Legion World Forums LEGION OUTPOST Bits o' Legionnaire Business Retroboot Continued (Brainy’s Legion)

...continued...

Earth: Lake Tana, Ethiopia

A young, ponytailed, woman looks up at the twilit sky. She stands near a basic looking camp, carrying a duffle bag on one shoulder. She looks at the glimmer of small meteors burning up in the atmosphere. It’s said that each glow is the remnant of magic from the pre-cataclysm world, now released into the new. The woman knows all about lost worlds. She receives incoming comms from Reep Daggle (Chameleon Boy) that pick up is on the way. She tells him that she could have made her own way to the probable landing site of the threat.

But Reep’s private jump shuttle is already hovering into view above her. With one last look at the camp, Jenni Ognats (XS) smiles and is helped aboard the shuttle by Marya Pai (Dragonwing). As the craft flies past a nearby ravine, and into the evening, the outline of the Postboot Legion can be seen against the darkening sky.

On Webers World, Gahiji and Salu stand inside the reinforced door of the transmitter station in the spire. Mwindaji’s tracking powers have managed to swiftly locate it. Having immobilised several Altered on the way, the actual transmitter control room looks strangely quiet.

There is only one large individual, dominating the centre of the room. It has been waiting for them, and they can see themselves in monitors on nearby control banks. Like those outside, it too is robotic. But it is of a larger, yet more streamlined, design. A finished product, rather than the agonised parodies they have encountered.

It tells them it was once the chief engineer here. Now it has been changed to serve a higher purpose. The only thing that indicates it is not a robot, is the brain inside its metallic head casing. It looks very much like the pre-crisis robotic form of Brainiac. It tells them they will die before damaging the tower. Its eyes flash once as it attacks, and the lights go out.

In the sudden darkness, Salu orders Gahiji to hold it off for a few moments. He fires his rifle, each electrical burst pausing the creature, as it seemingly tests the extent of its new form. The young tracker’s eyes are completely black.

Salu activates a small globular drone, form her utility belt that sends light into the chamber’s shadowy depths. Gahiji adjusts his vision to prevent an overload rendering him as helpless as his colleague was moments before. Cursing the darkness that delayed her, and already shrinking, Violet avoids the crashing fist of the Engineer as it reaches her position.

It activates a force field, but is momentarily distracted by Gahiji firing at its eyes. A nearly singed Salu shrinks past the field, and enters its body. She uses her miniaturised sidearm to disrupt its core organs, organic in shape, but entirely robotic. Gahiji has to move acrobatically across the room, as the chief engineer fires panicked blasts wildly from its hands, before shutting down.

Emerging from the deactivated form, Salu notes that there was nothing human left inside it. Even the brain was synthetic. A shot from her side arm shuts down the controls that had initiated the system blackouts around the spire. She is able to update Brainiac 5 and Computo and orders the rest of the team to her position.

Jed has been phasing through the spire while Tel has tried to find an entrance, careful not to use his powers to cause any damage to the spire.

Among the sparkling nodes of the Webers World datanet, a virtual Danielle Foccart looks at the dark sphere surrounding the communications spire. The rest of the field team’s signals had been lost to her as they approached the spire. She can’t detect anything resembling Tharok, either in technology or presence.

The obfuscation vanishes as Salu destroys the controls but Computo witnesses a final command pulse being sent out across the network of other towers on the world. The glow from this final pulse fades, and Danielle is able to access the plans for the satellites. She confirms to the UP Council, and the Brande Industries staff that they are not going to collide with their target worlds. They are part of a wider invasion force. As her virtual figure focuses on talking to her colleagues, Danielle does not notice as darkness begins to spread out from the datascape below her.

Bristling with activity, the Altered workers complete landing apparatus on the surface of a satellite. Their faces have been transformed, enabling them to breath and see and little else. Their limbs have been adapted for their work, and anything unnecessary has been left to the ravages of their void.

As they cross the boundary of the Yod system, the vacuum around the satellite ripples. The distortion expands and then engulf the globe, entirely disassembling it. Space returns to normal, as if the threat had never existed.

The inhabitants of Naltor and Earth have visual contact with the satellites as they complete their warp within their systems. The threat to Naltor will arrive first.

Interfaced with the Weber’s systems, something inside her alerts Danielle to the darkening virtual world below her. A strong glow can now be seen from the network of communication towers. The systems are changing once again. She alerts Salu to the danger.

Amid the rumbling of fresh quakes, Violet confirms that she’s done everything she can from where she is. Behind her, Gahiji crouches near the former chief engineer. He takes his hand from his glove and places it on the robotic skull. He is shocked as his psychometry based powers detect a familiar reading. This is something he’s been near before. He recalls moving trophies from beneath the old Metropolis base to the Outpost. This is something from the Legion’s past. The blocking signals were transmitting from where they are, but whatever was controlling the transmitter originates …

Elsewhere in the spire, a well-proportioned, white-cloaked figure views key locations of Naltor, Colu, Earth & Webers World. It is also viewing the Brande Industries suite, where Brainiac and Danielle confer with the council. As no holo channels have been seen from him in those locations, it seems he is capable of viewing almost anything form this command centre.

The Engineer was as effective as your last robotic partner, he tells a slim, female figure, who rests easily nearby. She’s dressed for a much warmer climate, in little more than an elaborate bikini and jewellery, but seems comfortable in the cold, metallic surroundings.

He tells his underling that she will have to delay the arriving Legionnaires until the pulse completes the transformation of the world’s systems. Only then will the United Planets and Brande’s Legion act on the threat he presents to them.

Languorously leaving into a connecting chamber, the lady is met by the figures of two Legionnaires. Gahiji has traced his prey, far faster than his foes could have anticipated. Salu stands behind him, almost eagerly anticipating the confrontation. Instead, their foe turns the ceiling above the doorway to liquid, as the two Legionnaires move forward. She retreats a few steps, as the two heroes quickly change their plans to deal with the effects of her powers.

Back in the command centre, her employer chooses another course of diversion.

The main screen in the Brande Industries suites changes from a schematic of the pulse affecting the world to a single word.

“Son”

Roll Call

New members introduced this issue...




XS: Jenni Ognats from Aarok. Abilities: Super Speed

Otaki: Bina Nawoti from Earth. Abilities: Mindsense.

Uh-oh. "Son"... And I'm guessing that heralds the return of the lovely and enchanting Quicksand?

It's great to see Brainy working with people instead of acting like the dictatorial jerk as he has sometimes been portrayed.

You really capture the personalities in very few words - Tel's disappointment with not doing better, Nura's protocol-breaking hug, etc.

Good to see some minor and forgotten characters, like M'windaji, XS and Otaki (I don't even remember Otaki).

So Imra, Garth and Rokk can guzzle their drinks on Winath and laugh at Brainy, while Brainy's team kicks ass. Yeah!

Thanks for reading Cramer!



It is the delectable Quicksand. The chief engineer is a reprise of the giant robot that thumped Superboy around in an earlier issue that Quicksand was in too.



Thanks. Without dialoguing it, getting some characterisation through other channels is something I’m trying to do. But please let me know if it’s not coming across. Please bear in mind that if a character comes across like a plank of wood, it may just be the return of Thom Kallor, who’s like that.



Otaki and M’winadji were both in the rescue of Brainy and Dreamy in the Dominator story in v7. They were Levitz’s reaction to the less mature new members like Dragonwing, Glorith and Chemical Kid, oh and Comet Queen of course

XS was popular enough to get punted out of the postboot, but then Levitz chose not to use her, leaving her very much in the background.

All three get their stories at some point, so they’ll get to develop more as we go. Otaki, for example, is struggling not to throw up when we first meet her. There’s a reason for that, and it can only get better from there. Well, I say “better”…



He’s probably still a *little* like that. He has questions that are occupying him, and he’s happier as a result. There are others such as Jacques, Harmonia and Danielle around him, who are more tactful. That’s all fine when they agree, of course. Besides, what we’re seeing here is the team responding to a crisis. Who knows what was going on just before it started.

