Sad Tales of Freedom's Fallen HEROES

THE REIGN OF STAR-KHAN OF EARTH!!
January 1st, 2005. The prospering Freedom League had just built a satellite headquarters dubbed “the Lighthouse” and greatly expanded its ranks to act as guardians of the entire world. Freedom Hall would become the team’s local outpost in Freedom City. And then…

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 protean, shape-shifting species from the dark planet Grue Prime that combined the nastiest aspects of sharks and crocodiles with an aggression matched by neither. They were the stuff of nightmares to most. People called them "Fins” with an entire Grue Unity made up of a number of client races ruled by the Grue with an iron fist and the aid of legions of soldier drones. The Unity’s technology, advanced, but largely stolen or mimicked from other civilizations they have assimilated. New York became a war zone, Tokyo burned, and even sunken Atlantis was rubbled and its ruler—the legendary the Sea King—slain.

Earth’s superheroes fought back. The Fins were terrifying, but no one ever doubted the heroes would win out in the end. After all - the Grue, aliens, Masterminds, even Omega Lord of Terminus had tried to invade Earth many times before, and earth’s defenders had always emerged triumphant. The Freedom League and its allies—including numerous reserve and inactive members—manage to hold off the alien fleet. The heroes needed the leverage to end the war that could span decades.

The tide shifted full force when the mysterious STAR KHAN rained down upon the Grue, calling out to Earth's heroes as a friend. At first it wasn't to be believed but the Grue were being driven back. With the aid of the Stellar Khanate our heroes had saved the World! Heroes, dignitaries and celebrities from across the globe came to Freedom City that day when the Stellar Khanate were to be officially thanked by Earth.
And then the Star-Khan gave the order.

"We have achieved trust, ANNIALATE THEM."

Every metropolis on the face of the Earth was attacked simultaniously by the Khan armada combined with the Grue. It was all a ruse. And Earth's mightiest were now gathering in Freedom City.

Freedom City would be the warzone, the place of Earth's Mightiest's execution!!

Two years later... NOW
The world is nearly void of super heroes.
The world has only the powers of the villains to form rebellion.
Feel FEAR True Believers!
The FATE OF THE WORLD lies with the SCUM OF THE EARTH.

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THE FREEDOM LEAGUE

Last Stand at Freedom Hall

Civilians in a blind-panic fled to Freedom Hall seeking shelter. Outside Captain Thunder and Lady Liberty stood as the last and greatest champions of the decimated Freedom League. Lady Liberty using the Light of Liberty to deflect away the hail of energy bolts raining down upon them. Captain Thunder rending ships apart with his bare hands.
As the huddled masses watched with fear, enemy shock troops released an anti-ion wave, that nullified Captain Thunder's electrical powers. As he fell from the sky, Lady Liberty diverted her attention from the attackers in order to try to heal him. A barrage of particle weapons tore through their bodies, and they collapsed in each others arms.
Inside Freedom Hall, Raven worked feverishly with tissue samples of Grue prisoners from the early part of the assault, trying to develop some sort of paralyzing bio-agent to use against them. A handful of human witnesses were close enough to the sealed entrance of the underground lab when the invaders broke through the hall. It was said, that she didn't even put up a fight. She just stood there weeping and was cut down by energy bolts. Moments later Freedom Hall was in ruins, explosions from within and from without. The husk of the Hall remains in Freedom Circle in ruins as a trophy to the Star-Khan.

The Bowman

Bowman IV (Fletcher Beaumont III): Grandson of the original Bowman, first graduate of the Claremont Academy, and member of the Freedom League.
The Bowman, newest member of the League was the first to fall. Leading a counter-offensive into the heart of the overwhelming drone army with hundreds of police, army personnel, and civilian militia. It was said that his presence alone inspired hope in Freedom's defenders, until for one split second he hesitated--deciding on a target for his final arrows...

