Starfighter
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| Starfighter | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Player: @blingdenston | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| "Designate: villain! Cease and desist, or prepare to enjoy six months of convalescence on...STARFIGHTER!" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Character Build | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Class Focus: | Hand-to-Hand Combat | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Power Level: | 40 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Research & Development: | Arms | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biographical Data | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Real Name: | Ren Tollax | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known Aliases: | Confidential | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gender: | Male | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Species: | Klendarii | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ethnicity: | Tactician Caste | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of Birth: | Tactician Creche #455, Inviolate City, Klendar | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Base of Operations: | Outpost Tollax, Earth's Moon; Millennium City, Michigan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relatives: | Tactician 84th Class Bareida Tollax (mother), Tactician-Royal Adjutant Jid Tollax (brother) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Characteristics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Age: | 67 (Earth years) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6'5" | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 246 lbs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Eyes: | Yellow | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Hair: | Black (dyed, naturally blue) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Complexion: | Tawny | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Physical Build: | Heroic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Physical Features: | Lacks eyebrows, most other bodily hair | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alignment: |
Lawful Good | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reputation: |
Exalted | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Identity: | Secret | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years Active: | Two years on Earth, seven years across space | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship: | Citizen of the Perseid Empire, on visa through UNTIL on Earth | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation: | Superhero | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education: | Tactical Scholar certification in Perseid Empire, Pulsar-Class certification with Order of the Starfighter | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Marital Status: | Single | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Known Powers and Abilities | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Superhuman physical and mental faculties | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equipment and Paraphernalia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Starfighter helmet and uniform, featuring life-support apparatus, Galactransceiver, SHIFU uplink, extradimensional utility belt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attributes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Endurance |
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| Agility |
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Speed |
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| Fighting |
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Projectiles |
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| Durability |
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Resistance |
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| Intelligence |
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Psyche |
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| Intuition |
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Charisma |
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| ReldinBox Template | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Biography
Of Klendar, the Perseids, and His Birth
On Earth, the system of Ren Tollax's birth is called β Persei, Algol, Demon Star, and the Mausoleum. It is a system of three stars, Beta Persei A, B, C, and the first two stars dance across space in eternal rhythm, the dim B star circling the bright A like hyenas stalking a wounded lion. Orbiting Beta Persei A is the planet Klendar, an astronomical anomaly: a life-bearing world. The dominant species, the humanoid Klendarii, have passed down tales from their earliest days of being taken from the muck of Creation by star-sailing gods, who shaped them into Perfect Beings and set them upon a world fierce and wild enough to be worthy of the Children of Gods.
Klendarii culture is an odd combination of enlightenment and chauvinism. Klendar's hostile jungles and savage seas fostered a culture of clannish meritocracies, where the strongest individuals gathered families, allies, and bondsmen. Art and culture, however, were considered by most Klendarii to be an expression of divinity on the mortal plane, and thus scholars, entertainers, and priests served as the mortar between the constantly-struggling clans of Klendar.
The discovery of mysterious "Godcraft" buried at regular intervals at Klendar's equator spurred a push for global alliance, and a desire to use the newfound starship technology to seek out the gods of Klendarii legend. The Klendarii spread out from Beta Persei, exploring their area of space for nearly seventy years before encountering another sentient species: the Dorvalans.
Known as Perseids on Earth, Dorvalan culture was in many ways similar to that of the Klendarii. Unfortunately, the Dorvalans considered themselves to be the sole civilizing force in their area of the galaxy, while the Klendarii considered themselves to be demigods meant to rule anything that could bend knee, and the two species clashed in an enormous war. As tough and clever as the Klendarii were, they were no match for Dorvalan numbers and technology, and, after nearly a decade of war, the Warlords of Klendar were brought in chains to Dorvala and forced to surrender.
Despite the savagery of their long conflict, the Dorvalans were comparatively merciful in victory, and did not exterminate or enslave the Klendarii. Instead, they sent Dorvalan administrators to Klendar holdings, and offered education and mutual aid to repair the damage the conflict had left on both civilizations. After one Klendarii generation (about 75 Earth years), Klendar was considered sufficiently civilized to join the Perseid Empire and contribute to its greatness.
