Queen Projectra stood in the waiting area wondering why she had allowed Querl to persuade her into doing this. Her planet needed her for far more practical things than this ambassadorial meeting. The young queen held her poise, back straight, chin up, shoulders relaxed, a smile tracing around the edges of her mouth. She wanted to be with her dragon riders swooping over the Great Northern Oceans looking for spouts from the small white Whalekins so they could lead their fishing fleets out to a successful hunt. The Northern Isles economy depended on their fisher fleets and it was the start of the annual Whalekin migration through their waters.

Instead she was in this sterile green room dressed in finery that chafed waiting to be announced into an ambassadorial ball on Weber’s World being held to celebrate the recent trade agreement beetween the Vegan Worlds and the United Planets. “Brainy had better be right”, she thought darkly to herself, “Ever since the Psion takeover in 2759 the Vegans were renowned to be a tricky society to deal with.”

The bell chime signaled it was time to enter the hall. Protocol dictated that as a recognised Galactic Royal she was one of the last to be welcomed into the hall. With a brief sweep of the hall her Orikall enhanced senses warned what to expect inside at the ball and she looked forward to getting back to her bed later and catching up with the never ending paperwork that she personally read through to ensure the smooth running of her kingdom. That, she was certain, would be far more interesting than the various ambassadors, politicians, representatives from the galactic trader Houses, polished hangers on and outright liggers that were away to greet her.

Even as she thought this she caught the presence of someone she knew, someone who could definitely save her from this dreary event. “Oh thank you Senator Kem,” she said it under her breath as the doors in front of her opened and she walked regally into the ball to applause and the expected fake excitement with her broadest smile

Senator Kem was talking to the Lallorian ambassador and his twin and coincidentally very attractive assistants when Queen Projectra’s entrance was announced to the hall. Tenzil smiled and asked to be excused. As he turned away the ambassador held onto Tenzil’s arm and said, with unexpected honesty, “I’d really love to meet Queen Projectra, she really was my favourite Legionnaire. Present company excluded of course.” The Lallorian ambassador raised his eye brows and smiled in a hopeful expression. Tenzil laughed and agreed that the Queen’s plunging costume while she was a Legionnaire made her a very popular member of the team indeed.

The ambassador’s assistants exchanged a look and then both smiled their broadest smile at Senator Kem. Through the amassed crowds of sentients and sapients from throughout the northern arm of the Milky Way Tenzil Kem led the small group towards his former team mate with a skilled ability of talking to everyone that got in their way while avoiding being dragged into unnecessary conversations that would slow them down. The Lallorian ambassador held onto Tenzil’s arm and kept expressing his gratitude as they made their way through the room.

As they approached Queen Projectra Tenzil turned to the ambassador and whispered, “Oh, just to let you know, we’ve met Psyche from the Wanderers a few time and she’s a much better emotional manipulator than you so stop trying to take control of me. You don’t want to get too needy now. Needy people just give me an appetite and you really don’t want to get me hungry!” his smile was positively vicious.

The ambassador’s eyes widened in surprise before he started apologising gratuitously but Tenzil stopped him and said quietly in an exasperated tone, “We’ve known that the Lallorian planetary champions aren’t the only meta- mutants on Lallor so don’t worry, just do yourself a big favour and don’t try it with Queen Projectra. She’s not nearly as forgiving as me and she knows martial arts.”

The ambassador expressed his gratitude and reiterated his fondness of the Queen that stretched back to her Legionnaire days. Tenzil smiled and turned, ready now to introduce the young empathic mutant from Lallor to his friend and former comrade, Queen Projectra of Orando.

Sentinel of the Khundian Battle Brigade was considered to be emotionally weak by his comrades, he knew that was part of the reason why he had been chosen for this mission. He was known as the ‘Considerate One’. At least amongst the Battle Brigade anyway, the greater populace of Khundia were terrified of his magnetic abilities that he used to bloody effect in the Challenge Courts. Amongst the upper echelons that governed his war loving world the knowledge of his conscience when it came to outright killing opponents to be made to attend this event and act appropriately was his punishment for a recent indiscretion. Relationships within the Battle Brigade were strictly forbidden yet somehow The Command Echelon had learned that he had been with the A’achmekkad psychic slave that they had recently introduced to the trainee scheme. She may have been useful but the two sleep cycles they had spent together were not worth this torture.

As a result, and punishment, the Most Honourable and Blood Thirsty High Council of Khundia had requested his presence in this utterly appalling event. These uncivilised races had not started the day with the necessary ritual bloodletting or combat events, instead they had introduced him to ‘canapés’ and ‘string quartet music’. The blackout lenses that had been fixed onto him to make this brightness bearable for any length of time were beginning to make his eyes itch. Sentinel missed the twilit atmosphere of Khundia Prime. Had it not been for his companion, Speaker ChaChauck of the Split Skull’s incredible talent at keeping the necessary conversations between them and the wash of aliens around them interesting and brief he would have ripped the floor out from under these dreadful weak beings in a heartbeat just to watch them fall.

As Sentinel stood there, watching the weak and undeserving of the Galaxy around him he noticed something that caught his attention. Walking through the crowd before him was a Legionnaire being trailed by a weedy looking human and two of their women who at least were marginally attractive. He wasn’t sure what the pinkskin could do but it was definitely a Legionnaire. Maybe he could insist on a challenge now just to liven this place up. “Yes”, thought Sentinel, “it’s definitely gotten more interesting here now”. And with that he slipped into the crowd to follow the Legionnaire and his group of liggers through the crowd.

As Senator Kem approached his former teammate he could see her genuine smile. He made a discreet sign towards his flight ring, something that would alert her to potential Legion business. Queen Projectra’s eyes twinkled with mischief and she said quite openly:

“Tenzil Kem you scurrilous dog’s rear, what brings you to a reputable function like this?”

Tenzil laughed, slightly embarrassed by his former teammate’s unexpectedly coarse comment in this otherwise polite gathering. Queen Projectra laughed in return, “Oh don’t worry about the rest of them Tenzil, I’ve spun a little illusion that we are greeting our guests with appropriate aplomb, now what is bothering you?” She lightly placed her hand on his shoulder, a rare tactile expression from the usually prim woman.

“Well, I heard you might be here your most revered Majesty and thought I’d blag a ticket. Actually I’ve been here since the start and to tell the truth if you hadn’t of turned up I was thinking of eating myself an escape tunnel soon.” Projectra laughed, understanding exactly how exasperatingly dull these formal events could be, even for one as gregarious, irreverent and popular as Tenzil.

"Just to let you know, this man, the Lallorian ambassador Oodoo Shanair, has some emotional manipulating skill. He tried it on me but I caught it.”

“Thanks for the warning Ten. Yes, I can see there’s an almond sized gland above his hippocanthus, it’s a bit like the Titanian’s telepathy mutation. We need to be a bit careful. Oh, you may like to know his two companion’s body density is right off the scale. Hmmm, it seems Lallor has been putting its mutants to use. Anyway Tenzil, time to rejoin the conversation.”

The Lallorian ambassador was speaking, “.... so she said it was entirely in the lap of the Five Gray Gods above.” He chortled a slightly uncertain laugh, which Queen Projectra joined in with polished tact.

“You! Legionnaire! What is one of your kind doing here?” The voice had the thick accent that Senator Kem and Queen Projectra both recognised as Khundian.

“Ah, never a dull moment in a Senator’s life. Apart from all the dull ones of course.” Tenzil had turned to face the steel skinned warrior who now stood three feet from him. He was very aware that the crowds who had been trying to eavesdrop on his conversations earlier were backing away from them and the background hubbub of noise was dipping.

Holding out his right hand for the Khund to shake Senator Kem said, “Pleased to meet you sir, I’m Senator Tenzil Kem of the Bismoll Protectorate, How may I help you?” His expression was one of utter delight that this stranger had interrupted their conversation. An expression Queen Projectra knew from years of experience was as fake as the pleasantries Tenzil had just exchanged. When he had turned Tenzil Kem had moved his feet so they were shoulder width apart and tensed his stomach muscles, readying himself for a fight.

On Earth Nura Nal and Thom Kallor sat snuggled in a large backed leather clad armchair in their shared apartment within the Legion’s Headquarters.

“Are you sure Nura? It seems odd that you aren’t there on Xanthu.”

“I don’t understand either but my vision clearly had Reep, Brainy, Harmonina and I in a shuttle in open space. I knew you were with your parents for their anniversary on Xanthu. I’m so sorry Thom, please pass on my apologies but it seems the future is conspiring to have me miss their party.” Despite being a skilled manipulator and tease Thom knew Nura was genuinely sorry about this situation. Her relationship with his parents had not always been too cordial but over the last couple of years his mother and Nura had gotten into the habit of chatting at least once a week and the two women were now as close as any mother and daughter in law could hope to be.

Thom Kallor hugged the woman he loved and said nothing.

He had grown used to Nura Nal’s reliance on her visions. If the precognitive vision said that he would be going to his parents thirtieth wedding anniversary without his lady love then that would be what was going to happen and it would be pointless to ask her to change her mind or try to do anything different. Thom squeezed Nura a little tighter and breathed in her scent pleased that they had this moment at least.

Oh, sorry, meant to say this takes place in the current version maybe around about the end of issue 12 or so - before any of the Fatal Five shenanigans. I should have said that before the first post.

Hope you enjoy, and as always feedback is greatly appreciated.

Talok viii had a relatively slow orbit around it’s parent star, it took over nine Terran years to complete one circuit. The Talokians were not a particularly long lived race, on average surviving 90 or so Earth years so the Talok viii Decade Challenge was therefore seen as a once in a lifetime event that drew crowds from all over this world and from many more.

The Weaponsmiths of the Nine Great Forges used this once every 93 Earth year event to showcase their latest inventions and achievements. As was tradition the Forges were allowed to only update the established weapons and armour that their race had traditionally used: spears, swords, shields and the mace being the most common. With the exception of bows and arrows they had no projectile weapons like guns or missiles on display. That’s not to say the weapons were in any way other than state of the art.The Weaponsmiths of Talok viii were known through out the galaxy for their technical brilliance.

On the southern continent of Bakar there had been a meteor strike roughly eighty three million Terran years before. It had virtually wiped out the nascent life on this world at the time. Thankfully it hadn’t and now the four mile wide crater that collision had indented into the planetary crust had left behind had been hewn out over several thousand years into an ornate amphitheater that traditionally held the Decade Challenge.

Chemical Kid looked around at the crowds with him in the amphitheater and said “I hate this heat. This heat blows big time.“

Neither Dragonwing nor Lightning Lass acknowledged him though Shrinking Violet smiled her agreement and continued through the crowds towards their friend. Tasmia Mallor the planetary Shadow Champion of Talok viii was expected here of course, it would have been seen as an insult to her people if she had not come. Not that Tasmia would have missed this event for all of Brande’s riches and a chance to kick the Emerald Empress firmly in the butt. The excitement in the air was electric. Starting tomorrow there would be three days of combat. There were reputations and money to be made. Tradition stated that the Planetary champions of the Three Creeds – one from the Shadow, one of the Memory and the third from the Forests would put aside their usual antipathy and judge the competitions, naming the overall winner at the end of the third day.

Tasmia couldn't wait to catch up with her cousin Grev. He had taken on the role of Shadow Champion in her absence and it had been too long since they had had the time to simply chat with one another. There ahead of her she saw his mo-hawk standing above the crowd. She resisted the urge to use her Flight Ring to fly across the crowd as such acts would have been seen as immodest and unbecoming so sticking her elbows out Tasmia Mallor ploughed through the crowds before her. The smile on Tasmia's face faded as she broke through the ring of people around her cousin and she saw he was stood with his arm around their hereditary enemy, Lady Memory. It was obvious to anyone looking at the two of them that they were not simply posing for the crowds, Grev was looking with adoration at the lithe green skinned woman in his arms and, worse still Tasmia felt, she was looking back at him with the same look on her face. Here was a young couple very much in love.

This is so awesome, Harbinger! Bonus points for using Tenzil and Jeckie (whom we haven't seen much of in the actual comic for a long time) and for showing effortlessly why they're Legionnaires! I really liked Tenzil's matter-of-fact acknowledgement of the empath, and Jeckie's illusion to hide them talking business. The setting is good too...the government connections have only ever really been utilised as a convenient way to write these characters out, so it's cool to see those connections actually fuel a story for a change.

Shady is one of my faves as well, so I am way on board for anything focused on her....to steal your thing, "more, more, more!"

Tasmia Mallor had never been one to hide her emotions and at this precise moment she felt incandescent with anger and betrayal. Her vision closed in around the object of her rage and the unfortunate members of the crowd who were in her way as she strode towards Grev were mercilessly shoved aside with a ruthless passion.

Grev Mallor looked up from the young lady he had been intensely rubbing noses with as he had heard the sounds of a commotion and saw his cousin approach through the crowds. He knew immediately from her expression that she would want to have words with him and those words would not necessarily be very polite or repeatable.

“Darling..?”

“Wait here a second, I think Tasmia wants to speak to me.”

Grev knew that this moment was coming but had hoped it would be carried out with a little clarity and decorum, maybe in the privacy of a Legion ship or at their ancestral shrine in the Deep Caves. In his musings Grev had never considered it would happen within sight of half of the royal families and major trading Houses of Talok viii. Grev swallowed though his mouth was fast becoming dry.

“Tasmia, what a deli...”

“You! Grev what do you think you are doing?” Tasmia’s voice carried and heads turned quickly as the crowds backed away slightly to watch this most unexpected confrontation. “She is our ancestral enemy yet you blatantly cuddle up to the bat witch as if...”

“Wind you neck in Tasmia!” Grev doesn’t expect the blow that follows and he goes to the floor.

“I am the Planetary Champion...”

“Well if you are then come back home and act the part Tas,” Grev rose as he spoke and pointed at his cousin, “You can’t always have it your own way you know. And just so you know, our ‘cuddling up’ is helping heal countless generations of hurt and mistrust. It’s not going to happen overnight but it will happen. We are both from families that are supposed to be the Champions, the role models of our respective peoples but all our ancestors have done is keep this pointless feud going and damage our beautiful world. What are you doing for the common man on Talok who can’t trade with their neighbours because of a fight that started so long ago no one cares anymore? Well Tasmia, as the Planetary Champion, what exactly are you doing about that?”

With that Grev turned, put his arm around Lady Memory and walked away without looking back.

“Grev....” Tasmia Mallor stood and watched as her cousin, the young man who had joined her all those years ago into their ancestral shrine to receive the gift of the Shadow, walked away from her in this most public of places.

“Tasmia, sweetheart what’s going on?” Ayla Ranzz with Salu Digby right behind her, had squirmed through the crowd and stood at her side.

“I think I’ve just lost my cousin.” Tears start to build in her eyes as Ayla takes her into a heartfelt hug.

Hadru Jamik feels queasy.

Since having the gene-mod placed into his system he has only felt like this once before. He has become sensitive to certain reactions happening around him and he is sure there’s something happening that reminds him of the battle he had been involved in with the Cosmic King when the villain had transformed the Legion’s headquarters into a radioactive isotope. Hadru can sense the same half-life reaction occurring around him but instead of it being localised to a single surface it seems to be emanating from the air around him. As he strolls he concentrates and slowly his senses alert him to the source, the trail clearly leads to the section of the amphitheatre taken over by the supporters and workers of the Forge of the Green Rift. He continues to amble through the crowd, the picture of a perfect tourist, slowly circling towards the highly decorated yurts, tethered sky ships and camps all the while tracking the source of the Strontium 90. As far as Hadru remembered the rules of this Challenge expressly banned using radiations, the Talokean people being sensitive to their effects.

He looked around, ostensibly taking his bearing, but also looking to see if any of his teammates were in sight and with a confidence in his step that he didn’t necessarily feel walked up to the entrance to the camp of the Forge of the Green Rift.

At the Ambassadorial ball Senator Tenzil Kem took one more shot glass of the Sinthi-whiskey and threw the contents down his throat. Across the table the Khund warrior known as Sentinel did the same. The Khund’s yellow skin was starting to blotch with patches of orange and his eyes had turned a decidedly unhealthy looking pale green. Classic signs, Tenzil remembered, of a Khund on his way to passing out from alcohol poisoning. Tenzil wanted to bite the glass in his hand but knew that the challenge before him had said quite strictly that neither could eat anything until their opponent had either conceded the contest or collapsed unconscious from the amount of alcohol they consumed.

It had started when Sentinel had challenged the Bismollian ambassador. Tenzil asked for the option to name the challenge and had honourably agreed. Tenzil thought that as challenges went he had chosen a good one. He had even allowed the Khund to pick the drink they would have to consume. Well, if one of the Khundian Empire’s Battle Brigade wanted to challenge a Legionnaire they really had better get their challenges straight. Did the buffoon before him not know that Bismollian physiology counteracted alcohol before it even reached the stomach?

Even as he played at being drunk Tenzil watched the crowd around them. Initially there had been several dozen observers but that was almost two hours ago and as neither former Legionnaire nor Khund warrior had conceded or collapsed yet and the Khund’s initial threats and bluster had subsided into quite amiable chit chat and sharing of opinion and gossip so the crowd’s interest had waned dramatically. Tenzil had watched as Queen Projectra had skilfully taken the Lallorian Ambassador aside to discuss matters that probably had more to do with his planet’s reluctance to share their meta mutant program than the usual dry conversations that usual floated around these events. The Bismollian ambassador’s eye caught one of the Lallorian’s companions and he gave his most flirtatious grin and lifted his eyebrows. ‘Well the day didn’t have to be a total bust’ he thought.

Five minutes later, and still the Lallorian ambassador's assistant had refutely not returned Tenzil's look the Vegan diplomatic team had arrived and Tenzil and Sentinel both perked up as the young Tamarean woman who accompanied the Psion ambassador had smiled briefly at them. Both men shared a knowing look as they threw more whiskey that tasted of smoking lava down their throats. Tenzil had also clocked the two Tiggorr clones that carefully walked just behind the Psion, their feral gazes scaring off much of the potential conversations that the interest their arrival generated.

Out of the corner of his eye Tenzil was aware that the air appeared to be turning blue. Surely the alcohol hadn't started to affect him had it? The air was definitely starting to turn blue...

Thom Kallor stepped up to the control deck and smiled through the screen to Nura who waved him off. As the Mark vi personal cruiser left the docking level taking the man she had dedicated her life to Dream Girl turned and strode confidently towards the grav-lift. “Time to tease Brainy” she thought with a small smile as she made her way towards the laboratory her Coluan teammate used on the lower levels.

Within the Laboratory she found the object of her attention carefully placing an oddly clunky looking piece of technology onto the head of Reep Daggle. Harmonia Li stood at a console whipping through holo-readouts.

Dream Girl stopped for a second. This was the same members of the Legion that she had foreseen would be in empty space with her soon. Well whatever was away to happen would happen and it was a waste of time wonder how as she would find out by simply letting the present catch up with her vision.

“Querl, I can easily alter my form you know, you don’t need to push...”

“This will give us the best results if you just remain yourself. I’m sorry for the inconvenience Reep.”

Nura stepped over towards Harmonia and asked what was happening. The new teammate didn’t take her eyes of the read outs as she replied, “Querl has this idea that by mimicking and increasing Reep’s Durlan spatial awareness senses we can monitor the results of his experiments with a bit more clarity. Personally I think he’s clutching at straws to justify not finding the results he wants but who am I to judge?” There’s a small smile on Harmonia’s face that Nura has learned meant that her companion was joking. The ancient elemental before her still concerned Nura as Harmonia had taken to supporting Brainiac 5 in an almost obsessive manner and had irked a few of their teammates with her dry wit and condescending manner. That said she was a scarily smart genius who had an incredible power set that made her both versatile and strong. ‘Well,’ thought Nura, ‘the Legion was full of odd balls, what was one more to add to the list?’

Even as she finished this thought an alarm started to howl.

Brainiac 5 consulted with a read out and exclaimed in shock.

“What is it Querl?” Both Nura and Harmonia asked together.

“This can’t be right. It seems Weber’s World has just vanished. According to this read out it has totally disappeared in a heartbeat without leaving a trace. It looks as if someone has kidnapped the Galactic political hub.”

Reep Daggle straighten up and said, “Does that mean I can take this infernal contraption off now?”

Thanks Raz, greatly appreciate your feedback. I agree that the potential political situations that the Legion could quite easily be involved in has been woefully under-explored and that was my starting point for this part of the story. The other was my interest in Shady - have you read her first appearance? There were Talokeans dressed in high tech armours and that stuck as a springboard idea for this part of the story.

With the events that just happened a lot of under used characters are going to be called up. Stay tuned and hope you enjoy!

Querl Dox looked at the holo- read out that floated in front of him and sighed.

They had been on board the Star Fleet Cruiser Maximus Bond for ten standard hours and he had tried virtually every way he could think of to scan, examine and otherwise tweak information out of the gap in space where Weber’sWorld had been until twelve hours ago. The trainee known as Mwindaji had joined them when they left Earth, his tracking powers having been proven recently on the Dominion homeworld but unfortunately he had been unable to sense anything out of the ordinary and could find no trail to follow.

In the first five hours after the disappearance several other galactic civilisations had arrived looking for answers as well. Currently his companions Chameleon Boy and Harmonia Li were in parlance with a Khundian group that had initially arrived and blamed the Legion for the missing artificial world. It had taken Nura and Harmonia almost an hour to calm that situation down only to then have the Vegans arrive in one of their fearsome Silver Guild crafts demanding information. Brainiac 5 was glad his teammates were all skilled at diplomacy as this situation could easily have ignited a war and with Mon El and a group of experienced Legionnaires currently helping out on Panoptes the team were too under staffed at present to be able to stop any potential skirmish from escalating through force.

Beside Brainiac 5 stood a short Khund with a grotesquely swollen cranium in a metallic body suit. He had introduced himself as the Dead Brain, current leader of the Khundian Empires own meta powered team the Battle Brigade. Surprisingly, Querl rather liked the misformed being at his side as he had showed incredible insight and a razor sharp mind. Between them they had just finished creating their twenty third experimental attempt to locate the missing world.

The United Planets had assembled a squad of technicians and scientific support and Brainiac 5 and the Khundian known as the Dead Brain had spent several hours discussing ideas and creating more and more esoteric machines in their attempts to unravel the mystery before them. One of the UP crew was a young mystic from an outpost world who informed Brainy that she could sense no magic in the vicinity. Querl realised, while he was relieved in part to hear there was no chaos logic of magic involved, that this could also mean that Queen Projectra, who he had asked to attend the event in honour of the new alliance with the Vegans in order to gain accurate data, was also definitely missing.

Dream Girl had left the Cruiser over three hours ago to visit the Vegan ship. She reported that they would send over someone to assist “Brainy and his cute little friend” shortly. Even as the holo of the Naltorian faded a dark mist started to coalesce close to him. In a matter of seconds a thin pale faced ancient looking being with a translucent halo robed in black smoke stood beside the Legionnaire and the Khund.

“I am Nimbus. How may I assist you?.”

On Talok viii Marya Pai, also known as Dragonwing, had watched her fellow Legionnaire walk suspiciously into one of the camps of the competing Forges. She had known Hadru Jamik, the Chemical Kid, long enough now to see when he was trying to look nonchalant and not draw attention to himself. To her street wise eyes it made him stand out like a flare on a dark night. He was up to something and wasn’t smart enough to realise that anyone with more than a modicum of people watching skills would know that too. He would need her help, she could feel it.

Dragonwing had grown up in the heaving megalopolis of the Xin-Jiang Region on Earth, one of the highest density of people anywhere in the United Planets and had learned at a very young age how to move in a crowd without drawing any unnecessary attention. She also could tell when she was being watched and right now that awareness was screaming to be heard.

“Well there’s no need pretending...” and she strode confidently into the camp of the Forge of the Green Rift after her academically brilliant but sadly not so street smart colleague aware that every step she took was most likely leading her further into trouble.

Up ahead, beside one of the small stone altars that the Talokeans used as part of their daily ritual to acknowledge their ancestors she saw Hadru. He looked surprised to see her but didn’t appear to be otherwise fussed. As she tried to speak to him he was initially dazed and seemed uncertain why he was there but almost just as quick was his usual smug self as he commented how 2990’s the fashion was.

Marya looked around but couldn’t see anyone acting out of the ordinary but she knew that something suspicious had just happened to her... her friend, and she wanted to find out who was responsible before they got away.

I love fhe juxtaposition of Dragonwing and CK's respective backgrounds! Makes perfect sense and maybe if we saw stuff like that come up more in the actual book they might be more likeable characters.

It kind of makes me wonder how Ultra Boy and Marya would get on actually....

The Dead Brain has an awesome name/look too! Enjoying this muchly!

Tasmia Mallor strode into the brightly coloured yurt. The cloth walls were heavily embroidered scenes of the tales and teachings of the Forest Folk. Scenes of great beasts of legend and brave acts of daring. Tasmia remembered the stories from her youth and started to smile. It was the first time she had smiled since her encounter with her cousin Grev this morning. Ahead of her, sat on a small wooden stool her counterpart from the Forest People. The young man with the pale mauve skin of Talokeans from the southern islands stood as she approached and grinned.

“Legendary Shadow Champion, please make yourself welcome and feel free to call on our staff as if they were your own.”

“It’s good to see you too Milnak, you haven’t aged since the last time we met.”

Tasmia and Milnak hugged and both laughed as they broke apart.

“So tell me Tasmia, How have you been? What is it really like out there with the T’huchanar?”

“The T’Chunar? The different ones? They are the same as us only not quite as blue Milnak. Perhaps you should join me to Earth to see for yourself when I go back in a few days,” Tasmia smiled though her tone had a challenging edge. Milnak Hortenshai was the representative for perhaps a third of the population on this planet yet he expressed the old fashioned views that verged on xenophobia, a distrust of any being not born and raised in the Old Ways. When they had first met, a season before she had left Talok to join the Legion they had talked until they argued again and again on this very point.

“You know I can’t Tas, unlike the Shadow, or even the Memory clans, the Forest Chosen lose our skills the further we go from our home. But enough, tell me what has been happening please, is it true Earth seceded from the United Planets because they didn’t want us Blue folks there anymore?” The teasing tone in his voice was matched by his broad grin.

Before she could answer and explain about the disastrous rule of the Justice League from behind her Shadow Lass heard a confrontation outside the Forest Champion's yurt, raised voices and a thud and the curtains were pulled aside and the young Legionnaire Dragonwing strode in, “Tasmina! Thank the Emperor I found you. You have to help, something’s happened to Hadru.”

“Well this one has your manners Tas so maybe they aren’t really that different....”

Dragonwing explained how she had followed her colleague into the Camp of the Forge of the Green Rift but when she found him he was confused and didn’t remember why he was there. As Shadow Lass had given a basic history lesson on the various peoples and tribes of Talok in the cruiser while they flew here Dragonwing knew of the skills of the Memory Clan and was immediately alarmed.

“What would have attracted your colleague young Dragon?” It was the first time that Milnak Hortenshai had spoken since Marya Pai had started her story.

“Who knows? He was all suspicious and trying hard to look cool. You have no idea how obvious that boy is. Please Tasmia, is there anyone here who could help?”

Tasmia Mallor had spent quite a bit of time training the latest generation of Legionnaires and had found Marya Pai generally to be abrasive, often opinionated, nearly always aggressive but always reliable. As she thought this she realized that Milnak’s comment about how similar they were wasn’t too far off the mark.

“Hey Tas, here you are.” Alya Ranzz walked into the yurt, “Vi and Hadru are outside, is everything okay? He says Marya thinks his mind’s been tampered with.” Lightning Lass looked at the serious faces of her teammates and knew that the pleasant day she had been having with Vi walking around the carnival event in this most spectacular amphitheater was away to become more exciting.

“Alya, unfortunately Hadru is probably right so I think if you take him and Marya to Grev and see if his...new lady friend is as he would like to believe then she will be able to reclaim Hadru’s lost memories.”

Dragonwing asked, “So what are you and Vi gonna do? You gonna kick their asses?”

Tasmia Mallor’s mouth smiled though her eyes grew hard “I think I may have to borrow Alya’s lady friend as it’s time the Shadow Champion visited the great Forge camps and a little reconnoitering may be in order.”

“The Green Rift Forge is in my territory so I’d really like to know what’s going on as well so if you don’t mind I’ll join you.” Milnak pulled on a regal looking cloak and held his hand out the Tasmia Mallor. “Let’s go visit our people Shadow Champion.”

Queen Projectra was obviously in some discomfort but she had maintained the illusions she had created to communicate with every being on board Webers World. The easy part of the task she had set herself had been using her Orikall enhanced senses to pinpoint them. The hard part hard been creating the illusion of herself in her Princess Projectra costume to address them. All of them. Almost 400,000 beings currently resided on the artificial world and in the space of three minutes she had send her image to each them whether they were in a group or on their own.

"Please remain calm, there are Legionnaires aboard who are working to establish where we are and how we can return home. Please remain calm."

That was all she had the strength to do but Tenzil Kem felt an awe struck chill in his spine as he realized just how powerful his former teammate had become. From out of the corner of his eye Tenzil saw something strangely familiar, a Protean, and it appeared the protoplasmic being was making it's way towards him. Tenzil turned and bent down to address the Protean.

Meanwhile Queen Projectra sat down and turned to the cybernetic being who had introduced himself as the AI controller of this planets technical staff. The being, one of the strange beings who called themselves the Linsnar, had been nicknamed Gear by the crew on board. He had patiently waited for his chance to speak with the former Legionnaire.

"Your majesty, " he said, his head momentarily bobbing in respect, "I've been monitoring our position and have some very strange readings. May I share them with you as I hope you may be able to help me assess their meaning?"

Queen Projectra looked up at the formal being before her and smiled, "We are surrounded by a void where there is neither matter nor energy. The lack is absolute, not even a free floating hydrogen atom within a parsec. Is that what your scans have shown Gear?"

Without a flicker of surprise Gear agreed with the Orandese Queen's assessment.

Bringing up holographic displays he ran through page after page of blue flat line results to his scans until they came to two read outs that showed violently swinging lines in an alarming red.

"Your majesty..."

"Please, call me Jeckie, it's what we would prefer in these less formal meetings."

"Of course, thank you ma'am... Jeckie.... these are chrono-sprectra analysis displays..."

"We've been shot through time? Is this...."

"No ...Jeckie, my apologies but it's rather the opposite. according to my readouts we've stayed exactly where we were. According to the data we have it appears we are still within that moment, it is the rest of reality that has moved on without us."

Tenzil put out his hand and the Protean extended a pseudopod before smoothly twisting it's entire body to slide up the Bismollian ambassador's arm to rest on his shoulder.

"Hi there fella, how are you?"

"You are known to us Legionnaire, your kind gave us a name. I must warn you..."

"A name, you mean Proty? Hey l'il fella if you want you can be Proty the third, that's if you're not the second one, are you? That would be an honour eh?" Tenzil grinned his widest grin as he peered at the protoplasmic blob on his shoulder.

"An honour indeed, though I must..."

"Well it's agreed then, hi there Proty iii...."

"The Old Ones have returned Legionnaire. We must escape from this trap. We must flee before they devour us."

"Uh... hang on, trap? Destroy us? Whoah whoah whoah there! What's the story here Proty my l'il blobby buddy?"

"The Hunters Who Change are back, the eternal beings who brought my species into existence. The Llorn have returned and we must get away from here before we become their prey."

Thank you muchly Raz. I've adopted your idea of adding the date to the title so anyone following this knows when it was last updated - a cool idea that!

Yup, Marya and Hadru are, as I see them, very culturally different and that's appealing to work with.

The Dead Brain was originally a typo - I meant to write the Deadly Brain but decided to go with Dead Brain instead. There will be more of him and some other Khunds as this progresses, hope you enjoy them too.

Once again, thank you for your feedback Raz, greatly appreciated!

This is awesome, looks to be building up into something epic! I am really enjoying how the unexplored parts of the Legion's supporting casts/backgrounds are coming to the fore!

...and Gear on Weber's World is pretty inspired, I wish I had thought of it myself!

I also very much love how you bring in each character's background into the story! And as always, I love your creative power uses - Projectra using her illusions as a sort of PA system, Tenzil winning a drinking contest, all very awesome

Thanks guys, really appreciate your support! It keeps me going.

Sorry but I've been really busy with inconvenient real life stuff so won't have much time to post anything new until next week now.

Kahnya Nahtahnie, Lady Memory of the Desert Tribes of Talok viii could feel Grev Mallor’s mind burn like it had been branded. He was still angry with his cousin, even now three hours after they had fallen out. She could ease the memory, not blank it totally but numb the emotional attachment it held. Without asking she knew Grev would never allow it. She had always known that the Clan Mallor were a proud people, she was only learning now just how stubborn they were as well.

They had walked through the crowds arm in arm attracting looks and had received a surprising amount of positive comments as they passed. The ancestral feud between their peoples would come to an end, it simply had to if their beautiful home were to fully heal and integrate with the United Planets and more and more the populace agreed. Grev’s Legion flight ring had pinged about fifteen minutes prior. He hadn’t acknowledged it but they both knew that their time would soon be interrupted again by their... friends? .... acquaintances from beyond their planet.

Ayla Ranzz spotted Grev and Kahnya first. She had seen the tail end of the fight between Tasmia and Grev and hoped his anger had dissipated enough that he wouldn’t get defensive when they asked for his girlfriend’s help. “Hadru, come with me.” She pulled the new Legionnaire behind her and fought her way through the crowds. Marya Pai kept up beside him Ayla noticed. Dragonwing, at least, knew how to handle herself in a crowd..

“Grev! Kahnya! Grev wait, please! You’re a difficult couple to track down,” Alya smiled her most pleasant smile as she approached, ”We need a favour. Sorry to interrupt but something happened and... “

“What is it?” Grev’s natural empathy over rid his anger. Behind him Kahnya could feel the embers of her boyfriends rage start to dim in him memory as he was given something more immediate to focus upon. It was the new Legionnaire known as Dragonwing who explained what had happened. As the dread locked Legionnaire was speaking Kahnya pushed her perception into Chemical Kid’s mind to search for any traces of tampering. They were writ all over the young man’s memories in clumsy blocks. At least nothing had been altered only dampened down so he could no longer access them. This had been done either in a hurry or by someone unskilled in the arts of the Memory Clan.

Kahnya walked up to the young Legionnaire and said: “Please, be calm a minute more. I’ll let you see what was hidden and if you want I can share it with your colleagues.” As she spoke Lady Memory reached up and tapped the side of the young Legionnaire’s temples.

“Oh... oh grife! There’s a radiation leak! The Green Rift Forge have Strontium 90 in their weapons only it’s leaking really badly into the amphitheater. If we don’t stop it soon it’ll be a disaster.”

Tasmia Mallor and Milnak Hortenshai, the Shadow and Forest Champions of Talok viii strode into the camp of the Green Rift Forge without an apparent care in the world. Two friends enjoying a stroll on a summer’s evening could not have looked as nonchalant.

They were perhaps thirty feet into the camp when the great gates closed behind them with a sudden boom and the attack started. The aggressors were heavily armed and obviously prepared for them but still they were the ones who were surprised as the air around them became blacker than midnight and Shadow Lass taught them the error of their ways.

One by one they heard screams and blows around them as their comrades fell. Within two terrifying long minutes she had established that Legionnaires were not easy prey as the last of her opponents was rather brutally knocked unconscious when she kicked his nose, incidentally breaking it beyond recovery, and he fell, unconscious before he landed with a crash.

While Shadow Lass had been dealing with the expected attack Milnak used the abilities of the Forest Champion to change his shape, becoming one of the fearsome Death-Birds of the Southern lands. Salu Digby, who had been hiding within Tasmia Mallor’s hair jumped onto the crest of the great green bird and clung on. He took to the air above the dome of darkness that his fellow planetary champion had created and swooped towards the Grand Yurt at the centre of the camp where the current Master Smith of the Green Rift Forge should be found.

As the Death-Bird swooped down towards the yurt Milnak resumed his own form and strode in without the customary holler to announce himself. Shrinking Violet was half a step behind him, regaining her height as they pushed through the heavily curtained doorway. It was only her instincts honed from years of battling across this galaxy and the next s a Legionnaire that saved their life. Ahead of them in the twilit room stood a man in chain mail wearing a white mask. As they stepped into the room there was a sudden burst of light that swung towards them and Vi pushed Milnak ungraciously to the ground even as she shrunk in size. The air screamed as it’s very molecules were carved apart as the Atomic Axe swung millimeters from where they had just been.

The Persuader had been waiting for them.

On board Weber’s World Senator Tenzil Kem had finally persuaded Queen Projectra, Gear, Sentinel of the Khundian Battle Brigade – sobering quickly under the influence of smart medicine, Proty iii, the Lalorian Ambassador Oodoo Shanair and his two assistants, Ru and Em Haza, to join him into a small side room without attracting too much attention.

“Right, here’s the news. The Llorn are back and our Protean buddy here thinks we are in trouble. Anyone got any ideas?” He smiles his most encouraging smile and for a second there is silence before the questions and confused statements start.

“Llorn? They are a myth, aren’t they?”
“Can we not negotiate?”
“I will challenge these hidden cowards to single combat!”

It is Queen Projectra who takes over the conversation. She sits at the head of the granite table and in front of her the air starts to glisten. As the sparkles take form everyone present turns towards it.

“This is what we know about the Llorn.” The image before her shows ancient buildings almost reduced to dust by millennia of wear and tear, unfathomably technology with no discernible use other than the ornamental and carvings on dead planets of visitors from beyond.

“The Proteans are the only race that have had any known contact with them.” As she says this the Queen’s illusion changes into the accepted racial history of the Protean race. A history told so often that no-one thought to question the validity. A race that helpful aliens adapted so they could survive on their volatile world. A race thankful for the enigmatic assistance given to them in the distant past.

“Proty, can you share with us all what you shared with me? The truth about the Llorn” Tenzil asked the protoplasmic being sat on his shoulder.

As Queen Projectra’s illusion faded they all have their minds filled telepathically with a much darker story. One where a small race living in isolation suddenly find their world altered, it’s previously stable orbit moved for the amusement of aliens with powers of the gods. Those self same gods depopulated the seas and skies in a seemingly random game that involved finding new ways to capture and torture the large living beings that had formerly enjoyed their time under the Antaeran sun. According to the beings now known as the Proteans there had been three Llorn, only three. The Proteans had tried with their telepathic voices to sue for peace. They had begged for understanding. They had pleaded to open a dialogue. And finally the early Proteans had screamed as the seemingly godlike beings from beyond their sky turned their deathly game onto them.

In a twist to their usual game the Llorn modified a small number of the race that would become the Proteans into protoplasmic blobs. The Llorn wanted more sport so they used technology beyond anything currently available to the many space faring civilization in the 31st century that allowed these few survivors of the indigenous Antereans that the Llorn had yet to massacre to assume whichever form they wanted. The Proteans believed that the Llorn did it as a sadistic jest, a way to make the hunt a little bit more interesting before they finally murdered this entire world and moved on to their next conquest. The racial memory of the Proteans had been kept alive down through the countless centuries but they never knew exactly why the Llorn didn’t totally exterminate them. They simply vanished. It was supposed that they simply got bored and went looking for another challenge.

“And now it seems they’re back and rather than prey on primitive worlds have set their sights on Weber’s World.”

Brainiac 5 and the Khund known as the Dead Brain were examining the latest result from their last attempt to find the missing Weber’s World. The Vegan who had introduced himself as Nimbus had tried to integrate Vegan technology into a machine they had been constructing but the resulting feedback had nearly deafened them. After that Nimbus had stepped back and allowed the two genius’ to continue by themselves while he went off to find “some Psion Sphere’s to help.” Neither the Coluan nor the Khund had asked what he meant as they continued to design, tinker and search. When Nimbus returned with two floating sphere’s, perhaps a little bigger than a traditional Moopsball, they had shown little interest until he explained the Sphere’s sensory capability. Brainiac 5 had raised an eyebrow in surprise while the Dead Brain clapped his stumpy hands together and congratulated Nimbus for bringing them to their attention. Created by their billion by the Psions over he last four centuries they roamed the outskirts of their sun’s Oort cloud and acted as an early warning system and deterrent for unwanted interlopers. AI controlled metallic spheres with the most advanced sensory capabilities evercreated, the Spheres were legendary.

On the lead Khund interstellar battle wagon Chameleon Boy and Harmonia had been led to a large room with several members of the Khundian Empire’s Battle Brigade, a team the warrior empire had created as a response to the Legion. Reep Daggle had learned over the years that diplomacy saved him from bruises and aches later so had courteously inquired about them and shared information as they discussed the situation. Almost immediately he had realised that both Harmonia and himself could easily become hostages if the situation warranted it so had endeavored to become friendly with the team from Khundia.

Harmonia had shown surprising skill at following his lead and had charmed two of the Battle Brigade, a cyborg called Deathstorm and a yellow skinned woman with long blue hair called Pressure Point, with her stories about the recent destruction of Titan. The Khunds had obviously known about the Jovian moon’s loss and were interested in learning from someone who had survived the destruction firsthand. While they spoke Harmonia was clever enough to sneak a few queries into the conversation and learned a surprising amount about the Khundian Empire’s current state of affairs and the forming of the Battle Brigade.

As Harmonia used her aeons of social skill to mine for information Reep spoke with the co-leader of the group, a fierce looking Khundian woman called Spyke who had dark eyes and a thick accent. Initially they discussed how they felt Brainiac 5 and the Dead Brain were their best hopes at finding Weber’s World before covering more general topics like the current state of their respective civilisations trade agreements and broad interstellar politics. Neither had went as far as saying anything definite or potentially detrimental about one or the other as they felt their way around their opposite numbers. Neither were open or stupid enough to give the other any information that was anything other than old news.

On the Vegan Silver Guild ship Dream Girl and the academy student known as Mwindaji were sipping an exotic fruit cocktail while sat in large comfortable organic feeling seats speaking to the Psion overlord in charge of the Vegan ships investigating Weber’s Worlds disappearance. Nura, an experienced negotiator was enjoying learning about this previously closed off civilisation from their Psion host when she felt the tug of her precognitive abilities as they kicked in.

She managed to say “Please excuse me for a moment....” before folding into a narcoleptic slump.

Several seconds later she awoke, snapped to attention and stood up, almost knocking over Mwindaji and two of the Psions staff who were stood over her in their concern. She apologised to their Psion host and excused herself. Without waiting for the trainee to catch up with her Nura Nal dove into the air and flew at breakneck speed out of the door and down the dark circular corridor towards the docking bay. Mwindaji finally caught up with her as she stepped onto the small Legion Cruiser.

“We need to find Brainy. In two hours it’s going to be all out hell unless he can stop it now.”

The Persuader! Awesome!!

I like how you show positive attributes to everyone even if they're not necessarily nice people, it helps make anti-social characters like Harmonia and Dragonwing more likeable when you can see what the Legion would have seen in them to let them join in the first place.

Looking forward to seeing what happens with the Llorn as well, they sound hardcore!

Really love how you explore previously-unknown factes of these characters (like Harmonia and her eons of social skill, or NUra and her able negotiating) yet do it in a way that makes absolute sense, and not forced at all!

Those godlike Llorn are despicable!! I really want to see them beat.

Nura Nal spoke to the assembled beings on the deck of the Star Fleet Cruiser Maximus Bond.

“I saw Weber’s World distorted as if not quite in this universe and between seconds beings whose presence made my nose bleed were out there then *poof* were gone .”

For two seconds there is silence before Querl Dox asks “And what of the all the beings on Weber’s World Nura? Did you see them?”

“No... no I didn’t see anyone other than the three beings who radiated a malignant power. There was something really dark, as if they inhabited Boom Tubes or... or like the Iron Curtain of time but really messed up. I know it sounds odd but I think they were more out of whack with temporal reality than the most outrageous Seer’s vision.”

”Of course!” It was the Khund known as the Dead Brain who spoke, “Weber’s World is out of synch in time with us. That’s it!” The misshapen being turned away and rushed to a large bank of equipment and began rummaging through it.

The Vegan known as Nimbus spoke, “The Sphere’s can monitor Planck level events so now we know what to look for...” His form shimmered into a dark mist and floated across the deck towards the two floating metal balls that he had brought from the Vegan command vessel.

Brainiac 5 smiled quickly at Dream Girl before saying, “You’ve given us the chance we needed. Now we have to figure out what to do with it.”

The Coluan Legionnaire turned and joined the Dead Brain at the bank of equipment the two geniuses’ had gathered since arriving here. Also present were two senior Star Fleet officers, a Khundian Warlord with two bodyguards, a Psion and Okaaran from the Vegan Command craft. They all began contacting their own commanding officers and relaying the news. All spoke quietly into their respective communications devices as if worried they would be overheard. Nura felt slightly disturbed that in the face of what may have been the biggest diplomatic disaster in living memory they still hadn’t put aside their stupid racial divides to work together. Well, she thought, at least it looked like Brainy and his little Khund friend were leading the way.

Dream Girl held her right hand up and used her flight ring to contact Cosmic Boy back on Earth. After quickly letting Rokk know what the current mission status was she asked if Glorith were available to join them. Nura had been present while Brainiac 5 had been running tests on the magic using new Legionnaire and so was aware that somehow the quiet girl from Zerox had an affinity with Time. The hologram of Cosmic Boy turned away as he looked at another screen on the Monitor Board in the Legions headquarters before he confirmed that Glorith was on a mission with Invisible Kid and they would be routed to join Nura and the team looking for Weber’s World.

Lightning Lass flew at the front of her fellow Legionnaires.

Shadow Lad carried Lady Memory behind her, Dragonwing flew alongside Chemical Kid. Marya Pai was worried that her fellow academy graduate may do something stupid. She had met him under a year ago but had quickly realized his pride could make him act a little too aggrieved when hurt and right now he was furious that someone had tampered with his memories.

The crowds in the amphitheater roared as they flew overhead, both in recognition of Legionnaires flying into action alongside their planetary champions and also to show their disapproval of flying in this traditionally pedestrian event. Less than a kilometer ahead of them a cloud of darkness was dissipating, a sure sign that Grev’s cousin had recently had to act.

As they sped across the air towards the Green Rift Forges encampment they heard a cry of pain coming from the central yurt, where the Master Forge Smith should be found.

“Get ready!” Ayla Ranzz cried out as they landed just outside the multi-coloured yurt. Her hands crackled with electricity. “Kahnya”, Ayla looked towards Lady Memory, “Keep an eye out for any of your kin, we need to....”

Before she could say anything else there was a loud scream from within the great tent before them.

