Morningstar : the Northern Light (rpg campaign journal)

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #14

Over the course of the next month Morningstar eased himself into his role as Toronto's official superhero, going out on regular patrols and establishing a prescence in the city. During that time he responded to a number of calls involving crazed young men on somekind of PCP rampage, displaying heightened strength and resistence to injury.

While Morningstar stopped these rampages with relative ease, one of the men, a weightlifter that had gone on a rampage at his regular gym, was found to have a vial filled with a near flourescent green liquid in his locker.

The case was taken by a Detective Larry Holmes, who did not take well to Morningstar's concern and so shut him out with extreme prejudice.

Nevertheless, after one of a duo of youths that had gone on a rampage fell into a coma and died, Morningstar received a call from a woman, "Investigative Reporter Tanya Sullivan", who set up a meeting between them to discuss the case.

At this meeting Sullivan revealed that a new drug, somekind of super-performance enhancer called "Hype" had recently hit the streets of Toronto and was beginning to circulate. She produced a vial of near flourescent green liquid, and went on to say that she believed it was responsible for these rageful rampages. Finally, she told Morningstar that three of the four people that had rampaged had all visited a shadey medical doctor, Lionel Barthallamew, at a downtown clinic and all within the past 6 weeks.

Before she could go on however, three thugs strolled up to them and one of them plucked the vial from Sullivan's hand. When Morningstar stood up to them, each slapped their own arm with a palm-held injector. A moment later, their faces turned red, the veins on their necks poppoed out, and their muscles swelled.

Nevertheless, Morningstar quickly placed two of the "Hype" powered thugs in restraints of solid light. And while the third hit him with a number of solid blows, he quickly recovered and subdued his assaillent.

The trio were soon turned over to the police. Morningstar thanked Sullivan for the info. and then returned to the station himself to write a report.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #15

The next day Morningstar decided to once again try to befriend Larry Holmes. While the Detective was thankful for the information Morningstar provided in his report from last night, it was grudging and accompanied with another warning to butt out of his case.

Later on, Morningstar went to the forensics lab to check the results of the analysis of the "Hype" obtained from the gym rampage. It was found to have much in common with your common "upper", but also contained some properties that couldn't be identified.

The synthoid went on to track down the location of the clinic Dr.Barthallamew worked at, along with a photo and some background, and ended up tailing the good doctor to his apartment building later that evening... for reference sake.

Concluding that GenTech would be able to run a much more through analysis of the "Hype" than the authorites could, Morningstar contacted Tanya Sullivan the following day and asked her to obtain a vial for him; almost letting his synthetic nature slip in the course of the conversation. She said she could, and would, but he would have to provide her with the result of the analysis, and give her an exclusive interview.

And so the following morning, Morningstar met with Ms. Sullivan, successfully navigated the interview (with the help of a bit of coaching in the hours prior), and obtained the sample of the drug. Promising Sullivan that the results would be in within 24 hours, he bid her farewell and immediately made his way to Dr.Stone and the labs at GenTech.

When all was said and done, Dr.Stone called Morningstar into his office to discuss the results of the analysis. As it turned out, the unidentifiable aspect of the drug was a mutagen, custom designed by Stone himself years ago and virtually exclusive to his own private research.

Thus, Morningstar was to keep this information quiet until a better handle could be gained on the situation. Stone said that he personally would immediately begin an internal investigation, while Morningstar focused on this Dr. Barthallamew and uncovering his source.

Later that night, Morningstar again tailed the doctor home form the clinic after it closed. However, halfway to his apartment, the doctor turned around and returned. As the doctor entered the dark building, the synthoid noticed a black van parked in the adjacent lot, and also a car up the street that was the same make as Tanya Sullivan's.

Not more than a few moments later Dr.Barthallamew once again emerged. As he got back in his car and began to pull out of the lot, two very large men (NFL linebacker large) also emerged, carrying a rolled up carpet toward the van.

Fearing the worst, Morningstar wasted no more time with speculation and immediately swept in, took control of the "carpet" and flew it to the safety of a nearby roof. There he unrolled it to find an unconscious Tanya Sullivan.

Making his way back down to the lot, Morningstar engaged the two men, who were now all arush with Hype. They were soon joined by a third even bigger man, also all "hyped-up", but after a long, tough battle, resulting in at least a bit of property damage, Morningstar was victorious.

As the sound of sirens grew ever closer, Morningstar sped off with Ms.Sullivan; landing her at a hospital before returning to the station to, once again, write a report.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #16

After being chewed out by the Cheif early the next day -- for neglecting his duties and continuing to stick his nose into a case he wasn't assigned and was asked to stay out of -- Morningstar resumed his regular duties.

He contacted Dr.Stone later that evening. Stone told him that he had a solid lead as to who was accessing his designer mutagen, and was on his way to follow it up. He told Morningstar that he would get back to him by midnight, but in the meantime the synthoid was to continue to watch Dr. Barthallamew and try to discover his source for the Hype-drug.

However, when midnight finally rolled around, there was no word from Dr.Stone.

Making his way to Stone's office at GenTech, Morningstar discovered an out of place file on a Dr.Brendan Olsen. While it was all rather technical, it nevertheless revealed that this Dr.Olsen had long been heading up a research project to produce a super-performance enhancer. His efforts however had been largely unsuccessful and if results were not soon forthcoming soon his project was slated to be scrapped. Also, notes were found in the file indicating that, not only was Olsen using Stone's designer mutagen in his research, but he was using an excessively large quantity of it.

So, snagging Dr.Olsen's address, Morningstar began to head over to the researcher's apartment home, but was "unable" to get passed the security at the front door. However, not long after he received a call from Dr.Stone's cellphone.

A unfamiliar voice on the other end warned that if Morningstar ever wanted to see Stone alive again, he must first fly to Dynamex Industries in Vancouver, BC. and obtain a special solar amplification harness that they were developing on behalf of Stone.

Taking the overly-direct approach, Morningstar smashed into the research hanger, and obtained the harness. Donning it, he felt a sudden and massive increase in the amount of solar energy available for absorption, ie. 60 points per round! He then contacted "the voice" on Stone's cellphone as directed, and was told to fly due south to the state of Nevada. Once there he again contacted the voice, and was directed to specific coordinates, where he was told he would find the Incredible Hulk. Morningstar was to defeat the greenskinned goliath and bring him back to GenTech in Toronto.

So, after a failed attempt at parley, Morningstar engaged the Hulk in a titanic battle. It went back and forth, and would have levelled an entire city as it raged, but Morningstar was careful to keep it away from the nearby city of Las Vegas. In the end, Morningstar, on shakey knees, and having hit Hulk with more than a few charges and photon blasts en par with strikes from Thor's hammer, managed to at last KO the Hulk.

