206. Secret Assignments, Part 2
(BP, ET, JW)

The investigation into the stealth ship uncovers an organization called Scorpius, which is interested in destroying ships traveling through the area and thus gain control of the shipping lanes. The team manages to destroy the stealth ship as well as the mastermind behind the plan, who had used the Ajar-Laut shipping company as a front for this operation.

Meanwhile, Dirk takes command of the damaged ship, but while en route back to Nexus territory, the ship is attacked by four mutants, all of whom have powers related to either ice or water. They manage to gain control of the ship for a short while before they escape aboard the captain�s yacht, which is soon recovered. Upon recovery however, the group discovers that one of the villains activated the yacht�s self-destruct device, and the explosion guts the nearly crippled ship. The group barely makes it to the Khitai world of Herat, where they disembark from the dreadnought and destroy it. They are picked up by a Nexus support fleet and taken home.

207. Pilot Error (BP, ET)

A fighter accident over a test range on Nexus leads to an investigation of an automated navigation system being tested for use in front-line action.

This episode was based on the JAG episode of the same name.

208. Computer Madness (BP, ET)

The team is called to the Alpha III colony when the colony�s computer takes over the station and cuts off life support to the 380+ inhabitants. The group learns that the computer had been affected by AIC and had gotten defensive after sensing that some of its memory was being cut off due to a scheduled swapout of software. The team manages to fight off robotic fighters from the colony�s manufacturing center and a few of the surface defense systems in their effort to reach and destroy the computer. This portion of the episode was taken from a Thunderbirds 2086 episode of the same name.

Dirk receives a message from Acheron stating that the ships comprising Operation Nightwing have returned.

209. Fade Away (BP, ET)

The team is recruited by NIS to participate in Operation Fade Away, which is a mission to recruit opposition houses in the Hesperian Empire in a coup against the central government. The team is outfitted with a modified merchant vessal and they slip across the border.

While dropping off their cargo as part of their cover story, the team is followed and attacked by Hesperian police on Xinmin. Using mental illusions and fake images, the team manages to escape, but not before they are tracked. The team quickly leaves Xinmin and heads to their meeting with the opposition houses.

After a bit of argument amongst themselves as to what to offer the Hesperians, the team gains their cooperation by offering to the army led by General Koruma further to the west, away from the opposition houses. A further offer of advanced warp drive is offered if and when the opposition takes over the Hesperian government.

After the meeting, the team is approached by a Hesperian dreadnought while attempting to get back to Nexus. After a short fight, the merchant ship is nearly disabled and a boarding party consisting of Crosshair and his group of mutants transports aboard. A firefight ensues immediately, and the only thing that averted the group�s capture was Mind Phantom�s diving for cover while slamming the ship�s directional controls into a full-power turn which resulted in the willains� retreat long enough for the team to escape. After making sure that the dreadnought could not continue following them, Zzintar modified the shields to enable them to withstand extreme heat. He then sent the ship into a nearby star, where the team waited for nearly four hours until they were sure they were not being followed. As they exited from the star, they vented plasma from the warp engines to simulate an explosion in case anyone was watching. They then managed to slip back over the border into Nexus.

UNASSOCIATED GAME PLAY

The events of Episode 209 led directly to General Koruma's attack on Maastrict in which over 300 thousand people were killed when the General ordered a planetary bombardment using incindiary probes.

210. War Crimes (BP, ET)

An economic conference is being hosted on the CS 10 when a lifepod is retrieved. A Hesperian general, later identified as General Mariko Koruma is discovered in the pod. She had sustained numerous injuries in her last battle and was daignosed by the doctor with a severe case of amnesia, which made a trial under Nexus law impossible. General Koruma had been charged with the genocidal deaths of 100 million people in connection with the planetary bombardments of Qaddan, Maastrict, and Ophir, but she remembered nothing of those crimes.

