Secret Mission 3: Collision Course

This article is about the novel. You may be looking for the in-universe mission.

"On the Valiant's maiden voyage in space, it encounters a swarm of brains drifting quietly among the stars. Little does the crew know these strange creatures have the ability to control the minds of anyone they touch. The ship is quickly taken over by the hostile life-forms, and the Valiant begins rocketing through space on a collision course with one target: the Hero Factory in Makuhero City.
It's up to Stormer, Rocka, and Breez to stop the ship, and prevent the destruction of their home world. If they fail, then it's up to the rest of the Hero Factory team to destroy the spaceship - at any cost."
― Back Cover

Parent Page: Media

Secret Mission 3: Collision Course
Media
Type Secret Mission Book Year(s) released 2013

Secret Mission #3: Collision Course is the third book in the Secret Mission series. It was released by Scholastic on January 1, 2013.

Synopsis

The new ship, the Valiant, is speeding through deep space on its maiden voyage, three days after leaving its space dock. Its captain, Aquax, uses the ship to patrol the deep space frontier in places Heroes do not normally go. The chief science technician, Xera, detects a very strange sight floating in space, an array of floating Brains.

At the Hero Factory, Natalie Breez finds Daniel Rocka working on the sensors in the Hero Factory's auxiliary control room, feeling annoyed that she had a hard time finding him, and brings him to a meeting by Preston Stormer. After the Alpha 1 Team except Jimi Stringer, who is busy with an ongoing mission, comes to the meeting, Stormer discusses the status of Mission: Catch 'Em and Cuff 'Em. The major villains are recaptured and law enforcement is scooping up the minor ones. Also, William Furno and Dunkan Bulk have reviewed the prison's security, so a breakout would not happen again. Stormer assigns his fellow Alpha 1 Team members to double their training to get ready for tougher challenges, much to his fellow Heroes' chagrins. After Rocka's sensors glitch, Stormer gives him a lecture and tells him to wait until Stringer arrives from his mission.

Xera wants to bring one of the Brains on board the Valiant, but Aquax and Kirch, the security chief, do not allow it. Despite this, Xera takes a shuttlecraft out into the Brain swarm. Aquax notices Xera heading to the Brains, and tells him to return to the Valiant.

Furno stops Breez from doing a hard training exercise that involve rocket-powered hunks of steel called Rammers alone. Breez explains that she was doing this because she wants to be good enough to be a Hero. Furno cheers her up and advises her to go ask to Stormer for a mission to help herself. Stormer has Breez monitor deep space frequencies. She then picks up Aquax telling Xera to return to the Valiant.

Despite Aquax's rage, Xera captures one of the Brains by putting it in a vacuum jar, and arrives back to the Valiant with it. Kirch wants to apprehend Xera, but Aquax stops him. Xera has Aquax, who is thinking about punishing Xera for his disobedience, let him study the Brain while Kirch guards it.

Breez tells Stormer about the transmission from Aquax. Stormer remembers his times with Aquax, who is his old friend that he has known since the early days of the Hero Factory. Stormer becomes aware that Aquax became the captain of the Valiant and worried about him and his crew facing something. Stormer calls Breez and Rocka to have them do a mission for them.

While Xera is studying the Brain, Kirch threatens Xera by grabbing him because of his foolishness, but Xera threatens him back to make him let go of him. After Xera leaves to get supplies, Kirch believes that the Brain could be hostile, so he shoots at it to secretly try to destroy it, but this frees the Brain from its containment by destroying the containment when the Brain jumps out of the way, and the Brain attaches itself to Kirch's head. Kirch has now become a host for the Brain, who is the swarm's leader. He lets the Brains infest the ship. Aquax goes to get Xera's help.

Stormer assigns Breez and Rocka to do a scouting mission in the Valiant. Furno gets a distress call from the Valiant about its crew there being attacked by aliens, and notifies Stormer about it. The Brains take control of many of the crew members. Breez and Rocka are equipped with new tools and personal rocket packs, the latter being made by Rocka. They start their mission by using the rocket packs to get to the Valiant.

