UNITY 2010: A New Champions Campaign

[teh bunneh]

Here's a little bluebooking that a couple of my players are doing...

Vilkacis wrote:
As Vilkacis begins to explain the basics of the space craft to Straight Arrow, he seems uncomfortable. His normal calm demeanor is countered by a nervous chewing of his thick cigar. After a few moments of silence, he turns...

"I beleive we have a problem."

After Straight Arrow acknowledges the comment, he continues, "Well, we have two problems. This first is that I cannot function if Red Dragon continues to threaten me. If I am to remain, there are only three options I can see... He spontaneously comes to this senses
and realizes I am not his enemy. Barring that shift in the laws in the universe, the second option is you speak to him. Because either you trust me implicitely, or you do not. If you do, you must deal with this situation. If you do not, then the problem is bigger than one overly aggressive samurai. The final option is that I work to preserve
myself, and while he is much stronger than myself, If he forces it into him or me.... I will do whatever I can to make sure he does not succeed. You know as well as I that his strength is as much his weakness as his power."

He sighs, and shakes his head, "But that is not the real problem. I have learned information that may change the face of this upcoming conflict. And this gets back to the issue I just raised, either you trust me or you don't. I have not lost who I am with the discovery of my nature.... you should see that. But if you do not trust me, I will accept
that and I will not work against your goals. I will part ways when we arrive, and I will operate independently. If you do trust me, then there is more... but it means you must trust me completely, no more precautions, no more fall back plans, and no more threats from anyone on the team."

He leans back and watches Straight Arrow intently. He is relaxed, but still apprehensive. He begins to work on flying the plane again and offers minor corrections, making it clear his instruction in flying is seperate from the conversation at hand.

---
Straight Arrow wrote:
Simon was silent for a long moment, seemingly focused on memorizing the layout of navigational controls that Leshey had just pointed out. He considered what to say very carefully.

"I won't guarantee that I won't have a 'fail-safe' plan for dealing with you should the need arise," he said coolly, "But keep in mind that I'm a tactical thinker. I can't help it. Bloody Hell...I have contingencies in my mind for dealing with every member of this team. It's not that I don't trust any and all of them, including yourself, it's just that I've dealt with too many telepathic villains not to be prepared.

"So, what I'm saying here...is that I do trust you. I wouldn't be bringing you on this mission if I didn't. I apologize for the suspicion I cast your way when I realized your true origins. You have to understand that it was as much as shock to myself and John as it was to you. I just wasn't sure what to think...how to react...so I fell back into my military training. I'm sorry for that. It was remotely fair to you. I just couldn't believe that the man I met and worked with all those years ago...who saved my life in St. Petersburg and Lisa's in Kaliningrad...I couldn't even imagine he was an alien."

Simon sighed heavily. "If you can forgive my paranoia, I promise that I will give you my trust. You've certainly had ample opportunity to turn on us if you truly wanted to. I'm going to believe that you won't and that you are with us to the end."

A light flashed on the console and Simon adjusted the ship's heading ever so slightly per Leshey's directions. "As far as Saingo is concerned, I promise that I'll talk with him. I suspect that his latest anti-alien aggression is a result of the pressure of everything we've had to deal with in the past week. Saingo might be withdrawing into himself and letting more of the samurai ghost's personality take control." Simon recalled the bloody remains of the ship's Mon'Dabi crew and suppressed a shudder. "His aggression will have to be dealt with but that's not your problem. It's mine and I promise I'll deal with it. I'll make sure the rest of the team is off your case as well."

Simon took his eyes off the navigational console for the first time and looked directly at Leshey. "So, old friend, what have you learned?"

---
Vilkacis wrote:
Leichy nods, "I will consider the matter with Red Dragon dealt with. Before I threw her out of the plane, I had a conversation with another Wraith, Spellbreaker. The problem is more complex than I originally imagined. As you should know, I did not forget who I was when I learned that I was a wraith, I am still the same Leichy.... and there is a reason for that."

He gestures towards the panel and guides Simon in a few more intricacies, "There are going to be Wraiths on both sides of the battle. The reason being... how to explain... I *am* Leichy. Wraiths are not like humans or Mon'Dabi. Maybe I should start from the beginning..."