Apologizing to the unconscious form of Bruce Banner, the synthoid collected him up and began to make his way back to Canada and GenTech HQ.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #17

As Morningstar neared the city of Toronto with Banner in tow, he received a call from Stone's captor on his cell. The voice directed him to bring the Hulk to loading bay A at GenTech's central building.

Once there, the synthoid was met by three large goons in suits, who ordered him to load Banner in the truck they had there, remove the S.A.H., and then don a set of power-inhibiting manacles. With Stone no where in sight and still in danger, Morningstar reluctantly agreed and submitted.

Once the power-inhibitor was in place, Morningstar was knocked out by the goons.

He awoke sometime later in a small room, the doorway of which was "sealed" with a translucent energy field. Both his hands and feet were encased in power-inhibiting encasements.

He soon learned that Dr.Stone was also being held in a cell next to his. Stone revealed that, indeed, Dr.Brendan Olsen was behind all of this and had gone over the edge, mentally speaking. Morningstar revealed what had gone on with him and the Hulk, which prompted an explanation from Dr.Stone regarding how following his brief friendship with Banner at Caltech, he was inspired to utilized gamma-rays as a key component in the creation of his special mutagen. Thus, Stone had a bad feeling about what Olsen intended with the Hulk.

A few days later Olsen himself appeared outside of the cells holding Dr. Stone and Morningstar. He produced a vial of glowing green liquid and boasted of how he had extracted adrenaline straight from Banner's adrenal gland, and used it, in combination with his past research, to produce and perfect the ultimate performance enhancer. He mocked Stone for his lack of faith, intellect, and foresight, promising him not only a slow death in return, but also to disect his "synth" and unlock it's "pathetic" secrets. He then boasted that Canada would not benefit from his performance-enhancer, as he already had a number off potential buyers lined up on the international black market. All that was required before the bidding would begin was a demonstration of it's effectiveness. Announcing that this would shortly take place, with downtown Toronto as ground-zero, he turned and left in a fit of maniacal laughter.

A short time later, cries of agony and then growls of anger echoed throughout the facility, only to come to an abrupt hault. After several moments of silence, an loud, angry growl again echoed throughout the facility, followed by a very human cry of terror and then a loud smash. This was immedialtey followed by more resounding howls of rage and the sounds of rampent destruction, until, at last, the lights went out, and all fell quiet again.

Slowly, Morningstar began to feel his strength and internal energies return; as the power inhibitors ceased to function. Busting out of his titanium bonds, the synthoid quickly met up with Dr. Stone, and then proceeded to the main lab.

The lab had been destroyed, and a very large hole was in the ceiling, while weak groans could be heard from beneath a pile of debris. Clearing off the debris, Morningstar found Dr. Olsen's broken body beneath. He expired moments later.

Luckily, Morningstar spotted the Solar Amplification Harness amidst other debris. Donning it, he was then order by Stone to pursue whatever monstrosity had been released on the world, as he searched for Banner.

Following a path of destruction from Olsen's secret lab just north of Toronto to the downtown core, Morningstar spotted a 20' tall behemoth, with pitch black skin, dark green hair, and glowing green eyes. A troop of Epsilon Blacks were fighting a losing battle against it amidst the wreckage, and even a the synthoid arrived, an newly arriving Epsilon Shuttle was skimmed by a bus hurled by the brute and sent spinning out of control. While Morningstar was unable to stop it from smashing int othe 4th floor of an apartment building, he did manage to save an old lady that was hurled from her nearby balcony as a result of the crash.

With that, he engaged the brute, which, amidst it's growls and cries of rage, uttered one audible word over and over again... RAMPAGE.

And so the battle was joined, carrying th tweo combatants across the downtown area out into Lake Ontario, and then back again to the downtown core. In the end, Morningstar was brought to his knees, but as "Rampage" was about to deliver the finishing blow, the Hulk entered the battle.

Having been lucky to be able to transform into the Hulk at all as a result of his depleted adrenal stores, the green-skin goliath soon found himself in a bad way. He was soon knocked out by Rampage, but not before landing many mighty blows of his own and buying Morningstar enough time to regain consciousness. However, his S.A.H. was damaged beyond immedaite repair!

Nevertheless, with the Hulk down, Morningstar once again joined Rampage in battle, and was so bold as to stand and trade blows with it; landing many a well placed blow, luckily evading those throwin at him, and dazzling Rampage with bursts of blinding light. Yet still the brute pressed the battle!!

Luckily, Morningstar had kept Rampage occupied long enough for the Hulk to regain consciousness, and so together they went at the brute. Finally, with both on weak and shakey knees, they at last managed to knock Rampage out with a combined leaping punch/photon blast attack. And with that, Rampage reverted to his human form... that of a brutish biker.

After answering the necessary questions, Morningstar turned things over to the Epsilon Troopers, and both he and the Hulk returned to GenTech to meet up with Dr.Stone.

Dr. Stone, Dr. Banner, Dr. Jessica Banks and Morningstar all enjoyed a night out, with much reminiscing between Stone and Banner.

And soon enough, Stone straightened things out with Dynamex Industries in Vancouver, but was sorry to say that it would be a very long time, if ever, before another S.A.H. could be produced.

[Powersurge]

Heya folks!

For everyone who has been following my campaign journals, I presently have another story-arc in the works... it's really just a matter now of finding the time to play, with new, often conflicting schedules for me and my buddy and all.

The story will see Morningstar once again operating under the direction of Department H. Contact has been lost with both the few remaining residents of Uranium City in NW Saskatchewan, and the Epsilon Squad that was originally sent into investiage. It will be up to Morningstar to find them and discover what, exactly, is going on.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #18

While out on patrol over the city of Toronto, Morningstar received a message over his ear-transceiver from an Epsilon Shuttle that quickly appeared in the distance. He was informed that his prescence was required at Department H's HQ in Ottawa and that the Epsilons had been sent to facilitate a speedy journey.

As cooperative as ever, it was not long before Morningstar found himself in a small briefing room in Department H. A map of Saskatchewan was on a large viewing screen at the front of the room, with an enlarged map of it's northwestern reaches partially superimposed upon it.

After a bit of a wait General Jeremy Clarke entered the briefing room. He thanked Morningstar for his cooperation, and then drew his attention to the map and a settlement on the northern shores of Lake Athabasca. He explained that this settlement was called Uranium City. It was established by the provincal government in 1952 to service the Beaverlodge Uranium Area, and it thrived until 1982 when it's population reached the 5,000 mark required to achieve city status. However, with decreased demand for uranium and the closing of the mines in 1983 the city's economy collapsed and the majority of it's population moved; eventually leaving only about 300 people spread across it's 20+ square blocks.

