Hi everyone,
Today I'll be writing about the fourth issue of Marvel's Spaceknights limited series that started in 2000. The cover shows Balin and his girlfriend Rhanla (aka the Spaceknight Scanner) together, as other Spaceknights prepare for battle. The story was called "Retreat and Regroup!" The issue had a cover date of January 2001.
The tale began right where the last issue left off. Prince Balin had just had another vision, this time of a menacing enemy cloaked in shadow. He wanted to cry out to his teammates, who were busy preparing to teleport to safety.
Val (the Angel Elite, also known as Sentry) led the way and warned the crew on their spaceship that a hostile enemy force was after them. Once his crew arrived, Val and Starshine argued about the decision to retreat. Val stated that their homeworld of Galador had to be informed that the Dire Wraiths were once more a threat. The duo had to be separated before their leader, Tristan, ordered them to stand down. Val told Tristan that their communication system and Galador was two cycles away.
The closest Galadorian outpost was on an observational satellite in the colonial vanguard sector, a destination that their ship was already en route to. Ship scanners had already detected the presence of their enemy following them. What they didn't know then was just who that foe was.
Back on Galador, Brandy Clark stood before the planet's war council. She informed the committee that their security had been breached by an intruder. A Pah Ree collapse bomb was used to destroy the Axadar neutralizer by exploding and creating a miniature black hole. Lord Gaspar (who we know was responsible for the disruption) expressed his fear for the Spaceknights who had been dispatched to Trion, noting that they had no response from them, and that Pah Ree, Trion, and Kelozyn warships had amassed in the Kael sector and ignored Galador's communication requests. Other council members expressed their concerns, but generally agreed with Clark that war should be avoided if possible; Brandy added that conflict avoidance should not cause their empire to cease to exist.
On their way to the outpost, Balin and Rhanla talked about Balin's visions. Balin knew that his visions were serious, and they had already told him that the Wraiths were a more potent threat now than perhaps ever before. He swore that they would prevail together before regaling his girlfriend with the Earth legend of Sir Lancelot and the knights of the Round Table.
In the Kael sector of space, commanders of the orbiting Trion, Pah Ree, and Kelozyn ships talked. Kelozyn Overseer Biandu and Ssath Xyoss of the Pah Ree seemed to think that joining forces was the best course of action to take against the Galadorians, while delegate Yova of Trion observed that Spaceknights had actually fought against his planet's invaders, and that they had been allies of his planet for many generations. Biandu went on to say that the planet Angelica was poorly defended and swore blood for blood after claiming that it should be leveled as their worlds had been.
The Spaceknights soon arrived at Hammer Outpost Delta 7, a vanguard space station that was manned by Spaceknight cadets who didn't quite make the cut. After their craft docked and their crew disembarked. Balin and his colleagues were informed that Axadar had been destroyed and that war preparations had begun. In the ready room, more Spaceknights began to take Tristan's visions of Dire Wraiths as the greater threat seriously.
That initial suspicion was broadcast from the space station to the chambers of the Galadorian High Command. Council members commended the Spaceknights for their efforts, but some of them doubted the return of their longtime enemies. Gaspar asked for more concrete evidence of Balin's claims, and his assertion that his brother Tristan was the only one who could see them raised questions, especially after it was repeated that Tristan had reported that his brother had been suffering delusions. Before the conversation could continue, an Angel Elite guardsman informed the Galadorian leaders that allied forces were moving into Angelica.
Meanwhile, the masterminds of the division and conflict were conspiring on a ship that was hiding in an asteroid belt near Angelica. They were readying for another attack. The allied armada would be met with a wraithknight contingent that would, of course, be mistaken for Spaceknights.
Back on the space station, an alarm sounded as news spread that Angelica Prime's orbit had been entered by an invasion force. Vanguards would investigate, while Tristan's Spaceknights would return to Galador for review. A quarrel began between Spaceknights and cadets before the Spaceknights agreed to leave the station. Before they did so, Tristan and Balin spoke to each other. Balin was confident that he could locate the wraiths.
On the hangar deck, the Spaceknights opted for a different course of action than previously stated. Since Balin was the only one who had visions of the Dire Wraiths, they decided to use that ability to find him. His girlfriend, Rhanla (aka Scanner), would use her ability to link all of their minds to Tristan, so that everyone would be aware of the threat at the same time. They suited up and flew to meet the enemy, and quickly found a squadron of Wraithknights lying in wait for them.
I thought that this issue set up the finale well. Balin seemed to be the outcast initially, but he became more beloved and respected as this miniseries went on. My one complaint is that we really didn't learn much about the Nazgoth, who were identified in issue #1 or the connection between them and the Dire Wraiths. It would also have been nice to see more of the connection between the wraiths that ROM and his comrades faced and the current iteration.
Well, that's all for now. Next time, I'll write about the final issue of this limited series. We'll find out what happens when the Spaceknights battle against the wraithknights. There will also be an appearance by something that we thought was gone forever. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment