Seg and Adam return to the Fortress and the Val hologram appears. Val knows that what they have is one of Brainiac's probes, and they need Val to analyze it. The hologram has them put it on a scanner and Val determines that the item is a casing that contained a Sentry. He explains that the Snetry is parasitic, taking over a host's body and then uses the host to gather information. It then sends the information to Brainiac and leaves the host dead. Val warns that once they open the probe shell, the Sentry will activate and seek out a host body. Adam moves nervously behind Val, and Seg has Val open the casing. It's empty, and they realize the Sentry has already left to find a host.
3 Days Earlier
The Sentry shell shoots through space and lands in the Outlands.
In the market, Ona and Rhom admire a statue of Rao and Kem gives them some food. Kem assures Rhom that there'll always be a meal for her there. later she goes out on the plains with the rest of her crew to search for potential valuables. The crew members split up and Rhom scans the area. She finds te Sentry casing and examines it, and the opening in it slides apart.
Now
At the Fortress, Seg tries to work out how to find the Sentry before it completely takes over its host. Adam goes to the Labor Index to find out if the salvage crew found anything, while he contacts KLyta.
As Seg goes to the Guild building, Nyssa approaches him and he thanks her for giving him the chance to give his parents an honorable burial. They come to Lyta, and Nyssa tells Seg to give Lyta her congratulations on her promotion. Seg talks to Lya privately and he wonders if she tried to earn Jayna's respect. Lyta says that she challenged Quex-Ul to change the way the Sagitari treat the Rankless. Seg asks her for help tracking down something unusual that might have been turned into the Guild.
Rhom shows a merchant named Tozol the Sentry. Tonzol offers her 200 solars for it, and Rhom reluctantly takes it. She and Ona move on, and Tonzol looks curiously at the Sentry.
Daron tells the Voice that when the sun rises the next day, Black Zero will be brought to justice because of their new initiative. The Voice warns that Daron's failure will cost him his life and leaves. Once they're alone, Varon nervously tells Nyssa that the Sagitari must succeed.
Daron meets with the Military Council and review the members of Black Zero. One man, Xxx, is rig up through the rank recently. They've determined that Black Zero have a stronghold in District 19, and their orders are to through the area street by street and root out the terrorists. Lyta suggests tat they try to befriend the Rankless rather than drive them from their homes, but both Daron and Jayna side with the plan.
Seg meets with Kem, who says that it's difficult to ask people if they've found alien technology. he irritably says that Adam probably has it all figured out.
Jayna tells Lyta that she couldn't keep her much shut, and Lyta points out that she killed a man for the right to speak. Her mother figures that Lyta is trying to protect Seg, and warns that any forewarning puts any Sagitari in danger. Lyta finds Dev-Em preparing the locker that she inherited from Quex. She apologizes for killing Quez, knowing that Dev-em had feelings about him. He warns Lyta not to let her troops see any weakness, and says that they don't choose which orders to follow... even the Rankless initiative.
In the market, Adam approaches Tonzol and says that he's looking or something unusual. He sees the Sentry and Tonzol offers it for 20,000 solars. Adam distracts him and runs off with the Sentry.
Lyta meets with her troops and tells them that the initiative is about targeting Black Zero, not the Rankless. She orders them to do it without firing a single shot on innocent people, and says that there will be no "thinning the herd". Lyta then repeats Jayna's moto about divorcing oneself from emotion, and gives them Rao's blessing.
Adam runs into the tavern and hides behind the bar, and then shows them the Sentry. it hasn't been activated yet, and Seg and Kem take it back to the Fortress. As they head through the underdistrict, Adam suggests that they reverse-engineer it to figure out how Brainiac is. Sagitari skimmers come down and announce that the residents are being evicted. The Sagitari drop down and herd the citizens, beating any of them that are too slow. One man resists and the Sagitari beat him and then drag him off. Lyta sees Seg in the crowd,
The Sagitari scan the Rankless, comparing them to their Black Zero files. Seg tells Adam to take the Sentry to the Fortress while he talks to Lyta. Once Adam leaves, Lyta tells Seg that they can't ignore the intelligence that Black Zero is in the area. She insists that she's trying to make it as safe as possible, and Seg realizes that she knew about it in advance and didn't tell him. Lyta tells him to leave for now and he reluctantly goes.
