they kissed some more.

...................................................


Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg - split into three separate bodies, each with either strength and durability, speed and reflexes, or laser vision
Glory - Gloriana Crestellen of Grighshtall iv - medical support - awareness and manipulation of bio-auras


While Glory leaned back against Elthur's chest, she watched the crowds around them.

With her senses, she could tell the mood and health of each. For the most part, the crowd around them were happy and healthy. There were several that were clearly intoxicated or out of their heads on some stim or another, but overall, they were fine.

Elthur was describing the High Desert Plateau in Trindia on Carggg to her and how his family used to go camping there. She wasn't really listening but was at least making appropriate interested sounding noises to encourage him to carry on. She could feel how relaxed and happy he was, so she didn't want to interrupt him.

Suddenly, Glory sat up.

"Oh, the poor soul... We've got to help her." She said, turning to Elthur, who looked surprised at her sudden interruption.

"That woman there..." Glory indicated a woman in a hover chair with a couple of young men walking alongside her, "her aura... she won't make it much past the moons alignment, oh Blessed Serpent... she's really, really ill. One of you should keep these seats, the other two with me."" And without stopping to consider what was going to do or say, Glory got up and wandered across to the three strangers.

Behind her, Elthur triplicated, and his strong self that Glory referred to El-Thor stayed behind. He was pragmatic and often a little too direct so was perhaps the best of the three to guard their table. The triplicate with speed and reflexes - or Elt-Hurry as Glory called him, followed right behind her. He was gregarious and cheeky, always great at breaking the ice with strangers. His self that kept his laser vision, El-Star to Glory's point of view, was the most intelligent and empathetic of the three, walked behind them taking in the scene around them.

A young woman in an anti-grav chair floated ahead of them with two young men walking beside her. It was clear from the tubes that were running from the woman's arm into the tank on the back of the chair that she was receiving some serious medical treatment.

<what is it honey?> El-Star sent.

<she's dying and ...I've got to do something>

<Are you sure we should get involved?> But as these questions reached Glory, she had reached the young woman.

"Hi... I'm Glory, I'm a nurse, I couldn't help but notice..." She indicated the medical pack on the chair and tubes. "Is there anything I can do to help you?" She gave the sick woman a warm smile and exudes an aura that would help soothe any worries she might have. The two young men beside the sick woman stepped forward as if to block Glory, but before they could get in the way the woman spoke.

"Glory... pretty name. I'm Anandarra... you a tourist here for the moons, right?" Her voice was quiet, though her eyes were clear and it was obvious she was no fool. If Glory had been a con-woman she would spot it a mile away!

"Oh, yeah, came with some friends..." Glory pointed to Elt-Hurry and El-Star.

"Twins? Handsome boys..." Anandarra smile as she said this.

"Triplets actually, the other is keeping our table."

"Three? You must be special..." There was a definite teasing edge to this comment and Glory and Anandarra shared a small smile.

While Glory and Anandarra had been speaking El-Hurry had introduced himself and his 'brother' to the two young men, effectively distracting them while Glory spoke to the sick woman. They were Anandarra's brothers, Dreen and Bolin, and both were happy enough to talk to the Legionnaires but their eyes would dart over towards their sister every few seconds, their sadness and fears were all too obvious.

<what's the plan here?> Elt-Hurry asked Glory.

<let's get them to join us, she's fading but the drugs she's on are keeping her going. I'm going to try to help her too a little>

Glory invited Anandarra to sit with them, gently taking the sick woman's hand in her own and using her abilities to subtly bolster her fading body's aura as she did. Anandarra smiled and agreed, adding a cheeky smile as she said she was tired after all the walking they had done that evening.

As they made their way over to the table Glory made sure to let El-Thor know that the people joining them didn't know they were Legionnaires, or that he was in fact a Cargggite. Glory sent across the telepathic matrix that she wanted all three of Elthur's selves to be on their best behaviour and this evening to be relaxing as possible; the sick woman had a day or two left at most, so best not make it too exciting for her.

She could see El-Thor roll his eyes at the table while Elt-Hurry gave a mischievous grin. As they reached the table, Elt-Hurry made introductions and offered to go to the bar to get them refreshments. Bolin offered to join him. Dreen protectively sat next to his sister, between her and the two of Elthur's selves at the table.

It was five minutes later when Glory found out why Anandarra was so ill.

They had been discussing how much work had gone into setting up this festival and how important it was for the local economy. Glory sat next to Anandarra, still holding her hand. The sick woman was indigenous to this world and had waited her entire life to see the moons align. She was grateful that she was getting the chance. As Anandarra spoke Glory gently strengthened her aura, just enough that she would be fully awake in the next few hours so would not miss the sight of the moons aligning when it finally happened.

"Anandarra, what happened to you?" Glory spoke softly as she finally asked what had been on her mind since they met.

"Ah, bloody power sphere problems... and guess who was the first engineer on the scene? K-Radiation damage to my DNA... there's no cure, so I need to make sure my days, however many I have..."

"Ana, shush, we don't know if there's a cure... we might find one yet." her bother Dreen said from the other side of her.

"He's so hopeful, but I can feel what's coming and am okay with it." Anandarra didn't look at her brother as she spoke, though Glory could feel her strong love for the two men beside her. This was a woman who was literally staring at her own death and not flinching. "Anyway, I want these two to have some happy memories with me before I go, so here we are at this festival... we always planned to come here so why not? Even the nearly dead deserve a treat, eh?" She gave a small chuckle as she said this to Glory before turning back to her brother and reaching out with her other hand and gently placing it on top of his. There were tears in his eyes though he smiled warmly towards her.

"Y'know Glory... I know people make lists of things they want to do before they finally go, like climb mountains or go to the Inner Worlds but I just want these two to be okay without me. I've been blessed; two good brothers who turned out alright, a career I enjoyed... I'm fulfilled already, what more do I need?" Anandarra half-whispered this and gave a smile. Without thinking about it, Glory reached across and gave Anandarra a hug. The young medic could feel the strength of character as it radiated out from the broken body of the woman she hugged.

However this night would go for them all, the young medic knew that when she got back to First Base she would call her family on Grighshtall iv and tell them how much she loved them.

..........................................


Ultra Girl - Li-Fahn Qiong of Xanthu - incredible strength, speed, indestructibility, spaceflight, and projection of force blasts, effectively limited to one at a time
Friction - Janee Whittakka of Xanthu - manipulates the force of friction
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations


The group the three Legionnaires had joined found a relatively quiet viewing platform and decided it was the best place to hold an impromptu battle.

Gord had been going on about how much he loved to strut his stuff but rarely got the opportunity anymore. Victa, one of the young men from Rimbor that the flight ring scan had shown had a gene-mod, laughed at this before he challenged Gord. They agreed that the loser was to buy the group the next round of drinks.

The three girls that had approached the Legionnaires initially were sat together away from the rest of them, sharing something from a pouch. Ultra Girl casually wandered over to them and introduced herself. She had spent most of the walk here chatting to Bolton, and realised she had probably seemed quite rude. As the girls looked up at her it was clear they were sniffing at a stim powder. Li-Fahn felt her expression change though tried to keep her smile.

"Yeah, Bolton's conquest, we get it... you want some Glow?" The girl in the middle asked as she held out a small pouch with a white powder in it.

"Nah, it doesn't really work for me, thanks." Li-Fahn would never be accused of being inscrutable and at that moment her expression clearly showed how much she disliked the drugs being offered. Despite what she had just said, she had never tried it and had absolutely no desire to. The girls laughed. "Anyway, Gord and Victa are going to ...I don't know really, but it involves them dancing until one loses. They want us to score them, you wanna join?"

"Nah, on you go honey... though doncha think really they should just get a ruler out and be done with it." As the girl on the right said this her two friends cracked up laughing.

Li-Fahn walked away, shaking her head. She didn't understand people like that. Her mother would call them a bunch of wasters, and the young Legionnaire thought she would be right.

Victa and Gord were trying to agree on a beat they wanted the rest of the group to keep while they danced. Gord's choice was quick and simple, Clap, clap, stamp, pause, while Victa wanted a much fussier arrangement of six claps interspersed with two pauses and four stamps. Janee, Li-Fahn and Bolton all agreed that Gord's was the easiest one for them so they would do that. Victa gave them all a particularly withering look.

Janee, Li-Fahn and Bolton started to clap and several people wandered over to see what was going on, joining in with the rhythm. Janee took it upon herself to be the compere and shouted "let the battle begin!"

Spoiler went first and started with a confident strut, making challenging eye contact with everyone around as he walked the space. His back was straight, his chin high and he held his arms out at his side out in a dramatic fashion. Friction recognised this as a Pasa Doble move. And without warning he suddenly jumped, landing perfectly on the beat as he began to really dance. His posture was straight and strong, while his moves were sensual and provocative - this was the dance of a man who clearly knew what he wanted and was absolutely confident about his chance of getting it. His moves sped up and he leapt and spun, strutted and all the while kept his challenging gaze on the audience until he dramatically ended on his back spinning like a top before springing to his feet in a deft move and, with dramatic flourish, bowed to the audience.

Everyone applauded!

Victa clapped for Gord and smiled broadly before stepping forward. By now there were easily thirty people around them. Quite a few were cheering and jeering him on.