We'll get to drop in on Rokk, Garth and Imra as we go too.

I'm really enjoying this, Thoth.

There's so much I want to say that I'm going to comment on the two portions of the second issue separately.

- First off, nice economical job of reminding readers that Jed & Tel are loving, affectionate partners.

- Secondly, I'm very impressed by the following original notion of yours:



It makes perfect sense to have the three satellites, yet the fact that they turn out to be a collective double-edged sword also makes perfect sense...unfortunately. Technology will always be on the knife-edge of affecting sentient life either for better or for worse.

- Now, the sequence quoted below, I have to admit that it left me confused. Is Brainy viewing an alternate timeline where the events of 5YL and beyond did occur?? And, of course, it's entirely possible I'm not remembering something from the previous installment.



- I like the way you seed subplots without calling more attention to them than they require at this moment:



- I particularly liked the scene I quote below, finding it an effective way of showing both the hopeless self-interest of politicians, and the self-preserving callousness of an intellect like Brainy's:



- Can't wait to learn more about the Protectors program, and I think the Coluan's actions are as keeping with their natures as Brainy's non-action above.

- I found this little character moment to be a nice touch:



- And, finally, I'm worried about Bina, and hope the machines haven't gotten to her as well.



Comments on the second half of issue 2 coming later.

They provide a nice bit of loving relationship stability to the team.



I was half expecting someone to be a little critical of these, since I just made them up. So I made sure to give them a bit more of a back story and, should I do the Issue 0 of this run, you’ll see them before Stargrave got his mitts on them. Thank you. That double edge of technology was just what I was going for.



I might have over egged this one. So, here’s the planning and you can let me know. I put together rough plots for the issues. From a few notes they become (sometimes several) paragraphs with scene descriptions. That was all done over 3 years ago. When putting them on here, I have to link them all up.

When I was doing that, I noticed the parallel between the Webers explosion here, and the one from the late 5YG run. Now, I *want* Brainy to remember Laurel Gand. I just didn’t think I’d be mentioning it for quite a while. I had another scene in mind that you'll see in #7 I think. With this explosive connection in mind, it seemed like a good idea to use the scene to set that up in Brainy’s memory.

I was quite happy with that. Where I might have over egged it was in adding the Legion on the run holo. I did that just before posting, just as a throw away. It wasn’t a popular part of the book, and I could just have easily not bothered. Actually, I added in the Orando v4 connection too, just at the end.

This isn’t a v4 homage, I should say. If anything, it’s just establishing the behaviours we’ve seen form everyone before, as a starting point to move off into new territory.

Back to your question. Brainy’s memory here did just as intended, in that it’s supposed to raise questions. So big thanks for posting about it.

Brainy's memory of Laurel is part of the timeline, and it doesn’t (at least that I’m aware of) get in the way of what we saw in the actual pages of v6 & v7. I should also say that I’m not cherry picking favourite bits from the past either. There is an explanation for it all.



Thanks. I could have spent a lot more time on that, but I’ll just put up a few at a time. It’s a way of showing that there’s always much more going on in the United Planets, than just the Legion. Especially at such a tough moment.



Thanks. You’ve put that better than anything I had written down I hope to also show just what makes both men think they’re right too.


The Protectors, or at least the name, was used back in Action 382. Thanks for the Coluan compliment. Hopefully, I’ll keep getting it right as they appear again.



I enjoy putting those little bit in. They aren’t in the original paragraphs, but they do seem to change the plans I have ahead. Characters getting a life of their own.


Our resident empath definitely has a tough mission... But is it the machines?

v7.5 Issue 3 “Falling Star”

Omnipaedia: Naltor- An escalation in geological disturbances across the planet was countered by the development of gyrostabilisers. Subsequent data leaks fuelled speculation that the device designs were at an advanced stage well before the first warning signs occurred.

Fires burning across its blackened surface, the Webers World satellite’s charred landing apparatus unfurls against the bright, cloudless blue skies of Naltor.

Watching from a safe distance, The Legion, Dream Girl and an elite squad of the Naltorian guard stand prepared. Harmonia notes on how fortunate it was that the ship landed in an open plateau, enclosed on three sides by the marble effect buildings of the capital. Nura assures her, with a teasing smile, that perhaps fortune played no part in the city planning.

As it splinters the hard ground of the large slabs, scores of portals open from the craft’s smoking surface. The satellite’s modified crew begin sprawling out, accompanied by Brainiac-like robotic creations.

As a strong, cool breeze sweeps the area, Harmonia tells Hadru that now the craft has landed he should use his powers to inhibit their progress. Pushing an embarrassed memory of his original plan that would have destroyed the city from his mind, he focuses behind his shades. Flares of light form from his hands and a number of the Altered stumble and fall. Hadru’s powers seem to have an effect, interrupting their biotechnological power supplies. Using them on such large numbers pushes against Chemical Kid’s limits. As the strain shows on his face, Hadru knows that this would not be so difficult if Element Lad were there to guide him.

Still nauseous for reasons she doesn’t understand, Otaki has more limited success. Influencing the emotions of the non-human forms is beyond her capabilities. But some of the crew still have the last remaining vestiges of humanity. She feeds their confusion and fear, causing some to turn on their fellows and others to fall fighting their changing nature. By connecting with their human aspects, Bina realises that she is fuelling their horror and suffering. She is forced to break off contact, reeling back behind the Naltorian defensive lines. As she withdraws, the final strands of human life are consumed, leaving only Altered constructs for Stargrave’s plans.

Harmonia watches dozens of Altered sweep across the contained open space, despite the efforts of the two youngest Legionnaires on her field team. She chooses to engage the enemy more directly from above. She uses her control of the elements to create huge air currents to stall the attacking force, followed by more targeted flame based attacks on the robots among them. Pitons appear form the feet of some of the Altered, driving themselves into the ground, only to rise and push forward against the gales. Traces of redundant flesh can be seen falling away during such changes.

Nura is wearing something a bit more appropriate for combat than her old bathing suit. She’s made very sure it still shows off her figure. She protects Bina and her soldiers, as some of the Altered break through. From her training with the formerly deceased Val Armorr, she has developed an edge to her precognitive skills. It has been a long time since she could only foresee the future as she slumbered or had a sudden vision.

Dream Girl moves confidently into melee range, evading laser, claw and weapon. Her combat precognition enables her to predict the moves of her enemies faster than even their now processor based minds can compute. Knowing their every move, she deactivates their power packs by hand where she can, or by using a crackling bronze hilted dagger, where she cannot. (Note: A bronze age look is present in many of the Naltorian weapons.)

Nura is assisted by some of Naltor’s elite soldiers. As some of the defenders fall, metallic protrusions infect them, making them look to incorporate anything metal into their own bodies, spreading the technological plague. Nura realises that the threat must be eliminated rapidly before it breaks from their cordon. Realising that there are too many foes for her powers to contend with, Nura begins to fall back, swearing an oath to Cassandra as she does so.

High above the battle, Ayla is told by Nura that she is the one who has been foreseen saving Naltor. Seeing the Altered gather for a final push through to the city, and the world beyond, the Winathian’s mind is clear. Dark clouds gather around her as Harmonia uses her atmospheric control to assist Ayla’s powers. Elemental fires sweep up hot air to the skies to meet the unnaturally cold Naltorian sky. A giant electrical storm, controlled by Lightning Lass is unleashed from the heavens. Bolts surge around, and through each of Stargrave’s minions, ending the threat in sudden and devastating fashion.

