The End of one Campaign, and the hint of another.

And so ends the three-year-long campaign, which took a fledgling group of metahumans from being students in a government school in New York to the halls of the gods.  In the process, we dealt with numerous unexpected twists, both on the gaming table and in real life.  We had great victories and tragic defeats, with Mary, Ken, and Mel persevering through things that would have ground other individuals to dust.

Now Darkseid is dead, and the cosmos has lost a great threat, but evil lives on.  Earth is in the grips of a growing authoritarian government, with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the New Earth Government trampling civil liberties underfoot in the name of recovery and rebuilding.  The Sword Nations, rebelling against the fascists, have maintained their fragile alliance despite the odds being stacked against them.  And things will only get harder from here.

Though this campaign is over, the story of these characters and their descendants will continue.  After a Transformers game run by Jenny Xenotropos, we will return to this crazy crossover universe with Young Justice: Avengers 2050, abbreviated YJA2050.  Thirty years in the future in the island enclave known as San Fransokyo, four young people start a new heroic career, balancing their own dreams with the legacy of being related to the legendary Mythic Avengers...

...but that will have to wait.  In the meantime, I'll be taking a break from the blog for a few months.  Eventually, however, I'll be posting more "YJA Moments".  This time, setting the scene of 2050. This campaign will be inspired by Batman Beyond, the various incarnations of Marvel 2099 and A-Next, Blade Runner, Aliens, Avatar, and various cyberpunk, and science fiction media.  And, of course, Big Hero 6.

Some of the topics discussed will be: What are the new Treaty States?  What lengths have S.H.I.E.L.D. taken to control their populace.  Who are the new heroes and villains of this time period?  How many more crossovers can I jam into this universe? And what is the history of the Treaty State of San Fransokyo, the artificial island nation created to house refugees in the aftermath of a pacific-wide kaiju invasion?

Thanks for reading the world's most unknown blog.  Until next time.

A YJA Epilogue - Regent of Outland

While in the other Treaty States, life continued relatively independent of each other, on Outland it was a flurry of activity.  As the central hub of the Sword Nations, work was already beginning on ambassadorial housing, an official meeting area, as well as expanding the portal network backbone to handle both transportation and broad-band communication. Before the Gotham vote, even before this whole alliance had formed, things were hectic, but now events were happening with breakneck speed.

It was a race against time to get the Sword Nations stable and working together. Even with the referendum agreeing to join as a Treaty State, the citizens of Gotham would be going to the polls in a few years.  History had taught the pundits that if S.W.O.R.D. couldn't bring stability to the city, they'd vote for some populist who would march Gotham right back into the hands of the New Earth Government, along with as much of the alliance's secrets as they could carry.

There were also some rumblings from the other States about the economic and military strain recent events were placed on them.  While Regent Kentauride had little to worry about with Queen Diana and the Quiet Council, she was less certain with King Orin or Black Adam. While Teth-Adam's impulsiveness was well known, Aquaman's years-long insurrection by Ocean Master and the Sub-Mariner was making his allegiance less certain.

For Ken's part, the end of the Final Shadow War was a giant weight off her shoulders. Sure, building the Sword Nations was a monumental task, but it was one she felt wasn't her burden alone.  She had still blamed herself for the Apokolips Incursion a few years ago and with the final end of Darkseid, her revenge was complete.  Now all that remained was to convince the rest of a hurting world that a fascist regime was not the solution to the current situation.

A Krakoan Life Seed had been planted in the designation plot of land in the ambassadorial enclave.  In the ever-fertile soil, it grew quickly forming a grand villa that would serve as the Embassy of the Mutant Nation.  There Kurt Wagner, the newly-appointed Krakoan ambassador to the Sword Nations would make his residence.. at least officially.  It was no secret that he had a close relationship with the Regent, and most expected he'd make his home in Castle Wyvern..., especially with a ring and upcoming nuptials to prepare.

A YJA Epilogue - The Crowns of Asgard

  In the wake of the Final Shadow War, the Fourth World had collapsed upon itself and the Fifth World had exploded from its ashes.  The metaphysical shockwaves disrupted the flows of magic, acting almost like a wake-up call for the cosmos.  In the Kingdom of the Nine Realms, the event signaled the last big event in the War of the Realms, the last trumpet in the complete victory for the forces of Asgard.

With the death of Odin, the ascension of Thor to the Final Gods, and the crowning of the former God of Trickery to the throne of Asgard, various enemies of the Golden Throne had emerged for power and revenge.  Initially, without the Odinforce, King Loki initially struggled in the conflict, but when the Dark Elves were forced to join Darkseid's army, Laufeyson used the opportunity to bring the Jotuns and Sons of Muspell to heel.

Now with the Realms at peace, Loki and Melinoe look to the next pivotal event - their coronation.  While they are both the rightful monarchs of Asgard, they had never officially been given their crowns.  Now, a party to end all parties has been planned in the Hall of Ithavoll, both to eulogize the end of the War, but also to crown and celebrate the new regents of the Nine Realms. In order to fund this soiree. Loki has opened the vaults of Asgard, filled with the plunder of the defeated.

If there was one thing Loki and Mel were both good at, it was celebrating.  Yet, this wasn't the only reason that the people were gathered.  Loki wanted to formalize Asgard's stance in the affairs of Earth and signed the Treaty of Midgard with Director Thaddeus Ross of S.H.I.E.L.D. to not interfere in Earth affairs. 

Then Loki signed a pledge with Regent Kentaride to defend the Sword Nations from any threat.  The King of Asgard, and let the New Earth Government know that he would not sit idly by if they decided to reclaim the Treaty-States by force of arms.

A YJA Epilogue - The Mantle of Life

In the hours after the battle with Darkseid had been one, the White Lantern ring began to go dark.  In the middle of the night, Mary awoke as cracks began to appear with the ring quickly crumbling into dust. Lifebringer appeared before Mary in spiritual form and spoke to her.

"It is done. The balance has been restored and a new era of divinity dawns.  Anti-Life has been vanquished; I can feel it now scurrying to the darkest corners beyond my sight.

"Long before I revived Endor, a part of me knew I was dying.  The web of life that I once nurtured with the outflow of my power, was now drawing me into itself in an attempt to be one.  But if I do that, my raw essence could have torn everything I built asunder.  I think that is why I decided to sleep, to slow my demise until there was someone to take up my Mantle.

"Ring was always a crutch, to allow you to learn to use the power within.  And if I am to be fully honest, it was a catalyst too, separating the Mantle from the Person.  The Lifebringer needs to exist for life to exist. I cannot exist forever, however, because nothing can. So a compromise needed to be made.

"You can live your life Mary anyway you want to.  That isn't to say you have no power in this world, only that the exercise of that power is completely up to you.  Unlike the other Mantles of Divinity, the role of the Lifebringer has no inherent duties or responsibilities.  It only asks that you live so others may live.

"Mary, you now are the Lifebringer.  You will have no worshippers, but all who praise nature are praising your name.  You are a god, but you are apart from all the other gods of the five eras of divinity.  You are for a time immortal, but one day you must choose to pass on the Mantle to another, and walk the Path Beyond Life.

"Now I return to my children, to be one with the trillion trillion things that I gave life to.  I'll always be around you, watching the wonders you will accomplish.  And maybe, in a time of need, you will hear my whispers of advice, encouragement... and yes, praise.  Good Bye."

And then the Lifebringer was gone, leaving Mary, the new Goddess of Life, to ponder her new role.

A YJA Epilogue - A New Dawn

As soon as Apokolips left their dimension, the Fourth World was in its final moments.  With New Genesis destroyed and the Final Gods effectively interlopers, the only thing keeping the realm alive was its connection was the essence of Darkseid, coalesced into the last of the Infinity Gems.  When Thane absorbed the power of the Entropy Stone, the final tether was lost and the Fourth World collapsed in on itself.

While the Fourth World was birthed in fire, it died in unbearable silence.

In its wake was a spiritual vacuum that all supernatural beings seemed to feel.  The universe had lost something important and few would realize what that was. This agonizing loss lasted for only a few moments before it was replaced by a feeling of revelation.  In the dimensional void came forth great prismatic lights and a new dimension screamed into existence.  When it coalesced, the differences were clear - where the Fourth World was a black void, this one was filled with light.  An endless shifting, multicolored nebula filled space, covering everything in a surreal, eternal, glow.

The Fifth World had come.

Ejected from the dying prior World, the Starlit Citadel found itself in the dimension they were always meant to inhabit.  The crystalline space station where the gods dwell looked even grander as it refracted the hues of the polychromatic nebula around it.  Here the Final Gods - the Champion, the Savant, the Sentinel, the Time Master, Thunderstrike, and Umbra the Afterworld - found their home.

On the other end of the dimension lay a desolate world even more sinister looking than Umbra itself.   A rainy, rocky world that seemed to drain the color from the space around it, turning the normally prismatic nebula into darker shades of purple and red.  This was Wraithworld, and it was the home of The Destroyer, the Final God of Entropy.

The YJA Finale - End of Worlds

Mary would set the tone for the conflict, sending the remains of the Sanctuary III crashing down upon Darkseid, destroying his Palace-City, and crushing him under tons of metal and wood.

Exploding from the debris angrily, he lunged towards the Avengers was held at bay but repeated blows from Superboy, Supergirl, and Mary Marvel; who delivered vicious fly-by attacks.  This allowed a pincer movement by Ken and Mel, who gravely pierced him with their weapons - The Sword of Power and the Sandblade of Dreams.

