AlertForce History 1990-1996

Jack captured by Who?:

Near the beginning of Era IV, Jack of all Trades turned up missing. This was dismissed for a time by the other ream members, since Jack had a history of adventuring alone. After several weeks, the team became concerned and decided to start searching for Jack. At first the team did not know where to begin. After all, it was Jack who always did the detective work. Eventually, Mantis and Sabrina uncovered the mystery by infiltrating a VIPER camp. The two heroes, out of their element, gleaned information from the VIPER computers and were able to track Jack's movements and peice together what had happened. It was during this investigation that Sabrina first showed her deductive powers and her potential as a promising team member. Unfortunately, this was too litle, too late. Sabrina never fully recovered from the Wall's death, and retired from the team a short time after this adventure. It was eventually discovered that Jack was being held in a secret Alaskan base run by Libyan-funded mercenaries. Alert Force attacked the base and easily subdued all of the mercenaries. Sabrina found a secret elevator in the medical lab which led to an underground chamber. Sure enough, Jack was there, drugged and badly beaten, but essentially intact. It was later learned (much later) that Jack had at that time been replaced by a sophisticated robot. The robot posed as Jack for many months before being discovered, thanks in large part to new AlertForce members Spexx and P.A.L.

Brimstone:

During one lazy afternoon at Alert Force Mansion in New Jersey, just before its destruction, a godlike figure came down from the sky, surrounded by clouds, and asked Alert Force for assistance. He requested Alert Force to travel to an alternate dimension and release his assistant, called Brimstone. Alert Force quickly jumped at the chance to be teleported to an alternate dimension to save a being they had never met. They allowed the godlike man to teleport them to the alternate dimension, whereupon they found that their powers were useless. The team still managed to complete the mission. The team was forced to compete in with swords and shields in gladiator games to win the release of Brimstone. After many arduous battles, the team prevailed. They released Brimstone and brought him back through the dimensional rift to our dimension. When they returned, Brimstone turned his awesome mutant powers against them, in an ironic thanks for his rescue. Alert Force, working as a team, nearly defeated the monster, but he was able to escape capture. The current wmor is that Brimstone is living somewhere in Africa, and is raising a huge religious cult, with himself as their divine god.

Marx battles:

At the end of Era Ill, the team had attacked just about every Marx installation they could find, and had not put a dent in their robot production. In fact, Marx had created a new type of robot, called the Super S-F (originally introduced late in Era Ill), which stood about fifty feet tall and packed more than enough firepower to blast any Alert Force member off the face of the planet. Marx's efforts to destroy the mutant race had continued, as well, and had in fact been stepped up. In an attempt to rid the planet of the scourge of Marx Corporation forever. Alert Force acted on information which Jack was able to find as to the location of Marx Corp.'s secret central base, and decided to attack it. It was located in a gothic castle in the English countryside. The attack was botched from the beginning by an Alert Force which was sorely missing the sheer physical power of the long gone Dreadnought. During reconoitter, Loup Ga rou set off almost an entire field of land mines. Alert Force had anticipated neither the mines, nor the fantastically powerful force field which protected the base. The final nail in the coffin came when the two Super ~F robots arrived. Thermo whipped up a raging typhoon, which eventually upgraded to a hurricane, but could not break through the force field. Meanwhile, the S-F's were pummelling ther rest of the team. The S-F robots, together with Thermo's hurricane, nearly killed several Alert Force members. The attack was a disaster.

The move to Pittsburgh:

After the failed attack on the British base, Marx decided that Alert Force had been a thom in their sides for just about long enough. They captured new members Green Lantern and Iron Knight, and took them back to the base. They forced all of Alert Force's secrets from the two young heroes, including weaknesses, secret identities, and loved ones. They released the two poor victims and sent them back to Alert Force with a message: Wvacate your headquarters in two days. We intend to destroy it in 48 hours whether you are there or not. Your lives will be spared, but if you ever interfere in Marx affairs again, you will all be killed.u Alert Force, without choices, packed all they could and moved to the old Guardian lair in Pittsburgh. Two days later, two S-F robots appeared in New Jersey and blasted the mansion into a crater 50 feet deep.

Alert Force's Revenge:

Years after the destruction of their New Jersey home (years spent skulking around in an attempt not to be noticed by the almighty Marx Corp), Alert Force received information that Marx may finally have bitten off more than it could chew. After a failed attempt by Marx to take over Star Labs, Inc., Star Labs launched a counterattack. But Star Labs' attack was physical. They sent a team to Britain to shut down the force field protecting Marx's headquarters, and to destroy the rival company. Alert Force, siezing the moment, offered themselves as mercenaries to aid Star Labs in its battle. ~ith Star Labs guarding Alert Force's back, the team (finding new confidence with its new members Chameleon and Shade, and with Thermo finally beginning to fill the shoes of Dreadnought) shattered Marx's force field, and watoned with smiling faces as Star labs' crack squad swarmed over the castle. The attack was glorious, even though Marx is far from finished. Star Labs is still fighting them tooth and nail. The only true winner in the scenario was Alert Force, who will no longer be given ultimatums by either group. Alert Force even managed to make a tidy profit on the deal. Score one for the good guys.

Canadian adventure:

Thermo's pet peeve is the opression of mutants. So when the team's computer detected a huge concentration of mutants in the Canadien wildemess, it had to be checked out. When Alert Force approached the signal, they saw what appeared to be some kind of research complex. When the team attempted to investigate, they were greeted by a huge bruiser and a humanoid lizard. Naturally, a battle ensued. Alert Force was repelled, and in the process, Iron Knight was thrown into the sea, and had to be rescued. The team retumed several weeks later. Thermo feared that some genetic experiments were being conducted on huge numbers of mutants. This time the battle went a different way, and Alert Force gained entry into the facility. What they found was a complete surprise. Mantis, on behalf of Star Labs, was conducting genetic experiments to create super warriors. The altered genetic signal which Thermo had picked up was caused not by hordes of mutants, but by the research computer Bug had set up. The whole affair was a huge waste of time.

Alert Force vs. Alert Force:

During Era IV, news reports began surfacing that the original Alert Force Team had become villains. After some investigation, it was discovered that a team consisting of five poeple looking remarkably like the original five Alert Force members were indeed on a crime spree all up and down the East Coast. Some in-depth investigation by Jack revealed that the criminals were targeting components of a new super computer. Jack and the new team staked out the plant which manufactured the only component which had not been stolen. Although the team could not believe that the original members had gone bad, especially since Loup was with the new team during the break-ins, it was thought best to be prudent and get to the bottom of the matter as quickly as possible. Sure enough, the old team appeared, as if on schedule, and attempted another break-in. Conflict ensued, and although the new team was greatly overmatched by the old, which inciuded both Thermo and Dreadnought, freshly back from the interplanetary wars, they managed to escape without any fatalities, and to capture Thermo in the bargain, thanks to the shrewd battle tactics of Jack of all Trades. Under truth serum, it was discovered that a demented android version of the old team's mentor, Dr. Feldon was exercising mind control over the team, and causing the crimes. All were in fact the original members of Alert Force, except the fake Lou p, who was a villain called Wolfgang. Now the old team would be hunting for the new team, to exact the punishment for kidnaping Thermo. Thermo was deprogrammed, and rejoined the new team. At a later conflict, Dreadnought and Para-man surprised Iron Knight cruising in his supercar. Dreadnought dug a deep hole and Para-rnan teleported the car onto the hole before Iron Knight could react. In the total darkness, Iron Knight had no idea what had happened, and almost ran Out of air before escaping his predicament. No further conflict with the old team, which is still at large, has occurred. It is doubtful whether the criminal Alert Force is aware of the team's new location in Los Angeles.

Iron Knight accidentally kills a bystander:

Just After the team moved to Pittsburgh, early in Era IV, an attempted robbery of the Mellon Bank was reported. Alert Force sprang into action. The rmo, then leader of the team, sent Iron Knight and Loup Ga rou to circle investigate the situation. While Loup was doing reconnaisance, Iron Knight sized up the situation, flew in and confronted the assailants without instructions to do so, and without telling Loup what he was doing. He thwarted the robbery, but an innocent bystander was killed in the process. The team suffered terrible public relations on its first caper in a new town. The press reports were horrible. The only things which saved the team's reputation were some quick press work by Loup, and Thermo's side job as a reporter, in which he was able to plant some articles which were favorable for the team. Needless to say, this was one of Iron Knight's first encounters, and he has vastly improved since then. In fact, in 1993, he was offered the team leader position, and has functioned well as such since.