Lights around the conflict zone go out to be replaced by an emergency power system. A system that is not there by chance, to aid the Legionnaires in ensuring that there are no active foes remaining. Ayla looks at the results of her work with some surprise. She has known that she is now considered to be one of the team’s powerhouses for some time. But she has rarely felt so connected to her abilities. Almost not since Orando and Korbal before that. Harmonia reminds her of the strength in teamwork, and the bond of a shared purpose.

Omnipaedia: Webers World: Many consider the career opportunities at the hub of the United Planets to be balanced by the high insurance premiums staff on Webers World have to pay, following attacks by the Khunds and mind controlled Daxamites. Select Pam’s Policies for more data.

In the Brande Industries office, Brainiac 5 refutes the single word that lingers on the central display in the room. “Son”. Beside Querl is a distracted Danielle Foccart, travelling in the systems of the artificial world. Brainy offers a single word in response: “Stargrave.” Although, he remains to be convinced that their foe is even Pulsar Stargrave and is completely dismissive of the idea that the villain is his father. He does make sure to warn the field team that it took Superboy and Wildfire punching Stargrave into Colu’s sun to end his previous threat.

Jed Rikane tells Brainy that his pep talk hasn’t exactly filled him with confidence as he phases through the levels of the altered communications spire to assist Salu and Gahiji. With the rest of his Legion team having to deal with attacks on Naltor and Earth, Brainy summons Ultra Boy from near Daxam in another view of the conversation from #1. Behind Jo, he sees Tasmia and the injured Lar Gand. The Daxamite would have been ideal for his plans for connecting the galaxy. But he knows better than to ask Shadow Lass for assistance, considering their parting back in Metropolis. “There was a reason we didn’t elect you, Brainy. And that was before this disaster.”

The air chills noticeably around Brek Bannin as he makes his way through the spire. His powers stray when he’s lost in thought. Exposed cables spark and sputter against the chill and moisture.

Brainy continues to tell the field team that Pulsar Stargrave pitted the Legion against the Time Trapper, solely in an attempt to test the worth of both parties in aiding him in a war to defeat Mordru. Despite Jed telling him that this information really isn’t helping them, Brainy also adds that the villain next attacked Colu directly after Brainiac 5 learned that the villain was really a time displaced Brainiac from the 20th century.

Querl wonders if the original Brainiac’s obsession with collecting miniature worlds has grown to include larger ones.

Brek tries to separate what he thinks of as the useful information provided by Brainy from the Coluan’s speculation. With Webers being so central to the UP, he knows that this is a great opportunity to show that the Legion is still a viable solution to protect their worlds. They must succeed, especially in such harsh times.

Bannin tries to focus on the mission at hand, but is ambushed from the shadows by a fast, orange humanoid that seeks to pin him to the ground. Nothing can break its grasp it declares in wide, eyed scream. Slumped against a wall, Brek struggles for purchase. The creature’s hands grab his throat, closing his air supply. Struggling to breathe and unable to break the thing’s super human grip, he brings his hands to either side of its head. Clutching his frozen skull, Holdur screams and falls backwards, only to be taken further away by ice slides, giving the Polar Boy some breathing space.

Clutching his throat where the creature had tried to throttle him, Brek tells it that it can’t hold what it can’t reach. He creates large ice manacles around Holdur’s wrists and secures them in a solid ice construction. His enemy is glassy eyed and his high pitched voice screams about protecting its master. An ice formed gag allows Brek to continue his search more quietly.

Continued...

...Continued

Near Stargrave’s command centre, Gahiji is washed backwards in a metallic wave. He tries to avoid as much of it as he can, using the mechanical clutter to climb onto the top of a console. The surface turns to gas beneath his hands, sending him back into the now deep, rushing liquid. He’s agile, but not superhumanly so. He struggles to the surface only to find it begin to solidify around him. With no purchase, Mwindaji is knocked unconscious against a wall, and begins to sink once more.

Suddenly, the metallic sea forms a stationary rain, and ascends to the ceiling in large droplets. Gravity Kid has arrived.

Tel Vole walks steadily towards Quicksand. He notices changes to the air around him, as it takes on a distinctive colour. A keen student of the SP files, Tel realises that his foe seems to have developed her powers to affect gases. He tells her that she should be aware of the Transsuits they all wear. Quicksand threatens to turn them into inertron shrouds. A calm gesture sends the gas towards a gravity source Tel sets up at the far end of the chamber.

Quicksand reaches for a knife she keeps in a scabbard on her belt, even as she begins to use her powers again. But she finds that she struggles to close the distance to the Legionnaire. Gravity increases around her. Cursing in desperation, she uses her powers to transmute the floor around her to liquid, and escapes by falling through it.

A spark falling through the bright nodes of Webers systems, Danielle delves further into its infonet. It has reconfigured itself, as the world has changed to its new master’s wishes. It changes still, as the resistance of the last United Planets defences begin to falter. She sees the network of spires, stretching across the globe, looking like a collection of tuning forks. Focused on the transformation, Danielle does not see the dark tendrils forming from the void around her until it is too late.

She panics as she realises that she is not alone in the system. Could it be the electronic form of Tharok, after all? He had fully cast off his flesh with his humanity. Who knows what he could be now? Danielle pulls away, looking to escape. But an inner voice calms her, focusing her back into solve the dilemma.

Programmes race from Computo’s virtual skin to combat the engulfing darkness. Stargrave is the foe here, not Tharok. The systems have more ancient traces than anything she has seen from Tharok’s devastation. More ancient than the voice inside her has known. She hasn’t felt the voice displaying caution before. The defences react to her as a living thing would, and she wonders if Stargrave is connected to the systems in the way she is.

She breaks past the barriers, scattering the darkness and revealing its secrets. As her virtual form races past, the shadows flail like branches preventing an escape from a tortured mental forest. One touches her neck, and there her golden form is blackened by a small fading dot.

Computo sees that the alterations they all witnessed to the spires and the satellites have only been part of a larger change. She views a schematic of the world. The spires she has just seen are connected to a central core. The changes to the world are of voyage, not conquest.

Instinctively, Danielle Foccart fights to take control of the remaining Webers World systems. She looks to form a final defensive barrier. A last show of resistance. Whatever the purpose of the power source, she must stop it from activating. Around her, the darkness responds. In Danielle’s mind the programmes take on the form of half formed insectoid nightmares, scuttling to protect their master. She reaches out her mind to combat them.

Tel pushes on, having checked quickly on the concussed tracker. Hearing voices in a further room, he arrives to hear Stargrave’s taunts at Shrinking Violet. The villain intends to not only infect Earth, but to complete the final transformation of Webers World into an extension of himself. It will blight the worlds it travels to, altering the populations to become his servants.

The quakes that brought the Legion to assist Brande personnel, have been part of his alteration of the very foundations of this world. A power source exits here, that is capable of warping space on a massive scale. Stargrave is proud to boast that it’s a feat worthy of the Coluans. The towers have been altered to create a protective field, facilitating the world’s travel to any target. Places beyond humanity’s comprehension. They now wait only for his command.

Vi hesitates only for a moment. She’s encountered, and has been defeated by Stargrave before. She knows that the villain is capable of bringing even Superboy to his knees. Of course, she’s changed a lot since those days. She flies at her target. As her determination pushes her power, a small emerald spark can be seen as she shrinks once more to microscopic size, traveling in the darkness between molecules.

Querl receives word of the success from Harmonia’s team, as he looks at Computo with some concern. Her virtual form flickers. Querl looks to the equipment around him. If Computo can’t halt the threat remotely, he will have to go into the field to face Stargrave again. The Naltorians have isolated the area, and will incinerate the remains to prevent any further signals from activating a further threat.

Councillor Fujardo is more concerned about Earth’s response to the satellite landing there. Behind him, Danielle’s physical body sweats profusely, tended to by her brother in the UP Council’s chamber. He wants to stop her, but knows her determination only too well.