Reeling from the attack, he launched Omega Beams at Kentauride, but she barely deflected them away with her Sword. She returned that with impaired him in his stomach with her artifact blade.  Even the god of Apokolips could not withstand the might of these wounds.  As a cloud of ash borne from Unicron's attack covered the sky in further darkness, Darkseid collapsed to his knees.  A surprised look appeared on his face.

With Orion erased from existence, he had assumed there was no one who could defeated him.  Superman, one of the most powerful heroes in the galaxy, had tried and failed on numerous occasions.  How was this Olympian, Centaur, and young Human able to best him in this way.  Attempting one last time to fire his Omega Beams, he was instead quickly dispatched by Kentauride and Melinoe.

Then Darkseid, son of Zonus, Lord of Apokolips, died.

With his death, Apokolips also was in its death throes.  Feeling compassion for the parademons and other former slaves on the planet, Mary Marvel used the remaining power of the White Lantern to generate a wave of Lifebringer energy.  This wave turned Apokolips into a verdant world and transformed the White Dwarf into a main-sequence G-Class star.  The parademons, now freed of their conditioning and implants, began the process of creating a new civilization.

From the corpse of Darkseid emerged a sickly black stone, wreathed by the red energy of the Anti-Life Equation.  Thane, who had quietly joined the battle with his Chitauri honor guard, stepped past the collected heroes to claim his birthright.  He reached out and grabbed the Entropy Stone, tearing it from the crimson halo in which the stone was suspended.  The Anti-Life Equation screamed as Thane drew the power into himself, sending the thing-that-should-not-be scurrying back to the dark fringes of reality.

Thus Thane, son of Thanos, became The Destroyer, the Final God of Entropy, and the master of New Apokolips, also known as Wraithworld.

A YJA Moment - Dark Fractured by Daylight

Unicron bit deep into Apokolips, shattering a portion of the planet's crust, spilling fire and debris out into space.  In complete disarray, the Army of Darkness attempted to concentrate their fire but were hindered by a counter-attack by the reinvigorated and regrouped Army of the Light.  Then Unicron transformed into his humanoid form and plunged his hand into one of the Hell-Pits, as the other one swatted away Shadow vessels and Star Destroyers.

Then Darkseid floated up from the planet, his eyes flaring with energy.  His Omega Beams cut through Unicron repeatedly, causing terrible damage to its systems.  Despite being heavily wounded, the giant Transformer repeatedly struck the world, threatening to split it completely open.  Eventually, it could not stand the attack any longer and mighty Unicron retreated, and its scarred and wounded form left the battlefield and entered Hyperspace.

The damage was done.  Apokolips was in ruins and the Army of Darkness was in full retreat.  The mighty swarms of parademons swiftly moved to the fore and were able to momentarily stem the advance, but the fleets of the Light, backed by the massive firepower of Warworld Nul, seemed unstoppable.  The bodies of hundreds of thousands of Parademons burned up in the Apokopian atmosphere, a literal rain of fire in the sky complimenting the inferno on the surface.

The Mythic Avengers had been trying to seek out the Lord of Apokolips to confront him, but the massive scale of the planet had initially made that task very difficult.  With his emergence to deal with Unicron, they knew exactly where he was.  But was the Sword of Power, the Whtie Lantern, and the Mark of Cain enough to deal with the Omega Beams?  With the combined power of the Mark and her godhood, she could probably survive a singular blast...but would they need to put that to the test?

As they descended towards the Palace-City, they saw Darkseid standing on its roof.  He looked out into space and gazed upon his fractured armada and the unrelenting advance of his enemies.  With little visible emotion, he turned to the arriving Mythic Avengers and smiled darkly.  

"You wish to end this and so do I.  The Fourth World is ending; Let us decide who chooses the Fifth". 

With his eyes glowing with the Omega Effect, he clenched his fists and readied himself for combat. The final Battle was about to commence.

A YJA Moment - The Titans Emerge

 When things seemed to be lost, the Army of Light's reinforcements arrived.  A fleet of ships from previously-neutral species emerged from FTL to flank the swelling ranks of Apokolips. Klingons were joined with Romulans and Cardassians, while Kree and Skrulls united in order to strike hard against the Dark Fleet.  Even the Sinestro Corps and Red Lantern Corps joined the fray. They were led by the Millennium Falcon, piloted by Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

As soon as the Falcon entered realspace, it broke away from the others and set a course for Apokolips.  Sinestro and Atrocitous and a handpicked force of starships cleared a path towards the planet.  With covering fire from Battle-Sphere Nul, plunged into the Apokolips atmosphere, dodging the planetary defenses long enough to drop a beacon onto its surface. It dug deep into the surface as the Correllian vessel assumed escape velocity and rejoined the front lines.

The reasons for these tactics became clear minutes later when another metal planetoid appeared. The beacon had been broadcasting a signal resembling the emanations of the Autobot Matrix of Leadership. The Autobot Hot Rod had been using this signal for weeks to draw the enemy of all-Cybertronians across Known Space, so it could be used against Darkseid.  The planetoid growled angrily, as it crashed into the front lines and consumed thousands of vessels into its gigantic maw.

Unicron had arrived.

Crashing through the front lines of the Shadow War, Unicron consumed anything in its way regardless of their allegiance.  The Army of Light knew of its threat and mostly were able to move out of the way, but the Army of Darkness suffered heavy losses.  Spaceships were not the goal of the planetoid, however, and it went straight towards the planet Apokolips.  It opened its great maw to its farthest extent and descended on the world.

A YJA Moment - Sanctuary Fall

The Mythic Avengers continued making their way through the Sanctuary III.  The group split up, with Kentauride heading towards Engineering, Melinoe towards Weapons Control, and Mary Marvel heading to Life Support.  While Ken and Mel created much chaos within the ranks of the crew, Mary did the most disruption - Using the power of the Lifebringer, she birthed a giant vine lifeform in the center of the ship, its tendrils snaking through the air ducts to cause damage on a mass scale throughout the ship.

When it looked like the New Army of Light was holding its own, tragedy struck. A giant Boom Tube appeared behind the Sanctuary III, causing gravimetric waves across the entire battlefront.  Emerging from the portal was a blackened world, covered in deep volcanic pits.  A singular gigantic pit at its rear, propelled it forward, as it spat forth swarms of parademons and hunger dogs to reinforce the lines of the Army of Darkness.  Apokolips has arrived.

The fleets of Light were initially overwhelmed by the onslaught, hundreds of ships torn apart before they could reinforce their defenses.  The Army of Darkness pushed forward, driving a wedge in the alliance's front lines.  Split apart, and struggling to survive, the forces of the Light attempted to strategically retreat and regroup but found themselves outflanked and outmaneuvered.

With parademons spilling into Sanctuary III, the Mythic Avengers were aided by Green Lanterns Guy Gardner and Kilowog in escaping, leaving the starship as Mary's lifeform burst through the hull like a giant oasis in space.  Though the flagship of the Dark Fleet had been destroyed, the tide was not in their favor, even with Warworld providing supporting fire against the onslaught of the Fourth World.

Kentauride had the Lanterns send them toward Apokolips to seek out Darkseid and end this once and for all.

A YJA Moment - The Final Shadow War

 

Historians would say the Second Shadow War began with the Warworld attack on Xandar.  The loss of Xandar threatened to completely fracture the nascent Coalition of Planets. Though the alliance would remain, it was greatly weakened and focused within, allowing the Dark Armada to move without hindrance or observation.  The incursions of Vandal Savage's Battle-Sphere were but the first volleys in the conflict, and they were soon joined by the great crab-like vessels of the Shadows.

At first, the attacks were random, but soon they coalesced into a solid front that was joined by Dark Elf fleets and the Star Destroyers of the First Order.  Much of the advanced information had already been done by the Mandalorians, whose Bounty Hunters had been a ruse to conceal detailed reconnaissance.  After the Xandar tragedy did not get the desired collapse of the alien treaty, they concentrated on creating a humanitarian crisis in order to further strain the Coalition's supply lines. The Dark Fleet soon became a dagger point, piercing the Galaxy and heading towards the Core Worlds with Earth and other capital worlds in its path.

Even the loss of Warworld to the Transformers did not halt the progression.  Instead, they turned to the remains of Thanos' 'sons and daughters" of the Black Order to provide the firepower.  They had been busy augmenting their father's old flagship, the Sanctuary II, upgrading it with a host of technology reverse-engineered from Warworld and Apokolips.  The new Sanctuary III was three times the size of its predecessor, and the most powerful starship ever crafted.

Finally, they were met by the Coalition of Planets armada, a fleet made up of the bulk of the Second Nova Imperial, Shi'ar Protectorate, Tellarite Allied, and Vulcan Confederate warships. They were flanked by the Green Lantern Corps, which was composed of over a hundred volunteers from across Known Space.  Hundreds of other species also sent their ships - some to fight, but others to provide medical or logistical support.  The Coalition chose the white dwarf system, known to the Terrans as Lambda Bootis, as the site of the final stand.

Almost immediate hostilities began.  The Shadows initially inflicted heavy casualties but because their control centers were derived from sentient beings, the magics of the Light Elves of Alfheim were able to disrupt their systems.  This allowed Coalition vessels to coordinate their attacks on individual  Shadow vessels and destroy them.  This forced the Shadows to retreat, and shifted the odds greatly into the Army of Light's favor, especially with the arrival of the Cybertronian Battle-Sphere Nul.