The young man from Rimbor ran his hands through his hair as his right foot tapped the beat. His smile grew as he extended his left leg out behind his body as his arms and shoulders started to roll. His body moved with a fluidity as his arms struck different shapes in perfect time to the beat. In a sudden move his left leg whipped forward and he effortlessly bent backward in a perfect curve until he was standing on his hands, his legs went straight up. And in perfect time to the beat they spun above him as he flipped from one hand to the other. He raised one arm and held it out to the side, his hand at an angle as his fingers snapping to the rhythm. After eight beats his flipped onto his knees, his back and hips rippled as he slowly inched his way onto his feet. All the while his arms and shoulders rolled in a wave like motion. The flexibility in his body as he moved was truly extraordinary. As he reached his full height his limbs all seemed to explode out as they each made shapes in perfect time to the beat the crowd were making. Victa dropped down to spin and regained his feet half a dozen times, each time he made incredible shapes with his body and limbs before finally he flipped onto his head, spinning dangerously fast. After what seemed like an eternal moment he collapsed onto the floor, his arms crossed casually under his chest as he struck a relaxed pose looking up at the Legionnaires and Bolton with a big grin.

There was a second of stunned silence before the cheers started.

Gord approached Victa, mock bowing as he did before he gave the young Rimborian a big hug. The two young men, both laughing with an arm over each other's shoulder, turned to face the crowd that had gathered and bowed.

"So," Janee shouted to the crowd around them, "we have a decision to make here, who is your winner? Cheer for whoever you think needs to be crowned as our dance champion today." She dramatically pointed towards Gord, and her teammate struck a pose for the people around them as they clapped and cheered. After ten seconds the clapping stopped and she continued, "or is our winner..." and she pointed towards Victa. This time there was definitely a louder response and Gord turned to the young man from Rimbor and bowed graciously.

"Okay, you definitely took that, those moves are outrageous!"

"yeah... I kinda forgot to say I'm the current Rimbor City Slam Dance Champion." Victa laughed as he admitted this.

"Yeah, it shows, you were amazing there. Well, guess I'm owe you a drink or two, we've a group of friends holding a table at one of the bars... wanna join us back there?"

"Nah, you're okay. You folks have a good evening but I think Bolton and me..." His voice trailed off as he glanced over towards his friend. Bolton had both hands gently placed on either side of Li-Fahn's face as the pair kissed. "Ah, perhaps we will join you then..."

"What about the girls?" Gord pointed to the three girls that had been with them

"We met them on the cruiser here. We're not really friends. I think they're more interested in..." Victa mimed sniffing something from his fingers, "and that's not our thing really. They should be fine but I'll let them know where we're going though."

A minute later the three young Legionnaires and their two new friends from Rimbor were walking back towards their friends at the bar, hoping that there would be space at the table.

..........................................


Ultra Girl - Li-Fahn Qiong of Xanthu - incredible strength, speed, indestructibility, spaceflight, and projection of force blasts, effectively limited to one at a time
Polar Girl - Mel Lassar of Tharr - cryokinesis
Friction - Janee Whittakka of Xanthu - manipulates the force of friction
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic - creation of personal spherical force field
Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg - split into three separate bodies, each with either strength and durability, speed and reflexes, or laser vision
Glory - Gloriana Crestellen of Grighshtall iv - medical support - awareness and manipulation of bio-auras
Spoiler ii - Gord Eno of Naltor - precognition, specialising in short range visions for combat situations

Anandarra - local with terminal illness
Dreen and Bolin - Anandarra's younger brothers
Victa - young salesman from Rimbor, dance champion
Bolton - young salesman from Rimbor


As the evening progressed the crowds settled down in anticipation of the celestial show above, and the Legionnaires and their new acquaintances relaxed, enjoying watching the sights and crowds around them.

Friction had spoken to Glory and Triple Nova across the telepathic matrix before they arrived back at the table, letting them know that they were bringing a couple of guys with them - Victa and Bolton. She asked Glory if she could check out the two guys auras as they were from Rimbor and her scan said they had gene-mods. They all understood that so long as Victa and Bolton didn't do anything illegal there was no reason for the Legionnaires to act, though Janee still wanted reassurances that the two men were not a potential threat. Glory in return, told her colleagues about Anandarra and her brothers, and to be gentle as the three of them were going through a rough time and Glory wanted to make sure they had the best night possible

There was a moment of awkwardness when they finally got back to the table, as several seats were missing, but Gord, El-Star and Victa went looking for replacements and soon returned with enough so everyone could sit down. Once they had the seats Gord offered to buy everyone a drink. Janee, Bolton and Elt-Hurry all helped him to the bar and carry the drinks and snacks back.

After they had returned, Friction teased Polar Girl and Bouncing Boy with light hearted barbs, while being protective towards Ultra Girl as she snuggled up to Bolton. Spoiler and Victa put on a bit of a dance show for the group, though nothing as spectacular as they had earlier. Glory held Ananarra's hand as she spoke with her and her brother Dreen. Li-Fahn and Bolton moved around the table to ralk to Mel and Stoor. El-Thor and Friction sat with Victa and chatted about the sights around them. As the evening progressed, the moons above started to line up above them, Anandarra and her brother's shared the local names and legends about each. All overhead lighting had been turned off and the bars and stalls all dimmed their illumination.

There were surprisingly few star in the sky, though enough moonlight that they could easily have read a book if they wanted. Several of the moons were different colours so the accents and shadows they produced flowed like liquid art across the groups features and the environment around them. It was oddly euphoric to experience.

Janee had taken her pashmina off and draped it over her chair, and as she moved it slipped and almost fell onto the grass underfoot. As it fell, Victa who was sat next to her, reached out instinctively to help and his arm elongated so he could catch it.

"What was that?" Janee asked quietly, "are you... Durlan?" Of course she knew he wasn't but she didn't want him to know that she already knew he had a gene-mod.

"Shysa! Shh... can you keep a secret?" He said quietly, glancing around at the table to make sure no-one was listening. "Bolton and I... we're applying for the Legion. We... we've got powers and we wanted to have one last night of fun before we go to that Academy of theirs. We've heard it's a real boot camp, but we wanna do sommit special with ourselves... We start there in two days' time."

Janee smiled, which he took to mean she didn't believe him.

"No, seriously. We're fed up hearing about how bad Rimbor is so a frew months back we pooled our money and got this DNA work done on ourselves... Bolton can phase himself through solid matter, seriously, it's amazing! ...and I can alter my own body, shift its dimensions and mass and the like. How do you think I kept my balance with some o' those dance moves? We're gonna be Legionnaires Janee, I tell you, we've got our places to train with them and everything..."

"Ah, okay... ummm, so you cheated against Gord then? I won't say anything if you don't want. Anyway, good luck, I've heard the Legion Academy is not that bad really, so I hope it goes well for you. And who knows, I might see you flying about some day."

Victa gave her a smile, his expression made it clear he didnt think she believed him and rather than belabour the point he reached out to hug her.

<Gord, we need to talk>

<They're Academy applicants, I know>

<what? Why didn't you say anything?> As she sent this, Janee broke off the hug from Victa and busied herself wrapping her pashmina around her neck.

<I wanted a fun night, not answer questions from these two... and yes, I've known all along but let's not be Legionnaires for one night. Remember, we're here to enjoy ourselves, eh?>

<that's... fair, I suppose... though is that the real reason you joined us here or did you come to check them out?>

<ten minutes until the moons align, let's enjoy it> Gord looked over and smiled warmly towards her.

"Is there... is there something going on between you and Gord?" Victa asked Janee as he had spotted the look that they had exchanged over the table.

"What? Old Father Time and me? Gods in the stars, no!" She was genuinely surprised by the question.

"Fantastic!" And with that, Victa pulled Janee in towards him to kiss her.

<that's the spirit!> Gord sent across the telepathic matrix.

.............................


An hour and twenty minutes later, fifteen minutes after the celestial alignment had ended, Anandarra announced that she was going home. Supposedly the party could get quite rowdy and, despite feeling better than she had in weeks, she wanted to rest. Glory gave her a tight hug, imparting as much bio-energy as she could and the two women kissed each other's cheeks fondly as they said their goodbyes. The team all hugged her before she left and gave words of encouragement to her brothers.

"You're good folk, you know that?" Bolton said to the Legionnaires after the sick woman and her brothers had left them. Victa offered to get the next round of drinks and El-Thor and El-Star joined him to the bar. Bolton had been sat with Li-Fahn, Mel and Stoor, but as they were talking amongst themselves, he moved around the table.

"Victa doesn't know who you are, but I guessed..." Bolton smiled happily as he sat down next to Gord and Janee, "and I think we'll be seeing more of you soon."

"What do you mean?" Janee replied quickly.

"It's okay ... Friction, Spoiler, that's what you're better known as, isn't it? Took me a while to figure it out, your hair is different Janee, thats what threw me, but Triple Nova over there is pretty obvious. We applied to the Academy a couple of weeks back and got accepted in. Since then, I've been watching every holo-doc there is about the team. It's... it's beyond cool how you've been tonight."

"We're on a night off, so it's Janee and Gord, okay?" Spoiler smiled as he said this, though his tone was serious.

"Okay... though I gotta ask, did you know we were going to be students at your academy?"

"Victa told me an hour ago." Janee said quietly.

"I have a confession..." Gord began, "my day helping out at the Academy last week, Rokk and Lu got me in to look over the new applicants to organise training groups. I recognised you both from that when you approached, which is why I smiled at you." Gord admitted with a tight smile and shrug. Janee slapped his arm and gave the Naltorian a stern look.

"That's why the girls invited you, they thought you were smiling at them!" Bolton said.