Reep Daggle’s holo states that his team are in position. Without Coluan technology or the gift of Naltorian prediction, he observes wryly.

Brainiac 5 tells them they will have to succeed without them. Colu would not countenance the spread of robotic life forms in any UP system. The Coluans didn’t withdraw from the council meeting in order to prepare for the defence of just their own world, continues Querl to shocked holos. They did so to initiate their solution to the threat wherever it appears.

If any world becomes infected, Colu will sterilise it.

J'ADORE!!

Thanks for bringing Jenni back. I'm especially glad you did, because I decided recently that she won't be appearing in my Retroboot fics (E-7.5), since the 7WoW XS is closely tied to the Legion of another world, the Legion of Titans (E-7.2), which I probably will only do vignettes for, at least in the foreseeable future.





Just gets creepier and creepier.

In a good way.

Nice, unshowy nod to Pre-Crisis continuity, too.



Hmmm...very reminiscent of Alan Moore's new origin for Swamp Thing.

It goes without saying that that's a good thing.



I'm especially intrigued, if a bit fearful, to see where this goes, as I am of the opinion that the end of LSH v.7 #23 should have been the last time we ever saw Nura or Naltor.

But variety makes the world go round, and I have full confidence in you that no matter where it goes, I will definitely be entertained.





Stargrave!!

Wow, you certainly don't back away from a creative challenge.

Can't wait to see what his origin turns out to be, though with Quicksand's presence and that "Son" bit, it appears you're going all the way back to his first appearance.

My origin for him was that he was a possible future version of Querl himself.

As I said before, I look forward to reading your take on from whence he came. Compare & contrast.

Good stuff, Thoth. We're already at the halfway point and the tension is still nice and thick. Awaiting the second half with great anticipation.

Got it now. Thanks for clearing that up.

I've actually never read Legion on the Run, even though I've gained a great deal of respect for Tom McCraw in recent years, for coming up with the Cos-as-Time-Trapper concept. And as for illuminating unpopular eras of superhero teams that've been around for decades, I actually like that a lot, and it's something I like to do. Sometimes one turns up gold nuggets in the most unexpected comic books.



Yay! Glad to hear that, because Colu is one of my favorite worlds in the Legion mythos.

As for the Protectors, thanks for mentioning that they'd been in the "official" Legion continuity. I rarely re-read the Action installments, so I remember very little about them.



Can't wait to find out. As with the Naltor thing I mentioned in my previous post in this thread, I'm both excited and nervous, but I'm certain I will be entertained by whatever comes next.

EDIT: Ah, I had forgotten you've already posted issue #3 in its entirety.

Will save that one for savoring this coming weekend.

You're welcome Mr Levitz did go to the trouble of giving us a back up story to at least acknowledge her, while firmly showing he had no intention of using her. I had read that before I had read the Superboy Prime Lo5Ws thingy. I might not have really noticed she was available to use otherwise.



Thanks on the pre crisis Brainiac. I had wondered if people would remember the visual, and I was going to put up piccies of characters. Actually, I've forgotten to put in proper roll calls.

I felt that bringing back a green humanoid Brianiac, in the Byrne reboot era, was a step back, as I'd seen glimpses of the pre crisis creepy robotic version. That was back before I knew about the character's history. But I still prefer that robotic look.




I hadn't thought of that. But happy to be in the same sentence The synthetic brain line was a very late addition to 1) show that the infection progresses each time you see it and 2) ease readers minds about any deaths, and the Legion code. The Altered reach a point where they're just robotic puppets (not that everyone is going to see it like that). I've a Swampy sort of 2/3 parter planned for waaay down the line.




Really interesting point. I had more of a "well, what do they all do next?" sort of thought for everyone, rather than taking advantage of Mr Levitz parking them away.

Nura is arguably part of the Legion cornerstones, which is something I'll be making use of throughout. I think I visit everyone in #23 at some point. Element Lad takes ages to get around to though. I think it also helps to have some familiar faces, with their own subplots on the side, when the team has a lot of new members.



I had done a update post to the Grand Totals thread. As I went, I'd been taking notes of the villains too. So, I just had a big list of them. From that, Stargrave was the big hitter who hadn't been used much in the Legion. A bit of digging through the back issues brought out why (the various writers and not the disco flares as I had first suspected )




I am. He gets messed around with quite a bit between writers. To the extent that...well, that's next issue.



Lots of good mileage to be had in that one. You have the versions of Superboy Prime in Lo5W to use as an example... of what not to do



Thank you for reading as always!

Also happy to see Jenni back in action, where she belongs.

Poor Otaki, it was great having her realize that using her power on the infected meant amplifying their horror and pain.

Great visuals of Danielle using her power.

Excited to see how Nura's vision will pan out, and how Vi's assault will go.

Nice work by Brek taking out Holdur. I never found Holdur's power impressive, but you showed how dangerous he is if he catches someone by surprise or if he attacks without the right powers to defend themselves.

And especially great work with the dangerous Quicksand.

Agreed. And credit where it's due, it was Ed Hannigan, a very underrated artist IMO, who came up with that particular design.



Thank you.



Heh. I'm the opposite, I'm all like, "I know there's really no such thing as Happily Ever After, so I don't want to find out what happened next after "Point B," or whatever."



Hmmm. I love Nura, but I've never thought of her as a cornerstone, more like a character who started out as something of a cipher, but was fortunate enough to enjoy the creative confluence of the sensibilities of Karen Berger, Paul Levitz, Jenette Kahn, and Legion fandom in general, circa 1983-1987. But nothing lasts forever, and even before the end of the Baxter Era, it already felt to me like she should have "exited the stage", so to speak -- if nothing else, it would have spared us both the creepy Atmos crap and the Nura-as-obnoxious-matron crap from the TMK era.

That said, I remain confident that what you've come up with for Nura will prove interesting and entertaining.



Because I consider you both a talented creator and a friend, I will give you the benefit of the doubt on this, but I'm convinced that Preboot Jan is just as much "damaged goods" as Preboot Erin. Hope that didn't sound too harsh, but as pretty much everyone at Legion World already knows by now, that's a very delicate topic for me personally -- TMK really pushed my buttons in the worst way.



Indeed. That's why my upcoming 2nd Retroboot arc will focus mostly on the old favorites lost in the 21st Century, while the 3rd will have substantial roles for other old fan-faves like Ayla, Vi, and a couple others who would spoil plotlines if I named them here.



LOL



LOL even louder!!

And FTR, this weekend will be all about me reading and commenting on your 3rd installment.

Thank you Mr Hannigan. It's cool, futuristic *and* creepy!






We agree on there's no happily ever after! I just like to see it through to the bitter end.



Yeah, but your paragraph was still waiting in the future. If it was there when I was typing, I could have just copied and pasted it.

I did say arguably! I think it would be Superboy as inspiration, Imra as leader, Brainy as the future's potential, and ... that's where there could be some room. Nura really came to the fore exactly as you say. Laughing in the face of Darkness. Cham for diversity or Rokk for his sense of ...well, whatever it was has been a bit tarnished over the years.



After that, they let Atmos *join* in the 5YG. I guess Earth Man was busy. Creepy is right. I can't say her TMK matron character did much for me either.




No pressure



You forgot vain so this gets it's own little spotlight for an "aw shucks"




Not harsh at all. I'm aware it's a *very* contentious part of that run, and I'll tread accordingly. Jan, and therefore any version of Officer Erin as they were hinted at being together in #23, are not in the immediate plans due to something completely unrelated to TMK. So that's a plus right there. Their reappearance depends on a few other plots, and they don't get their chance for quite a while.

As for damaged goods, I remember that Jan pulled that trigger on Roxxas. Like Rokk, there's a lot of stuff going on beneath that Legiony façade.




I shall be reading your first arc very soon... But first a sneak peak at the end of my #4.

