WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE :Responding to an emergency beacon, the group travel to a planet over 20 Light Years away. The planet is rocky, barren and covered with sulphurous fumes. They find a bubble of force on the planet that their detector says is the source of the energy signatures they are tracking. It is black in color but suspiciously like the force sphere that trapped them. Golem finds the power source and destroys it.       The bubble of blackness quickly dissipates, being a cloud of smoke and fine carbon particles, to reveal three black soot-covered figures, one standing 9 foot tall and glowing like a red hot coal. The second figure seems female but totally black in color and crackling with electrical energy. The third is an alien biped. Even as they watch, the soot flakes away on this individual to reveal what appears to be a crystalline humanoid. This quickly changes as crystals seem to grow from the ground around him and cover his body, increasing his mass and height. Razor sharp claws grow from his hands and a glittering horn grows from his head. He now stands about 12 foot tall. He growls something in a chittering, alien language, something that sounds like a challenge!!       Omega Man has followed the group so he can discover the source of the anomaly that is affecting the sun. He was testing a power harness that augmented his FTL and was able to follow Golem. He comes upon this scene and is caught by surprise at the tense standoff.       Singularity shouts, "This is Singularity of The Star Guard! Do you require any further Assistance?" The blue-black skinned woman teleports out of the smoky, pulverized area and appears close to Golem.       Thunderbolt lands and runs toward the crystalline being and the coal-like man. The crystalline being shouts a challenge, something that sounds like, "QUARN!!" In their minds, the group label these beings as Char, Coal and Quarn.       Omega Man moves into the area, trying to ascertain what is going on. Quarn reaches out and grabs a massive boulder. With frightening ease, he sends it hurling at Omega Man! Omega Man tries to deflect the massive rock but it is too large and smashes into him with terrible force, stunning him.       Golem charges Char. She suddenly shimmers and splits into three figures. Golem lashes out at one figure but his fist goes through her. The Star Guard braces themselves for a battle they neither started nor want.       Going on the defensive, Singularity creates a gravity field around himself. Coal charges him and sends a tightly concentrated beam of radiation at the mutant hero. The gravity field reflects the attack at Quarn who chitters in anger.       "That's Gratitude for You!!", shouts Thunderbolt as she sends a Thunderbolt at Quarn. The blast knocks Quarn back 6 feet but doesn't seem to affect him much. The 12' tall crystalline being charges Thunderbolt but misses.       Stunned, Omega Man limply falls toward the ground.       Seeing the 12' tall Quarn and the 9' tall Coal, Golem's metal body flows like mercury and he grows to 15' tall. Char strikes him with a sickly green ray of energy. Golem lashes out and sends Char reeling with a powerful blow.       Trying to keep on the defensive, Singularity creates a gravity field around Coal, entangling him. Growling unintelligible words, Coal seems to turn to glowing energy and escapes the entangle. He rushes at Singularity but misses.       Thunderbolt summons a Lightning Strike and hits Quarn a glancing blow. The crystal creature chitters in annoyance but seems to be hardly affected. He lashes out with a fist composed of sharp crystals and sends Thunderbolt reeling. She is slightly injured by the blow.       Omega Man lands near a small crater with a thud.       Straining to his utmost, Golem lashes out at Char! The 15' tall hero smashes her backwards where she crashes limply to the ground and does not move.       Increasing the power of his attacks, Singularity creates a punishing field of gravity around Coal. The 9' tall smoking berserker slips easily from the entangle and lands nearby.       Licking a bloody lip, Thunderbolt regains her feet, an angry gleam in her eye. "Not Nice to Hit Ladies!", she snarls and sends her most powerful Lightning Bolt at Quarn! The bolt blazes into the crystalline creature and pieces of crystal fly! Quarn gives a chittering cry that is obviously a cry of pain. He is knocked backwards over 60 feet and lands like a pile of sludge!! He quickly reforms and regains his balance, charging Thunderbolt and Golem. As he runs, his arms elongate and become glittering battering rams! He aims between the two heroes and swings at both! Golem blocks the blow and Thunderbolt is able to avoid the fist.       "I've had enough of this!", cries Singularity. He creates a gravity field around Coal that will not even allow energy to escape. Coal blasts the field to tatters and prepares to dodge the next attack.       