Defeat at the hands of the Perseids had a radical effect upon the savage Klendarii. As Dorvalan civilization and rulership became commonplace amongst the Klendarii, they turned their back on their warlike traditions and embraced the enlightenment that had, for aeons, soothed the savage Klendarii heart. The Klendarii pursued peace and study with the same ardor they had once reserved for hunting and warring, and Klendar territory quickly became a heart of academia and spirituality in the Perseid Empire. Loyal Klendarii carried the Dorvalan religion of Sal Garath Sal home, while Klendarii tacticians became a valued part of the Dorvalan Navies and Intelligence Service. Peace, long thought a dream in the Beta Persei system, became endemic.
The order brought about by Dorvalan conquest is reflected in modern Klendarii culture. Like their patrons, professions are inherited along family lines, and the Five Great Callings of Klendar each serve as an sort of ethnicity amongst Klendarii. At the top is the rarefied Royal Caste, closest to the Dorvalans, who administrate affairs in Klendar territory for the Dorvalan overseers. Second is the Priest Caste, who advise the other castes, prosecute the ceremonial Klendarii rituals and proselytize Sal Garath Sal on the homeworld and territories. Third is the Creator Caste, who design and engineer things from music to munitions. Fourth is the Tactician Caste, the educators, researchers, and functionaries of Klendar. Fifth, largest and lowest, are the Worker Caste, who perform the manual labor necessary to keep life humming along.
Ren Tollax was born in Klendark 26 (approximately 1945) in a Tactician Creche in the Inviolate City, the central metropolis on Klendar. His mother, Bareida, bore him as the product of a passionate but short-lived affair with a priest, and held high hopes than he would inherit his father's gentle soul. While Ren's soul might be called gentle, he himself has never personally qualified for the description.
The Early Years, The Scandal, and Ren's Sentence
The youth Ren Tollax tested well in his Tactician's Aptitude Trials, and was assigned to his mother's Tactician Clan as a Squire at the tender age of .7 Klendarks (nearly four Earth years). His physical gifts, intelligence, and empathetic nature marked him as a candidate for Adjutant between the Tactician Caste and the higher castes. His record, however, was somewhat soiled by a rambunctious nature, and he received over 30 citations (and a billet with a Priest-Counselor) for engaging in activities reminiscent of violence.
Violence, long forsaken by the Klendarii, was not completely foreign. As servants of the Perseid Empire, a military conqueror, Klendarii did not deny the existence or efficacy of violence. However, in the oddly chauvinistic fashion that marked so much of their culture, they believed they ought be beyond such petty physicality. There is amongst them an unspoken belief that the ancient gods, seldom spoken of these days but vital to the basic culture of Klendar, had put the mighty Dorvalans against them as a lesson, to guide them further into the practice of scholarship and spirituality. In this way, Klendar is utopian; violence, murder, vandalism are so uncommon as to be thought almost extinct. When Klendarii grow dissatisfied, or upset, they are taught to engage their minds in the tasks to which they were born, or to lose themselves in study, in celebration, or worship.
This was not for Ren Tollax. His education taught him that, in service to the Empire and in the subjugation of their bestial tendencies, the Klendarii approached divinity. But his senses, his reason showed him a world where all that you would ever have and be was handed to you before you were aware of the world. He saw flashes of genius in custodial staff, affection for humble labor in Royal governors, and a desire to touch the divine amongst jesters and clowns. And, for a youth of his energetic nature, there was an even worse reality...boredom. The young Ren was talented enough to make a splendid Tactician, but his heart yearned for adventure. In viewing fictionalized holovids of Klendar's savage past (intended as parable, or, occasionally, comedy), he yearned to stalk the jungles after fearsome prey, to save innocent farmer's sons from rapacious pirate damsels, to explore the galaxy at large.
