A YJA Moment - The Enshrouded One

The secret history of human interstellar flights is a fascinating topic.  The planet was skilled in the magic arts and their gods were attuned to the realities of the cosmos.  It was only inevitable that the ancient nations of Earth would travel the stars.  

Inspired by the foundation of New Caledon by the Greeks, an ancient Egyptian sorcerer-priest Wahankh opened an arcane portal to a world very similar to Earth, there they founded a colony in the shadow of a new alien empire that had risen the ashes of a previous civilization.

While exploring the surrounding territory, Wahankh discovered an ancient power deep within an alien temple.  The ancient peoples of this world had given worship to entities from a planet known as Apokalips.  Seizing the opportunity, the sorcerer gave homage to the Lords of Apokalips, the beings he referred to as the Ancient Spirits of Evil.

Granted seeming vast magical power, Wahankh turned the colony to a shrine to the Lords of Apokalips, erecting a huge black pyramid-temple from the ebony rocks of the surrounding landscape.  The task ultimately hastened the sorcerer's demise and he was mummified and entombed in the Pyramid by the last remaining colonists.

Untold years later, Darkseid sought out the Wahankh in his crusade to hunt down The Infinity Stones. With his Omega power, he infused the sorcerer's corpse with a fraction of the anti-life which he had scoured from the cosmos, embuing him with undead might.

Under the guise of The Enshrouded One, he arose from his grave to see that many Empires had risen and fallen in his place.  With his great magical power, he was able to bring the current nation to its knees and took the throne as Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living.

Mumm-Ra tasked an elite combat band of uplifted felines known as The ThunderCats into the cosmos to collect them these Infinity Stones.  In preparation for their return, he set about forging a suitable receptacle which would be known as the Gauntlet of Plun-darr,

In his arrogance, The Enshrouded One was not prepared for his trusted commander Leo to betray him.  The ThunderCat leader recruited a host of heroes to take the Stones and use them against Mumm-Ra.  Despite his great magical power, Wahankh could not withstand the might of the Infinity Stones and their masters The Infinity Watch.

Defeated, the remains of The Ever-Living was re-entombed in his Black Pyramid, which was sealed by power both arcane and mundane.  There it is hoped that he would never return to plague either the new Kingdom of Thundera or the rest of Known Space.

Yet with the rise in the power of Anti-Life, something once again stirs with the Black Pyramid.  How can anything which bears the name Ever-Living, ever be truly killed?

A YJA Moment - The Space Ghost

Thad Bak was a Xandarian Peacekeeper, a law enforcement agency that existed before long before The Nova Corps.  He was a good cop and family man, who strived to uphold the dictates of the Xandar Constitution and the Protections of Sentient Peoples.  

As his first assignment, he was sent to one of the protectorates of The Nova Empire, a lawless world of Galee VIII that had just come through a divisive civil war.  He was paired with Temm Pel, a brutal enforcer of the law who would rather execute criminals than bring them in for judgment.  Needless to say, they didn't get along.

When Thad discovered that Temm had murdered a suspect instead of arresting him, he planned to report his partner to the authorities.  Unfortunately, he was ambushed by Temm and badly wounded, leaving the Peacekeeper to die out in the wastes of Glee VIII.  He was instead rescued by Salomon, a rogue engineer who had made his workshop in the wastes.

Recovering under Salmons's care, he had the engineer devise him a suit composed of the various technologies that he had collected over the years:  Yautjan Stealth Technology; Kree Nega-gauntlets;  Galadorian flight Systems;  Controller Exo-Mantle.  

Wearing this new suit, Thad Bak declared himself dead, as Temm Pel intended.  He would now be a criminal-hunting specter, protecting those that law cannot.  He would be a Ghost.  A Space Ghost.

A YJA Moment - Shredder and the Foot Clan

Not much is known about the man who would take the identity of The Shredder, other than his name - Oroku Saki.  He joined The Hand at a young age, after years of living on the streets of Tokyo.  He was chosen by the master ninja Hamato Yoshi, who saw in the young boy the elements necessary to be an assassin

Though Saki had raw talent and ambition, he lacked in planning and etiquette. While his superiors were pleased with his ability to complete his mission, they were less than thrilled with the collateral damage which surrounded any of his operations.  Only his continued success convinced the Great Finger Nobu Yoshioka, the leader of the New York Hand, of his continued usefulness.

Nonetheless, his weaknesses proved a stumbling block to his goals.  While he rose in prominence in The Hand, he was never promoted by the leadership and remained under the leadership of his former teacher, Hamato Yoshi. This did not concern Oroku, for he understood that if he was ever to become one of the Masters, he would have to take it himself.

Therefore he instigated an argument with Master Yoshi while they were having tea.  Saki purposefully escalated the conflict until Yoshi took action against his former student.  Little did Master Yoshi realize his former student had drugged the tea, dulling his senses and leaving him at the mercy of Saki.  After slaying his teacher, he took his place as one of the Masters serving under the Great Finger.