As she had pushed Milnak Hortenshai to the floor to avoid the swinging Atomic Axe Salu Digby shrunk to an almost microscopic size and flew as fast as her Flight Ring could carry her straight towards the Persuader’s face. She didn’t look towards the Talokean Forest Champion to see if he had avoided the attack, her focus was entirely on the Persuader’s left eye. At the last instant the intergalactic criminal saw her and tried to swat her away but she was too fast. The millisecond before she crashed into him Vi curled up into a ball and shrunk. Slipping into the molecules of his pupil Shrinking Violet began to grow again as she pushed herself into the dark bulb of his eye.

The Persuader let out a scream as his eye burst, the clear retinal fluids streaked with blood as they ran down the inside of his mask. He reached up and tried to strike at the source of the pain with animal instinct and only managed to give himself a blow to his already painful face.

On the Floor Milnak had taken the opportunity to assume another form. This time he contracted in size and became a Golden Curveleg, a small almost insectoid creature with twelve crescent shaped limbs attached to the thorax that delivered a highly toxic sting that could easily kill a man. These creatures were rare within the southern forests of Talok viii but greatly respected and usually avoided when found. In this form Milnak jumped onto the Persuader’s right leg and began to push its poisonous barbs through chainmail to deliver the neurotoxin sting. The Persuader let out another, even louder scream and tried to resist as the poison released neuro-dampeners into his system.

As he slumped to the floor, the toxin from the Curveleg paralyzing him, Ayla Ranzz burst through the curtains at the front, her eyes and arms flaring electricity.

“Vi... What? “

It took a second for her to emerge from the Persuader’s mask and as Violet grew she kicked the Atomic Axe out from the Persuader’s hand and checked her enemies pulse at the throat to reassure herself that he was still alive before walking across to Ayla and giving her a quick hug. Behind her Milnak slowly resumed his true form.

“Don’t let me make two changes that soon together again please, my head’ll hurt for a week now.”

Shadow Lad helped his fellow Planetary Champion to his feet while Dragonwing and Chemical Kid looked around the inside of the yurt, ostensibly to ensure they were safe and there were no hidden enemies or traps waiting to spring, though both were fascinated by the incredibly detailed designs lovingly sewn into the hanging cloth panels to give their security sweep their full attention.

It was Lady Memory who spoke; “Grev, where is your cousin?”

Senators Tenzil Kem of Bismoll and Oodoo Shanair of Lallor walked around the Great Hall where senior figures from a multitude of planets and races had gathered and tried to calm the panic that was becoming palpable.

Senator Ken turned on the charm: the winners smile and easy confidence, the sure knowledge that Legionnaires always won together with the casual dismissal of anything other than a positive outlook. Senator Shanair used his mutant abilities to sense the inner feelings of each being they encountered and, when his new companion did not seem to ease any underlying problems, would casually touch the worried being and, through the tactile element of his psychic skills, imprint his own desires onto their psyche, effectively turning them against their better nature into supporters of the message of hope that the two men were trying to spread.

Queen Projectra and the newly named Proty iii sat in the small side room where the group Tenzil Kem had gathered together had recently been told about the expected return of the god-like Llorn. The young queen meditated as the Protean telepathically shared all the information it had on their ancient and fearsome opponent. Queen Projectra’s senses had been dramatically altered by strong magicks several years before to release her from the limitations of the human sensory condition. The illusions of distance and density meant nothing to her anymore. With the aid of the telepathic being at her side she hoped to glean some advance warning in case there was an attack.

Meanwhile Gear had led Sentinel of the Khunds and Ru and Em Haza from Lallor to Weber’s World defence centre. The Linsnarian techno-morph injected them with quick release nano-tutorials to imparted basic information; in this case how to work the planet wide armoury. Sentinel seemed particularly impressed as he ran his fingers across the hard light controls. Gear couldn’t help but notice that the two Lallorian Ambassadorial aides seemed mildly disappointed as they practiced manipulating the control panels to some of the United Planets most sophisticated weapons. Gear, despite superficial appearance, was not human by any stretch of the imagination. Like most of his people he was composed of ultra adaptive sapient high tech nannites; A collective being that held its form more out of politeness than necessity. As the Khund and two Lallorians were engrossed with the control panels before them Gear released a microscopic stream of molecular machines into the air of the planetary defense control room. If anything untoward were to happen or any of his three guests where to act in any way unsupportive of their current cause he would know about it instantly.

Thanks once more Raz and IB for your kind support. Glad you like my interpretation of the gangs personalities. We'll be seeing more of them and hopefully a surprise guest star too in the next section.

Anyway, thanks again, I really do appreciate your feedback.

Next time the Llorn are coming - be scared!

The Dead Brain smiled.

Alongside Brainiac 5, a Psion warlord with an unpronounceable name and the mysterious being called Nimbus, he was truly pleased with their final creation. It looked like a vaguely organised techno-junk pile with three large antennae festooned with cabling and lights. The Military leaders from each of their civilisations had left them in peace, accepting that the challenge here was not one of firepower but of brain power.

Dream Girl casually spoke to the academy student Mwindaji while watching the geniuses at work. For all her scientific interest, aptitude and training Nura Nal knew she was way out of her depth as the spoke about “Relevant Q-Field access points transecting *hrr* dimensional temporal matrices” to stabilise the power source. After that their discussion became amazing, mind blowing gibberish and she had decided the student might want some company. And, while he was very young he did have verrrry nice arms...

Onboard the lead Khund Battle Wagon the Legionnaire Harmoia Li and the Khund known as Deathstorm were watching the holofeed to the Starfleet deck. Harmonia had found the Khund, for all his bluster to have an incisive scientific mind as they discussed the machine that their teams respective geniuses had just built. Chameleon Boy and Spyke stood at a distance, keeping half an eye on the third member of the Khundian Battle Brigade, the blue haired woman called Pressure Point. She was floating gently about three feet of the deck in a lotus position, her eyes closed and her mouth silently speaking the magicks that allowed her to influence the forces of gravity as she tried to sense the return of Weber’s World to tis plane of reality.

“At first we didn’t want one of her kind in the Brigade,” Spyke spoke through the side of her mouth, “magic users are not greatly respected in the Empire. She has proven her worth though. She single handedly crushed the Obushi Ka revolutionaries and saved their planetary government less than a cycle ago.” There is a sense of pride in the tone and Chameleon Boy realises that he has just been warned about how powerful and ruthless the Legionnaire’s opposite numbers could be.

On the holofeed Brainiac 5, the Psion and the Dead Brain were going through their final checklist before firing up their machine. Nimbus had sent the two metallic spheres out into the space where Weber’s World once occupied. They shared a look and the Dead Brain nodded. Almost casually Brainiac 5 pushed at an array of hard light screens and the machine started the hum, lights flickered along its length as the Psion grinned triumphantly.

Several moments passed in silence before Pressure Point shouted, "There's something there now. I think that's Weber's World coming back!"

Queen Projectra appeared at Gear’s side as he strode out of the defense center. His internal scanners knew instantly that it was only an optical illusion.

“Gear, there’s a strange emptiness growing in the central core. It feels like the absence outside. Can you get there to investigate?”

He broke into a run as he replied.

“Of course ma’am, the hyper magnetic generators are at the core so if there’s a problem there it will need to be remedied immediately.”

As he approached the junction at the end of the corridor his form became fuzzy and split into a shimmering cloud that seemed to merge with the wall. In nano-form the many millions of sentient micro machines that made up the being know as Gear slipped through several kilometers of the substance of Weber’s World and came to rest on an apparently metallic sphere, roughly a tenth of the diameter of the world that was built around it. Gear knew that for the most part the sphere was composed of energy fields manipulated by powerful quark relays, the only two actual solid parts were small sections on either pole. Inside were the massive generators that kept this world’s gravity and magnetic fields working and aligned. He also knew that any damage to the internal workings could lead to potentially huge repercussions. Assuming the humanoid form that most of the beings onboard Weber’s World assumed was his true shape he squatted down, stretched his hands out onto the metal and laid the side of his head onto it as if listening to the great machinery within.

Even from outside the dome Gear was sufficiently attuned to the artificial world that he could feel there was something amiss. As the Linsnarian approached one of the safety valves built into this outer protective layer his right arm extended and altered, become a crude adjustable spanner to turn the safety seal open. His shape once more broke up into a myriad of tiny forms that streamed into the open valve. It took nearly thirty seconds to pass through the tube into the truly massive space within. He had been here once before but he was still surprised by the feat the United planets had incorporated within Weber’s World. A small black hole, held tame within the energy fields placed at the optimum distance of 657 Kilometers from the event horizon. The energy generated and harnessed powered the entire world and somewhere within this dark space there was an anomaly that needed investigating.

Although he would never admit it to anyone Gear was secretly enjoying the current situation and the opportunity to work alongside former members of the Legion.

His head split open and fanned out to create what looked like a hi-tech windmill as his legs merged and stretched out, nodules of sensory arrays grew and slowly he stretched out into the vastness. He realised that he had no way to contact Queen Projectra so would need to locate the mysterious space himself. As he scanned the area he became aware of an area roughly the size of a human child that seemed to resist his probes.

By the time he had reached it the strange space that resisted every particle or energy wavelength he projected at it had almost doubled in size. With his right arm he reached out, transforming his hand into a small sensor array and gingerly pushed it into the mysterious space in front of him. He would never know how to describe the feeling afterwards, it baffled his senses and stunned his mind, almost causing the all of collective nannites that composed him to become unconscious in shock for the first time in their existence. There within the growing dimensional emptiness his hand brushed against something. He snatched at it, transforming the sensory grid into extended tentacles that wrapped themselves around the object. He pulled with all his strength and with a loud ‘POP!’ his hand came out and the mysterious occurrence that had baffled his sensors shrank into itself as if it were a balloon leaking air.

Opening his hand to look at what he had found he realised that he recognised the object. It looked as shiny as it had appeared in every news-holo he had seen. Before he could react a small tinny voice said:

“Oooh boy, Quislet doesn’t want to go through that again! No, no, no that was not any fun at all...”

I’ve finally caught up, and wow, there’s so many characters and so much going on! What a wild ride!

Random specific observations;

The Forest Champion of Talokk VIII being a shapeshifter is a great way to show off some Talokkian wildlife (and the idea that there are other … Champions on Talokk is also a cool idea!).

I like the personality you are giving Grev. He’s been pretty much ‘Shady’s cousin’ who is quiet and accepting of his place, in most continuities (barring the more aggressive and ambitious version of the Threeboot), so seeing him speaking up and finding a voice of his own is fun.

I’m intrigued with this Khundian Battle Brigade (awesome name, btw!), and the name-dropped members ‘Deathstorm’ and ‘Pressure Point.’ It’s always a challenge to introduce new characters, and, especially a new team, in a story already as character-rich as one involving the Legion, but fanfic is the perfect venue to do that.

Little details, like the only Karnans in the Vegan delegation being Tigorr clones, are neat. I wonder if, using DNA from thousands of preserved ‘hunting trophies’ collected from old Gordanian trophy rooms and private collections (as well as DNA recovered from burial sites), they might be able to revive the Karnan race?

Projectra is really coming into her own with your presentation of her powers, able to communicate with all of Weber’s World, and sense whether or not there is any matter within a parsec. All logical extrapolations of her new powers, and awesome to see!

I never really got to know Gear in the Reboot, he was used fairly lightly, it seemed, and he often acted like a non-combatant tech support character dragged along, so your portrayal of him as a nanite collective is fascinating. Very, very cool.

Little world details, like Projectra wishing she was with the ‘dragonriders’ of her world’s whale/fishing fleets, are amazing. Such a vivid image as almost a throwaway . I love it.

I like how the Lallorian ambassadors twin mutant assistants accidentally give the game away to Tenzil, unintentionally cluing him in (or confirming his suspicion) that the ambassador was up to something (and giving him an empathic mickey). The presence of more Lallorian mutants than the five members of the Heroes of Lallor is a welcome change. Why should Earth have all the super-diversity?

Thanks Set, glad to hear you are enjoying it.

I must admit that I find it hard to focus on just one character and much prefer writing about the interactions and motivations of large groups. I think the Subs2ii storyline is the only one I've done that focused purely on a single character - Nightwind - even the Dream Boy stories expanded rapidly into a story about the Amazers.

random replies to your observations - I always thought that Talok needed further exploration so took everything I could find out and ran with it. The Forest champion seemed like a good idea and, as you rightly said, was a fun way to introduce a range of weird and wonderful creatures. And Grev was crying out for a personality so again I took what I knew and just expanded on it - he always seemed ruled by duty and I liked the 5YG story where he had married Lady Memory - it seemed to make sense that they would do that to try to heal their clans feud.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Khund Empire wanted its own Legion so the Battle Brigade were created. As this is part one of the Legion World's series we will be going to Khundia probably in the next arc and we'll meet more of them there.

I really don't know too much about the Omega Men, it's probably been 15 years since I read anything with them in and I certainly haven't read everything they appeared in but do remember one cover where there were multiple clones of Tigorr and that led to the idea that the Psions use his clones as bodyguards. As this is 1,000 in the future of what we know about them there is a wide scope to play.

And Projectra is incredible powerful when you think about it so I wanted to use her effectively, and Gear is pretty much a blank slate so am just having a ball trying to write him.

Glad you picked up on Em and Ru's smile tipping off Tenzil as I wasn't sure if it was clear (or even made sense) when I re-read it.

Thanks again Set, your feedback is appreciated.

Now for a post I meant to add last night (but ended up talking on the phone instead).

Lightning Lass led Shadow Lad and the two new Legionnaires outside the yurt.

Before they had left she had asked Vi to make sure the Persuader stayed alive and preferably unconscious. Vi knew without being told that Ayla also wanted her to keep eyes on Lady Memory and the Forest Champion. Vi nodded once and turned away from the departing group. She could see that Lady Memory seemed genuinely upset that Grev had left to find his cousin while Milnak Hortenshai had his eyes closed and appeared to be exhausted.

“Kahnya, don’t worry about Grev, my Ayla will look after him you know.” She gave a brief smile and could see the thanks in Lady Memory’s eyes as the Talokean smiled back. Shrinking Violet walked over to the unconscious enforcer and shrunk to about half her full height and released the straps on his face mask. It came away from his head with a schlurping noise. She pulled a face and saw that Kahnya Nahtahnie looked away as the drying blood and optic fluids splatted onto the elaborate carpet. Vi checked his pulse at his throat and put her head down so she could hear his breathing.

“Well I don’t think he’ll be troubling us for a while. I don’t suppose... could you access this brute’s memories while he’s unconscious? It might help if we knew who hired him?” Her tone suggested it was an almost whimsical request but Salu Digby really wanted to know who had sicced the Persuader on the unsuspecting Talokeans and without Tellus or Saturn Girl here her best bet was trying to get the support of Lady Memory.

Lady Memory took a deep breath before squatting down beside the Persuader. She laid her hands on either side of the fallen villains bulbous and blood spattered head and closed her eyes. So as not to appear to eager Vi walked over to the curtain door. As she reached it she heard Lady Memory gasp behind her and a solid sounding ‘thunk’. Vi turned around. Milnak Hortensai was standing over Kahnya Nahtanie, a cruel blade had pierced her chest and he was struggling to rip it out from her torso. Vi flew at him, punching him under the jaw, she landed on top of him and stuck her hands under his arms and into the points she knew Talokeans had sensitive nerve clusters.

He let out a cry and tried to curl up into a fetal position but before he could Vi gave a solid kick to the side of his head knocking him unconscious. She quickly turned back to the fallen Lady Memory. As she pushed her hand over the ragged wound she activated her flight rings comm channel.

A life sized holo of Ayla Ranzz’s face appeared and said, “Hey lover, we just...”

“Ayla, I need Chemical Kid. Now! Send him now! Kahnya has been stabbed.”

Jacques Foccart sat quietly at the control deck of the cruiser enjoying the sight of his sister Danielle playing with a holocube. After the recent attack on the medi-center that housed the Tharok chip Jacques knew that he needed to have Danielle back on Earth and much to his surprise Brainiac 5 had agreed.
The journey to Zardon and persuading Danielle to join him had been easy. He had invited Glorith as the young sorceress still had to see much of the United Planets. If all went well they would stop off a planet or two en route back top Earth. Danielle still had problems with face to face contact, struggling with basic interactions on a personal level but she had never stopped loving him, her big brother who never gave up hope in her. The Doctors had commented how she followed his Legion adventures daily. With him the shy legionnaire Glorith had remained quiet and glanced around the medical center, like Danielle she never quite made eye contact with the many medics and staff.

When they had boarded the cruiser Glorith had sat at the back of the Comm deck, avoiding the controls or any obvious paraphernalia of the strange technology around her. The young sorceress had left Zerox almost a year before but she still felt uncomfortable around such cold instruments. Danielle had sat close to her and the two quiet girls had not spoken directly to each other until Danielle had summoned a gaming console and started to play with a holocube. Glorith had started to pull away until Daniele created a holo representing the two girls playing together. Glorith smiled at her shy companion and started to mutter under her breath, her fingers weaving an intricate pattern. An illusion started to spin out of the empty air of a unicorn and a griffin, both standing proudly beside the two holo images Dannielle had produced.

Initially Danielle seemed shocked as she could not find any subroutine in the holo console that had created the images before laughing unexpectedly and her own fingers started to spin across the holo control as more and more elaborate images appeared. Glorith giggled as she spun more illusions to interact with the holos. Jacques was once again surprised at how techno-savvy his sister was. She had always been quick to learn but she had picked up these controls in no time, something that he certainly hadn’t managed to do even with the Legion sleep training session to prime him.

When the call came from Rokk Krinn to rendezvous with the team investigating Weber’s Worlds disappearance he initially considered refusing as it may put Danielle at risk but Rokk persuaded him quickly that the political situation was desperate and Glorith’s aptitude with time was needed urgently. There was not real choice, his sisters potential safety against the United Planets being dragged into a spiraling political disaster. There really was no choice.

Jacques would need to keep Danielle safe himself.

Weber’s World started to shake.

As Gear flew through the kilometers of tunnels, trailing the barely conscious inter dimensional Legionnaire Quislet behind him, he was aware that while the structural damage was minimal their was the potential to be fatal. All it would take was one supporting wall to collapse in the wrong place and a plaza full of diplomats would be seriously compromised. While the body of the being known as Gear flew as fast as he could towards the Great hall where Senator Kem had set up base the many nannites that were part of his collective consciousness went into action. Within the Defense center a screen sprung to life in front of Sentinel. “Most valiant warrior,” Gear’s image spoke directly, “we will need your mighty magnetic abilities to help stabilize our world, please disengage from the mainframe and help us hold this world together.” Sentinel, as a member of the Khund Battle Brigade knew that sometimes in order to win a battle one would not have to attack, merely hold steady. With a frustrated roar he pushed is way out of the command couch and held his hands to the walls, allowing his awareness of magnetic fields to guide his abilities to where they were needed.

Queen Projectra and Proty iii were still in the small room where Tenzil had taken them earlier. She fought against the rush of sensory information. Her Orikall enhanced abilities told her that they were no longer fully within the empty dimension they had been held in, there were overlapping images and stimuli flashing across her mind even as she struggled to stay upright. Whatever was drawing them back to their universe was obviously not as sophisticated as the process that had taken them here. Proty iii had formed into a ball and was rolling around the floor issuing small telepathic exclamations of fear. The Orandese Queen understood the creature’s worries but knew from her many years of experience that fear in itself would not help them, they needed to translate that feeling into an action.

Within the great hall Senator Kem had been thrown along with the Vegan delegation into an ungracious heap of bodies. With many embarrassed apologies he managed to regain his feet as the shaking subsided. Looking around him he could see that most of the beings present were regaining their feet amid the debris. There were moans and groans but as far as he could see no-one was in serious need of help. The Tamarean woman that had caught Tenzil Kem’s eye earlier floated nearby, her hair casting spirals in the air behind her, “What’s happening now?” Her emotions were obvious, here was a woman from a race that prided itself on its strength that had enough of political machinisms, she wanted to act!

An image of Queen Projectra appeared beside the Bismollian ambassador, “Tenzil, we are re-integrating with our universe, I think someone there is pulling us back.”

Even as he started to reply his flight ring gave a ‘ping’ and a flickering holo of Dream Girl appeared.

“*beeee* ...enzil, Jeckie, *hsss* ..ank the mu... *fizz* you are alri..*fizz*. You should *hsss*..pect company, I’ve seen some serious bad com..*fizz* your way.”

“Okay, thanks Dreamy, we’ll take it from here. Jeckie we need to know our current status. I’ll get the wounded dealt with here and anyone who’s able to support us together in the hall. Can you check the other levels please.”

With the help of the Tamarean, Princess Shoordel, Tenzil started to gather the scared delegates together in the great hall. The seriously wounded were dealt with by Weber’s World auto-docs, small flying domed robots with access to each planets and races medical information. Senator Kem’s charisma and determination, together with a growing number of delegates obviously supporting him, muted the questions and underlying panic they all felt. Those that did try to oppose the former Legionnaire’s plans were tackled by Ambassador Oodoo Shanair, the Lallorian mutant quietly dealing with any mutinous intentions.

“Tenzil”, Queen Projectra’s voice in his ear,” there were only two deaths but expect a lot of wounded and scared beings. Also Gear will be back here in a couple of minutes, he found Quislet in a dimensional warp.“

Sub-vocalizing his reply “Wow! Thanks Jecs, great to hear we have another Legionnaire, whoever did this won’t stand a chance now.”

The air once again started to glow with a blue light that seemed to emanate from everywhere and a voice boomed into the air, shaking everyone present.

“<LITTLE PREY, YOU CANNOT ESCAPE FROM THE HUNT. THE TIME TO RUN IS OVER>”

WoW! Quislet, Danielle, Omega Men tie-ins, I just love how you're enriching the already rich universe of the Legion with your story. Mor,e more, more!!

Grev Mallor flew through the curtain door into the yurt closely followed by Hadru Malik.

The young Shadow Champion of the City People of Talok viii looked as if he was ready to cry. Or kill. Vi stepped aside, making sure she put herself between him and the unconscious man who had stabbed Lady Memory. Grev bent over the wounded girl, putting his hand over the wound, applying pressure to help staunch the blood flow. He spoke quietly in a thick dialect Vi didn’t recognise. Violet looked away from the obvious anguish on her friends face and turned to Chemical Kid.

“Well? You studied Talokean physiology on the way here; I know Jan has set targets for you so why don’t you show us what you know?” Vi had spoke in the clipped, no-nonsense tone that she had learned got results over the years. Jan Arrah had insisted in a way that let Vi know that their young Chemical Kid, as academic as he obviously was, had been slipping in his studies since fully joining the Legion. So many beings believed that all the Legionnaires did was fly into battle, kick nass and bask in the glory. Those same people were seriously wrong. Vi kind of liked Hadru so she hoped he would up his game and earn his place in the team.

Hadru had sat beside the wounded Lady Memory as the Imskian Legionnaire spoke and closed his eyes for a moment, taking a long breath. He reached out and gently moved Grev Mallor’s hand away from the wound. Kahnya let out a low moan of pain. Hadru spoke directly to her, his tone soft and confident as his fingers pushed into the wound.

Weber’s World shook.

The Khund called Sentinel was resting with his back against a wall. His skin showed blotchy patches, a sure sign of Khundian exhaustion. His breathing was just beginning to slow. He knew his magnetic abilities simply hadn’t been up to the task of holding the entire planet together as it slid back to its home reality, though he was certain he had helped stabilise the outer metal epidermic layer, stopping any vents in the atmospheric integrity. They may be a little shook up but at least they had air to breath. He took a pouch from his belt and spoke quietly into a small grey disc on its top. There was a clicking noise and he opened the pouch and took out a capsule of green liquid.

The Lallorian twins had watched him silently.

“It’s a nutrient capsule. That took a lot out of me...” he offered his explanation without looking directly at them. He could feel their antipathy towards him and wished they would just speak about it rather than casting those judgmental glances toward everyone they encountered.

“Don’t you two ever say anything?” He looked towards Em Haza, or maybe it was Ru, to be honest despite there being slight differences between the twin sisters he wasn’t sure which was which. She pulled a little disappointed smile with the ends of her mouth slightly drooping and shook her head. Her eyes looked angry.

“That explains that then....” he started to stand up, pushing up against the wall.

Two voices, both childlike, sung in his mind, “We are telepathic though, so, just so you know, that little fantasy that just flashed through your head about us being your silent non-complaining bed slaves ain’t ever going to happen. Just so you know.”

Glorith was distressed.

The young sorceress had stood up suddenly, her illusions fading out like morning mist. Danielle had sat back in her chair, her fingers no longer spinning across the holo control as she watched her new friend. At the Comms Jacques had noticed that the two young women no longer seemed to be creating holos and illusions to entertain each other and he turned around in his chair to check they were still alright. Danielle looked concerned though it was obviously Glorith who was struggling. The air around her started to glow with an eldritch energy. Jacques jumped from his seat and rushed to pull Danielle away but his sister stayed by Glorith’s side.

“Ma Cherie, please we must giver her room, her magics are...”

“No! She is my friend Jacques.”

Glorith’s feet had left the floor and she hung suspended in the air before them, her face was screwed up in pain and she grunted as if struck. “There is something coming that’s abhorrent to the natural order. Jacques, please, we must get to Weber’s World now! We must stop this from happening.” Although her voice was quiet there was no arguing with the tone. The sound of fear was too obvious.

Chemical Kid's tone was soft as he spoke to Lady Memory.

“I have a challenge to learn the physiology of every indigenous race I visit. So, just so you know, you will be okay, I’m slowing down the hormone that all Talokeans release that speeds up the metabolism when you get excited. It does make your people fierce warriors, only you do bleed a lot because of it Kahnya.” He stopped speaking and exchanged a slightly sad smile with Lady Memory as she caught her breath. While he was trying to be gentle it was obvious from her face that she was in a lot of pain.

She turned towards Shadow Lad and quietly said, “It was the Forest Champion who hired the Persuader Grev...”

“We guessed darling, don’t worry we’ve got them now...” He replied.

“Can I have a moment.” Hadru’s voice sounded far more confident than he felt but he continued, turning back to the injured Lady Memory, his voice became softer, friendlier, “that was the first part, now I need to speed up the coagulation of the blood around the wound. Talokean blood is copper based so it’s slightly less viscous than human plasma. This is tricky as I don’t want to clot anything in your internal organs by mistake.”

Grev shuffled aside though took Kahnya’s hand. He was not going to go far from her side for the foreseeable future. Hadru continued speaking, taking the wounded girl’s attention away from his fingers currently probing the sides of the gaping cut in her chest. “So now to give your system a quick boost to your serotonin like happy hormones to alleviate the pain... eh voila!” The young Phlonite stood up and wiped the sweat off his brow with his sleeve.

“Grev....”

“Kahnya. Please you need to...”

“ I’m the champion of the desert people not a Terran bimbo-dollykin. I know this wound isn’t good but help me up, we have to sort this out.”

Vi had a grin as Grev Mallor, shamefaced, held out his arm to Lady Memory. Hadru Malik had stepped over to the Persuader and was holding his hands out over the brutish enforcer’s muscle bound body. To no-one in particular he said, “That should keep his asleep for another couple of hours.” He stood up again and wiped the sweat off his brow with his sleeve.

“Grev,” Kahnya Nahtanie was standing straight, a look of grim resolve on her face, “Milnak hired him to do something terrible that would return Talok to the old ways. Whatever it is...”

“We stopped them Kahnya...”

“You don’t understand, they’ve already done it, whatever they had planned they’ve already done it. The Persuader only stayed because he’s sick, he wanted to watch us all die!”

In the air in the great hall three beings iridescent in purple floated above the assembled ambassadors and their aides.

Their initial threat had shook the air and terrified almost everyone present. The Khund ambassador Speaker ChaChauk of the Split Skull had taken a small silver rod from his belt and activated a function on it so it expanded into a fearsom looking axe with blades at both ends. With a bassy growl he had leapt at the three beings swinging his mighty weapon. As he leapt the Tigorr clones that had been at the side of the Psions also charged. The sentient shade of yellow known as the Oolool also struck up at them. Several other bodyguards and representatives from the more war like species took this as the opportunity to attack. Chaos erupted!

Senator Kem screamed for them to stop to no avail. In mid air a tendril of violet fog snaked out from the central being and enveloped the attacking ambassadors. Every one of them were frozen. Energy beams from previously hidden weapons stopped in mid track.

<PATHETIC!>

Every one of the attacker dissolved into dust. The dust sparkled as it slowly fell to the floor in small spirals. The energy beams reversed their direction exploding the weapons they had come from. The room was silent for almost a second before the screaming started.

The eruption as Weber’s World spun back into reality shook the armada of ships.

Brainiac 5 and the Dead Brain were both knocked off their feet. Nimbus exclaimed in shock, “Look at the readings the Sphere’s picked up. Oh dark X’Hal protect us!”

Nura Nal ran over to Querl Dox, “Querl, there will be three of them. They will kill a lot of people before we can stop it.”

“If they are that dangerous Nura we need you to try to see what will stop them.”

Brainiac 5 turned to the huge machine that he had constructed with the Khundian known as the Dead Brain and examined the readings that had terrified Numbus. M’windaji was standing beside Dream Girl as the coluan Legionnaire abruptly turned away from her and she could see that the academy student was not impressed with Querl’s manner. She was pleased to note his tact in hot saying anything. If he wanted to progress to being a full Legionnaire he would need to learn that the big characters already in the organisation were simply an occupational hazard that couldn’t be helped.

“Dream Girl, ma’am...”

“For the fifth time Ghaji, call me Nura please. Formality makes my teeth ache.” She smiled as she said it but the student saw her eyes weren’t laughing. Dream Girl was worried.

“Sorry Nura, your colleague has asked for docking access....”

“Colleague? You mean Jacques? Well why didn’t you say?” This time her smile reached her eyes, “Come on, I think he’s brought the solution to our problems.”

Gear and Quislet reached the great hall just as the crowds started to push their way out.

The screaming pandemonium that was erupting before them froze Gear. Even as he watched a Thaarian representative fell over and was lost under the fall of fleeing feet. Gear flattened himself to a wall and activated the emergency evacuation procedures. All doors flung open, a gentle voice announced that Weber’s World would be initiating it's evacuation protocols and would be most grateful if all representatives could form an organised queue and leave the hall in an orderly fashion. It wasn’t heard above the screaming.

Gear saw there had been several beings knocked over and his arms extended and pulled them out of the terrified crowd. He had been instructed in necessary first aid for each of the 431 races on board. Even as he tended to the stricken Thaarian woman he remember was called Ola he silently summoned all the remote Auto-Docs on this level. The small discus shaped AI machines were stored at regular distances throughout Weber’s World though they were rarely seen. Within moments twelve had assembled at the corridor and were tending to the many injuries.

“Quislet will stop silly beings from crushing themselves, whoop whoop!” and a spark of energy leapt into the wall beside the door. The wall started to peal away giving the terrified mass room to flee. The spark jumped back into the small silver ship and the newly peeled walls disintegrated. The crowds were running down the corridors. Quislets slipped over their heads and flew into the hall with a poop – a – doop.

Gear watched the Legionnaire go and knew he would have to join him in the hall. He gently rested Ola against the wall summoning an Auto doc to take over tending for her and he stretched his shape out, snake-like he wove through the tail end of the fleeing crowds. Inside the great hall there were overturned tables and chairs, debris scattered throughout the once luxurious room, and Senator Tenzil Kem, Quislet and a few other beings facing three glowing creatures who radiated immense power. Gear now knew who the enemy was and would do anything he could to remove them from his new home here on Weber's World.

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

Hope you are still enjoying this.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nura stood up, brusquely pulling away from Jacques support.

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

“Nura? What are...”

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

Lightning Lass and Dragonwing pursued a fleeing speeder.

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

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

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

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

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

Harmonia had responded to Invisible Kid’s request.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ayla and Marya approached the compound cautiously.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks guys!

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

She strode into the room unsure what to expect.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Em and Ru Haza looked at each other.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Senator Kem was on his knees howling in rage.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“They are killing my people” She roared.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And with that release came clarity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Enough.”

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

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

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

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

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

Before him there was a loud Pop!

And they were gone.

Nimbus was the first to arrive.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It was Dream Girl who found Senator Tenzil Kem.

Gear was stood over the ambassador’s foetal form, Quislet circled above strangely silent.

The Bismollian former Legionnaire was curled up, his speech was erratic switching between cursing and crying and singing in a childlike manner, his arms were tightly wrapped around his knees as they pushed into his chest. It was his eyes that worried the Linsnarian the most. His eyes were those of someone looking at somewhere else, somewhere that no one else could share. His eyes shone with the undecipherable light of insanity.

Dream Girl sat on the floor next to him and gently stroked the senator’s head. She had seen Tenzil Kem in this state before and had prayed she would never see anyone suffer like this again. She put her face down close to his ear and whispered that she would do everything she could to bring him back to them, bring him back to those who loved him. Gear could see her eyes were filling with tears.

“What happened to him?”

Gear took a second before he replied. He knew immediately who Dream Girl was and chose to be entirely honest. He knew that there would be many questions about today and the truth would not necessarily be what everyone wanted to hear, but this was a Legionnaire famed for her intellect and compassion.

“I’m sorry but I don’t know. My sensors told me we were all dead and now we are alive again. Everyone else seems to be in perfect health apart from him. I can only speculate that he somehow affected this outcome but this was the cost.”

Quislet continued, “Kem saved us all. Those villains even stopped Quislet!” There was a definite feeling of awe in the tinny voice from the extra dimensional ship.

Nura looked a Gear for a long second before nodding and turning back to her fallen comrade. “Can you help me get him to a medical bay, I think it’s best we sedate him for a while until he can receive the correct treatment....” She nearly added “again.”

Over the next standard day many interviews and discussions were held to discover exactly what had gone on.

The official story was much as the Dead Brain had speculated to various representatives the day before. The Llorn had attacked Weber’s World and the Khunds Battle Brigade, The UP’s Legion of Superheroes and the Psion Chief Scientist from the Nu-Vegan System had between then defeated the odious invaders through the use of high magicks and multi-strand cutting edge technology. There had been fatalities on the United Galaxy’s front, 213 staff on several Khund ships, 67 United Planets personnel and 17 from independent or affiliated worlds. None of the ambassadorial representatives or Weber's World staff had died though sadly Senator Kem from Bismol had been seriously injured. The Llorn were defeated before their blood thirsty lust could be expanded to any nearby worlds.

Queen Projectra, Brainiac 5, Quislet, the Dead Brain and Sentinel, Proty iii, Oodoo Shanair of Lallor and the Tamarean Princess Shoordel were in a small conference room at an ornately polished table. Gear walked into the room and stood at the head of the table.

“Before we start I want to reassure you that there will be no recordings made today. Anything said will only be shared on a need to know basis.” He sat down as he finished. Brainiac 5 gave a quick glance towards Projectra who nodded her agreement. They were not being recorded.

Initially they discussed the event that had brought them together, no one mentioned Tenzil Kem directly for several minutes before Sentinel’s frustration got the better of him and he exclaimed “So what really happened?”

Brainiac 5 took a deep breath and explained about the gift a rogue Controller had given the Legion many years ago, the Miracle Machine. He skirted around the reason why Tenzil Kem had eaten it but explained in detail the effect it had on the former Legionnaire.

“The Miracle Machine was operated by will. A strong thought would be translated into reality instantaneously. After Tenzil consumed it the energies within could not be dispersed through the normal Bismollian digestive process...”

“So if he had that energy why didn’t he do anything? Defeat Mordru or...” Oodoo Shanair’s interruption brought him a serious stare from Queen Projectra that stopped him short. Brainiac 5 continued without registering the Lallorian ambassador’s rudeness.

“... I’ve always speculated that, despite his protestations somehow he was still linked to the now bodiless energies of the machine. Once his mind was returned to us we did everything we could to put mental blocks in his subconscious to keep it from driving him insane again. Professor Aven of Titan and the Legion’s Imra Ardeen worked extensively with him. I think the sight of seeing everyone die around him broke those barriers and the Miracle Machine’s dormant energies took over again.”

“Fascinating! So you are saying that your Matter Eater Lad can change reality with a thought now?” The Dead Brain had steepled his stubby fingers under this chin, his eyes focused intently on Brainiac 5.

“He always could, only it would cost him his sanity.” Queen Projectra looked sad as she said it. Proty iii reached out a pseudopod and gently tapped her shoulder in empathy.

“So why are you telling us this?” It was the first time Brainiac 5 had heard the Tamarean speak and he was pleasantly surprised by how rich her voice sounded.

“We have a suggestion.” Queen Projectra smiled at Princess Shoordel. “The Legion have been called to Weber’s World several times in the last two years and we think it’s past time that, much like on Takron Galtos, we have people stationed here permanently. We know that politically we can’t be seen to interfere directly so that’s why we asked you here. We would like to offer you the opportunity to join us.” She smiled at the stunned faces around the table.

It was Brainiac 5 who continued, “Oodoo is from an Affiliated World and it's a happy coincidence he can read people like no one else. Proty here is from an independent race...."

"Who can read minds and change shape, ha!" It was Oodoo who interrupted again, the Lallorian Ambassadors glee as he realised what Brainiac 5 was proposing.

"Indeed," Querl Dox had an eyebrow raised at the ambassadors lack of manners as he continued, "Sentinel here has magnetic abilities that would give our Cosmic Boy a challenge as well as a being a renowned Khundian battle arena champion, Princess Shoordel would represent Nu- Vega’s interest..."

"And I have advanced combat skills after training under the Okaarans." She added, a slightly mischievous smile on her face as she took turn to interrupt the Coluan Legionnaire.

"Yes, of course. *ahem* anyway, Quiset is the only one who can access the dimensions the Llorn sprang from and has a Legion comm in his ship of ever you needed any more help.”

“Sentinel has a Battle Brigade communicator too. In case you Legionnaires are busy.” The Dead Brain smiled at Brainiac 5 as he spoke.

Querl Dox's expression lightened finally as he finished, "...and Gear... you are simply vital to the running of this planet." Brainiac 5 finished with a reciprocal smile at his Khundian counterpart. There was a moments silence before Quislet said what everyone was thinking.

“Hoo-Boy! We will be awesome!”

Marya Pai and Salu Digby both progessed through to the second day of combat.

Ayla Ranzz had been showing off for the crowds, her back to the dozen opponents that she thought were all unconscious when she was felled by a sonic boom created by a huge hammer an old warrior representing the Crystal City Forge weilded. Her unexpected defeat had almost caused a riot amongst the spectators. Violet had laughed as the shocked Lightning Lass regained her feet and petulantly kicked the ground in frustration as realization dawned that she would be out of the competition. She had blushed furiously all the way out of the arena to the Green Rift Forge’s encampment. When Ayla got there Salu vigorously ribbed her about the schoolgirl error. Ayla sulked for quite a few hours though the two were seen dancing amongst the crowds later in the evening.

The 25 warriors of the Forest People who had expected to be involved in the ritual combats alongside their squires and supporters were to a man disappointed that their armours and weapons had been confiscated by the Science Police. Also to a man they were relieved that they no longer had any contact with the lethal radioactive substances that they had unwittenly been spreading throughout this sacred site. It was this relief that they focused on as they used the unexpected freedom of not having to prepare for battle to do what people had done since time began when they no longer had to fight an expected battle, they partied like wild things.

The Green Rift Forge had never been a major force within the heirachy of planetary weapon smiths. Yet it now became the place to be seen. Their reputation as welcoming, generous and often amorous hosts who happened to have real live Legionnaires fighting for them spread quickly. The encampment was full of over-stimulated and not very sober Talokeans that spilled over into the communal market areas. Dragonwing and Chemical Kid were seen dancing and drinking with as much gusto as the locals for several hours each night, both drawing a lot of personal attention, at least some of which was reciprocated according to local chatter.

There were no arrests and no murders reported, in fact no real trouble to report which a local Science Police officer told the Legionnaires was a minor miracle.

Hadru Malik had spent the day with Grev Mallor, Kahnya Natahlie and two local medics.

As far as Tasmia Mallor was concerned it was the morning after the day that her blessed ancestors had spoken to her and Grev in the ancient cave shrine and shared their hereditary shadow abilities. She had no memory of the twelve years in between. She did not know her father had died. She couldn’t say who was currently politically relevant. She didn’t recognise any holo’s of the majority of her Legionnaire comrades.

Hadru marveled at the courage she showed. He seriously doubted that he would have had a tenth of the dignity she showed as test after test came back with negative results. The young Talokeans resolution to deal with the problem was absolute. Shadow Lass didn’t doubt that she was being told the truth. She only doubted that she wouldn’t get past this and resume her life as it was before the Priest of Memory had tampered with her mind. Marya Pai had popped in after winning her challenge, the new Legionnaire had spent a lot of time in combat tactic classes with Shadow Lass in the last year. Lady Memory had shared these recollections, Marya’s frustration as the more senior Legionnaire had upped the ante time after time and pushed beyond what Dragonwing expected was her limits. Marya Pai had a strong respect for Tasmia Mallor earned over countless hours of physically and mentally exhausting training and this shone through with every memory shared.

The medics refused anyone else entry after that saying they didn’t want to overload Tasmia Mallor. They very nearly received a shocking retort from Ayla Ranzz though the next morning Lightning Lass was the first person waiting to see her fellow Legionnaire. The medics knew they would not be able to turn her away a second time so brought her in with a show of gratitude for her giving her friend peace the day before. Ayla sniffed as she acknowledged them.

Ayla told the group that she planned to spend several hours with her friend Tasmia before going back out to cheer on Salu Digby. Tasmia had made a tentative joke that after yesterdays results and Vi’s laughter maybe Ayla should cheer their teammate’s opponent. Ayla laughed and gave Tasmia an impulsive kiss on the cheek before saying that she would consider it an order from a Talokean Planetary champion. Although smiling Lady Memory reminded them they had some work to get on with and gently rested her hands on the two legionnaire’s heads. The memories she shared were deeper that those shared by Dragonwing the day before as they revealed time spent over the years both as a friends and a comrade in arms. Quality time spent together where bonds that had been built would never fade. Ayla was crying openly as almost an hour later Kahnya finished. Tasmia held her chin up and shone with pride and contentment. She took Ayla into her arms and hugged her fiercely before she too finally cried at the realisation of all that she had lost.

The day before there had been free for all battles involving over a dozen warriors in each from all Nine Forges. Today it was the quarter- and semi- final rounds before tomorrow’s final. Marya Pai’s first battle was against a young woman from a rival Forest People Forge. The warriors armour was marked with stylised lightning bolts. As the ceremonial flag was dropped they both waited for it to touch the ground before they acted. As it did Marya took to the air and flew directly above her opponent. There was a clap like distant thunder and, as Marya expected, a flash of lightning zoomed past her. Her opponents armour didn’t give the Talokean woman the level of control that the Ranzz’s exhibited. The young legionnaire took the opportunity to swoop down and punch the armoured warrior firmly under the chin. The punch hurt Marya’s knuckles tremendously but it had the desired effect as her adversary flew into the air and landed with in a bone crushing heap. Dragonwing blew on her aching knuckle as she stepped over and checked her foe was unconscious. The two red garbed referees also joined her and held up both her arms like a prize winning boxer when they agreed the warrior would not regain her feet in time to continue.

Salu Digby was also facing a representative from a Forge of the Forest People.

This Talokean stood over eight feet tall and had a long beard dyed yellow and green – a local custom that was seen as a serious insult to ones enemies. The Legionnaire was looking forward to kicking his ass. She hated rude tall people and always found pleasure in reminding them that they may be physically bigger than her but that did not necessarily mean that they were superior. The fight was over within ten seconds as her opponent stood his ground and tried to goad the Legionnaire into attacking him. He didn’t expect her to coyly walk over to him mimicking the perfect picture of meekness that he taunted her for, playing up to the thousands of spectators with his jeers and over confidence, right up until she roundhouse kicked him solidly into a slumber. The crowd were on their feet within a heartbeat roaring their approval.

Dragonwings second battle involved a much scrappier encounter and ultimately it was only that her opponent made an error and didn’t take advantage as she rolled out of the way of a blow to finish her off. Marya’s Dragon acid ruined that opponent’s armour beyond compare very quickly after that to further screams of the crowds enjoyment. Her Legion comrade wasn’t as lucky as Salu Digby fought against a rival with a force field generating armour that influenced neural pathways, effectively paralysing anyone who came within three feet of them for more than a couple of seconds. She did manage to connect two solid blows but the warrior got up quickly after both and she was knocked unconscious soon after. The crowd cheered and yelled as yet another Legionnaire was felled by a local warrior.

Grev Mallor had never left Kahnya’s side and after two days of his over protective attitude on the third morning, the day of the Final Challenge, she told him firmly that she had important work to do and so did he and that it was not the same work. She would try to coax something from his cousin’s memory vaults while he would go out into the great outside and mingle with the people of their fabulous planet as they too were worried and needed reassurance from a Champion. By this time the Science Police had brought in two telepaths from their Psi-wing from a neighbouring system. They all hoped that the combination of the shared memories from her comrades and the telepathic therapy that she would receive that day would help Tasmia further along the road to recovery. They all knew that by the end of the day the populace would expect to hear some result. The stories and speculation that were currently running rampant around the Decade Challenge needed to be put to rest before the many peoples present returned to their own clans and cities.

Grev knew he could not justify another day spent in this place with Tasmia, as much as he wanted to be here, he had duties that would not wait so with hunched shoulders he went into the open market. It was those same duties that had made Tasmia stay here, she could be on Medicus One already but could be taken to trial by planetary law for not being present. All Champions had to be here as historically these competitions had a nasty habit of spilling over into real battles between rival Forges. Grev had heard that Milnak Hortensai had already been stripped of his title and the forest Mystics would strip him of access to the Green Soul they believed granted him his shape changing abilities.

The ram-shackled market was full of bustling traders and canny shoppers, children and pets running and playing between stalls as warriors showing off their armours traded boastful tall stories. Excited calls and expressive chatter exploding from the Brownian motion of the many folks as they circulated, desperate gambling on today’s outcome seemed to be everywhere. All the chaos that went with having several thousand people together in one huge melting pot of thrills and competition would come to a head this day. Today was the Final Challenge and everyone knew that it would be another Long Decade before this would happen again. Very few expected to live long enough to see a similar event again.

There was only one battle today as one representative of the City People, one from the Desert Clans and one from the Forest Folk met to decide for another 93 standard UP years which would hold the Challenge trophy.