One day, when he was 2.6 Klendarks (about 15 Earth years) old, Ren encountered a terrible situation. He was studying with a group of Tactician-Royal Adjutants at the Royal Lycaeum in the Inviolate City, when he saw a young Royal princess berating her Worker handmaiden. The Worker had repaired the Royal's hyperwimple after the princess had carelessly allowed it be faded by exposure to ultraviolet light. However, the Worker, a colorblind, did not notice that she had recolored the hyperwimple from red to purple. The princess, cool as could come, began at great length to denigrate the Worker (never raising her voice, never committing anything that could be interpreted as physical violence), slandering the Worker, the Worker's family, her Creche and Clan, her entire Caste. The Worker, head bowed, struggled to avoid weeping (considered a mild form of violence against the feelings of another, but enough to cause serious trouble for a lowborn if perpetrated on one of her superiors) as the princess obliterated her self-worth.
Ren watched this, distracted from the lesson at hand, and felt a heat rise in his breast as the highborn loomed over her lesser and scoured the girl's soul. The injustice stung Ren bitterly, and so he decided to do something about it. Almost unconciously, Ren Tollax strode over to the princess, and applied his boot to her posterior, knocking her to the floor. A great silence fell over the Lycaeum as the princess stared at the young Tactician in shock. "If you're such a seamstress," Ren said, "fix the damned thing yourself!" He then turned to the mortified Worker and dismissed her. Ren surrendered himself to the Tactician-Sentinels when they bound him by law, and was sent to a holding cell while the matter was investigated.
The scandal spread through the Inviolate City on wings of gossip and horror. This sort of affront, especially of such severity between Castes, was thought to be a thing of the past. Tactician-Sentinels, Priest-Counselors, and Praetorian-Judges were deployed in force to study the event and render judgment. While, it was discovered, the princess had been overly harsh in her criticism, it was beyond the pale for a Tactician-Student to confront a highborn in such a matter, and almost unthinkable to engage in violent action. It was decided that the punishment was to be most harsh: banishment to the penitentiary continent of Coventry for a period of no fewer than 3 Klendarks. When he was brought before the Praetorian-Judges, Ren held his head high. He accepted their judgment, and regretted the harshness of his response, but stated the following: "Where there is no recourse for the weak against the strong, where the lucky oppress the unfortunate: let there always be one such as I who will make it known, however he can, that no one suffers alone, and that the victimization of one sentient is the victimization of ALL sentients."
The Praetorian-Judges prepared to cast their final sentence upon the dishonored youth, when a powerful voice demanded cessation of the proceedings...the voice of Urzemma Grei, the Dorvalan governor of Klendar! She stepped forward, and offered another remedy: the Perseid Empire had recently been approached by the Order of the Starfighter, a legendary group of frontier rangers, asking for supplicants to the Order. If Ren Tollax agreed to serve out his sentence in service to the Order, his berth on Coventry would go unfilled. With a moment's hesitation, Ren accepted.
Supplication, Training, and Apprenticeship
Ren was attached to a transport made of up youths from across the Empire, mostly Dorvalan, and sent on the long trip through hyperspace to the Starfighter's Rest, the legendary Starfighter fortress hidden in the winds of the Crab Pulsar. Before the youths even had time to drink in the enormity of their new circumstances, they were divided into groups and placed under the watchful eyes of experienced Starfighters. Ren ended up in the Supplicant Corps of the legendary Mandaarian Starfighter H'dalros, and what followed was months of hard training and testing on an atmosphereless asteroid continually deluged with gamma radiation and neutron storms. H'dalros' cohort was whittled down from fifty hardy souls to five: the Ackalian Hiss'tz'blok, the Jaruma 'twins' Fissure and Fault, the Dorvalan starsailor Lio Trakard, and Ren Tollax. Only one of these students would begin a Starfighter apprenticeship; the others would be relegated to support duty on Starfighter ships, re-enter the trials after a brief rest period, or be returned without dishonor to their homeworlds. While they were all skilled and powerful individuals, it was in truth a contest between Ren and Trakard.