Three hours later, at Hero Factory, Furno notices the monitors showing the Valiant moving at excessive speed straight for Hero Factory, setting a collision course that could destroy the Hero Factory along with Makuhero City. Furno tells Stormer about this, and Bulk overhears them talking about it and joins their conversation. The ship seems unstoppable, so Bulk comes up with a plan to destroy it, and Furno agrees with this, despite it costing Rocka and Breez's lives. Stormer refuses and then goes to use his own rocket pack to get to the Valiant himself because he is concerned about Aquax. Stormer assigns Bulk to be in charge of their team until Stormer gets back. Stormer also tells Bulk to tell Furno to keep on trying to contact Stringer because Stringer is radio slient for too long. Bulk wants Stormer to admit that Stormer is worried about Aquax, but Stormer ignores Bulk and tells him to destroy the Valiant if Stormer, Breez, and Rocka cannot stop it when it gets near the city.

Breez and Rocka make it to the Valiant. Rocka uses a small device called a Laser Torch to cut a hole in the ship's airlock, but the ship has a self-sealing hull, which starts to close up the hole. He and Breez go through the hole, having boarded inside the ship, before the hole completely closes. Rocka unlocks two more airlocks, allowing the two Heroes to enter the ship's middle deck while the hole makes the ship sound an alarm. The Heroes notice that despite the alarm being sounded, no damage control team comes there to check on it, and the alarm stops after the Heroes entered the middle deck.

Stormer contacts Aquax and lies to him that the Valiant had not been boarded. Stormer notices that Aquax sounded cordial and forgot crucial details of a story of his and Stormer's past. Meanwhile, Aquax, who is possessed by a Brain, tells Kirch about Stormer knowing about the Brains in the ship, which would let the Hero Factory know about it, so the Hero Factory woll muster defenses in Makuhero City. Aquax notices Breez and Rocka making a hull breach to get into the Valiant. Kirch tells Aquax that they will let the Heroes get in the ship, and then the swarm will possess them.

Rocka discovers that the ship is blocking signals between it and the Hero Factory. Breez breaks into the Valiant computer system. She detects more organic lifeforms than active robots. Rocka tells Breez to go to the ship's bridge and learn what is going on here. Rocka says he will go to engineering and try to stop the ship. The two Heroes split up. On Breez's way, she tries to pull an electrified grate loose to get it out of the way, but she gets jolted by the grate, knocking her unconscious.

Without Stormer, Bulk makes the call to send thirteen Drop Ships, including Nathan Evo's, to destroy the Valiant, as Bulk notices the Valiant not stopping and it ramming into an unmanned freighter to destroy it on the way, and even if it would mean destroying his teammates in the Valiant. Bulk gives the orders, and then leaves Furno to write his resignation, much to his and Furno's sadness, and Furno's shock.

Rocka goes to the auxiliary control room and starts disabling the door with an auxiliary control system when a Brain sneaks up on him.

Breez wakes up and meets Xera, who found her. Xera tells her of the Brains, and is on the run. He deactivates the electricified grate to allow Breez to head to one of the Valiant's ventilator shafts to get to the bridge. Breez enters the ventilator shaft.

Rocka finishes disabling the door and then unintentionally dodges the Brain that is after him. He fights it and its group of Brains. He defeats the first wave, but the second wave shows up, and Rocka decides to run to avoid wasting time. He runs to engineering. Meanwhile, the ship's navigator, also possessed by a Brain, detects the Breez and Rocka's new locations in the ship, and tells Kirch and Aquax this. The navigator also notices Stormer, so Kirch has the Valiant attack Stormer.

Meanwhile, Evo is shocked that Bulk told him to destroy the Valiant. He does not want to do this because it would cost Stormer, Breez, and Rocka's lives, but he and his group of Heroes who are driving the Drop Ships have to do the command, much to Evo's sadness. The Heroes head to the Valiant.

Stormer comes under fire from Kirch on the Valiant, but uses meteoroids to block his electronic signal since the meteoroids have metal that can do this. Meanwhile, the Brain-possessed Valiant crew cannot find Stormer at first, but Aquax deduces that Stormer is using the meteoroids to hide, so Kirch commands has the Valiant destroy the meteoroids in order to find and destroy Stormer.

Breez finds and fights a Brain in the vents. She uses an electricified grate to defeat it.

Rocka fights and defeats two Brain-possessed guards who are guarding the main engineering center. He enters the room. Kirch also goes there to deal with Rocka, and instructs Aquax to keep firing upon Stormer. Rocka fights against twenty Brain-controlled crew members in the engineering deck. He threatens to destroy a computer console in the room to make the ship explode, but Kirch arrives and tells Rocka that he and his comrades had rerouted the room's power to the auxiliary control room right after Rocka left the auxiliary control room. Kirch uses a little bit of power in the engineering to knock Rocka unconscious, capturing him.

Breez goes to the Valiant's hangar bay, where a hundred crew members that are not possessed by Brains are sleeping because of the room's dampening field. The field makes her slowly go to sleep, so she goes to a flashing button on the opposite wall in the room, hoping that can turn off the field.

Meanwhile, Aquax disobeys Kirch and lets Stormer board to gain credit for bringing the legendary Hero under the swarm's thrall. Managing to shut down the Valiant's hangar bay's dampening field, Breez frees the crew members there. She tells two of them to use two shuttlecraft to get out of the Valiant and warn the Hero Factory about the Brains while she tells the other crew members to go get weapons from the Valiant armory and fight the Brains. Breez notices Stormer getting inside the Valiant and meets him, who is exhausted from his trip to the ship, before they are confronted by Aquax and two Brains. Aquax reveals his plan to have his Brain comrades possess the Heroes.

Evo and his group of Heroes notice the two non-possessed crew members in their shuttlecraft, but Evo and six of the Drop Ships' Heroes confuse them to be enemies.

Rocka promises Kirch that he cannot win the fight. Kirch becomes aware that the non-possessed crew members are freed and Stormer is in the Valiant. He tells Stormer through the ship's communication system that he has Rocka hostage. He tries to tell Aquax to stop his attack, but Aquax refuses because he believes he is doing what is best for the swarm's mission. Xera knocks Aquax and his two Brain comrades unconscious from behind, saving Stormer and Breez. Stormer threatens Kirch before Stormer, Breez, and Xera go find and save Rocka.

Evo and his group of Heroes attack the crew members who are piloting the shuttlecraft, but the crew members clarify with the Heroes that they are not enemies and warns them about the Brains, and then Evo tells Furno and Bulk about it. Furno and Bulk tell him a new plan, where Evo and his group of Heroes use their Drop Ships' tractor beams to slow down the Valiant. Furno and Bulk go to get a Drop Ship from the Hero Factory's repair dock to go to the Valiant to help their friends there fight the Brains.

While Stormer, Breez, and Xera are heading to the auxiliary control room, Stormer and Breez state their plan to use the room to take back the ship rather than finding Rocka in the engineering deck first. However, Xera betrays Stormer and Breez by knocking Stormer unconscious and threatening to destroy both Heroes. He explains his secret alliance with the Brains since they went inside the Valiant and he is going to be their representative. He notices Breez waiting for Stormer to get up and still wants to destroy them both, but Breez defeats him.

After ten of the twenty Brain-possessed crew members that Rocka fought in the engineering room go to defend the auxiliary control room from Stormer and Breez, Rocka frees himself and defeats the other ten crew members, but Kirch captures him again and is about to use his laser weapon to destroy him when the Valiant is captured by Evo and his group of Heroes through the use of their six Drop Ships' tractor beams. Kirch goes to the bridge, unintentionally sparing Rocka, and begins using the Valiant to attack the Drop Ships.

Stormer and Breez fight their way to the auxiliary control room. After the two Heroes find the room, Stormer tells Breez that she needs to think about strategy when she fights. Breez gets angry with Stormer at first, but Stormer says that he is already impressed with her efforts, enlightening her. When Stormer notices the Valiant attacking the Drops Ships, he has Breez go to the command center and stop the attack. Despite the Valiant having disabled two of the Drop Ships, its starboard side gets hit by one of the other Drop Ships, and Stormer uses the auxiliary control room to disable the ship's helm and communication system. Bulk and Furno arrive at the bridge to fight Kirch and his crew and save their friends. However, Kirch wants to have a talk with Stormer and the other Heroes.

Stormer and Breez reunite with Bulk and Furno while Rocka goes to the auxiliary control. The Valiant has been brought to a stop. Kirch and the four Heroes argue about how to finish their fight. When Kirch refuses to stop doing his plan, Stormer has Rocka direct the Valiant to Makuhero City's star system's star, which can incinerate everyone in the ship, including the Heroes themselves. This forces Kirch to have all of the Brains assemble at the hangar bay and separate themselves from their hosts.

All of the Brains are assembled. Stormer tells Rocka to decrease the ship's speed to give the Brains time to do what they need to do before they will leave the ship. However, Rocka discovers that he cannot decrease the ship's speed, which is increasing instead, and he cannot change course. Kirch reveals that he had prepared for his defeat by having a safeguard installed in the ship, so it cannot be controlled. Kirch promises Stormer that they will meet again. All of the Brains leave their hosts, releasing them from their control, and exit the ship. However, they get vaporized by the heat of the star.

The heroes and Aquax start working together to stop the ship from heading towards the sun. Bulk destroys the Valiant's engines by punching them to stop it. Using Galedanium, explosives in the ship, Furno and Breez deploy them in front of the Valiant, sending it away from the sun.

The Heroes and the Valiant crew are rescued by Heroes in the remaining Drop Ships, many more Drop Ships, and space vessels from the frontier worlds. They are taken to the Hero Factory for repair work and rest. The Valiant is badly damaged, so it is getting repaired. Aquax is personally told by Akiyama Makuro that the Hero Factory would station Heroes on the frontier to protect those worlds. The members of the Valiant crew go back to their home worlds. Aquax tells Stormer to promise him and his crew that he will find the one who sent the Brains and defeat the culprit.

Stormer refuses to accept Bulk's resignation. Despite Bulk having disobeyed Stormer's orders, Stormer states that Bulk did the right thing because Stormer's friendship with Aquax had clouded his judgement. Stormer tells Bulk that the Valiant was likely just an opportunity the Brains took, not their true plan. He then guesses that the Brains would be seen again. Meanwhile, Breez is training in the training room again, but with Rocka controlling it this time. Breez is upset about Xera fooling her, but Rocka cheers her up. Rocka is thinking about more Brains possibly coming to fight the Heroes on their next mission. Breez tells Rocka to help her train for it, though Rocka is uncertain if they can be ready for the Brains.

Characters

Heroes

• Preston Stormer
• Dunkan Bulk
• William Furno
• Natalie Breez
• Nathan Evo
• Daniel Rocka
• Many Heroes who piloted Drop Ships

