Monday, September 22, 2008

Issue # 1


Sparrow Hawk (aka Rebeca Glass) went to breakfast on the morning of January 19, 1980 and found her Uncle Alec scrutinizing a series of Glass Industries files. The files pertained to “Project Mechanon,” which involved the company designing a powerful robot for the U.S. Government. Having strong ties to both the government and military, America’s premiere superhero team, the Minutemen, were assigned the prototype Mechanon unit as a guardian for their headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts. Alec was concerned for a number of reasons. First, the Minutemen began reporting what they described as “irregularities” with the prototype sometime in late December. Second, the Minutemen had proved unreachable for over a week. Finally, Alec was concerned over the fate of Jack Stevens, a computer technician on the Glass Industries payroll, who had stopped coming to work almost a week earlier. Before he could discuss matters further with his adopted daughter, their butler announced the arrival of Major Juan Martinez of UNTIL. Alec went to confer with the Major, leaving Sparrow Hawk to her own thoughts.

Sometime around 10:00 AM, a Glass Industries underground facility erupted in an explosion of debris, injuring twenty-five people and causing significant structural damage to the surrounding area. From the wreckage emerged the hulking figure of a man, screaming in pain and rage. People fled from this “Ogre,” but he grew incensed and began throwing cars and chunks of fallen buildings when the police ordered him to stand down. With that, Ogre initiated a violent rampage through the streets of Manhattan.

News of Ogre’s attack reached several heroes who responded immediately. Nightshift (aka Dylan an Price) heard it over police channels soon after reporting for work, while Sparrow Hawk and Troyus (aka Troy Hallam) caught the news on TV. Rampart (aka Tom Clayborn), however, had a more rude awakening when Ogre hurled a car that both flew over and landed in front of the bus that the hero was taking home after a late night out with friends. At first Ogre’s battle with the heroes proved fairly even, as he took them on one at a time, but the tide of battle turned once the city’s defenders began to coordinate their efforts. Just as they were about to subdue Ogre, however, micro-rockets slammed into the brute’s chest, knocking him unconscious.

The heroes turned to face a seven-foot-tall, humanoid robot with a gleaming gold and silver frame hovering in mid-air. Mechanon spoke, “The organics will release test-subject: Devolution-1.0 to Mechanon in ten seconds or be destroyed. Nine. Eight. Seven…” Refusing the robot’s demands, the heroes attacked. Despite their superiority in numbers and the fact that they landed several good blows, Mechanon managed fend off his opponents, grab Ogre in a telekinetic beam, and make a hasty retreat.

Sparrow Hawk, however, latched a grappling hook onto Ogre’s leg and was pulled along as Mechanon rocketed away from the battle. Similarly, Nightshift teleported onto Ogre’s back and was thus able to give chase. Frustrated by their tenaciousness, Mechanon flew to a great height and turned to face the heroes. At that moment, Ogre awoke and broke-out of the energy bonds that held him. Sparrow Hawk grabbed Nightshift and used her glider wings to take them both to safety, while Mechanon dove after the rapidly falling Ogre. Weak from its battle with the heroes, however, Mechanon turned away when ten UNTIL agents showed up on hover cycles.

Down on the ground, Rampart and Troyus witnessed Ogre crash to the ground and create a gigantic crater as well as a shock wave that shook the surrounding buildings to their foundations. Ogre emerged from the crater angrier than ever and ready to rejoin the battle. Nightshift, however, decided to try and negotiate with the brute. He offered Ogre a soft drink and talked him into a nearby Donut Hole for a tasty snack. Sergeant-Major Hank Wadsworth, a volatile UNTIL agent who was all for attacking Ogre, protested Nightshift’s approach, but was overridden by Major Juan Martinez who promptly arrived at the scene in a chauffeured staff car. Nightshift then plied Ogre with doughnut after doughnut until UNTIL could provide a batch with enough tranquilizers to subdue the hulking menace.

Thanking the heroes for their invaluable assistance, Martinez ordered his men to take Ogre into custody. Martinez also revealed that there was more to the incident than met the eye. Having converged at the origin point of Ogre’s rampage soon after it began, Martinez’s men were surprised to find that VIPER agents had beaten them there. The VIPER agents escaped after a brief firefight, but Martinez remained intent on finding out the nature of their involvement as well as anything else pertaining to Ogre and Mechanon. To that end he invited the heroes to meet with him at UNTIL headquarters that evening for a debriefing. After Martinez’s departure, Sparrow Hawk, Nightshift, Troyus and Rampart agreed to a meeting of their own so that they might determine their next step.

Experienced Points Earned: 2