Steve Coops

The Road Warriors


CLEA DATA FILE

Team Identities:

  • Dave Lynn – Tinker
  • Simon Gray (originally) – Spectre
  • Jenny MacClare – Mackie
  • Spirit

CLEA Classification:

  • Specialist Engineer (Tinker)
  • Vehicular Lifeform (Spectre and Spirit)
  • Specialist Combatant (MacClare)

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Lynn acts as the team’s mechanic is fully trained to deal with the unique oddities presented by Spectre and Spirit. Though regarded as a civilian Lynn is known to take direct action in the team’s “missions” by driving his own vehicle and placing himself in harms way.
  • MacClare is an ex police officer. During her time with the EPD she received unarmed combat and firearms training. She originally “piloted” Spectre’s car before gaining her own vehicle so that she could act as another mobile unit for the team.
  • Spectre and Spirit are classed as vehicular lifeforms (the classification was originally created to describe Spectre). Since they combine elements of “human” within the systems of a car they have a capacity to heal wounds by absorbing power from nearby sources (via EM fields). The pair can also hack into communication systems the same way. Since the pair are actual cars and not people every part component that is connected to them they can control (in much the same way a human can control their arms and legs etc.) They can thus drive anywhere and frequently do so at the alarm of people who do not know what the are and see driverless cars. For this reason they will often generate a hologram of themselves in the drivers seat (see below).
  • Spectre and Spirit can also emit a fully formed hologram of themselves (but must be within twenty feet of the vehicle). When using internal power the “hologram” has no substance and appears ghost like. However if they can feed off a power source, the boosted power allows them to become “solid” but though they look like “humans” they do not feel human to third parties who describe being close to either one being similar to standing next to a CR tube.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Lynn has received no armed/unarmed training so is weak against a skilled fighter.
  • Though Spirit and Spectre can repair a lot of damage by absorbing power they cannot repair everything which included natural wear and tear. They therefore rely on Lynn to fix any of the systems they cannot.
  • As soon as Spirit and Spectre take on their hologram form outside the confines of their vehicles they cannot self repair until they return to inside of the their vehicles and abandon using their alternate form.
  • Spectre and Spirit are vulnerable to EM based weapons.
  • The Renaissance Mob has singled the Road Warriors as their “enemies.”

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Double homicide (MacClare – charges later dropped when it was discovered she had been framed by the true murderers, corrupt officers in the EPD)

Notes/History

In the beginning the Road Warriors consisted of just two members. Dave Lynn had become disillusioned with working for the Renaissance Mob since he noticed them becoming more violent and was not at ease with the fact they had begun to expand their business operations into kidnapping women to use as prostitutes.
He had been forced to leave their “employment” after freeing an assassin named “Rose” that had been captured trying to kill the mobs leader, Big Ron.

Rose had been betrayed by another member of the organisation she worked for ‘Twelve’. Like many of the female captives the Mob intended to use her as a sex slave. Unlike the other woman, she was treated differently. instead of being taken to ‘clients’, as punishment for attempting to kill Big Ron, her sole purpose was as a play thing for other members of the cartel. Though they were forbidden from killing her, Big Ron allowed any manner of cruelty to be visited on Rose so as well as sex she was subjected to frequent abuse and beatings. Big Ron intended her to suffer for as long as possible , and in the times she was not being used as a toy, she was chained up like an animal.

Unable to bear seeing any woman being tortured in this way, Dave Lynn decided to free Rose. For that act he was thrown out of the Renaissance Mob. Anyone else would have been killed but his brother, Adam known as ‘Atlas’ was Big Ron’s right hand man and persuaded his boss to show mercy.  Dave therefore was able to settle down in a small outback town of Irwin’s Crossing and work as the local mechanic.

The town itself was close to Big Ron’s ranch and headquarters but fell under the control of  the Green Dragons, a rival gang. The corrupt sheriff and most of his men were loyal to Big Ron, and had supplied most of the girls for the illegal sex trade. Being a small town the police could identify travellers and strangers and so it was easy to arrest lone women passing through and then hand them over to Big Ron’s people. Since the Green Dragons had no interest in the sex trade they permitted the ‘business’ providing the Renaissance Mob did not interfere in their operations.

As Rose had failed to eliminate her target she knew the Twelve would consider her a failure, despite the fact she had been betrayed. Getting captured had exposed the “The Twelve” who preferred to remain as ghosts. That was not permitted so she was now a target for the other assassins who worked for the Twelve. It also meant she was without a purpose and so chose to stay with Dave in Irwin’s Crossing.

In time the Green Dragons reached a power sharing agreement with Renaissance Mob and handed Big Ron, leases to farmland they owned so that he might begin growing his own drugs crops. The Dragons also pulled their people out of the town since it was not ‘profitable’ for them. Very quickly Dave found some familiar faces in the area. Though the mob enforcers recognised Dave, they ignored him since he was not a threat to them. Since the thugs were not high up the ranks they did not recognise Rose so she was relatively safe from the Mob, although Dave viewed that as a blessing for he had no doubt she could easily take care of any mob enforcers. Since he had abandoned his old violent life he persuaded Rose to simply let things be, but she found that difficult when the rest of the town were growing tired of being coerced into growing illegal crops and performing menial tasks for the mob.

As the townsfolk began to suffer, the mob found its members under attack at night by a masked vigilante. Rose figured since the local police had been paid off she had to restore justice. The people saw the vigilante as a hero despite the fact the mob started to punish the people of Irwin’s Crossing in retaliation. Dave guessed the vigilante was Rose as he had caught her sneaking out at night on a number of occasions. She promised him she would stop once the mob gave up the town and then the situation got worse when Elsa showed up.

She wanted revenge on the mob after they had kidnapped her and place her into a life of prostitution. After escaping she had trained to become a mercenary and once she had the skills had returned to Irwin’s Crossing for some payback. Rose saw a kindred spirit in Elsa, now operating as ‘Emerald’  and suggested they work together to destroy the mob’s presence in the area. Elsa did not need much persuading and the Road Warriors were born. Using their skills to their best advantage the two women succeeded in breaking the Renaissance Mob’s strangle hold on the town but not the area.

That was when Spectre and MacClare appeared in Irwin’s Crossing. The pair had heard about some trouble in the outback and had set off to help. Upon arriving in the town, the pair were tricked by Atlas and told that the two women on bikes were the source of problems in the town. Since he was such an eloquent speaker, he convinced the pair with his lies and they set off for Dave’s Garage. Atlas thought that in sending MacClare and Spectre after Elsa and Rose, both groups would take each other out and thus the town would be eradicated of heroes.

That plan though did not came to a fruition because the battle between the four ended in stalemate and nearly brought about Spectre’s demise. However both groups survived and once MacClare and Spectre learned the truth they sided with Elsa and Rose, doubling the team. Together they made the town a no go area for the Renaissance Mob but the crime gang was not yet finished.

Nearly a year later the Mob returned with a plan to eliminate the strongest member of the group, Spectre. In a deliberate method to provoke the Road Warriors the mob drove a van into the town and roughed up a few folk before tearing off. Spectre (with MacClare) gave chase but once they got behind the van, the doors flew open to reveal an experimental EM cannon. Firing the weapon at Spectre was supposed to shut down all the electric in the vehicle which would effectively kill him. However instead the pulse split off part of his “psyche” and merged it with part of MacClare’s psyche. The upshot of this was the creation of another entity similar to Spectre, but female in appearance.

As both vied for control of the vehicle, it was realised by MacClare and Dave that both “entities” could not co-exist within the same car. The new being though could not be simply killed either since is was technically alive. Dave instead proposed the try to transfer the entity to another vehicle, namely his. Though there was a risk they could “kill” Spectre, the team agreed it was the only option they had. Since nobody had every moved a living consciousness before it was a small miracle that the transfer worked on once inside Tinker’s car the new entity took the name “Spirit”.

Very quickly it became apparent that Spirit was prone to making mistakes. Though she was part Spectre and part Mackie she had none of their experience. In fact she was making the errors of a child due to a lack of guidance. Accepting she had been “created” from them, Spectre and MacClare made a decision that if Spirit was a “child” then she was their child and therefore it was their responsibility to teach her and raised her as “parents”, albeit they were far from a typical family!

Spirit learned at a greatly accelerated rate once given the correct tutelage and it was not long before the Road Warriors gained another new member. With the new warrior as part of the team, the Renaissance Mob finally withdrew from the town. Things quietened down and Elsa and Rose decided to head out together to find somewhere they could use their warriors skills for helping others and they became the “Wheels of Fury”.

The others elected to remain at Irwin’s Crossing in case the mob returned but it was nearly eighteen months before that scenario presented itself. During this last final push by the mob to defeat the Road Warriors they captured and used Spirit to create a team of vehicular lifeforms, Carnage. The Road Warrior were vastly outclassed and so the Wheels of Fury returned temporarily to assist. Though Carnage was not defeated the Renaissance Mob lost control of their “team” when their host personalities grew used to the power and decided they should work for themselves and left Irwin’s Crossing to reap mayhem elsewhere.

