Hi everyone,
Today, I'll be writing about the second issue of Marvel's Spaceknights limited series that began in the year 2000. The cover showed ten of Galador's newest guardians, including one of the Angel Elite. The story was called "Dishonor!" The issue had a cover date of November 2000.
The story started on a Galadorian balcony as Mistress Brandy Clark and her son Tristan talked about an unknown enemy and the fact that several neighboring worlds had blamed recent evil events on Galador. She worried that the planet Trion's secession to form an alliance with those other worlds threatened their realm's foundation.
Tristan was a bit more optimistic about the situation and that his brother Balin, who was leading the Trion expedition, would find the unknown enemy before long. Brandy wasn't so sure, having experienced other similar threats in her past life. She was still disturbed by the fact that Axadar, her late husband's powerful weapon, rejected Balin. If it hadn't, she had no doubt that Balin would have been universally accepted as Galador's new Prime Director.
Before she could say much more, Brandy noticed the pained look on her son's face. He explained that he had wrenched his knee in training, but didn't tell her that he'd been startled by the vision of a mystical Dire Wraith. Lord Gaspar advised Balin to have his knee checked out by their medics, noting that Spaceknights should be in top physical condition.
Tristan left soon afterward. Minutes later, he stood before the stasis tube that held Axadar. Legend has it that it can only be wielded by a true leader. He wondered why it rejected his brother Balin, who then asked if his little brother was trying to usurp his birthright. Balin had already viewed himself as the planet's next ruler and quickly shoved his brother aside. Rejection seemed to affect him more than he initially led on, as Balin observed his older brother had returned to his previous bullying ways.
Six hours later, Balin and his crew were preparing for their first mission together. While their ship orbited the planet Trion, the Spaceknights Hammerhand, Scanner, Lightningbolt, Firefall, Pulsar, Starshine, Javelin, and their leader, Balin, aka Terminator, reached the world's surface, with Val the Sentry bringing up the rear to evaluate their performance. Tristan, aka Liberator, was also a part of the Spaceknight exploratory team. Members of Trion's military were ready for them. They had already begun their native war cry, which was understandable, because many of their major cities had already been attacked.
Terminator ordered a battery of subspace blasters to be readied for their defensive line, which Sentry persuaded him to set at a non-lethal level. Firefall was commanded to disperse the Trion army with his plasmifire while the other Spaceknights sought to restrain or disperse their opponents. The battle was swift, but unbeknownst to all participants, they were being watched by a pair of strangers, who seemed very pleased with what they saw before them.
As Trionians who had surrendered were being rounded up, Tristan began to question things, like Lightningbolt's initial weapons setting that were at lethal levels before the skirmish started, as well as his brother's leadership. He soon saw Balin berating Val for daring to question his authority. Doing so in front of his troops was not leadership. The Spaceknights were soon called to assembly.
Back on Galador, Lord Gaspar was establishing contact in a private room with an unknown associate. The advisor informed his colleague that a beachhead had been established on Trion and that the seeds of discord had already begun within Galador's populace. Its citizens were divided as to whether or not they should be involved in the events on Trion. The stranger complimented Gaspar on his efforts, adding that a divided people would therefore be easier to conquer.
Balin later informed his troops that blast evidence showed that an unidentified adversary was using technology similar to their own, and that Trion scanners couldn't distinguish the differences between them. He then dispatched patrols to search for any signs of the unknown foe. Tristan and Lightningbolt were paired up. Tristan soon had a vision that informed him that what they were looking for was on the other side of a nearby mountain. Even though the mountain was outside of their scanning area, the pair went to investigate.
They soon found a long-range tracking device that was Galadorian in design but made of a material that neither of them knew about. The strangers that we saw earlier had the Spaceknights in their sights. One of them identified Prince Tristan. Just before he was about to fire, Tristan had another vision about the sniper. He had no sooner talked about that, when the enemy's blast struck Lightningbolt. Liberator retaliated in anger, and his foes were eventually pinned down. They teleported to safety after detonating the tracking unit.
Tristan then realized he had failed to protect his wingman. Lightningbolt was the first Spaceknight casualty. His girlfriend Anarra, aka Starshine, was obviously saddened by the loss. Her grief then turned to anger when Tristan admitted that he wasn't scanning the area because he'd been temporarily incapacitated at the time. His brother Balin, then ordered him to report to command for a debriefing right away.
Balin and Val listened to what Tristan had to say. Balin ordered his brother to sick bay because of the visions he reported. Tristan was placed on limited duty for the remainder of the tour, and Balin swore that his brother would be placed on charges once they reached their homeworld for disobeying a direct order and bringing disgrace to his squadron and his family. Tristan walked away, knowing that other fellow Spaceknights had heard the conversation. He started to think that his first mission couldn't possibly end like that.
I enjoyed the fact that writer Jim Starlin used several of the Spaceknight names and abilities from the original series. The Starshine mask was very similar to the one that Brandy herself wore after redesigning her Spaceknight armor. I got a Cain versus Abel vibe in the drama between Tristan and Balin. I assumed that Gaspar was up to no good, and sure enough, I was right. I also liked the idea of the unknown enemy manipulating the chaos from afar.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the third Spaceknights issue. We'll find out what the consequences of the Spaceknights' first mission were, and we'll learn what happens when they face another threat to Galador. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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