Alien Legion - second series



(October 1987 - August 1990; 18 issues)

* issue #1: "Dead and Buried" (October 1987) - It's been two years since Major Sarigar lost his entire Nomad Squad during a suicide mission on Quaal. Frustrated with his superiors' unwillingness to let him return there and check for survivors, he resigns and sets out to find the truth once and for all. With the help of Torie Montroc's father, Sarigar finds a single clue: Torie's Legion chestplate, with a brief message scratched into it. Could some of his soldiers be alive after all?

* issue #2: "Fragments" (December 1987) - After dealing with a treacherous double agent and an unreliable Quaalian guide, Sarigar arrives on Quaal and begins his search. By ones and twos, he finds his troops - at least those who survived. However, as the reunited remnants of Nomad finally regroup, they are swarmed by the frenzied Quaalians...just like before. Revealed: Death of Torqa Dun, Durge.

* issue #3: "Call to Battle" (February 1988) - Sarigar and his surviving squad members fight the Quaalians, and eventually manage to leave Hellscape behind once and for all. However, several of the Legionnaires have changed, notably Torie and Tamara. Sarigar talks with General Gokk, trying to convince him to re-instate Nomad Squad. In the infirmary, Zeerod finally wakes up, only to realize that he's missing two legs and an arm, and has new transplanted eyes; Sarigar and Meico are going to see what they can do about the legs. Torie and Sarigar mull over the personnel files of potential new squad members - they've been given the bottom of the barrel to choose from. This is the mission statement of Sarigar's new squad: Force Nomad. first appearance of Trillian Gokk.

* issue #4: "The Lucky and the Dead" (April 1988) - The new members of Force Nomad prepare for their first mission. Meanwhile, Meico reports that Zeerod's new limbs are grafting well. Sarigar briefs the unit on its objective: to infiltrate and destroy a gigantic asteroid which the Harkilons are guiding toward populated systems. To make a long story short, the new Nomad proves itself beyond any doubt, achieving their objective with a combination of skill, firepower, and guts. Epilogue: light-years away, Torie's father receives his son's message via subspace burst, and is upset. first appearance of Arrick, Tonk, the Iks.

* issue #5: "The Ditch" (June 1988) - Essentially a solo Grimrod story, telling of his adventures on Ragallun XI after being left for dead on an enemy-infested world. We see and hear both the "real" version and Grimrod's version, the latter as told to a board of inquiry. For outstanding bravery and resourcefulness, Jugger is promoted to Captain and given his own command!

* issue #6: "Xenos" (August 1988) - Grimrod's first, last, and only mission as leader of his very own command. While on security escort detail for a fleet of civilian cargo ships, Grimrod and his troops must deal with a Harkilon "Trojan Horse" sort of weapon - an alien monster that s accidentally released prematurely. Jugger's entire force (with the exception of himself and Balveebes) becomes lunch for the xeno, but Grimrod finally destroys it. Upon returning, he punches General Gokk in the face, insuring a swift demotion and no further command assignments.

* issue #7: "The Bite" (October 1988) - On Arrios IX, a Legion training planet, Torie leads Nomad in a training exercise. Unknown to anyone, somebody's taken command of the gun turrets - somebody who wants to see Nomad dead. Torie and Tamara ignore orders and storm the gun-towers all by themselves, but end up killing the assassin before they can find out who sent him. Torie and Sarigar figure out that the attempt is likely tied to Jugger's encounter with the Orestan arms dealer on Ragallun, suggesting a high-reaching conspiracy. Meanwhile, on Line Star III, the Legion's lock-up facility, Grimrod serves his sixty days for decking General Gokk. He must defend himself against assassins within the prison. Elsewhere, on the planet Aret, Torie and Tamara go to visit Guy Montroc, Torie's father - but are followed by yet more assassins, whose first act is to shoot Guy Montroc!

* issue #8: "Duty Elsewhere" (December 1988) - As Torie holds his wounded father in his arms, Tamara singlehandedly dispatches all the assassins. Later (the wound wasn't as serious as it first appeared) Guy has the two Legionnaires contact Nakhira Doomhar, a superspy who uses various high-tech methods to gather information. The three of them venture to a subspace relay terminal; while Torie and Tamara fight off guards, Nakhira gains the necessary information. They have evidence now of Orestan involvement with the Harkilons, and take it to Sarigar and General Gokk. Gokk declares that this necessitates a fast, surgical strike by Force Nomad - the alternative is galaxy-wide civil war! first appearance of Nakhira Doomhar.

* issue #9: "Scalpel" (February 1989) - On a remote moon, General Gokk meets secretly with high-ranking members of the Siderium, to gain their support in his move against the Orestans. On Kreedes, the main world of the Orestes system, Nakhira and Tamara penetrate the world's massive databanks - the largest known to man or alien - and insert a virus to destroy them, barely escaping with their lives. In the Braalian system, a Legion fleet rushes to intercept a Harkilon merchant fleet. Despite the massive firepower covering their ground insertion, one shuttle is damaged and forced to land on Brall VII; it contains Grimrod, Meico, and some others. Due to bad intelligence and more Harkilon forces than expected, Sarigar is forced to withdraw the fleet...effectively abandoning his troops on the planet.