The Mythic Avengers, backed by hordes of Vampires, then breached the Sanctuary III, tearing through the crew and onboard battalions of Stormtroopers as they attempted to disrupt operations within the vessel.  Their progress was slow, but even the outnumbering opposition could only slow the advance of the Coalition forces as they made their way towards the bridge.

The stage was set for the final battle of the Fourth World; One that would determine the fate of a Quadrillion sentient species.  This was the Final Shadow War.

A YJA Moment - Bargains and Interludes

 As the Coalition Forces and Warworld streak towards their confrontation with the Dark Fleet in Lambda Bootis, the Mythic Avengers made their own preparations for what likely will be their final battle with Darkseid.

Melinoe, the newly crowned Queen of Vampires, traveled to New York in order to marshal the undead as footsoldiers in the Last Shadow War.  Despite behind-the-scenes attempts to disrupt the proceedings by S.H.I.E.L.D, Mel was able to gather the Vampire Nation together and mobilize them.  Armed with whatever they could procure, the Nation pledged its allegiance to the Greek Goddess and made its way to the bowels of Warworld.

Mary Marvel and Kentauride journeyed to Chitauri Prime, where the Child of Thanos, Thane, was living.  Technically the leader of the Chitarui, Thane seemed more like a prisoner in his own palace.  Ken offered him the role of the god of entropy, should Darkseid be defeated.  Thane returned the offer with a bargain - he and his army would remain out of the final battle. Should his grandfather be slain, he would take on the Omega Force and rule the successor of Apokolips in the Fifth World.

With the last few hours slipping by before their rendezvous with Optimus Prime, the Mythic Avengers gathered with their loved ones.  They ate and laughed and enjoyed themselves, but you wouldn't consider it a party. There was the almost unbearable weight of their responsibility - The next day would decide the fate of a quadrillion sentient species in Known Space and it was a battle they must win at all costs.

It was light-years from when they were students in a small school on Roosevelt Island in New York when they were naive young people learning hard lessons about being metahumans.  In a few short years, they became regents of nations, wielders of mighty artifacts, and imbued with great and terrible power.  Still, against the might of the Lord of Apokolips and his allies, their great abilities seem almost insufficient for the task ahead.

But the Mythic Avengers had overcome great odds before.  And they now have powerful friends.

A YJA Moment - Operation: Quarter

Warworld was one of the greatest weapons ever created.  The original Quintesson creators had designed it to be a massive defense platform, armed with a gigantic world-destroying laser, rocket batteries, and smaller energy weapon batteries.  After being taken over by Vandal Savage, the immortal had used Darkseid's connections to further upgrade the vessel with stealth systems and advanced matter-replicator technology which allowed Warworld to construct its own ammunition.

While Warworld was a fearsome construct, its capabilities are not endless.  The replication technology required matter in order to fuel its manufacturing processes and the reactor needed exotic gasses in order to operate.  In addition, the stealth systems had a particular flaw - the Quintessons had embedded a secret identification signal undetectable by anything other than its own technology.  While the Quintessons and the Infinite Empire did not last long enough to track the Battle Sphere, the Cybertronians have inherited the ability to detect the symbol.

All these flaws led to Operation: Quarter, the Autobot, and Mythic Avengers joint operation to take control of Warworld.  The Battle Sphere was tracked by Optimus Prime to a previously-unsurveyed system, where it was siphoning gasses from the gas giant that was orbiting its main-sequence star.  Six First Order Star Destroyers were orbiting Warworld, resupplying the weapons platform with troops, food, and other incidental supplies.

Utilizing a Cloaking Device from the Romulan Star Empire, an Autobot Shuttle docked with the Battle Sphere undetected and allowed the Mythic Avengers and a detachment of Autobots to infiltrate the structure.  While much of the structure was unprotected, there were wandering teams of special operations troopers seeking out intruders.  The group did run into a lone Mandalorian but was able to disable her before she could notify the First Order or the Warworld Bridge of their presence. 

Able to reach the command hub, the Mythic Avengers directly encountered Vandal Savage and a detachment of Sith, who attempted to kill the invaders.  While Mary and Ken dispatched the Dark Side Force-Users, Mel defeated Vandal Savage and beheaded him, claiming his Mark of Cain as her own.  As she became the new Queen of Vampires, Optimus Prime incorporated the circuitry of the Battle Sphere control circlet into his Matrix of Leadership, becoming the Master of Warworld.

As Mel and the rest of the Mythic Avengers prepared their forces for the final battle, Optimus activated the full might of Warworld and set the course for the Lamba Bootis system and the final battle for the fate of Known Space.

A YJA Moment - Lincoln March

The March family made their fortune centuries in logging, first in the lush forests surrounding Gotham, and now clear-cutting old-growth trees around the world.  They have always been loyal members of the Court of Owls and Lincoln succeeded his father on that conspiratorial body, though largely his role was limited in the day-to-day affairs of the group.  That is why it was surprising when in 2015, he was called by the other members of the Court to a special meeting. 

The Talons had discovered the still-living body of Owlman, who had been thought to have perished when the Crime Syndicate invasion of Earth-Prime. When Lincoln saw Owlman he knew why they had called him: Under his mask, Owlman looked just like him.  Weeks of interrogation has revealed that on his Earth, he was Thomas Wayne Jr, who had taken up the cowl - and later control of the entire Court of Owls of his world - in vengeance over his slain parents.

Lincoln was shocked at this news but became even more disturbed when he discovered he was adopted.  More than that, people of extreme power and influence had buried the adoption records so deep that it was impossible to discover who his birth parents were.  He came to believe that the Waynes were his real parents, and if the rules of Earth-3 were consistent, his "brother" Bruce was the hero Batman.

Before strangling Owlman with his own hands, Lincoln spent long hours discovering every secret Thomas had to offer.  He then set to work emulating his Anti-Earth counterpart, using the resources of the Court of Owls to enhance himself in mind and body.  As the Bat-Family was tearing the Court to its foundations, Lincoln was building up a new force to oppose them.  He would become this dimension's Owlman.

And then he'd bring Batman to his knees and take back the birthright he so rightfully deserves. 

A YJA Moment - Crime Syndicate

In the dimension Earth-3, also known as the Anti-Earth, everything is in reverse.  The greatest heroes in the prime timeline are its greatest villains and vice-versa.  On this Earth, the greatest threat to peace and stability was the Crime Syndicate.  So powerful were these individuals, that they dominated much of the planet.  Also, their origins do not exactly match their prime counterparts in the Justice League.

The being known as Ultraman was created when pregnant Kansas farmer Martha Kent was exposed to exotic radiation from a shower of meteors from the destroyed planet Krypton.  Growing up with extraordinary powers, Clark Kent would end up being the world-level threat known as Ultraman.  Unlike his counterpart Superman, Ultraman's powers rely on him periodically absorbing the energies emanating from Kryptonite.

After failing to assassinate the leader of Themyscira, the Amazon known as Luma was exiled to the World of Men as punishment for her weakness.  After discovering the existence of Ultraman, she took over the identity of reporter Lois Lane to be close to him.  After joining the Crime Syndicate she returned to Warrior Island and destroy it, wiping out its inhabitants and looting the ancient artifacts for her own treasure vault.

Developing the super-speed inducing drug known as Velocity for the United States Military, Johnathan Chambers stole his creation and used it in order to commit crimes throughout Central City.  Saved from the heroic Captain Cold and his Rogue Hunters by the Syndicate, he donned a costume and became Johnny Quick.  Unlike the Flash, Johnny Quick has no natural powers and is hopelessly addicted to both Velocity and the connection to the Speed Force it facilitates.

In ancient times, the warlords of the planet Maltus bound an ancient demon to a ring for power.  When the Maltusans were wiped out the ring was lost for eons until it appeared on Earth and was discovered by fighter ace Harold Jordan who used it to become the villain Power Ring.  Possessing great powers of energy manipulation, Jordan has his soul linked to the essence of Volthoom, whose infernal appetite is steadily consuming it.

Backed by the magnanimous Court of Owls, Thomas Wayne Jr. was destined to be the world's greatest champion until his parents were killed in an attempt to murder Court Leadership.  Embittered, he took his knowledge and wealth in order to become the villain Owlman.  He would vanquish the leadership of the Court and turn their Talons on his enemies.  After being lost on an excursion to Earth-Prime, his prize pupil Calvin Rose has succeeded him.

A YJA Moment - Z'Ha'Dum

In their arrogance, the ancient beings that have terrorized Known Space for millennia have no name for themselves.  They are content for others to call them The Shadows, for, without a true name, they have proven a difficult foe to effect with magic.  Every dozen or so millennia, The Shadows emerge from their homeworld to spread across the Universe.  Those that proved worthy would survive; the rest would be eradicated.  Only the most powerful of groups, like the Green Lantern Corps, were able to stop their relentless advance.

Every time the Shadows were defeated, the survivors scurried back to their homeworld, the infamous planet known as  Z'Ha'Dum.  There they would heal, rebuild, and foment new plans to scour Known Space of all weakness and raise up the strongest species to thrive in their place.  Underneath the desolate surface were seemingly endless corridors and caverns, where their automatons were located.  Hundreds of birthing chambers, fabrication centers, and spacedocks prepared the mighty Shadow fleet for its next interstellar crusade.