The General then went on to explain that roughly one-week ago all communication was lost with the remaining citizens of the former city. Those R.C.M.P. sent in by helicopter -- as there are no roads connecting the settlement with other populated areas -- to investigate were never heard from again, and a similar fate awaited the Epsilon unit sent in three days ago. Thus, Morningstar was now being sent in.

The synthoid would be taken by an Epsilon Shuttle to within striking distance, survey the area both from the air, then on foot, and then report his findings within the hour.

And so it was that Morningstar was taken by an Epsilon Shuttle and depositted over the southern shores of Lake Athabasca, adjacent Uranium City.

As he made his way across the lake, he used his light manipulation powers to bend light, rendering himself effectively invisible to the naked eye. As he began his approach, he could see that a thick blanket of snow had already fallen on the area and the streets were desolate.

Unable to spot out much from the sky, Morningstar soon landed and began making his way through the eerie streets on foot. Occassionally he would come across a big mound of snow, but mostly found old derelict vehicles, in every way the equal of the houses that line the streets, buried underneath. Eventually however, just outside of an old, severly vandalized school, Morningstar uncovered the shuttle of the missing Epsilon team. He barely had to time to investigate however, when a very tall (7'), gaunt figure in raggedy clothing appeared up the street and began striding toward Morningstar with intent. As the figure drew closer, the synthoid noticed that it was a man, but that he suffered from some form of abnormal bone growth that gave him a freakishly hideous appearance.

Momentarily startled by the man's appearance and features, it took the synthoid a moment to realize that, somehow, the brute was able to see him. And he was quickly made awre of that fact by a crushing blow to the head.

"Stranger don't belong! Strangers bad!!" it growled in barely discernable English, "kill strangers!!!"

Before the brute could land another blow, Morningstar erected a shield and then sent him hurtling back with a powerful photon blast. However, he was then grabbed from behind by a very muscular Native man with four arms. He held Morningstar as the brute got back to it's feet and closed in once again to deliver another blow.

And so the battle was joined. And before long the two freaks were reinforced by another Native man with very droopy skin and uncanny plasticity, a Caucasian surrounded by some form of electrical field, a naked Native that could sweat and vomit concentrated acid, and finally, after being smashed into the derelict school, by a once beautiful Caucasian woman whose skin was covered in lacerations and scar tissue and whose teeth, nails and hair were all razor sharp.

With the odds quickly mounting against him, Morningstar decided it was time for a strategic retreat; above the clouds to replenish his solar energy and report back to the Epsilon Shuttle and Department H.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #19

Flying high above the clouds, Morningstar took a moment to bask in the sunshine, thereby replenishing his storehouse of solar energy, and was about to report in when he felt a voice intrude upon his thoughts. It commanded the "interloper" to set back down immediately and surrender to it's "warriors" or the lives of his fellow interlopers would be forfeit. Thus, with little hestitation the synthoid complied.

As he set down on the snow covered ground, Morningstar was met by the tall, slender man with the excessive/abnormal bone growth (Brute), the muscular 4 armed Native (Crusher), and the other whiteman whose body perodically revealed webs of electricity playing over it (Hi-Voltage). All were hostile in their manners, especially Crusher, and it was not long before the synthoid's questions led to a 3 on 1 beat down.

Morningstar awoke in a jail cell sometime later. Silvery metal bands were clasped around either of his wrists, which he recognized as Epsilon inhibitor bands, and these explained his unusual weakness and inability to generate any light greater than a faint glow. Before long, he also noticed that his cell was being guarded by a revolving crew of the mutates he faced upon first arrival in Uranium City. While the synthoid's questions were met with significant hostility -- as were his attempts to flirt with the once beautiful, now hideously cut and scarred Caucasian woman whose body hair had become superstrong and razor sharp (Bloody Mary) -- he did manage to learn a few more evident things. Amongst them, he learned that these mutates considered both himself and all outsiders "interlopers", and held them responsible for their condition. He also learned that the Epsilon Troopers sent here to investigate nearly week ago were still alive, and that the "Overmind" had something special in store for the synthoid tomorrow.

So it was the following day that Crusher placed a bag over Morningstar's head, and led him outside and to another facility before removing the bag. Looking around, Morningstar found himself in the middle of a large "pit", roughly 10' deep, with wire mesh running the other 20' up to the ceiling. Numerous faces could be seen peering into the pit from around it's dimly lit edges, each of them more twisted and freakish than the next. After a few moments, one stood and presented itself -- a tall Caucasian with black hair and no freakishg disfigurements other than his glowing white eyes -- and began to address the crowd. He spoke of how the outsiders had sent yet another interloper to hound and oppress them, how it was they who poisoned the land, turned them into freaks, destroyed their future, and how they would all pay for that... with blood. The crowd cheered or hissed, as appropriate, at intervals throughout the speech and at last broke out in a chant, "blood! Blood! BLooD!!! BLOOD!!!".

As the crowd chanted a big, muscular man wearing an Epsilon jump-suit was thrown into the pit by Brute. The man looked anguished and he apologized to Morningstar, saying that it wasn't his fault and to please forgive him, but that he couldn't help it. As Morningstar asked what he was talking about however, the man grabbed his head and fell to his knees. When he looked back up, his anguish had been replaced by anger and he growled that he couldn't help the desire to the synthoid's "f@#$!-ing head off".

The battle was quickly joined, and while Morningstar found himself significantly weaker and more vulnerable, he was still no push over. The fight was a slobber knocker, and initially it seemed as though the synthoid might lose. In the end though, it was Morningstar, barely able to stand, who delivered the knock out blow. And when he refused to given into the crowds chant for death, or his own feelings of unusual aggression, Brute strode into the ring and broke the Epsilon trooper's neck right before his eyes.

Brute then back handed the interloper, and dragged him out of the pit, down a hallway and into what appeared to be some form of dog-kennel; save that instead of dogs, the cages contained four people dressed in Epsilon jump-suits. Morningstar was thrown in a cage of his own, before Brute turned and left.

The synthoid quickly noticed that he recognized one of the Epsilon troopers; Lt.Katherine Henderson who had been onhand during the Brood Incident over in Yellowknife; the last surviving member of the first response team. She related how her team here arrived roughly a week ago to investigate the loss of contact with the settlement, only to find the place deserted. They were caught with their pants down soon after their initial at-a-glance recon of the area, and half of the unit was taken out via psionic assault. The remainder quickly found themselves surrounded and overwhelmed by a host of "freaks". Since then, the freaks had been forcing them to particpate in daily death matches against one another, presumably using some form of psionic power to incite their more violent and homicidal tendancies. Each of the remaining Epsilons had killed at least one of their former teammates, with the reasons and the rage long since faded, but the memory of every blow forever etched in their heads.