Captain Thunder

Captain Thunder (Ray Gardener): Former test pilot who gained super-powers when a lightning bolt struck the cockpit of his experimental plane. Captain Thunder is super-strong, able to fly and control electricity. He’s the current chairman of the Freedom League.
During the Last Stand at Freedom Hall - Outside Captain Thunder and Lady Liberty stood as the last and greatest champions of the decimated Freedom League. Captain Thunder rending ships apart with his bare hands. His powers increased with his rage at the betrayal of the Star-Khan, and lightning ripped through the invading fleet. Captain Thunder flew higher and higher, destroying all before him, aiming to destroy the Khan’s personal ship, and the Khan himself. Unluckily, before he could reach it ships which were still intact charged him up with pure electricity. The overload of energy ripped the poor hero’s body apart. As the huddled masses watched with fear, enemy shock troops released an anti-ion wave, that nullified Captain Thunder's electrical powers. As his body fell from the sky, Lady Liberty diverted her attention from the attackers in order to try to heal him. A barrage of an unusual particle weapons tore through their bodies, and they collapsed in each others arms before becoming as dust. Captain Thunder would continue... his will was to strong. Gathering the very powers that had destroyed his body he turned into pure energy and rocketed towards his final destination. With no physical form the impervious shields and walls could not stop him. Captain Thunder knew he was dieing but he still had one task to do, but the Khan was prepared. As Thunder flew into the bridge the Khan spun round and impaled him on a spear of cosmic force. And so the great Captain Thunder died, attempting to end something which had already finished. But even his death is remembered for as he fell through the ship and space the vast energies he had contained exploded outward, ripping a huge hole in the fleet, as his life finally ended.

Johnny Rocket

Johnny Rocket II (John Wade): Member of the Freedom League with super-speed, grandson of Johnny Rocket I. Outed as gay as few years ago.
Johnny Rocket between heartbeats could be felt as a blur on the battlefield--either bludgeoning entire platoons unconscious or evacuating scores of civilians from harm's way. The invadering Khanate Shocklords outmaneuvered him by irradiating air pockets around a group of endangered civilians. As Johnny blazed through the area to remove the civilians, his hyperspeed metabolism turned his cell structure cancerous. Each use of his super-speed accellerated the disease. Johnny privately fought the disease spread for weaks before he was eaten alive by it.

Doctor Metropolis

Dr. Metropolis the “Spirit of Cities” that appeared after the Terminus Invasion to help rebuild Freedom City, able to control and shape urban environments. A member of the Freedom League.
The destruction being levelled against Freedom City by an alien menace drove Doc Metro into a rage. With dozens of heroes already fallen, in a stroke of heroic inspiration he transferred his consciousness into the Statue of Centurion ("the big guy that watches over us") and began blindly smashing his way through Grue War Machines and the Khanate Armada. He was scattered into atomic particles by an orbital pulse beam from the Star-Khan's ship.

Lady Liberty

Lady Liberty III (Beth Walton-Wright): Current wielder of the Light of Liberty and member of the Freedom League. Married to police detective Trevor Wright.
During the Last Stand at Freedom Hall - Civilians in a blind-panic fled to Freedom Hall seeking shelter. Lady Liberty using the Light of Liberty to deflect away the hail of energy bolts raining down upon them. As the huddled masses watched with fear, enemy shock troops released an anti-ion wave, that nullified Captain Thunder's electrical powers. As he fell from the sky, Lady Liberty diverted her attention from the attackers in order to try to heal him. A barrage of an unusual particle weapons tore through their bodies, and they collapsed in each others arms before becoming as dust.

Raven

Raven II (Callie Summers): Costumed crimefighter and member of the Freedom League. Trained by her father Duncan, the first Raven.
During the Last Stand at Freedom Hall - inside Freedom Hall, Raven worked feverishly with tissue samples of Grue prisoners from the early part of the assault, trying to develop some sort of paralyzing bio-agent to use against them. A handful of human witnesses were close enough to the sealed entrance of the underground lab when the invaders broke through the hall. It was said, that she didn't even put up a fight. She just stood there weeping and was cut down by energy bolts.