The Forest Folk, for the first time for any Forge in recorded history were being represented by an off worlder – the Legionnaire Dragonwing. This alone was creating a buzz around the amphitheater that was unlikely to ever be repeated. It was only since just before the last Decade Challenge, almost a standard century, that Talokeans had accepted offworders on their planet and in quite a few areas of this world there were still places that it was not safe to be seen outside if you were not immediately recognisable as one of the Three Peoples. The Legionnaires who had joined Tasmia here knew intellectually what this meant but none of them truly understood the paradigm shift that the Forge allowing an offworlder to represent them represented.

The City People had the warrior called Ferni Vu Hartchas who wore a force field creating armour that affected neural activity. Vi had quietly asked Marya to make an example of him. Marya had studioed footage of this opponent and picked out eight small beacons built into his armour that she realised were the source of his force field, she would target them one by one and then see if he was quite as tough as his reputation made out. The Desert Clans had an apparently invulnerable contestant called Wasar Jeurinos. This warriors head to toe armour was strangely blank, as if presenting a challenge to his opponents to try to mark him,. Marya doubted the forge that had built his supposedly indestructible armour had made it invulnerable to her acid and thought that one serious blast of it should leave him screaming to get out of it.

She knew the crowd wouldn’t appreciate a quick result today. Today was the day to see an event that they could repeat to their children and grand children.

With that in mind Marya Pai intended to have some fun.

As tradition dictated the day started with several non combat events.

The crowds slowly took their places as these shows of strength, speed and skill happened before them on the circular arena floor. They applauded lightly at the appropriate parts but everyone knew that these were not the events they had come to see. It was two hours past the High Sun when these secondary competitions finished. By then the amphitheater was full.

The excitement was a palpable force in the air.

Almost a full hour later, after the arena floor had been swept meticulously clean by hovering automatons Wasar Jeurinos of the Desert Clan was the first to stride out to the mighty roar of the crowds. He strode around the circumference of the circular arena jeering the crowd. Just when it seemed impossible that they could shout any louder, Marya Pai walked out for the Forest Folk. Those not already on their feet jumped up and the decibel level rose even further. She followed her opponents path and walked around the arena. Every twenty yards or so she would look upwards and dramatically release a small burst of emerald Dragon fire to the delight of those nearby. At one point she completed a quick cart wheel before remembering that she had been told it was the warriors way to hold onto their decorum at this point and not show of any physical attribute. Well the crowd loved it so she wouldn’t feel too guilty at her breach of etiquette. She had almost completed a full circuit when Ferni Vu Harchas of the City People nonchalantly strode out. The crowd were jumping with excitement and it was almost impossible to believe the noise they generated. Dragonwing could feel it against her ribs like a physical wave.

The two red garbed referees summoned the three warriors into the centre of the arena. The final battle of the Decade Challenge was about to start.

As soon as the starting flag had landed her two opponents charged her simultaneously.

Both hoped for the opportunity to take out the interloping Legionnaire, she knew. Dragonwing focused on them as they charged and at the final moment sprang into the air over the head of Ferni Vu Harchas spitting a small glob of Dragon acid with pin point accuracy at the small beacon on his left shoulder that partially transmitted the neural dampening field. She could defeat him easily but that didn’t mean she would do it quickly. As she landed and rolled dramatically the crowd once again bellowed out it’s appreciation. Wasar Jeurinos had turned as she jumped and, opportunistically punching Ferni Wu Harchas quickly in the face as he sped after the Legionnaire, he jumped towards her back. Marya Pai was street wise enough to know that having her back to an opponent made her an apparently easy target and had been trained by the best combat instructors in the United Planets so anticipated the attack with lightning reflexes. Wasar of the Desert Clans had an elbow land squarely on his nose for his effort. While it didn’t do him any real damage it did stun him for a split second allowing Marya the chance to roll to his side and kick him firmly on the back of his knee causing him to stumble. As Wasar started to crumple Ferni, who had followed him back towards the agile Legionnaire, jumped onto his back forcing him face first onto the arena floor. Marya Pai stepped back as the two rolled across the arena and turned towards the crowd and raised her arms imploring them to shout more. As the screaming rose again she turned back to find her opponents had both regained their feet, Wasar appearing a little dazed but otherwise unhurt. Both were moving towards her.

Marya Pai knew that whatever the outcome this day despite the opportunistic attacks they threw at each other she wasn’t going to be lucky enough to have her opponents deal with each other. She was simply too credible a target for them to ignore.

As the battle continued Marya spat more acid at the small beacons on Wasars armour. His force field was next to useless and he knew it. His tactics changed and he hung back from direct combat waiting for his chance to strike while trying to avoid allowing the other two combatants the chance to take advantage of his vulnerability. Ferni picked up on this and while apparently walking around the circular edge of the combat zone jeering the crowd pounced on his fellow Talokean warrior and gave him a teeth smashing blow to the face. While the two fought it out Marya took a second to catch her breath. Bent over with her hands on her knees panting she decided how she had to act next. The combat had been going on for over thirty minutes, most of it she had to admit was theatre for the cheering crowds benefit but still all three of them were tired and battered. Her beautiful cloak had been ripped off of her and an earlier blow from Ferni had hurt her back. Although she was still able to function she knew that she would pay for this in the days to come.

Even including all the adventures she had been on and sights she had seen since becoming a Legionnaire Marya Pai had to admit she was having the time of her life!

Neither combatant saw her until it was too late as she jumped feet first at them. Aiming at their torsos, the collision send them all spinning and once again the crowd erupted it’s approval. With an athletic flip she landed on top of the supposedly invulnerable Ferni Wu Harchas she unleashed a tremendous blast of Dragon fire before springing off. The Challenger from the City People struggled as the mystic flames melted his armour in a cloud of emerald sparks. As he attempted to stand up it was obvious that the joints at his armour's shoulders and neck were fused restricting his movement.

Taking advantage of this moment of drama Marya pounced towards Wasar Jeurinos. As he backed away she cartwheeled and kicked him firmly on the shoulder knocking him to the ground with a tremendous thud! The Desert Clans warrior tried to stand but Dragonwing was on his back with her hands on his throat. She bent her face towards him and hissed:

“Violet is a friend of mine. You don’t think I’m going to let you get away so easily do you?”

And with a grunt she flipped him heels over head onto the floor with a crash. The plates of armour across his left shoulder and thigh sprung out, damaged beyond repair. As he tried to stand Marya Pai stood up and walked towards the smoking shape of Ferni Wu Harchas. The warrior in the supposedly invulnerable armour backed away from her, his arms and head unmoving. The sparks still popped across his torso were her fire had fused the armour in place. The crowd could see the vicious smile on her face on the huge screens above as she walked up to the warrior and said:

“Boo!” and with that a great gout of Dragon acid splattered on his body, dissolving his chest plate with a slurping hiss. Unable to move his arms to remove the armour he fell face first onto the floor trying to somehow wipe of the acid before it burned him too badly. Dragonwing bent over him and asked if he was ready to submit. As he screamed his submission the two referees in red rushed towards him calling for medics and someone from the City Forges to help get his armour off of him quickly.

Marya turned towards the crowd and bowed flamboyantly. As she started to stand a blow from behind glanced off the top of her head knocking her ungraciously onto the ground. Even as she landed she rolled out of the way, regaining her feet easily. Wasar had struck her from behind while she was showing off to the crowds! Well she wasn't going to let that happen again. The warrior from the Desert Clans stood with difficulty, his armour was split down the left side and blood streamed from several cuts on his arms and ribs. Marya realised that he could die if medical help wasn’t on hand soon so, despite the urge to taunt and play with her opponent, she dove towards him, rolling just before she reached him and sprang into a kick that sent his spinning over the arena and into a heap. She knew that traditionally many warriors would rather die than lose in this final battle but she had no need to let him bleed to death to prove his worthiness as a warrior. All she had to do was knock him out cold.

One punch to the soft spot under the Talokeans jaw and it was over.

The crowd went ballistic.

Marya sat down on the arena floor and breathed heavily. Her ribs ached, she knew she would be bruised across her back and her muscles would protest for several days but she had done it.

She had done it!

That evening, after she had spent three hours recovering in the SP’s medic tent she had an unexpected visitor who would change her already strange life.

As was tradition the Forest Folk had sent twelve of their most respected warriors to stand as a honour guard around her until she fully recovered. Marya had found this hilarious but didn’t want to cause any further problems so assented to them being in the tent with her on the grounds that they did not come between her and her friends.

Her Legion comrades had all been in to see her of course, Hadru making a drama of her bruises and cuts and offering to help speed her metabolism if she wanted to hurry along the healing. She had declined but gave him a hug for thanks. The normally stand offish Phlonite hugged her back tentatively. Violet had promised her a night out in Metropolis to remember when they got back to Earth and Lightning Lass had freely hugged and kissed her head in gratitude for thoroughly dismantling the armour of the warrior who had defeated her Vi.

Shadow Lad and Lady Memory had bowed ceremonially as they entered. As the Champions of the two people’s whose warriors Dragonwing had defeated they were politically astute enough to know that their actions would be scrutinized afterwards so they pretended an air of reserve that all three knew was false. They informed her that Tasmia was physically fully recovered from her ordeal, the look of subdued concern on Grev’s face alerted Marya to what was being left unsaid. There would be an official statement at the Darkest hour to close the Decade Challenge and they would want to see her there, as was tradition. Grev gave her a quick wink as he said it and Marya smiled and replied that she would be privileged to stand beside such honourable Champions as they closed the event.

The visitor that surprised Marya was a young Talokean man with the mauve skin of the Forest Folk who wore a white and balck costume striped in the organic lines like zebra skin and a patchwork cloak of many colours. As was customary with high ranking Forest Folk the right side of his head was shaven clean. This was the Heir to the Green Rift Forge. The one who was in training to take over as the Forge’s armour maker. With the murder of their current Smith by the Persuader the young man was be confirmed as the new Smith in the morning. He would become the youngest Smith in Talokean history.

“worthy warrior, most blessed Champion of the Decade Event I humbly...”

“Stop there please.” Marya smiled as she spoke. She didn’t want to offend the young man but she had reached her limits of propriety for the day and she felt that if he continued any further she may have to punch him squarely on the nose. “Heir to the forge, can we talk as friends, today has been too tiring for such.... formality. Call me Marya, what is your name?”

The young man smiled as he replied, “Hethuk Bran Drommsi... Heth to my friends.”

“Heth, would you mind if we spoke as we took a stroll? I’m beginning to feel a l’il bit claustrophobic in here.”

Outside the partying had reached a new height in exuberance.

The twelve ceremonial guards formed a ring around them and they walked slowly through the crowds. As they were recognised the cheers once again erupted and this applause drew more spectators. Within minutes they were surrounded by hundreds of excited revelers.

“I have an idea Heth, if we ever want to have a chat follow me. “

As they ducked into a small tent she grabbed a full length gray cloak of the back of one of the ceremonial guard. Inside the small tent she quickly threw the cloak over the young Heir and then said, “Watch this!” and pushed the control on her Legion Distorter. The holo of the man she had impersonated to gain access to the barracks where Tasmia Mallor had been held sprung around her.

“What?” The Heir backed away.

“It’s a holo Heth, let’s go now.” Pulling the newly cloaked Heir by the shoulder they pushed out into the crowd outside. The crowds were beginning to dissipate and the mingled with them and casually wandered away.

Once they reached the edges of the huge amphitheater they found a place to sit where they wouldn’t be heard while looking over the mass of people below.

“Marya, you are quite amazing!”

“Only quite?” She teased, switching off the Distorter holo.

He laughed and they began to talk. The Heir to the Green Rift Forge was, Dragonwing thought, incredibly personable. He described the life of the Forest Folk, not quite as barbaric as they had been made out and certainly not as xenophobic or backwards as she might imagine. He spoke with great pride about their traditions and culture, even reciting some poetry that had them both laughing, Finally, he became a little bit more serious as he described the probable problems the Forest Folk would face in the years to come as the Mystics who granted their Champion the traditional abilities found and trained another to replace the disgraced Milnak Hortensai.

“So, are you asking me to take his place as your people's Champion?” her bluntness caused the Heir to laugh.

“Well, yes, I guess I am.”

Hadru hugged her one more time before stepping into the Legion Cruiser’s grav lift.

Marya saw the tears in his eyes as he turned away. Violet and Lighning Lass had already boarded with Tasmia Mallor. Dragonwing knew that they had not fully understood her reasoning but both had respected her views enough to not argue. The Legion was still missing seven members somewhere in the time stream and with Shadow Lasses memory loss they would need every member they had until either those lost returned or new members were inducted. Still Marya believed she had made the right choice, here was the chance to help a planetary population and she wouldn’t be here forever, only until the next Forest Champion had been chosen and trained. It was an opportunity that she knew she would regret if she didn’t take it. An adventure she needed to have. She hadn’t told them but after the announcement to formally close the Decade Challenge two nights before the then Heir, and soon to be Smith of the Green Rift Forge and her had become close. Closer than Marya had ever been to anyone before. They had shared the next day and found that they were surprisingly similar in so many ways. She had never laughed or argued, or conceded so much in her life with any one person before. Marya Pai had never felt truly as if she belonged but when she was with this young man she understood why people said their stomachs felt full of butterflies. She struggled a little with it but knew that this was a feeling that she had to explore further and wouldn’t be able to do that if she returned to Earth.

As the cruiser rose into the air before her Grev Mallor and Kahnya Natahlie walked up and put their hands on her shoulders as a show of support. They knew that the new Forest Folk Champion would have a difficult time ahead of her as she tried to get to grips with her position. They had told her in no uncertain terms that would be there for her if she needed it.

Hethuk Bran Drommsi, the new Smith of the Green Rift Forge was waiting for her at the control tower.

“Are you sure Marya, it’s not going to be easy....”

He laughed as she replied, “Heth, shut up already. We have work to do.” Marya Pai gave the young Smith a peck on the lips and a cheeky pat to his backside before turning and walking towards the waiting shuttle that would take her to her new home.

Hey there reader, so, I reckon I mistimed the last two sections - really it would have been better having the team on Weber's World coming together just before this final post from Talok viii but I had completed the WW section several weeks ago and was struggling to complete the fight scenes from the Decade Challenge so went ahead and posted that sections finale a bit prematurely. Apologies, I'll try to exercise a bit more self control in future.

Still, that's it for part one of my Legion World's fanfic. More coming soon(ish) though until then I hope you've enjoyed this.

Wow, I have to admit when I saw what you were doing with Tenzil I thought I was gonna hate it but I think because the aftermath has been given appropriate gravity it comes off instead as very interesting!

Also, way to make Marya Pai against all odds a thoroughly likeable character! Good job!

Thanks Raz, when I first thought of the Tenzil plot line I almost didn't use it as I expected a lot (well two or three) negative posts, but it just made perfect sense both from a historic and realistic point (He ate the Miracle Machine and all that energy must go somewhere). The whole Weber's World storyline was one of those synergistic moments that Set mentioned in Critics Corner where there were lots of separate ideas (bringing back the Llorn, re-introducing Vegans, introducing the Khund Battle Brigade, returning Quislet, Danielle etc etc) that all fell together. Glad you liked the outcome.

Like a lot of people I didn't like Dragonwing to start with but she has grown on me and I found the idea of bouncing her street wise personality off Hadru's more academic mindset fun. And it's always strangely therapeutic to write about a good ass kicking and she seemed the perfect person to do it

Thanks again Raz, am thoroughly enjoying your Legion Lost btw. Good job you too!

I was going to leave this here and maybe start another thread with ongoing adventures as and when I'd written them but as I hate writing a what has gone before blub I'll just add more here.

as ever please let me know what you think of this if you read it, feedback is always appreciated.

Hope you enjoy!

Jo Nah sat quietly at the Comms station in the quarters he shared with Tinya Wazzo as he watched the holo-feed intently.

He had been with Lar on the way back from the Dominion nearly two months back when the then leader had given Chuck and Lu their hardest challenge as teachers at the Legion Academy. Lar Gand had told the two ex-legionnaires that as the team was currently at its weakest in several years he hoped to have the Academy present half a dozen potential members within the next twelve weeks to try-out. Chuck had puffed up his cheeks before almost exploding at Lar with reasons why that sort of intensive training would not work. Lu had been cooler, quietly asking Mon-El if instead of his anti-lead serum he was on happy medication.

Lar Gand stood by his edict. As a compromise he offered a scheme whereby every month every full time member of the team would give up a day to help train the new recruits. As soon as he had returned to Earth the Legion’s Daxamite Leader informed every member that a rota would be drawn up and he would not take any excuses. They needed new blood and the team had better get to know their new members before they got themselves in a life or death situation with them in tow. It hadn’t been popular but so far, as far as Jo was aware, everyone had fulfilled their obligations at the Montauk Point academy training facility.

And it was as a result of this push to fast track potential members that had inadvertently led Jo to be sat here now watching the holo-feed.

There were six members of the so-called Alpha team and one had come from his gang filled homeworld Rimbor. She carried two Trenthuaser pistols, as her profession dictated, that scanned their opponent before blasting them so they always got the result programmed into them; incapacitate, stun unconscious or kill. It wasn’t her marksmanship that had gained her entry into the Academy though, she was strong, agile and very smart, and had the added bonus of being a short range teleporter. What Chuck and Lu may not have known though when they allowed her to jointhe Academy though was that as one of the Rimbor Government sanctioned Repo’s she was more than a muscle for hire debt collector, far more than just a jobbing bailiff.

No, this Sade was a bounty hunter and Jo Nah had a feeling that could spell trouble in the month’s ahead.

A week later and Tinya Wazzo had only been elected as leader for 48 hours but already she was wondering if it was too early in her tenure to call for an election in the hope that someone else could take over.

The meeting she had come from with Mon El as an official hand-over between the ex- and current team leader had been interrupted by Brainiac 5. Tinya had always gotten on well with Lar so their meeting had been a lot less formal than many perhaps expected. They had spoken mostly about Tasmia Mallor. The Talokean shadow casting Champion had rejoined them after a mission to her home world a few weeks back missing ten years worth of memories. Her transition back into the team had not been easy. Lar and Tasmia had called off their long term relationship six months before on less than friendly terms yet all that, the good times as well as the bad, was now gone for good. Their mutual history had been a difficult thing for the normally private Daxamite to share but when he had she had hugged him so fiercely that for a moment he thought he had triggered the return of her own memories.

Querl Dox’s holo rudely cut intro the two friend’s conversation.

“Phantom Girl, have you given the offer we received from The Dead Brain and his Khundian Battle Brigade any more thought? I am due to converse with him in 3/48ths.”

“Brainy!” she exclaimed with an uncharacteristic amount of vehemence, “Not now, Lar and I are in a meeting.”

“It’s okay Tinya, I need to get back to Panoples to relieve Jan. You and Querl need to sort this out.” And with that Lar gave his new leader a quick peck on the cheek and was gone from the room in a blur.

“Okay Brainy, so your dead smart Khund friend wants to trade team mates to learn and foster good relations. I know you suggested two people but I just don’t know if they are up for it. I’m sorry Querl they haven’t gotten back to me yet and I don’t want to send them on a three month mission against their will.”

“We have heard that the Khunds have already dispatched their volunteers Tinya,” Querl said with resignation, “I don’t need to remind you of the opportunities this presents.”

“Okay, I’ll get onto it now.”

Two days later she hugged Rokk Krinn for several seconds longer than social etiquette expected but she didn’t care.

Phantom Girl had asked Rokk and his new fiancé Lydda Jath if they wanted an adventure. The logistics were terrible. The Academy was under increased pressure to develop potential Legionnaires but for this mission to succeed these two Legionnaires were both essential. Tinya promised she would find a suitable replacement for Night Girl at the Academy if she said yes. And today here they were, saying good bye to their friends and family before heading out to take up a place as Legion Ambassadors to their Khundian counterparts, the Battle Brigade. Lydda’s darkness induced strength would be perfect for the twilit world. Khundia Prime sharing a synchronistic orbit with a sister world that eclipsed it from much of their home stars light. With the magnetically powered Sentinel joining the Weber’s World Ambassadorial team Brainy had set up two weeks ago Rokk’s Braalian abilities would be a good fit into the team. Khundian’s had far more metals in their biological make up than Terrans so his abilities would be particularly potent.

Tinya held back her tears though she couldn’t stop thinking how Rokk was the only active Legionnaire left who had been on the team longer than her. He was one of the few people she naturally deferred to and knew she could always rely on him. And here she was, at the start of a term as leader she had never wanted sending him away for three months.

Most of them team stationed on Earth had turned out to wave them off and Lar and Jo flew up to the Polyscreen that surrounded the Earth alongside the two Legionnaires shuttle, Jo making faces and Lar giving a poignant salute as they reached the North Western exit port.

And they were gone.

Luornu Durgo was currently scanning the application board.

In the last six months the Academy had had over 3,000 eager potential Legionnaires contact them. Currently there were ten students here with a further eight joining soon. Her darling husband Chuck Taine had gone through the eighteen successful applicants with her and they had split them into three teams of six. The Alpha team would be the group they saw the most potential of becoming Legionnaires quickly. Chuck was personally taking control of their training program. The Beta team, they estimated, would need a further three months intensive training to get them in shape and the Gammas while having also shown their worth to be offered their place here would have the easiest ride of the three groups.

Ha! She laughed to herself thinking it would not be easy for any of them if she had anything to do with it.

The Alphas were a mixed bag. All six had shown their usefulness, either like Otaki and M’Windaji as students already on the course, or in their lives prior to being accepted and taking their places here. Luornu hoped that all six would get through the try-out scheduled to take place in four weeks time. Until she had left yesterday Lydda had helped Chuck train that group though Luornu wasn’t sure what the Academy could offer them now as additional support. Yes, the full team members had been honouring their promise to help out here but to her mind the trainee’s needed consistency as well as guest tutors.

A bleep from the Comms channel alerted Duplicate Damsel to the incoming message from Legion HQ.

“Hi Lu, “Tinya looked especially happy with herself, “I have two new tutors coming to you. It’s taken me a day or so to get their schedules sorted out but you’ll have them by nightfall.”

“Thank the triple suns!” Lu smiled at her old friend, “So who have you got lined up?”

“Well... do you remember Jenni Ognats? XS from the alter reality? She’s keen to help out, I think she’s finally finally settled on this world and feels it’s time to start integrating.” Tinya was obviously very happy that she had managed to encourage the young speedster to help out. Lu nodded in agreement as from the little she’d seen of her she thought XS was a great choice; young, positive, approachable, full of courage and blindingly effective in most situations. Tinya’s smile wavered for just a second before she continued. “The other person I’ve arranged to help you is an old graduate, you remember Bbob Khan? Well he wanted posting off Talkon Galtos so I thought as he knows his way around the Academy and would help newer students setlle in....”

Crystal Kid!

Lu knew the smile on her face was fixed there more through politeness and respect from Tinya Wazzo than genuine happiness. Bbob was an extremely powerful transmuter who unfortunately was also, perhaps it would be kindest to say, a bit of an airhead. Oh well, maybe he could shepherd the Gammas until they were ready to move up the pecking order...

Day six of her term as Leader and Phantom Girl stood on the landing deck on the roof of HQ with Sun Boy, Brainiac 5, Polar Boy, Glorith, Chameleon Boy, Lightning Lass and Ultra Boy.

The Khundian disc shaped cruiser was landing before them. Querl had kindly erected a force field that stopped the winds from blasting dust at them. As the cruiser powered down an opening iris-ed and two Khundian warriors floated gently down to the roof. They had been quarantined on Medicus One for the past 30 hours until Dr Gym’ll had given them both a clean bill of health. Tinya hoped the diminutive doctor hadn’t been too rude to the two Khunds. She didn’t want their time with the Legion to start this off on the wrong foot.

Brainiac 5 recognised Deathstorm immediately. They had met on the UP fleet command ship several weeks before as they attempted to defeat the Llorn invaders. Querl knew this warrior was surprisingly scientifically educated and had shown a strong independent streak. He had already briefed Tinya on his suggestions how best to integrate this young Khund warrior into the team. Deathstorm’s impulsiveness alongside his ability to assume an energy form could lead to trouble further down the line unless he was, to quote an old Earth saying, put on a short leash. The second Khund was a female with pale skin and spiky red and orange hair. She introduced herself as Garshzz’l. It was Jo who suggested they shorten it to Gazelle. The Khund explained, rather formally, that her name came from one of the most fierce natural predators on her home world, renowned for its agility and strength. Brainiac 5 coolly said that the name gazelle was also shared by an animal famed from its agility. Seeming quite pleased by that she agreed she could be called Gazelle by Legionnaires.

Tinya and Querl gave their two new members a whistlestop guided tour of HQ, paying particular attention to the huge gyms and Mission Monitor Board. The two warriors remained formally stiff throughout, until they came to Brainiac 5’s lab. There Harmonia Li was running tests alongside Invisible Kid and his younger sister Danielle. The Khund called Deathstorm called out to the ancient elemental, his pleasure at seeing her again was obvious. He virtually ignored Jacques and Danielle, both of whom had met the Khund previously, as he walked towards Harmonia with a hand outstretched. The newly renamed Gazelle looked confused. Tinya cringed slightly as she feared what may be about to happen between the Khund and the Legionnaire.

The newly elected deputy leader was surprisingly welcoming, offering her hand to shake to both Khunds and reassuring them that if they needed anything they could always call upon her. Tinya felt momentary relief until, as the two warriors were turned to leave, she saw Harmonia roll her eyes before returning to her experiment.

“Interesting times....” she said to herself as she led the two Khunds to their personal quarters.

The alarm went off just as they approached the Dorm area.

“Tinya, raiders reported in the Oort cloud attacking a religious retreat...” Dirks holo had startled the Khunds as it popped up before them without warning.

“Okay, Send Ayla, Jo and Reep.” Phantom Girl turned to the Khunds, “Deathstorm would you like to go too? Your energy form may be useful in deep space so get up to launch bay 2 and join Lightning Lass and her team if you fancy....” She could see the momentary flash of excitement on the young Khund’s face and the disappointment on Gazelles.

The air buzzed and he was gone in a flash of radiation.

“So,” Tinya smiled at the remaining Khund, “as you heard we are quite informal in HQ, everyone here calls me Tinya, we leave Phantom Girl for our missions. What should we call you?”

The Khund warrior was silent for a moment before replying, “My birth name was Jiz’l. I’d quite like it if you could call me that....”

“Okay, Jiz’l, are you hungry? We have the best chef in Metropolis working here and I could murder a Therapod burger with parsnip fries about now.” Gazelle gave a broad grin and joined Tinya to the Grav-lift.

Brainiac 5 excused himself saying he was needed in his laboratory.

Deathstorm was silent for most of the flight.

Ayla Ranzz had skilfully piloted the Legion cruiser out of the Polyscreen and hit warp almost immediately. They would be at the co-ordinates in the Oort cloud within 20 minutes. Although he had met Chameleon Boy before during the events on Weber’s World and knew him to be intelligent and sociable Deathstorm found that he felt uncomfortable around the shape changing Legionnaire. The Durlan race’s reputation outside of the liberal United Planets made them unwelcome on most planets. Within the centrally controlled Khundian Empire a bona fide Durlan skin would fetch a high price on the open market. As Jo Nah seemed focused entirely on scanning the small planetoid that they had been called to the Khundian thought it best to sit back and enjoy this moment before the battle started.

Ultra Boy finally split the silence, “It’s Starburst Bandits. Got them on the scanner, twelve of them.”

“May I see?” Deathstorm looked over the Rimborian’s shoulder. “Eshamemch! We know of them too. They are opportunistic thieves. What do they want so far from their home star?”

“Eshamemch? We call them the Starburst Bandits. Did you just say you know where they originate from?” Chameleon Boy asked.

Deathstorm didn’t look at the Durlan, instead focussing on the scanner, “When the Khund Empire finally fought out from Dominion rule fourteen centuries ago these beings were also freed. The Dominion created them millennia ago as their vanguard to attack. Do you not even know that? They have a system with a rare blue heart star on the edge of the dominion where their flamin’ mounts can breed. They are scavengers that steal raw materials for themselves. The Empire pays a bounty for their scalps.”

Reep Daggle pursed his lips and nodded, he had noticed how uncomfortable the Khundian was talking to him so was not going to cause any friction by asking anything else right now though knew that when they got back to HQ there would definitely be questions asked.

“We’ll be there in three minutes guys,” Ayla cut in, “Jo take Deathstorm and give those ass-wipes something to think about.” She looked directly at the Khundian warrior, “No killing, you understand? We’ll want to question them later, okay?”

Deathstorm nodded his head in a solemn manner, his eyes kept low.

“Okay you two, go knock some heads together.” Ayla pointed towards the airlock. Ultra Boy and his new Khundian ally jumped in and where gone.

“That Khund boy will be trouble.” Reep said quietly as the airlock registered the two had left the ship. Ayla looked at him and smiled her agreement before adding, “We need to see what’s going on at this retreat. What would the Bandits want here?”

Jo Nah flew at Ultra-speed with the glowing energy form of his new Khund ally at his side.

The twelve starburst Bandits didn’t stand a chance as the two swept through their ranks knocking them off their horses like a scythe chopping through dried wheat. It was under five minutes later when Jo, six unconscious Bandits easily slung over each shoulder, flew down towards the planetoid where they had so recently attacked. He had left Deathstorm above with the harder job of corralling their fiery mounts. The Khund had not appeared too happy with the task but spun into an ultraviolet form and chased after the scattering animals.

Landing in a courtyard that appeared to be at the centre of a large palatial building he dumped the Starburst Bandits ungraciously in a heap. Quickly scanning the area with his Pentra-vision he soon found Lightning Lass. She appeared to be speaking with a thin elderly woman wearing an ornate robe. As he expected the Bandits to remain unconscious for a while Jo let himself into the airlock that led into the warren of passageways that riddled the planetoid, slipped into Ultra-speed mode and zoomed through the passageways towards his teammate. He arrived with a blast of air that blew dust along the corridor before him, momentarily causing Ayla Ranzz to cough.

“Ah, Jo, meet Sister Olivia De Manne Ping, chief Matron of this site.”

“Hey sister, I’ve just dumped a dozen Bandits on a courtyard above, do you have a security detail that could take them into custody?” Wiping a strand of hair from his face he smiled at the older woman as he spoke.

“We are a pacifistic movement, as I was explaining to your comrade here this is a retreat for those weary of the violence that is so rife out there so please take those brutes and your team away. This site is sanctified!”

“Oh, okay. But you might think of getting some sort of security...” Ayla interrupted Jo before he could finish his sentence.

“Hang on Sister Olivia, we need to make sure there are no injured that might need aid. We have a fully fitted up to date Auto-Doc on our cruiser. Are you sure we can’t help you any further?” Jo knew from her tone that Ayla was stalling for time. Chameleon Boy was off somewhere investigating something. Things didn’t quite add up here, if this was the quiet peaceful retreat that it claimed then why would the Starburst Bandits attack? They were scavengers, just as Deathstorm had said, so what would have attracted them here?

Harbi, I haven't caught up yet but I just wanted to repeat my comment on Critic's Corner - your sense of the dramatic is amazing, and I am so very glad you are continuing this wonderful thread. I cannot count the number of times I was floored by some of the amazing twists you included.

Loving it! Looking forward to seeing XS, love the idea of Cos and Lydda being sent off on their own mission, Gazelle as a Khund warrior....so much to be excited about! I really like your take on Tinya as leader too, much MUCH more than the horrible job Levitz did with her in the comic. I think you have done an excellent job with only a few words in showing how her strength is in her friendly nature. Can't wait to read more!

As Luornu expected, Jenni arrived before she was supposed to.

What was it, Lu wondered, that made speedsters always want to be early? Chuck was in the Quad with a couple of the Alpha group giving them a little bit extra combat training. Lu watched a screen in the Command office on the top level of the Academy. An early group of students had referred to the room as the Eye and that title had stuck.

Jenni’s supersonic wake pushed the roaring waves underfoot away from her as she sped across the angry sea outside. Lu was impressed that the new tutor had run here from her temporary home in the Rift Valley, Africa. Lu just hoped that her determination would be matched by her focus and professionalism. XS had been a Legionnaire in an alternate version of the team so Lu had no doubts that Jenni would be a fine fit into Academy life. Certainly, from what Duplicate Damsel had seen of her brief personality profile Jenni Ognats seemed committed to the Legion and everything it stood for.

The young speedster ran up the side of the southern tower and entered the building through the landing pad, burst along the corridor and finally screeched to a halt outside of the Eye’s circular door. Inside Lu commanded the door to open and turned to welcome the newest addition to the Legion Academy staff.

“I’msosorrythatIdidn’ttakeyouuponthisofferbefore!”

“Ah.. sorry my dear but I’m not sure....”

“NightGirlkindlyofferedmeaplaceherebutIwassofocussedonfindingmyfamilytree....”

“Ah... yes, now ...”

“Ohsorry!Ihaven’tintroducedmyself, howrude! I’mXSthoughpleasecallmeJenni, youlookexactlyliketheLufrommyworld,wow! DoyoumindifIcallyouLuonlysomepeopledon’t....”

“Slow down Jenni, please remember to breathe!” Lu hoped she had managed to hide the exasperation from her tone.

Jenni stopped talking and gave a small snorting laugh. "Sorry...butit'sbeen... so.. long since I hadanyoneto talk to!" With a noticeable amount of effort she had separated some of her words enough to for Luornu to follow. XS grinned a cheek splitting smile and held out her hand for Lu to shake.

“... sorry! I’m Jenni, it’sareal privilege tomeetyou.”

Duplicate Damsel shook the young Legionnaire from the other realities hand and beamed her most engaging smile. A diamond in the rough, Lu thought to herself, but with a little bit of work XS could fit right in.

Chuck Taine was sat at a desk in the office overlooking the training quad. He did not look happy as he realised that all the scenarios he had put towards the Alpha team were exactly that: scenarios. These kids need some real life experience, he thought, maybe I’d best see what’s out there and give them a taste of what it really means to live the Legion life. Checking the time he realised that XS was due to join Lu and him up in the Eye in 20 minutes. He punched the stop program button and announced:

“Right gang, time to call it a night. We can re-start where we leave it tomorrow at 0800.”

The three trainees below all looked relieved. The robot swarm of Daxamite attack crows they had been fighting while trying to save a holographic unconscious victim all immediately broke off their swooping flight pattern and returned to a small slot on the quad wall. The holo’s faded out and the lights came back on.

“Remember, we have a test tomorrow afternoon on standard UP law so don’t plan on going out tonight, ok? If you fail this test you won’t progress much further here”.

He could hear the complaints that memory grafts would be easier but like his wife Chuck Taine believed that the students should have to learn these things for themselves. He knew that things were going to have to change over the coming months, had changed in the last few weeks, but some principles would remain regardless of the pressure put upon him.

Chuck wished that Lydda hadn't agreed to go to Khundia with Rokk though of course totally understood her decision He would have done the same if offered. The chance of a once in a lifetime placement with the Khunds Battle Brigade was simply too good to miss out on. And as Rokk had proposed to her only two weeks before the couple needed sometime together right now. It would help cement their relationship. Chuck knew all this and absolutely understood. It was just that her professionalism and hard work would be missed here, especially now that the Academy had been given these bloody 12 week try-out targets for their students.


Well, maybe it was time to step up the training. Lu always said he molly coddled their students and maybe she was right. With that thought came an idea! Inflating and bouncing along the corridor he knew that somewhere on Earth right now was an alarm going off that would have his students name on it. Even better, he realised, there would bound to be an alarm go off somewhere on Earth at 0200 hours when the students should have been asleep for a couple of hours. They could have simulations until their eyes bled but real life was the way he would teach them from now on, get them out there doing what they say they want to do. Chuck Taine knew that if he was going to have these kids ready for full membership they needed to get out in the real world actually helping people.

"....okay then, the SP will be here shortly to pick up the Bandits and their horses then we'll be on our way. Am sorry about the delay but it's standard practice, we don't have the facilities to hold a dozen of them on our ship and we can't very well leave them here can we?" Ayla's I'm-trying-to-be-patient smile was not very convincing.

Sister Olivia had done everything short of physically throw the legionnaire out of the airlock towards the cruiser. Jo and Deathstorm were sat in the open courtyard outside with the unconscious Starburst Bandits and their mounts. Ayla was hoping that Jo could use his Pentra-vision discretely out there to locate Reep. Their Durlan comrade had still to report in, almost forty five minutes since vanishing down a corridor to "just have a quick look around..."

Over the years Jo Nah had seen his friend Reep Daggle alter his form into an incredible range of things, though Jo had learned the Durlan Legionnaire had a few favourites for infiltrating unknown places. Right Now Jo was hoping to pick up either a common Blue Bottle fly or a Sirian Oddal Hopper, either of which would likely be the missing Legionnaire.

Instead, he saw Ontiir.


There was no mistaking the yellow skinned reptilian Dark Circle traitor in his black cassock with a large grey zero printed across his back.

Lightning Lass had been chatting to Sister Olivia in that bland affable way that people do when trying to sustain a conversation with people they have absolutely nothing at all in common with and probably don’t particularly like when her Flight Ring pinged as a holo of Jo Nah popped up.


"What's up Jo?" She didn't turn around as she spoke, keeping her eyes firmly on their less than welcoming host.


"Just spotted Ontiir, it’s a Dark Circle base! I'm off to shut it down now...." And with that he was gone in a blur of Ultra-speed. Sister Olivia turned to run but a jolt of lightning from Ayla's finger tips scorched the stone in a line just in front of her feet.


"You ain't going anywhere Sister until you start being honest with me, understand?" The thin elderly woman looked terrified as she turned back to face the electric Legionnaire. Ayla Ranzz used her Flight Ring to share Jo's news with Legion HQ and Deathstorm who was still above the planetoid keeping the Bandit's horses from disappearing into space.


A holo of the Khund's head popped up and said, "Be right with you." and not two seconds later a streak of energy gently touched down next to the Winathian.


Below their feet they could feel vibrations as if detonations had been set off. "I think Jo is enjoying himself...." Ayla smiled at Deathstorm as she said it. Sister Olivia took the opportunity to make a break for it but only managed two steps before a flicker of electricity tapped her shoulder.


"I'd rather not shock you unconscious but if you try that again...." Ayla's threat remained unfinished as the elderly woman stopped running and began to weep into her hands.


"You have her covered, I'll go help Ultra Boy." with that Deathstorm transformed into radiation and vanished.


"We are trying to save you, you ignorant child! We are going to bring peace to this hellish system!" Sister Olivia began to rant, her eyes still streamed tears but she stood up straight and flexed her hands as if building up the momentum to attack.


"Yeah.... heard all about your Dark Circle peace. It's great so long as we don't have any opinions of our own, eh?" Ayla said it sweetly though there was a definite challenge in her body language. Underneath them the ground rocked again.


"You silly cow and your stupid friends ...." The electric arc that flew from Ayla's hand struck the older woman unconscious.


"Boring.... And it sounds like Jo and 'stormy are getting all the fun too, damn. Those boys better leave some for me."

Between Deathstorm's energy form and Ultra Boy's practised combination of switched Ultra-speed and strength the Dark Circle followers were soon defeated. As they approached the centre of the planetoid they came across a large circular door that led somewhere that Jo couldn’t see into. The door was ornately painted with images and glyphs showing some sort of religious story where it appeared priests of the Dark Circle defeated unbelievers and led the survivors to live in peace thereafter. Jo Nah switched to Flash Vision and scorched a crude picture of a Legion shooting star symbol over the final motif.

"I hate all this rubbish, they just take advantage of vulnerable folks... right, let's see what's behind Door number three!" And switching back to Ulta-strength he ripped the door off its hinges.

After being in the dimly lit corridors of the Planetoid the blazing light from the room within made both Ultra Boy and Deathstorm cover their eyes.

“I think it’s a temporal vortex.” It was Chameleon Boy. The Durlan was standing at the side of the room beside a bundle of three unconscious Ontiir clones.”I saw our friend here and followed him as he rushed in here, thought it best to stop them before they did something outrageous.”

Jo could hear the smile in his comrade's voice.

“I think Brainy will want to look at this. Their control console is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before....”

IB and Raz, thank you again for your kind words.

More coming soon as we learn more about what the Dark Circle are plotting, check in on Cos and Lydda and get a look at some of those eager Academy kids.

Love the Khund/Legion exchange program. Very cool. The notion that the Khunds have an ancient beef with the Dominators is also a fun way to tie the various races of the Legionverse together, and give both more depth.

Starburst Bandits, Dark Circle, Miracle-Eater Lad, all sorts of classic stuff, and some fun new twists, like Gazelle being a Khundish hero, etc.

You've got a gift for integrating classic characters like Ayla and Jo and Reep, with newer characters like Hadru and Marya, and your own inventions like Dead Brain and Deathstorm. It's a fine line to walk, trying to give equal weight to old, new and original characters, and you are doing a great job of it, so that I don't feel like I'm being cheated out of seeing my classic characters, or the newer (or original) characters are being thrown in my face. That's not an easy feat, but you certainly make it seem effortless!

Set, you are very kind, thank you. The ancient beef between the Khunds and Dominion comes from Jo's trip to the past in the 5 year gap stories.

I've drafted a few more parts to post, hopefully by the end of the week I'll put them on here.

So when are you going to write some more for us too?

It took Brainiac 5 almost an hour to reach the Dark Circle's planetoid in the Oort cloud.

In that time the SPs had been and gone, picking up both the Starburst Bandits and their mounts and all but one of the the forty one Dark Circle cultists. Ayla was watching as Cham delicately examined the strange console that they assumed was the control for the roaring energy vortex at the heart of this small dark world. Deathstorm had offered to blast it and close the infernal vortex for ever but Ayla had patiently explained to the Khund that that may not be such a clever idea. Ayla liked 'Stormy, certainly he had followed Jo's lead throughout most of this mission and performed well but his impulsive nature was something she thought she'd better warn the rest of the team about. The Khundian warrior made an excuse to go to the surface, something about going to check the others landing properly. Ayla knew he was excited and eager for action so let him go with a warning to keep his eyes peeled in case they had missed anyone earlier. Jo had left ten minutes ago, checking to see if there were any other cultists hidden on the planetoid or if he could find any information that may help them figure out what the Dark Circle were actually doing here.

The one remaining cultist was an Ontiir clone that the SP had bound in a high tech arrest restrainer - he could no longer move his arms or legs and, Ayla thought, he'd make a pretty impressive paper weight as he sat unmoving, his unreadable eyes flickering around the room.

"Ayla, am I mistaken or do you agree that this looks like some sort of Dominion chloro-tech?"

"Sorry Cham, I'm not sure.... Hey Ontiir...." She turned to heir captive, "Do you want to tell us what's going on or what?"

The reptilian traitor remained quiet, his eyes never quite reaching the Legionnaire.

The Legionnaires flight rings pinged and a holo popped up before them of Querl Dox.

"We'll be with you in under five minutes. Can you make sure everything is ready for me, I have to be back on Earth by 2300 hours." And he was gone.

"Get him and his all important big brain...." Lightning Lass said it without thinking. Chameleon Boy kept silent though shrugged an acknowledgement.

Within three minutes they were joined by the Coluan, and with him were the academy student Otaki, Danielle Foccart and her brother Jacques. Ayla could tell that the normally unflustered Invisible Kid was not happy, his usually relaxed shoulders were tensed and he glanced around as if checking every shadow for potential assassins. She guessed that he had not wanted to put his sister in a dangerous place but, if the stories Ayla had been told were true, Danielle Foccarts Techno-pathic skills would be very helpful here if they were to figure out the strange console and the temporal vortex, and what the Dark Circle were planning on using them for.

"Otaki, find out what Ontiir knows. Reep, I need you to step away from the console now and let Danielle and I get to work." Brainiac 5 set to work.

Ayla wondered where Deathstorm and Jo had gone and if they would mind if, wherever they were and whatever they were doing, she joined them. She genuinely loved Querl dearly but when he went into his brusque business mode like that he really did irritate her and she found it hard to resist the urge to zap him a little until he remembered the use of the words 'please' and 'thank you'.

"Professor Dox," Danielle's voice sounded a little bit concerned, "...this control isn't from here, it has a very funny accent. I think it's saying it was brought back from sometime in the future as a link between the two eras. I think it's a beacon maybe.... ."

"Ma Cherie, move away now." Jacques, the protective big brother stood between Danielle and the console.

"Yes, thank you Danielle. If you would like to wait over there beside Lightning Lass I'll take it from here. " Brainiac 5 stepped up to the strange control and put his hands over the projected concave hard light screen.

"But Professor, it's telling me that it has already done its job here. It's closing down now so you won't learn anything more."

Ontiir started to snicker quietly as the realisation dawned on the Legionnaires that they may be too late.

He had been on the monitor board for six straight hours now. Ayla had managed to get the lead on the team investigating the Starburst Bandits in the Oort cloud, then Brainy had grabbed a team to follow. Other than an afternoon at the Academy two days ago he hadn't had the chance to let lose for over a week now and he knew from experience that would lead to one thing and one thing only. Dirk was bored.

That was about to change.

The monitor board flashed an incoming message on the Legion Family cipher. This was a priority personal call and it was showing his icon. Dirk leaned forward and pressed the accept button. A holo of a man he had known for most of his life popped into existence before the suddenly interested Legionnaire. The holo said ten words and Dirk’s world shifted.

Sun Boy knew who he could turn to for help. Using the intercom straight into Polar Boy's quarters where he knew the Tharrian was studying up on standard Affiliated Planets law Dirk Morgna said with a joviality he didn’t feel:


"Brek Brannin the golden coldy! I need a favour, are you free my man?"


"Hey Dirk 'the-sun-really-does-shine-outta-your-ass' Morgna! Good to hear from you, whatcha after?"

"Yeah, you see I got stuck with monitor duty as Rokk is away and really need to get out of here and.... well you know, I was wondering if you were free to cover? It's a quiet night and all, you could do your studying up here if you wanted?"


"Sure, so long as I can get swatted up for tomorrow, I'm running a tutoring session at Montauk Point in the afternoon...." Dirk could see Brek on the monitor as the short man grabbed his Omnicrom and left his quarters. Dirk was glad that he'd taken the time to hang out with Brek. Polar Boy may be a puppy in a man's body in need of a home but he could be damn helpful when needed.

"Can you tell it to stay open please Danielle." B 5's voice was soft though his clipped tone made it clear he was not asking lightly.

"It says it's done what it came here to do, it really does talk funny Professor Dox, though it's telling me everything speaks like it does where it comes from we are the ones who sound funny...." Danielle Foccart sounds like a child as she spoke to the Black Circle control console. B 5 raises an eyebrow as he scrolls through the holo'ed results of his scans, "Fascinating.... " he mutters to himself.