When Morningstar questioned into the nature of all of the mutates, Henderson speculated that they were the natural result of the excessive levels of radiation found in the area (which exceed accept annual limits in a single day of exposure) on the remaining population. As for their anger, well, the population of Uranium City came and went as it pleased. No one forced them to come, or forced them to stay, so the rationalization for the great hatred, and moreover, their bloodlust was a little more of a mystery. Perhaps it was innate, or perhaps the same psionic, the Overmind perhpas, that was inciting bloodlust in the Epsilon's was also influencing the others.

The following day Brute and Crusher escorted both Morningstar and Lt.Henderson out of the kennel to the pit. There they were commanded by the Overmind to fight to the death, and the crowd of freaks once again began it's chant for blood.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #20

With the crowd chanting for blood, Morningstar felt the ever-nagging feelings of anger and violence begin to grow more pronounced in him once gain. He gazed across the pit at Lt.Henderson. Her eyes narrowed and the two began to slowy circle each other. When this had gone on for long enough, the Overmind once again stepped forth and commanded the bloodletting to begin. Morningstar refused and proceeded to accuse the Overmind of manipulating the people of Uranium City, but his voice was quickly lost in the roar of the crowd and their growing frenzy for violence. The Overmind touched his temples, his glowing eyes flashed, and then several moments later, Brute and Crusher tossed the remaning three Epsilon troopers into the pit.

The Overmind smiled, as he boasted that the remaining three would not prove so stubborn. Again he touched his temples, and his eyes flashed, and with that the remaning three Epsilon's grabbed their heads and fell to their knees. When next they rose, their faces were masked with rage.

Morningstar and Henderson were left with no choice but to defend themselves. And despite the odds, in the end the two stood, battered and beaten, but nevertheless victorious. The crowd again chanted for death -- all save for one grotesquely deformed little girl, who quickly disappeared into the shadows -- and the Overmind commanded it, but both Morningstar and Lt.Henderson again refused him. When Brute was once again sent in to make the kill, Morningstar led the attempt to stop him, but both were easily battered into submission by the huge mutate.

After snapping the neck of each of the losing Epsilons, Brute pulled the synthoid and Lt. to their feet and began to escort them back to the kennel. As he did, the Overmind declared to the crowd that tomorrow both of the remaining interlopers would face Brute in a fight to the death.

Late that night, Morningstar was awakened by the deformed girl he saw in the crowd. She had opened the door to his cage and was gesturing him to come with her. When he indicated that they should release Lt.Henderson as well, her face grew angry and she spit at the Lt.'s sleeping form before grabbing the synthoid by the hand and pulling him toward the kennel exit.

So, following the girl, she led Morningstar down a couple of halls before leading him through some airducts in order to evade guard posts and roving patrols of mutates. On their way, they had to pass through a couple of rooms. One such room was filled with all kinds of technological devices, reminscient of a Gentech lab, and it's walls were lined with scores of man-sized glass tubes; most of which sat open and empty, but a sparse few contained the corpse of a deformed person. A great iron vault-door also occupied the far wall of this room. The girl remarked that "this is where the doctors brought he sick people". Moving on, another room they came upon was clearly a morgue of some sort and contained some 20 mutate corpses lined in neat rows and covered with bloodstained sheets. The adjacent room contained a chaotic mess of between 40 - 50 dead bodies, apparently just casually thrown in there. While many were horribly multilated, none showed any signs of deformity.

Eventually, Morningstar and the girl won their way to the upper levels of what turned out to be Uranium City hospital, and just outside of this they were met by 3 deformed natives whom the girl greeted before heading back into the hospital.

These three guided Morningstar out of the city, where he found the constant irritation, the urge to anger and violence, had disappeared completely. Eventually, he was led into a mine shaft, which he found was inhabited by a small group of some 20 mutates. He was quickly introduced to their leader, a man of quasimodo-like deformity named Eric, who explained that this community was made up of mutates that were either uneffected or since liberated from the influence of the Overmind.

When Morningstar asked what was going on here in Uranium City, Eric explained that as a result of the levels of radiation contamination in the region, people have for a long time now been showing increasing signs of cancer, sterility, birth defects, and other radiation-related sicknesses. When the uranium industry collapsed, and people began to leave in the hundreds, the doctors at the hospital began selectively abducting their former patients. Such people were taken to a secret facility beneath the hospital and subjected to numerous experiments. Eric said he knows this because he was one of the first so abducted. He told that he could only remember flashes of the years he spent in captivity, but certain faces, of doctors, former friends or neighbours, along with the feelings of pain, loneliness and dispare remained as clear as day.

After taking a moment to collect ihmself, Eric went on to explain how roughly 3 or 4 weeks ago he awoke to find himself and numerous others free; all now horribly deformed. Overwhelmed with feelings of rage, the lot of them began to rampage through the facility, releasing even more mutates from kennel cages, and ruthlessly murdering every "pretty face" they came upon, until all the hospital staff was dead. All save one, one of the chief scientists, Dr.Arnold Lasher, aka the Overmind.

Under the Overmind's direction, the mob of mutates spilled out of the hospital into the streets and continued it's murderous rampage of vengeance. Fortunately, as Eric and a number of others made their way through one household, he came upon the deformed girl that helped Morningstar espace, Pinga by name. Her touch somehow made Eric and the few he was with see through the rage... that, yes, they were outraged at what had been done to them, but that their actions were too, inhuman. And so, with Pinga's help they gathered what others they could and fled into the mines. At times Pinga would would steal into the city and bring another mutate or two back with her.

Eric went on to explain how a week ago a meeting had been arranged with a small pocket of the Overmind's mutates, but it was interrupted those men in black power-armour (the Epsilon Black squad), who immediately opened fire on them with their weapons. Many died, Pinga disappeared, and Eric himself barely escaped with his life.

Since then, a few newcomers arrived with news of the girl and her wellbeing, of the numerous people killed by the government troopers before their defeat, and of course, with news of Morningstar. However, Eric explained that by saving the synthoid, she placed herself in great jeopordy. Thus, as another mutate came forward, laid his hands on the power inhibitors Morningstar wore on his wrists and shorted them out, Eric said that it was up to Morningstar to save her.

The synthoid began to feel his natural strength return, and he promised to not only save Pingu, but to also help the people of Uranium City throw off the yoke of the Overmind and gather all the evidence he could in order to bring to light the inhumane, and "undoubtedly" illegal, experimentations being conducted here.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #21

Making his way back to Uranium City, Morningstar arrived as the very first hint of day began to appear in the eastern sky.