* issue #10: "Biology Lesson" (April 1989) - Sarigar explains to Torie that the captured Nomad troops will have to be left to their fate, unless something in this delicate political situation changes. On Braal VII, the Harkilons and Orestans march the captured Legionnaires (including Grimrod, Meico, the Iks, Tonk, and Arrick) to their prison compound. Within their cell, the troops meet a native - the last native - of this world. He tells them about the Orestans' and Harkilons' hostile takeover of the planet. At night, Grimrod and Hodey make a break for the fence, against the advice of both the Braalian and their teammates. Hodey is eaten by the Gar, a gigantic beast used by the Orestans as a guard. Undeterred, Grimrod has the Iks dig a tunnel under the fence, as Meico studies the pair of Gar who are rotated each day to guard the fence. Realizing that the Gar are a mated pair, the prisoners soon have the fence breached and the Gar more interested in each other than eating escapees. They break out, hijack a shuttle, and leave the planet; the Orestan warden ends up as a Gar snack.

* issue #11: "Hostile Witness" (June 1989) - General Gokk is on trial for acting against the Orestans without proper authorization. The only witnesses to his defense are Major Sarigar (whose record won't help matters) and a reluctant Grimrod...unless Torie and a group of volunteers can find and recover one other witness. Within a Harkilon ship and armed only with false Harkilon codes, they are headed deep into the Harkilon empire. The objective: Aazker, a Harkilon who witnessed dealings between his people and the Orestans. first appearance of Spellik, Neebo.

* issue #12: "Dirty Fighting" (August 1989) - Grimrod tries to teach a group of raw recruits some of his tactics, but one of them wants to play rough, so Jugger puts him down - hard. Meanwhile, Zeerod prances about on his new cybernetic legs, which he's been training with long and hard that he might rejoin Nomad. Elsewhere, Sarigar and Torie play a game similar to chess, and the Major notes that Torie has changed - he's now willing to accept losses as part of an overall victory. In the infirmary, Pike (the soldier Jugger humiliated) makes plans to avenge his humiliation. The Iks, eavesdropping, go to warn Jugger, but he's busy trying to score with a Legionnaire-ette from Devil Squad. In the lounge, Zeerod chats with Tamara, Torie, and Meico about the current state of Nomad - and Tamara collapses! Meanwhile, as Grimrod pursues his new friend, they come under fire from Pike and a buddy, Skeezil. The Iks swoop in and save the day, blasting Pike out of the sky. In the infirmary, Tamara informs the others that she's pregnant. Nearby, the half-dead Pike is brought in; the only thing keeping him alive is his hatred for Grimrod. This issue featured personnel files for Mik/Rik/Nik, Tonk, and Arrick.

* issue #13: "Deep Blue" (October 1989) - As Jugger's about to score with his friend from Devil Squad, an alert sounds. The mission: a manned research probe on the aquatic planet Momoja has sent out a distress signal. One of the shuttles, commanded by Meico, gets a lot closer than the others to the cause of the trouble - they are swallowed by a mile-long deep-sea whale! Thanks to good leadership and a bit of bravado (notably from Tonk) Meico, Tonk, and Arrick survive the experience. Tamara reveals the nature of her pregnancy, as well as the identity of the father, to Zeerod.

* issue #14: "Man of War" (December 1989) - Force Nomad ventures to Warworld, a planet where countless conflicts were fought in ages past. Their mission is to escort a research team, but complications arise. Sarigar's sister, Sarivil, is in charge of the science team, which throws the Major off completely. Worse, the excavation operations awaken a long-buried, gigantic war-robot which Nomad must stop before it destroys everything in sight.

* issue #15: "Vector: Red" (February 1990) - Nomad ventures to Mmrosdia to subdue and remove some mercenaries, following the end of a civil war. The enemy is holed up inside a huge, maze-like mass driver, though, and even the approach is dangerous: trudging through a trap-filled toxic sewer. Just the kind of job Nomad always gets...except this time, the enemy leader is none other than Jugger's long-lost father, Heller Grimrod! This issue contained a personnel file for Spellik.

* issue 16: "Game For Sinners" (April 1990) - Out of hate more than anything else, Grimrod leads the infiltration of the mercenaries' base. The fact that Heller Grimrod holds a virus capable of annihilating the planet doesn't even slow Grimrod down.

* issue 17: "Stand Down" (June 1990) - During the long trip back to Greelbase, Grimrod sulks, then discusses his childhood with Sarigar. The Major learns why Jugger ended up the way he did, and why he's so upset after encountering his father Heller last issue.

* issue 18: "Return to the Planet of the Iks" (August 1990) - In military court, Jugger relates the story of his "kidnapping" by the Iks, wherein they took him to their home world to lead the battle against oppressors. More is revealed about the Iks, Jugger saves the day, and the court ends up acquitting both him and the Iks. 1