When Apokalips and S.H.I.E.L.D. decimated The Hand, Oroku Saki attempted to take command of the remaining ninja in New York.  Many refused his offer, joining other breakaway clans or leaving New York altogether to rejoin The Hand in Japan.  Still many chose to serve Saki, despite not having a good reputation as a credible leader.  He then took his forces and offered them to the rest of the remaining grandmasters of The Hand.

Rejected by the other four surviving Great Fingers, Oroku Saki took those loyal to him and forged his own Ninja clan, calling it The Foot in mockery of his former allegiance.  Fearful that The Hand would seek to assassinate him, he donned a suit of bladed armor and took the code-name of The Shredder.

Now a full member of Underside, Shredder, and the Foot are one of the key players in New York's crime families, serving as intelligence and covert operations for the others in their alliance.

A YJA Moment - Cobra

During World War Two, the Soviet Union fielded a group of elite soldiers that were known as The Cobra Unit.  Years before Task Force X, the Russians had a unit composed of metahumans, which they had recruited from various regions of their country.  Although they officially ceased operations in 1947, the Cobra Unit continued during the Cold War, conducting black operations throughout Western Europe against NATO forces.

They remained in operation until 1964 when they were taken down by one of the United States government’s Covert Action Teams.  All they remained was a young GRU officer, a marksman who was the son of the Cobra Units leader, The Commissar. He would later defect from the Soviet Union and join Task Force X himself, taking the identity of the Vigilante that had once been used by Greg Saunders.

This Vigilante would end up betraying the team, passing information to the revolutionary terrorist organization known as The Flag-Smashers.  Discovered by his teammates, his commanding officer William Stryker. activated his implant bomb and summarily executed him for his treachery.  Eight months after his death, his girlfriend would bear him a son;  a man would later become infamous as The Commander.

Joining HYDRA as a teenager, The Commander rose through the ranks quickly, his tactical mind and ruthlessness appreciated by The Council of Nine.  This culminated in 2013 when he promoted to lead an elite cadre of soldiers, which had defected from S.H.I.E.L.D. months prior.  Under the assumed name of Rexford Lewis, he forged his team into an elite fighting force capable of eliminating both highly-trained human and metahuman threats.

The Commander's forces were stationed in New Jersey during the Apokalips Invasion.  Ordered to reinforce their enclave on Santa Prisca, they were prepared to disembark when they received a request for support from A.I.M. personnel stationed in New York, which they were promptly ordered to ignore by the HYDRA leaders which operated under the Red Skull.

Believing that his superiors had succumbed to cowardice, The Commander disobeyed his directives, turning his transports towards New York City. He aided both A.I.M. and various other criminal groups which had joined together during the crisis.  Providing support and security for their operations, they became part of what would be known as Underside.

Taking inspiration from his grandmother, The Commissar, The Commander re-named his group Cobra.  Since its foundation, Cobra forces have grown exponentially, aided by a disaffected populace and the ready availability of surplus military hardware.

A YJA Moment - G.I. Joe

The Joint Operations Executive was formally founded in 1964 by General Colton as a direct result of the events in the Caribbean Sea that year. The actions of metahumans during attempting to influence the Cuban Missile Crisis put President Kennedy on edge, prompting Colton to propose a radical new fighting force.

The "Joes" (as they were affectionately known) were a multi-branch combat unit composed of soldiers drawn from the United States Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.  In addition, soldiers from other NATO countries would be able to transfer, lending their unique skills to the team.

For decades the Joes served with distinction across the globe, fighting both conventional and unconventional enemies.  Among their most common foes were the worldwide terrorism organization HYDRA and the Soviet Union Red Shadows agency and their elite October Guard.

Throughout their tenure, the J.O.E. program had to content with finances and they were often slashed by successive Presidencies looking for budget savings. This forced the Joes to continually upgrade their existing weapons and vehicles instead of being replaced by new models.

This was ironic because the team was often chosen to field-test experimental technology in the field.  While the rest of the United States Military are using M1 Abrams Main Battle Tanks and F-35 Strike Fighters, G.I. Joe made do with surplus MBT-70 "M.O.B.A.T." Tanks and XF-14F "Skystriker" Aircraft. This despite fielding soldiers equipped with energy rifles and other advanced technology.

In 1980 the J.O.E. organization was superseded and absorbed by the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM), though little changed in their operational chain of command.  Major General Lawrence Flagg, the commander of SOCOM, felt that the secret of the Joes' success was in their independence.

Nonetheless, in 2020 after almost 55 years of service, it was announced that the Joint Operations Executive program would be discontinued; its members being transferred back to their original service branches.  It had been intended to slowly phase out the program, but with the Apokolips Invasion, that has been put on hold by S.H.I.E.L.D.

The current Joe's commander, Colonel Conrad "Duke" Hauser, has been tasked with dealing with a new military faction that has splintered from HYDRA, known only as Cobra.