Landing just outside of the city, the synthoid bent light to make himself appear invisible and then began to make his way toward the hospital on foot. En route he happened upon a small patrol of mutates and overheard them talking about Lt.Henderson's impending battle with Brute. It would take place at sunrise, and would be followed with a special "treat" involving the young mutate Pinga and a pack of vicious mutated dogs.

Making his way to Uranium City hospital with all due haste, Morningstar easily penetrated the facility undetected and made his way back to the kennel in which he and the Epsilons had been held. While he didn't find Lt.Henderson within, he did discover Pinga in one of the cages. The synthoid was quick to tear the cage door off of it's hinges, but no sooner had he done so when Bloody Mary entered the room. She was quick to attack the interloper, but their scuffle had barely begun when Pinga touched the female mutate and thereby banished whatever unnatural feelings of hatred and rage clouded her mind. With that, Mary sat stunned for a moment before breaking down in tears at the memory of her deeds over the past few weeks.

Knowing that the sun must by now be cresting the horizon, Morningstar gently but firmly took Mary by the arms and demanded to know the whereabouts of Lt.Henderson. Mary replied that she was alreay in the pit. The battle had already begun.

Thus, after Mary assured the synthoid that she would escort Pinga to the surface, Morningstar made his way to the arena; smashing through the doors to find Brute playing a cat and mouse game with a severely battered Lt.Henderson. He quickly stepped in on her behalf, slugging it out with Brute until at last the huge mutate fell beneath his blows.

Morningstar had only a moments respite however, before Hi-Voltage, Crusher, Bile and Droopy entered the pit. The crowd went wild as they engaged the synthoid, but he was soon joined by Lt. Henderson. Together they managed to defeat the mutates, but during the course of the battle a stray photon blast tore a hole in the surrounding cage, and with the battle's end, the crowd began to pour through the opening, wild with bloodlust.

Morningstar and Lt.Henderson quickly found themselves surrounded by mutates, but it was a small enough matter for the synthoid to envelope both himself and Henderson in a field of solid light. He then shaped the field into a tunnel leading out of the pit, and left a wall of force behind to block the exit.

From the pit Morningstar made for the main lab; losing track of Henderson while en route (she has skills). Nevertheless, he made his way inside and immediately stepped up to the huge vault door occupying the far wall of the lab. He was about to attempt to pry it open when he was interrupted by the Overmind and a crowd of mutates lackeys. The synthoid moved to fire a photon blast at the mutate leader, but before he could the Overmind's eyes flashed with white light and the synthoid found that he was no longer in control of his body. The Overmind thence prompted him to power up the labs laser scalpel with the intent of making Morningstar slit his own throat with it. However, with the scalpel powered to full and the synthoid on the verge of carrying out the telepathic command, the Overminds head exploded. Standing in the doorway of an adjacent entrance stood Lt. Henderson; the majority of her Epsilon armour in place and a smoking energy rifle in her hand.

With the Overmind's demise, Morningstar regained control of himself, and many of the mutates stood bewildered. Others however remained as bloodthirsty as ever and surged toward both Morningstar and Lt.Henderson. Other's began to join them, but the duo held their own against the mob. Eventually a free for all broke out as those mutates sickened at the memory of their own deeds attempted to restrain their fellows.

And so the battle raged, and as it did the bloodthirsty mutates unleashed a small pack of mutated attack dogs. However, while this did serve to turn the tide of battle in their favour, the advantage was short lived as energy blasts began to tear indiscriminately through the crowd of mutates. Before long, Morningstar and Lt.Henderson found themselves in the prescence of a fresh squad of Epsilon Blacks.

One of the Epsilon Blacks ordered both Lt.Henderson and Morningstar to get topside, immediately, as he and his troops continued to force the mutates back. However, on their way to the elevator shaft, Morningstar took Henderson by the wrist and virtually dragged her to the computer room. Therein, he ordered her to download all data relevant to the Uranium City facility and it's experiments. She refused, insisting that they get topside, now. When Morningstar again denied her, she scowled at him as she dropped the energy clip out of her rifle and fiddled with it for a moment. When she finished it began to emit a low, but quickly building hum. The synthoid immedaitely surrounded both the energy clip and Henderson's hand in a field of solid light. When the clip exploded a moment later, the Lt's hand was vapourized.

A very frustrated Morningstar then dragged Henderson back to the surface. There he found three Epsilon Shuttles and two squads of Epsilon regulars. In their midst stood General Jeremy Clarke.

Striding over to the Epsilons, the synthoid threw Lt.Henderson to the ground. He then bulled his way through their ranks, took Clarke by the collar, and surrounded them both in a field of solid light. A moment later, he took off skyward.

General Clarke demanded that the synthoid set down immediately, but Morningstar refused, flying even higher and accusing Clarke of conducting illegal experiments of the people of Uranium city; demanding some form of justice for them. The General however remained indignant, reminding the synthoid of his rank and position,and warning him of the possible charges he could face for abducting a General. When Morningstar sought to press the matter further, Clarke cut him short, saying that the synthoid hadn't a clue of what it takes to protect a country's interest against an ever-growing population of superhumans and extraterrestials. He went on to explain that each of the people experimented on in Uranium City had already been diagnosed with terminal illnesses, brought on by cellular mutation, prior to any government expermentation. Thus, if any were still alive today, it was precisely due to the work that took place within the Uranium City facility. He then reminded the "synth" of Yellowknife, GenTech, the Brood, and what, precisely, was responsible for the synthoid's own existence, before once again ordering a return to the hospital.

Frustrated and confused, Morningstar at last complied. And as he brought the General safely back down to the earth, the Epsilon troopers surrounded and levelled their weapons at him, demanding his immediate surrender.

Morningstar complied

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #22

After his surrender to the Epsilon Troopers, Morningstar was placed in inhibitor bonds and loaded on board an Epsilon Shuttle. From there he was flown back out to Department H HQ in Ottawa and placed in an interrogation room.

While the synthoid sat there, awaiting whatever fate might have in store for him, he lamented his impulsiveness in attacking General Clarke.

At length, General Clarke himself entered the interrogation room. He sat in silent regard of Morningstar for a moment, and then launched into a monologue. He once again reminded the synthoid of how, years ago, a small group of GenTech scientists had been attacked by an alien lifeform known as the Brood and implanted with their embryos; of how GenTech secretly held these scientists in stasis in order to conduct research into Brood DNA. He reminded him of how GenTech's failure to contain the threat of the Brood resulted, not only in a bloodbath in Yellowknife, but also in the ultimate escape of the Brood-Queen; who, so long as she is at large, poses a threat to the very planet. And finally, Clarke reminded Morningstar of how the research conducted into Brood DNA made a significant contribution to the creation of the GenTech line of super-synthoid; most noteably the deceased Thunder and Morningstar himself.