In the corner the Ontiir clone starts to rant about the just cause that he follows and how all those who won't acknowledge the true path will ultimately fall. Jo casually knocks the reptile unconscious with a blast of his ultra-breath. Otaki looked as if she wanted to say something to Ultra Boy as it had been her psychic prodding that had made the reptilian Dark Circle clone start to open up. The student kept her mouth shut though she looked daggers for anyone to see. Jo Nah whistled tunelessly to himself apparently unaware of Otaki's feelings.

"So what's going on Brainy?"

"It appears we have been invaded. The Starburst Bandits were not here to raid the planetoid, they were summoned here by this machine. This portal doesn't only extend through time, it also pushes a hole into the realms of what may be. It scans both the timeline and alternate dimensions and calculates which ones show the most beneficial circumstances to progress the Circle's plan and snatches anything that it deems appropriate. I would say it has been running for about four, maybe five months now so we can only guess what they have already found and brought here."

"Oh, so it's not too good then?" Jo's face betrays his attempt at sly humour. The Coluan legionnaire is well aware that his Rimborian colleague is no idiot but plays along in deadpan.

"No Jo, I would have to concur it is not too good...."

"Professor Dox, it says it needs to recharge so it's going to..."

There's a large POP! and the swirling vortex before them was gone

"... close itself off now." Danielle finishes her sentence lamely.

Dirk touched down on the southerly balcony of his father's Metropolis apartment.

It overlooked the central park area within Olde Metropolis City, the original city state that had, over the centuries expanded to include most of the East Coast of this continent. This area had archaic by-laws that prohibited any automotive flying over the park so the view was always clear. It was said that some of the buildings in this sector were easily a thousand years old, though Dirk doubted that. He had seen the skyline 1,000 years ago with his own eyes and nothing here matched quite right. Still it was an impressive selling point that made the resale value of property here quite astronomical.

Morgna Senior's Metropolis home was an understated masterpiece of style over substance. The floors were subtly heated organic woods bleached into neutral whitened beige. The walls were a similar off white that reflected the amber and green glow from the city streets below. All the furniture was, of course, miniaturized and carefully stored between the seemly random cracks of the wooden boards to become apparent only on the inhabitants spoken command to use. The whole effect was of an open and light space with uninterrupted views out into an open space - something that would be greatly craved by the many millions of inhabitants who had the standard one room apartments in this built up city state that expanded for many many miles on all sides.

Inside the apartment Dirk met with Oliver Sidebletter Croo, his father's attorney and long time business partner and friend, Saskia Montague-Brunlry-Frogeside, his father's current life partner, and Ellasi Coodermin iii, the family butler who had worked for the Morgna's for almost 30 years now. Ellasi was the only one present who had the decency to look even partially upset.

"Your father was found thirty minutes ago by Saskia here. The in-house auto doc apparently didn't respond to changes in his vital signs so did not respond when he had the massive heart attack." The old attorneys voice was rich and laden with faux concern. Dirk didn't reply immediately and let the ridiculousness of the statement hang in the air between them for almost a minute before he broke the silence.

"I want all AI records for the last 48 hours. Download them to the Legion account. I want this looked into immediately and Brainiac 5 can do that for us impartially."

Saskia started to speak but the attorney shooshed her and cut in, "Dirk, my boy, I'm terribly sorry but as executor of your father's estate I've already passed them along to our firms investigation unit to look into, it is most odd that..."

"It's ludicrous Oliver, florgging ludicrous." Sun Boy's anger started to rise and he knew if he stayed here he would act in a way that he would later regret. He turned and walked out onto the expansive cantilevered balcony and without another word flew up into the Metropolis night sky leaving a fiery trail behind him.

He had thankfully had the foresight to set his flight ring onto automatic scan mode as he entered the apartment so he should have some data to analyze and process back at HQ, but what really upset him was not that the old dog had died but that it was being covered up and despite the angry history between Morgna senior and junior, Dirk knew he would have to get to the bottom of it.

Mon El agreed with Pedtu J'guimunsfji, the Science Police Chief for the Outer Worlds.

They both knew that it was a waste of resources to have Legionnaires permanently stationed here on this remote world. As much as the Science Police and Legionnaires always worked well together it was simply unsustainable to have both here on monitoring duties. The UP fleet had arrived and re-deployed soldiers to the official listening post including two of the fleet’s Titanian staff. It was hoped their innate telepathic skills would help prevent the Dominion from taking control of the regiment again.


Comet Queen had been making friends with the new batch of eager soldiers, one in particular had come from a neighbouring settlement to Grava and shared some of her idiosyncratic speech patterns. For a long time Lar Gand had suspected her unique take on language may have been a sign of some neurological damage, it appeared to be purely cultural though. The two were fast becoming inseparable when they had any free time which Lar had to admit he found rather cute. Grava had struck him as a particularly interesting person, unique in so many ways with a determination and drive that could be easily overlooked as it was too easy to focus on her speech and appearance, she also struck the elder legionnaire as quite lonely as she had only really tried to open up to Chuck Taine and he was just not that interested. The young private, Drinchar Lamment did not, in Lar's opinion, have the brains to progress too much further up the ranks in the UP armed forces but his open honesty and determination made him seem quite charming. Lar hoped that somehow Grava and Drinchar could remain in contact. Luornu Durgo would certainly be happy if they did.

Jan Arrah and Thom Kallor were speaking with a sergeant dressed in standard army gear about the alert button they had installed into the two comm consoles. If the Dominion tried sneaking back into united planets space this way again the Legion would have far more notice and could be here within a standard day.

As he completed his final circuit around the small world Mon El signaled his colleagues to say it was time to leave. He would meet them in orbit. It was time to get back to Earth and standard Legion business.

At 0125 standard the Mission Monitor board alert bleep made Brek Brannin jump..


Brek has been dozing on the comm chair when a holo popped up - the ancient Daxamite Green Lantern Sodam Yat had arrived at the Polyscreen above Earth demanding to see Mon El immediately.


Brek yawned, stretched, rubbed sleep from his eyes and generally didn't rush to reply. Polar Boy had never particularly liked Sodam Yat and as Green Lanterns were not allowed on Earth he decides to make him wait a little bit before replying....
Using HQs holo system Brek sent an image of himself, set to be slightly taller than in real life, up to face the Daxamite Lantern.

"Oh hi there, what do you want?"

"You Legionnaires fought the Llorn. They are enemies of the Guardians. I need to know what happened?"

"Ahh that’s a no-brainer, like duh, we won!"

"Good, now tell your leader I want...."

"Mon ain't the leader anymore Sod 'em. And maybe you should ask rather than demand before you talk to our new leader, she doesn't stand for that sort of crap."

Brek was beginning to enjoy himself. Soddam Yat was an insufferable blow hard with a passive aggressive superiority complex as far as Polar Boy was concerned.

"Brek, stop that. I'll take over now." Tinya's cool voice surprised Brek, "We'll talk about this later, now computer end Polar Boy holo transmission, start my holo transmission in its place please.... Ah Soddam, how are you? What can the Legion do for you?" Tinya's holo does not convey the dread she felt that the ancient Lantern was there with bad news.

"The Llorn, what happened to them?"

"We returned them to their pocket dimension where they won't hurt anyone else and now I'm trying to sleep. Was there anything reasonably pressing that you set off half the alarms on the planet below for?" Tinya smiled softening some of the sarcasm.

"Aah.... I am eternally sorry Legionnaire, the Llorn have previously caused great trouble for the Guardians and as soon as I heard I came to see if you needed any assistance."

"Thank you Soddam but this time we didn't need any." She was about to break off the transmission when a thought struck her, "You know, we need to talk more now you are restarting the Corps. Are you able to meet me on Lunar London, by the Bridge of Towers in... say... 20 minutes? I think it's time we hammered out a proper arrangement between us."

Twenty minutes later and on a table outside a small cafe in the Lunar London colony Tinya Wazzo, Tasmia Mallor and Gazelle of the Khundian Battle Brigade sat and enjoyed a very early morning cup of the local coffee. Gazelle was almost purring as she drunk it.


"Legionnaires, this is ex-quis-ITE!"


Tinya exchanged a quick glance with Tasmia who attempted to reciprocate but as she no longer remembered the knowing looks or shared language that they had established over years of close friendship the shadow caster ended up looking confused and slightly embarrassed. Tinya could feel her own blush begin to rise on her cheeks as she looked away.

"Legionnaires!" the Green Lanterns voice was a kindly interruption.

Tinya quickly got to her feet and asked Soddam Yat to join them.

"My ring is all I need to sustain..."

"Oh lighten your load there Greenie, this is divine!" Gazelle laughed as she spoke. Tinya and Tasmia shared a concerned look, this was not how they expected their Khundian colleague to act. She almost appeared high!

The Green Lantern shone a quick line of light over the Khundian then held up his hand and projected the results of his scan before them. "Caffeine and Khunds can make an explosive mix. This one at least can burn it out of her metabolism before it does any lasting damage."

"Aw grife... J'izl are you okay honey? We need to get her back to HQ." Tinya had a brief flash of anger at herself for not double checking the Khund's medical file for allergies. This sort of misunderstandings could cause political fallout. The Khund was starting to talk gibberish, giggling as her neck twitched her head. Soddam Yat encased the now almost incoherent Gazelle in a sphere of emerald energy.

"She will be okay Tinya Wazzo, I will remove the poison from her system for you."

"Thank you Soddam, thank you" Tasmia Mallor had stood up and approached the Daxamite Green Lantern, there was something in her expression that alerted Tinya. She had last seen the same expression when Tasmia had unexpectedly fallen for the now dead Earth Man. The look told Tinya that her Talokean colleague had designs on the ancient Green Lantern. Cursing the urges of Talokean hormones that drove their women to find the most powerful mate to father their children. Tinya phased through her friend and stood almost nose to nose with the Daxamite.

"Soddam, " Tinya put out her hand, "It struck me that we need to know what's going on with the each other so wanted to offer you this. " She opened her palm to reveal a flight ring.

The alarm buzzed once and Chuck Taine was awake.

0200 hours.

Time to scan the SP alerts coming in from Earth and nearby. If anything came up that he thought his students might learn from he had to give Chief Cussiomano's office a call and they would give his students the first crack at it. The SP were curious to see how this would work out almost as much as Chuck was nervous.

Jeni and Bbob were each allowed two of the Alpha class to join them. Chuck had already asked them to pick their teams. He knew it was unfair as there would be certain students, and legionnaires, that would be perfect for certain situations while others might be less helpful. This was as much as test of the new tutors as it was of the recruits and both XS and the Crystal Kid knew it.

Jeni's team would be first. She had chosen Zoe Saugin and Xao Jin. She had been excited to see both of their names on the student roster as, she said, in her home reality both had been excellent Legionnaires. Lu had gently tried to point out that these were not the same two people. Jeni acknowledged that point though both Chuck and his wife were worried that when the chips were down XS may not remember and might have unrealistic expectations. "Wait and see," Lu had said, "wait and see...."

Bbob had chosen Sade, the teleporter from Rimbor, and M'Windaji. Crystal Kid seemed a lot calmer than Chuck had expected when he had returned to Montauk Point. Maybe the nine months he had been assigned to work on Talkon-Galtos had done the young man some good.

Well, no more thinking about it, time to see what was out there to push his students...

When the alarm rang it wasn't what Chuck expected.

Tinya Wazzo's holo appeared before him. "Chuck, good to see you’re still up. We have a serious incident. The main team will need some support. How soon can you have your alpha team ready?"

"What is it?"

"Starburst bandits...."

"That's not exactly worthy of..."

"....approximately 4,000 of them detected so far. Spread between the Saturnian colonies, they seem to be targeting smaller settlements right now. Brainy thinks it's a diversion so I want you to get your team together ready as I fear it's gonna get nasty quickly."

"Right, we'll be ready in five. Good luck Tinya."

"Thanks Chuck."

Tinya steadied herself. The holo transfer, what they used to call the Anywhere Machine when Querl first proposed and created it, made contact between various places so much easier than anything they had used before, but still left her feeling a bit cold after using it - Rokk had loved it she remembered. Tinya and the team that had joined her to Lunar London had just gotten back to their HQ when the alarm rang out. Initially she thought Soddam Yat had forgotten something and was banging on the Polyscreen again.

She now wished she had been that lucky!

The Science Police officer she spoke to was quite abrupt - the Legion was needed now, here were the co-ordinates, there was a massacre happening. After contacting Brainiac 5 and the team in the Oort Cloud, ensuring Mon told his team that they could potentially be returning straight into action, alerting the group on Weber's World to be ready just in case she had realised that there were only a few Legionnaires left on Earth. Dirk had vanished, Brek was definitely in her bad books and staying on Monitor duties until this crisis had finished and that only left Harmonia, Vi, Shady, Gazelle, Glorith and herself, everyone else was on personal time off Earth. Chuck had wanted to prove his academy kids were ready for action so she had taken him on his word. She would be leaving Earth in their hands when she took her team out into space to deal with the attacks.

Phantom Girl hugged herself and wished that Jo was with her.

Damn it, she thought, muscle was needed to stop 4,000 bandits quickly... well if Jo and Ayla and maybe Deathstorm came from the Oort cloud then Harmonia can go to the planetoid and keep an eye on Brainy - her elemental abilities were severely limited in space anyway - and it was time to see if Soddam would respond to his new Flight Ring.

Rokk and Lydda had been on Khundian Prime for almost three standard days and had still to meet any of the Battle Brigade other than the Dean Brain and Pressure Point - both of whom they had read the reports on after their appearance at Weber's World - an incredibly highly muscled dwarf called Hyper-K and an alien that looked somewhat akin to Gates called Shootskin. The rest of the team were apparently away on separate missions.


The Dead Brain reassured the two visiting Legionnaires that this was standard practice as the Brigade were at the call of the Khundian military and High Council. At least, Rokk thought to himself, the Brigade's leader had the empathy to look embarrassed. As a treat the two legionnaires were taken to see a scheduled high level challenge at one of the larger battle domes that littered the outskirts of the metropolitan area they had been stationed in. They had learned that the ritual combat domes had many levels of fighter that fell within several very finely defined categories. The Dead Brain had told them that it was from the Major non-Cog League, where most combatants had inherent abilities that did not rely on cybernetics or outside power sources that he had initially chose potential members for the Battle Brigade.

Lydda showed a surprising interest in the domes and the combatants that lived and quite literally died within them. The Dead Brain was delighted to explain the complex and often archaic system that legislated and monitored them as they made their way to the large arena.

Lydda and Rokk both had standard Legionnaire distorters in their belt buckles so assumed non-descript holographic appearances. Rokk was reminded of the Terran Romans that had their own arenas and amphitheatres throughout their empire where public battles were played out to the amusement of the common populace.

The two combatants they were there to see had drawn the Dead Brain's attention as both were relatively new to the arenas circuit but had progressed quickly and were renowned for their physical prowess. The first was a tall khundian male called Wraith in brown and gold armour whom, it was said, could alter his own density at will. Lydda seemed to bristle a little when they were told this. She had always supported Jedidah Rikane's application for Legion membership and it was still a small sticking point in the two legionnaire’s relationship that Rokk had ultimately blocked the young man's chance at full membership.

The second combatant was one of the so called Dark Maidens - an almost legendary sub species of the Khundian race that lived in this system’s Oort cloud that were famous for their ferocity. She wore a simple blue toga with her raven black hair falling freely over her pale shoulders and down her back. Rokk and Lydda both exchanged a glance as they assessed her impressive muscles.

"This should be illuminating," The dead Brain said, "...do you engage in wagers Legionnaires? It's a racial vice I'm afraid that I suffer rather badly from. It is protocol that all the viewers should place a small bet on whomever they support before the match begins. Now Lydda, who would you want to win?"

"The Wraith for me please. Thank you."

"I'll try the Dark Maiden." Rokk didn't make eye contact with his fiancé as he spoke.

The Dead Brain smiled to himself as he punched in their wagers to the small hard light screen that hovered before them.

"Let the games begin...."

The fight had initially appeared to be fairly even. The Dark Maiden's raw strength had been enough to dissuade the Wraith from simply swatting her while assuming his densest form while in an immaterial form he had been immune to her ferocious attacks and vicious strength.

The Legionnaires and the Dead Brain were sat in a box screened from much of the audience around them but they could hear every rowdy cheer and jeer as the fight continued. The Khundian continued to work on a hard light projection as he watched the combat. Much like the way Brainy would multi-task, thought Rokk.

"Would your Brainiac 5 enjoy these games do you think?"

Rokk didn't let his startlement show, he knew Querl had set parameters to their Flight Rings that would scramble any unwanted telepathic intrusions so it must have been a coincidence.

"I really don't know, he would probably be trying to figure out the most efficient way for each combatant to proceed, while working on a dozen other problems at the same time. Much like you he multi-tasks very well." Rokk nodded towards the floating hard light screen.

"He wouldn't appreciate the balletic struggle and determination shown by the combatants as they wear their opponents down though?" The Dead Brain seemed a little surprised that the Coluan genius didn't share the Khundian love of blood.

In a flourish of graceful murder below them the Wraith reached into the Dark Maidens skull and removed her brain. The pale woman from the Oort Cloud collapsed brutally like a marionette whose strings had been cut.

The crowd erupted and the Dead Brain casually announced, "Why Lydda, you have a skill at picking winners my dear. Come, let's meet your new champion."

Hi there,

I appreciate there is lots going on now, hope you are following this okay and enjoying what you have just read. More coming soon.

I wish Tinya's leadership in canon was half as well done as it is here! I really like how you turn her friendly nature and sunny disposition into good leadership qualities! Also, interested to see what's gonna happen with Shady (as well as the everyone else!)

"Vi,the cruiser has enough weaponry to let you kick your quota of ass but I really need you in here to be our eyes and ears.....Sorry. Glorith, we need shields, can you supply them hon?"

"That won't be a problem Phantom Girl. I may be able to.... ah...." The shy mystic seemed uncomfortable speaking about her powers, though everyone present knew just how devastating she could be, "ahh ....I was thinking maybe I could..."

"Thanks, grand, you do that while the rest..."

"Be quiet Gazelle, let Glorith finish talking." Shady had stood up as she spoke, an unsaid challenge in her posture.

"Okay, girls behave, the enemy is out there." Phantom Girl, rather dramatically phased her arm through the bulkhead as she pointed, "Glorith, whatever you think you could do to even the odds would be greatly appreciated, there's gonna be a lot of those buggers out there." Tinya smiled at the girl before turning to the Khund. Glorith nodded solemnly and lowered her eyes back to the pouch she had taken with her.

"J'izl, please let everyone speak in future. I am in charge here, okay?" Her tone was firm but with enough softness so it could not be misinterpreted as a threat.

"My apologies Legionnaires, I am only eager to prove my worth to you in combat."

"Yeah... me too." With that acknowledgement Tasmia returned to her seat and looked back at the Khund. Gazelle smiled at the Talokean in response.

Tinya let there be silence for a couple of seconds before continuing, "Tasmia and Gazelle, you two are fierce enough to wreak havoc amongst the Bandits so I'll buy a night on Demon-ice cocktails at the Tenth Planet Starshine Club to whichever of you knocks out the most of them, okay? ....Though if I get the most you both owe me, okay?" Tinya's grin was echoed by Shadow Lass and Gazelle. The offer of a combat challenge was exactly what both the warrior women, eager to prove themselves, needed.

Salu Digby had been monitoring the controls and cut in, "Right... we'll be there in 6... 5... 4... 3...2...1"

Salu Digby brought the cruiser out of warp into the heart of the expanse of the Starburst Bandits huge raiding party.

Without slowing considerably she tore through the mass of bodies before them, scattering the attacking horde around them. Glorith had pulled several strands of hair from her head and wrapped them around Shadow Lass and Gazelle’s arms, muttering in arcane tones as she did. Once she had finished the ritual the sorceress spoke quietly.

“This should deflect some of their blasts. I’ll enhance the spell from here for you both.... good luck.”

The two warrior women raced to air locks on opposite sides of the cruiser while Phantom Girl phased through the underneath of the vessel. Salu smiled at Glorith briefly as she returned to the command deck, “You’d better hold on tight, let’s see how tough those bastards are when there’s a mark viii cruiser streaming up their flamin’ behinds.”

Glorith bowed her head with a smile and continued muttering the spell that would help protect her comrades from the Bandits solar blasts.

Outside the cruiser the telepathic gestalt automatically generated by the legion flight rings kept the three legionnaires in contact as they each set about dissuading as many of the Bandits as they could in their own unique way.

Gazelle moved with a fluidity and acrobatic prowess that Tinya had only ever seen Brin Londo exhibit before. The Khund warrior used her incredible skills to tear through the ranks of the oncoming raiders without mercy.

Shadow Lasses sphere of darkness attracted the Bandits though none seemed to come out of it, at least not conscious. Tinya knew that Tasmia would be out to prove herself after the horrific loss of her memories recently on Talok viii. The Legion leader hoped that Shadow Lass would be careful enough not to let her eagerness lead her to make any mistakes.

They had arrived here above the moon of Saturn, Rhea, twenty minutes ago.

Ayla was beginning to feel exhausted, there seemed to be wave after wave of the Starburst Bandits flying towards her firing off their nasty stinging energy bursts and no matter how many she blasted they just kept on coming. Her electrical generating abilities had limits, quite high limits admittedly but even so, she was fast reaching the point of exhaustion.

Jo and 'Stormy were smashing through the attackers ranks and even they were having trouble.

Ayla knew it was time to try something drastic. She timed it so Jo had just flown past her at super speed knocking out the twelve nearest bandits in a single swoop. She stopped and closed her eyes, concentrating on what was in front of her. She could sense the bio-electrical flickers of the bandits and their mounts. She had never tried this before on anything living but the situation was becoming desperate! In her mind she pictured the tiny bio-electrics stopping. Not being extinguished, not turning back, just stopping. Then after a second she pictured each of those same sparks erupting within the brains of the attacking hordes.

The effort made her sweat and she could feel the tension in her shoulders as if a heavy yolk had been put upon them.

She opened her eyes carefully, her head thumping with the effort. Before her at least two hundred of the attacking force were suddenly unconscious. Insentient Bandits and their flaming horses fanned out like fallen skittles for half a kilk. The attacking wave behind them crashed into their fallen comrades adding to the already chaotic scene.

In a blur Jo was at her side, "Hey Ayla, don't know what you did but grife! that was good!"

His broad grin faltered as Lightning Lass collapsed, unconscious herself, into a ball at his side.

“24... 25... what you girls at? Ooh gotcha, 26....” Tinya’s telepathic message carried her smile.

“54... no, 55, come here you... 56, too easy I’m gonna get those cocktails, 57, 58...” Gazelle’s focus and determination shone through the telepathic gestalt.

“They are too stupid. I stopped counting at 75...those drinks are mine Tinya. These bandits fly into my dark sphere and crash into each other. There must be over 100 here.”

“Good going you two... 31... Keep in touch okay?”

“Sure thing... 67... “

“Of course Tinya... don’t want to distract you any more, you do have a lot of catching up to do...” Tasmia’s pride underscored her teasing of her comrades.

Jo Nah’s telepathic voice unexpectedly interrupted the three ladies banter. “Hey you guys, Ayla needs help and ‘Stormy isn’t anywhere nearby. Can you come quick please.”

Tinya immediately directed Vi to take the cruiser to their comrades, though she knew that the Imskian would have been doing that as soon as she heard Ultra Boy’s request for help.

“Jo, hang on there, Vi and Glorith will be with you in a moment.”

“Thanks Tinya.”

On board the cruiser Salu desperately directed the Legion’s ship towards Ultra Boy’s signal. It was coming from the far edge of the attacking army, approximately ten kliks space north of their current position. Without even registering the hordes of Starburst Bandits and their strange mounts that the cruiser tore through she punched the controls to take them to Lightning Lass...

Ayla...

Deathstorm was experimenting with new ways to disable the attacking force.

He would follow the stupid no intentional killing rules that the humans enforced, as much as he disagreed with them. Still, in laser form he had enjoyed blasting the arms of the attacking forces. The stupid expressions on their faces as they realised that they suddenly had cauterized stumps instead of hands made the Khund very happy. Blinding their horses so that they crashed into each other had entertained him as well; the pandemonium it created was a joy to behold.

They were all stupid, he thought to himself. The stupid cowardly humans and the stupid Dominator created Bandits. As long as he played the game for now, in the long run he would get what he wanted out of this situation.

He had listened to the flight ring created telepathic conversations between the newly arrived Legionnaires with interest. As he had personally stopped several hundred of their opponents he wondered if the Legion Leader would include him in her wager. He was zigzagging his way through the attacking swarm merrily slicing through limbs as he went when he heard Jo Nah’s telepathic cry. Without a further thought the Khund warrior focused on Ultra Boy and Lightning Lasses position and with laser precision flew towards them.

Pretty exciting seeing the Legion girls kick ass, and I love the visual of the Starburst Bandits...they're one lot of bad guys I always wished would get some play in the modern Legion comics!

Wow. Such a huge battle! Very cool, and it was great to see Ayla playing with an aspect of electricity-manipulation more advanced than 'throws lightning at people.'

There were hundreds of Starburst Bandits approaching from all directions.

Jo's invulnerability kept the majority of their stinging blasts from getting anywhere Ayla but he knew it was only a matter of moments before they unified their attack and then she wouldn't stand a chance. As he was weighing up the chances of being able to make an ultra speed escape with Ayla in his arms a beam of garish light shot across the approaching horde in a mad zig zag, smashing them off their mounts.

Deathstorm had arrived and was single handedly holding the attacking mass back. There were still the odd attacking bursts that made it to Jo but he could easily deflect these away from the unconscious Lightning Lass.

"'Stormy, we're definitely gonna take you out to celebrate this when we get back to Earth."

Jo didn't expect a reply as the Khund warrior as he focused on the job at hand. It was perhaps twenty seconds later that the mark viii cruiser blasted through the unconscious bodies of the Bandits that the Khund had recently stopped and sped towards Jo and Ayla with its docking bay doors wide open. Jo sped Ayla into the bay, through the protective force field that stopped the air from being explosively ripped into space just as Vi rushed in, an auto-doc drone floating at her side. Ayla's eyes were beginning to open as Jo gently put her onto the floor.

"Hey gorgeous gal, how's things?" Ayla smiled as she spoke, her eyes and voice were both sleepy.

"Fine." Vi's reply was all business; pleasure could wait until she knew Ayla would be okay.

"Right, better not let 'Stormy have all the fun, catch you later ladies." Jo impulsively bent down and stroked Ayla's brow affectionately before rushing out through the atmospheric protection field, into space and the oncoming mass of red and flames.

Harmonia had reached the Oort cloud planetoid and was inside the central chamber that had housed the temporal vortex that Brainiac 5 had mentioned in his report to Legion HQ. Reep Daggle and Querl Dox were both with her, all three discussing their next action. Jacques Foccart had taken his sister Danielle to find the kitchen that the on-site AI had informed the young girl was nearby.


"So," Reep checked that Invisible Kid and his sibling were out of earshot, "Did you tell Adym about this?"

"Of course Reep, he said he was very grateful for my continued support of ECHO" Harmonia gave her colleagues a sly smile.

"Perfect, we can't let him suspect that you alerted Querl and I about his activities when you joined us."

"He still thinks you are none the wiser about the experiments I worked upon in the Time Institute that tragically led to Titan's destruction. I have led him to believe that it would not be in my interest if you knew about that horrific series of accidents." As she finished Querl smiled. Harmonia knew he was deeply suspicious of the Black-Ops Time agent that had tried to recruit her into an unnamed mission that may or may not have official UP government sanctions. The Coluan Legionnaire had been waiting for the right moment to deal with this situation and it appeared that the Dark Circle had handed it to him in this planetoid. That though, he knew, was only a bonus to this already fortuitous find.

"According to Danielle the console will be back on line in approximately four minutes and the vortex will be up to full power three minutes later. So, I've suggested to her to inform the controlling AI system that we no longer wish to follow the protocol that it had been working under. We no longer need an army to fight for the Dark Circle, instead we need to locate all members of the Legion of Super Heroes that have been misplaced in time. If my calculations are correct we may finally be able to retrieve our lost comrades." Querl's smile was broad and was shared by his two comrades.

Reep replied, "Who would ever of suspected the Dark Circle could be such a helpful organization?"

Whoops, just rereading this to confirm something and realised I'd stupidly missed out a rather important post - Tinya alerting Chuck at the academy that there were over 4,000 Starburst Bandits raiding the Saturnian settlements. It's been added in if you want to go back a page and check it out. Sorry.

Dream Girl hated this place.

The Naltorian beauty was famous throughout the galaxy for her pride in her personal appearance but had any of the news-steeps that often hounded Legionnaires have seen her they would not have believed the sight before them. Her usually well coiffed hair was tied back roughly with what looked like string, her shapely figure was hidden underneath a baggy olive green overall whose colour seemed to be solely designed to draw any warmth from the face of its unfortunate wearer, while her normally radiant face was half hidden behind a small breathing mask and rather clumsy looking goggles.

"Ms Nal, please, the patient seemed increasingly agitated when he can see any of his... ah... guest's faces. Please keep your mask on for now."

"No. No I don't think I will Doctor, he has been a friend of mine for almost a decade and you really wouldn't believe some of the things we've seen together in that time. One of those was his last bout into this horrid state and he didn't mind then so I doubt he will now."

Before her, behind a holographic wall that allowed her to see in but not the patient to see out, sat Senator Tenzil Kem, former Legionnaire and Holo-star of several reality shows. He was currently squatting on his haunches in a corner picking at the hairs on his arm and eating whatever it was he found there as if he were an ape grooming itself. In a strangely childish voice he was humming a popular tune that had only left the Terran music charts the month before. Nura couldn't help but smile to herself, Tenzil had always been a sucker for a sugary pop ballad.

"I need to talk to senator Kem...."

"I'm not sure if...."

"I've already seen myself in there so let's not waste any more of your time Doctor." She strode up to the security panel and gently rested her flight ring upon it. There was a soft breeping before the doorway appeared in the holo-clad wall. "I'll only need a few minutes, thank you." She pushed open the door and quietly entered the cell carefully making her way to the wall next to him before sitting on the floor.

The Bismollian Senator's eyes were focused on a place that Nura would never reach, somewhere past the probabilities that even her highly trained Naltorian mind could predict.

"Tenzil sweetheart, how are you?"

Without looking at her he continued humming and plucking at his arms though slowly lowered his head until it laid to rest on her lap.

"It's okay darling man, I'm here for you now for as long as you need me."

Ultra Boy, Deathstorm and Violet in the cruiser held the line between the Bandits and the settlement off Nu-de Janiro in the Tirawa Basin on Rhea.

Ayla had grudgingly agreed to sit quietly as the audo doc fussed over her. Vi estimated if Lightning Lass was to stay there for five solid minutes it would be a miracle. Glorith had muttered about the Bandits being anomalies that she had to stand steadfast against and returned to her meditation. Vi used every weapon on board the cruiser, including the hull to disrupt the attacking horde. Her instrumentation had shown her that the mining settlement on Kiviuq had been massacred before they had reached it.

Salu Digby was not going to allow that sort of destruction to happen again.

Otaki stood at the back of the room hugging herself for warmth.

Beside her the unconscious Ontiir clone gently rasped as he snored in his sleep. The Legionnaires were stood around the strange looking console discussing information that Danielle Foccart had just persuaded its AI to reveal. Apparently, the Dark Circle had summoned over seven thousand Starburst Bandits, nearly twenty five thousand clone troops and, most worrying of all, recently had started poking into alternate realities and had found a version of the Legion from a reality governed by their counterparts. They had summoned several of these Legionnaires through the vortex in the last week.

Jacques Foccart stood with his arm protectively across his sisters shoulder as she relayed this information. Brainiac 5 assumed that whatever the cult's plans were they must be close to fruition. Chameleon Boy said he would go search the Planetoid for any more information and as he started to leave Danielle called out that the on site AI had told her where the command room could be found. Reep asked Jacques to join him and even though it was obvious to everyone that the Invisible Kid did not want to leave his sister he nodded. Before leaving Jacques said something quietly to Danielle and almost as an after thought turned to the academy student and, with a brief smile, asked if she would like to join them too. Otaki stammered her yes and alongside the two Legionnaires strode out of the room. Their confidence and determination shone to her mind sense and for about the twentieth time that day Bina Nawoti wondered how she could ever live up to their standards.

Tasmia was beginning to tire.

They had been in this battle for over twenty solid minute now and even her Talokean stamina was beginning to reach its limits. She knew she wasn't the only one either feeling the burn as she had watched the Khund stop several times to slurp from a protein pouch and Jo had sweat ringing his hair as he blurred past. The constant wave after wave of Starburst Bandit was beyond what they expected. Surely they had fought their way through the 4,000 or so that the scanners had picked up? The vacuum of space around her was littered with unconscious and incapacitated bandits. Their flaming mounts, if not also unconscious, were adding to the melee with their senseless rearing and charging through the litter of fallen.

Tasmia smiled as she punched another Bandit into the realm of sleep. The physical action of dealing with the attacking force had reminded her that she may not exactly feel comfortable yet amongst the Legionnaires - despite their every effort to support her while she recovered her memories, but she had every reason to be their - she was a Planetary champion and no-one would forget that!

Star Fleet had arrived, finally, about five minutes before and their two battle cruisers were blasting the raiders then sucking them into holding bays. Still it seemed as if they were up against an endless enemy as yet another wave dove towards the settlements below.

"Why are they doing this? What is down there that they are willing to risk so many for?" It was not the first time that any of the Legionnaires had asked this question but this time Tasmia Mallor decided it was time to actually do something about it.

Trusting that Glorith's magickal protection would stop any blast from doing her too much damage Tasmia turned around and dove towards the domed settlement below.

"Professor Dox, it says it's found fourteen Legionnaires with associations to this timeline and current temporal point."

"Fourteen? Incredible, I only expected ten.... when are they Danielle?"

"Uh... it says one is in a stasis about 6 years ago.... nine are in early 21st century.... another two are mid- to late 20th century... oh... one is mid 43rd though seems to be traveling away from us into the future.... and the last is in the 75th century. It's asking if you want it to bring them here now?"

"First let me set up a force field Danielle, we don't want any nasty germs being brought here by accident do we?"

Harmonia and Querl shared a moment of eye contact. They both understood that it was not merely germs that could be brought here to trouble them despite the young girls assertion that the AI in charge of the temporal vortex was under her control.

"Professor Dox.... do you mind if we give it a name, it's says it has a name and.... it is kinda weird speaking to something without a name."

Harmonia Li answers, "Why Danielle, that's a really nice idea, what name does it suggest?" The ancient elemental's tone is slightly distracted though pleasant.

Danielle Foccart doesn't look at Harmonia, her eyes barely reach Brainiac 5. Her social awkwardness and shyness around most adults was a visible reminder in that moment to the Legionnaires that despite her ability to communicate and maybe even control artificial intelligences Danielle Foccart was still a young girl with emotional problems.

"Henry. It says we should call it Henry.... it says that's funny for a time traveler.... I don't understand...."

"So long as it doesn't start calling you Clare Anne it'll be all right." Harmonia's tone was light, though the joke was beyond Danielle's grasp.

Querl Dox continued to read through a hard light data scroll apparently uninterested in the conversation. Harmonia's attention returned to her own scanned results. Danielle stood awkwardly as she listened the voice of this strange machine from an unknown future. For several minutes the only noise was the gentle rasping snores of the unconscious Ontiir clone against the far wall.

Gazelle took a few seconds to suck the contents out of the Protein Pouch.

She was exhausted and knew from bitter experience that if she didn't refresh her reserves she would not be able to last much longer. The Legionnaires had proven to be an effective fighting unit she noted. Despite the members present not being perhaps the most powerful they had managed to turn back an apparently endless opponent. As much as she found the Legionnaires to be strange and perhaps too soft, her admiration for them grew. Shadow Lass in particular had shown how effective a fighter she was, and Gazelle realised that given her recent memory loss the Talokean was perhaps not fighting at her best. The young Khund warrior knew logically that the Legionnaires must be relatively effective to have lasted as long as they had, even in the feeble United Planets, but seeing them in action had brought it home to her just how skilful they truly were.

Deathstorm had briefly joined her to say he would win the wager that Tinya had offered her team before blasting away into an oncoming wave of invaders. Gazelle thought that despite his high spirits Deathstorm looked exhausted as well.

Reep Daggle had followed the directions Danielle Foccart had given him.

Behind him Invisible Kid and Otaki peered into every room they passed. So far they had found 81 living quarters, seven localised engineering and electrical power hubs, twenty rest rooms, three communal areas, two kitchens, nine hydroponic areas and; a well fitted gym. Everywhere they looked there were signs of he original designs in the tunnels and rooms - rococo flourishes with intricate and eye catching details lined around the cornices; swirling door handles that warmed slightly to the touch; stained glass displays that overlooked architectural facets. Whomever had designed this asteroid retreat had an eye for quality. There were obvious later Dark Circle additions too that distracted from the original considered aesthetics. Reep found himself saddened to see the damage that the cult had inflicted upon this otherwise quite beautiful place.

Reep estimated they had walked through about a third of the living space in the asteroid before they finally reached the command centre that Danielle had told them about. As they walked in it was obvious that Ultra Boy had met some resistance here when he had swept through the planetoid, several chairs were over turned, a screen was smashed with torn shreds of a robe hanging from the sharp edges and a blaster scorch mark close to the spiraling door. Other than that Reep was glad to see the central command panel looked pretty much UP standard. It wouldn't take him long to figure out how this planetoid operated and with the judicious use of a data vampire or two he would ensure the SP and UP governing bodies could access the data stored here to examine how a potential dangerous force like the Dark Circle could get so close to Sol.

While Reep looked at the main command console Jacques and Bina wandered around the circular room examining each work station they came to, trying to discern the function and practical application as they went.

"Reep, you may want to see this..." Jacques Foccart's normally soft voice sounded surprised, "It looks like a feed straight into the United Planets High Council main chamber...."

Tinya Wazzo was tired.

Even in her inter dimensional intangible state there were limits. Star Fleet had arrived and they were assisting but still the sprokkin' bandits appeared endless!

She had just phased through one of the bandit's horses to punch the rider under his jaw, knocking him flying into the rider to his side and also spooking the mount so it reared up impeding the riders behind when something green flashed on the edge of her sight.

There! Finally, she thought, Soddam Yat deigns to appear.

And as she watched the flash of green became a wrecking ball as big as a battle cruiser that swung easily through the attacking horde knocking them flying in all directions.

"Ho Legionnaires! Apologies for taking so long but I had a rogue Tenanite pirate ship to detain." The ancient Daxamite sounded truly happy to be there helping. Tinya smiled to herself, glad that she had asked him to take the flight ring earlier, in the minute he had been here he had already knocked out over 100 of their opponents.

The Legion had so many potential allies yet rarely asked for their support. With the introduction of the two Khund members Tinya had realised that they could no longer be so UP-centric and insular, there was a great big universe out there that needed their help too. And, when she allowed herself the time to think about it she knew there were other dimensions too.

Soddam Yat was the first of a few ideas Phantom Girl had that would help increase both the Legion's reach and effectiveness.

After Tinya's holo had dispersed Chuck immediately hit the all-level alert wakening up the entire dorm facility and sending an info- blip into all staff and student quarters that would relay the appropriate data. Within seconds Jenni was on the control desk alongside Chuck, eager to get started.

Lu holo'd asking the teams to be ready within ten minutes. Jenni's team; Dragonmage and Kinetix, would leave Montauk Point in 15 minutes in a cruiser. They would be the Strike team, dealing with any immediate event. Bbob's team of Sade and M'Windaji would be more strategically used - they were on support detail primarily focusing on rescue and relief.

Chuck and Lu, alongside Dr Shakespeare, the visiting virologist that they knew Brainiac 5 was eager to encourage to join the staff at the academy were the reserve.

XS's team had been in the air approximately one hundred seconds when the alarm sounded. The Fusion Sphere near Kiev had been breached. Setting the cruiser on a priority flight path that followed a parabolic arc they reached their destination minutes later.

Kiev was a city of many paradoxes. As an ancient market town that had grown and developed and renewed itself many times in the previous three thousand years it showed a wealth of architectural styles that could only be found on Mother Earth. It also currently had a large percentage of it's population of nearly twelve million beings trying to flee by any means possible while the few Science Police officers and the huge AI guided infra-structure were struggling to manage the terrified crowds. As the cruiser landed Kinetix said the sight reminded her of a war zone.

The Fusion Sphere was housed in an ancient mosque on the outskirts of the metropolis, redeveloped to keep the stunning hexagonal tiles and archways that had decorated the original building on display. The air steamed with the releasing energy and the obvious hole and fracture lines that ran along the outside of the building showed them that this was no accident.

Jenni, of course, was the first one off the cruiser and she zoomed into the breach in the Fusion Sphere's walls. Kinetix walked to the walls and stroked them, her telekinetic abilities knitting the ancient stones and tile skin back into place. It may not fully contain the energies being released from inside but it would help in the short term. Dragonmage muttered something about impulsive leaders as he traced glowing sigil lines in the air with his fingers. From these sprung a swarm of tiny flying apparitions that he directed into the hole.

"Whoah"Getawayfromthewall,it'sMon-Elgonemad!" Jenni flashed past the trainees and dramatically skidded to a halt before turning back to them and shouting, "I SAID... GET AWAY, IT'S MON-EL DOING THIS!"

Danielle stood behind Brainiac 5 as the temporal vortex roared into life again.

The Coluan genius had asked the young girl to focus on the group that the AI had sensed in the early 21st century. The room was thrown into stark relief of black and white as the harsh light blazed out from the rip the time’s heart. Dox had set up a force field that ran approximately 12 feet around the vortex. Danielle gasped, "There's someone coming, they aren't happy!"

With a crashing roar Wildfire blasted through the vortex and spun into the force field, slamming down towards the floor with a loud thump.

"Hey! Where...?"

Dawnstar quickly followed though gracefully spun around mid-flight to land lightly beside Drake Burroughs crumpled form.

"Querl ...Professor Li? Are we back?" She looked around as she bent over to help Wildfire stand up.

In rapid succession behind them Timber Wolf, Tyroc, Tellus, Chameleon Girl and Gates tumbled through the vortex's event horizon and landed roughly on the hard stone floor. Brainiac 5's fingers danced across a hand held scanner. The hard light screens that popped up were brushed aside as he completed his examinations. He reached for his belt, flicking off a switch.

"It's them! We found the Lost team!"

"But Professor Dox," Danielle Foccart pulled on his long coat from behind, "...there are two others from the 21st Century coming through now as well."

The Lost team had begun to stand up, excited questions and smiling faces as they gathered around Brainiac 5 to congratulate him. Even as he tried to desperately set up a force field to catch whoever or whatever was away to arrive the vortex roared again and an unconscious Drudra Sepht fell onto the floor. Timber wolf was on hand with a single bound to gently pick up the young pale skinned woman. Even as he took her over to the rest of the group the vortex roared once more and this time a young blonde woman wearing a red and gold outfit fell through. As she stood up, dusting herself down without looking up at the Legionnaires present she said "Brainy.... I thought you had believed I didn’t love you no more so were gonna leave me stranded me there forever!"

"Ah....okay, so you know our Brainy, but who are you?" Tyroc stood between the group and the newcomer. By now she had stood up and was obviously confused by the group before her.

"Sandy Anderson, Inferno.... so I recognize Greenie there but who are the rest of you?"

They could see immediately it wasn't their Mon-El.

The dark haired young man that levitated through the hole in the fusion sphere's wall wore a similar outfit though the gold clasps to hold his cape were replaced by black circles and the blue highlights on boots and wrists were also black. Most telling of all though, the body language of the man before them was one of utter contempt and arrogance.

"'Mage, we've got to do something, get ready to summon a dragon to hold him...." Zoe Saugin reached out with her mind and telekinetically wrapped the imposters blue cape around his head. At the same moment Xao Jin spoke quietly into his palms before turning them out and as he did a swarm of tiny green lights erupted into the air around the strange Mon-El.

The imposter was struggling to pull the cloak from off of his face so was unaware before it was too late that the young mystic had released a spell against him. The lights coalesced into a form of a winged reptile, its hind claws grasping around this Mon El's waist while its fore limbs reached across and pinned his arms to his sides.

"You'redoingit!Wow!OhwowIknewyouweregonnabegreat!"

Even as she cheered the trapped Daxamite tried desperately to spin and fight his way free. Sweat started to pour off Xao Jin's brow as he kept muttering the restraining spell. It was obvious that the young sorcerers abilities were being tested to the full. Kinetix shouted to XS, "Hey, get the SPs here already, we can't keep him bound forever y'know!"

Even as XS acknowledged the suggestion there was a yell of triumph as the dark Circle's Mon'El ripped the fore legs from the magical dragon construct and kicked out at it. Xao Jin collapsed with a grunt, cracking his head against the pebbled street.
Without a thought XS threw herself towards the rogue Daxamite at supersonic speed but his hand swatted her away.

Xao's dragon's claws had torn into the flesh while restraining the imposter and his blood splattered across the floor in a wide arc. The Daxamite tore the cloak from off his head and turned towards Kinetix as she cradled the unconscious Dragonmage."That mystic hurt me." Mon El's Dark Circle duplicates voice gave away the pain he was in. The dragon spell had obviously hurt him and now he was looking for revenge.Zoe Saugin's life flashed before her eyes and she screamed as his eyes flashed with fire.

INFERNO!!! And Drura!!!! Yay! :D:D:D

“Maybe Danielle could get it to ....”

“Reep... please mon ami, my sister ‘as not been well and we mussn’t push her. I am quite capable of doing this.” Jacques fingers slowly turned a virtual dial and the holo before them sharpened into crisp focus.

Chameleon Boy and Invisible Kid scrutinised the image before them. It was clearly a real time transmission from within an ambassadorial event. Before them they could see whatever the Dark Circle spy could see; a group of glorious Thanagarians in full military dress uniform complete with neatly upright wings, a large squid like creature tapping a sphere with a Gil’Dishpan inside, several obvious bodyguards in dark clothing,and there! Reep recognised the Lalloriam Ambassador he had met recently on Weber’s World, Oodoo Shanair - he had joined the Legion’s Ambassadorial team that Brainiac 5 and Projectra had set up there in the aftermath of the Llorn invasion. Reep pointed out the Lallorian mutant to Jacques.

Within the communication function of the Flight Rings that they all wore was an electronic communication sub routine that could simulate telepathic conversations. I was usually used when in deep space but Chameleon Boy knew that this was another perfect example of when to activate it.

“Oodoo....” In the image the Lallorian ambassador turned around, looking to see who had said his name, “Don’t react Oodoo please, this is Chameleon Boy. The flight ring you have is transmitting this directly into the speech recognition parts of your brain. I need you tell me who you are with, Just think clearly and it’ll be sent to me.”