Through a haze of pain, Vi looked across the spire's central command. Something else else sharp and painful had brought her back. She felt a darkness pulling her back down. But the piercing, sharpness returned. Something else else revolved above her. Something else else metallic and reflective, casting horrific shadows across the chamber.

Disco Mirror Balls! Stargrave had transformed Weber's World into a giant warping discotheque. Soon the United Planets would know the meaning of Funk! Vi looked desperately across at her fallen comrades. She focused her thoughts, sending soft, country ballads through the telepathic earplugs...



Really looking forward to it. I'll be taking some time after 4, and a little after post, to finally get a better look at Bits.

Thanks for reading Ibby! I thought it odd that she wasn't in v7 after they drafted all the kids in. It was disappointing for a lot of fans that the graduated students (Power Boy, Lamprey, Nightwind etc.) hadn't made it in. But to also pass up Legionnaires and an inheritor of the Flash legacy?



That was a late addition. She was initially unable to contribute. But I wanted these early issues to give a flavour of what everyone could do. So, I started that part only to realise what would happen. So, it still didn't go well for her. Poor Bina!



Thanks a lot. I wondered if I'd have to edit that even more than I did. I went so far as to dig up the old Legionnaires issues to see how they handled it there. She's co leader, but powers-wise she just stands there all the time. So after that, I felt pretty comfortable doing what I liked. Lots more on Danielle's powers to come.



You just reminded me of set up I've forgotten to put in for Nura. Thanks! As for Vi, well they've met before...



That scene was added as I had to change the pacing of the story. Where I thought Holdur originally was, is given in #4. Besides, I needed to give Brek something to do before #4 too. Holdur could pin down Superboy, but his powers allow him to pin the air in victim's lungs as he super-strangles them. So not a very balanced guy.



She's very resourceful. More so, if you allow her powers to work in 3D. It's less standing around changing things, and more moving in a rapidly changing environment of her own making. A teaser for more Quicksand will be in #4

Re: Issue 3:

Hadru...nice to see him finally prove himself. I may even end up liking him.

Bina...oh my Gods, the best intentions gone awry, and all that. There was such a terrible sense of her being caught between the proverbial devil and the deep blue sea. I eagerly await to find out how she deals with this horrific experience, and hope she eventually realizes that, no matter what she did, there was no malice behind her actions. But self-forgiveness *can* be very difficult for some people...



Nura Nal in a nutshell. Nicely done.

Re: Ayla & Harmonia as a double-team -- love it!!



Yes, if any Legion villain is all about hubris, it's Stargrave.

Re: Brek -- As with Nura, I think you've captured the essence of the character in a nice, economical way.

On to the remaining portion of #3...

Re: The rest of #3...

I think it's all coming together beautifully. I especially appreciate that you don't sugar-coat the icy callousness of the Coluans, their infuriating combination of soulless logic and the prioritizing of their self-preservation.

It even makes me question my tendencies until now to shrug off the darker implications of the Coluan philosophy, and wonder just how that might reflect my own outlook on the world we live in and the people in it, and how the time has come for my way of thinking to evolve into something more humanistic. No small feat, that. Good work, Thoth.

Can't wait to see how you bring it all to a close.

Thanks for reading!


He's got a distinctive path, mainly due to his personality and approach being different from a lot of the others. Particularly the earnest Adventure lot.



This is why comments are so great. The follow up scene I had planned for Bina touched on her experiences on Naltor, but you've added a deeper emotional layer to the one I would have ended up with. So, thank you very much for that, as I'm sure it will influence the way I approach it.

Bina is actually very capable, which we'll see, but she's not faced anything like the tests the Legion offer her.



Thank you.



Yeah, he going to appear just as we last saw him. Posing with his power and his diploma in Villain monologues. Then...




Thanks very much. The feedback is really helping in my Bits baby steps.




This is undoubtedly part of the wider picture. How they act in this first story will start to raise a number of questions in the UP and elsewhere. And our resident genius won't be able to avoid that.

I'm hoping to get to play with the worlds of the UP as we visit them more, finding out why they ended up as we see them. And how their philosophies seek to shape the galaxy that they are in. The trick will be to manage it as an integral part of the story and not as infodumping.



Wow. Even if I've assisted in some small way there, I don't think I'm going to have more of an impact. It's a shame to end on issue #3 but...



oh rats. I've still to finish it...


Issue #4 is not far away...

LOL But good point there. Generational tensions and so on...



Awwww...thanks, Thoth. Harbi and Ibby and Emily and others in this forum have had similar positive effects on my writing through their comments on it. The Bits forum is truly the gift that keeps on giving!!



Excellent. And I've faced that exact trick before myself. It is a tough knot to undo, but I have full confidence that you'll do it.





Storytelling is magical, it really and truly is.



Tee hee.

Think of it as your Christmas gift to your fellow Legion Worlders.




YAY to the max!!

v7.5 Issue 4 “Stargrave” – Special Sized Issue!

Omnipaedia: The Great Sandy Desert, Australia, Earth. Mining has returned to this region, boosting the low population numbers. Millennia old dig sites have also been found, marking a resurgence of archaeology in the area.

Blaster fire lights up the desert sky as Earthgov troops fell a number of the robotic Altered. They are taking casualties of their own, and are forced back into defensive positions on the ridges of the taller dunes. Injured Earthgov soldiers are being transformed, their screams as unsettling as the attackers’ metallic forms.

The Altered have had more time to develop since the attack on Naltor. All have the grinning skull likeness of the Brainiac. Many have lost their bipedal form and human sizes. Some have flight capability while pits close to the ship suggest burrowing activity.

The outline of their burning craft arcs behind the battle, its fires casting a bloody glow across the night sky. The satellite is tilted at an odd angle, almost as if some of it has subsided into the desert floor.

A Legion field team view the attack from a command point behind the main Earthgov assault force. Scans confirm that there’s no life remaining on the craft. Jenni Ognats is looking at speed through a cargo pack marked with the Brande Industries logo. In her hands she has a small device and is checking how it works. She wants to be prepared when the battle comes, and begins putting some of the devices into her belt pouches.

Marya Pai is tense, scanning the land ahead. Her pupils are vertical reptilian slits. She tells the others that’s she’s impatient for the battle ahead. She’s too keen, her bravado only showing her inexperience. Dragonwing feels she has something to prove. Since he helped her against her sister in China, she doesn’t want to let Cham down. Or herself.

Naltor: Many Naltorians call on Cassandra in times of need. This has been interpreted in a number of ways: An extension of the Naltorian dynasty, tribute to the trials of a heroine; and as a warning of the power of prophetic vision in an unbelieving world. - Myth Cycles and Human Expansionism.

On Naltor, Harmonia, Ayla, Hadru & an unsteady Bina look take their leave to support their colleagues. Nura passes a flirtatious message along to Brainiac, as the Coluan tells her and a holo of Cham that a communications block from Webers World to the satellite is in effect. Whatever the creature calling itself Stargrave intended to instruct the satellite to do, is restricted to its original commands. Nura teasingly comments that it would have been nice to have had the block a few hours before, but that it will help them destroy the Altered in safety. Perhaps Brainy misses her in the lab?

Nura then leaves the Legion team at their landing port, flying back to the crash site and her duties there. She still wears her flight ring.

Looking down from a tower onto the landing berth Beren, the High Seer of Naltor, views the Legionnaires and the departing Nura. His hand rests on an orrery of the galactic centre. Behind him, a scratchy, taut voice expresses concern that “the girl” suspects. “Will it alter our designs?” asks a second. There’s an uncomfortable noise resembling bone shifting on marble. Beren does not look round. “No. we wait for the inevitable.” concludes a third.

Omnipaedia: Earth. The Australian continent has been the beachhead of a number of alien invasions. Critics of Earth’s role in the United Planets claim that many of those races are still UP enemies due to the “mother world’s” influence.