General Clarke went on to explain how, in this world, certain sacrifices must sometimes be made for the sake of the greater good, of how the conscience might suffer for these sacrifices, and of how this was a good thing; proving the presence of conscience and moral regard. He continued on about how there are factions at work in the country, the world, and in the vast universe that surrounds it that are possessed of no such compassion or regard; that operate unrestrained in their activites, with no checks or balances to keep them in place, and which arer limited only by their resources. He then posed the questions, how are we to compete if we allow conventional morality to tie both of our hands;do we roll over and just surrender our world to the enemy; allow them to bring an end to all human conscience and morality? Or do we fight it as best we can, making what sacrifices true heroes are required to make?

After allowing the synthoid to dwell on that for a few moments, General Clarke again spoke. He told Morningstar that he was not asking him to discount his feelings of what went on at Uranium City; as this country needs heroes. He was asking him to see it all in context however, and to understand the very real consequences of inaction in these areas.

He then took on a much sterner tone and warned the synthoid that if he leaked any information of the Uranium City Incident to anyone, then GenTech, Dr.Stone, and indeed all of GenTech's creations would be brought crashing down right along with the Department.

Finally, he asked Morningstar where he stood; would they drag each other down into the mud and leave the door wide open for evil to step in and take control? Or would they stand together against the ever-gathering darkness?

The synthoid told the General that he understood and had never thought of things that way before. He agreed to keep the matter quiet.

With that the General thanked Morningstar for his cooperation and bid him farewell; telling him he would soon be released as he walked out the door.

A few moments after Clarke left, Dr.Albert Stone entered the interrogation room. He apologized to Morningstar for the position he was in, and felt the need to assure him that he and his team did everything they could to save those scientists from the Brood, but that the embryoes had already begun to rewrite their DNA. He then launched into his own clumsy monologue regarding the advancement of science, medicine, and technology, and it's conflcits with the prevailing morality of various Ages. He asked where would medicine be today if it's pioneers had not been "corpse-thieves" and despised as "ghoulish necromancers"? But for all of that, would we trade modern medicine?

The two conversed for awhile more, when Stone remembered what (else) had brought him to Department H and rushed out to keep an appointment. And with that an unarmoured Epsilon Trooper entered the interrogation room, removed the inhibator bonds and told Morningstar that he was free to go.

On his way to the launch bay, Morningstar ran into Powersurge, who once again thanked the synthoid for the rescue from Randal North and his Failsafe project. He then gave Morningstar a contact number he could reach him at if he ever needed any help.

Making his way to the launch bay, Morningstar took to the sky and made it back to GenTech HQ in Toronto by mid-afternoon. He fond a number of messages waiting for him when he got there; one from Dr.Banks regarding the rescheduling of an appointment he missed, and a heap of others from Tanya Sullivan, regarding the "Hype story" and the promised results of GenTech's chemical analysis of the drug.

Calling Sullivan back, Morningstar quickly let certain "vague" details slip regarding the source of the Hype, and from these the reporter easily concluded that a rogue GenTech scientist used GenTech resources to manufacture the drug. Morningstar attempted to deny the specifics of it all, and said that she wasn't aware of the whole story. She said that he could tell the "entire story" tomorrow night over dinner, and he could bring the promised analysis results along with him.

Morningstar agreed.

He then called Dr.Stone to explain the situation and get clearance to obtain a copy of the Hype analysis. Stone told him to tell her everything about the Hype scandal, to satisfy her curiousity, and then to offer her a deal; in exchange for her not printing the story, he would offer to keep "in the know" with all of his future public superheroics, tipping her off, giving exclusive interviews, everything.

Morningstar then called Dr.Banks to reschedule their appointment and asked her if she would help him buy a suit for his dinner date tomorrow. She took him up on the offer, an made it an oppurtunity to go over some of the finer points of human social interaction with the synthoid.

The following evening, Morningstar put his expensive new suit on over his costume, bought a dozen roses, and presented them to Tanya at the restaurant. She was flattered by them, but quickly got over it and down to business. Morningstar did as Dr.Stone advised; he told her everything and then made her the offer. And, after a few moments of consideration, Tanya took him up on the offer and agreed to the terms.

Dinner continued on for some time after, with Tanya drinking one or two more glasses of wine than she probably should have. Morningstar offered to fly her home, and when they landed on her balcony, she immedaitely drew his mask up above his mouth, and kissed him. And, after a moments shock, Morningstar kissed her back.

Their kiss was interrupted by the whine of sirens, as numerous firetrucks raced to a fire that could be seen in another highrise a few blocks away. Waiting a moment for Tanya to grab a camera, Morningstar flew over to the scene and set her down at a safe distance before proceeding to rescue a number of people trapped on the upper floors and roof of the building. He then used his powers to start carrying large amounts of water from Lake Ontario and using it to help douse the flames.

Not long after the fire was brought under control an enormous rumbling was heard from up the street. Morningstar looked to see another towering apartment collapse on itself, sending a thick cloud of dust out in all directios. Throwing up a shield of solid light to protect the scene of the fire, the synthoid again took to the air to investiage.

As he approached the area of the collapsed building, he spotted a man with long black hair and a well trimmed goattee. He wore a dark blue costume and a white cape, and sat hovering high above the buildings debris.

Making his way toward this figure, Morningstar identified himself and challenged the man on what had gone on here. His only response was a sardonic grin and a gesture of his hand; which sent the synthoid rocketing back to earth and smashing into the rubble far beneath.

No sooner had he pulled himself out of the debris, when Morningstar found himself falling upward at an ever-increasing speed. Fortunately, he managed to get his shield up before he was flung out of the atmosphere and into space.

However, as the synthoid left the atmosphere, he felt a massive rush of solar energy pour into him... the likes of which he had not felt since he wore the Solar Amplifiaction Harness.

So, putting everything into his shields, the synthoid flew back toward Earth, and on into the atmosphere, at top speed. Within moments his shield was obliterated by the heat, and his flesh hideously burned.

Before long, Morningstar lost consciousness and plummeted back to Earth. He hit the ground with a great impact that left his broken and smouldering body motionless, at the bottom of a small crater.

[TheQuestionMan]

I just finished reading all of this Thread and I have only one question.


When is the comic coming out and why can't you live somewhere civilized like the GVRD's lower mainland.