“Aah... that’s rather odd you know? Anyway... I’m a guest at a function being hosted by the Martian First Minister Anna Gruttenbach in the High Council’s primary entertainment suite right now, It’s rather plush....”

Reep let Oodoo ramble as he watched the holo feed waiting for the moment when the Lallorian would look directly at the person transmitting these images.

Now! “who are you looking at now Ambassador, right now!”

“Do you mean Anton? I’m looking at Anton Relnic right now. Why ever do you ask?”

Thanks Raz, yup everyone's favourite pyrokinetic psycho returned to the fold. Fun fun fun! Two more coming, can you guess who?

Meant to post the bit above last night too but somehow missed it, d'oh!

Hope you have enjoyed this so far, more coming soon.

Hmmm two more from the 21st century...who's left? Superboy & Supergirl? Karate Kid and Una from *shudder* Countdown? Timber Wolf and Aria from 5YL?

Can't wait to see who it will be!

Wow! The gang's all here!

XS, Kinetix, Dragonmage, Infectious Lass, Gates and the rest of the Lost team, Inferno... you are on a roll, B! This is amazing!

Lonely Galaxy guide to travellers wanting to see absolutely everywhere: Takron-Galtos’ existence has never former been formerly acknowledged by any government within the United Planets though it is widely suspected to be a heavy guarded planetoid within the Horsehead Nebula that houses the most dangerous criminals within the Milky Way. If it’s possible to give a negative rating this would get it. 0 stars.

Jed Rikane was asleep when the alarm started to scream.

He had been dormed with Tel Vole in a rather spacious apartment on the northern side of quadrant twelve. All science police staff were based here as it was the furthest point on the main archipelago of islands that spread out like a crescent beside the one continent on the lifeless hell hole world. The one continental landmass on this world had been turned into the largest corrective facility in galactic history.

He jumped out from the sheets, grabbed his pants and jumped into the grav-lift and shouted the command to take him to the shuttle bay on the complex roof. By the time he reached the shuttle the resident AI had informed about the situation he was away to fly into. Sector Four, the area that focused on rehabilitation of political terrorists was under attack. Three thousand Starburst Bandits had appeared out of a special warp and were on the rampage.

“Jed, you on your way?” Tel Vole’s holo did little to disguise that he looked stressed,

“Alarm woke me, in a Shuttle Tel, what’s your twenty?”

“We have an army attacking the Four’s and Mandalla and I are the only ones here. Tayla is on the Sub-Dome,” the prison section for non-oxygen breatherssituated1,000 feet under the raging southern pole’s sea, “and Berta’s on her way but we need your muscle, lover.”

“On my way babe, go get them ‘til then eh?”

“See you soon.”

Gravity Kid’s holo winked out and Jed double checked the shuttle’s controls. He would get there in less than three minutes at this rate. The display showed real time feed of the events. The sky above sector Four looked as if a burning twister had hit it as the Bandits swarmed down onto the prison complex below. The automated defenses and few Science Police officers stationed there were doing their best but the number attacking them was awesome. The collateral damage already was horrific and still the Bandits rode out of the sky on their fiery mounts down towards the besieged Sector, and Tel Vole.

Even as he watched Jed could see a group of about thirty or so of the Bandits turn and start attacking their own force, flying straight into the oncoming swarm. Jed knew what that meant; his comrade Mandalla would be using her hallucinatory abilities to try to turn the tide. And there! Tel’s signature energy signature at the heart of a ever expanding knot of Bandits.

The personal cruiser was carrying Jed towards the attacking force at supersonic speed. He punched in the auto pilot control, giving it the order to attack the Bandits and decreased his molecular mass to phase through the bottom of the craft.

Tel Vole had used his gravity manipulating abilities to push his way into the attacking force, throwing the flaming mounts aside, their riders flung off and into the approaching Bandits. Confusion reigned and Tel used the opportunity to punch his way further into the attacking swarm. The air was full of screams and falling bodies, blasts of concentrated energy and flaming hoofs, and Gravity Kid used every ounce of energy he had to push it all away from him and into the Bandits comrades.

The initial confusion created by his attack had disrupted the huge column of Bandits as they swept down from the heavens. The solar system that Takron-Galtos was located within had a network of some of the most sophisticated sensor technology in the United Planets yet somehow the alarm yet somehow the Bandits were not detected until they swept down like a Biblical horde from the upper atmosphere. Gravity Kid knew that after they had defeated this current attacker there would be serious questions asked about their security.

A solar burst stung across his shoulders causing him to twist awkwardly onto a raging steed whose rider had been dislodged. Tel swung about, extending the pulse of gravity negating energy that kept him afloat to throw the nearest Bandit up into the oncoming army. He could hear the detonations of blasts and the screaming of the Bandits as an endless wave seemed to descend on him from above.

“Jed, where are you?”

Tasmia Mallor landed just outside of a smashed airlock on the edge of the grey dome.

She had used the scanning function on the flight Ring to try to establish what she may find inside but it had drawn a blank, unable to penetrate the geodesic domes outer protective skin. The planetoid’s weak gravity threw her balance off for a second as she floated down to the airlock and she banged her shoulder painfully on the metallic edge. Momentarily Tasmia thought that her former self, the one whose life she no longer remembered, would have had enough experience of these environments to have not have been so clumsy.

Well, determination and embarrassment blushing her face, she knew that she was a Mallor, a Shadow Champion of Talok viii and she would prove to the Legion, the United Planets and, perhaps hardest of all, to herself that she was still worthy of her name as such.

As she flew into the damaged airlock she noticed several dead bodies littering the floor. Taking a moment to examine them she realised they were identical; a slender pale blue skinned male with pointed features, white hair and in dark robes. The multiple blast marks on each showed they had been heavily outnumbered.

“Phantom Girl, I’m at the dome below you on Rhea investigating what the Bandits are so focussed on. It looks like a massacre down here. I’m going in.”

And with that message Tasmia Mallor dove into the dome. It appeared that she was under a deep blue sky, the light that trickled through reminded her of dusk in the desert. Beautiful and tricky at the same time, a light that hunters used to catch easy prey foolish enough to think they would see them coming. There had been a space captain she had met a few years back, well thirteen years back really, who had called this the “gloaming”. She smiled, if either the survivors or the Bandits hunting them down thought they could hide from her in it they were in for a surprise. Let’s see who was the hunter now....
The city before her was made up of hundreds of cubes, some rooted into the sterile metallic looking ground though most floating in columns above. Cubes of smaller sizes floated in square circuits between the larger cubes. Equidistant and perfectly symmetrical, this place had obviously been designed and built by a perfectionist. There were tired wisps of smoke in the thin atmosphere and she could see in the distance flashes as the Bandits blasted their quarry. Flying as fast as her ring could carry her Shadow Lass soon reached the central square – quite literally a square, light strips along its perfect edges flickered and bodies of the fallen littered around. The four buildings that lined its sides were blasted and charred as the Bandits focused their attention on them.

Tasmia Mallor was rocketing towards them when a Bandit caught sight of her and started blasting in her direction. More turned and started following suit. She unleashed a wave of pure darkness towards them and veered slightly off her trajectory. In seconds she was upon them. There were almost forty of them though within four minutes of fairly vigorous martial arts none were conscious. She landed beside a crumpled pile of bodies, all were wearing black cloaks and as far as she could see they were identical: pale blue skin and pointed features.

Why would the Dark Circle send the Starburst Bandits to attack this dome full of clones?

While Gates spoke to the young woman who had introduced herself as Inferno his colleague Tellus skimmed telepathically across her surface memories. She had known the Legion that Gates had originated from, he confirmed, though had never quite agreed with the team on a few core principals. Tellus shared his findings with Brainiac 5 who had been using his hand held scanner on the young woman. Querl Dox asked for a personality assessment from his recently returned psychic comrade and continued to scroll through hard light displays. Gates and Inferno continued talking. It was obvious the Vyrgan teleporter was not entirely comfortable around his comrade from his reality – whether it was because of his altered appearance or due to personal matters between the two Querl Dox couldn’t tell for sure but he continued to peer over the hard light displays at the two. There was something about Inferno that he just didn’t trust.

Meanwhile Harmonia Li contacted Chameleon Boy and Invisible Kid to inform them that their missing friends had been found. She was slightly puzzled by Reep Daggle’s curt response that they were busy but would be back soon. She turned to Chameleon Girl and requested the recently returned Durlan see if they could give assistance to whatever it was that was delaying Chameleon Boy and Invisible Kid.

“Who died that you’re the boss lady?” Brin Londo’s caustic response.

“No one died, in Phantom Girl’s absence I am deputy leader, as per the recent team vote. Now, please, will you assist our friends Yera?”

“Whoah, Tinya as boss. Cool. Guess we have been away a while.”

“Professor Dox, Henry said the Legionnaire in stasis will challenge him so do we want them returned here?” Danielle Foccart had a quiet voice that it was easy to ignore but the Coluan Legionnaire immediately responded, “Of course Danielle, and thank Henry for us please.”

“Okay.....He says you are a lot nicer than the reptile was.”

“That’s nice....” Querl Dox continued scrolling through the read outs that popped up from his scanners. As far as he could tell, other than the relatively low levels of temporal radiation the returned Legionnaires appeared to be unhurt by the experience of being ripped through the Flashpoint barrier. As for the injuries they had suffered and alterations they had been through, well that was another matter. Gate’s DNA appeared to be entirely corrupted; Tellus appeared to have been induced into his race’s elder form a good thirty years premature; Chameleon Girls nucleonic acid cohesion had been weakened, while; Timber Wolf’s radiation induced meta gene appeared to be accelerated towards some altered state; and fates only knew the psychological damage and trauma they had all had to endure a thousand years in the past. Professor Querl Dox knew he would have his work cut out in the coming days and months as he tried to right, or at least stabilise his newly returned comrades.

The temporal vortex flared into life again, this time the roaring appeared louder than before as ‘Henry’ fought against the stasis that this Legionnaire had been placed into 6 years prior. Querl was curious to see who would come through this time. And with a flash an unconscious naked girl flew out of the vortex and landed roughly on the floor.

Inferno stepped back while Tyroc and Wildfire approached their returned comrade.

“Oh god, it’s Laurel....” Wildfire immediately recognised the former academy student, “It’s Laurel Kent!”

Just about got everyone in place now, thanks Raz and IB. Laurel Kent will be kind of joining the group soon along with one of your guesses from above Raz.

There's a surprise future Legionnaire away to pop up soon too.

Thanks for your support guys it keeps me going.

As Zoe Saugin curled around her unconscious fellow student awaiting a fiery death from the eyes of the Mon El imposter she heard a booming rush of air followed by an ear battering crash. She took a second to open her eyes and turn around. In the air before her stood Mon El, their Mon El; complete with blue detailing on boots and compassionate aura.
“I hate people impersonating me.” Said while rubbing his knuckles, “Are you okay there Zoe?” Lar Gand smiled at the young red head and could hear her pulse jump. Bless her, he thought, she didn’t realise I’d know her name.

“Ah.... Yeah...” Kinetix had always thought of herself as a strong person but as she shakily let go of Dragonmage and stood to face her saviour she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth to thank him and could feel the rush of blood to her cheeks, adding to her embarrassment.

“Don’t worry there, you two did a great job slowing him down ‘til I arrived. Remind me never to cross you. Anyway...” Mon El studied the sky above them, “Got to go grab him as it looks like he’s re-entering the atmosphere... right... about... now.” And with a sudden rush of air marking where he had been Mon El was gone.

“WasthatOURMonEL? WOW! Isthefusionsphereokay?” Jenni Ognat arrived in a cloud of displaced dust, “ CanyougetDragonmagemedicalhelpandI’llseehowit’sgoinginside....” The newly appointed Legion Academy tutor rushed off before her charge could reply.

Xao was still unconscious. Zoe quickly checked his breathing and his pulse, remembering her battle first aid class she also made sure he had no immediately obvious wounds or fractures that required treatment. Thankful not to find any she reached out wither power and gently shaped the ground below him into a supportive cot. Above her head she heard approaching sirens as the Science Police arrived.

Better late than never, she thought to herself.

Oodo Shanair, the Lallorian mutant empath ambassador and member of the Legion’s recently formed auxiliary ambassadorial team primarily based on Weber’s World, knew that there was something wrong.

It wasn’t just the Durlan Legionnaire speaking in his head that told him that. His mutant ability to perceive the physical reactions within a beings biology that betrayed their emotional state was drawing some very worrying readings from Ambassador Anton Relnic.

The Anton Relnic that Oodoo knew from countless ambassadorial functions and conferences was a self contained man who never let his guard slip in public. He had always come across as very down to earth (so to speak) and showed impeccable manners by always taking the time to thank those around him, regardless of title or function. He had never in Oodoo’s experience displayed any really strong emotional response – certainly not at a tiresome event like this one at any rate. The Anton Relnic in front of the Lallorian was fairly self contained, that was true, but he also radated a feeling of glee, a smugness that Oodoo had grown to learn meant the person exhibiting these traits felt entirely superior to those around them. That did not tally with any of his previous experiences with Relnic.

Oodoo Shanair had a reputation for being fairly fearless. In truth he wasn’t really but he knew how far his rights extended given his position and he did have the advantage of being able to know what those around him truly felt so knew how much to push a person without ever truly being in any danger.

The person in front of him was an unknown – Not for the first time he wished to himself that the Haza twins had not asked to be transferred back to Lallor after the recent Weber’s Word incident. Their joint telepathy would give him the answers he wanted. Oodoo was concerned that Anton Relnic may be under the influence of a psychotic breakdown as he doubted the ambassador would be in any way easy to brainwash. Whatever had happened Oodoo knew that for the first time since... well afew weeks really since the Llorn had torn their way through Weber’s World, he felt an excited surge of adrenaline fire through his system. He walked up to the Terran ambassador and lightly took a hold of his arm.

“Ambassador Relnic, my old friend it is so good to see you here. You wouldn’t mind joining me for a conversation in private would you? Thank you my good man, let’s have a quick stroll...” Silky smooth, his voice was that of an old dear friend. His mutant ability kicked in with the physical contact and the person he held had no choice but to agree.

They walked out into the broad corridor. The Lallorian had been here many times before in his career so knew exactly where he wanted them to go towards even before Chameleon Boy telepathically spoke along the Flight Ring relay with suggestions. The two ambassadors chatted inanely about the event they were both attending and for all the world looked like two old friends having a gentle reminiscence as they took a stroll.

“You have no concerns about joining me into the grav-lift do you? You don’t mind at all that we should take a tour of the security facilities while we are here.”Oodoo once again touched the ambassador’s arm and with that reinforcement of his early command to join him they both smiled as the lift shot them towards the central Science Police security deck.

As they approached the SP’s level Oodoo once again gently touched his ‘old friend’.

“You must be exceptionally exhausted, so tired you couldn’t possibly offer any resistance or exhibit any resistance. Though of course you will answer completely all question put to you, won’t you? This time Oodoo’s voice is no longer smooth. The orders are set and as the door opens the Ambassador Relnic at his side starts to shudder and his form starts to dissolve. By the time the door had spiralled fully open the Lallorian ambassador stood beside a young Durlan woman wearing an ominous gray costume with a black circle motif across her chest. Five security androids and a singular rather excited young officer approached them as they walked out of the lift.

“Ah Officer, thank the stars you are here. I believe you want to interview this person, you’ll find her very cooperative. “

Inside Ambassador Oodoo Shanair’s head Chameleon Boy let out a whoop of joy and congratulated him on successfully completing his first solo Legion Espionage Squad mission.

“Well that wasn’t really too difficult was it.” Oodoo said to no-one in particular as he strolled easily behind the Science Police officer and their captured Dark Circle Durlan spy.

A holo popped up of Chief Cussimano’s face.

“Legionnaires, we are facing an attack on Takron Galtos that is beyond the capability of the force there to repulse. Can you send assistance?”

Harmonia applied in the affirmative and turned towards Dawnstar and Wildfire.

“You both have the best chance of reaching there in time.”

“Say no more, c’mon Dawny, let’s go do some 31st century butt whupping.” Wildfire flew out of the room while Dawnstar smiled her apology to Harmonia for her partner’s rudeness. With one great flap of her snow white wings she was gone as well.

Brainiac 5 muttered concerns to himself about their rushing into an unknown combat situation so quickly after returning to the Thirty First century but it seemed that all the time spent in the twenty First had done nothing to diminish Drake Burrough’s enthusiasm or Dawnstar’s willingness to follow.

Danielle innocently asked if it was okay to tell the planetoid’s resident AI that they wouldn’t be expecting any more Dark Circle troops as it had been pestering her for a few minutes now wondering if it could reserve power in the residential areas.

Harmonia replied, “Danielle, please inform the AI that it is not to accept any more followers of the Dark Circle. If for whatever reason, any more arrive here it should set off an alarm and do it’s best to contain the cultist until we arrive. Also, it should give all Legionnaires and their guests full support. Do you think it will....”

“Done it Professor Li.”

“Thank you Danielle.” Harmonia Li’s expression was slightly awed at how fast and efficiently the young girl could process and communicate information to the AI’s around them.

Meanwhile Timber Wolf and Tyroc had picked up the unconscious Laurel Kent and the still woozy Drura Sepht and asked where the nearest medi-bay could be found. The AI responded with a holo schematic that led the two newly returned Legionnaires out of the vortex room. Tellus followed them out of the room without a word. Brainiac 5 thought of all the returned Lost Legionnaires it was their psychic comrade who looked the most exhausted. Had the others not wondered about the cost on his metabolism that his rapid physical transformation would have? His race usually didn't develop fingers and all the rest of the humanoid features until they we approaching their sixth decade at least.

“Hey Gates, you think maybe you need a medic too?” Inferno pointed towards their comrades leaving. Gates agreed and they followed them out of the Temporal Vortex chamber in search of medical facilities.

“Professor Dox, Henry says you can save her now. That’s one of reasons he was sent back here. To let you save her. Why is he saying that?”

“Oh Danielle, Henry has a funny sense of humour, that’s all.” Harmonia smiled coolly as she spoke to the young girl.

“Actually I disagree Harmonia. Apologies but if my hypothesis is correct our ...friend here, the controlling intelligence Danielle calls Henry, has been sent here with very specific purposes so in all probability has a very strong knowledge of our current loci within the timeline and all the events that must happen from here on.”

“Henry says you know it Dox...” Danielle chuckled as she relayed the message.

“Querl, you know as well as I that the timestream is not a resource that can be plundered.”

“That is definitely the case but I believe that Henry can be used with pinpoint accuracy if we require it so... Danielle, could you ask Henry if he can pick the person up from these precise co-ordinates.” A screen popped up from Brainiac 5’s palm held device.

“Querl, stop! You know she was destined to die that day!”

“She was destined never to appear in the Twentieth century from that point onwards. Dying though was never completely established.”

“Querl, I’m ordering you to ...” Before Harmonia could complete her sentence the vortex roared once more filling the room with its spectral light. Professor Harmonia Li was stunned into silence as a badly battered body wearing a distinctive red and blue costume fell through the temporal tear and collapsed onto the floor before them.

“Kara....”

Squeee Kara!!!! Is this pre-Crisis Kara? I WILL DIE.

Also I meant to say and forgot....so impressed with how in just a few words you not only very elegantly explained away the crappy renderings of Tellus in any 21st setting, but you've turned it into an actual plot element! Awesome job!

Raz, get your defibrillator as it is the original pre-Crisis Kara, Squeee indeed Well, she was overdue an appearance in one of my stories.

Thanks for your kind words regarding my solution to the dramatically altered Tellus too, I have a few ideas for him though need to get the Dark Circle civil war and Henry's story out of the way first.

Thanks again, I say it every time but it is definitely true, your feedback is appreciated and keeps me motivated to continue writing (and IB's and everyone else's too of course!)

WAAAUGHHHH SO EXCITED *brain asplodes*

I know what you mean about feedback being a great motivator...I am very much the same, very grateful when people let me know they like what I am doing....it's always nice to have a bit of validation

M’Windaji had led them here.

The young tracker had insisted that they shouldn’t follow the other team to Kiev. He had stubbornly argued with Crystal Kid that his tracking ability was leading them elsewhere. Whatever was happening in Kiev, whilst dramatic was not the source of this trouble, it was a distraction. Bbob Khan countered that there were no alerts being raised on Western Europe to deserve their attention and Gahaji must be mistaken. The trackers clenched jaw as he retorted told anyone watching exactly what he thought of Crystal Kids decision making skills.

Sade had interrupted and settled the conversation in a brusque manner:

“Right you two nass heads, if hunter-boy says the scent takes us to Berlinopolis then we go to Berlinopolis. Bbob, if he’s wrong I’ll personally shoot him for you. Okay? We’re wasting time so can we go already?”

The three of them had sat in silence the entire journey. When they arrived on the edge of the manicured lawns of the Lustgarten M’Windaji led the way from the cruiser towards the beautiful neoclassic entrance to the Altes museum. The museum had stood on this site for eleven hundred years and still its architecture looked stunning. Bbob Khan’s parents had left Earth with him when he was under two to work on terraforming projects in the Rim Worlds so it wasn’t until he returned to Earth fourteen years later that he had truly appreciated the skill and workmanship of architecture. On Rim World 17 and asteroid station Zenon where he had spent almost all his life prior to joining the Legion Academy the pragmatic uniformity of the liveable areas had meant he had been truly shocked when he first saw the wide range of materials and style used on Earth – the incredible use of space itself had blown his young mind. On his days off from the Academy Bbob had often travelled Earth and its nearby colonies to see the stunning buildings that the jaded Terrans took for granted. In front of him stood one of the few buildings he had planned to visit but never had. As they flew towards the eighteen fluted ionic columns at its front he gave a silent prayer that they didn’t accidentally destroy the museum while they dealt with whatever it was that had brought M’Windaji to take them here.

They flew across the grand sweeping staircase and through the columns into the central rotunda. The sparse crowds below them looked up and there were muted cheers.

“This way.” M’Wandaji took the lead as they swerved into a side room. As they entered the room they all saw the four cowled men wrestling with a security bot.

“Mine” and Sade was gone from their side with a pop!

She reappeared behind two of the men and quickly dispatched them across the black and white tiled floor. As she did Bbob Khan reached out and crystal strands spun out of his fingers that encased the two fallen men, pinning them to the floor. As Sade wrestled with the other two M’Windaji flew over her head and landed beside a man in a long gray robe standing apart from the excitement. The man appeared to be in his sixties with a metallic skull cap and came to a point like a widow’s peak over his brow.

“You are the reason we are here, aren’t you?” Although phrased like a question the young tracker’s body language made it clear he was not asking.

“You Legionnaires get younger every time I turn around.” The older man had a kindly smile and his tone was soft. M’Windaji was about to place the man in an arrest when out of the corner of his eye he saw more dark cowled figures appear, running into the room with weapons raised. Sade appeared amongst them, the Rimborian smiling all the while she ‘ported around smacking the Dark Circle operatives unconscious. A thick wall of crystal appeared above the attacking force and dropped dramatically upon them while Sade teleported to M’Windaji’s side.

“Hey there, you need a hand?”

“Don’t worry Legionnaires Ontiir won’t get away with this. I have what I came for so will trouble you no more.” And with that the man extended his arms upwards and started muttering arcanely. Without stopping to think M’Windaji struck out, punching the older man stoutly on the side of the head knocking him unconscious. As he fell a small scroll dropped onto the floor beside him. Sade picked it up

“He’s the reason we are here.” M’Windaji smiled up at Bbob Khan who was floating overhead. Silky strands of crystal reached out like a spider web sculpture from the newly appointed tutor that reached and contained the Dark Circle attackers.

“Good job Gahaji, good job!”

Several security bots flew into the room announcing they were programmed to fully subdue anyone who resisted arrest.

“Nope, don’t think so.”

Sade held up her right hand, her Legion Flight Ring glistened in the pin lights; one of the perks that went with the rings was the ambassadorial status they gave the wearer. They weren’t the ones who would get arrested today.

The unconscious Infectious Lass was gently placed into a sterile white cot within the medical bay. Gates struggled up onto an examination couch while Tellus asked the doctor AI if it could aid Hykraians. As the psychic Legionnaire waited for his reply Timber Wolf asked if there was a hydroponics unit nearby. Tyroc started to ask why before the Zuunian pointed out that there would be Sunlamps where the previous occupants grew plants and the ultra violet light might help Laurel Kent’s partial Kryptonian metabolism to heal quicker. Tyroc looked momentarily startled before agreeing whole heartedly with the idea. As Timber Wolf bounded down the corridor with the unconscious former academy student held protectively against his chest Invisible Kid tapped Tyroc on the arm and signaled he would like to talk outside the medical bay.

As they started to slowly stroll down the corridor Jacques Foccart asked the recently returned Troy Stewart about the Lost Team’s experiences a thousand years in the past.

“The food was a bit strange...” The both laughed and there was a pause before Jacques said:

“We ‘ave all missed you terribly mon ami. I ‘ave missed you...”

“Likewise Jacques, there were times it got quite dark y’know....”

“Once we have settled the current Dark Circle problem I look forward to ‘earing about it properly from you.”

“Once we’ve settle this problem half a dozen more will already need our attention.”

Invisible Kid snorted a laugh and agreed. “Too true but we need to ‘ave some hope, do we not?” The two legionnaires had never been especially close though that was primarily due to rarely working together rather than any personal differences, still Invisible Kid was aware that his comrade appeared upset.

“What is on your mind Troy? My apologies if I’ve said anyt’ing to upset you.”

Tyroc, tears now obvious in his eyes turned and smiled before answering, “If I’m honest with you I’m so happy to be back... We were there for two years and had started to think... I thought we would never get home again.”

Jacques compassionately put his arm around his friend’s shoulder as Troy quietly cried in relief.

Brainiac 5 asked Danielle to ensure the planetoids AI locked the Temporal chamber behind them, with explicit orders that no-one was allowed to enter unless they were wearing a Legion flight ring and that Henry was not allowed to bring anything or anyone through the vortex while they were gone.

In the Coluan Lagionnaire's arms Super Girl hung limply. He strode down the corridor with a holo arrow lighting their way to the medical center. Querl Dox gave abrupt orders to the controlling AI of what he needed once they arrived there. Behind him Danielle struggled to keep pace without breaking into a run and Harmonia Li’s expression was one of someone who was considering committing an angry murder.

Querl Dox neither knew nor cared. In his arms was Kara... his Kara saved from a horrific and pointless death. Within the multifaceted strands of his amazing mind he was already planning his defense when called before the United Planets. Actively tampering with recognized historical events was a crime that had been in place since the late twenty first century within Sol space. The old Time Beacon had helped regulate this but since its destruction with Titan there had been no way to successfully monitor any temporal invasions.

He was certain that the Legion would be blamed by the media if the story broke, as if the team could ever have persuaded him to not attempt saving Kara. The team would most likely hold him to account: A show trial perhaps to reassure the greater populace of this part of the Northern Arm of the United Planets that their Coluan Wunderkid wasn’t losing his mind.... again. No, Querl Dox had no doubts that in the days and weeks to come he would have to answer for this moment. The consequences could be serious.

Querl Dox frankly just didn’t care a jot as in his arms, saved from certain death during the First Crisis, he held Kara.

I always like when one of the Legion guys everyone thinks of as dumb steps up and shows their smarts (ie: Timber Wolf in this case)....also great job at giving Crystal Kid and M'Windaji more personality than they ever showed in an actual comic! Admittedly it is easier to do with this form of writing I think because you have more freedom to develop their motivations and background, but it's still worth pointing out when it's done well! Things like Crystal Kid's love of Earth architecture are the things that stand out about a character when you remember them.

Really looking forward to Kara waking up! I wonder how she is gonna interact with this version of the Legion who are different from the friends she would remember in some ways (not to mention seeing how her whole world history has changed!)

Chuck Taine, Dr Kent Shakespeare and the only member of the alpha training squad not currently on a mission, an Xanthuan native called Jazmin Cullen, Kid Quantum, approached their destination with a supersonic roar. Their small personal cruiser had been fitted with stellar class engines and Chuck was more than happy to use them.

The wild hills of Alaska Range looked beautiful in the dimming afternoon light as they flew across Lake Clark. For a second Chuck remembered several years before when he and Lu had left the Legion and planned to work on a terraforming site, out of the public scrutiny that living on Earth or any of the major worlds kept them under. That had been a great time in their lives, apart from the killer D'jinn of course, but they had dealt with that and he was certain they would deal with this problem as well.

Both Dr Shakespeare and Ms Cullen were powerful people. Chuck knew that the meta being that set off the alarms that had the Science Police requesting their assistance up here would regret messing with those two. And, if he was being entirely honest with himself, he rather looked forward to seeing a bit of action again.

Ahead of them, at the foot of the hills stood a small town that according to their information was famous for being the birthplace of the 24th century composer Mik Frost-Rvol. At a glance at its size Chuck doubted if it had all of three thousand inhabitants.

It was Kid Quantum who first pointed at the smoke, tendrils were rising from several places.

“They use geo-therm for heating so there’s no need for actual combustion“, mused Kent Shakespeare.

“Well, do you want to go check it out Dr Shakespeare?”

“I’d better go in case there are any casualties.” The large man strode out of the flight deck through to the small central cargo hold. “I hope this ring works...” He smiled as he tapped the flight ring Chuck had given him when he arrived at Montauk Point at Brainiac 5’s invitation several weeks before, and gave the command for the spiraling door to open underneath him. With a whoosh of air he was gone. The cruiser momentarily swerved as Bouncing Boy compensated for the opening.

“Your turn Jazmin. Good luck and keep in touch.”

She confidently strode through to the cargo area and jumped out of the open hatch. Chuck watched as they both flew down to the small town below on the scanner. Closing the hatch with a spoken command he also ordered the cruiser to circle the town. There was something wrong here, there were no civilians in sight and apart from the smoke there didn’t appear to be any motion at all.

For all of his confidence Chuck Taine felt worried they were walking into a trap.

Element Lad and Star Boy stared in disbelief.

Ahead of them a giant man in a gray costume with the Dark Circles motif on the chest lay curled up on the floor. From the sounds emanating from within the smoky cloud that clung to his head he was currently half choking, half vomiting into his mask. It was obvious he wouldn’t be giving them any more trouble for a while.

“I’ll never dis Grava again.”

“She dealt with that Colossal Boy rip off fairly efficiently, you’ve got to give her that. Remind me to tell Lu and Chuck they taught her well. “

Comet Queen had been putting on an acrobatic victory flight in the air above them as they spoke. They had arrived back in Earth space less than forty minutes ago and picked up several alerts. Mon El had flown to Kiev to deal with the Fusion Sphere problem, they had chosen to come here to the United Province of Australia. One of Lu’s selves had alerted them to a possible Dark Circle attack. Two separate teams from the alpha team at the Academy were already dealing with problems and Chuck was off dealing with another. The rest of the full team were either in Saturn space or out in the Oort Cloud dealing with an apparent invasion.

The young Legionnaire had attacked the giant without thought as soon as they arrived. He had been tearing up an intersection in Melbournopolis close to the industrial area of this, the most southerly of the Twelve Great Cities of Earth. Comet Queen had dove straight at him and at the last moment deftly swerved over the top of his head leaving a black cloud of noxious gasses in her wake. As he started to wave his hands desperately in front of his face she drove down and crashed into the back of his right knee causing him to stumble. She then flew straight back up and collided with his throat, just under his jaw knocking him over. As the giant man fell he had smacked the side of his head on a pillar he had earlier broken and knocked himself out.

Unfortunately he had not been alone.

Thankfully neither was she. The fifty or so soldiers, also wearing the Dark Circles uniform were subdued quiet quickly by a judicious use of Star Boy’s mass induction and Element Lad transforming their clothes into unbending metal.

“So why do you think the Circle would waste resources here? They weren’t likely to achieve much here were they?”

Element Lad pondered the question for a second or two before answering, “Yeah, you're right, this must just be a distraction. They wanted us to stretch our resources I think Thom. There must be something they don’t want us to interfere with going on elsewhere.”

“When isn’t there....”

Tinya Wazzo had just walked onto the command deck of the Legion cruiser when Harmonia contacted her.

The Legion leader had just finished thanking Soddam Yat who was containing most of the unconscious Starburst Bandits and their mounts in a gigantic bubble of energy while the Science Police sent more ships with the capacity to hold the swarm. A further crew from the SP’s had joined Tasmia on Rhea to examine the finding within the mysterious dome. Tinya had asked Shadow Lass to return to the cruiser as she deserved a well earned rest.

“Phantom Girl,” The ancient elemental's tone was flat, guarded, “Is it appropriate to report now?”

Tinya Wazzo inwardly sighed, she knew already that the news wasn’t going to be good. Harmonia was usually so professional in her demeanor that this didn’t bode too well.

“Go ahead Harmonia, are you all okay?”

Harmonia Li was still not entirely trusted within the group after the disaster that destroyed Titan though the way she had managed to keep Brainiac 5 in check and exhibited a versatile set of abilities had won her over to most of the team. Even with those contributing factors Tinya had been slightly surprised that the former professor at the Time Institute had been voted in as deputy leader.

From within the Dark Circles former base in the Oort Cloud Harmonia Li gave a dispassionate report. The news of a Temporal Vortex created by a sapient console that said it was from the far future and wished to be called Henry wasn’t anything too unusual really, Danielle Foccart’s increased confidence communicating with technology gave Tinya a slight concern though. The child’s abilities had been introduced by Computo and the idea that that rogue psychopathic AI might somehow still be inside or even take control over Jacque’s sister was worrying. When Harmonia casually mentioned that the Lost team had been returned Jo and Ayla both rushed over to join Tinya, all three asking questions into the holo-feed simultaneously.

“Where were they?”
“Are they alright?”
“Why didn’t you tell us this first?”

Harmonia cut through their conversation to say that Drura Sehpt and Laurel Kent had also rejoined them, along with an angry girl from Gate’s reality who called herself Inferno. The Legionnaires on the cruiser were excitedly chatting amongst themselves as the deputy leader dropped her bombshell.

“Dox has also seen fit to save Kara Zor-El from her apparent death at the hands of the Anti-Monitor.”

“What?”
“Is that possible?”

“Oh goddess, that idiot! Vi, is everyone aboard? We need to get to the Oort Cloud now.”

The Science Police took the captive into their craft. He was still unconscious from M’Windaji’s blow but the SP’s weren’t taking any chances and a medical officer scanned the older man and programmed a hypo from the readings. A quick injection into his arm and they were assured he’d remain asleep for a further four hours. Enough time to figure how to deal with him, especially since the Academy student had told them that he scented magic on the unknown man.

As the local newsfeed had alerted the public to potential Legion activity crowds had grown in the Lustgarten and while the tutor wanted to meet his adoring public he had decided to take the students and leave in case anyone was hurt inadvertently in the crush.

As the Science Police cruiser lifted off the onboard medic took his helmet off and swept the thin layer of sweat from his brow. He knew they were super stars and all that but Legionnaires made him nervous. Those affiliated with though not quite full member like those Substitutes and the Academy kids even more so. Disasters had a way of following them around and three years off retiring he didn’t want to miss out on the chance of taken off from this system and settling somewhere a good bit more peaceful on a full pension.

As he studied the hard light read out he didn’t notice behind him a woman in a gray uniform with a Dark Circle motif grow from out of a speck. He didn’t even hear a thing as she drew her knife. The first thing the medic knew of the intruder was when he felt the blade slide into his back and puncture his left kidney. As the blade tore upwards he tried to scream but her hand held his mouth tightly. His last thought was that it was surprising how gently she placed him on the floor.

The alarm on the cruiser rang out with an ear splitting screech.

The medics vital signs were, like all Science Police staff, being monitored while he was on a mission. The craft's interior auto-defense system kicked in but it was already too late. The assassin had already beheaded the unconscious man that her faction of the Dark Circle had been desperately throwing their resources at throughout this world to find. With her job complete she shrunk down into the molecules of the floor below and vanished.

Thanks again Raz,

TW was always shown as astute if not entirely well educated - he made a couple of comments during the Who is Sensor Girl storyline that pointed towards her real identity - so it made sense he'd think about Laurels unique metabolism.

I was thinking about what it must be like to be of human stock and arriving on 30th C Earth and it struck me that the incredible history on display in the very buildings would be amazing. Bbob was lucky enough to receive that bit of character development purely because other than being a glory seeking loser he didn't seem to have much of a personality. Glad you liked it.

Things will come to a head soon with Kara, don't worry she won't be ignored.

I've kind of thought of this storyline (from the first post involving Projectra) as a twelve issue miniseries to reintroduce the team - we're on about issue 7 or 8 right now by my reckoning so we're on the way to a hopefully climatic ending.

Thanks again Raz, appreciate your feedback.

Sade with a flight ring!

Crystal Kid's appreciation of architecture makes sense, given his powers. Cool!

Nice moment between Tyroc and Jacques. I think we take for granted how sensitive and friendly a soul Jacques is, and this moment highlighted it perfectly.

Agree on the Brin moment

KARA!!! Oh my gosh!!!

Bless you, for including Jazmin now too! Along with Zoe and Jenni, all three really deserve to be in the Legion too

The cruiser scanner identified 2,843 human life signs.

Chuck breathed a sigh of relief, he had been worried they were away to enter a site of a massacre. There was a concentration of almost 500 people in what appeared to be the central square of the small outpost on the edge of the Alaska Range so he manually directed the craft to fly over the top of them. The town’s square appeared neat with hedges running around its perimeter and areas for picnics in the summer and shelters for the winter months. Picturesque, reminiscent of a less hurried time he thought. With a weariness that he didn’t really feel Chuck thought it was time to see what was going on. He ordered the auto pilot to land the cruiser outside of the town and await further instructions and leapt out of the craft as it swooped over the crowds gathering below.

Jazmin Cullen flew close to the edge of the terrace of houses towards the center of the town. Apart from deserted streets there had been nothing out of the ordinary to see, no bodies, no wreckage, no screaming scared crowds wildly fleeing imminent death, basically none of the expected signs of a meta human incursion that Durgo had trained them to be watchful of at any rate. Instead there was nothing. No people, no automated services, no movement other than the trees swaying slightly in the breeze. It made it somehow feel worse. Jazmin had grown up as part of a military family where there was no time for crying so had grown to be a determined and emotionally controlled young woman. Even so there was an unshakable sense of dread, a shadow on the edge of her emotional vision if you like, that kept her pulse racing. Why was she doing this? To prove to that nass head James that she could beat his invitation to join the Amazer program? She was putting herself at risk to show her brother she was somehow better? The uncomfortable feeling in Jazmin’s stomach grew and she nervously looked over her shoulder across the town’s roofs. What the sprock was she doing here?

Doctor Kent Shakespeare wondered for the fiftieth time in the last week what he was doing here. Well not here specifically, but affiliated with the Legion. Professor Dox had taken a particular interest in his case when he had been infected a few years ago by that unknown pathogen from the Gorilla Nebulae and had encouraged and supported the young, and very scared, young man for several months while he went through quarantine and then spent a further month on Medicus One under the watchful eye of Dr Gym’ll. It was Dr Gym’ll who inspired the young Kent to follow his interest into the medical fields. Specializing in xeno-biology had been an obvious route to follow and with the publishing of his thesis on the Terran muta-gene Professor Dox had somehow become re-acquainted and before he knew it here he was. Somehow gone from the son of an explorer to a scared and infected teenager to a patient of one of the most exclusive doctors in this sector to a doctor himself to staff at the Legion Academy to an active adventurer helping the Legion out while it dealt with serious matters off planet. What was he doing here? The large man sat on the edge of a small wall and sighed, he’d never truly felt in control of his life and if ever he needed proof that it was spiraling out of control here he was living it. His large hands cupped his face as he started to weep.

Even as he dove towards the crowd Chuck Taine knew what to expect. He had felt this before and it wasn’t pleasant then and had left him shaken for several days afterwards. This time he knew that he could get through it if he kept his focus. The crowds below were obvious towns folk in a wide range of clothing all knelt in supplication before a single woman dressed in gray with a black circle across her chest. The woman watched Chuck as he dove towards them. Her white hair was tied back in a single ponytail though loose strands blew across her face. Bouncing Boy recognised her immediately. When they had met before she had appeared humble and modest to Chuck and part of his mind anxiously worried what the Dark Circle could have done to drive the Legion’s former ally Psyche of the Wanderers to act in such an appalling manner. Swerving off from the crowd Bouncing Boy flew out towards the mixture of buildings that surrounded the square.

“You will return here and adore me.” Her voice sounded colder than the wind that currently blew from the mountains to their north.

“No!” Chuck inflated and with killer precision rebounded from a nearby building to collide into her knocking her clean off her feet and into a hedgerow. There was a loud crack as she tumbled over the hedge and landed solidly on the pavement behind. The crowds in the square started to rise, dazed and confused to find themselves here. Chuck flew over the hedge and picked up the unconscious villain.

“Sorry Psyche but there’s only one woman who I’ll ever adore and if you knew her like I do you’d understand why I’m unlikely to ever argue with her about that.”

On the planetoid previously commandeered by the dark Circle Brin Londo carefully placed Laurel Kent underneath a six foot square lamp that pumped out heat and light. He had rudely trodden down the flowering plants underneath it to form a soft surface for the unconscious time stranded ex Academy student. As he placed her down she started to stir, her eyelids fluttered and she muttered something to herself. Brin looked around and found a water tap. Quickly wiping his hands to went back and softly placed his damp palm on her forehead.

“Hmm ...’s nice...” She started to sit up but when she opened her eyes fully she let out a yell and punched the Legionnaire fully on the face, snapping his head around.

“What the flo... Brin? Is that you? Where am I?” With effort she pulled herself onto her feet and looked up into the eyes of the Legionnaire standing over her.

“Ah... Laurel, look this is going to sound weird but it’s been years since any of us last saw you. In fact the last time was when a Manhunter claiming to be you tried to kill us. Umm.... do you want to put some clothes on?” Timber Wolf pulled off his top and handed it to the naked student.

“Thanks.... um... so what’s going on?” Her voice rose up at the end of the sentence in, what Brin thought sounded a little like the beginnings of hysteria. She reached across to take the Legionnaires top and flung it over her head. It hung long enough that she could wear it as a short dress. Timber Wolf could see she looked confused and in an aid to helping her feel safe he compassionately put his arm gently around the lithe girl’s shoulders as he briefly filled her in on the salient facts. Laurel pulled his hand to her face and rested her cheek on it.

“This sucks Brin, but what about my dad? Didn’t he go looking for me?”

“Laurel, we went looking for the contacts and references from your academy application and couldn’t find any of them. According to the records we researched they never existed. We thought the Manhunter was you and that all the people you referenced were false, created by her to get into the Academy and spy on us. I’m really sorry....”

“What? My family can trace their roots to the 20th century, you know that as well as anyone. You’ve met my great great whatever grandfather... you fought beside him, he was your friend!” Tears stood out in her eyes and her expression had changed from shock and confusion to anger.

Brin remained silent and waited for any further outbursts but the invulnerable descendant of Earth’s most famous hero stayed quiet too and just stared into the hydroponics unit at their side. After a couple of minutes she looked up at the Legionnaire again and asked:

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Brin paused for a couple of seconds before replying, “You stay with us now Laurel, at least until we figure out what happened to your family. You're right, I’m .... we're all owe Super Man a huge debt so it’s only fair we begin to repay that today, with you, his granddaughter.”

The lithe girl put her arms around the Legionnaire's torso and buried her face in his broad chest and wept.

The cruiser turned around and immediately returned to Berlinopolis.

“How the heck did that happen?” Bbob Khan asked the Science Police officer’s holo that had just informed them that their suspect had been beheaded within the SPs own ship.

“Our internal scanners didn’t pick up the attacker at all. They must have some cloaking technology...” The young officer looked away momentarily in embarrassment.

“That’s okay, we have the best darn tracker this side of Dawnstar with us so we won’t let them get away again. Ain’t that right M’Windagereenooni?”

Sade and M’Windaju shared a glance as they sat behind the Crystal Kid. He may be their tutor at the academy but he had a lot to learn about inspiring trust in those under him. The cruiser once again settled gently down beside the Lustgarten and they disembarked. Before them a Science Police cruiser with ten officers stood around its circumference obviously standing guard. M’Windaji walked up to the nearest officer and, after showing his flight ring for identification, asked to be shown onto the ship. Sade followed her fellow student. Crystal Kid, pointing towards the crowds being held back by an SP exclusion field, asked if they would be okay as he wanted to check to see if there were any witnesses. The students were both grateful to have permission to act independently. While neither disliked their tutor they both felt that he maybe hadn’t had the life experience they both had had before joining the Academy. M’Windaji thanked Crystal Kid for having faith in their abilities and strode into the anti grav stream closely followed by Sade.

“He’s such an ass.” Sade spoke quietly though Gahaji heard and snorted a laugh in agreement.

On board the ship they were quickly shown to the sealed off medi-bay where M’Windaji quickly ascertained that their quarry was already out of this room and had moved into the vehicle. He had their scent now so they would find them soon and ensure they were brought to justice. As they walked towards the anti grav lift Sade asked:

“You don’t really smell your quarry do you Gahaji? Is it a psychic gift you have, isn’t it?”

“Magical originally, my forefathers had the same gift given by our people’s shaman. We settled in a remote system where the old ways of the Spirit Talkers weren’t watered down by science and the talent continued down to me. The Legion is one of the few places were the mystical isn’t scoffed at so it seemed to make sense I try out here if I am to be successful in the wider universe. What about you Sade?”

“Cybernetics and bad luck really. You got their scent now?” Her attempt at changing the topic of conversation did not go unnoticed though Gahaji chose not to comment. Instead the young tracker concentrated and started down the corridor, past the SP’s forensics team’s force field cordon and into a small storage room that housed the police teams armour and weaponry.

“You have your guns, right?”

Sade drew both pistols and flamboyantly spun them around her fingers, “Always ...”

The young tracker pounced into a corner and drew out a utility belt, holding tightly to one of the pouches, though as he did it started to expand and within a second a small person had burst out and was increasing size rapidly.

The size changing assassin never reached their full size in a conscious state as Sade coolly took aim and fired.

Hi IB, thanks for your support.

Sade with a flight ring - scary thought eh?

I keep trying to put in little interpersonal moments, like Jacques and Try, or like Brin and Laurel above as ultimately what I like about the team more so than any other comic group I know is they are friends who support each other even if they don't really get on or agree with each other.

Kara is back for sure, more on her next time.

Lots of new/old faces are going to turn up soon as after this story finishes it's try out time !

Thanks again

Cx

Ontiir opened his eyes.