As Reep Daggle receives confirmation from Querl, a weather lined, moustachioed Earthgov colonel approaches. Colonel Kilder dismissively tells Chameleon Boy that additional support is on its way from the Montauk Point facility…thanks to his friend Foccart. Reep is keen to intervene now, but is ordered to stand down. Used to acting on his own initiative, having to support Earthgov doesn’t sit too easily with the Durlan. Let their own boy puts things right, the Colonel tells him.

Timothy Santoza races into the thick of the combat. He is fast, strong and tough, absorbing, deflecting or reflecting the kinetic energy of anything around him. He is The Westerner, and he arrives surrounded by a host of tiny drones. Santoza’s combat techniques are not his own. He is run by complex algorithms that control his every reaction and movement. Not only to defeat a foe, but to promote his brand. He takes plenty of bruises, but has never been so popular. Santoza’s dark blue body suit changes shades as the light sources alter around him, always showing him in the best possible way.

Tactically astute, perhaps due to his info feeds, he draws fire away from the Earthgov forces while targeting the creatures wielding larger weapons. The attackers struggle to adapt to having their energy siphoned. They overcompensate just as Santoza returns it to them, resulting in several crashing over. The Westerner’s borrowed and deflected strength causes further damage and confusion.

The dronelets simply adore the rending of the metal invaders. It’s all looking like a publicity coup, until he is surprised by the speed of one of the larger robots. A giant punch to his abdomen doubles him up. Winded, he can’t avoid the second blow. A punch to his face knocks him crashing back through forces from both sides, sending his cracked helmet into the sand. The robots are altering further. An aerial assault pushes the defenders further back. A large metallic maw bursts from the sand to consume three Earthgov soldiers, churning silver coloured teeth turning blood red. Infection is imminent.

Reep Daggle doesn’t wait for further debate. If the troops fall, then the Altered will infect the Earth. He orders the Legion to move in. He changes form as he flies ahead of Dragonwing. The signature speed lines of the Flash legacy blur ahead of them both, leaving an enraged Colonel shouting through holos to his commanding officers.

Weber’s World: “The watching eye of colonial oppression” – Tsauran Times Editorial

From the Brande Ind. Suites, Querl Dox views the Earth field team entering battle on a holo beside one showing Salu Digby’s team facing a ranting Stargrave in the altered transmission tower. He wonders why, for something of Coluan origin, Stargrave has never presented himself as anything other than a maniacal villain. Universal conquest, elaborate plans with decoy versions of himself, and pitting rivals against each other to become worthy to serve him. Ridiculous. “Father” indeed.

Beside Brainiac 5 is the flickering virtual form of Danielle Foccart. In a holo to the Earth council chambers he sees her brother, Jacques, tending to her physical form. There, she is clearly strained and overheating. There is a physical cost to controlling her powers, and containing the entity that she shares her body with. The comms from Webers to Earth has some interference. Q-Storms, formed from Tharok’s takeover of UP, still surge across the galaxy.

Within the Weber systems, code forms shells around the virtual of Danielle as she blocks attacks the world’s defensive systems centred on a virtual of its glowing red power source. A central spike of code pushes ahead of her, into the red glowing centre of the world’s altered reactor. The calming voice within her keeps her from panicking, leading her thoughts and her powers. She gains access to the main power systems and begins isolating them.

With some effort, she tells Querl that she has broken through, but that they’re going to require a more permanent solution to keep it offline.

Brainiac 5 concurs. Even if Salu’s team can restrain Stargrave, he may have infected the world to carry out his plans without him.

Many UP councillors are upset at the thought of their administrative hub being closed down. But Jacques advises them of the alternatives. A wave of more satellites attacking UP worlds, perhaps, or Webers World warping space to infect a whole planet itself. He stresses that the threat needs to be contained and that the Legion field team need to deal with the immediate threat. With the unpredictability of the Q-Storms, they must take action while they are in a position to do so.

It’s Councillor Shahna Closen from Ventura who promotes Jacques view, and calms angry voices, with her reasoned, clipped tones. She reminds them that this is an opportunity to show they can be proactive in the face of a possible Tharok level event. She asks them to reflect on this, as they think on the current destruction on the worlds they represent.

En route from Naltor, a static filled image holo of Harmonia (with Bina, Hadru and Ayla seen on duty at consoles behind her) asks them what Colu will do if they don’t contain the threat. The continued silence form that world makes up the councillors minds.

Querl weighs up assisting the field team, viewing their holo again. But taking the Computo module that allows Danielle to have a presence here into combat, would be too great a risk. Likewise, he can’t leave it in the emptying office suites, as the personnel evacuate. (Note: They have taken key systems with them, leaving open consoles and unsafe looking access points behind.) Stargrave’s twisted Altered could be anywhere. Thinking about Computo modules sparks an idea, and he looks towards the crates containing the Computo major-domos (seen in #1).

Continued...

... Continued

Earth: Several globular media dronelets hover around Dragonwing creates a perimeter around the fallen Westerner and Earthgov troops with her fiery green breath. Once this is in place, she uses acid spit to disable blaster carrying foes. Her fingers flex in anticipation around the Electro-Nux, charged knuckle dusters, she wears for the close combat she feels will be inevitable.

Above, a large winged creature descends with gleaming talons on the robotic enemy, scattering them across the battle field. Chameleon Boy enters combat. From his vantage point, he can see the blur of XS approaching the rear of the Altered forces

There was a time when the thought of fighting an inhuman threat looking to kill her, would have terrified Jenni Ognats. But that was before the Legion helped her find her confidence. It was certainly before the Blight. At super speed there’s time to think, but not to take chances, and she places magnetic disrupter bomblets from her utility pouch onto the robots.

XS sweeps up an injured Earthgov soldier, who had been holding off robots from infecting him, using her momentum to carry the weight back to her own lines. Behind her the bomblets explode, disrupting their attackers. Chameleon Boy’s skin smoulders from blaster fire. In pain, he switches between smaller forms to gain a tactical advantage before striking again. He targets the largest of the robots and those transformed to attack from the skies.

Dragonwing is used to close combat, where her powers are most effective. She dispatches a few of the robots directly with emerald fire from her mouth. Its nature is more than heat, and the toughened metallic Altered can’t cope for long with its mystical energies. She uses her Electro-Nux to stun those that don’t fall immediately. Marya taunts an enemy that’s not human enough to react to it. Her cape is grasped by one of them and she falls backwards, flailing against her foes as she does so. Two larger robots approach her position. As they loom over her, they are both suddenly lifted and crushed in the fists of a new giant form taken by Chameleon Boy.

Refilling her pouches in the Earthgov lines, Jenni sees an angry Dragonwing struggle to her feet, and Cham’s giant form becoming the target for more blaster fire. She grabs the cargo pack, and taking a deep breath, heads directly towards the satellite. With Computo occupied on Webers World, Jenni is the team’s best chance of reaching the source of their problems here. She can’t evade the blaster fire, particularly in the sand, but can avoid the enemy movements to get inside at super speed.

XS is uncomfortable in the confined spaces within the satellite. Its corridors have been changed for an inhuman crew. Broken walls, dead ends, debris and fire all impair her movement. Not all of the crew have left the ship either. Some remain awaiting further orders from Weber’s World. The claustrophobic space reminds her too much of the ship from her first Legion mission. She may have overcome her fears, but she has no intention of reliving them, or needlessly trying to prove a point. She activates the pack of bomblets at speed, in the most central part of the craft she can reach, and runs for safety.

Out on the desert, the Altered fire on her, looking to force her back towards the ship. One of their own smashes through them causing a rout. Santoza has not recovered, but his functions have been taken over by his employers. His swarm of dronelets drink in every angle as the partially conscious youth becomes a target for the enemy. His efforts have cleared a path for XS, and she takes the opportunity to get them both clear as the bomblets detonate the ship’s core systems, also incinerating the robots close to the ship.