QM

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #23

Having crashed back to Earth within the borders of Latveria, it was not long before the charred and broken remains of the Morningstar synthoid came to the attention of Dr.Doom. These were carried to Doom's castle where they underwent thorough a analysis culminating in Doom's "resurrection" of Morningstar.

But this was not all. Dr.Doom had also tampered with the synthoid's memories, such that Morningstar's last memory was of the Fantastic Four attacking Toronto and sending him hurtling into space.

And with much of the synthoid's brain still in the process of regenerating, it was thence an easy matter for Doom to manipulate Morningstar into travelling to New York in search of the F.F. and vengeance.

Making his way to New York, Morningstar quickly located the Freedom Four Plaza and launched an attack on the Thing and the Human Torch; engulfing the Torch in an airtight field of solid light, and tackling the Thing in an ariel charge that carried both of them several blocks down the street.

As Morningstar and the Thing began to exchange blows, Mr.Fantastic and the Invisible Woman arrove on the scene and Sue was able to save the suffocating Human Torch by using her own forcefield to destroy Morningstar's from the inside out. With that the remaning trio quickly raced to their teammates aid.

They arrived to find the Thing hard pressed against the power and versatility of the synthoid, but with the arrival it did not take long for the F.F. to ground Morningstar and bring his shields down; thus enabling the Thing to get in close to deliver a number of solid shots.

Throughout the battle Morningstar had begun to see flashes of his real memories about the events leading up to his near fatal reentry into Earth's atmosphere. And with the solid blows landed by the Thing, these memories at last reassert their dominance.

As a result, Morningstar ceased struggling and then willingly answered all of the questions posed to him by Mr.Fantastic, who quickly deduced that Dr.Doom had been using Morningstar as a distraction and that they should make with all due haste back to the Freedom Four Plaza.

Once there they found Doom in the process of stealing an experimental piece of technology Mr.Fantastic had recently been working on. The five heroes engaged the villain and after a hard fought battle managed his defeat... only to learn that it was a mere Doombot. Both Invisible Woman and Morningstar easily contained the explosion of both the Doombot and it's nearby escape shuttle when they self-destructed moments after the Doombot's defeat.

And so it was that after a thorough examination of Morningstar by Mr.Fantastic, to ensure that Doom's tampering were no longer in effect, and contact being made with Dr.Stone at GenTech, the synthoid began to make his way back to Ontario.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #24

Even as Morningstar drew ever closer to Toronto on his way home from New York, a tangled turn of events began to evolve in the Canadians cities downtown core.

A bank robbery at a local bank had turned into a hostage situation and stand off with local police. This stand off was brought to an end when two masked vigilantes, Roughrider and Canucklehead (essentially good-natured, freedom loving, anti-authority bikers), who had been inside the building at the time of the robbery, at last sprang into action and took the robbers down; although one hostage was left in critical condition as the result of a stray bullet fired during the melee.

When the duo emerged from the bank, police contacted Department H and then attempted to detain them according to the recently enacted Hagon's Law; which governs the public use of super-powers. This quickly led to a second battle, that quickly saw the police on the receiving end.

Fortunately for the police an Epsilon Shuttle soon deposited a squad of Epsilon Troopers on the city streets, not far from the bank. They were led by Powersurge, and with their arrival the police withdrew from the battle.

Confronting the vigilantes, Powersurge identified himself as an agent of Department H. He expressed a stern sympathy for Roughrider's and Canucklehead's heroics in the hostage incident, but in light of the surrounding harm and destruction their refusal to co-operate with the law had caused, he firmly ordered their immediate surrender.

Canucklehead attempted to parley, playing on the rogue-status Powersurge operated under for years, but the mutant was not swayed and again order their immedaite surrender. In response, Canucklehead launched a devastating psychic attack that brought Powersurge to his knees. And with that the duo tore into the surrounding Epsilon Troopers; Roughrider relying on his strength and invulnerability to carry him through the battle and Canucklehead relying on his psychic attack, coupled with the his naturally superb martial prowess enhanced by low-grade telepathy that acted as a "combat/tactical sense" of sorts.

Together they proved to be a fine match for the Epsilon Troopers.

As Morningstar flew over the city bound for GenTech HQ he noticed the battle on the streets below and went in for a closer look. He arrived even as the duo were finishing off the last Epsilon Trooper and immediately surrounded them in a field of solid light. He demanded to know what had gone on here. Canucklehead told the synthoid the story... that he and Roughrider had foiled a bank robbery/hostage taking and that as a result the authorities had attempted to arrest them.

The synthoid was left somewhat confused by this, and announced that he would hold them until he could talk to someone in charge. Roughrider then warned him that being stuck in a cage made both himself and Canucklehead a little ancy, and so he should probably just set them free... now... or else. When Morningstar proved indignant to the request, Canucklehead again launched a devastating psychic attack the brought the synthoid crashing to the earth and caused the field of light to vanish.

With that, the duo tore into Morningstar and, knowing the reputation of the synthoid, began to lay a "merciless beating" in him. This only progreessed so far however, before a blast of energy separated the two from Morningstar.

Powersurge was back on his feet.

The former Protector gave the duo one last warning, and when it received the predictable answer, the battle began in earnest. And it was not long before Morningstar recovered his sense. As he returned to the fight, the tide of the battle turned against the vigilantes.

They were all but defeated when the fourth floor of a tall business building up the street exploded. Powersurge quickly noted dozens of "lights" treaking down from the sky toward the city. He pointed this out before streaking skyward to intercept what turned out to be dozens of meteors. He was soon joined by Morningstar and together they attmpted to destroy as many as they could before impact.

Meanwhile, on the streets below Roughrider and Canucklehead engaged in damage control, saving as many people as they could from the incidental results of multiple meteor strikes.

When all was said and done, and despite the best efforts of the heroes, Toronto looked like it had just suffered a major artillery strike. There was no sign of Roughrider and Canucklehead. And turth be told, no resources could be expanded to engage in any kind of search.

[Powersurge]

Interlude: the Big Picture

Days prior to Morningstar's battle with the Fantastic Four, scientists across the world detected a signficiant number of large meteors moving on what appeared to be a collision course with Earth. Various governments kept this information on a firm leash as they discussed what should be done about it. At length, it was agreed that Reed Richards would be contacted with a request to investigate this phenomenon, ascertain the swarms course, and author a solution to whatever problem it might present.

This priority call was received by the FF just moments before Morningstar's departure; for, first, the X-Mansion, where he spent several days in the lab of the Beast in experiminets Re:the Brood, and then Canada. The end result of their mission however was that contact was lost with them as they neared the anomolous swarm, and no word had been received from them since.