His sense of smell had already informed him that he was alone – the Vortex control would be close by. The foolish Legionnaires had left him here thinking he was unconscious while they dealt with their own needs. The Tsaurian lumbered to his feet, his arm still held tightly by a Science Police restrain yolk, he smiled coolly. He had worked within the security services of the United Planets for many years and still possessed some of the technology he had acquisitioned in that time. Stretching his fingers out he lightly prodded a pouch on his belt until he found what he was searching for; a small metallic box, no bigger than his thumb with three buttons on one end. Despite being unable to see it Ontiir knew exactly what to do. He held the box within his strong fingers and tapped a code with the nail of his thumb onto the three buttons. The Science Police restrain yolk pinged to itself as the Dark Circle operative overrode it’s programming, unfolding itself from across his shoulders and releasing his arms, it dropped to the floor with a thud.

Stretching his arms in relief Ontiir started to walk towards the strange organic looking control panel that manipulated the temporal vortex.

“Now I will sshow them that the Dark ssCircle is not to be trifled with.”

“No Ontiir you won’t. I won’t allow it.”

The reptilian spun around and came face to face with a young man, bald and wearing a red and blue outfit with a darkened visor covering much of his face. Ontiir swung out but his hands passed right through the young man’s torso.

“Hah, a holo, you’ll never ssstop me!”

“No Ontiir, I am not a holo. I’m the life force that commands the vortex, I am Henry.”

As if to emphasize the point the vortex started to roar, the darkened room once again being thrown into stark relief by the swirling light spinning from the event horizon that had materialized within it. From within the twisting mass of energy a blast of heat swept into the room.

“Henry? The child called the control panel Henry....”

“I was a Legionnaire once before, they may not remember me but I am still one of them.” The holo man held up his right hand, a flight ring clearly on display.

“You gave me the army to defeat my enemiess!”

“No, I gave you the army to destroy your own vile organisation. History says the Dark Circle imploded at this time and never regained prominence again. I gave you the means to destroy yourself and you’re too greedy and arrogant to notice... don’t you see you’ve destroyed the organisation you worked so hard to take over. You are pathetic Ontiir, history will treat you as a joke!”

The Tsaurian flung himself at the holo, screaming in rage as he flew. Ontiir passed through and collided face first into a pillar behind the image of the bald man knocking himself unconscious in the process. The holo turned and smiled at the once again asleep Tsaurian.

“Good riddance bad rubbish... ”

The mauve skinned young man had valiantly fought through the swarming mass of Starburst Bandits as he searched for his husband. Tel Vole had been struggling at the heart of a huge mass of the flaming raiders and by shifting his mass between intangible and diamond hard Jed Rikane had gotten far enough into the swarm to protect Tel’s back as the gravity manipulator stretched his abilities to their limits to repulse a wave of around three hundred Bandits.

Mandalla had been using her psychic abilities to turn groups of the Bandits against their comrades and Berta Harris-Skye had arrived with armed Science Police reinforcements and the twister she summoned from the heavens helped delay the attacking force. But still, almost three thousand solar blasting Starburst Bandits and their fiery mounts fell from the sky onto this one section of this most distant world with the ferocity of a biblical plague.

One stray blast and Tari Wahlmunn fell. As her psionic hallucinations faded the Starburst Bandits she had been manipulating came to their senses and turned their attention away from attacking their swarm back to the assassination they had been charged with. On the surface the automated defenses were being overrun by the sheer force of numbers. The Bandits were blasting cells indiscriminately, killing their residents and any guards they encountered. Several SP cruisers were in the air valiantly tying to even the numbers but of the twelve that initially attacked the swarm, within a minute they were all felled by concentrated attacks from hundreds of Bandits.

Wildfire and Dawnstar arrived in just enough time to save Jed Rikane and Tel Vole’s lives. Drake Burroughs flew straight into the heart of the swarm blasting everything in his way. Dawnstar had told him where he would locate the two ex-academy students before veering off from the attack and flying around the edge of the swarm knocking every Bandit she could flying off of their mounts. At the supersonic speeds she was traveling at the sonic booms that heralded her arrival did most of the work.

“Jed!” Wildfire shouted, “Get out of here man, quick, I’m going to bring these bastards down.”

Unbelieving, Power boy looked up through the attacking swarm and could see the distinctive orange and red of his former tutor, the legionnaire Wildfire. But...but Wildfire and his team had been lost almost two years ago?

“Jed! Move it babes,” Tel Vole looked exhausted as he pushed downwards with his gravity manipulating power, dragging his husband behind him. Jed put his arm around Tel and pushed. They both dropped through the scattering swarm and had almost reached the ground when they heard a tremendous explosion from above. The pressure blast knocked them onto a walkway between two buildings.

“Quick, get cover!” Jed pushed Tel under a doorway of a municipal building as around them Starburst Bandits fell from the sky, blasted unconscious as Wildfire explosively tore out of his protective containment suit. As the swarm was blasted apart Dawnstar continued her hypersonic attack knocking any stragglers aside.

Jed peered out from under the protection of the door and was nearly hit by a falling mass of bodies.

“Damn! It is any wonder we never made it into the Legion? They’ve almost cleaned up between the two of them.” He said to no-one in particular, his face a mixture of exhaustion and awe.

As the mark viii cruiser settled down onto the central landing bay Phantom Girl phased through the floor and straight through to the tunnels that riddled the planetoid below.

“She’s pissed!”

“Understatement Vi.” Jo Nah looked concerned as he spoke to his Imskian teammate. Tinya was one of the most centered and compassionate people he had ever met – and he knew that since joining the Legion he had the privilege to meet a lot of people who could take that title – but he had never seen her this angry before.

“You’d better get after her Jo, we’ll sort things out at this end.”

Jo saluted Salu Digby and blurred out of the control deck at ultra-speed.

Within the planetoid Tinya Wazzo’s flight ring led her to her Coluan comrade. She phased through the floors and walls until she reached a large sterile looking medical facility. Inside Harmonia Li stood reading a screen, Danielle Foccart appeared to be staring into space while Brainiac 5 lent over a prone figure on a couch.

“Brainy! What the sprock do you think you are doing?”

By now the Legion leader was beside Querl Dox, her finger pointing in his face.

“You know we can’t just pluck people out of the timestream when we fancy it, even people we love. Especially... especially Kara, you knew her history from the moment she joined us, you arrogant bastard, why are you doing this?”

As she finished her tirade it was obvious tears were forming in her eyes. Tinya Wazzo had been part of the team that invited Super Girl into the Legion and she had immediately realized that the young Kryptonian would not only be a team mate but also friend and a role model. Kara’s trust and confidence in her teammates had helped cement those early bonds that made the Legion a family to Tinya, and all the while they all knew she was destined to be killed at one particular point in history. They had celebrated Super Girl’s life and grieved her loss in equal measure and to this day there was a dark place in Tinya’s heart where Kara’s loss still hurt.

Brainiac 5 looked at his comrade, blinking several times as she finished.

“Tinya, so long as Kara does not return to her previous life I’ve calculated she will be fine. I’ve discerned that the temporal ....”

“Damn you, you cannot do this! Sort it out Querl, sort it today or I swear you’ll be on Talkon-Galtos by the end of the week. I’ll lock your cell myself, you understand me? She was supposed to die! We lost her already Querl, we’ve lost her already!”

Tears streamed down her cheeks as Tinya raged. Brainiac 5 noticed that Phantom Girl, for all her rage, had not actually looked at Super Girl as she lay underneath the yellow sunlamp recovering from her horrific injuries. Danielle Foccart had been speaking quietly to herself and they had only just realized it.

“Danielle?”

“It’s Henry, he needs to talk to you both. He says if you don’t listen everything will be lost.”

“Henry? What is ....?”

“It’s the temporal vortex control, it’s sapient and it talks to Danielle.” Harmonia Li answered as she wrapped an arm lightly around the obviously upset child.

“He’s saying you need to listen now, not fight.”

Tinya quickly wiped the tears from her eyes as she replied, “Okay Danielle, it’s going to be fine. Brainy just made a mistake....”

“No Ms Wazzo, Henry says he didn’t. You need to talk to Henry in the control room and he’ll explain everything to you. Please....”

OMG I can't believe the twist with Henry....if that's who I think it must be, I am once again stunned and eagerly waiting to see what happens next!

Other bits I really liked: Ontiir being dangerous even when captured...makes sense that someone who was a double agent for so long would have some sneaky tricks up his sleeve!

Also I think the way you showed how effective Wildfire & Dawny were compared to the Academy kids was really well done....like Jed's reaction showed, there should be a difference between Legionnaires and those who didn't make the grade but I liked that the Academy kids weren't nerfed to make that point.

Oh, and Tinya's reaction to Kara was well done too...we never really see Kara's relationship with anyone else on the team outside of Brainy, it makes sense that one of her super-girlfriends would be very emotionally attached

Hey Raz, you're right, Henry is... um... why can't I remember? He'll be officially introduced in the next couple of posts.

Haven't quite finished with Ontiir, he's a slippery character.

Poor Jed, if ever there were two legionnaires suited to a atmospheric battle it's Dawny and Wildfire so is it any wonder he felt outclassed? Still, as you pointed out, he's stable enough to accept it, though what does 'Nerfed' mean

Glad you liked the Tinya/Kara relationship, like you I can't remember her doing much beside bug Brainy but there must have been more to her career as a Legionnaire than that, right?

Nearly at the end of this section and then onto the final part of my Legion Worlds storyline - the try outs!

Thanks again for your support Raz.

“You’ve only just got back here as well, haven’t you?” Laurel seemed to be gazing into space.

“How do you know that Laurel?” Brin Londo looked at the invulnerable girl.

“I can see it Brin, you were in the 21st century. That Harvest was a right bastard....”

She blinked several times and shook her head, “I think I’m picking it up from your shirt.”

Her hands tightly gripped the front of the top Timber Wolf had taken off so she could cover herself up. She smiled reassuringly at the Legionnaire and he tried to smile back though it was obvious he was worried.

“This isn’t part of your Kryptonian power set Laurel. I think we need to see Brainy.” He looked down at his flight ring, willing the communication function, “Brainy where are you?”

“Brin, we are going to the Temporal Vortex control room, can it wait?”

“Nope, we’ll meet you there.”

They stood in the Temporal Vortex control room, Phantom Girl, Ultra Boy, Brainiac 5, Harmonia, and Danielle Foccart listening to the holo man called Henry. Timber Wolf and Laurel Kent walked in and could tell immediately that they would need to wait, the atmosphere was tense. Jo Nah acknowledged them with a nod and a smile before turning back to the holo before them.

“It started with the destruction of the Titan, and in particular the Time Beacon.”

Jo and Tinya both involuntarily glanced towards Harmonia Li as the holo of Henry said those words. She remained expressionless, her back straight and her eyes fixed upon the image of the man before them. “The Beacon is a fixed point in time that stops a lot of ... of interference from the wider multiverse. On Naltor they have almost completed rebuilding it. In under six months its quantum illumination will once more channel the timestream. I only had this one opportunity to intervene.”

“Why? Why intervene in our history?”

The holo smiled at Tinya as she asked her question.

“I was once part of your team. I have always admired you. The legacy you leave will shape the future in ways you could never believe.”

Brainiac 5 interrupted, “We found your image. We thought it was a joke, a prank. Garth destroyed the picture.” Both Jo and Tinya looked at Querl as he spoke, they obviously knew nothing about this.

“I joined you when I was much younger. About seven years ago for you, almost four hundred years ago for me. I was so eager to meet the legendary Legion, so wanted to be part of your team. It was you Querl who figured out the member who called himself Anti-Lad was a fake. When I left your memories were over written so you wouldn’t remember.”

“My head hurts. Time travel always confuses me. And... ‘Anti-Lad’? Seriously?” Jo Nah crossed his arms across his chest as he spoke.

“I used to have an aunty Mary.” Brin Londo said it quietly though everyone heard, Jo and Laurel both smiled.

“I’m from almost five thousand years in your future Jo, I apologise if this is confusing. Where you to visit your ancestors five millennia ago you would find them hunting and gathering on the Siberian Steppes. Can you imagine explaining space travel or flight rings to them? You see, that is the dilemma I have.”

“So, why intervene? You never answered me.”

“Because history said at this time you would go through changes that will affect your legacy. I’m sorry Tinya, it would not be appropriate to tell you what is coming though I hope you understand everything I’ve done since I came here was for the greater good.”

“Like support the Dark Circle?”

“Support them? From this date on the Circle will be a footnote in history, a political mistake that will not trouble you again. I simply gave them the opportunity to self destruct.”

“And the people who have died today so you can make the Circle a footnote in your history classes? What about them Henry? Are they just acceptable losses? I refuse to believe that you truly adore us as you said if you allowed that?” Tinya Wazzo had walked up towards the holo image and her body language made it abundantly clear that she didn’t believe what she had heard.

On Earth the Science Police were struggling.

So far what they hoped were cloned copies of Colossal Boy, Psyche, Shrinking Violet, Mon El and several hundred Dark Circle fighters had been captured. And it was still not twelve noon standard time. With the attacks in the Saturnian System and trouble in the Oort Cloud they were stretched to their limit. A few Legionnaires and students from their academy had helped in the initial stages of capturing these rogue elements thankfully. Finding the capacity to keep them sedated enough to process them was becoming a challenge though.

Sun Boy knew none of this. Dirk Morgna was currently sat on a cliff top overlooking a flat and pale luminous sea, his flight ring communicator had been switched off and his mind raced as he tried desperately to plan what he should do next.

His father was dead.

He knew rationally that it was inevitable. People died every day. Even surprisingly healthy and young people died. But they weren’t Derek Morgna. His father had a huge personality and drive that had fueled his business growth. Before he was thirty the young Derek Morgna had been a millionaire. By the time he had married his first wife, Dirk’s mother, he was in the top two hundred richest people on Earth. He was widely regarded as an entrepreneurial legend, his Fusion Sphere business lighting the way, quite literally, for millions.

Dirk had never really been close to his father while growing up.

Work always came first for Morgna senior..... The Star League game when the Vesuvian Volcanoes beat the Triton Goliaths... and Dirk had watched his father spend the entire match casually flicking through stock ratings on his Omnicron.... The rare Sunday meal where the family would sit down together to have so called quality time together, his father would have a screen up showing charts and information to prepare himself for the Board meeting on the Monday....The vacation to Ventura after his mother died, Dirk could picture his father’s happiness when that waitress from Delawhere took Dirk by the hand and led him away to give his father peace to read reports, Happy holiday dad! The dismissals and lack of acknowledgement that had marked his childhood, the aloof bastard had all but said he never wanted kids. Those rare moments when Morgna senior would praise him had been like manna from heaven for the emotionally starved child. Rare happy times that would drive him harder to get noticed. That had driven him to give up his dream of being an astro navigator to work in the power sphere plant and that led to becoming a Legionnaire. That was something Derek Morgna had been very vocal against... until his son’s publicity and popularity overtook his own, then... then he would acknowledge him, then he would say he was proud of him. Dirk hadn’t spoken to him in over a year, and that was purely by chance they had met at a charity function.

Dirk Morgna hated the old man.

He hated him with all his heart for all those missed opportunities and their frozen relationship. He hated him almost as much as it hurt him that he was dead. Almost as much as he missed him and wished he could speak to him one more time.

Dirk put his face in his hands and wept.

“Because history said so... isn’t that right Henry? You are doing what you have been told will happen.” Harmonia Li remained coolly aloof as she spoke.

“You are as wise as history says Harmonia Li.” Jo snorted a cynical laugh as Henry spoke and turned away from the holo to sit on one of the benches that ran along the walls of the room.

“If you like Tinya I could give you the names of every person who died today. At this time the Legion stumbled upon a civil war between the five creators of the Dark Circle. Please believe me that today would have happened whether or not I was here. Who do you think alerted you to the Starburst Bandits around this planetoid? Who made sure the Science Police knew where the Legionnaires I brought from other realities were? History said the Dark Circle internal power battle would ultimately lead you here Tinya, you have to be here.”

“Hmm. So, now what Henry? What do you want? Why are you telling us this?”

“Wait Henry, you are not telling us everything. When Danielle asked the planetoids AI what had been brought through your vortex it told her 25,000 troops had arrived. Where are they? Where are all of the Dark Circle operatives you brought here? And this civil war, what of the ring leaders?”

The holo broke into a big grin as Querl Dox asked his question.

“Norak Kun of Naltor was assassinated on Earth, his killer was a stealth operative who took only twenty clone foot soldiers and was caught by the Huntsman and Sade. Norak knew he would be targeted today so set up decoys across Earth to give him the chance to collect information he needed before his escape. Sade has that information now, you may want to examine it Querl. Their Colossal Boy had fifty foot soldiers, they were defeated in Australia. The emotional manipulator Psyche was captured in a small village in Alaska with her fifty soldiers as she searched for her quarry. Your Mon-El caught his counterpart in Kiev as they tried to create a fusion sphere meltdown to flush out the missing Naltorian. Their Chameleon Girl assumed an ambassadors form to spy on your United Planet’s high council. She was caught and even now is being held on Mons Olympus.”

“So where are the rest of the soldiers?”

“I sent some to N’Cron and some to Fresish. Grullug Garkush was in a bunker that only he had the DNA and voice print to unlock. It’s a shame the foot soldiers didn’t know that before they killed him. The bunker is several clicks under their southern polar cap. On Fresish they were placed within a natural fault, something akin to your grand canyon, roughly six hundred kilometres from the nearest living being. I may have accidentally miscalculated you understand.” The holo image smiled broadly, “I believe you will find almost eleven thousand stranded aboard a disused supply satellite where they believed Gorgoth kept a base. The co-ordinates of each one is...” The holo waved an arm in a dismissive manner, “there, in your flight ring database. You can personally track them down if you like?”

There was a slight challenge in his tone that Tinya Wazzo found infuriating. This holo of a man who said he had once been one of them and that the horrific deaths they had all witnessed today were acceptable did not know her or the Legion nearly as well as he thought.

Otaki didn’t realise that both Chameleon Boy and the newly returned Chameleon Girl were watching her.

The Legion Academy student was concentrating on the control panel before her. The Durlan Legionnaires had finished attaching the data vampire and had skimmed through the read-outs. Otaki had been looking over several screens and had stopped to examine one. It showed the propulsion system that the Dark Circle had recently fitted to this planetoid in the dark area of the Sol Oort Cloud. She showed an incredible understanding of its workings and was thoroughly examining the read outs when Reep Daggle interrupted her.

“What is it Bina?” His deep voice was soft though it startled her.

“Oh... propulsion unit controls. My mother was the chief engineer in Lunar Colony One so I grew up around this sort of stuff. Well, maybe not as sophisticated, she’d have loved this. It generates a graviton pulse that would push this to sub light speed capacity. They wanted to move their base. It’s a remarkable system. We could be on Earth within a day if we wanted.”

Reep smiled to himself. The student did not appear terribly confident and her abilities were subtle but she showed considerable depth and ingenuity. She would make an excellent member of the Espionage Team he thought.

Laurel Kent spoke, surprising Tinya, “Henry, enough with the know-it-all attitude please. Cut to the chase already and tell us why are you here?” The question wasn’t phrased as the current Legion leader would have liked but it was exactly what she had been wondering herself. What surprised Tinya wasn't the question itself but that Laurel had said it rather than Brin or Jo. Maybe there was more to the ex-student than she remembered...

Henry bowed his head in acknowledgement before replying.

“Of course Shield, you need to know...”

“What you just call me... Shield? What’s that?”

Henry looked slightly embarrassed before replying, “My apologies Laurel. Shield will be... one option for a code name you could use, where you ever to apply for Legion membership again of course.”

“Wow, thanks for spoiling that Henry. Want to tell me how many kids I’ll have while you are at it.”

“Three actually, though not for a few years yet.”

Laurel looked startled as the Holo called Henry continued answering her earlier question.

“As Harmonia correctly surmised, I am here because history dictated I should be. Within the next three years the United Planets will face two of the deadliest threats imaginable and the Legion will be at the forefront of the campaigns to repulse both. You need to have certain members present to survive those attacks. Kara Zor-El is one of them. She does become a worthy full time member of your ranks Tinya, regardless of how painful it is for you. She will be a part of the team that saves this galaxy when the Great Blight appear.”

“Yeah, right, so we are supposed to have Super Girl with us and no-one will notice anything odd?”

“Jo Nah, so brave and strong and not nearly as stupid as you pretend.”

“Hey, no need to get personal there Henry!” Tinya stepped between Henry and Jo as she spoke.

“There are precedents you know. Miss Terious, Sir Prize.... both far worse names than Anti-Lad I’m sure you agree, and Sensor Girl. All of them were not quite what they seemed were they? I did not say that Super Girl joined your team.”

“And what about you Henry? Are you going to help out against the great Blighters? What’s your role in all this?”

“Once the Time Beacon is back on line I will not be able to do much more. This is my window of opportunity. You need to ....”

“No, stop.” Brainiac 5 stepped forward. “Stop this manipulation Henry, you are dealing with your own history so you must desist.”

“Temporal paradox... I know Querl but it has to be done. You need to know this to survive to become the heroes who inspired my galaxy. Tinya Wazzo, in your first term of leadership the membership increased by twe...”

“STOP!” Querl Dox had his arms in the air as he shouted over the top of the holo.

Wooh, it was Anti-Lad! Kara remaining with the team though not as Supergirl is an interesting idea, am looking forward to seeing how she interacts with Laurel too! PS when I said you weren't nerfing the Academy kids, I meant that you're not writing them as particularly ineffective just to make the Legionnaires look good

Thanks Raz, hope you enjoyed your break and will be posting some more of your story soon.

Henry is fun so will be around for a bit longer. I've found him to be a great character to irritate Brainy with

Supergirl will be on the team, just not as we've seen her before, kind of..... Will be posting more at the end of the week and hopefully it'll make sense then.

Nerfing - ah, that makes sense, definitely not!

Thanks again!

Twelve hours later.

Night had fallen and Dirk Morgna was well on his way to being disgustingly drunk. The bar he was in was once a chapel of rest but currently gave a different solace to those visiting its white plastered walls and marble columns. The Capuchin Crypt in Palermo was an architectural treasure that had survived for almost fifteen centuries and still took the breath away of those who walked into its half lit hallowed spaces for the first time.

“Hey bud, you think maybe you’ve had enough?”

Through squinted eyes Sun Boy slowly turned around to look at who had just spoken. Although he was a Terran home grown hero the patrons had all taken one look at how disheveled he appeared and left him alone since he arrived, exactly as he wanted. Standing behind the drunken Legionnaire stood Wildfire, Dawnstar and Dream Girl.

His eyes opened lopsidedly wide for a second before he turned back to his drink.

“Go ‘way, you’re all dead, except Nura.... she’s too smart to die. Thom got the best one....”

“Dirk, we’re back. I think you should come with us.” Dawnstar’s distinctive clipped voice was unmistakable and Sun Boy turned around again.

“How come you get to come back? It’s not right, we’re targets ...but he wasn’t, he was my dad...”

Nura gently put her arm across her colleague’s shoulder and said, “Come on Dirk, we’ll help you get through this. I promise, we Legionnaires stick together.”

With remarkable stability Dirk stood up and turned towards his friends. His wobbled when he stopped moving and it was obvious his eyes were unable to fully focus on them. He managed three steps before Wildfire put an arm around him and guided him towards the door. None of the other patron’s in the place obviously watched them leave though the Legionnaires knew that by the time they got back to HQ in metropolis the News Gossip Feeds would be running a scandalous story about drunken Legionnaires in rural Sicily.

“He did give us both a bill of clean health Brin...”

“Yup, after all of three minutes examining us Laurel. He didn’t even say more than five words about your... what’d he call it? Psychometry? ‘Suppose it’s reassuring that we may have been away for a couple of years and still Brainy’s an arrogant douche.” Brin Londo looked angry as he stomped up the ramp onto the Mark viii cruiser.

“Hey, enough Brin okay, I’m feeling out of time too y’know. So stop this.... You said you’d help me track down my dad so how about we try thinking about that instead. Please Brin?”

Brin turned to the invulnerable girl that had trailed out of Brainiac 5’s makeshift office on the Dark Circle’s planetoid. “You’re right Laurel, am sorry....do you want to do this now? Would you prefer we go to Earth, catch up with our friends for a day or two maybe?”

“I’m scared y’know....” She looked very young as she admitted to her feelings Brin thought, “The info you had said he was a fictitious character made up to support my Academy claim. I need to know what that bitch Manhunter has done to him.... sorry, if you want to go to Earth that’s fine. It’s cool. We can find out in a few days... maybe Chameleon Boy or someone could help too?”

They had both walked into the control deck before they spoke again.

“Where was he before... well, before you were taken...ummm sorry.... where do we start Laurel?”

She smiled at his awkwardness. For all of the bluster and angst he projected Timber Wolf was a surprisingly empathic man. He was obviously uncomfortable mentioning the six years she had lost, despite just returning to his home century minutes before her after being stranded a thousand years in the past for two years of his life. At least she knew nothing about her experience. She had been on a night out with Pol, Garva Berta and Jed to celebrate the capture of Professor Ivo’s killer machine and then woke up here. She had never had to come to terms with feeling dislocated from her home or trapped in a primitive era. She had simply over slept... and knew if she kept saying that to herself she would not give into the angry urge to punch everything in sight to alleviate the fear of having lost six years of her life.

“Dad worked for the Geoplanetary Survey team for Datsun-Hong- Al Mohamad Terraform Corporation. He surveyed potential planets for the Corp, he loved being out there discovering new things on barely known worlds. Last time we spoke he was on his way out past Xanthu towards the Distant Suns of Rastasmar.”

“Okay, let’s start there. Earth can wait for another couple of days, eh? Xanthu here we come!”

Thom Kallor sat on the Mission monitor Board watching the multiple screens before him.

Nura would be back in a few minutes and Hadru was due to take over the Monitor Board duty soon. Tonight he planned on wining and dining his lady love and who knows... maybe they could get a full night together before some inconsiderate armada would invade known space or hypnotize the planet against them. Star Boy smiled to himself as he thought about the night before him.

“Like star shine and solar glow! Thom you total nebulae.... was there any... like personal and private as dark matter messages waiting for me?” Comet Queen seemed even more hyper than usual as she flew into the room. Her smile was huge and yet Star Boy thought it looked fragile. This was a young woman anxiously waiting to hear from a specific special person. Thom wondered if Nura had ever felt that for him. And even as he had that thought he laughed to himself... Nura? Feel doubt about how much he adored her? Ha!

“Hey Grava, actually there’s one just got here....” Before he could reach to the virtual screen to activate her icon she had flown past him and was cradling it. Thom had been on Panoples with Grave when she had met the young private stationed there from the Extel Colonies, Drinchar Lamment. He knew there was a connection there that had alighted something in Grava. Despite his cynicism Thom hoped the message would be good news. Something else else in the back of his mind though warned him the Legionnaires rarely had it so good.

Comet Queen stood with her back to Star Boy as she activated the message before her. Thom tried to pretend he wasn’t interested in hearing what it had to say. The holo that popped up was not of the young private, instead Pedtu J'guimunsfji the Outer Worlds chief of Science Police spoke.

“Comet Queen. I’m sorry to be the one passing on this news to you but you have recently been named next of kin by Private Lamment. Ah... after your team left Panoples the Private became agitated and during a routine patrol amongst the asteroid field it appears he... ah... he piloted his solo-craft into a blazing comet. His message said that he wanted you to know he was doing it to be with you. He’s currently being transferred to Star Fleet’s Mons Olympos Medical facility, though due to the severity of his injuries we are not sure if he will survive the transportation fully intact. I’m sorry Legionnaire though if you need any further information please feel free to contact Chief Consultant Ammadad....”

Grava didn’t hear the rest of the message as tears were streaming down her face and Star Boy had his arms around the girl trying desperately to sooth her anxious heart.

News that the Lost Legionnaires had returned to the 31st Century dominated the headlines.

Their aid in repulsing the Starburst Bandit’s assault on Takron-Galtos tied the story nicely into the apparent Dark Circle invasion of several colonies. Several social commentators had figured out there may be a connection between the two though no-one, other than Legionnaires and a few Science Police officers really knew what had happened in the last day.

Tinya Wazzo, Lar Gand, Yera Allon and Troy Stewart stood before the High Council of the United Planets. They had just given a report on the civil war between the ruling members of the Dark Circle and concluded that they believed they had managed to put an end to the hostilities while returning their Lost comrades to their own time.

“There is one more matter I wish to inform the Council.” Tinya held her head up high and tried her best to make eye contact with as many of those present as possible. She had their full attention now.

“Within the next month I propose the Legion leave Earth...” A few Councillors rose from their seats starting to protest, “And set up our base off world on the former Dark Circle planetoid. We believe that in this age where we can accept Khundian members the Legion should prove its political neutrality and be seen as separate from Earth. We already have quotes from Brande Tech to update a few of the systems and modify the interior to our specifications...”

The Legionnaires had expected the uproar that followed. Accusations and emotional blackmail were quickly forthcoming. Cheers from Affiliated world’s representatives sparked shouting matches, one delegate even started crying. Tinya exchanged a sideways glance with Lar who looked for all the world as if he were admiring a poignant piece of art. How he kept his cool was a mystery to the Legion’s leader as she fought the urge to bang a few heads together. It probably didn’t help proceedings, she later conceded, when she reminded the delegates present that she was from an entirely different dimension so did not understand their level of anguish.

As the hall erupted again Tinya gave Troy the signal and the sonic manipulating Legionnaire lowered the volume in the hall until there was an eerie silence. Several delegates were obviously distressed by this turn of events but as the seconds progressed and they realised that no-one else could make a sound they all eventually settled down and turned to face the Legionnaires again. When she had their full attention again Tinya Wazzo nodded to Troy Stewart again and slowly sound returned to the chamber.

“We are an independent peace keeping organisation who relies on each of your planetary government's good will to support our efforts on your home worlds and within your territories. That being the case we’re not property of any one world and we will not be held hostage to any one worlds demands. We represent the dreams that I sincerely hope we all share that different races and species can work together for the betterment of all. We have come to the conclusion that we can only do that if we are truly neutral, and seen as such. My apologies for any inconvenience our leaving Earth may cause but we all know, we all know that is the only way we can achieve this next stage in our organisation’s development. In the next month we will be looking for support staff from all the worlds present... and more, to help man our new head quarters and we look forward to welcoming your representatives aboard.”

“And what do we call this new Headquarters of yours Ms Wazzo? Legion Spacestation Alpha? The Dark Circle’s Planetoid of Heroes?” The scorn in the voice from the Uranian representative’s voice was thick enough to choke on.

“We think of it as our headquarters and home. You can call it Legion World.”

Woo! Legion World!

Nice use of Tyroc's powers, to 'lower the volume' on the arguments. Utilitarian and subtle and effective!

Wow! Just wow! The twist with Henry - and you've turned him into a villain I both love to hate and am intrigued to hear more about.

Again, still loving the little moments you're giving to so many characters (Chuck vs. Psyche; appearances by Nightwind and Mandalla; the amazingly cute couple Tel and Jed; Laurel Kent stepping up; Crystal Kid being out of it; Otaki as a budding Espionage Squad member).

Especially like how you write Tinya as being emotional but strong and in control (who says leaders have to be robots?!), and Harmonia being cool yet questioning.

I'm so excited to see Legion World and the dazzlingly tantalizing hint about the Legion growing by twe (twelve? twenty? more than twenty?) members! cannot wait to see who else joins the team!

IB and Set, thanks for your support.

Henry may be a little misguided (or maybe misunderstood at this point?) but he's not a villain as such IB, sorry if that wasn't clear.

More coming soon as Thom discovers the cost of fame, Dirk gets a shock that makes him reconsider some decisions he's made and Laurel meets some long time family acquaintances.

Chief Consultant Ammadad was an officious looking man approximately 25 centimeters taller than Thom Kallor.

Star Boy had accompanied Comet Queen to Mons Olympos, using a Legion priority signal to justify skipping ahead of the queue of vehicles and space craft’s that swarmed around the Star Fleet base’s landing area. Thom had taken charge when they finally entered the base, flashing his flight ring around for all to see and speaking in a tone that brooked no quarrel demanding that they were taken instantly to see Private Drinchnar Lamment. Grava kept surprisingly quiet throughout. The young Legionnaire from the Extel Colonies had only recently met Private Drinchnar Lamment though the two had made an immediate connection.

As the two Legionnaires approached the ward where the private was being kept under observation Chief Consultant Ammadad had tried to intercept them. The corridor was busy with staff and patients yet the consultant spoke loud enough for everyone within a twenty foot radius to hear perfectly. The tall man was obviously used to people doing exactly what he said. Thom Kallor took an instant dislike to the puffed chested doctor and walked up to him, only an awkward inch or two away from actually colliding and, after listening to the consultant tell them in an irritatingly clipped voice that they would need to wait, the Legionnaire informed the doctor that he was woefully mistaken as the private was currently being looked after by the Legion.

“....you may have heard of us?”

The consultant blinked rapidly but before he could continue Star Boy said, “If you would like to query that maybe a talk with the Earth President will help you reconsider.” Then very deliberately Thom raised his right fist in front of the doctor’s face to show him the Legion flight ring that gleamed on his middle finger. For added effect Thom raised that finger before the consultants face.

“So, arrange for him to be made stable and get him into our cruiser. Stat!”

The veins on the chief consultant’s forehead were throbbing, his neck muscles were ridges and his face a bright scarlet. The corridor was silent. For two seconds it seemed as if everyone was afraid to breath, let alone move or talk.

The chief consultant briskly turned away and waved down an auto porter and gave the order to assist the Legionnaires in any way it could. He then strode off without turning back.

Star Boy and Comet Queen walked into the private room where the injured private was laid. Several hard light cannula’s protruded from his arms, a mask affixed to a canister covered the lower half of his face. The rest of his face was covered in a synthskin hood to aid the regeneration of his lost epidermis. Even with Lamment being covered by a sheet they could both see he had lost a leg. While it was relatively simple to clone grow another it would take a while for the nerves to re-grow and it was not uncommon for that sort of implant to never fully take. He was in for at least a month of intensive treatment before he would be fighting fit again. Grava leaned over the young man and gently kissed his forehead. Thom stood by the door, respecting her privacy while ensuring no-one else interrupted them.

After a couple of minutes Grava stood up and very calmly left the room. She didn’t need to look at Thom for him to know she had been crying.

“Thom,thank you. You have been nebulific tremenderous to me, you are dazzly bright sunshine! Thank you.”

“Grava, it’s okay....”

“No but Thom, you totally helped me, like graviton gluons you’ve stuck by my gaseous ass.”

“Lamment only jumped into a comet to become more like you so you two could be together... and you only jumped into a comet to get powers because I did. I’m kinda to blame here... I think it’s about time we legionnaires took responsibility for how we influence kids.”

Saskia Montague-Brunlry-Frogeside, his father's life partner, was waiting for Dirk in a booth close to the counter within the Legion’s headquarters main foyer. She looked immaculate he thought, not a hair out of place. She was tall, at least as tall as Dirk, and unfashionably she was slightly overweight – not enough that it made her figure anything other than head-turningly voluptuous of course, all her curves were emphasized by her expensively tailored two piece suit. Her high collared over coat looked like real animal skin, her make-up was tastefully understated and on each finger she wore Danosian black jeweled rings – a common sign of mourning amongst those that could afford such luxury.

She was a perfect picture of the early 31st century grieving spouse.

“Dirk, I’m so... so sorry for your loss. I appreciate that we haven’t always seen eye to eye but I had to... we need to talk.”

Dirk Morgna had stood on a desolated planet fully prepared to fight to his dying death against the ancient god Darkseid without blinking yet right now, here within the Legion’s Earth headquarters he felt his legs tremble. He had always suspected Saskia of being slightly more than she appeared. Certainly his father had had almost seven very happy years with her and she had brought her own money into their relationship – she wasn’t a total gold digger that much was true – yet still the uncomfortableness remained.

She reached to the end of the floating table and activated the personal privacy screen. No-one would be able to see or hear them clearly until they flicked that switch off.

“Your father was a very special man....”

“Saskia, let’s not swap platitudes. There’s a galaxy out there that needs my help and let’s be honest, the old bastard and I hadn’t spoken in so long...” Dirk’s voice cracked and he stopped, pulling his gaze to the privacy field that distorted the light around them.

“I’m so sorry Dirk. Truly, I am. But your father had been working as an agent for the ICIC for at least ten years now and we suspect he was murdered because of it.” As she finished she drew a small wallet out of her jacket pocket and flipped it open. Dirk looked shocked as he read her holo identification credentials. Field Agent Commander Saskia Montague-Brunlry-Frogeside of the Interstellar Counter Intelligence corps gave Sun boy a small sad smile.

“You are where?”

The incredulity in Tinya Wazzo’s voice that carried over the holo link made Brin Londo wince. She rubbed between her eyebrows with an index finger, a sign he had only seen when Jo had done something that particularly bemused her. He knew that impulsively offering to help Laurel Kent track down her missing father had not been his brightest moment but surely Phantom Girl could understand. What was one more day after he’d been lost for the last two years?

“The Distant Suns of Rastasmar are dangerous Brin, there are spatial anomalies out there that can’t be tracked. ....”

“Tinya, I’m sorry I persu...”

“Laurel, you are not a Legionnaire, this was Brin’s responsibility. Right, I’m coming out there in six hours if you haven’t reported back. Be careful and we will discuss this further when you get back.” Phantom Girl’s holo popped out of existence before Timber Wolf could say anything more.

“Phew, she was always tough but I think being leader has brought her militant side out.”

“I’m really sorry Brin, really. You shouldn’t have done this.”

“Hey, when we return with your father and they see you’re not a.... well... psychopathic killing machine,” he smiled and she choked a quick laugh, ”we’ll be fine. Anyway, Brainy has obviously tinkered with the warp drive, these cruisers are three times as quick as the old mark vii’s.”

”And the data we got from Xanthu? Does it help?”

“Sure, we’ll be at the Brown Dwarf system your dad’s company wanted to examine in under an hour now.”

“You know.... I think Shadow Lass sat here... wow, this is freaky cool!”

Brin smiled as he continued to pilot the ship towards the last known place where Laurel’s missing father had told her he was going. Laurel Kent got up from her seat and went around the command deck touching various chairs and surfaces and shouting out what her nascent ability was telling her.

They had been flying between stars out towards the very edge of the Milky Way, past Xanthu, for almost forty minutes when suddenly the cruiser lunched throwing them both from their chairs. Brin’s preternatural reflexes had him on his feet and back at the control in a second trying desperately to steady their craft. Despite his best efforts they were thrown around. Laurel reacted as she had been trained and used her flight ring to get her to a solidly fixed support rod for a consol where she clung on desperately.

The shuddering intensified and the air started to shimmer with a nauseous blue which over several seconds brightened until suddenly the shaking stopped and the craft lurched and began to fall. The colours around them had faded and the sickening pale blue overlaid everything.

“Damn! The quark relay has gone off. Brainy you better have....” Timber Wolf punched a control panel and quickly tapped a command into another. The cruiser stabilised and both Brin and Laurel gingerly stood up. “Phew! That’s the fail safe power source kicking in. Thank you Brainy, you did it again....”

“Florgg on a stick! You’re amazing Brin.”

Laurel hugged the Legionnaire as she spoke. He absentmindedly placed his arm around her as he replied.

“We need to see where we are Laurel. We have an emergency power system but we can’t bank on it lasting too long. We just went through a dimensional warp, did you feel it? I think we just breached the Phantom Zone, going by the lighting anyway...”

As Brin finished speaking a light flashed on the master consol before him. The legionnaire flicked a switch and a voice spoke through the Comm deck system.

“...terlopers, you will leave your vehicle and prostrate yourself before me within sixty seconds or you will be destroyed. You will leave your craft now and kneel before Zod!”

Really loving Brin and Laurel together. And Star Boy interacting with Comet Queen is one of those things that makes such perfect sense I'm surprised nobody ever picked up on it before once I read it! You do a really great job with CQ's speech patterns too! I love her as a character but I find her dialogue really hard to write.

Very interested to see how Zod reacts to Laurel!

Thanks for the clarification, Harbi. I agree villain was the wrong term to use, as Henry was by his explanation simply helping fulfill events that had already occurred. I don't know if antagonist is the right word either...

I'm loving your pairings of Legionnaires out on these missions. More, more, more!

Thanks guys, appreciate your feedback!

Brin and Laurel are a cute couple so we will be seeing a bit more of them. Star Boy and Comet Queen are fun - I particularly enjoyed writing Thom giving the uppity consultant the finger though he'll need to face the consequences of that a bit later. Dirk's story will start to take off soon as we learn a bit more about his father's double life, and... oh, who was the girl from the 20th century who Brainy was interested in again as she is surely overdue to appear soon

I'm a bit snowed under with work/family/festive period so it may be a week or two until I get back to this. Until then I hope you all have a tremendous 2014.

“I’m going out Brin....”

“ Laurel... I’m the Legionnaire here so...”

“Listen! You are better at stealth than me, I’ll go out there and face those nutjobs while you sneak out and find my dad ...if he’s here, okay?”

Without waiting for the legionnaire to reply the former Academy student ran to the anti-grav lift, and her way out of the crashed cruiser. The door spiraled open underneath her feet but with the quark relay malfunctioning the anti-grav beam that should have gently placed her on the ground failed and she dropped like a stone, landing ungraciously in a heap twenty feet below the belly of the craft. There were two figures in dark armour close by who grabbed her by the arms and pulled her roughly to her feet.

Pretending to be dazed from her fall Laurel didn’t resist instead she examined the dark crystalline armours her captors were wearing. She had seen them before. Kryptonian definitely, and if she wasn’t entirely mistaken they were from the Military force answerable to the Science Council. She had been to the Superman museum so often during her life and seen so many holos about her famous ancestor that she was fairly certain she could even guess who was inside them, the brutal Non and scheming Ursa, General Dru-Zod’s faithful lieutenants. She had watched holos that showed how ruthless both could be, she had heard about the thousands that both could easily claim to have murdered and she knew with a heart breaking certainty that neither would have any twinges of remorse for their actions.

Having been physically invulnerable since birth Laurel had become somewhat of a daredevil, renowned as being fearless in the face of potential harm. She would have no doubts in challenging those before her knowing she was perfectly safe in her natural indestructibility. That though was fine for the day to day trouble a girl could get into on Earth and its local environment but her present situation was in a very different league. Laurel knew that she would need to use her brain here and that she needed all the help she could get.

Luornu Durgo had drilled into her, and the other students, that to waste the opportunity to find out information about ones opponents was throwing away a chance to win. Laurel reached out and rested her palm on Ursa’s arm as the ruthless Kryptonian dragged her towards the waiting General.

Querl Dox stood silently as he watched Kara Zor-El.

She was still unconscious though there were definite signs that she was recovering from her horrific injuries. Her Kryptonian physiology had an incredible ability to heal at an accelerated rate under the light of a yellow sun so he had arranged for two banks of star light lamps to be placed around her as she lay on the floating medi-bed.

Her eyes fluttered and she gently sighed.

Querl Dox broke into a grin that would have surprised quite a few of his Legion comrades; it had been a long time since his face had moved in such a clear signal of genuine happiness. He reached out and patted the unconscious Maid of Might on the shoulder.

“You will be alright Kara, I won’t allow anything to happen to you again I promise.”

He remained standing over her, in his hand hard light read outs sprung up giving him information about the incredible recovery as it progressed before him. His eyes barely read them as they flickered rapidly before him, he was concentrating too hard on simply watching the woman before him breathe.

Since the age of three standard Querl Dox had known to use the regular rhythm of his own heart beat to keep a track of the passing of time. It was a simple trick he did as a matter of course in his day to day life. Kara Zor-El started to move, her irregular soft moans became muttered speech and Querl Dox was surprised to realize that he had no idea how long he had been stood there watching her in her comatose state.

In a sudden movement she opened her eyes and in a blur flew upwards, crashing clumsily into the ceiling raining debris down upon the room. Brainiac 5’s personal force field sprang up around him protecting him from any damage. Above the Coluan Legionnaire the disorientated Kryptonian started to spin at great speed. The wind this generated tore the floating medi-bed from its tether and threw it into the wall.

“Kara! Kara, stop!”

The red and blue blur slowed until Super Girl stood before him.

“Brainy? Where am I? What happened to the Anti-Monitor? We were ....”

“Kara, you must listen to me. Please....”

“I have to get back there Querl, Kal and the rest need me...”

“No Kara, if you go back to where we took you from you will die. If you go back to another point in that conflict Kal El will die instead, if not the Earth...”

“What? What are you saying? We need to...”

“Kara, please you have to listen. I’ve run almost half a million scenarios and ... every scenario predicted it would end badly for you and in most for the entire world as well.”

“What? ...you’re telling me I can never go home?”

“I’m truly sorry Kara but history states definitively the other heroes thought you had been killed. Your death unified the planetary forces of that era against the threat of the Anti-Monitor. Without it to shock the heroes into unified action they would never have reacted in time. Your supposed death saved the world and if you return to your own time the likelihood is you will be killing the Earth 1,000 years in our past.”

Brin Londo didn’t waste any time.

While Laurel distracted the Kryptonians Brin raced to the opposite end of the cruiser and after quickly checking the scanners for any more potential figures watching, he snuck out of a vent shaft and dived into the cover of the close-by ragged settlement. He was aware very quickly that gravity felt different here within the Phantom Zone. Light seemed to be sluggish to his sharp eyes creating rippled effects around distant objects and sounds had an echo that reminded him of being in a swimming pool. His senses would not give him the warnings he would hope for but he focussed on the job at hand as these were minor problems when one was potentially facing a psychotic Kryptonian general and his ruthless followers.

From a vantage point within the blasted upper floor of a tumbled down bleached white building he could see the invulnerable student being dragged away. He took a few seconds to get his bearings. The cruiser seemed to have landed on the edge of a dusty expanse. Other than the ruins of the township where he hid there was nothing apparently to see. There was one building that looked to be above two story tall that he imagined was some central building, even that though looked as if it was ready to collapse under the weight of its age.

All around the ramshackled settlement lay a dusty barren land of distant dunes and rocky outcrops. Never having been into this dimension before Brin only had what he could remember from Lar speaking about it and a holo- report that he had sat through with Blok several years ago to go by. He definitely remembered Lar saying the Krypronians had spent centuries building a citadel, and if this was it then Brin wasn’t terribly impressed as it looked like the desert had overtaken it as soon as it was completed. This didn’t make sense, but the legionnaire knew that now wasn’t the time to think about that.

Laurel needed him.

And with that thought he bounded across the crumbling walls and aqueducts towards the central building where he had watched her being dragged. Above the stealthy Legionnaire a crystal globe no bigger than a child’s heart gracefully dove down towards him.

The Science Police and UP Council were not entirely convinced but didn’t know what else to do.

The five Dark Circle supporting Legionnaires from alternate realities had been transported in individual ships under heavy guard to the planetoid in the Oort cloud where they had first arrived in this reality. Despite the high tech restraints and assurances from the Legion about the safety of the operation there was a palpable tension in the air. The five beings that had caused such problems on Earth were each marched down the winding corridors to the temporal vortex chamber where Harmonia Li, Chameleon Boy, Ultra Boy, Danielle Foccart, Gates and the newly discovered girl called Inferno waited for them. The holo of the man called Henry stood before the vortex; for all the world he looked as calm as a proud Maitre’d awaiting his favourite patrons to take their seats.

A force field corridor created by the asteroid’s AI stood shimmering between the Legionnaires of this reality and the swirling maw of the temporal vortex.

The Dark Circle Chameleon Girl was the first to arrive. Her head was covered in a high tech restraint that had wires extend down her back and along her limbs. Six Science Police walked alongside her with one behind carrying a small hard light control panel.

“We’re keeping her unconscious, I’m controlling her movements.” Shvaughn Erin’s voice was recognizable through her white and navy SP armor.

“Bye bye you fugly saddo!” Inferno waves sarcastically as the Durlan walks into the vortex, her manacles fall to the floor as she vanishes and the temporal rift shrinks back down to the size of a fist in the air.

“No need giving them our technology.” Henry says it almost casually as the SP officer nearest picks up the manacles

Mon El and the academy student Dragonmage follow the Daxamite Legionnaire’s counterpart, who also wore the SP’s limb controlling manacles. Next the alternate Colossal Boy is crossed back to his home reality followed in short order by their Shrinking Violet. As each one walks into the Vortex Sandy Anderson makes a comment. “See ya durj breath!”, “Don’t rush back now Squajj face!”, “Later’s you freaky loser!”.

“By their realities rules we are the criminals, they are doing what they have been trained to do which was exactly as we would if we were summoned by an alternate realities plea for help. And to humiliate one’s opponents after their defeat is a particularly juvenile act Miss Anderson unworthy of a Legionnaire. If you wish to remain with this Legion you must start acting appropriately.” Harmonia levels a flat gaze at Inferno and the young girl stops, puts her hands behind her back and looks at the floor in embarrassment.

Professor Aven and four of his hand-picked staff accompanied the alternate Psyche into the vortex room. His face is stern with concentration making it obvious that this Dark Circle alternate Legionnaire was not unconscious like her comrades and resisted the psionics that were attempting to keep her prodigious abilities in check. After she had stepped through the swirling vortex Professor Aven turned to the Legionnaires and gave a weak smile.

“She was a fierce opponent Legionnaires, her mind was polluted with dark dogma and greed....”

“Professor Aven, you and your staff are welcome to rest here until you are ready to return to your craft.” The old telepath nodded his thanks and the five staff from the Titanian Psi Institute were led away to a nearby room to rest by Chameleon Boy.

“Henry...” Danielle’s voice was small but the holo man from the 75th Century appeared at her side and gently inquired what she wanted.

“Why did we need to bring them here? You can go where ever you like can’t you?”

“Ha, well... yes I can Danielle but it is taxing and leaves me weak against any....”

The deputy leader interrupted, ”Could you return all of the Starburst Bandits to their correct reality and places in history?”

“Harmonia, my apologies but the risks are just too huge, it may leave me unprotected against outside forces.”

“So maybe if you transported a thousand at a time? Otherwise we’ll be shipping them out of here for the next three months.”

“I could though you must understand it can alert others of my presence. There are realities where we would be seen as an easy target and until the Time Institute has the beacon in order it is difficult to navigate my way through these otherworlds.”

“That’s a risk we need to take I think. We’ll make sure the portals you raise are protected so if you could arrange that I’ll contact Chief Cusimano and start transferring the prisoners this afternoon.”

The holo looked distinctly vexed as he gave a grudging nod to the Legion’s deputy leader.

General Zod wore armor made of a smoky dark crystal that, were it not for the rough hewn representation of his face upon the front of the head, would have made him look like an insect of scary proportions. Laurel knew from her extensive history lessons these were the armors that the Kryptonian Army wore into battle when they fought in lethal environments.

The things that puzzled her though were why the Kryptonians had chosen to climb into them and what they were so scared of that the three ruthless beings before her now chose to wear them. Her psychometric abilities had shown her that for almost the last year they had not left their protective crystal cocoons. Something else else was most definitely wrong here!

“You were not alone coming here little girl. Why did you try to fool us?”

Before them a holo erupted into the air showing Brin Londo unconscious and wrapped in crystal strands that bit dangerously into his flesh.

“Didn’t you think we would protect our territory?” Non’s deep voice carried his disgust. Laurel knew she had to do something quickly to distract them or the situation would quickly escalate but before she could act Ursa grabbed her by the hair and flung her rudely onto the granite floor before the Kryptonian general.

“Your comrade is one of the damned Legionnaires. We know of their disgusting team...”

“You are correct, he is. I’m not and you have to help me... please....” tears burst from her eyes as Laurel started to cry, “...you are my only hope.”

hey y'all, apologies for the delay between posts but those pesky real life things kept interrupting. Anyway, theres five posts above to hopefully keep you going until the next lot.

Yay, more Legion Worlds!

Laurel and Brin continue to be an awesome pair and I'm really enjoying the juxtaposition between those two and Brainy & Kara

I like how you're paying homage to Kara's very important role in Crisis. I agree that her "death" would have been a very important galvanizing point for the 20th century heroes, and I love how you used her "death" to ensure she could - and should, from Brainy's analysis - remain in the 31st century.

The Laurel/Brin plot continues to be very intriguing!

Also like how Henry is sticking around.

Harmonia telling off Inferno, and acting like a good Deputy Leader, is welcome. Inferno must have mellowed down a bit though, as I'm surprised she was cowed by Harmonia so easily.

The crystal threads that wrapped around Timber Wolf kept him suspended upside down underneath the Kryptonian despots floating security device and cut into his shoulders, chest, forehead, arms and legs. Blood oozed from a cut across his chest, dripping down to his chin, it dribbled down to pool in his left eye socket before running down his brow to drip metronome like onto the dry ground below. Brin had quickly learned that he was not strong enough to break the threads and the more he struggled the more they cut into him. He recalled Val teaching him how to centre himself... breathe deep, slow, hold... release.
Breathe deep, slow, hold...release.
Breathe deep, slow, hold... release.

Breathe deep, slow, hold... release.
Using his flight ring to float enough stop his weight from dragging him down and being sliced like over ripe fruit through the crystal strands that held him here Brin tried to hold onto his consciousness. His body needed to heal before he would be anywhere ready to deal with the situation.
Breathe deep, slow, hold... release.

Breathe deep, slow, hold... release.
Through the haze of pain Brin could hear movement below him. Opening his right eye to peer down the Legionnaire was horrified to see the former academy student that had led him here pointing towards the Legion cruiser and signalling for three armored beings to follow as she led the way towards it. Without thinking Brin starts to shout towards Laurel but the crystal threads cut deeply across his chest and face and his concern turns to a fresh wave of crippling pain.

As he slowly regained control of his breathing it struck Brin that maybe this was Laurel’s plan all along. The time displaced young girl was looking for someone of Kryptonian heritage, just not her father. What if she is still the Manhunter and wants to release these thugs as part of her plan? The mists thicken and fade, thicken and fade… Breathe deep, slow, hold... release.

Breathe deep, slow, hold... release.

Is this what passes for time in this damned place that time forgot?

Brin realised he had faded out of consciousness and his focus on the flight ring had slipped as the crystal threads once again started to bite against his skin. He hears voices but they aren’t familiar. Are there more Kryptonians?

“Hey here he is. Candi, I’m going to need your help here doll, he’s tangled up good.”

“Comin’ sweetie…. Oh my, the poor dear, look at that! James, you are holding him in stasis aren’t you? He doesn’t look like he could cope with any more blood loss. Here let me snap those dreadful ties…”

“And I can find time to help this poor soldier when exactly? I mean, he was only under the UP’s finest neural surgeon on Mons Olympus in a better medi-bay than we have, but I’m sure I can do something… just as well I only have thirty six other priories to deal with today….” Querl complained to himself as his hands flew across the hard light screen.

Thom had warned Grava not to talk; their resident Coluan genius loved to moan almost as much as he loved the challenge. Grava smiled at Thom as they walked out of the small medi-bay on the newly christened Legion World. As the door swooped shut she put her arms around him and spun him in the air.

“You are outer-galactic!”

“Yeah, well… umm… can you let go now please… umm… “

“Thomas Kallor… “ Nura’s voice, clear and obviously mocking echoes along the hallway.

Grava let go of Thom and quickly flew into the air towards Nura, inadvertently spraying the corridor behind her with her comet gasses.

“D..D..Dream Girl, wait, oh this is dead star dreadful, I din’t mean anything but your stellaroptic man just went totally like beyond the C-Speed limit for me and…

“Grava, it’s okay, I’m only teasing you…”

“I’m so sorry… so sorry…”

In between coughing Thom Kallor laughed.

“Thom darling, if you have quite finished giving your attention to another woman....” Nura Nal looked through drooping lashes at her partner, the edges of a teasing smile on her lips.

“Oh Dream Girl I’m so sorry....”

“Grava! Stop it, Nura’s only teasing me, honest. Now, if you don’t mind we need to speak... in private.” Thom Kallor's voice was firm.

Comet Queen finally realized that the Naltorian Legionnaire was not serious and as the blush crept into her face she said a quick goodbye and flew down the corridor leaving Star Boy and Dream Girl the peace and quiet they required.

“How did you know we’d be here Nura?” Thom asks with a big smile as he starts hugging his lover.

“Precognition is such a handy talent darling. Now do you want to know what else I foresaw?” The grin she shared was positively electric.

Brin sat in a recovery tank on board the Amazer’s space ship talking to the huge green skinned girl that had snapped the cutting crystal threads that had strung him up like a trapped Swamp-dog. She had introduced herself as Candi, the Monstress, and a member of the Amazer Initiative of Xanthu. Timber Wolf had heard of the program the Xanthui government had started a couple of years ago, Star Boy had given a report at one of the Legion’s meetings he was sure, but he had assumed it had been quietly dropped as they hadn’t heard much since. Guess the Legion wasn’t as aware of other meta-being teams as they thought. Xanthu it seemed had an active group that involved this woman who was at least as strong as Ultra Boy!

“You know Marak don’t you? Atmos? He’s out there...” she waved vaguely towards the mighty craft’s bulkheads, “Bless him, he’s mopping up after your colleague blew up your ship, she’ll be fine though. Very brave of her wasn’t it?”

“What do you mean Candi? I was the only Legionnaire...”

“Laurel Kent... Shield... I think she called herself that. Didn’t you know? She’s upstairs waiting to hear back from your leader. Wait a sec.” The gigantic girl turned and motioned a nearby comm unit into life. “Hey there sweetie, have you heard anything yet?”

“Yeah, hi Candi. Tinya is on her way now with a team, we’ll only be bugging you for another hour or so then we’ll be on our way...”

“It’s our pleasure Laurel. Anyway your colleague is conscious and....”

“Brin! Fabulous! I’ll be right down.” There was a cracking noise and the comm. Unit went dead.

Twenty seconds later Laurel Kent barreled through the med-bay doors and ran up to the recovery tank. Slapping her palms against the glass she eagerly started talking to the recuperating Legionnaire.

“We did it Brin! We beat Zod and his cronies... we did it!” The slender girl looked as if she was verging on hysteria she was so happy.

Wearily, though with a lopsided grin, Brin said “What happened Laurel? You helped them get out of the Zone...”

”You distracted them perfectly and I told them I needed their help escaping from you. They didn’t realise that I could read their history from their armors.” She waved her arms excitedly as she spoke.

“Whoah Laurel, what do you mean?”

“It’s like Henry said, with the Time Beacon off the dimensions are weaker and somehow ours and theirs have started to collapse so Time itself started leaking through. They were aging Brin, for the first time in millennia time was catching up with them so they climbed into their armors before they were reduced to dust. The armors linked to their neural pathways but as their bodies faded their personalities took over the circuitry. That was all that was left of them and I read it when I touched them Brin! I knew that there was only an old Brown Dwarf on the other side of the dimensional rifts so they wouldn’t be able to charge up and all I need to do was incapacitate them so I blew up the ship and sent a distress call.” Laurel had said this in one breath, her eagerness to share her excitement was, Brin thought, very endearing.

“You couldn’t have simply locked them in the cargo bay?” He gave her a teasing smile.

“Well... Kryptonian Battle Armor is really tough you know, they could burst out easily... But without yellow star radiation they would never get anywhere in space so I hit the auto destruct and ran for an escape pod. The Amazers were already looking for us....”

“That nice Coluan called and asked if we could.” The Monstress’ rich voice interjected.

“But...Laurel what about your father?”

“Yeah... He.. I reckon was never there Brin, the warp didn't open until about 9 months ago so I’ll just have keep looking I guess.” The academy student looked suddenly deflated after her earlier elation.

“We, Laurel, we will keep looking for him. I told you, Legionnaires look after their own.”

Saskia Montague-Brunlry-Frogeside joined Dirk into the small sub- lab on the underground level.

Dirk pushed his flight ring from his finger and tossed it casually towards a large silver disc that rotated slowly above a bank of instruments. The ring floated gently a few centimetres from the centre of the disc and a string of flashing pulses were exchanged between the two.

“Watch the holo Saskia, you’ll understand my skepticism about your claims... not that my father was one of your operatives but that he died because of it.”

“Oh, okay Dirk, though I’m not sure what...”

“Brainy has built a scanning function into the rings. It can help us with evidence if we ever get called to court, saves time y’know.” Dirk smiles quickly though Saskia can see his eyes are still full of anger and grief.

“We don’t need to do this Dirk, if you like...”

“Watch.”

A holo rose before them of the apartment where Derek Margna’s body had been found. Saskia was momentarily alarmed as she realized it was unlikely she would ever go back there. Without Derek waiting for her there was no need to. The holo ran through a range of colours and perspectives before finally freezing on one aspect. It showed a pane of glass in one of the huge windows that overlooked the park below.

“So, a multi-spectra scanning range. Very sophisticated but what does this prove Dirk?”

“Look at this pattern here.” Dirk pointed to a squiggly line that as it came into focus she could see became almost an outline of a hand. “You know what this is? It’s microscopic deposits of irradiated gold.”

“What does this have to do with Derek... your father?”

“Well, certain enemies use distinctive technologies and Brainy had the rings scanners look for them in amongst all of the other tricks it does and there’s one person who uses this technology that we know. This is his way of telling me he was there. My father’s spying for your organization wasn't at all responsible for his death, I believe he was killed by Zaxton Regulus. I think it’s time I dealt with the sadistic bastard once and for all”

Raz and IB, thanks again for your support. It's been a long time coming but the end of this section is in sight now so I hope you are still reading and enjoying this.

Dr Regulus! I love Dr Regulus! I dunno why because he's not really on the same level as the Fatal Five or Lightning Lord, but I have always really liked him anyway....even though "bad dude involved in hero's origin becomes his nemesis" is as old as the hills, it's actually pretty rare for the Legion. With so many Legionnaires coming from worlds where everyone shares their power, a lot of them don't really have origins as such or a real sense of history prior to joining the team. I think the Dirk/Regulus rivalry is something that should come up as often as Mekt and Garth/Ayla does

Brilliant of you to have Laurel/Shield playing Zod and company for fools! Also love how you have Brin a heroic scene by having him struggle to remain conscious.

Loved Monstress' appearance

The Nura/Thom dynamic is brilliant, and so is your handle on Comet Queen.

And am loving the Dirk plotline too.

Ooh, fun to see a hint of Regulus appearing! I feel bad for killing him off in my own fic recently, without giving him a real chance to shine or getting into his characterization.

Phantom Girl, leading her team of Polar Boy, Gazelle, Shadow Lass and Deathstorm, arrived thirty five minutes later.

There were introductions from both sides. The gentle giant called Monstress was the most star struck by the Legionnaires and interested in the two Khund members. Atmos and Kid Quantum were, Laurel thought, playing it far too cool for school and consequently came across as aloof and shallow. Gazelle and Shadow Lass asked Monstress for a tour of the Xanthui team’s craft while Phantom Girl and Deathstorm followed behind Atmos and Kid Quantum as they led her to Timber Wolf.

Polar Boy casually leant upon a viewing deck, apparently admiring the view of this warped and strange part of space on the very fringes of the galaxy. It was obvious that he wanted to say something. Laurel remained silent, uninterested in what he might say, he thoughts were a jumbled knot of excitement at having survived and incapacitated General Zod and his psychotic followers, and confusion and fear at where her father might be. The former Substitute Legionnaire simply wasn’t that high up on her agenda of issues to deal with right now. Brek Brannin and Laurel Kent had once helped out Cosmic Boy and initially Brek’s positivity had seemed endearing though by the end their little adventure he had annoyed Laurel with his constant references to her costume and heritage. To make matters even more unpleasant, at the end of the day he had attempted to persuade her to join him back to the Sub’s headquarters in Metropolis for the night. Laurel had handed him with her usual tact and after she had finished belly laughing at the short man she found he had left before she could actually say ‘no’. They hadn’t seen each other after that point. She had seen a different side to him that day, the pathological positive side he usual wore had slipped into something that spoke of an unearned right of privilege. She realized then that the determination that had kept the short man from the far edges of civilised space so focused while running the Substitute team ran deeper than the happy to help façade he wore.

“so… you really did it Laurel, eh?”

“Sorry Brek, what?”

“You did it this time eh?”

There was something in his tone that Laurel found worrying, as if he was accusing her of serious misconduct.

“What exactly have I done this time?”

“Blowing up a cruiser, that’s not too clever eh? Expensive things cruisers, there’ll be an investigation for certain now…” His hands were on his hips and he looked at her as if she was something unpleasant to be found on the sole of his boots.

“Listen Polar Boy, I didn’t want to sleep with you while I was at the academy back in the day and d’you know what… I still don’t fancy you so wind your neck in already. Anyway, Brin is twice the man you are… if you know what I mean.” She held her hands apart as if showing the size of an invisible object. Her eyebrows raised mischievously as she pulled her palms further apart.

“Hey just saying sometimes you may need a friend is all…. That’s something you might…. Hey! Brin how are you buddy?”

The Tharrian was facing the corridor as Timber Wolf and the rest of the assembled heroes strode back to join them.

“Not bad buddy, though if it wasn’t for this clever girl’s quick thinking I don’t think I’d be here now.” The Zuunian Legionnaire strode up to Laurel Kent and hugged her tightly.

“You can do this Henry, I’ve asked the AI to pour more power into your matrix.”

Danielle Foccart was standing beside the holo of the man from the future within the central cavern that housed the mushroom shaped console that directed the trans-dimensional warp. The flight ring that Brainiac 5 had insisted she wore bleeped and the Coluan’s voice rang out.

“Henry, if you are ready we have almost four thousand Starburst Bandits waiting to go back where they originated from.”

“Danielle, I really hope you are right as I’ve never tried anything on this scale before….” With that the holo disappeared and the young girl stood in welcome silence.

Outside of the Planetoid within the inner Oort Cloud sixty Science Police and Star Fleet cruiser and prisoner transport ships formed a crescent. Floating in space before them stood Harmonia Li, Ultra Boy, Chameleon Boy, Invisible Kid, Brainiac 5, Lightning Lass, Mon El and Shrinking Violet with the academy students M’Windaji, Otaki and Dragonmage. The eco-protect function on their flight rings kept them safe as a thousand meters before them a warp in the fabric of space opened in a sickening swirling of obscene colours.

From within the largest of the nearby vessels force fields extended out between the cargo doors and the widening rift and out poured hundreds of the recently captured Bandits from the Dark Circle controlled reality. The force field pushed at them as they struggled, firing off their name sake solar charges uselessly.

“The upgrades I gave your science crew work well I see Gim. Your force fields are holding very well.” Brainiac 5 spoke into his flight ring to the former Legionnaire Gim Allon, currently serving on board a Star Fleet ship not three kilometres from him.

“They look great Brainy, the tech’s said they had never seen such an efficient system before.”

“Simple Coluan intra-spacial pizoelectric circuitry coupled with a Strange Loop Redemption Filter and a Titanian Do-matrix . Basic stuff really.”

As they spoke the first mass of Bandits fell through the rift and were gone. The Rift vanished almiost immediately and the holo known as Henry popped up before the Legionnaires.

“Actually, that wasn’t too bad. Who’s next?”

Over the next forty five minutes special warps spun into existence before almost forty of the cruisers and transport vessels and masses of the Starburst Bandits and their fiery steeds were flung back to their home dimensions. With only a third of the ships left to disgorge their captured cargo Henry announced that he had a problem, “Someone is pushing back through.”

The Legionnaires, after being very casual suddenly sprung into action, joined by their former member Gim Allon, to guard the next warp as it was carefully opened. Despite Henry’s fears they had nothing to worry about as the Starburst Bandits were yet again pushed through the space warp. After eight more warps had been opened, Henry had given a warning that he felt something coming yet nothing arrived and hundreds of their opponents had been sent home the Legionnaires once again began to look casual, their eager battle positions were less tense and they were once again chatting amongst themselves when suddenly the warp pulsed with an ugly violet light and a body tore through and blasted into their space. Henry yelled as if he had been struck.

Ultra Boy and Mon El were the first to confront their intruder.

Before them floated a curled up body of a man in a metallic costume that looked at best only half conscious.

“Andy? Oh Dragon’s teeth it’s Andrew Nolan!” Ultra Boy swooped in to cradle the body of the former teammate whom they all believed had given his life to stop the Sun Eater many years before.

“No… not… Andy,” came a soft and battered sounded voice from the figure, “Douglas….am I home….?”

“Nura, are you sure?”

“Thom... of course I’m sure, you don’t think I’d make this up do you?”

There were tears in both Legionnaire’s eyes as they looked across the table at each other. They sat in a secluded booth at one of Londonopolis’ premier restaurants overlooking the surprisingly clean looking Thames. It cheerfully scattered light in every direction off its wind tussled ripples as it had on sunny days for millennia before. Thom Kallor didn’t notice. The Legionnaire from Xanthu felt his perception close down around the beautiful woman who sat opposite. The beautiful woman opposite that had held his heart in the palm of her hand for the last ten years.

The beautiful woman that had just told him about her precognitive dream regarding the end of their lives as they knew it.

“So when do we actually leave Nura?”

“We’ll tell them at the try outs Thom. A week and then they will all know what I’ve just told you.”

“Do we need to say everything?” He knew the answer but already he could hear the comments when Nura made her announcement.

“They deserve the truth, anyway aren’t you excited even a little bit at least Thom? We will be leaving for the best of reasons. You always said you wanted to be a father.”

“That’s true. I’d love to be a dad, it’s just I always thought that when you decided to become a mother you'd be pregnant with my child.”

Creepy Polar Boy is creepy!

Intrigued about Thom and Nura! And still digging Laurel Kent's characterisation a lot!

Agree, Polar Boy is being very creepy! But it's an interesting take on him, and one that's not unfounded.

Whoa, I guessed almost immediately that Nura was pregnant, but not that Thom WASN'T the father! Yikes! I wonder who?

And Douglas Nolan, wow!

Re Polar Boy, it's actually a very interesting way to gel skirt chaser Brek of recent days with overachiever classic Brek....nice one Harbinger!

Three days later Dirk had initially joined them but very quickly had been surrounded by a bevy of young beauties and had retired to one of the private nooks for the night. None of the Legionnaires that had joined him on this night out were too surprised, Dirk’s appetites were well known.

Brek had attached himself to Hadru after that and the two young men spoke about what it must be like to be that popular with a little bit of wishful thinking and a sprinkling of outright jealousy. As the drinks flowed they admitted to each other that they expected to get a bit more action, in the non-combat sense, than they actually had since joining the Legion. With Hadru’s abilities to lessen the effects of the alcohol they consumed they ended up in a drinking competition that drew them a lot of attention and, consequently both drank far more than they normally would in such a public place. Purely by extension of their heavy drinking they dissuaded a lot of potential company that evening. Neither cared as they discovered an unexpected friendship with someone who could understand why they found it so damn difficult find love and be a Legionnaire. They swapped tall stories of their lives prior to being on the team and opinions on a wide range of subjects from animal husbandry through to inter-galactic politics, and gossip about their team mates and allies, until they both eventually succumbed to the effects of having drank enough to knock out ten men and were escorted into a premier sleep deck for the rest of the night. While both became close friends after that neither ever spoke about waking up in bed together several hours later.

After over an hour of trying to keep up with her dancing Jo had convinced Tinya that the gang could look after themselves and they followed Dirk’s lead and booked a private nook where the two of them could be undisturbed until dawn.

Salu watched as Ayla danced effortlessly alongside the professional entertainment. Her woman had the moves! Shrinking Violet had had enjoyed two drinks then switched to non-stims and drank filtered water. As soon as Lightning Lass returned to the table Vi intended to follow Dirk, Tinya and Jo’s example and drag her gorgeous lover into a secluded lover’s nook for the night. If she ever stopped dancing that was. Vi smiled as she watched the single most beautiful person she had ever had the pleasure of meeting dance without a care in the world up on a stage alongside half a dozen professional dancers. She smiled broadly.

Tasmia Mallor and J’izl are unsure what to do. Neither came from a culture where dancing was something one who wanted to be thought of as sane would consider and the alcoholic drinks on offer didn’t really affect their alien systems in a similar way to humans. J’izl was upset to learn that the club didn’t sell synthi-whiskey – one of the few Terran alcoholic beverages that affect Khunds as it is seen as far too common for such a prestigious place. Tasmia sipped slowly on her pineapple juice, the nearest thing on this world that tasted like the luxurious drink known as Stret mo Hom on Talok viii. Initially Tinya had bought her a dark rum and coconut juice without thinking but the Tasmia before her did not have he ten years of memories and associations to find that drink palatable. Tinya had been embarrassed when her friend had spat out the first sip and exclaimed she would never imagine finding that drink bearable. Tactfully Tinya pretended that she had meant it for Ayla but both knew that in her life before the recent robbing of her memories Tasmia Mallor had grown to love that beverage.

Several hours later and only Shady and Gazelle were sitting on a plush couch overlooking the expansive dance floor when Gazelle casually announced that human men just didn’t interest her as they only have one.

“One what?” asks Shady

“Well Khund males have one for spare…. Y’know… in case during the throes of passion a woman accidentally breaks one off.”

Hysteria ensued.

And that's the end of that section - coming up a brief interlude on Winath aswe check out two of the founders, then it's all change at the Try-Outs.

Raz and IB, thank you for your continuous support, it is really appreciated! Polar Boy always struck me as a bit too over eager and I wanted to look in on the less shiny side of his character, glad you both thought it wasn't too leftfield.

I have been reading both of your fab stories too - normally on my phone on the bus (as well as Sean's excellent Camelot) as it's the only time i seem to get to myself lately and one of these nights I'll have more than an hour free so I can immerse myself in them properly and give you decent feedback - the joys of being self employed is I have to take the work when it's here and right now things are manic (not that I'm complaining really).

Thanks again guys, you keep me going.

After the notion was introduced that old rejects like Absorbancy Boy, Radiation Roy, Spider-Girl, Tusker, etc. might have been rejected because Saturn Girl detected something off about them, the notion that this might extend to other rejects, like Polar Boy, Night Girl, Fire Lad, Chlorophyll Kid, etc. would logically follow.

And so a less flattering look at Polar Boy isn't entirely out of bounds. Then again, his original portrayal wasn't always flattering, with him getting in an argument with Saturn Girl (who wrote it!) over what the Legion Constitution meant during Brainy's trial.

Poor Brek. He might not have the temperament for this super-hero business!

Polar Boy and Chemical Kid as good friends is inspired, and I agree they do have something in common. I can remember some issues in the Levitz run where Brek was a bit hard on his fellow Subs, feeling they were holding him back and all. So yes, your portrayal of Brek is definitely not out of left field! I think it's a good idea to have them as just good friends, while maybe leaving the door open for some teasing. They make good bedfellows, pardon the pun, as both have that immature-and-entitled attitude.

Glad to see Vi/Ayla and Tinya/Jo going strong!

Also glad to see your portrayal of the Tinya/Tasmia friendship. It's very realistic and I love seeing this side of Tinya highlighted. She's a very astute, caring and sensitive woman.

Yeah, Brek and Hadru as bedfellows - ha - that wasn't really what I had intended but it was amusing to write. There is, as you say IB a shared immature and entitled attitude, and while I like Hadru I've had to really think about Polar Boy as he's never been a favourite. Hopefully I'll redeem his character flaws soon as I don't necessarily see him as a bad person, just a bit of a glory hunting idiot.

Set, I agree that the subs were probably refused membership on more than just their poor abilities, but people mature (hopefully anyway!) so never say never when it comes to their chances of moving up a league.

Thanks guys, hopefully have more for you soon as I started the interlude before Xmas so it will hopefully be ready within the next few days. After that I plan to have the try outs and it all changes after that, whoo hoo!

Oh, I can't wait for those tryouts! Would be great to see a new lineup after that which includes all active members, I'm sure some will leave and many more will join!

Autumn had come and she had watched the great rolling plains have their acres of golden crop be rolled up in anticipation for winter.

She rather liked the traditions here on Winath. Fall being called Autumn, like an Old earth European might say, being one of them.

The harvest had been collected by the huge industrial machines that covered acres with their swinging rotating arms and batched up and airlifted out their precious golden cargo to the nearest Trans-spatial Port in Aranda City. Now was the time for the hard working farm hands to celebrate as the Ranzz Lightning Ring estate took the traditional ten day Solstice break, not that there still wasn't work to be done. Imra Ranzz sat at a comms desk awkwardly, her pregnant belly pushing against its edges as she stretched over to rummage through the previously immaculately filed paperwork. She took a deep breath, stretched her arms above her shoulders and counted to ten. None of it helped, she was frustrated that the invoice from the Ventura Dazzleback Hotel was missing, her back pinged in protest every time she bent forward and Garth was getting all the fun this evening putting the boys to bed while she looked at the accounts.

Standing up gave her back another excuse to fire one of its annoying nips at her. As excited as she had been to find out she was pregnant again Imra knew that her slight frame, toned though it was through far too many hours to count in gyms and labouring on their farm, did not really enjoy carrying twins. Still, two months ago when she first heard the developing small minds of the delicate girls she carried within her reach out she had forgiven Nature the unfairness of only giving women the option of carrying children. Her babies had inherited her telepathic gift. Even now, two months before her due date she could hear them silently within her statuesque mind cooing gently to themselves. Her mother had told her many years ago that all the pain and difficulty that pregnancy involved was swept away after the first time your babies mind reached out. That was a bond that would never be forgotten. Imra had not had that feeling with the boys and worried that the Titanian TP gene may never be carried to any of her children.

Garth could put the boys to bed all he liked but for all that he was the most honest and open minded person she had ever met he would never share the raw intimacy and love that she had right now with the girls.

"Dad! Dad! Framuku Norbreus said her gran' mother said that our family have always been freaks!"

"Yeah, so Garridan told her her gran' mother has a beard!"
“She does! I swear Dad, she has!”


"Boys! Settle down now. Bed!"


"But Da-a-a-ad she does have a beard!" the joint chorus of protestation as the two five year olds fell back into their beds. Neither wanting to do what they had been asked but both doing it anyway.

In a quieter, sulkier tone they asked "Dad, why did she say that?", "Yeah, what did she mean?"

"Okay boys, let me tell you a little about our family. You see the Ranzz family have been farmers here for three centuries and in that time all sorts of legends and stories build up."

The two boys settled back under their plump duvets as their father sat in the tall chair by the door to their room. Garth Ranzz dimmed their bedside lights with a wave of his hand.

"Now if you both close your eyes you'll hear this better." Imra had taught him that trick, she was much better at finding ways to get the boys to sleep quietly. Possibly because she was stricter, he acknowledged to himself.

"Let me tell you the story of your great, great grandfather, Eugenus Ranzz, the man who saved the Great Harvest of 2899.....Winath back then was still called Aranda after the great continent we live on. As it's the biggest and most fertile place on this planet it's always attracted attention. Anyway Eugenus was a solo...."

"Like uncle Mekt!" An excited yelp.

"...sssh, yes, like Mekt. Our family have had solo's since the start, it's no real biggie really. So, anyway Eugenus was a local pilot. Back in those days they didn't yet have the Sat command system we do now and local shuttles needed real people to fly them all the time. A specialist pilot like Eugenus could command a hefty wage."

"Was he rich?"

"Did he own a palace?"

"I'll get to that, hold on. Eugenus was renowned to be a bit of a daredevil, pulling stunts and showing off whenever the mood took him...."

"Like aunt Ayla?"

Garth smiled, the boys understanding of what his twin was like was as much a product of the local News broadcasts that had a tendency to show Legionnaires in the most outrageous light as it was of their own experience. "Yeah, kind of like Ayla, maybe more so...."

"Whoah!"

"Cool!"

"He was definitely cool. So let me tell you what made him so famous....."

The year was 2899.

The previous year’s harvest had shown signs of the virus in the crop though only in areas where there was close proximity to standing water. The crops in these areas was stunted and mottled, deemed unfit for human consumption the planetary customs meant it was not allowed off world and instead the fields affected were burned to ash. The Aranda Planetary Science Bureau had issued a warning to all land owners about the risk and so that fallow season had been full of farmers filling in the stale ponds and gulley’s that could potentially contain the risk to their livelihood. Areas where the virus had already struck were blitzed once again in the hope that it would be eradicated before it could infect more of the precious food stuffs that the Arandese so prided themselves in. Many tests were carried out and all results showed no sign of it so, after much public discussion, a wave of relief was felt ripple its way through the population.

That was last year. This year the virus had returned and spread. Fully a quarter of all crops were infected and this time there seemed to be no rhyme or reason to where it struck. In the cooler northern Steppes it decimated the mighty wheat prairies. In the southern plains thousands of hectares of soft delicious fruits were turned to rot. In the temperate mid-lands their economy faltered on collapse as the entire yield was deemed unusable.

This time the Science Bureau did not waste time declaring a crisis!

Eugenus Ranzz was flying 21 of the 26 hours in a local day. Crop spraying had suddenly become big business and, where once he would have thumbed his nose at such low level work, the recent crisis meant his own views of land lovers were forgotten as the Great Crop Death, as the media dramatically called it, was dealt with.

Eugenus' reputation meant that he was in high demand, particularly by the scientific community. Day after day scientist from a variety of institutes and research organizations would wait for their allotted time with him as he took them to the areas they needed to visit, document, examine and spray. It was traditionally the third day of the Harvest Festival but no-one was partying. Although he would not know it until it was far too late the third customer of the day would change Eugenus' life and those of his descendants forever.

The Naltorian Seer approached the young pilot with a smile. This was not the first offworlder Eugenus had dealt with in the last few weeks, but she was definitely the most curvaceous. Maybe a little bit older than his usual conquests but definitely worth a punt was his immediate thought.

"Before you ask Mr Ranzz, this is business only. Okay? Are we clear?" Her smile and direct eye contact made it perfectly clear she understood what was on his mind and was not about to entertain it.

Busted!

The Seer, Ollamay Muir, had a galaxy wide reputation for her insight and was respected universally for her scientific knowledge of plant DNA. Her very pleasant demeanor made her particularly appreciated as a speaker at events and universities throughout the northern arm of the Milky Way. As a result she had a network of supporters and a contact list than ran from hard core scientists on Colu to the spiritually enlightened on Trom. She hoped that by involving her contacts they could solve this problem in quick time. She hadn't shared with anyone the vision she had been seeing for almost three weeks now that seemed to imply their success though those that knew her were fully aware that she would not get involved with a situation if there was any chance of failure. One did not get to the top of one's field by randomly picking ones workload. A reputation like hers was something that took years to establish and was jealously guarded and protected.

The week before it had been proven beyond doubt that the virus had been artificially induced, grown somewhere on this world by someone with an obvious grudge against the farming community. While the small local science Police examined every avenue of inquiry on this front the reward that had been posted for information leading to the capture of whoever was responsible had resulted in thousands of tips being passed to local police and several lynching’s as small farming communities decided they couldn't wait for established law enforcement officers to act.

The Science Bureau were working on inducing crops resistant to the plague, though even with advanced genetic manipulation skills it was doubted these crops could be in place before the summer after next.

Ollamay Muir wanted a fresh sample of a diseased plant and a look at several regions where the plague seemed to have struck especially hard. Eugenus named his price, they agreed and set out on what would be a fateful journey.

Eugenus flew his curvaceous client to see the rotting crops - she examines them – her immaculate clothing opened out to reveal a make shift chemistry lab. Professor Muir took samples from each of the twelve locations they visit that afternoon before asking to be taken back to Aranda City. Eugenus is disappointed that for all of his rustic charm and farm built muscles she only talks about her work, in the broadest terms, on their twenty minute return flight, though before vanishing into the busy landing port she books him for the next day.

Early the next day she appears with a thuggish looking assistant carrying a large canister. Eugenus is only half listening to what she says, his eyes are caught by her low cut top and her need to arch her back slowly like a cat stretching as she talks. The contents of the canister need to be dispersed within a thunder storm as the electrics will settle the catalytic reaction ... or some such - he needs to fly into a heart of a storm... Yeah, of course he can do that.

Probably anyway.

Eugenus gives her his most flirtatious smile as he replies. Yeah, of course!

She leaves him to get on with it leaving behind the memory of a brief smile and a loose promise to discuss matters after he’s finished - he is slightly miffed as he wanted to see more of her on a less formal kind of arrangement.... still, paid work to get on with was never something to be sniff at, he thought.

Weather sats had tracked a large storm over the Near-side Seas that was due for landfall along the Western Plains that evening, part of a potential super cell that everyone feared may develop into a hurricane or two. Eugenus flies his tiny craft into the magnificent thunder storm, and with the adrenaline pumping through his veins his gloved hands opened the valve incorrectly and he gets a face full of the strange compound he had been charged with dispersing, his eyes streaming he manages to open the airlock on the shuttle but gets blown towards the door as the canister gets sucked right out...

"Have you ever heard thunder boom from within the heart of an enormous storm cloud itself?"

Both boys looked terrified as they pulled their duvets around their faces and shook their heads!

"Eugenus was deafened as the super cell's thunder roared and crashed around his small shuttle. The lightning flashed blinding his already streaming eyes and the winds spun the small vehicle around throwing him off balance towards the gaping open cargo bay..."

"What did he do?" the boys both excitedly ask together.

"He was a Ranzz, what d' you think he did?" Garth smiles coyly as he asks.

"He called the Police!", "He called the Legion!"

"Come on boys, what do you think he really did?" Their father's quiet and sensible tone calms them down a little before they replied, "We don't know, tell us Daddy!"

"He lost grip of the cargo netting that he had been holding onto and was sucked out into the storm after the leaking canister Professor Ollamay Muir had given him...."

"No way!"
"Oh no!"

Harbi, I'm really enjoying this tale about Garth's great-grandfather. I hope you post the rest of it soon.

I also wanted to say that I regard you as an inspiration to me. Your work makes me want to be more prolific and more self-disciplined. It's too early to tell, but I think I've finally got the hang of it. Time will tell.

But, either way, I thank you.

I agree! The Ranzz bedtime story is awesome, I can see it being illustrated like a children's book as I'm reading it!

I love all the downtime characterisation stuff you do with everyone, I smiled when Vi was thinking about Ayla and actually laughed out loud at Gazelle's conversation about the dangers of Khundian sexytimes...and Polar Boy/Chemical Kid are an inspired friendship!

It's always really fun seeing connections between characters that make perfect sense though I'd have never thought of it myself

As was standard for all pilots of the time Eugenus’ outfit had a one shot anti-grav ‘chute sewn throughout the lining that sensed when the wearer was in difficulty and produced a Sanctuary Bubble. It Had been his father’s. The threads were worn and the holding strap for the battery had been replaced twice since it had been bought but still Eugenus hoped it would still carry enough of a chemical charge to save his life. A very basic anti-grav shield burst from his clothing and was programmed to safely float him to the ground.

The bubble expanded until it was four feet from its central point creating an air tight shield, which was fine and dandy only Eugenus was covered with the strange pink compound that Professor Muir had given him to seed the great super cell storm with. As the thunder boomed like the angry roars of the very sky gods around him lightning bolts as wide as airships scorched the air just outside the protective bubble, blinding Eugenus as he choked and coughed on the powder that was supposed to be in the storm being catalyzing into a cure for the ugly crop plague that had afflicted his world. Eugenus was battered through the sky and spun and slammed until he was virtually unconscious, thrown life a twig in tsunami onto a hill side where he lay for almost a full 26 hour Winathian day before he was found and rushed to Aranda Medicus.

The compound had been catalyzed as the Naltorian professor had predicted and spread far and wide by the awesome air currents of the super cell as it tore its way across the plains. Within weeks the effects could be seen as the previously unhealthy crops started to grow again. Eugenus met another singleton, Marana Freyasdotter, who was a staff nurse at the hospital and they married soon after. Their two girls, Ayla... (“Like Aunt Ayla?” “Cool! Was she a hero too?”muttered responses from two very sleepy looking young boys)...and Amalie went onto to have successful careers as pilots too.

“And that was how a Ranzz singleton saved the fortune of Winath back in the old days. So if ever Framuku Norbreus’ Gran’ mother says anything you’ll know better.”

Neither of the boys replied though both were smiling as they drifted into their dreams.

“You’re much better at telling bed time stories than I am Garth.” Imra handed her husband a warm bulb of nada-stim night caff as he walked into their homely kitchen. The lights were dimmed and through the expansive skylight above Garth could see the nebulae and stars that had fascinating him so much as a child.

“You’re better at getting them to sleep quickly.” Imra laughed quietly to herself at Garth’s reply. There was no doubting that she could be the stricter of the two when it came to the children’s sleeping routine, not that she minded her husband’s laid back approach. In fact, at times she was envious of it knowing it meant spending a little bit more quality time with their two boys.

“You didn’t finish the story though Garth, the boys are clever enough to know that life doesn’t always hand out a happy ending you know...”

“I know darlin’ it’s just... well... they shouldn’t go to sleep with those thoughts in their minds... let them have sweet dreams.”

Imra laughed again and ruffled her husband’s hair with her hands, “You are such a considerate soul Garth Ranzz. I’m so blessed to be your wife, d’you know that?” Her glorious smile sweeps across her face.

The object of her affection didn’t speak a reply instead he placed his caff bulb on a nearby table and reached out to put his strong arms around his wife’s frame and planted a surprisingly gentle kiss on her lips.

Eugenus Ranzz’s daredevil flying had released the compound that saved the crops of Winath, that much was true.

What Garth had not told his boys was that as a result of the inhalation of the compound amid the super cell Eugenus’ DNA had been compromised. It was noted afterwards that he seemed to know when and where lightning would strike after that every time there was a storm. He also sadly died within a standard year.
While in the hospital minute traces of the compound were found within his lungs that had not been affected by the blitzkrieg that had battered his anti-grave bubble. From these the exact chemical compounds used to cure the deadly crop plague were found to contain sections of an artificial retro-phage. It was quite quickly established that this had been the original source of the scourge that had nearly wiped out Winath’s agriculture.

The Science Police examined footage from the Arandese spaceport going back several years to prove that Professor Ollamay Muir had visited their world a couple of months prior to the first reported outbreaks. During her earlier visit she was not dressed in such an eye catching manner, though was recognizable in the security footage none the less her passport did not give the same name or home planet. The case was brought against her before she could leave the planet.

It appeared that the galaxy famous professor had been a naughty girl and it was only Eugenus’ clumsiness when he had attempted to release the compound in the storm that had given the Science Police the initial clue to blow her whole scam apart. At her trial she was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment and a restricted passport thereafter, not that Eugenus cared as he had been dead for a year by the time sentencing was meted.

Garth and Ayla had often discussed if it was the strange compound created by the rogue Naltorian professor that corrupted their great great grandfather’s DNA that somehow had passed down some electrically sympathetic mutation through the generations to them and had been the reason they had survived their terrifying encounter with the fearsome Lightning Beasts of Korbal all those years ago.

Maybe it was something for Garth to discuss with Querl next time they met, but right now the former Legionnaire known as Lightning Lad had far more pressing matters to deal with: cuddling his beautiful and seven month pregnant wife was by far the most important thing on his mind.

And Garth hoped that would remain the same for many many years to come.

Hey there FL and Raz, thank you very much for your very kind words - I say it every time and every time it's true, they are greatly appreciated especially as I find both your stories far more exciting than my rather slow paced character pieces and wish I could get my action scenes to flow as well as both of you seem to manage so easily. The old adage about grass always being greener and all that is true even in fan-fics :)Thanks you two.

Next up things take a rather dramatic turn as we hold a try out and things will definitely never be the same for our favourite fictional future friends again.

Brin was speaking to the holo of Quislet. The extra dimensional Legionnaire was explaining his part in the defeat of the Llorn on Weber’s World where he was currently based. Brin had read the report but didn’t interrupt to tell him that there were wild differences between the official Legion report and the version he was being told as Quislet was, for all his bluster, a very engaging story teller.

Brek listened on as Dirk spoke to Thom, who was sat next to Nura. She was sonic filing her nails in a rather dramatic fashion. Her back was arched, fingers splayed in front of her and waving gently. She released satisfied sounding “oohs” and “aahs” as each nail was completed by the small levitating beauti-bot that were just loud enough for everyone sat around the curved desk to hear, although she remained focussed on her nails and was apparently unaware that anyone else was present. Invisible Kid, Tyroc, Chameleon Boy and Chameleon Girl, Gates, Glorith and Tellus sat towards the ends of the great desk.

Directly opposite from them Wildfire, Dawnstar, Ayla, Vi and Tasmia were examining the screens of applicants, discussing which they thought showed the most potential. Hadru and a holo of Marya Pai were exchanging news while Deathstorm and Gazelle were listening to Comet Queen as she recounted stories from her year in the Legion. Neither Khund really understood her completely but both waited patiently, hoping the other would mention it first. A holo of Rokk Krinn and Lydda Jath, still seconded to the Khund Battle Brigade were next to them. At their side sat Jo Nah. He drummed his fingers impatiently and glanced nervously towards the door at the back of the hall.

Phantom Girl, Brainiac 5, Harmonia Li, Element Lad, Duplicate Damsel and Mon El strode through the door. None looked exactly excited or happy. After they had taken their seats and Tinya had given Jo an impulsive peck on the cheek she remained stood behind the central chair and addressed them.