Sighing, he looks back to the entrance to the cockpit, then turns back to the controls, "The Wraiths brought the Mon'Dabi to Earth. They gave them technology and direction, and are infiltrated into the highest rungs of their ladder. Just like they have done to UNtil. Their purpose, however, was never to conquer anything. They do not control the Mon'Dabi, no more than they control the Humans. They guided the Mon'Dabi to Earth in the hopes that the Mon'Dabi would lose, and they could escape Mon'Dabi culture. The Mon'Dabi are violent and short-sighted. They do not understand peace nor do they ever want to. But here is the problem..."

Leichy turns to Straight Arrow, his hand still on the second control stick, but his eyes focused on him, "The Wraiths are Mon'Dabi, just as they are Human. They... we... do not exist on our own. We exist as members of another's culture. We take on their hopes, dreams, and emotions. I am still Leichy because I am just as human as you or Red Dragon. Just as the Wraiths with the Mon'Dabi are just as Mon'Dabi as the next one. But here is where it gets complicated... There are very few Wraiths, and we have only one desire that is our own... to preserve each other. Now the Mon'Dabi have returned to Earth because they were slighted, they were hurt. They want revenge. They are bringing Wraith technology and their own to bear, and it is not the Wraiths who are doing it."

Turning back to his eyes on the stars, "You know me, you know how much I trust people, especially strangers. I beleive them, to a degree. This is where you must trust me. I beleive I can help my people while still saving the Earth. The Mon'Dabi are the enemy. Not the Wraiths. The Wraiths made the mistake of assimilating into Mon'Dabi culture, but now they hope to assimilate into ours.Assimilate, not conquer. UNtil has been running off of Wraith technology for a long time, the teleporters, the satellite, the ships... they would not have given this technology if they were our enemies."

"Now the choice is yours. My concern for Red Dragon was not unrelated to what I learned. These were all Mon'Dabi... but his hatred for aliens... and I beleive that extends to people alien to his own culture as well... may end up killing one of our own people by accident. He may end up killing a potential ally. I can help Mon'Dabi Wraiths, but I need to talk to them, to touch them, while they are alive. But... but this is what we have. I did all I could to ascertain deception from SpellBreaker, and I beleive her... I am still going to be careful... but I need to know you are with me."

He stops, opens his mouth to speak again, then closes it... he is obviously waiting for Simon's response.

---
Straight Arrow wrote:
Simon stared almost unblinking at Leichy, his jaw set tight. His face betrayed no emotion, locked behind a mask of British stoicism. Inwardly, however, he was cursing like a drunken Irishman as he struggled with the ramifications of Leichy's revelation.

"Bloody Hell," he finally muttered, "Calling this 'complex' is an understatement." If what Leichy was telling him was true (and Simon had little doubt that his friend at least believed it to be true), then that meant there were innocents and allies hidden amidst the enemy forces. And there was no easy way to tell friendly from hostile.

What was worse...if the Wraiths weren't intent on weakening Earth's defenses against the Mon'Dabi, who was? Were alien invaders actually responsible for his team's sudden status as fugitives? Were there genuine traitors within UNTIL's command structure? Not only did Leichy's information make the coming rescue mission more complicated, it also negated the answers to the questions he and his team had thought they'd solved.

Simon let go of the controls and leaned back in the uncomfortable pilot's chair. He brushed his eyes with one hand. "This intelligence is accurate?" Simon shook his head. "Never mind. Of course it's accurate. You wouldn't have told me if you didn't think it was the truth."

Simon's computer-like mind started working on this problem, talking aloud as he processed the details. "So...our immediate issue is that we have potential allies mixed among our enemies but we can't tell one from the other. If we turn this into a knife fight, we run the risk of killing a friendly. So..." He groaned at the prospect of explaining this to the team. "...so we'll need to continue our practice of engaging in non-lethal combat even against the invaders."

Without looking at Leichy, he added, "I'm assuming that you can tell a Wraith from a non-Wraith somehow. Aurora can as well. It would make sense to have you two at point during the rescue attempt. We'll deal with Mon'Dabi opponents as necessary but if we locate a Wraith, it'll fall to you to open a dialogue with them."

Now Simon sat back up and turned to his comrade. "I am with you on this, old friend. I don't believe 'friendly fire' or 'collatoral damage.' I'll do everything in my power to protect the lives of any innocents we come across. I don't know how this will affect our return to Earth; this information means we still don't know who's responsible for our
blacklisting." He shook his head. "But that's a problem we'll deal with if we return home."

If possible, Simon's _expression turned more serious. "We'll need to share this with the team. This is information they need to know."

