Chapter Text
“Titanians are quite unique in how they view the perception of identity when in their thought-forms. For most of us in the UP, people shun them because they don’t want their mind to be read, when the truth is that none of them WANT to read your mind. It’s noise. They spend most of the time off Titan filtering out our thoughts like you’d wear a pear of earplugs. But the real beauty of the Titanian mindset is what happens when the mental link is made. It is something few people ever get to experience. But the projection and perception of astral forms into a combination of thought and emotion is at once beautiful and frightening.”
Raj Sanocheev, “Thoughts on Thoughts – A Human Among the Titans, Metropolis University Press, 2991.
Legionnaire Roll Call
Saturn Girl – Imra Ardeen of Titan, powerful telepath
Brainiac 5.1 – Querl Dox of Colu, 12th level intellect
Monstress – Candi Pyponte-Le Parc III of Xanthu, immense strength and invulnerability
Chameleon – Reep Daggle of Durla, shapeshifter
Kinetix – Zoe Saugin of Aleph, telekinetics, manipulates inorganic matter, healing
Umbra – Tasmia Mallor of Talok VIII, control of mystical shadows
Spark – Ayla Ranzz of Winath, Lightning Caster
Element Lad – Jan Arrah, Last survivor of Trom, Elemental manipulation
Chuck Taine of Earth – Genius level engineer
PLANET: STARHAVEN. EST CALENDAR DATE 2999.01.11
“Jan, please wake up…” Zoe said quietly, “what happened to you?” She had been carrying Element Lad and Monstress carried Spark and Chameleon, all of whom were unconscious, while Brainiac 5.1 pulled Chuck Taine along in his force field for what seemed like hours. Ferro, who had been with them when they arrived at Starhaven, had been injured and left behind once they discovered that Spark, Element Lad and Kid Quantum had been held under some kind of control by Meta and the Workforce for months prior to the rest of the Legion’s arrival.
The squad had flown for hours into a forested mountain region, and Imra and Briany finally began to descend to a small, flat area on the side of a forested mountain as the sun began to set. In what can be called ‘night’ in the world of Starhaven, a dull golden light replaced the teal skies of the daylight. The crescents of two moons hung in the sky, but most of the satellite features could still be made out due to the bright ambient starglow of dense stars and nebulae. The net effect was one of perpetual twilight, so while the band of Legionnaires flew over the Starhaven wilderness seeking shelter, they could still see a the ground with clarity. A cave entrance lay to the side of the clearing and Zoe had set down Element Lad to the ground very gently inside.
“This should provide a decent shelter for the time being,” Brainy said as he walked into the cave. He threw out a small orb that hovered near the cave roof and illuminated the walls. “We should all put on transsuits in case it gets too cold.”
Monstress, her muscular frame barely fitting into the cave, came over and laid Ayla and Cham next to Jan. Imra and Brainy came by to examine them. Brainy’s sensors floated over Jan and Ayla while Zoe tended to Cham, who was beginning to rouse.
“Brainy, what’s wrong with them?” Candi asked, more than a hint of concern in her voice.
Brainiac 5.1 scanned the results on his display. “Based on what I’m seeing here, they have been exposed to an unknown psycho-active substance for weeks,” he said, “I’m unfamiliar with this specific chemical, but it bears similarity to drugs that enable suggestion or personality control.” Brainy looked up at Imra, “I can formulate something to help them counteract the affects, but I may need some assistance from you to do it sooner.”
“You want me to probe their minds?” Imra asked directly.
“Yes, you can at least see the states of their psyches,” Brainy replied, “If we don’t snap them out of whatever control they are under, they could turn on us as soon as they wake up.”
Imra nodded and knelt by their heads, closed her eyes and concentrated, touching each of them on the forehead and creating a mental bridge as her consciousness sank into a world of memories of two people. She felt Jan’s memories of floating over the rift, summoning chunks of tarnium out of the void to force into the rift, Jazmin Cullen at his side, with a singleminded intensity until she could feel him being pulled into a maelstrom of whirling colors. Ayla was running through the Legion Outpost, goading the remaining workforce members into a lifepod, launching with them and feeling the rush of fear as the pod was inevitably pulled into the rift.
She saw Ayla’s memory of waking to find Jan and Jazmin floating outside their lifepod, miraculously alive, pulling them into the pod, much to Repulse’s protest. She could feel Ayla’s contempt of the Braalian, who did nothing but complain as they sat adrift in a completely unknown area of space. Then the relief of rescue and the confusion of the rest of the Workforce seeing a Meta who was not only alive but had been thrived in this area of space for well over a decade.
