
Copyright Date: February 1996
Written by Sean Ruffner and
Brett Booth Pencilled by Mel Rubi
Inked by John Tighe and Mark Irwin
Coloured by Martin Jiminez
Lettered by Chris Eliopouos
Edited by Drew Bittner and Mike Heisler
Cover by Mel Rubi & John Tighe
Solicitation: Please add the solicitation for this issue
SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT
Synopsis:Backlash,
Taboo, and
Crimson are visiting
Link's ranch in Montana. Link is an old friend from
StormWatch and maybe able to diagnose why Marc's powers have been changing. Link reveals an elaborate facility hidden beneath his ranch house, and they begin running tests on Marc.
Meanwhile, we see a StormWatch team made up of
Battalion,
Fuji,
Cannon,
Hellstrike, and
Fahrenheit preparing a sneak attack on Link's ranch using stealth suits to hide from Link's security systems. Fuji is dubious of Backlash's guilt, but Fahrenheit points out that's not for them to decide--Backlash is a fugitive and needs to be apprehended. Battalion is anxious to deal with Backlash, whom he considers a traitor to Stormwatch.
Back at the ranch, Backlash conducts more tests including a fight with Link's state-of-the-art battle droid. Upstairs in the kitchen, Jodi questions Amanda about her relationship with Marc but Amanda remains aloof. Jodi falls silent and when Amanda turns around, she finds Hellstrike standing in front of her. He tells her to surrender, but she activates her Taboo suit and attacks. They fight and it looks like she has won, but then Hellstrike blasts her through a wall.
Downstairs in the lab, Link tells Backlash that his alien cells have essentially burned out the
Gen-Factor in his blood, so Backlash is no longer Gen-Active. When it appeared that he had died, his body was really shutting down so that the alien cells would have the strength to battle the Gen-Factor. Link figures the psi-whips must be a latent alien power and not a product of the Gen-Factor.
Link's alarms go off but his cameras are jammed so he can't tell what is happening. Then the wall explodes and Fahrenheit, Fuji, Cannon, and Battalion enter, with Jodi as Cannon's prisoner. Battalion says it is time for Slayton to answer for his crimes.