"Let's not make a big thing about this," Janee spoke, "we're trying to have a night off..."

<you were checking them out 'cause they're from Rimbor, that's why you joined us here, isn't it?> Janee asked Gord across the telepathic link.

<as if I'd do that with my free time> the precognitive replied blandly.

"Okay... no problem. Just do me a favour and don't tell Victa, I can't wait to see his face when he finds out." Bolton said with a cheeky grin. They all laughed.

"Hey, what's up?" Li-Fahn said as she moved seats to be closer to them.

<he knows who we are, but it's cool, he's an Academy student... or is away to be> Janee sent across the telepathic matrix.

<seriously?> Li-Fahn stepped up to them, her eyes wide.

"Hey, Li-Fahn, or do you prefer Ultra Girl, guess we'll see more of each other... if you want?" Bolton's face gave a momentary flash of concern, in case the Legionnaire did not want pursue anything further between them after this evening.

"If you're joining the Academy then you'll definitely see more of me, we go in one day a month to help out so I'll probably be teaching you." Li-Fahn said with a proud smile.

"And she's a hard taskmaster, don't expect preferential treatment." Gord said. The Legionnaires laughed as Bolton's face fell. He took a couple of seconds to realise they were teasing him, then joined in with their laughter.

"Hey guys..." Elt-Hurry joined them, throwing an arm around Bolton and Li-Fahn's shoulders, "one more drink then I think we need to go, okay?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's a good idea." Janee smiled and Li-Fahn put an arm around Bolton's waist.

Just short of an hour later, there were hugs all round as the Legionnaires said their goodbyes to the two young men from Rimbor. Li-Fahn assured Bolton she would be in touch soon, as Janee let Victa know they would see each other again, she was quite certain of it. After the two young men from Rimbor had walked off, the Legionnaires sneaked into the nearby woods to summoen a warp from Henry to take them back to their Bases.

IB, thanks for your kind words.

Omhi, hi, I read through your very kind reviews for LW8 and I will address a few points next time, I have limited time this afternoon, sorry.

Yeah, aww poor Li-Fahn, well hopefully she's just met someone who an help her confidence

More soon as we have a couple more interpersonal moments then Tyroc vs the Angry Tree!

Thanks,

C

yay! more great stuff, Harbi!

Poor shy Stoor! He's all flustered! Kudos to Mel for dealing with it nicely and calmly. ach, these two... young love!

haha! What a lovely, lovely little bit, Mel is quickly becoming a fave of mine for her quick thinking. Stoor stumbled a bit at first but also recovered well, with that whole "look! he's flying away!" bit.

I love that convo they had, with both thinking the wrong thing, and finally talking it out! a bit of maturity wins the day!

I like that each of Triple Nova's selves also have different personalities, and that each has a different nickname from Glory!

What a touching scene with Anandara. It's also a good callout that sometimes, medical personnel cannot cure, only make people comfortable before their time comes...

quite a grouping you got there, with the two Rimborians too! also, nice description of the amazing dance moves!

whoa! I did not expect that these two wanted to join the Academy! Can't blame them though, it's realistic - so many people in our own time trying for abetter life inna different land. And of course, Spoiler knew all along, huh!

and good on Bolton for figuring things out, lol! After all, the Legionnaires are celebrities

Old Father Time! That cracked me right up!


that was a lovely, lovely outing, Harbi. Take a bow, that would have made an excellent one-shot, one-issue story!

Hi Harbi, catching up on your latest tonight!

I like all the descriptive work you put into the makeovers!

Is the Hair-Stylatron the very one that Shady used in that issue in the 80s when she came out with her big mane of hair?

Polar Girl's was my favourite, we love a good asymmetric bob! And I thought it was very cute how Friction was so nice about making sure Ultra Girl was comfortable

I love all the detail with the outfits as well; Ultra Girl's dress, Friction's make-up and Polar Girl's big Emma Frost cloak are all winners! And Spoiler coming in as a late contender with his hot little starfield number, wooh!

Glory keeping mum about what everyone's auras shows about their feelings is a nice touch

Everyone's little festival side story had a different feel, which was good to see -

- Mel and Stoor are very cute, and using her cold powers to simulate super-breath so she could cosplay Mon-El was a very clever idea!

- I liked the more sobering chapter with Anandarra and the chance to see Triple Nova's different personalities in action

- and Spoiler's dance-off was fun! I assume that was the unique battle (I am still not sure if I trust these possibly shady Rimborians but let's see where we go!)


I love this, it sounds amazing!!

Oh wow at the Rimborians! I did NOT expect them to be students, what a cool surprise! I figured Gord must have ulterior motives for coming along but it all ended up much more wholesome than I was expecting!

Hey Harbinger,
its time for another read and review. i do not want to get too behind again.

The opening was really well done.
I loved the entire conversation between Lu and Anje.
the back and forth the two had was well done.

I loved how Cragg was described and came to be. But i thought this world was a world seeded by Valor or is that not in this reality and that's a different one?
The self-reliance they expereince was interesting as i never would have thought about it in that way. The confidence and cockiness can be a fine line that i guess all Craggiaites deal with. i'm looking forward to seeing how it is exhibited by Triple Nova.
could that confidence and stubborn streak be why her and Mindbender have issues?
i'm still on Lu's side and i do think it really does stem from all the loss in her life.
You got me in the feels big time with this one as hearing Lu talk about her dad just made me want to cry.
The the loss of others on the team and even the loss of Vi both figuratively and literally was heartbreaking.
I love when you reveal these small tidbits about the Legionnaires early years. like Lu and Gim having a thing blew my mind. i never would have guessed.

The One-Bod thing is an interesting angle. Mostly because we hear about how Lu was different and have different personalities and how that's a rarity on their home world.
Anje brings up some great points and its clear Lu needs to learn to let people in, especially now that Chuck is gone.
The expansion of her abilities playing into her over confidence is interesting too.
Greif is 100% not an easy emotion and Lu's got a lot of grief to deal with.
Her and Chuck's reasonings and thoughts on what happens if one should pass was really well done. even in death Chuck is still the best support and a great guy.
Learning all these tiny aspects of Lu has been great and i kind of want more episodes like this with each of the team members.
Sometimes it felt like each segment in this convo between Lu and Anje felt like she was talking to a different Lu at times. especially when she would revert back to not talking.
There is so much good stuff in this meeting between them and i want more!

Sun Boy II and Comet King was well done and this looks like a new friendship that is forming for sure. it's nice to get to see Comet King outside of Grava. I wasn't expecting this due at first, i thought it be one of the UP military officers who are seconded to the Legion to give him a tour. But Comet King is definitely a better choice.
I was with Comet king when Lydda said Sun Boy's codename. i jumped with hope for a second that Dirk was back too. But maybe i'll get used to the new one. i got used to Stoor using Bouncing Boy after all.
I like that Lydda realized having friends within the Legion will help him succeed in the Legion.

Lady Memory and Shadow Lass make some interesting points about how their people will be going forward. They've already lost so much but to lose their culture as well could take an even bigger toll on them.
Will they truly be the last Champions? could the champion's rolls change?
I'm glad Tasmia's people are changing and becoming one people. i hope someday our world can learn the same lesson and all be one people.

A night out on the town! these can be fun.
I loved the make overs for everyone.
Friction was probably my fave look though.
is it because of the attacks that Stoor is asked to wear a distorter device? This wasn't 100% clear to me but the others just did make overs.
Glory and Triple Nova are cute. Loved Glory's response to her teammates new looks.

Oooo that sounds like an amazing site! 14 moons gliding across the sky.
Free party!
Gord - a slab of night sky in human form. haha i couldn't help but giggle a little bit at this image.
You know Ultra girl that is a good reason to like precogs. they know the best tables.
I really like that Glory tried to stay out of convos that would reveal people's emotions. Ultra Girl and Thunder? hmmm i don't know how that would work. But a crush is just a crush.
i hope Gord is careful going off with those people.
Ultra Girl does seem rather reserved compared to the others. So i'm glad she wants to go off and try something new.
Hahah of course they're gonna get Polar Girl alone with Stoor!

Ok, i'm glad Friction was like "hold up for a moment and questioned trusting these rando's from Rimbor.
Gord, glad you don't see anything short range...but how short or rather long is that range?
that was some quick thinking for scanning and i really like that she's not totally open to these guys and wants to keep an eye on them. True Gene-mods are not a crime. but with all the trouble the teams had. best to be cautious. especially when they are from Rimbor and Jo's son is running around with a gang that they don't know really anything about.

Awww omg! that's super cute that Polar Girl and Stoor both like each other but things the other isn't good enough.
oo and there was trouble! haha damn i wasn't expecting Mel to do that! its a neat trick!
aww Mel floating up to meet Stoor's face and kiss him was soo sweet. i really loved this tiny little moment between them.

It must be super hard for Glory since she can't really turn off her powers.
So Triple Nova's three-selves each not only have a different aspect of his powers but also of his personality? Interesting, especially how that's paired with the powers that break off into each.
Glory is so sweet and she got to be a real hero for this woman to help her get to the big moon event. its sad that there's nothing that can be done for her. But she's facing it with grace.

a dance contest with a precog? that doesn't sound like a good idea ever. lol...looks like it didn't matter. a good natured dance off was fun and i liked how it ended with them just coming back to the table and the Legionnaires making some new friends.
two new applicants? interesting...ooo that is a bit of cheating on Victa's part. But there had to be a reason he was soo good.
Friction not letting on who she or her friends were was well done.
loved the description of the celestial event. it sounds like it would be amazing to sit there and watch those moons fly over head.

the back and forth between gord and friction while talking to Bolton was kind of funny. Friction badgering him to tell her the truth and him just being very obtuse/evasive was well done.
i'm all for some new peeps coming in. But i hope these two are on the up and up. its just too convenient for me that these two are showing up from Rimbor and Jo's kid is forming a gang.

i really enjoyed this down time and can't wait for more!!