No species could ever get close to Z'Ha'Dum to strike a final blow.  Every empire and entity, no matter how powerful they perceived themselves, could never reach past the threshold of the system.  The greatest of Elves, the largest alien fleets, and the mightiest of Vorlon vessels sought to reach orbit around the Shadow homeworld, only to be pushed back gravely injured or outright destroyed.  No one knows what devices were responsible, only that the Vorlon saying is true:

If you go to  Z'Ha'Dum, you will die.

The Shadow War was one of the greatest conflicts the species had ever seen and the closest it had ever been to complete victory.  They had sworn oaths of allegiance, thinking him a kindred spirit.  By the time they realized the Lord of Apocalypse had ulterior motives, the Army of Darkness had already started to fragment.  Torn apart by the Army of the Light, the last remaining Shadows limped home and slept, determined to let the younger races decline into their own ruin without their intervention.

But they didn't consider their Oath and the power it contained.  Ensnared by the pact, Darkseid has forced the Shadows to awaken and activate the fleet of vessels which automatic facilities had built in their slumber. Now effectively slaves to Apokolips, the Shadows are being sent to attack the empires of Known Space, attempting to cause division that will weaken their resolve and allow the new Army of Darkness.

The Second Shadow War is coming and instead of being its architects, it's become its cannon fodder.

 

A YJA Moment - The Court of Owls

The group that is known as the Court of Owls began innocently as an exclusive gentlemen's club for the richest families on the East Coast.  Founded by R.H. Orchard in 1836, it was envisioned as a meeting of the greatest financiers in America.  The club was very exclusive, only admitting those whose pocketbook could afford the initial membership fee and yearly tithe.  Membership allowed access to their lavish meeting halls and activities such as hunting trips, lavish parties, and debauched escapades inspired by the infamous Scottish Hellfire Clubs of the 18th Century.

Through the Court, a network of influence was created, which allowed the members to further increase their wealth and power.  Because of its location, many of the upper classes settled in Gotham and the Court of Owls gained unprecedented control over the daily affairs in the city.  They used that control to promote industry but stifle workers rights, creating a wealth gap that far exceeded its neighbors.  Problems they couldn't solve from money and politics were dealt with by their trusted agents known as Talons

The Talons were originally hired goons that provided security for their soirées, but as the group gained wealth and connections, so did the Talon's capabilities.  By the turn of the 20th Century, a Talon was a brainwashed assassin, trained by the best warriors in the world, physically augmented with fringe science, and cryogenically frozen until they were needed.  So feared were the agents of the Court, that the Talons became enshrined in children's nursery rhymes in Gotham.

It's ironic that the decline of the Court corresponded with the rise of the Dark Knight.  Bruce Wayne's parents had long campaigned to change the fortunes of the city's poor, working to restore infrastructure and social programs that had stagnated over the decades. Though it's unclear if the Owls had anything to do with the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne, they used their proxies within the GCPD to hinder the murder investigation.  It would be this injustice that would spur Bruce to become Batman.

The Bat-Family and the Court of Owls would clash on a regular basis, with the Gotham heroes becoming victorious each time.  No matter what the Court seemed to plan, Batman and his allies would find a way of stopping them, stripping away a layer of influence in the process.  In the aftermath of the Apokolips Incursion, there were only a handful of Talons in reserve and most of the Court's chief influencers saw themselves incarcerated or otherwise neutralized.

Their final hope was the Special Security Zone and the Magistrate, who was a loyal member of the Court.  The fallout from that debacle put the city in the hands of the Sword Nations and their arch-enemy James Gordon. Fearing a radical change in the social order, many of the wealthiest dynasties have chosen to leave Gotham, and as a result, the members of the Court of Owls dwindle each day.  It truly seems like the end of an era.

Now with the referendum nearing, the Court of Owls believes they need to act decisively or they will be swept away.  

They would need another Night of the Talons…

A YJA Moment - The War Worlds of Cybertron

 The revelation that the Warworld piloted by Vandal Savage was created by Cybertronians came as a shock to the Mythic Avengers, but it had the effect of revealing a previously unknown era of Transformer history. In the time before the All-Spark, the robot servants of the Quintessons served the Infinite Empire.  They were based on the artificial factory-world of Cybertron, which made numerous products for the growing Rakatan military.  Amongst them were giant Battle-Spheres which were intended to serve as mobile bases for the Infinite Empire fleet.

The original Battle-Sphere prototype, code-named Nul, underwent extensive trials against the neighbors of the Infinite Empire. It was slated to be officially transferred to the Imperial fleet, when its commander staged a rebellion, using Nul against Rakatan ships which had been escorting it.  After leaving a swath of destruction across the entire Empire, where he was pursued by the entire Infinite Empire armada, he took the Battle outside Known Space.  It would be many centuries before Nul would return, piloted by the alien Mongol as Warworld.

The loss of Nul caused ripples throughout the Empire, including Cybertron.  The leadership of the Rakatan completely halted further development of the Battle-Spheres, leaving the future of the other three prototypes Unias, Binar, and Trion uncertain.  To prevent further incidents, the Quintessons were ordered to disable the propulsion and centralized control systems from all the Battle-Spheres immediately.  This forced them to repurpose the satellites for other purposes.

Unias, the largest of the Battle-Spheres, was redesigned for matter-processing.  Large planetoids or other mineral-rich debris were funneled to Unias so it could be ground down, sorted, and smelted into any useful metals or other elements.  Over time, a central control unit was installed similar to the one utilized in Cybertron in order to improve coordination and efficiency.  This proved disastrous during the Prime War when Unias was turned against the rebel Transformers.  Primus used the power of the All-Spark to grant sentience to the Battle-Sphere, creating Unicron, which proceeded to devastate the Quinesson forces before leaving for parts unknown.

Binar and Trion were only partially completed when construction was ended, and neither the Quintessons nor the Transformers seemed to be interested in rendering them operational.  Instead, they transitioned to be expansion areas for the Transformer population, with much of their combat systems replaced with habitation and manufacturing areas.  During the Great War between the Autobots and Decepticons, the moons were considered a great prize by Megatron, who sought to mount orbital weapons on them to strike at Autobot cities on the main planet.

A YJA Moment - The All-Spark

The beginning of the history of the Transformers lies with the Quintessons, a cybernetic race of aliens which operated as vassals of the great Infinite Empire.  In the time before their development of their Starforges, the Rakatan were reliant on a number of client species, of which the Quintessons were but a part.  They developed armies of robotic servants which mined heavy minerals and crafted them into finished goods for the Empire's voracious appetites.  These robots ranged in awareness, with the Prime Coordinators being the most intelligent.  None of the robots were considered sapient.

In one of the worlds, a Prime Coordinator stumbled through a natural rift to what later would be revealed to the Underworld. Utilizing survival routines, they began to explore the area in order to find a way back to his mining unit.  Instead, he discovered an abandoned tomb within a glowing gem that seemingly called out to him.  Touching the gem, it was suddenly flooded with knowledge and self-awareness, becoming a sentient robot being.  No longer was it a Prime Coordinator, but the first of a brand new species.  He was now Primus, imbued with the seemingly-endless spiritual reservoir called the All-Spark.

He made his way back to the living world and granted souls, known as Sparks, to his fellow automatons.  This created the first of what would be known as Transformers.  Primus traveled across Quintesson space, granting self-awareness to every robot he could find.  When the Quintessons intervened, his followers took up arms against them and freed themselves from the yoke of slavery.  The last act of their former masters was to turn one of the Warworlds of Cybertron against them, but the attack ended when Primus gave it a Spark, creating Unicron.  Unicorn destroyed the last of the Quintesson armada but turned his back on the rest of the Transformers to travel to worlds unknown.

In order to facilitate the future of his species, Primus traveled to the deepest layers of Cybertron, where he merged with the central processing centers.  This created the Well of the All-Spark, the heart of the planet where all-new Transformers protoforms receive their souls.  In terms of Transformer religious belief, Primus is the closest thing that the Cybertronians have to a god, and they give reverence to him for the foundation of their entire species.

A YJA Moment - Jezebel Jet

 Jezebel Jet first exploded on the social scene when she was only fifteen.  She was the daughter of Aelian Jet, the founder of Jet Petroleum, who made a fortune when he merged his company with the giant energy corporation Roxxon Oil.  From the very beginning, she stood out amongst Gotham's privileged teenagers - she was articulate, intuitive, and highly intelligent.  In addition, she managed to stay out of the controversy and scandal that plagued the youth of the upper crust.

After graduating from Yale with a law degree, Jezebel went on to become a successful lawyer with Freeman & Spencer, eventually becoming a full partner.  It was her published opinion pieces in the Gotham Gazette, in particular her views on law, politics, and society that gained her the most attention.  Her frank and understanding style gained her a following and soon her work was syndicated to a variety of newspapers such as the Metropolis Daily Planet, New York Bulletin, and America Today.

Morgon Edge signed Jet to an exclusive deal to host a talk show called Jetstream on his EdgeTV network, promising her no editorial interference.  She used her family's reputation and her professional contacts to gain access to some of the most influential, and often reclusive, individuals in the world.  Despite her presence in a conservative network, Jet was known for her hard-hitting, but neutral style.  Those she interviewed often faced tough questions, which further enhanced her reputation, and Jetstream was one of EdgeTV's most popular shows.