However, the swarm picked up substantial speed as soon following the loss of contact and within the mere space of a day, devastating meteor swarms began to reign down upon all of the great cities of the Earth... Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, Moscow, Paris, London, Toronto, New York, Rio, Mexico, and Vancouver were all hit over a 24 hour period.

Soon following the last strike, a video message was delivered to leaders of the Earth by none other than the archvillain Graviton; in which he claimed responsibility for the meteor attack and demanded an unconditional surrender lest he unleash another swarm upon the Earth.

Scientists quickly confirmed the veracity of this threat, and aslo marked a number of planet destroyers steadily making their toward the planet. As the various nations of the Earth argued feverishly about what to do, the U.S. took a bold stance and immediately called for the Avengers to address the threat.

With some technical assistence from the Japanese hero, the Examiner, a blind spot was discovered in high orbit around the Earth showing off wild fluxuations in energy reminscient of those found about a Black Hole. With Thor sent out to the fringes of the inner solar system to deal with the planet destroying meteors, the rest of the Avengers made their way to the "blind spot" in hopes of finding Graviton and confronting them. Unfortunately, much like the FF before them, contact with them lost as they began their approach and no word has been received since.

[Powersurge]

Morningstar #25

Following the meteor strike in Toronto, both Morningstar and Powersurge aided the cities emergency teams in their relief efforts. Within the space of a few hours however, they were summoned to Department H. Once there, they were quickly ushered into a briefing room.

Within they found gathered some two dozen or so costumed superheroes; the members of Alpha Flight foremost amongst them. At the front of the briefing room stood Department H's Chief Director, General Jeremy Clarke, along with a man most recognized as the Commander of of the Epsilon Division, Brigadiere-General Norman McArther, and a female aid.

Clark quickly settled the room and then began to speak of how 6 days ago a number of space observatories thorughout the world spotted an enormous swarm of meteors break free from the asteroid belt that seperates the inner and outer solar system, and begin on a course that hasty estimations suggested could potentially intersect with Earth. The Fantastic Four were soon mustered to investigate this phenomenon, determine what threat it might pose to the planet, and if necessary author a solution, but contact with them was lost soon after they began their approach on the swarm. Mere momenets following this loss of contact, the speed of the meteor swarm increased, exponentially, reaching Earth earlier today and reigning destruction down, not ony on Toronto, but on major cities across the globe -- Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney, Jerusalem, Athens, Rome, Moscow, Paris, London, New York, Toronto itself, Rio, and then finally, Mexico City and Vancouver.

Activating a wall monitor, Clarke brought up an image of the costumed villain, Graviton, before going onto explain that the meteor strikes were clearly not "acts of God", but precision strikes orchastrated by the man on the monitor; Franklin Hall by birth, a Canadian scientist who gained massive gravitional powers following an accident that occured while working at a private research facility in the Canadian Rockies. Clarke added that Graviton had resurfaced in Toronto not all that long ago, before momentarily turning the floor over to Morningstar.

The synthoid told of how several weeks ago he witnessed the collapse of a residential high rise in downtown Toronto and upon investigating, found the man on the monitor hovering high above the ruin. Upon approach the villain effortlessly sent him plummeting back to earth before hurling him off the face of the Earth itself and into orbit.

With that, General Clarke clicked the remote in his hand and brought two new images onto the monitor, of a man and a woman, before taking control of the briefing once again. He explained that the man and the woman were Mr. and and Mrs. Joseph and Judy Sinclair. They had worked alongside Graviton in the months leading up to accident that gave him his powers. Hall had reportedly been obsessed with Judy, and she sat at the centre of an incident in which the newly empowered Graviton took over the research facility they all worked at, levitated it, to Manhattan(!), and then handily defeated the Avengers. The America supergroup narrowly managed a reversal of fortunes only by playing on Hall's infatuation for Judy. As chance would have it, both Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair were tenents of the collapsed highrise and both were perished in the disaster.

After a moments pause, Clarke told the room that 20 minutes ago goverments across the globe received the following video message. Clicking the remote again, a video of Graviton began to play in which he identified himself, claimed responsiblity for the meteor strikes, and gave the leaders of the world 36 hours to acknowledge him as their overlord or face another, even greater, bombardment.

With that, Clarke emphasized the power of Graviton, and placed all heroes on high alert; explaining that most would be deployed with Epsilon units across the country, while others would receive special details.

Both Morningstar and Powersurge were briefly sent back to Toronto; where they learned that 4 enormous planet destroying meteors had been detected en route for Earth. And also that, with the discovery of a gravitational anomoly high in Earth's orbit by the Japanese hero the Examiner, the U.S. had decided for immediate action; sending the Avengers (complimented by the mightiest of the West Coast Avengers) to investigate the anomoly, and hopefully confront and defeat Graviton, while Thor was sent to the outer fringes of the inner solar system to deal with the slow moving planet destroyers.

Soon enough, Morningstar and Powersurge were summoned back to Department H. They were gathered by Brigadiere-General McArther into a small brieifing room along with Major Mapleleaf and Major Mapleleaf Junior. He informed them that intel had placed Graviton in the company of the mutant Gypsymoth no more than a year ago, and that the West Coast Avengers, Hawkeye and Mockingbird, followed this lead. While unable to apprehend the mutant herself, a number of Graviton's notes were found on her premises in which passing mention of an A.I.M. project called the "Gravity Well" was made.

As luck would have it, a joint investiagation of the hi-tech arms distributor, Fabricators Inc., which followed on the heels of the death of Morningstar's predecessor, Thunder, revelaed a link between the black market distributor and A.I.M. Their investigation also turned up the possible location of an A.I.M. facility beneath the Helmsley Building in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The heroes were thence sent to Vancouver to particpate in a raid on the facility.

Circumventing or simply punching their way through the bases defenses - - which included forcefields, reinforced titanium doors, laser turrets, and a squadron of mercs outfitted with hi-tech battle armour - - the heroes at last gained control of the facility and it's computers; thus allowing Epsilon technical experts to move in and finish the job.

It was thus discovered that the "Gravity Well" was the codename of an A.I.M. spacestation that was doing reserarch into the creation and control of micro-blackholes. It had been lost to "forces unknown" roughly 3 months earlier.

As the troop of heroes began to climb back into the Epsilon Shuttle that carried them westward and head back to Ottawa, a communication was received... while Thor had managed to pulverize two of the four planet detroying meteors, contact with the Avengers had been lost, the remaining two planet destroyers had vastly increased their speed, and another meteor swarm had begun to pummel the Earth from the thin ring that now surrounded the planet. As a result of these events, Morningstar and Powersurge were to procede immediately to Vancouver Airport. There they would be greated by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and escorted to the Helicarrier.

By order of the U.N. Security Council, Project: Protectors had been reinstated.