Outside Legion World Two

Mon El - Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Dawnstar of Starhaven - Senior Team member - space flight, incredible speed, tracking
Non - negative energy being - spaceflight, speed, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, limited telepathy


Mon El, Dawnstar, and Non all hovered in space.

They were relatively close to each other - within an AU so easily within each other's sensory range - though they each kept their own company and thoughts to themselves.


Mon El contemplated the vast universe before him. He had been a Legionnaire almost continuously since leaving the Phantom Zone and wouldn't trade those years or the friends he had made for anything, though perhaps it was time for something more... Shadow Lass had made it very clear that since the accident where he had broken her shoulder, she was not interested in renewing their relationship. Rumour had it - not that Lar would usually use these as a definitive source of information - that Jumping Jax, Tasmia's fellow tutor on Home Base, had been seen joining her for social occasions on a regular basis. Lar wished them well, if indeed they were at the start of a relationship.

He may not know for certain what was happening with Tasmia Mallor's personal life but he did know it was fast approaching time for him to seriously consider moving on...


Dawnstar allowed her senses to drift with the ebb and flow of the star system around them. She often did this when she needed to relax, it was meditative.

With little effort, she could feel the passage of the planet that Second Base had visited, as it drifted along its eternal path around the mother star in the distance. She tried to keep her mind from coalescing around a single thought, but it was proving to be difficult as one kept interrupting her. That single thought was entirely around the mystic Southern Lights!

They had spent the last few nights together getting closer and more intimate until just last night they had consummated their relationship. Both had laughed and cried afterwards. Dawnstar knew that things would be different from now on. She could feel it within her own body... her very cells felt charged, as if some deep primal urge had been set free. And she liked the feeling!

As her thoughts drifted back towards the evening before, she once again pushed her senses outwards and allowed her mind to drift: this eternal moment wrapped in the excited feelings within her own physicality was something she wanted to remember.


Non hung in space, facing away from the star and planets of this system out in the Fringes of the Northern Arm of the Milky Way. Its mind was full of wonderment as micro-waves of gravity rippled across its negative energy form, and micromoments of ethereal beauty spun into and out of existence all around it. These events were fleeting yet to the negative energy beings' senses they reverberated and sang in a celestial chorus.

If it had been asked what it was experiencing at that moment, the closest analogy it would be able to come up with that the matter beings called humans would understand is that it was taking a bath... cleaning itself from the pollutants that accumulated from being close to unguarded minds and non-natural creations and structures.

Non felt at peace as it contemplated the endless stream of creation and destruction within the vast universe around it.

.............................


Legion World First Base, main gymnasium.

Ferro - Douglas Nolan of Earth - can assume invulnerable iron isotope form
Titan - Hope World Deputy Leader -Nasir N’Cube of Titan - alpha-level telepathy
Atom Girl - Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk - can shrink to microscopic size
Monica Sade of Rimbor - strength, reflexes, line of sight teleportation


Titan was in the gym with Ferro.

The two young men were racing around the mezzanine running track. As they ran, they had been discussing the latest mission that Nasir had been on; saving a settlement out in the Rim from a plague that turned those infected into something like zombies. Doug was teasing Nasir that he had such a poor social life that no-one would notice if he had been infected until he tried to bite them.

As the two young men joked, they could hear a crash and a yelp from below them. Without thinking, both men dived over the edge of the walkway and flew down to the gymnasium floor below.

"Sorry guys, that was my fault." Atom Girl grew out from the ground before them. Around her were a stack of fallen weights.

As Titan and Ferro helped their embarrassed Imskian teammate to restack the weight rack, Monica Sade strolled into the gym.

"Hey Sylva," she called out, "you trying to get out from our rematch?" With a pop! she vanished and reappeared at the side of her teammates, immediately bending down to help pick up weights that lay scattered around.

"I'm ready whenever you are... just dropped my weights and, well..." Atom Girl gave an embarrassed smile and shrugged her shoulders.

"So, do you two train regularly?" Nasir asked, taking the focus away from Sylva's blushing.

"Sylva is a top-level martial artist, so it's fun to spar with her." Monica smiled proudly at her friend as she said this before adding with a chuckle, "and, yes, it's even better that I win more times than not."

"We don't all have cybernetically enhanced reflexes and strength." Atom Girl reminder her blandly with a sniff. There was clearly a little bit of tension in the air between the two women on this point.

"Do you think none of our opponents will have enhancements?" Sade quipped.

"I've got a question for you, Monica." Doug interrupted. Even though he had his mask on, they could all see the outlines of a smile on his face. "I want to know... why don't you use a code-name?"

"Yeah, good question." Nasir agreed, turning to face her as he continued, "we could help you if you're struggling to think of one."

"Maybe you could be... the Vanishing Lady?" Doug suggested., "no?" He asked, his tone of voice far from serious.

"Or perhaps... Maiden Voyage, y'know because of your teleportation?" Titan said, "Nah, sorry, that wasn't all that great, so how about... Teleportrax?" Nasir suggested, his tone light, clearly teasing.

"I don't think so..." Sade's voice dripped scorn.

"Pop-Up Girl!" Doug announced triumphantly, as if he had just given a world-saving answer. Sylva sniggered and put a hand over her mouth.

"I like that, Pop-Up Girl... or... I know, Miss Disappear! Because you like to disappear..." Nasir was trying not to laugh as he said this.

"I liked that one best... can we start calling you that Monica, Miss Disappear? What do you think?" Sylva asked, her face twitching as she tried to contain her laughter. Monica Sade threw her friend a foul glance, obviously not impressed, though as she looked away, it was obvious as her lips flicked into a small smile.

"I'll take your suggestions under advisement and let you know what I decide." Although her tone was serious, Sade's expression was not.

"What about... Blinky?" As Nasir suggested this, Sylva snorted a laugh.

"Okay, now... seriously, we all know how fierce you are Monica and we should reference that so your opponents know what to exoect if they cross you, so how about Tough Girl ...the Teleporting Terror!?" And with that, Doug doubled over laughing. Sylva and Nasir both stepped back and turned their faces away as they started to laugh.

"I get the feeling we're not going to get much sparring done today, are we? At least, not the physical kind..." Monica said with faux-disappointment. Her eyes twinkled with humour even as she offered her colleagues a stern look.

.................


Legion World Home Base - the Academy:

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


Rokk, Lydda, and Lu had arranged to meet up for brunch.

Rokk had been dreading talking to her as he knew he needed to raise the information Troy had shared with him - the accusations of bullying and insubordination that would be damaging to her career if they weren't dealt with quickly.

Of all the many incredible teammates and friends he had made over the years as a Legionnaire, Lu was the one that he always thought held it together the best. After one of her selves had died at the hands of Computo all those years ago, he had marvelled at her resilience and determination. After that, he agreed whole-heartedly with Imra when she said that Lu was not to be underestimated - the word he thought best summed her up was formidable!

When Luornu called Rokk that morning to arrange to meet up he had smiled at her holo and agreed, though the moment the connection had cut he collapsed onto his couch and sighed. He had intentionally not mentioned what he had heard from Troy to Lydda, though knew that she would have noticed that there was something weighing him down. It was time to tell his wife what was going on. And, he really didn't look forward to it.

Lydda breathed a sigh of relief when Rokk told her. She had overheard a few of her students commenting on Lu's behaviour and knew there must be more to the story. There were too many whispers for it to be ignored for long and when Lydda had asked the students what they were gossiping about she had been faced with tight lipped avoidance - a clear sign that something was actually going on that merited further attention.

Two hours later, the couple were sat at a side table in the tutor's rec room on Home Base when Luornu walked in. Both smiled at her, and after picking up a caffe pod from the auto-chef, she joined them. It was clear from the looks they gave each other that they knew what was going on.

"So..." Lu began before giving a small laugh, "you know, don't you? I mean, about the accusations that were made against me."

"Yup, Troy told me. Said you two had had a 'loud' conversation and asked me to check if there's anything we can do to support you." Rokk admitted, glad to say it out loud. He knew he was no good at subterfuge, so was grateful he wouldn't need to avoid discussing the subject directly.

"Yeah... he caught me off guard with his pep talk, they aren't his speciality and let's be honest, taking advice isnt mine." Lu gave her friends the flash of a smile before she continued.

"Yeah, I suppose I didn't give him the credit he deserved for trying to talk to me about it. That was a... well... I don't think either of us will look back on that meeting with much pride."

"Do you want us to speak to him, Lu?" Lydda asked.

"No... no, nothing like that. I've... I had a session with Dr Falkner ...and, well, I have to say it has made me realise a few things."

"What are you saying, Lu?" Rokk asked, suddenly worried how this might progress.

"I'm saying that I need to acknowledge that I was unnecessarily tough on Mindbender. Truthfully, I just don't like him... personally, I mean. I think he's a little monster, but this isn't the first time I've dealt with kids... teammates like that.... and while in the Academy it's our job to sort those attitudes out... well, I was his mentor, not his tutor, and I treated him in a, ...ah, a disrespectful manner."

