"Skull" Battle: Part 1
This rare two day “Skull” four-team event began as the four teams reached Dark Moon Battlescape, a moon used for large-scale training and events.

The four teams:
Prince of Gates led a team along with Version Nine, Trace, and Poc Shot. Xarz’ycus chose Trace to be the Skull.
Queen Alexandra led a team including Goth Garal, Little Jinx, and Taa Ra. Goth Garal volunteered to be the Skull. A brave soul.
Ironsides brought the eclectic cyber team of Mannequin, H’Ronka, and Berserker. Ironsides, in a surprising move, took on the role of Skull for the team.
Last, Lothar led Ryla, The Stranger, and P.K, with P.K. taking on the Skull position.

The first six hours saw minor skirmishes only as the teams fortified their bases. Lothar’s team set up a number of swamps and bogs while Prince of Gates’ team brought in guards and scouts from a constant use of portals. Ironsides, meanwhile, used adapter droids and nano-tek to spy on enemy positions and report on the competition giving his team a tactical advantage. Last, Queen Alexandra’s team prepared a Psi assault for a possible quick Skull victory.

The first major event occurred as the moon went pitch black, as it does every six hours. A legion of portal minions reached a large grouping of cybernetic machines led by Ironsides. The battle left many minion casualties on both sides, but Ironsides remained unharmed.

In the mean time, Queen Alexandra and Little Jinx managed to lure Trace away from Prince of Gates base with a massive double-team using Psi delusions and Bio-tek diseases, and a bloodless capture ensued putting Prince of Gates’ team in immediate jeopardy of being eliminated, since Trace was their team’s Skull.

Trace was recovered a half hour later as Prince of Gates portalled into the center of the Queen’s base and led a daring rescue, along with Version Nine. Poc Shot was eliminated in the battle and the Prince portalled trace to safety, but Version Nine was left alone in the base. He fought his way out but was ambushed by Lothar, Ryla, and The Stranger on their way to the Queen’s base for their own attack.

Version Nine escaped in a weakened state and headed off back towards his base. Lothar’s team let him escape in order to continue on to the Queen’s Base. Their attack eliminated Taa Ra and wounded Little Jinx, however Goth Garal was nowhere to be found, and so the Queen’s Skull eluded Lothar. He quickly led an ordered retreat and search for the Skull.

Unfortunately for Lothar, P.K. was left alone, and thanks to Ironsides’ spies, his team was able to ambush P.K. Lothar’s Skull was now in the possession of Ironsides’ team. Things looked bleak for Lothar until Goth Garal was found submerged in one of Lothar’s bio-tek swamp traps.

Three hours later Goth Garal; under the effects of many diseases; gave in and gave Lothar’s team his portal signature. Queen Alexandra’s team had been eliminated nine hours into the match and Lothar had won the first Skull of the match. Things also looked grim for Lothar’s team, their own Skull in Ironside’s control, until an attack by Prince of Gates’ team against Ironsides’ base distracted the team allowing P.K. to portal to safety.

As Lothar’s team went on the defensive, securing their borders and building traps for unwary enemy teams, P.K. filled them in on details of Ironsides’ base, for a possible strike later on. They decided to wait to see the result of the current confrontation between Prince and Ironsides, knowing that they currently held the lead.

For two hours, the battle between Prince’s team and Ironsides’ team raged on until the formerly missing and wounded Version Nine arrived, catching H’Ronka and Berserker off-guard from behind. The attack left Ironsides alone surrounded by an army of horrors, royal guards, and the Prince. Xarz’ycus gave the retreat order and they left with Ironsides as a hostage, but not before the brave Version Nine was finally beaten down and eliminated.

After another hour, the sun once again lit the field as a second day was ready to begin. With Ironsides being interrogated by a Shendondrian Dominatrix, you don’t know whether to be sorry for him or jealous, and it may only be a matter of time before he loses control and gives up his team’s Skull.