[teh bunneh]

UNITY Recap for December 10 2005
The session began with UTC having a little talk with Vilkacis. Apparently, he had recently learned something of his alien heritage. It seems that the Wraiths are not the bad guys in all this. Wraiths, according to him, absorb the culture of the people with whom they assimilate. When they assimilated with the Mondabi, they became aggressive and warlike. Now, the Wraiths wish to leave the Mondabi behind and assimilate with humans. The Mondabi war fleet has nothing to do with the Wraiths, although it is possible that Wraiths are hidden amongst the Mondabi command. Vilkacis made it quite clear that he didn't want any Wraiths to be killed in the attack on the flagship. "My people are few in numbers and just as vulnerable to damage as any living creature," he told his comrades. Straight Arrow announced that this new information changed their mission parameters – this was now a zero body count mission.

As for the mission, the heroes came up with an idea to infiltrate the alien fleet in their new stolen ship. They would fly back towards the enemy at a low speed, communicating with the fleet that they were damaged and flying blind, and ask to be taken aboard the flagship for repairs.

Vilkacis did a credible job of sounding like an inept commander, and he was severely reprimanded for his incompetence. The tiny scout ship was told to dock with the nearest battleship, and the idiot captain was to report for his punishment. As Vilkacis flew his tiny ship into the heart of the fleet, the heroes saw exactly what Earth was up against. They counted 20 of the Mondabi's kilometer-long battleships on their sensors – three times as many as took part in the original invasion.

The heroes were taken aboard the flagship and Vilkacis (wrapped around and disguising New Man) disembarked. He was surprised to find the landing bay empty. As they looked around, suddenly someone dropped from the ceiling, knocked them down, and put a knife to their throat. "Get back in the ship, mate," the attacker hissed. "You're taking us out of here…"

New Man recognized him immediately – it was Seeker, the Australian hero from UNITY Team A. Vilkacis dropped the disguise and Seeker recognized New Man (they had met once before). "We've come to rescue you!" New Man told the delighted Aussie. The three of them quickly boarded the ship and the whole team had a powwow.

Seeker told them what he knew. "Team A had been on a long-range mission to try to identify threats and potential allies across the galaxy. We were specifically looking for a race of people called the Mythnari, who we had heard about and thought might be friendly. We were also looking to recon the Mondabi to make sure they weren't planning anything." Seeker said between mouthfuls of rations (he hadn't eaten anything but Mondabit cuisine for weeks). "Well, turns out they were planning something big – as you probably noticed. We fled, they gave chase. They managed to disable our Grungnir and took us all prisoner. By the way," he added. "We found the Mythnari, too. One of them tried to help rescue us, but wound up captured, too. We've been calling her The Queen."

"Funny that," Aurora smiled. "Team C managed to find a Mythnari, too, but they didn't have to travel halfway across the galaxy to do it."

"How did you escape?" Straight Arrow asked.

"They put us in cells designed to dampen our powers," Seeker told him. "Unfortunately for them, I haven't got any powers – just my brains and my skills. They were careless; I killed a guard and escaped into the waste disposal system. They've been hunting me, but I get the impression that I'm pretty low on their priority list – sort of a "He's just one man and he doesn't have any powers" kind of attitude, I'm guessing. I've been living in the ship's Jeffries tubes and sewers ever since, looking for a way to either free my team or get off this boat to warn Earth. When I saw your ship docking, I thought that was my big chance to escape."

"Well, we're here to free the rest of Team A," Straight Arrow told him. "Do you know your way around?"

"Yeah, mate, I can get you there," the Australian ninja said. "But security is pretty tight since I escaped."

Seeker took Team C through a series of ventilation ducts, sewer lines, and empty corridors until they finally reached the prison section. Each hero was kept in his or her own private wing, each wing watched by four alert guards and wired to a central security room.

The plan was for Vilkacis and New Man, in disguise as a Mondabi officer, to enter the first corridor and begin yelling at the guards. Meanwhile, Aurora would slip into the hallway's computer and try to shut down the security system from within. The rest of the team would wait unseen in a nearby waste disposal port.

Vilkacis/New Man entered the area, shouting at and cuffing the guards (it seems that the lower ranked Mondabi expect a little abuse from their commanders). However, Aurora wasn't as sneaky as she thought and one of the guards noticed the arcing electricity around the control panel. He brought this to the attention of the "commander," who berated them for their incompetence and sent two of them to fetch a technician to fix the problem.