During 2019 the relationship soured between Jezebel Jet and her employer.  Her shows featured members of Stormwatch and Checkmate which had painted the organizations in a very poor light.  In particular, her interview with Henry Peter Gyrich was the catalyst for much public outcry against him and his agency.  Morgon Edge took the unprecedented step of taking control of her program, firing much of her writing staff and replacing them with those from the Silver & Gold talk show.

Jet was furious and announced that she was resigning from EdgeTV effective immediately.  Both sides threatened lawsuits against each other for breach of contract.  The media and tabloids had a field day with the controversy, filling the airwaves with endless stories regarding Edge, Jet, and the network. In the end, both sides came to an amicable separation, one that saw Jet earn millions of dollars of severance and a promise not to return to the airwaves for twelve months.

Jezebel Jet kept a low profile for nearly two years, but it was assumed that when Gotham became a protectorate of the Sword Nations, she would relocate to the New Earth Government. It was a total surprise when in the final days of 2021, Jezebel Jet announced that she signed a multi-year agreement with the Gotham Broadcasting System to host the talk show The Jet Set.  While little was known about the contract, it was believed that they held the same terms as her previous EdgeTV deal.

With the upcoming referendum regarding Gotham's place in the Sword Nations, Jet has embarked on a series of interviews, including Provisional Governor James Gordon, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Thaddeus Ross, and industrialist philanthropist Bruce Wayne.  She is currently setting her sights on the individuals who have embarked the city on this political tightrope, the heroic group known as the Mythic Avengers...

Mary's Dream

 Mary slept in her bed and dreamed of the Entity.

She stood in the middle of mist-covered nothingness when the Entity appeared before her.  Mary didn't know what to say but found herself blurting out "What is your name?"

I have no true name.  True names are things that were given by those that have gone before, for there was none before me.  It was my eyes that first glimpsed the forming universe; my hand that first touched the cooling surface of the first planet

The species that shares my resting place called me the Lifebringer and I feel that is fitting.  I did seed the worlds that would bring forth the first of the First Ones, the Celestials, and the Guardians.  I tended the gardens of a million million worlds, creating the lush vistas you have undoubtedly seen

The Entity seemed to sense the growing religious conflict that was growing in Mary.

I am not here to confirm your beliefs, child, but neither am I here to invalidate them. There are things that are greater than me, and in turn there are things greater than them.  I am not sure where the chain of existence ends, only that only there you will find the answers you seek.

I did not create the Four Eras of divinity, but I did stoke the embers of faith which allowed them to grow.

Mary seemed to understand but grew sad. "You died.  You died giving me this power". In her trembling hand was the White Lantern Ring.

Death?, the Entity replied. I am the fount from which all life flows.  I am not sure I can truly die, though the Master of Entropy will put that to the test.  Regardless, the afterlife is not equipped to deal with one such as I, so I am not sure what is after this, once my...existence ends.

But yes, I did give you this power because that is my purpose.  I bring life and this...anti-life...is against everything I am.  I could do nothing else.

The Entity smiled and touched the tear flowing down Mary's cheek.

Now be my lifebringer, Mary.  Save the universe and bring life to all you can.  I am you now.

And then Mary woke up in her bedroom.  She could have sworn there was a bright light in the window just a second before.

A YJA Moment - Endor

 Located in the rim of settled space, the moon of Endor orbits a great gas giant known as Tana.  The planet possesses vast forests of giant trees which are broken up by large oceans.  It also is home to various sentient and semi-sentient species, and a host of dangerous flora and fauna.  It is because of the perilous nature of the planet that Endor has seen very little extraterrestrial visitation, despite its abundance of harvestable resources.

That is until the Galactic Empire came.  Using the moon as a staging ground, they began the construction of the second Death Star in orbit.  While imperial soldiers and stormtroopers landed throughout the planet, their interactions with the native Ewoks were minimal at best.  It wasn't until the arrival of the Rebellion, that the tribes rose up against the Empire, aiding the Rebels in destroying the battle station, and with it Emperor Palpatine.

The destruction of the Death Star by the Rebel forces devastated the ecology.  Debris from the battle station caused widespread destruction on the surface and caused dust to be ejected into the atmosphere.  An ecological collapse soon followed and the nascent New Republic was forced to evacuate the Ewoks to colonies throughout the sector.

Many years later, descendants of the Ewoks returned to their planet to find it miraculously healed.  The being known as the Entity, which the Ewoks called the Lifegiver, sacrificed much of its life energy in order to heal the planet. Settling on the world, the ursine tribespeople venerated the resting place of the Lifegiver in the Valley of Lights, where the Entity drifts between life and death.

Recently, the Mythic Avengers traveled to Endor to commune with the Entity and gain the power to defeat Darkseid.  The Lord of Apokolips himself set foot on the planet to stop them but could not prevent Mary from receiving the White Lantern Ring and the Mythic Avengers escaped in their starship with a cargo hold full of Ewok villagers. 

It is believed Darkseid entered the tomb of the Lifegiver, but it's unclear what occurred after that.

A YJA Moment - Sabine De La Croix

The wielder of the power of Mazahs, Sabine De La Croix, was born to a destitute family in the city of New Orleans. Acquainted with hardship she managed to claw herself out of poverty, doing what was necessary to survive and eventually prosper.  Attending university she found herself in a forbidden section of the school library.  It was then that she encountered the Order of Merlin.

As soon as she was inducted into the Order, her star was on the rise.  Naturally skilled in the arcane arts, she excelled in training and mastered every task set in front of her.  Her allies elevated her status and her rivals were quickly dispatched.  It was only a matter of time before Sabine would meet the leader of the Order - Merlin, who was also the ancient Nephilim sorcerer, Saruman the White.

Saruman had been seeking the source of the power of the Anti-Life Equation for some time.  In his attempts to locate the metal remains of the One Ring of Power, he discovered something else.  While the Rock of Eternity is a beacon of magic, there was something else forming; something opposite, mind-rending but equally as powerful.  

Dubbing this power the Mire of Insanity, he sent Sabine to tap its power.  She traveled the world seeking out profane tomes of lore - the Darkhold, De Vermis Mysteriis, the Book of Eibon, and the G'harne Fragments.  Where the Guardian of Magic bestowed the abilities of the Old Gods, Sabine bartered for the power of the unspeakable - Cthon, the Dweller in Darkness, the Many-Angled Ones, Oshtur, and Shuma-Gorath.

Speaking the name "Mazahs", Sabine was equal to the might of Captain Marvel.  In addition to being physically imposing, she also had the ability to bend the laws of space and time, granting her the ability to teleport and "fly".However, her hallucinations and night terrors suggested that she was tapping into something unnatural.  Even her desire for power and control couldn't sweep away the feeling that this route would end in tragedy.

In Avalon, Sabine encountered the Mythic Avengers, who offered her a chance to learn magic at the feet of the Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange.  She agreed and helped Kentauride obtain the Sword of Power.  When confronted by Merlin and told of her status as a "test subject", Sabine returned the power to the White Wizard in the form of a giant read thunderbolt.

Now under the tutelage of Dr. Strange, Sabine has undertaken a new challenge.  Turn her back on the darker elements of her ambitious nature and embrace the responsibility of a true master of the mystic arts.

A YJA Moment - Between Life and Death

Drifting between the states of alive and dead is against all the laws of nature but it's something Anti-life enables and revels in.  Though there are many versions of the walking dead, the most threatening to humanity was one that was never intended to imbue unlife.  It has been called many things but its official designation was the T-Serum.

The origins of the T-Serum lie with the Progenitor Compound which was discovered by doctors Oswell Spencer, James Marcus, and Edward Ashford.  It's unclear where they got the compound from, but there are many rumors that they came from tainted fauna or microbiological life underground. The goal was to develop life-saving medical compounds, but soon they saw a far more lucrative venture.

The Umbrella Group was a collection of companies founded by Markus, Spencer, and Ashford which worked to create the B-Serum, an alternative to the more renowned Super Soldier Serum.  Recipients were unstoppable, healing damage within seconds and regrowing lost limbs within minutes.  They were, however, prone to fits of mindless rage, which limited their application on the battlefield.

Things were progressing well until disaster struck.  At a research facility somewhere in Raccoon Township, Illinois, a sample of the T-Serum was released.  This version of the Compound was designed to be aerosolized in order to enhance large groups of soldiers but turned out to be highly toxic. However, even the researchers didn't realize that the compound still had regenerative properties and soon those the serum killed were walking again.

These Zombies were mindless creations instilled with boundless aggression.  Following some perverse facsimile of biological function, they sought to consume the flesh of anyone that crossed their path. Even worse, their saliva contained enough T-Serum that anyone bitten would die and also rise as a zombie.

With hundreds of people infected with the T-Serum, it took a clandestine effort by the Office of National Emergency, Covert Action Team Shield, and elements of United States Special Forces to stop the spread.  Afterward, intelligence agencies started to discover the horrifying experiments undertaken by Umbrella and by noted doctor Albert Wesker in particular.

The Umbrella Group was shut down but Dr. Wesker escaped.  Since that time, the rogue doctor has attempted to revive the T-Serum program, only to be stopped by an array of heroes.  One such action by Rip Hunter created an alternate timeline where the Serum turned the world's heroes into zombies and ended civilization.

A YJA Moment - The System Lords

 Far beyond the Dynasties, the Imperium, or even settlement of the Core Worlds, the species called the Goa'uld ruled the stars.  Calling themselves the System Lords, they had discovered the Celestial wormhole network they called Stargates and used them to invade and conquer numerous star systems.