Siren

Siren II (Cassandra Vale): Voodoo loa (goddess) of the sea, bonded with a mortal psychologist, and wielding power over the sea and weather. Protector of New Orleans.
Siren was able to initially neutralize large parts of the invasion force using her weather control powers to delay troopships and battle craft but she had to leave herself vulnerable to do so. The villainous Baron Samedi took advantage of the bodies of the Police assault force that had been led by Bowman's last stand and used his zombies to overwhelm Siren. She was drowned in a sea of undead flesh, her powers tied up, protecting her precious city. Nearly beaten to death at the hands of the Puesdo, Baron Samedi would be taken down by the remaining heroes and locked away in Blackstone.

Star-Knight

(Maria Montoya): First Terran to join the Star Knights, assigned as the Star Knight of Earth’s sector of space.

Daedelus

With the coming Grue, strange bedfellows were made, and fences were mended against the coming storm. Cheif among these was the reunion of Daedelus and Talos. As the mythic mechanical menace explained, while he despised the Freedom League and humanity in general, they were a factor he could control. The invasion, however, had a high probability to simply raze the planet.
"therefore," the bronze giant concluded, "it is logical that the foundry contributes resources to maintain the current operational model."
The alliance was uneasy, but it was earnest, their combined intellects enough to craft a defensive network from the various parties of earth and what little aid could be given from the lor. had it succeeded, perhaps the war would have turned out differently. As the attack began, the network collapsed like a house of cards... From his post, Daedelus could only watch in horror, knowing that the only reason it could have failed was if they had been betrayed. angrily he turned to Talos, gravitaic gauntlets aglow
"I betrayed you," the bronze figure confessed, "but Talos did not. forgive me, my freind," the giant said as it's voice changed and features began to melt.
Before him stood Pseudo, his face grave.
"The Khan's forces are too great. Had the network succeeded, you would have only brought his true forces to bear, and he would shatter earth. this way, at least, there is a 58.2% chance that Earth will ultimately recover from the onslaught. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
"And what do you get out of this, Judas?" Daedelus asked.
"The Khan has granted me amnesty against the Grue-Unity, in addition to control of certain Earth territories, which will allow me to preserve some aspects of Human society. this war is lost, but if I can convince the Khan..."
"Get out of my sight, traitor," Daedelus spat, unable to bring himself to kill the one who he once called freind.
In a beam of energy, Pseudo was teleported away to the Kahn's flagship, leaving Daedelus alone against the end. And with his last act, Daedelus sent the Lighthouse plunging into the enemy forces, to die on his feet like a man, and to buy what time remained...

THE ATOM FAMILY

As soon as the aliens began the attack, the Atoms began to prepare to repel the invaders, sadly the Khanate had preparations of his own.... The insidious warlord had paid the Meta-Grue to kill the Atoms when the attacks commenced. Using his shrinking powers, he infiltrated The Goodman Building and shut down all the power within, disabling Dr. Atom, he then confronted Jack Wolf and easily killed the aging adventurer with his bare hands. He then crept his way up to the Atoms quarters and battle began.
Meta-Grue had surprise on his side and manged to disable Victoria with a well placed Mental Blast, upon seeing this Tesla charged at him, throwing puch after punch whilst Maximus arrived on the scene. Sadly his arrival distracted Tesla, which gave Meta-Grue just enough time to snap her neck like a twig. Driven near mad with grief Maximus and the newly arrived Chase did battle with the Meta-Grue, the boys were no match for him however and Maximus fell to the warrior's onslaught, but he did manage, with his dying blow, to stun the Meta-Grue, giving Chase the opportunity to escape using Comso's teleportation powers. He fled to Farside City, attempting to get help against the invaders of Earth.