With that final defeat the Wheels of Fury left the Road Warriors to continue their “work” and since the town was now “free” from the Mob, Dave, Mackie, Spectre and Spirit chose to follow Elsa and Rose’s lead by using their unique gifts in the service of others.

(Also see Wheels of Fury)

http://www.atlantica2200.co.uk/2016/09/14/wheels-of-fury-assassins-turned-hero/

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Shadow Squad

shadow-squad-banner

Original Quartet Left-Right: Mauler, Beartrap, Fireball and Magic

The Shadow Squad is the only “enforcer” team specifically created by the new Black Shadow crime syndicate. Plans for more teams to deal with the syndicate’s enemies were abandoned when the four heads decided it was easier to hire muscle as and when needed.
Unlike Alpha Strike, the only other team permanently assigned to the syndicate and whose members are all Alphas, the Shadow Squad are “normal” people but the syndicate outfitted them with an advanced custom armour design created by Cade Lewis and being coerced into working for the criminal organisation.
With or without the weapons the team are formidable for the armour alone gives them strength rivalling super humans, and once the don their helmets the outfits give them a sinister enough appearance to intimidate even the most hardened person.

CLEA DATA FILE

Employer:

Group Identities:

  • Sebastian Nichols – Mauler (leader)
  • Roy Blundell – Beartrap
  • Kayless Ellis – Fireball
  • Joanne McGillian – Magic

Later additions

  • Alistair Nichols – Key Stone
  • Jana Bartnik – Whirlwind

Whirlwind and Keystone

CLEA Classification:

  • Tech Augmented humans (entire group)

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Each member of the team possesses and advanced armour that not only protects them from a variety of damage but can change it camouflage colour depending on the background, thus allowing the team to blend into the background when needed.
  • Nichols (Mauler) is considered a sociopath that enjoys hurting others. He got his name when interogatting prisoners he was said to enjoy “mauling” them till he got the information he wanted. He cannot be reasoned with.
  • Blundell (Beartrap) prefers to engage his enemies at close range. With the enhancements provided by the suit he will keep on fighting and will not let up until his opponent is down.
  • Ellis (Fireball) is another fighter who likes to get in close to her opponent. She is a hothead but unlike others who seem to make mistakes when they get angry she manages to channel her fury into her attacks, something akin to viking berserkers.
  • McGillian (Magic) is the teams thinker, she has the means to think tactically so even she a situation is going wrong she will often find a solution through working the odds even when under fire.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Apart from McGillian the rest of the team often let their emotions dictate their fighting. Clever opponents that can survive their attacks can usually turn the tables by fighting smarter.
  • Jana and Alistair are not as experienced as the others, leading to mistakes

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Aggravated assault
  • Assault and battery
  • Attempted homicide
  • Mercenaries
  • Muscle for hire.
  • Hostage taking
  • Kidnapping

Notes/History

Since being ousted from the army for his treatment of prisoners, Sebastian had found little calling in civilian life for his skills. Divorced from his wife and kid, for a time he was able to work but he had a habit at letting his emotions dictate his actions bringing him into conflict with his bosses. After a string of jobs word got around and he became unemployable. With no income and no opportunities he was desperate to do something. Things were getting so bad he lost his vehicle and was in danger of seeing the house go the same way, so he called in all the favours he had.

One of his contacts, who knew of Sebastian’s violent reputation, eventually replied and told him about a job in the Far East that required someone with a military background and no questions asked.

Though he’d never considered being a mercenary he liked the idea as he felt he was missing a war to go to. The problem was the job could not be done by him alone so he ended up calling in more favours and when they produced little response he began using friends of friends which eventually ended up meeting some very shady people.

Eventually all his work paid off and he managed to recruit three others just like him, kicked out of the military and desperate for money. Also like him they also had “issues” but the need to resolve their individual cash flows helped them to work together.

Once in the Far East accepting Sebastian as their leader was the first hurdle to cross but once the other three realised someone was going to have to lead or else they were all going to get killed, this time logic prevailed. They completed the mission as per their contract and they each prepared to go their separate ways since they couldn’t stand being around each other a moment longer than what was necessary.

However another job offer came up and with bigger rewards so they decided to work together for a second occasion. A victim of their own success, every time the group tried to break up they kept getting new and more lucrative offers. Seemed everyone wanted someone else to fight their conflicts.

Unbelievably, each of them soon discovered they had gained a respect for the others on the team and the more they worked together the less animosity they felt to one another. They considered without the strict military hierarchy and discipline forcing them to conform to an ideal that was why they were finding the camaraderie they had never felt in their respective early careers.

Whatever friendship they felt though came crashing to the ground when they performed a job in Russia for a fringe militant group. Due to poor intelligence they were nearly caught by Russian troops whilst trying to extract the leader of the group from prison. They were then forced to flee the country and the Russian authorities passed the information onto CLEA since they could not apprehend the mercenary team outside their borders.

CLEA already had an extensive file on them and the others but had never managed to get close enough to arrest them because the group were too well prepared when it came to exit plans, until now. Hounded from country to country, the mercenary group realised it was not a matter of if  CLEA caught them but when. However CLEA where not the only ones who had heard of the team. The Black Shadow leader Danny Kendrick had heard all about the team as well. Aware CLEA was close to capturing Sebastian and the others, Danny considered the team might be useful to the organisation to act as much needed muscle. The other Black Shadow heads agreed and within days had mobilised their resources.

Right from under CLEA’s nose operatives working for Black Shadow swiped the four mercenaries and took them to a safe house where Kendrick met them. Danny then proposed a new job opportunity working for the syndicate as muscle and receiving access to resources that would keep CLEA off their backs or simply to walk away and face their fate.

Grateful at being saved and having very few other choices, the team accepted the job and after receiving powered armour they became the Shadow Squad. For some time the refrained from removing their helmets whilst doing the syndicate’s work hence it took a long time for CLEA to realise that the mercenary team they had lost was still active but in another guise.

Some years after working for Black Shadow, Sebastian’s son and girlfriend, Alistair found him. He had inherited his father’s violent nature. Having been thrown out of the family home by his mother, who could not tolerate his attitude or his “psycho” girlfriend, Jana Bartnik, he had learned that his father was doing very well. Needing money, he tried to blackmail his dad, threatening to expose his whereabouts to the authorities. The other Shadow  Squad members considered simply getting rid of the problem on a permanent basis, but Sebastian liked the fact that Alistair had the balls to actually challenge him.

Instead of paying him off Sebastian decided to try and train his son and girlfriend. Frequently the team had been caught in some tight spots in recent times and he thought they could do with some additional fire power. The pair proved themselves very capable although it was some time before the others would accept them and even longer before Black Shadow would trust them. Alistair adopted the code name “Keystone” whilst Jana became “Whirlwind” due to her being quick to temper and lashing out in fury.

To confuse their enemies the team’s armour displays a different colour for each person when in “public”. However few realise that the outer layer of the armour has a colour shifting “chameleon” ability which once activated can make the wearer far harder to see.

Save

Shut Down


CLEA DATA FILE

Identity:

  • Naomi Vaughn

CLEA Classification:

  • Alpha Superior

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Alpha ability – When she touches another person she can disable the signals sent from the brain to the major muscles that control body movements.Effectively she traps a person in his or her own body.
    Whilst in that condition she is able to reposition her victims body much like a puppet by using her own brain to control the other person’s muscles but has to make physical contact to do this.
    Alternately she can give a person partial control of their body when a situation calls for such necessities.
    At any time she can use her touch to return her victim’s body to “normal”.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Like any other Alpha, Naomi’s interefence with a victim will wear off in time whether she chooses to restore “control” or not. How long the effect takes to wear off naturally can be anything from half an hour to several hours. This means she has to keep touching a person to maintain control and “reset” this timer.
  • She can be attacked with ease by anyone outside her physical reach.

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Kidnapping
  • Hostage taking.
  • Robbery

Notes/History

Due to her ability to turn people into living statues, Naomi is exceptionally good at disabling people so they cannot escape or call for help. Whilst quite a powerful ability she still has to get close to her victims to physically touch them. For this reason she rarely works alone. Being part of a crew often limits her rewards when compared to solo Alpha Criminals but she is less arrogant than others and is very much a team player.
By far the most “famous” incident she was linked to was a robbery at Stevenson’s Bank in Atlantica’s financial district. Working with the the robber she disabled the security guards and the hostages. With them unable to do anything they were far easier to handle and monitor which is why the robbery was so successful. It is also believed she has been linked to several cases of high profile kidnappings. With Naomi of the “team” it is far easy to control kidnap victims since they are unable to escape.

