Recap Sessions 21: "Anthology of Interest, I and II"

This was a snoozer or a dozer, depeding on where you were. Monumental things happened while our Heroes waited in the proverbial Dentist's Office for their appointment. All this to prove that sometimes, when you're not looking, the Galaxy can shake...

Last time, On "Owl Crossings", our Heroes emeged from Plant-17 bloodied but victorious. Hill's parents are probably dead, but the Black Sygma box is on the table, and the pictures and videos depicting the Theocracy's terrible crimes are available for all to see. Sure, in this Hyper-Modern world, videos can be forged, but the best and the brightest have been testing them for hours and found nothing. Probably because they're genuine...

The team that brought Light into Dark Places breaks apart: Tide returns to AXE, and the Galaxy Adams crew flies away. All oblivious to the one true cost of this excursion: that Robert Hill, that stalwart Freedom Fighter, is in prison. Yes, boys and girls, Niv ben-Lillith is actually Tzefa, the insidious mastermind behind many of the Theocracy's hidden agenda in the bad years that passed. With Hill in his clutches, what would he do?

Not much, it seemed. Our Boys in Beige have been scouring the system, searching for ways to Free Willey... ah, Hill, and called every favor, real or imaginary, they could conjure. During this, Hill had to suffer the Rainbow-Eyed Man's company, and be subjected to sophisticated measures of interrogation meant to find out something, though we're not sure what. He was told to be careful, and we can only hope he was. Eventually, though, REM was sick of waiting. He told Hill they were leaving, and indeed they were. Hill was taken behind the chemical shed and shot, only to found, restful and ok, inside a wooden coffin, expertly delivered to our crew aboard the Libby, by Milton and Bubbah (remember them? Seems like getting people out of tight spots is their job...).

Reunited and joyous, our crew splits once more (cause it works so well every time they do). Rain and Anansi stay behind. Hill, Zeb, and Job leave for Achaea. Edmund leaves for home. He's a working man, after all, and someone still needs to bring home the bacon. While they're doing that, let's also recap the happenings around our little corner of the Galaxy: the Theocracy stayed put in Elysium and Arcadia, gave pause to their plans, and sat down to talk with the exile government of Elysium, while the Cerberus horde is razing Elysium fields to the ground to feed their homes. Riots and unrest popped up all over Oceania when the Theocracy's depravity was exhibited for all to see, and the Orange Giant stirs. And the two great fleets assembled to stop the Theocracy finally started moving, one heading for war, the other for a short vacation in Hispania.

So now we know the Galaxy is breaking apart, let's return to our heroes. What did they do during all this? Hill has been causing problems for everyone, calling more and more people to join his banner, while his organization is under siege by Theocracy forces. Zeb has been corresponding with his family, home, and "allies" in the WDF, crying havoc. Rain has been trying to keep his new girlfriend alive, working on faith alone. Anansi is setting up the virtual UN. and Powell? He's been making money. But we know nothing good can last that long...

And what next?
Galactic war is almost upon us, when even Sierra and Taku Joukai are forced to censure the Orange Beast; is the war winding down, or are everyone just taking a breath getting ready to explode?
Black Sygma showed us what the Theocracy was after - what's behind the Black Wormgate in the shadow of the "Arm of the Lord" buttress?
Is the Theocracy invading Eden, and will they arm themselves and Cerberus with Herculium? Will there be any chance of stopping them then?
Can the Key really locate new gates? And is the third face of the Key blowing them up?
Who compromised the Oxygen Tap, and will the Cousins rebound from the treason, of is this the end of the Armed Resistance?
And finally, remembering that Achaea has some of the finest olives and grapes in the Galaxy, what is that smell coming from the kitchen?

Most of this (though probably just that last one) in the next episode of... "Owl Crossings"!

See you soon.