A YJA moment - HYDRA

Many centuries ago an unidentified White Martian was cast to the Earth, exiled by the Malecandra Collective for attempting genocide against the Green majority. On Earth, her great abilities allowed it to carve a small empire for herself amongst the ancient peoples of that era. She became known by many names; chief among this a term whose closest translation was "The Hydra"

She gathered around herself, a bloody cult, its adherents worshiping her as a god. Those with the enhanced abilities of a metahuman rose within the mortal ranks to become her trusted Acolytes. The worshipers came to believe that the most worthy needed to become like the Hydra and thus Metahumans were seen as her chosen. Those who were weak were slain; sacrificed in her name.

The Hyrda Cult fell to the ancient Atlanteans, who had found cultists amongst their ranks. While the Hyrda was thought to have been slain, she was in fact trapped in a sarcophagus deep within her ruined temple.

A few survivors took her message to the rest of the world. The varied cults that have risen and fallen throughout history have been known by many names, they are best known in the modern era as the terrorist group HYDRA.

While beliefs and actions of the Germany government during World War Two remain those of the Nazis alone, HYDRA found within their ranks a perfect location to hide. Johan Schmitt, aka the Red Skull, convinced everyone HYDRA was a deep-science branch of the Wehrmacht, no one realizing they were using German resources to conduct research to create a metahuman army.

The Allies and the Strategic Science Reserve managed to defeat HYRDA and the Red Skull was lost in the same incident that claimed the life of Captain America and his partner Bucky. It was believed that HYRDA had fallen with the Nazis but as always, the cult managed to survive.

Over the years, HYDRA has emerged as a terrorist group. First led by former-Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and later by his progeny the Fenris Twins, HYRDA waged a shadow war against the free world. Their goal was to sweep away the old governments and install a new regime where only the genetically superior, the metahumans, would be allowed to live.

With the return of their original leader, the Red Skull, HYDRA was poised to launch a new offensive. They attacked their rivals, the Brotherhood of Mutants, taking their more radical members to form the Mutant Liberation Front. When the Justice League had its operations suspended by the U.N, they attacked Paris in a daring raid in order to locate the island of their progenitor.

Team Gamma repelled the French invasion and destroyed the ruins of the ancient temple. With "The Hyrda" now safely secured in the Raft Metahuman Prison and their main military force defeated, it seems that for now, HYDRA has been contained for now.

Yet the Red Skull...and HYDRA sill survives...