The Goa'uld are small worm-like beings that require a symbiotic relationship with an intelligent species in order to be fully mobile.  In the early days, they did not have an optimal host until they found humanity on a backwater world known as Earth.  They conquered some of the ancient empires of that planet and took slaves, leading to the establishment of Ancient Egyptian mythology and culture.

Within the human body, the Goa'uld worms would take over control of the host, sundering their mind.  One a few million symbiotes would evolve into Royal status, gaining a huge leap in technology and emitting some sort of signal which caused the other Goa'uld to obey them as gods.  This new System Lord would then have to survive against the other royal worms, as they attempt to carve out an empire of their own.

Over the millennia, the System Lords have lost their influence and territory to the other races in the galaxy.  They still remain in the darkest corners of Known Space, using Stargates to access the more inhabited sectors.  Though their technology has lagged behind those of other nations, they are still a formidable foe.

In order to increase their effectiveness, they genetically engineered humans, known as Jaffa, to be stronger and more capable hosts forming them into huge armies. These Jaffa added Ma'Tok energy staves to their traditional Zat'nik'tel energy pistols and wore heavy plate armor that protected them from attacks.

For the first time, they constructed starships in which to launch larger attacks.  Their most common vessel, the Ha'tak possessed a hyperdrive similar to those commonly utilized Known Space and could hold thousands of troops and dozens of Death Glider fighters.  They also utilized a Transportation Rings system similar to Vulcan Transporters, though it can only teleport someone between two ring sites.

A YJA Moment - The Infinite Empire

Thousands of years ago, during the time of the Old Imperium, there was a rival alien government that spanned the stars.  Technologically superior to any of the other Young Species in Known Space, they managed to control over 500 systems at their height.  They had no name for their government, but those who observed them called them the Infinite Empire.

The Infinite Empire was ruled by the Rakatan, a now-extinct amphibian species which grew from the planet that is now known as Lehon.  Known to be highly intelligent and devoted to science, they developed a version of the hyperdrive and began aggressively colonizing the stars.  Soon they were rivaled by the Imperium in the Core Worlds and Mid-Rim of the Galaxy

The heart of the Infinite Empire's strength was its matter-energy-conversion technology, the ability of a machine to construct organic and inorganic products with nothing more than a power source.  The Empire utilized this technology to do everything from synthesizing food and tools, all the way to constructing starships and terraform planets.

At some point before the foundation of the Galactic Republic, the Infinite Empire faded away.  From the scant records of that time, it seemed to be a civil war that erupted within the nation but Imperium reports indicate that some sort of plague also swept through their planets, causing the death of billions of Rakatan.

Whatever the case, little remains of the culture and technology of the Rakatan or the Infinite Empire in the modern-day galaxy.  Early in the Galactic Republic history, a Sith managed to find a Star Forge, a Rakatan satellite capable of manufacturing hundreds of robot-crewed starships at a time.  Darth Revan used this device to create a vast fleet to attack the Old Republic, sparking their first real crisis since their foundation.

A joint effort between the Republic and the Jedi Order was able to destroy the Star Forge and end Revan's insurrection.  The remains of the Forge were lost to scavengers and over the next millennia, they have floated through DarkNet auctions and personal collections.  The Vulcan used the knowledge to create their Transporters and are looking at furthering it to developing full-blown Replicators.

A YJA Moment - Extraordinary Leagues

 In the 19th Century, the government of the United Kingdom was facing great changes in the dominion.  Beyond the regular insurgencies were the emergence of strange phenomena and even stranger individuals.  People who could fly and strange beings from elsewhere were not easily dealt with by the British Armed Forces or the Constabulary. In order to deal with the extraordinary threats, the Prime Minister created the Special Defence Service (SDS).

Because secrecy was the key, all key members of the group were only referred to by a letter, with the leader being referred to as the initial M.  One of the first orders of business was to deal with the threat of the Fantome, a mastermind who pretended to be the famous Le Fantôme de l’Opéra from the Paris Opera House.  In order to counter this threat, M gathered together a group of strange individuals who would become the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

The League was composed of adventurer Alan Quartermain, nautical crusader Captain Nemo, immortal dilettante Dorian Grey, the vampire Mina Harker, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and his behemoth alter-ego Mr. Edward Hyde, Hawley Griffin the Invisible Man, and American secret agent Tom Sawyer. In their first mission that had to suffer a betrayal by none other than M himself and Dorian Grey.  It was revealed that M was Professor James Moriarty who had survived the Reichenbach Falls and was using the Fantom to steal extraordinary artifacts, including those of the SDS and League

The team survived their betrayal and the death of Alan Quartermain, going on to defeat Moriarty and recover his stolen loot.  In the years that followed the League would continue to deal with extraordinary threats such as Robur the Conqueror and Xu Wenwu the Mandarin.  During the Martian Invasion of 1898, the team was instrumental in turning back the Cydonians but contact was lost and presumed dead.

With the loss of the entire League, the government downsized SDS operations, and the agency had significantly fewer personnel and active agents at its disposal.  It still conducted operations throughout the shrinking British Empire, seeking out cases the regular authorities couldn't deal with.  Eventually, M was transferred to the newly-formed Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the SDS was made a covert department within its ranks with the same budget restrictions as before.

During the 1960s another crisis would spark the formation of another team, this time code-named The Establishment.  It was composed of British superhero The Baron, MI6 agent John Steed and his polymath assistant Emma Peel, the alien trio The Golden, the metahuman alchemist Mr. Pharmacist, the ghost Christopher Truelove and his channeller Bertrand Bulman, and the magically empowered Templar.

The Establishment was rather short-lived, falling in battle to another alien threat.  In the aftermath, the latest M shut down the SDS in favor of his other project, the exceptional but unpowered 00 Section also within MI6.  What remained of the department was spun off into a worse funded agency called MI13. While their mandate was to investigate the paranormal, in practice they were shut out by their rivals in MI5 and MI6.

In 2021 in order to counteract the influence by groups such as Checkmate and Stormwatch, MI13 joined an alliance with the American Office of Nation Emergency, the French Le Bureau Discret, and dozens of other special agencies around the world.  This combined-intelligence network would eventually be sanctioned by the United Nations and coalesce into the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D).

After the Apokolips Invasion,  the British branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. established a group the code-named Excalibur, composed of the newly-empowered Captain Britain, his metamorphic wife Meggan, his metahuman sister Psylocke, sonically-powered Banshee, Jon the Skrull, unaging warrior the Shining Knight, special agent Pete Wisdom, and the Joseph Chapman the latest super-solder Union Jack. Excalibur was folded into the Global Avengers Initiative in early 2022.

A YJA moment - The Martians (Part Two)

Mars has a long history, most of which is barely understood.  Its believed that the planet served as either a colony or outpost by a highly advanced civilization.  There are ruins on the planet that are impossibly old, and there are artifacts with technology far in advance of anything even modern Martians can achieve.

During the 19th Century, the planet Mars was known by its inhabitants by another name: Barsoom.  In that world were many different species of beings, each antagonistic with each other.  The four-armed reptilian Tharks warred constantly with the Red Martians, near-humans who had settled into a series of city-states such as Helium and Zodanga. The Red nations themselves held rivalries and fought with each other over resources and land.

During this period the Malacandrans, the beings we know today as Martians, were dominated by their White Martian minority.  They hid in subterranean cities, using their shapeshifting and psychic powers to manipulate the other species in order to prevent them from accidentally discovering their civilization.

Enter John Carter of Earth.  The former American Confederate soldier was hiding in a cave when he accidentally activated an Ancient teleportation relic, which transported him to Barsoom.  There he encountered the Tharks, Red Martians, and the mysterious White Martians which all were in conflict.  He brokered peace between the peoples of Barsoom and became a leader in Helium.

Years after Carter left for the final time, a calamity struck the planet.  Unbeknownst to the other nations, another species dwelled on Barsoom.  It was a race of scavengers who had been defeated by the Ancients and had hidden in secret pockets throughout the planet in order to hide while their systems healed themselves.  Modern scholars would name them Cydonians, after the "face" which marked one of their largest vaults.

In 1898 the Cydonians awoke, bursting out of their stasis-tombs like locusts and swept across Mars.  The city-states of the Red Martians and the Thark enclaves quickly fell to the highly advanced intruders and soon the remains of their civilizations were picked clean for useful materials, minerals, and bio-matter.

The Cydonians then left for Earth, where they would attack London, only to fall to a biological weapon dropped on them by a member of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  With the intruders defeated and the threat to Mars over, the White and Green Martians emerged from their hidden cities and claimed the planet for themselves.

As a footnote: Few people know that in 1885, John Carter and Deja Thoris signed a peace treaty with United States President Andrew Jackson.  Part of the agreement was granting Earth land on Barsoom to set up an embassy, something that wouldn't happen until almost 140 years later.  But that is another story for another day.

A YJA Moment - The Twelve Colonies

Thousands of years ago the Dynasty known as House Cyrann spread out from the Core Worlds, seeking new systems and natural resources to exploit. Amongst them was a multi-star known as Cyrannus in which was rich in metals and other rare minerals. Soon the Dynasty had planted settlements on a dozen different planets. The leaders of the Cyrann referred to these outposts as The Colonies.