Trakard considered it, personally, no contest at all, for he knew well that Klendarii were the subjects and inferiors of Dorvalans, and he was a decorated sailor besides, as opposed to the servile washout Tollax. But, for all of Trakard's Dorvalan might and training, Ren's sense of justice and indomitable will would not be conquered. The final test came during a race through a stream of ion-charged stellar wind, a test of piloting skill and nerve. Ren and Lio set off to an early lead, followed closely by Hiss'tz'blok and the Jaruma. Suddenly, Fault's thruster was disabled by an electrical feedback between his craft and the stellar blow-off. The fierce particle stream kept his twin and the Ackalian from from interceding, but the powerful headwind that Tollax and Trakard had would allow them to, with some danger, swoop in and save Fault. Lio grit his teeth and dug in, victory in his sights. No victory, though, was worth a life to Ren Tollax, and, the chill sting of imminent loss in his heart, whirled his vehicle into the stream and rescued Fault's craft before it could be pounded into stardust.
This proved to be the final test for the Corps. As Ren and Fault limped in, sharing final place, H'dalros greeted them. She congratulated Lio Trakard on his piloting skill and indisputable victory. As the Dorvalan glowed with the praise, the Starfighter announced that their trials had ended, and one of them had proven himself possessed of the faculties necessary a Starfighter: Ren Tollax. She explained that, while each of them had the makings of a mighty warrior, brilliant detective, and indomitable survivor, Ren possessed the greatest understanding of sacrifice, and was most willing to pursue the greater good. With the exception of the fuming Trakard, the Corps congratulated him, and Ren Tollax became an Apprentice Starfighter.
H'dalros introduced Ren to the secret martial, meditative, and philosophical practices of the Starfighters. At the feet of Starfighter masters, Ren learned how to harness his "Cosmic Breath", the veritable life-force that exists in all sentient beings, to control his body's needs and urges, to expand his mind and faculties, and to perform feats of martial skill and body control beyond those of the average being. They trained him in various forms of armed and unarmed combat, from the "Great Skill" of Starfighter unarmed combat, to the magnetic-pulse weaponry of Thorgon assassins and the psycho-scizore popular in Malva's Arena of Death and Honor. Ren studied the use of the Starfighters' Stochastic Hyperstore of Information on the Function of the Universe, or SHIFU, an ancient machine intelligence that gathers and organizes information and can 'upload' it temporarily into the conciousness of a client Starfighter. Ren traveled the galaxy with his master, and learned the harshest lessons: when a Starfighter must stand aside and let a small injustice pass that greater injustice might be avoided.
For nearly three Earth decades, the Order honed Ren Tollax into a living weapon of justice and compassion. The training took almost double the amount of time as his sentence on Klendar's penitentiary planet, but Ren Tollax did not return to Klendar at it's termination. Instead, he became a Starfighter, received the rank of Solar-Class, and began to follow the Starfighter's Creed. On the frontiers of galactic civilization, between the cracks of the great militias and governments of intragalactic empire, walk the Starfighters: defenders of the innocent, hunters of criminals; men, women, and otherwise who stand against chaos and evil, who stand in defense of life in all of its kaleidoscopic forms.
Assignment: Earth
Starfighter Tollax began to build a name for himself across the galactic frontier. He defended innocent Qularr hives against Gadroon aggressors. He struggled against the forces of INVERSION, and its decrepit leader, the Star-Lich. He infiltrated and destroyed one of the largest Thorgon slaving rings in the Mon'dabi Federation. For his valor and dedication, he was promoted to Pulsar-Class, and summoned to Starfighter's Rest. A special assignment, one for which he was believed especially fit, had come up. Reports had come in from the Mandaarians that a pre-starflight planet was in great danger. According to rumor, an inordinate amount of galactic civilizations had eyes upon an obscure planet called "Earth" by it's natives. It was decided that Ren Tollax would be dispatched to the planet secretly as a resident officer to protect Earth from abuse by more advanced civilizations. Ren buried himself in SHIFU's collected data on planet Earth, mostly made up of poorly-translated transmissions from the 1940s-50s. Realizing that this would be perhaps his greatest test yet, Ren took his Command Ship towards Earth, ready, he thought, for anything.