At the fortress, Val scans the Sentry. Adam asks him to look at his Zeta-Beam Device because it has malfunctioned. Val asks who else the Sentry has been in contact with.
Seg goes to his home to look for Kem. Val and Adam call and say that the Sentry has already found a host.
Kem finds Rhom and Ona, and Rhom is clutching at her neck in pain. She collapses and Ona says that her mother has been sick all day. Veins are growing under the arm beneath her skin. The Sagitari arrive and take Ona and Kem to the checkpoint. One of them helps Rhom up, and she chokes him and lifts him into the air. The other Sagitari come over and Rhom kills them as Kem and Ona look on. Once Rhom walks away, Kem tells Ona that they have to go.
Kem and takes Ona to the bar and they hide behind the bar, and Seg arrives. They tell her what happened, and Seg assures Ona that Rhom is sick and it's not her fault. Ona begs Seg to help Rhom, and Seg says that they'll do everything they can. Seg and Kem move off and Seg says that they'll find a way to save Rhom before going to find her.
The Sagitari capture the Rankless suspected of helping Black Zero, and one of them, Kol-Da, demands to know where the terrorists are hiding. She slaps one man when he says that he hasn't seen anything, and the other Rankless object. When one man steps out, Kol-Da shoots him dead and the Rankless start to riot.
Jayna tells Daron that there's only one quadrant left to lock down. The riot has caused a delay.
Lyta arrives and sees the dead Rankless, and orders her soldiers to lower their weapons. Kol-Da insists that it was self-defense, even though the dead man was unarmed and in shackles. She admits that she wasn't sure, and Lyta arrests her for the unlawful death of a Rankless citizen. The Sagitari take her away and Lyta tells the Rankless to disperse and proceed to the nearest checkpoint.
Seg calls Adam, who says that Rhom would go to a communication center to upload the information to Brainiac. Adam warns that there's no way to save Rhom and they can't take the chance, and whatever Rhom once was is gone.
Rhom goes to a communications hub and rips open the console.
Seg approaches Lyta and asks for an electrostatic discharge grenade. It only works on electronics so it won't kill anyone. Lyta figures that it's tied in with the death of her Sagitari and the break-in at the communications center. Seg admits that he has nowhere else to go, and asks Lyta to trust her. She finally says that she does and gives him the grenade.
Jayna calls Lyta and asks why she hasn't taken her squad into the hub. She orders Lyta to move in, and Lyta refuses until she can assure the safety of her troops. Lyta shuts off her communicator and hopes that Seg knows what he's doing.
Seg goes into the hub and calls to Rhom. She's at the console and he approaches her. The possessed Rhom slaps him across the room, saying that "Rhom" has been collected. Seg drops the grenade and tries to pick it up, but the Sentry grabs him with a metal tentacle and lifts him up into the air. He tells her to fight for Ona, and the cable loosens its grip. Seg says that he needs Rhom to come back for Ona, and then grabs the grenade. The tentacle lifts him back up into the air, and Seg activates the grenade and throws it at Rhom. The power goes go out throughout the district.
Dev-Em leads the Sagitari in and reports that there's no sign of Black Zero operatives.
Seg carries Rhom out and Lyta finds them. She sees the metal protrusions and Seg says that Rhom is barely alive. He tells Lyta that Val was right and there's something coming for them. Adam arrives and says that the skimmer is close. Lyta wants to take Rhom to the Council, but Seg says that he can't and thanks Lyta for trusting him. He then takes Rhom to the skimmer.
Nyssa tells Daron that the only arrest in the initiative was a Sagitari. She asks him what he's going to tell the Voice, and Daron says that the truth is the only possibility because the mission failed.
At the Fortress, Val scans Rhom and tells Seg that whatever Brainiac did is keeping her alive. Trying to reverse it could kill Rhom. Val figures that the Sentry is the transmitter and it's already sent a signal to Brainiac.
Deep in space, Brainiac receives the information and says that Krypton is at an end.
Written by Gadfly on Apr 5, 2018