However, a few of Koruma�s comrades saw the lifepod�s retrieval, and slipped aboard CS 10 posing as Hesperian delegates to the conference. As the group continued to attempt to pass the buck to their superiors, the Hesperians rescued Koruma, who had regained her memory thanks to a local broadcast on the war. The Hesperians fled to the Engineering section and hid near one of the impulse reactors. A fierce firefight ensued, and one of the Hesperians took T�garr hostage, demanding safe passage off the ship. This was agreed to in part because Nexus and Hesperian had agreed to swap Koruma and Gen. Stevens, who had been involved in fighting in the current Hesperian civil war.

After the swap took place at Khazari, the Hesperian ships attempted to retrieve their other operatives, who had NOT been a part of the exchange. This attempt was foiled when the group fed a power surge into the transporter beam, scrambling its signal.

211. The Mist (BP, ET)

While on a survey mission near Jeendan, the CS 10 encounters a nebulous cloud. Upon investigation, a distress signal is found emanating from the cloud. The signal turns out to be a Nexus destroyer, but quick investigations of the ship and the cloud turn up abnormaliites in both. The cloud is made up of a strange particulate matter that has the effect of rapidy lowering air pressure on the ship, causing some of the crew to go insane due to effects of this on the brain. At the same time, the ship in distress begins firing on the CS 10. Attempts to contact the ship uncover the fact that its computer will only respond to Hesperian alphanumeric characters.

After sustaining damage from incindiary probes tipped with radiatiion warheads, the CS 10 launches a neutron charge that detonates the radiation, then jumps clear of the cloud. Unfortunately, the Hesperian ship followed via a tractor beam. After disabling the tractor beam, the CS 10 initaites a T/D jump, which manages to elude the Hesperian ship.

Despite the spread of the insanity to the captain, who locks his office feariing that everyone on his ship is an NIS agent, the CS 10 eventually makes it to Hali for minor repairs.

212. The Vampire Queen (BP, ET)

The CS 10�s warp drive malfunctions while on patrol after the repair stop at Hali. When the ship is finally brought out of warp, the crew finds that they are near the Beta III system.

While attempting to find engine-grade diltithium crystals for the warp engines on the planet, the group discovers that the populace of the planet is being held captive by the descendents of the vampiric exile, including Cassandra, the Queen of the Vampyres. The team manages to infiltrate and destroy the vampyre lair and engage Cassandra in orbit when she attempt to flee in a ship built by the vampyres. The vampyre ship proves to be no match for the CS 10 and it attempts to destroy the planet by detonating in a low orbit. This attempt fails when the CS 10 tractors the vampyre ship away from the planet and sets it on a course for the sun.

213. Red Scare (DD, BP, ET, JW)

While guarding a conference dealing with the effects of the Nagorno- Escalante Treaty, which gives control of the Khitai Empire to the rulers of the Republic of Kobayashi in NY 360, the group and the conference delegates are attacked and taken hostage by a Red 2029 cell, who is working for a radical who wants the timetable of the treaty speeded up.

214. Ahrlohn (DD, BP, ET, JW)

The group tracks a renegade back in time and attempts to stop him from altering the Battle of Ahrlohn, which happened in NY 127.

This episode is generally considered to be the best Nexus episode of the series.

(SOUNDTRACK: Music from "Shadows of the Empire")

215. Darwin (DD, BP, JW)

Dr. Darwin attempts to kill Dirk in his sleep. She is caught by Parasite and is put on trial. Meanwhile, sensors discover an errant energy signal off the ship�s port side, but it eludes further attempts at scanning.

The prosecution discovers that Darwin�s psych scans taken after her participation in Operation Nightwing are markedly different from those taken before. The prosecution reccommends her placement in a mental facility for further study. As she is being led to her quarters, the sensor ghost, which had in fact been a Markann scout equipped with an ECM suite, attacks the ship and does enough damage to bring down a shield. At that point, Darwin is transported off the ship, and the scout flees. CS 10 pursues.

CS 10 chases the scout ship to the Markann border where it is met by a Markann cruiser. The cruiser transports the occupants of the scout aboard. Dirk then tries to get the Markann to return Darwin, but the Markann produces an Emissary who introduces herself as �M�Rell, formerly Elisa Darwin...� At that point, the CS 10 leaves the border.

