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Issue #14: Highly Illogical

18 May 2002

Just for R&R, the team attends RavenCon9. Francois, dressed as Tom Baker, is harrassed by what appear to be robot Daleks. Max, dressed as Dirk "Starbuck" Benedict, gets razzed by a Mr. T-impersonating robot: "I pity the foo' who messes wit' the Cylon Empire!" He retreats to an elevator, picks up on who he thinks is Mayor d'Aubaine, and totally befuddles TJ Hooker with recollections from his home timeline.

[In Max's timeline, ST:TOS ran 10 years, seven of them starring Jack Lord as Jim Kirk and Martin Landau as Mr. Spock. Majel Barrett was Number One. Shatner was brought in as Sam Kirk after Lord left the show.]

Dani, dressed as Chiana from "Farscape," gets mentally undressed by fanboys aged 8 to 80 while Jason and Namor, the team's resident otaku, start chasing two anime chicks. Jack, dressed as Shadowstrike, wanders the convention center impressing SCA geeks. Vic, dressed as Boba Fett, and Joshua, as Mirror-Universe Spock, look like fascists.

At a film screening, Jason makes a loud disparaging remark about "Trek" and silences a 1500-person auditorium. He and TJ Hooker, who was onstage at the time, end up in a verbal sparring match. Vic berates Jason for dissing The Great Bird of the Galaxy, prompting TJ to quip, "I think it's time we all flipped somebody a Great Bird of our own!"

Work calls, however, when the Hawaiian-shirt-and-leather-jacket-clad Vishenko appear to have infiltrated the convention organizers. One of them tells Joshua: "I am beink beeg fan of 'Star Trek.' Dat Doktor Spock is good with kids, nyet?" At a screening of the pilot for another new "Trek"-inspired series, the team discovers Vishenko/Goth Underground hustler Vladek Grozny is behind an attempt to steal the HDTV version of the pilot to bootleg.

They fight Grozny, the Cylon, Daleks and the two anime chicks in a battle most of the con-goers think is a surprise floor show. Not only does Dani retrieve the HDTV disk of the pilot, but the team shuts down the anime chicks before a stray energy bolt could possibly ricochet down the HVAC system and set off the boiler. [If that had happened, then it really would be their fault!]

Dani and Max discover the anime chicks' costumes contain some kind of probability-manipulation field. How else could bikinis provide such comprehensive armor coverage?

Issue #15: "To Boldly Go . . . ."

[Top]

24 May 2002

Strange lights at night and a sudden crop circle prompt Nehalem Amalgamated Plastics exec Jonathan Nash and Oregon Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Nash, Jack's parents, to contact The Foundry for help. Joshua decides the investigation of the crop circle would be a good teamwork exercise and working retreat. After all, RavenCon9 [see Issue #14, "Highly Illogical"] was supposed to be a vacation.

Joshua places Vic in charge of the team and sends them to the Nash farm near McMinnville, OR, population 25,000, home of Linfield College and the annual McMinnville UFO Festival. [Click here for information on the infamous 1950 McMinnville UFO sighting.] They check in at their hotel in downtown McMinnville and then check out the Nash farm. At the farm, Energon discovers an odd electromagnetic signature and absorbs some of the ambient radiation as a safety precaution. Jeopardy, in the shape of a bassett hound, follows an alien scent trail to the shoulder of the nearby road. The team discovers that one or more aliens were picked up by a passing car headed toward town.

Velocity, the man from the future, goes into a trance to remember details about the crop circle. He discovers that the bulk of crop circles on Earth are graffiti tags made by joy-riding adolescent aliens. Some are responsible for cattle mutilations, while others, like the ones from Tau Ceti who made the Nash circle, are into abductions and "probings."

In town, the team splits up to gather information. They stumble across a murder at the hotel, but refocus on the mission at hand when it appears the local police have a suspect in custody. They also stumble across some aliens walking around town undisguised--they blend right in with other costume-wearing Festival-goers--and Jeopardy makes telepathic contact with them. The aliens quickly leave.