Aurora set off a sparkle-burst, which screwed up the corridor's electronics, and then she and New Man blasted the two guards that were left. Vilkacis quickly opened up the prison cell and released the prisoner. It was none other than Warsmith, the Kenyan gadgeteer.

As soon as he was informed about the situation, Warsmith went to the control panel and reprogrammed it to show that everything in the area was "Situation Normal." The heroes locked the unconscious guards in Warsmith's cell and the entire team made their way to the second cellblock.

Team C quickly and with little trouble managed to free Fortunata (the luckiest woman in Italy), Inque (the Indian stretcher), Shadow Puppet (shadow-mistress from Indonesia), and Pharoah's Daughter (the Egyptian avatar of the gods). And that's when the alarms went off – obviously someone discovered the unconscious guards and missing prisoners.

Warsmith and Straight Arrow went into a huddle. "You free the rest of the prisoners," Warsmith told his fellow team-leader. "My group and I will get down to the engine room."

"What are you going to do?" Straight Arrow asked.

"What I do best," Warsmith grinned. "Improvise."

Warsmith took Gazelle and the rest of Team A and took off running. Straight Arrow and his team prepped themselves to finish their mission – one way or another…

TBC!

Just FYI, the people you still have left to free are: Quasar (the German cosmic hero), Tiger Hawk (the Korean shape-changer), Simian Fury (your former teammate, the Congolese animist), and The Queen (the Mythnari who tried to help Team A).

[Scifi_Toughguy]

So good yet so sad. The game is great but the arc is coming to a close...

[Virtue]

I will miss my Unity C fix when its over

[TheRavenIs]

I will miss this. So Bill you'd better post your next game. PLEASE!!!!

[teh bunneh]

UNITY Recap for December 17 2005
The recently freed Warsmith took his team to try and capture the engine rooms of the huge Mondabi warship. UNITY Team C went to free the rest of the prisoners. They met heavy resistance, but it was nothing that they couldn't handle. They quickly freed Simian Fury, Tiger Hawk, Quasar, and the Mythnari known as "The Queen."

Aurora and her fellow Mythnari communicated for a few seconds in their own language while Straight Arrow filled Quasar in on their situation. Quasar wanted to try and capture the bridge, and Straight Arrow agreed. What they didn't agree upon, however, was the method. Quasar was of the opinion that this was a war and the Mondabi were enemies; therefore, casualties were expected. Straight Arrow privately informed his team that he did not agree and he fully expected each of them to conform to the "zero body count" they had previously agreed upon.

Aurora mentioned that she wasn't sure that Vilkacis was telling the whole story about his people. She had learned from the Queen that the Mondabi had destroyed their own economy by building this massive warfleet – which fit into her people's experience that whenever the Wraiths leave a host race, they leave it in a state of decay and barbarism. Vilkacis protested that he wasn't aware of this, but he conceded that it might be a possibility (since without the Wraiths around, the host race may no longer be capable of using the technology the Wraiths brought with them). Furthermore, the Mondabi apparently recruited thousands of Mondabi (including many who weren't fit for war) and even more members of their slave races to fuel the invasion.

While this debate raged (over New Man's mental link), the combined teams of UNITY C and UNITY A moved rapidly through the Mondabi flagship, meeting heavy resistance but cleaning it up handily. They finally reached the bridge and found it guarded by powerful Xaraxthis (rock-men) slaves, several Mondabi in some sort of advanced power armor, and a point-defense system of heavy laser blasters.

There was a fierce battle. Aurora was struck by a Xaraxthis magnetic wave and went down (which served to fuel Red Dragon's anger, to the regret of the rock-man). Thich Nat Han rushed into the room and was gunned down by a pair of Mondabi battle suits. Quasar, still exhausted from his long incarceration, managed to burn the paint off one battle suit. New Man took mental control of a Xaraxthis warrior (rather easily, in fact – it seems that these creatures live to take orders).

However, the battle was soon over. While the heroes tried to figure out how to open the blast doors that protected the bridge, Queen vanished in a puff of electricity, appearing a few seconds later inside the door's locking mechanism. She opened the door with a mere thought, allowing the heroes to rush into the bridge, disable the guards inside, and capture the Mondabi command staff.

At approximately the same time, Warsmith contacted the team and informed them that the engine room was now secure. UNITY was now in control of the Mondabi flagship; the only question remained: what were they going to do with it now that they had it?

