The massive cyborg, once known as the crime lord Donald Baer, but know known only as Earthshaker, stood before his minions. “Today is the day!” he shouted, his amplified voice reaching all the way across the great hall in which they stood. “Today, we claim Legion as our own!” With a sardonic tone, he added, “And for our beloved masters, of course!”

	Several hundred voices, some relatively natural and others almost entirely artificial, raised in cheer. Rank upon file of cybernetic soldiers, all absolutely and fanatically loyal to Earthshaker, stomped their feet, and roared defiance to the sky. This was what they had been waiting for, their chance to attack, their chance to fight. And with Earthshaker leading them, they knew they could not lose.

	As the cheers resounded, Earthshaker spun on his heel, and faced his lieutenants. “Decibel, Gauntlet, have you been fully repaired since your reconnaissance mission?” he asked.

	“Yes, sir!” they responded simultaneously. In fact, both cyborgs’ prostheses gleamed like polished chrome, and they looked in perfect health.

	“Excellent. Gauntlet, you will take Alpha Company into the city of Mountainrock, and begin what appears to be a rampage of terror.” He grinned. “Cause as much property damage as you like, but please try to keep the civilian casualties light. And keep the holofields on until the area is clear of civilians and other witnesses.”

	“Yes sir! But why the holofields?”

	Earthshaker looked off into the distance. “I have my reasons. It suits me for now for the general populace to believe the Domain are invading.”

	“Very well sir!”

	Decibel cocked his head to one side. “Sir, what about Glaive and I?”

	“Decibel, you will take Gamma Company into the city under stealth, as we discussed. Glaive will have command of Beta Company, while Delta will remain in reserve if it is needed. Which I do not believe it will.” He fixed Glaive with a steely gaze. “Remember what we discussed elsewhere.”

	Glaive saluted. “Of course, sir.” 

	Turning back to the troops, Earthshaker began issuing orders to the four companies of cyborgs present.

*******************************

	“So I have no idea who it was,” shrugged Calvin.

	“Narsimh... something about that name doth strike a resounding chord within my memories,” grumbled Dragonlord, “but I cannot say as to why.”

	“Is it a good chord or a bad one?” asked Brian.

	“I do not know, good Hauler. And that worries me.” For once, Dragonlord was not his usual bombastic self.

	“That can wait,” said Anthony. “We got BT back, and it’s time... for his party!”

	“Will there be beer?” asked Calvin hopefully.

	“Not for you, kitten,” teased Rache. “You’re still too young.

	The five residents of the Mendolsson Memorial Hostel for Displaced Metahumans sat around the lounge, with a game of Monopoly laid out but half forgotten on the table in front of them, as Calvin had told his story to them. Several other residents were hanging streamers and balloons, and two were raising a sign saying “Welcome Back” into position over the bay window. Calvin sighed deeply, and his eyes turned wistful. “I wish Allison, Cyrano, and Ryan were still here. Allison loved parties.”

	As each one remembered their fallen comrades, the conversation at the table paused. Ryan had given his life to save Mountainrock from a nuclear explosion several months ago, while Allison had sacrificed herself to actually ressurect a young teenager. Cyrano, however, was a civilian at the hostel, and had died as collateral damage when one of Legion’s enemies had attacked the hostel. All three had memorials on the wall in the lounge, and not a day went by that one person or another didn’t salute those memorials.

	Anthony stood up, hesitantly at first since he still didn’t fully trust the bone-knitting sleeve Darkenwulf had mode for him, and returned with several cans of beer, and a can of soda for Calvin. He opened his can, and walked up to the Memorials. The others, seeing this, stood up, and opened their cans, as well. “To our family,” he said.

	“To our family,” the others responded. They all took a drink, and then looked at the smiling portraits on the wall.

	Their reverie was interrupted by the intercom. “All members of Legion, report to the comms room immediately, in uniform! We got a big one!” 

	Jarhead cocked his head. “Sounds like John’s really upset over whatever this is!”

	“Don’t you even think about it!” chided Rache. “Even with that thing DeeWee made, you’re still not up to full!”

	“Hey, I may not go out, but I can at least monitor what’s going on from the comms room. DeeWee put miniature TV cameras in all of our belt buckles.”

******************************

	Stepping out of the elevator, Jarhead looked at the rest of Legion. Everyone was there, and John had already started explaining the situation. “Reports place the number of Domain in the hundreds. They seem to be concentrating on causing as much chaos as possible, so everyone be on your guard, this may be a diversionary attack. Neither Praetor nor Lord Dominion have been spotted, either.”

	“Boss, I got something for ya,” said Anthony as he sat down at the table.

	“What?” asked Silverlance.

	“On my way down, the rest of the residents told me to ask you if Calvin could stay behind on this one.” He shrugged. “They want to go ahead with their party for him.”

	Silverlance thought for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. But make it a quick party, and we’ll send Gateway back for him as soon as you signal us it’s over.”

	Jennifer raised her hand. “Umm, sir, I’’m going out there?”