Unfortunately, 'anything' didn't include a hidden fleet of Qularr invaders, who chased Ren into the Western Hemisphere and shot him down near Area 51 in Nevada. Protected by the emergency life-support in his Starfighter uniform, Ren was retrieved by PRIMUS during a running battle against VIPER for possession of the wreckage left over after the battle. Providing what medical care they could for the humanoid alien, PRIMUS nurtured Ren back to health just in time for the Qularr invasion, in which Starfighter assisted Silver Avengers aiding the Champions against the insectile invaders. Ren was surprised to discover the incredible advancements made on Earth since World War II, and even more amazed by the multitude of superhumans and paranormals operating in secret and in the open. PRIMUS and UNTIL were able to confirm his identity through contact with the Mandaarians, and PRIMUS assisted Ren in setting up digs on Earth.
Since then, Ren has struggled to fit in amongst the variegated multitudes of the Earth (originally trying to blend in amongst the human population, but now living openly after his origin was divulged by UNTIL during a briefly enforced warrant for his arrest). As Starfighter, he has stood sentinel over the Earth against all manner of villainy, from organized crime to Doctor Destroyer's resurgent Destroids, from the space pirate queen Conquerah to the invasive mechano-cultists of INVERSION. Whatever the threat, Starfighter remains ready to pit his skills against all comers in the never-ending battle against evil!
Skills and Powers
Klendarii Physiology - Despite being almost uncannily physically similar to a Terrestrial human, Ren differs in several notable ways from Earthlings. First, while he has similar organs to a human, his appendix is not vestigial, aiding in the digestion of cellulose (barks and soft wood being a staple on Klendar) and serving as a 'boarding house' for certain breeds of bacteria useful in recovering from intestinal illness. His nervous system is highly decentralized, giving him greater tolerance for pain and discomfort than most human beings. His muscles, tissue and bones are of a more sturdy material and construction than most humans, giving him superior strength and quickness. Other than atop his head, Ren's body is free of hair, and his eyes have a nictitating membrane for lubrication and to keep sweat from reducing visibility. Finally, his cognitive abilities are far in advance of most human beings, giving him greater sensory range than most humans, but requiring far more discipline and practice to avoid sensory overload.
Starfighter Martial Secrets - Years of training against a plethora of lifeforms, all skilled in the arts of combat, have forged Ren Tollax into a formidable hand-to-hand combatant. His exceptional cognitive abilities, combined with insight uploaded directly into his consciousness by his SHIFU super-computer allow him to size up and whittle down opponents with strength and abilities far beyond his own. The greatest art of the Starfighter, however, is their mastery over the force they identify as "Cosmic Breath", similar to the ch'i or ki of Earth folklore. By mastering this force, believed to be native to all living sentients, Starfighter is able to enhance his martial capabilities to amazing levels, battering down enormous foes, leaping over entire buildings with supernatural grace, and ignoring grievous wounds and trauma to continue battle when near unconsciousness and death. While some Starfighters apply their skill to weaponry, or even energy projection, Starfighter prefers to use his Cosmic Breath to engage in barehanded combat against most foes.
Gear and Equipment
Uniform - Standard issue to members of the Order of the Starfighter, the Starfighter uniform consists of a helmet (forged from a proprietary alloy at Starfighter's Rest) which houses many useful devices (including advanced life-support apparatus that allows Starfighter to survive in the vacuum of space), the SHIFU machine intelligence and a reservoir of Jii-fiber, a biotic material that allows SHIFU to interface with the Starfighter. This fibrous material 'flows' down from the helmet when it is equipped and forms the Starfighter uniform, extending the helmet's life-support functions to the body and deploying various sensors that allow SHIFU to maintain situational awareness for use in advising its host. The uniform also contains several 'movement modules' which, with proper training, allow the Starfighter to move with great rapidity through empty space (or 'fly' at a greatly lessened speed within an atmosphere). When not in use, the helmet teleports itself to a creche in the Starfighter's headquarters (be it a command ship, outpost, or any safe place designated by the Starfighter) and can be summoned as long as the Starfighter remains in the transport range (which depends upon the power-source in the helmet's creche).