Max Atom

Oldest of the Atom siblings (b. 1985), with the power to alter his molecular structure to grow, shrink, or become incorporeal at will.
Meta-Grue had surprise on his side, throwing puch after punch whilst Maximus arrived on the scene. Driven near mad with grief Maximus and the newly arrived Chase did battle with the Meta-Grue, the boys were no match for him however and Maximus fell to the warrior's onslaught, but he did manage, with his dying blow, to stun the Meta-Grue, giving Chase the opportunity to escape using Comso's teleportation powers.

Tess Atom

Second of the Atom siblings (b. 1986), a brilliant budding scientist with the power to generate and project nucleonic radiation.
Meta-Grue had surprise on his side, upon seeing this Tesla charged at him, throwing puch after punch. Sadly Max's arrival distracted Tesla, which gave Meta-Grue just enough time to snap her neck like a twig.

Vicky Atom

“Vicky” is the third Atom sibling (b. 1988), a shy young woman with elastic powers.
Meta-Grue had surprise on his side and manged to disable Victoria with a well placed Mental Blast.

Chase Atom

The youngest of the Atom siblings (b. 1989), with growing telepathic powers and a mysterious connection to the Moonstone.
Meta-Grue had surprise on his side, the boys were no match for him however and Maximus fell to the warrior's onslaught, but he did manage, with his dying blow, to stun the Meta-Grue, giving Chase the opportunity to escape using Comso's teleportation powers. He fled to Farside City, attempting to get help against the invaders of Earth.

NEXT-GEN

It was a gamble, and they knew it. The Freedom League was fighting the invasion, and they were losing. They had to try. Seven began the spell. It was a lengthy ritual that would take no less than seven days and seven nights. Around her, forming a gauntlet through which the invaders must pass, the Next-Gen stood silent vigil. Bolt was the first to fall of Next-Gen, slain by a stray energy blast as he broke ranks to try and help his father. Nereid and Megastar fought bravely, knowing that their lives were forfeit but willing to give Seven the chance she needed to complete the spell. Their teamwork was poetry in motion as Megastar struck from above while Nereid struck from below. But they, too, fell. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most experienced of the Next-Gen, Sonic, was the last of the guardians to fall, holding on through sheer willpower through the last few minutes of Seven's spell. As for Seven herself, the strain of the spell killed her moments before the invaders could.

"Sir you gotta get outa here, save the other kids..."
Chris questioned to his Headmaster...
To which Summers barks
"WE HOLD THE LINE!" ...
Chris slams his hand down on his megas tatoo and says
"MEGASTAR!" and the small framed boy becomes a heroic statue of cosmic power. "SIR!! We got this!! You trained us for it!! SOMEONE'S gotta train the others...."
looking up to his student, Summers steps back as Claremont's gates blast open ... it's the first time Chris has seen Duncan Summers smile, as he glances to his Next-Gen kids...
"I don't suppose Mr. Beck that could be you..."
Megastar chuckles, as Sonic passes between he and the Headmaster...
"Yeah right, Sir... Blue-Boy here's never gonna pass biology..."

Summers says no more as a solumn look comes across his face, twisting his cane in one hand slightly the silver tip pressure release tip opens - he tugs the inner cavity then offers his hand to Megastar. Chris shakes his former Headmaster's hand almost saluting him in respect as the inner courtyard begins to fill with GRUE Shark Troopers...
Summers disappears into the hidden panels of his office, hoping to lead the remainder of the powers student body from the Administraion Building beyond the woods off campus.
As Next-Gen close the huge oak doors leaving Seven to her conjuring within the Headmaster office, Megastar unfolds the bit of cloth Summers had handed him... The shape is that of a domino mask stretched at it's ends into several points - the points of the RAVEN'S mask. Chris smirks saying