A blur of images, feelings almost, of what happened after seemed to rush by Imra’s perception. Relief and relaxation of being found and nurtured back to health. Wonder at meeting another offshoot of humanity in another location in the galaxy; the Starhavenites with their winged Pathfinders. Concern with the seeming servitude and fascism many seemed to live with under Meta’s rule. Jazmin’s discovery of Meta’s secret energy source and the three Legionnaires planning to sneak in to discover what it is. Then, Amber showing interest to find out that secret, but instead leading them into an ambush where the three Legionnaires were gassed into unconsciousness…
<<NO!>> Ayla and Jan’s psyche’s seemed to scream at her. Imra mentally flinched, completely unprepared for the reaction. She quickly recovered and could perceive the astral images of Ayla and Jan with her mind’s eye. <<You can’t look past there!>> Ayla begged. <<It’s not our fault,>> Jan’s image pleaded.
<<I need you both to come back to us,>> Imra responded, <<The Legion, your friends, are here with you, on Starhaven, and you tried to attack us. We can’t get you back if I don’t unlock these memories!>>
Jan seemed to slump. <<They did something to us,>> he said, <<made us do things for them.>>
<<Sapped our will to resist,>> Ayla said. Imra could feel the waves of sadness and hopelessness emanating from both of them. <<We couldn’t resist anything they made us do>> her mind whispered.
<<Please,>> Imra thought to them gently, <<Let me look.>>
With great reluctance, the astral forms of Jan Arrah and Ayla Ranzz seemed to separate, showing another set of images. The three Legionnaires working alongside the Workforce on pacification campaigns across Meta’s empire. Forcing innocents into concentration camps. Using their powers as enforcers and torturers. Meta and his scientists using their powers to be the assembly line of the Starhaven Sentinel program, Element Lad creating the raw materials for assembly, Kid Quantum “evolving” them in time spheres, Spark giving them energy to function.
Imra shuddered and mentally backed away before any more possible personal horrors could be revealed. She reached into their psyches to find the effect of the chemical that had taken control of their minds and was able to trigger both subjects to mentally counteract it. <<Ayla. Jan,>> Imra thought to them, <<Its going to be OK. We need you to come back to us. We can’t undo what Meta has done to these worlds without you. And we still need to rescue Jazmin. And they took Andy.>>
Both Ayla and Jan’s mental projections began to burn with a determination, almost seeming to change from a pale blue to a golden aura. <<We need to make this right,>> Jan’s projection said, <<I’ve not been me for months now. First the Blight, now this. We need to make this better.>> Ayla remained silent, but determined. Both seemed sad, yet tired and relieved, and were changed in a way where Imra sensed they were going to be all right.
<<I’m going to let you go now,>> Imra warned the pair, <<but wake up on your own. We’ll help you, but you both need rest. Just remember, we’re here for you.>>
<<Imra, one thing,>> Ayla called, <<Where’s my brother? Where’s Cham?>>
<<Cham’s with us,>> Imra replied, <<but Garth is on a mission nearby. He’s desperate to see you again, Ayla.>>
<<Thank you, Imra,>> Ayla said as her astral image began to settle into sleep.
Imra focused and began to separate her own consciousness from Jan and Ayla’s as she surfaced back into the waking world, as a swimmer would emerge from underwater. She opened her eyes to find Brainy closely monitoring all three of them and the rest of the team standing around, concerned. Cham, looking a bit haggard, had fully roused and had joined the team around the trio on the ground.
“Brainy,” Imra said, “I was able to reach them mentally. They’ll be oks and are on the way back, but they need rest.”
Brainiac 5.1 nodded. “Yes, the instruments seemed to indicate that whatever was controlling them seemed to ebb somewhat,” he said with a slight smile, “I added a little help with 20cc’s of psychophedrin. That should help physically bolster whatever you did in their minds.”
“Are they OK? How’s Jan?” Candi asked.
“Yes, I think so,” Imra replied, “Jan will be all right. They just need to rest.” She closed her eyes suddenly noting her own fatigue. “I think I need to lie down for a bit as well.” She stood up, walked over to another side of the cave, donned her transsuit and lay on the ground to fall fast asleep.
*
“Saturn Girl…. Imra, wake up!” Kinetix hissed as she shook Imra awake. “Brainy detected someone coming our way, and Spark and E-Lad are still out of it!”
Imra shook herself awake and looked up at Zoe’s urgent expression. She propped herself up and shook out the fog from her mind, feeling like she had barely slept. She slowly began to focus. “Make sure Umbra is hiding the cave with a darkfield. Have Chuck here in the cave with Brainy protecting with his force field,” she said, standing as her senses cleared, “You and Monstress up in the air to see what’s coming.”
Zoe nodded and moved to execute Imra’s orders. Imra looked over at Cham and Ayla. Both lay motionless yet breathing. Cham sat leaning against the stone wall at Ayla’s feet staring helplessly at her. Despite the lack of rest, let the adrenaline take over and found herself completely alert. “Cham, you’re with me,” Imra said as she walked out of the cave. Cham pushed himself up and moved to walk out of the cave with Imra even as Chuck and Brainy walked in, and a darkfield settled over the cave entrance.
“What’s your plan, Saturn Girl?” Cham asked.
