1234. The FallPUBLICATION: Starfleet Academy #16, Marvel Comics, March 1998
CREATORS: Chris Cooper (writer), Chris Renaud and Andy Lanning (artists)
STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)
PLOT: Edam's alive and Omega Squad pull him out of the Romulan testing/torturing machine. They refuse to leave until they have T'Priell though. However, their plans are foiled when her evil lover shows up, kills the friendly archaeologist and the Reunificationist helping them. Zund knows him because a former host had been to Romulus, and her quick thinking gets the Romulans out of the way. Then begins the tug-of-war on T'Priell/Selke's soul. Rather than choose between the heroes and villains, she throws herself down firefalls, but is beamed up, along with the rest of the Squad, to a Reunificationist ship in orbit. The Tal Shiar pursue, but are driven back by a waiting Federation ship. The Squad decide to take back T'Priell and help her recover from the brainwashing.
CONTINUITY: See previous issue (katra, Reunification movement). We see the firefalls of Gal Gath'Thong, a Romulan mountain range mentioned in The Defector. Appearances by Admiral Brand and Boothby (The First Duty).
DIVERGENCES: None.
PANEL OF THE DAY - A most revealing thought bubble
REVIEW: The T'Priell story arc doesn't end in tragedy, and I think I'm happy with that. There remains potential in a Romulan/Vulcan hybrid mind (will she now redeliver the katra to Vulcan?), and the series didn't need to lose another character. Though there's some good action and reversals, the angst runs a bit long, as T'Priell suffers hallucinations and lots of speeches are thrown at her before she dives into the pit. I especially liked how it was Boothby who encouraged Brand to have Nog and Yoshi followed in case they found traces of Omega Squad. He knows how to pick the winners. And there's that sad, creepy sequence with our Romulan villain lusting over the real T'Priell's dead body. With most stories resolved, we'll see where Cooper takes us for the last three issues.
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