"I knew it" under his breath...
"Knew what?!?" Sonic asks as the two best friends begin a jog down the long hallway toward the Claremont Academy stained glass window looking out across campus.
"Nada man!" ... Chris says...
"Cool, git into character then." Lemar barks as their jog turns into a run...
Chris quickly ties the mask around his fist as the carpet turns up when the boys take flight.
"Meg, you with me?" Chris thinks...
"100% Christopher, I am tracking metamorph signatures approximately 5.42 meters beyond the access points to Claremont-Admin, I suggest speed increase of 13% to draw fire from Lemar Phillips (code-name SONIC) as we break the ..." -- chirps MEGAS the alien symbiote from somewhere deep within Chris Beck's heroic body
"Already there Meg!!" Megastar yells as the stain-glass smashes over him.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?" Sonic says as his powers flare his voice following up his friend, Hero-Killing blaster bolts sprawing around them.
"I SAID .........." .... but Sonic would never hear his friend..... Watching Megastar plow into the first six squads of Alien scum easily swept off their feet and into the quad now flooded with the sea of water called Nerid!

As the last of the stained glass falls, Sonic glances back to see and eldritch glow emmenate down the storied hall.......
"We're gonna make it" he thinks
as the entire campus falls beneath the shadow of Star-Khan's battle cruiser...

THE OTHER HEROES

Foreshadow

(David Sloane) Precognitive crime-fighter who tries to prevent the tragedies he foresees.
He has known this day would come for many years now. Moments before the invasion began, in an insignificant back alley within the Fens, Foreshadow confronts xxx . As the invasion begins, Foreshadow fulfilled the destiny he has foreseen for himself, for this moment: To save xxx who would one day help free the world.

Eldrich

Adrian Eldrich was standing on the highest point of Freedom City's tallest building, his magical energy spent from repelling invaders from his home. The Star-Khan had no truck with magical beings, but in the confusion the lords of the Neatherworld had approched the Khan and offered there services to remove Earth's mightiest mystical defender. Eldrich had fought a running battle with summoned gollum and demon forces, designed to remove him from this realm. He had felt Seven fall to a spell that disrupted her innate magical connections, he had heard her scream when the magic returned to her, and she couldn't handle the backlash, the amplified power that the lords reinstated to her. The only thing he could do now was to remove the demons from the invasion, the fight was his, this moment was his, and with all his effort he summoned a portal to the furthest level of the furhest realm that he had visted, and swept all into that dark place. Knowing that the rift could only be welded shut from the other side, Eldrich stepped of the highest point and fell into the rift, mystically sealing it shut. Destined to fight the denizans of the realms forever in that dank mystic realm.

White Lion

The last two pockets of resistance were thousands of miles apart. The African nation of Dakana and a military compound in the American Midwest. The invaders were reluctant to bomb Dakana flat, for the Daka Crystals that made Dakana a world power were also a very valuable resource for their own technology. That very same resource fueled Dakana's military juggernaut, led by the famous White Lion. The sleeping giant had awakened... but as powerful as Dakana's military was, they were gradually overwhelmed by sheer numbers. White Lion met death in a massive explosion that ripped his homeland apart, denying the invaders access to their precious crystals. Rumors suggest that a sizeable stockpile of the crystals were smuggled out of the country earlier, but none could be confirmed.

the Patriot

Much like the major cities, military bases around the world were hit first. Only one of those bases survived. Whether it was because of his leadership, his inspiration, or merely his own abilities, the Patriot led a unit of the US Military to victory after victory... until finally, Star-Khan himself came down to deal with the heroic nuscience who was quickly becoming a threat.
"You're a fool if you think you can win. Your people's greatest heroes have already fallen, and you? A machine who thinks its a man. Victory is mine."
"As long as someone's willing to stand against you, Star-Khan, victory will never be yours." ... Patriot exclaimed.
"Such heroic nonsense."

B O O M !!
as an orbital pulse beam from the Star-Khan's Battle Cruiser dissolves flesh, bone, metal, hope...

"Who stands against me now, fool?"

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NECESSARY EVIL in FREEDOM CITY