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 The 86ers: "Touchdown" (by writer Gordon Rennie with art by Karl Richardson (1-2), drawing by PJ Holden (3-6) and colours by Chris Blythe (3-6), in 2000 AD #1480-1485, 2006) "Interference" (by writer Gordon Rennie, with art by PJ Holden, in 2000 AD #1508-1510, 2006) "Walking to Eternity" (by writer Gordon Rennie, with art by PJ Holden, in 2000 AD prog 2007, 2006) "Grendel" (by writer Gordon Rennie, with art by PJ Holden, in 2000 AD #1544-1549, 2007) "Under Pressure" (by writer Arthur Wyatt, with art by PJ Holden, 2000 AD #1625-1630, 2009) Collected editions The stories were collected in a trade paperback: The 86ers (96 pages, May 2009, ) References The 86ers at 2000 AD