ToG Necessary Evil-Fall of the Superheroes
The Whole Story[edit]
Of course it started on January 1st, 2023. The first ships appeared over every major city of the planet. There was no prelude and no demands. The aliens just attacked. They were an amphibious race that combined the nastiest aspects of sharks and crocodiles with an aggression matched by neither. They were the stuff of nightmares to most . The people called them "Fins ." New York became a war zone, Tokyo burned, and even sunken Atlantis was razed and its ruler — the legendary Aquarian — slain. Earth's superheroes fought back immediately. The fins were terrifying, but no one ever doubted the heroes would win out in the end. After all, aliens had tried to invade Earth three times before, and earth's defenders had always emerged triumphant. But the fins possessed advanced technology and savage bloodlust, so the losses were heavy. Earth began to worry.
Then came the turn of the tide the people had come to expect in these epic wars of aliens and supermen . Advance forces of another alien race arrived in earth orbit — the V'sori . They claimed to be the long-lost allies of Atlantis who had been searching for their missing comrades in arms for hundreds of years . During their quest, they had grown to become the defenders of the galaxy .The V'sori claimed the Fins — or K'tharen as they called themselves — were rampaging mercenaries who ravaged world after world, but the V'sori had fought them before and would help Earth against them now . The world's greatest superhero, Champion of Alpha Force, flew into space to meet them . He returned later and gave a stirring speech that called for humanity to hold out for just a bit longer . They did, though the final cost in blood was great . When the V'sori arrived, the K'tharen fleet rose to fight them . The alien ships fought a titanic battle in space, but the V'sori won out, and even beamed the images of the fleeing Fins to earth. Humanity cheered their saviours and welcomed the advanced alien protectors with open arms . Anxious youths danced in the streets, proclaiming an era of peace and love . Less trusting commentators were booed and mocked in the national press . And some appeasement-minded governments even offered the aliens the figurative keys to their states. Of course that's just what the aliens wanted all along .
In every major city, heroes and world leaders joined together to welcome the aliens . The crowds cheered as the V'sori ships appeared overhead . Every superhero, sidekick, president, and even stars of sports, movies, and music attended these grand galas . The people of earth cheered as they watched their heroes greet the alien saviors on the news networks . The cheers turned to screams when the V'sori ships opened fire on the gathered throngs . Moments afterward, the K'tharen warships returned — servants of the V'sori . Champion was standing before the cameras when the V'sori hit . They knew his weakness — radiation — and targeted him with a concentrated beam of energy that turned the hero into a pulpy mass . Massive death rays then swept over the gathered throngs, slaying thousands of heroes, officials, generals, and innocents in moments . Within 30 minutes, the unthinkable had occurred . Earth's greatest heroes were dead and its leaders vaporized .The aliens had won.
Soon, televisions and radios around the world carried an announcement from the admiral of the V'sori fleet . Earth was now under the control of the V'sori Empire . Resistance would be met with death . The V'sori Empire wanted Earth's resources . They needed a way to study our defenses, and then take them out with a surprise strike of surgical precision . They succeeded flawlessly. They claimed destroying more of our infrastructure and our people was counterproductive to their goal, gaining a new self-sufficient source of raw resources . The V'sori have placed Governors in charge of the former nations of Earth . The invaders and their Fin servants are now commonplace . There isn't a single government left to oppose them, and they feel they have nothing to fear from Earth . But they are wrong . Earth's heroes are dead, but there are other beings with extraordinary abilities on our planet . They are supervillains . And they are a necessary evil!
The stuff of nightmares, the K'tharen are monstrous, slavering aliens—as fearsome as they are savage . Most are well over 7' tall — every bit of which is muscle . The "fins" have humanoid forms but with a thick crocodile-like hide . Their head has a distinctive shark-like appearance, especially with the fin-ridge that runs along the top of their skulls and their coal-black eyes . Their coloration runs towards the darker end of the spectrum along their backs, from light greens to blue and violet, while the front is universally pale . The K'tharen grow darker along their dorsal ridge as they age, and older members of the race can appear pure black.
The V'sori, on the other hand, can best be described as beautiful . They are tall, thin, but well-muscled, and bear a bluish complexion eerily similar to that of the Atlanteans who have lived among the people of Earth for generations . Their hair is mostly dark brown or black, and is often worn short, but with a single small braid of longer hair off to one side of the face . V'sori are rarely seen in public without their body armor, a tight suit of segmented plates composed of some unknown alien material . In battle, V'sori commanders wear full helmets with mirrored visors.