TBC!


The PCs have control of the engine room and the bridge, but not the entire ship. A ship this large takes hundreds (if not thousands) of crew to run at full capacity. Straight Arrow, Vilkacis, Aurora, Queen, and Warsmith can figure out how to operate the basic functions of the ship, but their capabilities will be limited.

A quick check of the sensors shows that two warships and a score of smaller craft have broken formation and are heading for their location.

[teh bunneh]

No update this week or next -- we're not gaming over the holidays. But never fear, UNITY 2010 will be back in the new year! :bounce

[Cardinal]

Keyes Bill

I just got a chance to catch up on Unity 2020. A great series of events and a very fun arch coming to a close.

Keep it up.

Cardinal

[teh bunneh]

UNITY 2010 will resume this weekend (if the fates allow).

[Hermit]

Cool. Look forward to the updates.

[teh bunneh]

My players are currently discussing their options to repel the Mon'dabi invasion, and one of them sent this out...

TOP EASY WAYS TO REPEL THE MON'DABI INVASION:

1. Broadcast all the slasher movies made in the past 20 years into
their fleet. If they think all humans are like that (either terminally
stupid or irredemably psychotic), they won't go near the place.

2. See if we can persuade them to risk the entire fleet for a chance
to win the Secret Super Prize behind door number 3.

3. Introduce the entire fleet to Magic: The Gathering. We know from
experience how little they'll get done once they're hooked....

4. Point out that any invasion of Earth necessarily entails a land war
in Asia.

5. Point out that Sean Connery is still alive, able and willing to
kick their butts.

6. Play George W's speeches on a perpetual loop until their collective
and individual IQ's reach idiot level.

7. Play reality TV on a perpetual loop until their collective and
individual IQ's reach idiot level.

8. Start an ad campaign to persuade the enemy all the real night life
in Sol system is on Jupiter, anyway.

9. Offer to let Donald Rumsfeld manage the invasion for them.

10. Threaten them with a Michael Moore documentary.

11. Persuade Paris Hilton, Nicole Ritchie (no relation!) and Britney
Spears to defect.

12. Sell their fleet to Microsoft.

13. Install the Blazing Saddles toll gate somewhere near Pluto.

14. Replace their landing craft with used, Soviet-era east-European
sedans.

15. Replace their coffee with freeze-dried decaf.

16. Dispatch the Scientologists as first-contact ambassadors, followed
if necessary by the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Moonies and Hare
Krishna.

17. Install kick starters on all their orbital cannon.

18. Have Andrew Lloyd Weber score the invasion. (They'll all be
asleep by the second act.)

19. Curry Vindaloo.

20. Offer the wraiths 50 cents to let us go.

I like numbers 9 and 13, myself.

Bill.
("Somebody's gonna have to go back to the Motherworld and get a whole sh*tload of dimes!")

[Virtue]

I like 13 and 16 im sure that would delay the invasion and once 16 showed up they wouldnt want anything to do with Earth

[TheRavenIs]

10, 11, 13, 16, those would make me want to have nothong to do with this crazy world.

[Vanguard00]

I should take breaks more often. It's kinda cool coming back and having more than a few updates to catch up on. Good on ya, mate.

[teh bunneh]

The combined forces of UNITY Teams A and C had manage to take control of the bridge and engineering sections of the Mon'dabi flagship. Now the question was: What to do with it? Much discussion went back and forth until Aurora noticed that a pair of Mon'dabi battleships (and a host of smaller vessels) were converging on their co-ordinates.

The heroes decided that a diplomatic solution was the best one. They would attempt (by show of force) to convince the Mon'dabi to leave Earth alone; in so doing they would try to harm as few of the aliens as possible. They also thought it might be a good idea to try to lure the Wraiths out of hiding. Some people were willing to offer the Wraiths sanctuary on Earth if they helped convince the Mon'dabi to leave; Aurora was not so eager. Since her race has had more experience with the Wraiths than anyone else, the heroes tentatively agreed with the Mythnari heroine.

Aurora took Queen down to the engine room and asked Warsmith if the elder Mythnari could use the fusion core of the ship to "recharge." He agreed, and Queen vanished into the inner-workings of the ship. Straight Arrow began to get strange power fluctuations on his control board, but ignored it.