Nexus Debut:

In Era IV, Los Angeles was struck by a new villain team, who perpetrated a rash of brutal bank robberies. Two robberies occurred within a month of each other, having the same M.O. The criminals would warp into the bank, viciously slay any guards using a combination of cell rot, poison touch, and bomb. The villains would then bomb the vault doors off, and steal all of the cash inside. They even bombed the lock off of every safe deposit box, to steal the contents of each one. After a lengthy investigation, Alert Force projected the pattem of the robberies, and was able to predict the next bank which would be hit. They were able to stake out the bank in advance. Although Alert Force had a plan of action, it was ineffective, and the encounter tumed into a fre~for-all. After a lengthy and violent battle, Alert Force finally prevailed. During the melee, Hammer teleported Bender to the Alert Force Danger Room, which had been sealed in advance for just such a purpose. Thermo was able to interrogate Bender to gain valuable information on Nexus, a new team of villains opposing Alert Force. Nexus in currently behind bars, but how long they will stay there is anyone's guess.

Loup Hunts the Imposter:

In Era IV, Loup began to hear reports that Sabretooth had resurfaced. Being his mortal enemy, Loup was understandibly concemed. Loup took it upon himself to investigate these reports. Both as Lou p, and as James Grey'wolf, he tracked Sabretooth. Just as he closed in on Sabretooth, however, he discovered that his prey was not Sabretooth at all, but an imposter, who was impersonating Sabretooth's look and modus operandi for some unknown reason. The trail disappeared just as Loup was on the verge of confronting the unknown villain (whom he dubbed "the Imposter"). The Imposter has never been brought to justice, afthough Loup's investigation is ongoing.

AlertCorp.:

During the adventure in which the evil team called Nexus made its deluut, Alert Force seized a business opportunity. One of the methods of Nexus' bank robberies was to use darkness immediately upon entry into each bank they robbed. This rendered the norrnal security cameras used by most banks useless. Alert Force formed a corporation called AlertCorp., to import and sell advanced security systems to banks, which included high-tech infrared and "nit~sight" cameras. Due to the recent rash of robberies, demand was high, and AlertCorp made over $350,000 in its first two weeks of operation. The thwarting of Nexus (due in some small part to the installation of AlertCorp equipment), spurred sales even higher, which really put Alertcorp on the map. The company, under the direction of Jack and Thermo, quickly expanded its services to include complete security services. Alert Force is currently using AlertCorp. not only as a money-making device, but also as an aid in crimefighting. Every security system installed by AlertCorp. also has special codes which allow Alert Force to monitor all cameras or other sensing equipment installed, and to disable them for possible future reconnaisance or infiltration needs. AlertCorp. has the potential to be one of the best ideas Alert Force has ever had.

The Furies:

Late in Era IV, Alert Force was called upon to deal with a hostage situation at a local law firm. An unknown group of super-villains had seized thirty people as hostages, and had killed one before Alert Force was called in. When they arrived on the scene, Alert Force learned that the terrorists were demanding that donations of millions of dollars be made to charities and groups who help poople with different disabilities. Alert Force formed a plan, and went in to attempt a rescue of the hostages. Although Alert Force had been informed that there were five terrorists, when the team got inside the office, two more attackers came out of the woodwork, for a total of seven villains. As it turned out, the man who was "killed" before Alert Force arrived was actually a member of the attacking force, who was only pretending to be dead. After a fierce battle, Alert Force was able to get the hostages to safety. Shade was the hero of the day, because she was able to teleport all of the hostages away right under the noses of the villains. Alert Force stayed around a bit too long, however, and was on the verge of losing the battle when the villains decided to bug out. After some post-battle investigation, Alert Force learned that the villains were called the Furies, and had been responsible for quite a few attacks and murders in the past few years. The group was, in a twisted way, championing the rights of the downtrodden and oppressed. All of the victims of the group had been in some way, direct or indirect, responsible for some harm to a disabled person. Further investigation revealed that each member of the Furies was suffering from some form of disability, ranging fmm AIDS to dwarfism. The general consensus among Alert Force members after the battle was that the Furies are more powerful than Alert Force, and should be treated with care if encountered again. A significant footnote to this encounter is the fact that Iron Knight turned over leadership of the team to Thermo as soon as he learned there was a hostage situation. This was apparently a result of his prior mishandling of a hostage situation, early in his career, in Pittsburgh.

Saturday, March 25, 2006