Silent Tigers

CLEA DATA FILE

Asset of:

Group Identities:

  • Rikiya Saito – Scorpion
  • Manami Takahashi – Lotus
  • Kimiko Matsuda – Nightingale

CLEA Classification:

  • Assassin – Rikiya Saito
  • Assassin – Manami Takahashi
  • Assasin – Kimiko Matsuda

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • All three are highly accomplished combatants, both armed and unarmed. As with most “teams” linked with the Twelve, each of them is adept with using a sword which is the preferred weapon of choice in carrying out their assignments.
  • The team act efficiently as a unit and are able to swap/rotate roles at any time giving them many different offensive and defensive strategies.
  • Their unique body armour allows them to move around stealthily so they cannot be detected easily. Night vision goggles are built into their hoods so darkness is not a hindrance.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Rose (Wheels of Fury) acts as an unwanted distraction in thier otherwise outstanding “careers” as assassins.
  • Like other members of the Twelve they will only willingly kill a person named on their assignment.

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Homicide

Notes/History

As with every other faction of assassins that work for the Twelve a group known as the Tigers has existed as long as the rest of the organisation. Like the leader known as the Jade Emperor, only the name of person beneath the title changes.

The Tiger “group” have always specialised in stealth, power and precision and in its current incarnation the “Silent Tigers” have maintained this way of conducting its business. Whilst the Tigers work as a highly coordinated group they have in the past been given individual assignments when the Jade Emperor believes the secrecy of the Twelve would be exposed by too many operatives in one location and a high chance of being witnessed.
This was how the forth team member “Rose” (see Wheels of Fury) came to be hunted by the rest of the Tigers because she accepted an assignment and instead of killing her target “Big Ron” of the Renaissance Mob, she was captured instead.

Failing to achieve her goal broke one of the four age old rules of the Twelve. The first of these was that it was forbidden to kill someone that had not been named. The second rule was once an assignment had been accepted it had to be completed without exception. Failure was unacceptable. The third rule was that it was forbidden to expose the existence of the organisation and the last rule was nobody left the Twelve.
By getting herself captured Rose had inadvertently one of the rules which was considered a great dishonour punishable by death. As was tradition, it was up to the remaining team members to correct the dishonour (unless there were no members of the team left to carry out the orders, at which point the Jade Emperor would see to matters).

Though the four of them were good friends they could not disobey their orders and swore to carry them out. Only later did it come to light that another assassin on one of the other “Twelve” teams, a rival to Rose had leaked the information and warned Big Ron to ensure her failure but that left the Jade Emperor with a problem. Since her assignment had been compromised from the outset he could not hold her accountable for breaking the second rule but he had become aware she had escaped Big Ron and every moment she was away from the Twelve she was not only risking exposing the organisation’s existence, rule three but was now operating as a freelance which broke rule four.

That meant his orders would remain although he did not want the Silent Tigers to waste time constantly chasing after Rose when there was other work to be done so he informed the Tigers that the only needed to eliminate her if their paths crossed or unless he decided she was an imminent risk to their secret order at which point every member of the Twelve would have to actively hunt her down.

No longer having to deliberately seek Rose meant the Silent Tigers could return to their outstanding orders but they had lost their high standing in the Twelve and would take a long time to rebuild their reputation. This made the trio resentful of Rose which was why when they did cross paths she was lucky to survive.
Her escaping though only fuels the trio’s determination to succeed the next time they meet.

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Skiller Queen


CLEA DATA FILE

Identity:

  • Nicola Jordan

CLEA Classification:

  • Alpha Superior

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Alpha ability – allows her to pick up psychic “residue” on any object and gain intuition from the previous user, effectively giving her their skills. Thus she can take hold of a gun and know how to shoot it even if she’s never used it before. Likewise she can touch a keypad and know the code needed to open it by psychic imprint left from the previous person who touched it. When pushed she can even “read” some of the thoughts of a previous user, however only the thoughts that were strongest at the time.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Her biggest limitation is whilst she can inherit new skills from another person she cannot use them any better. Consequently if  the owner of a gun she has picked up is a terrible shot then she will be the same.
  • Inherited skills are usually wiped out the moment she reads another object. Over time she does seem to have retained some skills and scientists believe this is down to repeated exposure to similar objects which have developed her own natural abilities.

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Almost anything depending on skill set she is using but avoids homicide.

Notes/History

When it comes to seeking out an Alpha Criminal that can do almost any crime, the criminal fraternity frequently place Nicola Jordan at the top of their list. Originally a history major and curator at Altantica’s technology museum, after her Alpha abilities became active she discovered that whatever object she touched she temporary gained the memories and “skills” of the last person to have owned the item.
Unable to comprehend the sudden influx and memories that shifted randomly, Nicola was driven to distraction by working in a place with thousands of objects and suffered a complete mental breakdown. In an effort to stop what was happening to her she tried to destroy the museum by setting it one fire. This at least gained her some respite but she was then wanted by the EPD. To avoid being captured she lived on the street for a while and it was then that she started to learn how to control her gift. Unable to go back to her old life she turned to crime as a means to survive.
Very quickly Nicola found herself in demand for providing she had access to a particular artefact she could do almost anything. Thus she was able to commit crimes and escape easily. This brought her to the attention of CLEA when the EPD handed her details over to the agency. As she gained notoriety, Nicola eventually gained the alias the press originally thought up of “Skiller Queen” and liked it that much she decided to use it.

After acquiring her alias she then inexplicably “vanished” for over year. The next time she was encountered by anyone she appeared to have gained two very different outfits. One of these was a custom built armour and the other was very much lighter. From then on when she was using guns she would wear the armour and then when she stating using a pair of “tech” swords she would be seen wearing the other along. CLEA agents have speculated that Nicola might have obtain the outfits and equipment from a third party who she is probably working for. If that is true then there is a good chance the same hidden employer might be giving her access to people with advanced skills. She would thus be able to duplicate them and at the same time be the only one taking the risks.

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Skullcap


CLEA DATA FILE

Identity:

  • Tsui Li Na

CLEA Classification:

  • Species Beta Hybrid

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • As a Bacteria Z hybrid based on fungi she can shed her human form and gain entry to restricted places by spreading mycelium (a fibrous plant material associated with fungus). Once at her “destination” she can “regrow” a new body. This same ability can help her escape since only a small section of mycelium is needed for her to regrow albeit the smaller the section the longer it takes to extract food and fluid from the environment.
  • She is also able to communicate telepathically with a large carnivorous plant species. She protects them and they will protect her. Effectively she has a plant army at her command which makes her extremely dangerous.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Like all plants she needs moisture to survive.
  • Avoids bright light and hides in the shadows.
  • Will only attack if provoked.
  • Highly vulnerable to fire

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Destruction of property
  • Theft
  • Assault (if cornered)
  • (previously) mercenary

Notes/History

Tsui Li Na was one of the mercenaries, Richard Simmons (Greenhand) hired to escort him on a field trip to the islands that once were Japan and now known unofficially as the terror islands since the area is off limits to all but a select few controlled by an international committee.

Considered a biohazard zone, the area is filled with creatures and plants mutated by the presence of Bacteria Z, known collectively as species beta. The only humans on the Terror Islands are scientists and their specialist security. Anybody trying to gain access to the quarantine zone that extends some forty miles out to sea is arrested or forced to turn back.

Simmons though was determined to make it to the Terror Islands for he was being hunted by Biohazard, a group of humans who had been altered by Bacteria Z and had a vendetta against him. He figured if he could obtain samples of species beta then he would be able to gain an advantage or at least even the odds against Biohazard.
Very few mercenaries were willing to risk the penalties for attempting to visit the Terror Islands but with the right financial incentives he eventually managed to assemble a team which included Tsui Li Na.

At first the mission seemed to go well for they avoided the sea patrols and made it to the shore without alerting the authorities. Once there the team quickly captured several examples of species beta but did not dare to travel too far inland due to the increased danger.

However when it came to leaving one of the mercenaries failed to show up. Simmons suggested that the missing man must have fallen foul of a mutated creature and made plans to leave. Tsui Li Na though insisted they find her comrade and only leave once they knew whether he was alive or dead. Simmons refused to go on the rescue mission and stayed with the boat.

The team ventured inland for a few hours picking up the trail of the missing soldier but in a deeply wooded area, one by one Tsui Li Na’s team started to get picked off. When Simmons was attacked by another creature that had come across the boat he decided to abandon the others, assuming they had all met with a grisly fate.

In one respect he was correct for Tsui Li Na was attacked by a predatory creature that she could not even identify. The creature though failed to administer the fatal blow for it was distracted by a patrol of soldiers who had been dispatched from a nearby scientific research centre. Tsui had inadvertently tripped a sensor and alerted the base of her presence but close to death and in deep undergrowth the security patrol failed to find her.

After being attacked she had been left with severe lacerations and the loss of blood had caused her to pass out so even if she had seen the soldiers she could not have called for help. When she eventually came round she discovered that her wounds had “attracted” spores from a species beta fungi. The bacteria Z in the fungi had entered her bloodstream and she was in the early stages of mutating.

