The 86ers
The 86ers is a "2000 AD" comic story set in the Rogue Trooper universe and created by writer Gordon Rennie and artist Karl Richardson, now being drawn by PJ Holden. The story stars G.I. pilot Rafaella "Rafe" Blue and her robot Gabe. The title refers to the 86th Air Support Reconnaissance Squadron, a "dumping ground for every failure and freak" (including Nort turncoats), who are stationed in the Acoma System ("A-Hole"), an important Souther mining operation. Plot. The Acoma System is a Souther-held warzone. It is centered around a gas giant (also called Acoma) with ore -rich moons, and thus is a valuable mining site for the Souther war effort. Protecting the supply routes is the 86th Air Support Reconnaissance Squadron - the 86ers. It is a dumping ground for failures and freaks and now G.I. Rafaella Blue has joined them. The 86ers are based out of the Citadel, a fortress built on an asteroid inhabited by the alien Termies (""Pretty harmless, as long as you don't go wandering about the lower levels on your own""). It is known a Nort spy is on the base, with the crew betting on who it might be. The  alien Varr live nearby; little is known about them and they leave the 86ers alone for the most part. Rafe was sent to investigate an SOS at a Nort base that had been hit by a bioweapon and was infected by Nort zombies, discovering in the process that the base was a science station researching an alien sarcophagus. The base was destroyed by the Varr but Friedkin's conspiracy knows about the sarcophagus and has one of their own; Harrigan is unaware of this. Recovering from her infection, Rafe experienced visions related to an implanted memory program - with the face  of Rogue Trooper - who's attempting to activate her memories and black-ops programming to help an unknown employer working within the base. An assassin tried to kill her with a Nort serum, only to be shot by Harrigan; this assassin is unrelated to the Conspiracy, meaning another network is active at Acoma. Since this story, the Nort turncoats have been targeted by a Grendel - a genetically modified assassin - and Nort forces have begun massing for a major assault on Acoma. The first page of the strip showed Rafe's ship damaging and crashing on Acoma. The rest of the  plot occurred "seven months earlier" and it is not yet known what will cause Rafe to be in that situation. Conspiracy. This secret group of Souther scientists and personnel (led by Doctor Friedkin and Montuez) are responsible for extravating a (presumably crashed) Varr. They appear to be responsible for the murder of a Souther spy, Cochran. They have also been made aware of the Norts' interest in Rafaella Blue. In Prog 2007, it is discovered that their true goal is to open a tomb consisting of Old Ones on Acoma and gain the secret of immortality, and they are constantly  sending teams to investigate it (which are slaughtered by unknown beings). They secretly have one of the Old Ones in stasis, gained from the sarcophagus. Bibliography. Collected editions. The stories were collected in a trade paperback: