A space freighter was hijacked by Batmen in early 2065.
History[]
In January 2065, a group of Batmen boarded the freighter in Area 4 of Sector 25 and put the crew into a kind of "frozen sleep" with their weaponary. The ship sent out an automatic mayday which was picked up by Lieutenant Ninety at Space City, who directed Steve Zodiac and Fireball XL5 to investigate. Professor Matic identified the adrift ship as a freighter during their approach, with Steve choosing to board the ship on his own, remaining in contact with Mat and Doctor Venus via hand radio. Steve assessed that the freighter had sustained no outward signs of damage but remained concerned about the open bay sliders, which Mat had noticed before Steve had left. When Steve ventured closer to the bay doors, he was ambushed by the Batmen though managed to hit one with his stun gun, causing their retreat further into the ship. Steve followed them in, checking cargo before finding the unconscious crew in the main cabin. Venus asked over the radio if she should prepare for emergency operation but was interrupted when a Batman caught Steve by surprise, successfully shooting him this time. The Batmen threw Steve's body from the freighter and then sped away to parts unknown.
After Mat and Venus helped Steve to recover from the hit, he contacted Commander Zero to ask about the current location of the freighter. Zero told him the ship had moved to the edge of Sector 25, nearly in hyperspace. Fireball pursued the freighter based on this information, eventually landing on an unknown asteroid in hyperspace. (COMIC: The Batmen) The front page of TV Century 21 on 30 January reported that Commander Zero had held a press conference to mark the new discovery, with Zero explaining that it had occurred whilst Fireball was hunting a "mysterious" space freighter. (PROSE: Stingray Attacked!) Steve, Venus and Mat searched the asteroid using jetmobiles, eventually finding the freighter and another ship on its farside. Later, after the leader of the Batmen had been exposed as a human impostor wearing a disguise and the Batmen had decided to make peace with the Fireball crew, Valeen showed Steve to where the freighter crew had been kept as prisoners in a frozen sleep. The crew was subsequently awoken and they blasted off from the asteroid in their freighter. (COMIC: The Batmen)