Thunderbolt advances to meet Quard. She uses her power to increase her strength and lashes out with a thunderous blow. Quarn appears to be unaffected.       Omega Man recovers his senses and stands up. He sees the smoky area at the center of the destroyed force bubble coalesce into another bluish-black skinned female. She sees him approach and waves her hands at him, sending a wave of inky darkness at him that assaults his senses. He responds with a Plasma Blast but the energy seems to go through her with little effect.       "I've had Enough!", cries Singularity. "I tried to be Nice!" He strikes Coal with a Gravity Punch but the 9' tall berserker only seems annoyed. Coal responds with a blazing gout of flame that, fortunately, strikes Singularity a glancing blow. Even so, he is badly battered.       Seeing the 15' tall Golem facing the 12' tall Quarn, Thunderbolt crosses the battlefield toward Char but is dismayed to see her shakily regain her feet.       Omega Man creates an energy barrier that deflects the smoky female's next attack.       The two towering figures; Golem and Quarn, face off. "Thunderbolt, Can you take the downed one?", shouts Golem as he strikes Quarn a staggering blow.       Singularity recovers his balance. The two combatants trade powerful blows but neither is phased.       Char again shimmers and two images of her appear on either side. It is impossible to tell which figure is the real one. Thunderbolt strikes at one of the images but misses.       Omega Man again deflects an attack from the figure he labels as; Smoke.       Golem moves in on Quarn and strikes the crystalline alien a staggering blow. The crystalline alien goes down.       Seeking to contain Coal without harming him, Singularity surrounds him in a force wall. The 9' tall berserker shatters the wall with contemptuous ease.       Char attacks Thunderbolt with a intense beam of energy but misses. Thunderbolt replies with a sweeping blow but also misses.       Omega Man decides to change tactics and sends a glowing Plasma Web at Smoke. The lithe woman narrowly avoids the entangle.       Golem stands over Quarn and pounds the alien with his full might, trying to keep him down.       Singularity grits his teeth and unleashes his most deadly attack; an area of sheering gravitational force he calls a point singularity. It strikes Coal and the burning giant screams in pain! Coal is sent flying backward, blood spattering the area and crashes limply to the ground.       Char hears Coal's scream and lashes out at Thunderbolt but misses. Thunderbolt lashes out with a right cross that sends Char flying.       Smoke sends another wave of darkness at Omega Man but misses. Omega Man changes tactics and hits Char from the rear with his Plasma Blast. The double attack is too much for her and she slumps bonelessly to the ground.       Golem tries to examine Quarn but his mystic senses can not gauge the full extent of the alien's damage.       Seeing the full extent of his deadly attack upon Coal, Singularity cries, "Noooo!!" and flies toward the injured berserker.       With all her companions down, Smoke decides that discretion is the better part of valor. She seems to turn to smoke and settles along the barren ground.       Thunderbolt turns gaseous and settles over Char, keeping her unconscious. Golem carries the badly injured Quarn over to where Char lies and deposits him next to her. Singularity uses his paramedic skills to gauge the extent of Coal's injury. Coal is badly injured but in no immediate danger of death.       With Smoke vanished, the group study the three fallen prisoners, unsure what to do. The closest medical facility they know of is back on Earth and they do not wish to reveal their origin to these powerful aliens. Omega Man deduces that Earth is the Star Guard's obvious origin and so it doesn't matter.       Two of the team are for just leaving the aliens where they are and leaving, thus avoiding any further conflict. The extent of the injuries, however, causes them to reconsider. Omega Man starts to strip the foes of foci but the members of the Star Guard stop him, explaining that the planet's atmosphere is deadly and they can not tell if their life support is tied to these systems.       They finally decide to let Char recover consciousness while Singularity stands by, ready to entangle her. Omega Man flies about the area, on the look out for Smoke. When Char regains consciousness, Thunderbolt tries speaking to her in Kree. To their amazement, the alien woman responds but calls them Skrull.       With Thunderbolt's linguistic skills, it quickly becomes evident that they have all been the victims of a monstrous hoax. Skrulls captured Char, Quarn, Smoke and Coal and have been taunting them for months. The last month, however, they took the forms of Nemesis, Thunderbolt, Golem and Singularity and played cruel tricks on the captured group.       The group try to convince Char to believe them. Char demands that if they are telling the truth, to release her so she can aid the fallen Coal. They do so only to have Char teleport away and out of sight.       When the group take no action against the downed foes nor try to track Char, she reappears next to Coal and is dismayed at the extent of his wounds. "He is of your kind.", she says shortly. "He is Terran." Indeed, Coal has begun to cool down and starts taking on a more human visage.       Thunderbolt is finally able to convince Char to Mind Link with her to try and ascertain the truth. Singularity also accepts the Mind Link but Golem will not. Char calls for Smoke and the vaporous woman appears next to her within seconds. Smoke surrounds Coal in a hazy aura and many of the 9' tall berserker's wounds heal. "He was held captive much longer than any of us.", explains Char over the Mind Link. "His powers began to overload and he became unbalanced."       Char reveals that although there were many Skrull involved, she only knows the name of one that seemed to be the ringleader; Eclipse.       Smoke appears to have some mental abilities and is able to explain the situation to Quarn. He slowly recovers although still badly wounded. Smoke explains that his physiology is too alien for her to heal. Char and Smoke are both of the same race while Quarn is a being from a planet called Quarnos.       Coal is slowly morphing into a soot covered man of normal height and build. Smoke Mind Links with him and calms him, trying to restore his rationality. He finally rises to his feet and stares at Thunderbolt. "Don't you recognize me?", he asks. "I am Solarr."       Solarr slowly explains that he was captured over a year ago by the same force barrier trap encountered by the Star Guard. Transferred to this prison with Char, Smoke and Quarn he was regularly taunted by the Skrulls who took the forms of various members of the Star Guard. As the months went by with no rescue, his powers slowly went out of control.       Singularity notices that Char and Smoke are also soot covered and asks them if they would like a shower, referring to Thunderbolt's ability to create water and rain. Char looks at him appraisingly and with a smile, asks what he has in mind. Char asks the group to carry her and her companions to her starship in a nearby system so she can get Quarn the proper medical aid.       Golem carries the group to her starship where she invites the group to stay for a "quarter rotation" and rest until the ship can be readied for flight. The ship seems to be more of a yacht than a warcraft and she shows each to a small stateroom. Singularity, however, is invited to spend the rest period in her stateroom. Once showered, Char and Smoke turn out to be blue skinned. They reveal that they are an offshoot of Kree and seem to think that humans are also. No one in the group reveals that their only relations to date with the Kree have been in battle.       Char's name in Kree means something like "electro-magnetic disruption" while Smoke's means something like "female ghost". Her name in her language is Charana. Singularity seems quite taken with Charana and promises to visit her on her homeworld as soon as possible. He has used the time with Charana to learn more about her culture.       Quarn is healed by the medical bay in Char's starship and expresses his gratitude to the group saying that he has a water debt with them.       Omega Man asks for and receives a holographic star map of this sector of the galaxy. Thunderbolt asks for and receives a basic Kree Technical Manual to help her decipher the star base's many systems. Omega Man notices that the Sol System is marked with a symbol that translates to "approach with caution".       Thunderbolt also questions Quarn about crystal technology in hopes of gaining enough knowledge to try and repair the star gem at the star base. Quarn launches into a highly technological explanation about crystal-state physics that leaves Thunderbolt in the dark.       Saying farewell to their new friends, they watch as the starship departs and then begin the long journey home. Solarr's powers have been severely depleted but he is slowly recovering. Thirty-three hours later, they approach the Sol System.

EXPERIENCE	ADEPT	NEMESIS	GOLEM	OMEGA MAN	SINGULARITY	STARSHINE	T-BOLT
Base Experience	0.00	0.00	2.00	2.00	2.00	0.00	2.00
Overall Bonuses	0.00	0.00	0.20	0.20	0.40	0.00	0.20
Roleplaying	0.00	0.00	0.10	0.10	0.40	0.00	0.20
Notes	0.00	0.00	0.10	0.10	0.20	0.00	0.20
TOTAL	--	--	2.40	2.40	3.00	--	2.60

K A R M A	ADEPT	NEMESIS	GOLEM	OMEGA MAN	SINGULARITY	STARSHINE	T-BOLT
Starting Karma	--	--	10	10	25	--	15
Karma Used	--	--	05	00	05	--	05
Karma Earned	--	--	05	00	05	--	05
KARMA TOTAL	--	--	10	10	25	--	15