By the time the process had run its course over a few days, her wounds had heeled and she had changed into a hybrid human-plant. The mutation also had also mentally linked her to some of the carnivorous species of plant on the islands. Scientists studying the plants had learned that they had some sort of simplistic hive mind and now that Li Na was linked with them she could feel their thoughts. Since some of the plants had been taken for study, outside of their natural environment and in the confines of the lab they sent messages of pain and sorrow to the hive mind. Li Na felt these feelings which she could not escape from. Like a friend in need she felt obliged to do something.

Having fully mutated, Tsui had learned that she could shed her human form. Just like a fungus she could spread a mat of fibrous mycelium and regrow a new body anywhere within the ground hugging web. Desperate to liberate her plant “kin”, Li Na deliberately dropped her human guise and began spreading mycelium along the forest floor in the direction of the research base. The process took several hours but once at the base she gained entry via an air duct and then once inside she “regrew” her human form once more and went on the attack.

It did not take long for her hybrid form to get detected by the base sensors. Security came to deal with the situation and when she did not come peacefully they had no choice but to use deadly force. However each time she was “killed” she simply grew and a replacement from the mycelium and attacked again.
By the time she had finished many of the security force for the base had been neutralised along with the scientists. Able to more about without hindrance she was able to release the plants that had called to her.

This could have been quite dangerous for her since the plants did not have a problem attacking humans on sight. However Li Na communicated directly with them. The plants had “felt” a stranger in the hive mind and now knew it was her. The plants now considered her part of their “community”. Grateful for what she had done they offered her a place in the forest where she could be protected when the humans came after her. The plants certainly understood mankind for whilst the scientists had been studying them, conversely the plants had done the same with the scientists. They were aware that eventually humans would come to investigate what had been done and speculated that Li Na would be their target.

Though tempted by the offer, Li Na was still coming to terms with the revelation she was now part plant and was not sure which world she belonged to. Before abandoning the “human” world she wanted revenge on Simmons leaving her behind. The concept of retribution was new to the plants and they did not fully understand it. Despite this they escorted her through the forest until they got close to the remnants of an old city, the far side of which there was still a working dock area which was used to supply several of the research stations. The plants could now go no further for in the open they were vulnerable and on “man-made” materials such as concrete they dried out quickly. Li Na was now on her own.

It took several days before a ship eventually arrived. Since she was part fungus, she was strongest in the dark and so waited until nightfall before spreading her mycelium towards the dockside. It grew up the mooring lines and then spread through the boat until it settle in bowels of the ship at which point Li Na shed her human form and transported it across the mycelium until she was safely in a dark damp corner of one of the cargo holds.

Once the boat was out of the quarantine zone she began tracking Simmons. This took her nearly a couple of years and her best opportunity to exact her revenge occurred when she discovered one of Simmons secret storage locations. Simmons was not there at the time so she was going to simply settle on destroying everything but once she was inside the warehouse she discovered it was full of species beta carnivorous plants he was planning to use in his crimes.
Just as had happened on the Terror Islands she felt the presence of the plants in her mind. Li Na contemplated using the plant to kill Simmons after communicating with it but then figured if she did that then she was not better than him in using others to do the dirty work.
Unlike the plants on the terror islands these plants were youngsters. They had been kept starving as a means to ensure they were viscous when released. It was at that moment in Li Na had an epiphany and decided it was her duty to look after these captives and keep them safe from those that would do them harm. Without a second thought she liberated the plants.

Over the coming weeks she led the plants on hunting expeditions against livestock to build up their strength and that eventually attracted the law. During one raid some of the plants were killed and she was captured. Li Na admitted she had allowed herself to be captured and revealed her story. She also left a warning and that was if people did not want to become victims then they should simply leave her and her “family” alone. After that she shed her human form and escaped.

The information was then later passed onto CLEA. Since that incident Li Na, now using the name “Skullcap” has been seen on numerous occasions sometimes with her plants and sometimes without. Everything she does seems to be geared towards their well being and she is not afraid to fight to achieve her goals.

Save

Urbanae

Left to right: Double Six, Bolt and Swordswoman

Left to right: Double Six, Bolt and Swordswoman

Known unofficially as “The Slayers” this trio of women specialise in chasing down animal  hybrids.  Their hit list excludes Alphas that mimic animal attributes  but does include animal hybrids and bacteria X creatures. They have even hunted Beastial’s victims. To many the trio might appear heroic but the people/creatures they target are attacked whether they have done anything wrong or not. Once the have captured their “prey” the group always follow the same pattern of going to ground and for a long time remained a mystery to CLEA until the agency learned they were working for the Praetorian Club. a

CLEA DATA FILE

Asset of:

Group Identities:

  • Helen Kennedy – Swordswoman
  • Saki Nakagawa – Double Six
  • Patricia Dumitru – Bolt

CLEA Classification:

  • Specialist Combatant (Kennedy)
  • Specialist Combatant (Nakagawa)
  • Specialist Combatant (Dumitru)

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Kennedy – Expert at wielding a long sword.
  • Nakagawa – Firearms expert, mainly pistols and has the skills to wield two at the same time.
  • Dumitru – Trained in hand-to-hand combat and also an expert with a crossbow.
  • As a team they work extremely fluidly. Though they each employ drastically different weapon specialities they seem to adapt far better than they should.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Though all three are excellent combatants the fact they seem to have been brainwashed appears to affect tactical decisions when something changes. The more “off script” an expected assignment goes the more mistakes they make.

Rap Sheet/Criminal Traits:

  • Attempted Murder
  • Known for attacking  human/animal hybrids as well as  Species Beta if they happen across one.

Notes/History

CLEA became interested in The Slayers primarily because when they first surfaced they began attacking human/animal hybrids, seemingly at random. Whether they were heroes or villains the Slayers would chase them no end and on a number of occasions if it was not for the intervention of local law enforcement the trio would have succeeded in killing or capturing their quarry.

Upon opening a formal investigation, CLEA top brass believed the Slayers might operate like other known assassin groups but the more agents dug up information the more confusing the data became.
Early on it was learned that the Swordswoman was their leader and each of them seemed to specialise in one particular weapons set which when combined as a group made them the ultimate animal hunters. Then things got strange, for agents uncovered the identities of the trio they learned that original they had no direct links to each other. Kennedy was a research assistant, Dumitru a finance broker and Nakagawa was a secretary. Not only did they not work for the same company but none of them came from the same city.

About the only thing they had in common was around the same time all three disappeared from their old lives at the same time. Police reports had been filed on all three as missing persons by their worried families. Then when they next appeared they had changed completely. Neither contacted their families or even seemed to possess a desire to do so and they had suddenly gained weapons skills.

Investigating if the three had been in contact before they “vanished” revealed nothing, so further deepening the mystery. Since CLEA has not managed to apprehend either of them, agents have had to work with reports filed by police officers around the world.

All reports, whether from Europe, Japan, America or anywhere else state that officers who tried to arrest them are warned not to interfere in their “work.” Usually the officer would then be incapacitated but otherwise unharmed.

Due to their total lack of emotion and unnatural personalities, CLEA scientists originally speculated that the Slayers have been placed under some direct mental control or have been “conditioned” to fight and target specific individuals. It is assumed that this took place during their two year absence. This later turned out to be true when an undercover operative infiltrated the Praetorian Club and learned the woman where call the Urbanae and their purpose was to capture hybrids to be used in blood sports.

Smokescreen

After working for many years for the Chinese equivalent of the White Guardian program, Fan Li Jing has made a successful transition to become a White Guardian when the Chinese program was taken over by CLEA  and merged with its own. She is one of CLEA’s top agents and has one of the highest rates for apprehending criminals.

CLEA DATA FILE

Agent’s Job Speciality:

  • Freelance extraction and capture of suspects

Identity:

  • Fan Li Jing

CLEA Classification:

  • White Guardian

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Alpha ability – Has the means to generate her own smoke cloud.
  • Mastered many combat techniques
  • Special goggles allow her to “see” in her otherwise visually impenetrable smoke screen.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Abrasive attitude, often very abrupt with people.
  • Without goggles she is effectively blinded by her own Alpha ability.
  • Criminals using IR scopes/goggles can bypass her Alpha ability.

Notes/History

In a case of parallel but unrelated development, whilst CLEA initiated the White Guardian Program, a means to use Alpha Superiors to provide justice and enforce the law the Chinese authorities were creating a program of their own. The Chinese program differed from the CLEA program in that it had more specific military goals in mind. The country’s government believed that if they could train Alpha Superiors in combat tactics they would have a valuable strike force to deal with some of the outside threats that sought to destabilise China through military force.

The program was known as the Red and Gold Warriors and the first task was to find suitable volunteers and herein lay a significant problem since this could only be done by two methods identifying Alpha Superiors directly or by keeping watch on Alpha Inferiors and seek them out at the first signs of them becoming Alpha Superiors. The latter involved waiting for medical records to flag up when a person reported becoming sensitive to light and developing an itchy skin rash and herein lay a problem because outside of the built up areas of the country medical records tended to remain isolated.

Never afraid to put in the resources to achieve the goals the Chinese leaders decided to initiate their secret program by overhauling the entire medical system, by upgrading technology and adding lines of communication to all regions of China including the remote ones. The expense of the program was easily hidden in the costs of medical overhaul and the gamble worked as most citizens welcomed the means to access better medical facilities so nobody ever questioned why the upgrade was draining so much public money.

No sooner was the Red and Gold Warrior program operational than Black Shadow began its purge of all Alpha Superiors. With China having more open borders that it had historically the crime syndicate had managed to get into the country and infiltrate the corridors of powers. Eventually operatives gained access to the Red and Gold Warrior program and just as they had used CLEA’s own intelligence to hunt down and kill Alphas, Black Shadow found the Chinese intelligence equally useful.

Unlike the CLEA program, Black Shadow had not managed to gain a complete foothold so once it was identified that someone was using their intelligence against them the Chinese authorities shut down the Red and Gold Warrior program.

The quick actions no doubt save a good many lives since the records were sealed and became very difficult to access. The program was expected to only be halted briefly and expected to last a few months until the traitors could be found, but Black Shadow was too well organised to be taken down so easily. Consequently it took nearly two decades before the program could be initiated again after Black Shadow was exposed and finally stopped by CLEA and Team Zodiac.

Though CLEA had by now been allowed to operate in China and could bring its own White Guardians to deal with any of the country’s outside problems the leaders were still keen to operate a program of their own. The need for an all-out military strike force though had diminished over the passing years so by the time the Red and Gold Warrior program was restarted it had evolved to become an almost carbon copy of the White Guardian Program in that it was to deal with organised crime and terrorists. Control of the program still remained in military hands.
Along with several others, Li Jing was one of the first Alpha Superiors to be identified having triggered a key word on medical records when she had visited a doctor to report symptoms of being sensitive to light and an itchy rash. Having realised she was becoming an Alpha Superior, military agents were dispatched and intercepted Li Jing at her place of work. She was then whisked away to a secret facility.
Right from the start the truth was not hidden from her. She was told she was becoming an Alpha Superior and was destined to gain super human capabilities. The people interviewing her also explained that they wanted her to serve her country by becoming a “Red and Gold Warrior”.

Though she felt uncomfortable about the way she had been “kidnapped” and the pressure to accept the “job”, Li Jing understood the need for secrecy. Having come from a family whose men had been in the armed forces, she considered it her duty to continue the role of serving her country and so accepted.

The first stage of becoming an operative for the program was to wait until the transition to Alpha Superior was complete. Doctors and scientists then performed a battery of tests until the eventually managed to trigger her Alpha ability for the first time. It was then that Li Jing learned that she could generate her own “smoke cloud” as a form of defence not unlike a squid shooting ink to get away from a predator.

Having determined her “gift” she was then trained in a variety of unarmed and armed combat. Eventually she “graduated” and was assigned to a strike team. Her role on the team was to go into known trouble hotspots where criminals were known to operate and then use her Alpha ability to create a distraction whilst the others moved into make an arrest.

After a few years of working with a team her superiors realised she was just as effective on her own without the need for a team, since even if she went up against heavily armed mercenaries since they could not see her they could not kill her. That allowed her to infiltrate hideouts and snatch kingpins of crime without anyone being able to stop her. The one thing she did not like was the fact that she was not invulnerable to her own smoke so if she stood still for too long she became as blind as the people she had to fight.

Eventually the time came when the Red and Gold Warrior program would end up going into competition with CLEA and when that day came it nearly ended in disaster when armed CLEA agents mistook people working for the Chinese program and terrorists and a team of Red and Gold Warriors thought the same in return. Faulty intel and the fact the Red and Gold Warriors were still operating in secret led to the error which resulted in several deaths on both sides.

In the aftermath, with the Red and Gold Warrior program being exposed and CLEA wanting an explanation the Chinese authorities decided to come clean. By the time the dust settle and new Chinese Government decided that the Red and Gold Warrior program was too expensive to maintain and the duplicity of CLEA’s White Guardians was making the system no longer viable. To that end a compromise was reached between CLEA and the Chinese authorities. In return for shutting down the Red and Gold Warriors, CLEA was expected to offer each operative the means to join the White Guardians and train them accordingly.

Having worked exclusively for the Chinese authorities, Li Jing was unsure about moving to CLEA. Not only was the organisation bigger but it operated so differently that it seemed almost alien to her. Countering those thoughts was the fact she could not imagine returning to “civilian” life, so she chose to continue serving the people of her country via working for CLEA.

Just as she expected, Li Jing found the transition to the international agency “difficult”. Ever since she had been a part of the Red and Gold Warriors she had never left mainland China and yet as soon as she finished training as a White Guardian she was assigned to the New Tokyo area by the South Asia Chief, Huojin Sun. The city had been suffering in recent years by various groups involved in organised crime and rather than let the vigilantes be seen as the only ones doing something Chief Sun had decided to try and get some White Guardians involved. Having seen Li Jing’s records from working for the Chinese authorities he felt her means to think and act rationally made her ideal for that of a “freelance” agent. These were White Guardians who generally acted alone, investigating crimes and using their Alpha abilities to get out of tight situations. To be assigned such work meant she had shown that she had the means to act rationally when under pressure and be prepared to go into danger alone.

Having backup on call was something new to Li Jing for she was more used to going into situations with teams rather than calling for help afterwards. However just as she had done throughout her career Li Jing learned to adapt and soon found herself a vital cog in CLEA’s machine.

No sooner though had she got settled in to operations in New Tokyo, she was transferred to Pacifica and became the responsibility of Chief Naylor. Far from China, for the first time in her life she felt very alone. These feelings were heightened by the fact that unlike in New Tokyo none of her old Red and Gold Warriors were assigned with her. She tried her best to continue her work for the agency but the fact she did not mince her words meant she frequently became the source of friction with fellow workers who found her attitude rather abrupt. In truth Li Jing had been used to expressing her own weaknesses and was not afraid to tell others theirs. She believed in getting things out in the open it made for more efficient working and a better way in which everyone could improve themselves. Everyone else though thought she was a perfectionist and needlessly nit-picking.

Word eventually reached Chief Naylor and she asked for Li Jing to meet her. Chief Naylor was aware of the cultural background from where newly assigned White Guardian had come from and was equally not surprised why she was upsetting a lot of people. Naylor knew Li Jing was not trying to give everyone personal attacks and so wanted to find a way of smoothing over the working conflicts that was now flaring up between Li Jing and the other White Guardians under her command.

It was during their talk that Li Jing accidentally revealed some of the source of her abrasive attitude, namely the fact she felt she was underperforming because compared to the other White Guardians she had to contend with the fact that her own Alpha abilities tended to hinder herself. Whilst she had originally been assigned to infiltrate and grab suspects her work had shifted and she was now having to deal directly with armed suspects. Using smoke against them meant she could not see them to capture them and consequently a large proportion of her assignments were ending up in stalemate. Chief Naylor listened to those concerns and made notes and Li Jing was convinced her boss was assessing her and feared she was being seen as a failure and perhaps be transferred again.

These feelings remained with her for a few weeks, right until the moment came she was pulled of a case and sent to an area north of the city which appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Inside she found a team of people waiting for her which piqued her curiosity. The people then explained that they worked for the Knight’s Forge and had been contacted by Chief Naylor in regards to her “vulnerability” to her own Alpha ability.
Li Jing was slightly embarrassed that Chief Naylor had revealed this to anyone else but the people did not seem to notice. Instead they led her to the centre of the warehouse where their appeared to be a cargo container. Inside that Li Jing found a couple more people dressed in white coats and they presented her with an outfit of light body armour. That did not really solve her “problem” but that changed when they handed her a pair of goggles and asked her to try them on. Li Jing did as asked and nothing happened, until the scientists turned out the lights and the goggles suddenly started displaying everything in IR.

After the lights were turned back on Li Jing was told that the goggles could visibly display a wide range of frequencies outside the normal visible light range in the EM spectrum, meaning for the first time since becoming an Alpha Superior she would be able to “see” through her own smoke. To properly ensure the goggles worked as intended meant they had to be calibrated to Li Jing’s visual cortex hence the need for all the scientists and the computers. By the time the afternoon was over the testing and tweaking was all done and Li Jing was free to return to her duties.

Able now to make full use of her combat training as a Red and Gold Warrior, Li Jing expressed her gratitude at those that helped her by making good use of the equipment. Within weeks she had started tackling armed suspects and causing significant damage in the criminal community. In time the criminals came up with a name for her which perfectly described her and she liked it so much she began using it as her CLEA call sign.

As Smokescreen, Li Jing has become one of CLEA’s most successful solo White Guardians and this has earned her the respect of the vigilante community who do not often choose to assist White Guardians.

Spearhead

Left-Right: Ranger, Wanderer,Powell, Wildcat, Solar and Midget

Spearhead is the name of one of CLEA’s specialist teams. Like the rest of the “head” teams Spearhead is a fast deployment unit. Their purpose is to get to a situation anywhere in the world and perform the vital groundwork before the “enemy” has a chance to get organised, unlike other mission profiles where CLEA teams deal with known situations where the criminals are already firmly established, head teams are used when limited intel is known.

CLEA DATA FILE

Primary Role:

  • Fast land based insertion into “enemy territory,” where speed and mobility are considered higher priorities than fighting capabilties.

Mission Types:

  • Intelligence gathering.
  • Protecting civilians in danger until a bigger force can arrive.
  • Extracting a CLEA operative that has “gone dark”.
  • Sabotaging a criminal force’s means to fight.
  • Any combination of the above

Team Identities:

  • Commander Alexander “Sandstorm” Powell
  • “Midget” – Kieran Reid
  • “Ranger” – Hayato Nakamura
  • “Solar” – Lana Russow
  • “Wildcat”
  • “Wanderer” – Kioni Michieka

CLEA Classification:

  • Powell – Specialist Combatant
  • Reid – White Guardian
  • Nakamura – White Guardian
  • Russow – Alpha Superior (civilian hence no White Guardian Status)
  • Wildcat – Cyborg
  • Michieka – Alpha Superior (civilian hence no White Guardian Status)

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Alpha ability – Reid has the means to shrink himself and other people/objects.
  • Alpha ability – Nakamura with the ability to communicate psychically with animals (note: communicate NOT control).
  • Alpha ability – Russow has the means absorb solar energy and use it to fly or discharge as a heat blast.
  • Alpha ability – Michieka  is an extremely powerful telepath.
  • Cyborg – Wildcat, as a “reformed” Raider. She has superior strength and can heal quicker than normal.

Tactical Weakness(s):

  • Vehicles used by the team are lightly armoured. Against heavy fire they are vulnerable.
  • In crowded situations Michieka can be ovewhelmed by too many thoughts in her head to the point she can no longer function properly.
  • Ground based only – criminals can escape by air if they can evade Solar.

Notes/History

Spearhead, Thunderhead, Arrowhead and Beach Head teams were the brainchild of Chief Stephanie Naylor. Her idea came about after the lives of 200 civilians were lost when the ecoterrorist “Greenhand” took charge of a Arizona chemical refinery. During the incident a rescue attempt was made on the hostages and when that failed the refinery was blown up. Despite the refinery’s remote location local authorities beleived they had the situation in hand and by the time they got people to the area, “Greenhand” and his crew had set up heavy weaponry.
The first time an attempt was made to rescue the hostages the transport taking armed officers was picked off long before they reached the entrance. CLEA was called in and by this time “Greenhand” had fortified his position. Since Greenhand had covered all approaches to the refinery, Tristan was deployed in a night time air drop.
With equipment that was dropped with them Tristan was hopelessly outmatched against the heavy weaponry and the vastness of the refinery meant their chances of finding the workers held hostage were made far more difficult. Those members of Tristan that were not picked off as they searched the faciltiy were killed along with the hostages when Greenhand blew the refinery up after the deadline had passed.

The loss of an entire team was a severe blow to CLEA and it was following this incident at the joint cheifs annual meeting the Chief Naylor proposed the creation of teams which would be deployed fast and get involved in a situation inexperienced local forces took charge and before the enemy (a person such a Greenhand) could get properly organised. Her idea was to totally disrupting a criminal gang’s means to perform their plan by putting CLEA operatives in strategic positions using the elements of speed and suprise.

With permission to create the four teams Chief Naylor had here section chiefs examine the personnel files for suitable people to lead each unit. When it came to setting up “Spearhead”, one name stood out, Commander Alexander Powell. Previously he had been recruited from a US special forces group and brought in to replace the commander of the Cyberfight task force. Though he was not with the unit for that long Powell was the one who came up with the idea to laying the trap in at the “fake” Chinese facility, which caused such a severe blow to the Raiders their threat level dropped drastically. Naylor looked at the recommendations and liked what she saw. Powell had demonstrated a means to think outside the box in order to get the job done and she felt that sort of thinking would have worked well in the Arizona “Greenhand” incident.

Word was send out as Powell no longer worked for CLEA, having returned to his old job. Ironically in stopping the Raiders Powell had succeeded in removing himself from his position because once Cyberfight was disbanded CLEA had no use for his military skills. Rehired again, Powell accepted the job but only on the understanding that he could select his own team.
Though Naylor would have preferred a team created from within CLEA ranks, since Spearhead was going to be military based then there was not much to choose from. She expected him to look at people in other military forces around the world (just as he had been before Cyberfight) so it was no surprise that he spend weeks scouring personnel from every military force anyone could think of.
When he first handed his “dream team” list she was pleasantly surprised that he had selected two White Guardians from CLEA ranks. They were military combat trained so with only weapons training needed she saw no problems with them.

Choosing Keiran Reid was an unexpected choice but an example of abstract thinking. Powell explained that since Keiran could shrink objects or himself he would be useful in an infiltration role or even perhaps to get civilians out of impossible locations undetected.
Hayato Nakamura was chosen for his means to “communicate” with animals. Powell believed that whilst airbourne drones might be knocked out or alert an enemy that the team was coming an animal “spy” would go unnoticed. Perfect for clandestine intel gathering.
After those two names though Powell had introduced his first shock in the form or Lana Russow. Far from being military trained or having served anywhere in law enforcement she was a vigilante operating around Europa. Though Lana, CLEA codenamed “Solar” was an Alpha, Naylor refused to allow Powell to recruit her. CLEA was a professional organisation and not a home for amateur crime fighters. Powell was insistent stating the Lana would bring to the team a heavy weapon’s capability without the need for bulky equipment. She also had the advantage of being able to “fire” from any location, unlike conventional weapons. Her only down side, as Naylor reminded Powell was the fact that the intel stated “Solar’s” ability to use energy blasts and fly was based on using solar energy, something of a problem at night. Despite this Powell still wanted her anyway.
If the request for Lana had kicked up a storm then things went from bad to worse when Powell asked that the Raider that had been incapacitated in the China incident, “Fixer” serve on his team. Powell had been aware that since he captured the Raider female had been held in a CLEA Fortress facility whilst the scientist studied her unique make-up of grafted parts and implants. Somehow, and much to Naylor’s chagrin Powell had managed to get hold of classified material, enough to know that since being held “Fixer” had shown no hostile intent, which scientists had put down to the fact that Lozen could not control her.

Naylor informed Powell that Fixer still was considered dangerous and would be incarcerated indefinitely for past crimes but that argument was countered when Alex said that technically Fixer having been influenced by Lozen was not solely responsible for her acts, in much the same way a person coerced into committing a crime by a dangerous superior. The law in most countries regarded those people as victims so Powell argued that the same should go for Fixer. He then argued that perhaps even if she was guilty then assisting CLEA in the field would be seen as working off her sentence. Naylor disagreed so Powell turned down the position.
Several weeks later Naylor called him back but he remained adamant that Fixer would be on his team. When asked why he wanted a “criminal” such as Fixer on his team, Alex explained that as an engineer her skills might be needed to bypass obstructions or dismantle traps left in place by the “enemy”. He also stated that just like Solar, should the team find themselves in a tight situation then her Raider physiology would make Fixer a weapon in her own right. With increased strength from her mechanical parts and a biological agent in her blood stream that made her heal at an incredible rate, she could keep on coming and strike fear into enemy units. Naylor though did not believe he was being straight so Powell admitted that whilst the Chinese trap had succeeding in capturing Fixer, unlike any other “criminal” she had never been given a trial but had simply been locked up to be examined like a lab rat, something he found distasteful. He went further to say that intel stated that apart from Lozen none of the other Raiders knew who they were originally because their minds had been altered. Powell viewed Fixer as a victim particularly since the latest scientific reports had hinted another personality, i.e. the one Lozen had tried to destroy with the mind wipe, was reasserting itself albeit without memories.
With the negotiations at stalemate Naylor talked with the other chiefs and agreed that Powell could have Fixer but he would be responsible for her and if she showed any signs of disobeying orders he would have to “neutralise” her. As well as that he would have to take her back to the CLEA bio research institute at regular intervals so they could monitor her progress.

Powell now had his team and he began the work of training Lana and Fixer in combat skills. Lana has problems initially fitting in with Kieran and Hayato since she was not of a military background and Lana along with the other two did not trust Fixer. They had all heard the stories of Raiders and this was reflected in their negativity so Powell suggested that perhaps in order to make a fresh start she should change her name. Aware she had not got her memories back, Powell suggested Fixer take the name Wildcat since she had displayed the ferocity of an animal in hand-to hand combat training.