Dirk is told later by a person who had done some research into Operation Nightwing as a part of the case that there is a good possibility that all of the crew who managed to return alive are in fact, Markann agents...and that the NSF and NIS may have anywhere from 1000 to 3000 spies in their midst.

216. The Admiral's Son (DD, BP, ET)

While awaiting the imminent docking of the auxiliary ship, the CS 10 is rammed by a small fighter. The pilot of the craft is recovered unharmed, and the remains of the craft are sent to a cargo bay for further analysis by the engineers.

While the ship yields little information, the pilot identifies himself as Kyle Fictner, and after Dirk looks the boy up, he finds that Kyle is the son of NSF Admiral Steven Fictner. However, when Dirk contacts the admiral, he finds that the man is quite unconcerned about the whereabouts of his son. He simply orders the CS 10 to drop Kyle off at Kia.

Also during the first couple of interrogations, Kyle makes a pass at Black Widow, and for some reason, she does not immediately refuse his advances. As the investigation continues, Black Widow disobeys a direct order from Dirk and goes to Kyle to question him further. Instead of answering her questions, Kyle again makes a pass at her. She accepts his offer of a date.

After Black Widow leaves, Kyle begins to get bored with the cell he is in. He therefore simply walks through the force field of his cell. The guard on duty in the cell block jumps up and orders Kyle to halt, and when he does not, the guard opens fire. Kyle absorbs the phaser blast, grabs the phaser from the guard�s hand, and bashes him across the face with the butt of the weapon, dropping him. Kyle then goes to the access terminal and fakes orders from the captain to the guards outside the cell block. After the guards leave, Kyle escapes from the cell block.

Kyle makes his way to the Vault, where dangerous and exotic artifacts and other items are stored. After breaking into the Vault, Kyle picks up the neuro-nuetralizer. Looking around some more, Kyle sees a doll that looks a lot like a Raggedy Andy. Touching it, Kyle is hit by the full effects of the Emotion Doll. It is a deliriously insane Kyle Fictner that exits the Vault just as the intruder alert alarm is sounded.

Black Widow is down at the corridor leading into the ship�s civilian section monitoring the blast doors sealing off the section from the rest of the ship when she senses a presence behind her. When she turns, she sees Kyle, who proposes that they go on that date they discussed earlier. When Black Widow attempts to get out of it, Kyle shoots her with the neuro-neutralizer, stunning her. Using his father�s NSF access codes, Kyle eludes transport by deleting the sensor records of his location. He then makes his way to Engineering. Dirk orders a security squad into Engineering, and he orders the area flooded with knock-out gas.

A garish scene greets the group when they confront Kyle. The boy is carrying the body of Black Widow, and he is holding a Type II phaser stolen from a weapons locker. The red alert lights are on, the section is at minimal power, and the only other light is coming from the few control panels in this section of Engineering. The alert lights shine off the haze of smoke in the area, giving it the garish look. Dirk approaches Kyle, then seeing that he has the phaser pointed right at her head, he shouts, �Don�t shoot her, shoot me!� Kyle promptly points his weapon at Dirk and fires, and Dirk narrowly misses being killed by the beam as he dodges out of the way. His dodge however carries him to the base of some machinery, and he is knocked out by the impact and the knock out gas.

The guards open fire on Kyle, but their shots bounce back to them, killing them both. T�Garr orders the rest of the security team to hold their fire, and he manages to tackle Kyle at some point, and wrestle him to the ground, where he is soon rendered unconscious by the gas.

Kyle is dropped off with the authorities at Kia, and the admiral is later charged with fraudulent use of NSF security clearances.

217. The Children of Dharma (DD, ET)

Yet another conference set up to bring the central government of the Khitai Empire and the Kobayashi Hegemony together fails, and T�Garr and Black Widow decide to head for home. En route, their shuttle is attacked and damaged by a government squadron of fighters. When the group makes a warp jump, they end up in a wormhole which throws them light years away, to an uncharted solar system.