Galactransceiver - A system within the uniform's helmet, this powerful communications device uses exotic technology to allow the broadcast and receipt of various communication bands over a vast distance within the the galaxy. Modifications made on Earth allow Starfighter to interface with Terrestrial communications devices (including radios, walkie talkies, cellular phones, Bluetooth, and the CRP comm channel), though Ren avoids encrypted transmissions by legitimate authorities, and can't easily intercept the communications of secretive groups like VIPER and ARGENT.
SHIFU Uplink - An adjunct to the Galactransceiver, this very secure uplink keeps Starfighter in constant contact with the Stochastic Hyperstore of Information on the Function of the Universe, or SHIFU. SHIFU is an ancient machine intelligence of nebulous origin which, apparently of its own volition, works with and guides the Order of the Starfighter. In addition to serving as an 'outboard brain' that helps Starfighters with technical and academic mysteries beyond their ken, SHIFU also serves as a mentor, serving as an almost empathic mentor via the Jii-fiber connection between it and its client Starfighters, informing them about activities happening beyond their sensory range and assisting Starfighters with personal issues and questions. This unity between organic and machine life requires a great deal of discipline and trust to utilize, and only fully committed Starfighters are allowed access to this unique resource.
Utility Belt - Ren Tollax wears a traditional Klendarii Tactician Caste sash with his uniform, which has been upgraded by Starfighter technologists with a 'vibratory plane storage device', which allows him to store items far greater in mass and volume than the belt within a static 'netherworld' contained within the garment, essentially making it an extradimensional storage device.
Outpost Tollax - A small lunar outpost constructed by Harmon Industries as a testbed for upgrades to UNTIL's Moon Base Serenity, Ren was granted leave to dwell in it after his credentials were established to DOSPA's satisfaction via the Mandaarian ambassador. Ren quickly upgraded it, installing Starfighter transporter technology (recovered from VIPER scavengers in the Southwestern United States) and upgrading its various computer components to serve as a repeater for his SHIFU uplink, essentially putting the machine intelligence in charge of the Outpost's operation. It also serves as a bunkhouse for visiting Starfighters, should any happen through.
Foes and Felons
Conquerah
Conquerah is one of the most feared pirate queens of the Auriga constellation, legendary for her prowess with the sword, her ruthless intelligence, and her insatiable lust for treasure and domination. Her reign of terror ended after a daring campaign in Malvan space, when she unluckily crossed paths with an Ultra-Dreadnaught. Before the spaceborne leviathan could destroy them completely, Conquerah activated her greatest, most secret prize: an ancient device constructed by the "Progenitors", a mysterious ancient spacefaring race. The Progenitor Gate beamed Conquerah and many of her pirate followers to a location apparently important to the enigmatic beings: the planet Earth. Impressed with the native superhuman population (whose powers, she believes, could supplement her own prowess), she has begun a campaign of conquest, looking to put her foot on the neck of the world and, through it, the Galaxy entire!
Conquerah's Hzeel crewmen carved out a niche in the Terran underworld before disaster hit: they drew the attention of Starfighter Ren Tollax. The pirates and the superhero battled across the Earth until, her famously volatile temper at it's end, Conquerah decided to hold the entire Earth hostage with a Magnetar-class blaster cannon, a formidable and illegal weapon. Starfighter, with aid from Myriad and Anna Petrovsky, discovered her plot and led a team including PetrovskyCanadian Fist and Impsblood against her secret fortress, disabling the Magnetar Cannon and putting Conquerah and her gang behind bars.