By the time the unit reached operational status the initial distrust between the various members had practically melted away but it still took several months and numerous missions before the gelled together as a cohesive fighting force. The team though was to gain another outsider when a mission to remote area in the American rockies brought Powell into contact with Kioni.

The African female was unknown by CLEA or any other agency despite being an Alpha. She only “appeared” when Spearhead was going to dismantle a drugs growing operation. Able to read minds she knew the gang were aware of Spearhead’s imminent arrivals and felt compelled to warn Powell his team was walking into a trap, and so had made herself known to them. After the mission ended in success she informed them that she wanted to be left alone as a recluse. Powell though could see her value and tried to recruit her on the spot. It was then Kioni admitted she had lived in the city at one time and moved out to the remote location when her ability activated. Not only were the thoughts of thousands of people intolerable but when friends realised she could read their thoughts they abandoned her. Further more when others got wind of her ability she had experienced physical abuse because they assumed she was violating their privacy. Away from it all in the remote location her mind had become relatively quiet and that was how she liked her life.

Powell though was not giving in without a fight and asked her to join his team, suggesting they could solve her problem by using an Alpha neutralising collar. Such devices were often used on Alpha prisoners to prevent them accessing their abilities and it seemed logical that Kioni could use something similar to shut out the voices in her head when they were not on a mission. She agreed to the proposal and with that Alex finally had his team complete, and Naylor had been given another headache!

Wildcat Additional

A “damaged” Raider that is no longer directly influenced by Lozan. Powell once captured her when running the Cyberfight task force. He knew of her engineering skills and considered her unique physical attributs would be a valuable asset to the team. As some of her original personality began to appear she desired to try a look more “normal” as many were scared of her appearance due to her industrial looking bulky arms. Thought CLEA could not do anything the Knight’s Forge was able to help and eventually supplied her with a pair of arms that had more human shaped proportions.

Michieka Additional

An extremely powerful telepath Spearhead found during a mission in the in the American wilderness. Originally from the UAS, Kioni and her family moved to North America when she was a young girl. When her Alpha abilities presented she found herself unable to cope with the thousands of voices invading her mind so fled to the wilderness where it was “quiet”.
When a gang moved into her area to grow crops, she avoided them until her mind picked up Spearhead operatives. Realising they were entering a trap Kioni could not stand by and let them get killed so she made herself known. After the mission was a success, thanks to her help Powell persuaded her to join his group as she could pick up the thoughts of belonging to potential threats long before they are detectable by other means.

Save

Save

Spellbind


CLEA DATA FILE

Agent’s Job Speciality:

  • Infiltration and investigation

Identity:

  • Alice Landry

CLEA Classification:

  • White Guardian

Special Skills and/or Abilities:

  • Alpha ability – Alice has the means to emit pheromones that cause people to compliant to her will similar to mind control but her ability is not psychic based. Effects are temporary but if she makes physical contact the “imprinting” lasts very much longer. Since her pheromones spread out from her body she can use it as an “area” effect weapon.
  • Skilled at infiltration.

Limitation(s)/Weakness(s):

  • Her ability can easily be blocked through protective clothing (physical contact) or a filtered mask. Even people with bad head colds can be immune to her.
  • When using her alpha ability to affect an area or group of people she can only be successful if the air is relatively still. Strong air currents such as wind or air conditioning systems can scatter her pheromones.
  • Not the most skilled unarmed fighter so prefers to use stealth and manipulation to achieve her goals.

Notes/History

Alice (real surname unknown) started life in a small orphanage outside the heart of Pacifica. Her future parents, Michael and June chose to adopt her after staff revealed that her birth parents had chosen to abandon her after learning that Alice was an Alpha Inferior. This was “abnormality” was deemed a sin by their religion so rather than bring up a daughter and suffer the shame they chose to give her up.

June was unable to have children of her own and having always wanted a family so had chosen to adopt. Alice was to be their third daughter but before rushing in, they first of all chose to research what exactly an Alpha Inferior was in case it would give them “future” problems later. Like many people the Landrys had only heard rumours on Alpha Inferiors and Superiors and had no solid fact but after meeting a few specialists could not see any reason not to adopt Alice.

Though there was a possibility of “changing” and becoming an Alpha Superior and gaining super human capabilities they were advised that such transitions were very rare. Therefore the only “abnormality” they had to contend with was the fact Alice would be immune to illness and they took that to be a blessing rather than a curse. Alice was therefore adopted aged three and completed the family line up.

Whilst growing up in the Landry household Alice enjoyed a relatively normal life. Being the youngest of the three children with a six year gap between her and the next oldest sister meant Michael and June often treated Alice differently. They allowed her to get away with more things than her sisters and by avoiding chastising her they did Alice no favours for later life.

By the time Alice reached puberty she was seen by many as “a spoiled brat”. Combined with the hormonal swings Alice’s attitude towards her parents varied from rebellious to completely out of control. She was constantly in trouble at school and when she started mixing with the wrong people it was not unusual for the police to bring her home after finding her walking the streets.

June and Michael convinced themselves that Alice “was going through a phase” but things went from bad to worse when at the age of fifteen Alice became ill for the first time. Aware that she was making the transition from Alpha Inferior to Superior, June and Michael felt it was in everyone’s best interest to pull her from school until the “situation” was resolved.

After the itchy skin and light sensitivity ended it was then a matter of “discovering” what new superhuman ability, Alice was capable of. This took some time to be learned since as with most new Alpha Superiors the ability had to be triggered the first time and then could be accessed more easily afterwards. In Alice’s case, Michael and June were shocked to find that once her Alpha ability was triggered if she perspired at close range she could force another to obey her will. When this first occurred Alice took control of her sisters but luckily for the family the effect wore off quickly. To avoid any recurrence when home the family began wearing masks when around Alice and that in turn started to give her feelings of being isolated.

Rather than risk her causing mayhem at school June and Michael decided to finished Alice’s education at home. Aware that others might be alarmed that Alice was an Alpha Superior they coined a whole barrage of excuses to friends and neighbours why Alice had not returned to school. They implied she had learning difficulties and when anyone visited they sent her out of the way in case she “accidentally” subjugated any guests. In truth June and Michael as well as Alice’s sisters were actually scared of her. By now she was over her rebellious phase but the negative attitudes of the rest of the family made her think they were ashamed of her and no longer wanted her around.

Consequently when she turned eighteen she decided to leave home and try to find a normal life for herself. This was difficult since home education had given her no qualifications which meant getting a job was all but impossible. She started off as a cleaner in a sales company but felt she had much more potential. Though she wanted to do everything “normally” when nobody gave her the chance to further her position she found her Alpha abilities too tempting. In quick succession she moved from sales person to supervisor in her department and whilst many of her fellow workers wondered how she got her own way, they never realised she was an Alpha Superior.

Adult life gave Alice her the first proper experience of socialising and the small groups of friends she made were special to her so she never used her Alpha abilities on them. Outside of work she liked to party hard and being attractive she soon became a magnet for the opposite sex. Since their only goal seemed to be to get inside her knickers, at first Alice resisted their advances until she met David. He was like all the others but had tried to woo her so she decided to turn the tables and use him for her “entertainment by using her Alpha abilities on him. This was when she discovered a secondary aspect to her Alpha ability for one time she grabbed David to in order to breathe in his face but her firm touch seemed to produce the same result only the effects lasted a lot longer, anywhere from days to weeks.

When she no longer had a use for David, Alice sought out other partners that could amuse her as personal slaves. A string of “boyfriends” followed and once she had taken from them what she needed she simply dumped them and moved on.

Being careful not to attract attention to herself, Alice did not realise her use of Alpha abilities might bring attention to others and make her stand out as a common link. As she became ever more demanding with her requests for material things some of her partners ended up turning to crime to satisfy her needs.

This in turn attracted the police. Over a period of several years they arrested many of her boyfriends for stealing electronic equipment, jewellery and other items and though they admitted their guilt detectives could not help notice they shared the same partner. Since each of them also seemed hell bent on pleasing Alice to the point they seemed to have lost their own motives and drives this was noted on the police reports.

Eventually CLEA got to hear about Alice’s boyfriends and figured an Alpha Superior might be involved. The international law enforcement agency were not alone in making the link for the Protectorate had also done the same. They considered Alice’s abuse of her Alpha abilities meant she was a danger to society and needed to be removed so Orion was dispatched to find her.

Before CLEA agents got the chance to interview Alice, Orion snatched her late one night when she was walking back to her apartment from her favourite night club. Aware of her Alpha abilities, Orion’s body armour and helmet filters prevented her from affecting them and though she called for help her cries were muffled by a cloth bag placed over her head as she was thrown into the back of a van. She still tried to fight back but against the four trained soldiers she stood little chance and then her ability to resist was soon stopped when she felt something sharp jab in her arm and suddenly found herself unable to keep her eyes open.