Valiant Crew

• Aquax
• Kirch
• Xera

Other

• The Brains

Trivia

• The chapter book shows a preview to the next one called Secret Mission 4: Robot Rampage, showing its premise.
  • Unlike the two chapter books, Secret Mission 1: The Doom Box and Robot Rampage, that came with a preview of the sequels' first pages, this book does not have a preview to Robot Rampage.
• Though the chapter book came out on January 2013 while Episode 10: Brain Attack came out in March, it is evidenced that the events of the book happened right after the events of the episode, as when Breez first meets Xera, she remembers the Heroes' encounter with the Brains before the Brains took over the Valiant. However, in the book, Stormer did not know how to remove a Brain from its host when he tries to remove a Brain from Aquax, while in Episode 10, he learned how to. Also, when Evo is told by two non-possessed crew members about the Brains, he thinks their story is "crazy", as if he does not believe them, while in Episode 10, Evo encountered the Brains.
• In the book, after the Hero Factory made the false alarm set up by Rocka, when Stormer is talking to him about Rocka becoming restless after defeating Black Phantom, Rocka mentioned the plot of the non-canon comic, Breakout: Issue 1, written by Greg Farshtey, who also wrote the chapter book. The comic's story is not canon, so this is an error.
• There is an error in page 48 of the book where when Bulk, Furno, and Stormer are talking about blowing up the Valiant before Stormer goes there, Furno says that he agrees with "Stringer" to blow up the Valiant. However, Furno is meant to say "Bulk" because Bulk came up with the idea while Stringer is busy doing a mission elsewhere.
• In the book, Stormer is armed with his Plasma Gun and Power Sword from his XL Breakout form from the 2012 story arc. It is probably because the book was released in Jaunary 2013 and Stormer's 2013 set was released in mid-2013, so Stormer did not have his Brain Attack form's weapons, despite Episode 10 having featured the Brain Attack weapons while being released in March 2013.
• This story does not act like Furno is in his XL form or the Heroes in their Brain Attack forms, as the story does not act like they have their Hero Core Locking Clamps and visors, though Breez and Rocka carried their Brain Attack weapons, as Breez can strap her weapons on her back, like how he does in her Brain Attack set and Episode 10.
• Strangely, Mark Surge is the only Brain Attack set Hero to not appear in the chapter book. Stringer is mentioned there. Also strangely, Julius Nex is the only main Alpha 1 Team member to not appear or be mentioned in the book.
• The chapter book's characters who appeared in the television episodes behave differently from their roles in the episodes:
  • Stormer acts more harsh, like in The Doom Box. He did not agree with Bulk's idea of blowing up the Valiant at first because Stormer believed there are innocent people in the ship, but when Furno supported the idea, Stormer agreed.
  • Furno agreed with Bulk's idea of blowing up the Valiant. However, when Breez, Rocka, and Stormer were going there, and Bulk told Evo and Drop Ship-piloting Heroes to destroy the Valiant, Furno knows that Breez, Rocka, and Stormer could be there and get destroyed during the attack, so Furno wants to refuse to let this action from happening, but relucantly lets it happen.
  • Bulk does a destructive decision of blowing up the Valiant with Breez, Rocka, and Stormer in it. He then wanted to quite after this because he believed he would be risking his friends' lives. However, after Bulk sent the Drop Ship-piloting Heroes to the Valiant, told Furno about shoving the Valiant away from Hero Factory, and then heard about the Brains taking over the Valiant crew, Bulk regains hope and has Furno tell Evo and the other Heroes to cancel the attack on the Valiant and the non-possessed crew members, and use tractor beams to stop the Valiant from hitting the factory. Stormer convinced Bulk to not resign because Stormer believed he did the right thing about sending the Drop Ship-piloting Heroes to the Valiant. In Episode 3: The Enemy Within, he stated that if Nathaniel Zib does not tell Bulk about Stormer's condition from Meltdown's nanobots soon, he might just "forget that he is a Hero," which is similar to his role in Collision Course.
  • Evo does Bulk's command of blowing up the Valiant, but he knows Breez, Rocka, and Stormer could be destroyed during the attack, so he wants to refuse do this, but he does the command, anyway. He and the Drop Ship-piloting Heroes fight Valiant crew members that are not possessed by Brains while the crew members tried to warn the Heroes about the Brains. However, Bulk has Furno tell Evo and the other Heroes to cancel the attack.
  • Breez acts more desperate to earn her fellow teammates' respect, most particularly Stormer's, similar to Furno.
• It is said that Kelly McKiernan, known as "Binkmeister" in BZPower and who worked on BIONICLE and Hero Factory's websites, said that this chapter book and the four other Secret Mission books are not canon, but Dangerous Dimensions and Face Off: Makuro's Secret Guidebook reference to them, which makes this fact disputable, so it can be assumed that the books are semi-canon.^{[Hero Factory 2014 Dissussion]}

See also

• Episode 10: Brain Attack
• Saga Guides/Brain Attack