Lu stopped for a second and her gaze fell to the table. "There's a chance he could resign, and if he does, we would lose someone who aced every test we threw at him, who's as potent as Imra and as enthusiastic as we all used to be. It shouldn't matter if I find him disagreeable, he's good at his job... as much as it pains me to admit it, he's every bit as good as Nasir or even Imra. If he does leave then I'll be to blame and I don't want that on my conscience."

After she had finished speaking, the table fell silent. Lu gave a small smile to Rokk and Lydda before she continued. She didn’t want them to say anything until she had finished telling them everything she had to say.

"Anyway, I spoke with Dr Falkner yesterday, and it got me thinking... remembering what it was like when we started. So, last night, I read through our original charter and rules and regulations. It was... ueah, well, it reminded me of a few things that I had sort of forgotten. 'We are here to provide a beacon of hope, friendship and optimism to the galaxy' - you wrote that line Rokk, didn't you?" She gave a small chuckle before carrying on, "And, 'ultimately, we're a group of super-powered young people from throughout the galaxy who want to make things better for everyone,' and... I realised that I didn't make it better for Marmud. I... I think I've been a little lost since Chuck... I'm so lost." Lu had not planned on saying this much, but as the words came out, she knew they were coming from somewhere deep inside her that she had been denying for too long.

Both Rokk and Lydda remained silent as Lu stopped talking. She gave them both a brittle smile before lowering her face to sip at her caffe pod. Lydda reached out a hand and placed it on top of Lu's free hand. For a split-second, Lu's hand tensed up as if she wanted to pull it away.

"We're here whenever you need us, Lu." Rokk said, his voice thick with emotion.

"What can we do to help?" The Kathooni tutor asked her friend as she looked up from her hot drink.

"You're doing it." Lu 's voice was small, and both Rokk and Lydda heard the crack of vulnerability in it.

Lu smiled at her friends; Rokk and Lydda could see the unspilled tears in her eyes as she did.

A pleasure to see some more from your Legion, Harbi!

Dawnstar feeling the benefit of having a healthy relationship is also nice to see!

I wonder what is coming up next for Mon though? Sounds like he might be off a'wandering again soon!

It never really occurred to me that Monica Sade never had a codename, I guess because her real name is cool enough! But Pop-Up Girl is the clear winner for me hahaha (on another note I have a scene coming up discussing characters who don't use codenames, synchronicity strikes again!)

Lu's conversation with Cos and Lydda was very well done too...I like when we get to see the friendships between the old school Legionnaires, and I like Cosmic Boy thinking that he's no good at subterfuge and just prefers for everything to be faced up front.
It's also good seeing that Lu took the counselling session seriously and is trying to grow from it, I think we have seen in the past that her response to trauma is to just knuckle down and storm through it so it's good for her to acknowledge that she can be vulnerable too.

Always nice seeing more of your writing Harbi! I’ll comment next week - on holiday now and don’t have my laptop with me, and I’d prefer to do your writing justice!

Triple Nova - Elthur Mundo of Carggg - split into three separate bodies, each with either strength and durability, speed and reflexes, or laser vision
Gloriana Crestellen of Grighshtall iv - Glory - medical support - awareness and manipulation of bio-auras
Shardwurd Gandussen of the Ten Peaks from Avalon - Silver Shaman - Medical Officer - biokinetic healing


When the group had returned from the party watching the moons streak across the skies of Telforatus 3, Glory knew she would spend the next day researching what she could have done to help Anandarra.

Eight hours later she was sat at her desk, Elthur was in bed. Glory was flicking through hard light screens trying to march up what she had seen with her senses with the reports from decades of medical journals. She didn't hear Elthur approach and gave a little jump of surprise when he spoke.

"I know you're going to research what you can do to help Anandarra, and if you think I'm not going to help... well, you know me better than that by now, honey, so budge over and let the three of me look too." His smile was teasing as he spoke, and Glory knew that underneath his calm exterior, Elthur Mundo was one of the most determined people she had ever met. If his mind was made up then it was a waste of time arguing with the man, he would be resolute.

It took an hour poring through medical text on the Base's medical database before Glory was happy with the data they had amassed. Elthur ran an AI enhanced simulation while Glory pored over every minor detail.

"I'm going to call Kent, he'll need to know if I'm going to take supplies off base anyway." Elthur nodded as Glory stated this.

A holo buzzed into existence before them showing a weary looking Kent Shakespeare. "What is it, Glory?" the muscular medic asked as he rubbed sleep from his eyes. She realised he had been on night shift so quickly explained the situation - they had met someone who they could help with a little assistance from the First Base stores, and Glory really wanted to do this. She held her chin up as she spoke, describing what she proposed to do to help the seriously ill Anandarra. She was worried he would not support her decision but tried her best to convince him.

"Of course you have to help her. Don't draw too much attention though, unfortunately we can't treat every sick sentient in the Rim.." Kent gave a wide smile as he said this, "yeah... and take Shardwurd too, as that treatment might cause a reaction that might need some of his magic touch to help her get through it."

"So... it's okay?"

"Of course, now if there's anything else...? Right, I'm going back to bed before Jan steals all of the duvet." With a big grin Kent Shakespeare signed off.

"Right, let's do this." Elthur had already triplicated and was grabbing everything they needed.

Twenty minutes later, Shardwurd Gandessun was waiting for them in Henry's warp control room. Glory gave him a tight hug and explained what they were doing. He said it would be his absolute pleasure to assist and smiled at her. The tall mutant from Avalon was renowned for his helpful nature so neither Glory or Elthur were surprised, though both were very grateful.

"Okay, I have accessed the Telforus 3 planetary database and... I think we have their address. Let's go." Elthur gave Glory a big smile as he asked Henry to open a warp.

..........................


They had warped to the door.

Dreen opened the door, surprised to see Glory and Elthur again. As Glory explained that they were there to help, they were shown in. Anandarra was unconscious, laying n a large cot in the middle of her main room, surrounded by an array of machines and drips that seemed to feed into every limb. Bolin was sat at her side, holding her hand. He didn't question why Glory and Elthur were there, though asked who Shardwurd was. The mutant healer from distant Avalon introduced himself with a small smile that Bolin echoed back. Shardwurd had such a gentle demeanor that no-one questioned when he sat opposite and took Anandarra's other hand in his.

Glory took the small ampule from her bag along with the tubular delivery system - it would inject the solutions that she and Elthur had synthesized, and they hoped along with Shardwurd's biokinesis, they would be able to reverse some of the damage that the former power sphere technician had endured.

The two brothers exchanged a glance before Breen spoke:

"I heard you talkin' amongst yourselves, are you... you're Legionnaires, aren't you?"

"Yup," Elthur walked across the two young men, a broad grin on his face, "I'm from Carggg, sometimes I'm called Triple Nova, though my given name is actually Elthur... Glory call's my triplicates by different names as a bit of a joke, So I'm Thor, Hurry and Star all together in one right now. Glory and Sharwurd are part of our medical team."

Breen had tears in his eyes as he nodded, "...if you can... if she gets better what can we do to thank you?"

"Be good folks, that's all, just carry on being good folk. We volunteer to do this, we don't ask for anything in return. Seriously, it's okay." Elthur could see how much the young man was strugglling and gave him a hug.

Anandarra regained consciousness quite quickly after the treatment began and, though happy to see Glory again, was confused by her being there. She seemed surprised that Shardwurd was holding her hand, but didn't pull away. Glory quickly explained, and Anandarra laughed as she realised that she had real life Legionnaires at her bedside.

The treatment was quite painful at times and Shardwurd eased her pain as he helped her body heal. The second time she cried out Elthur asked Bolin and Dreen of they could have a drink, and joined them to the small kitchen. The brothers knew he was trying to spare them from seeing their big sister in such pain and they made small talk as they used their auto-chef to call up some snacks to go with steaming mugs of tea.

It was four hours later when the three teammates left Anandarra's modest home. They had left her asleep and explained to her brothers that she would be weak for a few days so they would still need to tend to her, though after that there should be some marked improvements, and if she ate healthily and did some light exercise she should be back on her feet within a couple of weeks. The two young men hugged each of them tightly before they left, smiles and tears on their faces.

"Today has been a good day." Shardwurd announced as they walked through the warp back to First Base.

Elthur nodded and said, "it's been the absolute best!"

.................................


Second Base

Mindbender - Marmud Illic of Titan - alpha-level telepath

Intern: Mosaic - Science Police Officer Rish'ha Nor of Lallor - tactile mimicry of material properties


Marmud was working out in a small gym on one of the lower levels.

He had been here for over an hour and as a result of the hard effort he had been putting in, his hair was stuck to his head with his sweat. His shoulders and arms ached as he pushed himself to lift more weights.

For all his effort and the pain he felt, his mind was still whirring. As much as he wanted to deny it, he regretted complaining about Duplicate Girl. If only he had kept his mouth shut for a few more weeks.. He could feel the low level resentment that a few of his teammates felt towards him, as if he had somehow damaged the team for raising his concerns. He also resented her for putting him in that position by being such a bat-witch!

The young psychic had bumped into Tyroc earlier in the morning. The Second Base's team leaders' thoughts were spilling over with disappointment and tinged with anger, and an overall feeling that it tied into Marmud's complaint about his mentor. Marmud had resisted the urge to read Troy's mind to establish the details, so had walked away quickly. He had tossed and turned all night as he wrestled with the idea that perhaps he should just leave, the SP's would welcome him... so, at 0800 standard he had come here to this secluded gym and planned on physically exhausting himself so he could have a proper sleep.