As she reaches the Earthgov lines, XS sees a Montauk Point shuttle arrive overhead. From its open side door, Lydda Jath firmly tells the pilot, Mara, to return to a safe distance unless called upon. She uses her Legion flight ring and flies down to reinforce the Earthgov troops; her black leather outfit, beehive hairdo and retro goggles stepping from a particularly dangerous retro spy vid. With the ship and many of its crew disabled, the remaining Altered are no match for the Earthgov forces and Night Girl, with her super strength optimised by the Australian night.

The ground nearby erupts as a serpentine, burrowing robot writhes from its tunnel, entwined with the tentacle, crab clawed Vormian Octocrawler (Superboy #228) form of Chameleon Boy. Reep maintains his grip as Lydda rips through it, disabling its synthetic brain. As relieved as he is to see her, Cham notes an edge to Lydda’s tone. It’s only a matter of time before the robots will fall.

Webers World: Pulsar Stargrave tells his Legion attackers that it is only a matter of time before they will fall.

Shrinking Violet has been unable to get past Stargrave’s defences. She rises groggily from the floor near the protecting position of Gravity Boy, telling the others that their foe has some sort of force field. Typical of a Brainiac she says grimly. Polar Boy fires ice shards at the Coluan villain. Stargrave radiates enough energy from himself to reduce them to so much steam.

Stargrave raises his hands, and fires a wide arcing energy blast across the room at the Legionnaires. It’s a deadly blast but harms no one despite reaching its target and passing out through the opposite wall.

Power Boy holds onto Stargrave’s shoulder phasing them both, and his blasts. The purple skinned Legionnaire switches his density, and lands a staggering punch on the villain. But it isn’t enough to fell him. Stargrave turns his attention to Jed, positioning himself even against the added abilities of Gravity Kid. He will break through their powers he tells them. Then he will break them.

Danielle tells Querl that it’s only a matter of time before Stargrave’s defences break through her control. He must be altering them, even as he battles the others. She can’t stay with the power source forever, and can feel the effects it’s having on her physical form.

Beside her virtual self, Brainiac 5 focuses on modifying one of the Computo Major-domos. He takes cold comfort form holo audio telling him that the Coluans have begun to provide defensive strategies for other key UP worlds. With the Earth invasion defeated, they must have concluded that the odds were in the UP’s favour. But that only makes him wonder if there’s a deal to protect those worlds at the cost of Webers World, and the Legionnaires on it.

Alone, and focused on his work in the Brande suites, Querl only notices the shambling shadow at the last moment as it lurches from the doorway. He activates his force field belt, protecting himself but realises that the creature is looking for the Computo module. Brainy adjusts his force field to throw the twisted robot back against some consoles, electrocuting it.

A scan reveals that it was not alone in the building. Half a dozen dark outlines approach his position. Brainy asks Ultra Boy what’s taking him so long, as he sets up his force field against the doorway and returns to his work.

A long haired, masculine green and red blur of flight sees a crippled Webers World from above. Sections of it are missing entirely, following the Emerald Empress’ attack. As the figure approaches at super speed, he sees the altered towers crisscrossing what remains of the surface; part of Stargrave’s plans to transport the world away. The flier focuses on one of the towers, slightly larger than the others. He sees the evacuating relief ships take off, as he closes in on his target, muttering darkly about Brainiac 5. He reminds himself that he has to time the power switch perfectly to avoid becoming a smear on the side of the building.

Ultra Boy smashes through the side of the tower just as Stargrave delivers a glancing blow to Power Boy, who has been too slow in switching his own powers. Jed collapses to the floor. But the villain is unable to take advantage as Jo crashes into him, flying them both across the chamber, and out of the other side of the tower into the devastated cityscape below.

Able to use only one power at a time, Ultra Boy switches from strength to invulnerability, punching Stargrave as they descend at speed into the street. Jo then flies clear. He knows that if he’s caught using the wrong ultra-power, a single strike from the villain would kill him. Pulsar rises slowly from the crater in the street, eyes blazing with anger and energy. A large rockcrete block, taken from a damaged walkway, crushes him back down, courtesy of Gravity Boy who flies down from the transmission tower. A determined Salu and Brek descend on either side of him. In the background, a stranded Weber relief duo can be seen hiding in the rubble, recording the events unfolding in front of them.

Tel lets the others know that the block won’t hold Stargrave for long, and they’ll need to come up with a solution quickly before he, or any remaining fake Brainiac Altered crawl out from the wreckage. Querl suggests that Salu switches her powers to hold onto their foe, but Violet dismisses him, saying that they need to use reliable tactics. She thinks on Tel’s mention of fakes. The last time the Legion faced Stargrave, he used two duplicates before revealing himself. Could this one be one of them? Neither were seen again after Wildfire and Superboy punched the real one into Colu’s sun.

In the Brande offices, Querl tells Salu that there’s no data available to be able to confirm. He has activated a number of floating Computo Major-Domos and Danielle, now with blank eyes, is programming them remotely.

The rockrete block shudders and breaks apart, revealing Stargrave, an aurora of energy rising above him. The Legionnaires stand ready for his next attack. Behind them, the relief workers continue to record.

Elsewhere, Quicksand quietly walks through darkened service tunnels in the rocky heart of Webers World. Surrounded by a glowing protective field, she is carrying a small monitoring device. With it, she listens to the tormented sounds of the badly damaged world around her.

Continued...

...Continued

Energy begins to crackle around Stargrave’s eyes, as it erupts towards Ultra Boy, Violet shrinks and flies once more towards her foe. Jo is saved only by his Ultra invulnerability, but is still sent reeling back, the top half of his uniform a charred mess.

Salu has breached Pulsar’s force field, realising that it must drop for him to be able to fire his energy blasts out of it. Through her telepathic earplugs, she tells Brainy that she just needs to find out if it’s the real thing that they’re dealing with.

Jo moves in, keeping his invulnerability on and trying to hold onto the villain. Distracted, Pulsar doesn’t detect Salu entering his body. It takes only a moment for her to confirm her suspicions. Pulsar may have been altered by strange alien beings to become the holder of huge power reserves. But Stargrave was not them, and his own designs used more mundane materials.

Violet flies back out, using her earplug to warn the others that it’s not the real Stargrave they face and leaving an Imskian disrupter device behind.

With no Legion code to prevent her actions, Salu’s device explodes. Only a small area of Stargrave’s bioorganic circuitry is revealed. Although it begins to heal rapidly, the impact of the device is enough to disrupt his powers.

As the battle reaches its climax above her, Quicksand enters a reinforced room and approaches a pod, its dreaming occupant a shadow under its thick protective cover.

The Legion still keep their distance. It may be a construct, but it was made by one of the most powerful foes in their history. Jo uses his ultra-vision to immolate Pulsar, focusing on the open biocircuitry. Now white hot, and having to divert reserves away from his wound, Stargrave tells them that he is heat. He is the power of a star. He raises his hands to unleash an energy attack of his own. Every star fades in the end, Polar Boy tells him, and reduces the temperature of his enemy to as near absolute zero as he can.

Stargrave screams, the cold crippling his exposed internal systems, his compromised shell fracturing. The villain slumps to its knees, offering no pleas for help, or entreaties to a creator. It only promises a return and revenge.

Salu instructs Gravity Kid to finish it and the former science police officer brings his powers to bear. He reaches the sides of the exposed circuitry and sets up conflicting, points of gravity ripping the metallic form open. The surrounding buildings also react to the gravitational forces, creating fresh tremors as their foe finally falls. Salu remarks that the construct may never have known that it was a creation. The Legion depart back to the transmission tower, to retrieve their friends.