Lio Trakard
Lio Trakard was born to be a hero. He enrolled at an early age in the Dorvalan Space Marines, and served with distinction as a guardian and warrior. When the Order of the Starfighter asked for the Empire's mightiest and bravest warriors, Lio was a sure pick. Amongst a legendary warrior-order like the Starfighters, he felt, he would be able to ensure immortality for the name Trakard. His fighting skills were second to none, and Dorvalan might would shame that of any other. But, during the trials, a small and pathetic Klendarii defied all that was right in the universe and gained admittance to the Starfighters over him! Lio Trakard was furious. He returned, in shame, to the Dorvalan Navy, but his wounded ego led him to lash out, and he was discharged for insubordination. Life lead the decorated veteran down a dark road, and he eventually found himself at the mercy of the intragalactic crime-lord known as the Star-Lich. The Star-Lich lifted Lio high into his service, and assigned him a group of Mon'dabi INVERSION troopers and an assignment to prepare a planet for conquest: the obscure planet Earth. The fact that this planet was protected by the Klendarii Starfighter Ren Tollax was not unnoticed by Trakard, and he has sworn to bring 'the Usurper' low and offer him, and the Earth, up to the Star-Lich in triumph!
But his crusade against Starfighter did not bear the sweet fruit of victory, and his already bruised mind and ego snapped. He attempted to enslave a powerful and ancient magical entity for his master's purpose, and lost his Mon'dabi servants, his left leg, and his chance to defeat the Klendarii. It was but a minor mortification compared to what the Star-Lich would do if he found out. Replacing his lost flesh with INVERSION cyber-upgrades, Trakard gathered together a group of renegade technologists formerly employed by ARGENT and enlisted their aid in converting a large asteroid into an INVERSION terrorformer, a deadly weapon which would be hurled at the Earth and, upon either impact or destruction, unleash a plague of mystical INVERSION parasites which would forcibly convert the organic population of the planet into cyborg slaves of the Star-Lich.
Learning of the plot during an attempt to procure chemical fuel for the massive terrorformer's ion engines, Starfighter raced against time and fought through the fortified asteroid, dueling with Trakard in the energy core of the apocalyptic mechanism. Trakard's cyborg leg failed him, and he went plunging into the energy maelstom before Starfighter could save him, just moments before an attack by the Champions could destroy the terrorformer and infect the Earth. Directing the terrorformer safely into Earth's sun, Starfighter and Ironclad searched the structure for the fallen Dorvalan madman. While they did not discover Lio Trakard, they did make a chilling discovery in the bowels of the doomed astro-weapon...
The Star-Lich
Many tales are told of the origin of the Star-Lich, and they share in common a number of elements. They tell of an age when mysterious and ancient forces ruled the galaxies, and of a wise being that feared death above all things. This being, known by as many names as there are cultures to tell the tale, committed an awful blasphemy, destroying many sentients in search of a way to defeat death. Finally, in a final act of blindness and betrayal, he used dark magic to transfer his essence to an immortal mechanical shell, and set out to spread the evil process to all corners of the universe. Numerous times throughout intergalactic history, the Star-Lich has risen from the depths of obscure space and began a campaign of terror and conversion.
Most recently, a being believed to be the Star-Lich formed a criminal cult known as INVERSION, dedicated to replacing perishable flesh with stylish and powerful technology. Numerous organizations and individuals have opposed INVERSION, including Starfighter Ren Tollax, and the Star-Lich was driven into hiding, sealed within a crystalline energy-matrix. It was thought that he had retreated into dark-space, as he often does, until Ren Tollax and Drogen Lar discovered the Star-Lich's tomb in Lio Trakard's INVERSION terrorformer, which was turned over to Earth's greatest scientists in the hopes that they could find a way to destroy the immortal creature. Unfortunately, this was the Star-Lich's plan: to be given access to the most advanced super-technology on Earth.