The door opened, and the intern from Lallor they called Mosaic walked in. He looked surprised to see Marmud, apologised, and started to leave.

"Rish'ha, hey, it's okay, I'm beat, so if you want peace and quiet, I'm happy to go." Marmud smiled and stood up from the bench.

The intern stopped and gave a tight smile.

"Marmud, I realise I'm just an intern and... do you mind if I ask...?"

"What is it?" Mindbender rubbed his hair with a towel as he asked. The young psychic had a feeling it was going to be a tricky conversation.

“Well... You know everyone’s talking about you? About how Duplicate Girl has tried to force you to leave...”

“That’s not true Rish’ha, she was tough on me but never tried to push me out.”

“In the academy, there are students boycotting her classes because of it, and some even say they’re gonna leave unless she quits. I heard at least ten say they were thinking of quitting as the Legion was hypocritical. The rumour mongers are saying the Big Team look out for everyone apart from their junior members.” The young mutant from Lallor looked embarrassed as he told the telepathic legionnaire what he had witnessed while on Home Base.

“They’re bloody stupid then. She’s one of the most experienced tutors there, every student should be grateful that she chooses to stay. Yes, she is bloody hard sometimes, but she shouldn’t have to go...” his voice trailed off as he realised how serious this could be.

Marmud remembered how the gossip mills at Home Base turned and spun every story, but he never expected his unhappiness to be the source of such tales. As angry and hurt as he felt towards Lournu, he knew that the only right path would lead him to challenge these stories. Keeping Lu’s reputation intact would stop the Academy from losing good people before they had the chance to fulfil their potential, and also not lose Lournu as well... Just because he had not enjoyed himself was not a valid reason for others to quit. Even if she was the worst mentor on the team... for a second he considered not saying anything, she deserved it for the way she made him feel... He knew better, of course, so instead he decided he had to act. And the sooner the better!

Marmud thought it might also mean that Tyroc would no longer be angry with him. As he left the gym, he thanked the intern from Lallor for letting him know what was going on.

As he stepped into the corridor and the door irised shut behind him, Marmud put his flight ring up before his mouth, took a deep breath, and said:

"Luornu... it's Marmud. Apologies if I've disturbed you working but we need to talk."

............................


Jefarri Assarn of Talok viii - Colossal Girl, increase personal size and mass, rapid healing


The relocated Talokeans on Senfrathras Minor 6 had been busy.

The continent that Henry had originally warped them onto had not been settled previously, though the terraforming craft that had initially been sent there two centuries before from a failed human expansion had laid down some natural infrastructure, like lakes of fresh water and a burgeoning biosphere that included recognisable (though not native to Talok viii) flora and fauna. The Legion, their Academy, and the United Planets had all helped, too. But, ultimately, it was the refugees from the destroyed world of Talok viii that had to create their new home.

The elders and political leaders of the Three Peoples had come together to discuss resources, priorities, and roles of their respective tribes. Historically, the Forest Peoples were seen as a minor political force, though their knowledge of agriculture and animal husbandry in a non-techinal setting gave them increased cspital in these meetings. The City Folk with their advanced technology had long ago separated themselves from nature so were particularly keen for assistance, while the Desert Tribes acknowledged they too would appreciate help.

The Forest People said of course they would want to help their sisters snd brothers though they had a couple of conditions. It took ten whole minutes to calm down the meering after that to the point where the representative of the Forest People could be heard again. She did not mind, aggresive diplomacy had been taught at the Legion Academy and Jefarri Assarn had learned those lessons well.

It helped that in attendance where both Kahnya Nahtahnie and Tasmia Mallor. They were also the Champions of their peoples and the three ladies had already discussed and agreed to the points the Forest People would raise.

If Talokean culture were to survive it needed to adapt. It was that simple, adapt or die. And so Jefarri suggested that as they needed the survival instincts of the Desert Tribes and the technology of the City Folk to aid the agricultural knowledge that her people would bring, then all settlements with a population of over two hundred and fifty must have representation from each of the Three People upon their councils. That wasn't to say that individual people could no longer follow their cultural ways, of course they could, but when making decisions that impacted upon large numbers, all sides had to be considered.

Of course, as expected, there were angry howls against this proposition, but as the three Champions were clearly in agreement these quickly died down. Surprisingly, it was the Forges, the armour and weapon makers that had traditionally set themselves apart from their rival representatives of other Tribes that were first to wholeheartedly agree - they understood better than most that when resources were stretched and one did not have a large army at one's back, the negotiation table was the only sensible choice. They stressed they would follow the accord so long as it did not dictate that any of the Peoples lose their respective traditions and culture, those would remain, only that there would be input from the other tribe to ensure a more holistic approach might be taken I centres of population.

Jefarri smiled, that was exactly what she had been offering. The representative of the Forges had smiled in response. They understood each other perfectly.

It took eight solid hours to hammer out the draft work of the accords that would guide their people going forward on their new world. If such a treaty had been put forward before their homeworld had been destroyed, it would have been laughed at and the bearer of such an offer likely killed for their impudence. Eight solid hours of backroom arm twisting and flattery to set their people on a course that would benefit every generation to come... the three Champions were overjoyed by the results.

Within the UP Senate, watching from Weber's World, there was an overwhelming feeling of quiet relief.

In a move that surprised everyone present and even those watching, Lady Memory, Champion and de-facto voice of the Desert Tribes nominated Jefarri Assarn, the Champion of the Forest People, to be the First Speaker for the newly formed Council of the Three Peoples of Talok viii.

She was voted in unanimously.

Finally able to catch up Harbi, what a treat!

Makes sense that Tasmia would be so upset at what Lar did, that she'd just break up. and not pursue a friendship per se. Sounds like Tasmia was very clear and direct. Good on Lar at least for respecting that.

nice description of Dawny's super senses here. It is always interesting to read how one with such perception deals with it.

and Non, such a fascinating creation of yours. great take on an energy being.

nice scene here, with a couple of sentences we get so much info on the 3 involved!

LOL at Doug teasing Nasir. It's also good to see that there's something Nasir isn't perfect in (I will always remember him as your Legionnaire who is a paragon of discipline, with great power control AND physicality!) but as in real life, nobody is absolutely perfect...

nice bit here, with Sade giving due credit to Sylva's martial arts skills; while Sylva is a bit annoyed that Sade has enhancements that make her tougher. clearly, Sade sees this as a way to train Sylva, while Sylva sees this as a competition...


bwahahaa at these code name suggestions!!! nice to see them having fun with it



jnteresting dynamic in this next scene. Rokk plans to bring up the topic with Lu while Lydda is there? oh dear, why? wouldn't a 1-1 be better? (or did Lu want this?)

I do agree (and like) that Lu's toughness is highlighted - she HAS been through a lot!

nice to see that Lydda wasn't completely unaware of everything.

heh at Rokk just being no good at subterfuge, and him knowing it


kudos to Lu for also admitting her own weakness re not taking advice... and major kudos to her for accepting her faults in how she treated Mindbender! and acknowledging what he's good at!

sweet scene this, with Lydda and Rokk silently being there for Lu

bless Glory, how nice of hear to keep researching. and wow is Triple Nova sweet! I love them as a couple already. bless Kent too, I like this all "let's help, we can't help everyone but if we have a case..." what a pleasant surprise to have you revisit Annandara! I fully expected her to die, but it looks like she could make a great recovery! What a great scene!


Marmud's thoughts are an interesting take. Until now, most of the glimpses we've seen are of people thinking Lu is a bully and taking Marmud's side. also funny because we clearly saw that Troy was on Marmud's side (or felt that Lu was in the wrong)... just goes to show that people tend to think the worst, so Marmud's conclusion is very realistic.

pardon, but what is the significance of Marmud waiting a few weeks? what would happen in a few weeks that would have solved the whole Lu issue even if Marmud had kept quiet?



I do respect Marmud for sticking to the facts, and stating that Lu did not actually try to push him out. and whew, boycotting her classes, wow this problem is bigger than I thought! well, very mature of Marmud to decide to act - hopefully this will also change Lu's opinion of him, or at least lead to a better working relationship!

loving his look into Talok VII, you did a great job setting up the three peoples. nice to have a champion for each - all female too, sweet. kudos to the Forge folk as well for understanding the needs!

well well well, go Jeffari! is she gonna limit her involvement with the Legion now that she has such a big role?

nice stuff Harbi, thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

Omni, I'm going to respond to some of your comments from LW8, so here goes:

Firstly, glad to see you back with us! Yay!

Gear helping Nel set up for the date was fun, I want to focus more on things like that as they are so nice to write. Gil'Dishpan do indeed sound like Yoda, haha, or at least my version of them do.Grava and Drinchnar - I love them so had to show their relationship developing. As Raz said, Imra was sure the team would deal with it, so agreed. Nura is definitely smug, but she's also big hearted, caring, nurturing and incredibly annoying, she's a complex person who happens to know what's going to happen next. A strop - oh sorry, Scottish slang, it's when someone is in a huff, sulky like behaviour, like a toddler tantrum. Tesseract is a bit blunt, isn't she I enjoy writing her tbh. The Shadowmancer is an ancient beast, so there's a lot of back story there. Xao and Szenlong wil be appear soon, a baby dragon is just too much fun to ignore for long, though with 60 odd other characters it's a bit of a juggling act not making them panel hogs.