When she did eventually open them she found herself in a strange room, looking something akin to a cheap hotel suite with bland looking walls and sparse furniture. Alice moved across to the window and noticed in the distance she could see the sea or an ocean but any hopes of exiting the room via the window was out of the question due to the rather substantial bars. She tried the door but that was locked and it was then she noticed something around her neck, like a collar. Naturally she tried to take it off but nothing she did would make it open. Alice found a mirror and tried to examine the foreign object around her neck. As well as being solid in construction the unit also appeared to be lit up. There did not seem to be any obvious opening and it soon became clear to her that the only way it was going to come off was if someone else removed it.

With nothing to occupy her mind, all Alice could do was sit on the bed and wait to see who came. Having no means to keep track of time, it felt like hours had passed before she heard a noise of keys and then the door opened and in walked a well-dressed man in a suit. Before the door closed she spotted what appeared to be a pair of armed guards stood outside.

The man explained that she had been taken to facility belonging to the Protectorate who removed Alphas from society they deemed dangerous or a menace. She was then told that the collar around her neck prevented her from using her Alpha abilities. Alice did not believe him so she lunged at him and exhaled over his face which normally ejected her pheromones only nothing happened. She tried to touch him instead but again nothing happened. This time the man produced a key fob and pressed a button and an instant later Alice felt an intense electric shock. Very quickly she had learned that the collar had a secondary purpose.

Having proved his point the man explained that so long as she “behaved” herself and did as the guards and facility staff asked she could enjoy the freedom of the facility which she was told was well equipped with everything she would need to have a reasonable quality of life but she could never leave. She was then warned that if she was disobedient she would be punished in the manner she had experienced and if she was regular offender she would be cryogenically frozen until such time that science found a way of neutralising her Alpha ability without the use of technology. It was at the point that the man suggested that if she found living in the facility intolerable she could request to be frozen. Having made his speeches the man opened the door and took her around the “guest” areas of the facility where she met other Alpha Superiors like her that had been removed from society by the Protectorate.

Over the following days and weeks Alice settled in with her new “life” at facility. She met and talked with the other residents and quickly learned that not only was she destined to stay there for the rest of her life but everything she had been told in relation to punishment for non-conformance was also true. She even heard rumours that some Alphas brought in did not even get the option of “living” in the facility but were cryogenically frozen without question. Though she did not like the fact that someone had decided to take her away from the people and life she knew without so much as a trial or hearing, over time Alice felt in some part she deserved what she had got for she had abused her Alpha abilities for her own gain. She most felt sorry for those people in the facility that had never done anything wrong and had simply been deemed too dangerous to keep their freedom.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. The daily routine of life quickly grew tiresome. Every morning she would be woken up at seven when the door to her “cell” was unbolted. Meals were on a strict time schedule and then each night she would be escorted back to her room by the guards. All the remaining time she had to herself and though a whole host of entertainment, mental and physical stimulation was provided, she longed to walk outside and feel the fresh air. The ocean in the distance enticing her felt almost like cruelty since she knew she could never visit it. Alice even contemplated escape but any hopes of that were dashed when other residents revealed every escape attempt had ended in failure. She finally reached her low when she contemplated that being cryogenically frozen was better than her current “existence”. Before she could get the facility staff to honour her wish something else happened that would alter the course of her life.

The day had started normally enough and she had entered into her usual routine and trying to find different ways to pass the time when suddenly the alarms sounded all over the facility. The instant this happened, guards quickly began filing into the day room. Alice along with everyone else was taken back to their respective cells. Being locked in during the middle of the day was certainly unusual but what was to follow was equally odd for within minutes the door was flung open and in walked a strangely dressed man.

He simply looked at her and asked if she wanted out and when she said yes he created a swirling vortex and told her to step through it. Alice did as asked and emerged close to a quayside where there was a boat waiting. Others from the facility soon joined her. Alice watched the portals appear and then deposit a few of her “friends”. The process continued until finally the strange man and several others she did not recognise appeared through a portal and with them were several cryogenic chambers.

A man who had his face obscured by a mask or covering told everyone to get on-board, and Alice did not need to be asked twice. She suspected she was still on the island and this was confirmed when the boat began pulling away and several high speed launches appeared each full of guards that were wearing the same uniforms as those in the facility.

Not able to outrun these other craft the man in the mask asked to man that had saved her to form a portal. This was duly done and appeared in from of the boat. When the boat emerged on the other side it dropped into the floor of a warehouse along with a large volume of water but more importantly the portal closed before their pursuers could join them. At this point the man who created the portals collapsed onto the floor of the boat.

Though grateful of being freed, Alice and the other “prisoners” wanted answers and they were told they had to wait until their collar had been removed. The man in the mask then revealed that the last portal had transported them a third of the way around the world and they were not in Pacifica. He then told them he was known as Mind Storm and his group Night Shadow (later called Night Rangers) had tasked itself against anyone that mistreated Alpha Superiors. The Protectorate was on their “list” and having granted the freedom of Alice and the others he wanted them to join him on his crusade.

Though grateful of everything Night Shadow had done for her, the last thing Alice wanted was to get herself noticed and perhaps be captured again by the Protectorate. She was however scared of what Mind Storm might do if she rejected his offer. However though he was disappointed he did not seem to hold it against her and allowed her to leave. He even wished her luck and hoped that if she ever changed her mind she might reconsider.

Finally free to resume a normal life, Alice soon discovered that her idea was no longer normal. Fear of the Protectorate meant she felt the need to change her name and keep a low profile. She also chose not to visit any of the areas that had been part of her life from before, in case the Protectorate had people waiting to intercept her. Such was her paranoia that she even elected to never use her Alpha abilities ever again.

Fate though had other ideas and one night when she was walking down passageway she used as a shortcut to her dingy apartment she came face to face with a member of a street gang. In the past she would have simply “persuaded” such a person to let her go but she was fearful of using her Alpha abilities so allowed herself to be captured. Instead of robbing her or even raping her the man simply frogmarched her to the gangs hideout. There she was told by the leader that the gang had been the victim of a group of vigilantes known as the alley cats and she was going to be used as bait to draw them out. Failure to comply was to be met with unpleasant consequences.

For the rest of the night Alice was forced to act out a mugging situation with one of the gang members and draw the Alley Cats out into the open where the rest of the gang would take them out. Still full of fear about using her Alpha abilities, Alice complied and when the trio belonging to the Alley Cats appeared she could only look on in shock as the gang sprung their trap.

Outnumbered the trio of women fought bravely despite the odds. At first then seemed to be holding their own but when the tide of battle turned something inside Alice broke through her fear. Seeing brave individuals put their lives on the line to “rescue” her meant she was unable to do nothing so for the first time years she used her Alpha abilities and released her pheromones, targeting the closest members of the gang. She then told them to fight their fellow gang members. The end result of this was total chaos and this kept everyone occupied until the police eventually showed up to a reported disturbance.

Alice used the distraction to slink off into the night but if she thought there would be no ramifications of her actions she was very wrong for a few weeks later Hailey Dixon aka Caracal tracked her down and intercepted her outside her apartment one night. Hailey’s intention was to thank Alice for her help but Alice simply wanted to downplay everything since she felt if attention was ever drawn to her then the  Protectorate would find her. In her desperation to avoid having a conversation with Hailey, Alice came across as extremely rude and abrupt. The odd mannerisms and hostile action spelled out desperation and fear which piqued Hailey’s curiosity so the Alley Cat leader chose not to do as asked and leave.

Conversation turned to argument during which Hailey effectively forced Alice into a corner at which point she blurted out why she was so scared. Having let slip Hailey suggested they perhaps go inside and talk in private and this would be the first conversation Alice had with anyone about how she had been captured and taken to a remote island by the Protectorate. Having told Hailey her story, Alice felt a great weight had been removed from her mind. Hailey then suggested that since avoiding using her Alpha abilities was impossible then perhaps she could use them for good, and make friends with others in the hero community. Hailey’s theory was the more “well known” Alice became as a vigilante the harder it would be for the Protectorate to act without exposing themselves. Alice resisted the idea of becoming a vigilante for weeks but eventually saw it as perhaps a way out of the hole she felt she was in so she contacted Hailey again.

For a while Alice became a useful addition to the Alley Cats until she built up her confidence at which point she attempted solo work. This was a disaster for CLEA finally caught up with Alice. Though they still wanted her for her criminal past the agency acknowledged Alice had made important steps by wanting to reform. Rather than simply throw her in prison the agency made her an offer of wiping her slate clean and that was she join the White Guardian program. Having learned from her interviews that Alice had been a victim of the Protectorate they also promised her that CLEA was perhaps the best means of keeping trouble away from her since they were used to protecting White Guardians from enemies.

Alice felt she had little choice but to accept the offer and once agent training was complete she adopted the codename Spellbind. Able to use her Alpha ability to infiltrate criminal strongholds, Alice is regarded as one of the best operatives to send in situations where an entire area needs to be neutralised before sending others in. Her CLEA career has also seen her work with other vigilante teams and ironically on one occasion she even assisted the Night Rangers when CLEA and they had a common goal.