Once Queen was fully charged up, Aurora could tell just how powerful her kinswoman really was – Queen was obviously one of the elders of the race. Together, she, Aurora, and Quasar used the superstructure of the ship as an antenna, and beamed a hyperspace message to Earth, warning the planet of the impending invasion. Hopefully, the heroes of Earth would rally and prepare to defend the homeworld.

While they were doing that, New Man took one of the captured Mon'dabi officers and began delving into the alien's mind to find out what makes the race tick. He discovered that the race organizes itself into tribe-like structures. The Mon'dabi on the top are considered supreme and unquestioned, but if they ever show weakness or incompetence, it is expected that those below them will remove them from position. When multiple tribes come together, the tribe which is the strongest rules the others.

Furthermore, he learned that this particular Mon'dabi ship was the flagship of the fleet because the commander had proven himself to be the strongest – by capturing UNITY Team A. However, since the ship had now fallen to the humans, its commander was no longer considered the strongest so the other two ships were now competing to see which would be the new flagship – whichever one could destroy the humans first would be in command.

Meanwhile, Straight Arrow and Vilkacis prepared a message to the Mon'dabi fleet. They opened a channel and announced their presence and their intentions. "We are the defenders of Earth, and we have captured this vessel. Any Mon'dabi or slave-race who refuses to participate in the invasion of our planet may leave peacefully. Anyone who does not turn back immediately will be destroyed as easily as we destroy this vessel."

The Mon'dabi commander on the viewscreen began shouting curses and threats at them. "That sounds like a 'No,'" Straight Arrow observed. "Time for a show of force, then."

Straight Arrow contacted Warsmith and told him to cause the engines to overload. The archer's goal was to get the other two warships close, then detonate this ship – thereby damaging two more craft. Everyone except Vilkacis, Straight Arrow, and Warsmith headed towards the hangar bays (Red Dragon slaughtering any Mon'dabi foolish enough to get in their way... and even a few who were just unlucky enough to be in front of him).

The two converging ships peppered the captured vessel with missiles. The ship was rocking with the explosions. Mon'dabi fled to the escape pods. Warsmith contacted Straight Arrow and told him that the engines would go critical in just a few minutes, and he was going to jump into an escape pod. Straight Arrow and Vilkacis piloted their mighty ship as close to the other ships as they dared, then they abandoned the rapidly collapsing control room and fled to the hangar.

They barely made it in time. An explosion right behind them ripped open the hull and they were nearly dragged into space, but they managed to hang on tight and get to the ship. Straight Arrow jumped into the pilot's seat and, without even doing any of his standard pre-flight checks, gunned it.

The tiny ship leapt out of the bottom of the rapidly-disintegrating flagship. Just a little distance away, they saw another vessel – Team A's – similarly escaping.

Then, the flagship blew up. Those who were watching it saw it suddenly collapse in on itself, then flare up with the light of an exploding star. The tiny ship was tossed like a straw in a tornado, though the heroes managed to weather the fury of the detonation without much trouble.

Straight Arrow managed to right the ship. The heroes blinked stars out of their eyes and turned to look back at what had happened. The area of space where "their" ship had been was now empty. All the smaller vessels that had been attacking it were gone, vaporized in the explosion. One of the two battleships was on fire – the explosion had ripped its hull open and it was venting atmosphere into space. The other ship didn't appear badly damaged, but it seemed to be without power.

"That explosion was much bigger than I expected," Straight Arrow said.
"Um," Queen cleared her throat. "While I was recharging, I accelerated the atomic reactions in the core. You said you wanted a big explosion, so I thought I'd help..." She looked embarrassed.

"Did Warsmith make it out OK?" Red Dragon asked. "He said he was going to get into an escape pod, but it doesn't look to me like any of the pods got far enough away from the explosion..." New Man checked, and realized that Warsmith was no longer on the mindlink.

"Damn," Straight Arrow swore. But then his training kicked in. "We'll mourn him after we've turned this fleet around."

Quasar took his team to the disabled battleship to make sure it was fully off-line. Team C headed for one of the undamaged battleships. Feigning damage from the explosion, Vilkacis asked to be allowed to dock. The enemy ship agreed, and the heroes parked their scout vessel in the hangar.

Red Dragon, his blood afire with the thrill of battle, opened the air lock and rushed out. The others followed a bit more cautiously – and found themselves completely surrounded by enemies. Xaraxthis, Chrakmavori, and Mon'dabi in battle armor formed a ring around the heroes...

Tune in next week to find out what happens!