	“Unfortunately, yes. I know your abilities aren’t that useful in combat, except when you team up with your sister, but according to Freedom Force the Domain use interdimensional gates to transport from their ships.” He shook his head. “We don’t know if your abilities can shut down their gates like Alche-miss’s can, but we have to try.”

	“Oh... of course, sir.”

	Hauler stepped up behind her, and gently laid one incredibly massive hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you stay safe.”

	Eyes shining slightly, she looked up at him. “You promise?”

	He met her gaze. “I swear.” He then noticed whispers, and chuckles passing around the table, especially between Calvin and Flamestrike as they looked at the two. “Hey, now, cut that out!” he complained. Calvin simply shrugged and tried to look innocent, while Flamestrike winked at her sister and shot her an ‘OK’ gesture.

	“Alright, enough fooling around. Gateway, get us there!” ordered Silverlance. And as the rest of the team started to step through the shimmering circle of light, Jarhead and Black Tiger made their way back upstairs to the lounge, not really feeling like partying now that their friends were in harm’s way.

**************************

	The streets were filled with chaos, and grey bulbous headed aliens seemed intent on causing even more. Plasma rockets blasted apart cinderblock walls, and boson rifle blasts pockmarked the streets, while civilians screamed and ran for whatever temporary shelter they could find. Silverlance shook his head, and began barking orders. “Amber, Gateway, get those civilians out of here! Hauler, Dragonlord, take out the heavy weapons teams! The rest of you, run interference, and keep them off balance. Try to take them out without hurting them! Gateway, once you’ve gotten the civilians out of here, try to find their portals and shut them down!”

	Legion leapt into action like a well oiled machine. No seener had the words left Silverlance’s mouth than Gateway gated herself over next to a group of civilians huddled behind the wall of a collapsed storefront. “Don’t worry, I’m sending you somewhere safe!” she reassured them.

	“Safe for who?” leered one of the civilians. They shimmered, and their holographic disguise dropped, revealing gleaming chrome cyborgs armed to the teeth, including one she recognized from their assault on the Hostel earlier that week.

	“John, it’s a trap!” she yelled. However, she then could aid in the battle no more, as Decibel opened up with his white noise generator, the powerful sound sending her reeling, dropping to her knees. She covered her ears and tried to block out the sound, but every bone in her body still rattled with it. She tried to summon up a gate to get herself out of there, but couldn’t muster enough concentration.

	“Jennifer!” yelled Hauler. Tossing the Domain he had been playing with aside, he charged over to where she had fallen. However, at this time, the Domain, themselves dropped their disguises, showing themselves to be even more cyborgs. One launched a cluster of rockets at Hauler’s unprotected back, blowing him clear past where Gateway lay.

	“’Tis a trap!” yelled Dragonlord, as he, himself saw his foes drop their disguises.

	“Naw, whatever gave you that idea?” quipped Flamestrike. She gestured, and a five foot wide column of flame seared down at a two-man heavy weapons team. To her shock, the flame stopped inches from them, like it had hit a clear dome. “They’re shielded, my flame can’t get through!”

	Silverlance cursed himself for a fool. As he blasted at a cyborg, and watched his shimmering silver energy just cascade across an invisible bubble, he realized he should have called for backup before wading in. “I should have called Freedom Force! I should have...”

	“John, look out!” yelled Amber, as she erected a golden wall behind him, just in time to block several weapon hits. “You’re not invul..AIIIEEEEGGHHH!!!” A crimson bolt of power impacted with her golden aura, shattering her concentration, and smashing her into the side of a nearby office building. She pried herself loose, and shakily flew to the ground, but three more beams struck her, and she dropped five feet to the pavement, and lay very still.

	“They’re chewing us up piecemeal!” shouted Hauler, picking himself up off the ground. He shook his head to clear his vision, and saw the group of cyborgs that had attacked gateway running off with her unconscious form. “Get back here!” he shouted, powerful legs propelling him in a tremendous leap. He landed in front of them with a pavement shattering crash, and swung two powerful hamfists at the cyborgs. He felt a wall between them, but kept pounding. Eventually, something on the cyborg’s waist short-circuited, and his next blow sent a fully converted cyborg over fifty feet into a pile of debris, scattering the debris. “The shields ain’t perfect! Keep battering them!” he encouraged.

	Meanwhile, Flamestrike and Silverlance had rushed over to cover Amber while she regained her senses. Fire and energy pounded into the shields of the cyborgs, but the return fire kept them pinned by their fallen teammate. Behind them, Darkenwulf rushed up, holding the ion weapon he had confiscated in the earlier fight, against the Vespuccis. “They appear to have taken our measure, and developed defenses against our specific capabilities,” he noted, firing off a few shots, and watching them bounce off the force fields.

	“Reminds me of the belt the Vespucci boss was wearing,” said Flamestrike. 

	“Similar, but not quite. They appear to have been optimized for our specific energies, as well as concussive force.” He leaned over Amber, and pressed on her head and neck in a few spots. “Amber is out of this fight, she suffered a mild concussion in her fall.”

	“Dammit. And looks like gateway is down, too. We need to launch a counter-attack!” snarled Silverlance as he popped out from cover to fire a two-handed burst at a particularly large cyborg, in vain.

