Tales of the Empire:
The Legion of Doom
By Robert C. Moore
May 26, 1991

Episode 2: Strange Interludes
Stardate: 2414.1.1

By the time word got around, Lord Kero was furious and went to investigate the cause. Lord Kero was next in line to become Overlord, a title well respected throughout the galaxy.

His first place of action was his old friend Martin Briggs. He was a Mesmolite 2nd Lieutenant in charge. It seemed that all though the money was good, there seemed to something missing. During the conversation he mentioned something to the effect of:

"The people were so blinded by all the splendor. They actually thought that all the planes they were building was their own. In fact, they were Mesmolite planes reconditioned to fit the Arion people. I mean if you ripped off the paint, you would still see the outline of the Mesmolite emblem."

Kero decided to check out Martin's story. It seemed that the model planes did belong to the Mesmolites. The outline was barely visible. He returned home to check the emblem against a computer, which stored all the emblems of all planets belonging to the Federation. In less than a minute, Kero knew that Martin's story was true. He realized that the scandal was more than money, or planes.

In an old video clip made some 20 years ago, Kero saw that the Mesmolites had plans to build the Arion planes. In the video were King Turo, Mesmolite Col. John Volgar, Arion Defense Minister Sharon Parker, and 1st Lieutenant Malcolm Dexter. He was surprised to see Malcolm's face in the picture, but realized that it was his idea to build the planes. (Author's n: the video clip is like today's newspaper, but it is distributed on CD with sound, voice and real-life action. Sort of like multimedia.)

It seemed funny that both Volgar and Parker were killed in some kind of freak accident. The coroner's report said that deaths were caused by their spaceship flying too low to the ground. Kero thought otherwise. What if they were both murdered, in a attempt to keep mute about the rebuilt planes?

Kero went to the Bureau of Records to find out about their deaths. At first, there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary. He managed to find a note attached to a chart scribbled in the native language of Mesmolite called Zelga. The note told the physician to say anything. Do not reveal the truth because it will only hurt them [the Arions] more than ever. Noting all the autopsy records, Kero decided to go back to Martin.

"Even if they tried to use the planes, I doubt they would be of any use. Those planes were put together from scrap pieces of other planes that were destroyed or defected during test maneuvers. I know for a fact that the Arions had planned to test the planes on Clarion this month. I fear the worst, Kero. Please stop them before it's too late."(Author's note: The Clarions were allies with the Arion for many years. The Clarions agreed to give the Arions the place they needed to test the planes out.)

It sounded more like a warning, than a friendly suggestion. What was Kero to do? Expose the truth, for that he knew very little, or keep quiet, and pay with his conscious?

TO BE CONTINUED...