“With the return of our Lost friends...” several people cheered and Wildfire stood up and took an impromptu bow generating many laughs, “... yes, thank you Drake. As you know we are, finally quorate again. Terran tax laws mean we are at the maximum numbers of members we can have in active duty before we begin to pay for the privilege of being here. Actually, with Deathstorm and Gazelle being here we should be paying it already.”

Several people muttered and Polar Boy said quite clearly “They should pay us... cheapskates!”

“Hey to save on taxes we can always cancel the try outs today and I also can get back to bed, whatcha say?” Star Boy said to some agreement.

“Nura, you should let the poor boy get some sleep.” Said to much laughter by Sun Boy.

“Thom, I set up the quarterly try-out as a way to see what’s out there. We are all so focused on the job at hand that we miss so much, we need new blood to make sure we can have a chance of keeping up with the challenges we have to deal with.” Mon El’s serious response brought the meeting back to order.

“Before we begin the try outs today I have a couple of proposals for you all.” Tinya paused and took a couple of seconds to look around the room to ensure everyone present was focussed on her. “As you know, the planetoid the Dark Circle was using was previously run by a religious cult. The Circle murdered them to the last woman and man and so, macabre as it sounds, by galactic salvage laws we have a claim to it now. I now officially propose to this, the first fully quorate meeting we’ve had in over a year that we decamp from Earth and use the planetoid as our new base of operations. I formally propose to you all that we move our base up to that planetoid and re-name it the Legion World.”

There was a second of stunned silence before the hall erupted as every Legionnaire present gave their opinion. Tinya looked around her at the suddenly animated group and smiled. For the most part everyone agreed as far as she could tell. Nura Nal banged her hand on the desk and all eyes turned to her.

“Tinya are you saying we leave Earth and give up our HQ to avoid a little tax?” There was scorn in the Naltorian’s tone.

“No Nura, I’m suggesting,” Tinya smiled quickly to the team, “We move our base of operations to the planetoid so we have space to grow, we have a base that if it became a target then it wouldn’t endanger one of the most populated areas in the UP and also, so we can become more independent of Earth Gov. We should be politically neutral and as you are fully aware that’s not always possible here. We keep HQ here as our Terran base. Chuck and Lu and their team would be at Montauk Point in the first instance as they showed us what they are capable of....”

“We know how good the academy is Tinya, we’re all helping train them....”

“Wildfire, shoosh.” Mon El glanced across at the anti-energy Legionnaire.

“We have had the Science Police examine the planetoid, Querl has run diagnostics and Jacques’ sister Danielle has proven invaluable as well....” Several Legionnaires glanced at Invisible Kid as his sister was mentioned, “so we have their assurances and I propose that we all visit the planetoid and get to know it, familiarise ourselves with what is has to offer us and reassure ourselves. This isn’t going to be an immediate thing guys, we will do this in stages and carefully. We don’t want to mess up.”

“You said we need to move as we are at the max, why do we need new members? Isn’t this enough” Star Boy gestured expansively as he ended his question.

“Thom, we need then because we are all exhausted. We need them because if we are to succeed we have to be able to defeat the increasingly hostile forces we’re facing. We need them because we simply need them.” She kept eye contact as she spoke, “I have an offer to make, if you are interested?” She directed the question to the entire group. “Every member we accept today will be given a senior member of the team as their mentor. It’s the mentor’s job to encourage and support their charge. In three months time when the next Try Out is arranged we will look to see if the system works. Would that reassure you Thom?”

Thom Kallor shrugged and looked away.

Nura Nal shook her long platinum hair around her head

“ I need to make an announcement before we go any further.”

“Nura, are you okay? You look like....”

“I’m pregnant Tinya, I look like morning sickness and prophetic gifts are a bad match.”

“Pregnant? Wow!”
“Congratulations you two...”
“Hey well done...”
“That’s great news...”
“Fantastic!”
“About time too, you’ve had enough practice making them...”
“Can I arrange the baby shower...”
“Great, I’ll be an aunty again, kind of...”

“You all need to know Thom is not the biological father.”

“Whoah!”
“Oh merde that’z...”
“Oh Nura!”
“How could you?”
“Grife!”
“What a disaster...”
“Poor Thom...”
“Oh gawd, what have you done?”

“It’s Tenzil’s. Kind of. When I went to visit him after the trouble on Weber’s World..” Despite the conversations and cat calls from around the hall Dream Girl never lost eye contact with the crest fallen looking Star Boy.

“Tenz the dog!”
“I can’t believe it...”
“We’re not teenagers anymore...”
“I thought we were beyond this...”
“Shocking...”
“Poor Thom....”
“Whoo Boy, Quislet’s missed this drama....”

“I had a... a visit from the Miracle Machine’s consciousness. It finally understands Tenzil’s mind can’t contain the visions it offers as alternatives to this reality so it... well... it wants to understand the human condition and so here it is, I’m carrying a part of it as our child.”

“Our child? Really Nura?”

“Of course our child Thom. There’s no one else who I could imagine bringing up a baby with. This is our child Thom, no matter how it was conceived I need you to be its daddy. We both need you!”

“Okay, though one question. Boy or a girl?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“...I hope it’s a girl.”

“Well... umm thanks Nura, so I want an official vote on moving our primary base of operations to Legion World. So, those in favour..?”

The “Aye’s” had it, with only Glorith absconding, even Dream Girl who had expressed the most concern agreed.

“Fantastic! Thank you everyone, I’m really glad you agreed as we’ve been working on a support crew and... well Brainy and I have decided that he will be primarily based on Legion World with a sub-team under him keeping the place running for us...ummm,” Tinya spoke into her flight ring,”Henry, you can all come down now.”

The air in the center of the hall started to spin and a violet disc of energy appeared. Out of the disc stepped Danielle Foccart, Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare, Drura Sepht, the hologram they had come to know as Henry and two men that most of those present hadn’t met before.

Tinya introduced the line, explaining their roles as she did so. Danielle was part of the infrastructure support team, Drura and Dr Shakespeare were the medics and Henry was in charge of the spatial warp.

“And this is I.Z.O.R. from Linsnar. Some of you may have met him on Weber’s World recently. He’s a hive mind nannite collective being with techno-morphic abilities that make him the prime candidate for our Infrastructure team leader....”

“It’s my pleasure to be here. Please call me Gear.” He bowed gracefully and smiled.

“And finally, this is Dr Noah Kabbo, he’s one of Professor Aven’s team. I thought it may do us good to have an onsite counselor. Dr Kabbo...?”

The athletically framed black man in a blue and white hooded jump suit stepped forward.

“Thank you Miss Wazzo. Hello Legionnaires, it’s a great privilege to be here today. I used to dream about being one of your team, I even had a code name: Spy... My telempathic skills would have been great in your espionage team...ha ha, though don’t let that worry you, my bonds with the Titanian Institute mean that everything I hear or see is strictly confidential.”

Several Legionnaires looked uncomfortable though all joined in the applause as Tinya started to clap their new support team. As the applause stopped Tinya announced:

“I have one more proposition for you all. Recently the kids at the Academy helped us fight the Dark Circle here on Earth. Lu and Chuck have sent through their evaluations and I propose we admit that entire class as new recruits effective today.”

Wow, you've given your Legion universe its own Legion World! Can't wait to see how that goes, or for that matter the bundle of joy being carried by one of my favorite Legionnaires.

Not all caught up yet Harbi, but I'm thrilled to see Gear! Awesome!!

I'm also excited to see that the WHOLE class of Academy students are gonna be Legionnaires? Wow, major expansion! Kinetix, XS and Dragonmage are among that class right? This is going to be great! Roll call please

I like the mentor-mentee idea. Gonna make for a lot of good stories!

I also like what you did with Nura's child. Even though it's not biologically Thom's - and is it even biologically hers? - she wants Thom to be the dad. That should put her back into the good graces of the entire team.

Dreamy's pregnancy was TOTALLY out of left field! I like the mixed bag of reactions too! Wonder if the Legion are about to get their own Franklin Richards..?

I hope not, Raz. I want the baby to be a girl. (The Legion's own version of the Starchild from V?)

(Of course, whatever Harbi decides, I will respect.)

Applicant: Jazmin Cullen
Code name: Kid Quantum
Planet of origin: Xanthu
Abilities: Flight, creation and manipulation of quantum bubbles that temporarily freeze time within their radius.
Academy overall score:
Interpersonal and team working skills – Merit
Understanding and use of abilities – Distinction
Personal application – Distinction

Personality profile –Comments by Luornu Durgo – Jazmin is keen, intelligent and resourceful in a tight situation. She is focused, enthusiastic, motivated by competitive altruism shared with her twin brother (James Cullen, currently engaged with the Amazer Program on Xanthu who shares her abilities) and has proven to be eager to learn. If she has a weakness it’s that she demands of herself to always be the best.
She has Chuck and I’s total faith that she would make a first class Legionnaire.

Jazmin faced Sun Boy and Ultra Boy.

She immediately placed quantum bubbles around each, confidently strode into the lilac spheres where the Legionnaires stood motionless and retrieved two sets of standard Science Police incapacity cuffs from pouches on her belt and slapped them on the wrists of her frozen opponents.

She walked out of the spheres, stood about ten feet away and dismissed them with a wave of her hand. The Legionnaires looked stunned for a second before both collapsed on the floor unconscious.

The watching Legionnaires cheered!


Vote – 28 yes, 2 No
Application accepted.

Applicant: Sade
Planet of origin: Rimbor
Abilities: Enhanced strength and reflexes, line of sight teleportation.
Academy overall score:
Interpersonal and team working skills – Merit
Understanding and use of abilities – Distinction
Personal application – Merit

Personality profile – Comments by Chuck Taine – Sade is a Repo Agent by training. Government sanctioned debt collectors tend not to have a long life on Rimbor so it’s a miracle she had four full years experience in that role before she came to us. She has excelled at everything we have thrown at her yet both Lu and I feel she has sometimes been holding back. She has strong leadership potential as she is decisive and determined. Our one concern is her determination could verge on the side of ruthlessness in a crisis. Pragmatism is fine and dandy but if it’s not tempered by compassion she could prove to be a liability.

“Do we want to have a Legionnaire who uses guns?” Polar Boy said what a lot of those present had been thinking.

“I think they are cool and want some myself!” Vi’s definitive response stopped any further discussion on that subject. Ayla laughed to herself.

Vote 20 yes, 10 No
Application accepted with proviso that as a new member she is monitored closely.

Applicant: Laurel Kent
Code name: Shield
Planet of origin: Earth
Abilities: Physically invulnerable to harm, tactile psychometry.
Academy overall score:
Interpersonal and team working skills – Distinction
Understanding and use of abilities – Merit (Psychometry), Distinction (Invulnerability)
Personal application – Distinction

Personality profile – Comments by Luornu Durgo – Having Laurel back at the Academy for the last two weeks has been an absolute pleasure. She understands team dynamics, has a focus that when she concentrates doesn’t come across as brash or rude, works harder than almost any other student at her studies and with the added bonus of her temporal stasis induced psychometric ability alongside her indestructibility we fully support her application.

Laurel and Kara sat in a side room waiting to be called.

As one of the very few non Legionnaires that knew of Kara’s return to the 31st century Laurel had spent quite a bit of time with her five generations removed cousin in the last few weeks. At first Kara had been withdrawn and resistant to having company, hesitant to engage, despite logically understanding the reasons why she could not return to her home time her heart had been broken by the sudden loss of nearly everyone she knew and loved from her life. Even her friends here, a thousand years from when she lived, were different. They were older and more reserved. Since she had last seen them, two years ago to her, seven years ago to them, a lot had changed. Querl had tried to include her, to give her as much access to information and freedom as she needed to readjust to her potential new life in the thirty first century. In the first week she had absorbed a millennia of galactic history, immersing herself in this strange culture with an appetite she had never had before.

Then one day Laurel Kent knocked on Kara’s door.

Kara knew who Laurel Kent was and had heard that she had somehow returned to the team after being lost six years prior and almost immediately caused a few problems for Brin Londo. Kara could understand why a simple man like Brin could be confused by the striking beauty before her. Laurel Kent was gorgeous and she knew it. She was also, Kara very quickly learned, lonely and scared. These two feelings were something that Kara could immediately relate to.

On that first day they had simply talked, at first politely though within an hour both girls were laughing and sharing stories about their lives that laid the foundation for a strong friendship. They were both the nearest to family that each other had. Laurel acquired a Distorter pad before the second meeting and persuaded Kara to wear it and join her to the Nine Planets Ice Cream parlor. Kara was overjoyed as this was one of the first places the Legion had ever taken her in this century and she could still recall how delicious the experience had been. It was here that they took to calling each other ‘Cuz’; cousins separated by a thousand years but family none the less.

Kara asked Laurel if she was the only living descendant of her galaxy famous cousin and was shocked to hear that as far as Laurel knew there were about a thousand or so people in the United Planets who could realistically claim to be related to Superman.

“So why are you the only one wanting to be a Legionnaire?”

“My great grandmother, the great granddaughter of Kal El was an adventurous old bird,” laurel smiled as she recounted the story, “It must run in the family eh? She volunteered to join a sub-light speed sleeper seed ship to the Alpha Centuri system in the early 22nd century. We don’t know what happened to that ship but… well it went off course and she, along with the ninety four others on-board weren’t found and resuscitated until 2901. As there are only five generations between myself and your cousin, my great great etc grandfather, I inherited some of his Kryptonian abilities. All the other descendants have had about twenty generations between them and him. They may be great people but as far as I’m aware none of them are Super.”

Kara reminded Laurel of this conversation as they waited.

“Kal would be so proud of you Cuz, he admired everyone who was prepared to stand up to do the right thing.”

“Thanks… I wish my psychometry worked in reverse y’know, so I knew how things’ll turn out rather than how they did….”

“You’ll be fine, you’d be an asset to the team.”

“Applicant Laurel Kent, Shield of Earth, please approach the testing area.” The synthetic voice cut through the air between them.

“Good luck Cuz.” A brief hug and Laurel stepped out of the side room and into the main hall.


Four minutes later Laurel ran back into the room and hugged her time lost relative.


Vote 26 yes, 4 No
Application accepted.

Applicant: Xao Jin
Code name: Dragonmage
Planet of origin: Earth
Abilities: Magical ability to summon dragon forms.
Academy overall score:
Interpersonal and team working skills – Merit
Understanding and use of abilities – Distinction
Personal application – Distinction

Personality profile – Comments by Chuck Taine – On of the most studious applicants, he has a quiet determination and understanding that raw strength isn’t always the way to solve a problem. His magical abilities are only limited by his imagination, and he can think big if necessary. His quiet nature can sometimes lead to his opinions being overlooked though which leads into his only real failing - he needs to work on his public presentation skills – A Legionnaire needs to be seen and immediately respected if they are to be an effective visual deterrent.

“Do we need another mystic? We have Glorith already.” Sun Boy’s casual quip received an almost immediate reply.

“Sun Boy,” began the usually meek mystic Glorith, “We have Brainiac 5 on our role call so why bother with Dream Girl? They both use their minds after all... We have Lightning Lass to throw energy around, so why are you needed?” Dirk blushed as she spoke. Glorith’s reputation as someone who only spoke when she had something important to say stood her well as she continued ”the applicant’s abilities are to summon and control elemental creatures created from his own astral energy. I could never hope to do anything as sophisticated. Likewise, he may never master a Spell of Disassociation as I could. We may both be students of the Higher Path but don’t think we are the same. Xao Jin has... frightening potential. He’s a mighty spellcaster who could only add to our ranks.”

Nura Nal had been applauding Glorith before she had finished speaking.


Vote 27 Yes, 3 No
Application accepted

Applicant: Zoe Saugin
Code name: Kinetix
Planet of origin: Aleph
Abilities: Telekinetically animate matter.
Academy overall score:
Interpersonal and team working skills – Merit
Understanding and use of abilities – Distinction
Personal application – Merit

Personality profile – Comments by Chuck Taine – Kinetix is quick thinking and has shown the capability to be both straight forward and subtle in the application of her abilities. Personality wise she is definitely hard working and loyal to her team mates though both Lu and I think there is a side to her that is also focusing on her own advancement a bit more than most. Not that a little ego is a bad thing, it has kept us all going on more than one occasion when things looked bleak. Zoe is obviously passionate about becoming a Legionnaire but if there is one slight reservation we share it is we both feel there is sometimes something else other than her adventurous spirit that motivates her. She is looking for something from life and has shown an unusual interest in the mystical that maybe just an indicator that she doesn’t know what it is that she is ultimately striving towards. For all that her ability to manipulate matter on the subatomic level altering its very shape is amazingly versatile and her altruism is second only to Jazmin Cullen within this group.

Shadow Lass and Gazelle stood before the applicant from Aleph.

As a sphere of darkness surrounded them the Khundian dove to the side but as fast as she was Kinetix abilities proved quicker. The floor rose up into a wall before she could dodge and collapsed onto her, its corners merged with the main body of the floor and effectively bound her there. Gazelle had the self dignity to laugh at her ridiculous predicament. Where this to have happened on her home world she would have expected to be seriously injured, at the very least. She had to admit that the Legionnaires and their games were amusing.

As this was happening the darkness became absolute and Tasmia Mallor said “Care to try that trick with me?”

“Nope, not really. “ Kinetix closed her eyes and allowed her telekinetic ability to guide her, reaching out like sonar she quickly found the Talokean Legionnaire as she strode towards the applicant. Shadow Lasses cloak tripped her up and bound her arms and legs together. As the shadows faded Zoe loosened her grip on the two Legionnaires restraints and heavily breathed a sigh of relief.

The applause from the Legionnaires above brought a lump to Zoe's throat and as both Shadow Lass and Gazelle approached her to congratulate her on her impressive display tears fell from her eyes.


Vote 25 Yes, 5 No
Application accepted

Applicant: Gahaji
Code name: M’Windaji
Planet of origin: Kiringyaga
Abilities: Super-Tracking
Academy overall score:
Interpersonal and team working skills – Distinction
Understanding and use of abilities – Distinction
Personal application – Distinction

Personality profile – Comments by Chuck Taine, Gahaji is our highest ranking student for several years. He is intelligent, resourceful and very adaptable. He understands that his tracking abilities do not match the raw power of some of the students here but is imaginative enough in their execution to be effective in most circumstances. As his abilities originally stem from a magical source he has a range that defies expectation.

“Another tracker?”

“Yes wildfire, like another mystic, another shape changer or yet another with the Daxamite power set. It’s a great resource to have on the team.”

“You’ve already foreseen him on the team haven’t you Nura?”

Nura smiled broadly.


Vote 25 Yes, 5 No
Application accepted

Applicant: Bina Nawoti
Code name: Otaki
Planet of origin: Earth
Abilities: Mindsense
Academy overall score:
Interpersonal and team working skills – Distinction
Understanding and use of abilities – Merit
Personal application – Distinction

Personality profile – Comments by Chuck Taine – Bina’s at heart a shy girl with an awesome mental ability and a strength of will second to none. She's keen to learn, a great team player, highly intelligent and her control and range have increased dramatically over the last few months. Since assisting us against the Dominion has shown a level of grit and determination that has surprised and impressed us all.


Otaki looked at Chameleon Boy and Lightning Lass and smiled.

“Why are we doing this again?” Ayla shook her head.

“I’m not so sure really.... Ah Bina, why are we here again?”

“You were going to return to your seats and start applauding... that’s right isn’t it Ayla?”


Vote 23 Yes, 7 No
Application accepted

Retro and Amp Girl walked out of the main hall together with Duplicate girl, or one of her selves anyway.

Both had given a display of their abilities and the Legionnaires sat in the horseshoe shaped desk that over looked the floor of the main hall and all seemed impressed but ultimately the Legion had decided to offer them both a place on their three month intensive training program at Montauk Point Academy. Both were grateful for the opportunity as they both knew, deep inside, that neither were quite ready no matter how much they wanted it, to be full time Legionnaires quite yet.

Rejected: Advised to attend Montauk Point Academy.

Orix Marray, the Beetle Boy of Gundashela v stepped forward in the shiny blue costume his aunt had designed and made to display his unique ability. With the aid of a magical scarab he transformed into a writhing mass of shiny blue beetles that scurried across the floor before the amassed Legionnaires.

Rejected: Advised to try out with the Substitutes.

Nasir N’Cube had grown up on Titan, the recently destroyed moon of Saturn.

He was a tenth generation telepath with a grade Alpha One rating. From an early age he had been guided and groomed by the Titanian Institute. He was the first telepath in five years to reach that rating at so young an age and they informed his family that his potential was staggering. He was one of perhaps only twenty that the Institute knew of in their world’s entire history. At the age of eight he had enrolled into an advanced learning scheme and by fourteen had established himself as the star pupil on this moon of swirling methane seas and high minded people. He attended training to become a Science Police officer at fifteen and had excelled at everything he attempted. As well as his prodigious mental abilities the excited boy grew to become a considerable athlete, spending as much time in the gym and training fields as he did in class rooms. By eighteen he was working full time as a science Police officer, his large frame and calm nature were usually enough to quiet any situations he faced in his seven months stationed on Mars.

When the news reached him that there were troubles at the Time Institute he already knew that the outcome would be bad. He had, for only the second time in his life, a headache that had made it impossible to leave his crib. He was subconsciously picking up the death cries from his home planet. It took him nearly forty hours to recover from that psychic blow though when he had he knew exactly what he needed to do. He handed in his notice to his commanding officer and read up and learned everything he could about becoming a member of the Legion of Super Heroes.

And here he was, stood before the group themselves in a deep blue uniform with white piping along the seams, no doubt in his mind that he was doing the right thing.

“So, why do you call yourself Titan?”

“As a reminder of my home.” Nasir looked up towards the anti-energy being known as Wildfire who had just asked the question and smiled, “…and because all the good code names were already taken.” Several Legionnaires laughed.”… and I’m taller than most folks so it seemed kind of appropriate.”

“We have a telepath already, what makes you so special?” Shrinking Violet asked, as she scratched her nose and glanced around the hall.

“I’m unsure what to say to that other than my ratings speak for themselves. My telepathic abilities are comparable to Imra Ardeens and she served amongst you for many years, it seems appropriate that now she’s retired you have another TP to assist.”

“Your SP appraisal scores are through the roof, why did you want to leave them?”

“After the loss of my homeworld I knew where I could do most good, and it wasn’t pounding a beat in the Tharis Pod Estates stopping petty crime and being used to verify honesty in interrogation cells on Mons Olympus. As much as I enjoyed my work there I know I can do more…”

“Okay, thank you applicant Titan, please join the group in the red waiting area, we will let you know by the end of the day what we have decided.”

After the applicant had left Tinya addressed the group, “What do you think? Do we need another telepath? Tellus, what do you reckon?”

“His mind glowed like a nearby star. He has considerable ability….”

“But really, do we need another mind reader on the team?” Polar Boy interrupted.

“We always need another mind reader Brek.” Nura smiled as she spoke.

“What’ve you seen Dreamy?” Ayla Ranzz asked.

“Amazing things Ayla… amazing things!”

Vote 24 Yes, 6 No
Application accepted

Melani Mossturn, Gorilla Girl of Mars, had a rather limited shape changing ability that gave her the code name. It also meant she too didn’t get accepted and while definitely of good character would never make the full team. The red skinned girl thanked the group as they suggested she try out for the Substitute Legion, saying she had always been rather drawn to Chlorophyll Kid anyway.

Rejected: Advised to try out with the Substitutes.



Hameena Shermehani Singh, the Vacuum Lass of Trantor was a small slender human girl of obvious Indian sub-continent origin. She wore a dramatic red, black and white pinstriped costume with sharp protruding shoulder pads. Her ability to evacuate air from a given area to produce vacuums was deemed insufficient though several Legionnaires managed to compliment her on her outfit and keep a straight face.

Rejected: Advised to try out with the Substitutes.

Thelma Haruth, the Voice of the Sen Salgowyn Beta Chorus Collective had completed her display and had kept her dignity and posture throughout.

Almost all of the Legionnaire’s present had, as she kindly requested, placed their right hand over their mouths when Wildfire’s blast close to her feet threw her onto the ground. Immediately her control was negated. Phantom Girl asked if she was okay as the young applicant climbed back up onto her feet, the Legion leader congratulated her on her display. Several other Legionnaires had applauded.

Brainiac 5 thanked her and asked if she had had much experience away from the Collective. Thelma bowed her head in respect and truthfully said she had only left her homeworld four days ago. Several Legionnaires seemed unimpressed though Phantom Girl invited her to attend the Montauk Point Academy for an intensive three month training session. Thelma had jumped with joy; the Academy would be just perfect as she still had to come to terms with the strange mixture of beings and social norms on this ancient world. If ever she was to be a famous Legionnaire, as she had dreamed every day since she was six, she wanted to make sure she didn’t make any fundamental error in basic manners! Legionnaires must conduct themselves in the proper way at all times being the beacon of integration and acceptance for the current generation within the northern arm of the Milky Way.

After she left Brek casually said to Dirk that he had seen more impressive breasts on a sparrow. Dirk agreed.

Douglas Nolan looked up towards the Legionnaires and grinned widely through his mask.

They all knew his story, how the grief of his brother’s death had internalized his mutant ability and almost driven him insane as his mind wandered the alternate realities looking for somewhere he would be safe. The Legionnaires had all been told that after he had found a reality where his alternate self had been accepted into that version of the Legion his mind had somehow moved his body to integrate with that version of himself. Since returning Douglas had told the psych-team from the Titanian Institute that the reality he found himself in was not as it seemed. Their Saturn Girl had been killed by Zaryan the Conqueror years before, not Lightning Lad, and she had been replaced by the empathy known as Psyche. The alternate dimensions version of the alpha grade empath had been a Dark Circle spy who slowly infected those around her with her sympathetic views towards the sinister cloned organization.

Douglas, perhaps due to the two minds occupying the one body, had been able to resist and was eventually hounded out of that Legion and off of their Earth. In the years since he had been a member of a resistance cell though they had recently been wiped out leaving him the only survivor and on the run. His mind had somehow sensed Henry’s portal into his home dimension months before and he had searched for a way home ever since until finally, alerted to the warps that were returning the Starburst Bandits, he dived in hoping to find his home.

Most of the Legionnaires welcomed him with open arms and he was so very grateful to be back in the reality he belonged in and with the added privilege that the extended family he had left behind accepted him back so eagerly.

Vote 28 Yes, 2 No
Application accepted

Ten Tahuun Taragiun, the Hyper Boy of Corvan iv was only four feet tall but at least the same wide. He looked for all the world like a solid muscle slab squeezed into a rather distinctive and tight fitting orange costume that seemed to shine against his pale yellow skin. He reminded the Legionnaires that they had visited his home planet before and fought the Prophet of the mad god Omen there and also before that, the Fatal Five. His enhanced strength, durability and leaping powers were reasonably impressive but not really considered enough to ever make the grade.

Rejected: Advised to try out with the Substitutes.


Alva Soonshine, Flat Lass of Neptune, was so shy initially that almost everyone present was certain she had introduced herself, after a long pause, as Fat Lass. The Legionnaires, much kinder in their maturity that they had been in their youth, praised her ability to assume a paper thin form though pointed out that with two Durlans currently active on the team they didn’t think there would be a place for her in the foreseeable future.

Rejected: Advised to try out with the Substitutes.

Applicant: Mrruaw M’Nau
Species: Enhanced Tigerram
Code name: Backlash
Planet of origin: Simballi

Application notes: As a member of the synthetic species known as the Replicated Families applicant Mrruaw has most of the DNA of a cloned Siberian Tiger with additional DNA giving the species horns of Ovis Canadensis (Bighorn Sheep). When the species were first created in the 27th century to populate the newly terraformed world of Simballi by the eccentric and renowned paranoid billionaire Evo Manjananhan adaption’s were made that enhanced their intelligence, give the new species working vocal chords and increased their already incredible natural strength, stamina and cognitive abilities.

Manjananhan’s ultimate goal was to produce a species that could guard his many estates and would remain loyal to him. Unfortunately his untimely death during a skirmish at the borders of UP space with Space Pirates meant the Replicated Families were bestowed control of their world and allowed to develop their own cultures and society. The Families had nearly two centuries of independence before the Orion Hunters Foundation discovered their world and using technology well beyond the Tigerram’s then capabilities turned their home into a hunting retreat. With the suicide of Otto Orion the Hunter’s Foundation floundered financially and liquidated its stock. The Replicated Families have once again gained control of their world and have been petitioning the UP ever since for full Sapient Species Status and home rule.

Despite the lack of opposing thumbs or physical dexterity required to manufacture their own technology to any level of space faring sophisticating several Sisters of the species are adept merchants so they have thrived in the field of commerce.

Science Police profile indicates he is motivated by a desire to explore and has a strong set of personal values that tie strongly in to the Legion’s ethos. Loyalty was a character trait bred into the Replicant Families by Manjananhan. Applicant Mrruaw has exhibited incredible strength, durability, enhanced senses and reflexes as well as being visually physically daunting. He also has the added mutation of being able to absorb and re-channel kinetic energy – the more you hit him the bigger, stronger and faster he becomes.

“Oh look, a l’il kitty cat....he ain’t heard we closed the Super Pets down years ago.... Bless him...” Brin Londo spoke quietly to the holo of Quislet yet the applicant below heard him and responded.

“Very amusing little doggie, though if rather than making barbs you’d like to play we could find out whom it is that needs blessing?” The great cat’s voice was so low that it was almost felt rather than heard as it rumbled across the watching Legionnaires. The obvious laughter in the voice made the challenge seem less threatening that it could have. Several Legionnaires egged Timber Wolf on. The huge beast before the Legionnaire sat on its haunches and licked a paw before very deliberately starting to groom himself.

The challenge was unmistakable. It didn’t take much goading from the surrounding Legionnaires and Brin Londo cartwheeled over the desk and landed softly on the floor next to the great cat.

Within two minutes Timber Wolf found himself on his back with the great forepaws of his opponent upon his shoulders and rump on his stomach holding him down. The Tigerram was almost twice as big as when they had started combat and the Legionnaire learned a very valuable lesson that day about the potential disadvantages of direct physical attack on unknown opponents. Certainly, he learned the disadvantages of direct attack against one who could absorb that energy and use it to increase their own size and mass.

To further add to his embarrassment the great cat lowered his face down to the Legionnaires and with one slow motion licked him from chin to forehead with his broad flat tongue. Brin Londo struggled for a couple of seconds to wipe his face clean before the Tigerram stood up and moved to the side allowing the Legionnaire to stand up.

Graciously, Brin announced that applicant Backlash would have his vote.

Vote 23 Yes, 7 No
Applicant accepted.

The Legionnaires were feeling as if they had just about seen it all when in walked Princess Daheenisha of Tamaran iv, younger sister of Princess Shooradel currently based on Weber’s World and a member of the ambassadorial auxiliary team Brainiac 5 had set up. Her long legs and casual strut drew a lot of appreciative glances.

The Tamarean looked around at the Legionnaires and smiled. As the Vegan worlds had only recently allowed contact with the greater galaxy her presence was a surprise. Tinya quickly scanned the information they had on the applicant before them though the applicants diplomatic immunity had meant that they did not nearly as much information as she would have liked. Chameleon Boy had managed to contact Oodoo Shanair, the Lallorian ambassador who unofficial ran the group on Weber’s World earlier in the day when the Durlan had noticed the Tamarean on the list of applicants. Oodoo had reported that Shooradel gave her full blessing for her sister to join the team, of course the Lallorian mutant had being reading her empathetically as she confirmed her sisters credentials and believed it to be genuine. Other than that endorsement the team had only what the applicant had told them to guide them.

She was as tall as any Legionnaire, with a huge mane of saffron colored hair. Like her sister she had been raised by the Okaaran warlords and also like her sister at an early age had her natural solar absorbing abilities increased through Psion technology. With this increased capacity to absorb energy she had incredible strength, durability and speed as well as her native language absorbing tactile telepathy being boosted enough that she could instinctively understand any language she came across.


“^^^* -+^*__ -+** !! ^^~##??*** ++_^^!” Brainiac 5 said.

The gorgeous golden skinned woman looked up at him and smiled before replying, “^**--+ __^^+__??^^ !^^#^^?? **^”

“__+**^?^^ +++^+ __^***^!!** ^^ ##^^~_ ++^^**?”

“^^*--+ ~^__^ *~~^^*+ ^^^!! ~+^ ~^^ ++___*??”

“Amazing!”

“You want to explain what that was Brainy?”

“I just invented that language on the spot and she replied perfectly. The potential is staggering.” The Coluan rubbed his chin as he considered the applicant before them

“What do you call yourself?” Ayla Ranzz asked.

“Lexikon. Is that acceptable? Though this taking of other names seems unnatural to me.”

Tinya looked around the great curving desk and smiled as she saw that most of the men were sat enchanted by this potential applicant. If she could have that effect on these guys, Tinya thought, the Tamarean Princess would definitely distract our opponents….


Vote 24 Yes, 6 No
Applicant accepted.

Phantom Girl stood up before the last applicant of the day could enter.

“The Science Police have kindly given us this recommendation for our final applicant today and I would be grateful if you could all consider it fully before casting your votes...” She stopped and looked around her team mates.

“According the data before us this applicant is the sole survivor of the attack on Rifnell ii almost eight years ago. As you are aware a rogue Khundian Warlord took it upon himself to attack a newly colonized Daxamite settlement using highly illegal Nega technology as a means to curry favor with the Khundian Emperor. He killed all but this applicant, who only survived due to the quick thinking of her brave mother. Star Fleet rescued her in her damaged survival pod several days later but due to her exposure to the Khund’s weapon she required radical medical treatment for almost two years afterwards to keep her alive. By which time the UP council did not think it would be beneficial to announce her to the greater galaxy and she has led a relatively sheltered life, until now. The Nega radiation has psychically scarred her and as a result she wishes to remain masked. The one positive to come out of that tragedy was that the radiation also mutated her genetic make-up cancelling out her hereditary allergy to heavy metals. “

A lithe woman wearing a head to toe star field unitard, a narrow shaped tabard in orange with yellow edges and a comet logo, a pencil thin orange belt and orange thigh high boots with yellow trim folded down and tied over with strips of star field material just below the knees gently glided to the center of the floor. The only part of her body showing was her shoulder length blonde hair that fluttered gently as she landed.

Applicant: Undisclosed
Code name: Andromeda
Abilities: Flight, vast strength, speed, invulnerability, enhanced sensory capacity, laser vision. Standard Daxamite power set once exposed to yellow star radiation. Immunity to lead poisoning.

Application notes: Eyes only information. Not for transmission or sharing outside of this meeting. Applicant Andromeda is the former Legionnaire Super Girl. For her protection it has been decided that she will wear a full mask and a Distorter field at all times in public. Brainiac 5 has developed a force field technology that will be based within her belt buckle that can shield her from the effects of Kryptonian radiation.

To sate the public and media’s attention the cover story of her being a Daxamite survivor from Rifnell ii has been created to explain her power set and back story.

Vote 30 Yes
Application accepted unanimously.

“Welcome to the Legion!” Tinya had a wide smile on her face as she spoke.

The twelve applicants below all cheered and punched their fists in the air. The Legion leader let them have their moment of exuberance before continuing.

“So...we are introducing a mentoring scheme as there are so many of you so without further ado it’s time you meet the person who will be your coach, teacher, guide and best friend for the next three months.”

“Legionnaire Backlash...” The Tigerram strode forward, his tail was straight up, the tip vibrating. “You’ll have Lightning Lass.” Tinya turned to her friend and said, “Ayla, if you’d like to give Mrrauw the guided tour?” Lightning Lass clapped her hand and dove from her desk towards the new Legionnaire.

“This will be great! Hey, I have to ask, do you mind if I ride on your back?”

“Of course you can, so long as I can then ride on yours.” The cool reply.

“That’s a ‘no’ then?”

“That’s correct.”


“Legionnaire Kinetix, you will have Shrinking Violet...”

“Legionnaire M’Windaji, say hello to your new best friend Mon El.”

“Legionnaire Kid Quantum, I’ve decided that Element Lad will support you.” Several Legionnaires spotted the slight disappointment in Chemical Kid’s eyes as the Trommite Legionnaire who had supported him for the last year flew down and strode out of the hall with their latest Xanthuian member.

“Legionnaire Sade, Tyroc will be your mentor.”

“Legionnaire Titan, your mentor will be Wildfire.” The anti-energy hero blasted from his seat in a flamboyant manner. Tinya secretly hoped that the calm telepath they had just voted into the team might help settle Drakes over exuberant nature, though knew that she was pretty much wishing on the impossible.

“Ka... Can Andromeda and Dawnstar... uh, yeah, hopefully you will enjoy your three months working together."

Tinya realized almost too late that there were still cameras transmitting this event to every news channel across the Northern Arm of the Milky Way and had stopped herself saying ‘Kara’ just in time. Several of her comrades gave her flat glances as acknowledgements of her near miss.

“Legionnaire Otaki...”

“Is mine!” Chameleon Boy sprouted wings and flew down towards the young psychic.

“Oh... okay Reep, if you say so.” Tinya laughed though several picked up on her frustration at being interrupted by Chameleon Boy.

“Legionnaire Lexikon, you will be partnered with our current deputy leader Harmonia.”

“Legionnaire Ferro... welcome Douglas, I’ve put you with Dirk.... Sun Boy, if you wouldn’t mind?” She signaled for the solar powered Legionnaire to join his new charge. While Dirk smiled it was obvious he had his eyes on one of the new female members to get his special attention. Tinya smiled to herself.

“Let’s see... that leaves Shield and Dragonmage.... so Brin,” Timber Wolf sat up and grinned from ear to ear, “I think you can help our Dragonmage.” Timber Wolf tried his best to not look crest fallen though he was never going to win any acting awards.

“Laurel.... Shield, you will have the pleasure of partnering Invisible Kid.” Laurel Kent smiled, almost genuinely, as she had met the French speaking Legionnaire several times and found him to be fascinating. Jacques Foccart popped out of the air next to her and said, “Ma’amoiselle, zis way please...” directing her out of the hall behind the other newly accepted Legionnaires and their mentors.

As the new members and their mentors left Tinya called an end to the day and dismissed those left by reminding them that Comet Queen and Tellus were on monitor duty for the next six hours followed by Shady and Gazelle.

It was four hours later and Jo had left her twenty minutes ago to run some errand.

Tinya had no idea what it was he was off doing exactly but had learned a long time ago that she could trust Jo’s instincts and if he said he needed to check something out then she knew better than to ask him for too many details.

The Mission Monitor Board relay flashed up with the symbols for all the new members.

“Grife! What am I doing?” She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes. She had been thinking for a couple of years now that the team needed to evolve and she knew that several others felt the same, but had never thought she would be in a position to lead that change. In the space of a day she had effectively moved the team off Earth and added more members than they had seen since the year Imra, Garth and Rokk had started the Legion on one of Brandes’ altruistic whims.

Her room buzzer alerted her that her final idea for the group had arrived and was standing outside waiting to speak. With an impish smile Tinya phased through the doors and planted a kiss on the cheek of the tall handsome man in the dashing uniform that waited outside. He laughed and went to peck her cheek in return though she remained intangible and laughed as he stumbled forward.

“Ha! You always were tricky Tinya.” He smiled broadly as she open her apartments’ door and led him inside.

“I take it you heard? We’re moving off world and I thought.... well we need a Star Fleet liaison if we are to be based out there. I personally requested you, hope you don’t mind but we could really do with a friend. You understand Gim?”

The former Legionnaire known as Colossal Boy laughed as he replied to one of his oldest and dearest friends, “I’d have been upset if you hadn’t.”

The two spoke for thirty minutes, catching up on each other’s life in the two years since they had worked together, both laughing and empathising in equal measure without judgement as only old friends could. Both felt grateful for knowing the other and their chat helped keep those bonds tight.

They discussed Gim’s relationship with Yera. Both had thought their marriage had been over before she had been stranded in the past but they had met the week before and decided to at least be civil to each other, neither saying directly though both knowing that they had feelings still for one another. Tinya smiled as Gim gave her the news. She had not initially been keen on Yera but the obvious happiness the Durlan had brought Gim had quickly won Tinya around.

After Gim Allon, former Legionnaire and current Liaison Officer from Star Fleet to the Legion left her quarters Tinya dimmed the lights and began to get ready for a well needed night’s sleep when a voice said:

“Tinya wazzo, you made the correct choices today....”

“What? Henry, get here, if you want to talk I want to see you.”

The bald man from almost five thousand years in the future materialized beside the Legion leader.

“Tinya, thank you, I’ve wanted to have a moment of your time all day...”

“What do you want Henry? I’m tired so can you get to the point please?” From their very first meeting Tinya had not felt any strong desire to entirely trust this man. He claimed to have once been a member of their team and to have knowledge of their future history and, of course, was here now with their very best interests at heart. She thought he came across as a jerkwad.

“Thank you...umm... in case you needed any support after the momentous events you put into action today...”

“What do you want Henry?”

“I came to thank you, the future thanks you for the choices you made today will result in billions surviving the up and coming battles you face.”

She looked at Henry and it struck her, “You put this in my head didn’t you? When we spoke in your bloody room on the planetoid... you said I’d let twelve new members join.”

“No, for you have done more than that. The twelve you accepted today along with the support team on the first Legion World, the ambassadors on Weber’s World who wear flight rings now... and others you will meet... what you have started is more than just a dozen new kids to lead into battle. I’m sorry if I appear sometimes over eager to speak Tinya but in my era you are a legend at least the equal of that which you hold the Kryptonia known as Kal El. You have started a movement that will have positive lasting effects far into the future.”

“Oh... umm.... maybe you should cool your jets a bit. You shouldn’t tell me things like that Henry, you know?”

“The Time Institute will have the beacon fixed very soon and after that my knowledge will be severely curtailed unfortunately so please forgive me if I try to second guess what may be important for you to know in the months and years to come.”

“Oh okay.” Tinya Wazzo felt stunned. With everything that she hoped would happen today she half expected her colleagues to revolt, to be booted out from the team, instead they had agreed with each of her proposals and here she was ending her day by being told that history would name her as a more relevant hero that Kal El.

Kal El!

“Maybe I should go, we will catch up soon Tinya. Have a good night’s sleep.”

“Oh yeah... yeah thanks Henry, catch you soon... g’night.”

She didn't see as the holo of the future man called Henry fade out of view so missed the small smile on his face, as if he had just won a highly prized victory.

And that little sinister smile brings me to the end of this series. There will be a Legion World 2 soon though until then thank you everyone who has taken the time to read and especially if you have then posted a response - they have all been genuinely appreciated.

Just in case it wasn't clear, with Gazelle and Deathstorm there are 27 active members based on Earth (Dreamy and Thom haven't quite left), plus Dragonwing on Talok viii, Cosmic Boy and Night Girl on Khundia Prime voting hence the 30 votes for each new member. Quislet's votes were surreptitiously ignored by the rest of the team.

Before I go though, just for the lovely Invisible Brainiac, below is the current role call for my version of the Legion.

Current Role call:

Phantom Girl – Leader
Harmonia – Deputy Leader
Brainiac 5 – Legion World manager
Chameleon Boy – Espionage Squad leader
Invisible Kid
Lightning Lass
Shrinking Violet
Mon El
Comet Queen
Gates
Tyroc
Glorith
Ultra Boy
Element Lad
Polar Boy
Wildfire
Dawnstar
Timber Wolf
Tellus
Sun Boy
Shadow Lass
Chemical Kid
Chameleon Girl

Khund Battle Brigade members on secondment to the Legion:

Gazelle
Deathstorm


New members (and their mentors):

M’Windaji (– Mon El)
Otaki (– Chameleon Boy)
Kid Quantum (– Element Lad)
Shield (– Invisible Kid)
Backlash (– Lightning Lass)
Andromeda (- Dawnstar)
Titan (- Wildfire)
Lexikon (- Harmonia)
Ferro (- Sun Boy)
Sade (- Tyroc)
Dragonmage (– Timber Wolf)
Kinetix (– Shrinking Violet)


Under Brainiac 5 on LW:

Dr Richard Kent Shakespeare -Impulse – Chief medical officer
Danielle Foccart –Kid Computo – IT support
Drura Sehpt - Infectious Lass – medical officer
I.Z.O.R. -Gear ii – infrastructure manager
Noah Kabbo - Spy – Legion World Counselor
Henry – Anti Lad – Spatial warp controller


Star Fleet Liaison officer currently based on Legion World:

Gim Allon – formerly Colossal Boy


Legionnaires on secondment to the Khund Battle Brigade:

Cosmic Boy
Night Girl


On long term leave:

Star Boy (Parental leave)
Dream Girl (Parental leave)


Montauk Point Academy staff:

Bouncing Boy
Duplicate Damsel
XS
Crystal Kid


Weber’s World affiliated team:

Quislet
Gear i
Oodoo Shanair of Lallor
Sentinel of the Khund Battle Brigade
Princess Shoordel of Tamaran iv
Proty iii


SP team on Takron-Galtos:

Mandalla – team leader
Gravity Kid
Power Boy
Nightwind
Lamprey


Based on Talok viii:

Dragonwing
Shadow Lad
Lady Memory


Long term medical leave:

Senator Tenzil Kem


Substitute Legion:

Fire Lad – leader
Rainbow Girl
Stone Boy
Chlorophyll Kid
Color Kid
Vacuum Lass (in training)
Beetle Boy (in training)
Gorilla Girl (in training)
Hyper Boy (in training)
Flat Lass (in training)

And finally, the Substitute Legion Reserve:

Antennae Lad
Porcupine Pete
Polecat

Thank you, Harbi! These are exciting times for the team indeed. I love the writeups for each of the 12 new ones and I think each has earned his/her place on the team.

It's almost frightening to think about how small the team would be without your 12 new members, and the return of the 7 "Lost" Legionnaires.

I'm loving the active lineup, a refreshing mix of old and new. I look forward to seeing the likes of Phantom Girl and Element Lad hanging out with Comet Queen and Gates, Kinetix and Kid Quantum. Oh, I can't wait to see Gates (and XS) interacting with these versions of their old Postboot teammates!

I also love how you've expanded the Legion universe. Great things are going to happen!

just bind-read all of this and all i can say is wow. so many moments i loved from reading this team. (especially since i don't know much of this history.)

the Lhorn were awesomely destructive and intimidating.

Talko IIV was wicked cool to visit and good to see Dragonwing get some character finally. i never liked her but you've helped change that.

so may developments...Teliz going insane and Nura having his baby? wow.

Henry is a really interesting twist and love how you brought everyone home.

i'm intrigued to see what you do with all of them.


i can't wait to catch up on vol. 2.