I've wanted to add a bit to Khund culture so the twins back story was the perfect opportunity, glad you liked it. The team, by my reckoning, have been going for 15 years or so by now so the team leaders won't just rush into a fight, they'll use their experience to give themselves the best possible chance at success. This version of the Legion is a lot more mature than the usual we see. Lexikon didn't kill the assassins, but they would have been very sore when they woke up - that'll learn them I loved the mental image of the Jade dragon swallowing the Shadowmancer so had to put it in there. The battle was fun to write as it involved tackling it from so many different perspectives, glad you liked it. I've established previously that Jed is a danger on the dancefloor so had to reference it again, bless him. Spoiler and Booster were at the Academy together so they definitely knew each other prior to that scene.

Am happy you liked the scene with Dawnstar, she's going to get a bit more attention soon, as she needs it really, and it's been interesting for me to get into her head. And Mon El is another character I'll be giving a bit more of the spotlght to as he's been woefully underused. Way I see it, Naltorans have high pheremone counts, not necessarily a super power but definitely enough to get attention from people around them. The Academy went from having a maximum ten students to hundreds so I guess they kind of overlooked the sexual part of the students interactions as before the tutors would have been well aware so kept any potential mishap from happening. Tinya is exhausted and fed up, and annoyed at Nura for stealing Hope World and chunk of the team from her, so her anger is leaking through... oh well, hope she doesn't make any silly decisions. Oops, too late Tel and Jed, and Dann, have a ways to go yet and it won't always be goood, that's what relationships are like unfortunately. Jan just wanted to go see this Trom survivor and avoid the drama of taking a big team. The vanished planet, yeah, that'll be back soon, and with it Tinya. Sex classes with Dr Faulkner - that was fun to write. Lu and Marmud is another, different kind of relationship that hasways to go before we're through. Glad you liked the Universal Justice history, I will be mining that further soon.

Yeah, the Magus wasn't impressed with Jan joining the Legion as he's a pacifist, though they seem to have made the peace now. I wanted to address Trommite culture and show it is very different from what Jan has chosen for himself, and have no plans of opening up their relationship. I see Laipas is a big Irish Wolfhound, so even a Khund would pause at that running at him I think.Daramulum and Ruby will be back, probably LW10, I do have plans for them. More Backlash - yes, I agree A story from Henry's perspective? Nahhhh sorry, he's the one character I want to keep mysterious. But you never know, I may pop in a little bit here and there. Jo's boy will be back fairly soon. Kent was tired and his mind was on other things, like whether or not his relationship was away to implode, so he was a bit short with Jaz, though I reckon they've made up by now. The Worldsmith was a one-hit wonder that James Sherman drew, and I just had to include him. My magic users are all pretty distinctive - in my mind anyway - so glad you picked up on that. Ardren is super strong and used to solving problems with this talent so his go to solution is to punch things - nobody said he was smart. I really wanted to reference the Australian Aboriginal pantheon of gods so Daramulum's backstory helped fill in some of the gaps. Yeah, that Dragon King was a tricky beast wasn't he? I needed to give Szenlong an origin of sorts so wrote that story to give the punchline - hope it was worth it. The senior team are still in place, just they don't have a single person respnsible for everything all the time. Hopefully the leaders will grow on you, though it's funny that Tyroc and Nura annoy you as they aretwo of my favourites to write, haha. Lexi was very overdue. I mentioned her fiance in LW3 but hadn't gone anywhere with it so he was overdue to appear. Hope World - hope you liked Nura here - and Zombies - my least favourite trope - so fingers crossed it goes well. Better vetting - yup, that'll come up next time there's new teammates. The team have learned their lessons here. The Sun Boy name, funny you mention that as e've still to see how Dirk reacts...

Glad you enjoyed it all Omni, that was a marathon review - thank you!


Raz, hi,

Yup both Dawny and Mon El will be getting a bit more attention so your points will be addressed soon-ish. Monica Sade not having a code name is really cool, I think, but it was fun to tease her - Pop-Up Girl, indeed! Lu, yeah, she has taken a kick to the ego but she is as tough as she appears so she'll work through it, and her and Marmud will have a bit more spotlight on them soon as things escalate.

Thanks guys, always grateful for your support.

Hey IB, just saw your post, sorry, didn't intentionally not respond.

Lar and Tas weren't officially back together, they just had a night together after a party, so it wasn't so much a break up as she moved on. Dawny needs more attention so will be getting it soon, I've a story where she leads a team that I've started writing so it'll be up be the end of LW9. I like Doug and Nasir's friendship so it's only natural they'd tease each other, and glad you liked the scene with Sylva and Monica too.

Lu is super smart so she'll take away a lot from her talk with Dr Faulkner, and she's another character in need of development. Marmuds couple of weeks comment - his mentoring would have finished - the newbies get a mentor for three months, so this was roughly two months into it. Sorry, should have clarified that point. Oh, he's also smart so won't be petty about his an Lu's relationship - it's business so he'll remember to be professional, at least until the next time she's mean

I have a couple more ideas about the Talokean survivors that'll pepper LW9, as there's so much potential story around them and how they cope with the loss of their world.

Anyway, thank you again IB, as ever I'm grateful for your kind review.

hi Harbi, thanks for your quick response! Ah, I forgot that Lar and Tas weren't back together at that point!

and thanks for clarifying the "couple weeks" comment from Marmud

as always, looking forward to more more more!!

Dawnstar and Atomsmasher hovered close to a tumbling 15 metre-wide vaguely potato shaped asteroid just two light years inside of the United Planets official jurisdiction.

Atomsmasher, the Wraithcat, had snaked one of its long whip-like tails around the tracker from Starhaven's hand thereby extending its invisibility field to cover her. Dawnstar had hoped that the Green Lantern would be with them on this reconnaissance mission but Dkyun Mu's emerald energy negated Atomsmasher's ability to hide them so the decision was taken to move without the Xudarian.

Approximately 20 klicks in front of them Starkling made its way towards their target. The composite Legionnaire had drifted on a twisted route, its separate ball bearing sized parts spread over a square klick or so as it tried to avoid detection. The gravity of the planetoid that was only a few klicks away from Starkling was pulling its diamond hard components in towards a crash landing. That was exactly what the Legion were hoping for.

The planetoid housed a tribe of Tyrrazians.

It was slightly larger in size to Hope World, so one of the smaller Tyrrazian battle worlds but as it was currently closing in on Emerson Three, a UP fringe planet, Tyroc had decided it was a target they couldn't ignore. The Legion had teleported some of Gear's nannites into the heart of the marauders engineering section as part of the team's plan to capture these worlds over a month before and had been monitoringthem ever since. The team had received regular information blips telling them what the nannites discovered and once the planetoid was within the UP's jurisdiction they knew it was time to act.

This would be the third battle planet that the Legion encountered and from what Gear had been able to relay, it wasn't very different from the other two. There were some unusual energy readings from engineering but nothing that the team were particular worried about. The Legion knew that the eleven Tyrrazian tribes that remained would have learned by now that the team had taken two of their sister tribe's mobile planetoid bases so it would be most likely that the warmongers would be on high alert for attacks. Dawnstar hoped that this stealthy approach to the start of their mission would lead to an unexpected and successful outcome.

With both the First and Second Bases primed to warp into the fray if things got too tough, the tracker from Starhaven prayed to her ancestors that they had enough firepower to deal with this swiftly, and with minimal casualties.

....................


Thunder was ready with a large team of heavy hitters to warp into action as soon as Dawnstar gave the word.

Cece had tasked a couple of the newer teammates as well as more experienced Legionnaire and a Daxamite Science Police officer as her team. Their mission was to simply destroy as much weapon tech and thereby distract the Tyrazzians from the more important objective - Element Lad was planning to take a small team into the main control deck to wrestle command of the planetoid away from the Warmongers.

Inside Henry's warp control room on Second Base Tyroc stood silently.

The teams he would be leading for this mission all waited beside him. Their remit was to keep the Tyrrazians busy while Element Lad team took control. Tyroc had already separated them into four teams, each with their own mission: take control of engineering, docking bays, hydroponics and security functions. All the while making as much noise as possible so Jan’s team could deal with the control centre without interruption.

Element Lad, XS, Mindbender and, the SP Liaison Officer Magno would head straight to where Gear believed the central control deck was located...not too large a group that they would attract attention immediately but tough enough to deal with most situations if they arose. Their plan was to warp into the command room and neutralize whomever was running this battle planet with the hoped-for outcome of taking control and turning it into a base for either their expanding team or another area of UP law-keepers to use.

From her vantage point in space, Dawnstar reached out through the flight ring generated telepathic grid to inform them what she and Atomsmasher had found out from their stealthy mission along with the results of Starklings close-up telepathic probing of the Tyrazzian planetoid - it appeared that now was the perfect time for the Legion to act!

"Right," Thunder announced, "We know it's two thirds of the way through their night shift cycle so we don't expect their full resistance immediately on our arrival. That said, these are Tyr's people so don't expect it to be a walk in the park, just stay focused and we can do this. Okay? Is everyone ready? yeah? Good. Henry, warps please..."

................................