Over the years these colonies grew to become nations in their own right.  They numbered twelve – Aerelon, Aquaria, Canceron, Caprica, Gemenon, Leonis, Libris, Picon, Sagittaron, Scorpia, Tauron, and Virgon.  While all had originally descended from the population of their homeworld Kobol, they each developed into unique cultures.

The First Cylon War changed everything. Kobol had developed intelligent machines which turned against their creators and attempted to eradicate all organic life in the universe. The various nations gathered together into a confederation known as the United Colonies of Kobol to face the threat.  The Battlestars of the Colonies managed to keep the worst of the attacks away from their inhabited worlds.

The Cylons were stopped but the war resulted in the complete destruction of Kobol. Cut off the newly formed Imperium, the United Colonies continued to operate independently for many centuries.  Their technology grew, developing their own limited form of FTL (faster-than-light) drives based on the old Spacing Guild Space Fold technology.

They believed that the Cylons had been destroyed during the War, but they were wrong.  In the darkness of space, their Basestars survived and the machines developed new synthetic technology to create infiltrators that looked exactly like humans. They undermined the Colonies from within, allowing the Cyclons to attack without warning.

The Second Cylon War was short and devistating. Utilizing stolen FTL drive technology, they emerged in the Cyrannus system, launching nukes at every settlement they found.  Though some human ships were able to jump out of the system, most were surprised by the attack and perished in white-hot nuclear explosions.  Within forty-eight hours the United Colonies of Kobol were no more.

The fate of the Cylons remains unknown.

A YJA Moment - The Spice Must Flow

Arrakis, also called Dune, is a planet in the constellation Canopus, a star over 300 light-years from the Sol System.  It is a desert planet, largely uninhabited except for a handful of species adapted to live in such a hostile world.  Among them are great Sandworms which burrow under the dunes.  Their existence and life cycle are responsible for a substance that has been in various times in galactic history, one of the most important substances in existence.  The drug is known as Melange or simply as the Spice.

Sometime in the distant past, the Imperium which controlled the galaxy utilized the Spice for a variety of purposes.  The Noble Houses used it as a method of life-extension; the Spacing Guild required it for their Navigators which made interplanetary travel possible, and the Bene Gesserit needed it to expand and fuel their potent psychic powers.  The Spice was mined by the Fremen a population of humans who dwell on the planet's mountainous outcroppings.

They attempted to transplant the building blocks for the creation of the drug to other worlds in order to reduce the importance of Arrakis.  Sandworm skeletons and fungal deposits have been discovered over a dozen worlds, along with the telltale signs of mining settlements. In almost every situation, these export attempts seem to have been failures, but their remains have provided some sources of Spice outside Dune, as evidenced by the Spice Mines of Kessel.

Spice is formed when subterranean fungal deposits come in contact with fluids produced by newly-born Sandworms.  The resulting chemical reaction creates the Spice along with an occupying gaseous discharge known as a blowout.  Getting Spice on Arrakis requires sifting through tons of sand particles in order to extract the tiny hidden grains of narcotic within.  After an expensive processing process, the drug is ready to be utilized, normally through some sort of inhaler.

The main ability of Spice is to expand consciousness, granting minor psychic awareness to most normal individuals and greatly enhancing the psionic powers of mentalists.  This, accompanied by extreme euphoria, makes the drug highly prized on the black market.  In addition, prolonged use has anti-agathic properties, extending the lifespans of most carbon-based lifeforms.  However, tests have shown that multi-generational use can cause genetic mutations to occur.

Arrakis was under the protection of the Nova Empire, which kept a strict quarantine to prevent unauthorized mining and to protect the Sandworms.  With the fall of the first empire and the chaotic formation of the Second Nova Empire, the planet's security detail is poorly staffed and under-equipped. This has allowed rogue mining operations to flourish on the planet, stopped only by the Fremen.

A YJA Moment - The Imperium

 With the emergence of the Spacing Guild and Space Fold technology, the Core Worlds expanded, and great Dynasties began to vie for control of the galaxy.  Families like the Atreides from Caladan, the Corrino of Kaitain, the Cyrann of Kobol, the Harkonnen of Giedi Prime, and the Organa from Alderaan fought with each other for land and resources.

When the machines created by the Cyrann revolted against their creators, the Dynasties came together to fight them.  The Cylon War unified the Core Worlds and under the Corrino they were forged into a new alliance. This alliance would eventually become known as the Old Empire, the Old Imperium, or simply the Imperium.

The Imperium lasted for thousands of years, their rule uncontested by any other force in the galaxy. It was full of powerful forces - Noble Houses made up of the former Dynasties, the Navigators of the Spacing Guild, the economic might of CHOAM, and the potent psychic abilities of the Bene Gesserit. For most of this time, they were ruled by House Corrino and his dreaded troops, the Sardaukar.

But an Emperor made the mistake of allowing a House feud to involve Arrakis, the desert world that held Melange, the drug which allowed the Navigators to function.  The Dune War would result in the fall of House Corrino and the ascendancy of House Atreides to the Golden Lion Throne. The new Emperor made reforms and changed the Imperium forever.

The last of the Imperial line was a near-omnipotent psychic known as the God-Emperor. Upon his death, the Imperium fractured, and the Noble Houses resumed warring against each other. During the battle, the planet of Arrakis was lost and soon space travel became far less frequent due to the rationing of the last reserves of Melange.

When the planet Corellia discovered Hyperdrive technology, the monopoly of the Spacing Guild was finally broken. Though slower than Space Folds, Hyperdrives were cheaper to produce, could navigate by computers, and was powered by easilier acquired fuel. The hyperdrive would allow a new interplanetary government, the Galactic Republic to sweep through the core worlds, assimilating the last vestiges of the Imperium.

A YJA Moment - Merlin the Magician

 Perhaps the most famous magic user in history, the mysterious wizard known as Merlin has been the subject of countless legends and fictional tales.  While many believe he was part-demon, the truth was stranger still.  He was in fact an Angel who served the Valar, the heavenly caretakers of Middle-Earth, the Earth that existed thousands of years ago. In those days he was not known as Merlin, but by another name - Saruman the White.

Like his sibling Olórin (Gandalf), Curunír was sent to Middle-Earth in order to help the people in the Third Age to prepare for the coming darkness.  A powerful magician and a natural leader, he took on the identity of Saruman and rose to leadership over his fellow Wizards.  At the high of his career, he held the coveted seat at the head of the White Council.  It could be argued he was one of the most powerful members of the Army of Light.

However, he was not of the light, at least not anymore.  At some point pride and greed took hold of him and he sought to aid Sauron and his Army of Darkness.  He formed an army of his own, composed of genetically-enhanced Orcs which he called his Uruk-hai. While he had some early success, his armies were decimated by the Army of Light, his fortress of Isengard toppled by the Ents of Fangorn Forest, and he himself was slain by his lackey Grima Wormtongue.

But evil has a way of coming back.

As an angelic being, his spirit drifted through various realms until it settled on a recently deceased mortal whom it could possess.  Who this person was is unimportant, what mattered was that Saruman used his powers to sunder what remained of its spirit, take its place within the body, and then raise it from the dead.  The miracle earned him some recognition within the ancient community in the British Isles, gaining him the first followers in what would later become the Order of Merlin.

Taking the name of Myrddin, he would use the land of the neolithic Britons as his base of operations, first contesting with his arch-foe The Champion for the title of Guardian of Magic, then manipulating the line of Pendragon to create a great and glorious Camelot Empire.  Ultimately his quest for empire was dashed, when he was betrayed by his partner Morgana Le Fey.  The war between Morgaine and Arthur ended Camelot and destroyed centuries of planning.

Seeing that great project spiral out of control and burn in front of his eyes, Myrddin was forced to use the last of his magic to send his tower into a pocket dimension which legendarium would label as Avalon.  It took centuries to recover from the great spell he cast, requiring him to remain in hiding, rebuilding his armies of Uruk-hai, and crafting grandiose plans for his return.

Yet, each time he attempted a return he was thwarted.  When he attempted to aid the forces of Apokolips during its invasion, his own daughter Roma stole the Amulet of Right in order to empower Brian Braddock as Captain Britain.  After reclaiming Excalibur, the Sword of Power, from Eternia after the death of its champion He-Man, he was betrayed by his apprentice Sabine Delacroix, who gave the weapon to Kentauride of the Mythic Avengers.

Even after a lifetime of defeat, Merlin persists in his schemes of domination.  At a very small gathering of the extremist Norsefire party, Merlin sees a chance at a new empire.  There is a brand new frontier ahead for the planet, and S.H.I.E.L.D. and its Special Security Zones are now the keys to his plans.

A YJA Moment - Fear State

When Sebastian Hady became Mayor of Gotham in 2019, he won on a "law and order" platform. Gotham had seen nearly half-a-century of crime and corruption and its citizens were more willing to give unproven but charismatic candidates the keys to City Hall. This was all before the Apokolips Invasion, which increased Gotham's woes a hundredfold. 

 The city was in desperate need of aid, and while S.H.I.E.L.D. provided food, shelters, and the added protection, they weren't enough to deal with the rot within the system. Hady petitioned the World Security Council and the New Earth Government for action and it was received. Hady was named Magistrate of the Gotham Special Security Zone and given unlimited power to fix what he perceived were the ills of the city. 