Imra stopped after they had walked a few meters out of the cave, closed her eyes and concentrated, reaching out with her mind.
*
A beam of light swept across the steep forest floor as two men made their way closer to the encampment. “I’m telling you, they are up here,” the first man said as they worked their way through the woods. The pair was doing their best to avoid tripping over pits or roots in their path. Even though the night sky was not exactly dark, the forest canopy still cast enough shade to require some kind of light to avoid trips and falls.
“Man, you’re such an idiot,” the second man said, “You know they’ll be able to see us with that stupid light of yours. I told you we could have brought some infrareds.”
“Shut up, Fire,” said the first man annoyance creeping into his voice, “all the time with you its, ‘you shoulda done this, you shouda done that.’ Will you just trust me for once?”
“I don’t know why I let you talk me into this, Day,” said Fire, sounding quite exasperated, “We could have had a nice quiet night at home…”
“Not with what we saw yesterday,” Day shot back, “This could be the break we’ve been waiting on for years now! With these new visitors we actually have a chance this time to make a real difference. And by the way, you don’t hear me giving you a hard time because your brother and sister were born pathfinders. You could be flying us in here instead of riding a damn bike… Wait what’s over there?”
The pair entered the edge of a small clearing, one end of which was darker than any shadow they had ever seen on Starhaven. Day shone his light to the other side and the beam seemed to be swallowed into a patch of pitch blackness.
“Are you guys lost or something?” a man’s voice seemed to ask out of nowhere. The men froze in their tracks as the grey limbs of a tree with greenish-purple leaves began to entwine around them, creating a living tunnel of roots that directed their path towards the darkness. They backed up in fear until their backs hit the solid trunk wall behind them.
Day cried in terror as a six-legged predator seemed to emerge from the darkness ahead. “Spirits save us!” He grabbed on to his friend Fire in desperation who drew a blade in defense of whatever was approaching.
A woman’s voice called out from above. “Okay, team, back off,” it said, “these two aren’t here to harm us.”
“Aw. This was just getting interesting,” Day and Fire heard the earlier male voice say and watched in amazement as the tree that had been growing around them, quicky reversed and disappeared. The shadow reversed and like liquid swirled back into a black-cloaked woman with dark blue skin. They turned around to find an orange-skinned man with antennae smiling at them. “Hi guys,” he said causally.
Both men cried out in surprise and jumped back. “I’m really sorry for the scare,” the woman’s voice said and they looked up to see three women descending out of the air, a blonde in white and red with a friendly expression on her face, a redhead in green and a large muscular orange skinned woman, neither of whom looked nearly as friendly. “It’s good to see you again, Dayvid,” the blonde said as Dayvid Strongroot promptly passed out.
“Dammit, not again,” Fire said shaking his head as he laid Dayvid to the ground.
Imra, Candi and Cham worked with Fire to revive Dayvid, while Zoe landed in front of Tasmia. “What the hell was that, Umbra?” Zoe asked, almost aggressively, “I’ve never seen you do that before. How are you doing that with your powers?”
“Why do you care?” Tasmia asked in reply, with more than a little bit of a defensive attitude, “I have it under control, and that’s all you need to know.” She turned and started to walk away from Zoe.
“Don’t you walk away from me! I’m just saying that you were particularly enthralled by the Blight,” Zoe said through gritted teeth, “And we need to be sure you are OK for the team.”
Tasmia spun around so fast that her cloak cracked like a slap and got right into Zoe’s face. “How dare you, Kinetix!” Tasmia said balling her fists. She was visibly angry. “You were just as ‘enthralled’ as I remember it, and no one is concerned with anything new you’re manifesting, just like everyone welcomed your ‘special friend’ back after she nearly killed the team! They’re certainly not concerned about anything more than you changing their wardrobe.”
Now Zoe began to get mad. “Why you…” Zoe began as she balled her right fist as it began to glow green and she stepped forward, “I’m HELPING the team, I don’t know what it is that you’re doing!” Tasmia sneered with contempt at the thought of fighting Zoe and shadowy wisps began to form around her own fists as she moved into a fighting stance.
Overhearing what was happening, Imra strode over to where Zoe and Tasmia were arguing. “Hey, enough!” Imra said, “This is not the time. We’re all stressed and have had too little sleep. Umbra take a walk, or better yet, patrol the area in case we have any more inbounds. Kinetix, I need your help over here with these two.” She gestured to where Dayvid lay with Fire kneeling nearby.
Both ladies backed off, letting their powers fade back as they stepped away, but still glaring at each other. Finally, Tasmia took off into the air. Still angry, Zoe stalked after Imra.
*
High above the Starhaven mountains, a lone Finder who was invisible against the golden sky spread her wings and glided over the wilderness. She focused her goggles to the infrared spectrum and looked for anything out of the ordinary. When she found the heat signature of a lone body shooting up into the sky, with multiple bodies in the valley below, she signaled the alarm to Imperial Security.