Later that night, after the Nashes leave, the team splits up again to gather information in town and stake out the farm. Focusing on their priorities, Jason and Namor start cruising parties at the college campus. Danielle and Jack follow them. At one of the parties, they spot an alien. When Namor and Jason follow, they get abducted. When Danielle and Jack attempt to rescue them, they end up abducted, too.

At the farm, Jeopardy, Velocity and Tabula Rasa intercept a pair of aliens and attempt to communicate with them. They are successful until Jason, fearing he'll be "South Park"-ed, uses his magnetic powers to disrupt their ship's systems--and their telepathic link.

Issue #16: "Down In The Shacks Where The Satellite Dishes Grow"

[Top]

25 May 2002

Jason's electromagnetic manipulation affects the Grays' saucer, causing it to crash twice. The first impact leaves a divot in a vineyard just east of Lafayette and costs the life of a cow in the pasture next door. The second impact incapacitates the crew, killing most of them. Except for Namor's concussion, the captured heroes are uninjured.

In Ravensgate, the Checkerheads capture Dominic "The Chef" Spanno--trashing the Envoy Hotel in the process--and turn him over to the Feds. The ambitious high-powered DEA policy wonk Victor Rodriguez siezes the opportunity to strike a deal with the "tax attorney" in the interest of tracing and cutting off Middle Eastern terrorists' heroin-trade cash cow. Superintendent Snow, whom Spanno shot seven weeks earlier [Issue #11, "T-Minus"], and Agent Marcoli are not amused. "V-Rod" cites the shapeshifter Omerta [Issue #11 Backup Story, "There Went The Neighborhood"] as a reason prosecuting Spanno might not be viable, while Marcoli warns that the covert-ops veteran mobster is one shrewd businessman. Snow punches holes in two of the walls in Marcoli's office.

Also in Ravensgate, Francois and Joshua set out to assist the team when they are unable to reach them via VoxDot.

Aboard the saucer, Jason is able to revive Namor while Dani and Jack attempt to conduct triage. Believing the ship's captain is defibrillating, Jack uses his electrical powers but gets unexpected results. Jason contacts Tabula Rasa at the Nash Farm, then Vox Dot traffic becomes highly chaotic. Tabula Rasa and Pyro shush the chorus, and TR appoints Dani field leader until help can arrive. Dani and Jack are able to determine the saucer's location, TR sends Velocity ahead, and TR and Jeopardy pile into the school's SUV with two incapacitated Grays.

The heroes assemble at the crash site. Dani, Jack, Jason and Namor climb out of the saucer with three surviving Greys. Fearing he'd set off a nasty explosion if he shut off the vessel completely, Jason reactivates the saucer's systems. It goes airborne instantaneously and disappears, narrowly missing the Mistrunner.

The team takes the five Grays back to HQ in Ravensgate for medical attention. Jason calls Marcoli. Before Marcoli can arrive, the revived captain mind-controls Velocity into attacking the team. After a brief struggle, Jeopardy mind-controls the captain and ends the fight. The team is able to ascertain that the captain can revive his dead crewmembers if they act promptly--and repair the captain's damaged remote controller.

After repairing the controller, assistaing in reviving the Grays, and sending them on their way, the team and Marcoli discuss the remifications of the situation--and of Spanno's release. Once Marcoli is gone, the team discusses what has happened.

Back at the Federal Building, Marcoli discovers that the Kergillian impants in the late Emil Kergillian's system were far more advanced than the ones discovered by The Foundry.

Issue #17: "Dance Along The Edge"

[Top]

28 May 2002

The Foundry, except for Vic Charlton in one panel, does not appear in this issue, which is an epilogue for the City of Crime story arc (Issues 1-13) and a prologue for the nastiness in store in the next story arc (Issues 18-?). Issue 17 deals with the repercussions of the Checkerheads' Envoy Hotel raid, which seems to have backfired. Dominic "The Chef" Spanno, Dan Swill and Patria Morii are revealed to have joined the Ravensgate Crime Commission--and Dr. Morii is its temporary chairwoman!

A key informant is killed right under the Checkerheads' noses, and Phil Snow and Matt Shinmen try to find a way out of Spanno's lawsuit against them, the city and the department. Meanwhile, Mayor Salome Throckmorton-d'Aubaine simultaneously woos Maximillian Morell and Phil Snow.