Waves of firings followed, including the entirety of the Gotham City Police Department. He brought in Christopher Smith and his private security firm, the Peacemakers, in order to provide law enforcement within the city limits. Without Gordon's influence, all heroics were banned in Gotham and arrest warrants were issued for the entire Bat-Family. Only Smith and his cop-army were allowed to patrol the streets. 

Few people understood that before Sebastian Hady's tenure in municipal government, he was a long-standing member of the Court of Owls, a secret society made up of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Gotham. They had enriched themselves at the expense of every other citizen. His influence with the Court led him to be recruited as a regional director of the public face of Checkmate before it collapsed. 

During his tenure at Checkmate, he had learned about their experimentation with the biochemical agents used by Dr. Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow. Hady had come to the conclusion that he could use that research to develop a gas capable of sapping emotions and creating a mental state open to suggestion. 

Granting Crane freedom in exchange for his assistance, he put him to work creating what was effectively an Anti-Fear Toxin. He also hired Amora, the Asgardian Enchantress in order to enhance its effects, once the proper chemical balance had been achieved. Operating out of Arkham Asylum, Project: Baseline made a lot of progress, but mistakes were made and word reached the streets. 

Bruce was too busy dealing with the fallout of Yutani's takeover of Wayne Enterprises but sent Tim Drake to notify the Mythic Avengers. The team took action, by revealing the existence of Project: Baseline to media outlets, while Mel used her power of dreams to influence Mayor Hardy in his sleep. In the resulting firestorm of controversy, Mayor Hady abruptly quit and handed the role of Magistrate to Jim Gordon. 

Jim Gordon immediately signed an accord with the Sword Nations to place Gotham under their protection pending a city-wide referendum regarding becoming a permanent Treaty-State. He then began the process of reestablishing the GCPD and all the other disbanded agencies in order to once again provide goods and services to the populace. 

The New Earth Government threatened military intervention but S.W.O.R.D. accurately predicted it was mostly bluster. While S.H.I.E.L.D. could have successfully defeated the Sword Nations in a conflict, it would have taken resources that were already allocated to urgent needs across the world. In the end, the N.E.G. was certain that Gotham would have to return, that they took no action to stop them.

A YJA Moment - Special Security Zones

The Treaty of Novigrad was one of the most ambitious diplomatic undertakings in modern history.  Getting the members of the United Nations on board for a one-world government is a seemingly impossible task.  There were dozens of areas of contention between the various factions, ranging from global spanning concerns to those with a more local impact.

One of the issues was the use of Special Security Zones in order to tackle the extreme lawlessness some cities and regions were experiencing.  Proponents of the Zones argued that in order to recover from the Apokolips Invasion, radical means had to be used to restore basic order.  Its opponents had great concerns over the use of the Zones and the loss of individual rights in the process.

With a deadline looming for the Treaty to be finalized, the parties were unable to fully agree on the Zones.  A temporary measure was written into the document, with the stipulation that a series of future Summits would be held to amend the issues regarding the Treaty, including the rules regarding Zones.  After the passing of the Treaty, however, there has been so interest within the N.E.G. in scheduling any further meetings on the subject.

A Special Security Zone is a region of land where most laws and regulations are suspended in order to secure law and order.  One or more officials are designated Magistrates, who are given almost complete authority to enact laws and undertake any actions without legal or administrative oversight.  According to the Treaty, a Zone may only be set up for five years, after which it has to be renewed.

The problem was the Treaty was vague on many features of the Zone.  It did not set limits on how big a Zone could be, nor did it indicate how many (or few) Magistrates could be appointed.  In addition, the rules regarding Zones did not even guarantee citizens basic rights under the Consolidated Citizen Bill of Freedoms.  And while each Zone mandate was limited to a five-year duration, the supreme authority of the Magistrates meant they themselves could renew the measures without New Earth Government veto.

Historians would chronicle that there were no further summits regarding the Zones and that the loopholes would have devastating consequences: It enabled the Norsefire party to turn much of England into a fascist state and allowed the Corporate Council to create the Chicago Megacity which is patrolled by violent Street Judges.  

However, the most immediate result of the Security Zones was Gotham, which initiated a scandal that rocked the New Earth Government to its core, but also led to the succession of the city to the Sword Nations.

A YJA Moment - The Yutani Corporation

 The Yutani family is very old money, hailing back from the Meiji Restoration. A merchant by trade, Soji Yutani made a fortune importing technology from the West and selling it to the emerging democratic government.  His descendants continued that success, transitioning from trading to industrial manufacturing and then to research and development. 

Though they were weakened by the tech collapse in the early 2000's, they used their valuable assets to buy up OmniCorp, as well as the Nakatomi, and Yashida Corporations.  When the economy tanked after the Apokolips Invasion,  they went on another buying spree, taking control of dozens of companies, including arch-rival Kanemitsu Corporation, to become the largest corporation in Japan.

Their young CEO, Okata Yutani, who had taken over the company from his father at age 15, was now one of the richest, and most influential individuals in Asia. That meant very little to Okata because although his business acumen was a natural talent, he wanted to be something more.  He wanted to be adored as a knight of justice - he wanted to be a superhero.

Schooled by the best martial artists and personal trainers, he spent years honing his body.  He had an entire secret Yutani division devise a costume and gadgets patterned on those utilized by the vigilantes of Gotham.  Inspired by his heroes in the United States, he crafted the persona of the Most Excellent Superbat and set about creating himself a team of young heroes that would further enhance his reputation.

While the Super Young Team became one of the most popular groups of young heroes in Japan, Okata wanted more.  He didn't want to be famous; he wanted to be a legend, remembered for generations as an icon of heroics.  In short, he didn't want to be as popular as Batman - Okata wanted to be Batman.

When Bruce Wayne outed himself as the financier of Batman, he had established trademarks for all of the Dark Knight's monikers and equipment to protect Batman Incorporated from imitators and imposters.  As the corporation's money to make Batman, the legal rights to these trademarks were held by Wayne Enterprises. Yutani knew that if he were to take control of the company, he would gain control of the legal identity of Batman.

The hostile takeover of Wayne Enterprises was easier than he had imagined.  Its board of directors had their fill of Bruce's bankrupting the company in order to rebuild Gotham.  Wayne himself had gone so far as to sell some of his stock in order to achieve further liquidity, becoming a minority shareholder in his family's company for the first time in his life.

In a single week, the Board removed Bruce from his corporate positions and announced the company's acquisition by the Yutani Corporation.  This effectively included Batman Incorporated, as much of their designs and image were now under his legal control.  Though most of the existing Dark Knights immediately quit, Okata went to work to claim what was left in order to remake the legacy in his own image.

It is unimportant who the Batman was; the new and improved Batman would be Okata Yutani.

A YJA Moment - Heirs to the Legacy of Shazam (Part One)

 Over the years many people have interacted with The Wizard, some as allies and disciples, others as rivals and enemies.

In the late 1960s, Kree agents on Earth discovered the powers of Shazam from the original Captain Marvel C.C. Batson that hadn't been erased by the Time Stone.  Thinking it was an interdimensional power source, they recovered items infused with "strange radiation"  and created the Nega-Gauntlets to access and channel the power. Though they did not transform the subject, the power enhanced the person's physical capabilities to well beyond physical norms.  It also provided him energy manipulation abilities, which included a personal protection field, energy blasts, and flight.

The Nega-Gauntlets were given to a Captain in the Kree Starforce known as Mar-Vell, who became an intergalactic super-hero.  Sadly the very technology which granted him great power also affected his health, leading to him eventually perishing.  The Nega-Gauntlets would pass down to Mar-Vel's son Genis-Vell, who succumbed to the same illness as his father. Currently, the Nega-Gauntlets are in the hands of Phyla-Vell code-named Martyr who was engineered with alien DNA in order to protect her from the Guantlet's side effects.

The druid Myrddin had long been a rival of the wizard Shazam back long before he was known as The Champion.  They had fought on different sides during the Shadow War, and it was said that they were rivals for the attention of Agamotto so that he would name one of them the Guardian of Magic.  In the end, Shazam would lay claim to the Rock of Eternity.  The rest as they say is history...

...or is it.  Myrddin was incensed at being passed over for guardianship and sought a means of stealing the power for himself.  Though he would never reach that goal, he would succeed in drawing down the lightning on multiple occasions.  He perfected his art on the Tempest Band, a magic ring that passed into the hands of the demigod Hercules.  Eventually bestowed the powers of the Rock into two objects - the Amulet of Right and the Sword of Might.

The Amulet of Right was considered the lesser of the two artifacts and was stored away in the vaults of Avalon.  There it would be untouched until the Apokalips Invasion when the British Isles were threatened.  The immortal magician Roma, the daughter of Merlin (Myrddin) gave the Amulet to Brian Braddock, who was infused by the powers within to become the mighty hero Captain Britain.

The Sword of Might had a much-storied calling. The dwarven-made sword already had great power, from its forging on Nidavellir and the lightning from the Rock amplified its abilities a thousand-fold. It was given to King Arthur as the legendary blade Excalibur, who wielded it as Pendragon the King of Camelot.  On his passing, the weapon passed from warrior to warrior under dozens of different names.

How the Sword managed to reach Eternia is unknown but given to the Lord of Castle Grayskull by the enigmatic Sorceress to aid him in his battle against Noldor. The King served as ruler and champion of the planet for many years until his passing, leaving the sword sealed within his Castle.  It would remain there for many centuries until it was claimed again by Prince Adam, the heir to the Kingdom of Eternia in order to become He-man.