Issue #1
Part 1
It started off as a normal Sunday morning at Jamison Mansion. The week's training had been completed early Saturday afternoon, and team STARCROSS 451 was looking forward to a day of free time. The team trained for 5 or 6 days a week, to prepare them for their first mission. Dr. Jamison was pleased with the progress the teams had shown, and they had learned some important lessons recently when the Guardians and Furies hero teams had recently put on a demonstration game of Danger Ball for them. Dr. Jamison was looking forward to easing the team into things with some simple field assignments. Alas, it was not to be. Early that morning Dr. Jamison was woken by his robot butler AVERY. It seemed that there was some urgent STARCROSS business that needed his immediate attention, so he threw on his robe and contacted Colonel Taylor at the STARCROSS base who informed him that Recon Team blue had run into trouble. Team Blue, led by Lt. Gabriel, had been conducting a regular reconnaissance mission at the destination designated JLZ4940. The arrival point was located at a spaceport on a world that seemed to have recently undergone some sort of catastrophe, possibly an invasion. Smoke was seen rising from many locations outside the starport walls, in what seemed to be a city comprised of elegant white buildings. The team proceeded cautiously and began gathering data, when to their surprise they located an unusual device inside the main starport building.
As the team set up in the damaged building, they found many bodies of what appeared to be the local beings, who looked very much like humans. They wore mostly white robes and other loose, lightly colored clothing and they appeared to have died violent deaths. As the team continued their examinations trouble suddenly struck. Two locals approached the team, walking slowly towards them. The closest member of Team Blue, Private Doshay, attempted to greet them. Without warning, black beams of energy shot from the hands of the locals, killing him instantly. The two figures pressed their attack on to the other team members who proceeded to really shoot up the two, but with little effect. Desperate, the team fought them with everything they had and finally drove them off, but not before two more team members were killed and four others were wounded out of the original ten. Believing that this place held potentially invaluable information, and perhaps another Device, Lt. Gabriel had his team fortify their position while he sent an emergency message back to the STARCROSS base. Back at STARCROSS headquarters, Colonel Taylor read the message and knew that there seemed to be little point in sending another Recon team over to assist. Armed with the same weapons, he could expect them to be no more effective and to encounter similar results. But this other Device was damn important. Dr. Jamison's team of super-powered ORPHANs, STARCROSS 451, might be the ideal solution, but Colonel Taylor knew they were inexperienced and he was a strong believer in using experienced, proven teams. But his options were limited, so he contacted Dr. Jamison and requested the team. Dr. Jamison was reluctant to send 451, as they were still unproven and he wanted to let them gain experience before throwing them into such a risky situation. But he also knew as Colonel Taylor did that they either had to send 451 or recall the Recon team, and in doing so give up the secrets that JLZ4940 seemed to hold.... STARCROSS 451 would be getting thrown into the fire a little earlier than planned.
The members of STARCROSS 451 were awoken at a little after 4:00 in the morning. Dr. Jamison explained that there was an emergency, and that they were to suit up and be downstairs in five minutes. When the groggy team assembled, Dr. Jamison contacted STARCROSS base and the team teleported there from Jamison Mansion. There they were led to the Operational Briefing room where they were met by Colonel Taylor and General Alexander. They were briefed on the situation and given their operational orders. After that there was a brief Q&A session and they were escorted to the Device for immediate transport. The team arrived and linked up with Team Blue, where Mystic was able to heal the more serious wounds of the injured recon troops. By the time 451 arrived, Team Blue had confirmed that the unusual stone structure in the peculiar room was indeed another Device. The 451 team looked around. Xeran examined the Device in an attempt to understand the local written language, while Mystic attempted to learn what she could from the dead. After doing their initial investigation and determining that the area seemed secure, 451 decided to investigate the power source, located about a half mile to the East according to the Recon team's sensors. The city once had many parks and most of the roads were lined with trees, but now much of the once beautiful city was in ruins. They flew towards the power source and found a large bunker-like structure, which was in stark contrast to the elegant spires and graceful lines of most of the other buildings. The team entered the bunker, which seemed to have been badly damaged, perhaps by some sort of bombardment.
A nervous but determined young man dressed in black confronted the team. After some posturing by both sides, they got down to sharing information with each other. They explained who they were to the man, who in turn explained that he was a young recruit in an elite order of royal guards known as the Shadowhawks. It appeared that this planet had been invaded and when the bombardment started he had become trapped down in this room shortly after the technicians had fled their posts. Unable to escape, he had listened to the muffled sounds of the battles for three days. Now that he was free, he was eager to see what had become of his world. The team accompanied him to the surface, where he saw the carnage that had fallen upon his world. He noticed the badly damaged Royal Palace in the distance and immediately flew off to it, followed closely by the STARCROSS team. They entered the royal hall through a large hole in the building and discovered many bodies, including those of the King and Queen. Despondent, the young man fell to his knees and wept. The team did their best to console him, and after a while he recovered somewhat. As he gathered up some of the battered tapestries from the hall and the damaged royal scepter, they heard weapons fire in the distance followed by an immediate radio call from the Recon team: the two hostile beings had returned. STARCROSS 451 responded immediately. They returned to the starport where they discovered a pitched battle going on outside the stone room. They joined the battle, pulling some of the injured Recon troopers to safety. Thunderbird and SkyAngel flew into an adjacent room and took on what appeared to be a local with all black eyes. Whatever it was, it radiated an evil strong enough to slightly dampen the power of SkyAngel's holy sword. However, the evil being had been badly injured by the Recon team and it soon collapsed before the heroes' attacks. Meanwhile, in the hallway outside the stone room the other heroes, including the young Shadowhawk, attacked the other being. Shadowhawk, with the help of his bonded shadow creature, determined that their foe was one of his people which had been taken over by one of the evil shadow creatures, the legendary enemies of his people from long ago. The heroes damaged the creature, and as a mighty blow from Victory felled it, a humanoid-shaped creature that looked like a black liquid leapt from its host body! It flew out at great speed and attempted to take over Victory but failed. It few off of her and through the Recon Sgt. Bell (killing him instantly) and into the stone room where the Device was. As it entered the Device there was a brief flash and it was gone. Shadowhawk dove it after it, also disappearing. Mystic stopped and asked, "I wonder where it went?" to which a shocked looking Xeran replied "Earth." In his earlier attempts to make sense of the local language, Xeran had matched the settings on the STARCROSS Recall Beacon, which was set for Earth, to the same setting on the stone Device... Mystic quickly healed the surviving Recon team troops and the team followed the creature and Shadowhawk through the Device. |
The room was located behind a set of intricately carved bronze colored doors. While the rest of the building looked very high tech, this room was composed of worn stone blocks which were often covered with moss. In the center of the room and made of similar materials was an unusual machine surrounded by control panels. It had a metal bar going over the top of it that looked very similar to the one on the STARCROSS Device, and it appeared that this was another Device with similar abilities. They also detected an extremely powerful energy source not far from their position.
Reaching deeper into the bunker, they came across a gaping hole several stories deep that had been blasted into it . The team flew down to the bottom and found a large room filled with debris, but what caught their eyes was a set of semi-circular doors very much like those of the odd room at the starport. The doors were locked shut, but they were no match for Victory who pushed them open, revealing what seemed to be the control room for the giant power source. Surrounded by control panels, a large dome in the center of the room pulsed with power, but the team hardly noticed because there was also a person in there.