The Legion team fly form the collapsing tower, as the Stargrave construct is crushed in a tomb of debris from the world he would have used to conquer the galaxy.

Australia: Prior to Earthwar, the Dark Circle’s agent Governor Deregon nearly instigated World War VII. Stopping his Cosmic Force Sphere cost Legionnaire Chemical King his life.

The Earthgov troops work to secure the landing site, but are obviously jubilant to still be alive. Lydda is instructing the Academy cadets who arrived with the shuttle on what they have witnessed. With the Legion now disbanded, she tells them, the Academy students are one of Earth’s resources against such threats. Their tutors are keen to show them what is required.

One is a large eyed girl with distinctive reddish, brown skin, wearing an animal print outfit (Tiger Girl). A second is a small hovering box with the scratched remains of a small Legion L on it (Host). A third is a tall, four limbed, insectoid creature whose mandibles click as it takes in details around it (Arkheia). Flying above them is a pale green, winged girl with antennae and prismatic extensions behind her ears (Dragonfly).

One student who isn’t paying attention is a small grey humanoid with large eyes (Urk). It has descended to the battle field where it is feasting on the metallic wires from one of the fallen robots.

Jath takes them past the Legion group, towards the shuttle where a short haired blonde woman in a UP Militia flight suit works on a diagnostic scan (Rush). As Jath walks past, Jenni sticks out her tongue at her behind her back. After her work in destroying the threat, a number of Santoza’s dronelets now surround Ognats.

Back in his usual orange skinned form, Chameleon Boy hears Jath tell the students that the Legion may be temporarily operating as Brande Industries employees, but not to let that cloud their judgment when making career decisions. “Organisations have to change to survive,” she tells them. Cham remembers Rokk Krinn using the same quote before he retired, opening a path for his younger brother to join their team. An exhausted Reep returns to treating a large burn on his shoulder, caused by the blaster fire to the larger forms he took during the battle.


Webers World: Data Preservation methods include packet backups across twenty UP Worlds. Nostalgically known as “Tapedumps,”no one world receives all data. The UP has dismissed claims that secret information is retained in the core world, citing its data transparency legislation. – Top Quark Omnizine.

Glimmering lights rise from the broken world’s surface, taking up geosynchronous orbits above Webers World. The Computo Major-domos, once incorporating the remnants of a technological threat, have now been modified to contain one.

Below, Querl tells the Council, with a returned Coluan delegate, that his countermeasures will protect the United Planets from anything in the Webers World systems breaking out. The inner glow of the Major-domos changes to amber.

Through the Q-Storm affected comms, Councillor Fujardo thanks Brande Industries for support in this crisis. He trusts that Querl will be used alongside those supplied by their Coluan friends. Harmonia’s holo interjects diplomatically, before Querl can retort. Beside Brainy, the holo of Danielle finally relaxes. With a brief show of support to the team, she vanishes, and Brainy deactivates the golden module that she was projected from.

The last of the relief teams move past the Legion, elated at having survived. The Earth Emergency Team has finally arrived, with attendant drones. It’s operatives including the famous Zall Morgan. Morgan is a rugged, older man, with greying hair around his temples and an attitude of a hero of old.

Jo looks worryingly at the hourglass nose art on the EET craft. He reminds Brainy that once things have been made safe here, the Coluan made a promise to help him find Tinya.
Tel looks with concern at the bruising on his partner Jed’s face, as Salu takes them away to rescue the workers trapped at the reactor.

With drones professionally positioned, Morgan firmly shakes Brek’s hand, thanking him personally for saving so many lives on Webers World. News feeds relate Brek’s inspirational stand against Dominator invasion; his Earth saving career as an underdog hero, and his decisive action in defeating Tharok and now Stargrave to the UP Citizens.

Brek remains dignified, if enthusiastic, as his footage of freezing Stargrave circulates. There are few traces of his years out of the spotlight as a Sub. At the centre of attention, and trying to follow Superboy’s unassuming heroism, he doesn’t notice that the Legion are never mentioned.

The inner glow of the Computo Major Domos changes to red as Brande, EET & UP ships pass their protective network. The scene is being viewed by Quicksand from one of the levitating monitors Stargrave previously used. With the Computo network now sealing off all comms to the outside, she activates the suspension chamber.

Inside dreams the sleeping, or possibly deactivated, form of another Pulsar Stargrave. The patterns of condensation on the hibernation capsule become the shifting anti matter laced skies in Stargrave’s mind. He creates a fissure in the fabric of space which threatens to consume half our galaxy by opening it onto an anti-matter universe. He cuts space and time, remoulding it in the way that his metallic coated, serpentine alien savours changed him when they tried to save him from his shuttle malfunction.

All a plan to test the resources of the Trapper and the Legion. The survivor would become pawns, rather than allies, against a more powerful foe: Mordru. He feels the satisfaction of his supreme power, but a shadow looms over the dream. He is but a pawn himself. The shadow looms larger…

Quicksand’s face is close to his own, as she disconnects him from the capsules systems. His robotic or armoured saviours cast Stargrave into the heart of an exploding star, and he was reborn. Now, he is reborn again, as he emerges from the capsule.

A single console boots up, casting its light across the chamber. The pair begin to monitor the systems of the now dead world.

Pulsar comments on the ignorance of his foes. Always satisfied with a simple conclusion, and not looking for the layers beneath. His feints with the satellites, the threat of an infection and giving them the wreck of his earlier form and Quicksand’s undeserving partners.

His assistant mentions that Holdur has never been the same since his capture by the Dominators. They still don’t even wonder at Quicksand’s transmutational abilities, says Stargrave. Even his son, he adds with some disappointment. But then, he has had similar failings. He was destined to take control of the known universe from the weakened talons of Mordru. Yet, it was the Time Trapper who faced his great foe. Even it failed in the end. It was the Legion who triumphed. But why was Stargrave removed from the board? What held enough power to do such a thing?

Full, uninterrupted access to the data on Webers World would provide him with the answers he seeks. And if not, then then he has relatives other than his son. Stargrave has got what he wants: undisturbed access to the heart of Weber's World and its secrets.

On Earth, Jacques worries that any continued involvement with the Legion will only make his sister’s condition worse. Brainiac is supposed to be looking for a cure for her, not to cause further episodes. But an exhausted, sweat covered, Danielle wishes to be part of this new Legion. There are too many problems that need their help, to stand back.

Behind the pair, and out of earshot, there’s a heated argument between the UP Councillors. The Coluan delegate is absent, but they are almost fearful of mentioning that world’s actions.

They reason that they were right in disbanding the Legion. The Coluan’s proximity to this latest disaster justifies it further. They have now lost their administrative hub. But the counter argument is that the Legion have saved countless lives on three worlds, and that Weber’s World was very unlikely to have survived anyway, after the Fatal Five’s attack on it.

All do seem to agree that their own Protector programme could resolve their differences. Venturan Councillor Shahna Closen seems particularly supportive, as she views holos of Brek and Jenni with a smile.

As Jacques departs, the black dot on Danielle Foccart’s neck glows. A holo appears in front of her, as her eyes turn red. It contains a single word: Granddaughter.

Next: Meet the Legion and then... "Incursion"

HOORAH!! The final installment, and just in time for Christmas. Thank you, Santa Thoth.

Will read it at my leisure, savoring it slowly, on Christmas Day tomorrow.

You're very welcome Fanfic Lady! I really wanted to get it done before Christmas as a pressie It does mean that I've now got to go and wrap pesky pressies for relatives.

Still, it gives me the excuse to watch that most festive of movies: The Thing.

I've got the next post already done, so I'm going to finally be looking at some Bits threads!

YAY and double YAY!!



(Disclaimer: I know I have been something of a Lu hater in the recent past, but I've softened up, so the above use of her likeness in this post was not intended to be ironic or negative in any way.)