After making a landing, T�Garr has Black Widow collect mineral samples to determine whether there is dilithium on the planet. While doing this, Black Widow sees a group of travellers. When she waves a greeting, Black Widow accidently gives the native sign for SOS and the travellers approach. Unfortunately, Black Widow is unable to come up with a reasonable explanation for her circumstances that would be both truthful and still keep the presence of the shuttle a secret. Once she is found to be lying, she is branded a demoness by the travellers, who insist that she accompany them to a nearby elven village in the forest. T�Garr�s attempts to free her only worsen the situation, and he ends up following the natives as they haul his fellow crewmember to the elven city.

Once the travellers get to the elven city, Black Widow is ran through a series of tortures designed to drive the demons out of her. The mood of the people is made worse due to a prophesy from a tome called the Book of Dharma, which says that the �flaming star will bring despair and torment to any who live here hence, and their children seven times over.� T�Garr arrives and manages to get the townspeople to stop the tortures. The town�s leader tells the group that he will allow them to leave in peace if they will rid the area of a dragon that has been terrorizing elven villages near the mountains to the south. Since refusing to accept the deal would mean death, the Nexus officers accept the offer and head south, deeper into the forest.

When they manage to find the dragon in her underground abode, she informs them that she is only protecting her nest of unhatched young, and will gladly give them a few dilithium crystals and transport to their shuttle. The Nexus officers agree to this and they leave the planet.

The Book of Dharma�s prophesy actually came to pass, since the warp dive leaked ionized particles over a large land area, which will cause it to be barren for quite some time.

218. Encounter at Outpost Epsilon (DD, BP, ET)

The CS 10 is retired from service and while en route to their next assignment, the group is informed that the listening outpost codenamed Outpost Epsilon has fallen silent. They are ordered to investigate this, and do what they can to correct the problem.

Outpost Epsilon is located on a desolate and barren world. After landing the shuttle, the group gains access to the station�s transporter room, which appears to be running in a �powersave� mode. The group continues to the control room.

Once they reach the control room, the Nexus officers discover that the communications array is not pointed toward Nexus territory, but toward the Markann Technocracy. A data stream is connected to the array from the station�s library computer, and information from the computer is therefore being fed to the Markann. T�Garr heads to the lower levels to attempt to disable the power systems, and Black Widow goes looking around the rest of the station. It is Black Widow who finds the first signs of Markann activity...a skin of a Markann soldier who had molted. Suddenly, the group is called to rescue T�Garr, who had been discovered by two Markann soldiers. They dispose of the aliens after a brief firefight.

After destruction of the station�s main power systems fails to stop the data stream, and due to the destruction of the station�s security station by a member of the crew who had attempted to hack into it, the group decides that the best course of action is to attempt to activate the self-destruct packs manually. They manage to accomplish this despite being under fire by a group of Markann who discover their intentions. After the charges are set, the group fights a running battle with more soldiers and barely make their retreat to the shuttle and lift off before the charges destroy the station.

(SOUNDTRACK: Music from the movie: Star Trek: First Contact)

219. Winds of War (DD, BP, ET) (Guest GM: DW)

The Markann invade the Nexus NW Sector and the Khitai Empire. The group is assigned to the Nexus carrier Victory and assigned to aid in the defense of Kia. As the invaders advance, the team can only watch helplessly as planets fall before the Markann offensive. Finally, the Markann reach the area near Kia, and the group ends up involved in one of the battles collectively called the Battle of the Kia Approaches.

The battle goes well for the defenders, but victory in this area of the battle was not the objective of the Markann forces. Using a fast courier, the Markann blitz through the lines and attempt to land a boarding party on the Victory. Despite the fact that the Markann attempts failed, the damage from the impact was extensive. One of the areas receiving the worst damage was the Medical Center, and one of the casualties was Commander Stephanie Wolfe-Cain. After the battle, the dead are given a burial in deep space, escorted by a fighter squadron flying the �Missing Man� formation. Capt. Jason Cain leads the squadron in this formation.

Meanwhile, the Markann invasion reaches the Khitai capital of Shenyang. Emissary M�Rell, in charge of the forces at Shenyang, orders the government to surrender. When they refuse, she orders the planet razers in her force to open fire, and the planet Shenyang is destroyed.

(SOUNDTRACK: Music from the movie: Independence Day)