Thunder - Team Leader - Cecelia Becks of 21st Century Earth, immense strength, speed, indestructibility, space flight, wisdom
Mon El – Senior Team member, Lar Gand of Daxam, incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability
Dawnstar of Starhaven - Senior Team member, space flight, incredible speed, tracking
Green Lantern - Dkyun Mu of Xudar, wearer of a Green Lantern power ring
Starkling – telepathic swarm-being composed of indestructible ball bearing sized components
Ultra Girl - Li-Fahn Qiong of Xanthu - incredible strength, speed, indestructibility, spaceflight, and projection of force blasts, effectively limited to one at a time
Atomsmasher - Ergus Wraithcat of Betelgeuse, spaceflight, durability, hyper senses, telepathy, radiation manipulation
Strobe - Denal Lort of Dryad - assume electro-magnetic energy form
Non - negative energy being - spaceflight, speed, alter own dimensions and density, explosive touch, limited telepathy

Science Police meta-squad seconded to the Legion:
Power Lass - Science Police Officer Nel Duwi of Daxam - incredible strength, speed, stamina, senses, laser vision, space flight, invulnerability


Mon El led his Daxamite Science Police colleague into action.

Both were keen to get going so the challenge was set - whomever cleared the most weapons from the planetary surface would claim an extra half-day off in the coming month with the other covering for their shift. Within seconds they had each smashed or blasted dozens of obvious targets. The enormously dangerous range of K-Rifles and laser cannons that ran around the equator of the planetoid were literally knotted together at superspeed as Officer Nel Duwi demonstrated exactly how powerful she was. Between her laser vision, strength and speed she had accomplished her task in under a minute.

As the two Daxamites were dealing with the obvious armaments that bristled across the planetoid a fleet of small drone attacks crafts streamed out from the docking bay on the southern hemisphere. Thunder had Ultra Girl and their new teammates Strobe and Non follow her as they tore into the swarming attack drones. Thunder and Ultra Girl ripped a path through the small crafts, brutally swatting them aside as they got close. In concentrated laser form, Strobe bounced between the crafts destroying them with a happy abandonment. The Negative Energy being they called Non used its explosive touch to blast the small dart-like drones into smithereens. Overall, the attacking swarm of several thousand drones lasted less than four minutes.

On the other side of the planetoid a disc-shaped craft roughly the size of two moopball pitches took off and started to fly away. Dkyun Mu, the Green Lantern captured it and sealed shut the bay from which it had snuck out from. There were small weapons attached to the craft but the Green Lantern easily snapped them into pieces. Dkyun was not going to let whomever was onboard this craft get away.

Dawnstar and Atomsmasher floated roughly 3 klicks above the planetoids northern pole and used their tremendous senses to keep watch on the situation below them. Thunder was grateful for her colleague's advice as she would have easily missed the one-person escape vessels that had used the confusion to slip out from the southernmost part of the small world. Dawnstar had flown around the planetoid to knock one of the small crafts into Ultra Girl's arms while Thunder curtailed the other two. These warmongers weren't going to get very far.

Starkling had regrouped its component parts and entered the docking bay that the dart-like drones had flown from. The composite Legionnaire planned to rip through the small fleet that was waiting to be released from their hangar. It had very little opposition as Tyroc had already warped in there with his small team and they were dealing with the warmongers and the crafts that had been present.

........................................


Tyroc – Team Leader - Troy Stewart of Marzal city pocket dimension, sonic control
Timber Wolf - Brin Londo of Zuun, enhanced strength, speed, agility, reflexes and senses
Shield - Laurel Kent of Earth, physical invulnerability, tactile psychometry
Monica Sade of Rimbor - strength, reflexes, line of sight teleportation
Atom Girl - Sylva Nrilsan of Imsk, can shrink to microscopic size
Bouncing Boy ii - Stoor Chamble of Pasnic, creation of personal spherical force field
Poltergeist -Jaun Vineo of Titan, alpha-level telekinesis


Henry's warp dropped Tyroc and his team into the heart of the planetoids docking bay three seconds after Thunder's assault had begun.

This bay was huge! It was several hectares across with walls 30 metres deep lined with thousands of drone dart-ships. There were an array of vessels and storage containers scattered across the floor of the bay. As the team rushed through the spinning disc of the warp the drones were detaching from their holdings and flying out into space as a loud howling siren blared out an alarm.

Two Tyrazzian cyborgs stood 10 metres away and turned to face the team as the warp closed. Both raised their gun arms to shoot at the Legionnaires but as they did Poltergeist reached out psionically and spun them around so they faced each other just as they blasted. The two cyborgs flew apart and crashed unconscious 20 metres apart.

<Well done Jaun> Troy sent to the new Legionnaire <but remember to stay behind Laurel please>

<That was great!> Laurel Kent added.

<Sweet move!> Monica Sade agreed with a laugh.

<Stop congratulating and start bashing> Brin sent as he cartwheeled over the top of a large container, on the lookout for more opponents. There were loud crashes and bangs heard from his general direction seconds later. Monica Sade popped to the top of the container and started shooting before vanishing again. There was the sound of a few more crashes and shots fired before she sent a message to the team:

<Three more and ... maybe more, I think?>

<Get 'em incapacitated, we'll sort 'em out after> Tyroc replied. The team leader was in the middle of dealing with two more Tyrazzians. Shield had blocked their blasts before he let rip with a destructive howl that shattered their cybernetics. To add further injury to their injury, as Tyroc scream destroyed their weapons Poltergeist telekinetically threw barrels into the back of their heads.

<Well, I don' t'ink they'll be gettin' up soon, eh?> Tyroc sent with a smile.

<There're more coming!> Shield pointed to three more Tyrazzians that were running towards them from across the bay.

<Well, if we must...> Tyroc's responded as he flew into the air, sucking in a deep breath as he readied himself for the next fight.

While the rest of the team were looking for individual Tyrazzians to deal with, Bouncing Boy had activated his personal force field and tore into the drones still hanging from their brackets in the walls. The young man from Pasnic had realised that these could prove problematic if they weren't taken care of quickly - there were literally thousands of them, and he knew it would only take one to seriously hurt someone if they had the opportunity. He spent several happy minutes bouncing between rows of the small killer crafts smashing them into unusable shards.

Meanwhile Atom Girl had flown to the nearby control console. The young woman from Imsk examined the hard-light display for a couple of seconds before prodding at a couple of buttons. The alarms shut off and the great shutter doors over the bay started to close. She smiled as she looked around though was a little disappointed that there were none of her colleagues to congratulate her or even Warmongers for her to deal with.

Strarkling flew over the young Imskian and swarmed into action with the rest of the team across the bay from where Atom Girl stood. She knew her job was to keep the console safe so she gave a mock salute towards her composite teammate before returning to the job in hand. She placed a data vampire on the solid mechanism under the hard light display and activated the send function - the team back on First Base would have the all its data in seconds. She did wish though that she’d the chance to tackle at least a couple of the cyborg Tyrazzians... even one would do, she thought wistfully as she looked around her.

Still, they had succeeded in their part of the mission, the docking bay was under their control. Sylva hoped other teams were having similar successes.

........................


Retro - Deputy team leader -Deen Toro of Ventura, limited reversal of personal timeline
Duplicate Girl - Senior Team member, Luornu Durgo of Carggg, creation of multiple identical duplicates of herself
Dragonwing - Marya Pai of Earth, breathes dragon fire
Karate Kid iii – Mithindrivithis Ngandraffa of Lythyl, strength, reflexes, mimetic motor learning giving incredible combat skills
Kinetix - Zoe Saugin of Aleph, telekinetic animation
Kid Pulsar - Neel Koduah of Earth, incredible strength, invulnerability, projection of explosive blasts


Retro's team walked through Henry's warp straight into the enormous sleeping area of the Tyrazzians.

As Gear's nannites had reported, the Warmongers slept upright in individual pods stacked along a series of irregular zig-zagging walls. There were several dozen of the red skinned warriors waiting for them though between Kid Pulsar's strength and explosive blasts, Dragonwing's flaming breath, Karate Kid's deadly accurate fighting skills and Kinetix telekinetically wrapping the floor around the opponents, the initial mob of Tyrazzians were very quickly neutralised.

While the rest of the team went to take out any more Tyrazzians that were awake, Retro had joined Duplicate Girl to search for the controls for the warmongers sleep-tech. They knew that a lot of fighting could be avoided if they could keep the many hundreds of Tyrazzians currently in their sleep cycle unconscious. It didn't take them long to find the control. Retro used a display from his flight ring to translate the controls and with an extravagant flourish he pressed a code into the control panel. The lights flickered on the screen before the display changed to show that the sleep cycle stimulator would keep repeating until it was manually switched off.

By Lu's estimate Deen had just taken out well over half of the Tyrazzian's on this planetoid without a blow being thrown. She hoped the other teams were having as much luck.

And as she had this thought a group of eight of the red skinned warmongers ran into the room, cybernetic weapons already raised. Karate Kid was a blur as she dived into them, ducking and weaving with balletic grace as she quickly neutralised them all with an efficiency that was quite breathtaking. Dragonwing leaned against a wall to the side with her arms crossed as she watched the ease at which her colleague had just dealt with the threat they faced. After Karate Kid had wrapped incapacity cuffs around the fallen cyborgs, Marya approached and they high-fived, both laughing.

As Luornu watched the martial artist and fire-breathing Legionnaire's exchange she felt a lump of pride rise in her throat at being part of this magnificent and inspiring team. She hoped the other teams were being as successful in their missions...

Well, I thought it was time for some action and to get the whole team involved so here goes, the taking of the Fifth Legion World. Hope Lu hasn't just jinxed them with that thought...

More soon as things get tough for the team.