	“How? we can’t hurt them!” demanded Flamestrike.

	“I don’t know,” answered Silverlance. “I don’t know...”

*****************************

	The residents of the hostel were completely unaware of the events downtown, however. They were too busy eating cake, and drinking either soda or beer depending on their age. They had convinced Calvin to put on a blindfold, and were starting to hoist a Mexican-style pinata into place. Anthony shook his head. “I’m telling you, it’s not gonna work. He can hear the air going through the ruffles of that thing. He may as well not be blindfolded.”

	Anya, one of the younger female residents, stuck out her tongue at him. “Spoilsport!”

	Calvin just shook his head, and grinned. He also didn’t tell them that the blindfold was a little thin, and he could still see through it a little. Hefting the broomstick he held back, he prepared for a mighty swing.

*****************************

	“Sir, Beta Company reporting in!”

	Glaive’s signal was entirely silent. Among his other cybernetics, he had an integral communications uplink, which he now used to directly contact the commander of CADRE. “All clear. Looks like the entire force of Legion is down playing with Gauntlet and Decibel and their men.”

	“Excellent,” came the response. “Remember, the tiger is still present, however, and his senses may detect you even through your disguise fields. Also, the former Marine may not have useful super-powers, but he is a phenomenally skilled fighter, and is extremely cunning.”

	“Roger, sir. The inhabitants appear to be gathered in a room on the rear of the ediface, and according to spotters seem to be having a party for the tiger,” Glaiv reported.

	“How typical.” Glaive could hear his commander sigh through the comlink. “Set the charges, and return to base. If Alpha and Gamma companies require assistance, Delta is in position.”

	“Understood. Glaive out.”  He turned, and nodded to his men, who began to place unusual boxes in strategic positions around the walls of the Mendolsson Memorial Hostel for Displaced Metahumans.

*****************************

	Dragonlord was nearly in a rage. Out of all of his companions, only he and Hauler were still standing. Hauler, however, looked quite worse for the wear, and he, himself, was exhausted from dodging boson rifle shots. “Keep fighting, good Brian! We may yet win the day!” he cried, as he finally buckled the force field around a small squad of cyborgs, and sent them running with a blast of mystic flame from his open mouth.

	“They are NOT taking our friends!” retorted Hauler. He staggered as a plasma rocket impacted with his chest, and retaliated by hurling a chunk of concrete at the shooter. It hit the force field, but buckled it, trapping the cyborg beneath the concrete. “But I don’t know how many more hits like that I can take!”

	“Then don’t take them!” Dragonlord fought like a madman to get to where four members of their team lay unconscious. Flamestrike, Silverlance, Amber, and Darkenwulf were all surrounded by Cyborgs, who were picking them up off the ground, and preparing to leave the scene with them. “Nay! I say thee nay!”

	“I’ll go get ‘em, DL, you... AARRRGH!!!” As a crimson bolt of energy lanced out from a cyborg near the periphery of the battle, Dragonlord watched in horror as it impacted directly with Hauler’s face. With a resounding crash, the one ton hero fell over backwards, and could only groan in pain, barely even conscious.

	“Nay! And nay again!” Dragonlord saw his vision cloud over, and start to turn red. “This shall NOT BE!” he cried. Welling from deep within him, Dragonlord roared so loud that it was heard ten miles away, and shifted. Where once a tall, slender man in a green costume stood, now a fifty foot long dragon roared to the heavens.

	Several of the cyborgs took note, and hesitated. “Adrenaline override!” shouted Gauntlet, who immediately started firing his wrist cannons at the reptillian hero.

	A powerful tail swept across the shattered street, pulverizing force fields and sweeping aside cyborgs like chaff. Decibel, who once had been a human mercenary, then a member of the Doom Guard, knew what would come next. “Alpha Company, fall back! Keep out of his reach, and maintain fire! Wear him down!”

	Sure enough, white-hot dragonflame seared forth, engulfing the embattled cyborgs. Most of the force fields held, but a few buckled under the intense punishment. Those cyborgs dropped screaming,their prosthesis now red-hot. However, Gauntlet and Decibel were still unhurt, and were laying down a withering curtain of plasma and sound, rattling the dragon’s bones and blasting away at his flesh.

	“Not... enough... magic,” stammered the dragon through gritted teeth, as he felt the exhaustion of modern disbelief strip from him his birthright once more. Exhausted, injured, and defiant, he shrunk back down to human size, and passed out.

	Ten minutes later, only the debris and destruction from the battle remained to mark their epic conflict.

***********************************

	BAM!

	Just as Anthony had foretold, Calvin had hit the pinata on the first hit. Now, various bits and pieces of candy poured out onto the floor. Calvin and some of the other youngsters from the Hostel scrambled for choice bits, while the adults laughed, and sipped their drinks.

	Unbeknownst to any of them, alarms were sounding in the communications room, with no one to hear them. Alert messages scrolled across CRT screens, and radar screens pinpointed the location of the intruders.

	The alarms were silenced by the massive series of explosions that tore the Hostel apart.