Star City[edit]
The main action in Necessary Evil takes place in Star City . New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and most every other major city in the US were rubbled by the V'sori . Star City was left curiously untouched by the aliens' weapons of mass destruction. Large numbers of K'tharen and drones operate in the city, however, and seem to take the place of weaponry that might cause too much collateral damage . This amazing island was created some time ago by a being of god-like power called the Outsider . The United States annexed Star Island after the Outsider was defeated and began a very expensive and high-profile scientific study of the island and its amazing ability to spawn superhumans . Two years of study at the taxpayers' expense found no particularly useful results so it was sold off in parcels to the highest bidder . Exactly why the Outsider created the island Star City now sits on, why so many super-powered beings are spawned here, and why the aliens don't blast it into oblivion is a mystery your team may unravel as they fight for its survival . For now, know that Star City is your character's home, and he'd best defend it with his very life . The future just might depend on it.
Star City is home to around five million citizens, down from the eight million who lived here prior to the invasion . Most of the loss comes from those who took flight rather than casualties, as the aliens took special care not to overly damage the island . They did settle it in force, however . A large number of citizens weren't comfortable living in such close proximity to the invaders and were allowed to flee to the mainland. Star City lies two miles off the coast of the eastern seaboard of the United States, about halfway between Boston and New York, and is roughly six times the size of Manhattan (180 square miles) . The island Star City was built on was created in 1955 when the nearly omnipotent being known as the Outsider came to Earth . Other than the fact that Star City is home to an inordinate number of super-beings, the island seems completely normal . Star City is in fact shaped like an eight-pointed star . Four large points alternate with four smaller points surrounding the large central sections called Uptown and Downtown.
Central and South America: The aliens wasted little time stripping the rain forests here at a rate that would put even the old logging companies to shame . A number of Omega's resistance fighters, most notably those led by a former villain known as El Gigante, hide in the jungles and strike frequently at the alien's bases.
Western Europe: London, Prague, Berlin, Paris, and Madrid were all completely destroyed by the alien attacks . Despite this, Western Europe is the home of several extremely successful resistance cells, including one operating below the shattered remnants of Paris, France, and led by the greatest heroine of World War II, the age-resistant Partisan.
Middle East: It is a bitter irony that what has finally brought peace to the Middle East was its virtual annihilation . The V'sori destroyed the democratic governments of Iraq and Israel, then blasted the monarchies and dictatorships of the surrounding nations as well (even though some actually offered their allegiance) . The aliens even leveled the holy shrines of the area in an effort to (one day, at least) destroy any particular attachment to the area . Jerusalem is a pile of ash and the Dome of the Rock was reduced to little more than a few pebbles. Despite a common foe, Arab and Israeli Omegans still will not work together . Several of the most effective Arabic cells are headed by former terrorists such as the notorious Black Scorpion.
Asia: The governments of the most populous Asian nations — China and India — were quickly annihilated by the V'sori . Combined with devastating massacres of any organized rebellions, the people fell quickly into line . The smaller nations of the region followed suit . Open resistance is now left to the Omegans, which includes a large number of former Yakuza from Japan, an Indian servitor of Vishnu called Deva, and any number of martial artists, most of whom were once hired muscle for Asian crime lords.
Africa: Africa has been looted by the V'sori like a bank vault, ripping apart the land in search of the vast mineral wealth such as diamonds . At first resistance was poorly organized, but older and darker things awoke in the Dark Continent and did not take kindly to the raping of the land, and now resistance to the aliens is strong . Fierce warriors wielding ancient powers strike, seemingly from nowhere, and then just as quickly disappear back into the thick jungles and breezy savannas.
Australia: "Oz" fought the V'sori fiercely, but they could match neither the aliens' firepower nor their numbers . The continent fell within two weeks . The aliens have found Australia's rich mineral resources useful, and used the country's vast tracts of desert to set up gigantic, highly advanced, solar energy collection farms.
Atlantis: The fabled city of Atlantis sank beneath the waves some two hundred years ago, but the great city lived on through the powerful magic its populace wielded . That is, until the K'tharens blasted the aquatic city-state into near oblivion, slaying or scattering its people, and killing their greatest protector, King Meros, the hero known to the world above as the Aquarian .