With his dark powers, the Star-Lich searched the hearts of the scientists who studied his tomb, looking for one whose heart echoed the emptiness from when he came from. He found his chosen acolyte in Dr. Eliezer Arnez and mystically entered his dreams, offering an immortal mechanoid body, free of human weakness and frailty. Dr. Arnez agreed and, freeing the Star-Lich from his crystalline prison, was bonded with his laboratory's sophisticated instruments and became the cyborg called Tevatron. Together, the Star-Lich and Tevatron escaped from the UNTIL facility that Starfighter and Ironclad had given the tomb to, and quickly disappeared from sight.
The Star-Lich gathered the remnants of Lio Trakard's gang and converted them into mystical mecha-men inferior in power to him, but dedicate to the new Terrestrial cell of INVERSION. They began offering their services to renegade nations, super-villains and criminal organizations, offering advanced mystical weaponry and alien cybernetics in exchange for the resources needed to survive on Earth. At every step, Starfighter struggled to keep up with their movements, his indomitable spirit against the Star-Lich's ancient intelligence and ruthless power.
This conflict reached it's apex when the Star-Lich infiltrated Harmon Industries with an army of INVERSION converts. Laying siege to the experimental Trans-dimensional Portal within, the Star-Lich infected it and turned it to his service, preparing to draw a legion of INVERSION proselytes, cyborgs with the ability to convert organics into cyborgs, thus placing them within the Star-Lich's power. While Defender dealt with Tevatron and the Earthling INVERSION cultists, Starfighter battled the Star-Lich, pushed to the extreme of his skill against the evil power of the Star-Lich. The battle nearly claimed Starfighter's life, until he feigned unconciousness, allowing the Star-Lich to open the portal for a moment. Starfighter gathered all his reserves of strength and struck, knocking the immortal machine into the portal and then cutting off it's power. Whether the Star-Lich joined his legionnaires on the other side or was stuck in the weird space between portal ends, Starfighter doesn't know...but the Star-Lich has been thought defeated many times before...
Red Howl
Clea Herdez had a secret...a dangerous secret. When she was very young, she had an imaginary friend she called Sonny, who she'd tell anyone who listened was a big friendly puppy dog. But, when she was 14 years old, Sonny returned...just as big but less friendly, and more like a wolf than a dog. He told Clea that she was meant for him, had always been meant for him, and that her duty as his bride-to-be was to release him from the prison which kept him. The teenager finally resolved to ignore him, but "Sonny" wouldn't be discarded. One night, while she was walking home from a friends, a huge lupine shape attacked her, rent the flesh of her arm, and disappeared. When Clea awakened from the attack, she discovered she'd been changed to a huge, wolf-aspected feral woman!
More than this, her attitude changed as well. She felt less like herself and more like the beast she appeared to be. Her howl had a strange effect upon nearby canids, mutating them from simple quadrupeds to hideous amalgams of man and dog...all loyal to her. As the villainous Red Howl, she was driven to gather strange artifacts and bring them to an empty praire in Manitoba. She clashed numerous times with Starfighter, who was able to discover her original identity and secure a restorative serum from Cambridge Laboratories. Returned to her home, she still fancies sometimes that she can hear "Sonny" calling her name...and somewhere in Manitoba, an ancient creature awaits her next awakening.
Gringorr Coldblood
The Hzeel Empire has long been at war with the Perseids, and the cunning 'Blueboys' have instituted a privateer system to encourage inventive independent operators to do damage to the Perseids, or secure resources for the Empire. Gringorr Coldblood, the famous bounty killer, has received one of these letters of marque and reprisal, and has put his considerable intellect to the task of finding a way to make good on this task. When rumor reached him about the capture of Conquerah on Earth, he realized that he finally had an in.
Piloting his advanced Hzeel powered armor to Earth, Coldblood raided the facility where Conquerah's Hzeel marines were being held by UNTIL. Upgrading them with the latest in Hzeel weaponry, they've engaged the Earth in a two-pronged assault: soften the planet up for conquest by the Hzeel and steal the advanced technology currently produced by Earth's superhuman population (much of it based upon captured Hzeel designs). And as for the opposition? Well, super-powered slaves are worth quite a bundle in Hzeel space...and many of the more notorious Earthling heroes have bounties on them from various factions...
